You’ve Gotta Start Somewhere

Happy President’s Day! I am celebrating the day by being a productive U.S. citizen and supporting the local economy, aka running errands and going shopping. I am very fortunate to have the day off today so I am using it as another day to be very productive.

As I was getting ready for bed last night I was recapping the weekend in my head and oh my gosh, I realize I was completely lazy when it came to cooking/creating any type of meal! Usually my weekends are a time for me to really get creative and show my mad skills in the kitchen, but apparently I wasn’t feeling it this weekend. Tonight we have dinner plans that involve a really nummy italian restaurant, so tonight I will not be cooking either. That means I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to redeem myself, and you better believe I will.

This weekend when we were at Whole Foods, I bought some really neat purple and white eggplant as well as purpley-green kale. I have plans to get creative with it. I also bought something else I have been really interested in trying that I will break out either Wednesday or Thursday. I’m not sure how it will go, but more on that later. Can you handle the anticipation?

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My day started off with a mug of hot and steamy coffee and a bowl of banana, blueberries, and Special K Blueberry cereal.

It was pretty good, but the banana wasn’t quite ripe enough for my liking. It should do the trick for a while and tide my belly over.

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As I was running the other day my brain started to wander as it usually does. I was running on the treadmill at the gym and tired of reading subtitles on the t.v. ahead, and needing a break from people watching. I was getting bored as I often do on the treadmill. My head started playing tricks on me telling me to stop or take a break and walk and it wasn’t because I was tired, I know it was because I was bored. I kept running, trying to fight off my sub-conscious thoughts. I daydreamed back to my days when I first started running. Now, I am by no means a “runner.” I can run, but running is not easy for me, at all.

I first started running because I had signed up for my first 5K. I had no time goals in mind, I just wanted to finish. I was in La Crosse, WI at this time for my internship and I remember the morning so vividly that I laced up and headed out for a walk/run. I did a large loop around my apartment complex and ran for a total of about ten minutes. I called Dana and told him how long I had run and I remember thinking, that’s better than nothing, but man, do I have a long way to go. Dana’s response to me was, “you gotta start somewhere.” He was so right. I could have given up then thinking ok, I can only run 10 minutes right now and I need to run more like 30 for the 5k and quit right then and there thinking it would never happen, but I didn’t, because I knew this would take some time. I began increasing my running to walking ratios and progressed slowly until I was eventually running 3 miles. I completed my first 5k and was addicted to the feeling at the finish line. I knew I had to do more. From then on I ran more 5k’s, then eventually progressed to a 6k, then a 10k, and then last summer Dana and I completed our first 15k.

What a great feeling of accomplishment it is seeing your body progress and really finding what your body is capable of doing. I never thought I would be completing a 15k, and that currently I am signed up for two half-marathons this summer. Am I ready for a half-marathon now? Absolutely not. I am now averaging about 3-4 miles per run, 3 runs per week. I am about a third of the way there, just as I was when I first started training for my first 5k. I know I can do it though. The body is capable of so much more than I often let myself believe. It might be painful, it will indeed be challenging, but it will be worth it. I will be sharing my progress with you as I go, and pushing harder through your support. The moral of this story is as Dana put it, “You gotta start somewhere.” Even if it is only 10 minutes, or 2 minutes, it is possible! Don’t let your mind play tricks on you and tell you that you can’t. You can.

I’m still constantly working on my self-talk as I am running. So many times my mind will say, “you can walk for a little while, come on,” but I am learning to fight past it (unless I am positive that I really do need a walk break). I am often repeating, “keep going, you’re fine” and if I am on the treadmill, “keep going, you’re not tired, you’re just bored, but don’t stop because then we’ll be on this thing even longer.” It is crazy how much self-talk goes on in my head. I do love running with music because it really motivates me and pumps me up. There is nothing like having fresh music to run to really listening to the music to glide you through a run. Also, finding a running buddy is great motivation. Dana and I trained together for the 15k and it was so helpful to have someone by your side through the process and encouraging you to push to the end of the run, and to get up on Saturday morning for a run when you really just want to stay in bed all day. It was an experience that we were able to accomplish together, which is very special to me.

That was my motivational piece for the day. Like I said, I am not a great runner, but I can run. And you can too. Get up and move it baby!

I am off to tackle laundry, shopping, and hopefully a workout as well! Have a great day!

Continue Reading You’ve Gotta Start Somewhere

CocoaCraisy Energy Bites

Happy Saturday! Hi-fives all around for Saturday love.

This morning I snacked on half a banana with some Smart Balance Peanut Butter then headed to the gym. I was really feeling good today and knocked off a little over 4-miles on the treadmill. Since I got my new phone I downloaded the Pandora app and wanted to try running with that today. I loved not knowing what song was going to come on next but I didn’t like that I wasn’t always able to click to the next song. Maybe it was just me because I am a little special in the technology department. I don’t know, I guess I’ll have to look into that one.

Here is some good news….I haven’t had any shin pain lately. I don’t know if it was the Zumba class that threw me off, or I wasn’t stretching enough, or if it was a combination of factors, but whatever it was is gone. I feel no pain now! Now I can actually concentrate on building up my stamina and not have to be thinking about how badly my shins hurt while I run.

To touch base on the half marathon training…..I have decided to stick with the plan which has me running Tuesdays, Wednesdays if I feel like it, Thursdays, and Saturdays. As far as increasing my  mileage though, I am going to probably be halting it at 3-5 miles for now until the weather improves. I am driving myself crazy trying to run longer than that on the treadmill and no one wants to see crazy Melanie. Unless I am really feeling it one day on the treadmill and want to increase my mileage, it will have to wait a little bit. I am hoping only a month or so. Come on early Spring! I know the Groundhog saw its shadow but that means nothing to me. 🙂

Anyway, after my run I hit the weights to do some leg work.

  • 3×10 lunges with 20 lb weight (really it’s 3×20 lunges because it was 10 per leg–but who’s counting :wink:)
  • 3×10 leg press (both legs, then right single leg, left single leg)
  • 3×10 calf raises (changing direction of the toes each time to hit different muscles–toes in, toes out, toes forward)
  • 3×10 seated leg curls

I was Mrs. Jello legs after this! Can’t wait to feel it later.

I headed to get the car all prettied up at the car wash and snacked on apple on the way. Now I am home and sipping on some coffee as I contemplate lunch. I am really hungry but feeling pretty lazy right now to actually  make lunch. This afternoon Dana’s parents are stopping over to visit and then we are having a couple of friends over for Sushi later on! What a great day!

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Back this thang up to yesterday lunch. Remember how I said let’s see if I branch out from my usual order at Panera Bread? Well, guess who did NOT branch out? Me. I am ridiculous sometimes. The thing is though, I don’t go there that often so when I do get the chance to go, I like to stick with a favorite. If I went there ALL the time I would for sure branch out. I stuck with the French Onion soup and as always I am happy I did. It was served with a chunk of whole wheat baguette on the side. Nummy! It was great to meet up with mama during her lunch break!

What was even better was that I would be seeing her and dad and Kevin that night! Dana and I headed over to their place for dinner where mom had whipped up some of her famous chicken wings (Scott and Jeff if you’re reading this I know you are jealous). The chicken wings were served alongside baked (or broiled?) zucchini, asparagus, cheesy potatoes, and a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. What a feast!

Thanks for the great company and the great dinner last night!

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For a while now, I have been meaning to share a recipe with you all for energy bites, or what we call in our household, Mah balls (MAH are my initials and we think we’re really clever and funny when we say it). There are made up of dates and nuts primarily, but other ingredients can be added to give them different flavors like cocoa powder, peanuts, Craisins, etc.

Mah Balls: CocoaCraisy

Not the prettiest things, but they are delicious!

These are perfect little bites of energy. I often will pop one of these in my mouth before a workout or if I need a quick pick me up if I’m heading out the door. I will give you other variations of the recipe in the future, but feel free to venture out yourself!

 

CocoaCraisy Energy Bites
Print
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup almonds, roasted
  • ¾ cup dates
  • ¼ cup Craisins
  • 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
Instructions
  1. In food processor, add almonds and process until they resemble wet sand texture; pour into small bowl and set aside.
  2. Add dates, Craisins, and cocoa to food processor. Process until mixture begins to form a ball, and pieces are small.
  3. Add almond mixture to date mixture and process until combined; about 1 minute.
  4. Form combine mixture into one inch balls using your hands and store in air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

I’m off to get ready for company! Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

P.S. I updated my Education page under the About section in the top menu.

Continue Reading CocoaCraisy Energy Bites

Let’s Talk Quinoa

Good Morning!

I feel like I have lots to share today. I slept in until 7:30 this morning and headed down for a 4-mile run on the treadmill. I cannot believe how bad I am aching to get outside and run, but knowing it was about 5 degrees outside this morning, I headed straight to the treadmill. I pulled through the 4-miles but was honestly bored out of my mind the whole time. I even had double entertainment on my side–the TV and my music. Still, it was brutally boring. Anyway, I still did it and that’s what counts.

I will also be doing this arm workout from Pinterest by the Tone It Up Girls. I love that you can do it at home and there is no need for extra equipment (just a chair and yourself!).

I was extremely hungry for breakfast by this point and knew I had leftover plain cooked quinoa from last night’s dinner. Experiment time! I started with 1/4 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup almond milk, and a dash of cinnamon microwaved for two minutes. Remove from microwave and stir adding whatever ingredients you wish. I had fresh blueberries on hand so I added those plus a little bit of light maple syrup. I really enjoyed this breakfast and broke the fruit and yogurt breakfast marathon I had going on.

So speaking of quinoa, let’s talk about my dinner last night…

On the way home from work I had no idea what to have for dinner. I thought of what was in our fridge: leftover beans, pulled chicken, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, salsa. I decided to stop at the grocery store real quick to see if any genius ideas would pop in my head. I started in the produce section and spotted the green peppers. Wait a minute, I have beans, chicken, we have frozen corn, onion, jalapeño, salsa, cilantro, quinoa….It’s stuffed green peppers for dinner tonight!

When I got home I was greeted by my boys and this lovely arrangement on the table. Please ignore the messy table and admire the flowers instead.

My sweetheart surprised me with flowers for no reason at all–what a great guy I have! That was a wonderful surprise. Thank you, honey! I love having fresh flowers at home. If I were rich, I would have them on my table year-round.

Okay, sorry for the side-track. Here’s dinner.

Stuffed Green Peppers for Two

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 1/2 cup pulled chicken
  • 1/2 cup black beans
  • 1 Roma tomato, diced
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 3/4 cup onion, diced
  • 1 Tablespoon jalapeño, finely diced
  • 2 medium green bell peppers
  • 1/4 cup Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º.
  2. In medium bowl, mix to combine corn, chicken, beans, tomato, cilantro, quinoa, and salsa. Set aside.
  3. On stovetop, saute onion and jalapeño until onions are slightly translucent.
  4. Add corn mixture to saute pan and stir to combine. Allow mixture to heat through; about 2 minutes.
  5. Wash green pepper, cut off the top and hollow out the inside, removing seeds and ribs.
  6. Stuff each pepper with half of the heated mixture and place on baking pan.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until pepper has begun to soften slightly.
  8. Sprinkle cheese on top and place under broiler for 2 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Results….

Veggie packed, protein packed, flavorful, dish. Not too shabby for a thrown together in a pinch, unplanned meal right? It was easy! You can do it.

Quinoa for breakfast this morning, quinoa for dinner last night. So, let’s talk quinoa. Many people are intimidated by this nutrient-packed whole grain seed. I was intimidated myself. How do I cook it? How do I use it? What is it? You’re about to find out.

What is it?

Quinoa (Keen-wah) is a gluten-free seed which originated from South America. It is gluten-free, wheat-free, and 100% whole grain. It is packed with 6 grams of protein per 1/4 cup (dry) and contains all eight amino acids making it a complete protein. It is low in calories and fat as well: 155 calories and 2.5 grams fat per 1/4 cup (dry). It also packs some iron and fiber as well.

How do I use it?

Quinoa is very easy to prepare. Use two cups liquid to one cup quinoa, combine liquid in a saucepan or in a rice cooker. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 15-18 minutes until liquid has been absorbed. The quinoa should be tender but still chewy and have a white spiral thread-like appearance.

Quinoa can be made sweet (like my breakfast this morning) or savory (like my dinner last night). You can use it in soups, granola, burritos, salads, and so much more. It has a slightly  nutty flavor which is very versatile.

Other tips.

Since you may not want to spend 15 minutes in the morning cooking up quinoa, make a large batch of it on the weekend, so that it is ready to go when you need it during the busy work week. Store it in your refrigerator in an air-tight container and have a quinoa of a time throughout the week! That was your Quinoa 101 folks.

I really need to get this sweaty mess to the showers or something. I have lots of errands to run today and am meeting mom at Panera Bread for lunch! We’ll see if I venture out of my usual order of French Onion soup. I hope everyone is having a great day so far!

Continue Reading Let’s Talk Quinoa

A Taste of Tuscany

First and foremost I have to say that my husband is a genius. He fixed my computer and I can now transfer pictures onto my computer from my camera. THANKS BABE!

This morning I actually got out of bed early to do my workout before work. When the alarm clock went off at 5:30 am I thought meh, I don’t know about this. I laid there playing the contemplation game in my head. Should I reset my alarm and sleep for another hour? Should I get up and just do it  Nike style? I don’t want to get up. Remember how good you feel after a workout and how much energy it gives you throughout the day? After about five minutes of contemplating I realize I am still lying there awake. Just get up. So I did.

I headed downstairs to the treadmill and started off with a nice little 4.0 walk. I slowly began cranking up the speed to 5, 5.5, 6.0, then felt comfortable at 6.4 for a while. I decided to run spurts of increased pace, I believe they’re called fartleks. I would crank up the speed to 7.4 and run at that pace for a song, then bring it back down to 6.4, and I did this little combination for 3.5 miles. I got real sweaty this morning and I am SO happy I got out of bed early! Now I don’t have to go to the gym after work.

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Breakfast

Breakfast was a success. I attempted oatless oatmeal again this time with a couple of modifications.

I mixed together 3 tablespoons egg white, 3 tablespoons almond milk, 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, a dash of cinnamon and 1/2 frozen banana that has been thawed. I cooked this mixture on the stove top on low-medium heat for about 3 minutes. I removed from heat and added 1/4 cup blueberries, a little stevia to sweeten, and a touch of brown sugar (because I love the flavor of brown sugar). Voila. The consistency was great and the flavor did not taste like eggs one bit. I also had a small handful of almonds for added protein.

Tasted way better than it looks

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go…

Lunch

I decided to stop home for lunch because Dana was going to be home. I ate my packed lunch. Any guesses what it was? Sorry to bore you. But yes, peanut butter banana wrap.

I love seeing him at lunch break!

To jazz up the afternoon at work I brought some Celestial Seasoning’s Black Cherry Berry herbal tea  to sip on. I had never had this kind before but it was GOOOOD! It tasted kind of like fruit punch. That reminds me of kool-aid mustaches as a kid. 😛

Dinner

Another easy dinner tonight. I decided to pull some Rubollita soup out of the freezer that I made about a month ago. Since I made this soup before I started the blog, I didn’t write down the recipe, therefore don’t have a recipe to share with you. However, I will make it in the future again and will no doubt write it all down!

I discovered this wonderfully veggie filled soup when we were in Italy. Julie, a friend of mine, told me I had to try this soup when I was there and I am so glad she recommended it. Rubollita is a hearty Tuscan soup made with bread and lots of veggies. We were at a little Tratorria (a more casual type of dining restaurant) in Florence when I spotted it on the menu and decided to give it a go. It sounded like it was right up my alley. I topped it with fresh parmesan and devoured that bad boy. It was UNBELIEVABLY delicious, healthy, and very filling! I knew this was one I needed to recreate once I got home. So that’s just what I did. To give you an idea of the components of the soup, here are some components of the soup:

  • cabbage
  • tomato
  • onion
  • kale
  • carrot
  • beans
  • chicken stock
  • garlic
  • whole grain bread that has been dried in the oven

The process involves cooking all of the veggies in the stock, simmering, and then adding the bread at the end of the cooking process. You let the bread soak in for about 20 minutes then use an immersion blender to slightly blend the mixture. The outcome does not look the prettiest but it sure does taste good!

Don’t spill….don’t trip….

My bowl was filled to the brim. It tasted just as good as the first time if not better this time around. I love easy dinners like this. I’m thinking I need to whip up a batch of soup this weekend! What kind should I make? Hmm…..Creamy tomato? Pumpkin carrot? We shall see what this brain conjurs up.

I have a raging appetite today so I will no doubt be eating a snack later tonight. I’m off to relax and watch a little Wheel of Fortune! Good night!

Continue Reading A Taste of Tuscany

No Dreadmill

Good evening friends! How was everyone’s Tuesday? Mine was pretty good. Work was smooth and flew by, but what helped my mood the most today was the beautiful weather! We are having some seriously out of season weather here but I LOVE it! I’m not sure what the official temperature was today, but my car said 43° when I was driving home from work at 4:00. Talk about a heat wave! 🙂

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First things first. I didn’t take snap a photo of breakfast this morning because I kinda flopped on it. I was trying to make Oatmeal No Oats again but decided to “wing” it and make  it from memory versus looking at the recipe. Whoops. I forgot the cinnamon and it completely changed the taste and ended up with a slightly egg-y taste. It wasn’t horrible, and I still ate it after adding a little brown sugar and some banana. It was actually kind of good in a weird way, but next time I will remember the cinnamon.

Fast-forward to lunch… I actually decided to pack a lunch today versus coming home. I had an errand to run so I packed a peanut butter banana wrap, Pink Lady apple, mini bell peppers, carrots, clementine, and string cheese. I always pack more than enough when I do pack a lunch because I never know how hungry I will be. Today I ate everything pictured below minus the string cheese and clementine.

After I ran my errand I parked my car in a sunny spot and pulled out my book. I am still reading the Help but am getting towards the end of it. I am loving it still and will probably finish it tonight before bed! When I was driving back to work after break I decided since it was so beautiful outside that I was going to run outside after work. No “dreadmill” today! Alleluia!

It’s been a while since I ran outside due to unkind Minnesota weather and due to the fact that I am pretty much a big baby when it comes to cold temperatures.  After work, I geared up in my long underwear, headband, gloves, and hit the road running. It was challenging but felt SO good to be outside. It makes a world of difference breathing the fresh air, having the constant changing scenery, the entertainment of other walkers and cars, and the challenge of hills. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t love the hills but they are great for training and building stamina. I think I had a little bit of a hard time maintaining any sort of steady pace because I noticed myself breathing heavier than normal. I have a lot of work to do in order to feel more confident in my running. I will get there though! I know it doesn’t happen overnight.

The good news is I didn’t have any shin pain today. I am hoping I can get another outside run in soon so I can see if I have ditched the shin problems all together or not and then see what happens when I run on the treadmill again. Experiment time!

Get it 40 for forty degrees? Neat.

I will be the first to admit that the picture above totally grosses me out. I am not one of those people who thinks it’s cute to get slobbered on by their dogs. This picture was an accident as I was trying to get Moose to sit with me for a picture. It was too funny not to post though. I immediately washed my face after this happening occurred. Gross. I love you, Moose but honestly you don’t have a clean mouth. I don’t care what everyone says about “dogs mouths are cleaner than human mouths.” I know where that mouth has been. Ew.  Sorry to anyone eating while they are reading this.

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After a nice little shower, I started pulling dinner together. I threw some Alexia’s Sweet Potato Crispy Bite-Sized Puffs, aka tator tots  in the oven along with a whole bunch of broccoli sprinkled with garlic powder. As I waited for the tots to cook, I snacked on some broccoli and  Holy Land  Roasted Red Pepper Hummus which is made in Minneapolis. I love supporting the locals.

So let’s see, I had a starch, a veggie….I needed a protein. How about an egg? Sure, why not. I cooked an egg over-easy and topped it on the roasted broccoli alongside the tator tots. I dabbed a bit of good old Heinz Ketchup on the plate, sprinkled a little parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper, and a dash of salt over the whole rainbow bright dish. Then, dug in.

Random, but good and very pretty! I would do it again! Dessert was a handful or two of Craisins. Now, on to the rest of the evening involving relaxation and possibly a cup of tea. Good night good night, and tomorrow is Wednesday. I love Wednesdays!

Continue Reading No Dreadmill

Sweatin’ Out Onions

This morning’s training included a 5 mile run which turned me into a hot sweaty mess. My shins were really hurting again during today’s run so I want to spend a little time researching the possible reasons why. Am I running incorrectly? Am I deficient in a certain nutrient?

On the drive home from the gym I asked Dana if he smelled onions. He said “no, but you’re probably sweating them out from last night’s dinner.”  Huh, he’s probably right! That’s gross and funny at the same time, and totally worth it because last night’s dinner turned out wonderfully! I hope you are ready for this oh baby baby.

Yesterday I gave you a little sneak peak of the ingredients I was going to be using for part of the dinner.

After some chopping, mixing, and seasoning, those ingredients turned into this:

Melanie’s Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 10 mini bell peppers (or 1.5 medium-sized bell peppers), diced
  • 1 ripe avocado, chopped
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients gently making sure to cover avocados with lemon juice to prevent browning. Serve as a salad/side dish or with baked tortilla chips.

Holy moly this was goooood.

Next up was the main dish: Chicken Enchiladas

This was my first time ever making enchiladas I think and I decided to wing it. I started off sautéing 2 small yellow onions and 4 mini bell peppers.

Next I added 1-7 oz can of diced green chilies, 2.5 cups of cooked pulled chicken, cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

I removed from heat then added 1/2 cup of Mexican style reduced fat shredded cheese to the mix. The next step is to stuff the tortillas. I sprayed a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and stuffed each tortilla with approximately 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture. This made 9 enchiladas.

I rolled them up like burritos and lined them in the pan. I topped them with about 1 cup of non-fat plain greek yogurt, then a layer of red salsa, then finished with a layer of the Mexican style shredded cheese.

They cooked for 20 minutes covered at 350°, then removed the cover and broiled on high for 2 minutes to start to melt the cheese.

And helllllloo cheesy healthy goodness. I plated up and topped the enchilada with a little more salsa, because I love saucy. Apparently I need to work on my plate presentation because this picture DOES NOT do the dinner justice.

I loved every bite of this dinner and my family really loved it too! See, look how happy they are.

I love them.
Brother Kevin

We hung out for a little while after dinner and heard all about mom and dad’s wonderful trip to Florida. I am so glad they are home.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 small onions, diced
  • 4 mini bell peppers, diced
  • 1-7 oz. can diced green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
  • 1 cup Mexican style reduced-fat shredded cheese divided into 1/2 cup portions
  • 9 whole wheat tortillas (La Tortilla Factory Low-Carb)
  • 1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup salsa (plus more to top post baking if you like your food saucy like me)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Saute onions and peppers.
  3. Add green chilies, chicken, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir, remove from heat.
  4. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.
  5. Stuff 9 tortillas with 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture, roll into burritos, and place in 9 x 13 pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.
  6. Top with a layer of yogurt, then a layer of salsa, and finish with the shredded cheese.
  7. Bake covered for 20 minutes.
  8. Remove cover and broil on high for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
  9. Serve warm with extra salsa on top (or hot sauce if you like it SPICAY)

 

I am off to find something to eat for lunch and enjoy some time with my husband.

Adios muchachos!

Continue Reading Sweatin’ Out Onions

Training Plans

I am so looking forward to celebrating Betsy and Matt’s birthdays tonight, but first there are a few things I need to do.

This morning I headed downstairs to the treadmill to get a 2 mile run in before meeting my long time friend Amanda for ZUMBA! I have taken a couple of Zumba classes before but they are all so different because each instructor has their own style. Today our instructor was this spunky little thing and I loved her! She kept us shakin’ our booties for a solid hour and let me be the first to say it wasn’t just my booty that was shakin’ (har har)! I had such a blast and can’t wait to go back.

After Zumba I went back home to tackle two more miles on the treadmill. Running again after Zumba? Come on, seems like overkill right? Well, that’s because Dana and I are training for our first half marathon!

We have not officially signed up because registration doesn’t open until February, but we have started our training and are pumped! The longest run we have done is a 15k or 9.3 miles, which was in August 2011. The race we ran was for more “elite” runners and it was set up as a 3-loop run. Needless to say we are not elite runners, and it was a little degrading finishing our second loop when a good chunk of the other runners were finishing their third. We did finish in under an hour and 30 minutes which was our goal, but when we both finished we said, “I am not doing that again.” Ha, we’re eating our words now.

Ear buds are out, I see the finish line!

We think/hope that our next experience will be a little more fun, and it should help to do one huge loop versus three small loops. Plus, we have other friends planning to run it too!

The training plan we used for the 15k was one from Hal Higdon. For this round of training, I found this half marathon plan by him and Dana found this training plan by Jeff Galloway that he is following.  I can’t decide which one to do so for now I am just kind of doing a combination of the two. I like the idea of running Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and having Saturday be my long run which is what Hal Higdon suggested, but so far have not done the short run on Wednesday, so I am pretty much following the Jeff Galloway plan. I don’t know, we’ll see. I will keep you posted about training progress as well as registration for the race. Runners are chosen through a lottery once registered.

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Breakfast recap

Coffee and peanut butter banana much like this one except a little more sloppy and on a paper towel to go.

 

Lunch started with some appetizers (samples) at Costco: chocolate chunk cookie, protein bar, bite of meatball which I handed off to Dana, cowboy caviar, and mango peach salsa, all served in bite size samples.

Once we got home I threw together a whole grain tortilla with a laughing cow wedge, lettuce, tomato, and mustard and a handful of almonds.

I wasn’t sure how this would taste but it was actually pretty good! After lunch I finished up the birthday dessert I started making last night which I am bringing to tonight’s festivities. Now I am off to tackle a couple more weekend “to-do’s” and get ready for the rest of the day including a much needed shower.

Happy Saturday!

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