Na Cho Average Nachos

Well, hello there! How is everyone’s Tuesday rollin’ out so far? I’m going to give you a quick run-down of my day yesterday and then I have a super amazing recipe I want to share with you from Sunday evening.

Monday Morning

I started off my morning lacing up the sneaks for a 3.5 mile run around the neighborhood. It was a hot and sweaty run, but there was a nice breeze which helped keep me comfortable. Post-run, I attempted to model my new strawberry cup I bought at Target the other day. It matches my strawberry plate! I also bought a lemon cup to match my lemon plate. The summer dishware was 70% off and I just couldn’t pass it up.

For breakfast, I whipped up a smoothie, made my to-do list, and hit the road. My most recent smoothie obsession is a smoothie made with a frozen banana, a splash of pineapple juice, 1/4-1/2 cup SCD yogurt, and a dab of honey. It is so creamy and tropical tasting. I am loving it.

See-Food Lunch

I got home from running my errands around 11:00 and I was starvin’ marvin. I pulled out the watermelon from the fridge and snacked on some of that while I pondered my lunch options. I really couldn’t decide on anything substantial so I chose to start with a bowl of seedless english cucumber slices. I peeled the cucumber, sliced some of it up, splashed it with vinegar, a pinch of fresh dill, and salt and  pepper. This was my experimental food for the day. I am hoping I can tolerate it okay. The salad was very refreshing and I would love to make a big batch of it.

And so began my see-food diet day. I saw food, I ate it.

I ate some peanut butter and honey.

And some SCD crackers. I made one batch of crackers and then split it into two batches: one cinnamon and sugar (saccharin) batch, and one salt and pepper batch.

I also snacked on a handful of cherries. I am making sure to chew the cherries very thoroughly to help aid in the digestion process. I realize that cherries may be slightly “advanced” at my stage in the SCD, but I have decided I will not go all summer long without eating cherries. They are in season right now and the season is so short-lived and I have been eating a few here and there. They don’t seem to bother me at all. I am enjoying every perfect bite.

I had a sliver of SCD bread too.

I was wanting something dessert-like yesterday, so I searched around and found a SCD gummies recipe on Comfy Tummy’s site. The only ingredients are 1/2 cup grape juice (or whatever juice you have on hand), 3 unflavored gelatin packets, and 1 Tablespoon of honey. I just followed the directions right from Comfy Tummy’s recipe, and this is what I got.

These weren’t too shabby for a sweet treat, but they don’t compare to my grocery store bulk gummies that I like so much.

Afternoon Walk and Dinner

In the afternoon I met up with my girly Kate for a walk around the neighborhood. It was going to be a walk around the lake but when I found out we would have to pay $6.25 for parking, we made other plans. We headed to a nearby neighborhood and hit some beautiful trails around there. We walked for an hour which, in the 100° heat, turned us into hot sweaty messes.  As always, it was SO good to spend time with her and catch up on life. I love her, love her, love her.

By the time I got home at 6:30, I still wasn’t hungry for dinner. I think it was a combination of snacking all day and over-heating from the walk. I actually felt nauseous for a little while. Eventually I came around and ended up eating a bowl of cooked carrots, a couple of cinnamon cookies, a bite of muenster cheese, and a few more cherries.

Okay, I have got to move on to the long awaited recipe I have been so excited to share with you (drum roll)…

Butternut Squash Nachos!

Butternut squash SCD legal nachos. I kid you not. These are na cho average nachos. To begin, I peeled a large butternut squash.

I used the long neck of the squash to make “chips” on the mandolin. I sliced these very thin so they were chip-like. I steamed the other portion of the squash in the microwave and pureed it in the food processor. I bagged up the puree and placed it in the freezer for another day. You know I wouldn’t waste food. Haste makes waste.

Okay, so once the chips were sliced, I placed them into a pot of boiling water and boiled for two minutes. After two minutes, I placed them into a colander in the sink and rinsed with cold water until the chips were cool enough to handle.

Then came the tedious part. I used a paper towel to dry each individual chip and placed them onto my baking mat (I used two baking sheets). This took me a while but considering the end result, it was so totally worth it. Once all of the chips are placed onto a baking mat or parchment paper, spray with olive oil or canola oil, sprinkle with salt, and place in a preheated 375° oven.

I wasn’t sure how long they would take to bake, but it ended up taking about 30-35 minutes, turning the pans and switching shelves half way. I ended up flipping the oven to high broil at the end so that I could try to crisp up the top a bit.

While the chips were baking, I prepared the toppings. I took one avocado, diced it, added a splash of lime, cilantro, cumin, and salt and pepper. I gave it a stir and had guacamole in a flash. I grated cheddar cheese to melt over the chips. I seasoned some leftover pulled chicken with chili spices.

When it was time to assemble, I placed a layer of chips on the bottom of the plate, topped them with cheddar cheese and chicken and popped them in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Then I topped the nachos with organic salsa and a heaping spoonful of guacamole.

Holy moly you guys will not believe how insanely delicious this was! I didn’t want it to end. Can you believe this is SCD friendly? I am very proud of this dish. It was worth every bit of effort and Dana agrees. These nachos are the bomb.

I am going to leave you with that to drool ponder over. I hope you all have a great Tuesday. I will catch up with you soon!

 

Na Cho Average Nachos
Print
Butternut Squash Nachos (for two)
Ingredients
  • Chips:
  • 1 butternut squash neck, peeled
  • Cooking spray or canola oil
  • Salt
  • Toppings*:
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • salsa
  • Guacamole (mix all ingredients)
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped
  • Juice of half a lime
  • Dash of Cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • *Use whatever nacho toppings you enjoy: lettuce, tomatoes, onion, black olives, would be great additions to this dish.
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or non-stick baking mats.
  2. Use mandolin or sharp knife to slice squash into thin round chips.
  3. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Once water is boiling, add chips; cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Remove chips from stove and pour into a colander in the sink; run cold water over chips until cool.
  5. Use towel or paper towel to pat each chip dry and place on baking pans.
  6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the chips begin to crisp.
  7. Turn oven to high broil and broil for 2 minutes, watching carefully so that chips don't burn. Once they are crisped up to your liking, remove from oven.
  8. Plate the chips and add cheese and chicken. Cook in microwave for 45 seconds.
  9. Top with the rest of your toppings and devour.

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Banana Soft Serve on a Summer Day

Yesterday’s weather could have not have been more perfect for the pool party. We celebrated our friend Greg’s birthday while lounging at their pool and catching up with friends and family.

I mentioned yesterday that my brother Jeff is home from Bogota, Colombia and it was almost surreal seeing him yesterday at the party. I don’t like going 9 months without seeing him! Dana and I are planning a trip in the fall to go out to Colombia and see him. I’m already excited for it.

We had all but one family member at the party yesterday (we missed you Scotty!), so we, well I, had to make sure and snap a photo. I should photoshop Scott in and then we would be set! Who’s that misfit in the back with the dark hair and dark skin? 😉 Kidding.

I didn’t take any food photos yesterday because I was enjoying myself way too much. It was definitely a little bit of a challenge to find things I could eat that were SCD allowed, but I snacked on boat loads of watermelon (I made sure to bring a ginormous bowl to share), and some other fresh fruit. I did eat some fresh sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes which I probably wasn’t quite ready for but the good news is I feel fine today! For dinner I ate a grilled beef burger with mustard which really hit the spot.

We had a really great time at the party. Thanks for putting that all together Cheryl and Greg!

I was hungry again when we got home that evening so I made a batch of homemade peanut butter. Oh em gee so good. I ate some peanut butter with banana and cooked carrots with honey and salt. Oh, did I mention I had to start all over on the homemade SCD yogurt last night too? Yea, I did. The yogurt was about 20 hours into the cooking process when I remembered that I forgot to put the “starter” yogurt into the milk. I was not a happy camper last night. We made a quick trip to the store and bought another half-gallon of 1% milk and started all over. It will not be done until 11:30 pm tonight. Ha ha…oh well, what can you do besides crab about it a little and get over it?

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Sunday

For breakfast this morning I ate a banana with peanut butter (again). Dana and I were off to a late start because we once again slept in until 8:45 am! We did our standard Sunday morning newspaper and grocery store routine, and I was starving by the time we got home at noon.

For lunch: sautéed spinach and mushrooms in garlic and olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with cheddar cheese and a runny egg.

Yes, that was delicious. Now, it is time to try and be productive around here. I am hoping to get some food prep done for the week ahead, including cooking up some chicken breast, and possibly making homemade marinara sauce!

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In case you’re looking for a healthy cool treat this afternoon, I’ll leave you with this idea for inspiration…

Banana Soft Serve

In your blender (2 servings):

  1. 2 frozen bananas
  2. 1/4 cup (?) homemade SCD yogurt or whatever yogurt you have on hand. Milk would also work here. You may need to add more  yogurt or milk. Use your discretion.
  3. Squirt of honey

Blend away but be patient. It takes a while to break down the frozen bananas. You will need to stop the blending process here and there to mix around the bananas, mash them a little, and incorporate them into the mix. Trust me though, it’s worth it. If you have an ice cream hankering this will do the trick, and that’s coming from an ice cream fanatic.

Happy Sunday friends!

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Not Quite a Warrior, More Like a Pansy

Hello there! Happy Sunday to all. I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Mine has been busy, but a lot of fun.

Saturday Morning: Warrior Dash

It was Warrior Dash morning which meant I was going to have my typical pre-race meal: perfectly ripe banana with a light smear of Smart Balance peanut butter.

I gathered the first set of troops for a “I-just-got-out-of-bed-but-let’s-do-this” pre-race photo.

We made our way to Afton Alps and picked up some of our friends on the way. Parking cost $20 so we figured we would pack everyone in to one vehicle to cut the cost, and hey, we were going green too. The parking scene was an obstacle in itself–driving through farms, weaving around cones, riding over some seriously bumpy terrain; it was actually hysterical. Once we parked, we took a shuttle bus over to the race.

Here is my brother Kevi, and our friends Matt and Steph.

Dana and I, and behind us are our friends Adam and Stacy. Peace.

We arrived super early, which I love. We went and picked up our bib numbers, timing chips, t-shirts, and warrior headgear. We then had plenty of time to relax, pin our numbers on, use the facilities a couple of times, and snap some clean pre-race photos with our group.

Being that I have not been feeling my best lately, I was slightly nervous that this race wasn’t going to be a good idea. I become fatigued very easily, I feel weak, and my stamina isn’t where it could be, and mostly, I was afraid to be far from the restrooms. That’s the ugly truth. Not only that, I felt very sick the night before. I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good though, and mornings are usually better for me than night-time when there isn’t a whole lot of food being digested yet, so I decided to give it a go.

Off to the race we went. The first obstacle was a bunch of car tires tied up in a bunch, and you had to run through them kind of like you were playing football and knocking through everyone. I liked that one but that’s probably because I was the first one to run through and didn’t get knocked in the face by any of the swinging tires. 🙂

Let’s see the rest of the obstacles from what I remember:

  • Balance beam that slanted up down up down.
  • Climbing wall with uneven foot holdings and a slanted top which made it challenging to climb over.
  • Cargo net wall
  • Snow blowers set with water that basically blind you as you run through
  • Crawl under barbed wire on rocky grounds
  • Slightly slanted wall with rope to pull yourself up and over
  • Grassy steep hill and rope to pull yourself up
  • Hurdles and barbed wire so you had to go over a hurdle and then under a barbed wire, over a hurdle, under barbed wire, etc.
  • Water slide!
  • Jumping over fire twice
  • Mud pit
But the most challenging part of the race wasn’t the obstacles, it was BY FAR the insane amount of hills. In between the obstacles was 3 miles of “running” through the grassy, truly beautiful views of Afton Alps, but I would say (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating) that 60% of the running part was uphill. And I don’t mean little bunny hills, I mean crazy steep hills that even the most incredibly in-shape person would struggle to run up. My team walked most of the hills and even walking them was hard for me! I kept losing my breath and had one scary moment where I couldn’t catch my breath at all and felt like I was beginning to hyperventilate. This happened to me during the half marathon as well. I think what happens is when I begin to feel so short of breath, I begin to panic and the panic only makes the breathing more difficult. It is such a scary feeling though, not being able to catch your breath. The group I was with was so supportive and everyone kept cheering each other the entire way.
The race ends with the mud pit where you have to crawl on your elbows in 1-2 feet of wet mud under a barbed wire. This year they sprayed us with a hose while we crawled, which made it even more messy (but so fun!). Dana and I were very cliché thanks to me, and held muddy hands through the finish line.
We all finished in one piece. Kevin completely tore it up and finished probably 25 minutes before we did. Next year I tell ya, he is taking the prize. Seriously. (BTW the guy on the left in this photo is Stu, and he is Matt and Adam’s uncle and a friend of ours as well. He wasn’t in the previous photos).

After all the muddy shots, we headed to the rinse area where they had a snow-making machine shooting out a thick mist of water. It was very cold but felt good to get all the muck and dirt off! We then donated our shoes, dried off in the sun, and headed home.

I don’t know if I’m a true warrior. I’m more of a pansy, but I still finished the race. 🙂 Intestinally speaking, I was fine during the race, but I could tell my stamina wasn’t where it used to be. My body is fighting hard right now and I understand that, so just completing the race at all was a big accomplishment for me.

Wedding Reception

Dana, Kev, and I had a wedding reception to get to. We showered up, making sure to clean out the mud in the ears, and headed to my cousin Mike and Jess’ wedding reception. They got married in Mexico in March and are having their reception back home to celebrate with everyone. It was set up in a large outdoor shelter near a public lake. It was so nice to be outside; it was a little hot, but I kind of liked it. They had the reception catered with the great classic barbecue foods: burgers, brats, chicken, beans, watermelon, pasta salads, and lettuce salad. I didn’t snap a photo of my lunch but I had a few bites of chicken, a half a burger, and a huge lettuce salad with mustard.  Mike and Jess did a wonderful job planning for the reception. Thanks for a great time!

At this point in time, I was completely beat, but Dana and I had a few errands we needed to run. It started with what was going to be a quick trip to our nearby natural food store, but we ended up having to make a trip to Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s in search of almond flour among other very particular items. If you’re looking for almond meal/flour, Trader Joe’s has the BEST deal. The other stores had the almond flour as well but it was about double the cost.

For dinner, I ate 1 1/2 leftover turkey burgers from Friday night with a side salad.

I think the burgers tasted even better the second time around!

The rest of the evening was spent with some food preparation.  Tomorrow’s post is going to be a big one. I am beginning a new way of eating, I don’t like the word diet so I am going to try and not call it that. It is going to heal my colitis, I know it is. I have already begun to feel better and I have only just started the process. I can’t wait to break it down for you, so check back tomorrow! I don’t mean to leave you high and dry, but there is a lot that goes into it, and I want to make sure I have adequate time to tell you everything I need to tell you. I have tomorrow off of work so it will be the perfect opportunity.

Alright, off to hopefully cut some awesome coupons. Have a great Sunday!

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Going Away Party and Welcome Home Party

Last night we attended a going away party for our good friend, Luke. He will be moving out of state to begin a new job and although the feelings are bittersweet, as we are sad that he is leaving MN, we are also VERY excited for him in his new endeavor and are so happy for him.

We celebrated at Bar Lurcat in Minneapolis. Our friend, Krystle did an amazing job of putting this party together. The atmosphere was very relaxed as we sipped on our wine, snacked on mini sliders and other appetizers that were served, and all mingled and chatted the night away.

Here is the man who were celebrating on behalf of, pictured with his beautiful girlfriend (and one of my best friends), Kate.

Cafe & Bar Lurcat is located in the Loring Park area in Minneapolis. I don’t go to this area often, but really should. It is beautiful and has an almost Tuscan-like feel to the side streets. There is also a nice park located right behind where we parked our car (pictured below). There are other restaurants I wouldn’t mind exploring, or it would be fun to bring a picnic. I want to go back!

It was a really great night. We haven’t been out in a while due to traveling and me not feeling the best, so it was definitely a lot of fun. Luke, can’t wait to come visit you! Congratulations again!

Although, we enjoyed going out, Moose on the other hand wasn’t the most impressed. We gave him his alone time for a few hours, and by the time we returned, he had gotten over the fact that we left him in the dust, and welcomed us the best way he knows how: smothering and kisses.

So much love from our big man, who btw is shedding like CRAZY right now.

Now, it is Saturday morning, there is a steady rain falling outside, and I just baked up a lemon blueberry treat to bring to mom and dad’s tonight in celebration of Father’s Day. Sounds cozy right? I’ll share the recipe with you later gators.

Off to take on the day…have an awesome Saturday!

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Baby Love

Hello world! How was everyone’s Saturday? Mine was seriously awesome.

My morning started out with a bowl of my very standard cinnamon Cream of Wheat with stevia and a little brown sugar, but to switch it up a bit I added some leftover white rice which added a different texture to the dish. I also added a few bites of banana.

After breakfast we headed to the city of our alma mater, Mankato, to visit a good friend of mine who recently had a baby girl. Their beautiful baby was born less than two weeks ago and she is such a doll. Dana and I had such a good time visiting with our friends and oogling over their precious miracle.

I love babies!

Since we were in Mankato, we just HAD to go visit our old campus. We headed over to Minnesota State University, Mankato to cruise the campus, notice renovations and reminisce.

I asked Dana to snap a picture of me in front of the library since I spent a whole lot of time there in my day (nerd-alert). Dana on the contrary, said he hardly spent any time in there. The difference between us though is that I need complete silence when I study, whereas he prefers noise whether in the form of television or other people.

It was good to be back. We also drove by our old houses, apartments, favorite bars and hangouts, and the Mankato Mall. Seriously so many memories packed into one city.

While we cruised, we ate our packed lunches: Peanut butter and grape jelly, veggie chips, and a banana.

On our way home we stopped at the Medford outlet mall so I could hit up the Nike Outlet Store since it was on our way home. I really like Nike workout apparel. They have such fun colors and their clothes are very comfortable which is the most important thing I look for when buying workout clothes. First, comfort, second for cuteness. I controlled myself and just bought one pair of workout shorts. These particular pair are a brownish gray color with pink and white details on the sides. Cute and comfy and at discount price. Score!

When we got home, we pumped some air into our bike tires and biked to the store to return our redbox movie from last night. Then it was time to give some major attention to our large furry baby. Into the car we went. Destination dog park.

Look at the excitement in his eyes peering over the back seat.

He went crazy sniffing every square inch of the dog park, making sure to leave his scents along the way.

He found the other dogs and immediately tried making friends with them all. Unfortunately for Moose, many of the dogs steer the other way when they see him coming. Poor guy. Is it because he’s so big?

It’s okay, he still had plenty of fun.

He did manage to steal the heart of this young lady.

But it was short lived. We wore Mooser out at the dog park. We loaded him back up in the car and headed home.

It was a warm one around here yesterday at about 92° or so, but there was a nice breeze which made for a really pleasant day. We dragged out the doggie pool and filled her up. Talk about spoiling this guy today. If only he liked the water. We had to pretty much force him in the water for this picture. He warmed up to it after a while, probably after the water warmed up a bit.

Such a big baby, but I love him.

For dinner we fired up the grill to cook up a random combo of shrimp, mushrooms, and green beans. We seasoned simply with salt and pepper and let the grill add the rest of the flavor.

Num! After dinner we threw the ball to Moose to really wear him out, and enjoyed the beautiful night. What an AWESOME day.

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Honey Mustard Zing Chicken

This morning I had a real big craving for coffee. I have given up caffeine due to my current health status, because it acts as a stimulant to the intestines and can cause unneeded distress. The only coffee we have at home is caffeinated so I contemplated whether just to make tea again as I have been in the mornings, or to head out in my comfies and get me some decaf coffee. I chose option two. I headed out to Caribou and got myself a medium decaf french roast. I also got 10¢ off my coffee because I knew the answer to the trivia question.

Trivia Clues: “I am a child actor. I’m not home alone anymore.” Who is it?!

I got it home, poured the coffee into my own mug, added cream and stevia, and lovingly sipped away.

I have decided that this weekend I am going to buy decaf coffee from the grocery store. I know coffee is acidic and I probably shouldn’t drink it everyday, but every once in a while it will be a nice treat.

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Now, backtracking to last night. I had company! My long time friend, Kalley was coming over for dinner and a chill night. I wanted to make a tasty dinner for the both of us, while still keeping it low-fiber. I scanned the fridge and cupboards and came up with what I’m going to call Honey Mustard Zing Chicken.

In the crock pot (recipe for two):

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 carrots, chopped into medium rounds
  • 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp mustard
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 Tbsp lower sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • Salt and Pepper

Simply add all ingredients into your crock pot, cover it, set it, and forget it. My instructions for you all would be to set this in your crock pot on low for 5-6 hours. This little girl on the other hand, accidentally let it go for nearly 12 hours and it came out a teeny bit dry. Still delicious, but yes definitely a little dry. My bad, sorry Kal.

I truly enjoyed this meal and was so happy that I had made a dinner for the both of us that was still tasty, yet kept it low-fiber so it wouldn’t upset my stomach. I kept my portion on the smaller side because I knew there was dessert coming. Kalkal brought us over a new treat to try: Ben & Jerry’s Greek Frozen Yogurt in Strawberry Shortcake.

OMG, we fell in love. This tasted like you were literally eating a piece of strawberry shortcake. It was AWESOME. I would recommend this to anyone seriously! I am usually a chocolate mix-in type of frozen yogurt girl, but I may have to reconsider my froyo decisions in the future because this was the bomb.

The rest of the night was spent catching up on life, laughing about the past, and completely soaking up each other’s company. Thanks for coming over Kallio. Love you so much.

Now, I am off to ponder breakfast. I then plan to clean the house a bit, finish up on laundry, run some errands, and possibly purchase items for our garden. We have plans to plant our veggie garden this weekend and I am stoked. Whoop whoop!

Happy Friday everybody!

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Seven with Sprinkles on Top

Happy weekend my friends! I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend so far, I know I am.

Last night, I made my self a salad that always hits the spot: BBQ pulled chicken salad. I’ve mentioned before this one is inspired from Famous Dave’s BBQ pulled chicken salad.

In this salad: leafy greens, shredded cheese, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and BBQ pulled chicken. I drizzled a small amount of Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard over the top. All I was missing was a fresh batch of corn bread (which I debated making but ran out of time).

After dinner, we met up with a bunch of my friends from high school because the two guys that we visited on our recent trip to California, Brandon and Will (please don’t get mad for posting this photo :wink:), were in town. Love these guys. It was so good to see everyone.

Dana and I called it an early night however because we had plans for a big run this morning.

Saturday morning

We woke up leisurely this morning at 7:20 am (who are we?), opened up the weather.com app on our phones and noticed a big blob of nasty weather heading our way on the radar. Hmm….we had plans to run seven miles this morning but really wouldn’t appreciate getting pelted with freezing cold rain in 40° weather. So, we decided to get out and run our errands and just do our big run tomorrow instead. I was extremely dissapointed but hey, lifes goes on.

Anyway, we brought the car in to get an oil change and tires rotated, and while we waited, we meandered over to Starbuck’s for some delicious java to warm my heart. We went for a little walk while I sipped my latte. Still no rain at this point. We were really starting to kick ourselves because original plan had been to drop off the car and go for our run while it was getting work done.

Too late though.

Once the car was ready we made a couple of stops to pick up food for a family BBQ we are hosting tonight. I was really feeling down about not getting our run in today.

When we got home, it was starting to clear up a little, and we made an executive decision that we should get our run in today, right now. We geared up and hit the ground running.

We had to leave Moose at home this time because no offense doggie, but you can’t handle seven miles. I can hardly handle seven miles. Sorry.

Towards the second half of the run, it started to sprinkle which I thought was pretty darn funny. Mother nature was teasing us today. At that point, I totally appreciated the light sprinkles. They were very refreshing.

The run was challenging as all runs are, but overall it wasn’t that bad. I was really starting to feel nervous about my lack of long distance mileage covered in conjunction with the upcoming half marathon, and this run really helped alleviate my anxiety. I am fine. I will be fine. Mind over matter.

There were two large hills during our run, and the second one at the end was particularly gruesome. I cursed it as Dana encouraged me and reminded me to let my arms help pull me through, and I made it to the top with no walk stops.

I am so extremely proud we covered seven miles today and so fortunate to have been able to run it with Dana by my side.

Now, it’s time for some lunch, and some major house cleaning. Can’t wait for our company tonight.

Have an awesome Saturday!

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Sweet Grilled Garlic

I had a wonderful little Saturday yesterday.

I woke up early and hit the ground running for 5.3 miles. It was definitely not an easy run day for me, but I fought through to the finish.

After my run I showered up and headed to my great friend Haley’s baby shower. She is due at the end of May and looking FANTASTIC. We celebrated the soon arrival of the babe with great company, a couple of games, and nummy food. There were chicken shawarmas, veggies, fruit, chips, cheese, crackers, cupcakes, brownie cookie bars, etc! It was a dream world for me. Sorry I didn’t snap a photo. It was so good to see Hales. I miss her so!

Once I got home, it was time to get busy on finishing up the bathroom. Dana had been hard at work all day and the least I could do was hold the flashlight while he screwed in some fixtures and such.

Amidst the bathroom work was a little laundry folding, and a trip to Home Depot (whoopee exciting Saturday night, right?). At around 6:30 we figured we should probably start thinking about dinner. We ran to the grocery store to find something to grill and ended up buying two chicken breasts, two garlic cloves, and a whole grain baguette.

We threw those three items on the grill and wahlah…

A healthy grilled dinner.

For those of you who have never tried grilled garlic, you should probably try it. It is pretty amazing. Just cut the top off of the garlic bulb, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper, wrap up in tin foil and grill cut side up for about 20 minutes (depending on the size of the bulb and the heat of the grill). Unwrap them, squeeze the whole bulb of garlic to pop out the individual cloves. You are left with slightly sweet and buttery garlic cloves. Num.

For dessert, two pieces of Easter chocolates.

The rest of the night was spent relaxing, ordering some wedding photos for frames that are still naked around our house, and watching a couple of episodes of Modern Family.

That was quite the speedy recap of Saturday. It was pretty great though.

I am off for now. Tons to do around the house. Catch up with you later!

 

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Unconventional Dinner

I ended up making yesterday a complete “rest” day (as for workouts that is). No workout yesterday. It felt strange for a work week because I typically don’t take rest days during the week, but I have been so extremely tired lately and have really favored the sleep.

For lunch yesterday I made myself one of my favorites: peanut butter banana wrap. I prepared the PB2 with water as usual but then also added honey and cinnamon before smearing it onto a whole wheat tortilla, and topping it with small banana.

I also had an apple (recycled photo)…

Some sugar snap peas (also a recycled photo)…

And not pictured, a dark chocolate Adora disk dipped in peanut butter. I am a PB maniac. I eat it everyday.

After work, I met up with some great friends of mine for happy hour at one of their homes. She had a wonderful spread laid out of some of my favorite snacks: veggies and hummus, chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, chocolate, and of course, red wine. I didn’t snap any photos because I was caught up in conversation and tasty treats. We were even able to enjoy the beautiful weather outside on her deck. I had an amazing time and hope we can do it more often! Love you ladies. 😉

On the way home, I made an impulse decision to veer my car into the Dairy Queen drive thru. It has been a very long time since I have had a blizzard and ya know what? I wanted an ice cream treat. I picked myself up my favorite kind which is double fudge cookie dough, and got Dana a caramel delight pie blizzard.

As you can see, I am slightly excited for what’s to come.

I LOVE ICE CREAM. This tasted better than ever. Oh, how I’ve missed you soft serve. Welcome back to my life.

Dinner was a little “unconventional” tonight, but it sure was tasty. I enjoyed every second of my evening.

The rest of the night was spent organizing a couple of things in the basement (electric is being installed in the bathroom downstairs today) and relaxing with the boys.

Happy Friday the 13th! Dun dun dun…..

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Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

I had a request from one of my loyal readers for the measurements of ingredients in my overnight yogurt bowl.

You would think I would have learned my lesson to  measure ingredients each time I make a new dish, but no such luck. Usually when I make this yogurt bowl I toss in a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and wait to see how it turns out. This pretty much makes for a different consistency in the yogurt each time. I like surprises, so it works for me! But, I thought I would figure out more appropriate measurements for all ya’ll, so last night, I prepared a bowl of overnight yogurt, and measured the ingredients. Give this a shot, and let me know how it turns out. 😉

Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oats

2 teaspoons chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

stevia or other sweetener

Directions

Combine all ingredients in bowl; mix. Cover and place in refrigerator over night. In the morning, remove cover and eat as is, or add your favorite yogurt  toppings such as fresh fruit, honey, granola, cereal, etc.

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I am off of work today and have a to-do list that is nearly endless. I feel highly motivated though so I should be okay. Plus, it’s a gloomy kind of day today which makes it easier for me to be productive inside.

Some of my to-do list:

  • Shop for shower curtain for new bathroom
  • Decide on accent colors for new bathroom
  • Make a dentist appointment
  • Make a couple of phone calls
  • Clean
  • Workout?
  • Decorate shelf ladder that we put up eons ago

I better hop to it! Speaking of hop, Easter is only a little over a week away which means Lent is nearing to an end. I am pretty darn excited to have a big ol’ hunk of chocolate; possibly a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Oh, and did I mention there is a Freeziac Frozen Yogurt Shop opening up near me? Needless to say I am just a little pumped about it. I will be going there once Lent is over and concocting something like this:

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A real quick recap of last night

I had mentioned that I had fun workout plans for after work yesterday. After work I headed to the gym and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. That’s obviously not the fun part. I was waiting for my cousin Betsy to show up. We had planned to meet at the gym and go to Zumba together. Now, I have been to three different Zumba classes each with a different instructor, and I realize that each Zumba instructor has their own style, and I respect that. With that being said, I went in to class last night with an open mind.

After the first minute of class, I could tell today’s Zumba experience was going to be, shall I say, “different.”

I really don’t know if the instructor was a certified Zumba instructor or not. Some of the moves she had us doing were completely off the wall, extremely awkward and very repetitive. The moves were nearly impossible to repeat because there was a total lack of rhythm which, as a former dancer myself, drives me crazy. I am the type of person who has a hard time NOT running to the beat in the music because I have been so trained to listen to music in dance.

We were so dissappointed in the class that we only stuck it out for the first half. I understand each instructor has their own style and there were a lot of people in the class, so it could be possible that many people out there do like this style and instructor. I just was not a fan.

Anyway, I was glad I had got my workout in beforehand, because I hadn’t broken a sweat from the first half hour of the class. Looking on the positive side though, I got to see my Betsy. LOVE HER.

After dinner I got home and Dana fired up the grill. On the menu was turkey burgers! Num!

I couldn’t decide if I wanted ketchup or bbq sauce for the burger, so I squirted a little of both on my plate! I also had a big green kale salad on the side.

K, that ended up being a little longer than a “quick” recap from last night. Now, I’m off to tackle that to-do list!

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