So once again -- I've been sick for the last week off and on. Not like I was before, but this time it was with headaches probably stemming from a combination of stress, runny nose and congestion :-/ I had "run 9 miles" on my calendar for about 5 days in a row with one headache after another. If you've ever tried to run with one, you know how impossible it is. If you're one of those who can push through the pounding that just gets worse and worse with every step, I highly respect you and want to know your secrets :-) Finally, yesterday I set out for a 6 mile run. I thought I was running my 3.5 mile route, but ended up running my 5 mile route which was going to be followed by a 3 mile route = a total of 8. I hadn't run in about 5-7 days, and I think my last run was about 7 so I didn't want to push my tired arches too hard, so I left it at 5. Becoming more body conscious in terms of preventing injury and preserving myself vs. pride and pushing to see how far I can make myself go has been an interesting transition. I think it comes with growing up maybe? Either way, you have to give into a little bit of that pride and use your brain a little more so I've come to find -- and believe me, my feet and knees thank me. :-)
Today I followed up that run with a 45 minute workout at the gym. I did a bunch of weights, working out everything from glutes, calves, hamstrings, biceps, triceps, and abs. They say not to work out everything all at once so you have other things to work out for the next day and so your muscles can heal properly (working out certain groups on certain days with time inbetween lets them heal rather than repetitive tearing of the muscle fibers), but tomorrow is my 9 mile run and I won't be doing any weights. Finally -- tackling my favorite task on my to-do list! :-)
Mom & Dad came into town this last weekend and it was so much fun getting to see them as always :-) They stocked my refrigerator and pantry prettttyyy well so that means time for new recipes! I've made a couple -- yesterday I made a butternut squash, pumpkin and apple soup that I devised from a recipe. I'm only listing the actual recipe for now because my recipe needs a bit of work and was mostly compiled of things that needed to be used (i.e. the open can of pumpkin in my frige).
Apple Butternut Squash Soup (from Clean Food by Terry Walters)
1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
4 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Sea salt to taste
Peel squash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into 2-inch pieces.
In large pot over medium heat, sauté onion in oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut milk and nutmeg. Cover, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree with handheld blender (or regular if you don't have handheld or food processor) and remove from heat to cool slightly. Season to taste with salt and serve.
Serves 6
I'm a huge fan of veggies. HUGE fan. Fresh, steamed, boiled, baked, broiled. Doesn't matter to me. One of my favorite things to do lately has been to slice turnips into circles and zucchini/summer squash long ways, toss in some asparagus and green beans, toss them in a little olive oil, sprinkle them with sea salt and multi-colored cracked pepper, then bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes on 375. Mmmm mmmm!! Of course, you can do any combo of this you want, or even throw in some others like brussle sprouts, sweet potatoes, etc. You really can not go wrong :-)
For lunch/dinner today at Skyviews, I decided to use my veggie combo, toss with a little whole wheat rotini pasta, and some turkey meat spaghetti sauce I made (my Momma's recipe--super easy and SO good!). I'm looking so forward to it!! :-)
With all that I have going on, I've been a little stressed. Not just with the never ending to do list for school, projects, tests, working out/running (which is actually my outlet of stress), but I finally discovered that it is because I don't have much semblance of a routine. Sure I have school daily, but projects and tests and homework are all over the place, multiple in one week which is normal for college. What gets me is that no day in the week is the same, schedules seem to always conflict for group projects not to mention they're all due within a couple weeks of each other (there will be 2 times this semesterwhen this happens), and I feel like sometimes there is not enough time left in the day. This realization in itself has helped me tremendously. I no longer feel like "Why can't I handle this?!" becuase I've always been able to handle a large load with no or minimal stress. I've also come to terms with the fact that you can control what you can control, and you have to learn to accept the things that you can't and work with or around them.
Have a good night! :-)
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how i react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Pain, No Gain...Or with these Muffins:)
When it comes to running, where there is actual, not supposed to be there pain, there probably won't be much gain. I was driving down Avenue X here in Lubbock the other day and I thought back to when I was training for a marathon over a year ago with my friend Lauren. As I was driving I thought about my old running motto I used to tell myself if I started to feel pain (real pain, not muscle fatigue or something normally related to exercise) which was "feel no pain". Looking back now, I couldn't have been more ignorant about it. I thought the pain and injury meant I was a real athlete and that I was pushing my body to the limits. Well I was pushing my body to the limits, just not in the way I wanted. For those of you who have read Marathoning for Mortals or follow RunnersWorld.com (or magazine), John "the penguin" Bingham used to have a very similar mindset. Even after reading Marathoning for Mortals and about how he was the same way as me, I kept on with the same mind set. But of course as with everything else, I learn the hard way--through my own experience. It was on this street, that the dreadful moment happened when I pushed it too far past the pain to run in the race. We were running down this street around mile 11 on a 16 mile run when the pain I had been having in my foot finally got too much for me to keep running. When we got to University and 19th, I told her quickly that my foot couldn't handle it anymore for the day and left her to finish the rest of the run as I ran/hobble/limp/walked back to my car about a mile away. It didn't take long for me to realize this wasn't going to go away so I called my Sports Medicine doctor to see what they could do. They said feet weren't his specialty and referred me to someone else. Unfortunately, this someone else was not on my insurance so I looked up what foot doctors here in Lubbock were on my insurance. I made an appointment for that week. Turns out, I had plantar fasciitis. The first step was to tape my feet and see how that went. If I responded well, I would get orthotics and not have to undergo cortisone shots or surgery. Luckily, besides the blisters and not being able to wash my feet from the tape for 2 weeks (that was worse than the blisters) my plantar fascia did seem to be doing better. I got the orthotics about 4 weeks later. I kept off of it for another couple of weeks before I went stir crazy and tried running with them. I experimented in many different ways -- having them on top of the pads, under the pads, one on top and one under. For a long time I had my right on top and my left under. My left foot never really hurt, but the right was killing me so I felt like I got more support out of it this way but left my left foot to be more comfortable (while still getting the extra support). It took a long long time to finally get back to real running shape, feet and otherwise (but mostly feet) -- I would say about 10 months to a year. There were times I would go out and run and it wouldn't hurt at all, others it would kill me. When this happened, I would rest it for as long as I could (usually about a few weeks) before I would break down and cry and mentally have to go on a run. For those of you who aren't runners or who don't know me, when I don't run I'm not myself. It's my morning coffee. My calming, mind clearing, relaxing, zoning out, fix. It's also what I do when I'm mad, stressed, upset or flat want to punch someone in the face. It's nothing a few sprints or a long run can't fix but when I can't do that, I go a little crazy and I can get a bit bitchy. However, I am finally back to having healthy (mostly) feet thanks to a lot of ice, A LOT of impatience that I just had to wait out, a lot of E-STIM (which I have my own so I don't have to go and pay $2,000 for treatment thankfully), and those orthotics. Now that I'm back to running my normal mileage (anywhere from 4-10 miles every other day), I'm being much more careful and much smarter (even though sometimes my pride will get in the way and try and sneak in every now and then telling me to run farther when I shouldn't). I'm finally accepting the fact that I may not be able to run a marathon anytime soon if ever. Not that I won't try and give it my best go, but this time I'm going to listen to my body. Lesson in my long spiel: if you feel pain (again--real pain, not fatigue or muscle exhaustion, or the pain you feel when you first start working out), there is no gain. In fact, you'll lose out on time of running or whatever it is that you're into that caused this, if you keep pushing through it. I'm not a fan of going to the doctor's office, but sometimes you suck it up and do what you gotta do. :)
Now for those muffins...
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Orange Banana Bread
(I swear if you think vegan is code for "not very tasty", these will change your mind:))
Yields 12 squares/muffins
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup white flour
3 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or applesauce)
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange zest
1 large orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non dairy like hemp, soy, coconut, etc...)
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt (omit if using salted nuts/seeds)
1/3 cup maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 cup crushed pecans/nuts
2 tbsp crushed/whole flax seeds
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees*
1. Add flour, dry spices, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
2. Add in the almond/soy/coconut/hemp milk, oil, vanilla extract, bananas, pumpkin or applesauce, orange juice and maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Mix in pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of the orange zest, and additional nuts.
4. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a shallow 8 x 14" baking pan/dish (for bars) or line muffin tin.
5. Pour batter into baking dish. Smooth out for bars.
6. Combine another 1/4 cup of maple syrup with a little cinnamon, and the other tsp of orange zest. Drizzle this over the top of the bars or muffins and then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds over the top.
7. bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your bars/muffins are. These should be lightly browned at the edges and you can always use a tootpick/knife/other long skinny object to poke in the middle and see if they're done.
8. Remove and let cool. I ate these every morning for breakfast, sometimes I'd even have two. They're great alone, or crumbled into chunks over fruit (I used diced honey crisp apples, a sliced banana, and an orange cut into bit size pieces) with vanilla almond milk and cinnamon. Mmmm mmm!!! I also tried just dipping it in my vanilla almond milk, and with jam -- both of which were also delicious!
Now for those muffins...
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Orange Banana Bread
(I swear if you think vegan is code for "not very tasty", these will change your mind:))
Yields 12 squares/muffins
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup white flour
3 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or applesauce)
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange zest
1 large orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non dairy like hemp, soy, coconut, etc...)
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt (omit if using salted nuts/seeds)
1/3 cup maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 cup crushed pecans/nuts
2 tbsp crushed/whole flax seeds
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees*
1. Add flour, dry spices, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
2. Add in the almond/soy/coconut/hemp milk, oil, vanilla extract, bananas, pumpkin or applesauce, orange juice and maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Mix in pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of the orange zest, and additional nuts.
4. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a shallow 8 x 14" baking pan/dish (for bars) or line muffin tin.
5. Pour batter into baking dish. Smooth out for bars.
6. Combine another 1/4 cup of maple syrup with a little cinnamon, and the other tsp of orange zest. Drizzle this over the top of the bars or muffins and then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds over the top.
7. bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your bars/muffins are. These should be lightly browned at the edges and you can always use a tootpick/knife/other long skinny object to poke in the middle and see if they're done.
8. Remove and let cool. I ate these every morning for breakfast, sometimes I'd even have two. They're great alone, or crumbled into chunks over fruit (I used diced honey crisp apples, a sliced banana, and an orange cut into bit size pieces) with vanilla almond milk and cinnamon. Mmmm mmm!!! I also tried just dipping it in my vanilla almond milk, and with jam -- both of which were also delicious!
I must fess up -- I snagged the one that is missing before taking this picture to make sure they were finished. Turns out they were, and they were also very delicious.:) They also kept me full for a very long time which is also a plus so you're not eating these calories (since carbs usually leave me pretty hungry a couple hours later) and then quickly consuing a whole bunch more from getting hungry again fast.
I am finally back to running and working out again after taking a 6 day hiatus because I was sick. Even those 6 days were almost too much for me to take. On the night of day 5, I started crying and had to explain to Patrick that nothing was really wrong, I simply just wanted to go on a run! Luckily, he understood and didn't think I was a crazy. :) The first day back, I ran a short 3.5 miles while listening to Michael Buble' in the amazing 48 degree weather, and yesterday I had a great workout at the gym for two solid hours -- just what I needed:) I may not be completely better so I'm not going to go balls to the wall just yet, but I am getting better and want to keep getting better so those 7 milers are going to have to wait until next week most likely. I did run a good 7.26 (thank you to map my run, I know exactly how far I went) the day before taking my wonderful/horrid 6 days off.
Something else that has been going on in my life is some spring (fall) cleaning. Not my house though, my life.:) In college (as most of you know), you have a lot of friends. Some are genuine and love you and have you're best interests at heart (and vice versa), but there are some that try to put on this face of the genuine friend but in fact end up coming very short of the genuine friend. These are the people that I literally do not have time for (I hardly have time for my genuine friends!), they suck energy, and this may sound a little selfish (but sometimes you have to be because you are who you are so you must do what makes you happy) but they don't give you anything. I'm not talking about physical posessions or drinks at the bar, what I mean is they don't contribute to your happiness. I'm also not talking about your best friend who you're in a huge fight with right now because those things happen. This might sound harsh to smoe of you but as you also know, I'm very into supreme happiness and how people get there. There are no right steps in some specific order for all of us because we all have to be true to our own selves. This is exactly what I'm doing, being true to myself and my wants and needs. My house did also get a little bit of a face-lift and I have been cleaning more often and more deeply (thank you Mom & Dad for the new vacuum!) which contributes to my happiness so that can count for the spring (fall) cleaning too:)
I'm sure a lot of you have tried, heard of, or seen these Garden of Eatin' chips at the store. I have, and I'll be honest I didn't try them because they had more calories than the Guiltless Gourmet chips I keep buying. Well, Patrick and I have been going through the salsa and chips like nobody's business (highly recommend Frontera's salsa (in all varieties -- you can not go wrong!) and he was not a fan of the Guiltless Gourmet (the spicy bean flavored was better for him, but didn't go so well with the Pineapple Mango Frontera slasa we had in the frige). So last night, we got a little hungry and made a trip down to Market Street. I was getting a little tired of the Guiltless Gourmet myself and decided to make the switch! I got the Multi Grain with Sea Salt and they're SO GOOD! They have flax seeds in them too so they have a little nutiness which is great and they aren't too salty like most chips are. I believe for 16 chips its 140 calories which isn't much different than the 18 chips for 120 that the Guiltless Gourmet offered, but they're also a very welcome change:) Not that I won't be buying my Guiltless Gourmet again, or that I'm bad mouthing them now that I found these -- no way. But 3 bags of them in one week for a couple weeks in a row did get to be a lot of the same after the same after the same. So with that, I highly recommend these marvelous chips! I took a picture but it isn't wanting to load. I'll leave you with that and I hope you have a great week!:)
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ohh Sangria & Peanut Butter...
I'd like to apologize: I thought this had been posted last Sunday (as in not yesterday, but the one before), and just now saw that this was saved to edit. Woops! You'll be getting 2 this week instead then:)
So besides the Texas Tech vs Texas game on Saturday, this week has been pretty OK. Stressfull to say the very least but I finally feel like it's lightening up. Yesterday all my Business Stats homework was due, I took my Marketing test, I took my Sports Nutrition test today, had my kitchen manager conference for my dinner series class yesterday so that will be over tomorrow -- thank goodness I feel like my load is finally lifting! I do need to get my butt to Stats tutoring though for my test next week, and we have more homework due Tuesday but that will be more manageable now that everything else will have calmed down so yay for that:)
The good thing about the game on Saturday though was the DELICIOUS food!! It probably (definitely) wasn't the best thing I could have eaten as far as fat content, but the brisket and pork shoulder were nothing short of amazing. My homemade bbq sauce was also a big hit which made my heart smile:)
Friday night, my family and Patrick's family went to La Diosa (a wine bar here in Lubbock) and drank about 4 pitchers of their sangria (you might be able to order it over the phone; here is the website -- http://www.ladiosacellars.com/aboutus.html )-- it's amazing. So if you like sangria, I'd definitely see about ordering a few bottles. If you live in the Lubbock area though, you can get it at Market Street for half the price at $7.50 a bottle. At La Diosa, they add a can of sprite and an orange slice to the mix. I personally like it all alone with an orange wheel over ice:) It does have a way of making me feel glowy and giggly! I absolutely LOVED having my family and Patrick's family in town!
Momma took me grocery shopping on Friday and on our little trip we got some PB2. I've had it before, and used to eat it like it was an addiction, but you know how sometimes when you eat too much of something in a short time, you don't really want it again for a LONG time after that? Well, that's what happened. However, if you're a peanut butter lover, (I'm more of an almond butter or cashew butter girl myself but still thought I'd give it a try and you'll see why--) this is an awesome product. It's compressed peanuts in the form of powder. They get rid of all the oils and you can get it in plain peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter (I've only had the chocolate which is delicious). At 45 calories for 2 Tbsp, and 10 from fat, you can't really get any better. It's still simple ingredients which is always important.
Hope you had a great week since I didn't get to wish you a good one last Sunday, and I hope this one is even better.:)
So besides the Texas Tech vs Texas game on Saturday, this week has been pretty OK. Stressfull to say the very least but I finally feel like it's lightening up. Yesterday all my Business Stats homework was due, I took my Marketing test, I took my Sports Nutrition test today, had my kitchen manager conference for my dinner series class yesterday so that will be over tomorrow -- thank goodness I feel like my load is finally lifting! I do need to get my butt to Stats tutoring though for my test next week, and we have more homework due Tuesday but that will be more manageable now that everything else will have calmed down so yay for that:)
The good thing about the game on Saturday though was the DELICIOUS food!! It probably (definitely) wasn't the best thing I could have eaten as far as fat content, but the brisket and pork shoulder were nothing short of amazing. My homemade bbq sauce was also a big hit which made my heart smile:)
Friday night, my family and Patrick's family went to La Diosa (a wine bar here in Lubbock) and drank about 4 pitchers of their sangria (you might be able to order it over the phone; here is the website -- http://www.ladiosacellars.com/aboutus.html )-- it's amazing. So if you like sangria, I'd definitely see about ordering a few bottles. If you live in the Lubbock area though, you can get it at Market Street for half the price at $7.50 a bottle. At La Diosa, they add a can of sprite and an orange slice to the mix. I personally like it all alone with an orange wheel over ice:) It does have a way of making me feel glowy and giggly! I absolutely LOVED having my family and Patrick's family in town!
Momma took me grocery shopping on Friday and on our little trip we got some PB2. I've had it before, and used to eat it like it was an addiction, but you know how sometimes when you eat too much of something in a short time, you don't really want it again for a LONG time after that? Well, that's what happened. However, if you're a peanut butter lover, (I'm more of an almond butter or cashew butter girl myself but still thought I'd give it a try and you'll see why--) this is an awesome product. It's compressed peanuts in the form of powder. They get rid of all the oils and you can get it in plain peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter (I've only had the chocolate which is delicious). At 45 calories for 2 Tbsp, and 10 from fat, you can't really get any better. It's still simple ingredients which is always important.
Hope you had a great week since I didn't get to wish you a good one last Sunday, and I hope this one is even better.:)
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Love of My Life is Quite Possibly BBQ
19 hours is. A. Lot. A lot a lot. I didn't realize how much organization it would take. I think a lot of it is me still getting settled but a lot of it too is there is just a bunch of school stuff going on. 5 Projects all due roughly at the same time. This wouldn't be awful if it was just me, but because they're group and most college students like to procrastinate it'll be difficult to juggle them all at the same time. Not to mention, they're all relatively pretty huge. The biggest being my Skyviews dinner series. Skyviews is a Texas Tech run restaurant that is located on University and 19th on the 6th floor of the Bank of America building. What we do in dinner series is partner up with somebody, the chef gives us a featured item (mine is beef medallions), we come up with a theme, get decorations, prepare it (I will not be preparing the beef medallions but the pot roast which is for another group -- this is what you do when you are the kitchen manager), invite everybody you know and make the reservations (100 people is what it takes to make the grade), and you manage the restaurant for that night. You also work with the two other groups in your week and collaborate on everything. We'll just see how this goes. I'm not too concerned, but I hate when I can't do much yet (mine is October 27th so it's hard to get reservations and trust people won't forget this far in advance). Frankly, it stresses me out. Fortunately or unfortunately -- however you want to look at it, I stress on the inside and rarely actually show it outwardly. So, I guess that is unfortunate for me and my little nerves as well as the people I may yell at on the road (in my car -- they don't hear me but they may think I look a little funny), but fortunate for everybody else;) The bright side is after this semester I'm pretty sure I'll be positive I can take on the world. This is even harder than working in the restaurant for 40 hours in 3 days. Yuck.
It's been hard to make a lot of different recipes because I've been on a budget for one (trying), and school is just taking up a lot of mental capacity as well as time. There just isn't much creative juice at the end of the day, and I feel like I'm "wasting" my time when I spend the time coming up with something new. That will change as the semester goes on. I'm already getting better about it. Today I had lunch with my mom and our family friend Ruth who told me "Life by the inch is a cinch. Life by the yard is hard. Life by the mile is a trial." So true. I've been telling myself to not look too far into the future (and by that I mean next week or the week after -- too many tests and papers and projects and homework!! Talk about mental overload!!). The farthest I'm letting myself look is the end of the week just to make sure I'm on top of everything, but I take it day by day. It seems to be helping a lot with the stress. And that's another thing, I am not a very stressed out person at all so this is something I'm learning to deal with. Running/swimming/gym, you are my savior in this respect.
However, in the midst of all the crazyness I make sure I have time for fun:) Fun is necessary for happiness afterall. This weekend I went home to Dallas with Patrick to see his mom and step-dad which was SO MUCH FUN! Big boost towards happiness;) Not to mention a much needed break. We went to the Rangers v. Yankees game on Friday night where the Blue Man Group did the national anthem and a little 5 minute number after the show -- followed by fireworks!! :) Then the next day we hung out with his family and went to Frankies to watch the Tech/NM game -- Wreck Em' Tech! This weekend is also the Tech/Texas game and it's here on our home turf. Pretty excited!! My mom is already here (though she isn't going to the game) and my dad and sister are driving out on Friday. Sarah (my sister) went to UT so it'll be a good game either way;) I'm making the BBQ sauce for the tailgate so I'll be sure and post that recipe after it's been made and fine-tuned:)
But back to the not cooking new things as much. What I have been doing a lot of is making shakes for breakfast and maybe having a handfull of cereal to go with it (Kashi cinnamon harvest is what I've been munching on lately -- love those whole grains!) To do this, I take 1 cup of Organic Pacific Vanilla Almond milk (70 calories per cup), roughly 1 - 2 (probably usually in the 1.5 cup area) cups frozen or fresh peaches/bananas/blueberries/rasperries/strawberries/mango/etc. Whatever combo you so desire:) Sometimes I throw in a little cocoa powder (I rarely measure it, I just start with 1 Tbsp and add on from there -- 1 Tbsp is about 20 calories) and then blend! Lately it's been the almond milk + strawberries + 1/2 banana + cocoa powder. This morning I switched it up with almond milk + frozen peaches + frozen rasperries + blueberries + cocoa powder + lavender infused honey (I got this in San Antonio at the Pearl Brewery farmers market they hold on Saturday mornings). D'LISH! I've officially moved on from the strawberry banana concoction:) Lunch sometimes will be just a cherry dark chocolate Kashi bar when I can't make it home and have to live off what I bring to school, but I've also been making a lot of healthy bbq sandwiches. Here is how I make these:
Ingredients:
Organic free range chicken tenders
Stubbs chicken marinade OR their texas steakhouse marinade
Stubbs smoky mesquite bbq sauce
Orowheat double fiber bread (1-2 slices whether you are wanting a half or a whole -- I usually make a half but 2 tenders should be enough for a whole as well)
Pickles (I like Claussen sandwich slices)
To keep chicken (and this also helps to tenderize as well as absorb the marinade better), I put it in a plastic baggie (usually 2 tenders to a bag) and put the marinade in with it (just enough to cover the chicken -- it doesn't have to be completely submerged). Then I put it in the freezer. Even if I know I'm going to be making it the next day, I just like what it does for the flavor and texture of the chicken.
When it's time to actually make the chicken, I take it out of the freezer and run it under ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER and let it sit for about 20 minutes (until thawed). While I'm doing this, I preheat the oven to 375. When my chicken is thawed, I place it in the foil with the marinade and close it on all sides so the chicken is in a little pouch. Now I pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes (this is for both tenders). Once done, I put the bread in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Now I tear the chicken (I like tearing more than cutting because it goes with the grain) and place on half of the bread. Top with the bbq sauce, the pickles and finally the other half of the bread. ENJOY!!:)
This is great for college and for bbq lovers -- SO much healthier than the fatty beef and white bread you get at bbq places and just as good in my opinion.
Dinner is whatever I'm feeling like. Either veggies, something from Market Street, chicken, a salad, whatever. I do try to keep it healthy and I'm trying to not eat after 7-8 PM. I have been drinking a lot of sangria and shiraz in these hours though;)
Have a good night and be happy<3
It's been hard to make a lot of different recipes because I've been on a budget for one (trying), and school is just taking up a lot of mental capacity as well as time. There just isn't much creative juice at the end of the day, and I feel like I'm "wasting" my time when I spend the time coming up with something new. That will change as the semester goes on. I'm already getting better about it. Today I had lunch with my mom and our family friend Ruth who told me "Life by the inch is a cinch. Life by the yard is hard. Life by the mile is a trial." So true. I've been telling myself to not look too far into the future (and by that I mean next week or the week after -- too many tests and papers and projects and homework!! Talk about mental overload!!). The farthest I'm letting myself look is the end of the week just to make sure I'm on top of everything, but I take it day by day. It seems to be helping a lot with the stress. And that's another thing, I am not a very stressed out person at all so this is something I'm learning to deal with. Running/swimming/gym, you are my savior in this respect.
However, in the midst of all the crazyness I make sure I have time for fun:) Fun is necessary for happiness afterall. This weekend I went home to Dallas with Patrick to see his mom and step-dad which was SO MUCH FUN! Big boost towards happiness;) Not to mention a much needed break. We went to the Rangers v. Yankees game on Friday night where the Blue Man Group did the national anthem and a little 5 minute number after the show -- followed by fireworks!! :) Then the next day we hung out with his family and went to Frankies to watch the Tech/NM game -- Wreck Em' Tech! This weekend is also the Tech/Texas game and it's here on our home turf. Pretty excited!! My mom is already here (though she isn't going to the game) and my dad and sister are driving out on Friday. Sarah (my sister) went to UT so it'll be a good game either way;) I'm making the BBQ sauce for the tailgate so I'll be sure and post that recipe after it's been made and fine-tuned:)
This is us at the Rangers game:) 13 innings is a long game, that's for sure! But it helped to make up for my 11 years of not being to a baseball game -- that's a long time for anyone let alone a sports lover. Apparently the Rangers and Yankees knew that so they tried to help me out;)
Gorgeous sunset on our drive back to Lubbock last night -- just wanted to share:)
But back to the not cooking new things as much. What I have been doing a lot of is making shakes for breakfast and maybe having a handfull of cereal to go with it (Kashi cinnamon harvest is what I've been munching on lately -- love those whole grains!) To do this, I take 1 cup of Organic Pacific Vanilla Almond milk (70 calories per cup), roughly 1 - 2 (probably usually in the 1.5 cup area) cups frozen or fresh peaches/bananas/blueberries/rasperries/strawberries/mango/etc. Whatever combo you so desire:) Sometimes I throw in a little cocoa powder (I rarely measure it, I just start with 1 Tbsp and add on from there -- 1 Tbsp is about 20 calories) and then blend! Lately it's been the almond milk + strawberries + 1/2 banana + cocoa powder. This morning I switched it up with almond milk + frozen peaches + frozen rasperries + blueberries + cocoa powder + lavender infused honey (I got this in San Antonio at the Pearl Brewery farmers market they hold on Saturday mornings). D'LISH! I've officially moved on from the strawberry banana concoction:) Lunch sometimes will be just a cherry dark chocolate Kashi bar when I can't make it home and have to live off what I bring to school, but I've also been making a lot of healthy bbq sandwiches. Here is how I make these:
Ingredients:
Organic free range chicken tenders
Stubbs chicken marinade OR their texas steakhouse marinade
Stubbs smoky mesquite bbq sauce
Orowheat double fiber bread (1-2 slices whether you are wanting a half or a whole -- I usually make a half but 2 tenders should be enough for a whole as well)
Pickles (I like Claussen sandwich slices)
To keep chicken (and this also helps to tenderize as well as absorb the marinade better), I put it in a plastic baggie (usually 2 tenders to a bag) and put the marinade in with it (just enough to cover the chicken -- it doesn't have to be completely submerged). Then I put it in the freezer. Even if I know I'm going to be making it the next day, I just like what it does for the flavor and texture of the chicken.
When it's time to actually make the chicken, I take it out of the freezer and run it under ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER and let it sit for about 20 minutes (until thawed). While I'm doing this, I preheat the oven to 375. When my chicken is thawed, I place it in the foil with the marinade and close it on all sides so the chicken is in a little pouch. Now I pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes (this is for both tenders). Once done, I put the bread in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Now I tear the chicken (I like tearing more than cutting because it goes with the grain) and place on half of the bread. Top with the bbq sauce, the pickles and finally the other half of the bread. ENJOY!!:)
This is great for college and for bbq lovers -- SO much healthier than the fatty beef and white bread you get at bbq places and just as good in my opinion.
Dinner is whatever I'm feeling like. Either veggies, something from Market Street, chicken, a salad, whatever. I do try to keep it healthy and I'm trying to not eat after 7-8 PM. I have been drinking a lot of sangria and shiraz in these hours though;)
Have a good night and be happy<3
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Change comes with time
I'm not even sure how long it has been since I last updated. To sum everything up, I've been busy with ending my internship, moving to Lubbock, starting school and now looking for a job. I wasn't sure I wanted to even continue the blog but I realized that I really do love sharing what I know with people. I felt like I was running out of new information to write these long posts, but I realized a few of things; 1) The posts do not have to be so lengthy, 2) I don't have to press myself to come up with things daily and 3) I am taking a Sports Nutrition class this semester so I'm sure to have a lot of information to post.
As for training, I'll just leave that to be whatever as of right now. I'm still wanting to do the marathon, I'm nervous however about over training. I just ordered new shoes (I needed them DESPERATELY) because I could feel these getting crappier with every run, which is just asking for a plantar fasciitis flair up. Here's the new game plan; train in one month (officially) for the marathon. If I don't have the time, or I start to feel like my foot is giving in, I'll stop. I get daily e-mails from runnersworld.com and this one had the headline of "Train for a Marathon in 1 Month" so I opened it and thought it looked like something I'd not yet tried. There are two catches -- it is one month yes, but you start at 12 miles. So officially, it'll be 1 month but I'll be getting up to 12 miles (or sustaining) until the official training start date. The second catch is that they say your only goal with this plan is to finish without any expectations. That is the hard one for me because I like to set a goal and surpass it (my goal being to beat the 4 hour mark). But, my first goal was to finish the marathon so I better just stick to tackling that one until I know I can do it without injury. If however, this does not work out, I will run the half marathon and call it good. From then, I'll be sticking to mostly triathalons once I get better at swimming laps without stopping.
The Happiness Project is a GREAT book and I highly recommend it to everybody:) I feel like I may have mentioned that in my last post, but regardless it deserves to be said again.
I am VERY READY for fall! I love the sunshine and all that it brings, but fall is oh-so cozy and I'm ready for the boots, jeans, ski trips, running in my northface pull over, snow, red noses, and football games where you won't sweat your buns off:)
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
-Alan Watts
As for training, I'll just leave that to be whatever as of right now. I'm still wanting to do the marathon, I'm nervous however about over training. I just ordered new shoes (I needed them DESPERATELY) because I could feel these getting crappier with every run, which is just asking for a plantar fasciitis flair up. Here's the new game plan; train in one month (officially) for the marathon. If I don't have the time, or I start to feel like my foot is giving in, I'll stop. I get daily e-mails from runnersworld.com and this one had the headline of "Train for a Marathon in 1 Month" so I opened it and thought it looked like something I'd not yet tried. There are two catches -- it is one month yes, but you start at 12 miles. So officially, it'll be 1 month but I'll be getting up to 12 miles (or sustaining) until the official training start date. The second catch is that they say your only goal with this plan is to finish without any expectations. That is the hard one for me because I like to set a goal and surpass it (my goal being to beat the 4 hour mark). But, my first goal was to finish the marathon so I better just stick to tackling that one until I know I can do it without injury. If however, this does not work out, I will run the half marathon and call it good. From then, I'll be sticking to mostly triathalons once I get better at swimming laps without stopping.
The Happiness Project is a GREAT book and I highly recommend it to everybody:) I feel like I may have mentioned that in my last post, but regardless it deserves to be said again.
I am VERY READY for fall! I love the sunshine and all that it brings, but fall is oh-so cozy and I'm ready for the boots, jeans, ski trips, running in my northface pull over, snow, red noses, and football games where you won't sweat your buns off:)
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
-Alan Watts
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Guilt, Overload, Happiness & Monster Muffins:)
So, I was feeling guilty for not updating as much as I said I would from the very start (and then it dwindled to once a week and now I let it get to 2 weeks). But I was reading somebody's blog the other day and it actually talked about how we always feel guilty when we don't update, like we let people down (which is exactly how I feel). She went into how we started a blog for fun, beyond whatever the other reasons are (mine were because I love food and creating new recipes and above all I really wanted to be a source for those who can not have lactose or want to improve what they eat but don't know where to start). So, that helped me a little bit to get over my guilt. The blogger talked about how it's the same feeling you get when you're a little kid and didn't do your homework so now you're having to tell the teacher why you didn't. Makes sense, doesn't it?:)
Truth is, I didn't want to blog just about my internship which is what it would have been if I'd posted any sooner. I've been so busy with work that I haven't created, let alone tried any new recipes or even made any huge trips to the grocery store to "discover" any new food I want to share. I've been working in the mornings mostly, so when I get off and it's time for my "day", I'm so exhausted I just come home, make something easy (and healthy), and pass out. This week however will be different. I work a lot of nights, so I get to have my "day" early on! Hooray:) More cooking/creating/blogging time!:)
Obviously, I'm having a bit of trouble with time management and probably taking on too much. Not too much anything -- that I could handle more of, but many athletic goals. I started swimming, which I've had 3 lessons out of 5 and if I don't even have the last two I still feel like I got out of it what I wanted. With that I want to do a triathalon which I've reluctantly put slightly to the side to make room for work and a marathon. Then you have the marathon -- the doozy that I'm battling with. It's not that the training is hard, I'm not even that far into it. I've fun farther for fun -- today was supposed to be a 9 mile long run. However, I fall into this every time I start to train and that is that training sucks the fun out of running for me. I hate having to have to run -- but I love getting up in the morning and just running 9 miles because I have the time or maybe I planned to do it the following morning the night before. There is something about training, I'm not sure what it is. Maybe all the complicated things I know I should be doing like the fartleks and the drills, but I hate having to make time for those too. I do sprints, and weights and I cross train like crazy but that's it. So here I am, in debate. Do I force myself to do this life goal? Or do I take a step back, do the half marathon's for a while and do that when the timing feels right? When I want to do things, I want to do them now and have a hard time waiting. But the voice in my head is speaking up a little more this time and it's telling me that I won't enjoy it if I hate the training. Who runs a marathon when they don't like running anyway? I love running. But right now, it's more of a frustration than an outlet for me. Thoughts? I've also taken up boxing. I get the GroupOn notifications and got a coupon for training like a fighter at Club K.O. I LOVE IT!! I loved punching the crap out of the bag, I loved the drills, I loved seeing all kinds of people in this club from super fit to morbidl obese wanting to work on their fitness -- because it wasn't easy let me tell you, but not so hard I couldn't do it. However, I'm feeling a little sore today and cannot WAIT to go back!! I got 25 classes for $25 with my GroupOn and I have only 3 weeks left here in SA. I fully intend to use as many of those as I can. That also interferes with training though of course! It counts as cross training, sure. But I want to do it as much as possible, not just once a week. So with that I have a couple to 3 days a week of running, then a couple days for boxing, a couple for swimming and one for weights. They can over lap, but I can't over expend my energy because at work I need a sharp mind and I'm constantly moving and thinking. Oh what to do, what to do?
The countdown is on and only 3 more weeks left until I'm back in Lubbock. I'm excited, but now I'm also very reluctant to leave my actual family (Mom, Dad, Sarah - in Austin, and Dakota -- the family dog) as well as my work family. I've come to love being around them (I already knew this about my family family--I'm talking about my Kona "family") and I look forward to going to work every day and seeing everybody and working hard with them. I'm really going to miss it this next year. Although I really want to travel, which I think I still with for a while if I have the funds; if I was offered a job at Kona, it would be a really hard decision for me to decide whether to take it or move across the ocean and apprentice for awhile. The experience of moving would be amazing, and being in the new place would be amazing, but I wouldn't have the family (family family, friends family, and work family) that I have here. We'll see, I suppose it's a year off but I want to start thinking now. This is if not the rest of my life, a huge part of my future and who I am/will be.
Quite a deep post:) A lot has been going on in this ol' noggin of mine that's for sure.:)
As for food, I found this recipe I have not yet made on green muffins made with spinich. Sounds awful right? Well I think they actually look really good and I've had a couple friends make them and have heard good things. I'll make them soon, but I haven't had the time. And I'm not much of a muffin person because they're usually loaded with sugar but these aren't so much:) Monster Muffin Recipe
I've also switched back to almond milk for the time being. I compared labels one day and came to find that almond milk generally has less chemicals than coconut milk. Maybe some of them are naturally occuring but I don't really think so or it wouldn't be on the ingredient label. I'm currently drinking the Pacific organic almond milk which is good and nutty, but I really enjoyed the Silk almond milk -- quite delicious.:)
I've also managed to get halfway through the Happiness Project! Me and this woman are nothing alike. First of all, she's married with kids and into law and politics. She's written books on Churchill and JFK and she seems fairly serious and doesn't have a ton of interests. However, even though I think we're as different as different can be, I love the book because I find that a lot of what she says is true and helpful! I think of myself as a pretty happy person, very happy a lot of the time. But this book has made me think about starting my own happiness project and picking something to work on for one month, adding on to it each month for a year to become happier and better yourself as a person. I definitely think everyone should read this. It has chapters on parenting and marriage but it's all relative, you can apply it to any relationship in your life. Did you know that because women are more empathetic, spending time with women increases your overall life satisfaction where as spending time with men does not at all? And women bond being face to face with a person where men can being side by side which is why women are usually the ones trying to bring up more meaningful conversations and wanting to "talk" so much with their spouse/boyfriend. I thought that was interesting:) It was in the chapter on marriage.
Eat to Live is still sitting on my bedside table staring at me. So is New Good Food. New Good Food though I feel is more of something to have, read through once, and then refer back to. Maybe take some notes on it as well which is what I'm planning to do when I can find the time and not feel like I'm going to fall asleep during the middle of the task. I'll get to them though, I promise. Odds are you'll have to be patient or give up on waiting and go read it first.:) And if you do, let me know what you think.;)
So for my birthday, on top of my marvelous knives -- I got a hand mixer/immersion blender and an olive oil spritzer from my parents, and my sister got me some really cute earrings! Yay, such a good birthday!:) I can't wait to use the cooking stuff! I've already worn the earrings and gotten many compliments:) It sure is great to have a sister who shares the same style as you, makes gift buying super easy and the recipient is pretty much guaranteed to love it.:)
"Perfection is unattainable, but as we strive for it, we might just reach excellence."-Vince Lombarde
Truth is, I didn't want to blog just about my internship which is what it would have been if I'd posted any sooner. I've been so busy with work that I haven't created, let alone tried any new recipes or even made any huge trips to the grocery store to "discover" any new food I want to share. I've been working in the mornings mostly, so when I get off and it's time for my "day", I'm so exhausted I just come home, make something easy (and healthy), and pass out. This week however will be different. I work a lot of nights, so I get to have my "day" early on! Hooray:) More cooking/creating/blogging time!:)
Obviously, I'm having a bit of trouble with time management and probably taking on too much. Not too much anything -- that I could handle more of, but many athletic goals. I started swimming, which I've had 3 lessons out of 5 and if I don't even have the last two I still feel like I got out of it what I wanted. With that I want to do a triathalon which I've reluctantly put slightly to the side to make room for work and a marathon. Then you have the marathon -- the doozy that I'm battling with. It's not that the training is hard, I'm not even that far into it. I've fun farther for fun -- today was supposed to be a 9 mile long run. However, I fall into this every time I start to train and that is that training sucks the fun out of running for me. I hate having to have to run -- but I love getting up in the morning and just running 9 miles because I have the time or maybe I planned to do it the following morning the night before. There is something about training, I'm not sure what it is. Maybe all the complicated things I know I should be doing like the fartleks and the drills, but I hate having to make time for those too. I do sprints, and weights and I cross train like crazy but that's it. So here I am, in debate. Do I force myself to do this life goal? Or do I take a step back, do the half marathon's for a while and do that when the timing feels right? When I want to do things, I want to do them now and have a hard time waiting. But the voice in my head is speaking up a little more this time and it's telling me that I won't enjoy it if I hate the training. Who runs a marathon when they don't like running anyway? I love running. But right now, it's more of a frustration than an outlet for me. Thoughts? I've also taken up boxing. I get the GroupOn notifications and got a coupon for training like a fighter at Club K.O. I LOVE IT!! I loved punching the crap out of the bag, I loved the drills, I loved seeing all kinds of people in this club from super fit to morbidl obese wanting to work on their fitness -- because it wasn't easy let me tell you, but not so hard I couldn't do it. However, I'm feeling a little sore today and cannot WAIT to go back!! I got 25 classes for $25 with my GroupOn and I have only 3 weeks left here in SA. I fully intend to use as many of those as I can. That also interferes with training though of course! It counts as cross training, sure. But I want to do it as much as possible, not just once a week. So with that I have a couple to 3 days a week of running, then a couple days for boxing, a couple for swimming and one for weights. They can over lap, but I can't over expend my energy because at work I need a sharp mind and I'm constantly moving and thinking. Oh what to do, what to do?
The countdown is on and only 3 more weeks left until I'm back in Lubbock. I'm excited, but now I'm also very reluctant to leave my actual family (Mom, Dad, Sarah - in Austin, and Dakota -- the family dog) as well as my work family. I've come to love being around them (I already knew this about my family family--I'm talking about my Kona "family") and I look forward to going to work every day and seeing everybody and working hard with them. I'm really going to miss it this next year. Although I really want to travel, which I think I still with for a while if I have the funds; if I was offered a job at Kona, it would be a really hard decision for me to decide whether to take it or move across the ocean and apprentice for awhile. The experience of moving would be amazing, and being in the new place would be amazing, but I wouldn't have the family (family family, friends family, and work family) that I have here. We'll see, I suppose it's a year off but I want to start thinking now. This is if not the rest of my life, a huge part of my future and who I am/will be.
Quite a deep post:) A lot has been going on in this ol' noggin of mine that's for sure.:)
As for food, I found this recipe I have not yet made on green muffins made with spinich. Sounds awful right? Well I think they actually look really good and I've had a couple friends make them and have heard good things. I'll make them soon, but I haven't had the time. And I'm not much of a muffin person because they're usually loaded with sugar but these aren't so much:) Monster Muffin Recipe
I've also switched back to almond milk for the time being. I compared labels one day and came to find that almond milk generally has less chemicals than coconut milk. Maybe some of them are naturally occuring but I don't really think so or it wouldn't be on the ingredient label. I'm currently drinking the Pacific organic almond milk which is good and nutty, but I really enjoyed the Silk almond milk -- quite delicious.:)
I've also managed to get halfway through the Happiness Project! Me and this woman are nothing alike. First of all, she's married with kids and into law and politics. She's written books on Churchill and JFK and she seems fairly serious and doesn't have a ton of interests. However, even though I think we're as different as different can be, I love the book because I find that a lot of what she says is true and helpful! I think of myself as a pretty happy person, very happy a lot of the time. But this book has made me think about starting my own happiness project and picking something to work on for one month, adding on to it each month for a year to become happier and better yourself as a person. I definitely think everyone should read this. It has chapters on parenting and marriage but it's all relative, you can apply it to any relationship in your life. Did you know that because women are more empathetic, spending time with women increases your overall life satisfaction where as spending time with men does not at all? And women bond being face to face with a person where men can being side by side which is why women are usually the ones trying to bring up more meaningful conversations and wanting to "talk" so much with their spouse/boyfriend. I thought that was interesting:) It was in the chapter on marriage.
Eat to Live is still sitting on my bedside table staring at me. So is New Good Food. New Good Food though I feel is more of something to have, read through once, and then refer back to. Maybe take some notes on it as well which is what I'm planning to do when I can find the time and not feel like I'm going to fall asleep during the middle of the task. I'll get to them though, I promise. Odds are you'll have to be patient or give up on waiting and go read it first.:) And if you do, let me know what you think.;)
So for my birthday, on top of my marvelous knives -- I got a hand mixer/immersion blender and an olive oil spritzer from my parents, and my sister got me some really cute earrings! Yay, such a good birthday!:) I can't wait to use the cooking stuff! I've already worn the earrings and gotten many compliments:) It sure is great to have a sister who shares the same style as you, makes gift buying super easy and the recipient is pretty much guaranteed to love it.:)
"Perfection is unattainable, but as we strive for it, we might just reach excellence."-Vince Lombarde
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Happy early Birthday to me:)
So this update is a little over due--but what else would you expect?;) Last Tuesday, I was in Lubbock and on my 7 mile long run of the week and I started to think -- I think everybody should live in West Texas for at least a year out of their lives. I feel like the world would be a much happier place! As I'm running down the road, it doesn't matter who it is whether it be a fellow student or someone working on the drainage system you almost always see a genuine smile creep up on their face followed by a hearty "Hello!" or "Hi! How are you today?". Then I'll respond just as equally happy with a very breathy response and a big smile on my face! These type of encounters go a long way to adding such a happy aura to my day:)
Following my 7 mile run, I decided I wanted to learn the bike route to school so I can be more eco-friendly in the fall. However, it was extremely hot and by the time I got to school (7 miles later--which really isn't that far), I was dripping sweat (that's the kicker -- I don't really want to be drenched and stinky by the time I get to class. However, this day I was just going to the pool so it was suitable:)). Then I swam about 25 laps (with stopping every couple) and working on my flip turn a little bit! My friends Jamie and Jessica and their brother came up as well and we played some water volleyball with some other people we had just met -- it was a good day!:) Then I got to ride my bike another scorching 7 miles home. Looks like being so eco-friendly will have to wait til the cooler months and then in the Spring when I move closer to campus. My classmates will thank me:)
I also took Dea on a mile run after I got home from my 7 mile run while I wore my 5-finger shoes. Here's the little trouper!
When I got home from my run earlier in the day, I was pretty hungry so this is what I came up with:
Collard Sandwich Wrap
1. Start by layering two (or three, I later had to add another because I had too many veggies in this to close it) leaves of washed collard (removing the stem as you see has been done here).
2. Add veggies (I'm showing mine in layers because I put sooooo many!). Here we have raw snap peas, sprouts, and baby carrots.
Here I have added the cherub and sunburst tomatoes -- Mmmm mmmm!!
And here we have orange bell pepper, a strip of cucumber (cut long ways), portobello and avodado (the avocado makes the wrap I think) and I then added some salsa (which is not shown). This is where I added the extra leaf but it's easier to just go ahead and lay two side by side and then the leaf on the bottom from the beginning.
3. Roll it all up and this is what you get! Pure, raw, deliciousness:)
I tried another time cooking the portobello, bell peppers, carrots and green beans and it just wasn't as good:( Looks like raw is the way to do this wrap!
I also got to use my brand new knives!! Happy early Birthday to me from M & D!:) <3
Williams Sanoma was having a sale on their knives and these which are Wustof Ikon Classic were marked way WAY down because this handle color is being discontinued -- AWESOME.:) Even though they're white, they won't stain! Hooray!:)
The day after my swim/bike/run, I took it easy. I tried to go to the gym, but I was just way too exhausted. Part of it was the lack of sleep I had gotten the night before more than anything but I admit, part of it was because I had drank a little bit much the night before to get up at 6 AM and have a productive run. If anything, it probably would have hurt me. Where have the days gone where I could drink myself silly and then get up at 6AM the next morning and run off my hangover? Sometimes this works, but I'm starting to feel the effects of growing up -- and it's taking a toll on my body and I do not like it. One. Bit. But, I think those days left when Junior year of college came to a close. However, you're only as old as you feel so I'm just going to stay 22 forever. :)
The following days, I'd run 5 miles or go to the gym (mostly running). Friday I ran 5 miles and then followed that with a swim lesson. My legs were pooped! He kicked my butt a little bit that day. He had me swim 4 laps back without touching the ground or stopping and he timed me. I'm a little competitive in case you didn't know that about me so I basically tried to go balls to the wall and forgot all about breathing and pace and technique so needless to say, it was rough. I'm gonna go work on that today or tomorrow. Yesterday was another long run of the week at 8 miles. Today, I think will be a weights day:) Hope ya'll have a great day! I'll post again soon:)
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