Great Day

Work continues to be really busy - and obviously effecting the frequency of my posts!  :)

My day started with eggs and toast.  I buy a loaf of french bread in the bakery at my grocery store and then ask them to slice it.  They slice it pretty thin so it makes really good, crispy toast.  Love it!

When I came home this evening, I threw together some "clean out the refrigerator" pasta.  Just throw in anything you need to use from the refrigerator!  It was pretty good!

Chicken, mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, broccoli, lemon, cream, whole wheat pasta, crushed red pepper, and parmesan cheese.

I was determined to go for a run tonight.  It's been almost a week since my last run and I was feeling pretty crappy about that.  I have a 10k race coming up so I need to start building my miles up again.  This was a great run.  Isn't it funny how you just feel light on your feet sometimes?  This was one of those times.  I could have kept going, but it was starting to get dark and I don't like to run in the dark.  I'll go for more mileage this weekend!

Guess What's For Dinner...

Another busy day, made a little easier due to the fact that IT'S FRIDAY!!!  I did get a decent break over lunch time and met Matt at the Spicy Pickle.  I was craving a sandwich with good bread and lots of veggies...I guess I was a little over zealous because I totally forgot to take a picture until I was more than halfway through.  Sorry!

Here's the rundown:  roasted chicken, provolone, sun dried tomato mayo, portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts.  It took me about 5 minutes just to order this sandwich because of my long list of veggies, Matt made fun of me.  :)  Holy cow was it good!  Seriously good! 

I did get a short run in tonight and it felt great!  I hope to do a longer run this weekend, but I'm not sure yet what day that will happen.

Time for dinner!  Here's a hint:

Tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, red pepper, jalapeno, roasted corn, black beans, lime, salt.

Obviously I was on a veggie kick today - I was craving more salsa fresca.  I made it a little different this time.  I didn't have any red onion so I left that out and I added black beans and red bell pepper.  This salsa fresca went into flour tortillas with cheese and hamburger.  Yum!

I'm Back!

This weekend was kind of rough for me - I had that sore-throat-achy feeling off and on all weekend.  Needless to say, absolutely NO painting got done - zip...zilch...nada!  That's about the same amount of running I did over the weekend too.   I'm not sure I'm totally over the "crud", but I was well enough to go to work this morning and I'm going to keep fighting it! 

So I came home from work today and went for a short run.

I've decided that I'm satisfied with these short runs (i.e. less than 3 miles) during the week.  I put so much pressure on myself to always do more, and I got the idea in my head that doing less than 3 miles at a time was not acceptable.  What the hell?!  For now I will focus on speed during the week and save the longer runs for the weekend ("speed" for me means less than 10 minute miles).  This is so much more motivating!  I obviously didn't make it today, but I was close! 

I made some Israeli couscous for dinner tonight.  We've never tried it before, but every time I see it in the bulk section of the grocery store I'm intrigued.  What I had in mind was a side dish of Israeli couscous with roasted veggies.  I roasted broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, red pepper, and mushrooms at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

When I stuck this in the oven, the cookie sheet was covered with veggies.  It's amazing how much they shrunk.  They tasted awesome though! 

I threw some steaks on the grill and then started cooking the couscous.  First, I toasted it in some EVOO and then added beef broth and simmered for about 12 minutes.  

Once the couscous was done I mixed it with the veggies.  

It was good and it was a winner with the family.  We all agreed, however, that the roasted veggies were better by themselves.  When I added them in with the couscous they lost their crispiness.  Next time, I'll serve them separately.

Catching Up

I came home last night and totally crashed!  I wonder if I'm getting sick because I've had a mild sore throat all day today.  I will try my best to fight that off!

Rewind to Friday...

I forgot to make my oatmeal before going to bed, so I had to come up with a breakfast alternative that would keep me satisfied until lunch.  I fried an egg, over easy, and made some awesome toast with some thinly sliced french bread so it was really crispy...yum!

As usual, I was so famished in the morning that I didn't remember until halfway through my meal that I needed to snap a picture...sorry!  

We had a colleague come in town from one of our other offices, so you know what that means...FREE LUNCH!!  Not the place I would have chosen, but beggars can't be choosers.  The place definitely has atmosphere and the barbecue isn't bad, but I think they're overpriced and choices are limited.  It's an Austin establishment so it's almost taboo to say out loud that it's not your favorite, so I didn't.

I had the port loin, cole slaw, and the cream corn.  Their cream corn IS fabulous - best I've had anywhere!  I made a sandwich with my pork loin, but left it open for the picture so you could see in between the slices of bread.  With all of my co-workers around me, I chose to sneak a picture with my iPhone rather than giving an explanation since this is my extra-curricular activity!

I decided to grab a snack in the afternoon because my daughter had a team practice that evening and I knew it would be late before we would eat dinner.  I started with this new kind of yogurt I picked up at the store last week.  It sounded interesting and the flavor, Orange and Ginger, sucked me in!

I'm sure there's someone out there who likes this stuff, but I couldn't handle more than two bites!  I took the second bite only because I thought maybe the flavor was on the bottom and I should stir it up.  YUCK!!  This one went in the trash.  Luckily I had more yogurt in the fridge at work, so I tried this one:

MUCH better!  The fruit flavor was great - not too sweet or overpowering.  The texture of the coconut milk yogurt is different than I expected.  It was kind of slimy, for lack of a better word, but I got used to it.  I kept wondering as I ate it if this would be more like a gelato if frozen.  I'll have to try that!

After my daughter's practice, we talked ourselves into eating out since it was a Friday night and too late for cooking.  We stopped in at a California Pizza Kitchen where the wait was a surprisingly short 10-15 minutes!  A Mojito is the first thing I ordered.

The CPK Mojito was good because it wasn't too sweet and there was plenty of lime and mint!  My second course was a cup of chicken tortilla soup.  I won't be getting this again. It was really thick and had a very concentrated flavor - too much like a Cream of Chicken Tortilla soup.  Yuck!

That's all I ate.  About half a cup of that and I was done.  On to the main course - Cabo Crab Cakes - an appetizer that we get every time we visit the CPK.  This time I decided to make it my meal because I always love it so much.  Not so much this time...

I guess I was really on a roll with my food choices!  They were just okay.  The black bean and roasted corn relish wasn't as fresh, the dipping sauce wasn't as thick and creamy, and I kept getting pieces of crab shell in the cakes.  Boo!

I was so ready to get home.  The kids wanted ice cream for dessert, so since I had the ice cream out I made a blackberry shake for myself.  It was yummy and it was the most intense PURPLE!

Vanilla ice cream, milk, fresh blackberries, vanilla extract, and a few ice cubes.

On Saturday, I woke up early because I had a meeting and some work to get done.  After that, we lounged around and finally made breakfast around 10:30!  I was craving eggs again, but this time I remembered to snap the picture before digging in!

The funny thing about this breakfast for me is that I really don't like eggs.  Maybe I just need some protein, hence the craving, or maybe they are just growing on me.  I haven't decided yet, but just looking at this picture now makes me want to go cook another egg!  :)

We had some errands to run today and we saw the neatest chair in a department store.  It is made of woven wire.  Not comfortable AT ALL, but would make a great conversation piece!

It was a beautiful summer day so I wanted to run, but I just couldn't do it.  I started feeling worn out right before dinner and that sore throat was getting worse.  So much for motivation!  I took a nap instead, hopefully just what my body needed!

Dinner was really good tonight.  I made chicken piccata with tiny potatoes that I roasted in butter and a little bit of chicken broth and roasted asparagus (and no paper plates tonight - yay!).

Chile With Beans

I was in a hurry this morning.  I had my coffee (almost never miss that), but had to run out the door without breakfast (almost never miss breakfast either!).  Luckily, someone brought donuts to work so I snagged one of those to satisfy me until lunch.

One of our VP's was in the office today and I had meetings with him that pretty much took up my whole lunch hour, so I resorted to my stockpile of Lean Cuisines again.  I chose some kind of flatbread sandwich and it was DISGUSTING!  I choked about half of it down and then remembered I had thrown a multigrain bagel and some almond butter in my bag yesterday, and I always keep some honey at my desk.  Woo hoo!  I tossed the rest of the nasty flatbread and enjoyed every bite of my bagel!

I also had a greek yogurt later in the afternoon.  I was planning to run after work, so I figured I would need a little afternoon snack.  When I left work, however, it looked like it might rain.  This provided an easy excuse for me to bag the run for today.  As I got closer to home, the skies looked clearer and seeing all of the people out walking, running, and biking made me feel really guilty.  I decided I should at least go for a short run.  As usual, I was so glad I did!  It was a good run and I was able to stay under a 10 minute pace (barely, but it counts!)!  Having that new pace goal gave me the extra challenge and motivation I needed to make it through the run.

Here was the prize waiting for me after the run:

This is a Pinot Grigio from Chile.  I drank about half of this glass. This is the third "half glass" I've wasted from this same bottle.  I've tried several wines from Chile, and I have never found one that I liked. 

While I sipped on the mediocre wine, I started making dinner.  I tried a bean salad recipe tonight that was really good.  I had several veggies that I just needed to finish off before they go bad.  Here's my salad:

Black beans, pinto beans, red bell pepper, corn, red onion, cilantro, cucumber, grape tomatoes.  

I mixed up a vinaigrette dressing with evoo, cider vinegar, dijon mustard, cumin, salt and pepper.  Here's the recipe - the only things I changed was to use pintos instead of lentils and I added cucumber.  It was so fresh and good!  We also had grilled hamburgers.

I'm really tired and ready to go to bed!  Sorry it wasn't a very exciting day, but tomorrow is Friday and I expect things will be hoppin'!  :)

Asparagus "Tips"

It was a busy day at work today, which is a good thing because I stayed up SO late last night that I probably would have fallen asleep if I didn't have anything to keep me occupied. 

This was my lackluster lunch - a Lean Cuisine (Fiesta Chicken).  It really wasn't bad, and I ate it with some chips and salsa.  Not sure why, but I was craving chips and salsa today.  I love these chips:

It was only about an hour after lunch and I was ready for a snack.  I had a Pecan Pie Larabar in my desk.  It's been sitting there for a while because I really wasn't sure if I would like it.  I've tried the Cherry Pie Larabar and really like it, but it's pretty tart.  The pecan pie version was just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.  It was good - I like this flavor!

If you haven't tried these before, you should.  They have tons of different flavors and most of them contain only 3-5 ingredients (usually just fruit and nuts), they get their sweetness from dates.  I can't wait to try more flavors!

As I mentioned before I stayed up way too late last night, and for no good reason other than I just wasn't ready to go to bed.  I got about 5 hours of sleep.  On days like this, I'm not going to beat myself up too much about a lack of motivation.  I NEED MY SLEEP!  Since I knew a run was out of the question, when I got home the first thing I did was pour a beer to drink while I cooked dinner - Fat Tire, my fave! 

I got a phone call this afternoon from a sweet little boy who asked me to make his favorite thing for dinner tonight...hamburger steak with gravy.  How could I resist?  I also made roasted asparagus to satisfy the veggie "requirement".  :)

The whole family likes asparagus, but we usually eat the tips and leave the rest of the stalk.  Since I started making Green Monsters, I don't even bother cooking the stalks anymore. 

I roast the top third, toss the bottom third, and save the middle to put in my GMs.  It makes me feel good to put more of the asparagus to use and make it go further.  That's my asparagus "tip", pun intended.

Yes, paper plates...again!  I'm really bad about that, but after working all day sometimes I just don't want to deal with dirty dishes!

Almost...But Not Quite

I'm sooooo close to being done with the painting.  I just need to do the trimming, but I already have everything taped off, so hopefully it will go quick!  Stay tuned for pictures later this week.

I would consider today to be productive since I did get a lot of painting done, although I didn't even get dressed or get out of the house.  I was hoping to run, but the weather was rainy off and on and I was really focused on my painting project so I'll try to make some time for that tomorrow. 

I took a break from painting to have lunch with the kids.  We had sandwiches with sprouts again (well, mine had sprouts) and some grape tomatoes.

 

 Mesquite smoked turkey, white cheddar, sprouts, mayo, and cilantro pesto on whole grain pita.

Later I made a Green Monster as a snack and my son split it with me.  He LOVED it and begged me to make more!

Vita Coco with pineapple, chia seeds, banana, frozen cherries, spinach, and kale.

We have really been on a hummus kick lately.  Tonight we had my Chicken Shawarma with hummus, a cucumber, tomato, red pepper, and red onion relish, and whole grain pita bread. 

 

**For those of you who use chia seeds, or are interested in trying them, I found a great deal!  This seems to work most of the time...go to Google and type in "chia oil" (without the quotes).  The first sponsored link is usually for Puritan's Pride and it offers 40% off Chia Seed Oils plus free shipping.  If you click on that link, it's not just the oil that's on sale, but the seeds too.  I got FIVE 16oz. jars for $25 with free shipping!  That's a great price - I paid $16.99 for the same amount at a local store.

I've Been Bad...

 

I've been so bad!  This was my breakfast...two raspberry pancakes with butter and powdered sugar.  Oh my gosh, they were SO good, but I was miserable after I ate them.  To make matters worse, I will admit that I also at two of these last night.  Horrible...

At lunch today, I went to my favorite place - Whole Foods - and just walked around and browsed.  I ended up getting a very good chicken salad sandwich, some more coconut water, and some new yogurt that you'll probably read about next week. 

 

Coconut water, chia seeds, banana, cherries, spinach, and asparagus.

I ate my sandwich and washed it down with a Green Monster.  The GM was really good today, I made it this morning and kept it in the fridge at work.   

I've really been in a funk lately and it has been affecting my exercise in a negative way.  I was about to back out of running after work today, but I finally settled on a short run and I'm glad I did.  It's much better than not doing it at all.

Overall, I would say my motivation today was just average.  I got some points for my short run and I did some things at work today that I had been putting off earlier in the week, but I do still have these things waiting for me...

Green Hummus and a Motivation Update

Many days I decide what's for dinner as I'm driving home from work.  In my head I go through the ingredients I have on hand and try to think of something halfway creative and tasty.  Tonight I remembered the cilantro I have in the veggie drawer and since I've been on a hummus kick lately, I put the two together. 

 

Cannellini beans, tahini, lime juice, cilantro, evoo, and salt.

I have been so busy this week that I totally forgot to mention my motivation for the past couple of posts.  For me, busy is best because I don't even have time to think about whether or not I'm motivated.  I've had a lot of things going on at work and then shuttling the kids to some appointments and some evening activities gave me little time for anything else.

One thing I'm NOT motivated for lately, and I'm NOT happy about it either, is running or working out.  The scale is really starting to show it too and that puts me in a super bad mood.  Running has been my passion for the past 7 or 8 months and I'm beginning to wonder if I've lost that.  I am holding out hope that after the time changes back and we "spring forward", I'll spring right back into running.  

Have you ever lost the passion for doing something you love?  What did you do to get it back?

Amelia Earhart, Exotic Fruit, and a Chocolate Cake

This morning started out great!  I got up when I planned to and had some coffee and then I got my running clothes on.  I ran 4+ miles as I promised myself yesterday.

 

After the run, I showered and then prepared our Exotic Fruit plate for breakfast.

I think we all agreed the Mandarin oranges were really yummy (very sweet!) and the golden raspberries were good.  My personal favorite was the Strawberry Papaya.  In fact, just thinking about it now is making my mouth water!  

What I was REALLY looking forward to was this:

 

At about 2.5 miles this morning, I used this as incentive to get through the rest of the run.  I just kept thinking that I had a bowl of oatmeal waiting at home for me along with a hot cup of coffee!

I figured I needed to hydrate after the run, plus I needed to down some chia seeds this morning so I added them to a cup of Vita Coco.  I know it looks weird, but it was really good!  

Do you remember the "Bubble Tea" or "Boba Tea" that was popular a few years ago?  It had tapioca pearls in the bottom of a sweet tea or fruit beverage.  That's kind of what this reminded me of, with the chia seeds being a teeny tiny version of the tapioca pearls.

A trip to the grocery store was next up on the agenda and when we got home from the store, I was still right on schedule.  I had a To Do list for the day and had even planned the times when I needed to do things so I could be sure to get everything done, see...

 

It was about 2:00 and Matt's birthday cake was in the oven when my 8 year old broke the news to me that he had a research project due TOMORROW!  Luckily they did all of the research in class, but they were supposed to put the creative presentation together at home. 

As soon as the cake came out of the oven we headed to Office Max to get the supplies for his presentation.  His project was on Amelia Earhart.  It was actually kind of a fun presentation to do and we found the perfect poster board that was sky blue with clouds already printed on it!  We...um, I mean he...made kind of a 3 dimensional red airplane coming out of the page with propellers that spin!

  

The whole time this was going on, I was simultaneously trying to ice a cake and get dinner going.  I was stressed out to say the least!  

On the birthday dinner menu for tonight were Grilled Lamb Chops (for Matt only, the kids and I had steak), Grilled Lobster Tails, Roasted Asparagus, and Brown Rice. 

The cake was a Dark Chocolate Mocha Cake that was fabulous!  

 

The cake contained coffee liqueur and there was mocha cream in between the layers.  I served it with coffee ice cream...sinful!

...and painting the game room carries forward to the next to do list...