June 30th, 2009: Crisis averted

Hi gang! Before MT class this evening I had a small piece of a Clif. No pic because they all came out blurry and I can’t bring myself to post a blurry pic! White Chocolate macadamia.  It is in rotation for nibbles before morning runs.  I wasn’t too hungry before class but wanted a little extra something for some boost.  It worked! I do want to start looking at making my own energy bars though.  As convenient as processed things are and even though Clifs aren’t horrible, my own would be better.

After class we hit up Big Bird quick for some bananas! Gran’s got her nanners!  And naturally I walked away with a few more items. And then I stomped my foot and said that I seriously need to start my research and comparison list because I want to have a grocery budget and not “whatever”.  I did see that Big Bird carries Bush’s beans for 95 cents when Meijer has them for close to $2.

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June 30th, 2009: Preperations

Hi guys!  SF class didn’t keep us too late last night and I was on the couch just before 10pm.  Score!  I pulled out a snack.

grapes and prunes

2 prunes and a small bowl of frozen grapes.  I ate the prunes and walked the grapes over to the couch.  I was reading until Scott came down and during that time I realized the prunes were enough and I wasn’t too hungry.  Back in the freezer went the grapes!  Some other day my lovelies I will come back for you!  And then I went to bed at the most glorious time of 10:30pm.

If my love for prunes and Antiques Roadshow didn’t do it, then going to bed super early should seal my grandma status.

I got up at the early time of 6am (it’s early to me, I don’t want to hear it from you 5am risers!) and took care of Rocks in a bleary-eyed sleepy state.  It was cool, cool outside.  So cool that I actually needed pants for my run this morning.  I should have put on a long-sleeved shirt too because I was cold!

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Tuesday Tip: Olive Oil dipping sauce

Olive oil and spices The first time I’ve ever had bread and oil as part of a meal was back in North Carolina, about 7 years ago.  Scott and I had just purchased our first house and we were out having a celebratory lunch.  The server brought out a basket of warm bread and a little dish that she poured seasoned olive oil into, then quickly scurried away.

Me: What do we do with this? Do I just dip the bread into the oil?

Scott: I think so. I’m not sure what other options there would be.

Me: Okay. Although dipping bread into oil and eating it is a little odd.

Scott: Totally weird.

The concept was so foreign to me.  “You want me to what?! Dip this bread into some fat and munch away?”, was my thought process.

But you know what? It was fabulous.  And of course olive oil is full of good heart healthy fats, so it all worked out!  From that point on I started looking more at flavored olive oils and olive oils labeled as “dipping oil”.  And you know what I found?

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June 29th, 2009: veggies and fries

Hi guys! Have I mentioned how fresh produce is extremely slim pickin’s around here?  This would explain why I resorted to my emergency backup stash of frozen veggies.  Great to have on hand!

butternut squash fries

First I made some Butternut squash fries!  I peeled (hate peeling a b-nut but it’s a must as I don’t like the skin) a medium b-nut and cut half of it up into fry shapes.  I put the cut up pieces in a baggie and added:

  • Buffalo sauce
  • Drizzle of soy sauce
  • Bit of olive oil
  • Garlic powder
  • Seasoned salt

Baked at 400 for about 15 minutes or so.  Until browned and soft.

Veggies and brown rice

I heated up some frozen:

  • Green beans
  • Cauliflower
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli

In some water until they were just heated through.  I drained them and tossed them back in the pot.  I seasoned with a bit of olive oil, chicken stock, buffalo sauce and soy sauce to compliment the fries.  I added in some garlic powder, black pepper, and a bit of chili powder.  Scooped some veggies out and had that on top of brown jasmine rice.

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June 29th, 2009: Fresh fresh

Hi gang!  Since Monday is my rest day, I decided to sleep in a wee bit and got up at 7am.  I was surprised to experience cool air and breezes this morning while Rocks was out for his morning ritual.  Such a change from the weekend!  I came back inside and worked on my dinner post.  My reward for getting that done and published was some lovely coffee.

Mmmm! I think I forgot to mention but did you notice my coffee yesterday? Apparently I was still a bit sleepy when I poured it and I used Scott’s mug! :p  Right now the creamer I’ve been using is Meijer brand organic creamer.  It’s got the best ingredients so far and tastes amazing.  Scott is still using the Coffeemate which is subpar for sure.  The downside to the Meijer brand is that it only comes in one size, very small. Whereas we buy creamer in huge 1/2 gallon containers. Yup, a lot.  I’m still researching other alternatives so that Scott and I both have a great creamer to use.

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June 28th, 2009: The Bird is the Word

Hi guys! Yesterday Scott and I watched a documentary type thing on the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, also called The Dirty 30s.  Whoa what a horrible thing to have to live through! Here’s a link in case you want to learn a bit more.

trail mix

While we watched, we had a snack.  I made a quick trail mix to take to the seminar but we didn’t eat it then and decided to have it while watching TV.

  • Raisins
  • Peanuts
  • Walnuts
  • Corn-flax chips

I just had the raisins and corn-flax chips.  Yum!  After that was over we headed out to the deck to chill for a bit and had a fizzie.

POM drink

POM + seltzer.  Scott started getting hungry so we headed inside and I got dinner going.

I have some chicken breasts sitting in my freezer that need used up before they go past their prime.  I already knew that I would be tired on Sunday and wouldn’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen.  That meant a roast dinner was in order!  We haven’t had roast anything for quite some time and I was looking forward to plopping something in the oven and having a wonderful dinner an hour later.  Perfect chance to use up some of those chicken breasts.  I put them in a brine early Sunday morning which had lots of things going on but the liquid was a water/apple cider/POM combo and it was hella good.

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June 26th – June 28th: Recovery

Hi guys!  I figured it would just be much simpler (on me) to put everything in one gigantic post. :D  However the post will be light on pictures because either I don’t have pictures of some items or they are so basic we all know what they look like!  And also because it will allow for speedy posting and getting this out to you even quicker.

FRIDAY:

Friday morning I woke up bright and early at 6am to get a start on my day and with the hopes it would buy me some more time.  I would soon find out that wasn’t the case!  I went out for my run and it was glorious being out so early.  I was running by 6:30am and no one was outside except for a few people here and there.  It was so quiet and definitely not as hot.  I came back home and took Rocky out for his walk.  It was still early in the morning by this point so instead of going right up to shower, I made breakfast and sat at the computer for a little bit.  I had blueberry oatmeal and coffee.

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Respite

Hi guys! I just got back from the SF seminar and I’m wiped out. A long two days of intense training and I’ve got some pretty sweet badges to show for it too.

Andrea's brusies

That doesn’t even count my legs where both shins are sporting some very nice bumps and lumps.  In case I haven’t mentioned it before, sticks are hard. ;)  These are just starting to blossom, so I’m sure their full color and glory will be revealed soon.  I love the bruises though because while, yes, they do hurt, it also means that I’m working hard and training hard.  The rush I get from a good run, I also get from a great training session.

So I hope you can understand my need to sort of crash on the couch and not give minute detail of my eats at this moment. :p  I’ll catch you all up tomorrow! Due to attending the seminar, my eats aren’t terribly exciting.  PB sammies for example, but I’ll share!

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June 25th, 2009: Melting

Whoa y’all!  Can I tell you that our high today is 96F with a real feel of 106F.  Our MT class is also held in a warehouse type building with no AC.  Yeah.  Whew I was a sweaty hot beast once class was over. Before class I had 1.5 cookies for fuel.

cookies

I did put a very light shirt over my tanktop though before heading into Sam’s. For some reason walking around Sam’s in a wee tanktop didn’t seem appealing. :p  I totally rocked the pigtails today too!  When we got back home, I quickly showered and busted out some dinner.

Pizza

Oh yeah, Pizza Thursday His&Hers style!  Scott’s pizza is on the left.

Scott's pizza

  • Sauce
  • Moz
  • Spicy Italian sausage
  • Mushrooms
  • Chopped artichoke

Andrea's pizza

Mine was a Green Monster pizza!

  • Spinach and sundried tomato pesto minus the parm
  • Moz
  • Chicken sundried tomato sausage
  • Asparagus
  • Zucchini
  • Chopped artichoke

Pizza

Since the pizza crust was thinner, I started off with three pieces but didn’t finish all of that.  There was also a small splash of red wine that Scott whisked away into the TV room before I could snap it.

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June 25th, 2009: Bare bones

Hi guys!  I was pretty hungry last night after SF class which seems to be the case for me lately.  I’m not sure if it’s the heat or what.

Apple, prunes, pistachio crisps

I had an apple, two prunes, and a few pistachio crisps.  The cookies went over really well!  YaY!  The downside to the recipes is that they don’t make a ton of cookies per batch.  I’ll have to see what I can whip up for the seminar.

This morning I debated a run and when I stepped outside to let Rocky out I realized that running probably is not in the forecast for today.  Whoa but it was majorly humid already at 7am.  Yikes!  I came in and had some coffee instead.

Coffee

YUM!  Knowing that I have MT conditioning class later this evening, not running today is no big deal.  If I didn’t have class or wasn’t going for some reason, I would have hit the pavement, humidity and all.  A little while later, after I got Scott up, I made some breakfast.

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