Re-entry Into the World O' Meat

Wowza. What a day. I thought it would be somewhat of a lazy Sunday but nope. I managed to get the bathroom cleaned and mopped, the laundry is finished . . . the only thing left is the boys' bath. Luckily I can get both of them bathed at once with The Lover's help. Oh and the kitchen floor can wait another day. I am pooped!

As I mentioned earlier, yesterday was the last day of my Pescetarian Challenge Week. I haven't craved meat at all today. The Lover had planned on making a steak dinner tonight. I was not 100% certain I was "there" mentally. I am fairly certain I would be happy being meat free - except for seafood and fish. However, once the steak was finished and plated, it didn't look bad at all!

It was a rather large New York strip so I cut it in half. Sorry for the poor lighting. It had a good flavor. I threw together two vegetable side dishes. Fresh green beans that were simmered in vegetable broth and a mix of parsnips, celery and potatoes. To make the veggie medley, I washed and diced the potatoes and parsnips first. I had those cooking in about two tablespoons of butter. Then I added diced celery to the party. Some vegetable broth was also thrown into the mix. I let is simmer for maybe 15 minutes and the combination of the butter, broth and probably starch from the potatoes created a roux-like effect. Season to tast and it was very flavorful! My new favorite vegetable is definitely the parsnip.

My plan is to eat as little meat as possible during the day and reserve dinner for my meat meals. I'm interested to see how it works out. Now, the dishes are in the sink but I think I will wait on those for tomorrow. They are rinsed and just chilling in some water.

Do you clean everything after dinner, including dishes or do you sometimes let it wait?

Mom-Bot in Action

I am SO lazy right now. We went to my mom's to pick Big Boy up. I hate leaving my mom's house. I'm lucky that she lives about 30 minutes away but sometimes, a girl just really misses her mama! Especially her mama's cooking. A couple hours before we went to my mom's, I had some leftover stir fry. This is the last of it!

The Lover decided he was hungry so we went to a Mexican joint. I decided to have a half order of bean and cheese nachos. It was not good. I had about 1/3 of the plate. Can you believe this is considered a half order?

EW. I am now sipping on a cup of coffee, hoping that I will get in the mood for cleaning. We've cleaned the living room, kitchen and dining room but I've run out of steam. I'm hoping Mom-Bot will kick in again and I get some laundry finished up. I swear the laundry and dishes are neverending. I had hoped to get some yoga in but cleaning may be it for me today. Honestly, all I want to do is watch "Locked Up Abroad" and maybe doze off. . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . . .

Super Sunday

Morning! Sorry for the lack of post last night. After dinner, we were pretty much wiped out so we came home, vegged and were in bed by 930 PM. It was so nice!

For dinner, I had a plate of fried goodness. Shrimp, fries and a cheesey biscuit. I didn't clean the plate but I did munch on some when I got home. I know I will feel not so great today. Oops.

I also had two brews:

Big Boy stayed the night with my mom last night. Baby Boy actually let us sleep in until 800 AM. Shocking! I am not sore from yesterday's run. I was pretty worried about the left knee. It tends to get super stiff but I'm glad it was stiff yesterday after the run and after a lot of stretching and icing, it seems fine today.

For breakfast, I made whole wheat pancakes. I love them a little too much!

To prepare the pancakes, I followed the directions on the Aunt Jemima box. My three pancakes were topped with a pumpkin mixture I whipped up on the fly. It contained:

• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 5 chopped almonds
• 1.5 tablespoons shredded coconut
• generous squirt of honey
• dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice

Mix well. It was wonderful! I know it looks funky but it was like eating pumpkin pie for breakfast. I will definitely make that again. After breakfast, I did the dishes and we have no plans so far. It's kind of nice. Oh and yesterday was the last day of my Pescetarian Challenge Week.

How did I do? Well, I didn't have meat once. I had shrimp at two meals and imitation crab (fish) at one meal. Physically, I feel fantastic. I like not eating meat. However, merging it with family meals was difficult at times. And also irritated The Lover at other times. Honestly, I don't know if I will continue with the no meat thing. We shall see!

I killed those 10 miles!

First, let me start with my pre-run snack. I had a toasted sammie thin with PB, half a sliced banana and a handful of multi-grain Tostito chips. I love those chips.

I made sure to get a good warm up/stretch before Baby Sis got to my house. I also got a quick nursing session in with Baby Boy. It's like he does a fuel up before my long runs as well. So funny. Baby Sis and I got to the running trail and walked for a good warm up. I didn't time the first mile but I'm thinking it was 12:00 minutes or so. I did start timing at mile 2 and I was surprised it was at a 10:59 pace! We kept that pace up until mile 4. I was feeling some stiffening and decided to take some goo. I stopped the clock for bathroom, water and stretch breaks. I let it run for walking breaks. From mile 4 - 5, the wind was brutal and it did affect our time. The pace was more like 12:00 - 13:00. At mile 6, I felt awesome and was in the zone. I took another goo at mile 7.

Mile 8 was kind of rough. I took more walking breaks than I wanted but I still managed to make it in less than 13:00. At mile 9, I felt a second wind (runner's high?) and really cranked it out. At about 9.5, I started crying. I know, sappy! But damn it, I was so proud of myself and I kept thinking, "Why was I so scared?" I sprinted the 1/2 mile. My pace for the last mile was 11:00-ish. I say "ish" because when I stopped the clock, it said 1 hour and 46 minutes and blah-blah seconds. I tried to take a pic and ended up accidentally clearing it. Yes, I was pissed! But all in all, I am so pleased with my time. My training plan was calling for 13:01 minute miles so it predicted I would be finished in 2 hrs and 5 minutes. I finished in 1 hour and 58 minutes. Seven minutes is 7 minutes! WHOOP. I am so darn proud of myself!

This is a very stiff Baby Sis:

She did an awesome job! As soon as we got back home, there was a lot of this going on:

I also made a yummy post-run snack. I got this recipe for pumpkin yogurt from another blog. I ate it straight out of the container. There wasn't much left haha:

To make this (I am guessing the measurements):

• 3/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin flaxseed granola

Mix well and gobble it up! It is faboosh. Seriously. The Lover is going to take me out to dinner! Yay! See you soon!

My Knees are Knocking

Ahhh Saturday. Sleeping in until 730 AM feels so good. I typically wake up at 530 AM every day and really, even 630 AM feels like sleeping in. It's a bit dreary outside right now but the temp will get into the lower 60s by the afternoon. Yay! For breakfast, I wanted to go hearty while also fueling myself for the 10 miler today.

I had four pumpkin pancakes left in the freezer, waiting for a day like today. I topped them with a smalled diced apple that I warmed with about 2 teaspoons of honey. I also added dashes of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to the apples. The whole yummy plate was topped with 6 chopped almonds. Gotta have the healthy fats! Baby Boy also enjoys the pumpkin pancakes.

It will be windy, especially around the lake where Baby Sis and I will be running. I'm super excited and yes, still nervous to enter the double digits! I'm that much closer to half-marathon distance!

Remember: Preventing running injuries are much easier than recovering from them. The #1 cause of injuries is increasing mileage too fast. As a rule, increase mileage weekly by no more than 10% is safest.

Wish us luck!!!

So meaty . . .

The Lover was craving something "meaty" (his words) for dinner. He really wanted a burger. Since he was having a burger, I wanted to have one too. Honestly, I don't miss meat that much. Sure, it smells great and all that jazz but I don't feel like I'm missing out. So enter, the chickpea burger!

To change things up, I used red kidney beans instead of my usual black beans. To make the burger, you need:

• 1/3 cup chickpeas
• 1/3 cup red kidney beans
• egg white

Warm the beans in the microwave for about 30 seconds to soften. Slightly mash beans and add egg white. Mix well and form into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled pan. Let cook for a few minutes, press down into a patty. Let it cook for a few minutes longer and gently flip.

I had my burger on a toasted sammie thin, smeared with a wedge of Laughing Cow Swiss cheese and baby spinach. Oh and about 1/3 of an apple on the side. I loved the combo of the chickpeas and kidney beans. However, I accidentally got some yolk in it so my burger was a little too "eggy". It was still delish though.

More than likely, a scoop of this will be making its way into my belly:

Before making dinner, I had a small bowl of pumpkin seed flax granola with milk. I also got in a sesh of 30 Day Shred - Level 3. I was not feeling it but as always, once it's over and done, I feel great for doing it! Have a wonderful night!

Let's Get It Started!

The countdown is on . . . one more hour and I'm heading out. For you moms out there, do you visualize yourself running towards your children with your arms wide open? Today is that kind of day. Cheesy? Yes.  True? Absolutely! Sometimes I want to drop them off at daycare and burn rubber as I drive off (what mom doesn't?) but others, I just really miss those wild boys.

Lunch was leftover shrimp stir fry. I ate it cold because I didn't want the shrimpy aroma to kill my co-workers if I nuked it.

It's a beautiful - ableit windy - day and I had some serious cabin fever. I headed out for a coffee run.

The iced mocha hit the spot. The apple pie? Well, a girl can't be made of steel all the time! I have a strength work out planned for tonight and lots of sleep. I'm still feeling pretty anxious about my first double digit run.

What are your plans for the weekend?