Photo Dump

I worked very hard on a blog last night that ended up disappearing to who knows where.  The thing that irks me the most is getting my pictures off my phone camera and into my computer.  It makes me feel stupid.  This does not stop me from sharing my glorious photography skills with you.  I muddle through, I tell you, to give you....pure genius!

 That oh so attractive mess was my dinner last night.  The first time I used big lettuce leaves as a wrap.  My gourmet cooking skills are top notch I tell you.  Not even a touch of sauce...nothing.  My palette is either non existent or I am the world's  laziest cook least picky eater.

That precious little pony sticker (Can you tell the Pony is holding a cupcake?!  That's why I picked that one!!) is my medal from my trip to the dentist.  I was being a big baby and telling myself I was a big girl and I would be fine.  I guess I was talking out loud so the dental assistant said that if I could run marathons, this would be a piece of cake.  I quickly told her that with marathons, you get a medal and you can eat whatever you want when you're done.  She said, "I've got stickers." I said, "You've got a deal!"  And then I went home and had to drink my dinner through a straw.

PS I STILL have my "sticker album" from oh gosh, 1983?  I just remembered that.  I'm a sentimental weirdo.

My cup broke at work yesterday.  I painted it myself...that's the letter "a" on the front for AWESOME!  Yesterday was a sad day.  I hope the janitor was able to get all the little chards of ceramic off the floor that I couldn't manage to get picked up.

Crazy cat lady picture....the cat on the other end of that paw/claw is indeed alive, though I'm pretty sure she thought she was going to die if she didn't get in the bathroom right that second.  That's why I had to tease her with some toilet paper.  It was all fun and games until she drew blood.

The end!

Chicken Mushroom Quesadillas

I've been watching Masterchef with the hubs, and while everyone that knows my hubs, knows that he is an awesome cook, I have a few skills myself.  Namely, I can follow a recipe pretty darn stinkin' well.  Cooking by intuition and being creative in the kitchen...that strikes the fear of Chef Ramsey in my soul.  But give me a recipe and I can probably squeak something pretty decent out of it.  Like this:

In case you're confused, the pretty picture in the background is the one from the cookbook.  The mess in the front was my dinner.  I said I can follow a recipe.  I didn't say I could plate it and then take a decent picture of it.  That really would be asking too much.

Easy Chicken Mushroom Quesadillas by Ellie Krieger from the Food Network 

Follow the link so you can see the recipe yourself, print it out, and then make these and then we can be quesa-besties!  Here's just a brief glance at the ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 8 ounces white button mushrooms, (about 3 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast (1 breast half)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves, sliced into ribbons
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 4 (10-inch) whole-grain flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese mix or Cheddar
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Because I'm feeling all fancy like a food blogger, I wanted to share with you a few points that will make this post memorable and make you wanting more recipe reviews:

1. I got off work at 5pm, picked up a prescription, then grabbed the few ingredients from the store that were missing from my "well stocked pantry."  And by "well stocked" I mean, "shockingly I had most of the items in my pantry/fridge by pure dumb luck."
2. I picked up a kid on my way home, one of my kids, not some random kid.  Not only would that be illegal under most circumstances, it would be downright stupid in my case.  Selling kids is illegal too, right?  Trading three teenagers for one baby?  That too?
3. I bet you're wondering where I'm going with this?  The recipe was easy enough to follow and I had dinner on the table in right around 30 minutes.  That's not to say that everyone was at the table and eating the same thing though.  That's called a miracle, people.
4. When my husband finally got home, he tried it and said it was amazing.  He said it many times.  Not just cuz I kept asking him if it was good.
5. I got overwhelmed at the tortilla aisle and got thin corn tortillas versus flour.  I like corn more than flour...but I would try this again with flour ones.
6. One child tried it and said it was good, but she wouldn't eat a whole one.  She just had a plain chicken and cheese version.  That is fine by me because I think there's just enough for me to have leftovers!!
7. Oh and what a love about Ellie Krieger and her recipes (I have two of her cookbooks!)...she cooks with healthy, whole foods, and gives you the nutrional information/breakdown along with the measurements for the portion size.

Two things hard to admit

It’s really hard to admit that you’re depressed when you don’t have a darn good thing to be depressed about.  But it happens right?  So that’s what I’m working on…getting out of the funk.  If I give it more attention than a “funk” then it seems to grow into something bigger.  I don’t want that!

My new marathon training plan that I designed is not working out real well for me either.  That’s hard to admit.  It’s a plan where you run maaaayybe 3 miles during the week and then expect your long run of 10 plus miles on Saturday to not be so bad.  I can hear Dr. Phil uttering those famous words, “How’s that working for you?”  I say, “Shut up Dr. Phil!!”

So stay with me this week as I attempt a new plan.  We’ll call it the “Snap out of it and get back to life” plan.  I must must  MUST get in all of my planned training runs AND…getting all fancy here…track every stupid morsel of food that goes into my mouth.  This will be hard for me so expect me to whine like a cry baby all week.    (And by track, I mean I am back to counting calories again.)

In other good news:

I have discovered a self tanner that doesn’t make me all sparkly.  An orange oompa-loompa, I’m ok with.  A sparkly oompa-loompa?  Not so much.

I finally finalllyyyyy figured out how to transfer my pictures from my cell phone to my laptop.  I was trying to be all fancy and transfer via wifi.  Something something firewalls bangs head on wall.  I went the caveman route at last resort and used a USB cable.  Sometimes you just don’t need to reinvent the cable wheel.  Haha, get it?! 

Do you track your food intake?

If you are trying to lose weight, you do know that it quite simply is calories in versus calories out?  The quality of the calorie is important too, in the long run.  But in a nutshell, it’s a very simple math formula.  You knew that, right? 

Sooo….this was supposed to get posted on Monday, the day I wrote it.  Maybe it would have made your Monday a little better?  I do apologize…but here’s to a fantastic Tuesday that I’m sure you will write about in your letter to your African pen pal.  (Sorry, I really don’t know how I got to be so witty.  My humor is off the hook at times.) BTW, did you know a postage stamp now costs $.45?  I did not.  I should be one of those cool people that send letters and cards to their friends and family.  I have friends, and family…I’m just not cool.  And now I need a 1 cent stamp because apparently the .44 center isn’t going to cut it.  Hot dang.

Tracking calories didn’t go well yesterday and I gave up after 2000 calories.  I was famished the whole day…or at least that’s what I told myself.

The end.  (Nice way to wrap it up, eh?!)

PS Stay tuned as I just made the most delicious dinner EVAH!  I will get that post up and have it to you soon.  Pinky promise!

I now leave with with this precious feline.  She was convinced she was helping me turn my tech t into a tank top.  I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise.

Love me some Google

Today's workout (meaning Tuesday when I actually wrote this blog): 3 Easy Miles (Week 1/20 - 138 days left to marathon #3)

Does spinach make your teeth feel weird?  My feel kind of squeakier after I eat the stuff.  Not the good, squeaky clean you get when you’ve just left the dentist, but a really odd squeaky type of squeak.  Anyone?  That’s what I thought.  I challenged myself to eat a whole bag of spinach in a week. 

And I diiiiiiidddd!  Usually I open a bag and shamefully let uhh, well too much of it go to waste. 

 I’ve been adding a heaping handful to my can of soup each day.  It’s the light version, and not the healthiest option out there, but it’s working for me for now.  Aka, speed and convenience.

Check it!  Recycled picture.

Well, well, well...and this is why I LOVE me some google! (Found this at FitSugar) 

 It is caused by the high quantities of oxalic acid found in spinach, not iron like many spinach lovers might think. The oxalate crystals leak out as you chew, and even more, when you cook spinach and these crystals coat the teeth. Drinking milk with spinach can exacerbate the chalky sensation. Rhubarb, beets, kale and chocolate are high in oxalic acid as well. People with kidney problems should not eat large quantities of spinach or any food high in this acid since it can lead to because of the increased risk of producing oxalate stones in the kidneys.

Oh and in case you missed it on Facebook or Dailymile, I am a total ding-dong.  I headed out for my run this morning and locked the door behind me with my key.  When I got back home, the same key just wouldn’t unlock the door for me.  I called my husband about a jillion times with no luck.  This made me mad as he’s my “in case of emergency” call…my backup, my husband that never turns his ringer off and has been known to answer many a call in the wee hours of the night.  I sat out on the stoop for about 10 minutes and alternated between calling my husband, trying my key again, and contemplating whether or not to knock and/or ring the doorbell.  I tried calling my children too and finally got through to the sleepyheadest of them all.  She came downstairs, and I’m certain she wasn’t happy about it, and she unlocked the door.  The door to the LEFT (this is key!) swung open, and this happened:

Me: “OMG. I am an idiot.”

Her: (turns her back and heads back up the stairs.)

I have no good reason as to why I didn’t even think to try the other door and lock.  The side I was trying to unlock is just there for looks.  When I confessed my stupidity later to my hubs, he softened the blow by saying that I’m not a “front door person” since I always come in through the garage.  Awww…

Even though I’m stupid, he’s still not off the hook for not answering his phone.

To make up for the riveting pictures of spinach bags in stages of full and empty...and my bowl of soup, I give you the best coconut water that I have tasted yet.  And it's DARK CHOCOLATE FLAVOR!  Can life get any better?  It definitely would if this water would start pouring out of my kitchen faucet.  Geesh!  $2.79 at the gas station.  Surely it would be cheaper at the grocery store.  $2.99 Nope!  But they didn't have the chocolate kind...otherwise, last night, I would have been drinking a $2.99 bottle of this stuff.

Here's the scoop on the nutritional stats from ZICO's website.  Ackk!  I used their product finder and they have it at Safeway...must check prices and get on my knees and pray.

Random super exciting stuff

Ok, maybe with that title I lied just a teensy bit.

What I’ve been eating each day for lunch…canned soup with a handful of spinach thrown in.  Minus the pretzels and jalapeno jack cheese stick.

This is the best blurry salad ever…or was, until a few days later I had the new and improved best salad ever.  This one is pork loin, cilantro dressing,  cucumber and avocado.  The new best one?  I ate before I took a picture.  That one was chicken marinated in a teriyaki sauce, with cucumber, strawberries and a shitaki sesame dressing.

One of my coworkers that went to his “happy place.”

My new kicks!  Or newer as I have had them about a month.  It will be a sad day the first time these have to see the inside of a porta potty.  I will feel sorry for them. 

Lastly, I take pictures of recipes on my lap top cuz I’m too lazy to make a shopping list I’m cool like that.  These Turkey Meatloaf Muffins are in my freezer and are an awesome go to meal when there’s nothing else around to eat.

And for reals lastly, I laughed out loud when I saw this.

Do you drink coffee?

How do you drink your coffee?

Black, with no flavorings whatsoever for me!

How many cups a day for ya? 

Me? just two.

Did you know that spell checker knew how to spell cilantro but not teriyaki?  Hmmmmm......

Running from bears

I just can’t seem to bring myself to blog.  Part of me has been waiting for the perfect time to write the perfect blog.  I do have a few brain cells and I know that time nor that perfect blog will come.  Then part of me thinks that I really haven’t been doing anything fabulous or noteworthy enough to share.  And while the part of “fabulous or noteworthy” is true, it’s rather negative to think it doesn’t need to be shared.  And really, I’ve been quite selfish in not sharing all the mundane that has been going on in my life.  I ask for your forgiveness.  Please and thank you. J

I have been whining for a long time about wanting to join a running group. The one group that runs weekly here as part of our local running/walking group…well it was always at a time that didn’t work for me.  Then there was the day when I discovered that the pace they run is ridiculously faster than what I run, unless I’m trying to prevent myself from getting eaten by a bear.   Not that I’ve had to run under that kind of duress, but I do think I could out run a bear…a small bear, with three legs, and the bear is blind, and has lost it’s sense of smell.  Yes, I have thought this out.  And no, keep your phone number for the therapist you were going to recommend.  Do not want.

Finally, a glimmer of running light appeared when there was mention of starting another slower paced running group.  We met for the first time a week ago and then last night.  My 12 year old daughter, who has been showing more of an interest in running (TRY NOT TO GET TOO EXCITED MOM!) tagged along too.  We got out of the car the first night and approached the small group of runners gathered.  First thing out of my mouth was, “Hey, I recognize you guys and you are NOT the slower runners!”  They were there to meet and greet and take us around the 2.6 mile trail.  They had already run 13 miles or so, ran three to meet us, and would run 21 miles back to their cars.  Or something like that.  No big deal.  One other lady showed up and I was soooo happy to see her.  I hope I didn’t scare her when I pleadingly asked if she was going to come next week.  My hopes for this running group are purely social as I will still be getting in my 4-5 three miles in the morning.  I’m excited.  More people will come.  I’m sure of it!

So um, to sum things up, I have been running and doing stuff.  I can’t believe May is here.  I should be counting the times I hear today, “I can’t believe May is already here!”  Can you believe it?  This month is my last month before I officially start my marathon training plan.  My focus this month is to beef up the weights in hopes to shed a few pounds before June.  I just don’t like cutting calories during marathon training.

236 days left until Christmas.

You are welcome!

Yeah, this is more like it for me.

Sayonara March! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Do you ever have one of those months where you want a do-over but then when you put a little thought into it, you just never want to see that month of your life again?  No?  Me either.  I mean…well, now that I put it that way, I make it all out like it was horrible and horrible things happened and yadda yadda yadda, there’s an uprising and the Capitol was overthrown.

 

 

So March just kind of sucked for me.  Nothing bad happened except for my bad attitude.  Could I claim that I’m sick with Spring Fever?  Yep, I’m just going to blame it on the crappy weather.  Yesterday, I sucked it up…literally.  I ran into a headwind that was so strong, I fought it for the first 2.5 miles until I turned around.  Then it was pushing on me so hard…had I been going for a world record…it wouldn’t have counted.  Check out my splits-only impressive to me in the negative splits department:

1: 11:09

2: 11:24

3: 11:06

4: 10:41

5: 10:44

Not too shabby for using my normal walk/run style (style, when I run.  I know, I'm too much!) and barely being able to breath. Five miles in the books when the running hasn’t been stellar…I’ll take it.  Sucky wind and all.  I made that wind my beach.

So to sum things up, and to catch you all up on what March was like or wasn’t like for me:

• Volleyball ended.
• Daylight savings kicked my butt.
• I diagnosed myself with Morton’s Neuroma.  Basically, unless I have arch support, I get a shooting pain between my 3^rd and 4^th toe on my right foot.  I am now all grown up and am forced to now wearing “sensible shoes” that don’t crowd my toes.  I can’t even walk around barefoot at home. Lurv me some arch support!
• I watched The Hunger Games. 
• I downloaded the trilogy on my phone.  I have read the first two books in less than a week.  I console myself and tell myself at least it’s not Twilight.

 

• Dignity?  I gots it! Oh and then I watched The Hunger Games again...as in we just got out of the theater less than an hour ago.

 

• I made healthy brownies with black beans in them for a potluck at work.  I redeemed myself with party bread last Friday.  I don't have pictures of either.  Just picture in your head hum drum brownies...and then a rockin' all nighter type of sourdough party bread that stays in Vegas if you know what I mean.

 

 

The end!

PS April…let’s you and me be besties?