When it comes down to sleeping or blogging, sleeping is [almost] always going to win. Last night I worked late, packed late, ran late (but at a happy pace), ate late, but finally went to bed on time!
This morning, I hopped on out of bed at 4 AM to catch my 6:15 flight. That’s also when I realized John’s roommate’s dogs ate my bread so I grabbed a bagel on the way to my gate. The cream cheese was SO GROSS and like frosting! Nothing against frosting, but at 5:30 AM? No.
With 20 minutes between flights, I grabbed a turkey sandwich at Au Bon Pain that was just okay. My appetite gets so confused when I travel.
After a lovely welcome of 60* weather, sunshine (VERY unusual for early March in Rochester) , and my mom, I immediately headed out on a hilly run. The initial 9 minute mile pace went to all heck after a huge hill. My left calf tensed up worse than ever before and caused shooting, prickling pain up my leg. Always on the injury defensive. I walked/slow jogged home. All in all, 4 miles in 45 minutes isn’t a bad workout at all, and lots of stretching later, it’s feeling okay.
Post-run salad with mozz. My mom makes the best salad, I must learn.
Here are some signs that it’s family holiday time:
So very excited for a weekend of family, friends, running, parades, food, and what looks like is going to be good weather.
And this guy- McShultz! He has a shamrock shaped spot on his butt! I’ll get a picture eventually but right now he is too hyper to get a good one.
Filed under: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Eggs, Katie, Lunch, Restaurant, Run
I meant to mention last time that I was glad to hear we all have our crying moments. Since being over-tired and stressed bring out the waterworks, I would basically be the worst mom. The kids would be crying, I’d be crying….
Anyway, breakfast today was a 2-egg and laughing cow breakfast sandwich. If you haven’t bought any Great Harvest bread, I would suggest you Google a location near you. Such good flavor and a nice simple ingredient list. Oh, and that Minneola in the background.
I scrounged around the fridge for a simple lunch of a sundried tomato hummus, avocado, and tomato wrap. Simple but it was surprisingly substantial.
Post-work, I had one of those runs that just happens with all the factors aligning- hit a pace right away, no sore spots, good music randomly popping onto my iPod, sunny weather. My pace was spot on a nine-minute mile for all 5.6 miles (my training plan is based on time, so 50 minutes). I don’t think I once saw anything outside of the range 8:45-9:15 on the Garmin. Since pacing is a weak spot for me, naturally keeping in a tight range allowed me to enjoy the scenery and the run in general. Anyway, now I feel like I’m bragging… but after 2 days of feeling lousy, this was a nice change of pace (pun intended) 
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Dinner was my last feast out for Fort Collins Great Plates Restaurant week. The Canyon Chop House had a cozy inside, which I didn’t expect for the exterior. Our waitress seemed a bit annoyed with us from the get-go and the service wasn’t spectacular, although the company made up for it.
To start- frisse + yellow heirloom tomato + bacon crumbles + heart of palm in a green goddess dressing. Once heirloom tomatoes are in season, I definitely want to repeat this at home. Behind the salad is a warm and chewy piece of sourdough bread (served by a good looking young gentleman I might add).
For an entree, I had a (very well) marinated flank steak with greens and fries. The greens were garlicy and I think included chard and escarole, based on the taste and color. Very much my style. All of the food tasted just as expected or better, though I ran out of tummy space for all the fries.
And when I say “ran out of tummy space” I mean that dessert was coming. Vanilla bean crème Brule- which was as good as it sounds. Creamy with bean flecks and a thin, crisp top.
Thank my roommate for reminding me to even take pictures! I was all ready to dig into my salad when he yelled out “PICTURE!!” The camera usually is the last thing on my mind when delicious food is set down in front of me, but with friends like Matt, this blog happens 
.
Do you feel comfortable taking pictures in restaurants? I’m definitely getting better but at times it feels very unnatural.
Hey all! I hope you had a lovely Tuesday Mine started by sleeping late (I have found I need a lot more sleep as I add more mileage to my training) and having some oatmeal at my desk as I read my MILLIONS of emails. A lot of my clients are in differenct time zones so I am always greeted with plenty of work in the morning
Lunch was a green monster that I made in the morning and took with me to my desk. And my snack today was carrots and hummus. Ugh, I wish I had the chance to take pics today at my desk. I have found that taking pics of food at work is a crap shoot. If it is a day like today when I am on the phone contantly and taking random bites at different times (sips?) then I really can’t take a pic. So sorry bloggies
After work I headed to Golds for a 5 mile run. My legs were really heavy today and I considered stopping several times. I always told myself it was ok to stop and go home to make dinner, and I think knowing that I could helped me continue. Its like when you know you CAN have that last cookie, but you don’t NEED it. I could have stopped, but I really did not need to or want to. I made it to the end a little slower than normal (avg of a 12 minute mile) but at least I made it
When I got home Stephen had made dinner! I made his beef concoction into a wrap on a whole wheat wrap with avocado and laughing cow cheese. Twas delish
I have good news! Tomorrow we will be putting an offer in on the house we saw last night! We had all our questions answered by the current owners are we are ready to pursue an offer! I CANNOT WAIT! I am really getting emotionally invested in this house! Tomorrow we are signing the offer and putting in the initial deposit!!
Now I am busy writing Thank You notes for Team In Training! I feel like I am writing wedding thank you notes all over again!! Good night all!!
Hey all! So sorry I did not have time to post this weekend! Unfortunately I did not take many pictures either. Since you are not allowed to take pictures while house hunting I often forget to take it with me on the Saturdays that we are with our realtor. Speaking of house hunting, I have good news! We found a house! We are working on putting an offer in this week. We are SO excited about this house! It is a 2 story dormered cape style house on a really cute street. This house has TONS of space and was kept immaculate by the people who lived there. The house was built in the 40’s so it has a lot of charm All the things that worry me about a house built in the 40’s (electrical, energy efficient windows, efficient heating and cooling methods, etc.) have all been updated. The electrical is up to code, the windows are new, the switched the natural gas a few years ago, and have central air conditioning! The kitchen is also adorable (I need to add my own touches ). I’ll keep you updated on this process
Saturday morning I wanted to run the Windsor Locks Canal trail for my long run since the weather was incredible.
Unfortuantely I got about a 1/4 mile into my 10 mile run when I hit a big closed and locked gate that said the trail was closed until April 1st in order to protect the wild life that live along the trail. I was dissappointed 
Since there are not many other places to run outside where we currently live (busy road with no shoulder and limited and sidewalks) unless you want to run back and forth on one little section of sidewalk, I had to run my 10 miles on a treadmile! Horrible! Luckily E! News and the Kardashians were on Nothing makes 10 miles go by faster than some juicy celeb gossip
Saturday night we went out to dinner right after house hunting with a bunch of family. A lot of Stephen’s relative’s were in town for Elizabeth’s baby shower the next day. It was very fun, but unfortuantely there were no pics taken
Sunday was Elizabeth’s baby shower! It was so much fun! The food was excellent, and the cute little blue martini’s (since she is having a boy!) were to die for! Elizabeth got lots of adorable clothes for the little guy and some very cute toys and stuffed animals. Unfortunately we did have a bit of an emergency during the shower. An elderly woman who was there was complaining of a cramp in her leg and then lost consiousness. 911 was called and it was all very scary. Luckily we heard from her family that she seems to be ok, although the doctors are not sure why she passed out. Besides that scary moment, the shower was a big success
Before the shower I enjoyed a breakfast burrito
Two eggs, One egg white, tomato, avocado, onion, spinach, and cheddar cheese.
Below are some pictures from the shower
Jordan almonds with little baby booties on them!
The cake!!
The table who won the baby songs game! Posing with their prizes!!!
I am off to work! Then to Gold’s for a 5 mile run! I really cannot wait until it is light out past 7 or so and for the trail to be open so I can run outside after work!
Sunday was a gorgeous day, and with nice days comes ice cream cravings! I’ve been following Sweet Action Ice Cream on Twitter and drooling over their tweets that usually look like this:
“Dark rum raisin, white choco cinnamon, lemon sorbet, grapefruit sorbet, chai, pb&j cupcake, vegan choc brownie, vegan cookies&cream…”
John had ESB (English Style Beer) Oreo in a cone and I tried a little bit of Stranahan’s Whiskey Brickle & PB&J cupcake! All the flavors were good, and the flavors were all very evident but well mixed. The ESB and oreo worked well together, as did PB&J in ice cream.
After a nice walk, we got in the car only to realize it was already 4, and we were supposed to be at a Team in Training fundraising bar crawl at 5. Whoops! After a quick trip back to John’s to change, we headed back over to the Broadway area. The Pub Crawl included
- The Hornet
- Dougherty’s
- The Irish Rover
- 3 Kings
Here are a few highlights… as the night progressed.
I took a lot more pictures, but I’ve been using my camera mainly for food so I wasn’t used to indoor shots, especially in bars with quickly moving drunk people . How RIDICULOUS is that guy’s tattoo!?
Initially, the plan was that I wouldn’t have any drinks and drive us home, but after the first bar, I decided to move my car somwhere it could stay overnight “just in case.” It was a smart decision, since Dougherty’s donated Jameson shots! YUM. Getting ready for St. Patrick’s day celebrations next weekend!
This morning, John left for work and got a flat tire! I didn’t get my car this AM so it ended up that I stayed at his house all day, with no car. Unfortunately, in a house with NO food except some Great Harvest whole wheat. I’ve had at least 3-4 slices in the last 24 hours (including this AM).
I ordered lunch from Thai Basil (there is not much in walking distance… and I was ultra lazy today)- lunch sized portion of peanut-curry chicken. They must read the blog because it was filled with tons of veggies- red and green peppers, baby corn, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, beans, onion, asparagus. Just like home…. almost.
After digesting lunch, I hit the road for a run. I averaged about a 9:40 pace but really had to use every mind game in the book to keep myself going- maybe it was just the depressing gray and rainy skies. This yummy orange was waiting for me post-run. Anyone ever have cravings for oranges after running?!
Dinner was a yummy Chipotle burrito. I usually go for the salads or a bowl but the real deal sounded good today. I saved a little less than half of it and keep having a few bites here and there.
My mood all day was a bit down. Last night was so much fun and I haven’t had a night out at the bars like that in quite awhile. The only downside of going out is I feel so guilty the next morning about the money I spent. Dinner out at a restaurant I never feel that bad about because even if a meal out was pricey, we did need to eat. Spending money on beer and shots though… guilt guilt guilt.
On my run, I was thinking how I’ve learned to stop feeling guilty about food choices. If I eat something like onion rings for dinner (last night ), I get over it because I know that 80-90% of the time, what I eat is balanced and has some nutritional value. I treat my checking account more like a strict calorie-counting diet. Jeans feeling a bit tight is kinda like when I have to dip into my savings- time to cut back a little- and I can handle tight jeans, but get seriously stressed about overspending.
What do you think- is it possible to be an “intuitive spender” or is it important to be a “calorie-counting spender”?
So I guess I have some backtracking to do, eh? The happy hour turned beerfest at my apartment plus going to bed 4 hours after my usual bedtime equaled a useless me on Friday. How did I do that in college?? All day I varied between ravenous carb-monster and nauseated. Since my body was all out of whack, I tried to keep it pretty normal and energizing:
Blueberry oatmeal for breakfast,
A ton of various sauteed veggies for lunch (with peanut sauce drizzled on top).
Lunch also included a bagel at our group meeting (carb-monster!).
After work, I had planned to go to Vail (silly decision making on Thursday, I know), but there was just no way. Instead I napped. Much later than usual, I drove down to Denver since I figured I would try to make the group run on Saturday instead.
Dinner was late and a give-in to my cravings- sketti!
I promptly fell asleep at 9:00 PM. John and I both woke up early on Saturday- he left to go ski with friends and I debated running. In the end, running 1 hour, 45 minutes with a group sounded much better than running it by myself a few hours later.
- Mile 1- 9:49
- Mile 2- 9:38
- Mile 3- 9:54
- Mile 4- 9:56
- Mile 5- 9:35
- Mile 6- 9:41
- Mile 7- 9:42
- Mile 8- 9:50
- Mile 9- 9:40
- Mile 10- 9:42
- Mile 11- 9:20
In some sort of miraculous coincidence, the 2 other women I’ve been running with each week and I all agreed beforehand to slow it down a little today because we were all feeling less than stellar. It was a gorgeous day for a run though and I felt great afterward. Especially after a veggie omelet, English muffin, and orange juice. [I’ve been craving oranges and orange juice after runs sooo much??].
Long Story Time
I laid down to ice, elevate, and rest after brunch and ended up napping for about an hour. Then it was time to decide on plans for the evening. John was staying with friends at Winter Park, I had planned to go hang out with a bunch of CSU friends near Breckenridge, and I felt bad about bailing on the friends in Vail the night before (that were in from out of town). What to do??
After stressing about it and some tears (should have been a serious sign I was overtired) and a bunch of phone calls, I decided to go to Vail. I got all my stuff together and finally got pumped about going. The drive was gorgeous with the sun just starting to set. Until I noticed this cop following me. I had been going the speed limit and everything but since I’m super paranoid about getting in trouble, I started to make sure I had my insurance and all that stuff. Who forgets their wallet and doesn’t realize it until they are HALFWAY to Vail??
Again, in tears, I got off at the next exit (turns out the cop wasn’t following me) and searched everywhere for my wallet. Then I remembered I wore a different coat than usual this AM to run and never took my wallet out. Without my ID or any money whatsoever, going out in Vail and having enough gas to drive back was pretty much impossible.
So after some teary phone calls (really?? Am I 5?? I get tired and cry), I headed back to Denver. After a well-timed phone call, I enjoyed a delicious dinner at my Uncle’s house and started to doze on his couch at 8:30. Again, I was in bed by 9:30. Clearly I needed all this sleep.
Here we are now, Sunday morning. I woke up terribly hungry because I definitely did not eat enough yesterday with all my sleeping and crying. Also the reasons for no post yesterday.
I just had a smallish bagel, egg, and cheese, and I’m thinking of what to eat next.
Alright, shower time and then figuring out what to eat!
It’s a good thing I started my day with vegetables, because it just went downhill nutrient-wise!
It’s a stir-fry! It’s pasta! No! It’s an omelet! [It’s a bird… it’s a plane….]
Something happened at lunch that rarely happens. I got so wrapped up in my work, I didn’t even think of food (!?) until Jorge asked me what I was doing for lunch. Since un-glue-ing my eyes from the computer screen and walking around in 55* weather sounded like a fabulous idea, I went out for lunch again. Does anyone have a good solution to this?! I love being social for a bit and getting outside and out of the office for a little, but going out 3/5 days a week adds up!
We walked to The Pickle Barrel and I had a “pulled turkey” buffalo sandwich. Great Buffalo sauce, nice n spicy!! There was avocado and tomato on it too, and I asked them to not butter the roll (a lot of sub shops do this).
Other than the food, this is the best part about the Pickle Barrel. The womens bathroom. Who does this?! After an initial “wtf!?” I thought about some of the times my friends and I have crammed into one stall at a bar/frat to continue convos. This is a college town after all!
Sometimes conveniently, and sometimes not-so-conveniently, Coldstone is right next door. Today, I learned that anyone can order the kids size! They give an actual 1/2 cup serving (possibly even less, it was small). My mouth was on fire after the sammy and ice cream sounded perfect, so we went for it.
Since I’m going skiing this weekend, my running schedule is a bit changed around and today was a rest day. For the first time in months, I actually went to happy hour. There happens to be a bar in the student union, and the windows face the mountains. A beer while watching the sunset over the mountains? Yes please.
Well, now happy hour is turning into friends coming over to continute happy “hour” so I’m going to get going! I’m not sure what I’m having for dinner yet but it’ll probably involve salsa and guac.
This weekend is going to include skiing and hanging out with friends I rarely see that live in Vail, so blogging might be spotty. I’ll give it my best shot!
Filed under: Dinner, Food, Green Monster, Kelli, Original Recipe, Run, Workout
Hey all! I hope you had a great day! I didn’t get to post this morning due to the fact that I decided to accidently hit the “off” button instead of the “snooze” button on the alarm. 20 minutes past when I was supposed to get up I woke up with a start and ran around the apartment like a crazy woman trying to get ready for work! I showered, blew my hair dry, put on make up, made and ate breakfast, and put together a lunch in exactly 20 minutes flat. OMG. I made it to work on time though
Unfortunately I did not take a picture of my breakfast (a standard green monster) or my lunch (left overs from last night in a whole wheat pita) or my snack (fresh strawberries). So this will unfortunately be a very boring food post on this food blog
When I got home from work I se to work on my chicken tacos that I had planned for tonight! I cooked ground chicken with some Ortega taco spices. Then put it on a whole wheat tortilla and with some melted cheddar, avocado, fresh diced tomatoes, and some plain yogurt.
I had 2 Then 2 hours later I ran 4 miles And did a back and chest workouts Which included chin up!
Wow I look creepy. And yes I use a chair to assist me because I cannot do a chin up by myself. Don’t judge:)
And I am off to watch The Office Baby come!!! OMG!
Filed under: Breakfast, Burger, Cookies, Dinner, Green Monster, Katie, Lunch, Mushrooms, Original Recipe, Run
It was just your standard day over here-
Oats for breakfast (1/4 c oats + 1/2 banana + 3/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk + handful of frozen blubies + coconut + PB blob)
Leftovers for lunch- beans, peppers, potatoes, brown rice. Topped with guac and salsa come lunchtime.
Lunch and snacks- I actually didn’t eat my snacks cause someone so graciously placed a bag of Smartfood right next to me. Needless to say, I ate at least a serving or two.
The weather has been unbelievable and perfecto for running. Heather asked why we exercise today and I thought about how my reasons for exercising have varied over the years. I’ve viewed running as a way to get in shape for sports, a way to keep myself relaxed and sane, and as a way to burn calories, sometimes one reason greatly outweighing the others. Head over to Heather’s Dish to dish about why you exercise.
Along the same vein, training for the marathon has been changing the way I think of running. I’m all about my pace and heart rate and rarely look at calories. I’m thinking of food as fuel more than anything else, which is leading to some of the most balanced eating I’ve ever done. For example, after a run, I think about what I should eat for my body. Not what I should (or shouldn’t) eat for weight-loss; not what would immediately taste delicious (aka French fries and ice cream). I eat when I’m hungry and try to eat something balanced cause half of the time, I’m going to run within a few hours or I just ran. Have your views of food ever varied due to training, or maybe due to something like pregnancy? I’d think that would be another time in life that the food quality would really be front and center.
Speaking of running, today was a 30 minute run, and I went with negative splits.
- Mile 1- 9:55
- Mile 2- 9:48
- Mile 3- 9:34
- Last 0.2- 8:19 (I have the need for speed)
Tangent off.
After my run, I drank a green monster (bunch of spinach + vanilla almond milk + 1/2 a frozen banana) and caught up on my Tweets. The important things.
The last time Kelli visited (last MAY?!), I ate a mushroom-cream cheese burger that was to die for. I’m sort of embarrassed to say that this burger has been on my mind since then and this was my first attempt to recreate it. A girl can dream [about food] for 9 months right?
I started sauteeing a bit of onion and garlic in olive oil, and then added about a cup of these frozen mixed mushrooms + 2 fresh button mushrooms. I added a splash of soy sauce and then remembered Kelli’s burger- and added some steak sauce! I added probably 1 Tbsp of each. After the shrooms were good and cooked, I tossed them into the food processor with 1 TBSP of cream cheese and a few crackers.
I sprinkled in a teeny bit of this gouda. Lots of grocery stores have these mini cheese samples, and are perfect for sampling, especially when you cook for one.
After grinding it all together, I made a patty and fried it in a bit of butter. Meanwhile, there was some garlic broccoli cooking (olive oil, garlic, and broc until it’s bright green).
The finished product, with a couple goat cheese crumbles. Looks close to a real burger, no?
The insides- even more beef-like.
Huhg jass pile of broccoli.
And the sweet potato fries that inspired it all. Thought process- I want sweet tater fries, what goes with fries? Burger! I have no meat. Mushrooms!
Now, I’m going to relax with a GS Cookie (Samoa) or two and some Malbec.
Hey all! I hope you had a happy hump day! Mine was crazy busy and ended with an hour long conversation on the phone trying to convince someone that I was right and they were wrong. GRR. I won in the end woo woo!
Before the argument I enjoyed the exact same lunch as yesterday! I added some avocado and Laughing Cow cheese. AMAZING.
After work I came home to make some scallop bean burgers! I combined the following in the food processor:
- 1 can organic red kidney beans
- 1.5 cups baby bay scallops
- 5-6 whole wheat crushed crackers
- 2 Tbsp A1 steak sauce
I whipped all the ingredients into submission before forming them into patties.
The patty’s of bean and scallop
The sprouts to be roasted
The creepster enjoying a glass of chilled white wine while dinner was cooking.
I baked everything at 375* for 25 minutes.
The finished product. I put one of the patty’s on some whole wheat bread with avocado and laughing cow cheese. OMG taste explosion in my mouth. The taste was awesome. I think the A1 really pulled it all together.
For dessert I enjoyed some fudge tracks ice cream with 2 cherries I heart cherries.
I am off to have a nice relaxing evening with the hubby
