Pinterest - my newest procrastination tool

I'm clearly late to the party and have heard people talking about pinterest.com for a while but I finally decided to check it out.  It will probably be my newest procrastination tool :) 

I also found this and thought that it was worth sharing:


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Sounds like pretty good advice to me!  Numero uno - check ;)

Puppy Run

So last night Brent and I went for a 2m run with Freckles.  We decided to run at an easy pace and since we weren't concerned with our time, we figured it would be the perfect time to run with the pup.  She is still only 10 months old so we don't want to push it on her little puppy joints (plus she is terrible on the leash - always pulling and running every which way...she almost tripped Brent at least 3 times).

After the run, I noticed that my achilles tendon felt wierd...it didn't actually hurt but I could feel it.  I looked up some achilles stretches and strengthening exercises that I am going to try to do a couple of days a week.  The last thing I want is to get injured in the very beginning of our training!  I found a good article on achilles stretching/strengthening on livestrong.com --> Here is the link!

Before we had gone out for our run I made Brent's favorite soup so that it would be ready when we got back.  Definitely worth getting out a little bit later than planned.  When we got back I put some seasoned kale in the oven to bake.  I don't know about you but I can almost never make perfect kale chips...but yesterdays were pretty damn close!  Even Brent liked them and he does NOT like kale.  I sprayed them with Pam olive oil spray and tossed them with garlic powder, cayenne powder, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, sea salt and nutritional yeast.  I put them in the oven at 340 F for 7 minutes then peeled some of the damper pieces off of the foil so they would crisp up and put them back in for another 5 minutes. 

They were a little spicy but really tasty!  Normally, I have to eat kale chips with some ketchup but I just ate them plain and I really enjoyed them.  I would definitely use a little less cayenne powder next time because my mouth was burning by the time I was done - and I like spicy foods!  Just a word to the wise :)

I will probably make them again tonight because they are super easy and filling (and I need to get rid of my kale before it goes bad).  Definite recommendation!

Soupsss

So I have taken a long break from posting anything & now I just keep pushing it off.  I think it is probably because I fell off the wagon in every way with regard to eating healthy and exercising/training during the holiday.  I know that most people are guilty of that for Thanksgiving but I literally did nothing (besides walking around the mall on Black Friday) and ate my face off.

Brent and I have been super busy but I know that it is no excuse.  On that note - onward and upward!  I will start back with the regular blogging - still having issues with my phone camera and digital camera so hopefully I will be remedying that sooner than later.  Until then photos will be sporadic.

As for running schedule for the week:

Tuesday - 2.5m run
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3m run
Friday - rest
Saturday - 4m run
Sunday - cross train

As for meals for the week:

Tuesday - Brent's Garbage Disposal soup & baked kale chips
Wednesday - Salad and baked kale chips (trying to get rid of my kale before it spoils, obvi)
Thursday - Mushroom/Quinoa/Kale soup & baked green bean fries
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Out with visiting friends (I will try to be good...)
Sunday - Dijon Roasted Vegetable soup

If you couldn't tell - I love soup.  Especially when it starts getting colder.

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Will keep you updated on training and meal schedule!

Baby smiles :)

Yay for the holidays!  I've come to realize how amazing the holidays are since I began working 40 hours a week.  This 4 day weekend is gonna be amazing!

This week has been very rushed for Brent and me so please excuse my lack of blogging yesterday.  We worked until 6pm, came home and ran our 2m (18:10...slowly but surely I WILL run steady 9 minute miles), made dinner out of everything perishable in our fridge, did all the dishes, took out the garbage, packed for the 4 day week up at my MIL's, drank a glass of scotch and BAM! it was 10pm.

We had to pack the car this morning because we have our dog training class tonight and we are leaving right from class.  I'm thinking that we will hit quite a bit of traffic but I am crossing my fingers that isn't the case.  But if I know Southern California, everyone will be on the road all night. 

I don't have much to talk about but to hold you over until my fun thanksgiving 5k post - it's WIKIPEDIA WEDNESDAY!  I just went to wikipedia and clicked through until I found something fun and this fun fact won the day:

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"People will instinctively smile back at babies who gaze at them and smile.  If a baby cries, many people will desire to pick them up."

I hope a lot of babies smile at you over the holiday weekend!  See ya tomorrow :)

MNF and Red Velvet Cupcakes

Nothing too special today.  We are going to watch MNF with some co-workers tonight so we will probably get a beer or two.  If you were wondering…

WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR:

Mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Is it just me, or do mini cupcakes taste waaaayyy better than regular sized ones?  I think it was someone’s birthday or something today and Brent stole two mini cupcakes for me.  They were REALLY good.  Not too much icing, not too big.  I wish they weren’t stolen so I could have asked where they got them from…oh well.  Elusive cupcakes taste better, right?

Not the end for the Birds…yet.

E.A.G.L.E.S. Eaglessssss!

So the Eagles won…even though our  record is pretty terrible and it is very unlikely that we will make the playoffs, it’s nice to see your team win.  Especially against a division rival.  And that is exactly what happened on Sunday.  Cool J

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing.  Kinda the theme of the whole weekend.  I reheated the black bean burgers for dinner and made sweet potato fries and mashed potatoes.  Apparently I was carbo loading for no apparent reason.

Then I made our Supper Schedule for the rest of the week.  Because it was Supper Schedule Sunday.  Obviously.  Unfortunately, the first menu is kinda boring because we are leaving to go to my MIL’s on Wednesday night and won’t be back until Sunday.  Which means that I am attempting to eat everything perishable in our fridge in 3 days.  Here goes…

Supper Schedule for the Week of 11.21.11

Monday - MNF = leftover polenta

Tuesday - Vegan pumpkin cheese sauce with shells & steamed peppers, mushrooms, spinach and kale 

Wednesday –Black Bean Burgers and baked kale chips with nutritional yeast

Tuesday is honestly just everything in the fridge thrown together with some vegan cheese sauce.  But just about anything will taste good with cheese sauce.

And since I was on a roll/have been slacking on my fitness/plan on eating a lot on Thanksgiving, I decided to be a little ambitious this week and create an exercise schedule.

Exercise Schedule:

Monday –Abs

Tuesday – 2m run and 15 mins stretching

Wednesday – Insanity Recovery DVD

Thursday – Cantrell First Annual Turkey Trot 5K

Friday – Insanity Recovery DVD

Saturday – 3m run and 15 mins stretching

Sunday – Rest day/Football!

WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR:

3 day work week – nuff’ said!

Black Bean Burgers and Pajamas

We have officially not left the apartment the entire day (minus taking the pups for a walk) & it was glorious!  I had planned on running some errands and doing a pilates video but it was nice to sleep in, watch the Penn State game and lay around.  In case you were wondering, Penn State WON!  It was definitely a good game (which meant that I was on the edge of my seat screaming the whole game) and it was nice to get a W after everything that has happened the past few weeks. 

 

Now we play Wisconsin next week to determine who goes to the Big Ten Championship game.  I'm nervous but excited!  Next week is a BIG game and I hope the PSU can go out this season on a high note.

After the game (& cursing at the TV for 3 hours), I decided to make black bean burgers for dinner.  It took longer than planned because I had dry black beans but the result was delicious.  Brent ate 3!

Yum!  I highly recommend making these....especially because the recipe made 18 burgers so Brent and I have 3 easy meals next week.  Here is the recipe:

Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) bag of dry black beans

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 1/4 cup corn

3 TB minced garlic

2 eggs

2 TB red chili powder

2 tsp Sriracha

2 tsp garlic powder

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup cooked whole wheat couscous

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.  Cook beans.  (I rinsed the beans, put them in a pot and covered with about 8 cups of water.  I let it boil, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes then took off range and let sit for about an hour.  The beans were still kind of hard so I put them back on the stove and let them simmer for about 20 minutes until they were cooked thoroughly.  This whole step could be alleviated if you use two cans of precooked beans.  Haha)

2.  Drain and rinse beans.  Dry thoroughly.

3.  Preheat oven to 375 F.

4.  Saute peppers, onions and garlic in saucepan for 5 minutes and then drain all liquid.

5.  In small bowl, mix eggs, garlic powder, chili powder, and sriracha.

6.  In a large bowl, mix together everything but couscous and bread crumbs.

7.  In batches, process the mixture in a high quality blender or food processor.

8.  Once everything is blended, add couscous and bread crumbs to mixture.

9.  Grease baking sheet and divide mixture into 18 burgers.  (I baked 6 at a time and put a little olive oil on my hands so it was easier to form the burgers)

10.  Bake 10 minutes on each side.

11.  Enjoy!

On the first batch, I put cheese on 4 of the burgers and put them back in the oven for another 2 minutes or so.  As for the rest of the burgers, I individually wrapped each one in saran wrap and put 4 in each baggie for separate meals.  Then into the freezer they went!  You will see them again this week!

 

IT'S SONG SATURDAY!

Don't think I forgot!  So for some reason I woke up thinking about a song that I was obsessed with in college.  I heard it once on an episode of the OC (yes...THAT long ago!) and I probably listened to it every day for a year.  It's kinda dark but excellent for running & it will be added to my playlist this week!  Please click for your enjoyment - Running up that Hill - Placebo 

WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR:

I am thankful for lazy saturday filled with football, beer, cooking and puppies. <3