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By Liz, November 30, 2009 11:36 am

Whew! Where has the weekend gone guys?! I can’t believe it’s Monday already. With all the baking and stuff of Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday and working all weekend…this holiday weekend has flown by! I’m looking forward to a week of getting back into the swing of things…plus a little homework. Heelllo research paper and a speech. Should be fun, huh…;)

So, Thanksgiving must be discussed. I went running in the morning and completed a 9 mile run in 1 hr and 19 minutes…which is quite faster than my usual long run pace and I hadn’t ran since last Saturday, so it was definitely a great run. Also, running made me nice and hungry for my dinners. I went to two dinners…can you say food coma?

This Thanksgiving dinner was at Jacob’s sister’s house. The good: my squash-couscous dish, turkey…the bad: Pillsbury crescent rolls (really bad, like trans fat bad), canned cranberry sauce (or should I say high fructose corn syrup sauce), mash potatoes and sweet potatoes with marshmallow (not that bad) and green bean casserole (no that bad either). Gosh darn, I love those crescent rolls, although I know they were completely unhealthy and contain ingredients I avoid…but c’est la vie. I also had two slices of my pumpkin cheesecake.

I really liked how this cheesecake turned out. I used the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I followed it almost to a T but I used less sugar and used some reduced fat cream cheese…oh and more pumpkin, cause pumpkin rocks!

The above dinner was at my parent’s house. However, their friend from Colorado, Donna, visited and she cooked the meal. The good: all of it… Donna can cook! This dinner included steamed green beans with almonds sauteed in butter, free-range roasted turkey, wild rice with oysters, roasted onion and gravy. Some Bianchi Zin was savored with dinner. Loved it!

And… I had a slice of my kabocha pie with fresh whipped cream!

Accompanied by the Bianchi Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon. Yum!

The amazingly delish slice:

I love Thanksgiving not only for all the delicious food, but also for the family. I truly enjoyed spending time with all my loved ones and that is what made Thanksgiving such a wonderful day. I was also quite full, with two dinners and what not, so comfy sweats were very much appreciated by the end of the night. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Friday was “How Many Meals Can You Eat of Turkey” day.Although breakfast was a slice of ezekiel with peanut butter, which did not include turkey, for lunch I had a turkey filled salad with lettuce and carrot…and woodtock dressing of course!Plus some perfectly thawed strawberries. This was seriously the perfect light lunch after such a food filled day on Thanksgiving.

Friday afternoon was very fun! Jacob and I went to an afternoon Bikram yoga class. It felt amazing to stretch and focus and sweat! It also made my body feel a lot more rejuvenated and light after food overdose…I felt pretty much back to normal.

After Bikram, we stopped in my favorite health food store, New Frontiers and I tried my first fresh veggie/fruit juice! It was called the Perfect Blend and had beets, carrot, apple, celery, ginger, and lemon in it. Soooo amazing!! It made me want to get a juicer even more. Also, I can now understand why Alison is big on the juice! I had a little something solid on the way home. too…which was a banana with almond butter. However, driving and picture taking are not conducive with each other, so no picture.

Dinner was turkey meal number two…

This meal included a wing, steamed veggies, my homemade cranberry sauce, leftover couscous, and some chocolate for good measure. Very satisfying.

Saturday was a whirlwind of work and the night was a whirlwind of tiredness…I think the past few days festivities really caught up with me and I called it a night quite early. However, the dinner I made was delish…and incorporated turkey!

I made a grilled cheese stuffed with turkey and steamed veggies on the side. However, I have a secret to amazing grilled cheese with more flavor…Worcestershire sauce! Actually, this is a trick my parents would use whenever they made grilled cheese. It adds so much more flavor and a little kick to an otherwise blah grilled sammie.

Oh, and I might have baked a batch of perfectly fudgy walnut brownies.I totally demolished two of those bad boys. Heaven!

Okay, we’re almost all caught up...Sunday was not too special. I worked and met up with a group of people in my English class in the evening to work on a presentation due next week. The highlight of the evening was getting drinks with a friend afterwards. It made studying much more worthwhile

Oh, on a side note, yesterday I was taking pics of my lunch (which was a turkey leg and couscous). However, I realized that there was just no way to make my drumstick look appetizing, actually it looked pretty gross. This side note really had no point, I just thought it was funny how the leg looked icky.

Anywho, we are here at Monday now…oh glorious Monday! Is everyone getting back in the swing of things alright?

I started my day off with, what may be, the best biscuits I ever made.These fluffy whole wheat biscuits look straight out of a restaurant. I think the whole tablespoon of baking powder may have been responsible for that! They tasted amazing, too.I topped mine with butter, pumpkin butter and cranberry apple butter. Two perfectly seasoned (salt and pepper) eggs accompanied my biscuits. What a way to start a Monday folks!

Well, I believe a run is in order today. I’ll be doing that right after work. And, mucho homework awaits me, too.

Some random ramblings: Now that the cross country season is over my training is going to be a bit more sporadic. I was thinking of either making a serious plan for myself, or just having fun with it. Well, fun took over and I have decided to just do workouts that sound fun to me in the moment. If that means yoga, then yoga it is. Or maybe I really want to pump some iron. Or maybe a good ol’ 5 miler is what the doctor ordered. I just going to play it by ear for the next few weeks until I have to get serious with my training again. However, my rest week is over (even though I only took 4 full days of rest, but eh) and I will be working out regularly, as in 6 days a week, like normal. On another note, I have to admit, my eating habits have been going a bit off the healthy path. I’ve been eating a few too many sweets, drinking a few to many drinks, eating whole plates of pizza and not getting enough veggies. I don’t think I’ve gained weight, but I don’t feel that great inside or out. Pretty much what I’m saying is that I am human, and I’m going through patch here where I’m not practicing what I preach. I’m not going to all of a sudden restrict myself, or diet or anything. I’m going to let this run it’s course but make sure I have healthy options available.  *end ramble*

Have a great Monday y’all!

Comments (6)

By Liz, November 20, 2009 10:07 am

Good Morning! Today is Friday, as most of you probably already know. However, this isn’t just any Friday…no…today I am leaving for my State Cross Country meet. I have to admit, I haven’t given the actual race a lot of thought. I’ve been thinking about how excited I am to be going, I’ve been thinking about seeing my family afterwards (my grandma, aunt & uncle, mom & dad and Jacob are all coming to watch) and I’m looking forward to the rest and relaxation I will enjoy once the season is over. But aside from all that…now… it is time to focus, focus, focus. I truly want to run the best race of my life, and to do that I need to get my head in the game (or race ).

So that’s what’s going on in Liz’s world.

I did eat some breakfast this morning.

Apple Crisp Oats was on the menu this morning along with a mug of green tea. Just so you guys know, I have a mug of green tea almost every single morning. I just don’t usually photograph it or mention it. Just an fyi there.

Last night I made muffins for the team…

I decided to switch up my usual Super Powerfood muffins and make a few alterations.

Changes:

1c canned plain pumpkin instead of applesauce

omit zuchinni and apples

add 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice to dry ingredients

Other than those two changes the recipe is exactly the same. I had a nibble of one last night and I think they turned out pretty bomb.

I decided to just go all and make another batch of muffins, too.

I made some banana nut muffins from this recipe. Like usual I made some changes, too.

Changes:

Made muffins instead of bread (baked for 30 min at 350 oven)

Used 1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

And that’s that! I had a nibble of this one too and again…pretty darn delish! I think the team will be pleased.

Okay…so I still have to pack up for the race and only have an hour…so it’s go time!!

Adios guys!!

Comments (4)

By Liz, November 15, 2009 9:31 pm

I absolutely loved having the day off today. I feel (mostly) recharged and (sorta) ready for the weeks ahead.

I slept into almost 10 o’clock this morning! Ack, it felt good, but I usually like to be up by 8 at the latest. I sure felt rested though!

While laying in bed, I made a game plan for how I wanted to spend my day. Jacob and I had thrown around a couple ideas last night, like maybe hiking. But, this morning we decided on making a relaxing breakfast, hanging out a bit, then going for a long run at Montana de Oro (my favorite place ever!), window shopping in downtown SLO and going to New Frontiers (my 2nd favorite place ever).

First things first…

I made waffles using whole wheat flour, oat bran and ground flax. I reduced the butter in the recipe (from Joy of Cooking) from 2 sticks to 3/4 of a stick. They sure were tasty. For some protein power, I made a 2 egg omelet stuffed with spinach and a thin slice of sharp cheddar cheese. And, of course, there was some maple syrup on the side for dipping the waffles in. Yum!

Jacob and I hung out in our pjs watching some Spongebob Squarepants. I swear I’m still a little kid! I mean…my comforter on my bed is Pooh bear and I have 2 Spongebob pillow cases. Real mature

After digesting breakkie, it was off to Montana de Oro. I ran 7 miles in 64 minutes. I ran in my regular Mizuno trainers, no Vibrams for longs runs yet. I felt amazing…like I was gliding along. The weather was gorgeous, too. A light breeze, just enough warmth, the rustling of leaves…perfect.

After-run refueling was chicken sandwiches I made before we left for the run.

I was afraid all the fillings would fall out if I took a picture of it after I unwrapped it, so a saran wrapped picture it was. I made the sandwiches with 2 slices Ezekiel bread, 1/4 avocado, 1 tbsp. TJs tuscan dressing, shredded carrot, roasted chicken, red pepper slices, radishes and spinach. On the side, I had 1/2 and orange and a homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

After lunching, we drove into SLO-town and hit up a couple stores downtown. I made some serious hints to Jacob of possible Christmas presents. I also used a gift card that I had from my birthday last January, and bought a pair of running shorts with it. A little Starbucks was had, too.I got my recent addiction of a cafe americano with 2 pumps pumpkin spice with a splash of half and half. Too good!

Of course, our New Frontiers stop was wonderful. This health food store is quite expensive, but aren’t they all? I limited myself to 4 small items, and somehow walked out only spending 12 bucks. I am proud of my smart spending. I made my selections carefully…

Annie’s woodstock dressing (aka my favorite salad dressing), 2 bars of Green and Blacks chocolate (also my favorite dark chocolate in the world) and a package of coconut water. I’ve heard that coconut water is a good natural sports drink, so I’ll test it out one of these days soon.

When we got home, we were both pretty famished! I whipped up some quick dinner.

All pretty:

All messed up:

This dish was inspired from a similar dinner Christina made a while back. I’ve had it in the back of my mind ever since I saw it, and tonight was the night to try it out. I didn’t use the ricotta though, and I’m a bit sad I didn’t. It really would have added something too the dish…next time though. I also added in some green beans for some more veggie action. I loved the green beans in it, too! This dish was fabulous, even without the ricotta and Jacob and I both went back for seconds. Lucky me, there are some leftovers for my lunch tomorrow!

Dinner was accompanied my a beverage…

This was better than the Blue Moon pumpkin ale, more spice to it. However, I was still a bit disappointed in how it almost tasted like regular ol’ beer. Anyone have some recommendations for a really good pumpkin brew?

Dessert was obvious…

This was the first time I tried this variety and I was seriously impressed. I had to hold myself back from eating the whole bar! I will admit I went back for a couple more little squares. Too good, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from G&Bs.

Just enjoying the rest of my night before I have to go back to the daily grind. Nighty night.

Comments (5)

By Liz, November 11, 2009 9:37 pm

Okay, so I’m a bit ticked right now…my 3 month old 250 buck camera has something wrong with it. Okay, I’m not ticked…I’m pissed!

Anyways….now that I got that off my chest….

I bet you are all biting at the bit (or not ) to know what the “special” purchase I made on Sunday was. Well the wait is over…

Vibram Five-fingers baby! For anyone not aware of these amazing shoes, read about them here. In short, Vibrams are the ultimate “unshoe”. Wearing these is essentially like walking around barefoot. I personally LOVE being barefoot, and I think most people prefer to not wear shoes. I will be using these for walking around, working out, daily activities and running. So what do they feel like you ask? Well, you feel everything under your feet. Every rock, every change in surface. You feel very attune with your surface and surroundings. I warmed up and cooled down with my Vibrams on Monday and I warmed up with them on Tuesday, as well as walking around all day at school with them. They take some getting used to, and there is definitely a break-in period. I am not ready to wear these 100% of the time yet, but I am working up to that. What I can definitely say thus far is that these shoes (or unshoes) are amazing! I have fallen in love with them, and cannot wait to be able to spend more and more time wearing and running in them. Vibrams rock!

So lets see…what the heck have I been up to these past few days?

The most notable parts of Monday include:

Running an awesome workout: 5 miles including 1mile warm-up, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min all ran hard then a 1 mile cool-down. Loved running in the Vibrams for the warmups and cooldowns!

Hugh jass taco salads, with blue corn chips and salsa.

Aaaannnd…spending all evening and into the wee hours of the night working on a speech that I procrastinated on until the night before it was due. Ahh, good times.

Tuesday was the usual school, school and more school. I think I rocked my speech, even though I didn’t prepare as much as I should have. Also, in English my teacher used my paper that I turned in last week as an example of A+ work. I was really humbled by her praise for my work. Totally put a smile on my face! My mandatory sweat sesh was an easy 4 miles with the xc team.

Wednesday…nothing too special here. Breakfast was exceptional though.

I had some leftover pancake batter in the fridge from Sunday. I also had about 1/4 cup of pumpkin in the fridge, too. My genius brain decided to put the two together and make pumpkin pancakes! Topped with pumpkin butter, almond butter and walnuts…this was a pancake breakfast made in heaven. Oh ya, there was some maple syrup on there, too.

The whole spread:

Lunch was pretty darn good too.

That’s 2 slices of ezekiel bread stuff with mashed pinto beans, 1/4 of an avocado, red pepper slices, spinach, carrot, radish and tuscan dressing. This sandwich pretty much rocked. It was accompanied with blue corn chips and strawberries. Yum!

Workout today was 40 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes of swimming and about 5 minutes of ab work. By the way, have you guys checked out Angela’s Whittle Your Middle challenge? I’m totally on board!

Dinner tonight was pretty quick, thrown together and unspecial. Also, my camera has been taking totally crappy pictures as of tonight (there is a line running through the middle of all my pictures)…so I will not be including those pics.

I’m watching Glee right now…totally addicted to that show!

Nighty night guys.

Comments (5)

By Liz, October 31, 2009 6:47 pm

Happy Halloween guys! I haven’t gotten any trick or treaters at my house yet…but they should be here soon. I can’t wait to see all the cute kid costumes…it reminds me of when I was a wee one dressing up and going out with my parents and my little neighbor friends. Always fun!

Today has been pretty boring, so I won’t drone on too long.

Breakfast was super simple…

One of my pumpkin duffins (doughnut muffins…get it? ) and 2 scrambled eggs. Wasn’t super filling, but it was tasty.

I had one customer all day at work, over the course of a 7 hour shift. Ack. I got a lot of homework done though.

Lunch was really simple again.

Leftover whole wheat spaghetti, veggie blend with beans and parm. I brought 2 servings worth and had the other half for a second lunch mid-afternoon. An apple and Larabar were consumed during work also.

No plans tonight other than watching scary movies and passing out (and eating) candy. I may have had 2 mini bars already…just maybe . Dinner tonight is leftover chili…which is always better the next day.

Almost forgot to mention that one of my roommates got me a present today!

A jug of beer! Totally great surprise when I got home from work. I had a few sips and it tastes great. It’s a mix between dark and pale ale…super yum! Also, I dressed up festive today. I’m wearing ghost earrings, an orange shirt and black pants. Gotta love the Halloween spirit.

Have a great night y’all. Enjoy yourselves, be safe and don’t go into a sugar coma!