Backed out of drive thru

So if you know me AT ALL you know I generally hate drive thrus, mostly for environmental reasons but on principle they suck.

But the other day I decided to stop by, I didn't feel like dealing with the parking lot for lunch people when all I wanted was piping hot coffee. So I pulled in, saw it was about 4 deep, waited ten second and backed out of the way.

I didn't get my coffee that afternoon...the real tragedy.

Sweater for Molly

I swore I would never put my dog in clothes. Until we saw this.

Fire in fireplace

Ok so I have been MIA for awhile, I wish I could tell you I was bush packing in adventure in my life, really I have just been busy, which is of course an adventure.

So I have to say, our place before this one had a fireplace, and we lived there nearly four years. We have been in this place about a year, and a week or so ago we made our first fire. Our old place we had a great reason....NO ONE wants to haul firewood up stairs.

So last week we built a fire and I spend an entire day on the carpet reading. It was amazing.

Too bad we aren't allowed to burn very often and it is still wayyyy too warm for December.

Stopped at train track

So let me talk about this one....growing up in Kansas I am sure in the time that I remember that I got stopped at the train tracks on a regular basis, but in the 12 years that I have lived here....I was NEVER stopped at the train tracks.  Part of that might be in my regular 'bubble' that there just aren't a lot of train tracks....and now that I am writing about this i don't even remember WHERE I was stopped at the train tracks....

I did have a hart time convincing my husband that it had never happened and it was the shortest train ever....but it happened....

Yay me?

Spinach smoothie

I tried and tried to get some extra health into my life this spring.  It didn't work out too well....I had spinach......LITERALLY bought spinach for this reason (at Costco no less) and I figured that, because I had a ton, I would throw in a huge handful.  So I did.....and I tasted it....note to self....just don't make a spinach smoothie with chocolate and strawberry....

Upside down on playground bar

Yes I am writing about this at the age of 26.....but I did this at age 25....does that count?

I guess there are some perks of doing a challenge like this when you don't remember anything before 5th grade....and in my world I guess that sometime before that is when you stop hanging upside down on the playground bars....

So there I am....i tuck my shirt in and manage to climb onto the rail.....it sucked I am not like MOST people that would just flip my legs over....it is different, first I set hold on and then flip upside down.  I made my husband hold on and spot me....yes I was that worried....it sucked.

I don't plan on doing this again....cross it off the list and move on....

Garlic knots

My favorite Italian place (such amazing food!!!) has the most amazing garlic knots to add to their amazing menu. Slightly cheesy perfect texture...perfection.

This afternoon I made a nice batch of cinnamon rolls with my go to roll recipe, and I knew at the beginning I would have a little left. As I looked on the counter at my delicious soup and was thinking how nice something slightly crusty and garlicky would be...basically croutons but I decided to add some garlic butter and Parmesan to my dough recipe.

They came out a little sweeter than I wanted, this dough is naturally sweeter, I should have thought of that, but aren't they pretty?

Almond GF cookies

This was my first experiment with a gluten free recipe, so bear with me.

I looked at the recipe I had and then went totally off course so let me try to see what I came up with here:

2 cups whole almonds dashed to smaller pieces in food processor
1 cup shredded coconut
1 tbs cocoa powder
small handful chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate but dark would be better)
Egg whites (about 1/3 cup all together)
I also had some almond meal so I threw in a little bit in hopes of sticking all of this together.

It wouldn't form into cookies so i made it into a giant bar and popped it in the oven until toasty tasty.  Probably about 20 min at 350, the husband liked them, and I didn't feel too guilty eating them.

Weird looking but tasty....I won't call it a win....but a tie.

crock pot covered almonds

I didn't have almonds around so I called my parents to borrow a couple cups and then decided to use their crock pot to cook them.  Rumor has it that they are over there and done and tasty....but if i go I will eat them....and we are on diet day 7.

So i mixed some egg white, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and water in a plastic bag and shook it up before putting it in the crock pot on low for about 3 hours, stirring from time to time.

An adventure.....that I am afraid to try....ahhh

Paper mâché bowl

You know those things that SOUND like a good idea even though they are far from it?  Another pinterest disaster coming your way!

So I have seen the posts....you cover the bowl in paper mache used making your own paste of flower and water. I was SUPER excited about this one, making the decision to get up early Saturday morning and making the paste before dashing quickly out the door to buy some newspaper and coffee around the corner.  (yes I paid money for this paper)  I came home got out my favorite large pyrex bowl and started tearing paper.  It was pretty relaxing to tell the truth, brainless yet detail oriented work.  My husband got up and started helping me and we had a fun time.  We waited until late afternoon the next day for it to dry, and then decided to pop it in the oven at about 125 for a few hours.

Now the question was how to get it off....I did think about this when reading the post that I started from, but it didn't seem like it would be an issue.....so I went for it.  Peeling the paper off my favorite bowl to create one of equal size....not really my forte, even though there were times that we were convinced it would work out just fine.....i now have my favorite bowl yet....but the time spent covering it is gone....guess I will have to go the balloon route and make a less perfect bowl shaped one....

maybe next time...

southwestern eggrollls (3)

First time with this recipe
First time with fillo dough
first time cooking with coconut

I have an unhealthy addiction to appetizers..... especially at a good restaurant....or a decent chain....or anything close to it.

The problem?  The diet is a week in (as of today!) and they are SO not healthy....and usually fried...not a good combination.  In fact we are avoiding eating out unless I am 100% sure before hand what to order and the calorie content.

So enter this recipe...here I REALLY should have taken photos the experience was a bit hilarious but with me and this blog you are lucky I am doing anything new at all!  I also added chicken to the recipe because everything is better with chicken.  I cooked said chicken in cocout oil which seemed slower than EVOO but the chicken was more moist.

When I went shopping last week intending to make this deliousness....I couldn't find egg roll or won ton wrappers ANYWHERE so I went with fillo dough....i figured it had a lot of the same qualities.....light and flaky.  I have another box and a half and I am looking forward to some adventures with them.

But let me tell you....this stuff was difficult! Pretty sure it came in large sheets and one of them broke so I had tiny sheets.  I played around with the layers, on these puppies, I used some with 2 or 3 layers...a lot with weird broken tops that showed my filling (which was totally delish)

I only managed to roll ONE of them in a cute little tiny burrito/egg roll looking thing.  The rest varied in size like burrito to mini taco and were good.....but crazy.  A fork was suggested more than anything else.  I also skipped out on the ranch dip.

I thought when I started this little project that I had watched Rachael Ray make enough egg roll recipes (though only one came to mind....) that I would be able to handle this fillo dough.....but it didn't work out in any way....but it was a fun and tasty disaster!

Another Coconut oil use

Ok, like I said, I am obsessed with the stuff.

So another recent use?  Mascara remover! Now I don't wear mascara a TON but lately I have been for a variety of reasons, mostly I want to look more awake haha.....part of the reason I didn't wear it a lot in the past was because it was a pain to get it off.....nothing worked well and my lashes always felt clumpy.

Thank you again coconut oil! I use the wedge sponges with it and it comes off like a charm! So excited.....Coconut oil for the win!

Zumba Class

Ok, so anyone that knows my EXTREME lack or rhythm can attest that this is funny.  And by funny i mean embarrassing.

So I should warn you all that I can't clap.....literally I CAN NOT CLAP on beat....it is actually humorous....only not.  So when I started at the gym I figured that some of the classes would be a good way for me to get some of my new things out of the way.

So enter Zumba class.  I have done zumba before...at home....on my Wii.  It wasn't pretty haha...I mean i was able to get the dance done but was ALWAYS off beat...so why did I think it would be a good idea to go to a class?  Full of other people?  People that CAN DANCE?  I still haven't decided what I was thinking.

So i joined the class.... I have to admit that some of the appeal was the long line that I regularly see on the way to class.

I wasn't on beat the entire time....and had no idea what I was doing....and I didn't even feel like i got that much exercise out of it.

Hopefully I am the only one that noticed how totally off beat I was!

Key Lime cookies

So once in a while I will have key lime SOMETHING (it varies) that is near perfection, pie, cheesecake, etc.  (I can feel my calories packing on...ug! so much for the diet)

Anyways it is these things that make me want perfection....and when I saw the random recipe here i figured it would go well on my new things to do list....bonus that I would have key lime juice in hand when i decide to be daring and make key lime pie.

Again I left out the zest....zesting takes a talent that I have yet to master to the point of perfection....so I try to avoid it whenever possible.

It turned out fairly sweet and tart....but more crumbly than I would have liked.  But an adventure....sorta weird and fun!

The coolest thing about this was popping the "log dough" into the fridge for a good hour or so and then sliced it into cookie pieces.  I had never done that with a cookie before.  Other than the ones that you use from the store (haven't boughten those in ages)

Have a great adventure!

Coconut Bread

I started out with this recipe for coconut bread.  I had no idea what dissected coconut was but i got the sweetened shredded stuff at the store.  Also i left out the Lemon Juice and zest because I didn't have any and it wasn't worth the trip to the store.  (Yes I do need to take better notes and inventory before going to the store)

I put it in the pan and baked it...the recipe said 320 but I moved it to 350 at the end because i wanted to put something else in the oven.  Such an adventure.

My husband likes it, which to me is success!

Ivory soap

So this is so dumb. So completely totally dumb.

We have all seen on Pinterest the pop ivory soap in the microwave and it becomes like clay. Well I am desperate like REALLY desperate for new things to do. So I remembered at the store today and grabbed a few bars.

Less than 10 minutes ago I popped a bar in the microwave for a couple minutes and went about my kitchen work. I looked back at the microwave and exclaimed whoa very loudly. My husband had no idea what I was up to. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Whoa! It really is huge!
Matt: what?
Me: the soap I out in the microwave
Matt: why did you put soap in the microwave?
Me: because I bought it to put in the microwave.
Matt: YOU BOUGHT SOAP JUST TO PUT IT IN TH MICROWAVE?!?
Honestly it sounded practical at the time, but it is pretty hilarious and totally dumb. And by the way it didn't turn out cool like it says.

I mean it looks cool but it doesn't form anything cool.

Disappearing fabric ink.

There are some things that are just too seriously cool!

So when I had to start cutting the huge strips of felt for my ruffle curtains I spoke with the people at the craft store on how to best cut my cream colored fabric in a perfect line for 12 feet at a time.

So they suggested disappearing fabric ink.  I was able to spread the fabric on my floor and get this done with lines across, matching four inches, and getting them done.

So this ink, after a couple hours LEAVES THE FABRIC!  Or you can spritz it with a spray bottle and it will disappear anyways.
So this was funny....and then the best part?  Molly pop got ahold of one of these markers....and it got all over the floor...and I didn't even have to worry about it!

Aqua Dash

I did this event a few weeks after the triathlon and it got lost in my list of life.

Originally I signed up for this event to do a mile swim and then to do a mile swim and a good 26 mile bike ride (two parts in Olympic triathlon) but they couldn't do the long bike.  It has been YEARS (about 2 weeks before I was out of swimming for an extended period of time) since i have done an official mile...so I decided I wanted to do it.  My swim was NOT a mile...and involved running across the ground and back into the lake.  (Miserable! I wasn't prepared for that part!) and then a 10k run.  I figured I would do it.

Worst thing EVER!!! I got LOST on the run....did around 7 miles (no hurt foot but did help train for half marathon...) the event was super small....the course was not well marked (one person did get lost behind me).

Never doing an event again with so few people! ew!

Cheesecake dip

The diet started yesterday.

Stop before you judge me.  After work yesterday I hobbled through costco in search of fruits and veggies.  This is important for obvious reasons.

I got a couple boxes of apples (yes they have sugar but as it isn't refined we will deal)

And then i found a great idea online (ug Pinterest!) for dipping fruit....you take a 2:1 ratio of cream cheese and caramel ice cream topper (I had it on hand cause I lightly drizzle my coffee with it)

and the cream cheese was reduced fat....

I had two apples and was stingy on this dip so it isn't that bad...right?

Seriously though....delish! and I didn't measure the caramel just did a light drizzle and stirred it up.

Pinterest suggested graham cracker pie crust as well....no way i am going to the store just to get graham cracker crust for my apples!

Provisional Ballot

I am an avid voter, and a strong believer in exercising my right more than just during a presidential election. (though I have missed a time or two over the years)  I am also a vote by mail voter....and by that I mean that I get a ballot in the mail, take my time to fill it out and usually drop it off the day of.  One of my weird OCD tendencies I guess.  So last night I go to grab my vote by mail ballot and complete it.  It was no where to be found.  UG (though molly had found and nibbled on it)

So I drove down to my polling place and told them my story.  I was given a pink form and consistently glared at over the fact that I A. was asking for a provisional ballot B. did not have my sample ballot (that I didn't have because I was preparing to do it at home with my computer full of research, though I did look into various candidates and propositions) They even went so far as to ask me if I was sure that I was at the right precinct before hand....yes I was sure.  I hate being made to feel uninformed/unprepared.

So i filled out the pink envelope, completed my ballot, folded it up and went on my way.

The form like this?  Well it was a first experience, and one I hope I don't have to do one in the future....and that this isn't some short track to jury duty system.

Zipper trick!

My favorite pair of jeans as I have gained and then lost weight...has a zipper issue (may or may not be related) so now that they fit a little loose (yay!) and the zipper always wants I fall down (irritating!) so as I put them on this morning I thought about changing and wearing different pants, even though I really didn't want to.

It was then that I remembered this handy trick I saw on Pinterest. You take an old key ring (I used the cheap ones that they put my tag number one when I take my car in) put it around the zipper pull an tuck it under the button before buttoning your pants.

I am officially heartbroken about some of the thing I have sent to the g will :-(

Thanks for a great idea Pinterest!

Puppy Classes

I love my Molly girl!!!

We started taking her to puppy training this year, and she is a crazy girl.

So we enrolled our slightly crazy girl in puppy training classes.  She was obviously the cutest one there, but not nearly the largest one there.

This was a pretty basic class, she learned to sit, stay, lay, stay, leave treats, all sorts of pretty cool stuff.

Now that she has been done for a few months I don't think that she has retained as much of it as we would like, but we try to work with her on them from time to time.

She got to wear a doggie graduation cap and we took her pic.

Good job Molly Pop!

foot wrap

Here I am day 2 post half marathon. I really hope I won't be measuring the rest of my life in before half marathon (BHM) and post half marathon. (PHM) Let's face it, I have had way more exciting things in my life to measure by than 13.1 miles.

After limping around the entire day yesterday a good friend suggested that I try wrapping my foot. I was clueless....so she sent me a video on how to do it.  Super sweet!

Here is the thing....yes a foot wrap is new to me, but also the more interesting thing is that this isn't my first introduction into being athletic. I have never been a couch potato (though I admit to being a homebody) and I do try to exercise.  While my feet have been prone to blisters more often then I even want to think about, I have not been terribly injured.  In fact for the number of times I LITERALLY ran around the pool deck I should be far worse off than I am. (I know I already said that)

I can ride 30 miles and not be miserable, I can do a triathlon and still run the next day.  I can do 10 miles on the elliptical and keep on trucking.....So why does my foot hurt like crazy at 6.5 miles?!?!? ARGH!!!

So here I am with some tape on my foot, and it really does add some stability to my foot, and it is slightly less painful, but I am still not enjoying standing up, or walking.  Not exciting, but a little bit of a cure and something new. I did leave the tape on over night...we will see when i switch it in a bit of that was a good idea.

Happy Tuesday, or currently known as PHM day 2.

Coconut hair mask

Ok so have you read about the wonders of coconut oil? I have....an coconut in general....sooooo today at my favorite place (Costco) I picked up a huge jar of coconut oil and some coconut sugar. You can expect adventures from both of them over the next couple of weeks.

As I type this I have coconut oil in my hair and I am waiting....
But what I can say is that it is kinda cool stuff...i read that it melts in your hands...and it literally does! So neat and it smells good. I am looking forward o trying it in recipes very soon :-)

Update:  I am a little bit obsessed with this stuff.  So as the oil is sitting in a bowl on my counter (cause i had to separate the stuff for beauty against the stuff for the kitchen ewww) and my hair is drying i grabbed a TINY bit and put it back in my hair.  I knew I wouldn't see any real results until this morning when I pulled out my flat iron and fixed my hair.

It is very soft and I am excited about that.  It was a little bit oily (probably because of the extra I put in) so i added some baking soda and baby powder to my roots, now my roots like a little whiter and more grey than they actually are.  (Yes that means I look older) But hopefully that will all be fixed by the time that I leave for work in a few hours.

I will try this again, but I am trying to avoid playing with the little scoop still on my vanity and putting it in my hair until right before the next time that I wash it.

Seriously coconut oil is cool stuff (it better be I bought 78 ounces thank you costco) I love how it melts in your hand! And it smells good....love!

Freezer meals

So it took me most of my life to understand the concept of a freezer meal. My grandparents have two full sized freezers as well as 2 combo fridge/freezers. It took me years to understand. Even when I saw my grandma grab something from the freezer and toss on stove or oven for dinner I hadn't quit figured it out, how much work she was saving on a regular basis. My parents had two combo fridge/freezers at a couple points in my life, and the one they kept downstairs in our old house I never remember storing lots of food, jus snacks. (Though my memory is fuzzy) when we moved there was one outside because there was suddenly more fresh produce around.

A month or so ago I didn't feel like running more errands and bought a bag of potatoes at Costco. I have had potatoes there go bad faster than they should a time or two, so I was thinkn g of creative ways to cook them and save them. Enter freezer.

While I had the oven on anyway I sliced the potatoes in half and baked them as well. Then I whipped the inside into mashed potatoes and stuffed the potatoes before putting them into individual bags and freezing them.
My husband had one the other day and said that even though he spebt 8 min cooking it that it turned out pretty good.

I think frozen food (that isn't from the frozen food aisle) is something from an older generation that hasn't stuck around thanks to the freezer aisle. It is really too bad, because when you DIY it you get better quality...and I think thanks to Pinterest that it is coming back around.

Ahh the adventure!

Stay tuned for:
Frozen crock pot meals
Mozzarella cheese
Cauliflower etc.
quinoa madness

More adventures to come!

Mango sticky rice

Our favorite Thai restaurant serves the most amazing mango sticky rice dessert. When I bought a box of mangos at Costco I figured when would be a better time to try it? Of course I had already pinned the recipe age ago, but finding the ingredients was another adventure.

Evidently sticky rice is made with a special kind of 'superior super sweet rice' so off on an adventure to find it. Of course it wasn't in ANY section of our regular grocery store, so off to the speciality store, where we searched and searched and asked. Eventually a staff member informed us that regular rice would work just fine. So against my better judgement home we went with regular rice and coconut milk to create a masterpiece.

(This was before the rice cooker so another round of rice on the stove) and then we poured a coconut milk mixture over the top of the mangos and called it good.

I have attached an image, but I must say it wasn't the masterpiece I was hoping for and if you are thinking about making it best find the right kind of rice before diving into an adventure.

Post 13.1 pain

I knew I would hurt, but I did not expect this.

For those of you that don't know I had a bad head injury in 2000 (large part of the reason I am pushing myself now but more on that later) and it kept me out of the water and other forms of exercise for a good like 4 months. It was horrible to be taken out of the natural environment. The day after I was finally 'cleared for all activity' I went back to the pool, but I also went back to my PE class (I had extra library time for 4 months good thing I like to read!) at my school we had a few different choices for PE and we had it one semester at a time, so when I got hurt in January I had only been in my weight lifting class a couple weeks. At the beginning of said class we all started out with few reps etc. to work our way up. By the time that I got back around April the class was further ahead than me on EVERYTHING. A day of form running (lunges etc) and one day of squats and I remember spending the next couple weeks feeling dead on my feet. And that was less than 2 hours all together, but it was bad. There was one point that my dad asked me to come upstairs and then when I was halfway up yelled at me to stop ignoring him (or something along those lines) but I really was just that slow.

It will be interesting to see if this muscle healing adventure is comparable to the misery I had at 13 One major difference between Kansas and California is thst there aren't a lot of stairs here so I won't have that to worry about. Whew. One good thing for me!

I will keep you posted....one last question....how do my arms hurt?!?

Half marathon. 5 things

As I sit here typing this I am not sure i will ever be able to walk again (sorry Molly pop)

Am I exaggerating? A little bit....maybe.
Let me tell you about my experience.

My goal going into this was to average a 13 minute mile. For the first five miles I was doing really well and was at exactly 5mph which was pretty good at this point I realized my phone battery would not last with both music and the running app I use so I turned them both off and kept trucking (but I was still watching my time) and then I got around to the 6.5 mile marker...and while still very much alive and trucking my foot had a horrible cramp. The kind that makes you wonder of you should pause but at the same time you know if you pause you will never keep going again.

So I kept going (and then they gave me a strawberry banana power gel....first time I have ever enjoyed th stuff and it made my hands sticky) I tried to run a few times through the rest of the race but it was horribly painful. (For those of you that don't know I have a pretty high pain tolerance so if I whine I mean it) and I power walked that baby (I really wanted to run!)

I tried to run towards the end and was just irritated how long we were 'close' to the end. After finally crossing the finish line (just over three hours dang foot!) they sent us into this long corral to the finishers village where the wait for a massage was two hours and they had mediocre ice cream but I did get my sweatshirt and a medal.

Not super exciting but I did it ahh.

A few firsts:
The half marathon
Injured in a competition I swam for like years and spent years running around a pool deck how does this happen?
Enjoying power gel
Crossing a start line with a mass of people
Disposable chip timing

There were a couple turns in the road where you crossed the people in front or behind you. The first time I realized that I had more people behind me than ahead of me the second time was late enough I had no clue.

There was a point that I thought I coul die but I trucked on.

Please don't ask me yet if I would do it again.

Scrubbed floor (2 things)

So I am a stickler about getting my floor clean. I have been known to use three different strategies in an hour I get the floor clean. Three combined and then my floors are sparkling.

I have up on pine sol etc a couple months ago and pulled my Swiffer wet jet out because it was cleaner on the water. (That used to be one I my three strategies)

Now where we live our tile etc floors aren't in excess so I have slacked off even though I still care. Sad but true.

1. So today I made a solution (first new thing it included vodka and did a super good job of cleaning)

2. So today I got down on my ha as ad knees literally an scrubbed away away. My floors practically sparkle. I will be doing this again.

Crock pot chocolate cake

So now that I am actually getting close and making a more sincere effort at new things (oops...) I am going through those Pinterest pins a little extreme.

So I went to my parents house to borrow a crock pot (mine is occupied with stuffed peppers) and came home to mix a mound of chocolate butter and flour in. Granted the recipe wasbt super clear on what to do with my chocolate butter mix I got it all going anyways. After an hour I was digging into the gooey perfection....though the middle may or may not be done...but it is delish!

masa cornmeal

So I needed something interesting for dessert a while back to serve with my enchiladas. I did a little searching on Pinterest and then ran to the store to make masa harina.

The way my corn flour (I still have like 8 pounds of it left....it only came in a large bag ug) cooked was probably the most interesting part. You put the small pan inside of a larger pan that is filled with water and pop them both in the oven.
This was an adventure (I switched my pans around 20 times to make it work) but it was a pretty good one I guess? Haha

The recipe turned out well with the exception of my extra flour...recipe suggestions welcome.

Attached is a screen shot of the recipe I used on Pinterest.

Negative bill!

I have yet to understand HOW this has happened to us but I can't complain! It scares me because I know at some point that I will have some weird charge to cover this negative amount, and will pay what feels like more.

Anyways when we moved our electric bill was weird madness.  We were on the balanced payment plan for our old place and I guess our electric/gas usage reflected more, so we payed some bizarre amount and turned on the new place.  The next month we had some weird negative bill, so I celebrated and moved on.  I wondered about this and at some point I am sure I did pay more, but it was a very cool idea to have a credit in a bill that we pay on a regular basis.

Curtain Rods

I finished my curtain rods a couple months ago. Now that I am writing this I have learned that they aren't strong enough to stand up to umm who knows what?  I mean I guess that terror is probably my favorite pup Molly, but there is NO WAY that I would be able to explain if she actually effects it or just ate the couple pieces that came down.

I saw this plan on Pinterest but I will share my variation of it.

I started with a couple wooden dowels....I had to use 4 and cut them to a half point, because there wasn't one long enough to fit the width of my windows.

I used some round washers (they were in the doll craft section?) and glued them together 2 at a time to balance it out and then stuck those in the middle.  (pretty sure it was this 'middle' that messed up the rods all along) and used these same washers on both ends.  I then painted the entire thing black.

Then I took some black clay and formed it into small spirals and baked it according to package.I glued my spirals onto the end and was very happy with them.

A couple notes? Make sure the opening of your curtains will fit (yes I did learn the hard way).

And if the clay part falls don't let your dog break it ; )

changes

I posted a progress report recently, but as I get near an adventure that I am very excited/nervous about I feel the need to share my changes over the last 10 months.

(and yes this counts as new)

I have wanted to be the person that does random events for the longest time, seriously for the LONGEST time.  It looked like it would be cool but I always said to myself. "I can't do that"  What a horrible attitude! If I say it I never will!

In May of this last year I had the opportunity to watch people as they were finishing a half marathon that was around.  If those people can do it, why couldn't I?
The next day I found the triathlon a couple weeks away and signed up before I could talk myself out of it.  Then I got the tri bug.

So here I am, a couple days away from my first half marathon, and I will admit, running is still not my favorite thing.  I don't always enjoy it, but I do enjoy the sense of accomplishment.

What I have learned about myself, and what I see in myself that is more exciting than sitting on the couch is my sense of determination.  You can tell me I am crazy (I get that I didn't give myself a ton of training time!) or you could say that the idea of running doesn't sound fun.  What I have learned about running over the last few months is how much I really do enjoy running, enjoy having my thoughts (and sometimes the dog or husband with me) and just heading off without having something to worry about.  It is the same feeling I got as a kid from swimming, except I am on land.  While I miss swimming running is more practical and I am sure that my stress level is much less than what it would be otherwise....

Bring it on, I am trying my best!

Errands Downtown

Ok so they weren't exactly ERRANDS but one thing you need to know about me is that I live in a bubble.  (not literally) By this i mean that I have places I go, and then I go home, my grocery store is always the same.  I don't like to leave my bubble, and have been known to go out of my way to stay in the bubble.

So going out of my usual radius to get something done doesn't make sense for me.  But when it is on my way and I am trying to get as much done as possible in the shortest amount of time that I can?  Enter errands outside of my bubble. And without time to wait...(another weird tid-bit...I am compulsively early....and give myself time everywhere....so doing errands quick isn't me) so i ran to the bank over here and then hopped down to get a couple of things down downtown, (all without getting totally lost) and I was done within the hour, which is pretty fantastic....a first?  Yes, outside of my bubble and still feeling accomplished.

Cookie dough cupcakes

This is from April or so?

So I was asked to do some baking and organizing and for me this is an opportunity to get creative.  I started with eggless cookie dough (no food poisoning on my watch thank you!) and made this dough into small balls and popped it in the freezer.

Then I lined my cupcake tray (duh) threw some dough together and popped it into the oven and I really did end up with cookie dough in the middle and cake like cupcakes on the outside. Of course we had a million sweets....so this wasn't the idea that it seemed like sooo awesome to me wasn't as cool to other people.

But it is on the list...

Packet pick up

Ok so not 100% new because I did pick up the color me rad race packets for like 8 people, but it wasn't chaos, and it wasn't intimidating!

When I did my triathlon in June I had my mom pick it up for me because my work schedule was crazy that day.

So today after work I ran to packet pick up---I already had my bib number (thanks to constant communication from my email) so i hopped in my line....where all they gave me was a bib.  For some reason I pictured in my mind that it would be really cool, and I would get this super awesome bag full of totally awesome goodies and they would tell me good luck and I would be done. I guess my reason for this was that I always see people with bags and never thought about how all of the goodies got there? No clue?

So I took my random blah bib and walked the other direction for a bag and then the OTHER direction to the VERY end for my shirt where they marked off my size and I left....disappointment? yes

Guess it will be an adventure! Stay tuned for my half marathon experience...

Hummus Attempt (but perfect chicken)

I am going to try this again soon...and it will be WAY more blog worthy.

So in my attempt to cook up a simmering batch of garbanzo beans I decided that I should get to have an adventure right?  Did i mention I have a secret love for hummus?  Cause I kinda do....I mean i try to be healthy, but they say you should get a lot of protein from plants not meat right?

So i didn't want to go to the store (and anyways where do you get tahini?!)
I heard that peanut butter is a good substitute....whoever told me that is a LIAR!

It did NOT turn out good...it was like the weirdest thing ever....tragic waste.  Even worse was the plan I had for it that included a perfect chicken, some rice, garlic, bell peppers, it was Mediterranean heaven....except without the hummus.

Dear friends who lied about tahini....i will not share my amazing creations with you. (and I have heard this from a few people....)

Protein Cookies

Ok so this is similar to the brownies (even though it happened first)

I actually took them to work and had people that REFUSED to try them.

First I cooked up a batch of garbanzo beans (it took forever! and this also helped my first batch of hummus....hold on i will get there!)

I threw some other things together and they turned out pretty good.  Not the type of "chewy" cookie that I usually look for, but it was pretty tasty.

Another adventure down...

Protein brownies?

Yes this is weird....it happens to the best of us.  We all have a weakness, and for some people (me) that weakness is chocolate.  There are times when i want a fresh gooey brownie.  (though these adventures have given me other ideas on chocolate heaven)

Brownie seemed perfect, but the problem? No eggs, so could i successfully make brownies?

Maybe I will let you be the judge of that.  I hopped online to see what my options would be and went with the weirdest one that I could find.

I grabbed a can of black beans from my pantry, tossed them into the food processor until they were pureed and then baked them.  No egg, no oil.  Better for me no?

So that was the true adventure....they were edible but not in a brag status way.....

Buffalo chicken casserole

Again thank you Pinterest (well my friend Amanda had to get it from somewhere)

I have realized I am wayyyy behind on this new stuff mission and now that it is finally cooling down turning my oven on works well.

I spent part of my lunch scrolling through my Pinterest stuff (the recipe I decided on to come soon)

So Amanda sends me a message telling me of this delicious meal.

Basically think simmering potatoes in hot sauce and spices with EVOO doing the same with chicken and topping it with cheese before putting it in oven.

Delish....I mean the kick is good but not too much,..and it fits the carb loading I am supposed to be doing....AND I am posting this the DAY IT HAPPENED!

getting better 11 months later...

Bread

Ok if you haven't figured it out yet I love to bake. (Though at this point in the year I have tried far fewer new recipes than I had originally planned). If it is cold out that is by far my favorite past time.

I should inform you, I have been making the same bread recipe for like 10 years. This is impressive since I am barely 26 (at least to me). Well all things new are a consideration. A good friend of mine gave me her family recipe for bread/rolls I embraced it like all good new things bloggers would do.

A few different things....yeast, sugar, and water double on own before adding other ingredients.

And you shape them into round rolls as opposed to roll them up.

I have added a pic of mine but should tell you Amanda brought some over yesterday and hers are far prettier.