Out

I went home without a lunch today, so I could leave early. My head has been killing me all day. It feels like a nail is slowly being hammered into my head a little at a time. At times, it feels ok, but most of time it hammers a little further. One more rest day for me.

Here's a picture to tied you over until my race on Saturday. This is our kitty, Mickey with my running shoes. He loves my shoes!

Fustration Killed the Runner

I went to the gym for the first time since the injury occurred. It was very depressing not being able to run on the treadmill. I know, you never thought you would hear that. Very surprising! I worked my arms for 45 minutes straight. They feel like string cheese.

On my drive home, I was behind a car that had a bumper sticker that read "13.1". Very depressing...I can't wait to get better! I have my 5k on Saturday. I'm going to Run with Santa Saturday.

At least I was able to look cute while working my arms...

Dinner Recap

So, last night, dinner took a while. I thought it would. Once a month, I like to choose a country and make something there. This month was Japan. My hubby had lived there for a few years (in the Navy). I was hoping everything would turn out like he had there.

This is everything I used for the Shieldzini sauce. It needed to hang in the fridge for a couple of hours before eating.


I had so much fun shopping in the Asian market down the street. I love seeing what they have.

Of course, we had Sake with our dinner. We bought this at Bevmo. We prefer our Sake served chilled. Most people I talk to prefer it either room temperature or hot. Everyone has there preferences.

The Miso Soup was pretty good. I never really liked Tofu and I have came to the conclusion that I still don't.

The Shieldzini was ok, as well. You could only eat a very little bit at once. This recipe made so much. We'll have left overs for years.

We used our bowls and chopsticks from San Francisco China Town (not the plates). The main dinner (Yakisoba Chicken) was super good! It actually looked like the picture and tasted how it was suppose to. I love the Soba noodles. They're very doughy. The green beans weren't anything special.

I didn't make the Moochi. We also bought those at the Asian market. Over all, dinner was great. We can't wait to have the left overs tonight. It can't come soon enough!

On another note, my foot is getting so much better. I return to the gym (for sure) tomorrow to workout my arms (a very short trip). I have my race (5k) this coming Saturday. I'm not really worried about the time for this race, just that I finish uninjured. I am really enjoying my time off (from everything). I see everyone else is having a great time and I am really glad!

Japanese Dinner

We had a Japanese dinner tonight. I will post recipes tomorrow. Here's a sneak peek...


Prepping the cucumbers.

Sauce for the salad.

The main dinner ingredients.

It's unheard of to have Japanese without Sake.

Miso Soup

Shieldzini

Yakisoba Chicken and Green beans

Moochi

What's your favorite international dish?

Day After

After I posted last night, we headed out to go x-mas shopping for only one gift at Toys R Us. They were going to open at 10pm, and we got there about 9:15pm. The line was probably 2 miles long (no joke). It wrapped around a few other stores. I knew it was going to be crazy there, but man! We didn't need to stay in this line for only one toy. We got out of there.

On the way out, some lady felt the need to yell at me to slow down (even though I was only going about 2 mph). Her adult kids had been standing in the middle of the road about 10-15 cars had been trying to get by for 5 minutes and I needed to go the other way. It was pretty funny. It made my night!

Today, we just lazed around the house and never ventured out into the madness. Here me and Scout are. Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Happy Turkey Day to All!!

In the morning, we lazed around the house.



We got to my parents house and poured myself some wine.

Helping my mom get the gravy ready.

The gutted turkey

The table.

Our dinner included:

Mashed potatoes,

Green beans,

Stuffing,

Canned cranberry sauce,

and Apple, pumpkin and lemon meringue pies from Marie Calenders

I had apple pie.

How was your turkey day? Any Black Friday deals? We're going to Toys R Us for a x-mas gift for my niece.

Baby Turkey Day

Ready for Turkey Day? I am! We're going to my parents house, so all I had to do was buy some cheese and crackers. I'm all set.

When I got home from work, I had some energy left over, so I decided to clean up some. I cleaned up the cat litter in the living room (don't even ask), cleaned the shower, prettied myself up, a couple loads of laundry have been completed, and now I'm about to prepare my quiche for tomorrow.

This is probably not appropriate, but that's how I am. Here is a picture of a baby picture my hubby and I saved over the spring. We live near a creek, so all kinds of animals come through here. Two years in a row, baby turkeys have been separated from their families, and we have collected them and either found their families or gave them to a rescue (because we couldn't find their families anywhere).


It was injured, but we sent this one off to a home with other lost baby turkeys. We now look out for them every year.



What are your plans for Turkey Day?

Cookie Monster

I have set my mind to taking this entire week off of the gym. I will be back at it on Monday night (except for running). My foot is getting better. CAUTION: TMI: I cut off the extra, dry skin that covers the wound and have been putting antibacterial meds on it and staying off it as much as possible. The new skin isn't pink anymore and new skin is growing and the bruising is fading away. I'm so happy it's getting better!

On a better note, I did make cookies last night. Hubby says that these are the best cookies I've ever made. We ate too many of them last night. Before we pig out, again, we're going to have our soup from a couple of nights ago.

What's your favorite soup?

Too Cold Outside

It is so cold. After work, I had plans to go to the gym. Then, I changed those plans to go home and workout my arms (free weights). My hubby was sick last night and I wanted to take care of him (I have an excuse for almost everything). Once I got home, I was too cold to move.

Hubby had a great idea (no longer being sick). Since we are going to be shipping most of our x-mas gifts (as usual), we needed to go through our boxes and see which ones we will be using. We did that and are getting rid of the rest of the boxes we have. Busy bodies...just not working out.

I'm so glad I made the soup last night. We have a warm meal waiting for us. Can't wait. It was pretty good. I didn't make any cookies last night, but maybe tonight?? I am really craving them, but I know I should not be eating them. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Here's a cute little picture of our kitten Izzie cuddling with her monkey (my dogs old toy). She carries this thing with her all over the place. She takes it to bed with us and then brings it in the living room when we get up in the mornings. If you notice, she's hugging the monkey.

Apple Butter

Yesterday, I made apple butter. It took over 13 hours (crock pot) and it was worth every minute. In the crock pot, I put in 5 1/2 pounds of peeled, cored, diced apples, 3 1/2 cups of sugar, 2t cinnamon and 1/4 t ground cloves and cooked on high for 1 hour, and then turned it down to low for 9-11 hours (until it thickened). After that, I took off the lid and cooked for 1 more hour. Then, I put it in the fridge (because it was way past my bed time).

When I got up this morning, I put it on some toast and enjoyed. I am so happy, it actually tastes like apple butter. YUM! I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow!


Right now, I'm making chicken noodle soup in the crock pot. I hope it turns out. I'll let you guys know tomorrow how it tastes. I love my crock pot. I have some extra time because of it!


I think I'll make some PB cookies tonight. I just may add some chocolate chips on top!!?? Tomorrow, I head back to the gym for some ab and arm workouts for the rest of week. I'm still resting the foot. It doesn't hurt, until I start running. I'm taking it easy and letting it heal as much as I can before my race on the 4th.

Great Time for Great Food

I had a bad dream this morning and couldn't sleep in as much as I wanted. So, when I got up, I made a yummy breakfast! I made french toast, bacon, eggs and coffee. This may surprise you guys, but this was the first time I ever made eggs. I had scrambled eggs and hubby had them over medium.


Lunch was another chicken salad sandwich, tortilla chips and a beer. This time, the sandwich was on black bread (which is a twist between rye and wheat bread). It was pretty good!

This time, I added some sweet relish in the mixture.

Dinner was just some potato soup from a can. I'm glad I'm staying inside tonight, it is so windy out there!

Cold, Rainy Night

We have some errands to run tonight. I made dinner before we head out. One of the errands is grocery shopping. My hubby is kind enough to come with me, even though it's cold and wet outside.

For dinner, I made chicken salad sandwiches. I used chicken from one that I roasted this past weekend. I made it my crock pot. It was easier, but it didn't taste better (just the same). I could go either way next time. This way is a lot easier to clean up.

In the sandwich I included some chicken (of course), celery, mayo and salt and pepper. It was so good. I took out some chicken from the freezer, so we can have more tomorrow.

We had brownies for dessert. YUM!! Well, it's off to run errands. What another exciting Friday night with the hubs!

Chocolate Lover!

When I got home this evening, I had this lovely holiday catalog waiting for me. I would love to buy something from here, but I'm afraid that I will eat it all in under 24 hours. I know I would. I do have another love in my life (besides my hubby), yes, it is chocolate. I could eat chocolate 24 hours a day and never get sick of it.

I'm starving for dinner, so I have my odd shaped pizza in the oven baking. Tonight's dessert will be brownies. I think I'll add some chocolate chips, as well as walnuts. I can never have brownies without walnuts!

My timer is about to go off. Dinner time!!

Thank you guys for all the support from yesterday's post. It really means a lot to hear that people understand. Thanks again!

Time to Pout

I went to the gym to see how far my feet would let me run. I only made it 3.57 miles. I had 7 1/2 miles on my schedule. Obviously I was pretty pissed at myself. My foot won another battle. I was so upset that I called the advice nurse.

He gave me the news I knew I was going to hear and didn't want to. I need to stay off my foot as much as possible, keep it elevated, keep antibiotic cream on it and ice it. It should take about 1-2 weeks to heal. The good news is that I'm just finishing week #1 and it's looking better.The other good news is that I will be concentrating on my abs and arms. I should have a pretty good looking 6-pack by the time the foot rest is over. It's going to be weird not running, stepping or anything like that.

I took the news hard. I've never had any sort of injury while training for anything. I've never trained for anything. I may be over doing the emotions, but it's how I feel. I know I don't have a major injury and it's only 2 weeks, but I'm a slow runner and need all the training I can get.

This will be me on the weekends and I will be giving my foot as much rest as possible. I hope it gets better, because I have a race in 2 1/2 weeks and another in 3 1/2 weeks. I'm going to be running in them either way.

I hope everyone else that has an injury is healing nicely and took their news better. I was a big baby for this little news. Sorry for making my small injury out to be something major. I know it's not. Thanks for listening. My hubby doesn't understand.

Biscotti

I headed out to the gym today for the first time in 4 days. I went light on the elliptical (15 minutes), then worked on my abs and lastly worked my arms. I'm pretty tired and feeling weak in the arms.

Some people wanted the recipe for my almond and lemon biscotti. Instead of white chocolate (which I hate), I used regular chocolate. I know, I'm original.

Another random picture from Europe. We're in Andorra here (a very small country between France and Spain). Such a cute place.

What was your favorite vacation?

Crustless Quiche

I had many requests for the quiche recipe I posted last night. Here you guys go. Once you guys make it, if you could email me a picture and let me know what you put inside, that would be awesome (runnersfuelathomtaildotcom)!

Crust less Quiche:

-4 eggs
-1 cup (1/2 pint) cottage cheese
-1 cup (1/2 pint) cour cream
-1/2 cup Parm. cheese
-4T flour
-1 t onion powder (opt)
-2 cups favors (easy melting cheese), I used mexican blend

Mix everything together (cheese is very last). Place in 8"x8" pan (or whatever you have). I added bacon (cooked and crumbled), zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

When hubby got home, he said he was the only one that brought a breakfast food for the breakfast pot luck. They ate it all (the only one that was finished). His co-workers also want the recipe. This is super easy to make.

Here's a picture of us in Amsterdam a couple years ago (another random picture).

A Weekend of Too Many Calories Part 2

I lazed around the house this morning. I got up early and just relaxed with the hubby. He had plans with his friends and I had plans with my mom. We went to a little cupcake shop not too far away. The cupcakes were pretty good, but a little sugary. I got chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (of course). Can't complain, I ate it all. It was a pretty cute place. Not sure if I'll go back, because I can make own cupcakes for a lot cheaper!

When I got home, hubby was on his way home. He's having a potluck breakfast at work in the morning. Being the greatest wife that I am, I made him a quiche to take with him. Inside the quiche, he had bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini. I've made this recipe many, many times and it's very good. I know they'll love it!

For dinner tonight, I had to crock pot working for me. I made minestrone with beans, pasta and lots of veggies. Inside, it had tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, garlic, celery and some other stuff (no meat in this one). It didn't have a lot of flavor, but it was what it was. After it came out of the crock pot, I topped it with a bit of sour cream and Parm. cheese. The cheese added some flavor!

Here's the picture of the best apple pie (as promised). I'm about to heat some up and eat it! YUM!

This is a great way to end a great weekend! What were your weekend plans?

A Weekend of Too Many Calories Part 1

I got up nice and early this morning, as if I were going to the gym. I knew I wasn't, but I wanted some time to relax before heading out for most of the day. I was able to relax and enjoy my breakfast and coffee while I watched a show. About 10am, we headed out to go to Apple Hill. I love going here, we always have so much fun! It took about 1 hour to get there, but we made it without traffic!

By the time we got there, we were starving (since we ate at 7am). We knew where we wanted to eat, and grabbed some yummy food. This was hubby's meal (we shared a soda and the fries). He ordered the chili cheese burger.


This is how he felt after eating it.

My lunch was a hot dog. I'm pretty simple most of the time.

There are wineries all over the place up there. We walked to the closest one for some wine tasting. This was our view on our walk.

It was so beautiful out! Prefect day for an Apple Hill outing.

We hit up Madrona. We knew that we already liked their wines, but wanted to go to the closest winery, so we could walk the off wine going back.

The Zin was the best!

This is one of the most popular places to stop at Apple Hill (it's called High Hill). They have a lunch area (were we ate), arts and crafts to buy, fishing, a fudge factory (which I totally hit up), and so much more. I love being in the woods. Since I live in the burbs, I don't get up here very often. I love it!

We made a few more stops on our way out. We actually ended up spending all day there (which we weren't expecting). Oh well, we had fun! I also bought some apple cider, an apple pie (the best pie I've ever tasted, and I even loved the crust), fudge and a ton of apples. I have a plan to make some apple sauce and apple butter tomorrow.

When we got home, we immediately opened the apple pie and had dessert before dinner. That's one good thing about being an adult...dessert before dinner. I forgot to take a picture, but I'll take one tomorrow. I only made 1/2 the dough and a weird shaped pizza for dinner. It was so good. It really hit the spot.

After dinner, I had one more dessert, some fudge from the fudge factory. YUM!!

If you like fudge, do you prefer to buy it, or make it yourself?