Mismatched Normalcy

I think I may be getting back to normal. It may not be normal for everyone, but it's normal for me. Actually, it seems to be a little better. My runs are feeling so good, and it seems like I'm getting faster. I will hopefully be able to tell at this weekends Super Bowl Sunday 10k. This will be my first race of the year and my first 10k race, ever.

I was able to run 3 1/2 miles without any sort of pain!! Afterwards, my spin class. It didn't feel as difficult as it usually does. That only means that I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I usually do.

When you go to the gym (mostly geared towards the girls, unless you guys care about matching), do you normally try to match your entire outfit? I see a lot of girls that match from head to toe. Really, everything matches according to their shoes. Here's an odd picture, but here's what I wore tonight:
I had my dark blue (with lighter blue and white stripes) capris, pink tank and red and white jacket. My shoes are white and almost a lime green. I'm not one of those girls that care what I look like, unless necessary. The gym is not necessary (not meaning to hurt any one's feelings). I'm just curious of what you guys think.


Tonight's dinner is going to be some toast with home made apple butter, fruit salad (with some of what you see below) and probably some greek yogurt with home made granola.



What was your dinner like? Do you ever crave the most simple things for dinner, instead of what you already have prepared? I do often.

Cravings...

I've been enjoying a nice and lazy Sunday. From last night's post, I was asked how I am strengthening my knee/quads. While I workout, I wear my knee brace that slides over my knee and has the hole where the knee cap is. After my runs (and in the am), I follow these exercises. I've also been taking some prescribed 900 mg pain pills. Everything seems to be doing the trick and working out well. I just hope I'm not jinxing myself.

Also, as requested, I have recipes from last night's homemade Indian dinner. Everything was so good (except for the dessert), I can't wait for left overs!

I made Naan bread, Chicken Korma over brown rice, and Guferati. Everything was pretty easy to make, it just took some time. I love being able to cook one long dinner once a month. It satisfies my baking urge.

I hated the dessert. It tasted just like flan and I hate flan. If you like it, you would probably like this. It was also super easy to make!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend as much as I am. Next weekend is going to be super busy for me, so I'm relaxing while I can. I really have been craving pizza. Every time I turn on the tv, there it is. I need some pizza!!

What is your favorite international dish to make (recipes please)?

Day Trip to India

I am so proud of myself. I ran an entire 6 1/2 miles at the gym this morning. My legs felt great and my body wanted more. I gave it all I had. I ran my heart out. I loved every moment of my run. I watched some cooking show and some detective show (shows I've never watched before).

After relaxing for most of the afternoon, I started fixing our special dinner. Once a month, I make a dinner from another country. Tonight was Indian food. I love making things from different countries and planing. I'm a big planner, if you didn't know.

I made dessert first, even though we ate it last. We had some Ras Malai. If you like flan, you'd love this. I hate flan, so I hated this dish.


Here is the mixture for the main dish:


I love my new hand blender. This is what I used for my food processor.

We opened out shite wine from when we went to Apple Hill. Super yum!

Our main dishes included: Guferati (Indian Green Beans), Naan Bread, and Korma.

Everything was so good. I can't believe that I made this. I can't wait for leftovers. I hope they're as good as today.

Like I said before, dessert wasn't so good. Hubs didn't mind it. Here's what it looked like.

I'm unbelievably proud of how far I ran today. What was your workout like?

Relax, Don't Do It!

This is exactly what I did when I got home from work. I did some relaxing with the hubs. When I got home from work, I had an apple-tini in my hand, such a great hubby!

Drinking on an empty stomach is not good for me, so I snacked on some homemade granola.

I cleaned up the kitchen and did some dishes (just in time for me to mess it up again).

I got everything ready for my early morning tomorrow. My gym bag is packed, the clothes are laid out and the grocery list is made.

Dinner has been made and eaten. I made some cooked pasta with cooked chicken, mixed in some thawed veggies, parm. cheese and topped with some bread crumbs. While I iced my knee and catch up on some Idol, dinner was ready.

Now, it's time to make some breakfast for tomorrow. Here's the recipe. Each piece of biscotti only has 76 calories. I hope they taste good!

How was your Friday night? Don't forget about my poll (on the right side). I can't wait to see what everyone says.

Flyin...

That was what I was doing at the gym, flyin. I felt so good running 4 1/2 miles without any pain. You heard me right, no pain for 2 days in a row! More jumping for joy!! I really worked up a sweat. Here's some proof. I have gotten a bigger sweat from the gym, but here's tonight's:

So, hubs ate the rest of chili when he got home last night, so we didn't have that for left overs. I just made some chicken salad sandwiches with some cooked chicken from a few weeks ago (don't worry, it was in the freezer). I've found that buying and cooking whole chickens is faster (in the long run) and so much cheaper. I find a recipe that I like and I figure out how to use cooked chicken instead of uncooked (for most dishes).

It's time to go ice my knee and relax while I catch up on my dvr (I'm so behind!). On my attempt to get to my computer (with kittens running by at lightning speed), I found my oldest cat relaxing in the middle of it all. He doesn't mind all the chaos.

In my poll: Do you prefer to run with music, 71% said yes (I'm in that boat), 14% said no (I could never do that, I get bored so easily), and 14% said rarely. Another poll will be up in a few minutes. Thanks for participating!

Rocky Road

I ran 3 1/2 miles without any pain what so ever!!!! I was jumping for joy. If I had more time, I would have ran longer, but my spin class was about to start. Jump, jump, jump for joy (I know I look frightened in this picture, but I really am happy)!!

Ever since I found out what happened to my knee (if you don't know, my knee cap moves too much while I run. I forgot what it's called), I feel like my training has been a bit like rocky road ice cream. At first, it was nice and cushy running (like the smoothness of the chocolate ice cream), not too much pain. Then, my pain started getting worse (needed some more PT and it was like the nut part of the ice cream), so far, it's getting a lot better (a little like the soft mushrooms). It feels so good to run lately, I love and have no pain!!

I made the best dinner last night (I ate it too quickly, so no pictures). I had left overs tonight. I made chili and I hate chili! How you make is:

Brown 1 pound ground turkey, toss in 1 can kidney beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can white beans, 1 can another white beans (I forgot the name), 2 cans diced tomatoes with chillies inside and 2 packages of chili powder mixture. Heat everything over the stove top. I simmered this for about 15 minutes and topped with just a little bit of sour cream. So good! Hubs even approved!! More left overs for tomorrow.

While I was eating dinner, I was watching a show and Scoutie came up and relaxed under our other cats bed. There are 3 layers, and she dug under the first 2 and it now sound to sleep under. She must be cold (and cute).

What's in Your Bag?

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Hungry Runner Girl. She had a great idea. To mention what you had in your gym bag.

This bag is with me at all times, so it is a big part of me. So, here's what I've got inside:


In the main pocket, since I'm usually coming from work or something else, I carry my gym clothes with me. I have my sports bras, tank top, capris, a water bottle, 2 weight books, a towel that I use for the spin classes, my knee brace and a jacket.

The small front pocket, I have my mp3 player, extra batteries, my lock (for the lockers), a hair clip, pony tail hair bands, the big band that goes around your entire hair (to hold it back), some energy packets and of course my chapstick.

In the side left pocket, I keep my shoes. It is protected in case they get wet, so nothing else does.

In the right side pocket, I have my towel for when I workout on the machines, my running water bottle and another brace, just in case.

So, I guess the question is, what's in your gym bag?

Donuts & Stylish Tag!!

On the treadmill, I was able to earn my donut!! After running my wonderful 6.25 miles and my PT and headed straight for the donut shop. I bought my hubs and myself a couple of donuts. I'm so happy that I have the good feeling that I can officially run my 10k that I wanted to register for (which I will after I blog).. So exciting! My 1st 10k.

Yesterday, I was tagged in Live~Love~Run's blog for the Stylish runner award. Yay for everyone that was tagged.
Part of the game is that I get to tell you guys 7 things you may not know about me. So, here I go:

I am seriously addicted to chapstick. I keep on me at all times. If I don't have it or can't find it, I open a new one. I one in my purse, one at home, one at work and one in my gym bag. See, completely obsessed!


I love my job and love going to work every day. I am a graphic designer and work for a small company about 10 minutes away from home. I love the people I work with/for. Everyone is so nice, it's like we're our own family.

I have much older brothers. I think they were 14 and 17 when I was born. I was basically an only child growing up. Which was nice, sometimes. I got a lot of attention and people tell me that I am spoiled. I don't see it, though.

Sometimes, when I laugh, I really get going. I laugh so hard that I start crying. Seriously, tears are shooting out of my eyes. Then, I start laughing even harder because I'm crying so hard. It just goes in circles for a very long time. I think this has gone on once for about 1/2 hour. Crazy!

Every week day, I eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch. I don't really get tired of the cereal or sandwich. Sometimes, I can get tired of eating the same dinners over and over. I'm glad I married a garbage disposal.

I have never broken a bone. yes, I have sprained both knees (twice on the right and once on my left). I've never had any surgery (except dental).

I am a huge slob. I'm so lucky that my hubby has dealt with this for so long. He's super clean freak! If I could, this is how my entire house would look. I know, very sad.

I am starving and it's time to eat dinner...nothing special (chicken and rice with some green beans). I can't wait for my much deserved donut in the morning. Hope everyone has a great night!!

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

This morning was nice. I slept in and woke up without an alarm clock. I woke up to a little kitten trying to bite my nose. Not the best way to wake up, but not the worst.

When we got up, we starting making breakfast. Hubs went right on to squeezing orange to make fresh juice. We drank 4 8oz glasses and he squeezed 15 oranges in order to get that much.


I made whole wheat waffles. These were the "rejects", even though we ate them anyways.

They were very hardy waffles and kept us full all day long.

Here's the recipe. I replaced whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Since I just got out of the shower, I think it's time to start getting things ready for tomorrow. I've been so lazy today. I think it's a new trend for my Sundays. I love it!

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

No Donuts for Me

As I do every Saturday morning, I got up early and ran some errands. I hit the gym afterwards, attempting my 10k. That was not possible. My knee was being too much of a butt to let me earn my only donut this month. I did manage to get 2 miles out of my knee.

When I got home, I cuddled up on the couch and caught up on some shows. This is how I spent my afternoon.


This evening, we had a dinner date with a couple of our friends. The wives were going to make dinner for the hubs. The theme was fish and chips. I made my standard chips and our friend made her fish.

As always, you batter and then fry the fish.

Opps, the picture are a little out of order. here's the fresh fish. YUM!!

Of course, beer goes with everything.

Here's what the final dinner looked like. It was so good. You couldn't taste the oil on the fish or anything. It was the best fried fish I've had in a while! Thanks Kelly!

While the guys played their games, we watched some chick flicks.

While we watched, we ate our dessert. I made my cobbler in the crock pot. Super yum! This time it was blackberry and raspberry cobbler.

We had a great night and enjoyed the great company. Thanks to Dylan and Kelly for having us over! Now, it's way past my bed time, so I'm going to hit the hay. No alarm clocks tonight! We're sleeping in. It's been way too many months since I haven't woken up to an annoying alarm clock waking me up. Can't wait to wake up naturally (or to cute, cuddly kittens).

Date Night!!

Tonight was a very exciting night for us! Hubs and I went on a date. We rarely ever do this. The first thing was dinner. I was starving after work. I really worked up an appetite.

We went to CPK for some yummy pizza. Here's how we started. We shared some bread and we each got a soda. I haven't had a soda in a few months. I can tell. It was so sugary and it tasted so weird. I don't think I'll be having another any time soon.


We each got our own personal pizza (of course, since that's all they have). I got the pepperoni pizza. I can't remember what hubs got, but it looked weird. It had lettuce on it.

Here I am nice and full after our yummy dinner!

Even though it was freezing, I had to have some frozen yogurt. We walked to Big Spoon. This is the second time I've ever had this yogurt. It was so good! I think it's pretty cool, they charge by the ounce. They don't care what you have in it, just what it weights.

I got milk chocolate froyo with strawberries and a couple chocolate covered espresso beans. So good.

I was able to warm up In Peete's Coffee while hubs enjoyed his espresso. I didn't want one because I'm going to be getting up early tomorrow. I want to try to attempt another 10k. If it gets accomplished, I get to treat myself to a donut (and I'll bring one home for hubs).

Here's hoping for a 10k!

Cooking Healthy

I was able to run a 5k at the gym today! I am pretty happy with those results. I wasn't expecting much, but then this came! I had a small amount of pain in my knee, and I want to take it easy, so I can run a 10k run on Saturday (not a race), so I stopped. I continued my workout with my daily (twice a day) PT.

Tonight's dinner was something that we don't eat that much of. I made meatloaf and flat bread. I got the recipe for the flat bread from Food Network Channel. In the recipe, it included a topping, but I only made the bread part.


The meatloaf, I got from my cookbook called "Cook Yourself Thin". These girls use to had a show on Lifetime. They gear this towards women. It's a great book! They try to take everyday type of food and make it healthier.

In this recipe, I only made the actual meatloaf,

and the sauce.

Here's the outcome. It all tasted pretty good. Because the flat bread didn't have a dipping sauce, so it was a little dry. I would take a bite from the meatloaf and then the bread. It was fine that way. Next time, I will make a sauce for it.

This may look gross, but it tasted oh so good!

Dessert was about 1/2 cup of greek yogurt with some home made granola. YUM!! This is my favorite dessert right now. I've turned my hubs on to this, too.

Don't forget to answer my poll that is off to the right. Can you guess what the results are going to be?