Healing with a Pot Pie

I had in my head that I wanted to run 4 miles today. My legs had something else on tap. When I got to the gym, all the good treadmills (ones with fans built in) were taken. So, I had to use another type. I hated it, it felt like I was already on a 5 incline without a fan. I managed to run .75 miles. Then, I noticed that one of the good treadmills were open. I rushed right over. When I got on, it was so nice with the fan and it didn't feel like an incline was already on. I managed to finish 2 miles.

My left calf was pretty tight and my stretching didn't really seem to help. I am fine with only running 2 miles today. It felt good. Afterward the run, I headed straight for my spin class. It was another tough class. The instructor kept saying "only 120 seconds left". It actually seemed better than "2 minutes left".

When I got home, I de-boned my chicken I cooked this weekend. I started making the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie. Here are the veggies sauteing in the butter!

The sauce is thickening.

Page one of the recipe.

Page two (I love how she takes a picture of every step).

The final outcome. I didn't make my own crust, I had one left over from Christmas, so I used that. But, the sad thing is that it leaked onto my cookie sheet. I'm glad I put the cookie sheet under it. I can't even image how difficult that would have been to clean.

I can smell the yummy goodness calling my name. I need to eat.

What sounds better: "120 seconds left" or "2 minutes left"?

Super Bowl 10K & Party

To end our very busy weekend, we woke up early this morning to travel only 30 minutes to my first 10k race. I got the pre-race jitters and was so excited to get started running. Hubs was my great photographer.

Here I ma right before the race started. I was still tired.


Here's the start line.


In case you've never been to a race, this is where you pick up your packet (ie: race bib, timing chip and any goodies). It was all very organized.

Throughout the entire race (start to way after the finish), a local marching band was playing, they weren't half bad.

The race started and finished at the Hornet Stadium (at CSUS).

There were cheerleaders cheering the racers on as the came upon the finish line (while the marching band was playing for us).

I'm almost there. I am #204 in the middle with my red sleeves in (next to the guy in green).

Right before the race ended, we had to run up this mini Golden Gate Bridge. The wind up there was so refreshing. I was so sweating while I was up there and that cool wind through my hair felt so nice. It was like a burst of energy.

I finished the race 1:04 (according to the Garmin). The official times aren't up yet. After I finished, I got in line for my water, hot dog (which I gave to the hubs), nachos (very skimpy) and beer (which I was kind enough to share, since he suffered in the cold wind to take pictures of me).

The race was overall, very good. I would participate next year! Throughout the race, the EMTs drove through on their quads, and if someone was walking (not me), they slowed down to see if that person needed help or not. Everything was pretty organized. They made is a little confusing to find the start line, but we all did.

I went home, took a shower, iced and relaxed some. After soaking into my couch, I got ready and we headed over to our friends', Eric's house for a Super Bowl party. There was so much food there. He bought some Chicago Fire Pizzas, chips, dips, veggies, cookies and so much more.

Here's a picture of the best stuffed pizza ever!

A picture of most of the food (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of my beer).

There was some veggies thrown into the mix.

I think the commercials were horrible this year. There were only a few that I laughed at. Half time, don't even get me started. Overall, this was a great weekend. And, I can't wait to do it all over again next weekend!

What did you think of the Super Bowl (commercials, or the game itself)?

Snow Play

After sleeping in and relaxing while eating breakfast, hubs and I headed out for a small road trip to find a place to play in the snow for free. Around here, it's difficult to find a free place to play. You have to pay for everything.

We tried the local ski resort, Boreal. Of course, there's free parking, but in order to play in the snow at all, you have to pay something like $40 (it cost $5 just to watch other people play).That's way too much money for something like this.


Of course, I'm sporting my new tee hubs got me for x-mas (for new favorite). "Zombies hate fast food".

We finally found a place in Truckee (which is just a few miles up the road from Boreal). Here I am riding down the hill. Because this place was free, there were so many trees to dodge and HUGE dips in the snow to watch out for. Walking up the hill was pretty difficult too, because so many sleds had gone down the hills, they were all pure ice and very slippery to walk up. It was fun anyways!

After we worked up a sweat in the snow, we were starving, so we stopped at Coffee And in Truckee.

I ordered a hamburger and fries and just had water to drink. Last time I had a soda, it was way too sugary and it hurt my teeth. The burger was just ok, it was edible.

We had so much fun today and I am ready to relax while we watch Machete. I need to be prepared to go run my 1st 10k in the morning. Wish me luck! I'll post the results right afterwards on Twitter, so you better be following me.

Cordial Decanting Party

Tonight, some friends invited us over for a Cordial Decanting party. It was pretty fun and everything tasted great! I've never heard of this before and was very curious. Basically, Cordial Decanting is when you soak alcohol (they used rum, vodka and brandy), sugar , maybe some spices and fruit for at least a few months. Once this has taken places, you strain the fruit from the liquid with cherry cloth (I think that's what it is called) and drink the liquid. The longer it sits (after the decanting process), the better it tastes. Usually, at first, it's pretty strong, but good.

Here are some that hey had already decanted a while ago.


There were so many flavors that they decanted tonight.

Here is some key lime. We also had some pomegranate, plum, peach and some others that I can't think of right now.

Getting ready for the final process.

In action. Here they are straining the liquid.

They had some yummy food, too.

My favorite was crescent rolls with PB and chocolate inside with just a touch of home made almond flavored whipped cream.

Here are some raspberries that aren't ready for the decanting process. They still have a few months to go. They were just put in the jar last week.

Some much to taste. Hubs was brave enough to try a piece of fruit. He said it was horrible.

I think our favorite was the peach in rum. I think I may try to make some this summer when peaches are in season.


What did you do on Saturday night?

Sliders

I ran a happy 4 miles in 42 minutes today!! It was a pretty good day today. I can't wait until it's Friday!! I love Fridays and this Friday will be super busy. Actually, this entire weekend will be super busy!! I love it when we're super busy. The busier, the better.

After the daily shower, I fixed dinner. I was able to make sliders today, since the meat was thawed. Thank you so much (Kelly for giving me the book and) Barefoot Contessa for the recipe. I loved it!

After I mixed the meat and goodies together, I grilled everything up. Technically, hubs grilled while I got the rest ready.

Also, the buns went on the grill, too.

Here's our assembly line.

Fresh off the grill, the burgers got topped off with some shredded cheese.

Here's the recipe. Let me know if you would like and I can email it to you.

The meal (sorry not much on the veggies, just spinach).

Getting up close and personal. It looks like the burger is talking to you with it's mouth open. How rude, to talk with its mouth full (ha ha ha).

I just got done watching "Devil" and it was pretty good. If you like paranormal thriller type of movies, it's a good one to watch.

What are your plans this weekend? I have a brewing party to go to tomorrow, as well as a bunch of errands before hand. Saturday, we're spending the day at the snow and Sunday, I have my first 10k race. It'll be a pretty fun weekend that will go by too fast.

Are you going to cheer for anyone in the Super Bowl? I really watch the game for the commercials.

Mind Games

To me, running is all a huge mind game. While I was getting ready to head to the gym (from work), I was thinking how I really just wanted to go home and relax. I didn't need to run, I needed to rest up for my race. I just wasn't in the mood.

I ended up forcing myself to go and get on that treadmill. At first, my legs were so heavy, it felt like I was trying to run through quicksand. I couldn't do it anymore. My spin class wasn't starting for another 60 minutes, so I needed to do something. I told myself to stay and keep running until it's time to go to class. After the first 1 1/2 miles, I forgot all about my problems of my heavy legs. I was having no problem running, I even bumped up the speed.

I ended up running my 4 miles (in 42 minutes) that I wanted and enjoyed a long, sweaty spin class. It was a great time at the gym!

On the way home, I kept thinking about these sliders I was going to be making for dinner tonight (made with ground turkey) and how excited I was for them. One of my friends gave me this awesome cook book by Barefoot Contessa. I love her, and I watch her show on the Food Network all the time. I got the recipe from her book and I had everything at home for the sliders.
After I got home and showered, I found that the meat hadn't thawed. I could still feel the icicles in there. There was no way I was going to be able to make the sliders for tonight's dinner. I didn't have anything else out for dinner, so I went to the next best thing, dinner of champions...

Whole grain Cheerios and chocolate milk. I ate this while I watched Teen Mom 2. I can't believe these kids. Most of the kids act like they don't even want their babies and there are so many couples that can't get pregnant. Very sad.

I've been keeping up with my reading. I read about 100 pages a week and finish a book once a month. I now love reading. I use to be one of these people that hated reading, but I would anyways. It would take me over 2 years to finish a book (no exaggeration). I finally found great authors (Coben, Crais and Larsson) and now I can't put the books down.

On another note, when you workout, do you prefer to wear a tee or tank (it could be a technical tee)? I prefer a tank, always. I'll wear sleeves to keep warm! Don't forget to answer my poll. Not much time is left!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

That's not what it was. It was an itsy bitsy pain in my knee. Opps! I was able to run a full 5 miles without pain. It was just when I was walking over to the weights when I started feeling some pain in my knee. I continued my PT and headed home.

Fresh out of the shower, it's time to eat and ice.

Is anyone on Twitter? I'm signing up and wanted some people to follow. My name on there is RunnerFuel.