Wordless Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!  I didn't forget about finishing my other post; I just probably won't have enough time until Friday night. Hope y'all are having a good week!

Seven Random Things

Just got in from my recovery run and thought I'd better get this post done before I have to go in for my next WW shift in a little while. Especially since tomorrow starts my long week at my "real" job.

I'd like to thank Becki at The Middle Miles for giving me this award. Be sure to stop by and visit her site - she's extremely knowledgeable about running shoes. As she says herself, Becki is the Carrie Bradshaw of running shoes ;)

Ok, so now I'm supposed to write 7 random facts about myself and then tag 12 others for this award. Here goes nothing ;)

1. I have lived in Pennsylvania for exactly one year now and still haven't changed my driver's license. Worse than that, I've been married for 2 years and haven't yet changed my driver's license or my social security card. I am the queen of procrastination.

2. I'm terrified of praying mantises. I have no problems with spiders, snakes, or any of the "normal" creepy critters, but I DESPISE praying mantises. I think it stems from a movie I saw when I was little... The Deadly Mantis.

3. I have lived in 10 states in the United States, and even lived briefly in Germany when I was 6. And I'm not an "Army Brat." My mom is from Germany, and other than that we just moved a lot :)

4. I'm way more of a tomboy than a girly-girl. Every once in a while I like to get dolled up, but mostly I'm in jeans and sneakers, and/or running attire. I rarely wear make-up and when I do, it's usually just mascara and lip gloss. I've even been reprimanded at both of my jobs for not being in compliance with the dress code. Hmph!

5. I used to build computers, web sites, and do a lot of graphic design work. I was very tech savvy. Now I can barely remember HTML codes.  And as I'm sure you can tell by my blog, graphic design has gone by the wayside as well.

6. I used to be heavily into gaming. My addiction was this one text-based MUD that I would play for many many hours (sometimes days) straight. I was even known to call out of work if there was an "event" going on in-game that I didn't want to miss.  Sometimes I think about checking if any of my old friends are still playing it, but I know that with my addictive personality I better not ;)

  

I'll have to do number 7 and my 12 tags on another post since I'm out of time and have to get back to work. Ugh! Never enough time in the day! 

Walk (run) for Farm Animals, Confession, and a Couple Recipes

Today was the big day! I was a little worried since I haven't ran in almost 2 weeks, and my diet has been all screwed up after the whole power outage fiasco, but I did it! And I was happy with my finish time considering I walked the first 5 minutes. Had I known I would have been so close to a PR (95 minutes) I would've started the timer AFTER the 5 minute warm-up ;)

Walk (run) for Farm Animals - World Run Day 11/6/11

Speaking of diet, it was bad and I mean really bad. We had to eat out every meal for 5 days straight. I have to confess that on the 5th day I had French Onion soup, with real cheese :(  I went from 112 to 120 in that week. Yes, that's 8 pounds in 5 days!  Thankfully when we got back home that night (Thursday) the power was back on. So Friday was spent shopping/restocking the kitchen with HEALTHY foods, and a lot of time was spent in the bathroom paying for the previous few days. TMI. I won't say anything else about that.

Friday afternoon I went through some of the previous 21-Day Kickstart menus and made a couple of (what turned out to be)  new favorites!  Since the kickstart is free to join I guess it's okay for me to post the recipes. 

Tamale Pie (from 21-day kickstart)

5 1/2 cups water, divided

1 cup polenta 

1 teaspoon salt (I used 1/4 tsp)

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 Tbsp minced garlic)

1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced (I subbed a zucchini, shredded)

1 12-ounce package vegetarian ground beef substitute (I used Boca crumbles)

1 tablespoon chili powder (I used Hot Mexican Chili Powder)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I used 2 tsp)

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes w/garlic)

1 15-ounce can vegetarian chili beans, undrained (I used Amy's organic refried black beans)

(I also added a 7oz can of chopped green chilies and a 4.5oz can of chopped olives)

Measure 5 cups of water into a large pot, then whisk in polenta and salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, until very thick, about 25 minutes. Set aside.

 Heat remaining 1/2 cup of water in a large skillet or pot and add onion, garlic, and bell pepper(zucchini). Cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Add vegetarian ground beef substitute, chili powder, and cumin. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, 3 minutes. Add a bit more water if needed to prevent sticking. Add green chilies and olives, if using.

Stir in tomatoes and chili beans and their liquid. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

 Transfer mixture to a 9"×13" baking dish. Spread cooked polenta evenly over top. Bake for 20 minutes. (I baked for 30 minutes then broiled for about 3-4 minutes to get the top golden brown.)  

I divided this into 8 portions, but after I had them all even, there was still enough left for a whole nother serving (minus the polenta topping). Here's the nutrition info if you do 8 servings:

Per serving:

Fat: 4.8g

Carbohydrates: 36.1g

Fiber: 8.7g 

Calories:245.4

Protein: 16.4g

WW P+ 6

Breakfast Warmers (from 21-day kickstart)
This is super yummy! Like rice pudding meets apple pie :)  Instead of noting the changes I made (which were very few), I'm just posting it as I made it.

1.5 cups cooked brown rice
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix it all together and heat! That's it :)

Makes 2 servings.

Here's the info per serving: 
Calories: 292.2
Fat: 1.5
Carbs: 67.3
Fiber: 5.2
Protein: 3.6

WW P+ 8 (totally worth it, trust me!)



Okay, I think that's about it for now. Oh! I got another award (I have no idea how since I'm horrible at this whole blogging thing) which I will do another post on, hopefully tomorrow! And I also apologize for not getting back to some of you with the last couple posts. I promise to do better!  Can I make up for it by posting a pic of my adorable kitty, snuggled up with his favorite duck toy?

Wordless Wednesday

The Halloween that wasn't :(

Saturday's snow storm left us with about 8 inches of snow, a bunch of downed trees, and the largest power outage this area has seen. Our power went out around noon on Saturday and it's still not back :(  Luckily, my mother-in-law has a generator that we were able to borrow, so we now at least have heat, TV, and internet (the 3 necessities in life ;))  The electric company is saying it will still be a few days before they get to us and are guesstimating Thursday night, Nov. 3rd at 11pm.

So needless to say I totally missed out on Halloween this year :(  Not only my favorite holiday, but also hubby's and my 2nd anniversary. It's been so stressful the last few days that by the time we got back home with the generator and got it hooked up yesterday afternoon, we were too exhausted to do anything but go grab a quick bite to eat and then come home and pass out (with the dog and cat in between us!).

Would it be wrong for me to wear my Halloween costume to Thanksgiving dinner?