Race Recap: My First Trail Run!

Last weekend, I did my very first trail run, the Muddy Leprechaun 4-miler. It. was. AWESOME! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. It was a touch on the cold side and a bit windy, but I’ll take that over rain or heat any day.

The day was special for another reason. It was my husband’s first race! He’s not a runner and didn’t do any training beforehand to train, but I told him I’d go at his pace and I was fine with walking, as long as we were doing it together. We jogged a little at the beginning, but then mostly walked the rest of the first 2-mile loop. It was so nice to get outside and be active, all with the one I love!

At the checkpoint, W peeled off and I was on my own. A lot of the walkers were only doing one lap so I was a ways back from the last of the runners. The devil on my shoulder was saying ”Just stop now. You’re going to be last and you don’t want to make everyone wait for you.” Thankfully, the angel on my other shoulder must be a runner because she was screaming “C’mon! You know you want to really run that trail!”

So I did.

1/4 of a mile or so was on the bike path, into the wind. The turnoff to the actual trail was at the treeline waaaay off in the distance. See it? Kind of? It felt like it took an eternity to get there.

A right turn, a gravel path that ran along the tree line and then into the woods!

 

I thought it would get harder once I was on the dirt, but it actually felt a lot easier. I’m pretty sure that had a lot to do with being protected from the wind. I did have to watch my footing. There were lots and lots of tree roots and some spots were really muddy.

I loved the sound my feet made when I was running across the bridges.

Coming out of the woods, the trail went back to a mix of sand and gravel. Sort of. With all the rain we’d had the week prior to the race, it felt more like wet cement. Still, the sky was beautiful and the natural surroundings were pretty amazing.

After the stretch in the last picture, it was down a hill, around a corner and just a quick jaunt to the finish line. Guess who ran into a FENCE instead of into the finishing chute? That’d be me! It was a wire fence that only came up about waist high. They had flags tied to it that looked exactly like the flags tied on either side of the finishing chute and spaced about the same. I knew to run between the flags. Obviously I just misjudged which ones. By the time I realized what it was, I’d already run smack into it. Not my most shining race moment. Embarassed doesn’t even begin to cover it. Also not the greatest picture of me ever taken, but I just ran 4 miles in cold and pretty vicious winds. I’m allowed to be a bit scary looking. Oh, and you know you love the stylish Garmin-on-the-outside-of-my-shirt look, don’t you? Sometimes you do what you gotta do…and sometimes it’s just not pretty.

Overall, I loved trail running. Pounding it out in the mud and through the woods made me feel tough. There was something so freeing about it.

And the swag was pretty sweet…shamrock socks and a pilsner glass!

I had no idea what to expect as far as time went since this was my first trail run. I finished my second 2-mile lap in 24:07 with split times of 11:22 and 12:45. Not bad considering I usually pace between 11:00 and 11:30 on flat, paved courses. And I stopped quickly a few times to take the pictures. All for the love of blogging, I’m willing to sacrifice a little off my time.  

Have you done any trail running? If so, what do you think? If not, is it something you’d like to try?

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Super Husband Sunday

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers! I’m not a die-hard fan of either team, but I am a huge fan of football in general. Besides, it’s the Super Bowl! It was a great game. The National Anthem, however, was not. That part made me sad. And, I think I was the only person in the entire universe who DIDN’T hate the halftime show. I did have to ask my husband who Slash is which brought much ridicule and jeering from my Facebook friends. I did rock out to Usher and Black Eyed Peas, even busting out some of my Zumba moves.

I was a little disappointed in the commercials. They were chuckle-worthy, but nothing made me really laugh. A kid who went to my high school starred in the Safe Auto commercial where he gets kicked repeatedly. I wouldn’t tell him this, but I didn’t find it all that funny or original. Still, it was cool to see someone I know during the Super Bowl.

My husband earned the title of MVP in our house yesterday. After church, he served up some mazing veggie omelettes for brunch. One egg, two egg whites. The innards were mushrooms with a blend of feta and cheddar cheeses. To top it off, he added fresh tomatoes, green onions and a dollop of Greek yogurt seasoned with ranch dressing mix.

As if that weren’t enough, he made dinner too! This man makes an amazing burger. He never adds the same seasonings twice, but they always turn out super juicy and delicious. I wasn’t feeling a bun so I cut mine up and had a cheeseburger salad.

That would be mixed greens, chopped tomatoes, cheddar cheese, my diced-up burger and plenty of dill pickles! Nom nom nom. For dressing, I mixed up a honey mustard vinaigrette. My aunt recently sent the honey mustard as a gift and it’s heavenly. Whisked with a little red wine vinegar, it was the perfect condiment to go along with my cheeseburger theme.

My only contribution to the festive food was twice-baked redskin potatoes. I stuck them in the oven about an hour before we’d planned to eat dinner. When I went to retrieve them, I realized I hadn’t turned the oven knob all the way to “Bake” so the oven never heated up. I tossed them in the microwave for a few minutes, mixed up the filling and popped them in an oven I made sure was hot that time. We ended up eating them as finger food at halftime so all was not lost. I just felt pretty stupid.

What’s your favorite Super Bowl food?

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Belated Race Recap

Is it seriously Wednesday already? It seems like I *just* woke up on Saturday morning. It’s been go, go, go since the 5k with entertaining, shopping and visiting. I didn’t forget about you, bloggies! As promised, I’m back with my race report from the 5k on Saturday. Gold star to you if you finish reading this whole post because it’s LONG.

I’ve run 5ks before, but for some reason I was all jittery and butterfly stomached for this one. I think it was part excitement and part pressure that I was putting on myself. This was my first race post-baby (not counting the disastrous race 3 days after I was cleared to run again) and I had one very definite, very concrete goal: I wanted to run the whole thing. I didn’t care how long it took me to run it, but I was NOT going to walk.

I was a little preoccupied with getting Peanut up, packed and loaded in the car so I didn’t get to snap a picture of the gorgeous morning. The race was only about 5 minutes from our house so I wasn’t up to see the sunrise, but the morning could not have been any more clear and perfect for a run. My husband drove us down to the park where we met my sister-in-law and got checked in. For being a small race, the event was VERY well organized and the race crew was extremely friendly.

The half marathon stepped off at 9am on the dot. About 5 minutes later they called for the 5kers and everyone made their way to the start/finish line. My stomach completely bottomed out when I saw that there were only about 30-40 participants. One thought immediately came into my mind: “I’m going to be last.” I got really panicky all of a sudden and thought about bailing. I shared my concern with my sister-in-law and she told me to just do my best. Honestly, that statement should have made me feel better, but it felt more like pity coming from someone who is as fiercely competitive as she is. One thing that helped me loosen up was that all the competitors were very friendly. The whole lot of us stood there chatting and laughing while we waited for the start. One couple were owners of a local bike shop and gave me some great advice about what to look for when buying a running stroller.

For the last minute before the race, I closed my eyes, put in my headphones and just kept repeating my Baz Luhrman running mantra: “The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.” I got goosebumps in the 10 second countdown until the start. When they yelled “GO!” my whole mindset shifted. I felt calm and relaxed and just started running. I kept pace right behind my sister-in-law for the first quarter mile or so, but quickly realized that I couldn’t sustain that pace and settled into my own rhythm.

There was a volunteer yelling out times at the 1-mile mark. I was at 11:23 and completely fine with that. I felt really good so I decided to push a little bit harder on my way to the turn-around. My sister-in-law passed me on her way back and gave me the thumbs up and told me that I wasn’t even close to last. While that shouldn’t have mattered but, not gonna lie, it made me feel good.

I rounded the cone at the turn-around and headed for home feeling pretty good. That lasted for about another half mile. With one mile left to go, my breathing got difficult and I was having trouble getting it under control. I slowed my pace a little, determined not to walk, and kept plugging along.

The bike path where we were running has mile markers so it was easy to know where I was. I’d told myself that when I hit the 0.5 mile mark I was going to bust a move and push as hard as I could to the finish. Unfortunately, I was still struggling a bit when I got to that point and facing a bit of an uphill section. I told myself to keep running and putting one foot in front of the other, but decided I wasn’t ready to sprint.

The finish line banner was hanging from a bridge overpass. I spotted it as I rounded the corner about .25 miles out and decided it was time to make my move. I have no idea where that extra gas came from, but it was there. I bolted like lightening! I picked up the pace even more when I spotted my husband, sister-in-law and baby girl waiting at the finish line, cheering me on.

My official time was 36:24. My heart rate monitor (which I started & stopped as I hit the line) said 36:12. Either way, I was beyond thrilled. That’s only a few minutes off the time of the last 5k I ran before I got pregnant. I think I was a bit shocked, too. 40 minutes was sort of the time I’d had in my head as a realistic expectation of what I’d be able to do.

Peanut gave me a huge smile that melted my heart when I got to her stroller and my husband gave me a giant hug. The whole rest of the day he told me how great I did and how proud he was of me. That was really nice to hear. He also took this post-race photo of me. I am being VERY brave and posting it here even though I look like complete crap. Please remember that I just had a baby 6 months ago. Oh, and if anyone knows of a good hairdo that keeps your hair out of your face without exposing the fivehead, I’d really appreciate some tips.

Also very nice was this beer that I drank after I’d gotten showered:

My in-laws came over for a cookout around noon. My husband insisted that I relax while he did all the grilling. I did get the task of setting up the buffet. I got caught up in my task and forgot photos again. My husband made chicken & shrimp kabobs, grilled baby bella mushrooms and some yummy bread. My mother-in-law brought pasta salad and my sister-in-law made some healthy cream cheese bars that were HEAVENLY. Recipe and review of those to come because I am going to be making them very, very soon.

The rest of Saturday evening was really low-key. I read while Peanut played in her ExerSaucer and my husband played Madden. I love evenings like that.

Sunday morning my husband asked me the thing every woman likes to hear first thing in the morning. Get your mind out of the gutter! I meant that he asked me: “Do you want me to make breakfast?” Of course my answer was yes! I was treated to a delicious omelette made with turkey bacon, sharp cheddar cheese and leftover baby bella mushrooms. Nom.

I’m planning a special Earth Day event for Peanut tomorrow. Check back tomorrow, probably late afternoon, for a photo recap. I promise adorableness.

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Hangin’ Around

Saturday was a laaaaazy day in the UFC household. Well, for me anyway. My husband was up and at ‘em at his usual time (2:30AM) and out the door at 4 for a Saturday work meeting. I got up long enough to see him out the door and then headed back to the cozy bed for more rest and cuddle time with the pup. We ended up lounging there until about 8:30. I was still tired, but decided it was well past time to get up and moving.

Breakfast was a fiesta for one:

• flour tortilla (we were out of the healthy kind)
• Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger chopped into chunks
• scrambled egg
• shredded cheddar cheese
• dolop of sour cream
• salsa
  

It was delicious and very filling! It was enjoyed alongside a good book and some hot maple tea from Canada, courtesy of my aunt on her last visit.

There was also a hungry, hungry hippo at the table:

Breakfast was followed by reading on the porch and a nap on the couch. I had the brilliant idea of a 30 minute workout to boost my energy. It felt good to move, but afterward I was back to lounging.

My husband finally got home around 3 and was pooped. I’d purchased some video games for him from eBay and told him I’d at least like him to test them all out and make sure they worked before I left feedback for the seller. His comment? “I never thought I’d hear my wife tell me that I NEEDED to play my video games.” He did just that while I read some more. Neither one of us found motivation to do much more than that for the rest of the evening.

Sunday I was determined to be more productive than Saturday. We got up fairly early (AKA before 8:00), got dressed and headed to town. My husband got his hair cut while I walked the perimeter of the shopping center. Next was lunch out. We always think that we want Buffalo Wild Wings, but it turns out to be a disappointment every time. Too bad none of the local places are open on Sunday.

After lunch was grocery shopping. We came in under $75 which isn’t bad considering I didn’t shop at all last weekend. I also found this gem in the clearance carts:

Regular price $12, marked down to $5! I love videos from The Firm and have been wanting this one for a while. It’s high impact so I won’t be doing it anytime soon, but it will give me something to look forward to later.

I was putting groceries away when my husband walked in the back door with a stressed look on his face. All he said was “I’m going to need some help. Grab some bags.” I had no clue what the problem could be until after I’d followed him to the garden. We filled 4 bags with yellow squash, banana peppers, a few cherry tomatoes (FINALLY!) and some ginormous zucchini. Now I know what everyone meant when they told us that these things can quadruple in size overnight.

What’s the best way to prepare an arm-sized zucchini?

I spent the majority of the evening cleaning and organizing in the baby’s room. I filled the trunk of my car with things to take to my parents for their garage sale and listed a few items on eBay. I LOVE the feeling of getting rid of things I don’t need!

By Request

I’ve had some requests to see pics of the baby bump. Ask and you shall receive.

29 weeks down, 11 to go! I know that I am growing a life and that these extra 40 (!!!!) lbs. are necessary to protect the Peanut. That said, I really want my body back.

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Did Ya Miss Me?

“Don’t pay the ransom. I’ve escaped!”

That’s what we used to say in my family when someone called home after being away for a while with no contact. Corny, yes. Very fitting to our family.

I apologize for my extended absence. As any US resident probably knows, it was Income Tax week. This is, to us working in a local Income Tax department, what the week before Christmas is to those working in retail. In one word: CHAOS! I had 0 time to snap photos of my food and my evenings were pretty much just commute, eat dinner and crash.

Now I’m back and excited to start blogging and commenting again. I’ve missed you all bunches and look forward to getting caught up on what’s going on in all of your worlds.

I won’t waste anymore time. Let’s get down to business!

Friday

Breakfast was a quick sammie made with an egg, 2% American cheese slice & a Boca Chik’n Patty all on low-cal bread. No, mom. I didn’t take the picture while I was driving. I snapped it quickly in the driveway before hitting the road.

The morning snack was a string cheese:

Lunch was leftover Laughing Cow Alfredo Bake topped with grated Parmesan cheese (from the Amish store) and a little drizzle of EVOO. This was a first go ’round for us and this recipe. We both liked it, but I thought it was a little bland when we originally had it for dinner. We both agree that it’s much better reheated for lunches.

Workout at work was nice. She had lots of stations set up where we had to lie on our back. That’s the one exercise restriction I have right now so I had to improvise. We did the squat, curl, press move last Friday and I really liked it so I stuck that’s become one of my go-to moves for stations where I need to get creative.

After April, I’ll have to find something new to do fitness-wise on my lunch hours. The weather is getting nice and less people are interested in participating because they want to go walk. The employee fitness room will still be available although the only equipment is a stationary bike, heavy weight bench and an ab recliner. I’m thinking about bringing my own light dumbbells or loading up some mp3 files from yogadownload.com onto my iPod and carrying in my yoga mat. Walks are always an option. I just get bored easily and need to keep it mixed up.

Post-workout snack was a sliced apple. Have I ever told y’all how much I LOVE my Pampered Chef slicer? Cuz I do.

I had a huge energy dip around 3:00 in the afternoon. I’m not quite sure where it came from, but it was bad. All I wanted to do was put my head down, clothes my eyes and snooze. I’m blaming the tired (and my lack of willpower) for giving in when a coworker said she was going to the soda shop across the street for sundaes. I had a single-dipper with a generous dolop of hot fudge sauce, whipped cream & a cherry. The sugar shocked my system and I was beyond wide awake for the rest of the day.

Friday night dinner was quick and easy. I had fat free hot dogs, no bun and spicy mustard. To redeem myself nutritionally, I also had a small side salad. No idea why I didn’t snap a photo although it was far from exciting.

Saturday

The morning got off to a quick start when my husband’s coworker called to say his new company truck was ready to be picked up. One catch. It was sitting at a plant about an hour and a half away. He asked (very nicely) if I’d drive him up and I agreed. It was up, showered, dressed and out the door. I did manage to throw together a PB&J sandwich to eat on the road, but no picture.

We were home before noon and both pretty hungry. I had a Boca Chik’n Patty on an Arnold’s Multigrain Sandwich Thin with 2% American cheese & spicy mustard. On the side, I had a handful of Ranch flavored Potato Crisps. These are really good and a nice, more natural alternative to potato chips.

My husband and I spent a few hours working in the yard. We’re ripping out some shrubs and ornamental grass from a flower bed that were there when we moved in last year, but it’s proved to be a bigger job than we’d anticipated. My husband did the shoveling and I did the pulling which, at one point, resulted in stabbing myself in the lip with something straw-like. We tried until we just couldn’t take it anymore and laughed…a lot.

My husband’s best friend from high school stopped by shortly after we finished and they spent the entire evening (and well into the night) catching up. He’s a great guy and they don’t see each other often enough so I was glad to see them hanging out. I bounced back and forth between their conversation and reading for my Nutrition and Wellness Consultant certification. Around dinner time, I offered to fix something. They said they weren’t hungry enough to eat a full meal, but took me up on my offer of snacks. After serving them, I realized that I was a little hungry and in the mood for something hot.

***PRODUCT REVIEW***

Pacific Foods Organic Spicy Chicken Fajita

Ingredients: water, organic onion, organic kidney beans, organic white rice, organic chicken meat, organic red bell peppers, organic green bell peppers, organic garlic, organic chicken flavor (organic ground chicken with juices, sea salt, organic chicken flavor, organic onion powder, organic potato flour, organic carrot powder, organic turmeric, flavor, and organic black pepper), organic olive oil, organic jalapeno peppers, sea salt, organic spices

Nutrition Information: (per serving; 2 servings per can)
Calories: 160
Total Fat: 2.5g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 5mg
Sodium: 710mg
Total Carbohydrates: 26g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 8g

The pros: Yum! I loved the texture of this soup. The rice, veggies and beans tasted great together. The broth had just the right amount of seasoning without overpowering any of the other flavors. The protein content was higher than most other canned soups and left me feeling very full. I’d absolutely buy this soup again as either a quick dinner or easy to transport lunch.

The cons: The sodium content was the biggest drawback for me. I ate both servings which was almost my entire sodium allowance for the day! I could absolutely feel the effects in my swollen fingers the rest of the evening. The soup didn’t taste salty at all so I was a bit surprised by this. I was also surprised to see chicken listed so high on the ingredients list because I think there were only 5 or 6 small pieces in the entire can. This was fine with me because I usually pick the meat out of canned soups anyway, but I could see a serious carnivore (like my husband) being disillusioned.

AUCTION ALERT – Mark your calendars! Erin over at I Walk in This World is having an online auction and bakesale to benefit our mutual friend Beth’s Jimmy Fund Walk in the Boston Marathon! The auction starts on Tuesday, April 21st and there’s a great list of items up for bid! Check out this page for more information about the cause and the auction logistics.

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Outta Gas

Sorry to be a bad bloggie lately. The weather this weekend was gorgeous and I spent much more time outside with my husband than I did in the kitchen. Here’s a quick recount to catch you up to speed:

Friday: work, home, crash on couch, wake up to watch Friday Night Lights, crash in bed

Saturday: a little shopping (bought nothing), lawn & garden center with my husband to buy landscaping materials, lunch with my husband, grocery, home, work in yard all day, have grill mishap, recover, eat, chat with sister-in-law, sleep

So, about the grill mishap and the post title. My husband loves to play Grill Master and he’s really good at it. He wanted to make pork and veggie kabobs so I bought zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes and pork loin at the grocery. He started the grill while sister-in-law and I did the cutting and skewering in the kitchen. As soon as we got everything on the grill, the burners started going out one by one and wouldn’t relight. Our grill did flip over during a windstorm this winter so we were worried that maybe it had done some damage that we didn’t originally notice. The good thing was that there was no damage to the grill. The bad news was that we were out of propane and the grocery in our town isn’t refilling them yet because it’s “too early in the season.” Pshaw! It was either a 30 minute drive to the nearest city or getting creative and cooking in the kitchen instead.

We chose the latter, broiled our kabobs and cooked the sliced eggplant in a grill pan on the stove. I also made some whole wheat thin spaghetti. My serving was a piece of sliced eggplant, two pieces of pork and lots of veggies.

Sunday: lots of house cleaning, read a little for Nutrition & Wellness, admired my husband’s finished landscaping projects, laundry, took recycles to bins and prepped for the week

Monday = dead camera battery, but I’m all charged up and back on track today.

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One Year Ago…

Today is our first anniversary! To celebrate, we stayed last night at the state park lodge where both our ceremony and reception were held. We did a lot of reminiscing about that special day, what’s happened since then and what lies ahead. I love this man more and more every single day. In case you hadn’t guessed, the picture above is of our ceremony taken from the mezzanine level where our reception was held. It still touches my heart that so many friends and family were there to share in our special day.

I’m SO UPSET that I forgot my camera. Dinner on Saturday was amazing! We ate in the restaurant at the lodge where most of the food is local, organic and sustainable. To start, I had a house salad which was romaine, chopped hard boiled egg, bacon crumbles and their fabulous Creole dressing. Deciding on an entree was tough. I finally settled on the herb-rubbed grilled free range chicken served with sausage fennel stuffing and rosemary jus. There aren’t words to describe the flavors. My mouth was watering out of control and it tasted so good I’m afraid I nearly inhaled the entire dish in under 30 second. My husband had an open-face pulled pork sandwich with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. After a little digestion walk, we headed to the bar to hang out for a bit. The bartender was so sweet. I was craving a fruity umbrella drink, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen. She offered to make me a blend of pineapple, cranberry & orange juices which I happily accepted. It was exactly what I was after and I didn’t feel one little bit deprived as my husband sipped his whisky sours.

We took along the top tier of our cake (well, cupcake tower) to enjoy for dessert. While it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected, it certainly wasn’t as good as it was on the big day. It was tradition for tradition sake though and we made the best of it.

This morning we got up and had breakfast in the lodge. It was your typical hotel breakfast buffet spread. My parents kept the pooch overnight and her back to meet us around noon. The weather was too gorgeous to waste so we took her for a walk on one the 1.5 mile loop hiking trail before heading home.

I started watching Jon+Kate plus 8 as soon as I got home. Watching Kate and her stellar organization skills put me in the mood to do some housekeeping. I turned on the TV in the kitchen and set to work. First, I cleaned out the refrigerator. Then, I started some food prepping for the week ahead.

I baked up a batch of Gliding Calm tofu.

While that was in the oven, I cut some celery into sticks and portioned them out into baggies for quick lunch packing. I also sliced some strawberries

and chopped some romaine and green leaf lettuces so we’d have salad for the week.

Oh, and I have to brag a little on my husband. His anniversary gift to me was a sweet card and a beautiful necklace. I LOVE pearls and have been wanting a new everyday necklace. I didn’t get him anything special other than a card. His birthday was last weekend so I pooled the money I’d budgeted for both occasions and bought him the semi-pricey tool he really wanted for his birthday which he appreciated more (I think) than two smaller gifts.

I hate this part of Sunday when I stop enjoying the weekend and start dreading work tomorrow. I’m going to go pick my clothes out for the week and then sit down to read and relax for a bit until The Amazing Race.

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Drumroll Please

The two winners of the Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce are…

AMELIA and Jessica C.

Congratulations to both of you! Please e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll pass them along to the kind folks at Country Bob’s. Thanks again to them for making my very first giveaway possible. Also, thank you to everyone who entered. I have another giveaway in the works so check back soon for another chance to win!

I’m having wordpress issues today so I’ll keep my weekend recap short and sweet.

Saturday was my husband’s birthday. He started coming down with something icky and wanted to lay low for most of the day. He was feeling well enough to keep the plans we made with friends for dinner that evening. He got to choose the restaurant and we ended up at the local smokehouse. I ALWAYS get the catch of the day when we’re there and it broke my heart when I had to make another selection. Doctor’s orders were NO seafood AT ALL which is torture for someone who loves all things from the ocean. I finally decided on a grilled chicken salad with their homemade sun dried tomato vinaigrette. We ordered two appetizers and shared around the table. One plate had the biggest potato skins I’ve ever seen in my life. I only ate 1/2 of one because I knew eating the whole thing would make me too full for my entree. We also had a “nest of armadillo eggs.” They’re really just jalapeño peppers stuffed with chicken, wrapped in bacon and covered with BBQ sauce. Man they were spicy! Good times, good people & good food. Couldn’t ask for much more than that.

Sunday we headed to my in-law’s for lunch as a second celebration. My mother-in-law is a great cook, but she makes everything Paula Dean style. The menu was pork loin with a cajun rub, green beans cooked in loads of butter, 7-layer salad, mashed potatoes made with cream cheese & French onion dip and a lemon cake. I kept my portions in check even though I was really hungry and drank lots of water to help make me more full. We’d planned to spend most of the day with them, but my husband started feeling really bad again and wanted to go home. We stayed in the rest of the day. I did go out and sit on the front porch later in the evening to watch a sweet thunder and rainstorm move in.

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Weekend Recap

Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. It’s been a hectic past few days and my mind has been going in a million different directions. Unfortunately, none of those directions has involved my camera so it’s been spending more time at home than in my purse.

It’s time to spill the beans on my surprise now that we’ve shared with our parents and my sister-in-law. In case you haven’t figured it out, my husband and I are expecting our first child. We’re absolutely thrilled! My first doctor’s appointment is on Thursday so I should find out my due date then. Right now my best guess is early October.

On to the weekend eats!

For breakfast on Saturday I had a biscuit with spray butter and blueberry jam along with a glass of milk. Afterwards I headed out to the grocery.

The good grocery news: I found some Clif Iced Gingerbread bars! The bad grocery news: My store is no longer carrying plain Fage. Yes, the very same Fage I was so excited to find just weeks ago. I almost cried when the lady told me. It was a sad, sad day.

I was STARVING when I got home so I made some Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells & Cheese.

I also made a mini-parfait of organic vanilla low-fat yogurt, blueberries & Bear Naked Fit granola.

My appetite and my energy headed south for the rest of the day. I did a little laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator and took the recyclables to the bins in town. My husband was craving pizza for dinner so we ordered from the little local place. It smelled really good when he brought it in so I had two small squares. We spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch watching TV with the dog. I enjoy lazy evenings like that every once in a while.

Sunday I slept in waaaay later than I had intended. Honestly, I probably would have slept longer if my growling stomach hadn’t woken me up. I wanted something quick and filling. The result is something I can see myself eating on a regular basis. It was just an organic banana (cut in half lengthwise) spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with granola. It tasted like dessert!

I took advantage of my morning energy to finish up laundry, scrub the kitchen and clean the floors. While I was doing that, my husband was busy cleaning all of the vehicles. My car looks so shiny and new!

Lunch was four Ling Ling’s vegetable dumplings drizzled with reduced-sodium soy sauce and dipped in Ben’s Sweet & Hot mustard. I bought these the first time because I had a coupon and they looked interesting. Now they’re a regular purchase. They’re frozen, but taste pretty fresh and flavorful after they’re cooked. The bag comes with a sauce packet, but I don’t care for it. The mustard is a local favorite.

I also had the rest of my Annie’s Mac & Cheese.

After lunch I cut up lettuce to make a big salad for the week. Then I headed back out to the front porch to enjoy the sunshine and my February issue of Martha Stewart Living. It’s amazing how quickly the temperature changed! Early last week it was in the low teens. Sunday it was almost 50! It makes me so ready for spring. In fact, when I took my break from reading we wandered around the yard and planned a few landscaping projects.

I had something new for snack, a CocoaVia bar.

*Product Review*
CocoaVia Crispy Chocolate Bar

Yum, yum, yum! This was the perfect cure for a chocolate craving. It’s dark chocolate (which I prefer) and has a really rich taste. My take on the texture was that it’s both chewy & crispy. The nutrition information was very reasonable. I can’t wait to try the other varieties I bought!

Dinner was kind of rushed and frazzled. I was getting everything together for our nachos when my in-laws pulled in for an unexpected visit. I put them on hold so we were both pretty hungry when they left. No picture, but I can assure you they were good.

After dinner I got clothes ready for the work week and made sure everything I needed was in my bag. I don’t typically watch awards shows, but I somehow got sucked into the Grammy’s this year. All of the performances I saw were really good. However, it seemed like their sound was a bit off and I could barely hear the people singing over the musicians. I was disappointed that I fell asleep before Sugarland performed. Love them!

Would you rather watch an awards show for acting or one for music?

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MIA

Sorry to leave you all hangin’ this weekend. It was a bit hectic and my eats weren’t too exciting. Here’s a quick recap:

Saturday – I went to the grocery. It wasn’t my favorite place to shop. I only went there because they have polenta and I can never find it at my favorite store. It was a madhouse with all the Super Bowl shoppers stocking up on soda, chips & beer. I didn’t spend much time perusing because of the crowds. When I got home my husband and I went to the Amish store and stocked up on cheese, jams and other goodies. My sister-in-law called when I got home and asked if we wanted to go sledding at her house. The flower girl from our wedding (she’s 7) loves to sled so it was a snow party! Soooo much fun. Here’s my husband and I. Don’t laugh. Okay, you can laugh. It was hysterical:

We came home and had the classic after-sledding snack: hot chocolate. I paired mine with a few whole wheat fig bars from the Amish store. They are delicious! Yes, those are napkins from our wedding in March. We have so many leftover and we’re still using them. At this rate, it will be 6 years before we’re through them. I ordered the wrong color the first time so we had 6 boxes of the color shown plus 2 boxes left over from the wedding in the correct color (sage green).

I wasn’t really hungry at dinner time so I just had some Kashi crackers, Cabot reduced fat sharp cheddar and summer sausage from the Amish store.

Sunday – The day started around 3:30 when I got up to go to the bathroom and found something out that might slightly alter the content of my food photos for a while. I’ll post more details later, but it’s good news. Very, very good news. Breakfast was an omelet courtesy of my husband.

The rest of the day was very low key. I cleaned the house, took a nap and then a few things together for munching during the Super Bowl. My husband made cheeseburgers for himself and my sister-in-law. I had a Gardenburger Portobello burger on an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin with smoked hot pepper cheese & spicy sweet mustard. We watched the game, said goodbye to sister-in-law and then headed to bed. So exciting.

Today – I had a lot of things on my mind this morning and forgot my camera. My food for the day was pretty uneventful. Breakfast was organic waffles, lunch was a repeat of my Super Bowl dinner with a Chik’n patty in place of the Portobello burger, snack was green pepper slices with balsamic vinaigrette and dinner was homemade enchiladas.

I’ll be back tomorrow night and there will be pictures. Have a great night!

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