Fun

2 Boys & a Bottle of Green Food Coloring

March 17, 2013 Kim 7 Comments

I know, another post – really?! But this one is just silliness.

The boys and I decided to make green cookies since it is St. Patrick’s Day. I found the recipe on Pinterest and even though I’m not a huge baker we thought it would be fun.

I basically just read the recipe and the boys did the rest. Things were going great early on. Cream the butter and sugar:

Add the eggs and vanilla.

Even the flour and other dry ingredients went in OK. But then….instead of just 1 cup of the white chocolate chips, the boys decided to add the entire bag. And the food coloring – don’t get me started!

The recipe called for 6 drops – Easy enough.Well, Hunter thought that wasn’t enough so he took over with the color.

Apparently this wasn’t green enough for them either.Hunter added more and then more until this happened:Yikes!!! They put the whole bottle in!!! OK – no big deal. So we put the bowl in the fridge to chill for a bit so they could roll it into little balls before baking.I’m not sure that it chilled long enough (20 minutes).They are a mess!!Nice hands, Jordan!Hunter, are those small balls???

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLuA3k-Te2Q’]

Not gonna lie – they are entertaining!!! However, I’m not sure that the extra chips and all that food coloring was a great idea.

The recipe said to bake 8 minutes – not nearly enough!!!So we baked more!

And played around some!Hunter didn’t like that picture so he wanted me to get another but Jordan….

Anyway – we finally baked the cookies some more and this is what we ended up with.

boys may have sampled straight from the pan

Oh, wait – that’s the pan that the boys (and Chris) pretty much snarfed down.

We have mad baking skills!! But it was a fun way to spend a cold St. Patrick’s Day afternoon!!

Beef, Recipes

Beef Lettuce Wraps

March 17, 2013 Kim 5 Comments

Lunch today was so good and so easy!!

Beef Lettuce Wraps

1 lb ground beef (you could use ground turkey or chicken if you prefer)
1/4 c chopped green onions
1 can mushrooms, drained
garlic powder (your preference here)
1 bag of coleslaw mix (or you can cut your own cabbage and carrots – I’m lazy!)
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar (not packed down unless you want it sweet – I don’t like this too sweet)
1 t white wine vinegar
lettuce leaves (we like butter lettuce)

Brown your meat. Add onions, mushrooms, garlic powder and coleslaw and cook until vegetables are tender. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar. Pour sauce mixture over meat and heat through.

Serve warm!

Core, Fitness

Nutrition Drop-Out

March 17, 2013 Kim 12 Comments

For the 43 today, I used my stability ball and did sit-ups with alternating toe touches. Reaching for my toes made this more of a complete sit-up than a crunch.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uECwYXF9S1s’]

I counted a right toe touch and a left as 1 rep so I did 86 total sit-ups in order to complete the 43.

Today is a rest day – I might do some more foam rolling later but no working out!!

Sometimes I feel like Frenchie in Grease:

Except I’ve never been to beauty school – I’m talking about nutrition. Don’t get me wrong, we actually eat healthy and nutritious meals the majority of the time. But I also think that everyone has different definitions of what counts as healthy nutrition and according to lots of those ideas I’m a definite drop-out!

Even the national standards change (frequently!).

In the newer version of a healthy plate, fruits & vegetables are the main part with carbs playing a small roll.

But, in the old-school food pyramid – carbs are the biggest group! (And I love carbs – pasta and bread!)

Meat is another area where people have very different opinions. We eat meat at just about every meal in our home. We actually buy 1/2 a side of beef every year:

We eat lots of chicken but we also eat pork, lamb on occasion, seafood and beef. We are definitely carnivores here!

All the different flavored butters on the market and yet this is what we eat:I have never tried any of the MANY different supplements on the market.

And, even on my long runs (like yesterday), I don’t refuel with any of these:

I know I’m going to have to figure out something for my 50-mile race but usually I just drink water while I run. (I know – it goes against everything out there but it works for me.)

The other day I heard someone say, “No margaritas for me – I don’t want to undo the work I’m doing during my workout.” I’m totally supportive of that approach but I’m also the opposite – I work out hard so that I can enjoy the things I like (margaritas, wine, chips…..).

So, even though I fail at nutrition according to many standards, I do what works for me and my family and am perfectly OK with it. Today we will have lettuce wraps at lunch and they will have ground beef in them just the way we like them and I won’t feel at all guilty about it!

What are your views on healthy nutrition?

Happy Sunday!

Kim (not really a nutrition drop-out just one with a different point of view than others!)

Core, Fitness, Foam Roller, Running, Treadmill

22 Mile Run – Done!! (Isn’t that what you do on your 1/2 B-day?)

March 16, 2013 Kim 7 Comments

My 43 today was a great warm-up for my long run. I did a standing oblique crunch with a knee up to an extended leg.

The whole above series = 1 rep. 43 of these was a great way to fire up my hip flexors and quads in preparation for the big run!

And then I ran!!! For several years, I’ve run my age to celebrate my birthday. Last year I addd in the half birthday celebration run. Of course, the half birthday has to be the # of miles for the upcoming birthday!!!

So, today I ran 22 miles! I ran on my treadmill at 1.0% incline and kept the pace between 8:00 minutes/mile and 7:53 minutes/mile for the first 20 miles. The last 2 miles I increased the speed until I was at a 7:30 minute mile. Total time 2:53:43 (7:54 pace overall) with no stops!!!

The no stops was the best part for me – usually I have to stop to stretch something, tie a shoe, bathroom – something. Not today!!!

I walked an easy 0.5 mile after I finished the run just to get my heart rate down. And then, I foam rolled!

Today I used the ridged one at the front. I just held it in several tight areas for a bit (hips, quads, calves – basically everywhere!!!). I know I should foam roll more often – but at least today I made a smart choice!

Hopefully if I put my new compression socks on for the rest of the day I will be ready for the next big challenge tomorrow!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Biceps, Butt, Fitness, Lunges, Quad

Fascinating Fun Friday!!

March 15, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

Part of the idea for today’s 43 came from Marcia who said curtsey lunges were one of her favorite exercises. I paired the curtsey lunge up with a couple of other moves and got a nice little 43.

I did the curtsey lunge and while holding the lunge did a bicep curl (I used 10 pound DBs today) then I stood and lifted the back leg while squeezing my butt = 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1gfw0ZXP4′]

Besides the fact that I nearly lost my balance during the demo – it was great! This 43 was pretty challenging – my quads were burning and I got my heart rate up since it was upper and lower body combined!!! 43 on the 2nd leg was the real kicker!

At one point I stopped for a second to stretch and told Hunter that this was a hard one. He said, “You can do it. You’ve done all of them so far.” So sweet!! Of course, he didn’t look up from what he was doing at the time. (This is one of his favorite morning activities before I take him to school – not filming me or even watching me sweat – learning new techniques with his cubes!!)

learning yet another method to solve one of the cubes!

Thanks to Hunter and his encouragement, I made it through another 43!

Today I decided to do a low-impact type workout (especially after yesterday’s crazy Tabata madness!) since I have a super long run planned for tomorrow. I pulled out an oldie – Denise Austin: Fat-Blasing Yoga. I don’t do yoga often but I have found a few DVDs that I really enjoy. Angela just did a great post about the benefits of yoga for runners so I figured today was a good day for it.

I actually have a # of Denise Austin’s DVDs – sometimes I just follow along without the sound but she does have some really great workouts. The yoga one is a nice mix of strength work and stretching. At the end there is a 15 minute section that is primarily core using a stability ball. It was a nice break from running, jumping….

real clothes don't happen often anymore! — real clothes don’t happen often anymore!

Yesterday I actually put on non-workout clothes!!! Sad part was that it was to go to a funeral (a friend of mine lost her Dad this week). Her dad served in the Navy during World War II and so at the cemetery they had the military service – 2 Navy men – salute as casket is carried up, Taps and the flag (unfold, refold then present it). Military services always sort-of get to me. I told Chris that I never want someone to hand me that flag – so do what you need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen, OK?

Well, it is going to be Fun Friday! Even though it is still in the 30s right now, we are supposed to get up to 80!!! I can’t wait.

Chris is off today and the boys will be on Spring Break when they get home this afternoon. I have a friend who is just starting to sell Origami Owl jewelry so I’m going to her party this afternoon. And, it’s basketball tournament time!!!! (Even though my teamis already out – still love the tournament!)