Peppers, peppers, peppers

My uncle has a friend who has a great vegetable garden. In this garden, he grows a lot of tomatoes and a lot of peppers. My uncle had extras of both, so he gave me some. I have been eating fresh tomatoes for the past several weeks from my grandmother and uncle. They get them from various people's gardens and they are probably my favorite vegetable (I know, they really are a fruit). So I have a nice array of peppers now and will be making some very spicy dishes. I got habanreo peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, and chile peppers. I have already used the habaneros, banana peppers, and the jalapenos. They are very spicy!

Training - 9/1

So I have completed week 4 of my training program. This past week was an easy week and I was ready for it. This week I will run my farthest training run ever (12 miles). I can't wait!!!



Week 4

Projected/Actual



Tuesday - 5 mile easy run, abs / 5.44 mile easy run, abs



Thursday - 5 mile easy run, abs / 5 mile easy run, abs



Saturday - 6 mile easy run / 6 mile easy run



Total Mileage: 16.44 miles



We went to my mother-in-law's lake house over the weekend, so my Saturday run had some different scenery, which is always nice. It was a nice easy run, but there are a lot of hills, so it gave me a workout, but the weather was cooler, so it wasn't too difficult.



Week 5

Projected/Actual



Tuesday - 3 mile easy run, abs / 3 mile easy run, abs



Friday - 6 mile tempo run, abs



Sunday - 12 mile easy run



This week my runs are on different days and I switched up a few of the runs. I have plans Tuesday afternoon, so I have to change some things up. My goal (for this week and every other week) is to just get my runs in. I am not picky about when I do, or if I run on non-consecutive days. I just want to get the run in.

Menu Planning - 8/31

Good morning/afternoon everyone! For those of you who might have been intrigued about my Pecorino and Bean Salad, try it. It was delicous!!! I can't wait to make it again.

It's Monday again, so I had to sit down and figure out what I was going to make for the week for dinner. I have come up with several new recipes I am hoping to try this week.

Monday - Potato Gnocchi with marinara sauce and roasted broccoli (chicken breast for Adam)

Tuesday - Crispy Salmon/Chicken with Fiery Asian Coleslaw

Wednesday - Roasted Corn and goat cheese quesadillas and black beans and rice

Thursday - Pesto Polenta Lasagna

Friday - Peanut noodles

Have a great week everyone!

FREE Workouts

If you have Comcast Digital Cable, you get free workouts! This is something I have just recently started taking advantage of. I mostly run currently, because it's something I can do with Hope, but I am working on my abs (and will probably always be now that I have been pregnant and given birth). I have an abs dvd that I have been using, but I know it's important to change up routines, so I got on the tv and started searching for ab workouts on Exercise TV. Like I said, if you have digital cable, you have Exercise TV through OnDemand. It's great. They had an entire section on ab workouts. There are tons of workouts on there, so if you can, check them out. I wish I had thought of that while I was on maternity leave. I ended up paying $60 for The Firm DVDs. It was good. It gave me something to work on while Hope was napping and I couldn't run yet, but I probably could have just used Exercise TV instead. Jillian Michael's has a set on Exercise TV along with The Biggest Loser, etc. Check it out if you haven't already!

Training - 8/25

So I have completed week 3 of my training program. It has not been easy to get it all in with everything else going on in my life, but I think I am doing pretty good.



Week 3 Projected/Actual
Tuesday - 5 mile tempo run, abs / 5.4 mile tempo run, abs

Wednesday - Tennis with my sister / Tennis with my sister

Thursday - 4 mile easy run, abs / 4 mile easy run, abs

Friday - Tennis with my sister / Rest

Saturday - Singles tennis match (playoffs, City Finals) / Singles tennis match, ran 4 miles (easy)

Sunday - 10 mile easy run / Ran 8.3 miles (easy)



Total Mileage: 21.7 miles



Because I had a tennis match on Saturday, I couldn't do my long run until Sunday. Saturday was a busy day for us. I had my tennis match, Adam was playing golf, then Adam had a tennis match, I ran 4 miles to decompress from my tennis match, then it was off to dinner for my future brother-in-law's birthday. After that, we put Hope to bed and my sister, for fiancee (the birthday boy) and some of their friends stopped by for a drink before they went out. It was after midnight before I poured into bed. I woke up Sunday still a little tired, so I waited until after I put Hope down for her nap before I headed out running. The weather was nice so that wasn't a problem, but after playing with Hope in the morning, I was not jazzed up to go running like I normally am. Also, I had to be back when she woke up to feed her, so I felt like 10 miles would be too long to be away. I ended up doing 8.3 miles instead. I would have been worried but a friend of mine shared this article with me. This way of training shows that one run should not be more important than others, so I did 12.3 miles in 2 days instead of 10 miles in 2 days plus I played tennis on Saturday too. So while I didn't get in my whole 10 miles in one run, I did get the miles in.


Week 4 Projected/Actual
Tuesday - 5 mile easy run, abs / Ran 5.44 miles (easy), abs

Thursday - 5 mile easy run, abs

Saturday - 6 mile easy run

Today's run was ok. It was easy, I didn't push myself too hard since this is supposed to be an easy week for me. Should be nice. And of course, we stopped at the park so Hope could swing on the baby swing once again. She loves it.

Menu Planning - 8/24

It's that time again, time to plan some menus. Here is what I have in store for this week.

Monday - Leftover baked ziti

Tuesday - Fresh Fish (whatever looks good tomorrow at the farmer's market)with a peach salsa, wild rice, stuffed jalapeno peppers (I just got a bunch of peppers and I need to find something to do with them)

Wednesday - Breaded chicken sandwich (for Adam), veggie burger or veggie sandwich (for me), either baked potatoes or potato fries, salad

Thursday - Zucchini, Potato and Scallion Panckaes with Chived Sour cream and Pecorino and Bean Salad (A little random but trying to use up my herbs)

Friday - Cottage cheese and noodles

Have a great week everyone!

Another way to use overripe bananas

Make muffins. I have been making bread, but I thought muffins would be a nice change, and that way they are already portioned out nicely. I had this recipe in my book, so I thought I would try it. I will have to say that the original recipe did not have walnuts in it, but I like a little crunch so I thought I would add those in. They turned out very good and are a great little mid morning snack if you need one. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup mashed bananas (I used 2 medium sized bananas)
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts (cooled)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.
In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
In separate bowl, combine banana, sugar, egg and vanilla extract.
Blend until well mixed.
Add applesauce.
Slowly combine dry mixture to banana mixture.
Blend well.
Fold in walnuts.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Let cool before serving.
Makes 12 Servings


Now it says it makes 12, but I only got 11 out of them.

If you can get 12 muffins then the nutritional analysis is as follows per muffin:

106 calories
3.6 grams fat
16 grams carbs
1 gram fiber
3 grams protein

If you get 11 muffins then it's:

116 calories
4 grams fat
17.6 grams carbs
1.1 grams fiber
3.3 grams protein.

If you eliminate the walnuts, the muffins are virtually fat free, but I like the crunch.

The Wrong Shoe!

I am one to keep shoes WAY past their time. I still have shoes from from high school. I know, I should get rid of them, but I don't wear them out, and if I like them, I keep them. Well the same goes for my running shoes. Back in 2006, I got fitted for shoes by my future brother-in-law. He had just started dating my sister, was a NCAA runner, and working a running store here in Atlanta over the summer. Adam and I had decided to take running more seriously then, so we thought we should get some "real" running shoes. Eric was great. He brought out tons of shoes for us to try on and spent a lot of time with us (probably didn't hurt that he wanted out "ok" about dating my baby sister, but hey). I decided on Mizuno Wave Creations. I loved them. I have very high arches and I noticed then I put these on, the arch support actually reached my arch. Again, I loved them. I wore my first pair out completely and Adam got me a replacement pair for Christmas the next year. He knew to just get me the same pair. I had those for 1.5 years (until now actually). I am sure they went way over the 500 mile limit with all my running shoes, but until I see them wearing out, I don't even think about it. I had my last pair for so long because I was pregnant with Hope when I had them. So there was time before when I had stopped running (during fertility treatments), then there was time during my pregnancy when I was put on modified rest and couldn't workout at all, then after she was born. I am breastfeeding so I wanted to make sure my supply was well established before I didn too much running. So all those months really add up and I just now needed new running shoes. Well I had a store credit at this one particular store, so we have to venture OTP (outside the perimeter for those not from Atlanta) to this store. I told them I needed Mizuno Creations 6 1/2, but wanted to try on Brooks Glyercin (I had heard they had high arch support too). He came back and didn't have my Creations in a 6 1/2, but had it in a 7. Ok, well I have always worn a size 6 shoe, even after being pregnant. I know you up a 1/2 size for your running shoe, but not a whole size. I tried the Brooks' shoes and didn't like them. So now, the salesman puts an insert into the Creations (size 7) and tells me how important this insert is yadda, yadda, yadda.

End of story, I ended up getting those because they felt ok and I had the store credit and wanted to get rid of it. Well the first day I ran in them, I hated them. They feel so big (because they are) and I felt like my heal was coming out of the shoe with the insert in there. I talked to my future brother-in-law, and he helped me out with the whole insert thing. He's a genius! He said the size thing will be nice when I do some really long runs. We will see, but I will tell you, at 500 miles, they are gone and I am going back to my Mizuno Creations size 6 1/2. :) Here are the shoes I ended up with.

Ok, vent over. Thanks for listening.

Training - 8/19

I told you about the training program I am currently doing using the Runner's World Smart Coach. I prefer this personalized approach to the generic ones you see from time to time. I am currently on week 3 and have my final workouts and mileage for week 2.

Week 2 Projected/Actual

Tuesday - Run 5 mile tempo run, abs/Ran 5.41 tempo run, abs

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - Run easy 4 miles, abs/Ran 4 miles, abs

Saturday - Run easy 9 miles/Ran 9.64 miles

Sunday - Rest/Tennis with my sister

My Saturday run was ok. Adam wanted to come so we all set out (Hope in the jogging stroller). So I started out slower than I normally do, because the jogging stroller is heavy and hard for anyone to push. After 3 miles, Adam and I split off. I did notice though, it was harder for me to pick up the pace after going slow for 3 miles. Last Saturday, I ran by myself and started off faster and was able to keep that pace for the most part. This week I kept the pace, it was just slower. Something to think about when I am racing.

Week 2 Projected/Actual

Tuesday - 5 mile tempo run, abs/Ran 5.4 mile tempo run, abs

Wednesday - Tennis with my sister

Thursday - 4 mile easy run, abs

Friday - Tennis with my sister

Saturday - Singles tennis match (playoffs, City Finals)

Sunday - 10 mile easy run

Tuesday's tempo run was pretty good. The first mile was a warm-up, then I was supposed to run 3 miles at 8:24 minute pace. Well, I had the jogging stroller with me, so I usually add one minute per mile with it. My 2nd mile (first at tempo pace) was right on, the next mile was a little off then then the last mile was even slower. I did stop with 1.4 miles left (mostly my cool down) and Hope and I were at the park. She loves the swing, so I thought since she runs with me, I should give her some enjoyment out of it. I have to say though, it was hard to start back up after resting for 15 minutes, but worth it to see her face on the swing. She loves it. This is a picture from our vacation, but it's the same as yesterday. She actually fussed when I took her out. That's something new for my 10 month old. She got over it very quickly, but she did actually fuss when I took her out. Funny kid!

Menu Planning Monday - 8/17

It's Monday again, so it's time to plan out our meals. I didn't get to use all my meals from last week, so I have some that are carried over.

Monday - Steak for Adam, Curried green peas (this is actually in Hope's baby food cookbook, so it looks good enough for all of us to have), baked potatoes

Tuesday - Moroccean Tagine Veggies over Couscous, chicken for Adam

Wednesday - Pulled Pork sandwich (for Adam), Veggie burger (for me) baked beans, either frozen veggie or salad

Thursday - Either baked ziti and a salad or pizza at a housewarming party

Friday - Leftovers or Cottage cheese and noodles

Have a great week everyone!

A day of eating - 8/14

It has been a while that I have logged my eating to my blog, so I have decided to today. Now my best choices today, but sometimes that is just what happens. I did not workout today, so I am trying to resist the ice cream in the freezer (it's calling my name). Here is how I faired today.

Breakfast
Smoothie (1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk, 1/2 cup plain fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, 1/2 banana, 4 ice cubes)
Decaf coffee with unsweetened soy milk

Snack
Homemade trail mix (1/4 cup nuts - mix of almonds and walnuts and 2T dried cranberries)

Lunch
Veggie scramble wrap (2 scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, onions, and bell peppers with 1 oz. extra sharp cheddar)
1 cup fresh cherries

Snack
Fiber 1 Peanut butter granola bar (35% of your fiber in one bar)

Dinner
Veggie burger (Morningstar vegan veggie burger, whole wheat bun, 1 oz. cheddar, sliced tomato and lettuce)
2 servings of baked cheetos (don't ask)

Total
1567 calories
188g carbs
62g fat (20g saturated)
73g protein
40g fiber

Not too bad considering I had more processed stuff than I usually like. I did not get all my veggies in for the day, but I did well on fruit.

Went to The Children's Museum for FREE

Adam was up early Tuesday morning (couldn't sleep) and was flipping channels while he was ironing his shirt before the Today Show was even on. He heard that The Children's Museum had free admission that afternoon. He told me about it and I looked it up and sure enough he was right. It's called the Target Free Second Tuesdays. From 1:00 - 7:00pm, it's free admission for everyone. I had to work on Tuesday, so we left right after I finished up. Now Hope is only 10 months old (just today in fact), so there wasn't much for her to do, but she did have a good time. They had a second for 2 and unders, so we spent most of time there. I felt like she wasn't going to get trampled on by the older children. It was fun and I think she had a good time. So, I have marked on my calendar, the next 2nd Tuesdays for the rest of the year and hopefully, we can make some of those. Here are some pictures of Hope at the museum.

Hope on the infant water bed

Hope laughing at the blocks

Got a block for herself

Playing the piano

Hanin' on the bean bag chair

I may have won the debate

So Adam has been very nervous about me training for long distance races. He has been scared I will drop too much weight and become unhealthy (too skinny). While I am a slim person, I have never been underweight according the CDC's BMI calculator. \

Ok, some back story. Adam and I had trouble conceiving little Hope, and my first ob/gyn said I was underweight (which I wasn't). She told me to gain weight and limit my exercise. I did that and we still didn't get pregnant. After a slew of tests, we found out that I had non-traditional form of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Luckily, we did end up getting pregnant, but in Adam's eyes, he feels like the weight had something to do with it.

So now, with all my training that I am doing, Adam is freaking out that I will drop too much weight and become unhealthy (can someone tell him running 20 miles a week is not hard core). I told him when I was training for half marathon before, I didn't lose any weight. It was difficult to maintain my weight. When I was running and training that much, my body's appetite just increased and I had to eat more. I was starving.

Well I saw this article on Monday and if Adam buys it, then I will have won the debate. It's an interesting so I thought I would share. Feel free to post a comment on your thoughts of the article.

Training

So, I would like to do a full marathon in Nov., but with a baby, it makes training a little harder. I have already signed up for a half marathon in Oct., so I am excited about that. I have created a personalized training guide from Runner's World Smart Coach. I have created a 16 week program and plan to discuss the previous week's accomplishments and give you a run down of the current week's goals. I figure that way it's another motivation to get out there. So this is week 2 for me.

Week 1 Projected/Actual
Monday - Rest/Ran easy 3 miles on the treadmill
Tuesday - Run easy 3 miles, abs/Ran easy 3 miles, abs
Wednesday - Rest/Elliptical Trainer for 30 minutes
Thursday - Run tempo 5 miles, abs/Ran 4.33 miles (not really a tempo run though), abs
Saturday - Run easy 8 miles/Ran easy 8.54 miles

Total Mileage: 18.87 miles

Week 2 Projected/Actual
Tuesday - Run 5 mile tempo run, abs/Ran 5.41 tempo run, abs
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run easy 4 miles, abs
Saturday - Run easy 9 miles

I did get my 5 mile tempo run in yesterday (along with my abs). I couldn't get out of the house until lunch time to run, so it was hot and I didn't bring any water (bad Jaime). This particular tempo run was warm-up for one mile, run one mile in under 8 minutes, jog for a half a mile and then repeat it one more time. Cool-down the last mile. Well it was extremely hot, but my warm-up mile felt good. My first fast mile was hard, but I did a good job of pushing myself. I ran it in over 8 minutes, but I had the baby jogger (and a 16lb. kid in it), so I usually give myself a minute more a mile. I jogged for my half a mile, but then my second fast mile wasn't very fast. It's not easy to run fast with a baby jogger, that's for sure. But we finished and I ended up running 5.41 miles.

Menu Planning - 8/10

So it's that time again. The good news is that it's a short week for me in the kitchen, so I don't have to plan or shop for much. Here is what I am thinking

Monday - Pantry night (Grilled chicken for Adam, and then whatever canned or frozen veggies I feel like). I am thinking baked bean for sure.

Tuesday - Baked ziti and a salad. It's my sister's recipe and it's delicious but there is a lot of cheese in it, so it's not the healthiest.

Wednesday - Pork chop for Adam and leftover (frozen) Vegetable Curry with Green lentils, and probably another side, but I don't know what

Thursday - Party! We are going to celebrate one of Adam's lab buddy's PhD defense

Friday - Cottage cheese and noodles

Have a good week everyone!!!

New way to cut costs

So almonds were on sale a couple of weeks ago at Kroger, so I stocked up. They were $2.99/lb. I couldn't believe it, so I bought 2lbs. of raw whole almonds. What was I going to with all these almonds? I mean, I like almonds, but come on. Well I decided to take a stab at making almond butter. I currently use almond butter instead of peanut butter for 2 reasons. 1) It's healthier than peanut butter, more monounsaturated fats and 2) It's a new twist on the regular pb&j. I have always like almonds, so almond butter seems logical to me. But it's expensive. I buy it at Trader Joe's where I have found it to be the cheapest at $5.99/ jar (it's over $8.00 at Kroger). So I thought I would give it a try and see how it turns out. I had just finished a jar of my Trader Joe's almond butter, so I put it through the dishwasher so I would have something to hold my homemade almond butter. So I took whole raw almonds and put them through the food processor. I am not sure if I did it right, or processed them long enough, but we will see. The good news is that my package of almonds filled my entire jar. So for $2.99 I got a jar of almond butter. I haven't tried it yet, but here are some pictures of the processing.

New 10K PR!

Well last Saturday, Adam and I were up at 5:15am for another 10k race. The Old Soldier's Day Race is in Alpharetta (about 30 minutes away from us), and an intermediate course. This isn't a normal race on our calendar, but Adam had friends who were running it, so we thought, it was a great excuse to see them. Since I had continued to run on vacation, I felt pretty good and was hoping for a good time. All week though, my legs felt heavy and I didn't know why.

Well Saturday came and I was off. My first mile was 7:27, very fast for me. Yikes, I needed to slow it down some. And I did. My legs felt heavy again the whole race, but I pushed through and finished in 49:38, a new PR. And this was a Peachtree Qualifier, so I have now qualified for a 1A time for the Peachtree. It was nice to get under 50:00, but I was disappointed that I didn't finish in the top 3 of my age group (finished 5th in the 30-39 category). I know, you would think I would be happy about my time, but I really wanted top 3 too. Last year, I would have finished 2nd, this year though, 5th. Well maybe next year. :)


I had emailed the race director about baby joggers and he said they were welcome, so we were able to bring Hope. We threw her in the car at 5:45am and then when we got to the race, I fed her and changed her diaper. Adam wanted to run with her because he wasn't in good running shape, so he wasn't looking to break any records. They looked so cute together.

Menu Planning - 8/3

So it's that time again, Monday, and that means it's time for me to plan my meals for the week. I am trying to stay creative and keep variety, but this week, I feel like I am already in a rut. So this is what I have for dinners this week (we did not do pizza on Friday because my sister invited us over for dinner, so I plan to do it this week instead).

Monday - Spaghetti with marinara and a mixed green salad
Tuesday - Southwestern Fish with brown rice and green beans
Wednesday - Pancakes
Thursday - Spiced Quinoa, Sauteed Edamame, and pork for Adam
Friday - Pizza

Have a good week everyone!