This week's workouts

Well since I actually did pretty well this week working out, I thought I could post it.  Of course on weeks where I can't workout or don't I probably won't blog about it, so just know that ahead of time.  I did pretty well, a little different from what I had planned on doing, but it all worked out. 

Monday - Ran intervals, didn't go too fast, but needed something to break up the treadmill run, ran about 3 miles
Tuesday - Ran a 5k outside
Wednesday - 40 minutes on the elliptical
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Ran 3 miles on the mill
Saturday - Ran 3 miles on the mill (raining so I couldn't run outside), did a few minutes of upper body weights
Sunday - Plan to rest

I will have to say that having a treadmill at the house has helped a lot.  Between bad weather and not having time to get to the gym and having a little one to take care of, the mill at the house makes it doable.  I am so happy we have it.  Our OnDemand is not working so I didn't get any yoga in this week, but I needed to rest on Thursday so it worked out well for me. 

The easiest best way to win a bake off

I had these a couple of years ago and just about died when I found out exactly how easy the are to make.  They are called Oreo Truffles or Heaven in a Ball.  My sister used them at a work dessert bake off and won so I just made these for my work's dessert contest.  I got second, but people ate so many of mine, that they were gone before everyone could try them, so I think I could have won if I made more. 

Ingredients

• 1 package of oreo's
• 1 1/2 boxes of semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1 package of cream cheese (I use reduced fat)
• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• 1/2 - 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Break up oreo's and place them in the food processor.  Process until it is a fine powder.  There should be no white.
2. Place cream cheese in the mixer and then the oreo mixture.
3. Mix until the cream cheese is well incorporated and again there is no white. 
4. Take a small piece of the mixture and roll it into a ball and piece on a pan lined with wax paper.  This will probably make 3-4 dozen ball depending on how big you make them.  You will probably need 2 pans to get all the balls on with some space between them.
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Break up the baking chocolate and melt the baking chocolate over a double boiler.  Melt slowly, and add the oil at any time.  Once just about melted, turn the heat to low and get out your balls out of the fridge.
7. Dip 4-5 balls at a time and use 2 forks to get them out getting the excess chocolate off each ball.
8. Place back on the lined pan and return to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.
9. Now, if you want to get fancy, you need to melt the white chocolate in the microwave (microwave for 15-30 seconds at a time and then stir until melted). 
10. Place melted white chocolate in a sandwich baggie and cut off the corner, but just a little bit.  You want the opening to be very small.
11. Get out the balls out the fridge again and then decorate the balls with the melted white chocolate.
12. Back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
13. Enjoy!  I know they take a little time, but overall, it's an easy recipe and they are devine!

Broken up oreo's in the food processor

All processed, see no white

The cream cheese in the mixer, room tempature makes it a little easier, but it doesn't have to be

All of the oreo mixture and the cream cheese, before mixing

All mixed up, again no white anymore

Rolled up into balls and ready for the first refrigeration

My baking partner helping me dip them into the baking chocolate (love you sweetie)

After they are dipped into the chocolate and ready to go back into the refrigerator

I put little swirls of white chocolate just to go over the top.

My baking partner wanted to do more, so we toasted some almonds and make almond butter in the food processor.  Bunny helped her out.

My chilly run and a bargain buy

Well the past couple of weeks it has been pretty chilly in the south.  Last Tuesday, it was in the mid 20's when I was supposed to run, and I bailed and went to the gym and did 30 minutes on that stair stepper instead.  I was too cold that morning to face the weather.  Well yesterday, it was supposed to be in the teens.  Well I went ahead and wrapped my head around it on Monday night and decided I would conquer the cold this week.  Yesterday the temperature was 16 degrees when I started my run (yeah, about 10 degrees colder than last week, oops).  I had my layers on though, cold weather running tights, long sleeve dryfit shirt, sweatshirt, polar fleece, gloves, hat, socks and my running shoes.  The run wasn't that bad.  That first mile I even had a pretty good time (for a pregnant me).  My face was a little chapped after the run, but other than that, it was pretty good.  It helped that the sun was shining, and the wind was minimal. 

Ok, my bargain buy.  I was making dinner on Monday, and I would have sworn up and down that I had polenta in the house.  Well I already started boiling my liquids when I realized that I didn't have any.  I did a quick search online to see if there was a good substitute.  One woman recommended using cornmeal.  Well I have that for dusting my pizza crusts with, so I gave it a try.  Worked that a charm!  And guess what it's soooo much cheaper than polenta at the store.  I went to the store on Tuesday and did a price comparison.  Now I had in my house the dry polenta, but I just found the precooked one when I was looking.  For 18oz. of precooked polenta, it was on sale for $3.99 ($0.22/oz.).  Well the off brand cornmeal was on sale for $1.00 for 24oz. ($0.04/oz).  That is a huge savings to just use cornmeal next time.  No more polenta buying in our house anymore.  Tasted the exact same. 

Do you have any bargain buys you use or ways to save?

My running these days

So I am still working out, but between the colder temperatures and my growing belly, things are changing.  I was doing 3-4 miles 4 days/week, with 2 of them being with the jogging stroller.  I am not doing 3 miles 3-4 days/week (twice still with the jogging stroller) and incorporating some yoga as well.  If I do not get in 4 days of running then I will do either the elliptical trainer or the stairmaster, just to give me belly a breather. 

The only way I can run now is with some support.  I was getting a lot of round ligament pain early in my pregnancy so my OB recommended a maternity belt, or just cutting off some panty hose and using that.  Well the maternity belts aren't cheap, so I thought I would start with some panty hose.  Works like a charm!  I have had no problems with the round ligament pain if I am sporting my "maternity belt," but if I forget it, then I am in trouble.  I can't run.  Now I can still do my other exercieses with a maternity belt, so I don't have to wear it every time I work out, just running currently. 

I started working in some yoga as well once I hit about 5 months thinking it would be good to get some sort of strength training in, as well as help breathing and focusing (things that are important during labor and delivery).  My goal is to do it twice a week, once for just 20 minutes and then again for 40-45 minutes.  I have been using the OnDemand ExerciseTV yoga videos (for free) to get a variety of sessions in. 

So last week was hard with my workouts because the hubs and I were up late most nights getting the house ready for Christmas and my Annual Holiday Cookie Swap party, so I was very tired and very busy, but the week before looked like this:

Monday - Ran intervals on the treadmill (3.2 miles total)

Tuesday - Ran 3 miles outside (without jogging stroller), 20 minutes of yoga

Wednesday - Ran 3 miles on the mill (easy)

Thursday - 40 minutes of yoga or Rest

Friday - Ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller

Saturday - Ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller

Sunday - Rest

So I am resting 1-2 days a week and as it becomes 2 days of rest more often, I will probably cut my running back to 3 days a week as well.  So that is what a 6 month pregger is doing on the pavement these days.

Road ID

I forgot to mention a while back that I was looking into asking for a Road ID and a shoe pocket for holding my keys for Christmas.  Both I thought would be useful.  Well, I was reading my regular blogs, when I stumbled upon this post from Carolyn.  I thought I had better try for the giveway and I won!

I went online and saw that I didn't just have to get the wrist ID, I could get the shoe ID which had both my pocket for keys and had the personal information I was looking to add on there.  So I got the Shoe ID!  And I love it!  It's exactly what I was looking for. 

Here is a picture of my shoe with my first run with my shoe ID. 



And here is a picture of my running partner ready to tackle the pavement with her Goldfish in hand.  Such a cutie!!!

Road ID has several promotions so check them out.  You can usually get 10% of your Road ID if you play your cards right and it's not an expensive "toy" anyway, so go ahead.  It could save your life someday.  I just got an email and you can receive 10% off your entire purchase with this coupon code:  pcLASTCHANCE2.

My Pre-Thanksgiving Fun Run

Well I was waiting for the official results to come out, but they still haven't, so I will go ahead and post this.  I ran a local 5k race the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It was my first race since knowing I was pregnant.  There had been a lot of debate about me running any races.  I had planned to run another one, but the hubs was not feeling it.  He has major concerns about my running knowing that in a few weeks I have another ultrasound, which the last time around, showed our current toddler was borderline IUGR and I was put on modified bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy.  Although my perinatologist told us "Exercise does not cause IUGR," that response has not changed my lovely husband's mind.  So while I have been itching to race, I have not since I know the husband worries.  But this was local and close and only a 5k, so I told him I was doing it.  Luckily, he didn't have a tennis match until 10:00am (the race was at 8am) so he could watch Hope while I ran the race by myself (another reason I could run, I didn't have to push a jogging stroller). 

Pre-race breakfast was a banana smeared with peanut butter.  I was going to do peanut toast, but I read on the No Meat Athlete that bread and diary take more energy to digest than fruits, so I went with that.  I was going to do a smoothie, but it was just a 5k, so I didn't need that many calories. 

So we got there early, and I got my race number and grabbed a few pictures with my precious daughter (doesn't like looking at the camera currently).

After some chatting, I got in line and was off.  Here Hope is watching mommy run by.

Here I am roudning the last corner before the finish (I am in the pink sleeves and black vest).

And here I am finishing strong.  It was a good race.  I had a pregnancy PR of 28:12 and it was a very hilly race.  I felt good.  

After the race, we didn't stick around for the awards.  It was cold and Adam needed to get going and I had a tennis match that afternoon, so I had to promise to consume as many calories as I could between the race and my tennis match (which I did win, but it took 2.5 hours, oops). 

Novemeber Food Recipes

Here are some recipes I have been meaning to blog about, but never got around to it.  I am way behind in my blogging, so you are going to get 3 recipes in one post today.  Lucky you!  Well since we had so many apples, I wanted to find some other ways to enjoy them besides eating them for lunch everyday.  I thought Hope would enjoy making caramel apples (and obviously this baby has a major sweet tooth as well, which works for me).  Adam wasn't as excited about them at first but then when I told him he wasn't out and trying to eat them with his teeth (you can cut off a piece from the apple) and eat it, he perked up. 



My ingredients

5 apples with wooden sticks poked in the tops

1 bag of caramels microwaved until nice and soft

Butterfinger candy bars crushed up

Crushed walnuts (toasted and cooled)

Chocolate chips (not shown yet)

After I dipped the apples into the caramel and let the excess drip off, I immediately coated them in either the butterfinger crumbles or the walnuts (one had both - talk about yummy!). 

Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes.  You could be done or . . .  Then for good measure, I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzled the chocolate over the top of each caramel apple (like they weren't sweet enough).  These were amazing!  It was so nice to have these in the house.  They were so good!  Adam and I would split on after lunch most days.  Yummy!!!  I highly recommend!

After carving our pumpkin every year, I always take the seeds and separate them from the stringy stuff to roast.  This year I went took a different angle though.  My seeds from our pumpkin, cleaned.

Additonal ingredients - 1 tablespoon Earth Balance, 1 tablespoon organic sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (mixed together)

I threw the butter in the the seeds and mixed and followed by the sugar mixture.  Then it's off to the pan and into the oven (400 degrees) for about 45 minutes.   

Yum again!  This was my midmorning snack everyday for at least a week.

On Halloween, before all the crazy trick or treating started, I made a festive dinner for all 3 of us (yes, Hope got one too).  I adapted this recipe from Angela (thanks, it was great). 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili in Pumpkin Bowls

Ingredients

• 3 mini sweet pumpkins
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 1-15oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1-15oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Take the mini sweet pumpkin and slice the top off about 3/4 of the way up. Scoop out the insides of the pumpkin using a spoon. This is time consuming, so make sure you remember to do this earlier in the day. I saved the seeds again and did a savory roasted pumpkin seeds with a little kosher salt on them on then pop them in the oven.
When the pumpkins are empty and cleaned out, spray or drizzle the insides with olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. You will be eating the pumpkin flesh so you want it to taste delicious!
Now pop your pumpkins onto a baking pan and into the oven for 30 minutes. While they are roasting in the oven, make the chili.
In a large pot, add the oil and turn heat to medium. Add chopped onion and minced garlic and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or so. Reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning.
Now add the chopped pepper and butternut squash. Cook for about 12-15 minutes.
Now add in the drained and rinsed beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, vegetable broth, and S & P and stir well.
Simmer on low-medium for another 5 minutes.
Now remove your pumpkins from the oven and fill the bowls 3/4 of the way full. Place pumpkins carefully back into the oven (again without top) and bake for another 30 minutes.
Once they are cooked, turn oven off and leave pumpkins in the oven with lid on to stay warm. They will stay hot in the oven for another hour if necessary. Serves 3.

The chili was very good, but I might do a little emersion blending next time to thicken it up.  It was nice having the baked pumpkin to add into each chili bite but it was very time consuming, so I might have to save that for special occasions only. 

Well now I am caught up for October and Novemember recipes.  I did one last night that I will post soon!