COME AND EAT!!

~Bean Salsa~

You're going to need:

-2 Bell Peppers (any color is fine)

-2 Jalapenos

-3 to 4 Roma Tomatoes

- 1 Medium Red Onion

-2 Cups Corn (fresh or frozen)

-The juice of 1-2 limes

-1 Can each of Light red kidney beans, Black beans, and Pinto beans

-1 bunch of Cilantro

-1/4 Cup white vinegar

-Salt & Pepper

-Garlic powder

-Rinse and drain your beans.

-Dice your bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.

-Dice your jalapenos. (If you don't like it hot cut out the ribs and the seeds, but if you don't mind the heat keep 'em in. Oooh, and make sure you use rubber gloves or wash your hands REALLY good after cutting them cause their juices + your eyes = not a happy person.)

-Add all your diced veggies to a big bowl.

-Add the lime juice to your veggies.

-Add the salt, pepper, vinegar, and the garlic powder.

-Mix it all up. Taste it and season it to taste. :)

ENJOY!!!

COME & EAT!!

Shrimp Fajitas!

You're going to need:

-1 pound of Shrimp

-1 bell pepper (I used half of a red and yellow one)

-1 small onion

-1 garlic clove

-1-2 tbs olive oil

-a handful of chopped fresh cilantro (or dried if you don't have fresh)

-a dash of Cayenne pepper

-salt & pepper

-lime juice (fresh is best)

-tortillas

Chop up your peppers, onions, and mince your garlic. Mmmm.....garlic....

Toss all of your chopped veggies in a bowl, salt & pepper them, add 1Tbs of oil, and mix it all up and get the veggies all nice and coated.

Add your veggies to a hot skillet and cook it until the peppers are tender, but still have a little crunch. Remove veggies (put 'em back in your bowl) and set it to the side while you cook your shrimp.

Ok, now for the shrimp! Salt & pepper, add a dash of Cayenne pepper (I used WAAAAAY too much), and your cilantro if you're using dried. Mix  it all up so all the shrimp are seasoned evenly. Then throw them into a nice hot skillet (add more oil if you need to). Cook about 2 minutes on each side until they're nice and pink.

Add your peppers back to the skillet, mix it up and heat through.

I topped mine with mock Cafe Rio dressing, napa cabbage, and tomato. I wish I would have had some sour cream and guacamole cause that would have made it that much better.

Enjoy!!

COME AND EAT!!!

Since it's my birthday I thought I'd post my favorite lunch....

BUFFALO CHICKEN WRAPS!!!

It's my "go to" lunch. It's fast and easy and you could use any kind of chicken, tofu, or whatever that you want.

You're going to need:

*spring mix lettuce

*matchstick carrots

*green onions

*fat free mayo

*boneless chicken chunks

*Franks RedHot Sauce

*tortillas

1. First you're going to cook your chicken according to the instructions on the bag. If you don't want to use that kind of chicken that's ok, I've used rotisserie chicken or cooked up some chicken breast and it's just as good.

2. Cut up your green onion. I use 1 onion for every 2 wraps.

3. Next you'll need about 2 tablespoons of mayo and around 1 tablespoon of hot sauce. I never measure it, if I want it hotter I'll use more hot sauce and if I want it cooler I'll use less. There have been a couple of times that I didn't have any mayo, so I used sour cream and it worked great.

4. Mix it all up until it's smooth. Mmmmm...hot sauce....

Let's assemble it!

1. Lay out your tortillas. I use Dunford whole wheat tortillas cause they're only 1 WW point for 2. You can find them here in Utah, I don't know if they're anywhere else, but they are GOOOD and they don't taste like most wheat tortillas.

2. Add your lettuce.

3. Add your carrots.

4. Add your green onions.

5. Add your chicken and your sauce.

Mmmm....now for the best part....try to wrap it up the best you can and eat!!

When I first started making these I was able to wrap them up really easy, but the more I make them the more veggies I add and the harder it gets to wrap it.

I hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do.

COME AND EAT!!

Shrimp Fra Diavolo!

This is one of my favorite pastas. It has a nice little kick to it because of the red pepper flakes, but not so much that it takes away from it, ya know?. I could eat this all the time. Yum!

Ok, so you're going to need:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how hot you like it)
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
1 medium onion, sliced 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves (or you can use dried)


1.Toss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt and red pepper flakes.

2. Start boiling your water and add some salt to it, it'll help flavor the noodles later on.

3. Thinly slice your onion.

4. Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a large plate; set aside.

5. Add the onion to the same skillet, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the pan, if necessary, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.

6. Mince your garlic and get ready to add them to the onions. Mmmm...garlic...

7. Add the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, garlic, and oregano. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. If it doesn't thicken enough sometimes I'll add 1/4C of tomato sauce to it just to help it along.

8. While the sauce is thickening add your noodles to your salt water and cook them until they're almost done. You don't want them soggy, but you also don't want them under done.

9. Chop your parsley and basil.

10. Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat, and cook for about a minute so the flavors meld together.

11. Stir in the parsley and basil. Season it with a little more salt, to taste.

12. Add your sauce to the drained noodles, mix it up and ENJOY! YUM!

I serve mine with a nice salad and some garlic bread.

COME AND EAT & A Giveaway!! (Giveaway Closed!)

I'm going to start posting a weekly recipe on here for you guys. Exciting, huh?

Today's recipe is
chicken salad sandwiches.

YUM!

First you'll need some chicken breast, grapes, shredded carrots, green onions, celery, almonds, an apple, mayo, a couple croissants, and salt & pepper. I try to make it as low fat as possible so I use fat free mayo and boneless skinless chicken breast. The croissants on the other hand are a different story, they aren't low fat, but they're good. You could always eat this as a lettuce wrap if you don't want the extra calories and stuff the croissants give ya.

First boil your chicken. I added a little salt to my water this time just to give it a little flavor and it seemed to help give the chicken a good flavor. You could always grill your chicken and then chop it up, but I like to boil it in this case just because it can cook without me having to watch it and  I can get all my chopping done at the same time.

So, while the chicken's boiling chop up your onion, carrots, celery, grapes, apples, and your almonds.

When your chicken's done chop it up and add everything to a bowl and mix it up. I only used about 3Tbs of fat free mayo, I'm sure you could use more, but I'm not a big mayo fan. I use just enough to hold it together some.

Slice your croissants, add your filling, and you got a yummy lunch. Mmmmm!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

6oz boneless skinless chicken breast

1/3 cup chopped grapes

1/4 cup chopped carrots

1 green onion chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

1/8 cup chopped almonds

1/3 of an apple chopped

pinch of salt and pepper

3 Tbs fat free mayo

4 croissants

Boil your chicken until done then chop. Mix chopped ingredients with mayo and salt & pepper. Slice croissants and add filling. Enjoy!

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In honor of my first recipe post I am happy to be giving away a pair of Le Creuset baking dishes, thanks to the awesome Jessica with csnstores. Their set of 200+ websites have everything ranging from track lighting to jogging strollers. It's pretty cool!

One lucky winner will win this set of Le Creuset stoneware.

To enter the giveaway:

* Check out csnstores.com and tell me what you think.

*Follow my blog or let me know that you already do.

*Link the giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog (one comment for each thing you do).

*Tell me your favorite kind of food and why.

*Tell me what kind of food you want to see in future posts.

Giveaway ends on May 18th and the winner will be posted on the 19th.

I did it! I did it!

I got my run in!

Ok, so, today I'm all about the exclamation marks cause that's how I'm feeling right now. Things are going great. I'm feeling awesome and I can't wait for my first half marathon on Saturday!

I went out to do my run after C got on the bus to go to school.

 It was kinda weird, it was sunny, but very windy and I could tell that any minute the clouds would be coming in. I went around the lake today and when I'd run one direction it was freezing, but when I'd turn the corner it was hot. I wore my North Face Women's Windstopper Jacket (LOOOVE IT!) and a Champion tank under it that I got at Target. I'd stop for a second and take the jacket off when I'd turn the corner and burn up and then when I'd reach the other side I'd stop and put the jacket back on. If it wasn't so windy I could have just worn the tank.

(Don't mind me, the wind was blowing and I look like a major dork.)

The thing about the tank...I've never just worn a tank running before. I kinda felt like a "real" runner. It wasn't too long ago that I didn't have any technical shirts and I'd wear old cotton race shirts to run in. I felt so weird wearing the tank, but I really liked how cool it was. Plus, when summer comes I'm not going to want to have a major farmers tan so I'll have to get used to it. Which by the way...I'm getting a capri tan from my capri length running tights and that means that I'm going to have to start wearing my running skirts the way they were meant to be worn, but that means I'm going to need to get some of that BodyGlide stuff so I don't rub my legs raw.

Anyway, the run went well, my knees were a little sore, but nothing to complain about. I did 6.16 in 1.05 and came home and ate this...

YUM!

Today's a good day and I'm feeling great! Ooh, and I have 30 "official" followers now! YAY! All those in the wood works come out and play, I won't bite. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to be posting a pretty awesome giveaway in celebration of my first half marathon so keep a look out!!!! Exciting!

Riding with my girl on St. Patty's Day.

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!

The breakfast of champions. YUM! You like my green milk? It was GOOD.

Today I thought it would be fun to take B with me on my run. She really enjoyed it. She talked the whole time, telling me about her dream last night, and asking why there were things like dragonflies. It was kinda fun listening to her little mind wonder while I ran.

The weather was perfect and we went 4 miles. Her little legs biked her up and down hills, over bridges, and through the dirt. She was so proud of herself. I asked if she liked riding while I ran and she said "Yeah, cause you're my best mom!" :)

I felt good the whole time. No achy muscles. No sore feet. Tomorrow's a 7 miles and I'm confident that I'll feel great again, lets just hope this great weather keeps up.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I hate food. Am I the only one who feels that way? I hate when I eat a meal and almost immediately regret eating it. I hate eating a meal and then realizing that the 4 miles I ran earlier that morning was for nothing. I hate feeling like I'm going no where in my weight loss journey. I know that's wrong to think that way, but after a 3.5 lb weight gain last week, it's a little frustrating. I really gotta figure out the key to running and eating and I really need to watch my portions and cut out all the candy. It's not good for me physically and mentally. I just don't want my weight loss this far to be to waste. I don't start bad habits and start over eating again.

Anyway, onto happier things. I got up and ran this morning!! I did 4 miles with 4x100 sprints. I felt strong and confident. I love when I have an awesome morning run. It's a great start to the day. Tomorrow's 7 miles, I'm kinda excited for it, but I'm also nervous. I'm not sure why. It's not like I haven't run 7 miles before.

18 more days until my first 1/2 marathon, the Riverton Half! EXCITING!!! :) I'm not really going to be racing for a fast time, but it's still good cause it'll be a test run to see how the the real thing will be.

Run for Red 5k!

(Here I am at the start feeling all optimistic.)

My goal was to run it in under 30 minutes....Did I do it? Did I?

I ran it in.....

28.50!!!

YAY!! I was am so excited to have beat my old PR. The crazy thing....I was 10 minutes faster this year than last year. Isn't that nuts? There was this chick Kara who stuck with me for the first 2 miles and then had to slow down towards the end. Her goal was to do it in under 30, I think she finished in 34 or something. It was kinda nice having someone running next to me. She was cheering people on the whole time, it was pretty cool.

When I turned the corner towards the finish, I picked it up and finished strong. I felt like I was going to puke, hence the not so pretty picture. lol!

I am so glad to have met my goal! My next few goals are to run the 5ks 1 min faster each time. That would be cool. :)

Oh, I weighed in today at WW and gained 3.4 lbs. I'm not surprised. The TOM plus, lots of salty pistachios and a BIG Cafe Rio salad for dinner last night...yeah, I could have figured. It just means next week I'll lose 3+.

Another race

The alarm went off at 5:30, I got up and looked outside and saw....SNOW....lots of snow...snow coming down in big flakes. Ok, so here's the silly part, I got out  and ran all winter long, snow, ice, whatever, I ran. Today I saw the snow and thought "There is no way I'm running in that!" So, I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. LOL! The crazy thing, all the snow melted by 4, but by then life had taken over and I wasn't able to get my run in. I did race my little girl on her bike a few times. She wanted me to run as fast as a could. It was fun. The joys of being a momma. :)

Tomorrow is March's race. Run for Red 5k! This race, 3 years ago, was the 2nd 5k I had ever ran. The first was in high school and doesn't really count cause I walked 95% of it. I really enjoy running this race just to see how much faster I can run it each year. This time I'm hoping to run it in less than 30 minutes. That will be my fastest 5k yet. Maybe resting today will give me an even better chance to run it in under 30. Is it weird that I still get nervous for 5ks? The REALLY crazy thing...I have my first 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks! CRAAAAZY!! I remember thinking that all those people, including my little bro, running the Provo City 1/2 were NUTS. But, this year, before July, I will have ran 3 5ks, 2 10ks, 1 10 miler, 2 Half Marathons, and 1 WHOLE marathon! Crazy.... I would have never thought I could do that last year. It's amazing what losing almost 50 pounds can do.

Today's food was pretty good. I had lots of veggies. :)

Isn't it weird?

Isn't it weird how something so good for you is soo hard to do? It was really hard to wake up this morning to run especially since today the kids sleep in because there's no school on Wednesdays. It's the perfect day to sleep in. I got up, got dressed with my eyes closed, and ran my 4 miles. After that I felt SO good! It was so nice not to have to worry about getting my run in the rest of the day.

My run was good. I felt great. I took my time and enjoyed watching the sun rise. Tomorrow's an easy 3, it still feels weird saying that...I'm hoping to go early again. It's pretty cool watching the sun come up.

Today's food was pretty good. I still need more veggies.

Much better!

Ok, so I went out and did my 8 miles. It was TOUGH! It was as if I hit EVERY hill and I was running INTO the wind the whole time. At one point I was running my 1/2 mile at a 9:15 pace (fast for me) and I turned the corner and the last .25 was all up hill and the wind was blowing SOOO hard. I wanted to quit and walk so bad, but I didn't I pushed hard and finished strong.

So, even though I've hit some sort of wall, I'm glad I got out and did my 8 miles. Tomorrow will be good. I've got to do it early. There's no time to do it later in the day.

Things are good. My food was pretty good today. I wasn't too hungry and I did good staying away from sweets for the most part. :)

Yep....

So, my 5 miler ended up being only 1.25 because I was procrastinating and didn't end up running until about 5. Plus, I've been wearing some new shoes, not a fan...I gotta ditch them. My arches and muscles weren't enjoying them. Tomorrow's run will be awesome and I'm REALLY REALLY hoping to get it done early.

I was really happy with my food today. Lots of good food! Oatmeal, Buffalo Chicken Wraps, and Taco Rice...YUM! Oh, the planter's NUTrition Energy Mix....YUUUUUM!! I love the chocolate pieces, and that's coming from someone who's not a chocolate fan.

I hope you all had a better run than I did today! Here's to a better day tomorrow. :)

What a BEAUTIFUL day!!

Today was SOO gorgeous! The sun was shining, there were barely any clouds in the sky, the sun was nice and warm, and I didn't have to get all dressed up in a million layers just to run. I hope that means spring is here and it's going to be gorgeous like this for a while.

(The trail around the lake.)

Today I was scheduled to run 4 miles. I had my alarm set for 5:30, but I hit snooze until 7:30 and then waited until 1 to do my run. My wonderful man, Jason, said he wanted to run with me today. He used to be on the cross country team in high school, but really hasn't run since then. We started out good and he kept asking if I was going slow cause of him...nope....I'm just slow the first few miles until I hit my groove. :) So, he lasted until 2 miles and that's when his old running shoes started giving him shin splints. So, I thought since there were no kids, it was a great way to be with just him and talk. So, we walked the last 2 miles and had a great time talking.

When we first met we both lived in Mannheim, Germany and we would walk around this awesome park. We called it Buffalo Park. It was the coolest place ever. Too bad I wasn't a runner back then cause that would have been great to run out there. Trees everywhere, lots of trails...everything a runner could want. Anyway, today's run/walk made us think of back in the day. Good times!

(I got the picture HERE.)

So, even though today wasn't a big "run" day, it was really great and I enjoyed my time with my man.

Tomorrow's 5 miles and if tomorrows as nice as today, I'll have to run it during nap time cause the weather was AWESOME!

(Today's food...I thought I ate more than that....)

This Week's Runs!

I want to thank all of the great people following my blog, the new and the old. It's nice to be able to share my accomplishments with each of you. You inspire me with all of the kind words every day. Thank you!

This week's runs...

Monday: 4 easy miles

Tuesday: 5

Wednesday: 8 with 4 x .5 mile at 9:15 pace (.5 mile recovery)

Thursday: 4

Friday: 3

Saturday: Run for Red 5k + 4 miles = 7 total

Sunday: OFF

So, at first I was thinking this week was going to be rough, but after looking at it, I'm having second thoughts. It's gonna be easier then I think, I just gotta take it one day at a time.

My goals this week are to go to bed before 10:30 and wake up around 5-5:30 to go run every day. Things change and life happens, but I think this week will be a good one. My other goal...run this 5k in less than 30 minutes! I was 1 minute shy at my last 5k, but I think I will do it this time. Oh, and another goal...less time on the computer and more time with my kiddos. The weather's getting better and the playgrounds are calling!

(Yesterday's food)

(Today's food!)

That's the other goal I have....EAT MORE VEGGIES and LESS JUNK!

Yeah....

So, these probably aren't the best "day before a 12 mile run" meals, but it's what I ate.

It was kinda weird having the day off on running today. But, I totally needed it. I can't wait for tomorrow! 12 miles!! The only thing I have to be careful of is not to binge eat when I get done with it just cause I ran, ya know?

Oh, so I have something special for after tomorrow's run, so watch out! :)

Feelin' good!

I had to snap a picture cause today I was feeling awesome. I'm getting to the point in my weight loss journey that I actually feel like I look. I feel like I've lost those 50 lbs. Today I felt really fit and healthy. I even ran in my marathon shirt. I LOVE it. :)

Today was 4 miles with 4x100s. When I was sprinting I felt SOO fast! You know how sometimes when you sprint you feel like you can't give it anymore juice, well today wasn't  like that...I felt so fast and it felt so easy! I love when it's like that.

So, I thought I'd start posting my food again. I  was looking back on some of my food posts and its a nice way for me to see what it is that I've been eating. Plus, if there's a week that I drop a ton I can see if eating made a difference.

So...here's today's food:

One thing I love about training for a marathon is being able to eat a burger and not feel guilty. I didn't eat all the fries, I maybe had one or two and the mozz. sticks I only had 3 of. But, YUM! I love food. :)

Another early morning run....

So, today's my second day getting up at 5 to run. I even went to bed before 10:30 last night! Go me! I was able to put my hair in piggies this morning, they stick straight  out and look a little silly, but hey, it works. It's so nice not to have 2-3 lbs of hair bouncing off your head while you run! It'll be nice when spring comes cause then I'll be able to wear just the bondiband and no more ear warmers. I felt slow again this morning, but I felt really fresh and fast when I did 4x100s. My 3 miler ended up being a 3.7 miler, which rarely happens. I'm hoping to feel much stronger and faster for tomorrows 7 miler. I've even thought about going later in the day, but I kinda like having it done early when every one's sleeping.

How many of you guys out there do a walking warm up before you run? I don't, but I've thought about it a couple times. I wonder if it would really help?

Here's a YUMMY smoothie, the only thing it's missing is some protein powder or something. I dunno...

Vanilla Berry Smoothie

1/2C-1C fat free vanilla ice cream

1/2C blue berries

1C frozen strawberries

1/2 can slimfast/protein shake

Blend it all up and YUM!!! :)

The day before.

So, today was an off day and I'm SO glad it was. I was going to do the 3 miles, but I cleaned the whole house and went to get Jason from the airport instead.

Then for some reason when I was driving to get him I was so completely tired. We went to Chili's for lunch, YUM! I was starving! I had a 3 egg omelet for breakfast and was starving 2 hours later. I wonder if all the miles + not enough food was kicking in.

So, when we got home I took what was supposed to be an hours long nap. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap and Jason and the kids woke me up. I must have been really tired cause holy cow, I was CRANKY. I did NOT want to get out of bed. But, I did and all of us + the dogs went to the playground for about an hour.

Spaghetti and salad was for dinner. Gotta get those carbs before the race. :) Now, I gotta get some sleep. We're leaving the house at 7 so I have plenty of time get there to warm up and get ready for my race.

The plan is a 1 mile warm up + the 10k + a 1 mile cool down. It's gonna be fun! My fist 10k of the year. YAY! It's gonna be a good race.

Monday's food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with pecans, flax, and brown sugar + milk.

Lunch: Vegetable beef stew.

Dinner: Pioneer Woman's Blue cheese burger + PW's Fancy Mac & Cheese + Homemade curly fries.

Yeah, I gotta get back to the basics and eat less fatty stuff, but yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. I stopped when I was full even though I could have eaten a TON of that mac&cheese and a couple of those burgers. I really gotta do better with my water. I feel like I'm running low...