Labor Day 2012

Last day of August!!!! One last hurrah and the unofficial end of summer this weekend!

Do you have any exciting plans for the long holiday weekend???? Psssssst -----I do.

Dinner last night

I'm going on a blogging hiatus --- 7 days [or more] of no blogging and a vacay from most of the digital world (I'll still have my droid, and my iPad though --- otherwise, I'd come back with a gazillion crapload of stuff to read on my Google reader as well as emails).

Can't wait to get to our playground.

New running GPS watch: I'm so happy to get this from the man in *brown* today. Hubby got the Soleus GPS 1.0 for me....just 'cuz. Well not really, it's payment this month for maid service ---haha!
Since he uses my Garmin now for *cycling*, I got my own girly watch and I love it!!!!

I'm gonna need one of THESE -- a massive Bloody Mary to cure any hangover when I get back.

(via)

Have a great Labor Day weekend! And I will see you later 'gator!


Labor Day 2011
Labor Day 2010

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

(adapted from All Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup no calories sweetener (I used Apriva)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp Flax seed (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prep cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Make this for the kids when they get home after the first day of school!

Cool Running

I was exhausted this morning....didn't get much sleep because of my boys *barking*......{Smalls barking and hubby snoring}.

But I still tackled 10 miles today ---- and survived. Afterwards, I stretched a ton, used my foam roller, iced my knees, took ibuprofen, put on my compression sleeves and then finished off with my incredibrace [knee brace]. Oh, and then I drank this with lunch.

Protein Fruit Smoothie

• 1/2 banana
• 3 frozen strawberries
• 1/4 cup light soy milk
• 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1/2 scoop of Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein powder

Rewind to last night.
Dinner was Turkey Tamale Pot Pie from HERE.

My friends from the gym also asked me to join their relay for the Spokane Marathon in October and of course, I said *Yes*.

That should be my last race of the year.

In the meantime, 3 more weeks until Scenic Sandpoint HM.

G'night!

Tightwad Tuesday

Good morning! 

...not so good on my end ---- woke up tired and totally unmotivated today. Waah!

Mind over matter, right?....just gotta power through today especially if I'm gonna do my long run tomorrow.

Dinner last night was Curried Chicken Salad on a lettuce [wrap].

I ♡ Costco, don't you? We've bought tons of junk stuff from Costco over the years! From food, clothes to furniture! Sometimes I go in there just to "look around" and see what's new.

Plus....who doesn't like samples?

Or red velvet cupcakes bigger than my head?

(via)

and a cheap...cheap......cheap.... Food Court

Where else can you get a meal for $1.50? I swear if I was homeless, I'd sneak in and eat here all the time.

Ok, so here's my latest find.

Capri pants for $8

Tech shirts for $6

For the quality of athletic wear --- I dare you to find something similar for the same cost or less. You can't beat that price!

Do you love/like Costco? What's been your latest find? Do you find that you spend more than expected?

Motivation Monday

A treat for the weekend

So glad it's the weekend!

I subbed for Zumba this morning and the number of people at the gym is starting to go up again. It is, after all, coming to the last week of summer vacation for most people. Time to get back to a regular routine ☺!

Came back home and did a quick 2 miles on the TM. Then pretty much parked myself in front of the TV and just relaxed all day with Smallsie.

Dinner the other night was grilled Teriyaki Salmon {grilled pineapples and onions on the side}. It was yummy!

Then I made these incredible cookies ----  'cuz I was craving sweets like an addict needing a *hit*.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Sugar & Spice by Celeste)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP lour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick room temp)
• 1 cup organic sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 ts[ vanilla
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and prep baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

3. In another bowl, cream the sugars and butter until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and eggs until combined.

4. Gradually add the flour until mixture is combined.

5. Then mix in the Nutella. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Use an ice scream scoop to drop on baking sheets and bake 9-11 minutes.

I know, right?!!!

Try not to spoil your dinner....

Have a great weekend!

Eating Al Fresco

Hello there! 'hope your Thursday has been going well. 

Weather here in the PNW has changed a bit. We went from high 90's to a nice and comfortable mid 70's. We actually had a storm the other day which brought much needed rain and moisture especially to the areas of fire. But you can definitely feel a change in the air. It's actually quite chilly in the mornings now.

Hubby went for an early ride today so while he was gone, I did 4 miles on the TM. Then did Body Pump afterwards. Teaching Zumba back-to-back tonight and in the morning, so I wanted to get my *run* out of the way. 

Dinner the other night was Sausage and Pepper Pasta. We've seen these sausages at Costco and wanted to try them at home. So hubby bought a few packages and I used it for the pasta dish. It's gluten-free and made with lean, skinless chicken meat. NO artificial ingredients, nitrates, MSG or preservatives. And it's fully cooked as it is.

Sure feels like summer is winding down. Especially when I'm reminded today with THIS email.

I'm still working on my *summer bucket list* ---- and .....I'm excited to go away in a few weeks!

Blueberry coffee cake

I need some extra motivation this morning ☹. Or maybe I just need a rest day --- and soon! 

I've been subbing a lot at work because of vacations and such. Which means I'm having to work around my HM training. My race is in 4 weeks and having to up my mileage in addition to fitness classes have been a little much...

I'm glad we have date night tonight...well sorta. We're meeting up with some friends at Twigs and it's always nice to have a mid-week pick-me-up.

The other day, I was in the mood for coffee cake and since I still had blueberries, I found THIS recipe and decided to try it. Some coffee cakes can be very rich and calorie-laden. So having to substitute a few ingredients really worked out for me.

Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter  + 4 Tbsp Smart balance, room temperature
• 2 tsp lemon zest or more - zest from 1 large lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar + 1/4 cup sugar substitute (I used Apriva)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup fat free buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter with lemon zest and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-in square baking pan (or something similar) with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with wooden toothpick for doneness.  Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).

Now I gotta run 6 miles....

(via)

Happy hump day!

Pigging out

Good afternoon friends!

Another bust day at work. I had to sub again this morning and some days, I feel like the workouts are killah! Today was one of them. Maybe 'coz I did a long run yesterday {8 miles} and I didn't really get a good night's sleep last night [on account of a little mutt that kept barking].

I'm teaching Core and Zumba tonight so I had to practice my routine, hence, the late blogging.

Rewind to the weekend. 

On Saturday, I made a butt-load of these to take to a pig roast that my friend from the gym invited us to. And since I've never gone to a pig roast here in the U.S....I was really excited to check it out.

I was assigned *dessert* so I made mini chocolate cupcakes (Betty Crocker cake mix) and topped it with peanut butter frosting {peanut butter, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar all mixed until smooth}.

They turned out to be very yummy --- sinfully rich and yummy!

 The pig roast was awesome! Poor pig was cut in half and they used a dry rub all over for flavor.

 It took about 9 hours total to fully cook. I was surprised that they didn't cook the head, too.

 My friend's husband actually made the roaster himself. I thought that was pretty neat.

And when the pig was ready, the men dug in and pulled the meat apart. It was good the way it was. I didn't even have to use any barbecue sauce or anything else. Very flavorful. They discarded the skin which is not what we used to do in the Philippines. Remember the "sisig" we had one Christmas?

 

It was fun for all the kids, too. They had a bouncy castle and water slide and the adults got to play bean bag toss out in the yard. The temp was around 96F so it was neat that they had "misters" under the shade as well.

 Here was my plate of pig roast, salad and a curry chicken salad in the back which was really good. I'm gonna have to recreate that one soon.

 Smalls was mad that he didn't get to go. 

But we did spend most of Sunday with him....as always --- he's so spoiled!

What did you do over the weekend? Ever been to a pig roast? Do they cook in a roaster, underground or a rotisserie? Do you eat the skin, or do you think it's gross?