More bacon than the pan can handle.

I realized I haven't done much on the culinary side on this lovely blog. I just don't think about it. I cook dinner almost every night, but I don't take pictures, because I'm starving when I finish cooking. I have a "get in my belly moment" as soon as it's all done!

So tonight I'm sharing a new one: Bacon Wrapped Chicken!

I borrowed the basic recipe idea from somewhere, but I can't remember. I'm guessing Martha Stewart, because she gives me all the best ideas. So without delay:

Totally started eating, then realized I should take a pic!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

4 chicken breasts, cut into long tenders (about 3 strips per breast)
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
24 sage leaves (or 2 per strip)
12 pieces of bacon (or enough for amount of strips)

1. Mix rosemary with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle on chicken strips. (Go easy on the salt, bacon is nice and salty already)
2. Place a sage leaf on each side of tender and wrap a piece of bacon around the tender.
3. Place half of tenders in a preheated pan.
4. Cook until bacon is browned, about 6 minutes. Flip and cook until fully cooked, about 6 more minutes.
5. Place first batch in a warm oven while others cook through.

A plateful of delicious if you ask me!

I served these with a saffron linguini that I mixed with some Kalamata olive oil and parsley. I also changed countries and made a simple onion-avocado "slaw/salad" which was the two chopped up and I made a quick dressing of lime juice, cilantro, pepper, and olive oil. It was a delicious and filling meal.

CULINARY TIP ALERT: If your limes (or lemons) aren't juicy enough, stick them in the microwave for a couple of seconds. Works wonders!

But not too filling. I still had room for raspberries, with some chocolate sauce and a few scoops of coconut water sorbet, raspberry flavored.

Time for bed to get up and run before the triple digit heat kicks in!

Guinness has a big problem!

She's a snacker. She inherited from her mother (me).

The vet wanted Guinness to lose 2-3 pounds in one year. Not a hefty goal at all. She gained half a pound!

Granted, the vet agrees with me. She does feel muscular and not too flabby. Come on, she runs with me all the time! The girl has to have something good.

But she is still a little bit more than her little legs should hold. We don't want her to get arthritis in her leg joints like her mother.

Just look at those tiny back legs!

So, with the vet's help, G and I discussed her eating habits, quality of food, and snacks. It is clearly apparent that her snacking is what's preventing her from being at her ideal weight. We have a plan on action and are prepared to succeed!

I'm saving some for later.

So what's the point of this post? Well, it's interesting how my pup gained weight with our increase in running. But what's more interesting is the relationship between Guinness and I. I'm plateauing at a much higher weight than I would want and Guinness is gaining weight. What's the dealio? We're both getting hungry because of the increase in mileage and intensity. And... we both need to really pay attention to what we are putting in our bodies.


For Guinness, it's a matter of getting her used to veggies and fruits as snacks. And for me, it's a matter of eliminating sweets as snacks. I love me some fruit and veg, but I still have a fat kid lurking deep inside that craves ice cream and chocolate and chips, oh my! So Guinness and I made a goal and we shook on it. If we are going to have any snacks, no matter the time of day, they have to be produce-centric.

I'm so hungry I could eat a dinosaur. And that's just what I'll do!

Let's see how long this lasts!

FFF - How to prepare for a long run...

NOT

So it's time for another episode of Five For Friday. And today we're discussing how I failed at properly preparing for my long run today.

1. Go out for happy hour two nights before and stay out late chit chatting and digesting sushi. Then get called in extra early that morning. 5 am? Did that.

2. Eat your weight in Double Stuff Oreos in one sitting the day before your long run.

3. Go out with co-workers for karaoke the night before. Because the next day nobody had to work, make sure to lose track of time and close down the bar. 2 am? Fo Sho!

4. While at karaoke, drink too many beers because they are on special for the night. They might have been out of my favorite, Guinness (not just a dog, but a beer too!), but I thoroughly enjoyed my Newcastle and my Newcastle, and my Newcastle, and my...

5. In a tipsy state, decide that waking up early to run makes perfect sense, because I can always nap later. When the alarm goes off after 5 hours of sleep, decide to not hit snooze, but reset the alarm for an hour later. In actuality, reset the alarm to go off five minutes later. And continue to fail at this until you decide to just turn off the alarm (it took me multiple attempts). Wake up almost two hours later.


Sooooo, the long run didn't quite happen today. I got out and did an hours worth of running in what could best be described as a speed ladder. Or maybe fartleks, only because I like saying fartleks. I was obviously dehydrated while running and my body just ached the whole time. I pushed through and figured, yes, I can always nap later. And I have spent the rest of the day lying around while doing laundry. It doesn't help that it's been a beautiful shade of gray all day. So I'm checking out for the rest of the night. Couch... here I come!

BFD and tornado sirens!

BFD does not stand for:

Big Furry Dinosaur

Beautiful Friendly Dog

But it does stand for:

Breakfast for Dinner

And that's what I consumed tonight. There are a lot of big changes at work right now, so when I get home, I'm too exhausted to make it up the stairs. The big wigs were in today finalizing some plans (both to the business side of things AND the actual building), so I ran around working about 5 times harder than usual. My head hurts and English is hard. I needed easy food that was also comforting. And what's more comforting than blueberry waffles? Nothing. Maybe chocolate chip pancakes, but we're trying to be healthy here. Plus it's the first day of summer, time for berries!

I threw together a quick batch of these babies with Canadian bacon on the side and a nice big helping of "homemade" strawberry syrup. Yum!

Make sure to oil up your iron really well. Otherwise you end up with a waffle like this!

Blueberry Waffles:

1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 oat flour
1 TBLS baking powder
1 TBLS sugar
2 TBLS flax meal (also labeled as ground flax seeds)
1 TSP salt

3 eggs
4 TBLS grapeseed oil
1 TBLS honey
1 TBLS vanilla
zest of one lemon

1 cup blueberries

1. Sift together all dry ingredients in one bowl.
2. Whisk up eggs in another bowl. Combine all other wet ingredients into the bowl. Slowly whisk dry into wet. Once JUST combined, stir in blueberries.
3. Follow directions with your waffle iron to make waffles. (Made about 6 Belgian ones for us)

Fresh off the iron!

Strawberry Syrup: This is one of those things I make, but don't have a recipe for. It's too easy to have something formal. I'll try my hardest.

Slice up tons of strawberries. Throw in a small saucepan with some syrup. Cook on low for awhile. Strawberries will soften and the syrup will taste fruity. Serve on anything! (use as much of either as you want. Like tons of fruit? Use more berries or less syrup. Want to serve a crowd? Throw in more of both. You can even add some honey or sugar and water to stretch it out more.)

Keep dinner in the over set at warm for roommates who want to come home late!

I enjoyed this meal with a nice semi-sweet white wine. A Traminette, to be exact. My favorite type of wine is a Gewurztraminer (trying ordering that after a few glasses...), and the Traminette is a newer varietal of the same family. If you like semi-sweet wines, I suggest trying both. A Gewurtz is really good with Asian food, in case you were wondering.



As I was finishing up this post the emergency warning sirens came on, or as they are known in the midwest, tornado sirens. I quickly turned on the weather report and it said a tornado touched down in the town next to us just a few miles away. I quickly turned off my computer, grabbed my purse, phone, dog, and hoodie and ran downstairs with the roommates. After twenty minutes, the sirens turned off and all was clear.

This was Guinness's first encounter with the sirens at night and not as a practice the first tuesday of the month at 10am. ON top of us being a little spooked and grabbing all of our stuff and flashlights, we were franticly trying to remember all the stuff we needed to remember. Do we light candles? Do I need to grab a can of soup? I grabbed G's leash and put it on. Safety first, right? Yeah, in dog language purse + leash = car ride = fun. Then she heard the sirens. The poor thing is still confused.

So, crisis averted. Just a confused dog. I have my fingers crossed that my work was hit and I don't have to go in tomorrow. HAHAHA.

Pictures from a tornado down the street from me about a year ago (sorry about the crappy phone pictures):

Tornadoes... something I will not miss when I move away. I think I need another waffle. I burnt a lot of calories running around in panic mode.

So much stuff.

Why, hello Blog-Buddies! I've missed you so much. Granted, I won't have a day off until Friday, and it feels like years since I had one, but I keep trying to post. So I'll make this as smooth as possible. A list perhaps? I think so.

Lists? Let's do this!

1. How do you guys handle the work/life/run balance? There are weeks I can't handle the work balance, so adding in life is hard enough. And then running? And general working out? Yikes. I've been trying to fold laundry for a week now. A WEEK! I feel so lazy.

We're bored already.

I know that running early in the morning is helpful for some. And most of the time, it works for me. But I had to be at work at 4:30 this morning. I'm not waking up at 2:30 to get in a work out, shower, and make it to work on time. Sleep is important. At least to me.

I hear tigers like sleep too. Could be a rumor.

2. Some-puppy had a vet appointment. She literally scratches the walls to get out. That's how much she hates them. And everybody at the office spends a good twenty minutes straight telling her how cute she is. Yeah, my dog is a supermodel. She takes after her mom.

Charging her lasers. Totally adorable even in attack mode.

3. My brother and I took my dad to the zoo for Father's Day. It's my dad's fav activity ever. I'm in full support of the zoos that focus on rebuilding dwindling populations of animals. It makes my heart warm.

Oh man, we're so bored. Shut up now.

4. My family went out for dinner on Saturday and tried the restaurant two miles away from my parent's house that we have never gone to. It was good. I carbo-loaded for a run that never happened. (I used to call it making it a bad choice, but now I call it fueling.)

Give us more food, or we're eating your shirts!

6. I didn't exercise once this weekend, aside from Friday. I did do a lot of walking at the zoo on Sunday, but the big Icee and giant beer probably counteract that. And I'm not working out today, because, well... I don't need an excuse for you!

I may be covered in a layer of blubber, but at least I get my miles in every day.

Seriously, fattie. We run at least once a day. Not like your once a week.

Yeah, a vet visit is exciting for me. Please don't laugh too hard.

Hey guys, she's begging us not to laugh.

But she leads such a miserable existence.

It's not like we do much more...

What did you do this weekend?

Hopefully there are no animals mocking you about your plans!

I have a stalker.

So I've experienced my first off running week of my running career (aside from when I first started and hurt every day). I raced Sunday, did a long run Monday, then attempted a run Tuesday. After those two hard days of running, plus working all morning on my feet, I just couldn't run. I did as much as I could, but I took a few too many walk breaks than I would want.

Then I woke up Wednesday.

I ached. My joints were crying. My back was too tight to sit up. It sucked. Being old sucks so much. So I did some gentle stretching and then got down on myself. I really wanted to do some speed work. My heart wanted to do some speed work. I finally was able to get out of bed and G-Money was antsy. She wanted to run. My heart broke in pieces when I realized I would let her down too. We discussed some options. Oh yeah, I totally have full conversations with my dog, not crazy. So I threw on some clothes and did a slow mile walk with Guinness.

Get out of bed, close your closet doors, and take me running. Or else I will chew the left foot of all your shoes.

My body loosened up. Do I run? Shall I head home, change, and risk it? I wanted to. But I chose to cross train. I whipped out one of my old fitness DVDs and did a boot camp work out. It was awesome and just what I needed.

Totally did this move and rocked. In my living room.

I decided to do another walk today and not run. Guinness and I met a cute dog friend and the four of us (dog + human, x2) walked two miles together.

The last half a mile Guinness and I walked ourselves and I encountered a stalker. A bug kept circling around me for minutes. It would occasionally land on me or buzz in my ear. But no matter how many times I swatted at it, that stupid bug would not leave me alone. I finally sprinted for a few seconds and it disappeared.

Moral of the story: I love running. And hate being old and creaky.

Being An Adult Is Sooooo Hard.

Life lessons are learned every day. Today something clicked in my brain while running that as much as I'm an adult, I don't feel like it all the time. Here's why:

1. I still prefer having my dad's name on my stuff. I'm talking credit cards, bank accounts, apartment lease. Part is because my dad has a credit score that is only obtainable through mafia connections. And part is in case something happens (knock on wood), his name is on there, so it's easier to take control of the situation. If I'm in a coma in the hospital, I don't want my parents stressing out about how to access my credit card.

2. I hate working 9-5, 40 hour work weeks. I like schedules and regularity. But there's something great about having a morning off one day and a night off the other. I was home at noon today. NOON. That's not something you get at a regular job. Except for prostitutes. And maybe the mafia.

3. I avoid paying bills like the plague. For the longest time I didn't watch tv, so that I could have one less bill to pay. I have everything on auto-pay so that I don't have to think. Just make sure there's money in my bank account and I'm golden.

4. Applications confuse me. I'm finishing up my apartment application and I swear I came across the questions "when was the last time you wore stripes and plaid while wearing polka dot underwear?" (probably not.) and also "if train A leaves the station at 7pm going 189.325 mph east and contains corn and cows and train B leaves the station at midnight going .3258 mph going north and the conductor's name is Augustus, what kind of tree is planted in our lobby?" (I answered pine, because everybody loves a good pine tree indoors. I hope that's right)

5. I still enjoying stealing food from my parents. But come on, who doesn't.


Enough with this serious shite, here's a cute picture of G-Money:

Do you feel like an adult yet? Or am I the only one that feels that way?

I'm still convinced I'm not an adult. I don't care what they say. 

Why did I mention the mafia twice in one post?

Seriously, why?

Monday Ramblings

I took a little blog break, because it has been positively gorgeous these last few days. A nice mild temperature, the sun is out, and there is just enough breeze to make everything a-okay!

Yesterday morning was my 5k. No new PR, mainly because the hill I had to tackle was extreme. It wasn't the hill I experienced last Novemeber. This was one that makes you cry out in agony. I tried to run most of it, but 2/3 up the hill, I just knew that if I wanted to finish the race strong, I would have to walk the rest. It sucked. I was 8 seconds away from a new PR. EIGHT SECONDS! I hate you hill.

Then after my friend and I finished our post race breakfast (pancakes, waffles, sausage, and bananas, oh yeah), we waited to watch the elites finish the half. Seriously, these people are fantastical!

Average Pace: 4:53... I could do that. I just choose to be super slow to make them feel better about themselves.

Side note, we all know everybody has their own "type." I like 'em tall and awkwardly skinny. For the longest time, I couldn't find them out there. Now I know they've been hiding out at races. Seriously, amazing. It's like "Alisa's perfect men stable" at the long distance races. Reason number 596412 why I'm so glad I got into racing.

Hey Guinness, what did you do while I was racing and finding you a dad?

LAZY!

That dog is so lazy. I forced her to take a walk with me in the afternoon.

"For realz? I get to go to the park?!?!"

Once we made it past the yard, she got a little too excited and started pulling too much for my taste. So we turned around and made a quick costume change to her shorter leash. Then we were really off! We did a little easy rock climbing:

"OMG BEST DAY EVER! Thanks mom"

Chased squirrels and ducklings and birds that were unobtainable:

Do you see it? We totally saw it.

Today I did a 6er and it felt really good. Considering after my first three 5ks, I hurt the next today, this is huge. Not only did I not hurt, but I could actually get out and run again! Ahhh... the healing power of yoga. I swear by it. I do basic stretches right after running and then yoga later in the day.

But back to the 6 miles. The weather was so wonderful to me, except that I forgot to put on sunscreen. Now, I may be the first person to remind you to wear some sunscreen. And I may wear it 96% of the year, but when I forget, it's always on a sunny day. Hello sunburnt nose! Thank you summer for reminding me why I hate you.

I tried to take picture of my burn, but my pale skin make it look like I'm just blushing a little. So I'll just give you a picture of what I imagine the sun really looks like:

EFF you and your evil ways sun!

So I'm just going to relax inside the rest of the day, watching old Disney movies online (don't be jealous of my love for Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century), eating popcorn drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate, and drinking yummy iced tea. Oh yeah, my life sucks a lot.

Best Idea Ever! Send me money as a thank you later.

A candy cane striped straw makes me think of winter and no sunburns.

What did you do this weekend?

Besides racing and taking walks with Big G, I also helped my parents garden. It was the perfect weekend for gardening.

Did you have great weather?

I hate summer, because I don't do well in heat or humidity, I melt. But this weekend and so far, this week, have been wonderful.

FFF - part 2

Another Five For Friday! Highlights from my Saturday

1. I did a bit of a long run today (5 miles, which is still long for me). I have a 5k on Sunday, so I didn't want to do too much.

I like purses...

2. I went to the mall with my bff Beth today and only bought some gummies at the candy store.

A healthy mixture of Swedish fish, sour brite crawlers, and gummy lobsters!

 3. Girl Math: If I eat a salad for lunch, I can totally eat my weight in french fries and they cancel out, right? Especially at Red Robin.

I google imaged "red robin french fries" and the first hit on the second page 

was Skinny Runner. That's awesome.

4. I'm planning on spending too much money on movies soon.

5. I loved The Hills when it first came on. And now TV Guide Channel plays the show everyday and even has a marathon on Sundays. I love drama that doesn't involve me!

OMG! I love drama too!

What is your secret obsession that you don't like to admit?

I'm open with my obsessions, but they should proabably be a secret. Like Hanson and The Hills. Don't judge.

What kind of Ninja are you?

I've been obsessed with McChris for a long time (only thing I got from a really dumb ex). He's really low key in the music scene, so imagine my surprise when I heard one of his songs on a new Honda commercial! The song is "Hoodie Ninja" and is youtube-able. It made me think about my skills. I would be sucky ninja, but I have skills! Like speed work. And soup. Moving on...

Ninja like this...

I have a 5k on Sunday! I ran the same route on Thanksgiving, so I'm hoping real hard to drop my time down, maybe even a new PR? There's a killer hill at the end. Which is odd, because you never really go down, just up at the end. Hmmmmm... what goes up, doesn't have to ever go down? So what's a girl to do to get a new 5k PR? Speed work. Or as I call them, sprintervals (you get it... sprint... intervals... sprintervals... no? sad face). Guinness and I were just happy it wasn't 96 degrees today! If it's 98 degrees, that's okay, because I'll just ask them to sing to me while I run! (ohhhh, that was a horrible joke. I'm so sorry you had to read that.)

They are totally coming on my next run.

So the skies parted and the rain stopped enough to let me get in my sprintervals. And then I worked on building my ark. Because it rained FOR-EV-ER today. And apparently it will rain the rest of the week. I shall start gathering two of everything later.

I very much like my purple hat!

All morning long I kept telling my coworkers that I wanted soup for dinner. Why? Because it was thundering all night and was raining for over 12 hours straight. Also, it dropped about 40 degrees in those 12 hours. (I'm not complaining, it made for nice running weather, once the rain stopped) It just felt like a soup night. I used some leftover grilled corn and made a spicy corn soup with some garlic bread for dipping. RANDOM FACT: one of my favorite meals is soup and salad. I had my salad about three hours before my soup course today. This girl is happy.

Spicy Corn Soup

3 ears of corn
2 dried bay leaves
6 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 red onion, diced
4 shallots, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups veggie broth
2-3 tablespoons chilli powder (I used chipotle powder)
1 avocado, chopped

1. Slice kernels of corn off cob. Save the kernels and any liquid that comes off. Place bare cobs in about four cups of water, with bay leaves. Heat to a simmer and let cook at least 20 minutes with lid on.
2. Crisp up bacon in a pan. Drain cooked bacon and reserve 1 tablespoon fat. Cook onion and shallot in bacon fat about 5 minutes, then stir in garlic.
3. Cook about 30 seconds, stir in veggie broth and chilli powder. Let cook for about 10 minutes, then stir in cooking water from cobs (without cobs and bay leaves).
4. Once everything is heated through, stir in corn kernels, let cook about two minutes.
5. Serve topped with chopped avocado and bacon! You can also top it with chopped tomato, but I don't have any...

Check out that thick layer of fat on top. Yummm!

Do you crave food based on weather?

Rainy requires soup, no matter what temperature. And the first weekend about 70 degrees, makes me want bratwursts and beers.

What is the next race on your schedule?

I have my 5k on Sunday and then maybe a 10k in July.

Laundry Day!

I've said it before, but the one perk of my job right now is my schedule. I have mondays off, so instead of hating them like the rest of the world, I embrace them. Feel free to hate me later!

I schedule my long runs for Mondays. It's fantabulous and fantastical! But that involves waking up early and getting out of bed. But considering I have to wake up early every other day of the week, sometimes sleeping in occurs. And then the weather dictates that the long run won't happen. So instead, I did a short run. 2 glorious miles. These miles were the best I've had in a long time. I rocked it! Today I earned:

But I was feeling the heat at the end. I wish I was faster so that two miles would be done much faster. Note to self earn more money to buy fancy technical running clothes.

Note to self: just because the shirt is funny and awesome doesn't mean it's good for running. (and also, yell at roommates for being messy)

On Mondays I do keep busy. Like doing massive amounts of laundry. Who knew that one dog and one girl could make this much laundry? Maybe it has something to do with me being lazy and never wanting to actually do laundry?? No? Thanks for agreeing. It must multiple in the laundry basket. Shame on you... dirty laundry doing dirty things. tsk tsk.

Doing all this laundry makes me feel like I'm stuck in jail!

Luckily it's super hot out, so I don't feel like a loser being inside all day doing laundry. But then again, the sun is out...

Seriously, I'm IN jail right now. Let me out into the sun!!

I'm also baking a lot. I've been craving sweets so much lately and I'm trying to do some healthy replacements. So I just eat twice as much. But my kiwi tart has greek yogurt and no white sugar, so it's even better than a salad. Seriously. I know these things. Plus it's easy as pie.... errr tart. Easy as tart!

Kiwi Tart

Crust:

8 ounces ginger snaps cookies (1-1/2 cups of crumbs)

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

2 tablespoons honey

Filling:

2 1/2 cups low fat Greek yogurt (or any low fat yogurt if you wish)

1 box (4 serving size) fat free, sugar free pudding mix (vanilla, lemon, whatever flavor you want. I used cheesecake)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping:

4-5 kiwis, peeled and sliced

3-4 tablespoons lemon curd

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Finely crush the cookies in a food processor or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Add the butter and sugar, and stir to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable rim. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.
• As the crust is cooling. Stir together all filling ingredients until well blended. Pour filling into cooled crust and top with kiwis.
• Microwave curd for 5-10 seconds in a bowl. Brush on top of kiwis.
• Refrigerate about 1 hour until set.

This is a good recipe for any basic fruit tart. Berries are great on this with lemon pudding filling.

Since you're all jealous that you're at work and not eat the tart. I'll leave with one final picture... homemade olive tapenade. I rock out on my days off.

Salty goodnes!

What are your favorite healthy deserts?

I love fruit based deserts... tarts, crumbles, cobblers. I love to take the old recipes and redesign them to make them healthier.

What do you typically do on your days off?
I do so many chores to clean up behind the messy people I live with. Other than that, Guinness and I lay around stuffing our faces with indulgent foods that I never share.