A Mediterranean(ish) Dish, A Winner & A Declaration

How are you doing? I hope your day is treating you well. My day is plugging along nicely so far. Work went by quickly today- I was really busy, but in a good way. I came home and gave Franky a bath/did a little cleaning and I just finished preparing my dinner for later, a Tabouleh (taboulli?) of sorts:

Ingredients:
Cooked grain (bulgar, cous cous, quinoa, whatever you’ve got- I used cous cous)
Chopped and steamed (if desired) veggies (I steamed zucchini and used raw tomatoes and pepper)
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
S&P
Oregano
Parsley
Nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc)

Let cooked veggies and grain cool. Mix all ingredients together (I didn’t put quantities in the above because I think its really a personal choice on flavor combinations). Top with a little hummus for extra fun.

I will be having my mix with hummus, peppers, carrots and an apple:

Couple quick notes before I take off to teach my new combo class (45 minute Body Step followed by 45 minute Body Pump):

First: The winner of the V8 Package is….LEAH! From Leftovers for Lunch. Congratulations Leah- please email me your address (itzyskitchen at gmail dot com) and your package will be on its way.

Second: Since Caitlin did such a great post today about the BIG Vegetarian/Vegan question, and since I frequently get emails asking me just what kind of diet I follow- I figured I would just “officially” declare that I am a vegetarian (and have been so now for about 2-3 months). Most of my meals are vegan, but don’t think I’d ever been able to give up milk in my coffee or the occasional cheese/egg completely.

Last, but not least: I’d like to thank Sarah from one of my favorite blogs (Suite Apple Pie) for giving me this awesome Beautiful Blog Award. Thank you Sarah!

Off to teach! Are you guys getting the Thanksgiving itch yet (i.e. the I can’t concentrate at work/school/etc)?

Training Day & Brussel Bake

Don't forget- you have until midnight to enter my V8 giveaway.

Today was a good day. I got to take the day off from work due to the OT that I’ve been putting in. I started off my day with an 11 mile training run. Today was just not an ON day for me in terms of running. My legs were a little sore, my tummy was feeling a little funny, and it had poured earlier this morning, so there were lots of puddles. BUT- I finished the run and that’s what matters!:



When I got home, I refueled and then ran out to WFs for some items I need for my Thanksgiving baking (pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin (on sale for 99 cents!!), apples, etc). Due to the rain (which started back up after I finished my run), I wore my cute rain boots that are covered with little Franks:

Afterwards, I came home to work on Choreography for Step/Pump. The rest of my day has been spent wrapping Josh’s family’s Christmas presents (which we will bring to them at Thanksgiving):

Starting to decorate the house for Christmas, doing housework, and relaxing with Frank. Fabulous! My dinner tonight consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I only really took photos of one dish I ate, a Brussels, apples, and jicama dish with almonds and Parmesan cheese based on this recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen. I basically made a smaller portion of the original recipe and added the jicama in with the Brussels. In the last five minutes of cooking, I also added in some chopped apple. The result:

Please check out Kalyn's pictures which show just how amazing this dish looks. It was SOOOO yummy. I cannot wait to make it again.

Many of you asked about the Crowder Peas I ate last night. They were totally delicious. According to Wikipedia (the official source on everything…right? ;)), Crowder Peas are part of the Vigna species which includes Black Eyed Peas. They are a subcategory of Cowpeas and Wikipedia notes:

“Cowpeas are a common food item in the southern United States, where they are often called field peas . A subcategory of field peas is crowder peas, so called because they are crowded together in their pods, causing them to have squarish ends.”

Question for you all- are you making anything for Thanksgiving? If so, what? Share recipes!

Edited to Add: Check out this awesome chocolate/coffee giveaway

V8 Soup Giveaway

Sounds like everyone is working for the weekend this week!! I ended up having to do work, work for an additional three hours last night and went to bed pretty late. As a result, I felt a little cloudy going through the work day today. When I got home, I decided a small nap was in order before heading out to teach Body Attack.

When I got back from teaching, I cooked up my favorite canned/boxed soup- V8’s Southwestern Corn!


I love, love the flavor of this soup. I added some Crowder peas (new to me=totally yummy):


to the soup and topped it with a bit of red pepper. On the side I had a broiled tortilla and an apple (I’m sure nut butter will come later ;)):


V8 recently came out with a new addition to their line of soups, Garden Vegetable Blend. I was lucky enough to get a sample of the soup along with some other fun goodies from the company including a pedometer, lunch sack, pen, and cute notebook.

I can’t wait to try the new soup and plan to do a full review later this week. Do you want to try V8’s new soup? One lucky reader will get their own fun gift pack which includes two containers of V8’s new soup. To enter, simply provide me a link to your favorite homemade soup recipe or tell me your favorite canned/boxed soup. The contest will close tomorrow night (November 18) at Midnight. Note: You do not have to have a blog to enter! For additional information on V8’s line of soups including health benefits and nutritional stats, check out their website.



Since things have been crazy busy around here, I wanted to check in on the longer term goals I had set for myself (updates in the parenthesis):

• RUN: Complete at least 1 race (2 would be ideal) before December (I completed the IOP Connector 10K and Folly Beach 10 miler and am signed up for a half marathon in December with the Fitnessista- Goal MET!)
• RUN: Run 12 straight miles by the New Year (I’ve gotten to 11 and am set to hit 12 in two weeks!)
• GROUP FITNESS: Train to teach a new group fitness program (completed Body Pump training- Goal MET!)
• EAT: Try at least 1 new restaurant a month (I have hit this goal every month so far!)
• FRIENDS: Have coffee with two new people/friends by the New Year (no progress…uh oh!)
• JOSH: Take 1 walk a week with Josh (Josh and I were doing well with this when I first set the goal but have been slacking, I hope to get back on the boat with this one…)

How are you doing with any goals you’ve set for yourself?

More Savory Squash

Monday already? Where did the weekend go?? Hope your day treated you well. I started my day off with a one mile treadmill run and then split teaching Body Pump with my friend, Kristen. I taught warm up, squats, chest, back, triceps & biceps. It went really well! I LOVE the 5:45 AM group.

Afterwards, I took a quick shower and headed into work for lots of meetings and a little work, work. On my way home, I treated myself to a three pump gingerbread, nonfat misto. Mmmm:

The rest of the afternoon/evening has been spent working (again ;)) on choreography for Attack and Pump, a little laundry, and relaxing (ahhhh).

For dinner, I had another golden acorn squash:

I went back and forth in my mind all day on how I wanted to prepare it- sweet or savory? In the end, I went savory. I roasted the squash for 40 minutes at 450 degrees. During the last 15 minutes, I roasted up some tomatoes and peppers topped with red pepper spice. I also added some pinto beans:

And you know I had an apple (addict) on the side with nut butter. One commenter asked why I never show my nut butter…honestly…I usually eat it right from the jar. So, for a special photo op treat tonight, I actually put it on the plate!

Make sure you come back tomorrow for a fun giveaway! Anyone else dreaming of the weekend already?

Sunny Sunday

Hello guys! How are you doing? Hope everyone is doing well and feels well rested for the week ahead! Today was a beautiful, warm and sunny day here in SC. Josh and I crashed pretty early last night and I naturally woke up at 6:45. I rolled out of bed and got ready for a crazy day of To Do's! I started by cleaning the house then ran out and did our weekly food shopping. I came back and headed out for a 6 miler. I just let my body do what it wanted in terms of speed:


Then I took this guy for a quick walk to cool down:

The rest of my afternoon was spent working (blahhh!) and learning my Body Pump choreography. I'm teaching half of tomorrow mornings 5:45 AM class (which I will be taking over in about two weeks!).

For dinner tonight, I wanted something easy. I roasted up the remainder of my ginormous sweet potato from last night and some jicama. I topped them with tons of pinto beans and salsa. On the side I had my usual apple and unpictured glob of nut butter:

For dessert, I had a big mug of hot chocolate topped with truwhip (YUM!). Now I'm watching the Patriots/Colts, Christmas shopping, and doing laundry! Phew!

Whats your Monday looking like? Monday is normally one of my lighter work days, but I have about 6 hours of meetings and some work that needs to get done, so I have to shift my schedule around a bit. Other than that, I have Body Pump in the AM and hopefully some relaxing at night!

Edited to Add: Please check out The Healthy Everythingtarian's effort to bring a new well to the people of Cambodia!!

10 Miler & Trip to My Parents

How was your Saturday? Mine was great but I am exhausted :). I woke up at 5:30, got ready for my race, and headed out the door:

It was a cold morning in SC (around 48 degrees) and I was nervous about what to wear. I ended up going with a long sleeved under armour top:

And Nike capris:

The race course was beautiful! We ran two five mile loops through Folly Beach. In the end, I finished my 10 miler in 1 hour, 19 minutes, and around 48 seconds (I couldn't get my watch to stop for about 10 additional seconds haha). I CANNOT believe I ran, at average, an under 8 minute mile!!!!!!!!!! I was so so so excited:

Here I am, post race:

And a few picture from the ride home, beautiful Folly Beach:

Love this gorgeous Charleston Bridge:

I got home, refueled, and then Josh and I headed to my parents house. Josh and my Dad went fishing and I hung out with my mom. We took their dog, Tedy, for a walk on the beach:

And then walked around and did some shopping in a little outdoor market. This is the view out my parents back door:

And here is a picture of my Mama and I:

For dinner, my dad made up plates of tomatoes and mozzarella with olive oil, basil, and parsley:

I had a big sweet potato topped with more mozzarella, tomato, and basil:

They had steak and potatoes:

For dessert, we had the Gluten Free Crustless Pumpkin Pie I made topped with TruWhip:

Guys, this crustless pumpkin pie is AMAZING. The truwhip is also pretty good! It definitely tastes a little different than cool whip but I actually really enjoy the flavor! Give it a go!

Tomorrow I have lots of cleaning and choreography to catch up on! What are you all doing??

Gluten Free, Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Thank you (again) for all of the wonderful wishes on my first Body Pump tracks. My tracks went really well! I only fudged a little and did a good job poking fun at my own mistakes!!

Today has been go go go! Fridays are one of my flexible work days, so my day went a little something like this:

• Woke up at 5:45, freezing. Turned on fake fireplace:

• Did some work
• Gave Frank a bath. Wrapped him up like a burrito so he would stay warm after his bath:
  

• 45 minute spin class
• Telecon for Work #1
• Showered, updated choreography for Step next week
• Telecon for Work #2
• Drove into Charleston to pickup my race number and shirt for tomorrows 10 miler:
  

• Errands (Walmart-ugh, Kohls)
• Made a Gluten Free Crustless Pumpkin Pie for tomorrow (we’re going up to my parents after my race)- I found this recipe through Pam’s wonderful blog:
  

• Updated choreography for Body Attack next week
• Dinner date with Josh at Moe’s. I got the personal trainer salad with black beans, onions, peppers, salsa, cucumber, jalapenos and sour cream (sorry for the dark picture):
  

• Joshers got a chicken burrito with chips and cheese dip (isn't he a cutie?):

• Then Josh took me to Whole Foods (hooray) where we picked up some fun stuff including this:
  

I love Cool Whip but hate all of the artificial ingredients. I cannot wait to try this more natural version:

Now I'm about to cuddle up with Josh and get some sleep for my race tomorrow (ahhhh!). How was your Friday?