Costume Decisions

Now that the Disney Princess Half Marathon is less than a month away (yikes), I am in full costume planning mode over here.  

Of course, I have always known I will wear a tiara.  I don't think I have ever worn one in my life, and if running a half marathon isn't a good enough reason, I don't know what is.  Amy Ferrah Fowler agrees.

Bahahaha.  I died laughing the first time I saw that, and every single time since.  

Right now I have a little tiara that is attached to a hair clip so it shouldn't be too much of a bother.  Other than the tiara, I thought I would make a pink tutu and call it a day.  

That was, until I saw this costume:

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Isn't that super cute?  (I would obviously wear a black shirt.)  And classic Disney.  Plus, every girl and her mom will have a tutu and a tiara on.  I am slightly worried that the ears would annoy me, but beauty is pain.  So, I am thinking Princess Minnie is the final costume choice.  Do you think Minnie ever wore a tiara?  If not, she will now.  Hahaha.

Run

I am so sore from my race on Sunday .  I am never sore from running.  But, I have been training at about a 10 minute mile, and during the race, I ran more of a 9 minute 20 second mile.  Who thought 40 seconds could make that big of a difference? I almost didn't run yesterday, but to work the lactic acid out of my muscles, I jogged 3 miles while watching New Girl.  

Eats

Breakfast and lunch were nothing too exciting.  But dinner....oh my goodness.

Overnight protein oats (5)

Lunch and snacks: cottage cheese and pear (3), butternut squash soup (2) TJ's fiber bar (3), carrots, radishes, and an apple

I made chicken tamale bake (click *here* for the recipe).  This was one of the easiest recipes I have made, and according to Dan, the "best I have made so far."  I have to agree, it was super good. And super easy to make.  Tonight, you should buy the stuff to make this.  Then, you should invite me over for dinner. :)

Chicken tamale bake x 2 (14), black beans and corn (4)

My only complaint is the lack of veggies.  Next time I should serve it with a big salad.

To have pre-cooked chicken (for this and a few more recipes to come) I followed *these directions* for bulk chicken cooking in the crock pot.  The chicken came out perfect, and Dan saved the left over broth for soup.

For dessert, I was feelin' Elvisish, so I added a banana to my peanut butter cheerios.  Have you tried these yet?  Mmmm....

Dessert (8)

Off to finish a 4ish mile run! :)  Have a great day!

Thought for the day:

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DP (31) + RP (6) - EP (39) = -2.  Looks like I am starting off the week in the negatives. Typical Monday.

Groundhog 10K Run

Well, hello there Mr. Groundhog.

Yesterday I ran in the 30th Kansas City Groundhog Run to benefit the Children's Therapeutic Learning Center.

Pre-race fuel: breakfast cookie dough cereal (9)

The coolest part?  This entire race was underground, in a cave-turned-storage / business park  which was perfectly temperature controlled.

Running in shorts and a t-shirt and NOT on a treadmill in the middle of February is always awesome.

This was my first race in almost two years and I forgot how much fun they are.  You can just feel the running spirit in the air.  I was a little early for the 10K, so to pass the time I watched the 5K race end.

If you ever want to feel inspired, you should stand at the finish line of a race. What I saw made me laugh, cry, and everything in between.  I saw a dad and son wearing "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" shirts race each other to the finish line.  I saw a mom and daughter with matching tutus and pig-tails holding hands all the way through.  I saw a woman older than my grandma slowly (but surely) make her way to the finish line.

However, I have to say that my favorite part was when I saw a woman who slowed down about 30 feet before the finish line because she saw all the people standing around and apparently assumed she was finished.  When she realized she still had a little bit to go, she muttered, "Ah, S@#$!" and then picked the pace back up.  I couldn't help but bust out laughing.

The race was great.  Nothing too crazy to report.  I did, however, get a little bored.  I haven't ran that long without any type of entertainment (book, TV show, movie, music, etc.) in quite some time. The race doesn't allow headphones and they seemed to be pretty strict on that.  Next year, I will have to find a buddy to help me pass the time. ;)  When I finished the clock said 58:18, but I think I ran it a little faster than that, because I started towards the back of the line.  When they post the official race results and pictures, I will be sure to update this post.  IEdit: official results were 57 minutes and 24 seconds.  33/108 in my age group!]

After-race-snacks

After the race I had to hurry home and take a shower because Dan and I met his family at Bartle Hall for a camper / RV expo.  It was fun to see all the things that can fit into a portable living space.

Lunch: Chipotle burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, chicken, and veggies (14)

By the end of the day I was tired and ready to go home and get into my pjs and veg out while watching the pro-bowl.

hummus and a few crackers (3)

Turkey burger pita with creamy goat cheese, hummus, and Srircha (9) and sweet potato (6)

pear and laughing cow cheese wrap (2)

Have a great week!

Thought for the day:

[source]

DP (31) + RP (12) - EP (43) = 0

Date with Ranger

Yesterday I met my mom at the B-town movie theater to see One for the Money.

The theater recently got new owners and a face lift. Check out the fancy schmancy floors and my even cooler reusable owl sandwich bag that I brought carrots in.  Super sneaky.

Even though it looks different, every time I walk in the place I feel like I am in middle school again.  So many memories of my youth.

 The movie was okay, pretty much exactly what I expected.  The books don't get really good until Ranger is more involved.  In my opinion, if they make another movie, they should skip straight to number 8.

After the movie Dan and I met Brady and Ashley at Thai Place in Westport. (We are officially addicted).

Spring rolls (4)

Beef Laab (10)

This time was a little different because our waiter brought out a spice dish.

The spices were SUPAH-hot.  They even had Dan sweating.  We needed a cool down, so we hit up Peachwave frozen yogurt.

Coconut / cookies and cream and fruit (6)

It was another great night.  The beginning of the day was spent being super lazy,

eating,

Breakfast: toast (4) with almond butter (3) and an egg (2)

Fruit Wrap (2)

and wathcing the Mizzou basketball game.

Lunch: left over fire pot soup (8)

Thought for the day:

[source]

DP (31) - EP (40) = -9  I had 30 left over for the week.

Paula Deen

I love Paula Deen.

I have enjoyed her TV shows, cooked and baked many of her recipes, and licked my plate clean at her restaurant in Savannah.

Since she announced she has Type 2 diabetes, she has obviously been under a lot of scrutiny.   For me, it doesn't change a thing.

Yes, her recipes are horrible for you.  I already knew that.  I wasn't cooking them for every meal, but for special occasions.  I am a strong believer in everything in moderation (including moderation, hehehe).  Yes, it is a bit unfair that she got rich by creating the recipes that led to the disease, and will become more rich by advertising for insulin products.  I am sure many people earn money is less honest ways.

But, at the end of the day, she is still a person who was diagnosed with a horrible disease that many people have a very hard time dealing with.  If anything, I think she is setting an example of what can happen to you when your diet consists of mostly butter.  This woman has to give herself 3 to 4 shots per day and prick her finger more than that.  I think we need to be a little more sensitive.

Even better news, her sons are lightening up some of her recipes.  When I heard that, I immediately saved the recipe for Bobby's Gooey (Less) Butter Cake (click *here* for the recipe), because the many variations of Paula's Gooey Butter Bars have been my go-to dessert recipe for years.  Last night I made it.

They didn't taste exactly the same as the full fat original, but I thought they were great.  I am already thinking of ways I could mix it up.  Pumpkin and lemon are at the top of my list.

Two servings of Less Butter Cake (16)

Fortunately, we had a surprise visit from Dan's parents last night, and I was able to share the lighter-Paula-Deen-love.

Dinner was a veggie packed Thai-fire pot soup that we made a few weeks ago (we used the same exact *recipe*, but added a bag of frozen broccoli, a green and red pepper, and 10 more Thai chilies and subbed the tofu for chicken).

(12)

Dan and I enjoyed a little wine and some great company while waiting for it to cook.

Wine x 2 (8)

Dan was so proud to eat his orange pepper.

Creepy. Notice the sweat...this soup brings the heat!

Workout
Yesterday I ran 4 miles while reading The Maze Runner.  I swear, it has never taken me this long to finish a book!  Finally, last night I finished it and downloaded the next part of the series, The Scorch Trials. Today is my day off, and tomorrow will be my first 10K race and my first time running in a cave!  So pumped!

Other Eats (If you look close you can see Aumlette trying to get in the trash while I am preoccupied)

Breakfast: Green Monster Smoothie (7)
Lunch: Salad of Champions (7)
Snacks: apples (0)

Thought for the day:

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DP (31) + RP (9) - EP (50) = -10
I had to dip into my 49 extra points.  I have 39 to use today. :)

Dessert before Dinner

The best nights always start out that way.  Or dessert, then dinner, and then dessert again.  Or, if you are my sister, only dessert for dinner.

After work we went to celebrate Isabel's (my friend from South Africa) last day in the US (so sad) at Yogurtini.  We thought it was appropriate, because Dan and I took Isabel there on her first night in the US.  Dan was so excited that we were her "first Americans."  Hehehe.

Before going I checked out the NI on their website, and was very impressed.  They have a pdf with every flavor and its exact NI.  After a lot of thought (there are so many flavors) I picked Cookies and Cream (3) and No-sugar-added Strawberry Banana (2).  Next time I am going for Maple-Bacon-Doughnut, or maybe plain with Srircha hot sauce. :)

Although the yogurt itself has impressive nutrition stats, the toppings are a different story.

Aren't they beautiful?  To be safe, I stuck with fresh fruit.  I forgot how good this place was.  I am seriously considering buying a franchise.  Must start saving now.

One cup with fresh fruit (5)

After Yogurtini, I got home and started making Chicken and Mushrooms with Garlic Wine Sauce (click *here* for the recipe).  I am always hesitant when a recipe calls for wine, but this stuff was wonderful.  Dan put it in his Top 5 recipes that I have made.  It was so easy, but it tasted gourmet.

Chicken with mushrooms (8) and TJ's basamati rice blend (5)

The best part?  You have an open bottle of wine with only 1/4 cup taken out.  Shucks, looks like I will have to take care of that this weekend.  :)

Workout
Yesterday I did some sprints on the treadmill.  This time, I made up my own routine.

^Edit: the bottom left column should say 23 to 30 minutes

Talk about quick and effective.  I was dripping with sweat after 30 minutes.  I liked it because it included my "balls to the wall" speed (9.0 mph) for only 30 seconds and then a slow decrease after that.  Can you go faster than 9.0?  Not quite there yet?  No problem, you can adjust based on your own "balls to the wall" speed. Hehehe.

Other eats 
I didn't have time to make breakfast, so instead I made while-driving-protein-oats and ate them when I got to work.

Breakfast: Modified Overnight Oats: 1 Cup almond milk, 1/3 C Greek Yogurt, 1/3 C oats, once scoop of protein powder, bananas and blueberries (7)

Lunch  Salad of Champions (7)

I have perfected the fruit and cheese wrap by adding cinnamon and Splenda.

Whole wheat tortilla (3) , 2 LC wedges (1) and sliced pear

I mistakenly gave Dan a bite and now I am out of Laughing Cow cheese because he won't stop making them! :)

Thought for the day:

[source]

DP (31) + RP (6) - EP (36) = 1