New Blog

Hello my people!

Just letting everyone know that I have moved my blog! You can now read about my boring life over here!

I have been having issues with Blogger not letting people post comments, and it is not letting me use pictures like I want lately, so I knew it was time for a change.  The new site is not quite finished, but I will still be working on it while posting like normal.  A new post is already waiting on you to read! Hope to see all of my awesome followers following me over that way!

Love.love.

A Shake.A Snack An Accomplishment.And Dinner..

Workout: Elliptical 30 mins, stretching, foam rolling

Ever have those days that you chose not to do crap?  Today was one of those days.  I realized that I now have one weekday left to do whatever I please throughout the day before I start gettin paper. Look at me now.

Started my morning off NOT sleeping in, and making a yummy shake made of Advocare Meal Replacement Chocolate Shake, banana, and PB.  I will def be having more of these because they keep me full! I didn't feel like snacking or having an early lunch like I normally do.  Sitting around the house will make ya hips wide(r).

While taking care of phone calls for work and foam rolling like a champ, I decided to make another Pinterest recipe (and it is not the only recipe in the post. obsessive).  You knew this was going to happen.

Crack-tastic Crackers over at Sweet Teeth Goodies

 I didn't use the whole box of saltines because we only had three packs and one half way eaten. I went ahead and used all that I had. We had an uh-oh the other night with a corn recipe that involved Red Pepper Flakes, so I went LIGHTLY on this. She uses almost 3Tbsp, and I only used 1Tbps and it had plenty heat for me.  I also didn't have the extra bit to drizzle the yummy, ranchy, peppery oil that’s in the bottom of the bowl over the crackers like she says to do. Not sure what happened there, but the crackers were coated plenty.  Just a little something to snack on besides chips and cookies. Already stored in sandwhich bags!

On to the next random topic for today, I have been needing to repair my booboo I made on the brand new throw pillow for our bedding we just got. My idiot self tried to cut the tag so that you couldn't see it at all.  Guess I forgot the damage scissors can do.

 And mom doesn't live with me anymore to come to my rescue when I make these genius mistakes. So what did I do? I became an adult. I figured it out.

I SEWED MY FIRST PILLOW!

 It is not perfect and pretty, but it will do. This is a huge accomplishment people.  Everytime my mom or MIL would want to show me how to sew or anything, I was NEVER interested. I mean, why do something boring like that when someone else will do it for you when you ask? Dangit, now they don't live close.

This made my day successful!.....Don't laugh.

My hubby had a long, late day at work so I wanted to get dinner on the table before he walked in.  Love to do things like that and really feel like a wife. I try, I try.  Also knew that if I cooked early, we could still go to the gym for atleast a few minutes.

And now on to dinner........

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Strips

by Budget Bytes

Luckily last night I went ahead and cut up the chicken and made the marinade of homemade honey mustard and let the chicken do its thing over night. 

I have found a new love possibly.  Panko.

 Of course before I could cook with it I had to taste it.  It reminded me of a cereal but that particular cereal isn't coming to mind. Sorry.

Dredge the chicken strips/nuggets in the panko breadcrumbs without losing excess honey mustard.

Line cookie sheet with foil, then lay down a cooling rack and spray.

Place chicken on rack and bake at 400* for 30-35 minutes.

and out comes complete yumminess! She has you reserve half of the honey mustard for the marinade and half for dipping. It completely makes it..... wonderful. Panko is our new favorite.

Bedtime.... I have to go rest up for my busy day of doing nothing tomorrow.

Love.love.

New Gym and a Recipe

Workout: Elliptical 30min, Bi's, Tri's, Shoulders, side leglifts, mega stretching, foam rolling

My nightly goal is to stretch every night because my body is so so tight from NEVER stretching since I cheered in high school.  I missed a couple of days over the weekend, but I'm back to seriousness now.  And believe it or not, the picture below is GREAT improvement. What you can't see is that my foot is neutral (flexed up) and my hand is actually able to grab the ball of my foot! If I had not been taking the picture, my side would have been saying stoooopppppp!!!!! Getting closer and closer to that knee every day and getting better!  



 I stomped my foot and demanded begged Andrew to take me to the gym he is a member of.  Its 2 minutes away and I can only go with him because having two memberships isn't in the cards right now.  So I get to be a "guest" and wait until he gets off work. 

I was SO happy to be able to go somewhere other than the teeny tiny apartment gym we have.  And I must say that I have never seen so many pieces of cardio equipment in my life!! They have EVERY kind you would want to use.  Even the one that you sit on your knees and swing back and forth.  I'll be playing with that one hopefully tomorrow just to see what it's like!

 A good arm workout was FINALLY happening (apt gym does not have free weights for girlies) after a good sweat out on the elliptical.  I def have to work my way back up. or maybe I should buy another book on my Kindle to take and read to keep my mind off of it.  Either way, I think my ipod and tv on mute is enough distraction to keep me from getting bored.  We will see....

So on to the recipe!  Last night Suzy Homemaker made another meal that was a success and I didn't poison anyone.  Who ever thought of pork and spaghetti sauce?  The recipe app on my phone did!  We thought we would try it out and see how it was.  Turns out, its basically Chicken Parmesan, only with pork chops.. served with fettuccini.

Italian Pork Chops

 Ingredients:

2 tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tbsp dried bread crumbs (I used Italian)

4 boneless pork chops

2 tbsp olive oil

1 (26oz jar) pasta sauce

1 (8oz bag) Italian cheese blend, shredded

1 lb fettuccini

Directions:

Preheat over to 350*. 

Stir together Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.

Dredge pork chops in breadcrumbs mixture.

 Brown pork chops in hot oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.

 Spray baking dish and place pork chops in, and pour sauce over them.

 Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. 

Sprinkle with Italian cheese blend (I did not use the entire bag, shocking?) and bake 5 more minutes, or until cheese is melted .

 Serve over fetticcini. BAM.

I even made it all pretty!  We liked this recipe a lot, and it was different from the usual Chicken Parmesan I always order.  Super easy too.  It didn't look like the breadcrumb/parmesan mixture would be enough to coat all pork chops, but it was the perfect amount for a very light coating.  Very tasty.

Note to self: stir fetticcini frequently while cooking so some pieces are not stuck together and hard.

Hope you enjoy as much we did!

Now to foam roll one more time before bed.  

Self Diagnosis

I have come to the conclusion that my knee hates me.  When training for my half marathon last summer, I had knee pain that would KILL me after long runs. Well of course after I stopped all the running, I never had trouble.  I'm not sure if I jumped back in to it all too fast or what, but I have a pissed off knee again.

What I'm thinking is that ITband syndrome has taken over, and pronation of my right foot isn't helping the alignment of my body.  After finishing my run yesterday, I decided it was finally time to befriend my joints and get some glucosamine.

 I immediately came home and started stretching, and talking with Megan about her similar problem that she is recovering from. Thank you for being so much help!!

I also found a website that is pretty informative on preventing injury and for not worsening an injury. Now its clear that my knee needs rest, ice, stretching, and strengthening to overcome this!

I started obsessing over finding several ways to stretch the ITband and found these from Coastal Sports Medicine and they are pretty self-explanatory.

 This one is sooo difficult for me to do because of my balance, and I most def can't get my hands to the ground!

and of course you know my favorite already....

 I don't get as much of a stretch with crossing my ankle over knee just because it puts pressure on my bad knee, but it feels great on my good leg.

and now for my NEW favorite!

 Hello, New Best Friend!! We will have a love/hate relationship, no doubt, but I know you will do my pitiful body some good.

 Oh how painful it really is using a foam roller!!! I have got a way to go, but I'm not leaving a leg out, so I must suffer on both sides.. I know I should have bought one of these a looooong time ago.

I know that it is a smart decision to take some time off from pounding the pavement, and give this angry knee a little TLC.  It makes me sick to know I can't go run on my last week of no work, but it is a smart decision that I need to stick to.

Until then, I'll just have to remember the sweet smell of spring from my LAST run for a while.

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I have been informed that people are having trouble posting comments on my blog, and I can't tell you why that is happening.  How long it will take is unknown, but I will be trying to switch my blog over to Wordpress.com in order to be able to hear from you!  As this change is made, I will let ya'll know!

Just Call Me Betty freakin Crocker

Now that I am married, I have to think about someone other than myself.. to be fair. I can't expect to be lazy and get called when dinner is ready anymore. Lately, I have been attempting easy things and giving my hubby a break from the kitchen after work. He LOVES to cook, but I love the satisfaction of hearing the words "That was really good".

Before I left my parents home, my mom did the cooking.  Maybe once every two or three weeks I would offer one night. Call after call, on her cell, I would be asking "How do I do this?" until she got home and could keep an eye on things with me.  Most of the time it did NOT taste like when she cooks it.

I have been waiting so long to get to start cooking for my hubby, so now we take turns.  If you give me a recipe, I can do it! That spells s.u.c.c.e.s.s. for me.

As I've said before, my newest addiction is Pinterest.  For the longest time, I only looked at things, but when I moved after our wedding, I made an account.... and that started it all.

Now every day I'm constantly pinning recipes to try.. some are healthy, most are not.

This weekend, I cooked up a storm compared to normal. I didn't go in to detail with recipes so that the proper person is given the credit they deserve!....

First, we have Crispy Cheddar Chicken from the amazing cook, Jamie!

 I am not sure how she came up with this idea, but it is AHHmazing!!

I only used three chicken breast, cut up, and only 2 cups of cheese (or less) are needed. Also, I think only one sleeve of Ritz Crackers are needed. There was a lot waisted with two sleeves.

 Jamie will tell you in her post that the cheese will fall off in the cracker crumbs. I followed her directions, and then coated more on all pieces after placing in the baking dish.

My picture isn't as perfect, but I was completely pleased when my sweet guy said that was the best thing I had ever cooked him. I'll take it! The sauce was unbelievable as well! Generously smothering every piece of chicken, leaving none left over.

Next, we have Parmesan Roasted Potatoes from the genius, Gaby!

 These potatoes were HEAVENLY. I just made them last night, and plan to make them again to take to a friends house for dinner tomorrow night.

 I expected this one to be alot of work, but it was just cubing potatoes and dumping ingredients together and mixing it up. Super easy!

Of course, I didn't do wonderful on my portion control, and haven't all weekend. Time to jump back on tomorrow!

Last, we have Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies from VIPpins.

 After all of the junk we have been eating, it was nice to have a healthier choice to hit my sweet tooth. And a bonus?... they are "healthy" so I don't have to worry about sharing!! Somebody gagged when he looked at them.

 Being on a budget makes eating healthy hard as well. With this recipe, I only had to buy bananas, apple sauce and dried cranberries- which can both be eaten for lunches and snacks!

This recipe is described as a mix between a granola bar and a cookie. The inside is soft and chewy and oh so good!

Very happy with the outcome of my cooking this weekend!! All things turned out well and just proves me wrong when I say "I can't cook!!"

Thank you Pinterest for helping, but lets not make this a SERIOUS problem, okay?

Another happy note? $1.00 movie rentals! Budgeting isn't all that bad I guess.

Now if I had just gotten up extra early (and had dry weather) before church to go running this morning! Crossing fingers for NO RAIN tomorrow so I can get back out there. My parents are showing me up with all their 6 mile walks this week!! Maybe I'll drag Andrew out the door with me one afternoon this week........

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend relaxing like we did!!

Time to stretch. I've missed two nights.



Running Buddy!

The weather cooperated this morning, so I was able to hit the pavement for a run again.  Waking up and knowing I was going to have a running partner got me really excited!!

Everyone, meet Elise!

 We live in the same apartment complex, so I swung by and picked her up on the way. We went to the same neighborhood I've decided to call "my favorite". The sky was looking a little yuck, and we weren't sure if we would even get to run, but I wanted to atleast show her how to get there and where to park for days that we can't go together. It felt amazing at 66* with a little misting.

Gotta give props to this girl for carrying on a full conversation and never losing her breath! I was keeping usual pace, but talking always makes running more difficult. I'm not sure if I slowed her down, but I considered it a great run for myself!

The splits:

Mile 1 - 10:03

Mile 2 - 10:19

I was talking so much that I lost my breath and got a cramp from NOT breathing.. therefore, I had to stop and walk a second. Dangit.

Didn't quite follow SR's words of motivation that I wore.  There is always next time to try harder.

We only did 2 miles this morning because the weather wasn't very motivating, and I had to be somewhere at 11:00. It was only 2 miles, but it went super fast compared to the solo runs I've been doing. Nickleback doesn't have anything on a girly convo.

Elise was telling me that she ran the Baltimore Marathon about five years ago. Her goal was to finish the 26.2 without stopping to walk. Great goal, high goal, met goal! She finished in 4:30!! That was crossed off of her bucket list, and now she sticks with shorter runs.

I REALLY enjoyed getting to know a new friend while getting the endorphins flowing! Now if we could just do this everyday, and she didn't have to leave in 2 months.

After we finished our run, I rushed home to get ready to go to work to fill out books paperwork to start the process. It felt like I was there for hours, but I am so so excited to start work again!! One week left to abuse pool time.

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The other day, I made it a goal of mine to stretch after EVERY run, and a little every night. I feel like the Tin-Man that needs oil. My stretching is not pretty.

Got my game face on and ready to play my opponent with my white concealer.

 This is by far my most favorite. That IT-band will get ya everytime.

Question::

My right knee has been bothering me. It hurts to sit Indian style, move it forward when I'm on my side in bed, and several other movements. I feel like it is right in the joint on the outside. Many times I feel like it is my IT-band, so that's my reason for stretching. I've been told to take Glucosamin, and have failed to do that yet. I moved it the other night on my side and it felt like the joint popped, and it felt better.......

My knee was the reason I was turned off of running long distances during my half marathon training.. I'm trying to push myself to do it, but don't want to end up with an injury.

Anybody had a problem like this? Any suggestions on what I can do?

What "Thinking" Can Get Ya...

Yesterday, the plan was crosstraining. Elliptical and strength training..

Well hello gym.. we meet again.

Have you ever been on a ellipitcal that went in a downward motion?? This KILLED my quads in the first five minutes. Completely weird, but I stuck it out for 25 mins then called it quits.

 I knew I needed to work my legs so that I wasn't incredibly sore in the days to follow.

This morning I had planned to get a good run in again. But little did I know it would be raining all ready when I woke up. I DREADED going to the gym to run on the treadmill and kept procrastinating.

 Running outside is SO much more entertaining than looking at a tv that cuts out every so often.

I did 2 miles and walked half a mile to finish. I couldn't take it on there anymore! But I was oh so thankful for making myself go! The feeling you get after running matches no other. As I finished my run, I met Elise. She is here for a 3 month travel position as an RN and has 2 more months left. We talked a little and decided that we should go running together!-possibly tomorrow, weather permitting. With her work schedule, we will not get to go much, but some is better than none! and it will help her get to know the area a little better.

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I saw an infomercial yesterday morning, called Fluidity, before my workout. 

It's obviously another exercise advertisment to suck you in and make you feel like you have to have it.  I tried to find a youtube video to post, but their weren't any good ones. In the link above, you can see the infomercial by clicking in the upper right hand corner of the site. (Fast forward to halfway point to see the exercise I am about to tell you about)

Basically it is a type of exercise program that tones your body in the way that dancers train using the contraption made to work like a ballet bar. 

Instead of isolating one particular muscle group with machines and free weights, it makes your body perform as a whole.

Blah blah blah.. Anyway, my whole point of dragging this on-

The inventor suggested an exercise using the Fluidity bar to tighten your loosey goose arms in the back. She pointed out that while push-ups are great, they work to tone mostly the front part of your arms. Pull-ups are a must to tone and lose the jiggle of the waving arm.

-My apologies for the blurriness. I did the best I could-

So anyway, this made me think! I had to find a way to do pull-ups in this teeny apartment gym that I'm stuck using for now.

For the last two workouts, I came up with this!

Look familiar? I didn't have a professional photographer available to show you my moves.

I sat backwards on the treadmill and grabbed the bar above my head and PULLED UP!

(I placed my feet in a "V" on the sides of the treadmill to keep my feet from sliding) 

Wa-la :)

It was hard at first because it has been MANY months since I have done any type pull-up. But today I was able to bump it up to 20 total..

I hope all that effort to explain this deal has taught you something. Work with what ya have!

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Lunch was super healthy and made me feel great!

It's been a while since I've had salmon. De-lish..

Hubby is home early today! Now I need to find something for dinner.