confessions

busted.  confession time.

the last 3 weeks, i haven't really been following my training plan...and by "haven't really" i mean "not at all."  i've only been running two days a week instead of 3--a short run and then my weekend long runs.  not good, folks.  not good.  i have not been x-training either.  so that's to say with only a month away from the big race, i need to get my bum back on track.

the thing is, even cutting back in activity, i haven't noticed my endurance or my muscles deteriorating which i think is making it easier for me to "cut out" those day-to-day maintenance sessions.  i don't know.  i'm not making excuses, i'm owning up to it.  i know very well i could get my ass out of bed early in the morning now that i'm working late every night but i just haven't been doing it. period.

so, where to go from here? um, to the gym.  time to take it back to the streets the prescribed amount of time.  the last thing i want to do is finish behind those annoying speedwalkers (and really, anyone in a half marathon, whether it be running or walking, i do applaud you.  i am sorry that my few bad experiences with annoying speedwalkers in the past have given you all a bad wrap...prove me wrong. prove me wrong.)

skinny dippin'

whoa...you all are totally lucking out this week.  look at all these posts! lucky little lambs.

no surprise, this recipe comes from my fav, Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals


caesar dressing.  i never really cared for caesar dressing.  i'm more of a french or ranch kinda girl.  however, i made this creamy caesar dressing and you know what? it tastes a lot like ranch.  it's super pungent depending on the size of the garlic cloves you use and the dijon gives it a little bit of a bite.  make as directed and you'll have yourself a creamy, low-cal, healthy dressing in like 3 minutes (and it has about a week-long staying power in the fridge)  like most creamy dressings out there, i double them as dips for veggies and this little sassy number, well, it's prime for all kinds of double dippin'

caesar dressing

*1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
*1/4 cup shredded parmigiano-reggiano
*2 tbsps light mayo (more if to thicken to your desire)
*1/2 tsp black pepper
*1/2 tsp dijon mustard
*2 garlic cloves, pressed

-combine all ingredients, whisking until smooth.
-yields 3/4 cup--i suggest making a double batch right away (you won't regret it!)

serving size: 3 tbsps (remember it's kind of pungent depending on how much garlic you use so you can get by with way less than 3 tbsps)  toss with lettuce, dip veggies in it, it's great on pita chips and on pizza as well. and you can't beat that calorie count!

calories: 69!!! fat 4.7g; (sat 1.9, poly 1.4, mono 1) protein 4.3 g

ps: did you know caesar dressing is spelled "c-a-e-s-a-r" and not "cesar" like i thought until today...wild

just another meatless monday (oh way oh)

a lot of people ask me, "hey alison, what is your favorite way to cook a steak?"  "got any tasty pork recipes?" "got any kick-ass tips for meat on a stick?"  jk.  NO ONE ASKS ME THAT.  you know why? because the only meat in my house on a daily basis is chicken, tuna, hot dogs, or rando pizza toppings on leftovers (and of course, the meat on mah bones.)

couple reasons why i (we) don't have red meat in my (our) house:

a) it intimidates me.  i'm good with birds.  i'm good with fish.  i dare you to microwave a better hot dog.  red meat just costs too much in comparison for me to just screw it up.  so, unless i win a meat sweepstakes or a haen's truck tips over on the highway, that's just the way it is.  (btw, i also am i dynamo with fruits and veggies and legumes...keep that in mind)

b) is red meat bad for you? is it good for you?  it's like the damn egg and sodium.  health professionals just can't make up their minds on the subject. (note: i didn't do any reasearch but i'm pretty sure that's what's up.)

let me make it clear that i do not hate on the carnivores.  i love carnivores.  my husband?  dude is a carnivore.  he's a cheap carnivore so that's why he goes without "pricey" red meat.  he leaves that to the professionals at mc donald's (hollah mc doubles)

but woman (and man) can not live on chicken and tuna and hotdogs (and diet coke) alone.  that's why, i employ lots of vegetables in my house.  yes, i loves the rabbit food.

and anyway, here's a recipe for a tasty burger made with no meat (because, remember, i'm a dynamo with fruits and veggies and legumes in addition to cereal and hot dogs.)

southwest black bean burgers

 (adapted from some dude's recipe on sparkpeople.com)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed

3/4 cup brown rice (cooked)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 jalapeno, minced, seeds removed (hey, i used a small can of diced green chilles)

2 cloves garlic, minced (mincing is a pain and a good way to use a finger...get a garlic press)

small handful of cilantro, chopped (i'll say this is optional because i didn't use it) 1/2 a red onion, minced

1/2 cup green onions (scallions), chopped (again, i say, optional)

1 tsp cumin 1 tbsp olive oil lime juice from 1/2 a lime (remember the broke ass burro drink recipe i made? i didn't have a lime so i used that) sea salt to taste, black pepper to taste, and a pinch of cayenne

*cook brown rice according to directions; set aside

*sautee red onion and garlic in oil for a few minutes

*while the onions/garlic are cooking, add all of the rest of the burger ingredients listed above into a bowl. add in the onions/garlic when they’ve been cooking long enough to look translucent and tender.

 *mix all ingredients together well. take 1/2 of the burger mixture and put it into a blender or food processor or if you're me, MAGIC BULLET (love that thing) blend until fairly smooth. leave the other 1/2 chunky.  next, blend the chunky and the smooth portions together in a bowl. ok, this will not look appetizing.  it's a really appalling grey but i assure you, it gets better. make a patty with about 1/3 cup of the mixture.

 if your mixture seems too moist to create a patty, add more whole wheat flour or rice. if it is too dry, add a little water OR more lime juice or margarita. cook in pan until brown on both sides (which, i will tell you is super tricky so start off on medium-low heat and you'll figure it out)

serve on whole wheat buns.  i offered avocado, tomato, and red onion slices as fixin's for the burger.  i also used light mayo and a little bit of Arizona Heat mustard by Koop's

oh, and i guess our friend pepperjack cheese and spicy cole slaw made it to the party as well...i kinda forgot...we had this for dinner like months ago and now i'm jonsin' again

not your mom's rabbit food, yo.

felt up

first off, my apologies for not posting about eat this, not that: supermarket survival guide this week.  i probably should just use this time to post about it but i do what i want and i want to not post about it right now.  it will get here, eventually...nbd.

this week...this damn week...jeez...it's been a crazy one, peeps.  times, they are a changin' and this little lass has a whole lot of crazy on the horizon.  but, it'll all work out as most things do.  anyway, i did some major damage on my "get more crafty" initiative this week because not only is crafting good for keeping me from mindlessly shoveling snacks in my mouth while watching tv, it also keeps my fists from going through walls or windows or in the general direction of haters.  so, i put my frustration into a few runs and also into felt.  turns out, felt is a pretty fun (and hella cheap) crafting medium.

here's proof that i actually do what i say i do on this blog...and if you need further proof, you can come over and pop the blisters on my fingers from my frenemy, hot glue gun.

ps: that's not balloons of cocaine strung around my neck, it's just a kew necklace i made

pps: i paid too much for that model

trippin'

hey, friends.

i just got back from colorado springs.  let me tell you something about colorado springs, i love that place.  hubs and i went to visit old friends who also have the last name of one of my fave cocktails: VDC

anyway, like every vacation i come back from, it's a real bitch getting on the scale.  howevsies, turns out i left 4lbs in colorado springs over 5 days...how the hell does that happen?!

well, i've been wondering that to myself as well so as to live every day as if it were a colorado springs day.

here's what i think nudged the scale in the right direction:

*no sugar: the VDC's have, like, no sugar AT ALL in their house...which is quite impressive.  i didn't think i had a lot of sugar in the house (my pallet is decidedly more salty) until i read this book on the plane:

(and we shall talk more about this book this week)

turns out, a lot of stuff in our house that is "low calorie" and "low fat" also is high in sugars--damn.  the VDC's make a conscious effort to not eat or buy anything that lists "sugar" or "corn syrup" or "high fructose corn syrup" (aka the devil) as one of the top 3 ingredients...if at all...period. this sugar stuff has snuck up on me. seeing as how they were gracious enough to prepare our meals while we were there (shout out to Cathy, my CookingLight confidant!) the only sugar i ate was when we went out to Josh & John's for ice cream.  further evidence that they are really good about watching the sugar was that their tot, hudson, had his first taste of ice cream while we were there and he was not into it...until it hit the bloodstream.

*don't watch a lot of tv
ok, so, we watched a fair share of tv in CO.  there was a packer game, a badger game, and then we unleashed "Mantracker" on them (which was the ultimate hit)  but when we weren't around the tv, we were being productive.  we went for a run, did a lot of walking about town and in nature, and the dudes built a shed while us women folk crafted.  what's the big take away? alison's getting into crafty hobbies.  it's hard to eat when your fingers are crafting stuff and all of a sudden, 3 hours have gone by and there's a pile of cool stuff on the chair next to you. winning.

*don't worry, have a homebrew
my husband makes a damn fine beer.  our friend mike makes a super damn fine beer.  i had two brews and sampled every one my husband tried including the california common that i will dream about from this day forward (nectar of the gods)  i'm just going to go ahead and say that beer actually helped me this weekend...because i ate less and more conscientiously at most every meal to have some budget room for brews and i don't regret trading southwest sliders for a hummus plate and an ipa.

*get a toddler and/or a dog
the VDC's come complete with a 15 month old and a black lab, both of which are pretty active...mostly the tot.  i wanted to put my garmin on the dude to see how many miles he logs a day running back and forth from room to room moving spoons and chairs and finding the dog...easily that kid gets in his 10,000 steps per day...and if you have the privelege of wrangling hudson, you get those steps in pretty quick as well.  

so, in summary, i'm going to eat less of the sweet stuff (especially the crafty hidden sweet stuff in my fave lo-cal eats); stop watching so much tv and take up the noble art of the crafting; and work on getting a toddler.

but it's still vacation...kinda...so i'm going to watch the season finale of True Blood with a bowl of popcorn peppered with dark chocolate m&ms

stay tuned this week for a new edition of a solid read featuring "eat this, not that: supermarket survival guide"

check point

it's been a month that i've kept this blog in check and i'm just as surprised as you are.  i'm more surprised that i've kept (for the most part) to my healthy eating/living business for this long. 

here's a check point--be advised that this is the part of the blog you'll probably not be into and i won't feel bad if you aren't...it's pretty boring and it's all about me...but i've learned that success loves accountability...go figure.  so enjoy the post or don't...it's all good.

In the last month…

•  I’ve lost 6 lbs .  that doesn’t seem like a lot, does it?  Doesn’t feel like a lot either.  However, at least the hash marks are moving in the right direction.  I venture to guess that regular exercise 5 days a week has generated some muscle gain as well.  But it’s also not like I’ve been 100% perfect on the eating right thing…especially this weekend when I ate a lot of wedding cake and drank a lot of champagne to celebrate one-year of marriage J  I did my best to work It off (wink)

·         I managed to stick with my training schedule…about 90% of the time.  I always make up a day if I miss one here or there but I don’t cut myself a lot of slack either.  Excuses are like fat cells: everyone has them. but those who make too many excuses typically end up having too many fat cells as well.   I it’s not easy to talk yourself out of watching the 8^th hour of Kardashian re-runs after work…but then I look at Bruce Jenner on that show…dude used to be the best in the biz…now I run more than he does on a weekly basis (remote control helicopters consume him now)

·         I don’t hate running…as much. Now that my body is used to running (my lungs aren’t wheezing or collapsing, I have a healthy dose of calluses on my heels, toenails are growing back, muscles are getting stronger, bones don’t feel like shattering when hitting the pavement, etc.) my mind is starting to like running more also.  I got up to almost 7miles on my run/walk plan this past Saturday…that business is sick.

Overall, I’d say this last month I’ve built a good foundation.  I realize that to get to where I’m going, I have to understand that it’s going to take time if I want to do it the right way.  If I want to sustain a healthy life for myself in order to sustain a healthy life for my family (someday) then I can’t cut corners now and have unrealistic expectations. 

And no, I’m not in any of those skinny jeans yet…but I set the goal of getting into at least one pair by my 27^th birthday (December 8^th) Hope I find them cute once I’m in them…otherwise I would have wasted a lot of time trying to be healthy when I could have been eating papa john’s and drinking red bull while keeping up with bruce jenner and his jumpsuits...all of which i've been wanting to do for the past week