UD Homecoming!

Today was such a fun day.  I love everything about homecoming....being able to pretend like I'm still in college, having good food and beer with my college friends, going into the game!....and then realizing at the end of the day that I am not in college anymore and that I get a huge headache from only 2 drinks! hahah.  It was still a fun day though!

Before we left for the game I had a chobani greek yogurt and a banana nut muffin with some peanut butter.  Decaf coffee on the side.

This is my go to recipe for muffins. They are really easy to make and are perfect for when you have some brown bananas sitting around.

Banana Nut Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon (but I usually add more b/c I love it)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup banana (about 2 bananas)

3/4 cup milk

3 tbsp canolla oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large egg or equivalent of egg whites

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Prehet oven to 375 degrees. Combine ingredients through salt.  Separately combine banana and next 4 ingredients through egg.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.  Fold in walnuts.  Bake for 22 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

After breakfast we headed over to the parking lot to get a spot for tailgating.  While we were there we had a few beers and cooked up some regular burgers and turkey burgers to have for lunch.  I used my favorite turkey burger recipe (i'm slightly obsesssed).

BBQ Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers

1.3 lb ground turkey

1/3 cup bbq sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/3 cup blue cheese

Mix all ingredients and grill! Makes 5-6 burgers

We also had some pretty good snacks on the side.  Matt grilled up some sweet potatoes and we had chips and guacamole and some homeade cookies that my friend Stephanie made.  Yum.  I definitely let myself enjoy the day and the food.  Homecoming only comes around once a year and it was nice to be able to enjoy it.  I knew in my head that I had a long run planned for the next day and I had worked hard the previous week at the gym.  I was ready to let loose!

We went into the game for a little, but by this time it was starting to get a little too cold for us.  We grabbed a quick slice of pizza for dinner and made our way home.  It's currently 9:15 and I am soooo ready for bed.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in a 5-6 mile run before we go see the puggle Champ at the SPCA!!!!

Looking Forward To Letting Loose

Hello everyone! It's been a busy couple of days.  I just got back from the grocery store, picking some things up for this weekend (Homecoming!).  Who would've thought the grocery store would be so crowded on a Thursday night when it's raining? It was mobbed!

I didn't get a chance to write yesterday because I went to the UD Graduate Expo after work.  I'm seriously considering going back to school part time to get my Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology.  I would work full time while taking classes.  I would just have to make up the time I missed from work by staying later at the end of the day. I would take 1 class a semester for 2.5 years. Here's what I have lined up for myself:

• Cellular and Molecular Immunology
• Virology
• Immunochemistry
• Biotechnology and Molecular Medacine
• Cancer Biology or Advanced Mammalian Physiology

YIKES hahah.  Looks pretty scary sitting there all at once.  I'm hoping to start in Fall 2012 if I get in!!

Tonight I was scraping the bottom of the fridge/freezer trying to use stuff we already had for a meal.  I went with Spicey Honey-Brushed Chicken thanks to CookingLight!

Recipe:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

4 Skinless boneless chicken thighs

cooking spray

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp cider vinegar

I mixed all the spices in  bowl and then sprinkled them over the chicken thighs.  I preheated the oven to 375 and baked them for 25 minutes.  I then mixed together the honey and cider vinegar in a bowl, took the chicken out, brushed the chicken with the honey mixture and then baked it for 5 more minutes.  Easy! I served mine on top of brown rice and black beans.

And some veggies and pineapple on the side.

This meal was a good pick me up after my workout at the gym.  I did some squats and lunges and a short ab workout and then hopped on the treadmill. I attempted to run for 30 minutes at what I would like to be my "race pace" next saturday. 

15 minutes @ 6.3 (9.30 pace)

15 minutes @ 6.5 (9.15 pace)

Every fifth minute I would up the incline to try and get used to hills

When I finished I was at 3.2 miles

For some reason it's always easier for me to run a 9.15 pace when I'm outside than when I'm on a treadmill.  While running I started thinking about some treadmill conspiracy haha.  The treadmill lies!! Oh wow looks like I'm going off the deep end.  At least tomorrow is Friday!



Perfect Day For a Run...In SHORTS!!!

It was gorgeous out today! When I left work it was 68 degrees.  I changed into my running clothes and headed out to go around the University of Delaware Campus.  I mapped my route before I left work and ran about 4.25 miles.

The best part about the run was running in shorts and a tshirt in november!

I made my way home after my run and got dinner ready.  I made this recipe on Sunday and just warmed it up today.  Looking back on it I think it would have been much better on the actual day it was made. Here is the recipe for Roasted Potatoes, Turkey Sausage, Peppers and Onions.

1 1/2 russet or sweet potatoes

1/2 medium onion cut peeled and cut in half cut into small peices

1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch peices

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 lb chicken/turkey sausage cut into peices

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray.  In a bowl combine potatoes, onions, peppers, olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic powder.  Mix well and pour onto  baking sheet.  Bake 15 minutes.  Toss.  Add the sausage to the baking sheet and bake 25 more minutes, tossing twice during cooking. 

My dinner.  Spinach salad on the side with peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, craisins and blue cheese

In other news.....

• I sent in my registration for the turkey trot 10k on November 19th!! It's official.

• Tomorrow after work I will be going to the University of Delaware Graduate Expo to get more information on getting my Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology.  I'm hoping to work full time still and on the days that I have class I will just work a little later to make up the time that I'll miss.  I'm hoping to start next fall!!
• Matt and I got approved to adopt a dog! We sent in our application today and they wrote us back and told us we could come look at the dog we are interested in this sunday. His name is Champ. He is a 2 1/2 year old Puggle that is good with cats.  Perfect!!  Fingers crossed. I'm hoping he has a good temperment and is actually good with cats.

Time for some more chores! We've been getting our house ready for our visitors this weekend slowly but surely! Can't wait for this weekend!

Beef...It's What's For Dinner

Today was a pretty good day.  Work went by fast and I got a good workout in at the gym.  Everything was great...until I walked outside and saw that it was dark :(  at 5:15.  I don't think I'm going to like this very much. 

So I've been making some pretty interesting dinners lately, and Matt has been forced to eat all of my strange concoctions.  I wanted to make him something I knew he would like, just in a healthier way.  First of all I knew it had to have BEEF in it...let's face it I'm marrying a carnvore :).  After some recipe searching I landed on sloppy joe's.  That's right sloppy joes.  I don't think I've had one of these in at least 5 years.  I went into it with low expectations but it actually turned out pretty good.  The sauce was really flvorful!

Healthy Sloppy Joes

1 large carrot

1 stalk celery

12 oz lean ground beef/ground turkey

3/4 cup prechopped onion

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 8oz can no salt added tomato sauce

Put carrot and celery into food processor and chop into small peices.  Add carrot, celery and ground beef to a pan on medium high heat.

Cook until meat is browned, then add garlic powder, chili powder and pepper and cook one more minute.

Combine 1/4 cup ketchup and next 5 ingredients through tomato sauce ina a bowl and mix well.  Add mixture to the beef and veggies and let simmer for 5 minutes until sauce thickens. 

I served mine over some Great Harvest Dakota bread and had a salad on the side.



SLOPPY!!!!

Amazing Pizza

Today was the perfect Sunday.  We didn't have too much planned after yesterday's marathon of events.  I woke up early and grabbed some breakfast....overnight oats of course. 

I had it with some coconut water.  I usually try to drink some of this on days that I know I'll be doing a longer run.  It's a good replacent for me for a sports drink.  I really am not a fan of gatorade type drinks.  Just too much added sugar and I don't like the taste.  Coconut water is delicious! And it has a lot of natural electrolytes.

I headed over to Glasgow Park for a practice 10k.  The race is coming up in less than 2 weeks and I am getting really excited to run it!

I ran around a 9.16 pace.  It was a really good run and my foot didn't bother me at all which made my day!  And I'm finally starting to get used to running in the cold.  When I got home I was ravenous.  I had some of my leftover lunch from friday with an apple and some veggies.

The rest of the day was spent cooking for the week.  If I can, I try to cook most of my meals on Sunday for the week so that they just have to be warmed up on the day that we actually eat them.  If I go to the gym right after work I don't get home until around 5:15 and I really do like to eat before 6....I'm weird I know.  So while I was at it I worked on our dinner for tonight Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Pizza Dough which I got from Meals and Miles.

Ingredients:

1tsp dry yeast

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 sweet potato mashed (I cooked mine in the microwave for about 10 minutes)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup hot water

Mix together the hot water and yeast until yeast dissolves. Leave the bowl in a warm place until a froth forms on the top.

Mix together the dry ingredients and then add the sweet potato and mix until crumbly.  When the yeast is ready, make a well in the dry ingredients and mix it in.  Knead to make a smooth dough.

Wrap the dough in a greased peice of plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for at least an hour. I put mine in the microwave.  Then I just used my hands to for a round(ish) shape. We don't have a pizza stone so I just put some cornmeal down on a baking sheet.

Cook the dough for 5 minutes @ 425 degrees, add your toppings, and then bake for 5 more minutes.

I topped mine with some pesto sauce, some squash and zucchini that I had cooked previously, and some cheese. Matt topped his half (or 2/3) with chopped garlic, tomatoe sauce, grilled chicken and cheese.

We both had our pizza with side salad.  I will definitely be making this again.  It was sooo good!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!!