Goodberry's

Today started out just...eh...then, ended with a Goodberry! (I know, corny.)

First of all, my classes were so boring. All we did was watch videos. No interaction or anything. It made the day seem so long.

Second, today was not a good food day for me. I had no appetite for anything I had in my kitchen. I should have listened to my body and actually ate the things I wanted, but instead I just forced what I had down my throat and I enjoyed nothing I ate today...

EXCEPT

GOODBERRY'S!

Nicole and I decided to meet up at Goodberry's tonight for some quality girl time. If you aren't familiar with Goodberry's (which I wasn't until tonight) it is a frozen custard shop where all they ingredients are natural without preservatives. Everyday they have four flavors: chocolate, vanilla, sugar free vanilla, and the flavor of the day. You can also add in fruits, nuts, and assorted candies.



Today I had Chocolate with raspberries. Mmmm!



It was so creamy! Way better than regular ice cream!
Nicole had chocolate with caramel and it was so rich!
Nicole and I talked about many things and reminisced over the half marathon.



A lovely candid shot of Nicole and I before the race. Not sure what's going on...

I plan to go back when the flavor of the day is pumpkin!

Time for a hot shower, some reading, and bed!

Afternoon Tea Is In My Future

Today was a good day.

Breakfast: A pumpkin pancake topped with peanut butter and banana. It was good, but I found the toppings made it to taste a little to rich for me.



The pancake recipe was a Martha Stewart recipe:
"For a spiced breakfast treat, whisk 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt; 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg; and a pinch of ground cloves. In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup milk, 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 1 egg; fold mixture into dry ingredients. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat; pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup. Makes 8 to 10."

Exercise: 45 Minutes of Yin Yoga. Yin yoga, according to iyogalife.com, is "characterized by long-held, passive poses that work your connective tissues and train your mind rather than muscles."
This type of yoga was perfect for me today because my joints were aching after yesterdays half marathon.

Snack: apple and half a banana

Lunch: open faced salmon sandwich with spinach leaves and garlic and herb brie cheese. Also, a mixed baby greens salad with cucumbers, sharp cheddar cheese, and strawberries! This is definitely one of my favorite lunches so far! And a cinnamon raisin cookie for dessert. :)



Dinner: Tuna Noodle Casserole and some grated carrot on the side. Kind of boring, but it filled me up.

Dessert: Strawberry Yogurt Cake! It's amazing! It reminds me of something you would eat with a fancy cup of tea in your fanciest tea cups! Hmm...I may have to start having afternoon tea in my "fancy" tea cups!



As promised, here is the recipe. (There is a glaze that goes on top but, I did not put a glaze on mine. It tastes delicious without it.)
Source: http://aspicyperspective.blogspot.com/

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 Tb. lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla, greek yogurt
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sift together the 2 and 1/4 cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Homework to do! Goodnight!

1:47:22

ONE hour FORTY-SEVEN minutes and TWENTY TWO seconds. My official race time for the half marathon. I am SO happy!



My average mile time was 8:12. I couldn't believe it. After taking so much time off because of my foot, I didn't think I would do so well.

We woke up at 5:10. I hardly slept all night. I was afraid that I was going to miss the race because of the time change! I found this lovely message from my roommate, Katie, on the way to get breakfast:



For breakfast, I had a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana. Then I laced up and by 5:45 we were on our way to the race!

It was very cold! Everyone bundled together before the race.




Kellee, Me, Nicole, and Ida


My mom and I warming up!


Tons of people!


My award!

The race started at 7. I started with the 2 hr. 10 min. pace group, because I didn't want to start off too fast. I felt good the whole way, but there were some hills that I didn't think they would be as bad as they were. By mile 8, I was running with the 1 hr. 50 min pace group! By mile 9, I passed them! It was a really great race and I am so happy my parents and Joe were there to support me.

Afterward, we celebrated with a visit to my favorite Mexican restaurant: El Dorado!

My legs are beat!

See ya after 13.1 miles

I had fun night spending time with my parents and boyfriend. We went out to a restaurant, one that I do not find worthy to put in my blog. It was just OK. I ate to eat a light dinner of fruit and chicken salad. Afterward, we had a strawberry yogurt pound cake that I made at my apartment. It was very good! Must have been the two sticks of butter and two cups of sugar! ;) I don't have time for the details of it right now, but I will post the recipe.

Early day tomorrow for the race!


That tiny person is me!

See ya after 13.1 miles!

That's a Spicy Meat-a ball-a!

These past couple of days have been really fun.

Thursday Night: Mellow Mushroom was wonderful as always. Amir and I split a medium cheese pizza (sometimes, simple is the best!) and the waitress brought out pizza dough rolls covered in cinnamon, sugar, and honey for Elizabeth's birthday!


The girs!

Later on, Joe met up with us!



On Friday:
I woke up early to go tutor at the middle school. Unfortunately, I woke up for nothing! I went to the school and the teacher told me they would not be having class until 10 am. Whoops! So I went home and ate some breakfast with Joe. a small bowl of granola and milk and two scrambled eggs. We spent the rest of the morning just relaxing.
Lunch was awesome! I picked up smoked salmon at Harris teeter and made open faced sandwiches with a salad on the side.


So colorful!

The bread is a multi grain Nature's Way roll. So I made a little lemon butter to spread on top.
Lemon butter recipe:
Butter, softened
Lemon zest
Just mash the two together with a fork!
Then the sandwich was topped with spinach leaves and smoked salmon!



The salad was mixed baby greens with cucumber, sharp, cheddar cheese, and strawberries!

It was so good! One of Joe's favorite foods is smoked salmon (He is from Finland!) and he loved the sandwich!
For dessert, we had the last of the pumpkin choco muffins! I am so sad they are gone!

Afterward, we went on a run. It was around three miles and then we walked some. Oh and by the way, I have run twice now and the pain in my foot is gone! It's a miracle! My race is tomorrow, and I am so happy to know I am not going to be in excruciating pain. Can wait to tell everyone how it goes!

I also baked a delicious cake yesterday to share with my parents and Joe for dessert tonight! (I'll share more about it on my next post). Here's a sneak peak:



Then, it was time to go pick up my race packet. I am number 3584. I got a nice, long sleeve racing shirt and a cool bag with lots of goodies! Including a snack:



Dinner was awesome too! It was my pre-race dinner, so I made spaghetti and meatballs with bread and a salad. Lots of carbs!



I love meat balls. They are probably my favorite food of all time. My mom makes THE BEST meat balls. Her meat balls are not for wimps - they are huge! When she makes them I will even eat them as a snack!

I tried to mimic my mom's recipe. Beef, bread crumbs, a little garlic salt, pepper, and fresh basil. They turned out really good. The tomato sauce is just store bought Prego sauce. The salad was mixed baby greens and cucumbers.

I asked Joe if he liked Italian or Swedish meatballs better. He said Italian! This is a BIG deal - anything that is Scandinavian, to Joe, is the best. I was so proud.
Dinner made me stuffed! I even TRIED to eat dessert! (A piece of chocolate) I couldn't do it!

Later, we went to the movies and saw Due Date. It was pretty funny. Robert Downey Jr. was nice to look at and Zach Gilifanakis (no idea if I spelled his name right) is HILARIOUS!

My parents will be here soon! I have missed them!

Checklist

It is cold and rainy outside today and it has made walking around campus not fun. :(

last night I went to bed a little earlier than usual, and I do think it made getting up this morning a little easier. Today, I was still a little tired though.

I woke up at 6:50 and ate a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and sliced banana on top. I also had an apple with a little cinnamon on top.

During class, I had half a banana and yogurt covered raisins as a snack, and for lunch the last bit of my broccoli cheddar soup with a piece of french baguette. Plus, a few small pumpkin choco muffins for dessert. I have a request to post the broccoli cheddar soup recipe from a reader(and it isn't from my mom or Joe)! Here is the link to where you can find the recipe (Food Network): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almost-famous-broccoli-cheddar-soup-recipe/index.html
(copy and paste the link into the search engine)

And now it is officially my weekend!

I have lots to do to get ready for this weekend (the real two day weekend)! I need to cook, clean, do homework (and I am still debating on running on the treadmill today...), and get ready to go out to Mellow Mushroom for Elizabeth's (my roommate) birthday! She turned 21! I am so excited for some delicious pizza!

Better get going!

Dinner + Dessert

Oh. My. Gawd. I just ate two of my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins I made last night. They are SO moist and good - with lots of delicious chocolate-y pumpkin-y flavor. Here is a picture, like I promised:



Recipe: http://whatsgabycooking.com/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-muffins/

For dinner tonight I had more broccoli and cheddar soup with a small piece of baguette.

I need to get some sleep! The past few days I it has been painful for me to get out of bed and I almost fell asleep in class today!

Sweet Dreams!