‘Twas a wet and dreary morning around these parts.

Kelly and I actually got very lucky on our 12 mile run this morning. There was 84% humidity, grey clouds, and a light mist that caught up with us every once in a while, but that was it. We missed the huge downpour that took over the Tampa Bay area in the wee hours of the morning and instead of dodging rain, we just had to dodge big puddles. No biggie.

We were up before the sun and each had a rice cake with almond butter, pumpkin butter, and chocolate covered edamame before hitting the road.

I was excited to introduce Kelly to one of my favorite running loops in Tampa this morning. We’ve run together plenty of times in Orlando, not only a couple in Tampa. Unfortunately the temporary set-ups for the upcoming Gasparilla celebrations this weekend hindered the real beauty of this route.

Barricades, tents, and porta potties as far as the eye could see! The good news was, in case there was an emergency must-potty-now situation, we were covered.

Kelly is recovering from a slight injury, so the miles were a little slower than we predicted. We chatted, hobbled, and braced ourselves for rain that never ended up making an appearance.

12 miles done and done.

After our run we met our friend Dee for breakfast at Pinky’s Diner.

Pinky’s is one of those places I’ve been told I’ve had to try since I moved to Tampa last March. They’re famous for their Saturday and Sunday morning brunches, where the wait for a table in the tiny place can take well over an hour. I’m told it’s worth it and the long wait or limited parking hasn’t stop people from coming back yet.

We had a small wait for a table for three, but nothing terrible. Once seated, I immediately ordered a double shot cafe con leche and enjoyed every sip.

Kelly ordered a regular coffee and was invited up to the coffee counter where she selected her cup and her brew of choice.

Go Dolphins! (that one’s for Anthony )

The menu was full of breakfast classics and everything everyone dined on around us looked amazing. Dee informed me that her co-workers rave about the oatmeal pancakes, which are their regular buttermilk pancakes with a hearty dose of oats added to the batter. I heard pancakes and was sold. An order of the short stack pancakes with strawberries and a side of scrambled egg please.

The pancakes were dense, yet fluffy and extremely filling thanks to the extra oats. The strawberries were really my favorite part. You could tell they were fresh slices that were added to the pancakes on the griddle and not simply mixed in the batch. Pancake perfection.

I loved the cute, funky vibe Pinky’s had to offer and I loved the food. I’ll definitely be back.

Our fingers are crossed that the sky clears up before we head out for the bachelorette festivities this afternoon. Until then Kelly and I are catching on work stuff and piecing together last minute party favors. Penis straws anyone?!

We have a visitor!

And she brought beer!

Well, the beer was mine, but Kelly really is here! She’s in town in preparation for Ashley’s bachelorette party this weekend and we have plans to run 12 miles together in the morning. Yay for sister bonding time! We cracked open my bottle of Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin in celebration of her arrival.

Before Kelly arrived, I had a granola bar snack.

And Derek and I split a bag of popcorn.

He wasn’t a big fan of the pop up bowl, so he dumped half in a regular bowl and I got to keep the rest. Party pooper.

P.S. La Croix is BOGO at Publix this week – stock up while you can!

Dinner was still up in air when Kelly arrived around 7:00pm. We rummaged around the fridge and came up with the idea for a quiche.

First – a layer of stale bread as the base for a crust.

Topped with a mix of:

• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 crumbled lentil ‘meatballs’
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons spinach basil pesto
• salt & pepper

Baked for 35 minutes at 375

Done!

My favorite bites were the ones with the crusty bread crust on the edge.

Served with brussels sprouts.

We broke out a jar of cookie mix that Derek received as a Christmas gift for dessert.

I had one hot out of the oven.

Yum.

Now Kelly and I are chillin’ in front of the tv watching No Strings Attached on Netflix instant play. We also just got done playing Glee Karaokee (I still haven’t convinced Derek to duet with me yet in that game!) and caught ourselves up on mutual friend gossip. I <3 my sister!

Can’t wait to run in the morning!

Good Night!

If you were to look back and dissect my 3+ years worth of lunches on this blog, you would come to two conclusions.

#1 – I eat a LOT of leftovers for lunch. Waste not, want not – right?

#2 – my favorite way to eat those leftovers is in sandwich form.

Particularly all grilled together in one big happy sandwich of leftovers.

Just like today’s lunch, which featured Tuesday night’s lentil ‘meatballs’ and Wednesday night’s mashed rutabaga sandwiched between two sliced on honey oat bread and grilled to perfection.

I should have added cheese. It was definitely missing cheese.

You’ll probably also discover that I eat a lot of carrot sticks on the side of these sandwiches.

Carrot sticks from whole carrots that I peel and cut with one of my favorite knives. It takes about 2 minutes and tastes sooooo much better than baby carrot sticks.

Typically when I discuss the focus of my blog with friends, family, or random strangers off the street, they usually shake their head and say something along the lines of “people would get so bored of my food – I eat the same thing everyday!” Well, the truth is, I feel like I eat the same thing too – just slightly different versions of the same thing. When it all boils down to it, we are all creatures of routine and comfort – especially when it comes to food!

FYI: The new Skinny Caffe Mocha at Starbucks tastes just like a hot chocolate.

I had a free coupon (my second free coupon in three months <-proof I come to Starbucks wayyyyy too much) and wanted to try it. Eh. I think I prefer just a plain ole non-fat latte. This one was a tad too sweet for my taste. I think hot chocolates should be reserved for Christmas time and ski vacations.

Need to feel inspired? Watch this.

Love the message behind this video. It’s about being fit and healthy, not skinny.

And now I want to try CrossFit. There was a great article in Runner’s World last month on the benefits of CrossFit when incorporated into marathon training. I bought a Groupon deal for the local CrossFit gym months ago and I think it’s about time I put it to use.

Can I just say that you guys rock?!

I *think* I have a lead on my lace dress mission. Fingers crossed.

Also, One Day on the big screen? Err.. our little big screen? It was ok. The book was better, but would you really expect any less? I felt like the they rushed a lot of things to fit 18+ years of storyline into a 100 minute film. I also wasn’t a fan of who they cast for Dexter, I pictured someone very different in my head. Sort of blonde and sexy, not skinny and dull.

Did you see the movie/ read the book? What were your thoughts?

Luckily there were no alarm fails this morning. I triple checked before I went to bed last night and had no problems getting up at the regularly scheduled 6:15am time slot.

I hit the gym, walked on the treadmill, and completed NROLFW Stage 6A. The 10 sets of 2 reps of the underhand-grip lat pulldown are really starting to get to me. It just feels so long and drawn out. I much prefer longer reps and shorter sets.

Breakfast was my short-cut version of muesli/overnight oats.

The short-cut? Using a package of instead oatmeal. I just mixed the package of instant oatmeal with greek plain yogurt and topped it with peanut butter, walnuts, raisins, and blueberries.

The instant oatmeal only had to sit in the yogurt for a couple of minutes before it was mushy and ready to be enjoyed.

Short cut success.

Time to get this day started!

Derek and I were able to cross one more thing off of our wedding planning to-do list this week – we booked our engagement photo session for the first weekend of March. Woo hoo!

That gives me just over a month to track down this dress.

The dress (and the engagement photos that came with it) were featured on the Style Me Pretty Facebook page yesterday. Love. Love. Love.

Such a gorgeous couple. I love how happy and in love they are in these photos.

And I love that dress.

Must. Have. Now. :-p

Unfortunately the only versions of the dress I could find online were sold out or out of my price range.

A quick pop in at the mall this afternoon left me empty handed too.

(edited to add: blue dress and white dress are Urban Outfitters. Long sleeve and tank top dresses are Forever 21)

Dratz.

My new mission – find an ivory lace dress for engagement photos. Any ideas?

Before the mall I had a rice cake with almond butter, walnuts, raisins, and strawberries.

Derek and I did have a meeting for a venue price quote this afternoon (which is why I was at the mall waiting for him to get off of work), but it was canceled at the last minute. Boo. The canceled meeting also canceled our plans for dinner out. No meeting meant we had no excuses not to eat the fridge full of food we had at home. Double boo.

It’s just as well. I’m sure neither our wallets nor our waistlines would have appreciated the planned bbq feast quite as much as our tastebuds would have. Instead I got creative with the rutabaga at the bottom of the produce drawer. I peeled it, steamed it, and mashed it with some fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, and milk. It came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

I spent all my creative energy on the rutabaga, so when it came to everything else I took the lazy way out. The chicken was the Oscar Meyer Carving Board Chicken Breast.

The green beans were lightly steamed in the same steamer as the rutabaga and the bread was just toasted.

It wasn’t bbq, but it was all still good.

The espresso chip ice cream helped.

Now I can’t wait to watch this (LOVED the book!)

With these two.

Good Night!

Yes, it’s another Pinterest inspired post. Please forgive me. After resisting for so long, I’ve fallen hard into the land of Pinterest and can’t find my way out. I’m sure it’s a phase that will pass. You know, just like that whole Facebook and Twitter thing. <- ha!

There are a handful of themes you see play themselves out constantly on Pinterest: Food, Weddings, Home, DIY, Fashion, Hair, etc. I tend to mainly focus on weddings and food (two of my favorite things at the moment), but every once in a while a hair tutorial pin will pop up and have me thinking ‘hmmm…that looks easy.’ I’ll pin it and that will be it.

Katy is a great hair inspiration. She’s had success attempting some of the hair tutorials on her end, so I wanted to give one a whirl too. Really the only thing I know how to do with my hair is curl it, straighten it, braid it, or put it in a ponytail. Besides that I’m useless.

We all have to start somewhere right? Enter today’s inspiration pin courtesy of TheBeautyDepartment.com

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There was an alarm fail this morning.

My 6:15am Mon-Fri alarm on my phone never went off. Instead I awoke to the ‘beep, beep, beep’ of Derek’s 7:00am alarm on his phone. It was nice to have an unexpected additional 45 minutes of sleep, but a failed alarm is never cool.

Does anyone else have problems with their alarm on their Android? This isn’t the first time this has happened to me and I’ve heard rumors of it happening to other friends too.

I literally jumped out of bed when I realized what time it was and rushed Maddie outside before getting dressed and heading out for my run. I had 7 miles to conquer with a 4 mile tempo thrown in the mix. The run wasn’t bad. I found it difficult to hold the planned 7:45 pace for the tempo miles, but still averaged an overall pace of 7:52 for the tempos and a 8:13 for the entire 7 miles. Felt good to finish.

I didn’t have time to get too creative with breakfast, so cereal made an appearance.

• 1/2 cup Kashi Cinnamon Go Lean Crisp
• 1/2 cup Oatmeal Quaker Squares
• walnuts
• ricotta cheese
• pumpkin butter
• almond butter
• strawberries
• blueberries

Ricotta cheese and almond butter? Surprisingly delicious, especially with the pumpkin butter. Yum.

Ragnar Relay Video

Our team captain just posted our official We Ran With Your Mom Last Night Ragnar Relay video. This is the PG-13 version (slight nudity towards the end – be warned).

I’ve been told an unrated version is in the works, but it won’t be going public.

Good times. Good times. ;)

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

(source)

I can’t believe I almost missed it! Did you already celebrate? Had a peanut butter massage? Indulged in a peanut butter facial? Organized your peanut butter stash? Or baked up a big batch of peanut butter cookies?!

I did none of those.

BUT I did receive a peanut themed package in the mail.

All clear. No peanut allergies in this house.

What could it be? Why, it’s…

PEANUT BUTTER CHEERIOS!

The company sent me an email a couple of weeks back asking if I would like a sample to review and I couldn’t respond fast enough. Peanut Butter Cheerios?!?! I am sooo there!

I had a handful right from the box and instantly loved the subtle peanut butter flavor. It reminded me of the Reeses Peanut Butter Puff cereal, only not as sweet or sugary.

I made a small bowl of the cereal with a spoonful of ricotta cheese and fresh blueberries for my afternoon snack.

Yep. Still good.

Now the question remains – which is better? Cinnamon Cheerios or Peanut Butter Cheerios? Tough call.

I had lentils on my mind for dinner. And after pinning recipe after recipe, I figured it was time I actually tested one out.

They sure make those lentil meatballs look good, don’t they?

That pin brought me to THIS RECIPE featured in The New York Times from The Meatball Shop. I had the distinct pleasure of dining at The Meatball Shop when I was in New York City in 2010 and can vouch that the food there is amazing. If their food is good, I figured the recipe had to be good too.

However, the recipe wasn’t an easy one. It was long, time consuming, and felt like it was missing steps. Let’s just say my ‘meatballs’ weren’t quite as pretty as the above photo.

Umm.. yeah. Not even close. It didn’t help that they fell apart while cooking either.

Fail.

On the bright side, it was pretty hard to mess up the spinach basil pesto. That part was a piece of cake and came out pretty tasty.

Steamed brussels sprouts + broken balls and sauce

The lentil meatballs have broken pieces of walnuts inside, which gave the balls a nice meaty flavor. The ball may not have been pretty, but they still tasted pretty good. Of course, the spinach basil pesto was really the best part. I think you could put that on anything and it would be good.

Strawberries and dark chocolate edamame for dessert!

Have you ever tried your hand at a recipe from a restaurant? Were you able to nail it as great as the restaurant did?

Move it along. Move it along. Nothing new to see here.

Yep, nothing new to see here. Today’s lunch was 75% repurposed leftovers. I love meals where all I do is pop open the containers, mix it all on the stove top, and serve.

Today’s mix featured a flashback to Sunday night’s bbq tofu, last night’s potatoes and lima beans, fresh green beans, and mushrooms served on a bed of spinach.

The best part was that the tofu still had a good amount of bbq sauce on it that rubbed off on everything else and made any sort of additional sauce of dressing complete unnecessary.

Background Noise

When I first met Caitlin in 2008, and she told me she worked from home, I had this image in the back of my mind of her working at her desk with the television always on in the background. An image, i later discovered, that was totally wrong. She didn’t (and still doesn’t) watch tv while working. This wasn’t a concept that made much sense to me (I loved having the tv on at all times!) until I started working from home myself last January.

At first I would keep the tv on for ‘background noise,’ but then I discovered how much it distracted me. I couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand with the tv on and stuff that should have taken me 10 minutes, started to drag out for over an hour. Not good and not very time efficient.

I started working with the tv off and saw a huge jump in my productivity. I’ve also discovered I struggle with listening to music while I work, apparently I’m distracted very easily. However, people talking at a coffee shop? Oddly soothing. I think it reminds me of working in an office, where people are constantly having conversations each other.

Are you a fan of ‘background noise’ while working? Or are you more of the dead silent type?

Rise and shine! It’s running time!

My legs were itching to run this morning. It’s always so much easier to get up and get out the door when I know I’m literally just walking out the door to run. When there’s driving involved and the need to go from point A to point B, it’s always a tad bit harder to motivate myself to start moving.

I have a confession. Ever since my holiday down in Key West at the beginning of the month, I’ve been failing miserably at sticking to my training plan for the St. Pete half marathon. I’ve been running and attempting some speed work, but haven’t looked at my plan once. I’m not sure why (I love sticking to plans!) I just think that maybe I’m scared I can’t hit the goals I’ve attached to it and I would rather not know. Worst logic ever, I know.

I’m hoping that will change. I’m recommitting myself to the plan and seeing it through to the end. My goal is at the very least to PR. A 1:45 half marathon would simply be icing on the cake at this point, if I don’t reach it I’m not going to beat myself up over it.

And by recommitting, I mean starting tomorrow. I made the pact with myself after I already ran 5 miles with some intervals instead of the 4 miles at an 8:30 pace like the plan asked for. The good news is that the 1/2 mile intervals averaged a 7:45-ish pace and I finished the 5 miles in just over 41 minutes totals for a 8:17 min/mi overall pace.

Breakfast

The star of the plate was a protein-packed dip I created with 1/3 cup plain Chobani, 2 spoonfuls of PB2, a couple splashes of milk, chia seeds, and pumpkin butter.

The addition of the pumpkin butter gave the dip some sweetness, honey would have worked too.

Paired with apple slices for dipping.

Side of toast with pumpkin butter and walnuts.

The toast ended up in the dip too, as did my tongue as I licked the bowl clean. You can’t beat the mix of peanut butter and pumpkin butter. I was also attempted to add chocolate protein powder for even more of a protein kick. Maybe next time.

What’s you favorite homemade dip for apples or fruit? Nothing beats good old fashion peanut butter, but it’s also fun to experiment with new ones.