Eeyore kind of day

I know I said no more bad days, but can you have an Eeyore kind of day?  It actually wasn’t related to me feeling badly health-wise, it was everything else that kept happening 😦

For some reason, I don’t sleep well (issue for the last few months).  This was especially the case since I left Austin on Wednesday evening.  I am running on very little sleep from the last 4 nights.  Monday morning is going to be rough!

RUN

Started off Saturday morning with a run from my parent’s house.  Not really where I had wanted to run, but after scouring San Antonio’s limited running clubs and stores, I decided it was easiest.  Tropical Storm Don brought some rain, but it felt nice and I beat the sun. 

I chose the route with a few small hills in the middle that i’d made up the last time I was there.  My Garmin chose to record time but not miles (long story), so I ran for time instead.  Not a bad run until I needed to come down the steep hill that leads into the Medina Valley.  A cop had someone pulled over, so I had to move over into the grass, which was pretty tall. 

And then I felt it..

Three inches of mesquite bush/tree into my shoe.  Only about an inch actually went into my foot (made getting my shoe off very difficult).  At first I thought it was a nail or screw.  So there I was on the hill, in front of the cop who was now done writing his ticket, me ripping the branch out of my shoe, so I could take the shoe off and get the thorn out of my shoe, which I carefully removed from my left foot.

I don’t think any of it broke off in my foot.  It’s sore but i’m not worried, I ran the rest of the route home (about 3.5 miles).  They are supposedly poisonous.  I will watch it and see what happens.

LIFE

Met Dan and friends in New Braunfels to go tubing on the Comal river.  I had this bright idea to actually wear a 2 piece, which I immediately regretted.  As soon as I ate the peach I brought with me, I ballooned (makes no sense to me).  I was pretty much traumatized for the next few hours.   Then coming out of the 2nd chute, I got shot straight into a rock and took most of it to my back.  OUCH! 

Got separated from the group and my water and sunscreen.  Luckily I didn’t get dehydrated or sunburnt.  I did get trampled getting off of the river (they actually have huge issues with this lately), and end up closing the river access off in the afternoons due to it.  Some dude plowed over me and my left shin took a blow to one of the rock steps, that produced a nice huge bruise. 

FOOD

Ate at Cooper’s BBQ in New Braunfels (had been to the original location before).  It was one of the easiest options, as we had like 16 people in our group.  Still wasn’t that impressed.  I had half a potato, pork loin, and beans, with pickles, onions, and jalapenoes of course.  MEH.  I’ve had much better.  I tasted Dan’s beef ribs and sausage, neither of which I liked. 

It wasn’t a horrible day, but it certainly wasn’t as fun as I thought it was going to be 😦  It was nice to see so many friends from out of town though, which almost made me forget about everything else.

Tofu Cooking Class

I signed mom and I up to attend the very first cooking class at Green Vegetarian Cuisine in San Antonio.

Topic:  TOFU

Green was actually the first place mom ever had tofu, almost exactly a year ago.  She only ate it because they brought us a sampler tray and she didn’t know what it was 😉 

Before this year, I was never brave enough to cook with it, but i’ve been trying to branch out.  In fact, one of the very first dishes I made was Green’s vegetarian migas recipe, which appeared in the 2010 Shape Magazine.

It was a pretty sizable class, maybe 30 people in the small back room.  On the menu was:  tofu migas (hey, I know how to make that one!), caprese salad, strawberry cheesecake, and a lentil-tofu burger.

The tofu migas had fresh habanero peppers from their garden, which was AWESOME.  I had to toss the tortilla since I can’t have it (really shouldn’t have eaten anything that touched it either).  Not the prettiest, but was SO good.  Love that recipe.

The caprese had fresh tomatoes and basil, also from their on-site garden.  This was so good, maybe I could try this on Dan, but he’s a caprese snob.

Tofu-lentil burger.  It smelled good.  The recipe had flour as a binder 😦  Took it home to my dad, who balked when he found out what it was afterward.

The girl at the end of the table, next to mom, is training for her first Half Marathon, which will be Rock N Roll San Antonio.

Dessert was a tofu-strawberry cheesecake.  I also took this home to dad, the crust and filling both were not Gluten Free.

We had a great time.  If I can attend their next class, I certainly plan on attending.  I just wish the dietary restrictions wouldn’t have limited what I was able to eat. (I had to eat dinner when I got home).

Will post recipes as I make them at home.  The migas is already in my files of things I liked, will make the caprese for sure.

Things I like Thursday: My besties

My best friends finally met each other in April.  They live maybe 30 minutes from each other.  In fact, they live closer to each other than they do to me.

I was in town visiting Michele.  Decided we needed to make a trip to New Braunfels to have lunch with Alison (who I NEVER see).  She knows everything about the city, so she steered us to the brand new Buttermilk Cafe, which is owned by the same people that own Gruene Tea Room (which we all adore).

I should have maybe dressed a little less like a bum, lol.

We talked a ton.  I wish Alison didn’t have to go back to work!  I was trying to get a photo of their food (which was more exciting than mine), but I got Alison gabbing 😉

 Alison got the grilled veggie wrap, Michele got the turkey sandwich.  They both raved their side salads were very tasty, but both sandwiches had too much oil.

I got the Cobb Salad, which they made wrong the first time and took them 15 minutes to bring me another.  It was the most expensive thing on the lunch menu and there was nothing on it!  😦

I had a great time seeing both of them and watching them get along so well, which made my heart happy.  However,  I did NOT enjoy lunch.  I wish I would have ordered the chicken or pork chop plate, which was my first instict.

I ended up getting a baked potato at Wendy’s an hour later, because I was starving.

Recipe Review: Cajun Things

Dad brought me a ton of okra from the garden.  I could have made sautee or gumbo or a million other things, but I didn’t have everything for those.  I wondered about roasted okra.  I googled.  I am now IN LOVE!

Roasted Okra

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F

Arrange the okra slices in one layer on a foil lined cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil  and sprinkle with salt and pepper (or cajun seasoning). Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.  (I actually did 10 minutes, stir, then another 10 minutes).

I made this with Red Beans and Rice from the WW website.  You cook it in the crockpot, very good.  I don’t like white rice, so I half cooked some brown in the microwave and put that in the crockpot.  Instead of bacon, I used 2 links of that Jennie O brand smoked turkey sausage (that we had on the pizzas the night before).  Doesn’t change the points. (6P+) Or you could skip the meat and make it vegetarian.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

1 spray(s) cooking spray, garlic-flavored    
1 small onion(s), chopped    
1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced    
1/2 cup(s) uncooked white rice, converted-variety recommended    
1 1/2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth    
14 1/2 oz canned tomato puree, roasted-variety    
15 oz canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed    
2 slice(s) reduced-fat cooked crisp bacon, crumbled    
2 Tbsp canned chipotle sauce    
1/2 tsp dried oregano    
1/2 tsp table salt    
1/4 tsp black pepper    
1 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped    
1 Tbsp scallion(s), chopped (green part only)    

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic to skillet and sauté until slightly softened, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, place rice, broth, tomato puree, beans, bacon, chipotle sauce, oregano, salt and pepper in a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker; add sautéed vegetables. Cover and cook on low setting for 3 1/2 hours; stir in cilantro and scallion just before serving. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Started out with DIY pizzas at my house Friday night.  It was sister’s turn to host parents, but they weren’t home, so I entertained mom and dad for the evening 🙂  I was out of GF crust, so I made pizza GF pasta for myself.  Turned out fabulous!

Then the grand opening of the new Rogue store all Saturday morning.

Then mom’s choice.  Shopping.  And boy was it HOT.  And all of the places we went were open air, so hot and sunny with no AC.  BLECH!   And I wore jeans because my legs may have needed TLC.

Lunch at Fish City.  Sister and mom’s first time.  They loved it.  Very large and varied menu.  Something for everyone. 

They have one of the very best Mexican Shrimp cocktails.  Perfect with a salad on the side.  It’s spicy and SO good!

More shopping.  Somehow my sister and I bought stuff and mom bought almost nothing.  I had a Christmas gift card i’d not even attempted to spend at Ann Taylor, so I killed that sucker.

Mom wanted a steak dinner, so the 3 of us and our boys went to Texas Land and Cattle for dinner.  Another 1st for mom and sister.

They loved it.  Mom and I both got the signature sirloin which is smokey peppered goodness.  A little sad because mine had so much fat I had to cut off, mom’s had almost none.  That’s ok, because their sweet potatoes rock.

She got a chocolate miracle cake and a peach bread pudding for dessert.

Verdict was that the bread pudding was really good, the cake was overrated.  I am not a big chocolate cake person, but I could tell I wouldn’t like that one especially.  Looked like a fancy grocery store chocolate cake with too-sweet icing.  The only person who liked the cake was sister’s other half, who ate most of it.  He’ll eat anything with icing on it though.

I doubt I would have eaten much, if any of either dessert if I could of.  But in the 15 minutes spent on dessert at the table, I felt VERY out of place. That doesn’t happen very often at all.  So strange.  We rarely order dessert out anyhow, but mom didn’t want a cake, she wanted whatever the restaurant had that looked good.

When I got home I went to HEB plus for some vanilla bean Nada Moo to make myself some dessert with strawberries, raw premium nuts, and dark chocolate.

This weekend was actually my Nada Moo anniversary, lol.  One year ago we did a race for Autism with a GF food fair for mom’s birthday.  Nada Moo was a vendor there.  It’s good stuff.  I wish more places carried it.

Great Saturday despite the heat.  Girl time with mom and sister and I got to see Dan for a few hours before he left for Canada early Sunday morning.

Happy Grand Opening Rogue Cedar Park!

Arrived dark and early for a semi-long run.  They had groups leaving the store doing 4-12 and then groups leaving the middle of Austin doing 12+.  I chose 10, met some new friends during the run 🙂  Learned a new route too!

Great run, pretty new store, free swag,  food, product reps, and a great sale going on inside.

Mom was digging on the breakfast tacos and Honey Milk (if you haven’t tried, do it).  The Honey Milk Light is great, Dan likes it too (originally got some from the 3M half marathon swag bag).  I wish I could still drink it, but with the dairy free restriction right now, it’s out 😦

My mom and sister ran too, but on their own.  They slept in and dogged the miles too.  Fine for sister, who isn’t really running right now, just doing her bootcamp thing.  But I had really hoped mom would take advantage of being near a great trail and not having to run the hamster circles like she has to run at home.   I’m sure had she been at my house, she would have done the 6 am run with us.

The Williamson County Humane Society was there promoting their 5K in September and brought some doggies.  I REALLY wanted to take Wendell the Pomeranian home with me.

Dan and I are traveling A LOT between now and Christmas.  Not fair to a dog.  The cats aren’t really bothered and can be left alone with minimal supervision.  Although I could see me taking that dog with me on trips 😉

Did I mention there was also a marathon for the grand opening?  Yes.  26.2 from the original downtown Rogue store to Cedar Park.  1 person was selected to run each mile.  Megan ran mile 14 for Austin Runners Club, go Megan!  Georgetown Running Club also got a mile!   You could run more and a few Rogues ran the whole thing, including the co-owner.  Horrible photo of him finishing in the store, but he did and it was HOT.

Mom got fitted for new shoes.  The guy was SO patient, I wanted to hug him.  It took her an hour to choose between 3 pair.  My sister refused to ask, so I took it upon myself to tell him to fit her, which he did.  Her current shoes are actually causing her issues (told her so).  She’d actually texted me from Kohl’s one day with a photo of 2 pair of shoes and asked “which one?”  My response was “neither, go get fitted and buy real shoes.”  She complained about the price of the shoes he ordered for her, but I told her, proper shoes are cheaper than physical therapy.

I got new kicks too.  I don’t need them right now, but I have been pining for the limited edition Kayanos which I call “ketchup and mustard.”  I couldn’t find them in my size when they were released, so I gave up. 

Good times for sure.  It was SO crowded.  Made me smile that so many people turned out for an event up North (people think Williamson County may as well be on the other end of the earth).  Good family time too 🙂

Lifetime Anniversary

July 23, 2007 I made Lifetime with Weight Watchers.  This Saturday I celebrated 4 glorious years of being below my WW goal weight.  It’s the best thing I ever did for myself.  It hasn’t been easy, but ALL worth it.

What does Lifetime mean?

Means you attended meetings, you made your goal weight, and have shown that you can maintain it for the 6 week “maintenance learning period.”  If you are an online only member, you cannot be lifetime.

Once Lifetime, you need to weigh in once a month and not be more than two pounds over goal or below the bottom of the BMI range.  If you fit that criteria, meetings are free, yes FREE. 

I still attend meetings weekly.  I need the structure and accountibility.  I enjoy them most of the time. 

Once Lifetime, you are always Lifetime.  Even if you are above goal.  I’ve never been above goal, but i’ve seen lapsed Lifetimers come back and they really try to get them back on track.

Unfortunately this isn’t my original keychain or charms (the 10% was pewter then).  It broke because it’s cheaply made and I lost all of my charms in Houston one weekend in the fall of 2007.   I’m missing 2 LT keys, 16 week,  and a 5K charm (from last year, which was the first year).  Maybe i’ll eventually get those replaced too.  The 2 LT keys ARE original, from 2009 and 2010.  I’ll get the 2011 one in October.   There also wasn’t a 25 lb disc in 2007, it was a magnet.  So I have both now 😉

I have it hanging up in my house.  It’s not really a functional keychain (learned that the hard way). 

It’s a good reminder of where i’ve come from and where i’m going.  I need to look at it more often 🙂

Here’s to living my the rest of my life healthy, happy, and fit!

Things I like Thursday: Leftovers repurposed

I love to cook, but I don’t really cook every night when Dan is away on business (especially when I am busy on very long day-trips for work).

Thank goodness for leftovers that I repurposed…

Tuesday night’s Mexican Fajita Dinner from the ballpark suite:

Also became Wednesday night’s honey jalapeno stir fry bowl, using Shayne Sauce’s honey jalapenoes for sweet-fire. (beef and chicken)

And Thursday night’s fajita bowl (didn’t have salad, so it actually has broccoli, leftover chicken, guacamole, and pico, and a ton of other veggies, hot salsa, and pepper-jack df cheese)

Totally rocks that the suite lets you take out what was already bought.  So I grabbed a whole box of fresh cut veggies and another of fajita veggies, beef, chicken, and guacamole.  Split the leftovers 3 different ways and still came home with a good amount of food.

Dan is back,  my parents are eating here Friday night.  I suppose I should cook.  I’m leaning more toward DIY pizza night 😉

Donde Esta?

I’m around, i’ve been all over.  The coming months are HECTIC!

This is what next few months look like for us:

Dan:  currently on his way to Montana.  Then Calgary next week, San Antonio, San Francisco, Detroit, Florida, and a few places I can’t remember.

Me:  day trips don’t count, but there are a lot of them.  I also have Killeen, San Antonio, San Fransico, Dallas, Lubbock, Florida, and Houston. 

Two day trips for work this week, Wednesday and Thursday.  Thursday will be a very long day, but I am looking forward to it.  Looks like maybe going to Blues on the Green Wednesday to see Dale Watson will have to wait 😦   Especially since Thursday is a long day trip and I probably won’t get back home until really late.

A little fun tonight.  We have the company suite at the ballpark.  Dan let me pick out the food, which was cool, but it’s still not a full meal of things I can eat, so I’ll have to special order something to go with the fajitas (I didn’t want to do BBQ again, we had that the last 2 times in the suite).  Since Dan had to leave town, i’m taking my sister, who I haven’t seen since 3 weeks ago!  I am not cool with that 😦   I could barely get her to return text messages about going with me tonight.  Makes me very sad that we used to be SO close and now I barely see her.  We live 10 miles from each other!  She doesn’t really talk to my mom much either, which is odd to me.  I really wish I could persuade her to spend more time talking to and spending time with family. 

Family is very important to me.  I want to pull her back into feeling the same way.

RR: Curried Turkey Burger Sliders

Curried Turkey Burger Sliders
Source:  Clean Eating, July 2011
Serves 6

1 egg white
1/3 cup grated apple
1/4 cup minced onion
3 T ground flaxseed
1 T curry powder
2 t ginger
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 t ground coriander
1 lb lean ground turkey or chicken
2 t lemon juice
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup peeled and grated cucumber, drained
EVOO cooking spray
2-3 pieces naan bread, cut into 24 squares

In a large bowl, combine egg white, apple, onion, flaxseed, curry, ginger, salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1/2 t coriander.  Shape into 12 mini burger patties.

In small bowl, combine 1 t lemon juice, yogurt, cucumber, salt, pepper, and remaining coriander.

Heat non-stick grill, pan, or skill, on medium-high and cook patties, turning once (about 5 minutes).  Top patties with cucumber yogurt and sandwich between 2 squares of naan bread.

*  I served mine on toasted gluten-free bread, Dan’s on an onion bun.  I dressed with lettuce, tomato, and mango on mine, which is what was suggested.  The way I made them, for 4 large patties, they were 5 P+ each.  That does not include sauce or bread.  ( I didn’t make the sauce, since I can’t eat it).  I took a photo, they were gorgeous, but then I deleted it on accident 😦  Sadness.

It’ll go as a keeper for me, as I predicted, it was too different for Dan.  Needless to say, I had leftovers since Mr. Picky wasn’t wild about them. 

Friday’s lunch was one of the chopped curried turkey burgers over field greens with sunflower seeds, mango, papaya, and pineapple, green onions, with EVOO.  VERY tasty and summery.