Well as you can probably tell, school has started. So the blogging has nearly stopped. We're almost through the first week and it's going pretty well but the first week is just always crazy. Switching classrooms, people trying to get into classes and out of classes, technology not working, hunting down students that never show up. I'm so ready for everyone to just be set with their classes, their rooms, their online homework...and just do some math. My classes seem like nice groups of people. No one has stuck out as super annoying, and usually those students show themselves in the first few days.
And I did get myself to run one night this week, so I'm down to the final run of the Couch to 5k. In theory that should happen tonight...we'll see.
The freezer meals, however, are working out wonderfully. Totally have saved us this past week.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Couch to 5k - Week 8 done!
Tonight I finished week 8 of the Couch to 5k program! Three 28 minute runs in the books. For the first time tonight at the recommendation of my facebook friends, I used the CardioTrainer app on my phone during my run. According to my phone I did 2.95 miles in 28:01. My first mile was 9:14 and my second mile was 9:44. So the next 0.95 miles would have been in 9:03. The route that I run in Pekin Country Club has two big (for me) hills during mile number 2, so that's definitely what happened there. The first mile and the last mile are completely flat. I know that I'm not actually running fast...but it feels fast. Maybe it just feels fast compared to the pace that I was running 9 weeks ago. I'm definitely running faster now. I know that speed is not really the goal, but it's kind of fun to go faster :) One of my goals at the beginning of this program was to be able to do a 5k in 30 minutes. So I am definitely on pace for being able to do that. I actually signed up for a 5k this week. No backing out now... There's a 5k at the Marigold Festival on September 10th. Brad is playing in the sand volleyball tournament that day so I knew we'd be down at the festival. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to get a t-shirt. Maybe I'll even buy some shorts that stay up for the event.
Fall Semester Freezer Load-up Continued
Well with Brad out of town, I haven't really been cooking much for just me, so I decided to do a little more prep for some things in the freezer. Lawry's marinades were on sale for $0.88, so I grabbed two bottles and one of the super six pound packs of fresh chicken and came home and turned it into four meals for later. I was able to split it into 20 chicken breast halves and did two meals worth with the Tuscan Sun-dried tomato marinade and two meals worth with the Herb and garlic marinade.
I also made some chocolate chocolate chip cookies on Sunday night, and being the only one home, did not think it was probably a good plan to have too many of those laying around, so I froze two dozen cookies for when Shom comes over for dinner. And for Brad. :)
Our little jalapeno plant has also been producing peppers like crazy. Since the tomatillos aren't ready yet, I stemmed and seeded a bunch of peppers for salsa making later.
I need to make some freezer meals with some beef as I now have three meals with pork and like ten with chicken. I guess no-beef-wednesdays have kind of turned into no-beef-everydays.
I also made some chocolate chocolate chip cookies on Sunday night, and being the only one home, did not think it was probably a good plan to have too many of those laying around, so I froze two dozen cookies for when Shom comes over for dinner. And for Brad. :)
Our little jalapeno plant has also been producing peppers like crazy. Since the tomatillos aren't ready yet, I stemmed and seeded a bunch of peppers for salsa making later.
I need to make some freezer meals with some beef as I now have three meals with pork and like ten with chicken. I guess no-beef-wednesdays have kind of turned into no-beef-everydays.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
C25k - Not just jogging
I just finished Week 8 Day 2 - my second 28 minute run. And I gotta say, I'm starting to feel like a runner again. Not just someone jogging slightly faster than I can walk for short intervals, but like I'm actually out there running. And I don't feel like I'm going to die at any moment. It feels really good. My run Friday night and my run today both felt really good. Both times I did right around 2.9 miles in 28 minutes. Today felt a little harder since my route had some hills in it, but the hills are definitely good for me.
Friday was fun as I actually ran with some other people for the first time. Trisha and Natalie are working on the Couch to 5k as well and were on the last run for week 5 which is the first long run of 20 minutes. So we all did the warm up together and head off together. It was nice to have some others around and it was fun to see them conquer the first long run. And we went out for McDonald's smoothies afterwards :)
Friday was fun as I actually ran with some other people for the first time. Trisha and Natalie are working on the Couch to 5k as well and were on the last run for week 5 which is the first long run of 20 minutes. So we all did the warm up together and head off together. It was nice to have some others around and it was fun to see them conquer the first long run. And we went out for McDonald's smoothies afterwards :)
Fall Semester Freezer Load-up
Well in one week the fall semester officially kicks off with the first day of classes. But pretty much, starting tomorrow summer is officially over. This week is the "celebration of learning" which really just translates to a lot of meetings that accomplish very little and some frantic last minute preparations for the first week. I do not feel very ready for the semester just yet and I'm really banking on some time this week to get some work done...hopefully half real work and half meetings.
The first couple weeks of the semester are always a little rough as we adjust to a new schedule, so I'm trying to get my freezer loaded up with some easy meals that don't take much planning or prep. I have been doing a few things here and there over the past couple weeks and did some cooking yesterday just for the freezer. I believe I have like 9 meals or at least partial meals in there now. We have:
-Two meals of chicken and black bean burritos
-Two meals of marinated pork chops (whenever I can get Lawry's marinades pretty cheap, I freeze four pork chops and half a bottle of marinade in a tupperware...then I just have to remember to put it in the fridge the night before or in the morning and these can get thrown on the grill)
-Three meals of chicken tortilla soup
-One meal of stromboli sandwiches (Brad refers to this as "the big sandwich". As it is, I only make a half recipe and I still freeze half of it.)
-One meal of shredded chicken tacos (I used some of my recently harvested peppers in with this meat as well as the meat for the burritos)
So hopefully this will get us through the crazy period at the beginning of the semester where I have to relearn how to go to work five days a week :) That teaching five days a week stuff really wears me out!
The first couple weeks of the semester are always a little rough as we adjust to a new schedule, so I'm trying to get my freezer loaded up with some easy meals that don't take much planning or prep. I have been doing a few things here and there over the past couple weeks and did some cooking yesterday just for the freezer. I believe I have like 9 meals or at least partial meals in there now. We have:
-Two meals of chicken and black bean burritos
-Two meals of marinated pork chops (whenever I can get Lawry's marinades pretty cheap, I freeze four pork chops and half a bottle of marinade in a tupperware...then I just have to remember to put it in the fridge the night before or in the morning and these can get thrown on the grill)
-Three meals of chicken tortilla soup
-One meal of stromboli sandwiches (Brad refers to this as "the big sandwich". As it is, I only make a half recipe and I still freeze half of it.)
-One meal of shredded chicken tacos (I used some of my recently harvested peppers in with this meat as well as the meat for the burritos)
So hopefully this will get us through the crazy period at the beginning of the semester where I have to relearn how to go to work five days a week :) That teaching five days a week stuff really wears me out!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Salsa Verde
Pretty much the whole reason that I wanted a garden was so that I could grow some salsa ingredients. I LOVE salsa verde and I find that here in central Illinois it can be pretty hard to find the fresh ingredients. The East Peoria Walmart usually has tomatillos, but sometimes they look like they've been there for a really, really long time. And I love to roast poblano peppers, but they are frequently all wrinkly at the store. So those were the two main things that I wanted to grow.
We've been getting peppers for about a month now from the garden and this week the first tomatillos were ready. Earlier this week I harvested four anaheim peppers, five jalapenos, and five tomatillos. One of the tomatillos was all buggy, but I figured with four I could make a little batch of salsa.
I was roughly going off of a recipe I've used before from my Rick Bayless cookbook, so this morning I roasted my tomatillos and garlic in the skillet. Chopped up an anaheim pepper and threw all of that in the food chopper. I added a little water, salt, and lime juice. And it was so yummy :) It had really good flavor, but really was not spicy at all, so I ended up adding one jalapeno as well. And that seems just right. It only made like a cup of salsa, but I was still pretty excited. I didn't have any fresh white onion or cilantro, but I figured I could add those later.
This salsa is great with chips and on tacos, and I thought I might try using it as a sauce on some baked chicken. In the next few weeks there are going to be a lot more tomatillos, so I'm going to try making this and freezing it. I found a recipe where they did all of the roasting whole in the oven, so I think that would make it easier for a big batch.
We've been getting peppers for about a month now from the garden and this week the first tomatillos were ready. Earlier this week I harvested four anaheim peppers, five jalapenos, and five tomatillos. One of the tomatillos was all buggy, but I figured with four I could make a little batch of salsa.
I was roughly going off of a recipe I've used before from my Rick Bayless cookbook, so this morning I roasted my tomatillos and garlic in the skillet. Chopped up an anaheim pepper and threw all of that in the food chopper. I added a little water, salt, and lime juice. And it was so yummy :) It had really good flavor, but really was not spicy at all, so I ended up adding one jalapeno as well. And that seems just right. It only made like a cup of salsa, but I was still pretty excited. I didn't have any fresh white onion or cilantro, but I figured I could add those later.
This salsa is great with chips and on tacos, and I thought I might try using it as a sauce on some baked chicken. In the next few weeks there are going to be a lot more tomatillos, so I'm going to try making this and freezing it. I found a recipe where they did all of the roasting whole in the oven, so I think that would make it easier for a big batch.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Taste of Peoria
Last night, Shom and I went to the Taste of Peoria. I haven't been to the Taste in probably five years...the last time I went you could still get a cookie monster from Cheddar's if that tells you something. We met up at Belcan and wandered over. We started out with one of my favorite things: crab rangoon from Thanh Linh. They are so crispy and so delicious. I could have spent all of my Taste Bucks there. We went from there to Qdoba where I got some chicken nachos and then Gracie's where Shom got a bacon wrapped pig wing. Surprisingly all of this and a bottle of soda was quite filling, so we moved onto dessert from the Cookie Shack. I got an M&M cookie and Shom got a crazy ice cream/brownie/cookie/whipped creme sundae. The weather was gorgeous so we just sad down by the river and chatted for most of the evening, saying hello to all the people Shom knew as they passed. It was pretty busy, but we got there early enough that no one had run out of anything yet. All in all a fun night...though we did liken it to that Seinfeld episode where George and Elaine are hanging out, talking about Jerry...but Shom didn't want to be George.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Michigan Vacation 7/30-8/3
Midas used to love to swim. We would go down to the creek in the woods behind our house, and as soon as there were two inches of water he would be flopped down in it trying to swim. We always talked about how fun it would be to take him to the beach, but just never got to it.
This summer we ended up not doing a "big" vacation. We had just been to St. John in January and it didn't work out to have a big trip in May like we'd done the past few years. So we did two small trips instead - a three day weekend in May to Ohio and Indiana for antiquing and a five day weekend to the dunes in Michigan. It was perfect timing right after summer school and for our anniversary and before Brad needed to go to Norway for work.
We rented a house in Michiana, Michigan which is on the Michigan side of the Indiana/Michigan state line. The neighborhood was pretty wooded and quiet and the house was about a half mile walk from the town beach at Stop 40 (named for the old Lake Shore Drive bus route). We went up on a Saturday and had a picnic lunch and then walked down to check out the beach and wander around the neighborhood. The beach had "dog hours", so we knew we had to wait until the next morning for the pups to go for their first swim. We went into New Buffalo for dinner and ate a restaurant called The Stray Dog - appropriate start to the dog vacation. The place was packed and we enjoyed some burgers and wraps, and picked up some t-shirts with the cute dog logo. We spent most of the evenings of the trip playing with the dogs and doing crossword puzzles on B's phone - that's right, we're that exciting.
The next day we spent the whole day at the beach. We took the pups down first thing in the morning and let them walk along the sand for awhile first and they just waded in a little. Then we got out Lucy's pink frisbee and she just turned into a little fish. She would chase her frisbee into the water over and over again, running up and laying on the sand in between. If no one made a move to steal the frisbee from her and throw it, she would start crying - with the frisbee still in her mouth. Sally was a bit more cautious. When she first tried swimming, she didn't use her back legs at all, just had them pulled up real tight. That first day I kept her on a leash for the most part and would get in the water and coax her to swim out to me. She loosened up and got a little braver as the week went on. Around lunch time we would take the dogs home, hose them off, and put them in their crates for naps. They were completely exhausted after a couple hours at the beach. The pups went for swims three mornings and then also went for walks on the beach two nights, so they got lots of time at the beach. Sally was so good from what I thought she would be and did great being off leash most of the time.
We tried some other local favorite restaurants - Redamak's, Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizza, Oink's Ice Cream, and Mucho Mas. The food was great everywhere. I really enjoyed Mucho Mas - it is a mexican place in LaPorte, IN that is all fresh ingredients. It's run by these two young guys from California. They had great chips and a salsa bar. All things that make me happy :)
We tried to do some antiquing and it was kind of a bust. The places in Michigan we went to just had absolutely nothing - I wasn't even tempted to buy a single thing. We went to two places in LaPorte, but one was closing just as we got there and a couple others weren't open on Tuesdays. We did get to do some shopping at the outlet mall. B and I are super power shoppers and hit like 10 stores in under 2 hours. I got a couple things at Banana Republic and we both found stuff at Puma.
By the time it was time to go home on Wednesday, the dogs were thoroughly warn out. Sally slept pretty much the entire way back. That morning as we were packing stuff up Lucy was just passed out on the kitchen floor...too tired to move.
All in all it was a really nice time. I don't know if I would stay in this same house again, not that there was anything wrong with it, it just wasn't WOW AMAZING. It would be nice to find something even a little closer to the water, though I need to plan a bit more ahead for that. With how much Lucy loved swimming, whether we go here or somewhere else, I definitely want to take her to the water again. I love seeing my girls that happy :)
This summer we ended up not doing a "big" vacation. We had just been to St. John in January and it didn't work out to have a big trip in May like we'd done the past few years. So we did two small trips instead - a three day weekend in May to Ohio and Indiana for antiquing and a five day weekend to the dunes in Michigan. It was perfect timing right after summer school and for our anniversary and before Brad needed to go to Norway for work.
We rented a house in Michiana, Michigan which is on the Michigan side of the Indiana/Michigan state line. The neighborhood was pretty wooded and quiet and the house was about a half mile walk from the town beach at Stop 40 (named for the old Lake Shore Drive bus route). We went up on a Saturday and had a picnic lunch and then walked down to check out the beach and wander around the neighborhood. The beach had "dog hours", so we knew we had to wait until the next morning for the pups to go for their first swim. We went into New Buffalo for dinner and ate a restaurant called The Stray Dog - appropriate start to the dog vacation. The place was packed and we enjoyed some burgers and wraps, and picked up some t-shirts with the cute dog logo. We spent most of the evenings of the trip playing with the dogs and doing crossword puzzles on B's phone - that's right, we're that exciting.
The next day we spent the whole day at the beach. We took the pups down first thing in the morning and let them walk along the sand for awhile first and they just waded in a little. Then we got out Lucy's pink frisbee and she just turned into a little fish. She would chase her frisbee into the water over and over again, running up and laying on the sand in between. If no one made a move to steal the frisbee from her and throw it, she would start crying - with the frisbee still in her mouth. Sally was a bit more cautious. When she first tried swimming, she didn't use her back legs at all, just had them pulled up real tight. That first day I kept her on a leash for the most part and would get in the water and coax her to swim out to me. She loosened up and got a little braver as the week went on. Around lunch time we would take the dogs home, hose them off, and put them in their crates for naps. They were completely exhausted after a couple hours at the beach. The pups went for swims three mornings and then also went for walks on the beach two nights, so they got lots of time at the beach. Sally was so good from what I thought she would be and did great being off leash most of the time.
We tried some other local favorite restaurants - Redamak's, Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizza, Oink's Ice Cream, and Mucho Mas. The food was great everywhere. I really enjoyed Mucho Mas - it is a mexican place in LaPorte, IN that is all fresh ingredients. It's run by these two young guys from California. They had great chips and a salsa bar. All things that make me happy :)
We tried to do some antiquing and it was kind of a bust. The places in Michigan we went to just had absolutely nothing - I wasn't even tempted to buy a single thing. We went to two places in LaPorte, but one was closing just as we got there and a couple others weren't open on Tuesdays. We did get to do some shopping at the outlet mall. B and I are super power shoppers and hit like 10 stores in under 2 hours. I got a couple things at Banana Republic and we both found stuff at Puma.
By the time it was time to go home on Wednesday, the dogs were thoroughly warn out. Sally slept pretty much the entire way back. That morning as we were packing stuff up Lucy was just passed out on the kitchen floor...too tired to move.
All in all it was a really nice time. I don't know if I would stay in this same house again, not that there was anything wrong with it, it just wasn't WOW AMAZING. It would be nice to find something even a little closer to the water, though I need to plan a bit more ahead for that. With how much Lucy loved swimming, whether we go here or somewhere else, I definitely want to take her to the water again. I love seeing my girls that happy :)
Couch to 5k - Week 7 done! (Finally!)
It took a bit longer than it was supposed to, but week 7 is officially in the books! I did my last 25 minute run tonight and felt really good. It was humid but cool. This was the first time I actually got myself to go run after going to work. I've done all of my other runs first thing in the morning or on the weekend. But with school getting into full swing, I need a new plan. I have 8am classes everyday, and we all know that I am not going to be getting up early enough to run before an 8am class. So the evenings are going to have to become the new routine.
Not wanting to become roadkill on Sheridan Road, I grabbed one of Brad's reflector vests to wear. Now you may have noticed, Brad and I are not the same size. So this vest is much more Brad sized than Megan sized, but still did the job on helping me not get killed. It was like 8:15 when I headed out, so I knew that it would be pretty close to dark by the time I got back. So while the reflectors are good, perhaps I need to find something in my size for these evening outings. This is when sidewalks would be nice.
I also tried running with my phone for the first time tonight. B and I got new phones about a month ago with data and texting. So I now have pandora on my phone. So tonight I tried letting pandora pick my running tunes. It was on my jack johnson station, but put together a nice mix of jason mraz and gavin degraw which suited the run nicely.
I felt really good the whole time tonight and finally didn't feel slow like I have the past few runs. I felt like I could have gone longer, which is good because the next run moves up to 28 minutes :)
Not wanting to become roadkill on Sheridan Road, I grabbed one of Brad's reflector vests to wear. Now you may have noticed, Brad and I are not the same size. So this vest is much more Brad sized than Megan sized, but still did the job on helping me not get killed. It was like 8:15 when I headed out, so I knew that it would be pretty close to dark by the time I got back. So while the reflectors are good, perhaps I need to find something in my size for these evening outings. This is when sidewalks would be nice.
I also tried running with my phone for the first time tonight. B and I got new phones about a month ago with data and texting. So I now have pandora on my phone. So tonight I tried letting pandora pick my running tunes. It was on my jack johnson station, but put together a nice mix of jason mraz and gavin degraw which suited the run nicely.
I felt really good the whole time tonight and finally didn't feel slow like I have the past few runs. I felt like I could have gone longer, which is good because the next run moves up to 28 minutes :)
Saturday, August 6, 2011
C25k - Week 7 continues...
So it's been awhile since I've posted a running update...mostly because I haven't been running :( There were 10 days between my last two runs, but I'm happy to report that I got back out there this morning and picked up where I left off. I had done day 1 of week 7 and then I didn't feel good for two days and then we left on vacation. I fully intended to run on vacation, but we ended up doing so much walking that my legs and knee were pretty sore and tired, and I just didn't think I had a run in me. So while I didn't run, I did walk like three miles a day on vacation. I guess doing something is better than doing nothing.
I was still able to run for 25 minutes without walking today despite the break from the program. So that was encouraging. I have one more 25 minute run to do and then move up to 28 minute runs. Natalie and Trisha are also working on the Couch to 5k plan and are at the end of week 5, so Nat and I were talking about doing a 5k together in September. Sounds a lot more fun than doing a 5k by myself :)
I was still able to run for 25 minutes without walking today despite the break from the program. So that was encouraging. I have one more 25 minute run to do and then move up to 28 minute runs. Natalie and Trisha are also working on the Couch to 5k plan and are at the end of week 5, so Nat and I were talking about doing a 5k together in September. Sounds a lot more fun than doing a 5k by myself :)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Free samples!
In the past week I have gotten a bunch of free samples in the mail. I got:
-Shout wipes
-Pen
-Honey Nut Cheerios
-Crest Toothpaste and Mouthwash
-Downy Unstopables
-Coupon for free bottle of pantene
Hooray for free things :)
-Shout wipes
-Pen
-Honey Nut Cheerios
-Crest Toothpaste and Mouthwash
-Downy Unstopables
-Coupon for free bottle of pantene
Hooray for free things :)
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