Sugar Free Week 3

Sugar Free for Week 3 is a complete FAIL.

Don't worry though. Since I'm on vacation the calories don't count.

Week 3; Day 6

I made it 4 miles yesterday! So far, I've been really good at meeting my Saturday long run goals. I hope this continues. I'm in Rexburg right now and the area where my parents live is pretty flat. That might have contributed to my success, since in San Diego I go up and down hills. Oh well. 4 miles is 4 miles hills or not! My little brother went along and kept me moving. Little brothers are good for that. :)

Roadblock

Sickness moved in to Becket and Mom's body this week. Congestion, migraines, all nighters, etc. Thus, running hasn't happened since Monday morning. Boo. We'll see if tonight or tomorrow morning we can break out of this funk. I hope so.

Beck and I are flying to Idaho tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a good flight. I apologize to my fellow passengers ahead of time.

Squash and Carrot Casserole

We have tons of yellow crook-necked squash coming out of the garden, not to mention a bunch of other veggie goodies. Not everyone can eat steamed squash each night, so I found this fabulous recipe for squash casserole on foodnetwork.com. Love it! The best part of it was that it didn't have the gross cream of chicken/mushroom stuff. I didn't have any cheddar cheese so I put in some Havarti and Parmesan. I also used olive oil instead of butter. Do your own thing. It's delicious. Everyone loved it, even Becket enjoyed it once it was ground up.

*Tip: Always read the reviews of online recipes at the bottom of the directions. There are always some good ways to tweak it and make it your own.

Week 3; Day 1

3.1 miles again today! The hill almost killed me though. I think my lungs are now adjusting, but my legs are having a hard time keeping up. My shins and calves were killing me .5 miles into the run. Push through the pain baby! I need to be at 4 miles on Saturday. I think I can do it.

Sugar Free Week 2; Day 1

Sugar Free and Soda Free is going well. I must clarify...if something is homemade like bread, it has sugar in it but I still eat it. Pretty hard to get bread to rise without the sugar stimulating the yeast. So to be completely honest, I should be doing Sugary Sweets Free Weeks.

Yesterday was Father's Day which is a holiday. I bought my main man the All-American Chocolate Cake from Costco. He always sneaks that cake on to our Costco lists but it still isn't ever purchased. I figured Father's Day would be a great occasion to break the streak. Husband was happily surprised. We have given half of the cake away but there is still a little over a quarter left (easily 6 slices or more). Oh well. Others must eat it.

Next holiday...Todd's mom's birthday on Thursday. :) Technically my little brother Sawyer's birthday is tomorrow. However, we won't be in the same state to celebrate with him. So, no sugar.

Week 2; Day 6

I did it! 3.1 miles last Saturday morning. I wasn't fast, but I did it. The best part was that I know I could have kept going, but the 3.1 mile loop ended right next to my house. It should be pretty easy adding on until I'm at 4 miles on Saturday. At least, I hope it's easy. :)

Sugar Free Week 1; Day 2

Sugar Free is going really well. Here's a fantastic recipe for peanut butter cookies that are sugar free! These can also be made with real sugar...but they're delicious without it!

Not-Completely-Guilt-Free Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 1/4 c, flour (wheat or white)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c. Xylitol

1/2 c. Splenda brown sugar substitute

1/2 c. chunky peanut butter

1/2 c. butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375

Combine the first three ingredients and set aside.

Mix Xylitol, Splenda, peanut butter, and butter until creamed

Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated

Add vanilla and mix.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until well moistened.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on ungreased cookie sheet (place 2 inches between each one)

Refrigerate for 10 minutes

Pull out of the refrigerator and criss cross each ball with a fork.

Bake for approx. 10 minutes.*

Cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

*every good baker knows that ovens and altitudes vary. I would start to check on my cookies at around 8 minutes but leave them in the oven no longer than 12 minutes.

Italian Chicken and Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

Healthy, easy, and delicious. Just up my alley.

Chicken:

4 boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup. Italian dressing

4 pieces Havarti cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Marinate chicken in Italian dressing for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Place chicken in a glass 13x9 pan.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Place 1 piece of Havarti cheese on top of each piece of chicken,

Put chicken back in the oven for 5 more minutes,

Serve!

Potatoes:

6-8 medium sized red potatoes (quartered)

1/2 c. chopped yellow onion

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place potatoes on a cookie sheet that has been covered in foil.

Sprinkle onions over the potatoes.

Mix remaining ingredients and using a pastry brush, coat potatoes and onions.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until fork tender.

Serve hot.

Week 2;Day 2

2.25 miles in 28 minutes! No stopping and TWO huge hills! I'll definitely be at 3.1 by Saturday.

Sugar Free Week 1; Day 1

Since I want to run a 1/2 marathon in approx. 13 weeks, I need to do more than just run. My diet is in serious need of revamping. So, I'm going to do the next 13 weeks with no sugar or soda. The only exceptions will be holidays (birthdays, weddings). Other than that, I am going to continue cooking with the Xylitol since it tastes just as good as sugar! Wish me luck.

The whole soda thing is interesting. I can go without it for a while, but sometimes when I've been up all night with Becks or had a particularly bad day soda is the answer. Not anymore. I have already been on only diet sodas (minus 2 slip ups :) since the beginning of March. No soda at all, will just be a step up. Who wants to join me in my challenge?

Week 2; Day 1

Today was great! I ran 2 miles with hills while pushing Becket in the stroller. I'm pretty sure that if I had gone alone, I could have done 2.5. I think miles by Saturday will be doable.

Week 1; Day 5

Doing great this week with running/walking, just not so great about updating the blog.

Anyways, week one will be over tomorrow with and then I will start Week 2 on Monday. That means that I need to be up to 3 miles no stopping by a week from tomorrow. I think I can do it, but I'm glad I have a week to build up to it. :)

Week 1; Day 1

For the first day of the training, I began with a 2 mile run that included 2 small hills. It went well, and I completed it with the warm-up and cool-down in about 20 minutes. I'm not going for better times though, just consistency and endurance building. Wish me luck for tomorrow.

1/2 Marathon training

I'm training for a 1/2 marathon which is pretty humorous. Most of the training programs for beginners usually are 12 week plans. I opted for my own 14-15 week version so I can get to regularly running a 5k 3-4 times a week before I start adding more miles. I'll let you know on my progress. I'd love it if my followers started running too! Makes for more motivation!

If you'd like to view the schedule that I'm using you can click here.

I altered the days to have my rest days on Thursdays and Sundays.

I won't be starting this schedule until I complete a week of running 3 miles for at least 4 of my runs each week.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Fruit pies are my new specialty. We have strawberries coming out of the garden like crazy, so I figure a pie is the best way to utilize them. I have mixed and matched different recipes until I found the perfect one. I will have to add pictures once we get a new camera charger.

Crust: (can be used for savory or sweet pies --this is my go-to crust for chicken pot pie as well as fruit pies)

3 1/2 c. white flour

1 tsp. salt

1 1/3 c. butter, cubed(salted or unsalted)

about 3/4 c. ice cold water

Mix the first four ingredients in a food processor until the mixture forms little "pea" shaped dough.

Add the ice cold water gradually to the dough while mixing in the food processor. Do not add too much water or the dough will be sticky.

Once the dough starts to take shape, mix it by hand until all of the flour is mixed in.

Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hr.

After refrigerating, roll out the dough onto a floured surface. Once evenly rolled to the width of your preference, gently roll the dough onto (around) the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie crust. Then you can make the crust as pretty as you want to.

*Note: If making a no-bake pie; you must cook the pie crust by itself for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling:

4 c. strawberries (I have used frozen ones that were thawed, but fresh is best)

4 Tbsp. corn starch

1/2 c. sugar or sugar substitute (we use Xylitol in our house and it tastes great!)

pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Pour into the pie crust.

Form a lattice pattern with remaining dough if desired.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes; then at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Let the pie cool and set for at least 3-4 hours before serving.