Exercise: Sat: 8 mile run/ 9:33 avg pace
               Sun: 6 mile run/ 9:55 avg pace
               Mon: Rest
               Tues: 4 mile tempo run/ 8:45 avg pace

Oh man, it's been sooooooooooo hot! As I started writing this Saturday it was already 103 degrees at noon. But no complaining here because my family on the east coast were evacuated because of hurricane Irene. All is well now.

Saturday was my first long run day in a little while. I didn't know how I would feel with the heat and the baby jogger (or how Little Man would hold up on a long run) so I chose to do an 8 miler. It was a hot run, definitely more uncomfortable than I'm used to since it was 80 degrees when I started. It went pretty great though. Little Man loved it and shouted "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone we passed. Team In Training does their long runs on Saturday in the park near my house so there were tons of people for Little Man to greet. I tried to get him to say "Go team!" but he's not quite there yet.

Even with the heat I still felt great afterward, like I could have run another 10 miles so I decided to make my Sunday recovery run a bit longer. I did 6 miles and it was another great, hot, run. Slow and comfortable and lovely. But after 2 days and 14 miles Monday was a well deserved rest day. And not just because of the run either... Sunday was a bit of a fiasco.

After Music Man and I finished our workouts Sunday we decided to take a quick trip to Laguna to visit my parents for the night. We got everything packed and left right before Little Man's nap so he could sleep on the trip. We had a great lunch with some friends of my parents that have a 20 month old and a 3 year old and they all played together fabulously. Then my mother and I took Little Man to the Festival of the Arts  and he "oohed" and "ahhed" at all the art. It was so fun, he pointed at things and said "cool." My mother pointed out that he clearly knows what he likes. He loves sculpture!

We had some dinner as a family and then Music Man got a call from one of our neighbors. Our sprinklers were broken and had been going off for 8 hours. the neighbor tried to fix them, even tried to turn off the water to our house. No dice. So, once again, we left our relatives way too early to return home.

Poor Music Man worked tirelessly for over an hour til close to midnight before he got the sprinklers taken care of. He was absolutely drenched but he fixed them and now all is well.

Tomorrow is a cross training day but I'm afraid I'll have to push the workout to evening because we have just so much going on. We'll see how it all goes.

I have some pics to post but my laptop is dead and I'm using Music Man's so I'll post them tomorrow.

I hope you're having a great week!

Hitch in Your Giddy-up

Exercise: 4 mile run with intervals, 3 mile walk

My last few workouts have been absolute killers. The hill repeats on Tuesday were definitely tough. Then yesterday I got to work out on the elliptical because it is FINALLY repaired and I haven't done that work out for a few weeks so I was surprisingly sore this morning. I also did a good strength session yesterday and that was the first time in a week and my butt definitely felt those squats and lunges. Ouch with a capital O.

This morning I did some sprint intervals. I did a 1/2 mile warm up run and then 3 miles of intervals that included 30 second sprints and a 2 minute jog/run. And then finished with a half mile cool down. My overall pace ended up being slower than I had anticipated at around 9:30 as opposed to 9:00 but I felt really great about my sprints and it was a crazy, sweaty workout. I am definitely looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. I think we might do a family walk or bike ride and I'll probably do a little yoga. But no strenuous workout or strength training.

Now that I have my race schedule  mapped out I need to figure out exactly how to train for all my races. I'm thinking of running 4 days, xtraining and strength 2 days and 1 rest day that may include walking or yoga. Just your basic training schedule. So here's the breakdown:

M: Elliptical/Strength
T: Hills
W: Elliptical/Strength
Th: Speed
F: Rest
Sat: Long
Sun: Easy

I'm going to alternate weeks so one week I will do hill repeats and the next week I will just do a hilly run or one week I will do speed intervals and the next week I will do a tempo run. It ends up working out to a week of time motivated workouts and a week of pace motivated workouts. Hopefully that will keep it interesting and keep me out of a training rut while still getting some good training in. I'm also hoping to alternate long runs between flats, hills and trails because I really get bummed out doing the same flat loop  all the time.

I really hope I can stick with this schedule or at least some semblance of it. I always try to make plans but having a toddler can really put a "hitch in your giddy-up." When it comes to running plans, of course.

Hill Repeats

Exercise: Hill Repeats... with the jogging stroller

Today was a killer. Hill repeats are hard enough without having the extra resistance of a jogging stroller and 30 pound kid. I also started too late, around 9am, and the sun was beating down getting ready to heat up the day to 100+ degrees. I also did something I've never done before in the nearly 16 months I've been using the jogging stroller. I got my finger caught in the jogger while opening it. Holy crap, it hurt. It made me catch my breath and see stars. But the pain subsided super quick.

I feel like I totally held my own coming out with a 9:55 average pace. I started with a 1 mile warm up, then did five .2 mile repeats and finished with a 1 mile cool down and 1/2 mile walk. I had to do that walk too, my legs got really tight. Unfortunately Little Man was not happy towards the end, but who could blame him after traveling up and down the same hill 5 times, so I cut the walk a little short.

Next Tuesday I'm going to test the jogger on some fire roads to see if it's not to bumpy for Little Man. If it is we'll just run on some rolling neighborhood hills. This is more for Little Man than me, I don't want to bore the poor kid by running up and down the same hill all the time. I do need to get those hills into my training.

The Bulldog is next weekend and it makes me sad because I'd love to do it but I just don't feel comfortable trying to complete a 25k trail run with no real training, much less a 50k. So I've started researching my race schedule for the rest of this year and 2012 to get me prepared for the Bulldog next year.

Also, I've had major baby brain lately, well, babies on the brain. Little Man is getting close to 16 months so expanding the fam is a pretty natural thought. I really want to do this ultra before I have another child; while I feel good about my body and the shape I'm in. Which is good because Music Man is ambivalent about expanding the family too soon and when I suggested reassessing the situation in another year he actually agreed. Awesome.

So here is the schedule I've been thinking about completing to get me ready for the Bulldog. I have a few 5k's, a 10k, 2 trail runs, a 1/2 marathon and a marathon and then 3 race free months to train prior to the ultra. It looks like a lot, but there's a lot of space between the longer races and even the longer races I'm using as training races. Well, that's the plan anyways.

9.25-Assyrian Run for Peace 5k
11.13- Calabasas Classic 10k
12.4- Quench the fire 5k- I think this is the same course I ran this weekend, PR?
12.11- 17k Crystal Cove Trail Run- This is 2.5 miles from my parents in Laguna Beach, which would be awesome
2.19- Bandit Trail Run 30k
3.24- Great Race 1/2 Marathon
5.20- Pasadena Marathon
8.25- Bulldog 50k

Some tasty eats the past few days

ww toast w/ pb and nanas

Ballast Point pale ale and home made spinach mushroom pesto pizza w/ homemade ww crust
Great beer!

uncooked tempeh bacon (for blt's and I'm going to season some with mediterranean spices for gyros tomorrow)

 pot of lentils with shredded broccoli, carrots and chunks of sweet potato (for salads and maybe some tacos)

another pizza, same crust but with goat cheese, yummers!

Have a good rest of your evening

PR

5k- 25:22, didn't reach my goal but still PR'd. That'll do

Five For Friday

Exercise: 4 miles easy run avg pace-9:57, 1 mile walk, moving crap

1. New baby in the blogosphere, Happy Birthday Baby Leo !!!!

2. Music Man moved his studio back home which means tons of moving again. I had just started planning what to do with the extra room; home office, guest room, craft room...nursery? ;) But we really fixed up the studio and it's starting to come together.

3. Music Man and I are starting to plan a little party for renewing our vows on our fifth anniversary, which is about 10 months away. Crazy! I always wanted to get married at my parents house, but unfortunately they were going through a huge remodel (it took 4 years) at the time so Music Man and I decided to just get married in Las Vegas. It was an easy decision because his parents live there. And it was a totally fun wedding. But my parents remodel is finished and they have a beautifully landscaped yard so it seems like a perfect time to do it. There are also some vanity issues at play. Both Music Man and I have lost a ton of weight since our wedding and I'd like to show us off.

4. Before...

After...

5. And because I can't talk about my wedding without talking about our creepy Elvis. I'm pretty sure he was on crack and he was wearing way too much make up, especially for the 110 degree heat. By mid ceremony he started sweating profusely and the makeup started dripping onto his gold jacket. The top of his face was tan and the rest was milky white. SO CREEPY! He sang a song for us after we were married and the only one we could come up with was 'Suspicious Minds'.  Quite the wedding ;)

Total Creeper

Have a great weekend!

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Exercise: 4.5 mile run, 3.1 miles at a little over race pace 26:15, 8:28 avg pace

Ugghhh too slow. This run killed me. I had planned to run about 10 seconds over race pace, 8:10 avg. That obviously didn't work out. There are a few reasons my pace was slower than planned but we'll have to see how it works out at Sunday's race.

1. Little Man started tossing and turning at 3:30am and although he didn't wake up until 6, I was up for good at 3:30.
2. I had to run with the jogging stroller. Pushing 50lbs adds a lot of resistance especially when you're trying to run fast. Not to mention trying to keep the jogger straight over uneven sidewalks and slowing down for bumps so as not to give the baby whip lash.
3. I had 2 beers the night before. I never do that before a race so why I thought I could getaway with it before attempting to run race pace is ridiculous.

Now I taper. Slow easy run set for tomorrow with some easy yoga and no running at all on Saturday, probably no exercise. I may do a little yoga or stretching, but that's it.

I'm getting really excited for Sunday!

Yesterday Catch Up

Exercise: 4 mile run, about 38 mins (prob w/ tracking program) 9:30 pace. 30 mins yoga

Man, I am so behind, please forgive me. Yesterday was supposed to be a cross training day, especially important because of my 5k on Sunday. But, alas, my elliptical machine remains totally broken, so running it was. I ran a nice comfortable pace and didn't push too hard.

Let's touch on that "comfortable pace" quote. For me, running is never easy. I keep thinking the longer I run the easier it will get but it's always a workout. I am starting to get more comfortable running at a faster pace but I still have to work hard even at a slower pace. Running is hard.

I also popped in a yoga dvd that was ridiculous and hysterical and surprisingly good. 'Fat Free Yoga' was the name of the dvd and its low impact power yoga. There ate a lot of great strength and core positions. The funny part is the dude that does the voice over talks all calm and yoga like, but then has these dry, comic interjections. I don't highly recommend it, but it definitely isn't terrible.

Moments

On Saturday morning my mother came up bright and early to stay with me for the weekend. She arrived right after I ran my fastest 3 miles, evah! 24:25!!!

It was so nice to have the company and so nice to be able to get stuff done while Little Man was happy and totally occupied. We had a lovely day of shopping, going to the park with Little Man

and walking around the lake. It was really nice.  When we returned home we sat in the shaded back yard while Little Man played in the pool. My mom watched him so I could go inside and make peanut butter pie. I chose to change it up a little bit and I made peanut butter ice cream pie. I used the pie crust from Jennie's recipe, then filled it with my peanut butter ice cream recipe and topped it with whipped cream.

HEAVEN

Droooooooooool

The pie was so tasty and I got to devour it with my loved ones. I highly recommend making any kind of pie to share with your loved ones. And while eating it actually thinking about how wonderful it is that we get to share these moments. 

My mother left early on Sunday morning after a quick trip to the farmers' market for tamales and produce. Music Man went for a 30+ mile bike ride with a friend and Little Man and I chilled for a while.

And then...

I got to meet the musician Music Man is working with! It was such a treat for me. And the best part was she was so sweet and down to earth. In my previous career, prior to stay at home mom, I worked in interior design directly for high end clientele. Quite a few of our clients were extremely famous actors and performers and I suppose they were jaded by being so immersed in the Hollywood lifestyle but they weren't the kindest. Except for Blythe Danner, I'll mention her because, to this day, she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. So having this famous musician be so genuine was very refreshing.

This musician is out here from New York and somewhat confined to her hotel so she started going a little stir crazy. Music Man offered for us to rescue her. We took her to our favorite restaurant, a cute gastro pub with a great view. But she was more taken with Little Man than the view. She told Music Man on Monday that she missed Little Man. Very sweet. It was so nice to share a meal because it became clear that she's just a normal girl (but with a pretty cool job.)  I know people always say that famous people are just that, people. But a lot are larger than life and some are assholes.

So my favorite part of the night was our stop at the grocery store on the way back to her hotel. She found herself rationing out water because they were $10 a pop! So we went to this health food store, to get her stocked up on supplies, that was like a mix between Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Ralphs. Some brand products, some organic specialty store products, and random things like Diva Cups. There was also weird lighting and great oldies playing that Little Man and I danced in the aisles to. It was just weird and fun and made me feel like a kid again. I love those care free moments.

Ahhhh

Exercise: 6 mile run 53:42, 8:57 pace, 4 mile bike ride, 15 minutes glute and core work

Ahhhh... Running outside makes me so so very happy. Little Man and I got out for a morning run around the lake today. He enjoyed seeing the families of ducks and coots and I just enjoyed being outside. I had planned to do our normal 4 mile route but it was cool and overcast again and Little Man was content with his milk and toast so around the lake we went, which extended our run 2 miles. It was perfect.

When we got home Music Man was awake and he was having a hard time deciding whether to exercise or hang with Little Man so a family bike ride was the perfect solution. I was pretty beat and I know I slowed him down but Little Man always gets such a kick out of us riding together.

Today already feels better than yesterday

On Demand

Exercise: 3 On Demand Exercise TV sessions

My weekend was awesome so there was really no reason for me to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but I sure did. Little Man has gotten (back) into the habit of waking up at 5:30am. He normally goes back to sleep until 7 or 7:30, but not today. Ugghhh. So I decided to make the best of the situation by taking him out for a nice, cool, early morning run. Unfortunately all my running clothes were dirty so I tried to make do with some old running capris that are WAY too big. And off we went.

About 5 minutes into my run I had already pulled my underwear out of my butt a billion times. I pulled the drawstrings as tight as I could but the waist band still slipped. I was so uncomfortable there was no way I could push on so I stumbled back home, continuing to retrieve extra fabric from all kinds of recesses.

Things just continued to suck; I was out of cereal, the dishwasher was malfunctioning, and Little Man was in a whiny annoying mood. Now I know I sound like such a complainer, these are quality problems.  But sometimes it just feels like everything is going wrong no matter how insignificant the situation is. That was me today, poor me! Wah.

Not having my exercise planned out drives me nuts. Especially when I plan to get it done early. Another problem is that my elliptical has been broken since last Wednesday, when it was supposed to be repaired and just ended up even more screwed. So I knew I had to get with my activity because my options were limited. I wanted to get as close to my normal work out as possible so about 45-60 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of strength or weights. I pulled out some of my exercise dvds but while perusing On Demand I realized we had Exercise TV and there were a bunch of workouts to choose from. That's where it gets interesting.

For some reason I chose to start with Hip Hop Body Shop. I definitely got my sweat on but I felt totally uncoordinated. I was constantly 2 steps behind. The teacher kept instructing the viewer to dance sexy and I couldn't have felt less sexy. I then chose Butt Bible which I really disliked. The instructor was rude. She kept dissing Pilates, yoga and a ton of other exercises. But then at the end she had us do pigeon pose, which is yoga! I also think my own squats, sumo squats, regular and reverse lunges and all my other lower body exercises are much more effective. I finished with Cardio Blast which was my personal favorite. It was similar set up to some Jillian Michaels' workouts with the strength cardio circuit. I still think Jillian Michaels' is the best of the 20 minute workouts. Just my personal opinion. Jillian has sessions on there, so I may do that next time.

I think it was good for me to have to switch things up a bit. I get stuck in a rut easily and watching new routines helps me incorporate new moves. It also helps me to appreciate my normal daily work out. I definitely look forward to getting back out for a run or even hopping on my elliptical.

Five for Friday

Exercise: Ran 4 miles today 34:55-avg pace= 8:44 and an 8 mile bike ride. I also ran Thursday and Tuesday with some added weight sessions and Wednesday was a much needed rest day.

1.This week has been jam packed with all kinds of events; almost daily play dates, beach days, My Gym and all the other events that go along with having a toddler. Then add in my elliptical getting serviced, waiting for UPS to get Music Man's new bike and 3 days of RUNNING! And that's a pretty full week around here. It totally doesn't sound full but each thing presented some sort of small challenge so the week felt totally busy.

2.Running 3 days this week has felt amazing. Even though the reason I'm able to run is because Little Man is waking up WAY earlier than normal and I'm exhausted, it's been great. The weather is amazing. Highs of 80!!! In August!!! In the Valley!!! We have been waking up to cool, overcast mornings. When we leave to run the temp is 59. I have to bundle Little Man in long sleeves and a blanket. The temp certainly helps with my pace though, I think today is the fastest I've run with the baby jogger.

3.I have eaten crap this week. The worst crap too. French fries, mac and cheese. If it's deep fried or creamy, it's been in my face. I'm chalking it up to the fact that it's that time of the month where all a lady wants is salt and sweets. And I've certainly indulged. I was wondering why I felt so lazy and unmotivated late last week, now I know. I realized I need to keep better track of these things so I downloaded an app ;)

4.Mi madre is coming to stay tomorrow and Sunday and I'm so looking forward to the company while Music Man is working. And it's totally selfish but I know Little Man will be doted on by grandma which means mommy gets a little break. Sweet. But I also look forward to shopping with her and just doing mother-daughter stuff. She's cool, for a mom ;)

5.There's other fun news. Music man is moving studios at the end of next week. And the new studio ends up being less than 2 miles away as opposed to 20 miles away. The distance is walkable. It also means Music man can leave 5 minutes before work instead of half an hour. So rad. And, he happens to be working with one of my favorite musicians, who I am dying to meet, and now that they are so close it will be much easier for me to drop in and hang out.

I've not been doing much cooking this week and probably won't get to much this weekend but I think I will make this pie. And if you know what's good for you, you should too!
xo

A$$ Kicker

Exercise: Today 60 mins elliptical and 12 mins strength and core. 4 mile run Saturday. 45 min elliptical, strength and 2 mile walk on Sunday.

It took about 10 minutes to realize a paleo style diet would definitely not work for me. Paleo diets are great because of the focus on whole foods and raw eating but it's also very meat centric. That is the part I have an issue with. I am not a vegetarian but my diet is 90% plant based. I'm really only eating meat once a week and the rest of the days I focus on soy, legumes and high protein grains for my protein source. Soooo I think instead of paleo 90% of the time I'll try to eat more whole foods and my main goal will be reducing processed foods. So pasta and bread a no, quinoa and amaranth a yes. But I'm still leaving myself an out so I can have pizza or something once a week.

And I've done well so far. According to the scale I've had a .8 weight loss since Saturday. I'll take it! The core and ab focused workout has been very successful. I feel like I already feel a difference in my jeans, but who knows, I could be crazy.

On Sunday Music Man happened to be home while I was working out. He rarely sees me workout because he's either at work or exercising himself or I cut out my weight routine and just do cardio. I did my 45 minutes of cardio but wanted to get in my weights so he watched my whole 25 minute routine. By the end he just kinda stared at me and said "So you can totally kick my ass now." Ha! I'm an ass kicker.

21 Days

Little man is cutting 2 new teeth which means sleep has been erratic. He's been waking up early but then eventually going back to sleep. But if it's after 4am my body won't go back to sleep, so I stay up. On one hand I'm pretty tired, but I'm most definitely a morning person so I enjoy having this little bit of time to myself in the morning to do stuff. I'm especially happy to start writing this particular post at 6am because it means I'm more likely to stick with it today.

My weight loss to date is pretty amazing and I am very happy with the results so far but I've been going through these phases where I lose weight then maintain, lose weight-maintain, and so on. This is a normal and healthy cycle but I think I've finally figured out what my ideal weight should be and I'm so close it's time to just get there. I've lost these 75+ pounds without dieting; mainly just exercise, eating less and making better choices. I haven't been making the best choices lately so it's time to get back on track and get 'er done.

There are vanity issues at play here as well. We have plans to go to Lake Havasu near the end of October for a long weekend. It's a beautiful time of year and I'm really looking forward to relaxing on the boat and in the water. Which means it's swimsuit time. I've been around random strangers in my bathing suit but now I have to be around a bunch of people I know and it would be nice to feel confident in my skin.

The trip is exactly 12 weeks away. And funny, My weight loss goal is 12 pounds away.

So what's the plan? 21 Days. Rather than set weekly or monthly goals I'm going to set 21 day goals. Research shows it takes 21 days to develop a habit so I'm going to split my 12 weeks into 4 segments of creating good health habits and hopefully losing a little weight. And keeping with my strategy of not overwhelming myself I'm going to start with 2 fairly simple goals to ease into this.

My first 21:
Aug 6th-26th
1. Work my core. I'll still do my whole body tone, but I'm going to focus strongly on my core strength. I've found a few workouts online that seem great so I figure I'll just choose 3, give each one a week, and see how it goes. I'll also give you guys a review. First week ab workout.
2. Paleo. I'm not going to go totally crazy but it's time to start eating clean. More fruits, veggies, nuts and healthy snacks. No more cheese crackers, cookies dipped in pb, and pasta all the time. I'm keeping my ice cream though. I'll make another batch of peanut butter that's agave and stevia sweetened, but limit myself to one scoop. Oh and I'm keeping caffeine. You know those cavemen would be stoked on a cup of coffee. My goal is 90 percent paleo, I figure this way I'm not setting myself up for failure.

Here goes everything!

P.S. I've added a 21 Days tab in case you want to keep track of my progress.

Five for Friday

Exercise: 60 mins elliptical 25 mins strength. I used a few exercises from The Fitnessista, Carrots N' Cake, and One Fit Foodie. I love these ladies because I feel like I have 3 personal trainers. Between them I have a new weight workout every few days.

1. I was thinking today that it's funny that I started this blog all pumped about running an ultra marathon and then stopped running. But this blog is about so much more to me than just running. I have had blogs before but each had a clear theme: food blog, baby blog, but this one, this is my blog. It's about ALL things I'm ULTRA passionate about: food, family and fitness. And although I do love running it's not all that I am, just something I love to do.

2. Jogging stroller is fixed! That means that when Little Man wakes up we can head out on a quick 4 miler. So looking forward to it.

3. Made a super tasty and not in the least bit healthy white lasagna with asparagus last night. No boil noodles. Ricotta and grated parmesan mixed w/ coconut milk to the consistency of runny yogurt. Dash of nutmeg and s&p. Caramelized onion and asparagus. Mozzarella. Layer 3 times topping with noodles, ricotta and cheese then cover with foil. Bake 30 mins 350, remove foil bake another 10 mins. Perfection.

4. Little man learned to jump today, not quite getting air yet, but pretty darn cute.

5. I think it's time to set some simple fitness goals for myself. Maybe just 1 thing monthly that I can stick to. Obviously, run every day won't be on there, but maybe something attainable like up my ab workout to 7 minutes. I may add a weight loss goal in there as well. Stay tuned.

No to Running, Yes to Ravioli

Exercise: Both today and yesterday 60 mins elliptical, 20 mins strength. Lots of sumo squats, my thighs and butt are screamin'. I also walked 40 mins with a friend this morning so I'm looking forward to TV time and sitting down.

I started watching Mad Men on Netflix while working out and although I find it totally entertaining I was totally surprised by how dark it is and the amount of smoking...and drinking...and the pregnant ladies smoking and drinking! But the sets and costuming are pretty effin' superb. Sorry for that brief TV tangent.

Little Man has been sleeping fairly well, through the night but sometimes up early. I'm thinking that in the next few weeks I might be able to run regularly again but I need to be fairly certain he'll stay asleep. I would run with him right when he wakes up but my darn jogger tires keep popping. I run around this park and lake in my neighborhood that is known for having a lot of thorns. I wish I knew what plants they came from so I could avoid the suckers. Music Man got some thorn proof tires and even put in a gel barrier but still I get flat tires. Oh well.

Little Man is also eating more these days which is such a relief to me but now I have to be much more careful about the food he eats. I want it to be healthy and nutrient dense but the things he really likes are pizza and pasta. So I've decided to make my own.

I always make my own pizza so he's used to brown rice or whole wheat crusts, rice and light or goat cheese and tons of veggies. But the pasta is a little harder. There are some great whole wheat alternatives for penne and rotini but that's about it. So I made some whole wheat ravioli filled with ricotta, light mozzarella and spinach. He ate them for dinner last night and breakfast and lunch today. I thought it might be overkill to feed him that for dinner again. Instead I gave him some penne with broccoli, ha! not much of a change.

So if you have a pasta maker, awesome, if not, you can still make fresh pasta.

(oops, only pic I took of finished product)

Whole Wheat Ravioli

DOUGH
2 c WW flour
1c AP flour
1t salt
3/4c water
2 eggs ( I used 1/2 c egg whites)
1T evoo

FILLING
2 c fresh spinach
1/2 c ricotta
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t nutmeg
s & p to taste

bowl with water for sealing

Mix dry ingredients, make a well, and stir in egg, then slowly add in water until you get a nice firm dough that you can roll in a ball without sticking and is not too dry. If you have a stand mixer throw in all ingredients except the water and mix on low. Slowly add water until you get the consistency you like.

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes and then roll out on parchment paper. If you have a machine you can stop here, if not continue rolling out the dough. If you think it's thin enough, roll it a little more, the thinner the better.



Mix the filling in a separate bowl, you can just pour them all in at once and mix

I used a small biscuit cutter to form my ravioli rounds but you can use squares and fold over to make triangles or press together to make squares, whatever you wish. Cut out as many pieces as possible and fill with 1 t filling. You can take the leftover dough and re roll it to make more ravioli or be lazy like me and simply cut it to make yourself some fettuccine. Seal ravioli by rubbing water along the edges and then press with fingers or crimp with fork.

Bring water to boiling on high, then reduce to medium high and cook the ravioli for 5-6 minutes. Once they come to the surface they just need a few more minutes to cook.

Drain and munch!

(I mixed the leftover filling with coconut milk and extra spinach for my sauce)

Recipe was adapted from Big Oven

Vegan Peanut Butter Ice Cream Recipe

You need to make this today. If you have an ice cream maker of course. If not, you should buy one if only to make this ice cream.

Vegan Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 c peanut butter
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c agave nectar
1 1/4 c almond milk
2 c coconut milk
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t xanthan gum*

Use a hand mixer to mix peanut butter and sweetener for approx. 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and mix for another minute or until completely blended. Add to your ice cream maker and give it about 30 minutes to do it's thing. You can add stuff in at 25 minutes; such as chocolate chips, carob chips, or use your imagination.

*Xanthan gum can be derived from lactose which is an animal byproduct. I used Bob's Red Mill and it is  not lactose derived, doesn't say but most xanthan gum is corn derived. I'm guessing you can leave it out but xanthan gum works as a binder and a thickener and it definitely gives that super creamy texture.

Enjoy!

Why I'm Maintaing My Weight and not Losing Weight (and I'm ok with it)

Vietnamese style rice noodle salad with seitan (btw, autocorrect wanted me to correct seitan to satan, Could it be...SATAN?), lettuce, carrots, ginger soy dressing and cilantro

The whole fam damnily LOVED it

Spinach mushroom pizza, always pretty darn good

Herb crusted pork loin with globe artichokes and baked sweet potato fries

Spinach and baby green salad with strawberries, goat cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. So refreshing on an almost 100 degree day

Whole wheat dough for soon-to-be homemade ravioli- update tomorrow

Music man did not approve this photo! ;)

This is my make-do-with-what-you-got dinner from tonight. Dr Praeger's veggie burgers on gf buns (best ever, better than the regular, I threw away the packaging  but I'll let you know next time I buy them) with baked sweet potato fries, baked zucchini fries (I couldn't choose between the two) and snappy-sweet corn on the cob...Great make-do dinner!

Little Man seal of approval

...and the piece de resistance

Homemade vegan peanut butter ice cream and vegan strawberry-banana sherbet. The peanut butter was amazing, you couldn't even tell it was dairy free it was so rich and delicious. The straw-ban was tasty as well but couldn't possibly compare to the peanut butter. But when eaten together, hoo boy, tasted exactly like a pb&j with sliced banana. Bonus- both were both low sugar with the substitution of agave nectar. Buying an ice cream maker was a dangerous decision but so far, so so worth it.

And that's not all, folks. On a basic day I eat a ton of snacks; definitely a 3 meal 2 -3 snack person. My go to snacks are scoops of pb straight from the jar, hummus on almost anything, popcorn, BEEEEEEP ****This Post has Been Interrupted by a PB Ice Cream Break**** Greek yogurt, a pint of strawberries eaten in front of the fridge with the door open, and (hanging my head) sometimes I sneak Twizzlers for the car ride home from the store.

Maybe this post should be titled This Is Why I Work Out.

Personal Best

Exercise: 40 minutes elliptical

I was totally unmotivated to workout this morning. All I wanted to do was sit on the sofa watching HGTV and eating blueberry muffins. I told myself all I had to do was to get through 30 minutes because I figure that's a decent amount for an active rest day. I happily got to 40 minutes but Music Man came home for lunch and I have to say I wasn't even a little sad to miss my weight training. I also walked a little over a mile with Little Man and the dogs so I feel like I got some decent exercise considering the lack of drive.

I was too busy posting my vacation recap that I didn't touch on the fact that I got a pr yesterday! I ran 4  miles before everyone woke up and I got a 5k pr of 25:22 finishing the total in just under 35 minutes. That works out to 8:27 per mile and it's so close to my 5k goal of under 25 minutes, or 8:20 per mile. I still have to shave about 8 seconds from my mile to reach my 5k pr goal.

8 seconds seems like nothing but it's kinda huge in running. There are 2 plans of attack for reaching that goal. A. Speed work- I was thinking about trying to get to the track to work on some speed intervals or fartleks. B- I could try to lose 4 pounds in 3 weeks (right). I guess you shave 2 seconds from your mile pace for every pound. Obviously a mix of the 2 options would be my best bet. Although you'll see soon why losing some lb's may not be in my future.

I'm stoked on my pr though. I'd love for my 5k to be 25 minutes but I'll be happy to finish and hopefully it will be below 25:22. And I already feel motivated to workout tomorrow. I was thinking about hopping on the elliptical for a few minutes tonight and getting in some quick weights but I think my body needed rest. And I'm embracing that.