Weekend Wrap-Up

Wow- so this space has been slightly neglected. The second half of my week got the better of me, but work hard, play hard :)

Friday: 

I knew I needed some fuel for my day ahead. I had a big meeting and lots of other items on the agenda for the day. I typically start my mornings off with a green smoothie. Not only are they delicious, but they are packed with nutrients to get my days off on the right track. I will also not forget to give a shoutout to my coffee, which certainly helps as well. The thing I enjoy most about my green smoothies, is that you can mix and match the ingredients for something new each day. I also enjoy my smoothies before a long run.

 

 

 

Frozen mango, ripe banana, spinach, fresh figs, ice cubes and almond milk (unsweetened vanilla)

The base for my green smoothie is as follows:

• 1 handful of spinach (organic- spinach is a member of the dirty dozen) **If you haven't heard about the Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen, take some time to educate yourself. It has to do with the pesticides found in many of our everyday produce**
• 1 ripe banana
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 cup of almond milk (I use unsweetened vanilla. Almond milk contains more calcium than regular milk)

I typically switch up the rest of my ingredients depending on my mood. You can add in some of the following:

• Flaxseed
• Strawberries (dirty dozen)
• Blueberries (dirty dozen)
• Peaches (dirty dozen)
• Blackberries
• Pineapple (clean 15)
• Greek Yogurt (non-fat)
• Frozen mangoes (my personal fave- part of the clean 15)
• The list goes on and on..... 

I needed a bit more fuel for my Friday, so I added in fresh figs (delish) and some of my favorite frozen mango to my smoothie base. As you can see, I love my Trader Joes!


My meeting on Friday was a business lunch. We headed over to Trevisio in the Medical Center for lunch so we wouldn't have to venture too far from the office. While my boss and I were waiting for the rest of the participants to show up- I looked up- and saw my Grand-big (back from my sorority days) sitting right across the room. It was so nice to see her and catch up for a brief second- and we will for sure be meeting for lunch soon! I had the salmon and it was delish!

Friday Evening

I headed out of the office fairly late on Friday, but I felt like I got several things off my plate that needed to get finished. I got home, walked the dog and wanted a low key evening to finish off the crazy week. So, Aaron and I decided to try a new taco place we had been wanting to try: Bodega's Taco Shop in the Museum District. They had tacos, live music and margaritas- so how could we pass that up? We sat outside and caught up on our week. The food was okay, but I think I prefer Torchy's Tacos a bit better. I had the fish tacos and Aaron had the salmon tacos- both were okay, but did the trick. After, I had been wanting to try Cloud 10 Creamery in the Village. Now, if you haven't heard of Cloud 10, it is a gourmet ice cream shop, and the chef is Chris Leung- the pastry chef from Kata Robata. He concocts flavors that are out of the ordinary, but so delicious.

I had the cucumber sorbet, along with the vanilla bean. Aaron had the mango sorbet. All were delicious!

Saturday

Saturday was our long run. Aaron and I knocked out our 5 mile run by 9:30. And boy, was it already hot outside. I don't think I've ever been so drenched in sweat. We ran at race pace- and the legs felt good. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the run, but so looking forward to some cooler fall temps.

I was taking Sawyer on a quick walk before my shower, and I got a phone call from my old roommate and great friend, Jenny. We were sorority sisters, college friends and roomies for two years. She was going to come to Houston on a whim and wanted to know if we were busy. Which-if your long time friend decides to come play- you would clear your schedule too.

Krob and I had to clean the house furiously put a few things back in place and run around to get a gift, which I'll get to tomorrow. But just so you know, my heart is full. Remember this post on friendships, well my friends deliver- big time. They make me laugh, they inspire me with how smart and creative they are and we make time for each other when busy schedules don't always allow!  So for now, I'm going into this week with a full heart and a full schedule. I'll share more about the weekend tomorrow, but I'll leave you with this gem first:

We couldn't do an impromptu girl's weekend without a proper pedicure!

Happy Monday - Aaron and I are about to up our running mileage this evening, and of course, we need to watch Bachelor in Paradise. Quality television.

A Recipe + Date Bars

So, I'm a big fan of dates. They are a great snack, packed with fiber, potassium and magnesium. They are also a great way to satisfy my sweet tooth. I hadn't baked anything in quite sometime, so I decided this weekend it was time. I wanted to bake a dessert that was naturally sweet, with not a ton of added sugar. I had some dates on hand, so date bars it was.

Photo Courtesy

 Recipe: 

Filling

1 1/2 cups chopped, pitted dates (I used the medjool dates- delish)
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. sugar

Bars

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup quick cook oats
1/4 tsp baking soda
Sprinkle of salt

Directions:

• Put all of the "filling" ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, over low heat. The filling will thicken. Cool for about 5 minutes- the filling will continue to thicken.
• In a bowl, mix all of the "bars" ingredients
• Spread half of your crumb mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 greased pan. Pour the filling on top, then press the remaining crumb mixture on top of the filling.
• Put in a 400 degree oven and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.

See? Quick and easy. I enjoy eating these while they're warm, or enjoying with a nice cup of coffee. I have been starving by the time I get home from work, and I don't like to eat a full meal before a run. So, eating one of these will hold me over until after my run when I can eat my dinner.

A Recipe

So, I wanted to share this recipe with you. I was looking for something festive to do for the Fourth of July a few weeks ago. I knew we would be out by the pool, so it needed to be something I could transport easily, as well as something that would withstand the Texas heat.

Now, as I mentioned before, I'm no chef, but I can bake. Pinterest didn't fail me, and I stumbled across the recipe for a galette on the Smitten Kitchen and knew I had to give it a try. What initially drew me to the recipe was the fact that there was not a ton of added sugar. The natural sugar in the fruit speaks for itself, and there is very little sugar added to the dough. (I'm not waging a war against sugar, I just try not to include too much in my diet, because there is a noticeable difference when I run. I would rather eat less sugar and not have to suffer through a workout!)

Go see the recipe here. I added greek yogurt to the dough, instead of the ricotta, and it gave it a nice, light flavor. Don't leave out the lemon zest, as it was also the perfect complement to the dough. I opted for a blueberry/peach galette.

The dough made one large and two smaller, individual galettes. While mine didn't exactly form the shape of a star..... I probably could have formed the dough a bit better if I had more time- I was on a mission to get the pool :)

Baby Blueberry Galette. Side note: please look at the super cute parchment paper! Not exactly a star... but you get the idea- right?

Large peach/blueberry galette. Not exactly the star shape I was going for, but I think it could have been easily fixed had I taken a few extra moments to form the dough. Still tasty.

These reminded me of a turnover- delish! While summer fruits are still in season, I have a plan to try a plum galette and probably even a peach galette.

Three Things for the Week Ahead

Let me preface this with two things.

First- Happy Monday Tuesday!!!!
Second - today begins yesterday began the first day of working 12-straight days. Just a forewarning. It's officially conference week in the workplace- go team!

1. Workouts

Last week was a mix of (hot) running, yoga and some biking. No use in overstating the obvious, but it is getting hot hot hot here in Houston! It's the humidity that makes running outside fairly difficult this time of year. And by difficult I mean- I feel like I'm sucking in moisture every time I breathe. :) Fun times. Mix the humidity with a chance of rain-showers every day- and you have a recipe for a running disaster. Prime example- Aaron and I got caught in the rain less than halfway through our long run last weekend. It actually felt refreshing.With a five-mile run last weekend, a five-mile run this weekend, some shorter runs, a yoga and a bike session- the muscles are feeling pretty special these days.

No matter how tired I am at the end of a workday, I always look forward to my evening runs. It gives Aaron and I a chance to talk about our days, and it allows any worries or stresses or to-do's that haven't been check off of my list- a chance to be forgotten.

My tip:  Even on a day when I reallllly don't feel like going, and the excuses not to go - far outweigh my desire to go.... I try to get out there for just 10 minutes. If I can last ten minutes, and I still am not feeling it, I'll head back home. But, more often than not- if I'm out there for ten minutes, I can push myself to go another ten or twenty!

2. A Recipe

Mondays at the Kira and Krob house have been pizza nights lately. I mean, not only are Mondays the kickstart to the week ahead, but it's also the Bachelorette. So, let's be honest, by the time we both get home from work, walk the dogs and workout, we still have to find time to eat dinner and watch the Bachelorette. I am no chef, but I have an imagination shall we say. It's the execution part of the meal where I tend to get a bit lost. But who can mess pizza up? It's quick and easy and the perfect meal for a busy Monday. Depending what you put on top of it- you aren't breaking the calorie bank either.

Last night's pizza was delish!

The Recipe:

• One pizza crust
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Mushrooms (I used baby bellas- my fave!)
• Sundried tomatoes 
• A handful of spinach
• A sprinkle of blue cheese 

And yep- that was all made up. If I can make it up, so can you. Trust me.

3. A Baby Shower

Krob, Kiana and myself

This weekend we also celebrated baby Jackson's upcoming arrival. I am so excited to meet him in person, and eventually hold him (after his head stops wobbling)! I am so excited for Kiana and Tatum- Jackson is lucky to have such fun, loving parents! He will for sure be a BAYLOR baby.

In place of a card, we were asked to bring one of our favorite childhood books- and write our thoughts in the cover. I was such a reader when I was little. I loved all kinds of books. I had an idea of which popular book other guests might bring, so I wanted to give him an oldie, but a goodie. So, I went with Corduroy (and bonus- he's a bear!):

    

Hope your week is off to a fantastic start!

New Obsession

It's no secret that I don't have a green thumb. So, I decided to try my luck with mint. Because it's a weed. And I do have luck with growing weeds. I mean- you can google mint, and come up with hundreds of articles about easy it is to grow mint. Well, folks- I managed to kill my first mint plant (it does need to be watered every now and then). Oops. So, it's not fail-safe. Since I'm not one to give up, I decided to give it a second chance.  And with just a bit of TLC, I have managed to grow my mint into the above picture. A co-worker of mine even felt sorry that I killed off my first mint plant, so she bought be another one. Now, I have more mint than I know what to do with.

This is no gardening post- because why would you want advice from a mint-killer? I really just wanted to share with you my new fave obsession:

My mint and lemon combo

Making my own flavored water! I am typically a plain water drinker. Water and coffee (oh yeah, and wine) are my liquids of choice. Anything else can really throw off my running game. Since its summer, I've been flavoring my own water with whatever I can get my hands on. My two favorite combos have been mint and lemon and mint and strawberry. I've also done peppermint and cucumber and mint. The possibilities are endless, and it is especially refreshing during this hot summer. Flavor away and enjoy!