Second 5K in one month... what was I thinking?

I may have mentioned before that I'm not a fan of making New Year's resolutions. To me, it implies that I am somehow lacking and need to "fix" something about myself. I don't like this idea. I am hyper-self-critical most of the time anyway, so why develop a plan that will do little more than beat myself up even more?

Instead, I favor the idea of having positive intentions in my life. The concept of living my life with intent is very appealing to me. It means that I make positive choices to steer my life in a healthy direction. One of the intentions that I started working on last year was to make my physical health a priority. I started doing Pilates 6 days a week back in October and have, with only a few exceptions, stuck to that schedule. I picked up a punching bag to increase my cardio and build more upper-body strength (still working on incorporating that into the schedule on a regular basis). And I walk Harley 3 miles a day most days.

All in all, I've pretty happy with the progress I've been making. Most days I have an incredible amount of energy. However, last week I was dragging a bit. The biggest problem is that I didn't get to bed on time but once in the last 2 weeks. Granted, I only lost about an hour or so each night, but that adds up for me.

So I was a little disappointed that I was slow in the Preservation 5K today, but I can't say that it was unexpected. I finished in 40:30ish, and I know that I didn't push myself as hard as I could have. I'm okay with that, because I still finished and I'm at least out there trying. But I did realize that walking my dog 1.5 miles twice a day is not enough training for jogging 3.1 miles. Time to take a closer look at my schedule and see where I can fit in both some extra bag work and a few additional laps around the park. The Turtle Trot on Tybee is coming up in April, so I have a few weeks to prepare...

Care Package #15 - Fruit Bars...and lots of other fun stuff

Ok, so I don't have a picture of the fruit bars... But they turned out really yummy and I will certainly be using this recipe again! Plus, I finally made use of the neat book "Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin'."

Oasis Fruit Bars
3 Cups various chopped, dried fruit (I used raisins, cranberries, apricots and prunes)
2 2/3 Cups chopped nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds)
1 TBS wheat flour
1/2 Cup brown sugar
2 TBS butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 Cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Pre-heat the oven to 325. In a bowl, mix together the fruit, nuts, seeds and 1TBS wheat flour, then set aside. In another bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Sift the 1/2 Cup wheat flour and baking powder and add it to the sugar mixture. Combine the fruit and nut mixture with the sugar mixture. Line a 13" x 9" baking pan with parchment paper and spread the batter, pressing down to make sure its compacted. Bake for 35 minutes, cool completely then cut into 16 servings.

On to the other fun stuff...

If you hadn't heard, Savannah got the first measurable snowfall in 14 years! Here is a picture of my car in the Winter Storm.

Now, I thought I had left all fears of snow behind in Connecticut, so I was more than a little annoyed by the whole thing. However, Savannah made it up to me by having a glorious spring preview this weekend!

And I finally got around to making the gray skirt and jacket that I mentioned a while back. I got several compliments on it, so I might have to whip up a few more!

This week I'll be presenting workshops on post at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield and was asked if I had anything that could be used as a door prize. We don't really have much that would be considered prize-worthy lying around the office, so I went by Office Max and got a bunch of stuff to create this wonderful "Budget in a Box!" The box is just the right size for keeping files organized and holds everything you need in one place (so you don't have to go running all over the house to find your budget book or whatnot).

It has everything you need to get your finances in order, including a calculator, budget book, calendar, notepads to track your spending, coupon organizer, monthly files and envelopes, instructional materials and a Snickers bar. well, the Snickers won't really help you get organized, but it's a great reward for when you're done!

Care Package #14 - Don't try this at home...

This whole "healthy snacks" thing is proving harder than I expected. See, I grew up with a mom who used margarine in everything and lots of refined, white sugar for any type of treat. I also grew up with a mom who showed her love by feeding her family, feeding us a lot. Seriously. When I was planning on coming home for a visit she would start asking me about meals weeks before my arrival, even though she had two fully stocked fridges and a huge, bursting-at-the-seams pantry.

I personally struggled (who am I kidding, I still struggle) with reconciling healthy lifestyle habits like eating whole foods with a heart-deep desire for rich and sweet comfort food. This struggle is at the center of my care packages to Brian. I really want to send healthy things because I believe that being healthy is really important. Oh, right, and he asked for healthy things and I would like to honor that request. But I also have this very deep-rooted instinct that showing love requires chocolate and sugar, which feed the soul in a way that oatmeal and bran just can't.

So last week I tried a recipe that my co-worker passed along for Oatmeal, Walnut and Dried Plum Cookies. It's from Alicia Silverstone's cookbook for The Kind Diet. I'll admit, I did a few substitutions (below is what I actually did as opposed to the original recipe here). The result was, well, it was kinda sad. The cookie dough was oily and hard to handle and the baked product was crumbly and had an almost cornmeal-like texture. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it. Brian said it was good, but supposedly anything tastes good compared to Army food, so that's not saying much. I think I may eventually try it again but actually stick to the recipe and see if that makes a difference. In the meantime, this is not something I would recommend.

Ingredients
• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 3/4 cup unbleached brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon molasses
• 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots and cranberries(or other dried fruit)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I thought this would help, but it didn't...)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Fold in the dried plums and nuts. Using your hands, roll tablespoon-size scoops of dough into balls. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet and press down slightly on the balls to flatten the tops. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

Another VPW (Very Productive Weekend)

I have a love/hate relationship with making lists. I hate the fact that lists emphasize how much I have not done yet. However, I love the feeling of crossing things off of a list. I love that it feels like I have accomplished something meaningful if I can look at a list of "to-dos" with every single one of them crossed out.

This weekend, I was able to cross three kinda biggish to-dos off a list.


First, I participated in my first 5K of 2010: the Wesley Community Center's Love Run/Walk. I take that title very seriously, so I traded off running and walking to finish in 36:26 (Corrected time now that the results were posted here). It's a few seconds slower than the Komen race last year, but I'm okay with that. Saturday the temperature was only about 34 degrees when the race started, and I was very stiff and the cold air made breathing a little difficult. Not making excuses, just saying.


Second, I finished the second knitted elephant I was working on.
I stuffed this one with loose fiber-fill and was so much happier with how it turned out that I re-stuffed the first one. Now they are both much more plump and happy looking!


Third, I finally FINALLY finished a pair of socks that I started back in ... 2008! It's ridiculous to me that it has taken me this long to finish a very simple pair of socks. But once I put them down there were so many other projects that I wanted to work on instead of picking them back up again. The concept was really cool: knitting two socks at one time to avoid the dreaded "Second Sock Syndrome." I guess it didn't work too well for me in that I still avoided finishing the project! The pattern started at the toe and worked up to the cuff with an after-thought heel that I really don't like. It's just not as clean or well formed as a short-row heel (if you're not a knitter that probably won't make a lick of sense). But I am glad to have finished them and can now return to the knitted shrug that has been hibernating in my ottoman since this summer...

And I still have all day tomorrow off for President's Day! To-Do List, here I come!


A few other quick notes. On Wednesday I went to my first Town Hall meeting to hear the Mayor's "State of the City" address. It was interesting to see the whole council and kinda cool to be up to speed on most of the topics that were discussed. But it was disappointing to see that there were only about 200 people present. On Friday I met a few friends at the performance of the Lula Washington Dance Troupe. The show was great and the dancers were awesome. But again, low attendance was a bit of a disappointment. It's amazing that there are so many people in Savannah but they have such a hard time showing up...

Care Package #13 - Two for one!

Last week I was feeling especially creative. Since this box was going to contain both Super Bowl and Valentine's Day goodies, I allowed myself to take a break from the uber-healthy goodies and make some just-plain-yummy treats!

These nut-cluster chocolate heart bars could kinda be considered healthy (nuts are good for you and so is dark chocolate...in moderation) but they came out much bigger than I planned! I just roasted some almonds and walnuts then used cookie cutters as molds to pour in the melted chocolate. Of course I had to test them and it turned out delicious!


My first experiment with gingerbread cookies was a smashing success! I had to wing it with cutting out the shape since I don't have a football shaped cookie cutter (and wasn't about to buy one...) and had a bit of trouble with the dough being too soft after I rolled it out, but I am so very happy with the way these football cookies turned out! I will try to remember to post the recipe soon.


I've been working on this little guy for weeks now, and I finally finally FINALLY finished it! I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the finished result: I thought it would be cuter. Don't get me wrong, he's still pretty darn cute. But it doesn't quite look as cute as the one in the book. I think I'll have to play around with different types of yarn or something...
You can't see it in these photos, but the bottom of the feet have the same fabric as the ears. I do like that touch, adds charm.

I'd like for the body to be a little more round; right now it looks like the same shape as the piggy. And I think the ears could use a little work. What do you think? Am I being too picky?

Care Package #12 - Take-A-Guess Pumpkin Bars

I've been wanting to make some home-made granola bars to send Brian, but didn't really like any of the recipes I found online. So I decided to just wing it and whip up my own recipe!

This could have been potentially devastating... I am used to eating super-healthy food that often tastes, shall we say, less than delicious. But how was Brian going to feel about these ultra-healthy, hardly-any-sweetener, very-strange-consistency snacks? I joked with one friend that these are so healthy that Brian just may be forced to break up with me! Luckily for me, he actually enjoyed them (or at least he said he did, which is good enough for me).

Take-A-Guess Pumpkin Bars

2 C homemade granola
1.5 C chopped dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries, etc)
1 C canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 TBS honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
.25 C whole wheat flour
Cinnamon

In a medium bowl, combine the granola, dried fruit, flour and cinnamon (as much or as little as you'd like). In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, honey, vanilla and baking soda. Mix wet ingredients together well and then slowly stir in the granola mixture until just blended. Press into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pressing down well to compact it. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes. Let cool completely then cut into bars.

I think the whole effect would have been greatly improved by just stirring in some chocolate chips, which I think I will try next time!