Chicken??

Today was my boss' birthday, and there is a running joke around the office, that's highly confidential (kinda), but I can say that it has to deal with chicken. If there is a birthday, party, event, anything really... you know that I'll be baking and the number one thing I make is a darn good cupcake. There are endless varieties, version, creations you can make and tons of decorations.

So, I made cupcakes that loosely resemble a chicken, having an orange slice as the beak. The frosting was absolutely insane though! I will be making this again.

Not too Sweet Caramel Frosting

8oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
8 oz. (2 sticks) of Butter, room temperature
Caramel Sauce, about 2 tbsp, or to taste
Confectioner's sugar (about 4 cups or to desired consistency)

1. Using a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid, beat the cream cheese and butter together until well blended.
2. Add in the caramel sauce and beat in until blended
3. Pour the powdered sugar in multiple "waves", so adding about 1 to 2 cups at a time until frosting is desired consistency

Cupcake Chickens with Caramel Frosting

This whole week has been a whirl-wind, between TNT, work and and the BeltLine Committee getting geared up for the race in July. I was able to make it to my first TNT Track Training day, which was actually held at Piedmont Park, practicing our stride form and rate on rolling hills and a 1/4 mile measure of grass. It was hot, tough but gave me a great kick in the butt for my running. I realize that I need to get my timing and pace lowered in order to run the marathon, but it's a hard habit to kick right as 5K season is winding down.

It's hard getting used to the heat. I'm trying to run after work, but by that time it is blazing out around 90+ degrees. I've been limping around slightly the past two days, taking it easy on the run right after track. The running styles they teach are also going to take a little getting used to, but it's going to be much better once I get it down.

Be looking out for my ideas and announcements on fundraising - I've got some exciting things planned!

Fit Fact: ONE fortune cookie contains 210 calories. That blows my mind!

Pretty Perfect Potato Summer Salad

I was on a mission to find just the right potato salad, without mayo. Done! It's fresh, yummy, filling and a great side with all of the BBQ that's been going on now that the guy friends fire up the grill constantly.

Potato Summer Salad

This recipe was originally adapted from this EatingWell recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of potatoes (I did a mix of small golden and red)
• 1 celery heart, washed and inner stalks/base removed, chopped
•  1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 medium shallot, chopped
• Dill seasoning, to taste
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk
• lemon juice, about 2 tbsp
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 hard boil eggs, peeled and chopped
• Dijon mustard, about 2 to 3 tbsp
• Smoked ham (I bought Trader Joe's cubed ham, which was about 1 cup)

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, until just tender, 12 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Drain and let cool for about 15 minutes.
2. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces and put them in a large bowl
3.  Grind up celery, parsley, shallot for a short time in a food processor, so large chunks are still visible.
4. Add celery, ham, parsley, shallot and dill to the potatoes. Toss to combine. Add buttermilk, lemon juice, salt and pepper; combine. Gently stir in chopped egg. Serve chilled.

All ingredients, sans potatoes and eggs

The Finished Product

TNT, the first GTS

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to head north on Roswell to join the sea of purple for my first Group Training Session (GTS) with Team in Training (TNT). In an earlier post, I let everyone know that I am running the Chicago marathon in October, and now that I have done my first group run, I know that the next 5 months of training will be so much more entertaining and meaningful than last year.

We started off the day with a longer coaches clinic, going over the basics of running, which can make us sound like crazy people and have those non-runners to question "why?" Runners all have their own story of why they keep going though. Some topics discussed:
- cotton is rotten
- chaffing
- body glide and vaseline
- peeing in the woods
- salt pills
- ice baths
- setting an alarm in the middle of the night to eat a bagel
- bloody nipples

Yes, they are crazy, a little off-kilter even, but surprisingly necessary to know about and be aware of when you are training for an endurance sport such as running 26.2 miles. After about an hour discussion, we headed out for the first run of 3 miles. This will eventually turn into days of logging 18 to 20, but today was just the first steps of the coming months.

I was able to meet some great people, hear a little bit about my team members as we jogged 2 abreast through neighborhoods, and got to eat a cheese bagel afterwards - I LOVE carbs. We have a few less informal meet-ups throughout the week and I will be meeting with one member for lunch to discuss fundraising ideas. I hope this first run will set the precedence for the additional ones to come, and I am really looking forward to the next few months, raising money for Leukemia & Lymphoma, and forming friendships one mile at a time.

Click to view my TNT page!

Honey, Agave, and the best Homemade Dressing

Honey vs. Agave: I keep seeing this battle between the two pop up again and again, always wondering what REALLY is the difference. I started with the labels, the most visible way to juxtapose the two.

Agave Nectar - 1 Tbsp serving

Honey - 1 Tbsp serving

As you can see from these labels, not too much of a difference. Honey is a little higher in carbs and sugar, BUT agave does have a whole gram of fiber per tbsp. So, I guess agave nectar leans toward being slightly healthier if you are strictly looking at the label, but if you are trying to choose between the two, don't stress over it.

With that being said, I used agave nectar for the dressing that I have been using on my salads for the past week. I altered Whole Foods' No-oil balsamic recipe based on what I had, and what I liked as a dressing base.

No-oil Sweet Balsamic Dressing

1/4 cup water
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey)

Mix all ingredients together, store, and shake before using. To mix all of the ingredients well, I used my Vitamix, especially so the garlic clove was completely incorporated. This recipe is approximately 20 calories per 2 tablespoon serving. For my salads, I drizzled this sweet and tangy dressing over spinach, romaine, broccoli, celery, carrots and either balsamic stir-fried tofu, a green apple, or sliced up chicken. This dressing will for sure be stocked in my fridge from now on.

Fighting Leukemia & Lymphoma

So it is all official - I've signed up for my second marathon in a year, but this time I have a strong cause pushing me every mile. Team in Training has been around for a while, and I am sure that you would easily recognize the purple teams if you have ever run a major race. Now I am part of that team and will be running the Bank of America Chicago marathon on October 7, 2012. Crazy, I know...

I've set a personal goal of $2,900 to raise by this date, and am working on fundraising ideas (koozies, cupcakes, anyone??). I really need support to reach this goal. I have been lucky to not be personally affected by these terrible blood cancers, but I want to help, and considering how scared I am of needles and anything having to do with doctors, why not run? Something I love to help others - sign me up!

You can view my personal fundraising page HERE - track, donate, leave me a support comment. It's a big task, but one with rewards beyond what I can images. Here we go!

Passions, Questions and Finding the Answers

I think I am going through a quarter-ish life crisis. I am starting to learn about what I love, what I hate, and come up with the ideas of where I want to be compared to where I am now. It's a lot of soul-searching, heavy questions and it is hard to keep everything straight.

If you're close with me, I think you know what "life struggles" I am facing right now. I talk about it pretty openly since I love opinions and hearing people's advice.

I think a change is coming. What is that? Not quite sure. I think I am moving in the right direction, but figuring out my life at the moment is not going to really happen - it's just going to move closer to what I want and where my passions lie. What is my inspiration and what will get me excited about waking up each day? Hmm, good question. I think it needs some answers.

Running Successes, Cooking Fail

Sometimes, things don't turn out quite as expected. This can either turn into a pleasant surprise, or in some cases unhappy taste-buds. I mixed a little bit of both together this past week, which has seemed like a month's worth of time flying by.

Let's start on the positives. I have a great new weekend breakfast recipe, which I actually ended up making for breakfast on Saturday and for dinner Sunday. It's what I had in the kitchen, and I really hate seeing my veggies go to waste.

Creamy Spinach and Egg Stuffed Tomatoes

Handful of spinach
1/8 cup coconut milk (or any kind really)
clove of garlic, minced
salt/pepper to taste
1 large, firm tomato
1 egg
2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. In a small pan that has been preheated over medium-high heat, combine spinach, a clove of garlic, salt/pepper, a tsp of the Parmesan cheese and a dash of coconut milk. Sauté until the spinach leaves are just wilting and most of the coconut milk has evaporated.

Cut the top of a big, somewhat firm tomato. Remove all of the seeds and insides so that you have a nice little tomato bowl.

Place the spinach mixture into the tomato, then creating a little hole in the middle which will be used to allow the egg to run into rather than run off the top of your tomato.

Crack and egg and fill the hole in the spinach mix as best you can. Try not to have the egg run off! Place this on a cooking sheet that is non-stick (I actually used a 9" circle pan and placed it on aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray). Top off your creation with the extra tsp of Parmesan cheese and bake until the egg white is just cooked if you like the yolk runny like me. 

 

See, success! Earlier that Saturday, I also ran the BeltLine Northside 5K in Atlanta. I beat my PR, again! It was also my goal for the summer, to run 7:30 miles. I recently joined the BeltLine Running Series committee, so I didn't have much if any input into planning the race, but it was so well done! The course was one of the most beautiful I have been on, with the sunrise coming up over a golf course as we were halfway there.

My face, in pain, about to start seeing if a doctor was around

I hit in at 23:08 according to my watch. The start was a grass start with no "official" starting pad to set off our timing chips, so I started my watch at the starting line. Hitting that goal for myself felt great for the mind, but my body felt absolutely awful. I honestly felt like everything was just going to explode. My heart was pounding, I had felt dizzy and disoriented most of the race (guess I need to breathe better), but I knew that feeling would pass, eventually.

I also was able to head up to Athens for a quick visit, which involved seeing all of my friends that are still living there, plus some that were visiting from far away (my roommate Sophomore and Senior year of college!). It was also Twilight weekend, one of the most bustling, awesome weekends in Athens full of beer, bike racing and a full day of activity in the Classic City.

Twilight - Criterium

I'm training hard this week, using my Vitamix, lots of weights and getting to go to the BeltLine Run Club tomorrow night at Park Tavern (free music, food and beer afterwards!). I got home earlier yesterday though since I didn't go to the gym and wanted to try a new recipe. I altered the original, a lot, and found out that was a bad decision. My recipe involved tofu, artichokes and mushrooms, lots of spices and not enough cooking of the tofu. It looked and smelled great, but the taste just wasn't there. Darn...

 

If you are interested in joining me tomorrow for a run, the BeltLine Run Club is a great scene for those that are running for fun. You also get a ton of free stuff from Park Tavern afterwards, so it is worth the run!

Details:
6:30 PM, Thursday May 3rd
Meet in the field behind Park Tavern in Atlanta
Bring ID, smart phone (if possible) and your running shoes!

Also, I am way too tempted to do this...