Recipe: Kale, Edamame, Mango Salad

Wednesday: TIU Abs & Summer Sizzle

Wednesday was strictly a toning day for me. I'm trying to give the calf some extra rest to make sure it's ready to run this weekend.

However, I did do some crafting last night and that always gets my heart pumping and makes me sweat.

I'm just not a good crafter and it totally stresses me out.

I think I handled this one OK though, and it's complete - and you'll get to see it Monday!

Over the weekend K and I attended a pool party.

I was trying to decide what side dish I would bring to share. I knew I had a race the next day, so I wanted a healthy option for myself. It's August, so it's hot outside, so I also wanted something light and refreshing.

Then, I was introduced to Kale, Edamame and Quinoa Salad.

Remember the girl who introduced me to the 2 ingredient pizza crust? She introduced me to this as well. She's a genius!

There's such a mix of flavors in this - red onion, edamame, lemon, mango, avocado, tomatoes.

It's amazingly delicious.

*I totally forgot the garlic in the dressing and it was still fabulous, so I can only imagine how much better it will be with garlic next time.

Now run to the grocery and make this, you won't regret it!

Recipe: 2 Ingredient Pizza Crust

Wednesday: TIU Abs

 

I will start this by saying that I in NO WAY came up with this on my own.

It was mentioned to me by a friend, then I searched and found several different blogs with the recipe and slightly varying instructions.

Also, this is still a cheat meal, but much healthier than a normal pizza.
We LOVE pizza in our house and occasionally want to splurge on it, so why not make it healthier when we do?

 
Here's what you need:
1 cup plain Greek yougurt
1 cup self rising flour

Here's what you do:
 Mix the yogurt and flour together. Form a ball with the dough.
Knead it. The more you knead it the better.
It will be very sticky. I put a little extra flour on my pizza stone (and on my hands) and kneaded it directly on the stone then pressed it out just using my hands.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes on 350.

We love mushrooms!

Remove crust, add already cooked toppings, put back in the oven until everything is melted.

See, it's that simple! 
Delicious and husband approved!

I feel like the extra protein in the crust made me feel full for a long time and with less pizza!

**Since making this I've learned you can make your own whole wheat self rising flour by adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda and salt to regular whole wheat flour. I bought self rising white flour because it is all I could find**

Spaghetti Squash and Puppy Faces

Wednesday: Toning Intervals at home

What a week this has been!

So much has been going on and I have been absolutely exhausted by it!

Most of it has been fun though, minus that little trip to the ER Sunday night, but at least everyone is OK!

I found this guy at IKEA yesterday and really wanted to take him home with me.

I mean, seriously, that face is precious.

This weather has been giving my sinuses fits and making me so sleepy.

I managed to make dinner even though I didn't feel like it last night.

It was my first attempt at spaghetti squash and it turned out quite well!

Thankfully it is super easy!

I just poked some holes in it and threw it in a baking pan in the oven for an hour at 375.

Once it cooled down a bit I cut it in half then used the fork to make it spaghetti like (after removing the seeds and squishy part).

Next time I will add a lot of veggies, I was just lazy this time.

We planned to hit the gym after a quick dinner, but we were both worn out.

I still made myself do some squat, lunge, push up, and ab intervals though.

I did 3 sets of each and between 20-30 reps of each exercise.

My abs are actually a bit sore this morning!

Not a normal or hard workout, but much better than just laying around watching Breaking Bad which is what I really wanted to do.

And so I don't make Pugalicious too jealous, how about this cuddly face too:

Weekend Wrap Up: Spring Has Sprung!

Friday: Rest
Saturday: 11.5 mile run outside
Sunday: Dog walking
Monday a.m: 4 mile treadmill run

Monday, we meet again!

Thank you for at least being springlike even if that includes a little rain.

This weekend FLEW by!

Our yard got a little spring makeover!

I made Friday and Sunday "rest days" since I was running longer than I have in two months.

Saturday morning I headed to running club bright and early. I was a little nervous about the distance since the last time I ran that far I ended up with a migraine and puking.

I still don't think the two were related, but still makes me nervous nonetheless.

Maureen is running Boston one week from today, so she was in taper mode while I was in longest run before the race mode. Luckily, we both needed 11-12 miles so we were able to run together the whole time.

It was beautiful in the morning - clear and cool (48ish degrees when we started).  Perfect running weather.

Spending it catching up with a good friend made it even better.

Post-run compression sock recovery time

It was a pretty good run!

No giant hills, I never felt overly tired and my body felt great.

The last two miles weren't easy, but they weren't hard either. I could have gone faster, but I'm happy with what we did.

Sunday began with a Liverpool game and lots of cooking!

I had been meaning to make these 2 ingredient banana cookies all week and hadn't gotten around to it yet, so what better time than Sunday morning!

The ingredients, pre baking and post baking. Yum!

 Sarah made these last week and inspired me to try the craisins. Definitely a good add-in!

I also made crustless egg white quiche for breakfast. It is one of our go-to recipes (for breakfast or dinner!), but this is the prettiest it has turned out, so of course I had to take a pic!

Egg white, mushroom, green pepper cheddar cheese quiche

Sunday evening we took the pups for a walk with their new harnesses. They made a world of difference - I see a lot of walks in our future.

We must have worn them out, because even Merlin actually got IN his bed last night!

Pardon the creepy eyes. Stupid cell phone pics1

Did you notice his spring hair cut? He looks like a respectable somewhat normal dog now!

I hope you enjoyed the weather this weekend!

Success!

Wednesday workout: Weights, 1 mile run

I was quite impressed with myself last night.

After wedding dress shopping and froyo eating date with Sarah, I headed straight for the gym.

Woohoo!

 I got my weight workout in then jumped on the treadmill while waiting for HTB to finish his workout. I only got a mile, in but it's still a mile!

I've been doing really well with the weights, but I need to work on the running. Here is what my month has looked like so far:

 

I like that ActivTrax gives you this view. It makes me not feel so bad slacking on the running since there are lots of days filled in with workouts.

After the gym we came home and had the Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup that had been cooking all day.

Yum!

Perfect after a long cold day!

There was enough for both of us to take some for lunch today and we put the rest in the freezer to reheat later (maybe this weekend?)

I think the dress has been decided on! I just have to make the official commitment of purchasing it! It takes me a while to commit to big purchases.

I'm hoping to get some cardio in tonight after dinner with friends!