Meal Planning Week of March 18, 2012

I type this post with a heavy heart but I wanted, NEED, some semblance of normalcy.
  
It's been a very traumatic weekend. One of the kids from our church youth group committed suicide.  It has been very difficult coming to terms with this tragedy.  I am not sure I am there yet or if I ever will.  He was only 20 years old with an incredible life left to live.  He was a wonderful, sweet and loving kid.  He was an Eagle Scout.  He always gave me hugs even if it wasn't such a cool thing to do!  He got me hooked on Sour Patch Kids.  He tried to teach me how to play various card games and laughed at my inability to catch on.  The thing I will remember the most about Brad was his ability to draw you into his world and then you couldn't help but love him back.  I am sad that I won't get another hug or see his goofy face.  But my heart breaks for the family he leaves behind who loves him more than anything on earth.  In all this grief and pain, I hope we can find comfort in knowing we have an amazing guardian angel watching over us.  Please take a moment of pray for his family.  They are going to need it.  I love you, Bradley! 

The rest of this post seems trivial but nonetheless I feel I should post about it to keep from completely losing a grip on my normal life. I ended up changing the breaded pork cutlets to grilled pork burgers because of the incredible weather!  :)  They were still delish!  I can't believe how fabulous the weather has been for March.  I actually got a sunburn during St. Patrick Day activities.  

I ended up walking the 5 mile St. Paddy's Day Run.  It killed me not to take off and run.  I tested the ankle on Thurs night and managed 1.5 miles but it was barking.  It is getting there but not quite strong enough to push it.  However, walking with some of my gym girls was way more fun.  An experience I wouldn't change for the world!  I love you, Jan and Patty! 

Here is the menu for this week:  Shout out to Pinterest for two recipes! 

Sunday:  White Chicken Enchiladas

Monday:  Citrus & Salsa Pork Loin

Tuesday: Turkey Brown Rice Casserole 

Wednesday: LO

Thursday: Fish

Friday: LO

Saturday: LO

Feel free to ask for recipes! Until next time....  

Meal Planning Week of March 11, 2012

Hello blog friends~

I am back into my meal plan.  The new calendar has been hung on the wall!  It feels great to be cooking instead of eating out.  Dinner is in the oven and I am already stressing about my NCAA bracket!  I love March!!

The ankle is feeling better but by the end of the day it is still sore and tender.  But it has only been a week.  I hope that by next week it is even better! 

Here is the menu for this week:
Sunday:  Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Monday:  Chicken and dumplings (crock)
Tuesday: Breaded Pork Cutlets
Wednesday: LO
Thursday: Fish (although I am fished out after last week)

Friday: LO
Saturday: LO

Feel free to ask for recipes! Until next time....  

Post Half-Marathon

Sorry about the lack of meal planning.  There was a plan but with the excitement surrounding my trip to New Orleans it went to heck.  This week hasn't been any better! I promise to be back on track and blogging on Sunday!  

The half-marathon went great...well up until I did something to my ankle at mile 7.  I still managed to finish in 2:35!  Not as fast as my first one, but not too shabby with an injury either!  My bff and I had a great time hanging out in NOLA!  I have been on seafood overload!  :)

I am so addicted to running these now.  But having said that, I need a break.  So I am going to take a few months off and just run some 5/10ks!  The training was getting to me this time.  I felt like I wasn't able to give it my full attention which is something that ends up hurting you in the end.  Perhaps, that is why I am limping around rather than running right now.  I also want to remember why I love to run.  Training makes it a "have to" situation and not a "want to" situation.  I want to go out on a beautiful day and run because I can!  I am pretty damn proud of myself for finishing two half-marathons in 6 months!  A break is earned, right?   

I'll be back training this summer/fall for the RNR STL in Oct and maybe the Diva run in Nov.  I can't wait to get back at it!  Next up: St. Patty's Day 5-miler...well if my ankle is up to it next Saturday!! 

Peanut Butter Chicken

Peanut Butter Chicken

The Ingredients.

serves 4

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut in chunks *

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky, your choice)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten free--La Choy or Tamari wheat-free)

1/2 cup chicken broth

* If you are going to use quarters, or meat with bones, be aware that the meat will probably fall off the bone, and you'll need to fish out the bone pieces before serving. I've used this sauce with a whole chicken (I doubled the sauce ingredients for a 4.5-pound bird) and it was fantastic, but the bones were a bit of an issue.

The Directions.

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into the bottom of your pot and add the peanut butter. Toss in the vegetables and cumin. Squeeze in lime, and add soy sauce and chicken broth. Stir as well as you can to combine (the peanut butter will be clumpy, and that's just fine). Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours. Serve over rice or quinoa.

Hello bloggersphere!
 
Well it is exactly 2 weeks until my half!  I think I have survived my cold (still a little congested but it is better)!  However, I have zero motivation to train.  I tried running Tuesday night and it wore me out.  This cold, sinus, whatever kicked my butt.  I have never been so wiped out.  I worked with my trainer on Wednesday night and was finished off for the week.  What happened to my stamina?  Did it suddenly collapse around me or just take a hiatus?  I plan to run tonight after dinner.  It was too chilly for me to be outside today.  I didn't think that was a great idea with having just been really sick so now I am forced to dreadmill it.  Ugh!  I still have two weeks to get my miles in and make myself feel capable of crossing this finish line without dying!  I can do it!

Here is the menu for this week:
Sunday:  Stuffed Peppers
Monday:  Peanut Butter Chicken (one of our faves)
Tuesday: Pulled Pork (frozen from the last time I made it) 
Wednesday: LO
Thursday: Orange Glazed Salmon / Mashed Cauliflower (another fave)

Friday: LO
Saturday: LO

Feel free to ask for recipes! Until next time....  

Meal plan for week of Feb 12, 2012

I apologize for the tardiness of this post.  I have been sick with a cold or some sort of nasty URI.  I am just starting to feel human again.  I even ran last night which was a disaster but at least I tried!  This infection knocked the wind out of me.  I hope that everyone is staying well and manages to avoid all the icky bugs going around.  I did cook despite feeling like crude.  Apparently, my mother wanted to eat or something....

T-minus like almost 2 weeks to RNR NOLA!!  Yep being sick has been a set back.  I plan to draw some inspiration from my first half-marathon to carry me through this one.  I am pretty sure that finishing is the goal!
 

Here is the menu for this week:
Sunday:  Pork chops with cinnamon apples (since we were both sick last week and didn't want them.  I moved them to Sunday.)
Monday:  Tuna Casserole
Tuesday: Apricot Chicken
Wednesday: LO
Thursday: Fish 

Friday: LO
Saturday: LO

Feel free to ask for recipes! Until next time....  

Meal planning week of Feb 5, 2012

I didn't weigh-in this week because of my monthly friend.  I gain enough water to float the ark!  Next week I have book club so I won't weigh-in again.  But it's not the end of the world.  This week has been really stressful at work.  I had a bunch of late nights.  I haven't ran all week and I am particularly POed because it was 60 freaking degrees here all week.  Ugh.  Oh well.  I can't let it get to me.  I did make a couple training sessions so at least I didn't completely miss working out.  My legs will just be fresher, right?  One month to RNR NOLA!!!  I can't wait to run in such a great city! 

Here is the menu for this week:
Sunday:  Appetizers from the freezer while I don't watch football but probably movies
Monday:  Brown Sugar Chicken (crock)
Tuesday: Pork chops with cinnamon apples
Wednesday: LO
Thursday: Fish 

Friday: LO
Saturday: LO

Feel free to ask for recipes! Until next time....