Friday Favorites

The Greek Food Festival started last night, and it goes without saying, we're pumped. I've already been once, since it's walking distance and all. It's for a good cause. It also might be the cause of next week's weight gain.

I've been really underwhelmed by the new shows this season...except for Revenge. Not to mention, I'm terrified what Emily Thorne would do to me if I stopped watching.

Beyond ready for MS to get home today. Not only can he button his own buttons, its nice to have someone to share the dog poop picking up responsibilities. Grizz's bowels slow down for no one.
Plus, life is just more fun when he's around.

A Recipe...and Some Rambling

There are pros and cons to getting older. Pro - I no longer get paid in tips. (I was a waitress. Get your mind out of the gutter.) Con - suits, car maintenance, taxes....this list is getting depressing.

I have noticed as I've gotten older my taste in food has matured. Case in point - turnip greens. So when I received this recipe, I wanted to give it a try.

16 oz bag frozen turnips (or fresh)

2 cans Northern beans

1 lb pork sausage sliced to your liking ( you can also use turkey sausage)

1 box Knorr vegetable soup mix

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups water

salt and pepper to your taste

I got really adventurous and decided to try out cornbread in the cast iron skillet. I picked a great night to make all this food, as MS was on his way to the northern edge of the continental US.

I did not google image this picture. This is straight from the doctors office he's working at. Let me know, I bet he could get you an appointment. Yes, the proximity of his rear end to the water pitchers IS vomit inducing. Glad you noticed too.

Back on the homefront, I mixed all ingredients in a pot and let simmer for two hours.

While simmering, I took in a classic Lifetime movie. Does anyone remember this? It's TV gold and starts with those magic words - based on a true story. Bonus that the dad from 7th Heaven is Betty's ill-fated husband. Double bonus the sequel is titled "Her Final Fury". I would love to meet the person who names these movies. Heck, I would love to be the person who names these movies.

A few bites in, I remembered to take a picture. This recipe was really good, healthy and easy.

My brain is rotted and I now have enough soup and cornbread for a week. If anyone wants to come over eat soup, do crossword puzzles and discuss politics, let me know.

Double Digits

Saturday morning, we set out to do 10 miles. Getting started turned into a cluster - we kept forgetting stuff and ended up going back inside at least twice, after dropping a car off at the finish, so I was nervous this run would be one to forget. Fortunately, I'm not always right.

MS refused to let me take pictures of him this week, so I was the victim. Accurate wording.

Totally get why he didnt want to do this now.

It was an absolutely perfect Fall day. Check out the sky. And skyline.

This fountain looked a lot cooler when my flash didn't make the water invisible.

I was a happy runner Saturday. So happy, I actually took this horrible picture of myself and am posting it here. I'll regret this later.

Visitors: the hotel behind me now has free HBO and is $49 a night. I'll hook you up if you need a place to stay.
Seriously, this run was a big confidence booster. We finished in 1:33:21 and quickly headed down to Tuscaloosa for lunch.


Bring on 12, and the Gators.

Friday Favorites

Ok, so I put this post off until Sunday. But, we all like Fridays, so let's pretend.

The Spibelt. I think MS added this to his gear list, and I followed behind. The pouch is deceptively small - it stretches and actually holds a lot. Usually the exact items pictured below. Bonus favorite - if you've never shopped at runningwarehouse.com, you're missing out. Free two day shipping wins me over every time.


We all know cinnamon is good in roll form as well as being an excellent name if you work in the champagne room, but if you've never tried putting it in your coffee grounds, you're missing out. Divine.

After two seperate people raved to me about the fire roasted tomato soup from Newk's, I had to try it. I'm a tough sell. I got it in the large to go container, but I heard this is what it looks like when you order in the restaurant. Croutons you could paddle a canoe with.



Hope everyone had a perfect first Fall weekend.

Roll.Tide.Roll.

Numero Cuatro

Last weekend, our oldest niece turned the big 0-4. Hard to believe.

She got a lot of clothes. I was sort of jealous. Yes, that is a Victoria's Secret bag in the background. Not sure which is more unsettling - the bag or the fact that it was wrapped by her great grandmother.

She's pretty picky about clothes. Making sure the arms aren't too short.

I think this zebra has Namath's head to body ratio.

You know what they say...train up a child....

Finally, TOYS.
Sister got a Pooh coloring book. She was enthralled with every page turn. "There's ANOTHER Pooh!" Another victory for the Disney marketing department.

We had to leave early to make it to a retirement dinner for MS's mom. Circle of life.

We missed out on birthday cake, but luckily, Monday night, my neighbor brought this over. And all was right with the world again.

To Those It May Concern

I had big plans for blogging about marathon training. So far, my effort has been sub-par. I guess I figured no one really wants to read about that and it's not really exciting, but I've decided that since I like to read about running on other people's blogs, and this does pretty much cover four months of our lives, I'm going to put in more effort to keeping track.

This is my nice way of saying - if this bores you, there are about a billion other blogs. I'm in a fantastic mood today, by the way.

This past week was our fifth full week of training. It was our first step back week, so the long run was just 6 miles Saturday, followed by an easy 3 on Sunday.

I've yet to take a good pre-run picture, so I made MS suffer for the sake of memory. Color him unimpressed.

If your workouts are getting boring, can I suggest running on curvy roads with no sidewalks? The certainty that you will meet your death with each turn really mixes things up.

About half way through.

In the books.

Key lesson this week: Thai noodle and coconut soup served as an excellent Friday night meal. This is great information, for anyone with an addiction to Surin West.

Fall - The Good and the Ugly

I decided this fall/winter I'm going to make more soup. Shoot for the moon...you know the rest. This was one of the first recipes I ran across that I really wanted to try. If Starbucks can sell pumpkin spice, I can make soup while ignoring the high of 90 today.


Simple Slow Cooked Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
2-3 cups cooked chicken
1 can Ro-Tel
15 oz. chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken condensed soup
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/4 cup onion, chopped



Directions
Combine first ten ingredients in slow cooker

Cook on low, 6-8 hours.
Place tortilla chips in bowls. Pour soup over tortilla chips, then add cheddar cheese & sour cream, if desired.

Yes, I desired.

We didn't have tortilla chips, but we did have some leftover tortillas that I toasted for about 10 minutes on 350. MS is thankful for my cooking skills each and every day.

I would definitely double this recipe next time. Its not efficient to do all the work of opening cans and pouring them in the crock pot and not have much for leftovers.

This rolled out at Target yesterday and crashed the Target web site.

Seriously? Thinking these people never read The Emperor's New Clothes.The real winners are the sellers hacking this stuff on eBay for ungodly amounts of money.

This $400 bike is now up to $1000.

I might be hitting up Target soon.

Old Dog, New Tricks

Look how organized MS had Saturday mornings coffee and clif bar breakfast before bed Friday night. I like to think I've taught him a few things, but I think it's just the imminent fear of missing kick off.

Jokes on him, since I used all the time we saved on a photoshoot of the many faces of Namath. He has no new tricks. Sticking with the classics - awkward and pudgy.

The tongue curl. The leg raise.

He's a magnificent creature.

This was before both of his bulldog teams came thisclose to winning this weekend. He had high hopes. Hopes that we had to drown in nutella cookies. I highly recommend this method.

In Summary

I've had nothing exciting to write about, so decided I would bore you with a list.

• It POURED on Monday. Perfect weather for laundry and TV which was fine by me. Not great weather for the 45 minute drive to my parents to cook out. Yes, cook out. I was 98% sure the drive up there was how I was going to die and they would find my body in a ravine at some point this week. Clearly, I'm dramatic.

• Since the rain wasn't letting up among other factors, we ran during lunch on Tuesday. Fact: running in the rain makes you feel like you are working 10 times harder, when in fact, you are not. Fact: North Face rain jackets aren't good workout gear.

• Insert something here about football and pumpkin spice lattes. Fall is here. You heard it here last.

• And just for giggles - from Bedtimes are for Suckers -

Wordless Wednesday - Working from Home

MS had an assistant yesterday.


I read his mid-year review. Key Gaps: takes too many breaks.

Friday Favorites - Road Edition

I spent some time on the road this summer - also called the summer of facing my fears (i.e. dams and public speaking. Once I gave a speech at a dam. How's that for multi-tasking?).

In order for it to not be the summer I gained 10 lbs, I turned to these trusty standbys.

Sorry, Jared, but I've never been a Subway fan. I don't like paying for a sandwich that is no better than I can make at home. Until the crispy chicken was unveiled. And I was stuck in smalltown, USA. Seal of approval.

Welcome to Moe's! Love the Close Talker salad with lots of salsa verde as dressing.

Gold star if you can look past the munchkins to the egg white and veggie flatbread from Dunkin Donuts. It really is one of my favorite breakfasts on the go. The coffee isn't too shabby either.

I always take a few Clif bars so as not to get stuck with hashbrown casserole and questionable gravy. The blueberry crisp is amazing. Even if you aren't going rock climbing that day.


There you have it - some dam good road food.

Celebrate Good (and Bad) Times

I like traditions. I also like wine. When I heard of a way to merge these together, I was on board.

We've kept just about every wine cork from when we started dating, and wrote on the cork the occasion (or lack thereof) and throw them in a glass jar. Last night, I dumped out the jar I keep the corks in, wavered between opening a bottle and calling Betty Ford, and took some pictures of a few favorites.

There are a few everyday memories -

Bad Monday (no recollection of what was so bad), UAB vs. Memphis basketball, Bad Day, Wine Night.

There are a lot of celebrations -

Pre-drinks before dinner when I sold the house, Matt's new job, Lost Finale, 25th Birthday Dinner, New Car.

Some bad decisions -

Pre-10 miles. Night before, not day of. Don't call Intervention just yet.

Good times with friends -
4th of July cookout, Melissa's 25th birthday, New Years Eve Dinner, wine bought on visit to see my old roommate.

A little family time -

Snow Storm 2011 with Fluff (MS' sister).

Our relationship -
Long talk with Matt(?), Keys to our first place together, Mad Men/Homemade Pizza Date Night, Engagement Anniversary.

Our wedding week -
Pre-wedding mani/pedi with Meredith, Rehearsal Dinner, Wedding, Packing for Honeymoon.

We have two glass jars and they are both nearly full. I cleaned out a lot of corks with no writing - shame on me. I'll look at the jar half full (so punny) and think about all the corks it will take to fill them now. Pop a bottle....

What are your traditions?