Soup Time!

Well hello again friends! Not much to report on the running/jogging side of things. I'm still trucking along. I like that running (And I use that term VERY loosely) has become just another part of my nightly schedule. In my vision of being a perfect mother I'd love to be able to drag my large behind out of my bed earlier in the morning and get my time in before MB wakes up but yea..... that's prolly not going to happen. Like ever. So I'm just plugging away at night hoping this slow and steady pace will get me to the finish line within the time frame and not dead! That being said to avoid a string of mundane "Everything is fine" posts I'm going to turn to my go to when I get bored, FOOD!

First up is a(nother) soup that I swear comes from Cooking Light, even though it starts with bacon. Here's the link to prove it!  I wasn't sure if I was going to post this one so you'll have to forgive my shady and missing pictures.

 This delicious concoction starts with.... chopping, lots of chopping. Please learn from my mistakes and avoid the frantic moment where you realize the stuff in the pot is burning while you get the next step ready. Get a lot of bowls dirty and chop everything in advance. I swear it will make everything easier.

And what delicious soup doesn't start with bacon I'd like to know?? After this a whole bunch of stuff happens that apparently I forgot to take pictures of because I'm awesome like that.

So you end up with this delicious thing. Hearty, warm, creamy, cheesy and just full of general yumminess and I swear a Cooking Light recipe.

And because that obviously wasn't delicious enough on it's own, I whipped some quick Whole Wheat biscuits. Not exactly low fat, but the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour gives these a delicious crunch that I just can't help loving.

Cheddar Chicken Chowder
Adapted from Cooking Light June 2005
*Please, please learn from panic and have everything chopped and ready before you start this. I've adjusted a little bit to better suit me, first being I may or may not have doubled the bacon and the garlic. Don't judge me. I've also found that sauteing the onion and peppers first then the chicken before adding the potatoes helps everything on it's path to soup nirvana and keeps the chicken ridiculously tender. 

4 bacon slices

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (chicken tenders also work great)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup diced red bell pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 ½ cups less sodium chicken broth

1 ¾ cups diced, peeled red potatoes (I usually add more so it's a bit chunkier)

2 ¼ cups frozen corn

½ cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven (or large soup pot) over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and set aside for later. Add the onion and bell pepper to the drippings in pan, saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute just until fragrant about 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn. Add chicken and saute for 5 minutes stirring frequently.  Add broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn and stir well.

Place flour in a bowl and gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until well blended and add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon. Enjoy!

329 days until the big day, We can do this!

And the journey continues!

Progress!

*Rule #1 of this post, no laughing, judging, etc. Please remember that I was so incredibly NOT in shape before I started this venture and I'm still not that great, so please be kind* :)

I did it!! I finally got my 1 mile time down to under 20 minutes! 18:56 to be exact. I know, I know, that's still a pretty long mile BUT when I started this 2 months ago I was going a 24:00 minute mile so I'm jumping for joy at this latest accomplishment, especially considering that I wasn't bent over wheezing and dead after, instead I felt really good! I'm all about motivation and this is definitely it. For the race, I am aiming for a 15 minute mile. The cutoff is 16 minutes/mile so I'm hoping that aiming above the absolute minimum will help me out. So say what you like about my slow, slow pace but I'm thrilled!

Speaking of the race, the date is officially up of the runDisney website. Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend: February 21-23, 2014. Wow.... that came way to fast. 337 day away to be exact *GASP/WHEEZE* I'm a bit nervous to say the least. I have high hopes of being able to do this but a lot of anxiety about how or if I will actually be able to do this. The plan as of yet is to continue the conditioning program that I'm doing for the next 4 weeks and then hop into the training. Located Here, if anyone has a burning desire to run 13.1 miles with me and Cindy :) I'm to lazy to go back through my posts to see if I've talked about this before but, quick recap, I'm following the Run,Walk,Run method which encourages, if not requires walk breaks early and often to prevent injury. It's a GREAT method if, like me, you are not in the greatest shape to begin with, prone to accidents and injuries and generally terrified at the prospect of running continuously for 13.1 miles. Even if you don't have a specific goal in mind check this guy out, it's really a great program for beginners.

Also I bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers again. I'm a sucker for a good sale and they had a really good sale. I'm going into it with an open mind, unlike the time before. I get frustrated easily so I'm talking it slow and just tracking all my food for a week without making any drastic changes but I've already noticed some disturbing trends. Most disturbing my Starbucks is 5 points! SAD FACE!! Oh well, I guess that will have to be turned into an indulgence :)

And to file in the Awesomely wonderful category, I got these little babies from GAP (not in the model shown size I can assure you)!

They are purple and adorable and I love them.... Even tho my legs/butt will NEVER look like that and I won't wear heels with them. But they are a wonderful addition to my limited wardrobe that I could have never dreamed of fitting into before I started this whole process so, YAY!

And the journey continues!

P.S. It's the first day of Spring and it's snowing and 24 degrees with a windchill of 11..... I hate Michigan.

Why Hello there!

Howdy kids! And we're back! Vacation was spectacular as anticipated, a bit chilly for my taste considering that we were in Florida (38 degrees Sunday night) but overall quite wonderful. I came back maybe not too rested but much more relaxed and ready for summer!

As I'm sure everyone guessed, there was no working out at the hotel gym while we were there. Not much of a surprise. I had planned to try, I promise!! It was tough to feel to bad though because we literally walked, all day every day, for 6 days so it's not like I was lounging around.... however wonderful that sounds. I also didn't really care what I ate. I planned on going into the trip not caring one teeny tiny bit about what I was going to eat, my goal was just to enjoy. But I realized that eating all that bad stuff really didn't make me feel good. Case and point, One night we ate at an Irish Pub, famous for it's fish and chips. Now I love me some deep fried fish but the thought of something so heavy and oil laden made my stomach hurt just thinking about it so I perused the menu for some lighter fare and came across this gem!

Now I know it doesn't look like much, especially since I ate half of it before realizing I HAD to take a picture of this but it's the most delicious salad I have ever eaten in my life! Another fun fact about me, I don't order salads in restaurants. I don't like dressing and restaurant salads are usually so drenched in them you have to dig just to find lettuce and they are just often filled with things that I don't find particularly healthy or appetizing. But this one was so simple and amazing that it literally knocked my socks off. A fillet of perfectly grilled salmon, topped with a few orange slices next to a salad of mixed greens, carrots, shallots and almonds so perfectly lightly dressing in a citrus vinaigrette. THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! It was so good I was speechless at first and then couldn't stop talking about it! I think my poor husband wanted to scream "Stop talking about that stupid salad!" at me but he just smiled and nodded like a good hubs. I sat there happily working my way through my salad while hubby gnawed his was through a burger. The burger did look good but I in no way shape or form felt deprived or like I was missing something. 

So why babble on about a salad? Well to me it just kind of embodied everything that was wrong about my vision of healthy food. When I first think "healthy" I think boring, not good, eat because I have too food but this was totally the opposite. It tasted amazing and my body felt so good afterwards! It's something I think everybody needs to experience who is on any type of weight loss journey. Not THIS salad in particular (Although I'm telling you it was amazing) But that meal that's "healthy" but not lacking, good for you and delicious. I left that restaurant with a happy tummy and a renewed goal of taking my fav meals and turning them into meals that are equally as delicious and make me feel great after! And don't worry I'm still going to eat cookies :)

Ok enough of the stupid salad! Took two weeks off of training, started last night, can totally feel the pain. That will teach me for slacking. Back into training, 5 weeks before the conditioning runs are done and then we are on to full fledged build up your mileage runs. Barf. Also thinking of joining Weight Watchers again.... Thoughts?

And the journey continues!