Skinny Buffalo Chicken Pasta

What do you do if you're craving buffalo chicken dip, but you don't have any cream cheese, and your husband won't help you eat it anyway, and you don't want to eat an entire bag of chips smothered in delicious creamy hot chicken yourself? 

You make pasta for lunch! Like a boss! Winning! 

We had some corn and rice gluten-free Barilla pasta left over, so I boiled that up for 8 minutes (tip: make sure gluten free pasta is al dente. You do NOT want it to be mushy!!) I shredded some chicken from the roasted chicken carcass in the fridge (a breast, which is huge. Probably 2+ cups). I coated the chicken in hot sauce (maybe 1/4 cup? I didn't want to use too much). Then I mixed that with the pasta and put it in a square baking dish, topped it with four pieces of provolone and baked it for 15 minutes at 375 to melt the cheese.

Steve ended up putting tomato sauce on his. I don't mind plain pasta (with enough cheese) so I thought it was good. Would a mix of cream cheese and cheddar in with the pasta have made it better? OH HELL YES! But this was probably more healthy, and definitely fewer calories.

Still, totally worth it if you need to get your hot sauce kick in! 

I was feeling kind of sick to my stomach last night (not from eating chocolate from last Easter that had expired, I'm sure!) but I managed to do two more of the Radius workouts today. One was cardio and one was "sport," which focused on range of motion, speed, HIIT, and not just laying on the floor because who the heck can jump up that fast from a reverse burpie! Apparently I have work to do! 

Which I knew because of the Sit/Rise test on the news. Apparently, if you're healthy, you should be able to sit down with your legs crossed and get back up, without using your hands or losing your balance. If you wobble, you take off 1/2 point, and if you use your hand or your knee, you lose 1 point. 5 points down, 5 points back up. I scored a 9 (used my knee to get back up). Gotta work on that! I can jump up pretty quick, I'm just not sure how to get the momentum to rise up completely without touching anything or pulling or getting to my knee! I guess this tests range of mobility and tests things that don't factor in when you do a cardio stress test on the treadmill.  The doctor who came up with it said he had people who could run but they had trouble tying their shoes. Interesting, anyway. What good is heart health if your quality of life is low because of low flexibility. Hmm....

Sore Muscles

I am sore all over! I'm not sure if it's the extra workout I did this week, or just getting back into the routine at the gym. I found out they show Radius Fitness workouts on NBC Sports (channel 806 haha) in the morning, so I did a SPORT HIIT workout and then a crazy aerobic workout for 25 minutes each on Tuesday. I hope they're on every morning. I'm going to try again tomorrow. This morning there was a kettle bell workout! I need a kettle bell!!! Target, here I come! 

This week I made pork in the crock pot (with sweet potatoes), using cinnamon, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme to season it. Then I mashed the sweet potatoes and used them to top a shepherd's pie with ground turkey, mushrooms, onions, carrots, and a tomato paste sauce. I roasted a chicken in the roaster, and I made shrimp and baked potatoes. I make all this good food, and it disappears so fast! We also made roasted cauliflower twice, because it's just that good! 

I got a sports massage yesterday as well. Ouch! I have some knots, and I didn't realize how sore I was in some places until they were rubbed...really hard! But by tomorrow everything should be feeling much better. My massage therapist is AWESOME and has gone to the Olympics as a volunteer twice to massage athletes. I like to pretend I'm on that level. 

I got invited to a Fitbit challenge this week. (YAY!) It's a work week step challenge to see who can get the most steps from Monday to Friday. I'm in the lead right now, but Wendy K. is catching up! I might even volunteer to shovel to get some extra steps.I don't know Wendy K personally, but she's going down!!! 

When I got my massage, she invited me to hot yoga. She said that her goal this year is to TRY SOMETHING NEW. I think that's a pretty good goal. I tried hiking this year already and did the Radius workout. If I try yoga in March, I'll be doing pretty well for the year. What's something you want to try?

We've Got Groceries!

We're home! It's always nice to come home to a clean house, and a happy dog....and an empty refrigerator. 

I went to the store and got a pork roast, a roaster (and just learned the difference between a fryer, a roaster, and a broiler - size and weight), some ground turkey, and a whole chicken cut up into bits. We used the whole chicken to make honey mustard chicken (with roasted cauliflower) for dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything for a quick lunch, so we ended up getting soup and salad bar at a local restaurant after we got groceries! 

Tomorrow, I will fire up the crock pot and get some leftovers going! Pork roast over sweet potatoes, specifically. We're also going to have turkey chili, shepherd's pie, and shrimp and potatoes this week. I'm so excited to be back with all my kitchen utensils! 

I also got a sample of gluten free flour that I might use to make muffins (the recipe that came with it).  

I was happy to see that the scale didn't really change, despite all the extra frozen yogurt we were eating. I did walk around a LOT, but I didn't go to any of my gym classes. I'm going back to Piyo and Zumba on Saturday. I hope I don't wheeze and stumble like a newbie! Time to get back into my routine. 

We had about a 70 degree temperature difference - 86 to 18 today. At least the sun was shining! I'm ready to retire and be a snowbird. I just need to edit a lot of books this year and bank the money, and I'm ready to go!

There's a Lesson in Here Somewhere

*NOTE: I wrote a brilliant post. It was pithy, funny, adorable, destined to go viral. Then I had internet connection problems and lost it. Here is the replacement, which probably won't be as good. 

I went on the Tahquitz Canyon hike. This is the one I THOUGHT I did the other day, but that was really the South Lykken Trail. They start near each other. I thought I was so cool, because the Tahquitz Canyon hike costs $12.50 (it's a state park) and the South Lykken trial is free. But I was a little confused when I didn't see the waterfall, so I came home and looked it up and figured out the difference.

The waterfall is totally worth the $12.50. It's a great hike. I went first thing in the morning, so I was alone the whole way, and it was quiet and peaceful and shady, and you can hear the water gurgling along. Awesome. They haven't had much of a waterfall for a few years because of the drought in California, but luckily it rained while we were here! 

So while it was really nice walk, it wasn't a strenuous workout, and I wanted to check out the NORTH Lykken Trail. Apparently "North Lykken" means "you will die on this mountain." Here's the beginning of the trail, and the last time I knew where I was going. See where the sign post is? You're supposed to go to the left there. But as you can see (a little) to the right that nice, broad trail continues, so it LOOKS like you should go that way. And a LOT of people have made that mistake, because it LOOKS like there are trails. But they aren't trails. They're DECEPTIONS!!! 

I went about a quarter mile and I knew it was wrong, so I turned around. There were people starting up the trail behind me, and they assured me that they'd done the trail before and they knew where they were going. They said I could follow them! Great! New friends + a hike! A great day! We found a second trail (different than the scree I had skidded down earlier) and I thought things were going great. Then we lost it. 

Behold! Up ahead! Other hiker! We followed them.

Turns out they were lost too! 

We finally turned around, and ended up in the same spot where I had gotten "lost" the first time! We scrambled down the mountain (again, there were footprints, so people had done it before us!) and walked along the wash at the bottom back to the parking lot.

And then I came home and ate a banana and peanut butter and it tasted like LIFE! 

I think hiking is great, and I would love to have it as a new hobby, but I'm not sure if there's anywhere (good, close to home) I can continue it in the St. Louis area. I'll have to look it up!

Palm Springs Race Report

It was a beautiful day at 6 am. 63 degrees when we walked over to the start (a mile away). The sun was just coming up over the mountain, the line for the port-a-potties didn't seem too intimidating, and the START line was easy to spot!  


Overall, they were pretty well organized. Some of the relay people weren't real motivated to get to their hand-off spot, but they probably had some time. 

They started with the National Anthem, and we were off! I posted the route yesterday, which is completely confusing on the map, but it was really well marked, with all the twists and turns. I saw Steve before mile 3 when he was past mile 5. And then I didn't see him again. All the miles were marked well, with a balloon that people started hitting as they passed.

Unfortunately, I have NO IDEA what my Map My Run app on my phone was doing! It said I was at .7 miles at mile 1, and .88 miles at mile two, and I finally gave up because it never gave me a time! So I don't know what my splits were, but I finished 10 miles in two hours, 2 minutes (or so) based on the start time. 

At the 10k mark, there was a "finish line" just to taunt us (actually the CLIF people had shot blocks for the runners). 

It was probably pushing 75 by the time I finished, and I don't normally drink water during training runs because it gives me a stomach ache...but I drank some water anyway....and it gave me a stomach ache! I walked a lot of mile 13, but I finished, and my time wasn't too abysmal (and gives me something to improve on this year). I think 50-60 degrees is the sweet spot for my running temps 

Here is the frozen yogurt I got to celebrate being done! 

Steve ran really well and finished under his goal. It was a neat race (not really flat at all!) and took us past a bunch of expensive houses...that all have gates and hedges so you can't see them! The park where we started was really nice, but they were out of fruit by the time I finished so all I saw were Oreos, pretzels, and chocolate chip cookies. I really, really, really wanted an orange. 

At mile 12, I pretty much always say, "I'm never running a half marathon again!" and now I'm saying, "When is the next one?"

Whose Stupid Idea Was This? and Other Pre-Race Thoughts

First half marathon of the year in less than 12 hours! This is my seventh. And I'm sitting here thinking "whose idea was this anyway??" (My husband's) We thought we would be in Sarasota, Florida, and they're having their own version of the rock and roll half marathon tomorrow. Bands at every mile. It would be awesome!! (You can sign up for next year if you missed this one!) Then we found out we'd be in Palm Springs, California. Not really close enough to travel for the Sarasota race. But good news! Palm Springs has a half marathon too! 

So now it's the night before. I'm hydrated, carbo-loaded (sweet potato), rested (mostly...got more steps today than I meant to!), my outfit is laid out on the bed, the alarm is set for 5:30 am, and I've looked back at my training log to reassure myself that I CAN run thirteen point freaking one miles.

Here's what we runners tell ourselves (or at least me):

1. Just have to make sure to get to the bathroom first.
2. It's only thirteen miles. That's five miles twice, and you run at least five practically every day, plus a 5k. Anyone can run a 5k.
3. As long as I can run up this hill and pass the other runners, I'll be fine. I might even win! 
4. Favorite running shorts, check. Shoes, check. Socks, check. Body glide? Oh crap, I left the body glide at home! Can I use deodorant? Coconut oil? Run to the store for some Vaseline?? Maybe we'll get some in the race packet. None in the goodie bag....Crap crap crap.
5. Oh, look at her stretching. I should stretch. I totally stretch EVERY DAY before and after my run, like a good athlete. Oh yeah. There are my toes. 

Notice the course map. I hope it will be marked clearly - or that if I get lost, it shaves time off instead of adding four miles! There's an episode of The Middle where the daughter, Sue, joins the cross country team. She is very, very bad, to put it mildly, and gets kind of lost in the woods on top of being slow. She reasons to herself, "I can't see anyone else. I MUST BE FIRST." I hope I have that kind of optimistic race! 

Frozen Hard-boiled Eggs

Remember the recipe for hard-boiled eggs stuffed with tuna fish?! It sounds kind of gross (well, stinky anyway) but it's DELICIOUS. 

I boiled the eggs this time instead of baking them, which caused a lot of stress, but they came out well. The water took FOREVER to boil, and then I let them sit for 15 minutes and put them in the fridge immediately instead of doing the ice water thing (lazy!). Then you take the yolk from one egg (you can use more but I'm not a yolk person), a can of tuna about 2 T mayo and 1 tea. spicy mustard, and mix it. So it's like tuna salad and hard boiled eggs combined. 

But when I tried to peel the first egg, it was frozen! and then, like a curious toddler, I decided to take a bite anyway. It's like a really bad Popsicle. 

In other news, why doesn't everyone in the world live in Southern California?? I went for a hike on the South Lykken trail. It's awesome! Not very difficult, about 40 minutes up the mountain, and it wasn't as bad coming back down as I thought! (I was prepared to slide down on my butt if necessary after doing a different, steeper trail last week). I was very proud of myself, but there were a couple little dogs bounding down the mountain fearlessly. Also, I didn't look down most of the way! 

We're running the Palm Springs half marathon on Sunday and then I'm going to try the North Lykken trail next week! Or the Tahquitz Canyon trail. Or both!