Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Nonfat Brownie Batter Fro Yo

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Friends, it is getting hot in Phoenix. The high today is something gross like 105, and it’s only May. Not a fan.

Okay, let’s be honest for a second–I eat fro yo year round. It could be snowing and I would still want fro yo. In fact, no other dessert really satisfies my craving the way frozen yogurt or gelato does.

And when it’s hot outside, it is even more refreshing. I could eat frozen yogurt for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In fact, today when I came back all hot and gross from my run, all I wanted to do was eat this for breakfast.

Remember when you were a kid and you had parents to tell you that you weren’t allowed to eat dessert for breakfast? That’s what I need. MOM LOOK! I am actually asking you to tell me what to do! That is a far stretch from my teenage years, right?

All I’m saying is watch out Yogurtology! You may have the best self serve in Phoenix, but I can also serve this myself, and it is creamy, chocolatey and also packs quite a bit of protein! HOW MUCH PROTEIN DOES YOUR YOGURT HAVE YOGURTOLOGY???? HMMMM???? Sorry, I love your yogurt, really. I just really love mine too 😉

Brownie Batter Fro Yo

adapted from my BBFF Nicole

  • 3 cups nonfat Greek yogurt (I used TJ’s vanilla bean)
  • 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2-3 tbs Splenda
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs No Pudge or Reduced Guilt brownie mix (or gluten-free brownie mix if desired)

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl combine yogurt, sugar, Splenda and brownie mix, stirring together until well combined. Chill mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  2. Pour chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze according to the ice cream makers instructions.

Work It Out 5/7-5/13

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Well…kind of. It was actually less coming off of a big race that made last week hard, and more just the fact that my life was crazy. I had a rough tech week, and then we were in shows all weekend. I don’t necessarily feel great about the fact that I only worked out 4 days last week, but I’m not going to waste time beating myself up about it. Sometimes other things come first, and that just has to be okay. My body probably needed the break as much as my brain did, and I’m definitely one of those “The universe knows better than me, and everything happens for a reason” types, so it happened, and this week it won’t. Tada.

Here’s how I worked it out last week

Monday: 3 miles with Jason. My legs were still pretty sore, but an easy paced run was actually nice and felt really good! We picked up the pace in the last mile, then after our 3, we walked for a while as our cool down.

Tuesday: Off. I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Monday evening. I was stressed out, frustrated, and in general in pretty bad spirits. I’d like to say that was just Tuesday, but it continued throughout most of the week. Oh well, I’m better now! Anyway, I skipped the gym and went shopping.

Wednesday: 22 mi bike ride with Steve. I felt good by Wednesday, and I really enjoyed the long ride. I would have loved to go faster, but poor Steve is stuck with his single speed until he buys his rode bike, so it’s kind of limiting. We still averaged about a 14 mph pace.

Thursday: Linda’s Spin. Awesome as always. I talked myself out of going no less than 11 times before finally getting to the gym, and compromised with myself that instead of doing strength training before like I usually do, I could take some time to stretch and foam roll which felt really good, and by the time class was over, I was like a whole new person!

Friday: 12 mile long run. Oy, This run was tough. Ridiculously tough. The only thing that got my through was having Stacey out there with me! We were both coming off of big races, and by the time we were finishing up, it was already 86 degrees out with no shade in sight! My pace was much slower than usual, but I really felt proud of myself for just getting it done. 6 days after a half marathon. In the heat. I’ll take it.

Saturday: Off.

Sunday: Off.

Sometimes, there are just other things that need to be done. And you know what? It left me motivated and ready to make this week count! Sometimes you just need a little break. Also, long runs now need to start at ridiculous hours if they are going to happen. I’m fine with that. 4am here I come!

How did you work it out last week?

Skinnified Sunday: Chicken & Waffles

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Oh, yes I did.

So, I had never even heard of eating chicken and waffles together, until my friend Ryan mentioned it a couple of years ago. I told him that was gross and that I would never ever eat that.

I’m a big fat liar. So as punishment, I washed my mouth out with huge forkfulls of chicken and waffles. Fair enough.

You know what? It really is freaking delicious. Somewhere along the lines of all my hating on the concept, I got intrigued. Kind of like how I developed my love for Justin Beiber. Yes, I love the Beibs. I understand if that makes you want to never come back, but I just can’t deny it! I’m not too worried though, I will keep you here with waffles. Chicken & Waffle.

Have I mentioned how much I lllooooovvvveeee sweet and savory combos? Almost as much as my love for sweet and salty. Sweet and spicy is good too. Basically I have the world’s biggest sweet tooth, and if I could make all my meals taste like dessert, I absolutely would.

And that, my friends, is why I give you these delicious, sweet, crispy on the outside, soft and cake-like on the inside waffles, topped with crispy faux fried chicken, and sweet maple syrup. AZ peeps, you don’t even have to go to LoLo’s!

Waffle recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. The chicken is just my version of “fried” chicken.

Original waffle recipe:

  • 2 cups peeled, 1/2″ cubes red-skinned sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated peeled ginger
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 6 large egg whites, room temperature
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
My Swaps:
  • 1/2 recipe
  • Reduced fat buttermilk and unsweetened vanilla almond milk for whole milk (-fat, -calories)
  • Egg substitute for egg yolks (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Sugar free maple syrup for some of the brown sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat) <–usually I would replace with applesauce or yogurt, but I accidentally just completely missed that part while cooking it, and didn’t realize it until it came time to write up the recipe! Obviously was not super vital to the dish 🙂
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • Pumpkin pie spice for ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg (+ease)
  • Added vanilla extract (+yum)
  • 1 (4 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour for coating
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
My Swaps:
  • Chicken breast for whole chicken (-fat, -calories)
  • reduced fat buttermilk + egg whites for buttermilk (-fat, -calories)
  • Crushed cornflakes and panko for flour (+cruch, +yum)
  • vegetable oil (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat) <– 2 quarts?!?!?!

Skinnified Chicken & Waffles

yield 4-6 servings

For the waffles:

  • 1 medium sweet potato, roasted
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup egg substitute
  • 1 tbs light brown sugar
  • 1 tbs sugar free maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbs whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 tbs baking powder
  • dash salt
  • 3 large egg whites, room temperature

For the chicken:

  • 3 chicken breasts, approx 8 oz each
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup crushed cornflake crumbs
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

Directions:

  1. Pierce sweet potato several times with a fork, and roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white and buttermilk (for the chicken) together and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine cornflake crumbs and panko.
  4. Place a wire cooling rack inside of a large baking sheet. Spray thoroughly with nonstick spray.
  5. Take chicken breasts one at a time through egg white/buttermilk wash, then coat with cornflake/panko combo, then transfer to prepared wire rack.
  6. When sweet potato has finished cooking, reduce oven heat to 375, and bake chicken for 40-45 minutes, until juices run clean.
  7. Meanwhile, peel sweet potato and remove of skin (or eat the skin, because it’s delicious). Transfer skinned sweet potato to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes.
  8. Beat in milks, eggs substitutebrown sugar, syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then beat dry ingredients into wet.
  9. In a medium bowl (yes, I was using pretty much every single mixing bowl in my house for this one), beat room temperature egg whites until stiff peaks form. You will need your beater/mixer on the highest setting, and it takes longer than you think.
  10. Fold in half of beaten egg whites to waffle batter. Then slowly fold in remaining half in two batches until just combined.
  11. Let the batter sit until the chicken is almost ready to come out of the oven. Then transfer batter in increments (depending on the size of your waffle iron–I generally use 1/2-2/3 cup per waffle) onto sprayed waffle iron. Cooking time will depend on the iron. Mine has a little light that goes off when they’re cooked.
  12. Transfer waffle to serving plate, top with 1/2 cooked chicken breast, and add light butter and syrup if desired.

Orange Chocolate Lava Cookies

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Have you ever had one of those big chocolate oranges? I always thought they were weird, but it turns out orange and chocolate together is brilliant and delicious. I guess those chocolate orange people were right all along 😉

Is it just me, or do things seem fancier when they have a filling? It’s pretty deceptive, really. These are just as easy to make as chocolate chip cookies, but it’s so much more fun to take a bite and have melty, gooey, rich chocolate surprise you in the middle.

Apparently this chocolate was too impatient, and couldn’t wait to be a surprise. Silly chocolate.

I love surprises. Poor Steve…I always tell him “I require a lot of surprises.” Whether it’s coffee, fro yo (my #1 fav surprise), or a note, it just makes me happy. 🙂

But ya know what I do not prefer? When someone tells you they have a surprise for you, and then refuses to tell you what it is!! What is that about? If you have a surprise, then just surprise me! Don’t tell me you’re going to surprise me! I can’t deal with not knowing things, people!

Clearly, I am the easiest person on Earth to be married to. I bet you’re all sad that you didn’t scoop me up first. Sorry guys. I know it sucks.

But seriously, I like to think that my baking at least slightly makes up for the fact that I’m kind of an obnoxious human being. I mean, I still have friends, so it must be the cookies.

This is where you compliment me, and tell me I have a personality that shines like a star, or something cheesey like that. Ready, go!

Okay, back to the cookies, because these cookies are ridiculous. Sweet, citrusy, chocolatey, tons of flavors and textures all fitting together to make up cookie heaven.

I’m on a bit of an orange dessert kick it seems. Which is funny, because I don’t even like actual oranges. Or orange juice. But I do like these…and also these.

 

Orange Chocolate Lava Cookies

  • 1 1/4 cups gluten-free baking blend (or white whole wheat flour)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • dash salt
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbs orange zest
  • 1/4 cup fat free cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup apple butter
  • 1 tbs fresh orange juice
  • 1 egg white
  • 4 oz dark chocolate (small squares or coarsely chopped)
For the glaze:
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tbs orange juice
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together baking blend, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl mix together sugar and orange zest. Then beat in cream cheese, apple butter, egg white, and orange juice until combined.
  4. Beat dry ingredients into wet until combined, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary,
  5. Roll cookies into 1″ balls, then stuff with a 1/4 tsp size chunk of dark chocolate (eye ball it–you want to make sure it is bigger than a chocolate chip, but that the dough can still cover it completely). Re-roll into 1″ ball, making sure all chocolate is covered. Repeat with remaining dough.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Let stand for 3-5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Meanwhile, in a small-medium mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and 1 tbs orange juice. Slowly continue to add more orange juice (and I mean very slowly. A little bit of liquid goes a long way with powdered sugar) until desired drippy consistency.
  8. Dip tops of completely cooled cookies into the glaze, then let stand to set on a flat surface.

 

Work It Out 4/30-5/06

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Ummm, it’s Thursday. Whoops. You guys, I have been in the worst mood this week. Seriously, like I feel bad for everyone around me. The other night, I got a text message that annoyed me, and I literally threw my phone on the floor of the car and started screaming obscenities while Nikki drove us home. It was really awesome, and I’m sure she loved the fact that she realized she is working with a grade A nut job.

This morning I was reminded how much working out keeps me sane, and I figured it was finally time to get my act together and recap last week. So, this is how I worked it out last week…

Monday: 6 miles with Jason. Super easy pace, fun, chatty best friend running time. New PDR for Jas!

Tuesday: Bike rid with Steve. I had to miss spin on Tuesday, and no I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve already cried, gone through withdrawals, and I’m dealing with it, okay??? Okay, I’ll stop being so dramatic. For the moment. Steve and I did just under 8 miles to Dutch Bros and back with an average speed of 15.7 average speed.

Wednesday: 4 miles with speedy Ashley. We took it easy for taper week, and covered 4 miles with an average pace of about 9:30. I realized how hard that pace used to feel, and just how far I’ve come!

Thursday: Linda’s Spin.  This was my favorite workout of the week!! We’ve been doing this thing where the class is divided into groups and we compete for the most miles. First I asked for my mileage not to count because I was planning to take it easy, and I didn’t want to bring my team down. Linda told me to just use lower resistance. So I lowered my flat road from 10 to 9, then I got super competitive and not only did my group win, but I won for the most miles in the entire class with 22.8 in 49 minutes. Sure, I “forgot” to take it easy, but it was so worth it. I love to win, and I was on a super spinning high all day long!

Friday: Bike ride with Steve. He kept yelling at me to ride slower, and reminding me that I was supposed to be taking it easy. We went suuuuuper slow and covered just under 8 miles to coffee and back, then I met up with Nicole and walked around the duck pond.

Saturday: Whiskey Row 1/2 Marathon. Oh you know, just like any other run up the side of a mountain 😉

Sunday: Bike ride with Steve. My legs and hips were pretty sore, so we went on an easy ride to loosen things up. It started off at little kid training wheel speed, but my legs loosened up pretty quickly, and I actually felt a lot better by the end.

 

YOUR TURN!! How did you work it out last week? Give me some motivation, because I am having a rough time making it happen this week!

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

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Perhaps you are lucky to live somewhere that it has not yet reached 100 degree temperatures. If so, talk to me in December 😉

Because it is already nearing oppressively hot here in Phoenix, I figured it’s only a matter of time before I stock up on sugar free creamsicles and start eating about 10 a day. That’s not a joke. Lisa, how much do we love sugar free popsicles? Well, these may have more than the 20 calories that sugar free creamsicles contain (wouldn’t it be awesome if the didn’t!!), but they are ridiculously delicious, and that’s more important, right? 😉

I love when cupcakes get that perfect dome top. It makes me so happy! Ahhh, the little things.

I was surprised at how perfectly the orange and cream flavors of one of my favorite frozen treats translated into a cupcake. I am a total ice cream person, but I might even dare to say I like the cupcake version better!

To view the recipe head on over to the AZ Bloggers Network!! If you haven’t checked it out yet, we are so lucky to have an incredible group of female bloggers here in Arizona, and my lovely friends Nicole and Emily, have put a ton of work into creating a network where we can all communicate and collaborate together!

Spaghetti & Spinach Avocado “Pesto”

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I used to be a really picky eater. Okay, who am I kidding…I am a really picky eater, but now I’m picky differently. I actually do like almost everything, but there was a time where anything green was immediately vetoed.

These days, I see green things and I think GET IN MY BELLY!! Seriously. I freaking love vegetables. It’s kind of ridiculous. Sometimes Steve calls me a rabbit because I eat so many veggies. There are worse things to love, right?

I actually didn’t intend for this to be a pesto. The original recipe didn’t call it a pesto, but I was surprised that, at least in my weird-o taste buds, it tasted just like delicious, oily, cheesy pesto sauce!

You guys, I freaking love pesto sauce. I also used to think it was healthy. Because it was green and not alfredo sauce. But let’s be real friends, the main ingredient is olive oil. And yes, olive oil is good in moderation, but when you like your noodles like me–sauce with a side of pasta, it adds up real quick.

So I was happy and surprised when this dish tasted just like a creamy pesto sauce! I made it for Steve, my mom, Hank and Charlie, and everyone was a huge fun!

Spaghetti & Spinach Avocado “Pesto”

yield 5 servings

adapted from Perry’s Plate’s Creamy Spinach Avocado Pasta

  • 10 oz box whole grain spaghetti (whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa, etc.)
  • 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6-8 oz baby spinach
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed
  • 1 tbs dried rosemary
  • 1 oz bleu cheese
  • 2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. When it’s finished, drain, setting aside 1 cup starchy cooking liquid. Set pasta and reserved liquid aside.
  2. In a large, high rimmed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
  3. Add salt, pepper, and spinach to the saucepan. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 4-5 minutes or until the spinach is completely wilted.
  4. Transfer spinach and garlic to a medium mixing bowl. Add yogurt, avocado, dried rosemary, and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Stir lightly, then blend using an immersion blender (or transfer to full blender or food processor).
  5. Transfer sauce back to pan, and stir in cheeses. If sauce is too thick, add extra pasta water until is reaches your desired consistency.
  6. Add cooked pasta and toss thoroughly to combine. Serve and top with extra parmesan if desired.

Whiskey Row Half Marathon Race Recap

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Alternate post titles:

  • What The Hills
  • The Time I Ran Up The Side Of A Mountain
  • A Mile High And Then Some
  • Ouch

Okay, let’s start at the beginning. I spent the entire week being PUMPED for this race. Like ridiculously excited. I decided ahead of time that even though this was not my goal race, I was going to run it with everything I had in me. I had no idea what 1000+ ft of hills looked like, felt like, or anything like that. I just looked at the course map and saw hills and that the first half went up and the second half went down, and figured that was a pretty smart way to do it.

We stayed at our friend Dan’s house which was only 4 blocks from the start which meant a pretty stress free morning. We left to walk down at 6:15 for the 7am start. Unfortunately the lines at the porta potties were long and we found ourselves wishing we had left a few minutes before, because we ditched out on the line in order to get to the race start.

"Waaaiiiit! Don't start without meeee!"

This is a no bells and whistles race. The expo was literally empty, with only an energy drink stand, a compression sock table, and a chia seeds table (I loaded up on the chia samples 😉 ). So when it came time for the start, there was no count down, no Star Spangled Banner, just a gun shot exactly on time and we were off. Lisa and I started off really strong. The rolling hills began immediately, but we kept good pace on the uphill and made up some time on the down hill.

Mile 1–9:06

At the second mile we were faced with a pretty massive hill that slowed us down, and by the time my Garmi sang to me to tell me we had hit 2 miles, I already wanted the race to be over. Just 2 miles in it felt so hard, and I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into.

Mile 2–10:04

It’s hard to remember exactly what time everything happened, but I’m pretty sure it was somewhere before mile 3 that the hills got too steep for me to run up. I knew I needed to reserve energy in order to finish, so I made myself a deal that the only time I was allowed to walk in this race was uphill. I had lost Lisa right around the mile 2 mark when she stopped to use the bathroom (since we had ditched out on the line at the start). She told me to go ahead and she would catch up to me, and she is super speedy, so I figured that would work out. Pretty soon I came across a hill that I was literally staring up into. It was so steep–we don’t have anything even resembling that in Phoenix!! There was a sign at the bottom that said “What the hills?” I walked up that hill, and then all of the uphill (which was pretty much the next 3.5 miles) I had to resort to alternating running and walking (minus the very few flats and downhills).

Mile 3–10:50

Mile 4–11:08

Mile 5–12:26

It was insane. It was more like hiking at this point than running, and the climbs were so steep and so long. I would look around and it seemed like everyone around me was walking.  By this point, we were literally running up a mountain. There was a semi paved road that turned into a dirt road, and they were winding, and just like the kind you drive up if you’ve ever gone up to a secluded cabin. I’m not gonna lie, it was absolutely gorgeous, and ridiculously hard. I mean I didn’t expect it to be easy when every race website calls it one of the toughest marathons in the US, but there was just no way of knowing how hard it would be. By mile 6, it was mostly walking, and the only thing keeping me optimistic was seeing the amazing runners starting to come down the other side, flying down and still managing to cheer us on! That was pretty amazing!

Mile 6–13:15

Finally at mile 6.5, I reached the turn around, had a gu, and prepared myself to fly down this bitch.

Mile 7–10:41

I was shocked at just how quickly I was flying! I kept glancing down at Garmi to see sub 7s flashing my screen!! Ummm, I have never seen sub 7s, even in speed work! It became even more clear just how steep these hills were! Mile 8 was filled with “This is amazing!!!! I love running!!! I’m Poca-freaking-hontas running this mountain!!” But I knew I was going beyond my pace, and every so often I would reach even more uphill, and I felt like I hadn’t remembered there being any downhills the way up–where did this Fing hill come from??? Shortly after the turn around, I also saw Lisa coming up. We waved and yelled, and I figured she’d be back with me before I knew it.

Mile 8–8:34 (this one was my favorite 😉 )

Mile 9–9:18

By this point, it was back to up and down again. Even though there was now more down than up, my entire body was exhausted and even the flat points felt unmanageable. I found myself secretly hoping for uphill segments so that I could walk. I realized pretty quickly that I have absolutely no idea how to run downhill. I felt like I couldn’t control my pace, and I was going faster than felt good for my body, but I knew in the moment all I could do was try to go with it, and be careful not to injure myself. Around this time I stopped to walk up a not very steep hill. Because I was tired, not because I absolutely needed to. This woman next to me yelled for me to keep going. Then that Jason Mraz son I Won’t Give Up started playing on my ipod, and I started crying. A little emotional? Maybe. But all I could think was that even though this course was so incredibly hard, I couldn’t believe I was doing it, that I was capable of finishing, and how far I’ve come in the 7 months I’ve been running. I felt so proud of myself. The entire time, I did, actually. Even when things got hard, there was never a moment where I felt like I wasn’t fighting and achieving something amazing.

Mile 10–10:30

Mile 11–10:27

I was really surprised I hadn’t caught back up with Lisa yet at this point, and I was kind of bummed, but also amazed that I had been able to keep going and make it this far mostly by myself. I don’t know what I expected myself to do, but I just never imagined I’d be able to make it through the kind of challenge my body had been through so far. I slowed way down, and my only walking up hills deal turned into I will not walk downhill. And I kept that, but during the uphills and even flats, I could barely run a few feet before having to go back to walking, and instead of speeding up to finish strong, I just kept slooowwwwiiiinnnggg down…

Mile 12–11:23

Mile 13–11:42

When I got to 13.1 and I still couldn’t even see the finish line I had a big “I hate running!! I hate this race!! F the world!!” moment. Then I walked some more. Finally, the finish was in sight and I forced myself to run to it as fast as I could.

Last .22–10:54

Yeah, the fastest I could muster for the last mile was 10:54. But you know what? I crossed the finish line feeling nothing but absolute pride!

It might look like I'm smiling, but that is only because I am happy to be DONE!

This freaking race. I can’t even begin to describe how hard it seemed. I can tell you this, the person who came in first for the half marathon at RnR AZ finished in something like 1:02, and the first place for WR was something like 1:27. It is no joke. I finished in 2:21:50. My slowest half by far, but I felt as proud of that time as I did my 2:04:59 from The Lost Dutchman!

Almost immediately after finishing, I started walking back to try to find Lisa. I waited about an 8th of a mile from the finish line, and when I saw her, I started trying to run with her. I made it only a few feet before my right calf tightened up like a ball, and I knew if I tried to keep going, I would end up injured, so I dropped back off, and walked to meet her at the end.

When I can't even believe what just freaking happened for the last 2.5 hours, I make this face.

We had grand plans to hang out, eat, drink and celebrate up in Prescott before Steve and I went back to Phoenix and Lisa and Sam went back to Flagstaff, but about half an hour after we finished, all of the sudden it was like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. I was dizzy and nauseous, and I couldn’t walk more than a few feet without having to stop, sit and catch my breath for several minutes. My heart was racing, and I felt shaky. I started to freak out a little, and got really anxious. I’d never felt like this before, and I was scared. I tried to go upstairs to go to the restroom at the shopping center we were in front of. I made it to the second floor, saw a sign saying I had to go to the third floor, and sat on a bench for about 10 minutes, certain I couldn’t get up or back down. I just sat there, trying not to lose whatever was actually in my stomach at that point.

I began frantically texting my racing expert friend Diana who has done this race before, asking her wtf was wrong was me and if this was normal. I told her everything I was feeling, and she told me she was pretty sure it was altitude sickness and told me to take some advil ASAP, and get back to Phoenix. Lisa came up and ended up helping me to the 3rd floor (there was an elevator the whole freaking time haha), and I called Steve and told him he needed to go get the car, and come pick me up.

I was so sad because I wanted to hang out with my friends, and I couldn’t believe that I felt this sick after a race again. Steve was so nice. He packed up all of our things for me since I couldn’t even bring myself to get up and get out of the car once I was in. He stopped, got me some water and some food for in case I felt like I could eat anything. I couldn’t. That has never happened to me. I always get hungry. About half way back to Phoenix, I started to feel slightly less nauseous, and by the time we were back in town, just like that, it was almost as if it never happened. I felt exhausted, and I still didn’t have an appetite, but I didn’t feel sick anymore. It was bizarre.

I wasn’t able to actually eat until after 2pm. Not good, I know, but there was just no way. Finally when my appetite came back, I got my pizza and beer.

Diana, I know you said not to drink. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I took every single other piece of advice, and it was all amazing and made me feel better! But so did this beer. I’m sorry!!

Then we took pictures of me with my medal that I had not felt up to post race.

That is exactly how I felt.

I know this is a long post—thank you for sticking with me! My final thoughts: I am so happy I did this race. I proved something to myself. I learned that I am stronger than I think I am, and that I am capable of tackling huge challenges and obstacles. I am beyond proud of myself. I also have no desire to ever do this particular race again. Once is enough for me, and I learned that I need to consider things like altitude when choosing courses in the future. I am not invincible to legit things like thin air, and even if I can get through it, it doesn’t mean that going up there the night before, and running in that altitude without giving myself time to aclimate is a good idea, or that I should do it. Lesson learned, But I have no regrets, and still feel only proud of finishing, and my time.

Also I want to give a shout out to Christina who crushed it, running it in like 2 hours!! AMAZING!!

Skinnified Sunday: Birthday Cake Donuts

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Okay, first of all I’m not sure if I’m supposed to spell it ‘doughnut’ or ‘donut’.

Donut has less letters, but doughnut sounds kind of fancy.

And I ask you this: How can there be two correct spellings of the same word???? My type A brain can’t handle it.

Anyway, I made do(ugh)nuts! Fancy, sprinkly, festive, birthday cake do(ugh)nuts!

Yes, sprinkly is a word. It’s a synonym for fancy.

I found a super easy, and already light-ish recipe for cake doughnuts from All Recipes that I only had to slightly modify to get a pretty darn healthy, delicious, and festive looking do(ugh)nut.

My Swaps:

  • ½ recipe (-temptation, the last thing I need is a dozen donuts sitting around)
  • white whole wheat flour for all-purpose (+protein, +fiber)
  • turbinado sugar/Splenda combo for white sugar (-sugar, -calories, and using all natural turbinado sugar makes me feel a little better about the Splenda—it’s all about balance, right?)
  • all cinnamon for cinnamon and nutmeg (personal preference)
  • unsweetened vanilla almond milk for regular (-fat, -calories, -sugar)
  • egg substitute for whole egg (-fat, -saturated fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • extra vanilla (I just really like it)
  • light whipped butter for shortening (-fat, -saturated fat, -trans fat, -calories)

Birthday Cake Donuts

Yield 6 donuts

Yes, I like it spelled donuts. 😉

  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbsp turbinado sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch cinnamon
  • dash salt
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbs unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • ¼ cup egg substitute
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tbs light whipped butter, softened

For the glaze:

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • dash almond extract
  • 1-2 tbs hot water
  • sprinkles for topping (optional)

**Note: If you are in the anti Splenda club, just user all turbinado sugar. We don’t need to get hateful about it 😉

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, Splenda and cinnamon.
  3. Using a hand mixer, beat in all remaining ngredients (excluding those for the glaze) until just combined.
  4. Transfer batter to a plastic freezer bag, and cut a small hole in the corner.
  5. Evenly divide batter between 6 donut forms.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then let stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Meanwhile, in a small-medium mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract and 1 tbs hot water. Slowly continue to add more water (and I mean very slowly. A little bit of liquid goes a long way with powdered sugar) until desired drippy consistency.
  8. Dip tops of donuts into the glaze, then let stand on a flat surface. Top with sprinkles if desired.

On The Road

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Hello friends! I am posting en route to Prescott. For those of you that aren’t from Arizona, Prescott is about 2 hours north of Phoenix, so I packed up my favorite guy, and my favorite puppies, and we are off for a little 24 hour adventure to get out of the heat. Oh, and you know, so Lisa and I can run up a mountain and sing colors of the wind.

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Steve is driving. I’m enjoying frappuccino happy hour with a chai frappuccino light. Clementine is barking at Winston because he won’t play with her, and Winston is pretending he’s deaf. Or giving her the silent treatment. You decide. Now Steve is howling at Clementine and Winston is scared. I’m also icing my achilles tendons. It’s all incredibly exciting. Wish you were here!

Talk to you later, if I don’t die on the mountain!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter S’mores Sandwich Cookies

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So the other day, Steve surprised me by picking me up fro yo. Yes, he’s awesome, but that is beside the point. The point is, he topped my fro yo with peanut butter and marshmallow sauce, and it was freaking delicious. As I was eating it, I couldn’t help, but think of what a perfect combination those flavors were.

I started coming up with all sorts of desserts that I could combine those flavors in.

My incredible friend Stacey has this really important weekend coming up. She has a very special birthday, she is running her first half marathon, and she has some other big life accomplishments going on. It’s pretty amazing, you should head over to her blog and congratulate her! As my congratulations, I made her these cookies, obviously. She loves white chocolate, so that was the final piece in these delicious treats.

Ummm, yeah. Marshmallow, peanut butter and white chocolate is actually the perfect combination. Oh, and graham cracker cookie. Yes.Please.

 

Happy Weekend Of Amazingness, Stace!! I’m proud of you, and I’m sure these cookies will be your perfect pre-race fuel!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter S’more Sandwich Cookies

yield 14 sandwich cookies

For the cookies:

  • 6 tbs fat free cream cheese, softened
  • 6 tbs honey apple butter
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup Splenda
  • 1/4 cup egg substitute
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 sleeve whole wheat graham crackers, finely crushed
  • dash salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

For the filling:

  • 1 cup all natural white chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 1-2 tbs unsweetened almond milk’
  • approx 1/3 cup peanut butter (I suggest PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Beat cream cheese and apple butter together in a large bowl. Add brown sugar and Splenda, and beat until fluffy.
  3. Beat in vanilla, egg substitute, and baking soda.
  4. Add flour and graham cracker crumbs and beat until just combined.
  5. Use a cookie scoop (or your hands) to drop dough in about tablespoon amounts.  Flatten dough out with a sprayed piece of parchment paper, until approx 1/4″ thick.
  6. Bake 8-10 minutes until just set, then remove and let stand 5-10 minutes to finish baking themselves, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. While cookies cool, melt white chocolate chips in a medium bowl in the microwave at 30 seconds increments, stirring after each, until melted. Stir in vanilla and marshmallow fluff. Add 1-2 tbs almond milk until slightly thinned and creamy.
  8. Spread white chocolate marshmallow sauce evenly over  the flat side of half of your cookies. Spread the other half with 1 tsp peanut butter. Sandwich together, and serve.

Inspiration

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Inspiration is a funny thing, and it can come from so many places. I never imagined I would become the type of person that loves healthy food, or cooking, or especially running, but somewhere along the line, I became someone who not only loves these things, but is passionate about them. There’s a difference, right? I love watching Seinfeld reruns, but I don’t feel passionate about it. Most days. Well…okay, nevermind. You get the point, and how obsessed I am with Seinfeld (ridiculously obsessed) is really not the point here.

Today I had the honor of having my story featured on one of my favorite blogs. I’ve been so inspired by Caitlin’s blog, and when she offered to post readers’ success stories, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it, but I was pretty sure my story wouldn’t get chosen. It’s funny how often we all discount our own success. Even today, reading my story amongst two other beautiful and inspiring stories, I couldn’t help but feel like these other stories were somehow more profound, inspiring and successful. Isn’t that silly? Even when our success is acknowledged, and celebrated, it is still so easy to find ways to discount it.

I guess what I’m trying to do, is give all of us, and mostly myself, a reminder that celebrating success doesn’t mean you think you’ve reached the end. It simply means you’ve worked hard, and you deserve to feel pride and accomplishment. We live in such a competitive society (or maybe I’m just crazy competitive) that we sometimes feel like we have to do something huge by society’s standards in order to have achieved anything, but sometimes I feel like it’s the littlest things that make us productive, and help us grow.

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Those little things we can celebrate every day, and by allowing ourselves to take pride in them, we are inspired to continue, and eventually they become big things.

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I’m hoping you will take from my late night (yes, 10 pm is late for this girl) ramblings that it’s not only okay to take time to celebrate “small” accomplishments, but it’s something we all deserve, and by giving ourselves some credit, we can inspire ourselves to continue to make positive changes and choices in our life, and eventually become a happier version of ourselves than we ever thought possible.

What inspires you? What have you accomplished lately that we should celebrate together? Tell me!! I don’t care if it’s that you took a shower. Sometimes that is cause for freaking celebration, and trust me, I am the BEST person to go to with good news and things that should be celebrated!!

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