Celebrating one year of Jersey!

Its been one year since we got our dog Jersey. Jersey has become well known in the blogosphere, so I thought she deserved a tribute!

Its been such a great year… I decided to put together a list of my favourite Jersey moments for you:

1. The big news
2. First 5k run
3. First Night
4. Bad Hair Cut
5. Merry Christmas
6. Condom Incident
7. Running Room Debut
8. Graduation
9. First Snow Fall
10. I hate dog hair
11. High maintenance camping
12. The swimmer
13. Losing her womanhood
14. The money eater
15. Snuggles with her pal Samuel

I had a blast going through my old posts to put this list together! I really am lucky to have such an amazing girl.

 

#100

This post is brought to you by the number 100.

I met Lisa at the gym this morning. It was my turn to torture her create our workout. It went a little something like this:

100 bicep curls

100 lunges

100 shoulder presses

100 squats

100 overhead triceps

100 push ups

100 FULL sit ups

It dosn’t look like much, but we were both dead by the end…. especially the push ups/sit ups. KILLER!

I refueled with a desert’ish Green Monster.

In the mix: 2 cups spinach, 1/2 OJ, 1 Strawberry Vanilla Source Yogurt, and 1/2 cup vanilla frozen yogurt. YUM!

On the agenda today: Perhaps staining our deck, procuring a new cell phone (mine has been dead for a week) and maybe a bike ride? Its kinda chilly outside today, so we shall see. Have a wonderful Sunday!

A crappy start to the day

Got all ready to go.... got all packed up, only to realize I didn't have any effing bus tickets! Usually I buy a monthly pass, but this month I was going to be away quite a bit, therefore not taking the bus so I opted for tickets. GRRR. Its not the end of the world, I can just drive in with Andrew... just means getting in a little later.

The good news is, I could take a little time to blog and enjoy a green monster from the comfort of my living room. Deeeeelicious!


I also nibbled on some strawberries that are on their last life.


...and also perused my work emails to ensure there was nothing urgent.

I'm quite thrilled that it is Friday. I have a fun weekend ahead of me. Tonight begins with my FAVORITE spinning class ever, followed by a night out in my hometown. Should be tons of fun!

Tomorrow we're hitting up the batting cages with a few friends, then having a cookout at a local park. My baseball swing is looking rather on the pathetic side, so I need to practice up. You would never know by the way that I'm playing this year, but I'm actually pretty good at baseball. Practice, practice, practice!

Thats it for me, I likely won't be back until tomorrow. Have a great Friday!

rainy weather eats

Its a cold and damp one in Ottawa today. I decided a warm comforting meal was in order! Tomato soup and tofu wraps. In the wrap: sauteed tofu, avocado, spianach and a little shredded old cheddar. Divine!

My workout was AMAZING tonight. I met up with Lisa, and did her lower body/core workout. I should note, I received an email at about 3pm that said something along the lines of "I am totally going to kill your legs and core" and that she did! Jokes on her though, because I'm making up our workout for Saturday! Mwah-ha-ha!! After the torture session on my legs, I jumped on the treadmill for a 30 min run; my first run since the race. Not gonna lie: I hated it.

I'm praying for some thunder showers or torrential down pours as I have basbeball tonight at 8pm and I don't particularly feel like leaving the house again.

You Never Know Who’s Listening

Let this post be a little lesson in change room chit chat. You never know who’s listening!

A little background info: My gym is kind of like a cult. I choose to be a non-participating member of said cult, but I am a fantastic at people watching/eaves dropping. I ‘m aware of all the inner cliques, all the “disorder waiting to happen” girls, who’s on what diet, etc etc etc.

Last night I was in the change room getting ready for spin. I overheard a conversation that made be absolutely furious. I’m not getting into the nitty gritty details, because it would be far too confusing to explain the who’s who of the conversation. There were some catty comments pertaining to their “poor” half marathon performance on the weekend claiming they “could have easily broke 2h” if they hadn’t been running slow with a friend. (this friend happens to be one of MY friends) In fact, they were so fast that they would run ahead and then circle back to let their friend catch up.

Looking back, I really wish I would have piped up and said something, but alas I didn’t. What is the point of this post? I think too often we get so focussed on numbers. I know I am always freaking out at the numbers on the scale, my race times, the number in my bank account. Cut yourself a little slack now and then! Who cares how fast you run, you freakin’ ran 21.1k!

Who cares how much you weigh? You’re healthy! Who cares about how much is in the bank, you have money!

Another thing: To the bitches in the change room... I don’t care if you run 5k in 18 mins, or if you’re a super duper spin instructor, I’d like to see you run a sub 2h half marathon. Stop trying to make yourselves look better.

Sore legs be gone!

I'm back to 100% after the race. Tonight I met up with my buddy Lisa, and we did an upper body/core workout then I went to spin class. I had hoped that super awesome Crys would be teaching, but instead I was tortured by a scary man. Speaking of super awesome Crys, she totally rocked her first half marathon this weekend, so I'm assuming she missed tonights class for the purpose of recovery. Am I right Crys?

Tonights supper featured a few products from Epicure. I made some pesto using the Pesto Herb Mix and used it to coat my chicken. I stuffed it with a little goat cheese and red peppers and cooked it in foil on the BBQ. End result was moist and DELICIOUS. I whipped up an easy salad with basil, chick peas, tomato, cucs and goat cheese and served it along with zuchinni boats 3 ways: cream cheese and garlic, pesto and goat cheese. My kinda meal. Can you tell I like goat cheese?

For desert Andrew and I shared a fruit platter...

...and a dip made with Epicure Summer Berry dip mix. I'm really excited to experiment more with this product. It was sooo delicious and super healthy! I mixed it with FF sour cream, and rather then mixing it with plain yogurt as the recipe called for I just used Source Raspberry. The website also recommends serving it with smoothies, ice cream or granola. YUM!

Stayed tuned for more from Epicure. I smell a giveaway coming up!

I have to tell you, it feels good to be on the right track again! WOO HOO!

Recovery!

Firstly, THANK YOU for all your sweet comments. Its people like you that make me want to succeed. Without each and everyone of you cheering me on, I would be lost. I don't thank you guys enough for your constant support.... so again, THANK YOU!

I took today off in anticipation of sore limbs. I'm not feeling toooooo bad, I just need to keep moving to avoid any stiffening up.

Now that my life not consumed with training, I need to focus on weight loss as opposed to fueling so back to portion control and quasi point counting.

Breakfast: 2 slices whole wheat toast, 1 tbsp crunchy PB, 2 sliced kiwis, 5 strawberries and a GREEN MONSTER: 1/2 cup skim, handful spinach, 1 banana, and a FF strawberry yogurt.


After breakfast, I took Jersey for a long SLOW walk to get my muscles moving again. Upon my return home I decided to tackle the yard. Its not QUITE warm enough to plant yet (frost warning tonight!) but I cut the grass, trimmed all the shrubs, weeded the garden and transplanted a few hostas. Perfect way to keep my mind busy.

For Lunch, I continued my GREEN theme. I made a green sandwich (tofu, avocado, spinach, tomato) and served it with some homemade guac and organic blue corn chips.

I worked allll afternoon in the garden. When Andrew got home we headed over to Loblaws to get some mulch and a few groceries. We FINALLY bought some some GREEN bins. I have been guilty of using primarily plastic bags.... I hang my head in shame.

Supper was a Pampered Chef recipe: Apricot Glazed Pork Chops with whipped mashed potatoes and some steamed broccoli. YUM!

Off topic completely here, you may or may not know that I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Rent fan. I've seen it 3 times off Broadway, and once in NYC on Broadway. I just discovered that they have a DVD called Rent: Recorded Live on Broadway, which is a recording of the last time it played on Broadway. I downloaded (don't hate me Krissy!) it and watched it today. LOVE IT. What was especially cool, is that I saw the same cast when I was there last summer. :)

Anyhoo, time to clean up the kitchen. Have a great evening.

'zee race report

If you are new to this blog... you may or may not know my history with the Ottawa Half Marathon. You can click here to read about my experience last year, and if you click here you can read a horrendous story about how my co-worker totally rained on my parade.

Anyhoo, the weather in Ottawa today was again pretty friggin' hot. There was a nice breeze which made things somewhat pleasant.

I was having a STELLAR race. I was on track to run a 2h20 race, until I hit kilometre 17. Thats when my calf decided to seize. It seized in a gigantic ball. I walked until kilometre 18 trying to stretch it out.... started running again, about 2 minutes into it... same thing. Between kilometres 18-20 I kinda run/walked as much as I could.

A woman ran by my with a "Running for Mom" with photo of her Mom on the back of her shirt. Seeing that made me think of my own Mom, who would hopefully be proud of my accomplishments over the past 17 years. (she died when I was 11)

It was about that time that I saw the 20k marker, and I decided to buck up and give'r. I wanted to make my Mom proud. And as corny as it may sound, I was suddenly painless and I SWEAR there was a huge gust of wind to push me along. I have to wonder if it wasn't her, cheering me on from above.

After crossing the finish line, I stopped the woman to tell her she shirt made me sprint to the finish ... (I'm sitting here sobbing as I type this) and she replied "She made me spint too" and we actually both started crying and hugged each other. A rather special moment between strangers, no?

So yes, I'm disappointed in the time. But, what the hell... I DID IT! I tend to be so obsessed with perfection and numbers that I tend to overlook the overall accomplishment. I DID IT!
Here are some shots captured by my amazing husband who showed up at several different locations along the route. I love him to bits, and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful man as a constant supporter. Thank you Andrew! xoox

Dear Mr. Half Marathon

Dear Half marathon #9,

You begin prompty at 9am tomorrow morning.

Its currently 11:34pm.

I can't sleep.

Mr. Half Marathon, I plan to slaughter you tomorrow. You will be mine. Every last freakin' kilometre.

Stop making me nervous and just let me sleep, would ya?

Warmest Regards,

Amy "Fast like a Cobra"

Drumroll Please...

...and the winner is:
#3 was:

Krista said...
....and I just linked you :)
May 19, 2009 9:17 PM

Congratulations Krista!! Email me at and provide me with your mailing address, and I will provide it to the lovely folks over at Pampered Chef.

A big thank you to The Pampered Chef for allowing me to share my love of their products with my readers. If you get the chance folks, definitely check out their book "Its Good For You". You'll be seeing MANY more recipe reviews from there in the near future. I love it!

Takin' it easy

It feels sooo weird not working out today. Saturday's I always do a crazy-long'ish workout. None of that for me today... need to rest up for tomorrow!

I took a wet Jersey out for a 45 min walk.

Why was she wet? We decided to bath her, as she's been smelling a little rank since our cottage experience last week. Usually, I support the economy by paying a professional to do this. I like that they're the bad guy in her eyes- not me. This was a first for us, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought. She loves the water, being a golden retriever. We did find a tick on her (EW!) in the process.... this is the third one since last weekend. We assumed the 2 we found last week were from the woods at the cottage, but now I'm thinking ticks are just everywhere. Can anyone shed some light on TICKS? I'm a dog owner rookie!After bath and walking, Andrew and I headed into the city to pick up my race kit for tomorrow. It was a pretty quick and painless process. I hate big crowds.

I made a carby filled breakkie on our return home.

Plans for the rest of the day? I'm parking it on the couch, doing laundry and reading. Andrew is going out with his boyfriends to watch Terminator, followed by an afternoon of beer drinking I suspect. This makes me happy to have some alone time with my fur babies. :)

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I did a guest post over at Carrots'n'Cake yesterday! (Yes, I feel like a celebrity!!) and I mentioned cottage cheese pancakes in the post.... which fueled (pun intended!) a couple of inquiries about the recipe.

I started making these pancakes back in my Core days while I was a good little Weight Watcher.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

CORE PANCAKES

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/4 cup ff cottage cheese

2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 splenda packets *I only use one.

Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Mist a non-stick skillet with EVOO or Pam.

Add the batter and cook over medium till both sides are brown and the middle is firm

Serve with fruit and FF/SF syrup for a true "Core" meal... or live a little and have REAL maple syrup, you deserve you just did a long run! :)

*I've also made these in a waffle iron, and it also works fantastic!

Quick Chicken and Pineapple Curry

With the contest just HOURS away from closing, I thought I would do a double recipe review tonight.

First up: Quick Chicken and Pineapple Curry. Here's a shot from the cookbook:


And here is my creation:

Confession: I've actually made this recipe THREE times since receiving the cookbook. Its absolutely to DIE for. I abviously made a few modifications, but wow, this is going to be my new 'go to' curry recipe. The good news is that there are no special ingredients... I had everything in the house. YUM. Without divulging too much, the addition of cilantro REALLY makes all the flavors pop. Again, something I wouldn't have thought to add, especially to a curry dish!

Next a wonderful summer desert: Frozen Peach Melba Pie.

Here is my creation, prior to going in the freezer.

My opinion? I could take or leave it. I wasn't a HUGE fan, but its definitely a quick and easy (AND HEALTHY!)recipe that would be great to bring to a summer potluck. Bonus points, it looks pretty so the "WOW Factor" will definitely be there.

I used my decorator bottle set to decorate the top of the pie. I wish I wouldn't have spent the money to buy this 'quick fix' and invested in a real icing set. Its a pain in the butt to get the filling IN to the bottle, the lids pop off while you're piping and they are a real pain to clean.

Because I'm getting a lot of new readers today via the amazing Tina over at Carrots'n'Cake, I'm going to extend the contest until tomorrow morning.

Enter HERE all my new readers! Yes... I'm trying to bribe you to stay! :)

PSA

Don't wear strappy sandals for the first time of the season 3 days prior to race day.

Gah. My feet are a blistery mess.

Pampered Chef Recipe Review

....todays recipe: Shrimp and Linguine. This is their photo from the cookbook. (With Jersey's nose!)

...and this is mine!

Not quite as visually appealing, but it was definitely tasty! The sauce was made primarily of evaporated milk, yet it was full of flavour. Lots of the lighter cream sauce recipes I've tried in the past were totally bland. Not this one!

The winner of my contest will LOVE this recipe! :)

ENTER NOW!!

Welcome to my corporate world

I decided to bring my camera to work today, to photograph all that is my corporate world! Of late I seem to be spending more hours there, then at home... so it all seems fitting!

To start the day: A coffee and a green monster. Instant energy!

Breakfast was some plain oatmeal topped with coconut, skor bits and a few chocolate chips.


Not my most glorious lunch: A Smart Ones (I NEVER eat these) strawberries, and orange and a diet pepsi.


Mid afternoon sweet fix: a granny smith and a couple of hershey kisses.

Being the second in command dosn't get me a closed office, but it does get me windows! Not bad really, considering many cubicles don't have any natural light!

I am usually quite tidy, but this is what my desk has been looking like of late. MESSSSY!

For supper tonight, I made Pampered Chef's Black Bean and Corn Burgers. My thoughts? AMAZING flavour, odd texture. I suspect the odd texture may have been my fault however because I altered the recipe as I didn't have any eggs. (Friggin Andrew used them all) I look forward to making these again when I have all the ingredients. Main ingredients were: Black beans, corn, salsa and cilantro. The flavour combo was perfect. I topped each burger with a few avocado slices only as they were so flavourful they didn't need ANY condiments!

Exercise tonight was a lightning fast 6k at race pace. It hurt, and I hated it. But it felt great when it was OVER.

Race day is rapidly approaching. If its anything like today was.... its gonna be ROUGH.

I'm off to watch the season finale of my beloved 24. I missed it on Monday. Have a wonderful evening!

Don't forget to enter the Pampered Chef Giveaway below! :)