Friday, May 31, 2013

Recipe- Creamy Mushroom Chicken

I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen.



Creamy Mushroom Chicken

Ingredients

~4 or 5 slices bacon
~4 chicken breasts
~salt & pepper
~2 Tbsp. butter
~1 large onion, diced
~8 oz mushrooms, sliced
~2 cans (10¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup
~¼ cup chicken broth
~⅔ cup Monterrey jack cheese
~8 oz spaghetti, fettuccine (what I used) or linguine
~parsley, optional for garnish
 
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large skillet, cook the bacon. Place bacon on a paper towel lined pate to drain and set aside. Leave bacon drippings in the pan.
  3. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
  4. Add butter to the pan and cook chicken breast until brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
  5. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Then add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms and onion are tender.
  6. Add the soup, chicken broth and cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted.
  7. Spoon the sauce over the chicken in the 9 x 13 dish.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
  9. While the chicken bakes, cook the pasta.
  10. Crumble reserved bacon.
  11. Serve chicken on top of the cooked pasta with sauce and sprinkle with crumbled bacon and parsley if desired.
 

 
I served it with a Pillsbury croissant.  I have made this several times and it's always a hit!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Runner's World Run Streak

I'm doing it--I'm going streaking!


The Runner's World Run Streak that is!  I first heard about it last night, the day that it started, so I'm actually a day late.  The point is to run every day from Memorial Day to Fourth of July, so I'll just go until July 5th.  At first I wasn't sure I wanted to do it.  I'm prone to injuries and honestly, I cherish my days off. 39 days of consecutive running. But I only had to run a mile.  Surely, I could do that!

I got home and changed.  10 minutes of straight running- no problem! Only thing is, I ran in 8 minutes, 11 seconds!  WHAT???  My fastest mile ever before that was 9:25 so it was a 1:14 PR!  That's crazy!  I've decided that for my normal "rest" days, I'll just run a mile and try to beat that time.  But I think maybe I started out too fast.  I'm not sure I can beat that!

I've joined a challenge on Challenge Loop to help me stay motivated.

Participating in the streak?  Make sure to use #RWRunStreak on Twitter!


I grabbed these badges from Pavement Runner.  I love them!

 
 
So who all's in?


Monday, May 27, 2013

Giveaway- Spartan Race Entry!

Have you ever participated in a Spartan Race or wanted to?

 
Spartan Race is on a mission to get you active, healthy, excited about change, and return to our ancient roots where running through woods, getting dirty, and facing adversity was part of everyday life. Our events are all about challenging today’s perception of normal.

Our events challenge the familiar, today’s perception of normal living and getting you out of your comfort zone! At Spartan Race, we do this everyday and it shapes everything we do.

Having experienced many different racing events, we wanted to make adventure racing more accessible to everyone, but do not be fooled by the word ‘accessible’, as our events have a challenge for everyone’s needs.

Spartan Race now introduces a level for everyone beginning with the entry level Spartan Sprint, intermediate level Super Spartan, the advanced Spartan Beast, and the ‘99.9% need not apply’ extreme level Death Race.

Whatever your level, Spartan Race will test your strength, stamina, and sense of humor.
 
*taken from the Spartan Race website


To me, this seems so hard core and a little daunting!  Maybe one day I will be at the level for this.  It's certainly a big goal!

To all my readers, I have my very first contest-- a giveaway for a free race entry for any of the Spartan races in the continental US!!!

If you don't want to wait for the contest to be over, or don't win, you can get a code for 15% off any Spartan Race by going here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Weekly Recap- May 20- May 26, 2013

I got an early birthday present from my parents this week--a purple Garmin Forerunner 10.  I really like being able to just glance at my wrist to find out my stats!  The stats are just a little off and I went back and forth about which ones to keep track of.  But since all of the stats so far are based off of Runkeeper, I'm going to keep using those.

Tuesday- 3.01 miles in 30:02 (Mile 1: 10:01, Mile 2: 10:07, Mile 3: 9:51, average pace: 10:00)
Thursday- 4 miles in 41:56 (Mile 1: 10:04, Mile 2: 10:01, Mile 3: 11:14, Mile 4: 10:36, average pace: 10:29)
Sunday- 5 miles in 51:51 (Mile 1: 10:32, Mile 2: 10:39, Mile 3: 10:20, Mile 4: 10:39, Mile 5: 9:43, average pace: 10:22)

Total miles this week: 12.01
Total miles in 2013: 177.53
Total miles: 606.38

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Bulu Box

I received a code for a free Bulu Box and it came in the mail in the past week!


Here are the goodies that came with it


Plantiva AllerDX sample
Fitmixer Amino
Fit 'n Crisp by Promax
NeoCell Beauty Bursts
Artisana Superfood Nut Butter

I have to be honest.  I opened the box and wasn't all that impressed.  I've only ever tried one other subscription box and that one seemed to have more foody items (which I like).  Granted, the website does say " As the first and only vitamin and supplement sample box, this box includes a well-rounded sampling of vitamins and supplements that help in all areas of health. Each box contains 4 to 5 premium samples plus lifestyle extras from time to time. Every box is a feel good discovery."  So I should have known what I was getting.  But this box isn't for me.  I'm more into yummy foods than into vitamin and nutrient items.  I'll be reviewing the samples, I won't be continuing my subscription.  I'm glad I tried it though!

*Full Disclosure:  I was provided a code to try a free box.  These opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for them.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Recipe- Baked Zucchini Fries

I got this recipe over at Fun & Food Café.  She said she got it from a Kraft recipe, but I can't find that online.

Baked Zucchini Fries


Ingredients
~3 zucchini (1 lb.)
~1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
~1 packet Shake & Bake Coating Mix
~1 small egg

Directions
1)Heat oven to 450ºF.
2)Trim the zucchini -cut crosswise in half, then cut each piece into 1/4-inch sticks.
3)Add cheese to coating mix in shaker bag; shake gently to combine.
4)Whisk egg in medium bowl.
5)Add zucchini; toss to coat.
6)Use tongs to place 1/4 of the zucchini in shaker bag; close bag and shake to evenly coat.
7)Spread onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
8) Repeat with remaining zucchini.
9)Bake for 12 to 13 min. or until golden brown, turning the baking tray 180 degrees after 7 min to facilitate even baking.
10)Remove the baked fries from the oven, and serve them with your favorite dipping sauce

I love fries and I love zucchini so I was excited to try these!  I found that the 3 zucchini was too much for one dinner for us so I saved a zucchini and a half and used the second packet of Shake & Bake, another egg, and more cheese on another night.  These turned out yummy!  Not quite as crisp as I wanted.  Probably because I'm not that great with a knife and should have made them thinner.  They were perfect dipped in ranch dressing!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Stats Question

Ok, I know this is a silly question, but--opinions wanted.  Ever since I've started running I've used my Runkeeper app for every run (except for the Color Me Rad 5k and Castaway Cay 5k).  I know that it's been found to be a little off but it's what I've based all of my personal stats on.

For a way early birthday present, my parents got me a Garmin Forerunner 10.  I used it on my run today.  (Yay for finally getting the watch/shoe shot!)


I also used my Runkeeper app.  And the stats were a little off

Stats:        Runkeeper     Garmin
Mile 1        10:01 pace     9:58 pace
Mile 2        10:07 pace    10:02 pace
Mile 3        9:51 pace      9:58 pace
Total          3.01 miles     3.00 miles
Avg. pace  10:00            10:00
Time          30:02            29:58
 

So not too much difference, except for the pace for each mile.  Runkeeper started off at a slower pace by 3 seconds, then by 5 seconds but then suddenly was faster by 7 seconds (so jumped up 12 seconds). 

And yes, again, I know this is super silly, but I keep track of my stats.  Do I continue to use the Runkeeper ones since that's what all my old ones are based off of?  Or do I start using the Garmin stats?

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Weekly Recap- May 13-May 19, 2013

I had a softball tournament this week so it was two days in a row.  I really do think my cleats and hurting my legs.  Both shin splints and the area where I have physical therapy on my knee.  I was in so much pain again that I was icing them (and I hate to ice!).  So I took Thursday off of running, hoping to feel better.  I ran 5 miles on Saturday and while I am sooo sore, it's not pain.  My knee didn't hurt at all.  Yay!

Monday- softball
Tuesday- softball
Saturday- 5 miles in 53:03 (Mile 1: 10:22, Mile 2: 10:06, Mile 3: 11:13, Mile 4: 10:48, Mile 5: 10:33, average pace: 10:36)

Total miles this week: 5
Total miles in 2013: 165.52
Total Miles: 594.37

Friday, May 17, 2013

Race #27-- Expedition Everest Challenge 5k and Scavenger Hunt-- May 4, 2013

I was so excited to get to run in runDisney's Expedition Everest Challenge again this year.



 And this year I would be running with some new friends--Ashley from The Pavement Princess!

We met briefly at the Expo, where I was helping out at the Raw Threads booth. We got our goodies--a race tech (that doesn't fit right.  I am sooo glad that it seems like starting with Marathon weekend, runDisney will be going to gender specific tees), a cliff bar, a practice clue, and I also got my Lasting Commemoratives free art card.


The clue was easy.  It was the type of problems I like--word ones.  Unfortunately, as I'll discuss later, the clues weren't like that.




 Then we met up again at 8pm.  There I met Ashley's husband (and running partner) and my running partner LeeAnn. 



We got into our corral at about 9:15-9:30.  I'm not sure of the exact time.  LeeAnn said that she runs the whole time instead of doing run/walk intervals like I do.  Gulp!  I had been wanting to try to run a whole 5k and I guess now was the time to do it!  Luckily, I tried my first sample of Energy Bits (review to come!)

We were in corral F so we had a bit of time to chat.


While you were waiting in the corral, there was "snow" and instead of fireworks at the start of each wave, there was smoke.


Finally it was our turn--we were up next!















They counted down and we took off!  At about .75 miles or so ( I don't remember, so I'm just guessing) there were the hay barrels to jump over.  They're pretty simple but I hurt my ankle last year by being stupid on it, so I took it carefully.  The run through Animal Kingdom wasn't too bad but once again, we ran into people already on the scavenger hunt part so you had to walk around them.  It was definitely a different course this year.  The tire walk was so SLOW.  It was slower than a walk.  It was like step, pause, step, pause.  There were only two sets next to each other with no room to run down the middle.  I bet it ate up at least 3 minutes.  At the very end was the net crawl.  Not too bad.  But except for those obstacle stops, I did it!  I ran the whole 5k!  Our official 5k time was 33:51.

We got our first clue and a flashlight.  I asked where they sharpies were and they said there weren't any this year.  Huh?  I would soon learn why--they weren't word puzzles.  Ugh

Here's our first clue: (I'm pretty sure I'm putting them in the right order)


The answer was NW.  (You have to trace the 0s).  But there were no pens to write this down so we just had to remember it.  We took off to get our next clue.


For this one, you had to look at all the capital letters to see it spelled out NORTHEAST.  Next...


Maybe it the kindergarten teacher in me, but every time I see the number 26, I automatically think number of letters in the alphabet so this one was super easy.  SW.  And the next one:




This one was tricky and we actually overheard some one give the answer.  You have to look at the last letter of the last two lines.  NE.

As we were running up to that last one, we saw tons of people on the ground with their clues spread out.  So when we got our final clue card, we knew to sit down.



So we spread out our clues.  We had to put the clues together to make a symbol that was on our bib.


We tried all different sorts of ways but NOTHING we did matched any symbols on our bib. 
 
 
 
We sat there and we sat there trying to figure it out.  But we couldn't.  We were both so frustrated.  So we finally decided to just take off to the finish line and hope to hear someone talking about the answer.  As we ran, a nice man overheard us talking and gave us the answer--white.  To this day, I STILL don't get it! (if you do, please tell me!!)  And as it turns out, no one was even checking if we pointed to the white one on the bib.   Grr!  Our official time was 1:21:15.  We took 47 minutes to do the scavenger hunt.  I bet at least 35 of it was the last clue!  Last year the team I was on took 22 minutes to do the scavenger hunt!!
 
Oh, and the other two times I've done this, the whole race ended right at Everest.  Perfect location.  But this time, after you figured out the final clue, you had to run a mile-ish back out of the park.  The end of the whole thing ended at the same place where the 5k ended.  Which means you had to walk the mile-ish BACK into the party.  Not cool. 
 
The good news was that Ashley and her husband finished right in front of us so we didn't have to waste any time looking for each other.
 

We headed in to the after party and stopped by the New Balance area.  During the race, if you tweeted with a certain hashtag, then they would print your picture for free.  GREAT idea but they only had one poor woman working with one printer.  We only ended up finding one picture.

So we beelined it over to a stand to get some beer! ( I didn't believe it until Wine & Dine since I'm not a huge beer fan, but there's something great about the carbs in beer after a race!)

 


The dance party was right there and the DJ from my wedding, Steve Weinstein, was playing the music!  I had to stop for a picture!



We headed over to ride Everest.  Everest in the dark is always fun! (It looks like I'm getting scraped by the claw!)



LeeAnn's family wanted to ride Kali River Rapids so we headed over there.  Ashley, her husband and I didn't get want to get wet so we decided to wait.  And we found my favorite thing of the whole night to amuse us.  This button on a bridge that you could press to spray people.  It got them soaked.  And it was free!  It provided so much entertainment.  We were dying laughing!



We could understand why the button asked you to let other use it.  We could have stood there for hours!  Up next was dinosaur. (I love knowing where all the pictures are!)


Then we rode TriceraTop Spin








 
A couple of them rode Primeval Whirl next


At some point in the night, we took pictures with the characters



And I ran into my friend Mandy


The race medal is pretty much the same as all of the other years.




Overall, I didn't enjoy the race much.  I think that's my last Everest Challenge unless they change it up.  But I had an absolute BLAST with the group I was with.  I cannot wait to see them again at Dumbo in a few short months!!
 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Recipe- Creamy Chicken Divan

This was another recipe from my box.

Creamy Chicken Divan


Ingredients:
~ 10 oz frozen broccoli spears, cooked
~ 1 cup cooked chicken breast, sliced
~ 10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
~ 1/4 teaspoon curry  powder
~ 1/3 cup mayonnaise
~ 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
~ 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
~ 1/4 cup soft bread crumbs
~ 1 tablespoon butter, melted
~ cooked rice

Directions:
1) Arrange cooked broccoli in a lightly greased 8x8 baking pan
2) Place chicken over top
3) Combine soup, curry powder, mayonnaise, and lemon juice; pour over chicken
4) Sprinkle with cheese
5) Combine bread crumbs and melted butter; sprinkle over top
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
7) Serve over cooked rice

I love all types of chicken divan.  Its just so creamy and cheesy and good!  I served it with a Pillsbury roll.  Yum!



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Orlando Yelp Event- Sus Hi

I was so excited to get invited to my first Yelp event.  I'd seen several people on twitter commenting on the events they'd been to.  So I quickly RSVP'd YES!  It was for an event at Sus Hi.  It was on the other side of town than where I live but I love sushi so I couldn't wait!  I was nervous about not knowing anyone because I can be shy but I shouldn't have worried!  I sat with these two fabulous gals, Cecille and Carla that I cannot wait to meet another Yelp event.  They were so sweet and I had so much fun!

I arrived at Sus Hi and walked in.

 



















I signed in when I walked in and grabbed some freebies--sunglasses, a keychain, and some chaptick.  I saw the community manager, Colleen, and asked her the process.  She told me you just jump in line and order and it was free!  (There was a tip jar.  I didn't know that it would be free and to bring cash.  I thought it was something you paid for so I only had a few dollars and my card.  Next time I'll know!)

Sus Hi reminds me of a Chipolte or a Subway but for sushi.  Basically, you pick your style, protein and what you want in it.  So much fun!



There are tons of options to choose from!




 


After I ordered my roll, I grabbed a drink--the summer kick.  It was soooo good!

 
 
For the roll I got shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, tempura flakes, rice, and then for the outside I got masago and more tempura flakes.  For the sauces I got white sauce and I asked for eel sauce (they called it sweet soy sauce).  The roll was absolutely delicious!  As was the drink!  If I had known to bring some extra cash for tips, I would have gone back for seconds!


Cecille, Carla and I had to get some pics of us!



After the food, they had a contest to see who could open this bottle of Japanese drink that had a marble in it the quickest.  So cool!  They also had a photo booth. 






I really enjoyed Sus Hi!  It's great for picky people who want to know exactly what is in their roll and it's great for people who love to be adventurous and create new things!  I wish that there was one on my side of town!

And I love participating in the Yelp event.  I can't wait to be able to participate in another one!