Tantalizing Tuesday

Today we are going for dessert, what better dessert than
Better Than (you know what) Cake

I box of devils food chocolate cake cooked by package directions
1 lg instant chocolate pudding
4 crusched skor or heath bars
1 12 oz thawed coolwhip

Cook up your cake and let it cool.  Cut into chunks and layer cake, pudding, coolwhip, toffee,  into 3 layers(just like a trifle).  Chill and serve,  so Delish!!  By the way I took some fabulous pictures but had to post some one elses because somehow mine got erased.

Georgetown Half Marathon

I completed my 3rd half marathon on Saturday.  It went really well and I am so happy to not train for anything for a while.  Just do what I want to do.  The Georgetown Half starts at Georgetown and drops into Idaho Springs, a nice mining mountain community.  It is a beautiful run along the river and beautiful scenery.

I woke up around 5:15 to get rady to go.  I met a bunch of my MOM team members(notice my other blog on my sidebar) and we headed up the mountain.  It is about an hour drive from Erie to Georgetown.

Perhaps this might be too much info but about half way there I HAD to go to the bathroom.  There was no holding it or stopping it.  So we pulled over at some swanky hotel and let me do my business.  Fortunately no accidents and the run went without any accidents too-thanks to a double dosage of Imodium.  Boy-I am still paying for that today:(

It wasn't too chilly this year, last year Carrie and I almost froze our butts off, but this year it was so nice.  The only dowfall was that there were only like 10 porta potties for 3000 people.  It took us 40 minutes to get through the line.  While waiting to go potty we  took some before snaps of us, this is good cuz usually all you get of me is the aftermath when I look half dead!

Carrie, me, Susan

Erin, Amber, Tara, Natalie

Me and Susan

Me and Susan AFTER the run

The whole group

My strategy was to start at a 10 minute mile pace and by the middle og mile two kick it up a notch and shoot for a 9:30 the rest of the way.  Here are my splits:

Mile1: 10.21

Mile 2: 9.38

Mile 3: 9.01

Mile 4: 8.47

Mile 5: 9.25

Mile 6: 9.13

Mile 7: 9.23

Mile 8: 10.33

Mile 9: 9.33

Mile 10: 9.37

Mile 11: 10.47

Mile 12: 10.30

Mile 13: 9.49

Mile .1: 8.08

I totally died around mile 10, I was sick and thirsty and just wanted to quit-as you can tell from my time.  But I kept telling myself I could do it.  Just like the little engine that could.

I finshed at 2 hours and 7 minutes which is 5 minutes faster than last year and averaged a 9.44 pace. Can I say that I am ecstatic with my time.  My goal was 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Chasing something...

Oh boy, summmers ending and the kiddos are heading back to school next week.  I find myself in a frenzy to fit in all the "STUFF" before next week rolls around. I am feeling a little blue, and I don't know why.  I am really frustrated, personally I think I am talented, I have hobbies like quilting and sewing. I have  friends, a business, four gorgeous kids.  I run, swim, bike and can even cook.  I married a good man, and I have the gospel and a testimony of my Savior. Now I am not saying all this to sound boastful, I guess just trying to cheer myself up!  Why aren't all of these things good enough, why am I not satisfied, why do I feel like there is a void, what the heck is my problem??
Am I the only mom who feels like this???  I think I am broken and need to get fixed.

Now onto brighter things, my business is going well and sales have picked up and I stay fairly busy.  I would like to have more sales, but it is a work in process.  I am going to NYC in 3 weeks with some girlfriends:)  I just ate belgian waffles with cream and fresh strawberries. Oh and tomorrow is FRIDAY!!  I think I will sleep in and hope that I will wake up with a different outlook.

Paigey's necklace

I made this one for my 13 year old daughter. I love the way it turned out and it has her birthdate in the back side of the rectangle. Paige keeps telling me I need to add more color to my pieces-I am working on it. I just kinda like the sterling look.

Tantalizing Tuesday

These were soooooo yummy, I had 2!!  The recipe was taken from Taste of Home Magazine.  Even my kids liked this.

Open Faced Chicken Avocado Burgers

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 medium ripe avocado, peeled
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
4 green onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
BURGERS:
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons prepared pesto
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground chicken
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 4 slices
4 slices Italian bread (3/4 inch thick)
2 cups fresh arugula or baby spinach
8 slices tomato
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
In a blender, combine the first eight ingredients; cover and process until smooth. Chill until serving. For burgers, in a small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, pesto, garlic and salt. Crumble chicken over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook burgers in 2 tablespoons oil for 5-7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear. Top with cheese; cover and cook 1 minute longer.
Meanwhile, brush bread with remaining oil; place on a baking sheet. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes on each side or until toasted.
Spread each slice of toast with 2 tablespoons avocado spread (refrigerate remaining spread for another use). Top with arugula, a burger and sliced tomato. Sprinkle with basil and pepper. Yield: 4 servings plus 1/4 cup leftover spread.

Tantalizing Tuesday

A family favorite is Cracked Wheat Blender Pancakes. This recipe is from my mother in law and is sooooo easy and nutritious. It is by far my favorite pancake, I also like to add a whole banana to the mix as well.

2 C milk
1 1/2 C whole wheat grain
Put both ingredients in blender and blend for at least 5 minutes.
Add:
2/3 oil
pinch of slat
4 eggs
4 teaspoons baking powder
Blend till combined:)

We eat our pancakes with yummy homeade freezer jam or syrup.

Triathlon

Saturday I did my 2nd triathlon.  It was actually a lot of fun and I am looking forward to another one.  I don't know that it will happen this year, but I hope to go for a farther distance.  This tri was done in a pool and I have to confess, was wayyyyyy easier than the last lake one that I did.  The water was a perfect temperature and I could see the bottom and I didn't have a panic attack like last time.  I am a strong swimmer, but there is something about swimming in a lake:(

I went into the tri having injured my leg the week before on a 12 mile run(I am also training for a 1/2 marathon.)  Because of this i had decided I was not going to worry about my times and I would just have fun.  Normally I would physc myself out a week before the race and totally disappoint myself because I had stressed about it too much.  Since I went into this thinking that I was just gonna do my best, I totally surprised myself. 

The swim was the best of course, I took 2 minutes of my time and lapped the people in my lane twice.  I ended up doing the swim in 10 minutes and the fastest I had done it intraining was 12 minutes.  Next cam the bike portion and it went pretty smoothly, no flat tire-allelujah.

In this picture I am going so fast that the picture was blurry!!!! 

This is after the bike and heading out on the run. Normally after a bike ride my legs feel like jello, this time I didn't really have that problem, I did OD on Aleve before the race so maybe thats why. The run was pretty good. I was expecting a 10 min mile due to fatigue and my injury but i still avaerage a 9:30-I was so happy with that pace!

This is one of my Mind over Mileage team mates and I right after the race.  My othe MOM team mate Amber took the pics.  It was nice to have her there cheering me on:)  The tri that I did previously was a tad longer than this one and took me 2 hours 50 minutes.  This one took me 1 hour 25 minutes.  So how do you like them apples???  YEA!!!

You can check out our team MIND OVER MILEAGE blog at:

 http://mindovermileage.blogspot.com/