The BEST dinner ever!

Last night I tried a brand new recipe and it turned out fantastic! I really wanted Peanut Chicken but wanted a different recipe than what I had. So I typed in Peanut Chicken on allrecipes.com and found this amazing recipe:

Thai Peanut Chicken

This is how my dish turned out. YUMMY!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin strips
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 1/2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/3 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Directions

1. Combine the rice and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is golden on the outside, about 5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium, and add green onion, broccoli, peanuts, and the peanut butter mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until broccoli is tender, and chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

I did have to alter it a little bit. I tripled the sauce and used granulated garlic instead of minced garlic since I ran out of minced garlic (a sin growing up). You could probably do the same if you don't have any minced ginger. I also toned it down on the cayenne pepper but Emma and my neighbor both commented on how spicy it was so you might just want to do the 1/4 teaspoon for the whole sauce if you triple it. The picture on allrecipes.com had red peppers in it which are not in the original recipe so I might have to try that next time. It was AMAZING!!!! I want to make it again for dinner tonight but Jacob might look at me funny.

Happy

It's amazing what a nice sunny day and a run will do for you. (Oh and new flowers on the front porch). These last few days have been great. With all the contention going on in the world right now our little corner of the world has been for the most part just happy. Yesterday the girls and I went to Home Depot and bought some pretty flowers to plant in our wine barrel that we have on the front porch. There is just something about flowers that makes everything better. Emma helped me weed the front flower bed and we have spread some flower seeds out and in about 4 weeks we should have a beautiful bed of flowers. I'm so excited!

This year is the year of outside improvements. We will be making over our flower beds and our backyard. The grass is already growing in the back and looks so much better than it did when we first moved in. I will post some before and "during" pictures some time this next week and then at the end of the summer I will do before during and after pictures.

Now I'm waiting for Linnea to wake up from her morning nap so we can head out and buy some strawberries and a couple strawberry planters. Home Depot didn't have them and didn't have a clue what I was talking about even after my thorough description of what exactly they looked like. Ugh.

Sisters

I love that Emma and Linnea have each other. Even though they fight daily they have so many sweet moments together. It's been almost 10 month that Linnea joined our family and she has brought so much joy to us. Emma loves playing with her little sis. Often times I'll put them down for a nap and I can hear them giggling in their room together. It's not always amusing to me but I'm glad that they are able to laugh together. There is something special about the bond sisters have with one another. I have two brothers so I never experienced that bond but I can see it in my girls and it makes me smile.

Yesterday I went to put Linnea down for a nap and found the bedroom door locked. This particular doorknob has a key hole to which we don't have a key. I'm actually surprised this didn't happen sooner. Luckily both girls were in the front room. So I had to break into the girl's bedroom. It reminded me of a similar incident I had back in high school with my friends Ashley and Serena. Only this one involved a hammer and screw driver and not fuzzy pink slippers, ice cream at 2 am, my family on vacation, my house keys sitting on the kitchen counter, and a door being kicked down. (I still can't believe we did that). So we will be replacing the door sometime. Luckily it was one that we needed to replace anyway.

"Running is a sport of discipline, of will power, of overcoming discomfort."

Once again here is a picture that has NOTHING to do with my entry. But I just love it.

So... I'm obsessed with running. I had a CRAP day on Monday. It was windy and I was running, well I don't really think you can call what I was doing running, not even jogging really. It was more like beating the wind into submission but the wind wasn't moving. I was supposed to do a 25 minute run and I got 20 minutes in before I threw my hands up and said enough is enough. On Friday I thought I'd had a really good run distance wise so I went back to see how far I'd gone. I went 1.6 miles in *cough* 25 minutes. Talk about SLOW. So when I hit the 20 minute mark and saw that I was at 1.1 miles I decided I would call it good. (That quote that I used for my title was taken from an article by Josh Clark off of the active.com website).

Why didn't I just turn around and run with the wind you might ask? That is a good question. The answer is is that the wind was not a constant easterly, westerly, northerly or southerly wind. It was all over the place! If it wasn't blowing at me from the side it was coming at my face. It popped up the stroller thingy that folds out to be a sun/rain cover for the kids. Linnea would be whining and then the wind would hit her face and it was nice and quiet for a while, until of course the wind changed directions.

Today I am scheduled for another 25 minute run. They are doing road construction on my route and it's supposed to start getting even more windy than Monday. So I'm opting out of running outside today and will be headed for the gym tonight after Jacob gets home from work. He told me to just wait for tonight. I think he and I both know that if I have another unsuccessful day of running this week that it will dampen my spirits. Bad run days happen. But I'm NOT going to have another one of them today. Hopefully I'll be able to snag a treadmill at the gym tonight so I can get that run in.

Here is a good article about getting motivated to run. Have a great day all!

Yesterday was...

An emotional day. Jacob went running with me in the morning and I was doing really well the first half of the run(averaging a 12 minute mile) and then couldn't pull out for the second half. The workout was run 10 minutes, walk 3 minutes and run 10 minutes. I cramped up really bad when I started out on my second run. Jacob offered to push the stroller so I could run by myself to see if that was the problem. It wasn't and it felt funny running without the stroller. I felt like my body was going all over the place and that I was off balance. I broke down and started to cry but I couldn't really cry because I was out of breath. I was so mad at myself. I had run 20 minutes straight last Friday but I couldn't pull out this interval run. And I was frustrated that I was struggling to keep pace and Jacob was just fine. After we got home Jacob and I decided that he wouldn't go running with me anymore until I built myself up to a faster time. He also told me that I was way too hard on my self and way too competitive. (Which is hilarious because you should see him. HE'S the competitive one).
I was pissed the whole rest of the morning. I didn't feel like I had accomplished anything fitness wise and was feeling down about the whole thing. So I mentioned to Jacob that I would like to go hiking. There is this ugly mountain about 15 minutes away with No tree cover and tons of sage brush that is a popular hike for the locals. The last time I hiked it was right after Thanksgiving with my in laws and I almost died. I was exhausted after the first hill and barely made it up to the top. I needed some proof that what I was doing with my running and cross training on my elliptical was getting me somewhere.
So we set off to go hike. I was amazing! Emma hiked all the way up and most of the way down by herself and I made it up and didn't feel out of breath or tired at all at the top. I was elated! I was proud of myself and amazed at my little 3 year old for hiking a mile and a half up a pretty freaking steep mountain. She kept pace with us and complained a few times but all Jacob had to ask was if she wanted a blue slush from Sonic and she barreled up that mountain. Of course we had to stop a few times for her but she did it! I even ran up the last part of the trail to the top. It felt amazing! Now I know that I have improved my health. I still don't look great but I am able to be active.
After the hike the girls played at the playground. Linnea loved the swing(and the hike). She laughed the whole time. I am so excited for the warmer weather so we can do more hiking. My run tomorrow is 25 minutes of non-stop running and I now have a new found drive to keep with it.

A new recipe! And some other things

This last week I made Chicken Tortilla Bake. As a kid my mom made it every once in a while and I never liked it. But I was craving it the other week so I made it. I think I figured out why I didn't like it as a kid. The 2 cans of chopped green chillies I think are too much so I just did one can. And I used dehydrated onions instead of fresh because I love the taste of onions, but not the texture. Emma LOVED it and Jacob did too. I'd never made it for him. We've been married almost 5 years. But it was a big hit and as I'm typing this I am craving it. I think it might be too early to make it again though. :( You should try it though! It's excellent!

Chicken Tortilla Bake

3 c shredded cooked chicken

2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilies

1 c chicken broth

1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 small onion, finely chopped

12 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, combine the chicken, chilies, broth, soups and onion; set aside. Warm tortillas in the microwave according to package directions. Layer half of the tortillas on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan, cutting to fit pan if desired. Top with half the chicken mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered at 350˚ F for 30 minutes. Yield: 6-8 servings

And I've been doing the couch to 5k program for a full 5 weeks now. I just started week six this morning and I feel so good! I am the world's slowest runner but I am out there doing it. I've got a LONG way to go to hit my 7:30 miles that I ran in high school. Shoot... I've got a long way to run a 12 minute mile. But that's not the point. The point is is that I have 55 pounds I want to lose. I've come to the conclusion that I will never be 120 pounds again and I am fine with that. I am just so glad that I am in the habit of exercising again. I worked out on the elliptical on Saturday and could only do 20 minutes because my thighs were on fire from jogging 20 minutes on friday but as I was running on my elliptical Jacob came over and grabbed the back of my legs and told me that they were looking hot. I haven't taken any measurements or stepped on the scale since I started working out because I don't want to be disappointed. Right now I just want to get into the habit and not be tired after playing with Emma and Linnea outside.

Next month is mine and Jacob's 5th anniversary and I'm planning a get away where we will stay at a bed and breakfast and go running, hiking and enjoy some good seafood. I can't wait to take him hiking to places that I went as a kid. I love how I feel after a good workout. It feels amazing! ANYONE can become active and become a runner. I've been following the Couch to 5k program on facebook and there are people 100-200 pounds overweight that are burning through the program. Some people take each week and make a month out of it. I've had to repeat a couple runs because I got new running shoes and didn't want to injure myself. It hasn't been a cake walk which is what has made it so rewarding. You'd be amazed what your body is capable of. I do have an athletic background but there are people doing this program who are literally coming off the couch and running 5ks. It's just a mind game that we play with ourselves and talk ourselves out of doing many things. At the begining of the year I posted that it was my goal for the year to run a 5k. Well I may be changing that goal to a 10k depending on how my first 5k goes. I'm looking to run one in April. Just remember that you can do ANYTHING if you put your mind to it. Don't give up on your dreams!