107 -- Miles I've Run in 2011

I ran 3 miles before work this morning bringing my monthly total to 41.1 miles! I'm finally making some significant headway toward my 575 mile goal for the year. I was afraid I was falling behind because of the snow days we had in February, I had less opportunities for running, so I'm trying to compensate now that it's nice again. And the Zoo Run is coming up three weeks from this Saturday. So I'm getting in some good mileage as I'm training to run the 10K. My goal is to complete it in 58 min. which will be 5 min. faster than my time last year. I really think I can do it!

I'm also getting closer to my goal weight- 8 pounds to go, to be exact. I am hoping I can get rid of those by the zoo race to help with my time! I'm finding out that once I choose to make good decisions when I eat, when I choose to practice self-control, and when I have a goal date in mind, my motivation increases and I see results! I am glad to be learning this because the first 6 weeks of the year were very frustrating and it was because I wasn't focused. Once I hit this goal, I will finally get to begin the road of maintaining it. I've always come close to my goal in the past and never actually made it. It's been so defeating, but I am determined because I want to be healthy and I want to be an inspiration and encouragement to others who feel like they get "close", but never quite reach their goals. I know for a fact that I feel so much better when I eat well, so choosing to make those decisions each day is important. I am also quite aware (as was the case yesterday) that there will still be days when I want brownies and cookies and cake -- yes *blush* all of those were consumed -- but those days are ok too, as long as they don't turn into every days. I am becoming more confident in myself and feel like I've learned a lot through my weight loss journey. I will let you know when I've reached my goal!

To life... full of healthy choices.

Random Thoughts #138.75

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you wearing green? If not, here is your virtual *pinch* :o) I don't own a lot of green, but I found 4 bracelets, a ring, and an awesome pin with a turtle to wear today with my white, green, and black dress.

Recently this song has been playing in my mind. I really like it, so thought I'd share:




Let it play in the background while you are reading!

We are reading through the entire Bible as a church right now. It is a really awesome concept and I love feeling connected and linked in to what everyone is studying at the same time. I have never read the Bible straight through, I would always get bogged down by Leviticus or Numbers. But it's a "challenge" for me, so I like to keep up and it has been a huge blessing! I feel like I have been learning so much and have been excited to read it straight through and see the "Big Picture" as they are calling it a church. We are in Isaiah right now and it makes more sense now that I have read all the books preceding it. If you're interested in our reading plan, let me know. I'd be happy to share!

My word of the day: RESPLENDENT. I really like to say it! I am going to try to use it at least once in conversation today, try to sneak it in and see if anyone notices. Definition? Shining brilliantly; characterized by a glowing splendor. You should try to fit it in too!

It's supposed to be in the 80s here the next couple of days... I'm so ready! I have been trying to get outside as much as possible. I get to have Chick-Fil-A for lunch today which also points to this being a great day!

To life... full of resplendence!

Muffins!

Over the weekend I made these...


And they were wonderful! What are they, you ask? Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins. I was looking (again) through my 'Baked' cookbook and, as before, they jumped out at me, so I decided to make them. Recently I have decided that I love having muffins on hand for breakfast. I guess I am tired of my usual cereal. The past few weeks I've been making blueberry muffins with some regularity. So I moved on and embraced these. You should too! Let me know if you'd like the recipe.

Next muffin recipe? Pioneer Woman's Marmalade Muffins!!

Yesterday I also made a cake to bring to work in celebration of Spring Break. I was excited to finally use my giant cupcake pan! It was pretty simple to use, but I did learn that I need to bake it at a slightly lower temperature to prevent the tops from getting too brown. Also, lowering the oven rack is a good idea...


Also, next time, I believe I will either cover it with ganache or powdered sugar. The cake on its own has a pretty swirl pattern to make it look like frosting and it's very hard to see/re-create the same pattern with the frosting I used. But I think it still turned out pretty cute. I added some fun flowery sprinkles to the top to bring about the idea of spring as well as a pop of color! It's a yellow cake with chocolate frosting - my favorite combo for cake!

To life... full of many more spring break cakes and muffins!

Zumba

It has begun! Last night I taught my first Zumba class. It was exciting, nerve-wracking, fun, embarrasing, difficult, challenging, and wonderful! This is the first time I've ever taught a class and I was a little nervous because I'm typically terrified to stand up in front of people and speak, ie: class presentations. But I got up there and it really wasn't as bad as I expected. It definitely helped for me to know so many of the girls participating, but there were some I had never met before. I think there were 12 girls last night which was great for night #1. I hope word spreads and they continue to come and maybe numbers will even go up! My plan is to try to learn one or two new songs each week so I can keep things fresh. But I also know that having some of the same songs brings familiarity and helps the students feel confident about what they're doing. I'm excited to get started teaching and even after the first night, I think it's something I will enjoy doing for a long time.

To life... full of Zumba!

Red Velvet Wrap-Up

February was a good month. We had some snow days, I baked some new recipes, made some new friends, and found out I'll be teaching Zumba in March.

Mom got us started off this month with Red Velvet Whoopie Pies! They sound so delicious! Here's what she had to say about them,"If you are a cookie lover, these are a must try. Would be a wonderful Valentine cookie, but good at anytime. They are easy to make, but take a few steps to complete. But, OH, YEAH! they are delicious!" I believe she got the recipe HERE. It makes me want to try them right away!

Next up, my sister remembered "RED" but not velvet, so she embarked on a strawberry cake for Valentine's Day. I did not hear the results, so maybe she'll comment on here and I can add it in :o)

For Valentine's Day, I made Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake, as mentioned (in detail) in the previous post. It was great and I recommend it to anyone!

I had a little left over cake from leveling the tops, so I mixed it up with some of the extra cream cheese frosting. I rolled them into balls and they are now waiting in my freezer for me to dip into almond bark. I hope to get to that soon! But it's nice to know they are waiting for me in my freezer.

My next contributor is one of my friends from work. She made the classic red velvet cake - from scratch! She got her recipe from Bakerella. She shared a piece with me and lovebug and it was VERY good! I would also recommend this recipe to others. Here's a picture of her cake (I'm sorry, I can't figure out how to make it turn around. But you should get the general idea):

Great Job Stephanie! I'm glad you joined in this month!!

And finally, a recipe I didn't even know existed. Another of my friends at work made Red Velvet Cookies. When I first heard her describing the recipe, I wasn't sure how it would all work together. Chocolate chips in red velvet? I thought it sounded strange even though I know there is cocoa in the cake. But she brought them to work and let us put on our own cream cheese frosting. Wow! I loved them. If I wasn't trying to lose weight, I would have definitely eaten more. But I did take the biggest one I could find!! Wouldn't you?


They were good even on their own, and that's saying a lot for a frosting lover like me. You can try them too from the Duncan Hines Website. Way to go Tara!

Next up, the theme for March is.... MINT! I was trying to think of something that would go with St. Patrick's Day. I considered trying to make something that's an authentic Irish recipe, then I thought about green. Then I realized with mint, some of it is green and you could do both if you really want. But start searching and be creative. I know some people don't like the chocolate/mint combo, but I think you can find something out there that might not even combine those two. I have a few ideas already and I'm excited!!

To life... full of great new recipes!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

It was made... it was delicious... now it's gone.

I know last time I shared the results of my snow recipe at the end of the month with all the others, but I wanted to go ahead and do a write up about this cake because it was pretty darn great! Plus I took several pictures of the process, which makes it more fun. I brought it to work on Valentine's Day (aren't I sweet?!?) and received lots of good responses-- "Amazing!" - "Very Good!" - "Bravo!" To me, that means it was a success. I enjoyed this creation as it was different to combine cake and cheesecake into one dessert. I preferred it the day after it had been made and had a chance to meld together. The cake was a bit dry on the first day in my opinion, but after it sat in the fridge over night, sandwiching the cheesecake and being surrounded by cream cheese frosting it transformed into something so much more!

To start, you make the cheesecake-- 20 oz. of cream cheese!


Here I am zesting a lemon and getting some fresh juice for the cheesecake. This smelled great!


This is only the second cheesecake I've made. But this time I was prepared with my new spring form pan!! I got it for half price at Michael's. *A note: I really wish no-stick meant NO-STICK! I was supposed to use parchment paper for the bottom of the pan, since I didn't have any and didn't want to use wax paper since it melts in the oven, I didn't use anything. Now, I may not have given it enough time to cool and freeze, but it definitely stuck to the pan and I kind of had to reform the cheesecake layer on the cake. I believe I will be buying the parchment paper in the future. Here's the cheesecake as it heads into the oven to bake...


Next up, while the cheesecake was baking, I started sifting all my dry ingredients for the red velvet cake.


Last year I made a green velvet cake, but this was my first red one. I think they are so fun to watch as you put together. It's like a science experiement! Cool huh?!?


Ouch! Sometimes there is danger in the kitchen...


Ha ha! Just kidding. It's red food coloring... but I couldn't resist, doesn't it look pretty real?

Moving on... Add the red food coloring to the wet ingredients, a lot of it! I actually didn't have as much as it called for (about half), but it was still nice and red enough for me.

Mix, mix, mix!

What a beautiful color! And about to head into the oven to bake!


The baked cheesecake. Not sure what, but I think I must have done something wrong. It was kind of poofy when I removed it from the oven, by the time it had cooled and frozen it was about half it's height. Why? Maybe I'll need to do a little research. I've heard cheesecakes are finnicky, but I will definitely keep trying, they are so delicious!


After the cakes have cooled, you start assembling, layer one


Add cheesecake, and second layer of cake


Then-- frost it! The frosting was a little "soupier" than I expected, but it stayed on surprisingly well and was a great complement to the cake. I put on a crumb coat and then another layer over that.


Another success in my book. I may try to figure out what to do differently about the cheesecake, but other than that, I'd be willing to make it all over again. Now I have to figure out what to do with the extra cake I have from when I leveled the cakes and the leftover cream cheese frosting... I might see cake balls in my near future.

To life... full of red velvet cheesecake cake!

A New Step-by-Step Pie

I've had a pie crust chilling out in my freezer, waiting to be used. So I thought over the weekend would be a good time. Rarely do I try to come up with my own concoction, but I went for it this time.

First I baked the pie crust and let it cool. Then put down a layer of bananas.


Next up I melted some caramels with a bit of milk in the microwave and poured it on.


Then I made a big box of banana cream pudding--layer three. Smooth and creamy!


After that I put on another layer of banana slices, not quite as symmetrical as I'd like...


I put it in the fridge to set up and chill. As I served up the slices I added some whipped cream.


I was quite pleased with the results! I believe Lovebug enjoyed it as well.

To life... currently filled with snow days!