Things have been a little hectic. My sister, Lora, has been in town for the past 10 days so I have visited quite a bit with her and my family. She was here b/c my dad had a pretty major surgery, he had an acoustic neuroma removed and was in the hospital most of last week. My mom, sister, and I took shifts throughout the week to make sure he had a familiar face at the hospital for most of his stay. This combined with still trying to work, left me very little time to exercise.
There was also a Cheryl's Cookies on the way from the parking garage to my Dad's room. Unfortunate for me because this is my absolute favorite local cookie company and they were having a "sale" each day where you could get 5 cookies for $5. Needless to say, I could not pass this up and I am still finding cookies in random pockets and in various bags from last week! I also managed to eat out about every evening and had at least one or two medium mochas per day. My dad did very well with his recovery at the hosptial and was sent home on Friday. CT and I "celebrated" and finished out the week with a pizza and wine festival on Saturday night. Let's just say, by Sunday I had a food/wine hangover like I haven't experienced in years, it wasn't a good day.
I was determined to start out this week better since my dad is now at home (doing much better) and I took some time off of work to spend time with him and my family. It did start out well with a nice run through Sharon Woods Park on Monday. Of course I haven't worked out since, preferring to bake and cook for the past two days. Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen and today I was too tired to go run. I also found that I packed the inappropriate clothes for an outdoor run (I don't think 3/4 length shorts and a t-shirt works for 20 degree weather) and I couldn't muster up the enthusiasm to run on an indoor track or dreadmill!
On the flip side, I have gotten to spend some quality time with the family; we sat down together for 3 different meals, something we haven't done in years. And, with all the homecooked meals and baked goods that Lora and I made, my dad is finally finding his appetite (which I am convinced will help him to continue with a great recovery)!
Here are recipes for some of the wonderful things we prepared yesterday:
- Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons
- Winter Salad
- Chicken Tortialla Soup: (from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook)
- 4 breast halves, cooked and shredded
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tsp. margarine
- 2 - 14 1/2 oz cans chicken broth
- 2 - 14 1/2 oz cans stewed tomatoes
- 1 cup salsa (mild, medium or hot - your choice)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 TBS cumin
- shredded cheese mix of your choice (optional)
- sour cream (optional)
- tortilla chips (optional)
- Add margarine and garlic to slow cooker, saute on high. Add remaining ingredients except cheese, sour cream and chips; reduce heat to low and cook 6-8 hours. Once ready to serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.
Lora and I also made Christmas Cut-Outs from my Grandmother's recipe. I made the cookies and Lora frosted them!
Sugar Cookies:
1 cup butter
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
Mix together and set aside.
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Once mixed, combine with flour mixture. Let chill in the refrigerator until stiff. Once rolled out and made into cut-outs, bake on ungreased baking pan 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Wait until cookies are cooled to frost.
My stats for the last 10 days:
Sunday: rest
Monday: 45 minute run
Tuesday: 45 minute strength/stretch
Wed: 40 minute run
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6 mile run, no timing
Sunday: rest
Monday: 4 mile run, no timing
Tuesday: rest
Wed (today): rest
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