Chocolate Pretzel Pieces

Salty Sweet is one of my favorite flavor combinations.  Wait, is that a flavor?  In any case, I LOVE it!  This recipe is a super easy, super fast one that both kids and adults will love.  It is also a terrific recipe to get your kids involved in.  Admittedly, I am sitting and directing the “baking” of this recipe while writing the blog post for it.  It’s awesome to have such great helpers when I am feeling super lazy and just don’t feel like getting off my big preggo butt am 20 weeks pregnant and need to get rest every opportunity I can.  Of course, I have to get up on occasion to take a picture of my adorable assistants.  My children are unwrapping the candy pieces, arranging everything on the baking sheet, etc.  This is a great opportunity to teach the kids (project manager is 10 and his worker bee is 6 years old) the important steps of cooking/baking: tying hair back, washing hands multiple times, procedures with hot items, and more. 

We made this treat to give in a Valentine goody bag for the kids’ school teachers, and also for a little dessert to bring to a friend’s house this evening.  The kids are always so excited to give their teachers presents that they get to create on their own!!!

Chocolate Pretzel Pieces (number of servings typically decided on the number of Rollo candy pieces)

• 1 bag of Rollo candy pieces (our batch had 56)
• 1 small bag pretzels, either the small twists or snaps (the square ones…I think these work best)
• 1 bag of m&ms

Place the pretzels in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Unwrap the Rollo pieces and place one directly in the middle of each pretzel.  Place in preheated oven and bake 1 – 2 minutes, just long enough to melt chocolate pieces.  Remove from oven and place one m&m on the top middle of each melted Rollo.  Push the m&m down enough to flatten/squish the Rollo.  Refrigerate immediately to set.  Enjoy!

This recipe can be created with any of your favorite chocolate pieces (anything that melts) and candy pieces for the top.  I have made this with Hershey Kisses to melt and pecans on top, etc…  You decide!!!

Happy Early Valentine’s Day!

Tags: Candy, chocolate, Marissa, pretzel

How to make Sticky Popcorn

Hopefully I am not divulging any super secret family recipe today.  I feel like this is one of those snacks that I grew up on.  When I was little it was my job to shake the popcorn up in the brown paper bag.  As I grew older, it was harder for my mother to keep me away from the massive amounts of popcorn the recipe produces.  As an adult (pregnant no less) I ate this entire batch by myself in four days.  I know, that is pretty gross, but it was also sooooooooo good.  It is probably a good thing I didn’t have a glucose test any time around this week!!!

I also use in this recipe, one of my favorite small kitchen “appliances” – our air popcorn popper.  Truly, I think every household should have one.  It only cost $20 to purchase, and popcorn seeds in bulk are pretty darn cheap.  1/2 a cup of seeds also pops close to triple the amount of popcorn popped in a microwave bag – still in 2 minutes.  Not to mention – the health benefits!  Do you know popcorn is actually GOOD for you?!  It is highly recommended as a healthy carb, if it is all natural with no extra junk.  The kids like to sprinkle garlic powder on theirs, or parmesan.  We stay away from the butter because real, or fake, it just doesn’t taste right.

Of course, this recipe is not healthy for you in any way, shape, or form…

Sticky Popcorn:

• 2 cups of sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 stick margarine (I use butter)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Fill brown paper bag 1/2 full with popped popcorn.  Boil all ingredients except popcorn in pan until it starts to scorch, stirring constantly (if smalls chunks of brown start appearing remove from heat immediately – you boiled it too long…don’t worry, it will still taste fine).   Pour syrup on top of corn in bag.  Close up bag and shake.  Pour out of bag into bowl.

Tags: Marissa, popcorn, sweets, treats

Veggie Stir Fry

We just finished an interesting meal in my house.  It came from a Cooking Light Magazine.  The whole meal was less than 370 calories (according to the magazine).  There were vegetables.  Bean Sprouts.  There was TOFU.  Everyone ate it (9 year old son, 6 year old daughter, two servings for the Hubby).  Everyone ate it and LIKED it.  I LOVED it.

All of the above are pretty fantastical things here.  TOFU???  That was the first time I dared asked my children to eat a meal with ingredients such as those above including carrots, shallots, cucumber, and more.  I have never touched TOFU before, let alone cooked or tasted it.  The same was true with bean sprouts.  Bean Sprouts?  Eeew!  Right?  Well, that’s what I used to think.

Hopefully I have made it clear that I am working to ensure a healthy lifestyle for my family.  The only way my kids are going to learn is if I teach them, right?  They say the best way to lead is by example.  We have made many changes to the way we eat and live in the past few months.  I am looking up recipes that are healthy and natural.  I am purchasing almost exclusively whole foods – or foods that have not been processed.  We are walking up and down the “normal” aisles of the grocery store a lot less and spending much more time in the produce sections as well as the organic sections.  We make weekly trips to the farmer’s market to get our week’s veggies.  Buy local!!!

This recipe represents several of our changes.  Not every attempt has been a hit, but this one definitely was!

The Pros of this recipe:

• of course, first, that everyone liked it
• low in calories
• high in taste
• I only had to buy two of the ingredients
• I was able to use the basil and chives from my garden

The Cons of this recipe:

• a LOT of dishes to measure and cut the ingredients and a big mess to clean up
• though I only had to purchase two things – there were a LOT of ingredients, several of which you may not have in YOUR cupboard
• the magazine said 35 minutes and it certainly took me longer to prepare and cook this dish

You definitely want to get the ingredients ready in advance as you can see in my picture below.  Stir-frying is quick moving cooking and things will certainly go awry if you are hunting down the bottle of lime juice

Changes I made (many of which were to not have to purchase more than was necessary):

• I could not, for the life of me, find tempeh and still don’t know exactly what it is; however, in researching online, I learned that it is similar to TOFU, so I figured that would substitute just fine (I think it did)
• I’m not sure if there is a difference between an English cucumber and the “regular” kind, so I just used a cucumber
• I didn’t use banh pho rice sticks; I used the oriental noodles I had in my pantry
• I didn’t use mint or cilantro because I didn’t have the fresh herbs (I am sure this would make it a very different tasting meal) and I didn’t use any lime wedges

My favorite quote of the night:

“Mommy, this chicken tastes weird.”  I never did tell them it was TOFU.  I was not a huge fan of it myself, but it wasn’t terrible.  The taste was fine, it was the consistency.  Next time, I will still probably go with TOFU (so that should tell you that it was perfectly ok), but I will crumble it up instead of cutting it into cubes.

The most important thing that I am learning as I do more cooking around the house is that it is all about whatever you want.  I still need recipes to guide my way though.  I would NEVER think of something like this on my own.  I have really enjoyed cooking out of Cooking Light.  They do a great job of making a low fat or healthy meal taste fantastic.  I have only that the subscription a few months and I have already cooked several recipes, including their low calorie banana pudding.  Hubby LOVED that one too!!!

Thanks for dinner Mom!  Little K was the first one done!  This is definitely a keeper and needs to go in the file with all the other usual suspects around our house.

Oh, I suppose you want the recipe, hmm??

Rice Noodle Salad

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked wide rice sticks (banh pho) any old oriental style noodles will work
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sesame oil, divided
• 1/2 cup organic vegetable broth
• 6 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce you can find this in most grocery stores in the ethnic food section
• 8 ounces tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch cubes I used firm TOFU, which I  recommend crumbling while you cook if you are a consistency person
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced English cucumber
• 5 thinly sliced green onions
• 1 1/2 cups matchstick-cut carrots
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves I omitted
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro I omitted
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
• 12 lime wedges  I omitted, not to mention, surely this must be a typo and they only meant 2 wedges as it says in the directions below

Preparation

• 1. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and toss with 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
• 2. Combine broth and the next 4 ingredients (through chili sauce), stirring with a whisk.
• 3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; swirl to coat. Add tempeh, and stir-fry 3 minutes or until lightly browned. whoa!  huge splatter of oil, much more than usual when I stir-fry!  be careful and have a shield ready Add garlic and shallots; stir-fry 1 minute or until shallots begin to soften. Add eggs; stir-fry for 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled, stirring constantly. Add soy sauce mixture, and bring to a boil. Add noodles and bean sprouts; toss gently to coat. Cook 1 minute or until sauce is thickened.
• 4. Remove from heat, and top with cucumber and the next 5 ingredients (through fresh cilantro). Sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon dry-roasted peanuts and the juice from 2 lime wedges.

I highly recommend it and can’t wait to make it again myself!

Tags: dinner, fresh, healthy, Marissa, trying new things

Three Things I Did Today to Save $MONEY$

I don’t know about the rest of you, but we have spent A LOT of time thinking of ways to save money around our house this past year.  For instance, a couple weeks ago I spent $140 SAVED over $300 at Old Navy!  When I texted my husband about this, his first question, of course, was how much I spent, but that was besides the point.

Okay, bad example.  Though, I would like to mention that the Old Navy funds went towards budgeted summer clothes for myself and two children, as well as a few birthday presents.  I had been in Old Navy several times and didn’t make any purchases until the prices dropped to 75% off.  That day, if I picked up anything on accident that wasn’t on sale, I was totally that annoying woman that decided not to get the item after it rung up full price.  Might have bothered the person in line behind me, but I also didn’t pay $32.50 for a shirt.  The highest priced item on my bill was a pair of khaki pants for my son, which he desperately needed for several nice occasions.  They were on sale, but not 75%.  They were still less than $10.

In all seriousness, we are trying to cut the budget in everyway we can.  Today I had the opportunity to save money by doing three small things:

• Raised the thermostat in our house four degrees
  • it has been over 100 degrees here in Virginia for a while now.  The heat is impossible to bear outside.  But if it is over 100 degrees outside, it certainly doesn’t need to be 73 inside!  The AC has been running CONSTANTLY and still not getting the house as cool as we have it programmed to.  We bumped the AC up to 77 degrees, but I may put it up even more.  We’ll see how we feel at 77 for a while first
• Replaced the filters in the vents for our AC
  • while dealing with the overworked AC, I checked the filters and realized they haven’t been changed in over 8 months.  WOOPS!  We usually buy 3 month filters, but I have decided to go back to the one month version.  I just never remember to change them on the 3 month schedule.  Even if I put it on the calendar
• Unplugged the fridge in the garage
  • We have two very nice refrigerators: one inside, one out in the garage.  However, we have changed our grocery buying habits and aren’t keeping that high volume of food anymore.  We cleaned out both fridges and had MORE than enough room to consolidate everything to the one inside.  I am not sure how much this will save us, but certainly at least a little money.  I am sure it wasn’t cheap keeping a fridge running in a garage that is over 100 degrees!

So I technically didn’t save any money today.  In fact, I had to spend money on the new vent filters.  These may have been small steps, but the more small steps we complete, the more giant leaps we’ll be able to take in the future.  We have some large spending goals, both short and long term that we are trying to reach.  We have always done a great job budgeting and are able to do most the things we desire in our daily lives.  It still hasn’t felt like enough.

Are you looking for inspiration to change your lifestyle, spending habits and more?  Mine came from one main place: my husband and I both listened to the Dave Ramsey: Financial Peace University* cds and it has completely changed the way we are living and running our finances.  I have ALWAYS considered myself to be financially savvy (and used to even teach a financial math class).  I have to admit I learned A LOT listening to this course.  Ramsey is also able to deliver his techniques in a way that will keep your attention, AND make you laugh. 

As a family we have also been trying to achieve a goal of a minimal lifestyle, placing more importance on our actions and relationships than the things we have.  My sister recently pulled my attention to a blog, The Minimalist Mom, that is aimed at doing exactly that!  I have barely skimmed the surface and I am already hooked.  Her site has also directed me to others that I can’t wait to read.  You can’t just read them and say “what great ideas these are,” you have to ACT on them too!  Which I am going to go do right now as I leave you to clean out my craft room.  Dun, Dun, DUHHHHHHHHN!

*These are my own opinions and in no way a paid advertisement

Tags: Marissa, money, save

Music Room Guitar Decoration/Picture Holder

YAY!  The Weekend Warrior is back!  That’s right!  I finished another project!  Not just another project, a WHOLE ROOM!!!

We moved to this house almost TWO YEARS ago and have had the ugliest formal living room ever.  I don’t know what is wrong with the people who lived here before us, but our walls were two colors – a dirty olive green and a burnt sienna brown.  It was so dark and dismal and BLEH!

Yet, for some reason, it is the last room downstairs that we got to (two years later!).  I guess it just took me going back to work to get motivated to finish it.  Why the heck is that?  The less time I have, the more things I am trying to get done!

As you can see, we got rid of the ugly colors and painted the room a nice blue-ish grey. {Aaaahhh…so soothing}  In designing this room I wanted a way to display pictures of family and friends.  However, I am really not a “photo wall” type of person.  I have tried it over and over – all the frames matching, not matching, lined up, not lined up, this way that way, every way.  I just am not a fan of people photos in picture frames.  So I started trying to think of ways to display our pictures, and this is what I came up with!

If you don’t get it at first glance, it is supposed to look like the neck of a guitar with all of the frets and strings (it is also over 6 feet long).  It’s Art meets Function!

Our formal living room has always been our music room.  This was not a room repurpose – just redecorate.  Other than this artwork the rest of the room is all function: it has two electric and two acoustic guitars, a ukulele, small bongo , Cajon (a wooden box that you sit on that sounds different every side you hit it on), electric piano, and a full set of drums.

No, I do not play a single one of them.  My husband plays all of them, my nine year old son plays the drums, and my five year old daughter plays the piano.  I can’t even keep a beat on a triangle!  And no, I cannot sing either.  Well, that’s not true, I am a ROCKSTAR in my car – alone.

So, anyway, this was my grand idea to bring some design and purpose to this huge empty wall that we had.  It looks EXACTLY the way I had envisioned it.  EXACTLY.  I was SO thrilled with the way this turned out and I was SHOCKED at how quick and cheap it was to do.

Music Room Guitar Neck Wall Photo Holder Thing-y:

Materials:

• 1×2” wooden board cut into TWO of each of the following lengths: 14”, 13”, 12”
• 8 – 2” silver nails
• 4 – 2” screws
• 8 – 2/4” screws
• 12 black screw covers (the “rare items” section by the screws at you local hardware store)
• 12 white thumbtacks
• 3 packs of 26 gauge craft wire, each five yards long (or whatever combination you need to get 6 strings of wire each over six feet long)
• package of miniature clothespins
• guitar picks (as many as you want)
• can white (or desired color) spray paint
• glue gun
• screw driver
• wire cutter

Directions:

1. Sand and spray paint the wooden boards with the white spray paint.  Do NOT skip the sanding!  It has taken me years to learn how important this step is!
2. Using a wire cutter, cut 6 sections of wire that are about six and a half feet long.  Set aside.
3. Using a glue gun, hot glue a clip on the back of each guitar pick.  Be careful!  Make sure your picks are sturdy enough to not melt under the heat of the gun, and make sure you don’t glue the clips closed.

On a side note, my husband and I debated back and forth as to which picks to use.  He had quite the collection, varying from the first pick he EVER used to play guitar (below in purple) to picks he caught at concerts, got from music shops, etc.  He could tell me where they each came from.  Or, we also had the general, packaged picks purchased from any store.  Which to use?  Well, considering they were all stored away in a box, we went with using the “important” ones.  We have a rule we live by in our house when it comes to keeping stuff.  If it’s important enough to us, we put it where we can see it all the time.  This is one reason we keep such little “crap” in our house.  If it isn’t important enough to display, it isn’t important enough to keep.  Thanks babe!

1. On one of the long and one of the short painted wooden strips, put a pencil mark evenly spaced out where you will drill your screws in.
   1. On the inside four pencil marks, use four of the short screws and place the screw cover down first.  Then turn the screw until it is all but 1/4” in (the screw cap will be hanging kind of loose at this point).
   2. On the outside two pencil marks, do the same but with two of the long screws (you are using the long ones on the outside because these are the ones you will actually be using to screw the wooden piece into the wall)
2. Place the 14” wooden block with the screws in it on the wall where desired.  We put ours in the lower left of the wall and angled it so the “neck” would be slanting upwards to the right
3. After that piece is screwed in, measure the space for the next several wooden blocks.  We used a level and a ruler to do this (all have exactly 12” between each block).  The two 14” blocks should be at the bottom, then the two 13” ones, then the 2 12” ones.  I don’t think perfection matters.  I really don’t even think the blocks needed to be cut different sizes, because it’s such an optical illusion on the wall, you can’t even tell in my opinion.  We used two of each of the 2 inch nails to attach the middle four pieces to the wall.
4. After all six pieces of wood are attached to the wall, begin attaching the wires to the pre-placed screws.  I found it easiest to start with the wires at the top piece.  I then stretched each wire down to the wooden bar at the bottom.  There is no need for the wires to be attached to the bars in between.  These are just for show to look like the frets of the guitar.
5. As you can see above, I tightly (but don’t pull so hard you pull the board off the wall) pulled the wire and wrapped it around the screws (that we did not screw in all the way earlier) underneath the screw cover.  Using wire cutters, clip off the excess wire.  Tighten the screws as far as they will go so the caps no longer move and the wires are secured into place.
6. Close the screw caps over the tightened screws.  For an extra touch to make it more realistic, as well as to add more depth the piece, I stuck a white thumbtack in the middle of each black cap.
7. Clip on the guitar pick clips you made earlier and use them to hang whatever you desire.  Photos, art work, music tablature, whatever!

And there it is!  I am SO PROUD of my little creation.  I’m sorry this isn’t a great tutorial at all, but some pieces of artwork are just difficult to recreate.  Or I just do a terrible job explaining it!  Hopefully you get the idea.

Tags: Art, Marissa, music room, picture holder

Three Ingredient Brownies

Are you looking for a delicious dessert to make but don’t have many ingredients or don’t feel like going to all the effort?  This was exactly the case for me last night.  We had an improptu gathering of friends at our house and I wanted something sweet to share (not to mention my husband hates a night with no dessert!).  The first recipe to pop into my head was my mom’s Three Ingredient Brownies which happens to be published in the Country Quick and Easy Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch (who’s blog we were also recently featured in). 

I know I have mentioned before that my daughter, K, loves to work in the kitchen with me.  So of course, this was also a perfect recipe for her to be able to do ALL the work.  There are only three ingredients and all you do is mix them in a bowl, spread into a pan, and bake!  They are a rich, wonderful, different style of homemade brownie and it had been FAR too long since I made them.  Thanks for dessert mom!

sorry about the picture quality, I took it with my phone!

The recipe can be found on page 174 of the Country Quick and Easy Cookbook or here:

Three Ingredient Brownies, by Debbie Douma

• 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 14.5 ounce can sweetened condensed milk (I was so excited when K, who is only in Kindergarten, read the word “sweetened” all by herself out of the recipe book…such a good sound-er-out-er!)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread into a greased 9×9 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes (mine took 30 exactly).  Allow to cool completely before cutting.  Serves 12.  Enjoy!

Tags: Baking, brownies, Marissa

Morning Glory Muffins

Good for me, good for you!  Today’s post is another healthy living post, which I am trying so desperately hard to do!  I found this recipe for Morning Glory Muffins on my favorite, of course, allrecipes.com.  It is fantastic! 

And why is it good for me and good for you?  Well, it is full of:

• carrots, great for vision, and lowering blood cholesterol
• wheat flour, packed with calcium, iron, and fiber
• cinnamon, there are too many reasons why this may be good for you to list, so go check this link out yourself :)
• apple and apple butter, one a day keeps the doctor away, right??  check this out
• cranberries (I used these instead of raisins), full of antioxidants and all these other reasons
• eggs, great source of protein and vitamins
• about 150 calories per muffin of all that goodness (I yielded several more than the recipe called for and made a few alterations)

Not to mention, it tastes wonderful!  My alterations: I used craisins instead of raisins because we just prefer them around this house and I only added one TSP of vanilla instead of a TBSP, by accident really, but it didn’t hurt the flavor at all.  I would still put a full tsp in next time.  Also, I did not do the nut/wheat germ topping because I was too lazy and they looked just fine the way they were!

This really reminds me of a recipe I think my mother made while I was growing up and I am sure I HATED them back then.  I don’t remember eating them, I just remember seeing them, and probably wishing they were brownies. :)  Alas, a lot has changed since then and I think this is an excellent breakfast or snack muffin.  Great on the side at dinner too!

Tags: Baking, healthy, Marissa, muffins

Shamrock Marathon Finisher

I know this post is not about me being creative, or crafty, but it is about accomplishing something that I have worked very hard on the past six months: Completing the Shamrock Marathon.  Combine this with the fact that this blog is called ThreadedTogether and it is an opportunity for me to share my story with the rest of my family.  So, to my family for their support, I say thank you, and in case any of you out there are trying to set a big goal for yourself…if you set your mind to it, you WILL do it!

I DID IT!!!

That’s right!  26.2 miles!  My first marathon!  The Shamrock Marathon 2011 to be exact.  Today, two days later, I am still feeling this overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  I. Really. Did. It.  I am also feeling an overwhelming sense of pain!!!

Yep, I cannot tell a lie.  I hurt.  Not all over, but I hurt.  My calves are completely useless.  I have never been so incapacitated from a run.  Clearly it is my lack of training the last two months because my legs never felt like spaghetti noodles after my 20 mile runs back in January.  I literally cannot walk up and down my stairs in my house right now, and even walking down small ramps is difficult.  No joke!

However, I do get to sport my cool pink 26.2 magnet on the back of my car now:

“Keep us warm mom!!!”  BRRRRRRRRRR!  15 minutes before the start I even ran back to our hotel and changed into capris and a long sleeve shirt (and I usually dress in as little as I can get away with the weather…I was wearing shorts and a tank top).

While lining up in the waves I decided to stick with the 4:00:00 (four hour) pacing group.  It was amibitious, to say the least, but I knew (even in the last few weeks) I could still easily run at least 9 miles at a 9:00 pace.  So I chose to start strong and see where it took me.  The guy and gal leading the pace group were awesome!  They really did a fantastic job and even kept the spirits of the group up.  I was enjoying the comradery and the company of all these people who I felt I had a lot in common with, even though we had never met.  Everyone had a story about their training, their injuries, there goals for this run (mostly talked about before the start of the race of course).  It reminded me that I was not the only person who had been planning for this event for the last six months!

Up hill and downhill the pacers trudged on and I did an okay job keeping up.  We BATTLED the headwind that we spent the first several miles running against, and still our pace was steady.  If it were just me, I would have let that wind push me backwards much earlier!!!  I chatted with a few people on occassion along the way and kept telling myself this was just going to be a nice, easy, LONG jog.

My body thought the jog should have ended at 13 miles.  We had run down the street, over a bridge (twice) and through a military barracks facility where tons of servicemen and women were routing us on, “Go four hours!!!” (the pacers have signs on their jerseys and they also run the whole marathon holding a flag with the time on it…that would bother the crap out of me to have to do!!!).

My family was waiting for me at the halfway point, or somewhere right before.  Armed with video camera in hand, my husband did an amazing job routing me on.  My kids ran down the road with me for a block screaming “Go Mommy Go!!!!”  It was truly heart warming and inspiring.  Talk about motivation!

 Again, though, my heart was stronger than my legs.  Something happened after that halfway point and my willpower lost to my lack of leg power.  I finally admitted to myself I would not be able to hold this pace for another 13.1 miles and I slowed down.  I thought I would only have to slow down a little, but that four hour pacing group left me in their dust in a blink of an eye!  As I watched the pack disappear down the street I needed to have a new mantra.  Instead of chanting “you can run a 9 minute pace in your sleep,” I had to start convincing myself I could KEEP RUNNING, regardless of what pace.  Oh my gosh that was one of the hardest things.  I tried reminding myself over and over that I could do this.  I had run 20 miles two times and had run 18, 17, 16, etc just as many or more!  But that was SO long ago.  Two months in running time is an ETERNITY, I now know.

After the halfway point I walked twice for no reason other than I couldn’t run any more.  I think that totalled less than half a mile.  I even took my cell phone out to text my husband.  Last time he saw me I was holding strong with the four hour group!  Now here I was walking at mile 15.5.  I wanted him to know not to be waiting for me at the finish line for too long!!!  Poor guy did such a great job keeping the kids busy all morning.  That was actually a big reason I was able to keep going!  I was thinking about my awesome husband keeping our kids occupied and how I had to get to the finish line to save him from their whining!!!

After this point I finally started walking whenever I stopped for water and had to stop to go to the bathroom three times.  At the water stops, I needed every drop I could get.  No more running and trying to get whatever I could in my mouth really quick!  I also ate a Carb BOMB gel pack at each station they were handing those out at (there were three stations but I didn’t finish any of the gels).  I am sorry, but I HATE those things!!!  Not just Carb BOMB, all of the gel packs.  They are disgusting.  But boy, let me tell you, at mile 23 when you are digging down for all you have left to give and it is all you can do to run a 11:30 pace, you will eat ANYTHING for energy!!!

As I was running the last 6 miles (I didn’t walk again after mile 20) I noticed a lot of my “friends” from my four hour pace group.  I was obviously not the only one to fall off the wagon.  I don’t know if that really made me feel any better at the time, but it definitely reminded me that I could keep going.  I hadn’t lost the race.  Nor was I going to, because the only way that would happen is if I didn’t finish.

Those last six miles are somewhat of a blur now.  I think my mind and muscles had shut down and my nerves were just telling my legs to keep moving…very slowly, but still moving.  I don’t think I rose above an 11:00 pace by this time.  But oh was it a sweet symphany that rang in my ears when I saw that sign:

“mile 25″

 OMG. FINALLY!  Almost there!

That was the longest mile of my life.  We went around a turn and were running on the boardwalk for about half a mile I think and I just remember how amazing it was to see the crowd of people grow thicker and thicker the closer I made it to the finish line: a big black blowup finish line at the end of the tunnel.  I trudged forward and crossed through it, my net time 4:29:13.

My family was there to greet me as were two of my friends who had conquered the half marathon earlier that morning.  I had a permagrin on my face for the rest of the afternoon.  After receiving all of my SWAG and stretching for a while, we entered the party tent and I was able to eat some stew.  This was the first race that I have not partaken in my two free beers at the finish line party.  I know, right???  I just couldn’t do it.  I didn’t have it in me to drink a beer after a 26 mile run. 

At this point my calves were already starting to seiz up and I knew I would have a long road of recovery ahead of me.  We’ll see how long that takes exactly.  But you know what?  I did it!!!  My calves will heal and I will ALWAYS be able to tell the story about how I ran 26.2 miles.  Now let the preparation begin for my second marathon…the Marine Corp Marathon in D.C.  I have a while to train for that one.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed for no injuries this time, huh???

Tags: goals, Marissa, running

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Or in English…”Let the good times roll!”

It is times like these that I really miss Pensacola (Florida).  Today is Fat Tuesday.  If you live anywhere other than Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, or Mississippi, this might mean a few beads and some masks.  However, if you are a true southerner, Mardi Gras season is a lifestyle.  The New Orleans’ influence spread throughout the south and it is not unusual for people to take a day or week off of work to celebrate.  Beads, beer, bushwhackers, beignets, and more are found in abundance at parties, on the streets, at masquerade balls, in parades, schools, and workplaces.  Mardi Gras is a time for everyone to celebrate life and happiness and for many, the preparation for Lent.  Fat Tuesday is a day of serious indulgence before Ash Wednesday.

You cannot throw a Mardi Gras party without the ultimate Fat Tuesday centerpiece…the King Cake.  This cake is a Danish creation rolled up jelly roll style and filled with cinnamon, raisins, and more.

The tradition is that each person takes a piece of cake hoping to find the plastic baby inside (I think my cake was cut perfectly…the baby reaching out for someone to pull it from the cake!).  Whomever finds the plastic baby in their piece is crowned King or Queen for the day.  They are also supposedly obligated to host the Mardi Gras party the next year and supply the King Cake.

You can order your cake from an authentic bakery in New Orleans or elsewhere in the south.  They are shipped all over the nation around Mardi Gras.  OR you can make your own!  It really is not difficult, though it does involve yeast and rising time.  I found an excellent recipe here at allrecipes.com.

Instead of doing all the proofing, rising, and kneading on my own, I stuck the ingredients in my bread machine.  For most machines you start with the liquids first (I did use warm milk and softened the butter in the microwave).  Then you put all the dry ingredients in and make a well in the top of the mound of flour.  This is where you put the yeast (no proofing and letting it bubble in with the sugar, etc.).  When using a machine you do not want to let the yeast and liquids mix (I also keep it away from the salt) until the heat is spreading through the dough.

You see though, I only have a 1.5 pound bread machine.  The most dry ingredients (I think all combined) you are supposed to put in the machine is 4 cups.  The recipe calls for 5.5 cups of just flour.  Guess what happens when you don’t follow directions?

Oops!  Hee hee, silly me!  Really though, I would probably do it the same way again, even though my dough tried to escape from the machine!  It was still a time saver and still rose perfectly fine.

After the first rising you roll the dough out into a rectangle and sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the rectangle.  Then roll it up jellyroll style beginning on a long side, pinching the seam firmly together.

Repeat the process with the second half of dough and place on a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet, forming a ring.  Again, press the two ends together on each side of the ring, firmly sealing the ring.  Here is the ring after cutting slits in it, and again after the second rising.

HOW DO I LET MY BREAD RAISE???  Thank you for asking!  I preheat my oven to 175 degrees and then turn it off!  Crack the oven door open with a wooden spoon and after it has had about 5 minutes to air out, put the dough in the oven.  This should provide the perfect temperature for the next hour or so to allow your bread to rise.

After it has fully risen, bake it in the preheated oven, cut a small hole in the bottom and stick the baby inside and drizzle the topping over it.  I let my cake rise for a LONG time.  This caused two problems.  One, I should have baked it for about 5 minutes less (possibly even shorter).  The outside was SO tough.  But the inside was still great and it tasted wonderful.  Two, I had to quadruple, yes, quadruple the icing recipe so I would have enough to cover the cake.

Make sure everyone knows there is a baby in the cake before they start eating!  These days with choking precautions, etc, a lot of people will simply put the babies on top as decorations.

Decorate it with some beads and Mardi Gras colorfulness and you are ready to party with the best of them!  So here is my ode to Pensacola Mardi Gras…I’m with you even if only in spirit.

Tags: King Cake, mardi gras, Marissa

Jambalaya, Zatarains’ Style

In honor of Mardi Gras, we had a New Orleans’ style jambalaya for dinner tonight.  It really turned out great and was worthy of posting before Fat Tuesday!  We will be celebrating tomorrow evening at a pancake dinner, so we had to cook our own southern recipe a day in advance.  The recipe, found here at allrecipes.com, is basically Zatarains’ jambalaya rice made with some shrimp, sausage, peppers, diced tomatoes, and onion. 

We did not follow the recipe exactly, though it is a good guide.  The biggest change was the amount of water called for it.  It was not enough.  Luckily, my husband caught that in advance and put the right amount in.  You just need to add  whatever amount the Zatarains’ box called for in their directions.

If you check out their webpage right now, they even have a cute count down timer to Mardi Gras.  Just a fun little extra something :). 

So enjoy your own reason to celebrate tonight and have a nice dinner with the family!

While looking at another blog I came across this military blog hop.  I am very proud of my Navy Pilot Husband and love sharing with other military spouses.  The button, however, was not working, so I will simply include the link to it below…

http://marineparents-blog.com/2011/03/military-monday-bloghop-week-sixteen/

Tags: Jambalaya, mardi gras, Marissa