Running, Recipes, and Real life adventures!
Man, I’ve got lots of empty notebooks. Every time I buy a new notebook I get so excited that I’ll find the inspiration to start writing and another week, month, year passes without a single sentence written down. I’m praying I can get past that block in the upcoming year. I’m hoping these daily posts will help a little as well.
Here’s my favorite pic from today.
How do you break writers block? Are you reading any good books lately?
Cheers!
Michelle
Not a lot to report today. My family and I went to St Pete to check out the Saturday market but we quickly realized the market is closed until the fall. Instead we grabbed lunch (keeping it low carb of course-see below for some of the amazing food we ate) and went to our favorite spice store for some new spices. We came home and relaxed by the pool. We finished the night by watching “I can only imagine,” and I was brought to tears. Such a moving story. How was your day?
1. I’m officially down 4 lbs. woot. Go go Keto.
2. My dog is awesome. Nuff said.
3. It’s been 15 years since I met my husband and I couldn’t love him more.
4. I love Disney, Epcot etc. We went to the food and Wine fest tonight and it was awesome.
5. Yay for holiday weekends. We took an extra day off to make it a four day weekend as we had some things to take care of this morning. Yay!
Any plans for the weekend?
Cheers!
Michelle
We’re doing great with our diet but still have a ways to go. I’m glad the weight is slowly coming off because that means we’ve got a better chance at keeping it off. Today I made a quick stir fry of shrimp, green beans, mushrooms, garlic and of course bacon. The dish literally took 15 minutes to make. I also seasoned with a Trinidad blend and red pepper flakes. I also ran four miles after work today. #winning
How was your day?
Cheers!
Michelle
Tonight’s easy Keto meal. Meatballs with sautéed spinach. Meatballs: 1 lb of ground meat, 2 diced baby portobello mushrooms, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, salt and pepper to taste. Gently Work mixture together and form in to balls. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with a slice of fresh mozzarella and return to oven for a few minutes to melt. Sautéed spinach: slice three slices of bacon and cook until done. Drain the grease on a paper towel and wipe out (but don’t rinse!) the pan. Add one pat of unsalted butter, minced clove of garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan you cooked the bacon in. Place a heaping mound of spinach in the pan as it shrinks down. Add in your bacon and season with salt and pepper. Voila!! Cheers! We have bad storms here but I managed a 25 minute cardio workout while the meatballs were cooking! Gotta get it done while you can!
How was your day? Share your workout/dinner below!!!
Cheers!
Michelle
In all my 20 years of being in the Air Force, I voted by absentee ballot. And I’ll admit, I didn’t vote in the last Presidential election for personal and probably obvious reasons.
So today for the very first time, I voted. My hubby and I went out after dinner to vote in the primary elections and I surprisingly got really choked up. How moving it was to exercise my right to vote and do so physically as a Florida resident. I felt truly honored and patriotic.
Did you get out and vote today? Have you ever skipped voting in the Presidential election? I’ll admit, I had a little guilt that year.
In other news, our run got postponed today due to crazy thunder and lightning storms. Praying for better weather tomorrow.
Also-I’m attempting a writing streak so bear with my random posts that don’t follow any sort of pattern 🙂
Cheers,
Michelle
Here is my simple recipe for:
Spicy chicken wings seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne and smoked paprika baked at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. My newest creation is broccoli cheesy jalapeño mash: made by boiling one head of broccoli, one jalapeño and two cloves of garlic. Save 1 cup or boiling liquid. Put one avocado into the food processor with the juice of half of a lemon or lime. Add the boiled veg and purée. If needed add some of the boiling liquid to thin out. Season with salt and pepper and add 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Yum!! Who’s hungry!?!
Have you tried a low carb or Keto diet before? What are some of your favorite recipes?
Cheers!
Michelle
We just finished week one of the Keto diet. My husband is completely on board and it’s helping so much to have his support. Our goal this week was to stay under 25 grams of carbs per day and we stayed on track all week. I’m happy to report he’s down almost 10 lbs, and I’m down 3 lbs!! Woot!!
You know you did a great job when your daughter can’t tell the difference between your cauliflower mash between mashed potatoes. Recipe: one head of cauliflower boiled in salt water until soft. Save a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Transfer to a food processor and add two tablespoons of cream cheese, two pats of unsalted butter, sea salt, pepper, parsley and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Add the saved liquid and purée on high until smooth!!
We served with a yummy steak that my hubby cooked in the cast iron skillet. Yum!
Have you tried low carb or Keto with success? How was your weekend?
Cheers!
Michelle
Florida sunsets are breathtaking. Check it out.
I also just started back with IF and started the Keto diet. I’m down one lbs but still have 7 to go. Wish me luck!!
Cheers!
Michelle
Today is my one year “Florida-anniversary!!!” Can you believe it’s been a year!?!? I can’t!
In that year’s time, a lot in my life has changed. Some good, some I’ll call not so good, and some indifferent. But mostly ALL good!!
I thought I’d have a little fun and just list some of my findings over this last year. These are in no real particular order, except for the first two items. They are my favorite things.
1 The beach is my all-time favorite place. I happiest lounging in my chair or floating in the ocean with a hat on my head, sunglasses on, and all my cares a million miles away, even if only briefly. Our favorite local beach is Pass-A-Grille in St. Pete, and we’ve also visited Clearwater, Siesta Key, John’s Pass, Madeira Island, Treasure Island, Hollywood and Anna Maria Island as far as beaches.
2 All things Disney. When I am there with my family it’s almost as if all of our stressors have completely blown away with each rise and fall of the coasters. The smell of popcorn in the air make me so happy and like I am a kid again. It also seems to lift all of my husband’s stressors (having done 2 deployments now) away, which is greatly needed.
3 I miss my family and friends back in IL, and I miss the fall season as it’s one of my favorite seasons other than summer. I miss the great city of Chicago, as well!!! I will always have a love affair with that city!!!
4 Alligators and insects and general wildlife in Florida are a bit terrifying. Walking through our neighborhood trails often feels like I am on the set of Jurassic park. When the sand cranes let out their call, I swear it sounds like a teradactle. CAW CAW CAW!
5 I miss my old coworkers/job, a lot. While the pay/benefits/locality is far superior here in FL, I miss the amazing team I got to work with in IL. (not that I don’t have a good team here-I just have a few challenges, LOL) I don’t, however, miss working the weekends, LOL!!!
6 We’ve started to bond with new friends, and it’s nice to have people to call on when you need them. When you live far away from your family, you need a good support system and I feel like we are starting to build a good one.
7 My favorite part of FL is St. Pete. So far that is where we are talking about settling once our youngest is graduated and settled on her own. Crazy to think that is only 6 years away.
8 I’ve finally started running again after an off/on love affair with the sport. I can’t say I love it again yet, but it’s slowing becoming habit. The Florida heat is no joke to run in, and I look forward to fall temps where humidity is drastically decreased. We are running the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November, so it’s time to really get some miles in. Thankfully I’ve been consistently walking and intermittently running so I am quite confident it’ll be a fun race.
9 Our life has really changed with the decrease in taxes, and all the fun things to do here. We spend so much more time outside than we have in years, and this makes me happy.
10 Because of #9, my writing has decreased dramatically, but I am really trying to keep at it because I have always loved writing.
Have you ever taken a leap of faith and just moved across the country to a place you don’t have family/friends? (I was lucky enough to learn one of my good friends from the Air Force just lives 45 minutes north of us, but didn’t learn that until announcing my move here!) What are your favorite and not so favorite things about where you live?
Cheers!!
Here are a few of my favorite moments and new and old friends.
Michelle
learning Java
Your teams go on the road, so why don't you?
Dr. Lori Gore-Green's blog about Women's health and Community Service.
Practical advice for a happier, fuller, and more meaningful life
"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
Product, Book Reviews, Leadership, and Psychology
@THE BLOGGING COMPANY
dreamer of dreams, teller of tales
Things I want to say about this, that, and the other thing.
From my desk to yours -
A look at life, achieving good physical and mental health and happiness
To Travel is to Live
In search of story
"The difference between a jogger and a runner is that a jogger runs to stay in shape, while a runner will run even if it kills them"
Welcome to my mind. Watch the first step, it's a doozy.
La poesía es la libertad del alma.
