June 15, 2012

So many walnuts!

I had planned on running 10 miles today, but changed that to tomorrow morning instead. I saw Jessica at one of the boys' baseball games, and she said she and Stephanie were going to run 4.5 on Saturday morning. I said I would run with them, and then finish out the 10 if she wanted to join me. So that is the plan for the morning--run 4.5 with Stephanie, then Jessica and I will run 5.5 more.

I feel like I'm hardly running at all anymore! I know it's only because I'm used to running an insane number of miles from marathon training, and now 16 miles a week seems like nothing. I did two 3-mile runs this week, and I'll finish it off with 10. But "official" marathon training for my fall marathon starts on Monday! I'm actually looking forward to having a schedule again, so I have some sort of direction.

I've been doing other exercise, though. I do The Swing workout twice a week, and I really like it. I can watch TV while I do it, and I don't have to focus too much. And I definitely feel like I'm getting a good workout after it's over.

I've also been doing that "couch potato workout" that Chris Powell mentioned just before a commercial break. He said that while watching TV, during the commercial break, do 15 sit-ups, 15 push-ups, and 15 squats. At first, I just did it spontaneously immediately after he suggested it. But each day after that, I've been doing it once a day while I watch TV at night.

My diet has been pretty decent lately. I had gotten out of the habit of cooking dinner every night, and instead we were just eating cereal and random stuff like that. And of course I never eat just ONE bowl of cereal! So for the past week or so, I've been cooking again, and I feel good about that.

My weight is still hanging out at 142. I was holding very steady in the mid-130's before I started marathon training. During training, I ate a ton of crap--remember all the trips to Whole Foods for dessert? ;)  And now it seems like I'm battling to get back down to where I was before training. I'm determined not to gain weight during my fall marathon training; but since I'm going at it alone, it shouldn't be too bad. When Jessica and I trained together, it was much more fun to go get dessert than it would be to go alone!



Today Jerry was off work, and we were thinking of going to Sam's Club, I wanted to get some walnuts and some granola bars. Our membership needs to be renewed, and I was debating whether I wanted to renew it--it's $40 a year. I realized I could just buy the walnuts and granola bars from GFS instead, which was much closer to home and you don't need a membership.

The walnuts were super expensive--$20. But I knew if I bought a small bag at the grocery store, it would be $5-7, so I decided to get them. We bought some other stuff as well, and then when I got home, I discovered that I already had a HUGE bag of walnuts in the fridge--doh! I forgot that I put them in there so that they would keep longer, and I just haven't used them lately, so I forgot.

So now I have two ginormous bags of walnuts. I'm going to have to come up with some creative ways to use them! Any ideas?



My little brother (well, I say "little" but he's 28, about 6 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than me) is coming over for dinner tomorrow, and I'm really excited! I don't see him very often, even though we live 20 minutes from each other. He's bringing a girl that he is dating, so I'll get to meet her. We're going to cook out on the grill.

I bought steaks for everyone, but I'm not huge fan of eating meat by itself like that, so I got a huge portobello mushroom cap to marinate and grill for me instead of steak. I've never tried that before, but the recipe sounds good. I also got corn on the cob and the stuff to make cheesy potatoes.

I know I'm going to have a few beers, so I ended up buying some Bud Select 55. I have no idea why I buy that stuff! My older brother says it's "beer for people who like to pee a lot and not get a buzz"... hahaha, so true. I just didn't want to drink a ton of calories.

Well, today is a date night for Jerry and I, and we still have to figure out what we're going to do. The kids are staying the night at my parents' house. I'm not sure if we'll actually go out or just stay home and do something, but I want to at least take advantage of it!



19 comments:

  1. I LOVE grilled portabella mushrooms! Yum!
    I am so jealous you get a date night without kiddos!
    I dont have any ideas for the walnuts, but I have heard they should freeze well for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 15, 2012

    Why not return the unopened bag to the store???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heather HJune 16, 2012

      That's what I'd do too...return them.

      Delete
  3. I've been thinking about doing Chris Powell's Couch Potato workout. But I usually watch shows on my DVR so I can forward through the commercials!

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  4. Banana walnut loaf!!!
    I make home-made muesli bars too, with rolled oats, nuts, honey, golden syrup, coconut etc, I use lots of nuts making those.

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  5. I agree, paying $40 a year to buy walnuts is nuts. *giggle*

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  6. Grilled mushroom sandwiches are the best! I marinate mine in some Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and thyme- toast a hamburger bun and spread pesto on it, topped with provolone and tomatoes. The only walnut idea I have is to toast them with some seasoning-make a sweet batch and a spicy batch, and portion them into individual seving baggies or a mason jar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooooh, that sounds fantastic!! I love pesto. I've never done seasoned nuts before, but maybe I will give that a try. Yum!

      Delete
    2. And if you substitute walnuts for pine nuts and make your own pesto, you can even skip the parmesan cheese! Walnuts are creamier in a pesto and give a rich taste.

      Delete
  7. What size kettleball do you use?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's 15 pounds, which is totally on the wimpy side for a kettlebell. I may end up getting one that's more like 25 pounds soon.

      Delete
  8. I'm the same way- I like to have a plan and schedule my runs a week ahead of time. Otherwise I'll be at work and think, "man, I wish I was home now. I'd TOTALLY run 10 or 11 miles. Then I get home and the number dwindles down. haha. I LOVE walnuts in chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip cookies!! With milk and white chips! If you make some and you're not sure you did it right, send me so and I'll let you know ;D

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  9. Walnuts! Here is a great way to use walnuts...preheat oven to 350 - on a foil lined pan, put your walnuts, sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with honey. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly then put in a brown paper bag. Great snack and my kids love em! They are also surprisingly good in oatmeal, ice cream, yogurt. A slight variation is adding peeled apples baked with the walnuts, cinn and honey. I love it mixed with greek yogurt.
    Walnuts are good sauteed with chicken too! You just have to use the right kind of sauce, preferably a fruit sauce.

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  10. https://www.google.com/offers/home?utm_source=google-offers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-offer&ss=0#!details/2ea68a5211483270/PBMSANDIIQ6WAMGJ

    When I saw this google deal for lapita it made me think of you. My fiance and I went to the Titanic Exhibit after you and Jerry went and really enjoyed it! For (cheap) date night we love the Wyoming Drive-In Theatre. Or, on fancy nights we like to go to the Whitney for a glass of wine and dessert in the ghost bar. Its only about $25 and you don't HAVE to dress up as much (unless you want to!) call first and make sure there isn't a wedding though, we learned the hard way. They often have live and fancy music.

    ReplyDelete
  11. For years I bought a SAMs membership just to buy some nice photo paper they sell before deciding it wasn't worth it. Then yesterday son & I were shopping at Walmart, they're building the town's 2nd SAMs club next door. It doesn't open until 8/29but they're selling memberships now that you can use until then at the other SAMs and the membership is good until 8/29/13--so 14 months for the price of 12, plus we got a $10 gift card--so we split the cost of a membership. Now I've got to drive across town to the old SAMs and get my photo paper!

    Dr. Oz (as I'm sure you know), swears by walnuts and eats them every day.

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  12. I used to work at Sam's so I had a free membership, but I also could shop 5 days a week! Dangerous! I haven't been there in years. I know I'd make way too many impulse buys and the savings on ordinary things would quickly be eradicated!

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  13. Try this recipe for walnuts-you won't use a TON, but it's delicious and you'll use some.
    http://www.feedingmytemple.com/2012/06/ravioli-with-browned-butter-balsamic.html

    -Amber (xmydearambellina.blogspot.com)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I make a fantastic raw corn chowder that calls for a big helping of walnuts. Its really yummy, super good for you and easy to blend up at any time. Here is a link to my fave raw soup recipes - the Sweet Corn Chowder is the second one listed.

    http://smaller-sarah.blogspot.com/2011/09/soups.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. Potica! It's a Polish Christmas dessert -- you make a sweet dough, roll it very thin, cover it with a honey-walnut paste, and then roll it up and bake. SO DELICOUS. My family makes it every Christmas (not more often, though, because it's a ton of work).

    this is what it should look like: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3724879092_b6af9c132b.jpg

    ReplyDelete

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