The gas station vampire who wouldn't shut up

My running goal this week is 50 miles in five days.  It looks like I am going to crush this goal.  I ran 10 yesterday.  Tuesdays is my four mile run to the gym, hour spin class (25 miles), and then run home.  I took a little stroll through the park which put me at 9 miles today.  It feels so good when you finally are over the constant nagging injuries that seem to happen all at once.
I think that I may have mentioned that I live in a not so savory area.  Pretty much all of Memphis kinda sucks.  So today I was leaving the gas station where I get my Gatorade to chug real quick, when I hear somebody screaming hey you.  I kept walking but it kept getting louder.  I turned around and there was this homeless guy.

OMG.  I never ignore people,  I try to give all I can. But this MF was absolutely ridiculous.  Let's just start with what he was wearing.  Does anybody remember Mr. T. from the A-Team?  He had rings on every finger.  He had what appeared to be a chandelier medallion hanging from his left earlobe.  He was wearing the old Army fatigue shirt which I immediately questioned him about.  He tried to tell me he was in the Army and exposed to Seron gas.  Basically he was trying to fool me into believing some bull shit that I could see right through.  He had the "crackhead"  look.  He proceeds to tell me that he won a huge amount of money and smoked it all up.  That was probably the only thing I believed he had the two teeth left up top that looked like vampire teeth.  I kept moving away from him and he kept effing talking.  I did not give him and money, however he let me know his name was Leon and he is always there.  It amazes me that people think I am so naïve.  That is how I caught so many criminals in my day.  I look completely harmless and like a regular person.  But I am not I know exactly how people like that operate.  At least I got a good laugh.  I hope he returns that huge ass glass chandelier medallion to the rightful owner. 

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Memphis.  I love the smell of fall and the leaves. 

I have been leaving the door opened for the breeze to blow through and it is amazing.  I hope you all have a great day and enjoy the weather.

How is your week going?  Anything exciting planned?
Have the leaves fallen where you live?  They are just starting to here
Do you speak to homeless people?  I try to give everyone a chance.

Five things I did this weekend

 

Finally watched Quantico, which is a really great show. I cannot wait for the next episode.

 

Celebrated a huge milestone with my car.  She officially has over 200,000 miles on her and is going strong.  This car has had two people learn to drive in it. Moved more times than I care to say. She has taken a lot of abuse from three boys. Has been my home on more than one occasion. I love my car. Sorry for the blurry photo!!

 

Saturday after taking a double spin class I came home and cuddled with Prissy for the remainder of the day.  It was so nice and she really enjoyed it.

 

 

I finally tried Pyro's Fire Fresh Pizza.  Only I had a salad and Zachary had a pizza which looked delicious.  You get a huge bowl of what appeared to be spring greens and then walk down a line and select your toppings.  It is not like a traditional salad bar.  They had roasted potato cubes, roasted onion, roasted tomatoes, a large selection of various meats.  I made mine with black olives, roasted onions, roasted potatoes, mixed cheese, and ranch dressing. It came with two triangle garlic rolls which were ok.  pyrospizza.com

 

Made the best brownies ever, not from a box.  I like my brownies cake like.  Not to firm or dense. 

Sunday was my rest day for the week.  I have 10 mile runs planned each day this week and then double spin on Saturday.  Running is getting "easier" again and mostly pain free.  I still feel a little twinge of pain in my calf every now and then but it is bearable. 

I hope everybody had a great weekend.  Congrats to everyone who raced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My life lately

I am currently on recipe number 40 on my quest to bake through the Americas Test Kitchen Family Baking book.  I am still enjoying it, only one disaster, actually it tasted terrific just looked horrible. The Chocolate Tunnel Cake, which turned into the Chocolate Puddle Cake.  I figured out what went wrong.  I used a Pampered Chef stoneware pan and should have used a metal one.  Who knew???

Yesterday was Mommy Monday. We went to see Hotel Transylvania 2.  It was a really good movie, we laughed a lot.

If you have young children this movie is definitely a must see.

Zachary always tries to get me to get movie concessions and I just cannot spend $6.00 for a soda.  We went to Krogers before we went to the movie he got a Dr. Pepper, I got a green apple Gatorade, two bags of the Jolly Rancher caramel apple lollipops and chapstick for $6.00.  I am trying to make him appreciate the value of  money. We did not eat all the lollipops!!!!  I could have though

 I saw somebody had posted about these lollipops.  They are crazy good!!!

I have been taking it easy running with my leg acting like a complete asshole, excuse my term but that is exactly how I feel about it.  I have tried everything.  Yesterday I just said eff it and went running.  It was a little bothersome at first but I managed to knock out five miles at an 8 minute mile.  So I am satisfied with that.  I have a race on Saturday morning which I want to PR at.  I have been going to extra spin classes each week that way my cardio does not suffer too much.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, I would appreciate any feedback good or bad. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  

Essential pantry items for baking

Wow, I am so late blogging today!!! I took a two hour spin class at LA fitness and it wore me out.  The doctor said that I do not have a stress fracture just a "moody muscle."  Yes, I guess that is the clinical term. This doctor was probably more knowledgeable than mine:

Anywho, since I'm taking a day off of baking I thought I would compose a list of essential pantry items for baking, so exciting.

OBVIOUSLY, there is a reason because this was me last week

 Little did I know the following:

YEAST- There is more than one type!!!  There is an active dry yeast which is primarily used when you          

           have lots of time to let the dough rise. Also there is rapid rise yeast which of course is quicker, 

           who knew? I have both those suckers now.

FLOUR- Again, I thought all-purpose white flour was for everything as suggested in its name. There 

           are cake flour, bread flour, self rising, wheat, almond, unbleached???? I settled for the additional 

           cake and bread flour for now. I don't want a house full of weevils for God's sake.

SUGAR- If anyone knows sugar, I do and I was successful on having all the sugars on hand, yay me!!!      

            It is best to have white granulated sugar, light and dark brown sugar and confectioners.

BAKING SODA- I always have baking soda, but if you leave it opened in your pantry very long it does go 

                      stale, so I have a rotation system so when a few months passes I put the old box in the  

                      refrigerator. Kills two birds with one stone.

SALT- I love salt!! I put that sh** on EVERYTHING. I use regular table salt.

BAKING POWDER- Usually baking powder comes in a really nice resealable container and there is only

                           one type, however different brands.                                                 

VANILLA- This one is tricky because there is vanilla extract (more affordable) and pure vanilla. I prefer

               the real vanilla because, simply it's real.

SPICES- I have a ton of spices because I like to open the pantry and see all the bottles all lined up 

            perfectly. Most recipes I have come across use the usual, cinnamon, cream of tartar, allspice, 

            nutmeg, ginger.  If a recipe comes along and I don't have what is needed I just go buy the 

            smaller container.  Spices DO expire. My mom seriously is still using spices from the seventies.

CHOCOLATE CHIPS- This is really for baking and emergencies.  Baking is a no brainer.  However, ladies, 

                             have you ever just needed a chocolate fix and didn't want to get dressed or drive?

                             well, go get the chocolate chips and eat until the need goes away, I do it often.

SHORTENING- In the north we used to keep shortening in the pantry, but in the south it gets too hot, 

                     so I guess basing on where you live you could keep it in the pantry.

These are just the essentials that 99% of the recipes I have made use.  Happy saturday!!!!

 

I could not help myself 

Do your parents refuse to get rid of food items, because they "are still good.?"

Have you ever started making something and then realized you didn't have everything? All the time :(

What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

Change is good

Over the past few months I have had to change my way of thinking, working out, and eating.  I realized that the prescriptions I take that have the warning "DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL" were not a suggestion. 😁😁😁 Kinda had to learn that the hard way.  I was not drinking excessive amounts just an occasional cocktail, well NO DRINKING means NO DRINKING.  So I drink lots of water, coffee, and an occasional Coke. 

Meat is not a part of my diet anymore.  It was a choice I made for accountability and personal reasons.  It is very hard giving up something that you enjoy eating.  It was an ongoing joke with Zachary about who could eat more chicken wings him or I.  I realized that I was going overboard on meat.  It has been an easy transition. Currently some of my favorite eats are fried egg whites, sweet potato hash, and of course salad. Again this is my personal opinion but I feel a lot better and have actually been running faster.

My life has been filled with negative people since I can remember.  My mother sees doom in everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.  Growing up around that day in and day out took a toll on me.  Then being a police officer for so many years, all you see is negative.  It took many times falling to rock bottom for me to see that negative thinking was why.  Instead of seeing the good, I immediately searched for the bad.  I no longer live in the past or worry about the future, because I am too busy living now.  I surround myself with happy positive people. 

This positive way of living has transformed my life in so many ways. I feel so full of life.  My running has improved so much.  This morning I ran 4 miles to the gym, took a very intense spin class (the instructor is an Ironman, I love her classes) and ran home.  My pace was 8:25 per minute which is under Boston qualifying time!!!! So I see progress and that makes me so happy. The weather has been gorgeous in Memphis.  

Have you ever stopped eating a certain food? 

Where do you live and is the weather changing there?

What is your next race?