I forgot to talk about my new favorite thing: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. No ordinary cookies---cookies that are healthy and SO SO SO GOOD! Last week I read "Naturally Thin: Unleash your Skinny Girl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting" by Bethenny Frankel. (Yes, for all of you Bravo! fans, Bethenny from "Real Housewives of New York City"!) I love that show and I seriously LOVE this book. After reading it I feel like a weight has been lifted! Bethenny's book takes a unique approach to food and eating and basically it says NEVER diet again and never deprive yourself of the foods you really like to eat! There is a lot more to it--she has 10 rules to follow and gives examples of how she eats, etc. Its interesting to read and by no means a "diet" or "food plan" but just a simple and freeing way to eat that focuses on eating in a healthy way, of course but without beating yourself up if you eat a cookie or cheeseburger. I could go on about the book, but really you should just read it because I'm not doing it justice! Okay, but my FAVORITE part of the book is this recipe! If you know me, you know I love sweets. You know that I even tried to give them up for lent again this year...which only lasted about 3 weeks...okay 2 weeks, but whatever, I tried. But since I read this book I now know that that was a really stupid way to think so imagine how happy I was when I saw this healthy and yummy cookie recipe! THEY.ARE.AWESOME. But the true test was Jeremy. He LOVES my regular chocolate chip cookies (and really anything I bake because he is just that sweet) but after trying one of these I believe he said "Holy Shit. These are awesome. If you only ever make one thing again, make it these cookies!" And the best part? They are GOOD FOR YOU! The recipe is below--I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this, but since its in her book it should be okay. I hope you like them as much as Jeremy and I do! I can't take ANY credit except for sharing the recipe with you. THANK YOU Bethenny Frankel....just in case she reads this! :)
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour (I take regular Quaker Oats and blend them in a blender or food processor or your coffee grinder will work too! It takes almost 2 cups of oatmeal to make 1 1/2 cups Oat Flour) 3/4 Cup rolled oats 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 Cup Raw Sugar (You can find this in the baking isle or organic section of the store) 1/3 Cup Chocolate Chips (I used mini-chips, but regular will work great too) 1 tsp canola oil 1/3 Cup soy milk 1/2 cup mashed banana (1 medium-size banana) 1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, until well combined. 2. Use a large spoon to scoop batter onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes rotating the pan halfway through cooking, or bake until the edges of the cookies are light brown.
Okay, so I obviously haven't kept my promise with blog posting. I wanted to post once a week, but...um...well yeah that hasn't happened! Between work, running, and rehearsals for "Fat Girlfriend: The Musical" I haven't really had time to blog. But here I am sitting at home ALONE on a Friday night and now I have time! Again....not too much new to report on the running front. Yes, the runs are getting somewhat longer. This week I was supposed to do 19 miles. Well....so far I've done 6.5! Whoops! But I will do my long run of 7 miles on Sunday so hopefully I can get back on track next week. (Did I say that last time? Oh God.) But I'm not too worried yet...I still have a few weeks before the Lincoln 1/2. YES I KNOW I need to kick it into high gear, but I will, I will....I swear. Okay, so last weekend Kim and David came to Omaha for a visit! I LOVE them and I miss them SO MUCH! So Kim and I are running the Chicago Marathon together, so we planned to do our long run together last Sunday. I should also mention that last weekend was also my good friend Beth's surprise bridal shower--and our other good friend Laura Stevenson (sorry Laura! You will always be Laura Stevenson to me! ) came into town for the shower! Laura is a hard core runner too (aren't we all?!) and we tried to convince her to run with us on Sunday, but she made some excuse about not being able to keep up...WHATEVER Laura--even though she is training for a race herself...any-whooo.... So Stacey came over on Sunday morning and we ran about 5 miles and it was great! Earlier in the week I tried to map out a flat route since Kim has the luxury of NO HILLS in Houston. For anyone not from or familiar with Omaha--a surprising fact: Omaha=HILLS. Seriously. So I said that I "tried" to find a flat route...but the truth is, where I live you will come across a hill eventually--you either have to start with one or end with one. I won't lie...we sort of had to do both. But for a girl who swears she can't run hills, Kim rocked it! AND she tried to tell me that she couldn't run and talk at the same time too...well...I just couldn't let that one go! We made her talk a LOT! Stacey and I talk the ENTIRE time we run and it makes the runs go waaay faster. So Kim if you still don't want to talk by the time the marathon rolls around then just be warned: you are going to get REALLY sick of my voice for 5 hours and 26.2 miles! :) But seriously, we all did great and of course after it was over we pigged out on breakfast casserole and blueberry muffins. TOTALLY WORTH IT. Here is a picture of the three of us before our run--Stacey and Kim weren't too happy that we took this, but at least we didn't take one AFTER the run! Check out Kim's cute pink jacket--LOVE it! I've also posted a picture of my high school friends--Laura is the tall beautiful gal next to me in pink! So this week my goal is to follow my training plan exactly, which should be interesting....but that is the goal...its good to have goals...right?
So this week me and running haven't been too close. I got some crappy cold at the end of last week and didn't do my long run last Sunday. I was supposed to do 5 miles, but instead I met with some friends for brunch at Upstream and decided to eat my weight in bacon and beer bread french toast. (I know it sounds weird but its super good!) So took Monday off too (of course!) and did a wimpy 2 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday. I seriously wanted to die! Yes I know I was sick but I didn't think 2 miles would hurt, but it did. Sigh. Wednesday I did 3.5 and Friday I did 3 and then I did 5 today. Today was better, my hip didn't start hurting till the end of my run which is good, but it is still bothering me. Okay should I stop complaining now???The only saving grace is that it seems to FINALLY be getting warmer! And with the time change it doesn't get dark at 4:30 so I can run outside after work! Yay! I also got a new magazine this week: Women's Running. Its pretty good--they have great articles about sports bras, cute running accessories like headbands and stuff and recipes, but the best part is that they also sent me this super cute T-shirt (see picture) I'm very excited about it as you can tell! So this week I am going to stay positive that my runs will go better since I am feeling TONS better than I did last week and my rehearsal schedule isn't as busy as last week either so I should have more time to run. But the BEST part is that David and Kim are coming to visit next weekend and Kim and I are going to run together! I'm excited to run with her! It will be good practice for when we do the Chicago Marathon together in October! Get ready Kim....Omaha isn't as flat as you think it is! :)
So I'm into my 4th week of training for the Lincoln Half-Marathon on May 3rd. I decided to start completely over since I hardly ran at all over the holidays...okay and after the holidays too! But I'm back on track and despite having to run on the treadmill more than I'd like because of the crap weather, I feel pretty good. I became a "fan" of the Lincoln Half-Marathon on facebook and every week they send me training schedules! So last week I ran 4 days--3 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Wednesday, 3 on Friday and 5 today--ALL on the stinkin' treadmill except for Tuesday.
Have I mentioned that I HATE my treadmill? Yes, it is nice to have and yes its convenient, but its SO boring! I watch TV and its still boring. In treadmill time--5 minutes feels like 30. I don't mind running outside when its cold, but I don't really care to run on snow, so needless to say it looks like this week is another date with Mr. Treadmill. Maybe I should name him....what would be a good name for a machine that is stupid, makes time move slowly, and inflicts pain? ...Hmmm....George Bush! Okay bad idea...that will definitely not motivate me. Maybe I should try and give it a more positive spin so that I look forward to jumping on and running in place for 45-60 minutes 4 times a week....Justin Timberlake? Jon Hamm??? "I have to go get on Jon Hamm" That sounds MUCH better than George Bush! :)
Okay, back to actual running talk...if anyone reading this has a way for me to change my negative attitude about my treadmill or has some suggestions on how I can make my runs on that thing more....fun (if humanly possible) then I would LOVE to hear them! I haven't received the schedule for next week yet, but I imagine it will be similar to this week. All I know is tomorrow is my day off and I'm very excited about that! I am worried about one thing--my hip. I am only 31 years old and I am experiencing hip pain. This is not a new running pain for me. When I started running a few years ago I had the same problem. I saw a physical therapist and it got better, but never really went away. So I've been trying to stretch a LOT and do the exercises he gave me, but it still hurts. So I went to google (my on-line doctor) and typed in "hip pain after running" Apparently this is a common pain that women experience due to poor posture while running. Well I guess if I were an actual "RUNNER" I would have better posture or know the "right" way to run, but....as you know from reading my first entry "I am not a runner" so....do I need a running coach? Maybe I'll have Jeremy video tape me while I run and then post it on this blog and if any of you are actual "runners" you could critique my running style....but please be kind because again...not. a. runner. I just want to get the hip pain to stop so that I can get through training and the marathon. Then if it comes to "you can never run again" at least I can say that I did a marathon! Isn't that why people do it anyway? Just to brag about it? Well...that's at least in the Top 3 reasons I'm doing it. Well--gotta run!
