The Best (and Only) Way to Eat a Cupcake

Would you be mine if I made you pretty pink cupcakes?

These cupcakes were made with love (did you know they put love into the cake mix?)  They were mixed by hand (but only because I couldn't find the electric mixer) and they should be eaten in the form of a sandwich (the only way to eat a cupcake, right Matt?)

If you don't know what I mean by eating it as a sandwich, allow me to enlighten you:

Step one:  Pull off the bottom of the cupcake.

Step two: Place bottom of cupcake on top of cupcake

Step three:  Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure I've changed the way you eat cupcakes forever sooooo you're welcome. :)


Happy Valentine's Day!

An Achy 8 Miles and Recovery Banana Pancakes

Hello!
Yesterday I ran 8 miles on the treadmill.  This was no easy feat for me.  I didn't eat enough beforehand so I was really struggling to get through it.  I started running out of energy at mile 5, and really had to push myself to finish it.
I really wanted to do the 8 miles because I needed to get it under my belt.  The 10 mile race is coming up, and I only have a few more long runs on my training schedule.  I have to make each one count!

I finished in one hour and 24 minutes.  I felt a little achy after so I iced my knees and relaxed for the rest of the day. 

This week's Fitness Schedule:
Monday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: 4 mile run
Thursday: 2 mile run
Saturday: 8 mile run
(Hopefully I can fit some yoga in there somewhere.)

This morning I had wanted to go to this free Crossfit event, but I realized that I haven't given myself a rest day in over a week.  The event was called "Tough Love" and it was the WOD (workout of the day) and then an hour yoga class.  I really wanted to go because I thought it would be great to get to try Crossfit for free since it can be pretty expensive.  Oh well, I decided to skip the class and make some banana pancakes instead.

I was really channeling Jack Johnson this morning.

  

I'd share the recipe, but I didn't make them from scratch.  We just used box mix and added some chopped up bananas to the mixture.

When they were done, we sprinkled them with more chopped bananas, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

I definitely made the right decision this morning. Pancakes > Crossfit.

 One of the pancakes accidentally came out in a heart shape.  How sweet!

Weekend breakfast's are the best!

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!  I'm off to frost some Valentine's Day cupcakes for my work party tomorrow.
Pictures to come!

The Pea's Knees (1.0)

Hi!
This is the first edition of the Pea's Knees!
I want this to be a weekly list of random/cute/fun/exciting things I want to share with you guys.
Hope you like it!  Feel free to leave feedback.  143 comments.


1.  I signed up to do my first half marathon!  I'm really nervous/excited about this.  I have been "shopping" around for the right one for a few weeks and I finally found the perfect one.  It's the 13.1 Boston Half Marathon.  It fulfilled all my requirements.  It's in a good location, it's a good time of year, and they hand out awesome finisher's medals.  I do it all for the medal.

2.  I got pink sneakers!  I got them at the Nike outlet for $21 when I was in North Conway a few weeks ago.  I'm in love.

3.  I made a pinata and filled it with candy and nips for a party.  If that's not the definition of fun, I don't know what is.

4.  I got bangs.  Big deal, I know.

5. I really want to make these.  They just scream Valentine's day!

6.  I recently rediscovered my love for smoothies.  They are a lot healthier for dessert compared to my usual bowl of ice cream and just as satisfying!  I've been using orange or cranberry juice, frozen blueberries and strawberries, Greek yogurt, and a banana.

 

 yum!

<3

Cucumber Raspberry Guacamole

Fact:  I thought I hated guacamole until I actually made some.
I didn't know how deliciously creamy it is.
I didn't know how easy it is to make.
I didn't know how perfectly it goes with tortilla chips.

Why didn't anyone tell me these things??

But anyway, you should try this super simple and healthy recipe!
(inspired by acozykitchen)

Ingredients:
4 Avocados
1 lime
handful of raspberries
1/4 of a cucumber
Sea salt to taste

Peel, slice, and finely dice the cuke
Pit and cube the avocados
Mash them up in a bowl
Combine diced cucumbers with mashed avocados
Sqeeze in some lime juice
Add the sea salt to taste
Top with chopped raspberries

Shown without raspberries sprinkled on top!

Super Sunday 5M!

Hi guys!
Yesterday was the day of the Super Sunday 5 Mile Race!

I was really excited for this race (even though I only signed up for it on Friday).  I woke up pretty early feeling like a kid on Christmas morning.  I ate a bagel and had some OJ and coffee for my breakfast.

I got to Cambridge a little after nine, and met up with my friends, Tracy and Miriam.  We were all pretty excited/nervous/scared of the cold!

At a little after 9:30, we walked down to the start to pick up the bibs.  The race didn't start til 10:30, so we did a lot of standing around trying to stay warm!  It was about 27 degrees when the race started.  Luckily it was pretty sunny, so I tried to absorb as much warmth from the sun as I could.

At 10:20, we walked over to the starting line.  Someone sang the National Anthem, fired the gun, and we were off!

I was not warmed up at all, so the beginning of the race was really difficult.  Actually, the entire race was difficult for me.  It was just so cold!

In the first mile, my feet and three of my fingers went completely numb.  I felt like my feet were solids blocks of ice clunking down the street.  I kept telling myself  "it will get better when I warm up."

At mile 2, I was still pretty frozen.  I felt like we were moving at a pretty good pace, but I had no idea how fast or slow we were going.  My Nike plus band only tells me how far I have gone, but not my pace.

At Mile 3, we could see the finish line for the 5k.  There was an option in this race to "bailout" and stop at a 5k.  It was so tempting, but I just told myself to keep going.  I started to run out of steam at this point.  I even started to slowly drop back from Tracy and Miriam  I wanted to keep up with them, but I was really struggling.

More and more people started passing me and I felt like I was running really slow.  Originally, I had wanted to finish the race in 48 minutes.  I had no idea how fast I was going so I tried to tell myself that my time didn't matter so much.  The only thing that matters is crossing the finish line!

In the last mile, I continued to feel sluggish and slow.  Once I turned a corner and saw the finish line I really tried to dig deep and run as fast as I could.  When the clock came into sight, I was completely shocked.  It said 43 minutes and 59 seconds.  I was not expecting my time to be that good.  I thought there must have been a mistake, but there wasn't.  I ran the race at an average pace of 8: 45!

I was so proud of myself! This race was extremely challenging for me, and to see that I did better than expected was so rewarding.

My official time was 43:59 for the five miles.  They also recorded your 5k time.  My 5k time was 26:48; a huge improvement from my first 5k (which took me 31:04).

Likes & Dislikes of this race:

Likes:

• Mostly flat course
•  Started on time
• Organized well
• Announced each persons name as they crossed the finish line (sooo nice!)
• Chicken wings, beer, and live music after race!!!
• Lots of free loot (coconut water, popchips, pretzel crisps...)

Dislikes:

• Not all roads on course were closed
• No medals! :(
• Very cold weather

Here are my splits:

Determination! haha

Superbowl Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Dip

Hi everyone!  Remember when I said I'm not really into football, and I'm only watching the Superbowl for the commercials and the halftime show?  Well, I forgot to mention that I'm also looking forward to the food!

My friend, Sarah, sent me this recipe and I decided to try it out for the Superbowl party I'm going to.

Not the most healthy recipe, but certainly a good one!

Buffalo Chicken Dip
　
3 or 4 Chicken breasts
2 blocks of 8oz cream cheese
16 oz Ranch dressing (1 large bottle)
12 oz Franks Red Hot Original (buffalo) sauce (1 bottle)
1 pkg. shredded cheddar cheese (we used some mozzarella cheese too)
　
Boil chicken breasts and let cool
Once cooled, shred chicken into very fine strings.  This can be done using two forks and pulling apart the chicken.
Mix shredded chicken with 12oz (1 bottle) of Franks Red Hot Sauce
In a medium pan, heat ranch dressing and cream cheese until melted
Mix the chicken mixture with the dressing/cheese mixture
Pour into casserole dish
Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until hot through, then spread cheddar cheese on top　
Cook for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted
Let cool (a little) before serving
　

 Serve with tortilla chips or crackers and celery.

Go Pat's!

Pickles, Pretzels, and Cheese!

Happy Friday,  folks!
I'm really excited for this weekend, and not just because of the Superbowl.
I'm not a football person, I didn't even know who the Pat's were playing against until this morning.
It's just not my thing.

I watch the Superbowl for two reasons:
1. The commercials
2. The halftime show

The real reason I'm excited for this weekend is because I'm running a race on Sunday!
I had been debating about signing up for it for a few weeks, then a friend of mine sent me a coupon code to get $10 off the registration fee and I just signed up!

It's the Super Sunday 5 Miler, and it starts right near my office in Kendall Sq.  It looks like a pretty good course.  There's even an option to do a 5k instead of a whole 5 miles.  I wanted to do the five miles because I figured it would be really good practice for my ten mile race (which is only a month away!).

Here's my training plan for the week:

Sunday- 3 miles(check)
Monday- 3 miles(check)
Tuesday-Off
Wednesday- 4.26 miles (I ran outside because it was 50 degrees! yay! )
Thursday- Off
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: I'm going to attempt to go to Body Pump
Sunday:  Super Sunday 5 Miler!!!

Can we talk about my Wednesday night run? I really need to share.
So I headed out to run at about 6 pm.  It was pretty dark, but I had a little blinkie light attached to me so people could see me, and my track jacket and sneakers were reflective.  Towards the end of my run, I turned off the main road and ran into this little neighborhood close to my house.  The streets were really dark, and I couldn't see much.  I ended up tripping in a pot hole in the road and almost falling. This started me quite a bit, but when I looked up I saw something in the road a few feet ahead of me.  I couldn't really tell what it was, but as I got closer I saw it was a dog just lurking in the darkness staring at me!  I was afraid to run past him because I didn't want him to chase after me.  I just said "hey pup" and kept walking until he was out of sight!
Phew! It was scary!  I'm not afraid of dogs, but this one was really creepy!

On Thursday, I went out to dinner with two of my very lovely friends.  We met up at the commons and went to Stoddard's for some appetizers and beers.
I ordered the Rapscallion Honey Ale to drink.

We ended up ordering four appetizers to share:  The pot of pickles, the cheese plate, pretzels, and fries.

It really hit the spot! :)  The pot of pickles was my favorite.  It had an array of pickled vegetables like cauliflower, mushrooms, green beans, and some actual cucumber pickles.  The cheese plate was really good as well (even though I couldn't identify some of the cheeses). 
I really liked this place and would love to go back again!

Growing up is hard to do..

Soooo…remember when I made a bunch of life and fitness goals for 2012?  Well, I need to retract one of them.

I had originally planned to move out of the nest this year, but I recently had a change of heart.   I realized that I should live at home a little longer.  I have been saving and calculating for months, and I figured I could afford to move out by May.  I even told my friend that I would be able to move in with her when her lease ended.  

One night,  after a chat with my dad, I totally had a change of heart/epiphany/ whatever you want to call it.  I realized that just because I could move out, didn’t mean that I should.  I knew  I could afford it, but I would literally be spending every penny that I made.   My entire paycheck would be going to rent, student loans, food, and utilities.  That didn’t leave much money for fun, and I like fun.

I had to weight my options; Living on my own and scraping by, or living at home comfortably, but with less freedom.

In the end, I decided to stay at home for at least another year.  I was sick about my decision and really scared to tell my friend.  I didn’t want to let her down, but I knew I had to make the right decision for myself.

So, as a way of coping with living at home, I’ve decided to put together a list of perks.  I’m trying to look on the bright side!

1.        Dinner is usually waiting for me when I get home from work.  This is a big perk for someone who doesn’t really know how to cook dinner.  Breakfast and lunch I can handle, but dinner is a whole other ball game.

2.       In-house Laundry (sans rain boots) - When I lived in an apartment during college, we did have our own laundry in the basement, but the problem was that our basement flooded….alot!  9 times out of 10, you had to wear your rain boots while doing laundry.  That’s really not fun, especially if you drop a clean sock in a puddle…

3.       Not paying utilities!  While living in that apartment, we  had to pay for our heating, which was really expensive in the cold Vermont winter.  We would put the heat down really low, and sit on the couch in sleeping bags to keep warm while watching TV.  I really don’t miss that!

4.       A fully stocked fridge (most of the time) .  Food shopping is not fun!  I really need to appreciate this time in my life where food shopping is not part of my weekly errands.

And there you have it!  If anyone reading this is in the same boat, I hope this helps.  Like I said, I wrote this as a way to cope with staying at home for another year.  It does suck sometimes, but I really think it’s the smart thing for me to do right now.  Now I'll just appreciate it more when I do get to move out.

This post was inspired by the pork roast, baked potato, and green beans waiting for me after work today. :)

Banana Oat Walnut Bread

Happy Monday!

Here's an easy/kinda healthy/yummy recipe for you!

Adapted from Joy the Baker:

I haven’t baked anything in so long! I was having withdrawals.

I only like to cook/bake if I have the kitchen to myself.  Otherwise, I have to deal with my parents looking over my shoulder, commenting on what I’m making, and repeatedly asking if I’m “going to clean up whatever mess I make, right???”

Since the ‘rents were away, I decided to seize the empty kitchen and make use of the over-ripe bananas sitting in our fruit bowl.


Makes 1 loaf  of  10 slices

- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp  salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 medium egg whites, beaten
- 3 large bananas, ripe
- 3/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oat
-1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
-1/2 tbsp honey


First, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Gather all the ingredients.

 

Combine dry ingredients

 

 In a separate bowl, peel and mash bananas and add oil and one whole egg, then add dry ingredients to wet.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they are medium stiff peaks.

 Then fold in the egg whites in three sections into the mixture.

Pour into greased bread pan.

 Bake for 40-50 minutes.

Enjoy!