Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

1 bunch of broccoli - broken into florets
1 bunch of cauliflower - broken into florets
1/2 cup raisins
6 strips of bacon, crumbled
thinly sliced red onion, to taste

1 cup mayo
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Got this reicpe from a neighbor and it turned out pretty good! This was a nice side dish to have with some grilled chicken and it would also be good with a good option to take for a pot luck dinner to share with others. What I like about this dish was that I was able to pick up some locally grown veggies from an indoor farmers market, so the raw broccoli & cauliflower together were very fresh and crunchy. It took no time to throw this together and I did think letting it sit in the fridge before it was served helped all the flavors come together nicely. I do think I'll make this in the future, but I'll be playing with the dressing a bit - maybe cutting back on some of the sugar and mayo. Whether you make it following the recipe or you decide to put your own twist on this salad, I hope you enjoy it!

Food, Fun, and Bling!

A few weeks ago, my Mom and I gathered up a few friends and hosted a Premier Jewelry Party. It was the perfect opportunity to break out some of the fun party hosting dishes I have and serve up some delicious snacks. I made Spinach Dip and some Creamy Chicken Pastry Pockets, which were fantastic. And the big hit of the "food party" was the milk chocolate fondue - so many fun dippers, all of which were great! Mom brought brownie bites, fruit, graham crackers, pretzel sticks and my favorite...drum roll..."naked buckeyes"! That's right, she made up the insides of buckeye candies and then we dipped those in the chocolate fondue!
I can't say enough about how easy it was to host the jewelry party - all I had to do was come up with a list of friends and the Premier consultant did most of the leg work! See all that fun, sparkly jewelry she brought for people to try on - it's all laid out on the table behind her. I liked how she brought several of the pieces from the catalog - I think seeing jewelry in person helps people decide if it's something they will wear.
And see all these shiny sliver boxes - all 12 of them - those are all free pieces of jewelry we received as party hosts. Since my Mom and I split the hosting duties, we split the free benefits too and both got some great new jewelry to show off this holiday season!
Nothing like a new pair of earrings & necklace to to spice up some of the clothes already in your closet!

Thanksgiving Day Race Photos

The start of the race - with the poncho and shower cap...

The shot below is around mile 4 - not the most flattering photo...

And the crossing the finish line with my friend Julie.
We were both ready for some warm, dry clothes at this point!

Thanksgiving Day Race

This is what I planned on wearing to the Thanksgiving Day Race...
Short sleeve race day shirt, arm warmers, running pants, and my new Asics running shoes...Below is a picture of the additional items I wore the morning of the run...
That's right - it was quite the rainy morning on Thanksgiving Day, so I added the poncho, a baseball hat and a shower cap to the race day outfit!

As it turned out, the majority of the rain came down in the hour leading up to the race, so when we crossed the start line it was only a light sprinkle. Once the race started, I warmed up quickly so I ditched the poncho between mile 1 - mile 2 and the shower cap came off between mile 3 - mile 4. The race was pretty fun despite the rain and I enjoyed seeing all the girls from my training group on Thanksgiving Day!

My time for the race was very similar to my time for my first 10k, so I didn't go breaking any personal records with the Thanksgiving Day Race but it was an awesome accomplishment to finish a second 10k this year. My official time was 1:23:38 and my pace was 13:30 per mile, so I was right on track with my timing all through my training runs.

I enjoyed seeing all the runners and spectators along the race course who were shouting out "Happy Thanksgiving" and other words of encouragement. Some people wore the turkey or pilgrim hats, others had on full turkey costumes - overall, it was a great way to kick off the Thanksgiving Day holiday!

A Day to Give Thanks

Warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving this week to all my dear blog readers out there. When trying to decide on a blog post about Thanksgiving, I came across the poem below and wanted to share it with you today. May you have a relaxing and peaceful day with your loved ones this Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving

by Douglas A. Cox

Thank you for the water

That soothes my deepest thirst

Thank you for the folks who see

The best and not the worst

Thank you for the air I breathe

The earth on which I stand

Thank you for the miracle

Of one hinge in my hand.

Thank you for my family

My friends who've come to know

That our words shape the life we live

They are the seeds we sow

So speak the words that heal the wounds

Of prejudice and hate

Replace the words the cynics choose

Before it is too late

Say thank you in your silence

Say thank you right out loud

Say it in your deepest heart

And shout it to the crowd

Thank you Lord for all these gifts

For giving me the choice

For helping me to see the good

And giving me a voice.

"In our joyous Thanksgiving may we find the path to peace!"

Update: Running Group

A quick glance at the blog lately and it seems that all I've been doing is cooking, baking and eating with all the recipes I've been posting! While these things have been the theme these last few posts, I've actually been up to a few other fun things lately.

I'm still participating in the running group and will run in the 101st Annual Thanksgiving Day Race this Thursday morning. The running group has been going pretty good this fall, but I will admit that I've not been as committed to the training as I was back in the summertime. Not sure what's been the reason behind this, but it is a lot more enjoyable to run in the fall temperature versus the hot summers ones.

A few weeks ago, I had my first running "issue". While out on a Saturday morning run, I was about 3 miles into a 5 mile run and out of no where my left hip started hurting with severe pain. The pain came on fast and was so intense that I had to hobble a few steps to catch my balance and not fall over. I tried to stretch it out and finish the run, but when the pain wasn't going away, I decided to walk in the rest of the way back to the car. I was glad to be with the group on this day because it was good to hear other's opinions and ideas on how to treat the pain. I treated my hip that day with ice and took some advil. After about 3 or 4 rounds of ice, things got to feeling better and I was back to running like normal by mid-week.

After talking with my chiropractor, it was mostly likely an IT band issue. The IT band runs along the outside of the leg, from the butt area down to the knee, and is a common muscle that gives runners trouble. Many people experience problems down near the outer knee area, but the pain and tenderness is also known to run all along the outer side of the upper leg. When I was at my doctor's appointment last week, I mentioned this issue to him and he showed me some exercise that can be done to stretch the IT band. He recommended using a baking rolling pin and rolling that down the side of the leg, staring up by the hip and pushing down on the muscle as you roll the baking pin down to the outer leg all the way down to the knee. I thought this was a great suggestion and a great way to use a resource that you probably already have in your home.

We did a training run that covered the entire 6.2 miles of the Thanksgiving Day race course, so I'm feeling very ready for this Thursday morning's run. Let's just hope the weather isn't too much a of a pain - right now the weather people are forecasting rain all morning long, so we'll see what it's like in a few days! Either way, I'm excited to take part in this run. It's a very well known race in Cincinnati and what better way to start out on a holiday than participating in an event that gives back to the community. This year the proceeds from the race will assist many charity groups like The Ronald McDonald House, Girls on the Run, Children’s Hospital, St James of the Valley, Kilgour School, Roger Bacon, and more. I'm really happy to know that some of the funds will go to the Girls on the Run group - I just did my first volunteer event with them this past weekend, so I'll be dedicating some future blog posts about them to share some more information with you about this awesome organization! So that's it for today's "non food" related post - have a great day!

Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Cheese Pockets

I made these yummy appetizers this past weekend for a party. The recipe comes from Our Best Bites and I thought they turned out great. A few thoughts on working with puff pastry - I found it a little hard to manage - I don't have a large area to roll out the dough, so I was trying to dust my largest cutting board with flour and roll out the pastry dough. It worked fine, but I was thinking about how nice it would've been to have a big counter space to work with for pastry dough. All in all though, I had no major problems with these and I'd recommend them for your next get together! Here's the recipe from Our Best Bites:

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pastry Pockets

1 box puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 8oz container Philadelphia Chive and Onion flavor Cream Cheese
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 C cooked shredded chicken breast
1/3 C cooked crumbled bacon
3 Tbs finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 egg
1 Tbs water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Microwave cream cheese for 20-30 seconds to soften. Place in a mixing bowl with mozzarella cheese, chicken, bacon, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir to combine and set aside.
Defrost puff pastry sheets according to package directions. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll one sheet at a time into a 12 x 12 inch square. Cut 4, 3 inch strips each direction to make 16 squares, 3 x 3" each.

Place about 2 teaspoons of cream cheese mixture onto each square. With your finger, brush a dab of water around the edges of each square and fold over diagonally to make a triangle. Press edges together and crimp with a fork to seal. After stuffing and folding each pastry, place on a baking sheet. Whisk egg and 1 tablespoon water together and brush over the top of each pastry. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving - they can also be served at room temperature.
One more thought - I did have some of the left over chicken mixture, so I improvised and put it in a shallow casserole dish, topped it with some of the shredded mozzarella cheese and baked it for about 10-15 min at 375. It turned out to be an awesome dip and it was a great snack to have with some triscuits while watching college football.

Overall, I'd say give these a try - they were a big hit at the party...Enjoy!