Think Outside The Bun: Taco Salad

Happy Friday!

Have you heard of the Taco Bell lawsuit?

I mean, I never thought Taco Bell used 100% beef with decent seasonings — but according to the claim, it only contains 36% beef? Taco Bell’s statement (from their website) claims their “meat mixture” contains 88% beef and 12% seasonings — Yes 88% is better than 36%, but doesn’t that still sound kind of gross?

Although I *love* tacos, I have not been to a Taco Bell in years. Instead, we just make them at home.

I had mine in salad form, but you get the idea!

Taco Salad:

Spinach/romaine base

Refried beans

Ground beef (seasoned with some salt, garlic powder and cayenne)

Bell pepper

Black olives

Avocado chunks

Salsa

A few pineapple chunks

 

Delicious. Sometimes we exclude the beef and have black beans instead – a nice meatless meal. I have to say that adding the pineapple was really good — it was a last minute thought but it really worked out nice!

What do you like on your tacos/taco salads?

It is finally Friday! What are your plans for the weekend?

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New Muscles

Hi Friends 🙂
 

 
I’m glad you all liked the dumb bear. That is all I have to say about that!
 
Here are today’s stats from the gym:

I ran 2.5 miles today on an incline of 2-2.5. I sure feel different muscles working when I run on an incline — it was tough! And once again I had no tv — between 5-6pm the gym is hopping. But I don’t like to run too late in the evening or it affects my sleep — so every day I will take the gamble of whether or not I get a tv.

After my run I completed the Week 1 Workout of Gina’s Winter Shape Up — those T-pushups are killer!!! I loved it.
 
I can’t wait for the RHoBH reunion tonight!
 
Good night!
 
Holly

That Damn Bear

Hi Friends! I hope you’re having a great morning so far.

Around Holidays or special occasions (anniversaries, etc) Jason and I usually sneak out to buy each other gifts (or we buy online!). Before Christmas, Jason had cleaned part of his office at work and brought home a few bags of stuff.

I naturally thought my gift was mixed up in the bags, so jokingly, I reached for the bag and asked “is my gift in here?” and Jason replied “nope, go ahead”. I reach in the bag and find

I said “what is this?”

Jason obviously looked bummed and I could tell that the bear was a part of my gift. He told me he forgot he had it in one of the bags. And I know I sound totally ungrateful, but never in a million years would I guess that Jason would get me a stuffed bear for a gift. It just isn’t my thing!

We don’t really have stuffed animals (they drive me nuts because where do they go? On the bed? On a shelf?) Stuffed animals from my childhood are stuffed in this bin:

Out of sight, not cluttering up my house!

So back to the bear. What do I do with this? At first I told Jason to take him back to work (jokingly, but I was kind of serious too!)

But he’s still here. And Jason keeps “hiding” him in my car each morning before work:

He is always someplace new every morning when I leave for work.

And then when I get home from work I return the favor:

I finally found a great place:

That way Jason will see him as soon as he parks his car (he backs his car into the garage)

I really hate that damn bear, but I’m starting to like him more and more 🙂

Have a great Thursday!

Holly

The Real Housewives Helped Me!

Hi Friends,
 
I hope you’re having a great night!
 
I just got back from the gym – I ran another 3 miles. Like I wrote yesterday, these evening posts will only highlight my marathon training runs. It keeps me accountable and I can keep track of any changes that I make or any issues that I have. (AKA these posts are probably more helpful to me than anyone else!)

This time I got a treadmill with a working tv 🙂  The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills make the time go by so quickly!

By the way, my “official” Marathon training schedule won’t start until the week of Feb 13 – for now I am just running 3-4x per week to get used to the coming schedule. I don’t want to push myself too much because I really haven’t been running consistently in months.
 
I will be following Hal Higdon’s Novice Marathon Training Plan – the same one we followed last year. I don’t feel ready to move up to Intermediate just yet – maybe in 2012 🙂 

Good night!
 
Holly

Do you have Pooped-Out-Itis?

Hi Friends!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome back!

I’m sure most of you have heard by now that Jack LaLanne died a few days ago, right? 

 (source)

I remember watching his infomercials for his juicer – and I really wanted one for the longest time. Then, when I finally did get a juicer, I never used it so I sold it on Craigslist. I don’t really miss it, but every once in a while I wish I had hung onto it. Too bad it took up so much space in my kitchen!

On the radio Monday morning they were playing clips of him speaking, and one of the quotes was Jack talking about how so many people are struggling with Pooped-Out-Itis. I agree! And somedays, I struggle with Pooped-Out-Itis too!

 Here is what I do to try to prevent POI:

1. Get plenty of rest. Some nights I go to bed at 9pm or even earlier. It feels good to wake up refreshed and not have to literally pry open my eyelids when my alarm goes off in the morning. There are nights that it takes me a while to fall asleep – if I am stressed or worried about something. Those nights, I find it helpful to tell myself to “think about those things tomorrow” and I mentally cross them off my “list”. Then I actually tell my brain “goodnight”! This may sound crazy, but it really helps me calm myself down and fall asleep.

2. Drink plenty of water. Whether it is hot (for tea) or cold, fluids keep me awake and energized. I drink at least 4 refills of this bottle per day:

And I have 2-3 cups of tea in the morning as well.

3. Exercise. For a few weeks there I was really not consistent with exercise, but I have my mojo back big time. I think getting a new yoga mat and kettlebell for Christmas lit a spark under me – as did signing up for Grandma’s Marathon! But also with exercise, comes a few days of rest. I love my rest days (Mondays and Fridays) and they help me exercise longer and better! (A few of you asked me about my kettlebell, I hope to do a whole post all about mine, what I like and don’t like, etc)

4. Eat well. When I eat junk, I feel like junk. And I feel sleepy and like a blob.

5. Caffeine. I try to limit caffeine by only drinking it before 1-2pm, but to be honest, most days that doesn’t happen. I’ll have some diet coke or a small cup of coffee mid day to give myself a boost.

6. Take mini breaks throughout the day – every couple of hours (when I am at work) I will stand up, stretch, and move around. Usually I just need a few neck rolls to keep myself from feeling so stiff. 

Do you suffer from Pooped-out-itis? What do you do to fight it?

I’m currently writing this post and watching The Biggest Loser. I know, I’ve written before how I really don’t like the show and it is unrealistic, etc but I can’t stop watching! Have you been watching this season? What do you think of the new trainers?And, guess who I saw at Mall of America on Saturday?

(That is Bob Harper for those of you who didn’t know!) No I didn’t get to meet him, the line was too long 😦

Enjoy your day!

Holly

The First Three Miles

Yeah, yeah, I take a month long break from blogging and now I have 2 posts in one day. I won’t do this every day. I might not even post every day. No pressure. The point is to have fun and to have a place to be creative and write. These running/marathon training posts will be short and sweet 🙂

*Thanks again though for the nice comments this morning (and the nice emails too) – I appreciate them all!*

So with Marathon training comes lots of running (I’m sure you all figured that out, right?) and I want to use the blog as a way to record all of my training runs. So, I may throw in an extra post once in a while just with some info on my run. Here are my stats for today:

Yep, the dreadmill. There is no way I’m going to go running in this:

3 miles seemed to drag on. Usually running at the gym goes by quickly because of the little TVs attached to the treadmills, but not today:

Boo!!!!!

Good Night!

Holly

The blogging hiatus is over!

Hi Friends!
 
Long, long, time no blog. I know. I wanted to take a break for a few days but it turned into over a month! I have nothing crazy to share, just life in general has been happening! Here is a quick recap:
 
We baked a gazillion cookies before Christmas:

Jason and I had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and we celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary on January 11, 2011.

 Jason installed our new closet organizer (Martha Stewart collection from Home Depot)

I feel like I have my own little Gap jeans shop:

I’ve been drinking lots of tea (love my new teapot from Jason’s brother and his wife)

…and working out with my Kettlebell (Jason got me this for Christmas and I love it. I’m still learning how to use it properly though)

Cleaning out the basement and shredding old paperwork (along with lots of other house cleaning/organizing going on!)

(yes that is 3 bags worth of old bills, check stubs, etc!)
 
And beginning my training for Grandma’s Marathon!

Yep, Jason and I are going to run it again this year. You can read my recap from last year’s marathon *here*. I want to use this blog to recap my training runs, because I really wish I had kept a diary or journal of some kind last year. I remember having some good runs and some bad ones, but I don’t remember much more than that! I want to be able to look back and reminisce .
 
Blog changes are a’comin – new name, new format, more recipes, more book reviews and more fun!
 
Thanks for reading! 🙂
 
Holly