Day 14 & 15 and the Zombie Shifts Are Over

Combined 14 and 15 and finally done with zombie overnight shifts, yay!


Daily progress on the Juneathon challenge. If you want to know more about the challenge, check out the Juneathon page.


Day 14:


Type: Strength/Core
Duration: 20 min
Distance: 0.5 mile in between
Calories: ~250
Juneathon total: 29.55 miles


Day 15: 


Type: Strength/Core
Duration: 45 min
Distance: 0.5 mile walk in between
Calories: ~250
Junathon Total: 30.10 miles


Had to combine two days here since I was a slacker and didn't do much the last two days. I always try to make it a point to do some crunches or push ups everyday, so that is what I did. Now that my stretch of overnight shifts are out of the way, on to some days off and some more running and cycling! I got such a great workout in the other day doing cycling and felt sore afterwards, I loved it!


On the agenda for my days off: Grocery shopping, workout, swimming with Little Bean and possibly getting out and about for an afternoon. Nothing real exciting, just the normal stuff.

Slop Sloppy Joes & Homemade Ketchup

Food overload. This is a great go-to dinner meal idea when nothing else sounds good or you don't have all these elegant ingredients to make a huge over-the-top dinner. Who doesn't like Sloppy Joes? Maybe the guy they're named after, ok touche.

I promise a better picture next time. I ate mine before I could photograph it. I was hungry!

Sloppy Joes


Ingredients:


2 lbs ground meat (I used ground beef, but have used turkey & its just as good)
about 1 cup brown sugar
about 1 1/2 cups ketchup (cool people like me make my own, below)
about 3/4 cup mustard
Italian seasoning


Brown meat until cooked. Season with Italian seasoning. Once cooked, turn heat down to low and add brown sugar, ketchup and mustard. Add to taste, hence my measurements are "about" and not exact measurements. Tangy? Add more mustard. Sweet? More ketchup/brown sugar. Delicious served on toast or buns, and topped with relish. Don't ditch it until you've tried it! This is a super easy meal that can feed leftovers and are great re-warmed up.


Made-my-own-ketchup-because-I'm-cool


Or because I didn't have enough and needed enough to make Sloppy Joes and was too lazy didn't go to the store to get more. Don't judge me. I looked on the back of a ketchup bottle and created this myself. It wasn't just like ketchup, but it was pretty close!


1 small can tomato paste
about 1/4 cup white vinegar
about 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
about 1/4 cup water


*These were some of the main ingredients in ketchup and the ones I could pronounce and had on hand.


Mix all in a bowl and taste. Add more of something to alter the taste. Experiment! I found it took a lot of sugar to get it sweet, and still my end result was very tomato-y. It didn't have to be EXACTLY like ketchup though because it was going in Sloppy Joes.

Grandma Said I Could

Mommie-hood has been exciting lately. Here, let me share with you!

Bathtime is always an exciting time. As you can see from the splashes of water on the mirror we don't like to keep any water in the bathtub! I think he's practicing for the Olympics. He's a bit calm in this shot. I had to take what I could before my camera got drenched.

Morning play time in the crib. He loves when I duck down below and he can't see me, then I come back up and surprise him. The little things :)

Swimming in our baby pool on the porch.

Can't forget lifeguard Lucy. She's here to make sure everything is going well. And that no crickets or bugs are nearby. Heaven forbid she has to get in the water to save anyone.

Having a snack. "Grandma said I could" isn't this the motto of life?!

On a walk to find ducks in the nearby ponds. No luck. So we chewed on the keychain for a bit. Did I mention we're getting another tooth, on top? Jackson is, I'm all full.

Sleeping holding on to a handle. We know this ride is a violent one and needs a handle. So funny!

That's the past week or so in pictures, during my daytime awakeness anyway.

If you've got this far, thanks. What do you think of the title being a random phrase from the blog? Confusing? Misleading? Funny? Hate it?

Happy Friday & TGIF to you all!

Mexican Food is Back

As promised from this post, I'm giving you some food to stare at and recipes to go try out yourself. 


Pork Fajitas


It's been too long since we've had any Mexican food in this house, so I saw we bring some in! And, I don't make fajitas nearly enough, but come on, this is the simplest meal there is! I never know what else is in fajitas, so its pretty simple here.

Ingredients:


3/4 lb thin sliced pork chops, sliced into strips
taco seasoning (or if you're weird like me make your own, below)
3 bell peppers, your choice of color (2 red, 1 green for me)
tortillas (or leave these out if you're going no carb)


Slice up, julienne style, bell peppers and set aside. Season meat and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour, longer is better. I let mine sit for about 2 hours, overnight would work too. When ready, cook meat until 90% cooked through and add bell peppers. Finish cooking, so peppers are soft but not soggy, or cook to your liking.


Super easy, and easy to get things prepped ahead of time. This made enough for 2 people, or 1 person for lunch & dinner. 


Taco Seasoning (make do with what ya got)


Chili Powder
Cumin
Garlic salt
Salt & Pepper


Season to taste. The main ingredients are Cumin and Chili Powder, at least that I taste/can think of. 

Staple Food--Fried Rice

I'll take one order of this please. 

That's Pork Fried Rice, as promised from this post talking about a bunch of good food. Remember?

Fried Rice has become a staple for us. It has been a while since I've made some, but it is so easy and when you love rice like we do, its a great go-to meal. I personally love steamed white or brown rice, but fried rice is also good too.

Pork Fried Rice

2 cups steamed white or brown rice, cooled

1/2 to 1 cup frozen peas (or veggie of your choice)

1/2 lb pork, sliced into strips (think stir fry)

2 eggs

Soy Sauce

Hot sauce (I use Siracha)

Marinade pork in soy sauce (about 3 tablespoons, or whatever "looks" like enough) for at least 1 hour. I did mine overnight. Steam rice and set aside to cool. I let mine cool overnight in the fridge. Easier this way! Cook pork in a pan until cooked through. Add eggs and scramble. Next, add in rice while heat is still on medium high. Poor soy sauce over, covering rice until most of the top is covered. It really is up to you how much you like soy sauce or how strongly flavored you want. I go for a medium flavor. Toss rice in the pan and cook for a few minutes to get the flavor and things mixed up. Next, add in some frozen peas. Cook for another few minutes to "thaw" out peas and get them warm. 

This is great warmed up the next day for lunch. Add in hot sauce to your liking. This works as a side dish or a whole meal itself. This made enough for a good size bowl for both of us with left overs for each of us for lunch the next day. This can be halved too. 

Wednesday is Thursday? Juneathon Day 13

Getting tired of all these Juneathon updates?! Only 18 days to go!


Daily progress on the Juneathon challenge. If you want to know more about the challenge, check out the Juneathon page.


Day 13:


Type: Elliptical
Duration: 20 min
Distance: 1.7 miles
Calories: 200
Juneathon total: 29.05 miles


Didn't get to do as much today as I wanted. I was so stoked after yesterday's great ride. When I got to the gym there were 20 guys playing basketball (in the next room) and the air conditioning must have been off because it was the same temp inside as it was outside, and it was nearly 105 degrees. Perfect workout weather....um how about no! I'm all for a good sweat but that was pretty tough. Maybe I'm just not accustomed to working out in that heat yet. So I gave it my all and went hard for about 20 minutes and called it quits. I have plans tomorrow (today) to get a good workout in early in the morning after work (read 7am).


Speaking of tomorrow/today/what day is it. I've gotten my days mixed up a bit. See post below: 

Look at me trying to skip 10 days ahead...er 9...whatever.

Geez, get your act together! First I hit 22 instead of 12, because obviously I still thought it was Tuesday. Then my good friend kindly told me to get my act together I was wrong.

Ok, on to the workout! 

Good to know that it is still Wednesday...er wait it's now 3am on Thursday. Yep, I'm ok I promise. Only 2 more zombie shifts to go. 

Palm Trees & Bike Ride (Juneathon Day 12)

Getting tired of all these Juneathon updates?! Only 18 days to go!


Daily progress on the Juneathon challenge. If you want to know more about the challenge, check out the Juneathon page.


Day 12:


Type: Cycling
Duration: 25 min
Distance: 5.07 miles
Calories: 100
Juneathon total: 27.35 miles


Did some bike riding today, mainly because every other piece of equipment was taken at the gym. Oh well, I rocked out a really hard workout! Didn't even realize how far I'd gone until I looked up. That's what happens when you read a book while riding and tuning out the world with some music. What a great way to start my day. Yes, I'm on overnight so my day is just starting. 





I do feel oddly refreshed after sleeping today since I went 26+ hours with no sleep yesterday and crashed this morning after 8am. Ahh, and a nice workout to get my blood pumping. Love it!


Racking up the miles. I think I may be in ear shot to get to 100 by June 30, but we'll see. 


Here's some blog love to some of the other Runner/workout peeps that I've been following for a while now, and some that are also doing Juneathon. Tuesday shout out? Sure, why not.


Hanna - Bouffe e Bambini
Sarah - Sarah Oual
SR - Skinny Runner
Margot - Faster Bunny
Christy - The Buhrs
Becky - Random Blog

Here's a picture, just because we can't have a post without a picture!