I apologize for the delayed post, but my face has been stuck in food for the past two days – not even kidding. My little “only indulge on Thanksgiving and on Friday” rule didn’t really go according to plan. Anyway, let me start with my first 10k Turkey Trot!

I woke up around 6 am – this time fully rested – changed into my running gear and headed to the kitchen to brew some coffee and make toast and peanut butter (my running fuel.) Georgia got to my house right on time at 7:15 and I had her folded piece of toast with peanut butter in a zip lock bag for the road. The race was about 45 minutes away in a north suburb of Chicago. I looked at the directions online, but apparently didn’t study them enough because at 8 am  (the race started at 8:25) I realized that I was oh, about 12 miles too north (you’d think I’d put the address in my gps system, but I guess I was just too excited to be thinking clearly!) So, we turned around and made it to the nearby parking garage with 5 minutes to walk run to the start line. Guess you could say that was our warm up!

The course was beautiful, but entirely  uphill and downhill. We started off faster than we anticipated (I guess that typically happens from your excitement.) We managed to run to mile three at a sustainable pace with no walk breaks.

 We kept an average of 11:50 pace throughout the whole race – no walk breaks!

At the 6 mile mark we decided to just sprint the rest of the way to the finish line – I actually captured the sign too and the photographer was making fun of me thinking that I was texting (wouldn’t be that surprising if I was.)

We obviously had to take a picture with the giant turkey…

We could not have asked for better weather! Such a perfect running day – especially because of the amount of food that I was about to consume later on. I started my food-for-all with a peppermint mocha from Starbucks – sugar.com. Got all dressed up (thinking it would prevent me from eating too much – false) I then went to Georgia’s house for pre-appetizers.

New you new “do”

Appetizers included: Tiropites (Cheese Pies)

Homemade real Southern Corn Bread: (the missing piece is mine of course)

Followed by a traditional menu of turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, veggies, corn bread, mashed potatoes, stuffing and the Greek item Mousaka:

and this…

and this…

and it keeps on coming…

The moment I have been waiting for (can you feel my excitement)… Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Coconut thing

Cookie Platter: Peanut Butter, Chocolate Truffle, Pupmkin Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Amazing Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:

As you can see, I was set up for failure. There was no escaping this paradise! The good news is I did run on Saturday and today. Starting tomorrow there will be no more of this food nonsense! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving mini-vacation!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! First and foremost, I want to say that Georgia and I completed the 10k Turkey Trot with zero walk breaks – I’ll elaborate more on this topic tomorrow!

Things I’m thankful for:

• My health
• My loving family
• My fantastic boyfriend & friends
• Georgia – for waking up early and running with me
• Living in this wonderful country
• YOU! My fabulous readers who keep me motivated.  Hopefully, I am  inspiring some of you to pursue your goals too

What are you thankful for?

The moment of truth has arrived. Dun Dun Dun… A total loss of four pounds! I know it’s not a drastic number, but for a three week period I think that’s a pretty reasonable and sustainable one – it’s a loss so I’ll take it! This wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but I also did have some “cheat” moments that I could should have spared.  I noticed that overall I felt less bloated, had more energy and felt full throughout the day! With that said, I want to continue this detox all the way until Christmas – excluding Thanksgiving day, obvi!

Moving on to the good stuff – cookies! Well, I’ll admit I got a little out of control with the baking last night. I finished two different batches of cookies; Chocolate Truffle Cookies w/Sea Salt,and Pumpkin Spiced Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies w/Sea Salt

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Baking Chips, for melting into the cookie dough
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Baking Chips, for mixing into the prepared cookie dough (I used semi-sweet to switch it up)
• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt, or as needed (I didn’t have coarse sea salt on hand)

Directions

1. In a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Turn off the stove and let chocolate sit over warm water. (I just microwaved them for 2 minutes at power50)
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. In another bowl, mix together sugar and eggs, combine thoroughly with a whisk and slowly add the warm chocolate mixture. Stir to combine. Add vanilla extract and mix. Stir in flour mixture. Cool for a few minutes (if batter is warm, chocolate chips will melt). Stir in chocolate chips. Chill for 10-15 minutes.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter and place on baking tray. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with a pinch of sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 7-8 minutes (mine needed 20 min and came out perfect) until the outside looks slightly cracked. Be very careful not to over bake cookies because they will continue to bake as they cool once removed from the oven. Cookies should be soft and gooey in the center.

Pre-Bake:

Finished Goods: bomb.com

Up Next…

Pumpkin Spiced Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar (I used closer to 3/4 cup)
• 1 large egg
• 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree (I used organic pumpkin)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until smooth. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and pumpkin puree in one, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined (do not overmix).
3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto two baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets once during baking. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks, and cool completely.

Pre-Bake:

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 (8)oz Cream Cheese

1/2  stick of unsalted butter

1 T Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon

2-3 C. Powdered Sugar (I used 2)

 

Directions:

1. Mix together the softened cream cheese and softened butter.

2. Mix in cinnamon and vanilla

3. Mix in powdered sugar

I of course love both of them, but my dad says the pumpkin cookies are the winner (and slightly healthier too!) My baking duties are over for this holiday, so tonight I’m going to treat myself to a nice relaxing class of hatha yoga to prep for my 10k tomorrow  Wish me luck!!