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!

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!!

According to my training schedule, I’m off duty up until race day. What’s a girl to do with all this time on her hands? Why bake of course! I must say, this recipe from Whole Foods that I’m about to show you is incredibly easy – with only five ingredients – yes, only five and it tastes amazing!! If you love peanut butter that is

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies: (flour-less!)

Ingredients

1 large egg
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup creamy unsweetened peanut butter (Costco’s organic natural peanut butter)
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat together egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand-held mixer. Beat in the peanut butter. Stir in chocolate chips if using.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, pressing lightly with the back of a fork. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly set. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Nutrition

Per serving (3 cookies): 200 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 6g protein, 19g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 16g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 210mg sodium

Final Goods:

As you can see, I had a few pieces of dark chocolate chips left so I put them on top and I also broke off a small piece of the cookie because I just had to try them! Final verdict: A-MAY-ZING! Another way to make these is to put a thumb print instead of the fork print before you bake and place a Hershey’s kiss on top!

If you love peanut butter you have to try these! Happy Baking

Alright, so the moment of truth has arrived this week and I’m disappointed to say that my weight has stayed the same. However, this came to me at no surprise so I can’t really be that disappointed about it.

How was this not a surprise you ask? Well, my “cheating” got a little out of hand last weekend and I guess you could say early this week too (late night nut consumption.) Although I’m not cheating on horrible things like chips or cookies, overdosing on nuts and raisins isn’t that much better when you’re on a mission. This is a perfect example of how overeating healthy foods can still weaken your weight-loss efforts. Now, it’s obviously better to be eating foods that have nutritional value, but when it boils down to it nuts have a lot of fat (good fat) and raisins have a lot of sugar (natural sugar) so when you combine those in proportions big enough to cause a stomach ache, the results will not be satisfactory.

To point out the positive angle of all this, I have managed to maintain my three pound weight-loss, kept up with my workout routine and have been eating better-for-me foods overall.  Also, this little bump in the road will motivate me further to not grab that extra handful of peanuts while watching Revenge tonight.

On a lighter note, I finally made my decision on what dessert(s) I want to make for Thanksgiving. The first is a small variation to Martha Stewart’s “Chocolate-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.” Instead of glazing with chocolate, I’m going to glaze with cinnamon cheesecake frosting made from scratch.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour ( I will probably substitute with 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
• 1 large egg
• 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree

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 over mix).
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.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C (half stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 t vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (add more to taste)
• 2-3 C powdered sugar (add more or less to make it a stiffness that you like)

1. Mix cream cheese and butter well.
2. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Add powdered sugar.

Read more: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/09/cinnamon-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe.html#ixzz1dt0C3HHk

The second is an Ice-Cream Pumpkin Pie. Who doesn’t love ice-cream?!

Ingredients

• 18 graham cracker boards
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
• 1 pint chocolate chip ice cream, softened
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 cup solid pack pumpkin
• Chocolate curls for garnish, optional