Workouts

Monday- I didn’t get in a morning run. I needed to renew tags/title over my lunch break. So, once I got home from picking up little man, I ran inside to get the stroller and cover, then ran to the local track (#RunChat scavenger hunt item!), ran a couple laps, and then home – 1.37 miles

Tuesday- 5 cold, breezy, damp miles over my lunch break (knocked the “bridge” off my #RunChat scavenger hunt list!)

Wednesday-easy 3 mi run to the linear trail (knocked “trail” off my #RunChat list) and back

Thursday- Too busy at work to get away for too long – quick out and back (holiday inflatable form the #RunChat list!) – 1 mi

Friday- Took a nice lunch run to the park and back (school zone sign from the #RunChat list!) – 4.18 mi

Saturday- I met up with the Manhattan Runners and went for a 6 mile run – the wind was a little killer on the way back, but overall, it was a nice morning run! I decided to add the “something that best represents my city” to my run today #RunChat

Sunday- With the hubs out hunting, I conserved my energy for the Winter Runderland 5K in the afternoon – 3.1 mi

Total miles: 23.75 miles – a good start to the month (a steady base before marathon training plan starts in a couple weeks!)

 

Meal Planning

I am going to change things up a little. In the past, I have posted a recap of the meals that I ate the previous week – but now I am going to state the meals/snacks that I plan to eat or have prepped for the upcoming week. In doing this, I hope that I will be able to prep over the weekend and first of the week with specific meals in mind! I was able to prep a little this past weekend – I plan on making an oatmeal bake after work today (probably after the little guy goes to bed).

Breakfasts

Oatmeal Bake (from tonight’s baking)
Egg Bake w/vegetables (Meal prep over weekend)
Toast w/apple butter (homemade) and banana w/PB

Lunch

Venison Bake (from Saturday’s prep)
Leftovers from dinners

Snack

Yogurt, fruit, hemp hearts
low carb tortilla, banana w/PB
cottage cheese & vegetables
hard boiled eggs (1 whole egg and a few egg whites) & carrots
miscellaneous protein/snack bar

Dinner (very possible these change…but at least I have a plan!)

M – Venison Bake (from Saturday’s prep)
T – Chicken nuggets w/cheese and carrots
W – Spaghetti w/venison meat sauce, cheese bread
T – Leftovers
F – Leftovers
S – Dinner out – Red Robin for dad’s 70^th birthday w/family
S – not sure (traveling, leftovers)

Weekend Happenings

Friday

I worked all day Friday and didn’t plan on having any evening plans. When I ran to the bank to get money for daycare, there was a lady talking about the Christmas parade that same evening that started at 5:30 pm. Huh…that sounds like something fun! Since the weather was super nice this day, I thought that would be a good change of scenery for the little guy. So after work, I picked up the little man and we went down to Aggieville to get a bite to eat and settled to watch the parade.

 

We got Chipotle for dinner but the little man didn’t care for it, oh well! He also didn’t want to sit still while I tried to eat. So we went for a walk up and down Aggieville. We went into Acme Gift and then to Subway for a bag of chips and a drink (at least he ate something other than candy from the parade!). We sat on the curb and watched what we could of the parade go by (there was a family that thought that if they stood in the middle of the street, they were going to see more of the parade go by…whatever). Eventually, I stood up with little man so we could see a little better. He was super excited for the band and the cars all decorated with lights!

Once the parade was over, we started walking to the car. The near-by park, Triangle Park, is where they were going to light the Mayor’s Christmas Tree – so I decided to stay a little longer and watch the lights. Not a total bad decision, but the little guy was getting tired and crazy…and wanted to run all over the place. So I let him wander around for a bit, they lit the tree, and then it was time to go. On the way out, there was a Santa sitting and taking pictures with kids. Okay, I could go for that… I stood in line for 2 minutes and then it was our turn… Well, that didn’t go well! Little man was not happy about me sitting him on Santa’s lap…and I have a feeling that this is going to happen again when he meets Santa at Grandpa’s work, Bass Pro. We shall see what happens…

Saturday

I started off the weekend with a 6 mile run with the Manhattan Running Club. The temp was not too cold, but the wind seemed to pick up more and more as we were out.

I stopped by Starbucks on my way home for a post run brew…so good!

Once home, I showered and then got the little man up (since he was upset I was showering without him). Once we were all dressed, I rustled breakfast around, fed the little man, started a load of laundry, put the clean dishes away, refilled the dishwasher, and cleaned up the counters so I had room for the meal prepping later in the afternoon. Once everything was tidied up, we were off to the Farmer’s Market!

 

There are always so many great things at the market – fresh breads, fresh produce, cute gift ideas, etc. I really enjoy getting some of my vegetables from the markets – but they don’t always have what I am looking for.

There was a vendor, whom I always seem to purchase something from, and she was selling 10 pound bags of apples for $5…so I had her set a bag aside for me. On our way out, I asked if she was taking credit cards (since she usually does and I forgot cash), and she said no. **whomp whomp** Okay. Since the bank is on this side of town, I decided that I was just going to go get some cash…

On the way to the bank, I decided to stop by the local running shop, Manhattan Running Co., to get my tee and bib for the run on Sunday. In and out, no problem! Except…the little guy likes to wander around…so we were there a little longer than the “in and out” but no harm done…(except we are getting into the “nap time” time frame, so we are running on borrowed time).

After leaving the running store and going by the bank, we were back at the market. I got the apples I wanted – and then saw another vendor with spaghetti squash and kale that I wanted as well. On the way out, we bought the hubs a pulled pork sandwich and a few cookies for lunch (also gave him an apple from the huge bag!).

Soon, we were back on the road to take the hubs a small lunch. Yes, he did make the comment that he was going to be hungry again in a few hours, but…take what you can get, ha! The little man was all over the place at the hubs work…giving everyone high fives and fist pounds – and then the eye rubs began. TIME TO GO HOME.

I was able to get the little guy down for a nap relatively easily. Then I started cooking!

I started with making some homemade crock pot apple butter. The last time I made this, I peeled all the apples before grating them. This time I didn’t peel them, I just chopped them and then used the “onion slicer” to dice the apples into smaller chunks. I ended up using both crock pots full of apples because so much cooked off the last time I made it. Once they were through the first 4 hours of cooking, I was able to put all the apples into only 1 crock pot for the final 4 hours of cooking.

Once the apples were started, I decided that since I already was cutting up apples, I make a batch of apple chips! Into the dehydrator they go!

Next, I started making my egg bake for the week – 1 of the spaghetti squash I bought was going to be the main vegetable! I poked the squash and cooked it until tender. Once it cooled, I cut it in half and scraped all the squash strings out and into 2 baking pans. I added some frozen peppers/onions and the eggs – baked and ready for the week!

Around this time, the little man was waking up from his nap. We ate some lunch and then headed out to the grocery and hobby stores. Groceries, check! Hobby Lobby (buttons for the hubs winter coat), check!

Once home again, I put away the dishes and started another load from the mess I made already this morning. The laundry was then changed out and I was thinking about starting dinner. I found an easy “Hamburger Bake” earlier in the week – and I changed out the hamburger with venison (since we have quite a bit in the freezer). It turned out pretty well, and will be my lunches this week until it is gone!

Sunday

I slept in Sunday morning – with the hubs out hunting, I am tied to the house until the little man wakes up. Around 8 am, the little man was rustling to get around, so we got the day started. After breakfast, little man and I went back to the store of the couple of items that we forgot the day before. When we got back, the little guy was just in a “hold me” mood, so I broke out the carrier and he helped me do dishes, can and heat seal the apple butter (that cooled in the same crock pot overnight), and start making a batch of pumpkin bread. While he only tolerated being in the carrier for 20-30 minutes, that time was well spent getting things done without my arm falling off form holding a 30 pound little boy.

Not long after the bread was completed, it was time for his nap.

While he was down, I started cutting up apples for another batch of apple chips in the dehydrator.

Then, I started making the some treats for my friend who had her baby on Thursday. I made 2 venison bake/pies (similar to last nights dinner), sending along a few of the pumpkin breads (made them in mini loaf pans), and a batch of “lactation” cookies (the only difference between these and standard monster oatmeal cookies is the addition of brewer’s yeast). I also grabbed a box of oatmeal from the pantry and the last box of Mother’s Milk tea. By the time it was all packed up, we were taking her quite a haul! I also made a batch of energy balls since I had most of the ingredients out already.

Around 2:30 pm, the hub came home from a successful deer hunt and was able to watch the little man while I went out for the Winter Runderland 5K. The race was fun – a little mix of trails and street running (I wasn’t expecting the trails, but oh well!). As always, I started off fast – which I was alright with. The problem came due to my 6 mile run the morning before and the hills after mile 1. That hill really took the wind out of my sails…and it took me a bit to get back to pace. I was doing well again until around mile 2.5-ish when I got a killer side cramp! I tried to relieve it with some different breathing, but the only thing that started to help was slowing my pace. Oh well, I was hoping that I could have a new PR today, but I am okay with my time and effort!

After the run, I went home and quickly cleaned up. The little man was down for another nap, which I could tell he needed before I left for the race, and the hub was relaxing. We made it out to the new parents’ house around 5:15 pm and just relaxed and talked for a few hours. Miss Brooklyn is so little! I didn’t even hold her…but I was okay with just watching everyone else hold her while I kept the little man from going crazy.

And that’s a wrap! Another weekend of fun in the books! The hubs will be out of town this week and I will be traveling back home next weekend, so that should be an interesting week too 🙂

 

How was your weekend?

Did you have any holiday themed races last weekend?

Have you or your kiddos had an interesting encounter with Santa this year?

I love hearing from you! Please and thank you for taking the time to comment and start a conversation!

 

I am linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap Up and other great bloggers for weekly updates and meal planning! Thank you Erin, Meghan, and Katie for the link ups! I love going through a lot of the links and meeting new bloggers 🙂