Run Anna Run

This morning, the alarm went off and I did not want to get out of bed.  But then I remembered that I have never regretted a workout...so I got my butt out of bed and went to the gym!  And the best part was, I had an awesome run.  I watched the Bethany Frankel gets Married show or whatever that is on Bravo and the time flew by!  I also did some strength training....to feel a bit more toned.  A summary of the workout went something like this:

Tomorrow morning I am going to a spin class with Ellen and Amanda...should be a rockin good time at 6am!  :)

Two Easy Dessert Recipies

I think the easiest dessert recipe to make is pudding...simply pour two cups of milk in a package of pudding mix and stir for two mintues.  Five minutes later you have something that looks...delicious  not so appealing...but tastes good!  :)

Another easy dessert recipe is Apple Crisp...its fun, refreshing, but also tastes AND looks delicious!  :)
We made apple crisp last night using this recipe from allrecipes.com:

Apple Oatmeal Crisp

Rated: Submitted By: Dave Behnke Photo By: chocoluvs Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour Servings: 8

"Apples are baked with a crunchy oat crust on the top and bottom."

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar 1 cup rolled oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup butter, melted

3 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped 1/2 cup white sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Lightly grease an 8 inch square pan.
2.	In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. Spread the apples evenly over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and top with remaining crumb mixture.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. It was super easy and so good to eat!  First you have to peel, core and cut the apples.  Having one of these nifty machines makes it so much more fun!  I picked one up the last time I was at an apple orchard, and let me tell you it is well worth it.  So easy and when you are done, you have a spiral apple with no skin!  Awesome! Then cut the apples into bite size pieces.  (Super simple after they are already in the spiral shape!) Then layer the crumbly brown sugar, flour and oatmeal mix with the apples.  With some sprinkles of cinnamon!  Pour some more of the crumbly mix on top and pop it in the oven!  And its done! Thumbs up for apples!  Two thumbs up for apple crisp!

Running Returns....

I mentioned a few days ago that running has been missing in my life.  Well it's back!  :)

I decided that I am just going to run 3 miles a day.  At the least.  That is what I have to do.  No excuses.  Wish me luck!  :)  I think we all have experienced how hard it is to stay in a routine...but I figure the first two weeks are the worst, and I dont have big travel plans in the next two weeks, so there shouldn't be any reason why I can run for 30 minutes a day!  I started yesterday, and ran this morning already, so we are 2/2! 

And for extra inspiration, here are a few of my favorite running quotes:

And my favorite running quotes:

Wild Game and Apples

It's beginning to feel like fall!  Some highlights from the past few days include -

The Wild Game - Thursday night...love complimentary tickets!  :)

 Apple Orchard!

 And Caramel Apples! 

Hope you are enjoying the fall days as well!  :)

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

On this dreary day in Minnesota, I decided the best thing to do was....bake cookies!

I searched online for a good cookie recipe and found this one for Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  With a name like that, I figured I couldn't go wrong!  :)

Here is the recipe:

Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  

First the dough was made....             

Then the cookies were baked....

And the cookies were done...

(Notice the bottom right corner...there's a cookie missing! 

Thanks to the roommates for taste testing!  ;)

They were delicious!  The name says it all! 

There has been lots of laughing and living going on with this blog...and not so much running! 

Oh well, maybe in the next few days, that part of the blog will be highlighted!  Until then...chocolate chip cookies and diet coke for a bedtime snack!  :)

Long time - no blogging!

It has been over a week since I have made my presence known and updated you on my CRAZY life on here!  Well here is a quick recap:

• Nails Done
• Dress Bought
• Dress Altered
• Hair Done
• Worked Lots
• One of my closest friends got married!  :)  Woo hoo!

It was a crazy weekend, but SO much fun!  My calves STILL hurt today from dancing all night!  Looks like I will have to strengthen those calves hardcore before Ellen's wedding next June! 

Tonight I went on a fantastic walk with Kristin.  Its so fun to talk, crunch leaves, and watch Joey sniff everything he can find!  :)

Then, Ellen called and said she found a new FRO-YO (Frozen Yogurt for those not in the loop yet) place near Ford Pkwy, so Laura and I went with her to check out MENCHIES!  It was a pretty standard frozen yogurt place - lots of flavors, lots of toppings, but this place just made you want to SMILE.  Yes, they told me to have a "smiley day" when I paid.  I also joined the "Smile" club, fit with its own passport:

When I asked the (clearly new) employee what benefits the smile club had, she said oh you get $5 off for every 50 smiles you get.  I said, "how do you get smiles?  She says, "you get one smile for every cup of yogurt you buy."  I looked at her with a crazy face....are you telling me that it is going to take me coming here 50 times before I get $5 off....geez!  At almost $4 per cup thats $200 spent and $5 off...AWESOME rewards program.  She looked at the crazy look I was giving her and her co-worker confirmed that you get 1 smile, for every dollar you spend there.  Now that sounds more reasonable!  Greatest relief of my life!  :)

Hope you had a smiley day!  If not, try MENCHIES near Ford Pkwy!  :)

Guess who is 25???

Guess who has joined the quarter of a century club???  Laura!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!

In honor of the big day, we finished making the cake balls and also made one of the greatest and "healthiest" dips around.  Its healthy, only because it has dairy and protein.  I mixed cream cheese, mozzorella cheese, Franks hot sauce, chicken, ranch dressing and bleu cheese dressing and dumped it all in a crock pot - and you have BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP!  :)

Next - we finished the cake balls.  If you missed the first part to this recipe, Click Here!

After the cake balls are frozen, you need to dip them in chocolate.  They are actually good without the chocolate but I think at least a little chocolate makes every recipe better!  To melt chocolate I learned to add a little Crisco shortening....it worked quite well.  I still have some work to do until they are magazine worthy, but for only my third attempt...I'll take it!  (The first two attempts were disasters, and resulted in very few cake balls with chocolate on them!)  

I used toothpicks to help with the dipping and then take the toothpicks after the chocolate has hardended.  I picked out a few of the best cake balls to take a close up picture of.  After dipping the cake balls, I keep them in the refridgerator, and just take one (or two or three) out at a time to eat!  I would highly recommend this recipe.  It takes some time...but is definitely worth it! 

Today was a good Monday!  Can't say that every week!  :)