Playing Catch-Up

I often feel like I have zero time during the work week.  I wake up, drive an hour (and some) to work…work…drive an hour (and some) home.  I’m gone from 6:30 am to 5 pm.  With an average bedtime of 9 -10 pm that leaves me just four or five hours to eat dinner, (maybe) get some exercise in, and spend time with my husband.

I've been pretty busy on the weekends, but haven’t really put in the effort to jot it all down.

Mexatini  and Chips and Salsa at Rudy's Cafe in Somerville

Cinco de Mayo-  We got a quote from a roofer and decided to look at the houses he’s done.  As luck would have it, one of them was in Somerville.  I decided I needed to have pulled pork quesadillas for dinner, but didn't want to spend 12 hours smoking pork butt.  We decided to grab a drink at Rudy’s Café and then get take-out pulled pork (and a few beers) at Redbones.  

The ingredients for a GREAT night!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!

It was an EXCELLENT idea!  The quesadilla’s were amazing and the margaritas we made were amazing.  The hangover the next day… not so much.

Mother’s Day Weekend- I actually had to work Saturday morning… not fun.  Mark and I went to The Tap in Haverhill for dinner (Oh!! That reminds me…I still have the Chicken thigh and leg leftovers in my fridge, yum!).  I have a new favorite dish there that I forgot to take a picture of... Smoked Half Chicken.  You may be saying "you had me at 'smoked'"...It's smoked half chicken with a spicy porcini mushroom BBQ sauce and is served with coleslaw and polenta fries that have grated cheese in them.  You really can't get much better than that.  All my favorite things and a delicious cold beer to wash it down with.  I've been really into their Whittier White, which is a Belgian Style white ale (think Sam Summer or Blue Moon...that sort of style). 

Found on www.pintley.com

I went to my parents house after work on Saturday and cooked them my favorite healthy version of General Tso’s Chicken from Skinny Taste.  I omitted the sriracha and offered it later as an add-your-own-hot-stuff condiment.  We had it with steamed broccoli and they loved it.

The lime coconut cheesecake I made!

I needed to make a dessert to bring to my aunt's house the next day and had decided on trying my hand at a lime coconut cheesecake.  

It took a LOT longer to make than I was expecting, but it was so worth it to hear all the "Mmmmm"s and "oh my god, this is delicious".  Not to toot my own horn... it was pretty freaking awesome.

I got the recipe from Our Best Bites...a site I probably shouldn't make a habit of visiting too often.  Their recipes all look WAY too good!

All this food talk and not too much about the running I should be doing.  The week I started the blog I was nursing a sore knee from a race the previous weekend.  Ugh!  I feel like I'm so full of excuses, lately:

1. My knee hurt from the previous race.

2. My shoulder was tweaked from drunken Cinco de Mayo and I didn't want to exasperate it.

3. Couldn't make it to the gym because I had to stay late at work.

4. Forgot my contacts and couldn't make it to the gym.

5. Too freaking tired.

6. Had to get (random) stuff done before the next day.

At the time, they seem like legitimate excuses... but really they're just super lame.

I have a 10K race this weekend in Norwell, Ma.  It's a race to benefit Autism, Evan's Run.  I'm really looking forward to it, but I need to get a little distance on my legs so I can do better than last year.

Tomorrow.... I will do 3 miles.