Creamy White Chicken Chili

This is one of my favorite recipes for a cold snowy day. Comfort food. A simple filling one pot meal. Makes for great leftovers too. You can cut out the fat by pureeing a can of beans to thicken up the chili and leaving out the heavy cream and sour cream. Original recipe is from the Taste of Home website and can be found HERE. I made some minor changes. I don't rinse my beans because I want that extra "bean juice" to thicken the chili.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth
2 15.5 oz cans of great northern beans
2 4 oz cans chopped green chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
sour cream to taste

In a large pot, heat oil and sauté chicken, onion, and garlic powder until chicken is no longer pink.

Add chicken broth, beans, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

 

 

Remove from heat and stir in heavy whipping cream. The original recipe calls for stirring in a cup of sour cream too. At our house I just let everyone get their bowl of chili and then add as much or as little sour cream as they want in their individual bowls.

 

 

Enjoy and stay warm!

Derby Training Week 6

Last week was a struggle. I don't know if it's the cold or what but all I want to do is crawl in bed and stay there. This week will be crazy due to an erratic work schedule but I'm hoping to get some better runs in. Here's the down low on last week...

Sunday - rest
Monday - 7 miles
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - kettlebell class
Thursday - 7 miles, about 9 minute mile pace
Friday - 10 miles
Saturday - 3 miles

Week 6 Total: 30 miles

I missed my kettlebell class this morning because I didn't get home from work until 1 am and when the alarm went off at 4:30 am I just couldn't get up. I did get out later in the morning and get 8 miles in at the fitness center.

Hoping to share some more recipes and coupon deals this week. The weekend paper had 4 coupon inserts so I'm ready to do some shopping and cooking!

The Reality of It All

Epic. The word resounds in my head. I want to have an epic year. DO things. So I go go go... then I have days that I feel like my life is totally bipolar...

Last week was great. I hit all my workouts and stuck to my schedule. I got all my me things done. Going to work really wears me out. When I went into Emergency Medicine, I was your stereotypical ER doc. Adrenaline junkie. Work hard. Play hard. When I'm at work, I am ON all the time. You have to be or you won't make it. What I like about my job is that I clock in, work, then clock OUT and I'm DONE. Nothing to bring home. No "homework." I can do whatever I want. Play hard.

Working three days in a row just sucks the life out of me though. Perhaps I'm just getting too old for this. Anyway, I spent almost all day yesterday sleeping.

Background on this weekend... I worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hubs is out of town. Inlaws are doing the snowbird thing in Florida. We sent the kids to spend the weekend with their grandparents in Florida since we thought they would be out of school yesterday for Martin Luther King Day. My plans were to come home to a nice quiet house and get some housework done. The reality was that I was too tired every night and all I did was flop in bed and catch up on things on the internet.

So, Monday morning... plan is to get up at 4:30 am for kettlebell class and get a 7 mile run in before picking the kids up at the airport at noon, then maybe go to hot yoga at 7pm - it is my day off after all! Alarm goes off. I simply cannot get out of bed. I reset it for 9:30 am and go back to bed. I finally got up in time to go to the airport.

Got the kids and fell off the grocery budget wagon too... well, kind of... I think I'm still under $500 for the month. They wanted Panda Express for lunch. Went to Panda... came home. I fell asleep on the couch. It was one of those wonderful delicious naps where you just melt into the couch into a deep dreamless sleep. Ahhh.... Then I woke up at 4 pm. Ugh... still have to get my run in. Went to the fitness center and got my 7 in. Came home and the kids wanted to go out again. I didn't have the energy to cook so we hit Luca's Pizza for dinner, then Ella's Frozen Yogurt for dessert. Then, I let them stay up til 11 pm watching bad reality TV. Yes, I'm a pushover...

Which leads me to this... my reality. I want epic things for myself. But some days you have to stop trying to be so epic all the time and live your life... take a nap, go to three fast food joints in 6 hours and enjoy it!

I think the Big Guy was looking out for me when I let the kids stay up last night. They got a snow day today. I was suppose to go to hot yoga at 10:30 am. Then, I decided, I'd rather stay home. Life's too short to do things you don't enjoy. I don't enjoy hot yoga. I desperately wanted to like it - to be like one of those strong relaxed models in the Athleta catalog - but I can't. It stresses me out. It's not in a convenient location. It's only offered 3 times a week and none of those times are super convenient for me either. Maybe I will try yoga again somewhere else but this class is just not working out for me. So... I've made a conscious decision to not go anymore. I like my kettlebell class. Even though it's at a God-awful time, I enjoy going. Now that I'm rested, I'm ready to go again tomorrow!

So where is all this rambling taking me... I keep thinking back to something that Beck Weathers said. Beck was the climber on Rob Hall's fateful 1996 Everest expedition that was literally left for dead on the mountain before getting himself back to the high camp where he then got airlifted off the mountain. I went to a Wilderness Medicine conference several years ago specifically to meet him because he was one of the featured speakers. He talked about how he had spent most of his life chasing things... chasing accomplishments, chasing summits, etc. thinking they would fill his life and give him happiness. After his near-death experience on Everest though, he discovered that all the people and things he really cared about were right at home. He just had to stop and hold still long enough to realize this.

Sometimes I feel (OK, I know) I need to stop and hold still. Have fun with my family. Figure out what really makes me happy vs. all the things I think will make me happy. This week, I'm concentrating on home. I have more stuff to get rid of...

Hope to have the after photos soon...

I spent the morning letting my daughter make a lemon chess pie all by herself...

...and smelling the roses, or, more like finding the deer tracks on the snow.

My yard, just past Belle's invisible fence line

 

Be real and enjoy the present today!



 

Derby Training Week 5

This week was a better week. I survived my first week of Russian kettlebell classes and I got all my runs in. Pretty solid week.

Sunday - 3 miles
Monday - kettlebell class, 7 miles
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - kettlebell class, 7 miles
Thursday - 14 miles
Friday - kettlebell class, 3 miles
Saturday - rest

Week 5 Total: 34 miles

The 14 on Thursday was tough. I was TIRED. I almost quit after 9 but got my head together and was able to finish. This week was a building week so no pace run.

I decided to keep my graze.com subscription for a while longer. I really enjoyed treating myself to the snacks after my runs. Plus, I like the portion control. There's only one... if I had more I would have eaten them too! (loved the flapjacks) and, as I suspected, my friendcodes are unlimited.

I had a Western States pow wow with John tonight. Looks like I'll be ramping up my mileage after Derby training is over. He can have a pacer after 62 miles. He will probably have me and one other person split up the miles to keep him entertained and not get lost. I'm looking forward to it!

I Need A Secretary

I decided early on that I wanted to do some epic sh!t this year... lot's of stuff that I've been wanting or meaning to do for years but never got organized enough to do or chase. I think having this blog helps me get it all out in black and white... written out instead of just dreams floating around in my head.

So I signed up for stuff...

I registered for a Wilderness Medicine conference held at Big Sky in Montana. It happens in February. I've wanted to go for years but was never organized enough to ask for the time off work - until this year. I even signed up for the extra workshops in Wilderness and Urban Survival, Wilderness Navigation, and Winter Survival. These classes are led by a Navy Seal instructor. I am stoked!

I signed up for the Derby Marathon in April because I believe my best chance of qualifying for Boston is there.

I signed up for my scary kettlebell classes because I believe that will help me get to Boston.

I decided to help my friend John run the race of a lifetime - the Western States 100 - the granddaddy of ultras - in June as his pacer and part of his crew. This one kind of fell into my lap as he was the one that qualified and then got drawn but I jumped into the opportunity with both feet. Then, I found an amazing medical conference on ultra running and endurance sports that takes place a couple days before the race so I jumped on that too!

Exciting stuff.

Then... I was reading some posts by my fellow Sole Sisters about finding lodging for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth in June or, more like, the lack of it and that everything was sold out already.

Arghh... I suppose I have to find lodging and make travel arrangements for all the stuff I've signed up for! Well, I tried to get a hotel room at the hotel my Wilderness Medicine conference was being held at. Sold out. Of course. The conference is next month after all. I did find a room at a hotel that is suppose to me "a two minute walk" from my conference. I got plane tickets. I still need to rent a car...

I have to figure out how to stay on track with my running while in Montana. Still working on that. I wonder how cold it is outside in Montana in February?

Derby Marathon. My husband and I are making a weekend of it. It seems like all the hotels have jacked their prices up for that weekend. Figures. I ended up using some Expedia Rewards points for a hotel in downtown Louisville. I think that should do it. Hopefully there's not anything else I need to worry about reserving for that weekend... but restaurant for Saturday after the race? Maybe?

Western States. WAY excited. WAY WAY overwhelmed. All I know is that I need to be in Squaw Valley, CA by June 23rd. Still need plane tickets. Still need to figure out where I'm staying. Still need to get the course map - it is 100 miles long after all - see who else can help us - see where the aid stations are. Plan food/nutrition/hydration, when to start pacing, who's driving and dropping off stuff...should I get lodging in Auburn (the finish)?

Then... my friend sends me an article on pacing/crewing... last sentence of the article...

"Life becomes blissfully simple when the only things in the universe are a runner, a trail and a finish line."

Ummm... I think I need a secretary to get there!

Kettlebells

click HERE for website

 

 

So this is where I was at 5:15 am on Monday morning. A total newbie. Clueless. Luckily there were about 30 other newbies just like me taking orders from a way too chipper firefighter/kettlebell instructor at 5:15 in the morning.

 

The class itself wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't die. I did almost knock myself out though.

 

I have NO... and I mean ABSOLUTELY NONE!... upper body strength. I have weird arms that hyperextend and I had a shoulder that would dislocate once a month until I got it surgically fixed several years ago. I therefore have always avoided weight lifting arm exercises. It's one of those things that I always thought I should do once I got my shoulder fixed but never got around to doing... until now.

 

So... we get to class. All the newbies get herded together to an upstairs gym. We're told to take off our shoes so we can balance better on our feet. Then we're told to grab a kettlebell. Ummm... lightest kettlebell they have out is 18 lbs. Crap. I hadn't planned on lifting anything over 10, maybe 15 lbs MAX.

 

We warm up with pushups. Then we learn how to do a deadlift, then a swing. So far so good. Then we have to do a one arm thrust, lifting the kettlebell from chest height to over your head. Not so good. I can't lift it over my head. I can't get it anywhere close to my head! I make several attempts at knocking myself out while trying to the kettlebell above my head. Then, the instructor magically produces a lighter kettlebell for me. Hallelujah! I'm not proud. I just want to lift the durn thing over my head.

 

We move on to squats. Then we're done. I'm thinking "that wasn't too bad." Right. 6 hours later... I can hardly move! Everything but my back hurt. It was a total body workout.

 

All I know about kettlebells is what I read on the School of Strength website. It's actually a pretty informative site so if you're interested, go check it out and click on the tabs across the top for more information. I picked it because it's at the high school 5 minutes from my house (anything I do at 5:15 am better be 5 minutes from my house) and I read a couple articles in some local publications that recommended it.

 

Yesterday I was REALLY sore. This morning I stumbled out of bed and got to class a bit early. I found my "special" light kettlebell for the arm stuff and used the 18lb one for everything else. We added one arm swings and one arm rows to our repertoire. 45 minutes went really fast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt a whole lot less sore after class today. I even did a 7 mile run later in the morning and my legs felt really good! Tomorrow I'm suppose to run 14 so I hope they continue to feel good.

 

Have you tried any new exercises this year?  

Derby Training Week 4 Summary

This was a chaotic week. I'm glad it's over. I'm ready to start a new week. The weather played havoc on my schedule. I was looking forward to the kids going back to school so everyone would go to bed early and I could get some SLEEP! That didn't happen.

Sunday - "rest" day; got up at 4:30 am to go to work before the snow hit
Monday - snowed in, didn't get any running in (missed a 3 miler)
Tuesday - got up at 4:30 am to go to work; family drama when I got home (missed a 3 miler)
Wednesday - 6 miles
Thursday - "rest" day; got up at 4:30 am to go to work; taught dance in the evening
Friday - 6 miles; my pace run

Pace summary: 8:45, 8:45, 8:45, 8:50, 9:22, 8:46
Average pace: 8:50.5
It wasn't as bad as my failed run last week but wasn't a huge confidence booster either.

The kids didn't go back to school until Friday so everyone was up til the wee hours of the morning again for most of this week and I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night.

Saturday - 13 miles

Week 4 total miles: 25

I was suppose to start my 5:15 am Russian kettlebell class at the high school this week. However, the class doesn't meet if school is canceled or there is a 2-hour delay, therefore there was no class this week. First class will be tomorrow morning. I'm scared. Good night!

Deals for the New Year

You can tell it's January. Everyone's on a diet and working out... or at least that's what all the manufacturers think. This past weekend's paper was loaded with 5 coupon inserts and a boatload of diet food deals. While I'm not on a diet, I am a Diet Coke addict. Plus, I'm always looking for a deal on protein drinks to drink after my long runs since I simply cannot eat in that "golden hour" after my run. So this is what I found...

CVS DEALS

 

Slimfast 4 pack protein meal shakes are on sale 2/$10.00

If you spend $15, you get $5 in  Extra Care Bucks

If you spend $30, you get $12 in Extra Care Bucks

 

Each shake has 190 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 25 grams of carbs.

 

The recommended protein intake after a workout is generally between 10-20 grams of protein, plus carbs in a 1:4 ratio. So if you take in 10 grams of protein, take in 40 grams of carbs. I don't pay that much attention to the carbs since I've never met a carb I didn't like. It's the protein I have problems with.

 

There were coupons in the Sunday paper for Slimfast, Buy a 4 pack protein meal shake, get another Slimfast product of equal or lesser value for free. There is a limit of 2 identical coupons per transaction for this coupon. I buy 4 weekend papers every week so I had 4 of them. There are also printables at www.redplum.com for $5 off 2 Slimfast products. You can print this coupon twice per computer.

 

I decided to do the spend $30, get $12 deal. I also had $6 in Extra Care Bucks to use. I used 3 coupons from the paper in two transactions. I ended up paying $9 out of pocket, got 6 4-packs of Slimfast, and got a $12 Extra Care Buck.

 

If you do this with just the available coupons, you will pay $15 out of pocket, get 6 4-packs of Slimfast, and end up with a $12 Extra Care Buck to use on your next purchase.

 

Next up was the Diet Coke deal. My "buy" price on Diet Coke is $2.50 a 12-pack. CVS had 12 packs 3 for $10. However, if you spent $30, you get a $10 Extra Care Buck. You can only buy 6 12-packs at a time so again I had to due multiple transactions. I also had 3 free 12-pack coupons that I got from www.mycokerewards.com from their Wednesday deal last month and for some reason the register would only let me use one free coupon per transaction.

 

So...

 

Transaction #1

3 12-packs    10.00

free coupon   -3.33

                       6.67 + 0.47 tax = 7.14

 

Transaction #2

1 12-pack   3.34 - free coupon + tax = 0.23

 

Transaction #3

5 12-packs             16.67

free coupon             -3.33

Extra Care Buck   -12.00

                                 1.34 + 1.17 tax = 2.51

 

Total for 9 12-packs of Diet Coke: 9.88, plus I got another $10 Extra Care Buck to use in the future.

 

If you did this without the free coupons and just rolled the Extra Care Buck, it would be $18 + tax for 9 12-packs and you would get the $10 Extra Care Buck - so still a pretty good deal.

 

Paid $18.88 total; got a $10 Extra Care Buck (ECB) for future use

 

Price with just available coupons would be $33+tax and you'd have a $10 ECB.

Still a pretty good deal.

 

 

 

 

WALGREENS DEAL

 

I used the $5 off 2 Slimfast printables at Walgreens. They have Slimfast snack bar boxes on sale for $2.99. So 0.98 + tax for 2 boxes!

 



 

 

There are 6 bars to a box. Each bar is 100 calories. The Peanut Butter Crunch time tastes just like a Butterfinger. I haven't tried the Chocolate Mint yet. I just got them for a cheap snack. They were pretty much free for me cause I also used all the Balance Rewards points that I had racked up the week before Thanksgiving to pay for the balance.

 

Anyone else find some good deals this week?

 

 



Minestrone

Our family spent the day riding out the Polar Vortex and Winter Storm Ion at home today...

I started the day by making a big pot of minestrone and baking a loaf of country bread. This is my favorite soup recipe. It's a hearty stick-to-your bones kinda soup that's even better the next day.

MINESTRONE

1 diced onion

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp black pepper

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

28 oz can peeled crushed tomatoes

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

9 oz frozen spinach

15 oz can cannellini beans

1 cup pasta (I prefer ditali)

 

Heat oil in large soup pot.

Add onions and cook until translucent (about 4-5 minutes).

Add garlic, celery, and carrots and cook for about 5 more minutes until vegetables are soft.

Add zucchini, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add broth, all tomatoes and spinach and bring to a boil.

Add beans and pasta and cook for about 15 more minutes until pasta is tender.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

What I LOVE about this soup is that it gets thicker and heartier after it sits awhile This is what I'm bringing to work for lunch tomorrow.

 

See how the pasta thickens it up! You can almost eat it with a fork.

 

Hope everyone is staying warm and safe! I caught our outside cat and put her in the basement. She is pretty PO'd at me right now but I was afraid she was going to freeze to death with the wind chill going to -40 tonight. I don't know where she normally sleeps at night but I know I will sleep better tonight.

 

Our yard after 11 inches of snow



 

What's your favorite snow day meal?







Week 3 Wrap Up + I Got My Nibblebox!

So Week 3 of Derby Training was OK. Not spectacular, but I made it through the New Year's holiday without missing any runs. Didn't get any cross-training done though and I totally bombed my pace run yesterday.

I suppose it's better to crap out on a run now and learn from it now than later on in the program. Over the summer I learned my lesson about eating correctly before a run (in case you missed it, gory details HERE). Yesterday, I learned that sleep matters too...

So here's how the week went...

Sunday - rest (worked til 1:15 am Monday morning)
Monday - 3 miles (ran in the morning, went back to work until midnight)
Tuesday - 6 miles (it's New Year's Eve, stayed up til 3 am)
Wednesday - 3 miles (got up late, stayed up til midnight)
Thursday - rest (got up at 4:30 am to work, then stayed up til 3:30 am because I've been staying
                          up late all week)
Friday - 6 miles, suppose to run marathon pace. I did 8:35, 8:45, 8:55, then just died on the track and 
                            had to stop before jogging the last 3 miles.
Saturday - 8 miles

Week 3 Total: 26 miles

The way my training program works is that you build mileage for 2 weeks then have a "easy" week every third week. This was suppose to be my "easy" week since my long run was only 8 miles.

I felt horrid after my run yesterday. I did realize later though that I had stayed up for 23 hours the day before because of my night owl tendencies. I went to bed at 10 pm last night and felt well rested this morning.

SO... note to self - get enough sleep!!!

The only thing that made me feel better after my failed pace run was that...

MY NIBBLEBOX ARRIVED!!

 

So a couple weeks ago, on one of my late night internet sessions, I was checking my email and found an offer from graze.com. Graze is a company that will send you a box of four healthy portioned snacks (the nibblebox) every 2-4 weeks (you choose) for $6. The offer I got was for the first box free. No commitment. You can cancel the subscription any time. One of my goals this year is to try and snack healthier. Graze has a plethora (like 91) of healthy snacks. Once you sign up, you can rate the snacks so if there is something you absolutely don't want to try, you can put it in the "trash" and they won't send it. Otherwise, they will pick 4 things for you every time they send a box. Foodie that I am, I wanted to try them all! Plus, I'm thinking, "Six bucks!" How many times have I blown six bucks on stupid stuff? Sounds like a deal to me. So I signed up and awaited my box.

 

 

So this is what my snacks look like out of the box. I put a Larabar and a Clif Bar next to them so you could see the portion size. They sent me...

 

Trail Mix: hazelnuts, peanuts, cranberries and jumbo raisins

Pomodoro Rustichella: cheese croutons, tomato baugettes, and tomato and herb almonds

Raspberry & Coconut Muffin: raspberries, cranberries, amaretti drops and almond slices

Summer Berry Flapjack: rustic rolled oat flapjack with berry infused cranberries

 

Their website lists the calorie count for each of their snacks. I can't wait to try them! They are going to be my post-run snacks next week.

 

Graze also provided me with some "friend codes" to share. You need an invitation or friend code to sign up. If anyone is interested, they are: HAEWON39B, HAEWON39E, HAEWON39P.

 

Supposedly, each "friend code" is limited to 4 uses but they keep sending me codes so I suspect they might be unlimited. If you sign up with a code, you will get your first and fifth box free (kinda makes me feel like they jipped me out of a box!) and they will give me a $1 off my next box.

 

Now, off to hide my snacks from the kiddos!

 

Has anyone else tried a subscription snack service?





Roasted Butternut Squash

Maybe it's just me, but here lately, it seems that every time I take on a cooking/baking project I end up feeling like I'm on a time crunched reality show.

So it's New Year's Ever. My husband has a group of friends that have gotten together every year ever since they were underage revelers in high school. This year, it was our turn to host the party. This meant making dinner. Normally, this is a fun event where I can try out creative new recipes. This year however, I worked the three days prior and had some really bad shifts to top it off.

When December 31st rolled around, first I couldn't get out of bed. I finally drug myself out because I had 6 miles on the training schedule and the fitness center would be closing at noon. I rolled in at 10:45 am, got my 6 in, but didn't finish all my core exercises and stretches before I got kicked out at noon.

Then it was home, shower, and the grocery store - a total madhouse on New Year's Eve. I had a "simple" menu in mind...

Appetizers
Boiled shrimp with St. Elmo's Steakhouse cocktail sauce
Brie baked with cranberry sauce in crescent roll dough

Salad
Field greens (they come in a tub) with glazed walnuts and cranberries (they come in a bag), bleu cheese, pears, and balsamic vinaigrette

Main Course
Apple Cider Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Butternut Squash
Corn
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Dessert
Flourless Chocolate Cake

Dinner was scheduled to be served at 7pm. Oh... and I didn't really know how many people were coming either! So I got back home at 3 pm and the madness in the kitchen started...

Boil shrimp and cool.

Make the flourless chocolate cake and put it in the oven.

Make the

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Peel butternut squash and cut into bite-size cubes.

I'm wanting a sous-chef at this point!

 

 

Mix with 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, and enough olive oil to coat.

 

Spread onto lined cookie sheet and cook for 1 hour.

 

Done!

This is one of my favorite "go to" veggie recipes for big gatherings. Simple but a little different.

 

Meanwhile my cake got done.

 

I threw the squash, corn, and broccoli into 3 separate crock pots to keep warm.

 

Then my guests started arriving at 5 pm. Aaack! I'm not really ready!

 

Shrimp and super hot cocktail sauce go out.

 

Brie gets topped with cranberry sauce and wrapped in some crescent rolls and goes in the oven for 20 minutes.

 

Pears get chopped and salad thrown together. I was going to individually plate the salads but gave up on that idea at this point.

 

Last thing was to cook the apples and tenderloins. Miraculously, I got everything on the table by 7 pm.

Ended up with 9 adults and 4 kids for dinner with more arriving later. So there you have it, sit down dinner for 13 in 4 hours.

So how was your New Year's Eve? Did you cook?
 

 

 



2014 - Bring It On!!

Happy New Year!!

I am way excited about this new year. Since I started this blog last February I have discovered that keeping track of my daily doings not only makes me more accountable, but it helps me see my progress and keeps me more "on track" as far as my workouts and other projects go.

I have also, more or less, found more ways to harness the power of the internet by connecting with more like-minded individuals and discovering more websites and resources. It's been an eye-opening year.

So here's what I got lined up for myself in 2014...

On the running front, I've found that following a training program is the best way for me to keep focused and get my runs in. I signed up for the Monumental Marathon again and I'm planning to run the Mill Race half again in September. That puts me at two half marathons and two full marathons for the year. I am putting my name in for the New York City Marathon lottery again. NYC is the same weekend as the Monumental so I will be running one or the other. I signed up for Brook Kreder's Sole Success Club and have met a great online community of supportive sole sisters. I also signed up for the Voyage to Venus - another online community where runners commit to running a certain number of miles in 2014 in an effort to log a total of 25 million miles. I committed to 1500 miles. I ran 1023 miles in 2013 so I think this is doable.

From a couponing standpoint, I am signed up for the January Stockpile/Budget Challenge  over at my couponing home Hot Coupon World. I try to do this every month but some months I just can't keep track of my expenses. My grocery budget this month is $500. I really need to do better meal planning, plus I'm trying to eat better.

In trying to eat better, I'm trying to do some more cooking and baking on a more regular basis throughout the year, rather than having total madness every summer when fair season rolls around!

Speaking of madness, we had a great New Year's Eve party here last night. More details and a recipe tomorrow!