Super Easy Country Bread

Today marks the beginning of a very busy week for me. It's Spring Break in Bloomington, IN so half my group is on vacation. I don't live in Bloomington and my kids aren't on Spring Break for another two weeks so I'm working most of the week. Day shift. So it's back to getting up at the crack of dawn.

I was actually ueber productive this morning. Scary productive for me! I had to be at work by 9 am, meaning I had to leave by 8 am. I have to be at work at 6:30 am the next two days, meaning I have to be up at 4:30 am. I decided I might as well TRY to have a somewhat regular sleep schedule this week and got up at 4:30 today (unbelieveable, right?) I was at the fitness center at 5 am when they opened. The fitness center is a happenin' place at 5 am! I ran 5 miles. No watch today, I just made a good effort. My left lower leg still feels like it's going to fall off when I run. Got done and was home a little after 6 am. Showered, dressed for work, did a load of laundry, and decided I wanted some homemade bread tonight.

So here's the easiest Country Bread recipe in the world. Courtesy of my friend Isabelle. I got it from her blog here. I've made alot of bread and it doesn't get any easier than this!

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water

Put all your dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add water and stir.

                                                                        7 am

Cover and let it sit for 12 hours. I let it sit all day while I was at work. You can put your ingredients together at night and let it sit overnight.

Dough will get bubbly.

                                                                      7 pm

Dump your bubbly dough onto a well floured surface and shape into a ball.

Put an ovenproof dish with cover in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

Slide the dough into your dish (I think this is the hardest part).

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more.

Voila! You're done. Fresh crusty country bread.

OK, excuse now while I go crash!

What's your week look like?

Some Days Are Better Than Others

Some days are better than others. Yesterday was a good day. Today, not so much. I think I'm just overly tired. I'm tired of it being cold too! It's nice and sunny but COLD!. I was planning to do my tempo run outside today but just couldn't do it. I have to go to work tonight so I couldn't wait for it to warm up this afternoon. So, I went to the fitness center and went around and around and around and around the track. ... And around and around and around... My legs felt like wood and I started getting a shin splint in my left leg. This never happens to me. Maybe I need new shoes. Anyway, my feet just kept slapping down on the track and my legs didn't want to move.

5 miles. 48:02. That's as fast as this body would go today. Afterwards, I didn't think I had the energy to drive home and just wanted to lie down on the carpet and take a nap.

I think I'm done for the week. I have to work that horrid 5pm - 2 am shift both tonight and tomorrow night and I have stuff to do at my daughter's dance studio in the afternoon before I go to work tomorrow so I don't think I can squeeze in a bike workout. Plus, I'm just TIRED!

Week 3. 22 miles.

Somebody give me some energy!

Printing Money

I spent this morning printing money. Well, actually, since that's illegal, I was printing coupons. But it might as well be money! All the Central Indiana grocery stores start their new ad on Thursday. Since the rest of the world usually starts their ad on Sunday, I have 4 days to read up on the deals and prep for Thursday morning. Gotta beat all the shelf clearers to the store, ya know!

                                                          some of my "money"

So first stop was Target. This was not an ad deal and their ad started on Sunday, however, this Sunday's paper had these coupons

So here's the deal. You can use both a manufacturer's coupon and a Target coupon on the same item. The manufacturer's coupon is for $3 off 3 laundry care items listed. The Target coupon is also for $3 off 3 laundry care items listed. On the list is Bounce fabric softener sheets. Target carries a 34-count box for $1.97. So here's the math: $1.97 X 3 = $5.91 - $3 - $3 = -$0.09

Yup, you "make" $0.09 for every 3 boxes. There is a limit of 4 of each coupon per transaction. I bought 5 newspapers this weekend so I had 5 of each coupon. Target was sold out the day the coupons came out but the coupons don't expire til the end of this month so I figured I'd just check to see if they got more in. There was a whole shelf-ful this morning. I got 12 boxes plus an Einstein's bagel. I threw the bagel in so I wouldn't have a negative subtotal. Sometimes the cash register freaks out when your balance is zero or a negative number. I have frozen and shut down cash registers at both Marsh and Meijer by having a zero balance so now I always make sure I owe something at the end!

                                            the bagel got eaten before the "photoshoot"!

I'll go back sometime later this month and get the other 3 "free" boxes. I'm stocked up on fabric softener sheets for a year now.

Next stop - Kroger. I did one transaction but I'm going to break it down in photos...

                                                   FREE Yopa Greek yogurt

The Yopa yogurt is on sale for $1 this week. There is a printable coupon for $0.50/1 here. You can print 2 per computer. Kroger will double 2 like coupons up to $0.50, so FREE Greek yogurt.

I have been buying Greek yogurt to eat after my long runs. You are supposed to eat 10 grams of protein in the first hour after a hard workout. This yogurt has 12 grams of protein. You are also supposed to replenish your carbohydrates in that first hour. I don't remember the number of carbs, but I have never met a carb I didn't like so I don't worry about the carbs! Alot of runners will drink chocolate milk. I'm not a huge fan of milk so I eat Greek yogurt.

                                        "better than FREE" Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust

The Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust is on sale this week for $1.25. There is a printable coupon for $1.50/1 here. You can print 2 per computer. Usually, if your coupon is more than the price of the item, it will be adjusted down to match the item price. Today, for some reason, both my coupons scanned for the full $1.50 so I "made" $0.50 by buying the pizza crust!

                                                       love, love, LOVE these!!

Larabar Uber bars are on sale for $1 each. There is a printable coupon at coupons.com for $0.75/2, so about $0.63 each. They are the BEST energy bar I've ever had. I used to think Clif Bars were great but these are the greatest. They are a "raw food" bar with lots of good stuff

The Cherry Cobbler is my favorite. Here are the ingredients: Almonds, Dried Cherries, Brown Rice Syrup, Pecans, Raisins, Cashews, Dates, Honey, Sea Salt. That's it! No strange ingredients you can't pronounce. If you haven't tried one of these, you have to try one!

Next up, Kroger is having a month long promotion where you get a free gallon of milk if you buy 4 participating breakfast items. I got 2 bags of Quaker Perfect Portions oatmeal, on sale for $2 each, and 2 boxes of General Mills Fiber One Protein bars, on sale for $2.50 each. I had 2 $0.50 off one Perfect Portions, and 2 $0.50 off one Fiber One Protein bars coupons, all from coupons.com, all of which doubled, so $5 for everything in the picture.

Ended up paying $8.25 for everything at Kroger.

Final stop - Meijer. Things were a little more complicated at Meijer. I had to separate my order into 5 separate transactions to make sure I could use all my coupons and get all the promotions I wanted as some of the coupons and promotions wouldn't work togerther in one transaction.

This is what I ended up with, all for $19.00.

There is a promotion where, if you buy 4 Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough items, you will get a catalina coupon for $3 off your next order (OYNO). Sometimes, if you USE an OYNO coupon for an OYNO promotion, the OYNO coupon you are suppose to get will not print. It definately will not print if you do the exact same offer again, but sometimes it won't print even if you use a different OYNO coupon.

Sometimes you just NEED refrigerated cookie dough. We were watching the IU-Ohio State basketball game the other night when my husband and kids decided they wanted ME to make chocolate chip cookies. Nooooo... not gonna happen. Not getting up and leaving THIS basketball game. Now, if we had had refrigerated cookie dough that night, everyone would have been happy.

There are also promotions this week for Maxwell House coffee where you get $2 off instantly when you buy 2 cans and Alexia frozen potatoes where you get $1 off instantly when you buy 2. I didn't know if this was one per order or not, so I chose to buy them in separate orders to be safe.

I don't need a bunch of fancy coffee but I HAVE to have my morning coffee. God forbid we EVER run out of coffee! The Maxwell House South Pacific blend is our preferred coffee.

Alexia frozen potatoes. Organic frozen potatoes. Red potatoes with portabella mushrooms. Sweet potato fries with sea salt or chilpotle seasoning. Yummm...

All the coupons I used at Meijer, I printed from coupons.com.

Transaction #1
4 Pillsbury cookie dough @ $2.00 each
$8.00
-$1 (0.50/2 coupon, doubled)
-$1 (0.50/2 coupon, doubled)
$6.00, got a $3 OYNO catalina coupon

Transaction #2
repeated #1

Transaction #3
4 Kraft Fresh Takes @ $2.00 each
2 Maxwell House coffee @ $3.00 each
$14.00
-$2.00 instant promo Maxwell House
-$1.00 Kraft Fresh Takes coupon
-$1.00 Kraft Fresh Takes coupon
-$1.00 Kraft Fresh Takes coupon
-$1.00 Kraft Fresh Takes coupon
-$3.00 OYNO catalina coupon from Bounty deal last week
$5.00

Transaction #4
2 Maxwell House coffee @ $3.00 each
2 Alexia frozen potatoes @ $3.00 each
$12.00
-$2.00 instant promo Maxwell House
-$1.00 instant promo Alexia
-$1.00 Alexia coupon
-$1.00 Alexia coupon
-$3.00 OYNO catalina coupon from Bounty deal last week
-$3.00 OYNO catalina coupon from #1
$1.00

Transaction #5
repeated #4 using the catalina coupon from #2

The only thing different I did in #5 from #4 is that I bought french fries in #5 rather than the sauted red potatoes in #4. I guess there was a catalina promo for the Alexia french fries because, out popped another $1.00 OYNO catalina!

I also got some other miscellaneous catalinas with my other transactions

$2 off meat and seafood, $1.00 off bakery, $2.00 off paper or cleaning products, $1.00 off deli, $1.00 off produce. There is no minimum purchase for these coupons. Woohoo! more fake money for my next shopping trip.

I am fortunate that I don't have to shop with small children. I always go grocery shopping ALONE. I always have a LIST. If I'm doing multiple transactions, I just do them, one after the other, at the Uscan. I never do mutliple transactions on the weekend or weeknights at 5pm.

I don't usually do this, but today I decided to count up all the "fake money" I used. Counting doubled values, I used $23.25 in printable coupons that I printed at home and $15 OYNO catalinas that printed at the register. $38.25 total. Now that's REAL MONEY!

Now, moving on with my day, I ate a Larabar Uber bar and washed it down with some milk for Lunch Part 1 (Part 2 was after the workout), then went to the fitness center to cross-train on the bike.

First 30 minutes: 9.00 miles, 96 rpm
10 minutes walk, stretch break; no one got on the bike so I went right back on
Second 30 minutes: 9.14 miles, 100 rpm.

Maybe I should eat an Uber bar before all my bike workouts!

Intervals - Week 3

                                          So much for running my intervals outside today!

I'm still sore from my long run 2 days ago so I was nervous about the 800 repeats I had to do today. I was going to cross-train yesterday but took a rest day instead and moved my cross-training to the end of the week (Saturday). I had six 800m intervals to do with 90 seconds of rest in between each one. This is how it went:

1. 4:14
2. 4:19
3. 4:13
4. 4:12
5. 4:13
6. 4:07

With intervals, the goal is run each one at almost the same time. I thought I would go for a 4:20 pace so I slowed down on the second one but then just ran what I thought was an OK pace for me on the third, and when I found it was closer to the first interval, I just went with the faster pace. I ran my last interval faster on purpose just to prove to myself that I was not running at my max for these and that I had some more gears left if I had to step it up. One mile warm up, one mile warm down, so 5 miles total. I still don't like doing these but, overall, I was pleased with my workout today.

So now, switching gears completely, here's my
                                           DEAL OF THE DAY

                                                           Sun-Bird seasoning packets

These are $0.84 each at both Meijer and Kroger. There is a printable coupon at coupons.com for $0.80 off any one Sun-Bird product. That makes them $0.04 each.

We are having chicken lettuce wraps for dinner tonight using the recipe off the back of the lettuce wrap seasoning packet.

So what are you having for dinner tonight?
Found any good deals lately?

Wind

Today was my long run. 12 miles. I was going to try to pace myself but I felt like I was still in that zone of uncertainty on what my actual goal pace ought to be. I usually never time myself on my long runs but my new training plan has paces to run. Today's goal was "half-marathon pace + 30 seconds." Since I am condensing the 18 week program into 11 weeks, this is actually the long run for week 8 instead of 3. I want to run my half at sub-9 minute pace so I thought I might try for a 9:20 pace. That might have been pushing it but I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened.

So this is what happened:

Mile 1: 9:16
Mile 2: 9:14
Mile 3: 9:15

I'm feeling pretty good about myself at this point but then I had to turn around and, that is when it hit me - the WIND! Plus I was running uphill. I felt like I was running at the same level of exertion but just not getting anywhere. Miles 4 and 5 and miles 10 and 11 were pretty brutal.

Mile 4: 10:05
Mile 5: 10:18
Mile 6: 10:13

So at this point, I'm feeling pretty bad about myself and thinking I'm sorely out of shape. I took about 4 oz of Gatorade at the end of mile 6. Then I got to turn around again and the wind disappeared.

Mile 7: 9:12
Mile 8: 9:15
Mile 9: 9:31

So now I'm feeling better about myself again and thinking that the wind is a factor more than me being out of shape. I decided not to worry about my time as much when I turned into the wind again. I think I may have relaxed a bit too much plus the mileage may have caught up with me at this point because my times REALLY slowed.

Mile 10: 10:47
Mile 11: 11:22 !
Mile 12: 10:19

Average pace was 9:54 but, really, I was all over the place!

I checked the temperature before I left. It was 32 degrees. It was sunny. I never considered checking the wind. Turns out, it was blowing 10 mph. It doesn't really feel all that strong when you're standing still but it made a HUGE difference when I tried to run into it.

So is 10 mph really significant? I looked into "wind-aided times " in track and field. Wind is only a factor in track and field for the shorter races that are run in one direction or some field events. Times are considered "wind-aided" if there is a tailwind blowing faster than 2 meters/second. I believe that translates to 4.5 mph (someone check my math and tell me if I'm wrong). Not sure how this is significant to my run today as I was both wind-aided and wind-hampered.

Hope it's not windy on race day!

OK all you runners, do I have a chance of running sub-9 minute pace for a half-marathon on May 4th?

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Weather check at 6:30 am. 20 degrees. Snow flurries. There's precipitation on my car. Nope. Not gonna happen. No 5K for me today. I went back to bed. I was going do it as a fun way to get my tempo run in but running outside in cold, maybe wet weather, isn't my idea of fun, even if it is with hundreds of other people.

So, instead of a race report, you get Earl Grey Tea Cookies.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

If you have a food processor, put everything in the processor and pulse until a soft dough forms. If you don't have a food processor, cream together butter, sugar, and orange zest, then mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Dump dough out onto a piece of wax paper and form into a log.

If you want to get all Martha Stewart-y about it, put the log in an empty paper towel roll so you don't end up with a flat side as it hardens.

Freeze for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Slice firm dough and arrange on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

I got my tempo run in indoors today. One mile warm up, three miles on the dreadmill at 9:05 pace, two mile warm down. 6 miles total. Even with my warm up, I felt horrid my first mile, but then, after that, I felt like "OK, it's going to be alright now."  I am hoping the weather warms up here soon so I can do my runs outside where I can use my Garmin to pace me. I really hate the dreadmill. I sound like a Clydesdale when I run on it, plus I'm a bit self-conscious because I only do my faster runs on it so I'm always breathing hard. Today, when I got done, the guy next to me told me he got tired just watching me run. I told him I was just happy I stayed on!

Week two of training is done. 21 miles.

How do you feel about the treadmill? It scares me. Plus, sometimes, I have problems adjusting the speed. There's a big difference between 10 minute miles and 10 mph, but sometimes I get mixed up!

Massage Day

It's finally here! The day I get my massage. I've been looking for a good massage therapist in my area forever. Someone who can really push hard on my upper back and get my legs loosened up too. I found a great one last year after a race in Carmel but he was in Carmel. I don't want to drive an hour each way for a good massage. Surely there's someone closer! I've been using Groupons to try out some new ones, but so far I haven't had much luck. I think I found one today... in a round about way.

So the therapist that sold the Groupon rescheduled me for today. Then she called last night and said someone else would be doing my massage. Naturally, I was a bit annoyed and decided she really was a flake. Well, the woman who did my massage today was WONDERFUL! She knew exactly how to do a sports massage and she knew just how much to talk to you during your massage so it wasn't weird. She said the original therapist just got too overwhelmed with her Groupon offering and asked her for help. She is an independent therapist who was just helping out. Well, this woman just got herself a new client. I went ahead and scheduled another massage for next month with her.

Today is a rest day for me. I did cross-training on the bike yesterday. I was still tired yesterday.
First 30 minutes: 8.6 miles, 85 rpm
15 minute stretch/core exercises
Second 30 minutes: 8.69 miles, 87 rpm

I'm still debating the 5K tomorrow. I don't mind the temperature so much but I don't want to get wet!

Now let me share with you my
                                   DEAL OF THE DAY

Target has a coupon for $1.50 off 2 15-oz or larger Market Pantry pasta sauces. The coupon link is at the bottom of their web page. You can print the coupon twice per computer, but you can only use them one per transaction. The Market Pantry 24oz pasta sauces are on sale for $1 until 3/9/13. So, buy 2, use your coupon, and it's $0.50. If you use your own bag, you get another $0.05 off (hey, every penny counts in my book!).



I ended up with 4 jars for $0.90. I know, it's generic pasta sauce, but I use it as a base for alot of my cooking and you can add your own spices to suit you.

I did some more grocery shopping, mainly for pantry staples and snacks for the kids. I am an active member at Hot Coupon World where I hang out with my coupon buddies. If you want to learn more, come check us out. The banner is at the bottom of this page. I have been participating in the stockpile challenge the last couple months to keep my budget in check. Here's a photo of all the stuff I got today, all for $18.74.

So what's everyone doing this weekend? I'm going to be cooking, baking, and maybe run a 5K.