Need to get back on Track!

 

I should really be studying right now. I am so behind that it’s ridiculous! I wanted to write a quick bog post though. I’ll have to provide an update on my 5 K race next time. Too many pictures and quite bit I want to add to it.

Miss Dottie not leaving me alone, so that I could snack and study!

Pumpkin oats, coffee, and organic Chemistry.

  

Leading up to the race, I had about a week an a half of “carb loading.”

 

Lunch: Iced coffee and a sandwich. A rare occasion when I get to sit down and eat lunch at lunchtime. I really need to get on this to fix it!

 

Back to studying! 

Can’t calm my nerves…

In celebration of one year since my surgery, I’m running a 5K race. Training has been tough, on and off, relaxing, frustrating, painful, sore, and rejuvenating all at the same time. Now, all of my hard work and determination will kick me off into hopefully another year or more of being Tumor free. It’s all a bit unreal. Last year, I was preparing myself for my craniotomy and now I’m running a race in the rain to prove to myself that I’m strong, healthy and that nothing will hold me back from what I want. Not even a slow growing tumor the size of a racket ball living inside my head will ever stop me. Not ever.

The race is tomorrow morning at 9 am. It’s been raining all day today and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow too. I’m a little disappointed in the rain, but it all sort of makes sense. I struggled through life for a long time with the tumor and now I have to struggle a little bit more to overcome it. And as crazy as it sounds, I’m planning on running in shorts and a fitted tee. I’ve run races in the rain before with the same amount of clothing…. still am I crazy?

I had initially planned to just make it an individual thing, but then decided to include my family and some friends in on it. Then I found out that my older sister had secretly planned a surprise gathering of friends and family in addition to an after party. I found out last Monday by accident, so it’s not such as surprise anymore.

To calm my nerves a bit, I wish I had this cold treat with me right now…

From top to bottom: cocoa powder, green tea ice cream, melted nutella all on top of  PUFF PASTRY. SOOOO Awesomely freaking delicious!  Treats from TJ’s. Whoopie pies in the back and almond tart in front. 

 

I’ll post pictures and a recap of my race afterwards. Night!

Running Therapy, Notes from Strangers, Keeping secrets are hard to do!

About a week or two ago (can’t keep track of time), I decided to remove my “Exercise” page. I felt that it was adding something extra for me to worry about updating. I’ve decided that I’m just going to incorporate my running regimen into my posts instead whenever I can….err…whenever I post that is. lol. I know I’ve been a super bad blogger, but ya’ll know I keep coming back. Blogging is like therapy for me. Anyway, I’m the type of person who always feels like if I set out to do something (in this case update my exercise page), I start to get a little stressed if I don’t follow through. With this new way, if I don’t have time to update my exercise routine or can’t update it for some reason, I won’t be so angst. An Angst Leng is not a happy Leng. I’m probably making big of something trivial, but that’s just the way I’ve always been (worried if I don’t finish a task). Lookin’ for anyway to find balance in life and lovin’ it at the same time.

Speaking of finding balance, I found another note I wrote to myself!!

There’s no date to it. I don’t remember writing it (I can’t recollect phases of my past life), but I know I wrote it because it was my handwriting (at the time) and I signed it.

It says:

“Before you continue from this page….stop and read this note for a moment.

Day by day I and several others go through life too quickly with no common sense to “stop and smell the roses.” Slow down and make the best out of life.

Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is? That’s what inspired me to invent my ‘memory novel.’ [I think this was meant for a journal I was keeping…] Because nothing’s better than looking back on a wonderful life that you’ve created.

Enjoy…

Leng Touch”

Very corn-tastic, but I like the direction it’s heading.

Remember when I found a note I left for myself last time? See “Time for Improvement” post. It’s almost like getting encouraging letters/notes from a stranger… lol

Back to the running…

Two weeks ago I logged in 12 miles, then last week I logged about 6 miles. This week I’m hoping to log in about 9 miles of easy jogging with one rest day before the race. Throughout the whole running routine so far, I’ve been really tempted to keep running as much as possible. The smarter side of me knows that it’d be wiser to slow it down. The 5K race that’s coming up on the 24th is a biggie for me, so I’m going to train as well as I can WITHOUT getting injured.

In addition to this race, I’d like to keep running on a regular basis. I just feel that running has always been something that I can come back to without any real “training” or “skill” whenever I need to “find myself.” I know that a lot of people tend to use exercise as therapy. For me it’s always been running (even though it was on an off again in the past). Actually let me be specific, it’s running in natural settings (away from the gym and treadmill) that relaxes me. Nature has me hooked on her natural healing powers.

So, that’s how I’ve learned to balance myself emotionally and physically.

Anyone care to share what they find relaxing and therapeutic and why?

 

It’s hard to keep secrets!

Oh and as I promised in my last post, I have been trying to keep quiet with a secret for soOo long. I had a gift customized for Long. I had him takes photos at all sorts of different angles without telling him. He was a good boy and was VERY patient. I on the other hand, was the one suffering with the secret. You have no idea how hard it is for me to keep things inside.

Check it out:

Mini Long and Mini Leng!!

          

That’s all for now!

Can’t contain my excitement.

Going to pick up a gift for the husband. So excited! Been having to keep it a secret for several months now. I almost gave away the surprise last night. Hope he didn’t figure it out! Picture of it and my eats will be posted soon!

nerve wracking!

Applying to 4 year universities. I’m sooooooo nervous!!!!

This one takes the cake!

More muffins! This time I made Apple Muffins. They reminded me of apple pie, especially when they were baking in the oven. Find recipe here via Food Network.

They came out looking pretty nice. The cinnamon topping sort of looks like chocolate powder doesn’t it?

The only complaint is that even though I used muffin cups, the muffin pan still came out dirty.

 

Dinner one night were a repeat of Wednesday’s dinner, but this time even better! I made my own garden burger patty. I have made them in the past, but this one takes the cake!

Chickpea Veggie Patty

Serves 4

estimated Nutritionals Per Patty:

Total calories ~230, Total Fat: 10 g, CHO: 29 g, Fiber: 6 g Protein: 8 g

1/2 a green bell pepper

1/4 of a chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp of tomato paste

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 egg

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I used old sourdough bread)

oregano, s + p, red peppers, chili powder, cayenne pepper.

I sautéed the bell pepper, onion and garlic on a skillet using about 1 tbsp of canola oil for about 5 minutes. At the end I added the tomato paste. Cooked it until it was evenly incorporated.

Then I drained the chickpeas, mashed them with my hands, added the bread crumbs, egg, and spices. Gave it a good mix. Then I added the sautéed mixture. I used a fork to mix the rest of the ingredients together. Then when it was cool or warm enough, I used my hands and shaped them into 4 burger patties.

Then I sautéed each patty for about 3 –4 minutes on each side. Using no more than 1 total of 1 Tbsp of canola oil.

When it was nicely cooked I laid out my sprouted burger bun with mayo, mustard, relish and ketchup. Topped with a bit of lettuce. And had a side of brussels sprouts, carrots, and potatoes.

They were super good. If you haven’t made patties before, I really recommend making this. It’s very easy to make.

Grocery Haul & a short tutorial on Pumpkin muffins.

I’ve been wanting to bake for a quite some time now. I just haven’t had the chance to actually relax enough to bake or shall I say stressed out enough to bake. Well this grocery trip I made sure I bought the necessary items to not only cook great meals, but bake great treats as well.

First on to the produce:

• carrots
• brae burn apples(my fave!)
• Brussels sprouts
• yukon gold potatoes

Here we have:

• whole soy yogurt (on sale for 80 cents!)
• sparkling blueberry juice
• organic canned pumpkin
• Annie’s Woodstock salad dressing
• organic Sprouted burger buns
• Organic steel cut oats
• Raw Walnuts & Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Orange flavored Cranberries (for another baking project)
• Individual Organic apple sauce containers

 

Here’s what I made with those goods:

Burger and veggies (Pinto burgers were inspired by KERF):

• Pinto Beans drained, mashed and cooked with a bunch of spices. Slapped them on the skillet cooked them sloppy joe like. Next time will put adobo sauce in it.
• Morningstar bacon strips, pre-cooked,
• tomato slices
• mayo, mustard, sriracha
• Sprouted whole grain bread

For the veggies: I took carrots, brussels sprouts and cooked them in a bit of oil and teensy bit of butter. seasoned with salt, pepper, tyme, oregano. What a great healthy side.

Washed it all down with my sparkling blueberry juice.

  

Pumpkin Muffins. Find Recipe here Via Food Network.

Here’s the process:

Dry ingredients similar to making pumpkin pie.

 

Wet ingredients, Sugar, molasses, oil, eggs (not pictured here)

 

Meanwhile someone’s saying “Feed me!”

 

wet ingredients continued: 1 cup of canned pumpkin, 1 tsp of vanilla extract

 

The batter

 

The finished product all lined up in a row. I almost forgot to top them with pumpkin seeds!

 

Very tender and moist. only 200 calories a piece and very satisfying.

 

And as you know I topped my morning oats with some of these great muffins.

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater!

I’m running a bit late, so I just wanted to write a quick post. I’m a day behind, but I have a few things I’d like to write about later today.

I had pumpkin oats for the first time today! I cheated a bit and used the rice cooker instead of the stove top. The outcome? I have to say that it was a super success!! I don’t know why I didn’t make this sooner. I love pumpkin!

Here’s what I did:
1/3 cup of steel cut oats, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup of canned pumpkin

1/3 cup of almond milk

1/3 cup of water

pinch of salt

Combined all into a bowl and popped it into the rice cooker. Took about 15 minutes to cook on it’s own, which was perfect because it takes a while for me to work up an appetite in the mornings.

When it was done, I gave it a good mix in the rice cooker. Poured it into my bowl and topped it with my Pumpkin muffins (will write a post of how I did it later today), Orange flavored cranberries, pumpkin seeds, Bob’s Red Mills Hot cereal, and a spoonful of almond butter.

Next time let’s try real pumpkin since it’s pumpkin season.

Alrighty Yo! I gotta go!

Going Mad…maybe…

I got up a little earlier to do a recap on my chem notes. Then I rushed to have breakfast and coffee. I arrived to my bio class right on time thanks to my bike.

    

Lunch was in between break, while chatting with classmates. Then when I arrived home at around 3 pm, I had the rest of this tofurkey sandwich that I prepacked (makes life so easy).

Honestly, I have no idea why I ate this bar or had this iced coffee. I was more in the mood for an iced chai latte, but didn’t feel like spending the extra dough, so I just poured my own iced coffee from the fridge. The bar…well, I don’t know… lol. I guess the stress from taking that exam made me have cravings.

Anyway, time to relax a bit then Call up a friend, do some yoga (should check the gym schedule), and then study some more. I have another exam in 2 weeks and I’m behind! I’m going to go mad with all this test taking.

Easy to argue, but easy to forgive.

For lunch I had tofu sandwiches. There’s something that I enjoy about cold sandwiches. This was the perfect sandwich. The crumbly texture of the tofu was nice too.

Tofu, tomatoes, grey poupon mustard, ketchup, light mayo and baby spinach leaves  Packed myself some tofurkey sandwiches for the rest of the week. The preparation will save me loads of stress!

 

Arguement with the husband….

 

He says, “sorry”

Lulla says, “sorry” too or….more like “Do I get a treat for posing for the camera?”

All is now forgiven. I love you two!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

 

 

Vegetables waiting to be roasted:

yams, green bell pepper, yellow onion and some olive oil @ 420 for about 30 minutes.

Dinner: roasted veggies, chickpea pasta, and a side salad with ranch dressing.

What a night! OK gtg study! Wish me Luck on my Exam!!