Weekly Recap: November 21-27

I was finally able to run this week without any knee pain! I decided to try out a very easy mile on Monday so when I went to the doctor later in the week, I could tell him how my knee was feeling. I was surprised when I felt great after that mile and gave it another shot on Wednesday. The doctor on Wednesday morning told me that my knee seemed to be getting better, to keep stretching my IT band & foam rolling, and to increase my milage by only a 1/2 mile at a time. Keeping all that in mind, I ran 1.5 miles on Friday and again, felt good. I'm very glad my IT band recovery was only 5-6 weeks, I had read some horror stories and was thinking it might take more than 6 months. I'm really hoping by coming back slowly, I'll stay healthy.

Also, I went to an AMAZING hot yoga class on Thanksgiving morning...biggest class I'd ever seen with 40 people attending! Just what I needed before getting in the car for a 3 hour ride to be with Todd's family for Thanksgiving.

Monday: 40 min elliptical; ran 1 mi (9:15 pace)
45 min Spinning

Tuesday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class

Wednesday: 30 min elliptical; ran 1 mi (9:04 pace)

Thursday: Hot Power Flow Yoga (75 min)

Friday: ran 1.5 mi (9:18 pace); push ups

Saturday: Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit (40 min)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min Spinning-->Last Class @ Lifestyle Polaris

TOTAL: 3.5 mi

Thanksgiving Break

I really enjoy Thanksgiving, not only for being with family & eating lots of food, but also because I actually got 2 days off from work! Since Todd & I both had Thursday and Friday off, we headed up to his hometown on Thursday morning (of course, after I went to a killer hot yoga class) and came back on Saturday morning. Todd is from Leetonia, Ohio, a village about 30 miles south of Youngstown. We got there in the early afternoon on Thursday, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with Todd's parents and his sister's family. There was a ton of delicious food, which unfortunately means I forgot to take any pictures of our actual Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner though, we sung happy birthday to Todd as he got to blow out the candles on his birthday apple pie.

Todd blowing out the candles

Todd with one of his birthday gifts that I'm very excited about...a place to store our wine corks!

I love cool whip and Todd's mom had cinnamon cool whip, which I had never seen before, so I loaded my pie up with it

The rest of Thanksgiving, we just hung out with family and took it easy. Todd might have had 3 more turkey sandwiches while we were hanging out.

We got up on Friday and ran on the treadmill in the basement. I'm happy to report I ran 1.5 miles pain free! When I went to the doctor earlier in the week, he said I'm okay to start running again and to increase by 1/2 mile at a time. I ran 1 mile a couple times earlier last week so I bumped up to 1.5 miles on Friday. By the time we showered and got ready for the day, it was already lunch time so Todd helped his mom make cabbage & noodles. I'd had this one other time at their house and it is surprisingly very good. We might have to start making it at our place now.

Todd shredding the cabbage

Friday afternoon, Todd, myself, his parents, and his cousins, took a little road trip to Youngstown. I had actually never been there so his dad drove us around and gave me a tour of the city. We first drove through Mill Creek Park, which is the 2nd largest metropark in the U.S. There's a golf course, lots of running trails, and several historical sites, including Lanterman's Mill, a historic landmark built in 1845. We stopped at the Mill to get out and walk around.

The Mill

View of a bridge from the mill

After driving through the park, we drove through downtown Youngstown (a lot nicer than what I expected!) and drove through Youngstown State University's campus. Our last stop was to Rust Belt Brewing Company in the old B&O railroad station building. See what I mean when I say we always stop at a brewery or winery on any trip we go on? Not saying I'm complaining or anything...

Rust Belt Brewing Company

A few of them got tasters of 5 of the beers

Todd & his dad got a few six-packs for later

After arriving back from Youngstown, we enjoyed a big family dinner followed by watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the first time this holiday season.

Saturday morning, we got up to do our Insanity workout followed by eating apple pie for breakfast. We left shortly after so we could get back home in time for Todd to watch the second half of the Ohio State-Michigan football game. It was the first time we'd had Thanksgiving together at Todd's parents' house and it was a great weekend!

Yes, I'm aware that all of my pictures from this post are only of Todd, I honestly can't believe we didn't get a single picture together or of the whole family. I blame it on eating too much good food.

Apple Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars

Todd & I are heading up to Leetonia, Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with his family. I made these Apple Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars last night to bring with us. I actually made these for our tailgate a few weeks ago and they turned out great!

Ingredients (besides water, eggs, and oil)

Batter going into the oven

Cooked

Iced & ready to devour

Delicious!

Enjoy & Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

Bars
1 box (15.3 oz) Betty Crocker Fiber One apple cinnamon muffin mix
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs

*I also added a little bit of pumpkin pie spice*

Topping (I'll admit I took the easy way and just bought cream cheese frosting)
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray bottom only of 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir muffin mix, pumpkin, water, oil and eggs just until blended (batter may be lumpy). Spread in pan.
2. Bake 17 to 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. In small bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth; drizzle over bars. Sprinkle with walnuts. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.

from Betty Crocker

Long Weekend in St. Louis

For the past 4 years, since we've been together, I've taken Todd on some sort of adventure for his birthday. In 2008, we went ziplining in Hocking Hills and in 2009, we went to Geneva-on-the-Lake for a long weekend of wine tasting. Last year for Todd's 30th birthday, a group of our friends went on a weekend trip along the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. In keeping with the theme of his previous birthdays, this year we took a trip to St. Louis to tour a brewery and sample beer at some microbreweries.

We both took Friday off of work and left early in the morning for the 6.5 hour drive from Columbus to St. Louis. We made a quick pit stop for lunch and arrived in St. Louis around 3:00 PM (with the 1 hour time change).

I was so excited every time we saw the arch

Before checking in at the B&B we were staying at, we drove over to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Site. Another thing I should note about Todd, besides enjoying alcohol-related trips, he also likes to go to National Historical Sites and National Parks to get stamps in his National Park Passport. We try to make stops at these sites whenever we can since there are hundreds across the country. The historical site, known as White Haven, commemorates Grant's life in the military and his presidency. White Haven was a plantation worked by slaves when Grant married his wife and this is where his wife grew up and they later lived together as a family.

White Haven

After a tour of White Haven, we went stopped by our B&B, Brewer's House Bed & Breakfast, to unload our bags and freshen up. The B&B was really neat because it was a Civil War vintage home. The innkeeper, Rick, also made a fabulous breakfast each morning!

Brewer's House B&B

Our room

Wood-paneled walls and it even had a fireplace

We went to dinner in Laclede's Landing at Morgan Street Brewery. The food was nothing special but Todd enjoyed his first taster flight of beers of the trip.

Morgan Street Brewery

Big smile on the hubby's face with those beer in front of him!

Todd & I

And we might have stopped at a casino where we lost $11

We ended Friday night at Ted Drewes for frozen custard

I had Reese's cups in mine but Todd had apple pie which was AMAZING

After a great breakfast cooked by Rick on Saturday morning, we were out the door to head to the Soulard Farmer's Market, which first started in 1779, and is one of the oldest & largest farmers markets west of the Mississippi.

We bought some pastries, including a Gooey Butter Cake, one of St. Louis's specialties

Tons of vendors selling fresh fruit & veggies as well as sweets and meat

Our next stop of the day was the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which included both the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse. I was excited to head up to the top of the arch and Todd was excited to get a few more stamps in his passport.

The Arch

The Old Courthouse

Standing underneath the Arch was a little intimidating

But we made it to the top, all 630 feet

View of where the Cardinals play

View of the Old Courthouse

Todd & I before we headed down...it was really windy on Saturday so the Arch was shaking and I wasn't feeling very well because of it

Next stop was lunch at Schlafly Tap Room

Taster flight #1....

and #2

Our last stop on Saturday was Anheuser-Busch for a Beermaster Tour. There is a free tour but we decided to splurge and spend the $25/person to go on this more in-depth tour. We've been to a lot of breweries and been on a lot of tours and Todd said this was by far his favorite. It didn't hurt that we each got 4 beers to drink and since I don't really drink much beer, Todd actually got 8 beers.

Waiting around before our tour

We loved all the old buildings

Brewhouse

The Mash Tanks....it seemed so fancy in here with the chandeliers

Todd & I with the mandatory hats & headphones we had to wear

Freshest beer we'll ever drink, straight from the tank!

Bottling & packaging lines

I was happy we got to see several of the Clydesdales

Stocked fridge at the end of the tour that was just for the Beermaster Tour guests

So you do the math....Todd + 8 beers + 2 hours = passed out by 6:00 PM

We actually ate a ton at lunch and were hoping to go to a late dinner in the Hill at a good Italian restaurant but after Todd got a couple hours of sleep, we still weren't really hungry and just hung out at the B&B the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning, after another fabulous breakfast, we packed up for the drive home. We stopped at Ram Restaurant & Brewery in Indianapolis for a late lunch/early dinner and arrived home around 7:00 PM after an awesome weekend!

One last taster flight at Ram Restaurant & Brewery to cap off the trip