Hump day snapshots

Happy hump day! Don’t get dirty with me here…perhaps I’ll stick with happy Wednesday?! Meh, that’s boring! 😉
Sorry for my absence. Work and life has taken me away from the blogging world and that just is not ok! It’s not.
I want to spend hours reading checking up on people’s blogs to creep on what they are up too. I know you do the same, you cannot hide it. Creep away!!
Since I know you want to know what I’ve been up to, here it is….brace yourself it’s not exciting.

Had to bake some zucchini banana bread. Delicious!

What a shocker…I’m watching football while enjoying a questbar! Mandatory!

Prior to watching the game and endulging on a questbar, I went on a longish bike ride. It was a beautiful day for a ride.

Ok, your probably asking, “what is this?” So my mom decided that I should help her with an art project for school. Art is written on my forehead. The art project has to do with National Dot Day. No I don’t know what it means, so I decided to draw the Seahawk eye logo. Definitely a fan. Duh!

Lately I’ve been fueling up with protein pancakes. Deyumm.

Omg, guess what arrived?! NOXPLODE! By golly, I’ve heard magical things about this product and boy it is amazing. I was PUMPED up! My review will follow soon.

Despite my left knee bothering me lately, I thought I’d try taking some NOXPLODE and head out for a run. Boy, I was on another planet. I didn’t want to push too hard, but I had no choice!! Ahh! Luckily it was a shorter run and by the end my knee definitely said hey stop that.
I listened and walked….boo!
I followed up my run with some lifting. Chest, biceps and triceps were on the agenda. Most chest though with a side of biceps and triceps.
Overall, I was fatigued!
Today’s workout not envolve running or chest, triceps or biceps. Perhaps back or legs and some cardio. We will see!
Do you take any preworkout supplements/powders?
What workouts are you doing this week?
What are your favorite recipes now?
Have a great day!
XO, Tara

Current snacks

Did you have a good long weekend? I sure did and it was hard going back to work on a Tuesday. It’s a blessing, but my whole week is off. Meh!
Anywho, I’ve been experimenting with snacks/dinners/recipes lately and that’s good for me.
I’m one of those people who will eat the same thing daily until I’m sick of it. Always been this way and I won’t hide it.
Here is what I’ve been lovely lately:
Rice crackers with spicy hummus and mozerella cheese!

Cheese please!

You only need 3 ingredients. Rice cakes, hummus and cheese. Simple yet tasty!

With all the warm weather, I’ve been in need of a tasty cold Popsicle. Luckily I’ve been able to sample the ProYo Greek yogurt Popsicles. They are very tasty especially on a warm day. My complete review will follow.

ProYo comes in a variety of flavors. Stay tuned!
You can never go wrong with a handful of nuts.

A great source of protein and energy!
Do you love Greek yogurt? I sure do. I’m obsessed!

Obsessed with the following flavors:
1. Banana
2. Strawberry banana
3. Strawberry shortcake
4. Strawberry
Lately, I’ve been creating my own frozen yogurt and I love it. I’ve been freezing the yogurt tubs for 2 hours before eating.
Aka super yummy!
I’m always looking for new snack ideas! Please pass them on!!
XO, Tara

Currently- Fifth Edition

Hello Thursday!

It’s been a loooonnng time since I’ve shared what I’m currently loving!

Current show:

The Killing. If you haven’t heard of it yet, it’s an AMC and now Netflix series. Yup, I’m getting sucked in once again. Plus, the series is based in Seattle. Word. Unfortunately, I heard that there are only four seasons. Boo.

Current book:

I just finished Looking for Alaska by John Green. I’m in need of a new book immediately.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart was suggested by my own mom. She highly recommended it and Good reads gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I think I’ll listen to her since she is an avid readers. I think she picked the correct profession. Any guesses? (Hint, hint, she’s a librarian)

Current excitement:

The upcoming Lake Sammamish Triathlon on Saturday, August 23^rd.

Current obsession:

Protein Pancakes. Nuff’ said.

Current music:

Country, country and more country.

Summer brings out the country side of me. Oh yes, I pull out the cowboy boots, cowgirl hats, bandanas and that southern twang. Ha, ya right. Me? Born and raised in the PNW. There is no southern nothing in these parts.

Current mood:

Content! Dog sitting has been quite pleasing with no problems. *knock on wood!* 

What are you currently loving?

Have you watched The Killing?

Have you read John Green’s books?

Any recommendations for me?

XO, Tara

See what I am up too on: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

 

Protein Packed Pancakes

Who doesn’t love pancakes? Pancakes are delicious especially since you can add whatever you want to the mixture. Don’t forget the toppings. My personal favorite toppings are bananas.

Recently, I just found out about protein pancakes. Yes, I am a wee bit late I know. Boy, are they yummy.

The recipe that I’ve found is simple and customize-able. <—-Errr is that even a word? 

Here’s what you’ll need to make the protein pancakes….

 

Like I said, you can customize your protein pancake with different protein powder flavors and add ins. I chose to make a PB2 protein pancake…and, it was amazing.

PB2 Protein Pancakes

Mix together in a bowl the following items:

2 egg whites

2.5 tablespoons oat flour

1 tbsp PB2

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon stevia

1 scoop vanilla designer whey protein powder

1/2 Tbsp water

Mix together and pour onto a greased pan.

 

Unfortunately, I don’t have the best picture of the PB2 protein pancakes this time around. However, trust me they are delicious.

These are the chocolate protein cakes that I made a few weeks back. So good. I simply just added a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the recipe. Next up are banana PB2 protein pancakes. YUM!

If you want to get really brave then you should add in some veggies. However, I won’t jump the gun too quickly….but I won’t rule it out either! 😉

Let me know if you try the recipe!

Do you like protein pancakes?

Favorite flavor of protein powder to use or cook with?

XO, Tara

The Awkward Pair

My dinners over the last few nights have been quite interesting. Mostly because I am too fatigued to put any effort into my meals. Two nights in a row, I blended up a monster green protein smoothie and had a side of pretzels, cheese, pita chips, turkey and guacamole.

 

Evidence.

The Green Machine Shake. 

1 cup ice

1 cup water

1 scoop Vanilla Designer Whey

1 cup spinach

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 tablespoon PB2

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon stevia

Blend and demolish. 

Spicy is where its at and it is delicious….

And yes, I’ll have the smoothie and guacamole at the same time. Sounds disgusting right? Perhaps to most; however, I must be the 7% that finds it to be just fine. HA!

I hope that I am not the only one that gets super lazy when it comes to preparing dinner when you are completely and udderly drained. So drained that the idea of food is not appealing, but overall a necessity. This is where I’m at. So tired, wanting sleep, but also needing to feed my body so that it will make it through the next day.

Ok, enough with my two cents. It’s time for yet another day at trial, luckily its the home stretch!

Enjoy the day!

XO, Tara

 

Fun Facts Friday- Hike, Run, Tan and Repeat.

It’s been a really long time since I did a “Fun Facts Friday” post. I cannot believe that I’ve slacked off for over a month.

Anywho, after two days of gloomy cloudy rainy days, the SUN is BACK! Yippee! This will lead into my first fun fact…

1. The weather is looking beautiful and WARM for the next week plus.

source

2. Tonight, I’m going to a old friends wedding. I’m so happy for her. It should be a great time. I’ll make sure not to be a “bad” blogger and not take pics!

3. I made protein fluff cakes the other night. I’ve been seeing them on Instagram quite often and thought that I should give it a try. Let me know if you want the recipe! I really enjoyed it.

Lather it with some cookie butter and eat it up!

4. COOKIE BUTTER!!!!

You can find it at your local Trader Joes. YUMMMMMM!

5. My goal for the weekend is to be outside as much as possible. Hike, run, tan and repeat. 

What are your plans for the weekend?

Any hikes, runs or races on the agenda?

Do you like cookie butter?

 Have a great Friday!

XO, Tara

See what I am up too on: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Move Yo Body Workout

Happy Memorial Day!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the three day weekend! That means we have no excuse not to workout. I thought that I’d share my workout from yesterday, only because it was awesome. I decided to mix things up after my cardio sesh.

Box jumps are killer. Oh my!

I definitely got my sweat on after this workout. I finished with some abs then called it a day. I fueled up with a green protein shake.

 

The Cookies n’ Ceam Green Smoothie incorporated the following:

1 scoop GNC’s cookies n’ cream protein powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1/2 cup spinach

5 ice cubes

1/2 cup water

Blend together, pour and serve.

Simply delicious. I thought that Oreos were actually incorporated in the smoothie. 🙂

Allrighty, it’s time for to get movin’.

XO, Tara

 

 

 

Baking on Memorial Weekend

I hope you are having a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend. I love the extra day off to relax or just sit around and catch up on shows. Since I have no plans for Memorial Day,  I am going to do just that. Living life on the edge, clearly. 

My parents went out of town (lucky dogs) and I was summoned to dog sit. No pun intended. I’m more than happy to snuggle with the pups and watch shows on demand. Sadly, I don’t have that capability at my pad. I have to stick with the basic 80 channels. Boo.

Obviously, Kasa isn’t feeling as photogenic as usual. This is her “rough” look. 

After the snuggle sesh, I tried to run. Literally tried. I made in 1.45 miles before my knee said HELL NO. All I was thinking was WTF, WHY WHY WHY!! Should I run home or walk? I decided to walk and run home…Overall, I was pissed. Pissed that I cannot run without pain in my knee. Heck my blog name is PNW Runner. Should I change it to PNW Walker? Or PNW No Run? Sorry, I’ve been feeling so discouraged lately.

During the summer, I thrive to get out and run for hours and now I can barely get through a few miles. I immediately texted my mom with an angry face. Her response, bike? Well, my lazy ass let my bike at home. Go, me. 

Since I was in a defeated mood after my walk/run attempt, it was time to watch some quality TV and catch up on Instagram. After about an hour or so of doing “nothing” it was time to go hit the gym. I did an hour of cardio and watched Beach Front Bargain Hunt then hit the weights for a half hour or so. I love going to the gym on the weekends, because there are less people and I can attempt to try new machines without feeling like I’m a newbie . Heck, I rarely venture into the weight area due to the fact that I don’t want people judging me. I know, I shouldn’t care. 

I did a killer workout that was all over the place. You’d think I was loko.

Here’s what I did:

Rows with 40lbs 15×3

Dead lifts with 40lbs 15×3

Back extension machine at 60lbs 12 x3

Alt lunges with 40lb barbell 10×3

At lunges on a box with a leg lift 10×3

Squats with 40lb barball 10×3

Tricep extensions with 40lbs 10×3

20 Burpees

Captain chair leg lifts 10×3

Captain chair side leg lifts 10×3

See, I told you that I was all over the place. I’ll be feeling it tomorrow, I hope.

Since I am unable to run, I need to lift to get that definition in my quads and butt. I’m coming to terms that I will be lifting more than ever…this is different for me. BUT, I am okay with that.

Post workout, I headed home to feed the animals. I grabbed a growler and decided that it was a perfect night to bake. Guess what I baked? I found these laying around….

These beauties turned into this..

Very delicious. I even tried a new recipe.

I found this Banana Bread recipe from Skinny Mom. I had to make a few modifications.

Preheat your oven to 330 degrees.

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp light butter
• 2 egg whites
• 1½ cups whole wheat white flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup walnuts

Directions:

Mix together in a separate bowl the butter, oil, sugars and vanilla extract.

Add in the mashed bananas and egg whites.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Don’t over mix.

Pour the batter into a bread pan and add cinnamon and walnuts on top.

Bake for 35 minutes and let cool.

I made a new modifications to the original recipe. I sprinkled cinnamon and walnuts on top. I think that it added a extra touch. Plus, I love cinnamon. Like I said, the recipe turned out perfect. Thank you Skinny Mom. 😀

I highly recommend you giving this recipe a try.

Okay, I’m off to watch more TV or walk the dogs or something….

XO, Tara

See what I am up too on: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Confessions: Fourth Edition

Happy Thursday. I swear today could be Friday. I am bummed when I determined that it wasn’t. No causal day and the weekend doesn’t begin n 8 hours. I’m sure that today will fly by just like the last few weeks.

It’s been a while since I’ve voiced some confessions.

1. I need to find some new decor for the walls in my new place. Sorry, but the Killer Whale above the fire place doesn’t cut it.

Or this…

I’m struggling to find a theme that will go with the log cabin feel. However, I’ve only been here a few days….I think I have time. Any suggestions are welcome! 😀

2. Warmer weather means that smoothies will make a come back!

This smoothie from last night was more like a slushy. You can find more smoothie recipes here.

3. I miss running and biking. I need the weather and my damn hip flexor to get better right meow. Luckily, the weather is going to be better. We’ll see about the hip flexor. I need to take it out for a test run this weekend.

4. I feel like Miss Independent right now.

Moving into my own place, making it my own and surviving! Honestly, you have no idea how I feel right now. I haven’t been on my own since I was away at college in 2006 and it only lasted a year.

5. I need more dinner recipes. I am a terrible cook and I have a stove that I’ve been using, but I only know how to make a few things. Cook chicken, ground turkey, eggs, etc. Basic easy stuff.

 Ok, those are my relatively tame confessions for today.

What are your confessions?

Do you cook?

Suggestions for decor for a log cabin feel?

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Tara

See what I am up too on: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Currently- Take two

Thank you all for the kind words regarding my last post. I really appreciate it! Definitely helped me get over the hump!

Yesterday turned out to be a great day. Work went really well and I accomplished so much throughout the day! Gotta love that feeling! 😀

I have to admit, I’m glad it is Thursday! Only one more day until the weekend. Yep, yep! Since, I’ve been in such a slump the past few days err weeks, I thought I’d share what I am loving currently. This brings a smile to my face!

Currently TV Show:

I just finished Dexter! AHHHH, really it had to end like that? Booo! I am in need of a new show.

I heard The Following is a great new show. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Current Excitement:

On Sunday, I am running the Mercer Island Half Marathon. Wish this girl luck! My butt will need it with all the hills.

Current Workout:

I’ve been pumpin’ it up at Body Pump again! I’ve missed this class, because I can really push myself. Plus, you gotta show off a little. HA! Apparently, I need to work on making my station more presentable. Lol.

Current Polish:

Nada…my nails are naked and lovin’ it. They are able to show el’ natural.

Current Confession:

I started tanning again. My white ass body needs a wee bit of color and vitamin D. Say what you want, but here in Sea-town the lack of sun takes a toll on ya.

Current Recipe:

None yet, but I really want to these Guinness Brownies from Chocolate Covered Katie. Guinness plus chocolate all in one? Yes, please!

I mean look at that. Super moist. 

Wait, I just said the word moist. I hate that word, but it totally works right now.

Current Book: 

Do the Washington State Court Rules count? That’s what I’ve been reading. Super fun, I know!

There you have it. That’s what I’ve been loving lately while managing all the fun stresses that comes with LIFE!

Any recommendations for a new TV series?

Books? 

Songs?

What are you currently loving?

Talk to you tomorrow!

Tara

See what I am up too on: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook