Hakuna Matada - Chilly November

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Dave - Good job getting the 9.5 miler in.

Mike - Good job on the TT.

Regina - no, we just have a 2 person hot tub, so no swimming, just soaking LOL We were not shopping for much, we did get a good deal on a new cyclocross bike for me, it is on order, and Scott got a ladder from Lowes. WalMart had already sold out of the WII games we were looking for, so nothing there. Good job on the runs.

Rick - Good job on the race! Have fun playing a Klingon.

AFM - Spend the day putting up Christmas decorations in the house, it took all day, and I just got the upstairs done, we still have another tree we put downstairs. Never even made it outside, Scott went out a couple of times and said it was really brutal (very cold wind blowing). Today I made it out early with the dogs - not much wind, still cold (23F), will see what the day brings.

Pixie dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[bunnyfoo]

The original recipe is here. I changed the cheese and added a topping and swapped the nutmeg for smoked paprika. It's not low fat or cal ... but I think if you used a whole wheat pasta and LF cheese it would bring down the calories a lot. If you wanted to bring up the calories even more, I'll bet this would be really yummy with a 1/2 cup of chopped bacon

I did end up using skim milk because that's all I had at home. I think the recipe could have used more salt. I stuck with the original amount because I salted the pasta water and I think it's easier to add salt rather than to take it away.

I didn't use a 9x13 baking dish. It was a 1.5Q (?) casserole dish so it was smaller but taller. The 25 minutes was still enough time.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese​

Ingredients:
3 cups dry pasta - I used penne
2 T butter, unsalted
2 T flour
2 cups milk
3/4 pumpkin puree
1 cup Gruyere (or Emmental if you like a milder flavour)
1 cup Fontina
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 black pepper

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup Panko
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
1 T olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Prepare pasta according to the directions on the package and drain when done.
3. Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan until foamy. Whisk in flour and cook for about 2 minutes
4. Slowly whisk in milk, making sure there are no lumps
5. Add pumpkin puree, mix well.
6. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, paprika and black pepper.
7. Once the cheese has melted and everything is combined, add the drained pasta and mix well.
8. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking pan.
9. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

 

[bunnyfoo]

The muffin, cheesecake batter and streusel come from three separate recipes. I wanted to make something similar to the muffins you get at Starbucks. I got the pumpkin muffin recipe here, the cheesecake batter is from Disney's Boardwalk Cheesecake Brownie here and the streusel was something we did in class so there's no online reference for it.

I scaled down the streusel but I feel like there was enough left over for another 12 muffins. But -- I hate not having enough streusel topping so I don't mind making extra. Same with the cheesecake batter - it should be good enough for 24 muffins. I also used toasted pecans instead of walnuts because that's all I had

I also read that you should form a log with the cream cheese mixture, freeze for two hours and cut into discs that will help to keep it in the centre of the muffin.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped walnut halves
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

Cheesecake ingredients:

• 1/4 cup + 1T sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp cornstarch
• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 T heavy cream
• 1/2 T sour cream

Streusel ingredients:

• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3T butter, unsalted

Directions:

Cheesecake batter:
1. Cream sugar, cornstarch, and cream cheese in a large bowl using an electric mixer.
2. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract, mixing thoroughly.
3. Add the egg and scrape the bowl to make sure everything is combined.
4. Fold in heavy cream and sour cream.

For the streusel:
1. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, mix together flour, butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, oats until a crumbly mixture is formed (will feel like sand).

For the muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cups or grease with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
3. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Mix in the walnuts.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree oil and vanilla.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Be careful not to overmix
6. Fill each muffin cup halfway through, add about 1T of the cream cheese mixture and then continue filling the cup with muffin batter.
7. Sprinkle streusel topping on each muffin.
8. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes.
9. Muffins are done when a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool in pan for 5 mins.

 

[Piglet24]

Hi Team!

Dave- I hope your additional mileage helps!

Mike- Great time on your Turkey Trot and awesome job hitting the 8:22 pace! That is great you guys raised so much money and had so much food donated. Hope you and Liz have a great time watching Rick at the Klingon Christmas Carol!

Rick- Good luck with your Klingon role this weekend! Break a leg!

Lynn- I bet your decorations look great! I hope it goes well putting the rest of your decorations up.

Vicky- Thanks for the recipes! Oh, and I like the keychain medal.

AFM, I ran 16 miles on the TM today. DH’s arch was hurting so he couldn’t run. It was a rough run the entire way though. I wanted to quit and go home from the second I started running. But I ran one mile at a time until I made it through them all. LOL, I wasn’t sure I would make it to 16 miles when I started. My body was really tired from the run the day before and my muscles were tight and didn’t seem to want to loosen up. We also got all of our indoor Christmas decorations up so it’s nice being able to enjoy them. We went to a local Christmas light show at the botanical garden here on Saturday and that was fun.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday tomorrow.

 

[windwalker]

Good morning guys.

I'm going to be training at the mall today since the weather is horrid here this morning. It's raining and 41 degrees, burrrrrrrr!! Planning on a 4 mile tempo walk and then some good stretching and working my legs with the stick.

Hope everyone is closing in on being ready for our January adventure. Vicky did you fill all the reservation slots for the team activities?

Dave

 

[Hockeychic]

Good Morning Team!!!!!

Just a quick drive by want to get into work early today.

Hope everyone has a awesome Monday!!!

 

[rubato]

Good morning team. I hope everyone had a good, productive weekend.

Kim: Hope you have a good day.

Dave: Enjoy your mall walking. Hopefully, the rain will let up and you can get back outside tomorrow.

Regina: Great job getting your 16 done. Wow, on the TM would be tough for me. You are a mentally stronger woman than me. Grasshopper pie is chocolate and mint, but mostly mint. It was good, but actually too minty for me.

Vicky: The recipe looks awesome. I will have to make it soon. Frank said it sounded gross, but what does he know? Somehow the pumpkin and cheese just doesn't work for him.

Lynn: Congrats on ordering the bike. I hope it comes soon. I am still not even in the beginning stages of decorations. For the first time ever, I am just not in the mood.

Rick: I hope you enjoy your Klingon role this coming weekend. And, it sounds like you've got lots of running planned, which is always good!

Mike: Great job on the pace. And fantastic that you guys raised so much money. I've never done any of the tours at Disney. But, we've always had our little guy with us. He's old enough now that he would probably enjoy some of them.

AFM: Harrison and I got our TT in. We did 3.5 miles on Saturday, and he didn't complain once. He's finally starting to feel like he's a runner again. I just wish he could run the half at Disneyworld. I would love to run it with him in 2013, but he'll only be 13 at that point. I was really hoping to go and do Goofy again and have it be my 20th anniversary present, but I may wait until 2014 now so he can at least do part of it with me.

I have 16 today and am waiting until it's a little warmer to get out there. It's only 26 degrees right now, and I'd like it to be about 35, if possible.

I studied all weekend and feel pretty confident for tomorrow. I cannot wait for the stress of this class to be over. Just 3 more weeks!

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Vicky - I made pumpkin cheesecake muffins this morning with the recipe on the side of the pumpkin bread box, it was not much simpler than your recipe, but not quite as calorie intensive (the cheesecake filling was just cream cheese, egg and 2 TBS sugar), but they were pretty good. My streusel top had chopped pecans in it (otherwise was melted butter and some of the pumpkin mix).

Kim - Hi!

Dave - Hi!

Regina - The downstairs decorations may wait until we are back from DL, or may not even get up if we do not have the Christmas Party Scott keeps mentioning, but nothing is planned yet. Good job on the 16 miles, especially because you did not want to run it!

Tandy - Good luck on your 16 miler today!

AFM - Did get downstairs yesterday for a spin bike workout. Windy again today, although not cold - 50F this morning - they also say that is the high for the day and it will start getting colder when the wind quits (somehow the wind keeps it warmer - sometimes). Not sure what the plans are for the day yet.

Pixie dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[Motomiker]

Posting from my phone. Got three miles run this morning in light snow flurries. Then my headphones died, so I decided to walk the three back.

Hope you are all well, Mike

 

[rubato]

The 16 miles went really well. I finished in 2:28, which works for me. I ran out of water though, so will have to figure a few things out for longer runs. It was 35 degrees when I headed out the door and I was perfectly warm in a long sleeved shirt, no jacket, no gloves, and no hat. I can't believe I can say that. I'm a little sore, so skipping zumba. I really need to only go once a week anyway, so it's a good forced break.

Lynn: Sorry that silly wind just won't let up. I am always more able to handle it when it's warm. Hope it doesn't get too cold.

Mike: Sorry the headphones died. There is nothing like counting on them and needing them and dealing with the disappointment of not having them.

 

[windwalker]

When I did my 4 miles in the mall this morning I forgot my iPod. I'll remember it tomorrow. It's still going to be raining tomorrow so I'll be back to the mall again. Today was easy 12:30 pace and tomorrow will be more intense.

Have a restful evening y'all.

Dave

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Mike - sorry about the earphones.

Tandy - good job on your 16 miles.

Dave - sorry your weather has been rainy, have fun at the mall.

AFM - Yesterday I got side tracked on projects and never made it out for a walk with the dogs, it was windy all day, but not cold. I did get on the spin bike in the basement for 45 min. We did get out this morning for a dog walk. Will see if it stays nice enough for a bike ride when it warms up a bit.

Pixie Dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day all!

 

[bunnyfoo]

Hi team! We have a forecast of 24 hours of rain. I'm glad it's today and tomorrow and not Saturday and Sunday.

Lynn - How did the cream cheese in your muffins turn out? I had muffins with the cream cheese that kind of floated to the top and a few with the cream cheese that stayed in the middle. Yay on the Christmas decorations! Do you and Scott decorate the Tiki bar too? I hope the weather warms up and you're able to get out for a bike ride!

Dave - Good job on the workout! I think a 12:30 m/m walk is pretty darn speedy! If I walked that fast, I'd practically want to run. Yes, the reservations for Kona Cafe and Chef Mickey's are all booked And then there are the general WISH meet on Friday at Pop and Monday at the Boardwalk Bakery. I'm looking forward to them!

Do you portion out your food? I once measured out a 1/2 cup of rice and was shocked to see how little rice there actually was.

Tandy - Can we nickname you Speedy? Oh if only I could run as fast as you do ... Good job on the 16 miler! Sounds like you've jumped right back in without any problems! My PT was telling me last night do try an epsom salt bath after the weekend LR. He said it helped with soreness. I was really sore after my LR on the weekend too. Have you tried them before? I might pick up some and give it a try on the weekend. How long is your next LR?

Yes, the pumpkin mac & cheese sounded gross to me at first too! Trust me, I'm not much of a pumpkin fan myself but once you add in all the cheeses, you don't even notice it's there! I think it's a neat way to sneak in some veggies

Mike - Careless drivers make me angry! Most don't realize they need to stop at the stop sign first and not halfway out into the intersection. But I'll admit I use to do that until I started running Be careful out there especially with the slippery roads! Sorry to hear about your headphones. Can you salvage them at all? I once had my phone smushed under the TM during a workout and I didn't have music after that. I sort of lost motivation after that. Good job on your TT! That's a great pace!! How was Rick's play? Did you get pictures And congrats on the fundraiser! That's awesome!!

Kim - Hope things are going well at work! How's your training coming along?

Sue - How was Mary Poppins? Are you going out running tonight with the rain? I don't mind the rain for short runs but am hoping that it won't be as heavy as the rain we had this morning.

Regina - Hope DH's arch is doing ok! Is he going to look into new running shoes? WTG on making it through your 16 miler! And did I read that you ran it on a TM! Holy Moley! You go girl! I think you deserve bonus points for that My run was pretty good until I got to 15 miles. I kind of expected that though but I'm happy that I'm not getting too tired until 15.

Rick - How did your play go on the weekend? Do you have any pictures of you in costume? For some reason, I think I've heard of that play ... How many people turned up for opening night? Were you nervous?

Congrats on your races! I'll bet you would have gotten a faster time if you didn't have all the other runners in front of you. I've done races before in parks with bike paths and they're a bit tricky.

I totally forgot you had an iPad! I will probably have lots of questions for you I did resist buying one last weekend. I wanted to have some time to do some research and think about my options. Out of all the tablets, I would probably opt for an iPad because of iCloud. I like that you can have files show up on your iPad and your computer.

AFM - Well I resisted shopping on Black Friday and for most of the weekend. I did want an iPad and there were some deals but I wanted to think about it some more. Canada will have one more big shopping day - Boxing Day which is the day after Christmas. It's similiar to Black Friday and I think the iPad will be discounted again. Another reason I didn't go shopping was that someone had stolen my credit card info and went shopping on Apple for me LOL I'm thankful they were dumb enough to order 4 laptops ... obviously it's not going to go through!

I ran my 17 miler on Saturday and overall it went pretty well. I decided to try the 10/1 intervals. I told myself that I was just going to do 10/1s up until 10 miles but I decided that I felt good enough at 10 miles, I'd keep going until mile 15. After that I did something like 8/2 but I know I took a lot of extra walking breaks in between. My pace was 11:40 which wasn't too shabby considering it was a LR. Sunday was rainy and I intended to go out for an 8 miler but I made it about 2 and was still pretty stiff from the 17 so I decided not to continue. Mostly because I wasn't warming up enough.

Got in my workout last night - we did some inch worms, deadlifting, hamstring curls, leg press, plyo and bridges. I'm going in about two weeks to do a reassessment so I get to see how my body's changed since I started working out. I guess I can't go too off diet in that time LOL

Anyway I should get back to work! Have a great day everyone!

 

[bunnyfoo]

Oh sorry! I forgot to post about the medals! I think Mike and Rick liked the round medal, Regina liked the keychain option, Tandy liked the dog tag and the rest of the votes were going with whatever the team wanted. LOL

I think if we go with the round medal we can do ribbons or keychains. I'm thinking they might even let us do a mix.

Any more thoughts? I'll get an email out to them on Friday.

I can bring them with me to Disney (for those going in January) or I'll ship them out. As for payment, I'll figure it out once we've decided on a medal. Nothing's been ordered yet.

 

[windwalker]

Well we have snow flurries today, oh I'm soooo not ready for winter. I had to do the mall again, 37 degrees and rain/snow mix doesn't make me wanna go outside to exercise. I had a great workout anyway, I was wearing my big heavy cushioned shoes and still had a 46:50 four mile training walk.

No Vicky I don't portion out food and if I eat just smal quantities then I tend to keep grazing on other stuff till I finally get a ful feeling.

Hope the rest of you are having better weather, none of us needs to get sick right now.

Dave

 

[wilbur]

Good Morning Team!

Mary Poppins was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Sorry I couln't resist.
We were about 10 rows back from the stage. The guy beside me was snoring. Don't know how he could have slept through that. The singing was LOUD.

Vicky, Nice work on your 17 miler.
I ran last night. At the beginning of the week I take a look at the weather forecast and plan out my runs. So tonight I'm on the bike in the dry warm comfort of the basement.
Saturday was beautiful weather for late Nov. I ran in a ss t and shorts. Last night I did need long sleeves though.

Tandy, Please send some of your speed my way. Nice job on your long run!

Lynn, Do the dogs not bug you for a daily walk? My guy is such a creature of habit. Even though he will have spent time outside during the day, running, fetching etc. He will follow me around every night until we go. If I sit down for even 5 mins. on the couch he will come and stare at me until we go.

Regina, You are a better woman than I for doing a long run on the TM.

Have a great day.................Sue

 

[RunRookie]

Vicky: The play opened last Friday to a very appreciative audience! But the performance that I am going to be in is coming up 'this' Friday. I will not be able to take any photos since I will be in the show but after the curtain call, I am sure to get Mike to take some photos of me in my makeup/costume! I will definitely be changing my FB profile pic to my Klingon self!

Congrats on your 17-Miler! I haven't gotten up that far yet. As for medals, bringing them to Disney is a good idea. And while I like the round one, any of them would be fine.

Mike: I have a pair of earbuds you can have!

Tandy: Man, you are such a speedster! I can only strive to get to your pacing! Great job!

AFM: It was cold with 24mph winds this morning, so I took my interval training into the club to the TM. Actually, intervals are easier on the TM in a way. I did all the 1/2 mile intervals between 9:00-9:45 pace at a 1.5% incline. 4.25 miles all together for the run.

Thursday will be an easy run for 4 miles. My next Long Run will be 11 miles on Saturday morning. It will be a cold day for that one.

 

[Piglet24]

Hi Team!

Kim- Hi!

Tandy- Thanks! Grasshopper pie sounds good, but I think I would prefer more chocolate than mint. Does Harrison like running more when he feels like a runner? Does Frank run too? Glad your 16 mile run went well and were so speedy! That’s great you were able to stay warm with so little clothing.

Lynn- Thanks! I’m sure the dogs enjoyed their walk this morning. Hope you were able to get out for a bike ride today.

Mike- Sorry to hear about your headphones.

Vicky- Haha, yes I ran it on the TM. DH is going to get new running shoes- I’m hoping to maybe head to the running store tomorrow or Thursday. I just wish it wasn’t 2 hours away. That is awesome you don’t get too tired until mile 15 doing 10/1 intervals. So this week you are doing 18 or 19 miles? Or is it a cutback week for you? Glad you had a good workout last night! Let us know your reassessment goes when you do it- I’m sure it will be great to see your progress.

Dave- Good to hear you had a great training walk at the mall today!

Sue- Glad Mary Poppins was great! I don’t know how the guy next to you could have slept through a musical either. LOL, I think it’s pretty cute your dog stares you down until you go for a walk.

Rick- Sounds like you had a great training session today! Good luck on your 4 mile run Thursday and 11 mile run this weekend! Looking forward to see your Klingon pics!

AFM, Yesterday was a rest day. I’m hoping to make it to the gym later this evening for some lifting and core training. It has been beautiful outside today and no rain. It would be awesome if this weather stayed through Sunday and Monday for my long runs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I tried to order DH a Christmas present online yesterday and it would not recognize our address or send it to our PO Box, so that was pretty frustrating. This has been an ongoing problem since we moved here though… So not only is there nowhere I like to shop here…some of the stores online won’t ship to me either! What’s a girl to do? Forego Christmas presents altogether?

 

[windwalker]

Here's a team question, where have you raced that they had the best goody bags and giveaways. I just did the Air Force in Sept and they gave us a hat as well as a nice Tech shirt.

Dave

 

[windwalker]

When are everyone arriving at WDW for the January marathon weekend? Sally and I are driving down and we hope to arrive early afternoon on Wednesday, we are staying at the Old Key West and will be departing the following Thursday. If anyone want's to get together with us for a park hopping day let us know.

I have the group training walk this morning at 7am and it's 37 degrees and heavy cloud cover so it will be a gloomy walk. At least I'll have good company.

Have an awesome Wednesday y'all.

Dave