The subject of this post just about sums up my weekend, so hope everyone has a good night - see you tomorrow! I am so funny sometimes.
Where to start? How about Friday night's pasta dinner OUT? We wanted to stay local, low-key and try to keep it on the cheaper side. Pasta Mista recently opened in the refurbished Brewer's Hill area and was close enough to walk which was perfect since it was a beautiful night. It was about a 15 min walk and I was worried that we should have driven since we did have to run 20 miles in the morning. Didnt want my legs all tired out! But it ended up being fine - sometimes I am a worry wort.
Pasta Mista is more known for their pizza (they have a location up in Towson area), so we had to try a slice. I ate about half of this and it was good - will definitely have to order a pizza at some point. They had a bunch of crazy varieties - one pizza I saw had tortellini on top!!
I decided to make my own pasta combo and went with spaghetti with grilled chicken and rose sauce. It looked pretty when it came out, but in all honesty, this sauce was horrible. It was extremely salty and I could barely get any of it down. The chicken was not freshly grilled and seemed like it came out of a frozen chicken tender box. Thankfully, Kevin ordered the lasagna which was very good and HUGE, so I had a bunch of bites.
Afterwards, we needed something sweet and decided to head to Rita's Italian ice. They had a new italian ice flavor - Pumpkin Spice - which was GREAT. I got a small pumpkin spice gelati, so it had some frozen custard on top and bottom. yum. I ate about half until I was freezing and full. We almost turned the heat on in the car as we ate this.
Now onto the 20 mile training run recap. Started with my normal breakfast of half a banana and ww potato bread with almond butter and honey. (no pictures - was too early to think straight) On the way to the start of the run, I ate half a mojo mixed nuts that was ok, but I think i need the chocolate or peanut butter chips in there.
It was a perfect running morning - we were cold leaving the house at 6ish, which was a great sign. Kevin and I met my father (check out his running blog that his friend set up for him - has some good treadmill workouts) and his friend at 7am in columbia - they were going to run the first 6-10 with us. We planned to do a Galloway method type training run, so we would run 11 mins, walk 2 mins. My dad was keeping the time (I forgot to wear my watch), so when he and his friend peeled off from us, we went by the mileage for our walks.
During the run, I carried a water bottle and filled it up at our pre-arranged water stops with a mixture of powerade and water. This worked well because i always feel like the powerade and gatorade is too strong right out of the bottle. I also cant wear anything on my back or waist when running - it just bothers me for long periods of time. So carrying a bottle, for me, is best!
Throughout the run and at water stops, I ate two mini snickers with almonds, a few runner jelly beans, a few bites of a banana, and a clif shot block. I also took two advil at mile 11.5. My left hamstring was starting to hurt - not sure why, but the advil and some stretching breaks helped. Kevin and I both felt great overall and we finished strong going up some big hills to finish. It was a solid last-long training run, that left me feeling confident for the marathon in 3 weeks!!! what a difference the weather makes - wow. Please start thinking positive/praying for good weather on marathon day - please, please, please!
Here is me after the run - I was feeling good - wearing my Bagel to Beer shirt! Oh and I wear lacrosse shorts instead of the typical running shorts because for some reason the running shorts just dont work for me. Even though I didnt play lacrosse ever - played soccer in college, so yeah - who knows, but they work!
Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with turkey sausage, egg, and cheese on an asiago bagel from Einstein Brothers. SO good. love that place.
I also ordered, what I thought was an iced caramel skim latte. Well, here is what I got and it was so sickly sweet, I couldnt drink much of it. Kevin was happy about this mistake because he got to have my leftovers!
We quickly packed up and were off to the beach for our friends, Neely and Ryan's baby shower in Ocean City, MD. They recently moved there from Baltimore and bought this cool restaurant/bar on 28th street. more about that below. I brought a cinnamon roll larabar and lots of water for the road.
Here is me being dangerous and taking a quick picture while driving. Dont tell anyone. ;)
So once we made it to OC, (its about 2.5 hours away) we quickly headed over to Mother's Cantina, the restaurant/bar that Neely and Ryan recently bought. It is a tex-mex theme and they have kept the menu the same as the previous owners, but completely changed the ingredients and recipes to ensure everything is high quality, fresh, and delicious. They said that they plan to change the menu around November to make it more their own. I loved the food and started out making a nacho/taco salad with all the food they had out for the baby shower. I loaded my plate with tortilla chips, lettuce, pico de gallo, chicken, cheese, and some black beans. I was so hungry that I completely forgot to take a picture - sorry!
But, I did take a picture of the fresh guacamole with chips we ordered later. This is after we had been eating it for awhile, so it doesnt look quite as pretty as when it came out, but it was so tasty and a huge portion!
I had a very strong (good) margarita, drank a few (maybe more than a few) beers, and sipped on a few shots. Yes, I have gotten to the point where I sip my shots - that means I am old, I know. :) We had a great night hanging out with everyone and celebrating the new baby that is due to arrive on Halloween! Oh and did I mention how great the prices are at Mother's Cantina? Happy hour is every day from 4-7 and you can get $1 tacos, $3.50 margaritas and some other good stuff! It is a great place that I know will do well!
Check out this picture of a late night queso taco that my boyfriend made for me. soo sweet. ;)
wow - this is long. But I am almost done...promise. if anyone is still even reading this.
Sunday morning I had corn flakes with sliced banana and skim milk for breakfast. Thanks to my sister, who had bought some milk when they got down on friday night. I found the corn flakes in the pantry - the mini boxes, so they were definitely fresh. Havent had these in awhile and they were good. Oh and I love these bowls that my mom recently got for the place and wanted to steal them for my house. Seriously, it makes the picture look so much nicer!
Later that morning - we decided to take a walk down to Bagels and Buns to grab a mid-morning snack. I ordered a whole wheat bagel with PB and jelly and ate half. Saved the rest for later.
Lunch was another great meal at Mother's Cantina where I had a $5 chicken quesadilla - they have sunday football specials! It was so fresh and good - one of the best I have ever had - no lie. It is also nice to know/trust the people making the food - you know it is going to be good! Here is my blurry cell phone picture. It was huge, so I only ate half of this.
Later that day, I had the rest of my bagel with PB and Jelly. We were going to go kayaking - but then we got outside and felt really cold and slightly hungover and decided that we wanted to be lazy and not do anything. I know - lame.
On the way home, kevin and I split a coconut creme pie larabar that was the best. It was chewier/moister than others I have had and I loved it.
The best part about driving back from the beach is all the cool produce stands and antique shops. We stopped by a produce stand (Guy Farms) to grab some stuff and I snapped this picture that to me, IS FALL. Look at all these awesome gourds!
I grabbed corn, spaghetti squash, zucchini, peaches, tomatoes, and best of all - pumpkin butter!
We ate dinner at Kevin's family's house and had the corn with hamburgers, watermelon, and mac&cheese. I am not a big hamburger person, so I had half of a small one with cheese. Had a little mac and cheese and two ears of corn. The corn was great! (sorry, no pics)
Ok - this is long enough, but I did have to try the pumpkin butter when i got home, so I had it with almond butter on a piece of ww potato bread. yummmm.
whew - i am caught up! :) Good night!!!
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We also ordered a Maryland roll and shrimp tempura. For apps, we got the edamame and gyoza. It was all delicious.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 mins. Enjoy.
These were tasty, easy and pretty healthy. I will definitely be making them again.
Tomorrow, my dad planned a group run in the morning starting from their house, so I am planning to run that. The group is doing 15 miles, but I am going to shoot for 5. That way I will have done 9 miles this weekend too. ;) Afterwards, my mom, grandmom, sister, and I are making Christmas cookies and then I am doing a secret santa dinner with my friends from college at PF Changs. Busy holiday times!
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday. I am off to start my Christmas shopping!
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Some of you left comments about the Trader Joes almond butter being watery and I agree - it needs salt and is too watery. But now I need to get through this jar before buying another type. Maybe I should use it in a recipe. I think I remember someone out there making a banana/almond butter bread combo, so I now I just have to find it. Or maybe almond butter cookies? I havent baked in weeks. 
