Cupid's Chase 5K

Happy Saturday! It's been such an exhausting week at work. Last week was busy with parent conferences, and this week, with observations, tutoring, and a few more conferences. All I want to do is lay on the couch and do a Psych marathon, but this morning, I got up at 7:00 AM and got ready for the Cupid's Chase 5K Run. My coworker Kristin told me about it, which is run by Community Options, a nonprofit organization that helps house and provide services for disabled people.

The shirts were so cute; the red means you're available, and the white shirt, you're off limits. Although we saw some people wearing the red who were clearly married. Hm..

It was SO COLD. Kristin and I were battling some decreased lung capabilities, so we had low endurance, but we ran/walked 5K in under 45 minutes! Not bad. We're going to beat that time on our next 5K! I just need to shape up and start going to the gym I've been paying for, for about 1 year now. And how many times have I gone? Oh, about 5 times. I'm horrible.

Lately I've been obsessed with cupcakes.
Thursday was the 100th day of school, and my coworkers room moms made cute 100 day cupcakes.
My sweet friend also gave me a cupcake charm from Fossil! Now I have 4 charms! I love them all!
I saw this book online and saw vanilla bean cupcakes. Doesn't that sound and look delicious?! That's my next baking mission.

I love Daily 5. My kids love Daily 5. It's so great because I don't have to worry about them playing around, and I know they are engaged. After hearing my small group read, I usually walk around to check how the rest are doing, and I had to snap this cute photo of my student reading to Bonita Broccoli in Read to Someone. :)

Recipe of the day: Steamed Banana Bread

Here's a quick recipe for banana bread that requires NO eggs, oil or added sugar.
All you need is 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix, and 3 super mushy bananas. You can also use a little bit of soy milk or just water.

Put an inch or two of water in a pot, and put a metal steamer in the pot. Line the steamer with parchment paper. Bring the water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, mash the bananas with a spoon. It shouldn't be too hard if the bananas are really ripe. Add the cornbread mix, and add a little soy milk. Mix until just incorporated.

Reduce the heat slightly. Carefully pour your mix into the pot lined with parchment paper. Cover with a lid and steam the bread for about 25 - 30 minutes. Carefully lift the steamer out (use oven mitts) and let it cool on a wire rack. It's great for breakfast; just store it in a plastic container with a lid.

It's a bit crumbly, but DELICIOUS!

My friend just made banana bread with no eggs or butter using a combination of rice and regular flour, so I am going to try that out soon.

I found this quote recently which I love:

Well, there goes my healthy eating.

I knew saying I wanted to ease back into eating regular food was me basically fooling myself into thinking I would. The 22nd day of my 21 day fast was pretty much my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

It started out with me feeling very sick. Like throw up sick. At church, I curled up in the corner and passed out through the whole service. Then, on the way home, my car stopped in the road. Granted, it was my fault (I was low on gas). And I drove right past my  usual gas station because I wanted to avoid those annoying people that sell products outside. I was feeling sick, and I didn't have the energy to deal with that. So I drove past to go to the one near my apartment, and it just stopped. Good thing my sister was home and was nice enough to come and fill my tank just enough to drive to the gas station.

It did not end there.

I was still feeling sick, but I was determined to end my night well by going to Hopdoddy. I went to the location in Austin, and fell for their Ahi tuna burger. I had planned this as my fast celebration, so sick or not, I was going.

I couldn't even try the Nutella Milkshake :(

I was still feeling sick, so I barely ate half the burger. The truffle fries were good. I need to back and try a milkshake!

Anyway, I was feeling like I should just go home and end the day by going to bed. But sometimes it doesn't work that way. My strange day ended with my toilet completely flooding my bathroom floor. As I watched the water gushing out, I just started to laugh (hysterically perhaps?) because sometimes that's all you can do. So I spent nearly 2 hours mopping, bleaching, scrubbing, and bleaching again.

I went to sleep hoping the next day would be better, and it was. Thank God.

I found a recipe at lemons and anchovies for Nutella Banana Bread a while back. I finally got to make some. I made the recipe as listed, but next time, I think I'll put less sugar. I don't think it needs as much, especially with the Nutella and bananas.

Last night I watched Les Misérables with Ari. It was so good and so sad! I love all the music and I wish I had watched the original cast in the musical. I saw the 25th anniversary version on tv a while ago and they were great also. I just love musicals!

Urban Outfitters before the movie

I discovered two good places to eat today. One is in Harry Hines called Ahjumma "Old Lady" in Korean. They have good Korean snack dishes and it was so packed.

I need to go back to try other dishes!

After eating lunch, we went to Brown Sugar Cafe in Carrollton for some waffles! It was delicious. I am definitely going back!

This weekend is going by so fast! I feel like I've been working nonstop for the past two weeks. Parent conferences, meetings, deadlines, grading etc. are wearing me out. Let's make it to Spring Break!