1) Salted Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Squares
I made these to take into work for my pal Alexandra's birthday last Wednesday. I saw the recipe on Bakers Royale, and it jumped out at me in part because it includes salted caramel sauce, and partially because it is a no-bake recipe and I don't have an oven. I made the salted caramel sauce a day early and then assembled everything else the night before Alex's birthday. I meant to do a how-to post with step-by-step instructions, but I forgot to take pictures...surprise, surprise. Even so, I was so happy with the way they came out. They were delicious, easy to make, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. The salted caramel sauce in particular was fantastic, and I am only slightly ashamed to say that I ate all the leftover sauce with a spoon while my boyfriend looked on in fascinated horror.
2) Slow Cooker Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin
In general I tend to do most of the cooking around the house, mostly because I have more experience with it. However, I would like to have him do more of the cooking, and I figured slow cooker meals would be a good place to start. They don't take much: throw a bunch of stuff in the pot, hit the switch, come back in a couple of hours and you're good to go. I knew I wanted to do something with the pork tenderloin we had in the freezer, so I Googled "slow cooker pork tenderloin" and found this recipe on Paula Deen's website. Kevin got it started while I was at work, and I came home to a delicious-smelling house. This meal was so, so good. The pork was very tender and flavorful, as were the onions and carrots. I was happy to find that I couldn't really taste the mustard; it just cut the sweetness of the apricot jam enough so it wasn't overpowering. I made some brown rice to go along with the pork and veggies, and we ate it happily for the next couple of days. We finished the last of it last night, and this afternoon I picked up ingredients to make another batch. I seriously can't wait until we have it again! I know it doesn't look like much in the above picture, but I'm sure part of that is due to the fact that I forgot to pull out my camera until after I was more than halfway finished eating it.
3) What I Ate
Every Monday morning, I think that I will be participating in that weeks What I ate Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, however, it is usually obvious that it's not going to happen. I always try to photograph my Mondays, so that if I forget I still have Tuesday and Wednesday to fall back on. But then I forget on Tuesday, and I forget on Wednesday. And then I say, maybe this week I'll do What I Ate Thursday or Friday instead! And then I forget to photograph on Thursday and Friday. It's pretty terrible. I will seriously endeavor to get this done for next week, but until then here are this week's highlights:
Best Breakfast: Quinoa with milk, cinnamon, dried cranberries, and a spoonful of leftover caramel sauce. Now that I have the proper strainer to rinse it with, I am really enjoying quinoa for breakfast. The only downside is I don't think it keeps me full as long as oatmeal does.
Best Lunch: Slow Cooker Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin. We've already talked about this. It was truly excellent, though.
Best Snack: Kind brand Dark Chocolate, Nut, and Sea Salt bar. Exactly as delicious as it sounds.
Best Dinner: Slow Cooker Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin. I had it twice in one day and I didn't mind at all. However, my Yogurt Mama fro yo on Monday was a very close second.
Best Sweet Thing: Salted caramel chocolate pretzel squares. These were the definition of the bomb diggity (yes I'm from the 90s). However, the salted caramel sauce was a very close second...or maybe it was a tie.
4) The way I totally crushed my 4-miler yesterday
I am not a fast runner by any stretch of the imagination, and by the end of my 4-miler yesterday I felt like I was going even slower than normal. Watching a lady pushing a stroller blow by my didn't help. I told myself that it was okay to go slower and to just focus on finishing, but at the same time gave myself a mini lecture about proper nutrition (i.e. 2 slices of no-bake cheesecake is not the thing to eat right before you run). Given this, you can probably see how I was extra pleased with myself when I came in at 41 minutes and 30 seconds -- about 2.5 minutes faster than I did this same run on Monday. This is the closest I've been to a 10 -minute mile in years! I've been training for about 2 months now, and it's really rewarding to see how my pace has improved from when I started.
5) My terrible, terrible 12-miler
But, of course, not every run can be awesome. My 12-miler 2 weeks ago was seriously no bueno. It took me about 3 hours to finish, mainly because I had to stop and walk so often. I started running about 2 hours later than normal for my long runs (8am instead of 6), and by the time I was halfway through it was sooo hot out. Also, my friend who usually runs with me didn't come that day, which made the run seem even longer. Overall, it was pretty disappointing. I just need to remind myself that everyone has bad runs every now and then, and that I shouldn't let it bother me too much. It does make me a little nervous about my 16-miler tomorrow, though, especially since I skipped my 14-miler last week so I could take the GREs. Speaking of which...
BONUS!
6) GRE day
Last Saturday I re-took the GREs so that I would have new scores to send off to the PhD programs I'm applying to. After the exam was over and I got my math and verbal scores back, I had mixed feelings. I was kind of disappointed because I had gotten a better math score on the practice test I had taken the night before. But, my overall goal in re-taking the GREs was to improve my math score from the first time I took it, and I did accomplish this. I figure my score is what is is now, and it's probably better to focus on the second point rather than the first. At least it's over now and I can read and watch TV and eat my lunch or dinner without feeling guilty because I'm not studying. After the test I met up with Alexandra in Honolulu to see the movie Pitch Perfect. I expected that it would be fine (rather than great) but it was actually really, really good. It was super funny, and very well-done. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely see it again.
In other news, now that the GREs are over it's time to start focusing on my PhD applications, specifically the personal statements. Writing those is always the hardest part of any application for me. The earliest due date is December 1, but I'm hoping to have all of my applications in by that point. This means I've got about a month and a half to get everything together, which is kind of nervewracking. Deep breaths...oy.
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