So, wow…Christmas has come & gone along with December!! I absolutely cannot believe it is almost January, and that I leave for a chilly week in Boston tomorrow!!
After my 13.1 mi on Saturday I opted for a 4 mi “recovery” walk with my “running coach” (aka the pooch) to Starbucks for some coffee, a snowman cookie, and some water. It was a beautiful day out and I couldn’t say ‘no’ to a nice, long walk! I ended up coming home with 3 lbs of coffee beans for $25, so I guess it was a success…
Monday was a rest day. I had to work all day, and then afterwards we got ready for church and went out for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, my all time favorite restaurant. Before we left, Calvin was being extraordinarily bad and I was joking that Santa wouldn’t come if he continued to run through the apartment with “Gator”, but I think he took me seriously…
“Santa won’t come if I act bad tonight?!” -Calvin
At The Cheesecake Factory the hubby got his all-time favorite dish, the BBQ Chicken Salad, and I got a new pasta that was awesome, but totally un-photographable!
BBQ Chicken Salad at The Cheesecake Factory
..and of course we had to get desert…
Peppermint Cheesecake
After we finished at The Cheesecake Factory we went over to St. Phillip’s Cathedral of Atlanta for the 11pm Christmas Eve service. The church was decorated beautifully and it was a great service, it was even televised! We are trying out new churches because I just don’t think the super-modern church services are for us, and I’m glad we ended up at St. Phillip’s for Christmas Eve!
Christmas treated us all well this year — my parents sent me the most amazing present — a new camera! I’ve been wanting to teach myself how to take nice photos for a while now. I would currently grade myself an “F” for how awful my pictures are turning out, but youtube has an endless supply of videos so I’ll keep trying! Maybe this blog will eventually have some decent shots on it!
Our “kid” was very spoiled this year by both Grandma & Grand”paw”, as well as the hubby and I. I’m pretty sure he got over-stimulated on Christmas morning and just gave up for a while
Someone was tuckered out from his Christmas morning fun
My parents mailed Calvin the most disgusting hoof thing — Calvin of course loved it — but when he started eating off large pieces of the actual hoof we decided to pitch it.
And we got Cal a gigantic candy cane rawhide, which he is still working on
OK, enough with the boring dog shots. Wednesday I ran 3.5 miles at the gym (it was freezing outside & I’m a wuss!!) and today I ran 2 miles outside with the pooch. It’s been a pretty boring running week.
Onto more important things! I made a new recipe!
Garlic Parmesan Roasted Chick Peas
from sugarfreemom
Garlic Parmesan Roasted Chick Peas
yum, yum, yum!!
Ingredients
- 1 can (15.5oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained, and dried on a paper towel
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 garlic cloves minced garlic (i used a garlic press)
- 1/2-1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I think I used about 3/4 tbsp?)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a bowl, mix together oil, garlic, salt and cheese until crumbly and oil is absorbed.
- Add beans to bowl mixture and toss to coat.
- Lay beans on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes until golden and crispy. Use tongs to toss them a few times during baking.
Yumm!! These were SO DELICIOUS. They are full of fiber and a great alternative to nut products. I have liked most of the recipes from SugarFreeMom I’ve made, but this one takes the cake! go make it now! =)
You just have to make sure you seal them tightly. They will get softer the longer they stick around. Ours are just over 24 hours old and have lost a lot of their crunch.
And lastly, I finally stepped on the scale. It’s been about 2 weeks. I was so nervous. I knew I had gained weight, but I can never tell how much. To my surprise is was only 3 lbs!! I couldn’t be happier! I have been eating like absolute crap the last month, so I will happily accept my 3 lb weight gain and get losing again! Life goes on.
Have a nice weekend!
Nice DSLR, you cant beat Nikon.
it’s so great, i love it!
Despite visiting the Cheesecake Factory multiple times, I’ve never actually ordered cheesecake! They have a brownie sundae and chocolate cake, both of which are to die for, and we tend to order those instead since most people in my family are chocaholics. But that peppermint cheesecake looks festive and delicious!
the cheesecake is amazing there..and i’m not even a cheesecake lover! i suggest key lime, mango key lime (i think these two are seasonal), chocolate raspberry truffle, or the peppermint truffle we got! it was the perfect amount of peppermint and a chocolate crust =)
We’re citrus fans, so the lime sound great. As does the chocolate raspberry truffle! Oh goodness, decisions are so hard… I’ll just order them all! (And take some home to go, of course. Um. Maybe.)