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And the winner of the free race entry into the 13.1 half marathon is...

Congratulations to Erica! Please contact me at Runningkellometers at gmail dot com to claim your prize! You have 72 hours (until Sunday, March 17 at 10am CST) to contact me before a new winner is chosen.

Some of you may have noticed that my blog has not been as active in the past few weeks and that is because I haven't been running as much. If you've been able to read between the lines, you might have figured out a few clues here and there.

I DNFed my first half marathon.

I didn't drink any beer at the half marathon after party or the Chicago Marathon kickoff event.

I backed out of running a spring marathon.

I have a secret that I've had such a hard time keeping from all of you for this long... I now have something in common with Lauren Fleshman and Kate Middleton. And that is....

I'm hoping not to turn this into a pregnancy blog, but let's be honest. It will be really hard for that not to happen. BUT, I will keep the recipes (and my awesome food photography) coming and I will run for as long as I can! I hope you'll stick around for the ride! :)

**Don't forget to enter my 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon giveaway! You have until tomorrow (Wednesday, March 13) to enter!**

I'm feeling a little grumpy today with the lame weather tease we got over the weekend. Therefore, I'm going to put together a round of First World Problems to help me get out of my grumpy mood. Lol.

This morning I sat down to have my typical bowl of cereal for breakfast. I had bought some more milk over the weekend so I was ready for a heaping bowl. However, much to my dismay, I accidentally bought soy milk instead of almond milk. Thankfully I had just enough almond milk for my breakfast but what am I going to do with this soy milk? I don't want to drink it and should I return the milk to the grocery store I just bought it from? I don't even have a receipt.
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM

On Friday I had the best donut in the world from Fleckenstein's bakery in Mokena. It was a chocolate old fashioned and it was AMAZING. Since then, I have been craving another one but I know that I don't want to get into the habit of eating donuts frequently. Lol. So yesterday, I caved to the craving but I got something that looked similar from Dunkin Donuts (chocolate glazed). It was not nearly as good and probably had about the same amount of calories. Totally not worth it (but I ate it anyways). Now I know that once you've had something good, you can't expect a second-rate version to taste as good.
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM


I'm so sick of this Chicago weather. The temps warmed up over the weekend and the snow melted. Then it rained a ton. You got to feel the nice weather, but you couldn't do anything with it. Then, after the snow all melted, it got cold again and the temps are calling for more snow today and again on Thursday (and we also got some snow yesterday too). I know we've had a fairly normal winter and I don't mind the snow in November - February... but it is March. Shouldn't the snow be gone by now?
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM


We are going to New Orleans again in a few weeks! We leave on March 23 and come home on March 30. We are driving down with 2 other couples so it should be a blast. I plan on doing another food post and taking lots of photos, so get ready for it! However, before anyone goes on vacation, they know the chaos that ensues beforehand. We still have to take dog to vet, go to salon, attend an out-of-state client meeting for 2 days, get the dog groomed, pack, buy/make road trip snacks... Next week is going to be crazy so, I'm going to take my time enjoying this week!
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM


Daylight savings took place this weekend. Therefore, everyone's schedule is thrown off. I'm more tired than usual and I've only changed about half the clocks in the house. Does anyone know the point of daylight savings, like really? I just don't get it.
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM


I went shopping over the weekend at a new local grocery store and I was checking out their selection of goodies. I came across something that left me truly perplexed. Frozen grilled cheese sandwiches. A grilled cheese sandwich has to be one of the easiest thing in the world to make. All you need is 3 ingredients: butter, bread, cheese. I am no chef and even I can make it. It also takes only a few minutes. Why would someone want to buy a frozen grilled cheese when you can easily make one yourself in the same amount of time, with no chemicals or preservatives. (And you just know the frozen version doesn't taste nearly as good as one that's homemade.) Only in America...
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM


Ahh, that feels better! Do you have any First World Problem gripes you'd like to share?

The hubs and I took the pup to the vet over the weekend and they gave us some unexpected news. Our little Pepper is overweight and needs to go on a diet. It was some shocking news to hear, but we made some modifications to get her on the right track. I think part of the reason is that I haven't been running with her as much. With the crappy conditions and freezing temperatures, a run outside just doesn't sound like fun. And not to mention, the snow is so easily caught in her fur, it is ridiculous. On the plus side, this just means we get to go for some nice long leisurely walks together. We went with some friends over the weekend and stopped at the dog bakery and the ice cream shop, you know, to even things out a bit. :)

 Can you tell her mood before and after the walk? That dog really loves the great outdoors!!

Have you ever had to put your pet on a diet? I know lots of folks do, we just never thought it would be us. Poor Pepper. Hopefully she'll be back to her old self soon!

Last year I wasn't able to run the 13.1 half marathon because I was volunteering for a Ragnar Relay team. This year, I'm also participating in Ragnar so I am unable to run the 13.1 for the 2nd year in a row. However, I've heard good things from my fellow runner friends and I really do hope that conditions are better than last year. (There's no way it can be THAT hot 2 years in a row, right?... RIGHT?)

FNRC on a hot summer night's run

I haven't been feeling very well lately so I decided to try out a new recipe. I got my regular Fake Meats email a few weeks ago with a recipe for "chicken" noodle soup. I had been just dying to try it. I picked up some organic carrots and celery (I don't normally buy organic but celery is on the "dirty dozen list for using 5 different types of pesticides. Yes, 5.) and some whole wheat pasta. In order to complete the recipe, I needed to place an order with Fake Meats for the Seitenbacher vegetable broth and some soy curls.

Chris and I don't like the crunch of an onion so I kept the onions whole. I let them cook and simmer with the soup but pulled them out before serving. We frequently do this as I like the flavor that onions add to a dish, but we just hate biting into a crunchy chunk.

I really like this recipe because it is basically just a "dump everything in the pot and stir." I mean, is there any better cooking techniques?
I couldn't find my recipe card, but there is a video explaining the recipe that I followed along with. The instructions were simple, clear, and helpful. (If you're part of the Fake Meats meal plan, you get ingredients and recipes delivered to your door monthly.)

After letting the soup simmer for the recommended 10 minutes, I checked the pasta and it needed just a little more time (maybe because it was whole wheat versus regular).
Either way, the kitchen smelled amazing just like homemade soup (well, because it is!). All of the ingredients are vegan but I don't think my vegetarian husband has had chicken noodle soup since he was about 14 years old! Haha. I really enjoyed making this and the recipe made a ton of food. We put some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer to save for another cold or rainy day. (It probably made about 5 portions.)

Since we aren't a vegan household, we had to serve up the soup the soup with some fresh French bread from Whole Foods. I must agree with Kelsey that bread makes everything better. And gluten.


Full Recipe:

Ingredients:
8 oz (half the bag shown) of uncooked pasta
1/2 bag of soy curls
1 packet of vegetable broth seasoning
8 cups of water
1 chopped onion
1 cup of celery
1 cup of carrots

Bring water to a boil first, then add in broth seasoning and stir. Afterwards, add all of the other ingredients and stir it up real good. Bring the mixture back up to a boil before turning it down to simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes (or until pasta is cooked through). Serve up and enjoy! Yields about 5-7 portions.

So now that I did my fancy Closet Consultation with Erin, I'm going to try to be a bit more regular with some "Fashion Friday" posts. Here are some of the outfits from this week. Recently, I've been focusing on purchasing some fun accessories. If I'm bored with an outfit, I can always add a statement necklace or something else to give it a fun new twist.

Outfit 1:
Grey Turtleneck: Gap
Purple long cardigan: Discover (yes, you're reading that correctly)
Brown dress pants: Express -- my favorite place for dress pants!
Brown Heels: Nine West
Bracelet: GroopDealz

Outfit 2:
3/4 sleeve sweater (with back detailing): Ann Taylor Loft-birthday gift
Brown dress pants: Express
Earrings: Francesca's Collections - birthday gift
Brown Flats: Nine West

Outfit 3:
White with black stripes button-down: J Crew
Maroon weater: Target
Black dress pants: Express
Earrings: Francesca's Collections
Black flats: Target (got cutoff)

Outfit 4:
White button-down: Express
Striped sweater: Target
Maroon cropped pants: Ann Taylor Loft
I wore these with my brown boots (un-pictured)

HOPEFULLY I can work on my photography skills and get some better photos of my outfits now that I have some cute things to wear! Lol. Doing these fashion Friday posts helps motivate me during the week to come up with more creative outfits... which was the entire point of Erin's Closet Consultation! I like to shop at the same stores, in case you didn't already notice that. ;)