Fluff(y)

Recently, I came across this interesting use of cottage cheese in a quasi-dessert recipe (I'll explain the "quasi" part later), and made a batch of it. It's dubbed "fluff," for a better lack of a word.

The basic recipe comes down to using 1 cup of cottage cheese (preferably fat free, or 1%) and 1 package of sugar-free Jell-O, your choice of flavor. Splenda and protein powder sometimes makes an appearance in some variations of "fluff," too. But I didn't want to spoil the recipe's pureness - heh - so I excluded them.

My only tweaks to this is that I strained the cottage cheese in a coffee filter to make it creamier, and I chilled the Jell-O so that it could really be, well, Jell-O. (You can wait for the mixture to reach room temperature when making fluff, but I also wanted to eat some of those nommy gelatinous squares all by themselves). You simply take the two ingredients, and blend them together until a pink, fluffy mixture is formed.

Mine came out looking like this:


I easily ate this in two servings. It came out light and pleasantly sweet, and it was also quite filling.

I referred to it earlier as a "quasi-dessert" because it's apparently favored among female figure competitors when trying to satisfy their sweet tooths, but with minimal caloric and carb damage. And let's be real here, this would never make its way to a normal person's dining room table! But for someone who's trying to drop a few pounds (ok, I admit, that's me at the moment), this is a good weapon in combating the hungreez, or a really bad case of the sweet munchies.

However, I can't help but add that when I saw my concoction, it reminded me of the pink slime in Ghostbusters 2. Remember how New York City's sewers in that flick got all clogged up with the stuff?



Pleasant eating everyone!

Training Update

2/9/10 - 5.31 mile run, 50:13

Warmed up by doing an easy mile, then the rest I ran comfortably "hard." Today is a shorter run (around 3 miles), and I may or may not do it as speedwork.

I've also decided that this Sunday's half marathon will be a training module, and not an opportunity to PR. It will also provide an experimental ground for using Galloway's run/walk method. And let me confess: while I realistically don't think I will set a new record here, I am still secretly, deep down inside, hoping that happens. But I won't hold my breath here, either.

Reality Bites

To help me prepare for my upcoming May 2nd shindig, I recently purchased Jeff Galloway's "Marathon: You Can Do It!". And I'm so glad that his run/walk formula exists, because I've concluded that's the only hope I have for finishing my marathon this spring.

Earlier today, I laid out my marathon training program. I have only 12 weeks now to get geared up for it - not a very optimal amount of time. Ah well, what was I gonna do? I'm impulsive that way. Getting back on track, since I haven't done any mileage-building beyond my half in December, I missed getting in some crucial training. *sigh* It doesn't matter anyhow; I don't have a set time goal in mind for the NJ Marathon. But still, I can't help but feel this wasn't the brightest of ideas.

Just allow me to have a freak-out moment (or two) over this, then carry on.

I'm on Fire Here!

I forgot to mention in yesterday's dispatch that I actually ran (Can you believe it?! Sometimes I really do go out there and run! :P) yesterday. I covered a total of 4.08 miles in 40:37, avg. 9:57/mi pace.

My original intention yesterday was to do a regular tempo run. But once I got past the first mile, I realized what I was actually getting was hillwork! It was hard, and I was slower because of the hills, which, by the way, weren't all that steep but still challenging enough because I became a flat-terrain wuss while I was training in Florida.

So I'm beginning to feel a tad bit more confident about my upcoming Austin Half-Marathon on Valentine's Day. While I doubt I'll be faster than the time I posted for the Palm Beach Half, I think I'll be able to tackle it now with more gusto.

I Should Get Better at Updating my Blog....

But alas, that won't be happening anytime soon, LOL. Anywho, here's a roundup of what has happened in my sphere for the last couple of weeks:

1. I moved. Again. This time, back to Texas. And even then, I'll only be there until the summer. This moving thing, while irritating at times, can have its perks, though. For example, I don't have face the folks I may have pissed off in the course of my stay at a particular location.

2. I decided to sign up for a marathon... And even more importantly, I finally made up my mind and decided on which one it'll be as my inaugural! It's the NJ Marathon in Long Branch. Gah, I hope the course is fast and flat!

3. Did I mention that it sucked moving? While I don't totally miss Florida (I'll get some hate for saying this, but the central and southern parts of it are pretty soulless - lots of stuff to keep you amused, but no culture), what made it nice was the people there, esp. my family and the very few friends I made there. Because I'm special that way. :P Also, the safety net of my running coach has been eliminated. That is a bit scary, considering I made incredibly awesome progress through her guidance and advice.

I think that's it, for now. I now have to finish the rest of the unpacking, stock up on protein powder, and get back into a dieting mindset. My weight really didn't go up by much since last year, but it did creep up by 6 pounds between November and now. I'd like to get rid of that, and possibly more. However, my initial plan of choice, the TNT Diet, doesn't seem to be completely compatible with my marathon training/ambitions. It's very low-carb, and while I love the food selections on it (Brats and sauerkraut! Taco salad! Salad with a ton of steak and cheese dumped on top!), I probably won't be able to run OK on this plan, especially when my mileage starts increasing again. *sigh* I need to look up nutrition plans for endurance weenies like me.

Running Supplies Shopping!

I picked these up today. Very snazzy, no?

Being the Procrastinator that I am...

...leads to a lot of dead air in between blog posts, LOL. (My friend Leann, by the way, was the one who nudged me into writing this entry, ahem).

Things have been fairly busy, especially because of Christmas, work and all of the usual suspects. I'm not busier than the average person, just do a pretty lame job at balancing work/life/personal interests. That said, however, I accomplished the goals that I'd set for 2009 (one of them running a half marathon - done as of December 6), so overall, I'm satisfied.

I'll write about the HM in the next entry. And despite my grinchiness during the holiday season, I realize I have plenty to be grateful for. And even though it isn't apparent to those who know me in real life, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.