Soup for days!

I officially shouldn't have to go grocery shopping or cooking for about 2 weeks.  I just cooked up the biggest batches of soup ever.   What else are cold winter Sundays for, right?

How are you guys doing today?  Hopefully everyone had a great weekend!  Yesterday I started my Saturday nice and early as I met my friend Jess at 8:00 a.m. for a 10-mile indoor run at the work gym.  I was a little nervous about doing all the mileage on the treadmill, as I mentioned, but to help pass the time I found a random old movie on the TV called "Act of Love" (that takes place in Paris!) and had brought with me some "conversation cards" to keep the conversation topics flowing.  I set up camp on the treadmill with water, some new energy chews (a gluten free variety), my phone and the cards.

I had been using Shot Blocs as my "refueling" of choice, after experimenting in the first marathon with the Jelly Belly energy bean things.  I found that the caffeine-free Shot Blocs were best on my stomach.  However, now that I am trying to eat gluten free, I am examining a lot of my "regular" foods and found out that these were not gluten free. So after a quick trip to the running store, I bought some Gu chews and Saturday was my first time using them.  They seemed to work pretty well, although, it could be all mental.  I like being able to tell myself, "Get through X more miles and you get a treat!"  It helps to break up the long runs, especially when you are doing it all on a treadmill!

The gym where we ran has a small indoor track.  I also switched things up on my run by doing 4 miles on the treadmill, running one mile on the track (16x around!), and then 5 more miles on the treadmill.  Following the run, I felt pretty good and Jess and I went for coffee, which was nice since we didn't get to go to Starbucks the day before!  I really am becoming a little bit addicted to the Starbucks I think.  But it's really nice because the baristas there know us and I'm a sucker for being a "regular" somewhere and haven't been a "regular" in a while.

The rest of my weekend was really, really nice.  Getting the long run out of the way early makes me feel so badass and like I can conquer the world.  Unfortunately it also makes me feel like I can eat whatever I want for the rest of the weekend, which isn't usually the case.

I've been indulging in lots of non-gluten "junk" from wine to hard cider to gluten free cookies and candy almonds and Chipotle and guacamole and rice crispies treats.  I'm working to get things under control and focusing on eating as much "real" food as possible.  Some of the snacks I am more proud of are below.

Last night I slept over at my friends' H&D's house and whenever I sleep over there, they treat me like a queen.  This morning I woke up to a special delicious gluten free corn muffin english muffin thing in place of the regular waffle that they usually make.  I ate it with some peanut butter, strawberries, and whipped cream.  Yum!

I've spent the rest of the day a combination of being lazy and cooking.  As I mentioned at the beginning I did some massive soup making, since it is Soup Season and I have been craving some.  I made the latest recipe that is up on Skinnytaste of Chicken Pot Pie Soup and also some traditional chicken and rice soup.  I also cut up all of my veggies for the week.

Soup for days!!!

I did make some alterations to the Skinnytaste recipe.  I didn't use any celery, because that's not my favorite thing in the world, and I added in some extra corn because I had frozen some corn that I had gotten from the CSA this summer.  It tastes so delicious in this recipe!

All of the chicken and rice soup I put right in to the freezer to save for another week because I have SO much food right now.

I'm feeling prepared to get back to a full week of work.  Not quite READY, but prepared if nothing else.  It's been a good vacation!!!

I hope you had a happy, wonderful weekend and are staying warm.  Enjoy the rest of your Sundays!