Cream puffs and Father's Day.

Today - my first Saturday off - has been filled with lots of fun, relaxing things. Started of with a nice  easy run in cool temps. Saw my grandparents in their garden and stopped to say hello! Came home and whipped up some cream puffs for my dad for Father's Day weekend... this was my first time making them in several years and I'm so pleased with how they came out! There are many steps and it's definitely a time commitment but they are NOT hard to make and I recommend it. You'll impress all your friends! I followed THIS recipe.

The first thing I did was make the custard. It has to chill for quite awhile so I wanted to get that part out of the way. It's extremely thick and even has flour in it!

Next is the slightly tricky part... the actual pastry dough. As long as you follow directions properly, you won't have any issues. The dough is very particular and needs constant attention but once it's done, it's done! There's something very satisfying about liquid forming into dough right in front of you as you stir it.

Then, you scoop it out and spread some egg wash on top! Be VERY careful not to let the egg wash drip onto the cookie sheet... it will stick and stop the pastry from rising. 

Once you pull these babies out of the oven, make sure to slit the sides immediately with a pairing knife... if they don't ventilate they might collapse!

Then the fun part! Whip some cream into the custard and fill the pastries!

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Got to have some healthy food in here too... I've resorted back to my favorites from my kitchen in Luxembourg... sweet potatoes and broccoli. Except here, the sweet potatoes are GIANT! Classic America...

Baked is best :)

Random, but I love babysitting for rowing families because it means I get to read their US Rowing magazines...

For Father's Day we headed over to the grandparents for our typical family dinner. My grandpa, who used to be an avid runner and marathoner - gave me some hand-me-downs from 1988... I guess he's excited for me to do my first marathon :)

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Today I did 6 miles in some gorgeous weather. I think I'm going to take most of the week off of running (and maybe from exercise all together). I can tell my body will want a nice rest before my intense 16 weeks of training starts up (a week from tomorrow).

I've been getting a little overwhelmed by all of my extracurricular commitments and things I want to do... between my exec position for the rowing team, my current job, training for the bike race, the marathon, and the upcoming rowing season (I have 2+ races in a double and have to make it to at least a few practices with my partner!), the magazine I write for, and all of my research and courses, I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I recently had to quit a good job that I got for during the school year because I realized I was way, way too over-scheduled. I'm interested in everything and have trouble quitting anything. 

A lot of this is pre-anxiety for the stuff I have coming up - how will I be able to manage it all!? While I was worrying I found myself in the kitchen prepping my lunch and breakfast for tomorrow... I have found that cooking and preparing food is so therapeutic for me! I love getting my lunches and breakfasts ready and look for new ways to make them exciting (today I put strawberries in my overnight oats for some extra color.... usually it's just blueberries and bananas!). 

I try to remind myself that everything I'm doing is stuff I get to do and that is fun for me. I think I'll feel better once I get the bike race behind me but to be honest, marathon training is hugely daunting for me.

Sorry for all the rants/tangents in this post! Just had a lot on my mind lately. See you tomorrow :)

Recap on this busy week!

This week flew by before I could make any posts! I worked four long days and attended the sister's high school graduation last night... Now I'm enjoying a nice 3-day weekend after 3 very intense weeks of work. 

I've been waking up at 6AM to get going for work, running when I come home, eating dinner, showering, and getting promptly in bed. The cycle just repeats and repeats! 

Let's fill each other in on our weeks...

Earlier this week I headed to Whole Foods with my mom, where I made my own Almond Butter. This was my first time tasting the stuff, and I really enjoy it! But I say if you are going to eat organic, non-processed nut-butter, stick with the (much, much) cheaper peanut butter. 

Loved the flowers that were out at Whole Foods...

Last night when we were downtown for graduation, I had the first opportunity to checkout the World's Largest (or second largest? I'm not sure now...) outdoor chandelier. It looked nice when it got dark out, but I'm still not sure why this happened... and I also think it's location is kind of random even though it's in front of the Playhouse...

Can't believe we are both done with high school now...

We went to one of my personal favorite restaurants for dinner with our whole family (and the grandparents and one of our aunts). The restaurant is called Cowell & Hubbard and the owner is Zach Bruell, who graduated from Shaker Heights High School as well! We went there after my graduation and my mom spotted him cooking in the kitchen! He signed my Commencement program and I gushed over him - he is very active on the Food Network and has several other great restaurants in this area. It was great to return to that restaurant 2 years later!

Desert was amazing... flourless chocolate cake and truffles...

When I got home I saw that my new sweater that I bought on sale from J. Crew Factory had arrived... nice and light and summery. 

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I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my day off... Running in the Metro Parks and Trader Joe's (of course). I headed out and did 6 miles without music, just listening to the sounds in nature (bull frog, lots of birds, etc). The soft dirt felt great on my joints after a few weeks of running on the unforgiving pavement!

Then, the fun place. 

Got lots of baking coming up for Father's Day weekend... keep an eye out for the recipes! I'll put them up soon!

Hip hip hooray - a day off :)

Today is SUNDAY! My day off :) I've been working Tuesday through Saturday for the last few weeks, and this coming week we're switching to a normal Monday-Friday schedule so this weekend, I  have just Sunday off. Man, I needed a break after this crazy week!

I really stuck to my plan of "no sweets during the week" for the past few days... and it really did make me feel better! Helped me feel a little more energized and getting sustenance from healthy snacks definitely made a bigger difference in how I felt. Don't get me wrong - I was still glad when it was time to eat desert again on the weekend!

Couldn't ignore National Donut Day, of course!

Friday was a good 5-mile run after work - skipped the 8-minute abs and 8-minute arms though because I was EXHAUSTED and getting up early again on Saturday. It was more important to get some sleep. 

Right after work on Friday, I drove straight to babysitting. I was there until 11PM (past my bedtime!). I had to keep an eye on 4 kiddos but they are pretty independent so mostly I just hung out with their dog.

Nibbled on some of my chocolate that I brought back from Luxembourg (yes it's really from there - not sure why the label is in English!). 

Later found the dog like this...

Went straight to bed when I got home yesterday, and got up early today to go to church for my sister's Senior Recognition. Can't believe she'll be joining me at Miami in the fall... time flies!

Did another 5-mile run today and spotted THIS snapping turtle! I actually saw three snapping turtles on my run... it was crazy!

Did 8-minute abs and 8-minute arms (the usual!) and had the best ice cream sandwich ever from Trader Joe's afterwards...

Of course I still have to eat some stuff with nutritional value so I cooked this up really quickly too - lettuce, frozen mixed veggies and an egg (normally I would have more than one egg but I had eggs for breakfast too so one was enough for me!). 

Headed to bed soon so I can get up early again tomorrow and tackle the day!!!