Baking crackers and running marathons

Lots to update on. No pictures...boo.

Last week was my first week participating in the Nourished Kitchen challenge. I cleaned out my pantry with all processed foods. Well, mostly. I kept some stuff until I learn what to replace it with. I had my marathon coming up, so wanted to hang on to some pasta so I could carb-load. Colt and I did venture into making some crackers, which turned out pretty good! Next time I'll roll them a bit thinner, which should help them to be even more crunchy and delicious.

(Ok, just kidding. I forgot I'd taken some pictures of our cracker-making process.)

Also, we started a sourdough starter. Can yall see me as someone who makes my own bread from scratch? Yeah, I didn't think so. I just mix some flour and water into my "starter" everyday and let the good bacteria grow, then add a few more ingredients and bake it. Stay tuned to how it turns out!

Today was the day I've been waiting for since I started training in September. My 1st Marathon!! I did finish in a decent time (thanks to my dad hopping in the race to spur me on), but let's just say this may also be my LAST marathon. I'm not quite sure my body likes running that distance. Plus, it takes entirely too much time to train for that distance, especially with such young kids to care for. Don't worry - I'm not done running. I just will stick to shorter distances for a while. Actually, I'll probably do some triathlons later this year. Should be fun!

And just for those who want to know, my time was 4:05:24. Yeah, you try running for 4 hours and see how you feel :) Maybe I should have just run faster and got it over with in 3 hours!

Well, I guess that's enough updating for one night. I'm pretty tired from this morning's festivities, so I guess I'll call it quits. Good night!

Sick on the 1st

Yesterday Colt was sick as a dog. It was really quite sad. He just laid around with his blanket, bunny, and pacifier ALL day. Quite a change from his normally high-energy self. No jumping off the couch, climbing in the plant window, running around outside or chasing the dog. For me, the day proved to be very productive.

Not having to play, entertain or even feed Colt (he did have a bowl of applesauce at one point), left me with much time to get things done around the house. I got my external hard drive organized since our friend Shiva recently transferred all the data from my old computer to it. I created a recipe book from a binder and tabs to store all the recipes that I tear out of magazines, since they were staking up on me!

I also cleaned out our pantry and reorganized it. I'm doing the 28-day Real Food Challenge on the blog Nourished Kitchen, and day one called for cleaning out all of the processed foods from my pantry/fridge. So, I took the plunge. To our potential guests: Never fear, I did hang on to the few processed foods that we have, to use for when you visit or for when I make items for church potlucks, or just to do art projects with! Anyway, the day was a productive one, despite Colt being sick. And don't worry, I took a lot of time to just cuddle up with my little boy by the fire. Can't let those moments get away!