Just a bit different

Yesterday afternoon, after my weekend of fun, I decided it was necessary to do some serious cooking.   I surveyed the recipe pages of a few blogs & came up with a plan.
First -
Sweet Potato Meatloaf.
I love that its a different twist on meatloaf. I'm on a big sweet potato kick and make a LOT of meatloaf.

joys of cooking for 1 - 1 now, 5 for later

 delic.  (I put a lil bbq sauce on the side too)

Next up! Granola. 

last week's granola was so fabulous, I need to start making it more often. 

1 cup rolled oats

1 Tbsp chia seeds

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 Tbsp sunflower seeds

3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp agave nectar

mix all ingredients. spread evenly on parchment paper. bake at 325 for 10 minutes. flip granola. bake 10 minutes. 

Flavor is good - but I should've used a touch of oil. Not as crunchy as I wanted it to be. 

Now for one of my favorite snacks, which is definitely just a bit different, but I've been eating it this way for yearss & secretly, its the only way I want popcorn.   

(I know I didn't make it up. a chrissy creation maybe?) 

Bare with me - it sounds a little weird, but its awesome. 

94% fat free microwave butter popcorn

Frank's Red Hot sauce

little bit black pepper

so good. 

just try it. 

I'm getting to the point in my training plan that I have to up my short runs. Tonight's run was a pretty brutal 4.5 miles. My right shin tightened up right away and it felt like I had one lead foot. I can't even explain it, but it made running realllyy hard.  So I paused stretched a lil and powered through. Once I got to about 2.5 miles, it loosened up & I started feeling pretty good. 

I feel like a terrible Boston-ite Bostonian (fail alli. fail.) I'm not even pretending to watch Game 6. Oops. 

Go Bruins! 

Friday :)

today is the last friday for a whole month that I have to work a full day. SCORE. 
I'm going to pretty upset if it stays like this:

while I have summer fridays.  in which case, I'll be looking for volunteers to join me on every brewery & vineyard tour that I can find in the Boston area.

I've been a little slow on the posting. sorryyyy

so! things i did this week -
lots of yoga - I keep saying I'm going to incorporate yoga into my workouts. its about time.
actually got up to run before work - I probably set my alarm twice a week every week, this is the first time since I moved that I actually got my ass out of bed. WIN
attempted a spinach artichoke turkey meatloaf - this combo does not exist on the internet (i looked)  it was good but needs a little work before its worth sharing.
had Sara & Abby over for dinner - so fun!  made these veggie enchiladas & you need to too. delic.
made an amazing smoothie - I used mixed berries instead of just strawberries tho so mine was purple. SO GOOD

and this weekend I'm heading back to NY to hang out with these kids.  excitement