79 day food blog challenge
Since I’ve totally been slacking with blogging, eating right, and getting enough daily activity in, I decided to challenge myself to a 79 day food blogging challenge to recapture the love i have for blogging as well as get back into the healthy lifestyle that I love… Why 79 days? Well it directly coincides with the Phillies Opening Day which in my mind is the unofficial start to nicer sunnier weather and a great day overall 
Since I’ve recently discovered the wordpress app i’ll probably be doing most blogging via iphone since its super easy so the pics wont be as clear but it suits my purpose!
Breakfast this am was 2 cups of coffee w vanilla creamer (i cannot break this habit!!), 2 eggs and 2 morningstar veggie patties… Filling n delish!
Workout Plan 9-15 Dec
New Plan For the Week:
9 Dec (Fri): Run for 30 minutes + warmup / cooldown
10 Dec (Sat): Strength training + walk with Baby E
11 Dec (Sun): Run for 30 minutes + warmup / cooldown; 8 minute abs
12 Dec (Mon): Yoga
13 Dec (Tues): Strength training; 8 minute abs
15 Dec (Thurs): Run for 30 minutes + warmup / cooldown
Reflections on Past Week’s Plan:
Writing these plans out really helps me stay focus and also identifies areas I need to work on… Last week, I was able to meet most of my fitness goals with the exception of the strength training… I didn’t do any of it!
I love doing cardio & I love the fact that I can do it while catching up on some tv shows or the news, whereas if I’m doing strength training I’m probably following a dvd… By writing out a plan each week, it has helped me to realize I’m pretty cardio heavy in my workouts and that needs to change slightly 
However, I am happy that I’ve picked running back up again… I took a three month hiatus from it after having some minor knee pain… I thought it was a good idea to let my joints rest and I’ve been easing my way back into it by doing intervals… I think it worked because I pretty much ran three straight miles yesterday (with one 2 minute walk break) with no pain!
2 Dec (Fri)
Treadmill Intervals (30 min) – DONE
3 Dec(Sat)
30 minute walk with Baby E – DONE
30 minutes strength training – FAIL
4 Dec (Sun)
Treadmill Intervals (30 min) – DONE
5 Dec (Mon)
20 minutes of yoga / stretching – DONE
6 Dec (Tues)
Rest – DONE
7 Dec (Wed)
20 minutes of yoga / stretching – FAIL
8 Dec (Thurs)
30 minutes strength training – 1/2 FAIL – I ran instead!
I Made A Pie
Guess what? Breaking news…
I made a pie…
Yes, this is big news… I’m not sure why, but although I’ve made numerous cakes, cookies, brownies, tortes, muffins, etc… I have never made a real pie… Granted, I’ve made peanut butter pie and chocolate pudding pie, but never a real fruit pie… until now!
I received a coupon for a free can of Comstock fruit filling as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program so I decided to use it in its most traditional form – apple pie! I saw the Caramel Apple flavor and it sounded perfect for my first pie Now, I have to admit I took a lot of shortcuts and the whole pie came together in less than an hour and a half (including baking time)… I did use a frozen pie crust, but I did put my own spin on it! Big thanks to Foodbuzz and Comstock for encouraging me to get in the kitchen and try my hand at something new!
As for the Comstock fruit filling, it smelled amazing once I opened the can. I was a little disappointed by the ingredient list… after apples, the first ingredient was HFCS… not exactly my favorite ingredient, but I realize I shouldn’t have expected anything difference since I was using fruit out of a can and it made things easier so enough said! However, I was impressed when we enjoyed the finished product – I just really wish the ingredient list was a bit better.
Caramel Apple Nut Pie – makes 1 pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust (frozen or homemade)
- 1 can of Comstock fruit filling
- 3/4 c walnuts, chopped
- 1.25 C flour
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 C softened butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour fruit filling into pie crust. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of filling. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, spices, brown sugar, and butter until well combined. Mixture should be clumpy and look like crumbs. Generously sprinkle crumb mixture on top of fruit / walnut filling. Tent a piece of foil (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) loosely over top of the pie and place in the oven to bake for 40-45 minutes (times may differ depending on if you used a refrigerated OR frozen pie crust).
I split up this pie and gave half to my parents & brother and then hubby and I had the rest to share. It was so delicious. I prefer “crumb” pies over traditional “lattice” pies so I was so impressed with how the topping came out. I’ll definitely be experimenting now with my new found love of pie baking – although I am still a bit nervous to attempt my own pie crust
