I'll Take S'more

I've got a laundry list of reasons I love to run. Personal growth, challenging myself, having an outlet, being outdoors. But the most fun thing about running to me is knowing that after a hard workout I can pretty much eat what I want guilt-free. Let's be real, I'm pretty sure I would devour 20 of these whether I ran that day or not. But a good hard run earlier in the morning makes me feel like I deserve to eat 20 of them. My track coach, however, might disagree... let's hope he doesn't find my blog :)

Nothing says summertime like S'mores and these little guys are insanely quick, easy and addicting. I love that I can keep all the ingredients on hand so I can make them at a moments notice and I love that the kids can help make them.

Mini Muffin S'mores

(Pampered Chef Recipe)

7 Honey Graham Crackers

6 tablespoons Butter

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

12 marshmallows

2 Hershey's chocolate bars

First preheat the oven to 350. Then melt the butter in a large microwaveable bowl (about 45 seconds)
While that is in the microwave, use a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin to finely crush the graham crackers

I don't know who's more excited, me or them...
Add the crushed graham crackers to the butter
Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Mix well

Scoop about a table spoon worth into every tin of a mini muffin pan
Like so
use a tart shaper to press these down WELL
Ready to go... stick them in the oven for just 2 minutes.

WARNING: Once I made these and put them in the oven for 5 minutes. I may or may not have started eating the leftover graham cracker/warm butter/sugar mixture and completely forgotten all about the ones in the oven. They burned, and they sucked. So... 2 minutes!!

WARNING 2: Another time I made these I decided to skip this step altogether and the finished product was all crumbled , so the moral of the story is... do as I say, not as I do.

On this occasion they worked out, and if you're wondering yeah I made these 3 times in a 2 day period, get over it.

In those 2 minutes, use some shears to cut 12 marshmallows in half
And get the chocolate ready to go
did I mention already that if you have extra time while the graham crackers are in the oven stay far far from away from the leftovers
When they come out of the oven, add one chocolate square to each tin
then top with one marshmallow
annnd back in the oven for 3 minutes

You MUST let them cool for 10 minutes before you pop them out or they will fall apart. But, really, how CUTE are these???
Bite-sized

The kids plus my nephew helped make them on father's day. This is the night I skipped the first bake and they fell apart... we ate them anyway. :)

There's No "I" in "RUN"

I've played team sports my entire life. It began with soccer as a wee one, then eventually in high school I moved on to Field Hockey and Lacrosse, and I sprinkled some Track and Cheerleading in there too. When I graduated on to college I remember feeling mildly depressed about losing that team atmosphere. There is just something incredibly bonding about team sports. Only your teammates can fully understand the anxiety behind the dreaded Monday Timed Mile, or understand the elation in beating an undefeated team, or cry with you when you lose your last game as a Senior. To this day some of my best friends are still the ones who shared those experiences with me. I'm on the top right with the long, blond hair.. ha! And my future sister in law is bottom right!

As an "adult," and I use that term loosely, I often find myself searching for that same sort of team camaraderie. When I began running more competitively, it scratched the itch a little bit. It was awesome to feel like I was competing again in some form. But as many will say... it's not so much whether you won or lost the big game that clings to your memory, but every day you spent working to get there. That is what was missing for me with running for a long time. Running at the gym on the treadmill just for the sole purpose of... losing weight? Getting faster? It just wasn't enough to fulfill me.

After TGB was born, I began training with some friends for National Half. Of course we had done countless runs together before, but this was the first time we would all really be training together. We all have kids and jobs and husbands and very full lives. Guaranteed the night before a workout someone was up way too late folding laundry or finishing up work or tending to a sick baby. But we all love running, so we all show up for each other no matter how early, dark, or cold it is out there. We cheer each other on, and we push one another when someone is falling a few seconds behind or having an off day. I'm a better runner because of it.

Going into National Half, I was truly happy just to be racing with many of my "teammates." Even two who were benched for injuries made the long trek out to DC just to cheer us on. I ran with my friend close to the entire time, and we kept track of one another, making sure we didn't go out too fast, or exert too much energy on the hills, or give up during those last painful and crucial miles. It really was a team effort. And my team extends far beyond the girls I run with... my husband who stayed at home with a sprained ankle and three kids so I could race, and of course the Man Upstairs who continually blesses me with good health, good friends, and a great family.

My time was 1:35. I'm thrilled about it. It was the smartest run I'd ever raced. It was the fastest half I'd ever raced. But I'd be lying if I said I did it all on my own. The best thing about the whole experience was not race day at all, but the lifelong friendships I strengthened along the way.

Okay... are you dying to know how this ties into food?? At my cooking shows lately I've been applying this same team concept. It's just way more fun to break into teams and get hands-on with the recipes then sit there are watch me drone on all night (because clearly, I can talk). Here's one of everyone's favorites. Super easy to make and they are pretty too! Perfect for entertaining. And there are strawberries on top! So they're healthy, right?

Super Simple Strawberry Brownie Bites

Chocolate Brownie Mix (plus eggs and vegetable oil)

Baker's Joy or some type of Cooking Spray with Flour

1 pint of strawberries

1 cup of white chocolate chips

1 tsp sugar

Make brownies according to package directions

Add 1 cup of white chocolate chips. Why white? No reason except I felt like it.

Spray the tins with the Baking Spray

Use a small scoop to fill 1 tablespoon into each tin

Now, one package of Brownie mix should fill 48 tins, but if you love brownie batter and you only had leftover eggs and grilled cheese crusts to eat all day, you might end up with a few less.

Pop in the 350 oven for 12 minutes max. In the meantime, get the strawberries ready. By the way strawberries at Harris Teeter are something ridiculous like buy 1 get 2 free. Strawberry season is fast approaching! From May to June, they should be available locally, and will most likely be on sale at every store.

Anyway I took the tops off and put them in my Manual Food Processor. A food chopper would work well too.

Chop them up til they are pretty small

Remove the blade and add 1 tsp of sugar

stir it up and they will get kind of syrupy

When the brownies come out, use a Tart Shaper or the flip side of your scoop to press a dent into the tops of each brownie It's easiest to do this while they are still warm! If they start to stick to the scoop, dust it lightly with flour.

Move them to a platter

Then use the scoop to spoon in enough so that the strawberries fill the tops.

So easy, and so pretty! And I didn't feel bad letting the boys gobble them up since at least there was some fruit involved. :)

Hot Buttered Rum

In case I haven't mentioned it two thousand times, I haaaaate to bake! Don't misread... I love eating all things baked, I'm just not a big fan of the baking process. So this time of year when my neighbors come door to door with yummy baked goods I'm both thrilled and full of dread. I couldn't possibly poison someone with my baked goods in return!

Last year in lieu of cookies, I did a dried Pasta Fagioli Soup in mason jars. I layered beans, pasta and herbs and then attached directions. It was fairly simple to make a bunch of them, and then I handed them out as teacher's gifts and to neighbors and friends. This year I did the same for teachers, but came across another recipe on Red Hot Kitchen for the neighbors that looked sooo yummy I had to try. (Hi Neighbors, don't worry I'll be by with your Hot Buttered Rums soon :) )

I whipped these up last night. I literally mean, whipped. That's all you do, dump the ingredients in a bowl and whip. I bought these cute Mason Jars at Harris Teeter (and they are on sale right now!) I know Target also sells them but they were sold out when I went yesterday. And for the record, Costco and Bloom do NOT sell them because I dragged three kids to all these places to discover this. Good times.

I'm doing a Tempo Run with Kate and Mile Posts tonight, while simultaneously checking out the neighborhood Christmas lights, and I can't think of a better drink to cozy up to when I get home!

Long Lasting Hot Buttered Rum

2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
8 oz of honey
7 oz Marshmallow fluff
2 sticks of butter
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract


Throw in the butter and brown sugar, then measure out the 8 oz of honey

Add it in, then add the Marshmallow fluff. This cup is the bomb for measuring out wet-dry ingredients such as these. You put in the ingredient then pop it out, nothing left inside that you're trying to scoop out.

1 tablespoon vanilla

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Vanilla

Voila. All those healthy ingredients in one bowl. Hot Buttered Rum? More like Huge Buttered Bum. HAHA

Whip it up.

Here are the small Mason jars. They came in a pack of 12

How cute. Yup, still rockin the old nailpolish!

I added 5 small scoops per jar, which is about 5 tablespoons. Was wishing I had the medium sized scoop! This recipe filled 13 mason jars.

Yup, that took 5 minutes.

Then I printed out a bunch of instructions (make sure to include that this Long-Lasting Hot Buttered Room can store in the fridge for up to 3 months).

Hole Punched the instructions and added ribbon

And tied it on. So easy and cute!

I thought these would be cute as a favor for each guest at the Christmas table as well!