While Monday’s arrival is typically a bummer, I had such a great weekend I find myself still riding the high from such a great one. Likely a sugar high, but still. Saturday started off amazing with that accidental 6.3 mile run and a great lunch with blog friend, Laura. I continued a good time Saturday afternoon with lots of kitchen time. I whipped up a few goodies to bring to a pot luck afternoon we had planned with friends.

Jess’ Triple Layer Cookies & Cream Bars

My Favorite Cheesy Mexican Cornbread (recipe below)

Our afternoon and evening contained the simple joy of spending time with many of our best friends. I do not find anything nicer than an evening spent laughing and chatting with friends, watching our children enjoy the excitement of youth, nibbling some good eats, and celebrating the wonderful fellowship we have thanks to God bringing us all together.

I love these people!  I also loved the food.

I had taste-tested a couple pieces of each of my recipes before leaving, so I didn’t have the hugest appetite for our early dinner. I kept it simple with a serving of spinach salad, two deviled eggs (with bacon & blue cheese!), a spoonful of mac & cheese, and some fruit. Saving room for one more of Jess’ bars clearly mattered most. I think everyone else had the same thing in mind. Those suckers were G-O-N-E! Well done, Jess. Well done.

Our busy weekend extended into Sunday with church and a 3rd birthday celebration for one of Makenzie’s friends. The party was held at an indoor soccer sports center. Little M started off a bit unsure about everything but quickly got more excited about the festivities.

I spent a large part of the party hanging out with my special date. What a handsome guy!

Since the party started directly after church, I had quite the hunger beast setting in. I had no problem downing some mediocre pizza.

It’s funny because this brand of pizza used to be my favorite. Then, my Italian hubby turned me into a pizza snob. I never thought that day would come. I know for a fact you will never find me snobby over cake. As long as it has icing, of course.

This cake rocked! Normally I can take or leave the cake portion and only desire the icing. This cake was perfect and not dry in the least.

We ended the weekend with some Love and Other Drugs action.

Finally, here is that recipe I promised!

Easy Cheesy Mexican Cornbread

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese (I used a mix of the two)
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 1 can creamed corn
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the first 6 ingredients (cornmeal through chilies). Add the wet ingredients (creamed corn through milk) and stir to mix well. Pour into a lightly greased 8x8 square or 9” round baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes until top golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

• Do you like pot luck dinners? What do you like to bring?
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Please, don’t hate me. For being a beginner runner…and accidentally running 6.35 miles today. In under an hour.

Yes, I accidentally ran 6.3 miles in 59:00. My Garmin died not too long into my run. I apparently can’t do math. I was on a trail that had mile markers, so in my head I calculated the mile-marker to turn around at to achieve a 5.5 mile run. Except on the way back I counted up and then realized in total I had run somewhere between 6.3 and 6.4 miles. Oops! I felt amazing though! Guess my homemade Tropical Flax Bars made for some good fuel. (recipe to come soon)

Every time I lace up my sneakers, I feel shocked at my body’s ability to pick up this sport and endurance quicker than I could have ever expected. I know I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. I haven’t done near the amazing things so many of you other runners have. It’s still pretty cool to see what my body can accomplish.

After my run, I showered up for a special lunch with blog reader and friend, Laura. We recently realized we live literally 5 minutes away from each other. She heard me raving about the BBQ restaurant ‘Cue the last time I tried it and wanted to take a visit together. I happily obliged to dining with her.

I ordered a BBQ pulled pork sandwich (the only thing I ever get at BBQ joints) along with some coleslaw to top the sandwich. Despite having a little issue with the bottle of sauce suddenly down pouring on my sandwich, the meal tasted great and I really loved chatting for awhile with a good friend.

Well, I must get a move on some baking now. Look for a couple new recipes later this week. Until then, enjoy some FFF Features from this past week! 🙂

Featured Workout: Once I felt fully recovered from my 24 hour bug, I went to the gym for a light cardio workout. It was fun because I mixed up the cardio with different machines and various intervals. It ended up being just the right amount of challenge.

Elliptical

Cross trainer

Repeat minutes 0-12 for 24 total minutes on the cross trainer and 44 total cardio.

Featured Meal: Summery Salad 

You just can’t get more beautiful than that. Fruit, nuts, cheese, avocado, veggies, and a light vinaigrette. Yum!

Featured Quote: Simple and to the point, but definitely true -

“You DESERVE happiness”.

Featured Reading: Chelsey @ Clean Eating Chelsey - Little Girl, Fat Talk

She summated everything I hope to pass along to Makenzie as she grows into a young lady. Anyone who has any chance of making an impact on a girl’s life, needs to read this!

• What’s something that amazes you about your body?