They were pretty nice to have when we ended up being a little late to our dinner reservation because our previously booked hotel moved us elsewhere, then sent us to the wrong hotel (all the way across town).

They were also quite delightful at 2:45 AM on Sunday morning…pre-race fueling at its finest. But they’re full of oats and bananas, so that definitely means they’re not the worst thing one could eat before running 26.2 miles. They’re light and fluffy and taste just like banana bread!

Speaking of 26.2 miles, I just signed up for my eighth marathon:

The day after Big Sur, my good friend Alyssa reminded me that it’s pretty much a scientific fact that a marathon on that course is about 20 minutes slower on any other course. Meaning I could possibly run 3:29 (which would be a 3 minute PR). December 2, I plan to do just that in Sacremento! I have run CIM once before, in 2007, and dropped my PR from 4:14 to 3:47, so I know it’s a great PR course.

The next few months I’m going to focus on building a really good base, hopefully running some fast shorter races, and staying injury free so I can train harder than I’ve ever trained before for this race. Bring.it.on.

This is the LAST day of my maternity leave! It’s gone by really fast, and although I know I’m really going to miss Ellie, I’m really happy to be going back to work. I stopped by for a department meeting the other day and ran into several of my students from last year who are now in high school. They were some of my favorites, and they all ended up running Cross Country this fall. One of them said she never would have considered it if I hadn’t encouraged her and talked about how fun it was. She started last year hating running, and now she’s already starting to train for the track season!

I’m going again today to pick up my work laptop and some of my teaching materials, because this weekend is going to involve a lot of lesson planning. I’m kind of nervous about how I’m going to balance teaching, training, blogging, and most importantly, being Eleanor’s mom, but fortunately Mike is amazing and has no problem trading off morning duty so we can both get workouts in, so that will help a lot.

Oh, and I finished the hat! It fits Mike perfectly, yay. Next up: a stocking for Ellie. I found a pattern but I’m pretty intimidated. Thank goodness for youtube videos – any time I get stuck, I find a video of what I’m trying to do, watch it about 35 times, and attempt it myself. It worked out pretty well for the hat, but that was a ridiculously simple pattern. There’s a good chance Ellie will just end up with a stocking from Target, but I’ll do my best.

Thanksgiving started with a very hilly, very COLD (okay yes I’m lame and 30 degrees is really cold) 4 mile Turkey Trot at the Oregon Zoo.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to race it or just stick with my family, so I started out with them and decided to see how it went. Not well. My face was numb and I just never really felt “on.” The run basically goes down a big hill the first 2 miles, then you turn around and run back up it and into the zoo. The last 2 miles were HELL, but I pretty much kept up with my dad and finished in 31:10 (7:47 min/mile). It was just nice to be done!

After that it was time to head to my cousins’ dairy. I don’t know what it is about Holsteins, but I think they are some of the most photogenic animals on Earth.

There were SUCH cute calves!
Curious.

Thirsty.

Shy.

My sister tried to bond with one of them.

After taking way too many pictures, I came inside ready to eat. My family clearly does not mess around when it comes to dessert.

Two kinds of cranberry sauce (my sister will only eat the kind from a can).

My uncle is the best salad-maker of all time. This was mesclun mix topped with roasted beets, avocado, walnuts, and blue cheese. Best thing I ate all day.

This morning was gray and rainy (like most mornings in Portland) so baking cookies seemed like a natural activity.

I’m sure a lot of us still have a few cans of pumpkin, and obviously dark chocolate and rolled oats are pantry staples so you can whip up a batch of these right now!

Recipe:
(adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles)

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease two cookie sheets (or line with parchment paper or a silicone mat). In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. When the mixture is light and fluffy, scrape down the bowl and add the egg. Beat for about a minute, then mix in the pumpkin.

Gently stir in the flour mixture followed by the chopped chocolate.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto the cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes (until golden brown around the edges). Cool on wire racks

Why is it that 99% of the time Mike or I crave cookies, there are no chocolate chips in the house? Probably because we cannot keep chocolate chips on hand or they will disappear. Both of us have shockingly little willpower when there is any edible (ie not unsweetened) chocolate anywhere in the house, so stocking the pantry with chocolate is kind of a recipe for disaster.

Last night after dinner we were both craving something sweet, particularly cookies, but neither of us felt like walking the 3 blocks to the grocery store to buy a bag of chocolate chips. Enter the desperation oatmeal cookie. We always keep plenty of oats around. And butter, brown sugar, and flour. Nuts are pretty common pantry staples too. Although some people might miss the chocolate chips, these have a charm all their own. It’s nice to have a few cake and cookie recipes around that can be made with ingredients that are almost always around, and this is another good example. More cakey than chewy, you can definitely switch out the pecans for other nuts, or try dried fruit instead. Make them your own!

Recipe:

makes about 30 cookies

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 and line some cookie sheets with parchment or silpats.
Cream the butter with the brown sugar for about 3 mintues in the bowl of a stand mixer, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
Stir the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Add to the butter and mix on low until just combined. Stir in the pecans and oats, then drop by rounded tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for about 8 minutes, or until just set. Let cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

I steered clear of vegan baking recipes for a long time. I’m not sure if I was intimidated by unfamiliar ingredients, or afraid that the product would be inedible, but I was really reluctant to give up my beloved butter and eggs. Now that I’m head over heels for my local natural food co-op, though, the ingredients are becoming more familiar.

The only thing these cookies call for that you probably don’t have in your pantry is brown rice syrup, and it’s probably time you invested in a jar! It looks like honey, but has a unique flavor. It’s mostly maltose sugar, which takes longer for your body to process than fructose or glucose, so it doesn’t cause a sudden blood sugar spike. I have come to totally love the stuff.

These cookies aren’t exactly healthy, because they do have a decent amount of brown sugar. But they’re also made with whole wheat pastry flour and rolled oats, and are addictively chewy, particularly the day after baking. I’m excited to try this recipe with some variations like dried cranberry and walnut, or dark chocolate and peanut.

Recipe:
(adapted from Veganomicon)

1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup soy milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 F and put parchment or Silpats onto 2 baking sheets.

Stir the oil, brown rice syrup, soy milk, brown sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mix just until a dough forms. Stir in the oats and raisins.

Scoop up 1-2 tbsp of dough at a time and roll into a ball. Flatten slightly and place on the sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Some Mondays are just crap. I really try to be an optimist, embrace every day, live life to the fullest, and all that other Tony Robbins type stuff (and honestly, the only exposure I’ve had to Tony Robbins is thanks to a five year old son of two life coaches who loved to listen to him). But then there are days when I just get overwhelmed and all I want to do is bake cookies, settle down on the couch, and eat them.

I’ve been in a serious oatmeal phase lately. In addition to eating it every morning for breakfast, I keep looking for ways to bake with it. As Mike points out, using it in cookies is brilliant because you can eat a whole plate of them while still feeling like you’re eating health food (just pay no attention to the butter and sugar and chocolate…) Not that we EVER eat a whole plate of cookies at once. Nope, never.

Recipe:

Makes about 30 cookies

10 tbsp butter (2/3 cup), softened
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups old fashioned oats

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Beat the butter until smooth and creamy and add both sugars. Mix well, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and mix until all traces of dry ingredients disappear.
Stir in the oats.

To form cookies, scoop out 2-3 tbsp of dough at a time and flatten slightly, 12 to a cookie sheet.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until set on the edges but slightly fudgey inside (they’ll harden up as they cool).

Cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.