Run.Chew.Sparkle

Happy Tuesday Everyone! It is my favorite time of the week because it is Top Ten Tuesday. This week we are talking about items you can bring to a cook out. Next Monday is Labor Day, this weekend is officially the last weekend of summer and here are some of my favorite side dishes and items to bring. 1. BYOB hehe. Bringing beer is always welcome. I love to bring my own, that way I don't drink my hosts favorite but I can bring my own favorite, like Bud Lite Lime. 2. Potato Salad 3. Macaroni Salad 4. I love bring a fruit salad. Fresh fruit always tastes so much better at a cook out. The sweet fruit is that balance with all the hamburgers and hot dogs. 5. Tri-Colored Pasta salad with Italian Dressing 6. Corn on the Cob, a cook out would not be complete with grilled or regular corn on the cob 7. My mom used to always make these 3 ingredient apps or little finger foods to munch on and they are my favorite; a cut piece of sharp cheddar cheese, then a little cube of pin...

We all live in a fast paced world, right? We try to slow down but most of the time we are running out the door and our feet are following right behind us. There are times I forget to bring my coffee, breakfast and lunch to work because I am so busy trying to make it out on time. I have a healthy commute for work, 30 miles round trip and roughly 30-45 minutes worth of travel, with traffic or accidents etc. And the same for the way home and then sometimes I travel for work to other locations, being in my car for a nice 8 hours. On those days I am so busy making my way out the door, I forget I need to eat. While I don't always stop for fast food, I know am happy to say I wont mind searching for those Golden Arches with the changes McDonald's has made to some of their menu items and lucky for me there is one on my way to and from work. Here are some of the changes I am happy to see... 1. Committing to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025. I can enjoy my McMuffin a little bit brighter ...

Well Hello Again :0) This Tuesday's Top Ten is all about my favorite appliance in my kitchen, my Slow Cooker or Crock Pot however you may call it. I absolutely LOVE my crock pot. I use it at least once a week. James and I both work nights some time, so to come home and have food waiting, hot and ready to go makes our lives so much easier. It also keeps us from eating crap or spending money on food when we have plenty right here. A lot of my favorites are ones done with little ingredients. The easier the better in my life! 10. Buffalo Chicken In your crock pot add some chicken breast, either thawed or frozen, add a bottle of Buffalo Wing Sauce or a Bottle of Hot Sauce and one packet of Ranch Dressing, the one made famous by Hidden Valley. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, then shred the chicken while in the crock pot. It is juicy and spicy and so delicious. We eat it on sandwiches or just as a meal. 9. Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Same as above but with a can of crushed pineapples a...

I often get super nostalgic about running races because I love them so much. I love the routine that running races create for me. I love days leading up to a race, especially a half marathon. I love the training that comes along with the races. The time, energy and dedication I put int succeeding is something I had never experienced before. When I trained for my first ever Half marathon, back in 2012, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I didn't know about long runs or what to eat or what to wear. I didn't know how long I should train for or what training even meant. It was so new to me and I had only completed my first EVER 5k only a couple of months before that. But a co-worker of mine suggested we sign up and I said why the heck not. She agreed we would do it together. She had previous experience running a half marathon and assured me it would be tons of fun. I was up for a challenge and said sure why not. And I hit the pavement running. She showed me ropes on...

If you a runner I want you to think back to the first race you ever completed.... Where you anxious? Nervous? Were you worried what others would think about you as you ran on by? Were you nervous about crossing the finish line? Worried about tripping over that line rather than running over it? Were you nervous about even completing it in a timely fashion? Did you feel any of these like I did??? I, of course, eventually got over it and moved on and I have completed tons of runs. I love the race, in general and the atmosphere it brings. I love the finish lines and the crowds and the people running beside me. But sometimes I cant make it to certain races or like here in Florida the weather is so crazy, so during June-September there are not a lot of races going on because it is so hot. And I love to earn Bling. I love the medals. Here is where my new love comes in.... Virtual Races/Runs!!! Virtual Races/Runs are done on your own time at your own pace, with your own finish li...

Hey Hey it is Tuesday!!!! Which by now you know it is Top Ten Tuesday time and I am linking up with Nanci and Jackie . Make sure to check out their posts too. I am a huge fan of appetizers, mainly because I love small portions that I can pick and eat a lot of haha. I don't make a lot of appetizers because we don't entertain as much, but with football season coming right around the corner, we will starting too. So for this post, I will be posting my top 10 for my pinterest board I am wanting to make this upcoming season, enjoy!! You can also get the full recipes from my Pinterst board at  https://www.pinterest.com/angelinaa718/  and the board I have all my apps and starters on is  Dips and Apps Done Light  &  Football Season Fun 10. I love dips for starters because you can pair them with anything, veggies, pretzels and bread. 9. Buffalo Chicken Dip I have made this lots of times and it is always a hit. This also makes a great lunch op...

Wow what a week it  has been.... On Thursday the 4th I received some really horrible news about my Best Friends Husband and then 12 hours later on 5th, everything came crashing down. My BFF of over 25 years, Lea Ann lost her husband to lung cancer, he fought so hard and for so long and on Friday in the early morning he took his final breath. My heart ached for the pain my BFF was going through, she lost the love of her life, one minute he was there and the next gone.... I, of course, instantly was looking online for flights to get back home to PA to be with her. I didn't care about the cost or the time off of work, I just knew I had to be there for her. I finally got a flight out of Tampa to Scranton on Sunday night. In the midst of all of this my run streak was still going strong. I had resulted in only going for a mile a day at that point. My body was hurting, my mind even though running helped clear it was all over the place. But I took the time out to get the runs d...

Alright lets talk about something real quick.... I love to find alternatives to some of my favorite foods, so I can enjoy them with fewer calories...etc.. I have been doing this on my journey for awhile now... Such as Powder peanut butter for real peanut butter... Cauliflower crumbles as crust on pizza or a great substitute for hash-browns... Reduced fat for real fat, low sugar or sugar free, I mean the list can go on and on...I have adapted and half the time I don't even miss the real thing..but one thing I get but in reality I have to say ummmm come on.... Well is ZOODLES... If you are unaware of Zoodles, here it is, it is Zucchini spiraled into looking like noodles, such as a substitute for spaghetti or anything involving noodles. Okay, I get pasta can be high in carbs for sure BUT nothing can compare to noodles at all, NOTHING. PASTA is pasta, it is al dente and it is delicious and for an Italian girl like myself, well nothing compares to it. I use Pasta for my ...

Give Me a P!!!! Give Me a M!!! Give Me a S!!!! Time to have some #realtalk and Honesty Yup. this has been my life this week... Seriously I have been a cross between crying at everything and anything.  SERIOUSLY EVERYTHING! To hating life, looking in the mirror and seeing roll after roll after roll. And then debating between eating a candy store and then washing it down with salt. It has been rough. Let's get real ladies, PMS sucks! I wanna say poor James, but the minute I told him I had my period, THEN no matter what I said or did was because of that. Not because he was lazy and a bum and didn't put the toilet paper back on the roll or take out the garbage OR God forbid he actually puts his dirty laundry in the hamper and not just by it. THAT IS TOTALLY PMS Related haha. But seriously PMS can make you feel broken. It did for me Sunday morning. To the point where I was down in the dumps. I am typically a really upbeat person, I ...

Happy Tuesday!!! Its a fun Tuesday today, its the 2nd of the Month, yup we are now into August, where seriously I blinked and July was over. And its Tuesday, which means Top Ten Tuesday and today I am posting around with Nanci and Jackie , make sure to check out all of our Top Ten Desserts. Okay so these Desserts are a mixture of Desserts I love to enjoy and ones I would love to enjoy from my Pinterest, and a mixture of Guilt free and not so guilt free. I have a wicked sweet tooth so ten was definitely hard to pick haha. 10. Arctic Zero ice cream is described as a fit frozen dessert. They have a variety of different flavors, some chunky and creamy. The beauty of these ice cream pints is you can have the whole thing for 300 calories are a 1/2 is 75 calories. It is a fit lovers dreamer. The chunky flavors... Which I am on the look out for these flavors. The cookie dough is my favorite and the Snickerdoodle, as in both are CHUNKS of cookie pieces. The only issue with th...