Not Another Cookie Recipe

September 24th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (4 Comments)

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

-Chinese Proverb

That’s great, but we’re not going to talk about fish today.  We’re going to talk about cookies.

One of the best things that happens when you learn how to cook is learning out how to get along without a recipe.

If you make something a couple of times, soon you begin to understand what ingredients and steps are most important.  Make something a bunch of times and soon you begin to see the variety of ways you might be able change it up.  Make something a couple of dozen times and soon you start see cooking from a whole new perspective.  Read more...

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Banana Whip Oats

August 21st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (5 Comments)

I go through phases where I eat oats every day. And then there are times where the oatmeal canister gathers dust on its top. This week I’ve been back in that oat phase, and am apparently in a frozen banana phase too.

I discovered this concoction last week by accident, really – I can’t even tell you what possessed me to throw oats in the food processor when making banana whip. I just know that I did.

Banana Whip Oats

1 frozen banana (approx.)
1/2 c rolled oats
1 heaping Tbsp hemp seeds (optional, for protein)

Frozen Bananas Rolled Oats Hemp Seeds  Read more...

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Cash Rules Everything

December 5th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (9 Comments)

My camera has seen better days.

Better Days

And no, taking this picture could not wait even a single second for me to take off my hat or jacket.

Apparently the front cover of my camera lost its lust for life about a month or so ago.  It’s barely holding on here.  I had to resort to rubber bands, hair ties and super glue to hold it together.

These materials were doing a fine job of getting my camera through its tough time – and I was especially appreciative of the fact that they saved me from the snotty “Lens Error. Restart Camera. (You Jerk.)” message it would give me whenever the lens got caught up in the front cover.  Read more...

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I Get Up Early Because I am Lazy

December 1st, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (7 Comments)

I typically get up somewhere in the 6 o’clock hour, without an alarm.  Most people would not call this lazy – but really, that’s exactly what it is.

My kids stay up late you see, and there are different reasons for this fact – some a bit closer to the real truth than others.  It all depends on who’s asking. And while each reason is true, I have one answer for the conservative crowd, one answer for the neutral crowd, and one answer for the other people who have admitted to lazy-parenting short cuts in the past – no judgment.  Read more...

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Brought to You by the Letter Y

November 5th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (3 Comments)

Never does the second to last letter of the alphabet look as good as it does on a cold and rainy Friday morning.

The Letter Y

I find it a tad ironic that I hit the Y to avoid getting cold and wet, only to go inside and get cold and wet.

Full Pool

Actually, the Y is pretty warm which makes swimming much more enjoyable compared old, cold, damp and dreary place I use to swim laps in the old ‘hood.  Today was my first early morning swim session this season and it was easy to jump right in and get moving.  Read more...

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A Jog Down Memory Lane

October 30th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (7 Comments)

On my run this morning I realized it was a year ago today that I embarked on my maiden voyage with my neighborhood running group. Although I guess a year ago today was Halloween, and Halloween is of course tomorrow. So I suppose I really should have written a year ago tomorrow, but the group runs on Saturdays, so it feels like a year ago today. And “a year ago today” feels a more nostalgic than “a year ago tomorrow” – so I’m leaving it.  Read more...

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I Heart Cereal

August 11th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (9 Comments)

I love cereal, but I rarely buy it. Because if I bought it, I would eat it. And the kids would eat it too. Now of course I don’t think cereal is inherently bad or purposefully tries to be evil, but it’s just too damn easy to sit down and eat 600 calories worth of Heart to Heart in a single sitting before you finally stop going back to the box for another bowl.

What? Is that only me?  Read more...

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15 Random Facts About Today’s Long Run

July 17th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (8 Comments)

1.  I failed to remember to charge my Garmin before bed last night, thus I ran today with my old school (now seemingly very little in comparison) digital watch that doesn’t tell me anything fun or exciting.

Little Watch

2.  My left arm felt amazingly light with no 3 lb garmin strapped to it.  So light in fact that it kept creeping up toward the sky and I had to hold it down with my other hand lest every person I ran past wonder if they were supposed to call on me to answer a question.  Read more...

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It’s a Phase

July 13th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (6 Comments)

I go through breakfast phases.  Phases where I pretty much eat the same thing day after day after day for weeks on end until one day I wake up in the mood for something different.  This is how it always goes.  I eventually grow tired of the same old, same old, get some new breakfast idea and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now I am in a cold oatmeal phase.  I have been here before and will be here again I’m sure.  This means that my husband and children are also in a cold oatmeal phase.  As the primary meal preparer in this house, they are pretty much at the mercy of whatever breakfast phase I’m in.  Alternate breakfast requests are usually honored provided I have enough notice.  Read more...

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Pushing Up Pansies

June 29th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Morning Craziness - (10 Comments)

Well, it’s that time of year. The time when I start hemming and hawing about what I’m going to train for this summer: the half marathon or the full marathon. Last year I considered running the full marathon again but then bailed mid summer. I instead opted for the half with the excuse that I’d never run a half marathon before, conveniently weaseling my way out of a summer of 20 mile long runs.  Read more...

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