Why do I live here?  Why do I pay the outrageous real estate prices and fight the ungodly traffic?  Especially since I work at home so could technically live anywhere in the entire world that I wanted to?

Because today, in the middle of March, I ran outside in 72 degree weather with beautiful blue skies and sunshine.  That’s why.  And that makes it all worth it.

And for all you Florida peeps who tell me you can do it to?  Well… you can’t do it with no humidity

Breakfast – Protein french toast.  Two slices of whole wheat bread dipped in a mixture of 2 eggs, a dash of soy milk and a scoop of protein powder.

Along with a not-monster peach.

For lunch, I did the make-my-own Subway thing.  Which is never as good as real Subway.  I think it’s the bread.  One of these days, I plan to make my own bread.  I have a few recipes for Subway-like rolls and will start experimenting! 

For now, though, this roll was not so bad. 

I did make some of my own croutons today after lunch, though.  We bought a baguette when my sister and Brett were visiting, and we only ate about half of it.  And it is now very stale.  So I cut it up into cubes, and then tossed it with some olive oil and seasonings.

Baked at 250 degrees for about 25 min, and voila!  They were DELICIOUS.  I was eating them right off the tray.  Who needs a salad? 

I snacked on some girl scout cookies. 

That x 3.

I didn’t feel like getting in the car and going to the gym today – it was just too beautiful outside.  Plus, I haven’t been running for a really long time, and we have the Golden Gate Headlands 7 mile trail race (known to be extremely hilly and difficult) coming up on April 3rd that S and I registered to run with his Dad.  Not sure if I mentioned it, but his father and grandmother are coming to visit on March 25th.  So I figured a run was probably a good idea.

I did an out and back 5 miler on the Los Gatos Creek trail.  It was tough.  I forget how hard it is to start running when I haven’t run for a while.  Plus, my legs are covered with a brand new set of bruises from all my weekend bike-droppage… I didn’t think it would hurt to run, but it did!  But I completed the 5 miles and it was good.  CA, I heart you.

All of a sudden, I spotted a lone apple on the counter.  Right next to it, I spied a half-empty bottle of POM.  I had just been talking to my sister about how Passover was right around the corner, and then BAM!  The idea came to me.

POM haroset!!

For those of you who don’t know what haroset is, it is:

a sweet, dark-colored, lumpy paste made of fruits and nuts served primarily during the Passover Seder. Its color and texture are meant to recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt. The word "charoset" comes from the Hebrew word cheres — חרס — "clay." – Wikipedia

Typically, charoset is made with chopped apples and walnuts, along with wine and some spices.  There are many different recipes with small variations to suit your taste.  My take of the day:

POM haroset

1 large chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons POM
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
cinnamon to taste

Mix it all together, and…

It was delicious.  S loved it too – and I got him to eat an apple!!! 

For dinner I made use of my homemade croutons and made a white albacore salad with the works and a generous handful of the croutons. 

They are so incredibly good.  I don’t think I will ever be able to go back to store-bought croutons again!

Dessert was cottage cheese cheesecake pudding with chocolate chip Weetabix.

There is also some swiss chocolate action going on as I type this. 

My legs will probably be sore tomorrow from my long overdue run….