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I cracked last night!

And made three sheets of crackers!

My first attempt at homemade crackers and a success, if I do say so myself.

These crunchy bites are made of

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup barley flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• loads of crushed and dried rosemary
• a whole lot of fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup whole flax seeds
• salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup water
• more black pepper for grinding on top before baking

Crackers are super easy and since these have no leavening the measurements are really just a guide, anything goes!

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly.  Slowly incorporate oil and water to form a dough.  I started out stirring with a wooden spoon but quickly dug in with my hands to fully mix into a dryish dough ball.  Work with small batches and roll until very thin, I rolled the dough on a piece of aluminum foil for easy transfer to cookie sheet.  Transfer to cookie sheet.  Grind black pepper over top of dough sheet and give it another roll to make sure it sticks.  Score a grid on the dough sheet with a knife (whatever size you want your crackers).  You don’t need to mark very deep to get a straight break post-baking.  Toss into a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes or until the cracker sheet is starting to look brown and tasty.   Here’s the challenging part, try not to burn your fingers or tongue as you taste test!  (Yep, that’s advice coming from experience).  Make sure the crackers cool thoroughly before storing in a sealed plastic bag or airtight jar.

These crackers are super crunchy, I think it’s due in part to the corn meal and plethora of flax.

I snacked on many a cracker as I cooked off three batches.  They were even tastier today and my late morning snack of crackers and cottage cheese was yummy and super satiating.

Another AWESOME fall day!

Sure is!

Tate and I ran afternoon errands on foot, including picking up my packet at Charlottesville Running Company for tomorrow’s Fall Classic 10K!  I am really looking forward to the run in the morning and I am sure it will be great but, seriously, the loot was lame.

$40 entry and all I got in my “packet” was 2 sample boxes of Wheaties! (and of course my number and time chip)

The shirts are alright, at least they aren’t cotton (when it comes to running gear I am all about the synthetics :)).

In Peru everyone wears their tee shirts for the races.  Do folks do that here?  I can’t really remember, I know I never did.

Lovely downtown.

My dad and stepmom are heading our way for the weekend.   I am going to make us all an early dinner then they are going contra dancing late into the night.

Wish my luck on achieving my PR (personal record) of under 55 minutes for a 10k tomorrow morning!  I am feeling very confident, the weather is going to be perfect, and it will be a blast.  Have a fun Friday night.

Today is the first time in a looooooong time that I am really craving a gym workout.  It’s dark, cool, and wet outside and my scheduled run is not sounding very appealing :(.

I am planning on a noontime Vinyasa class that should be warm and cozy.  My intro pass at Ashtanga Yoga Charlottesville is up next Tuesday and I plan on fitting in 3 or 4 more classes.  I skipped out on my planned class yesterday and opted instead for 30 minutes of a kickboxing dvd and a 45 minute yoga sesh with Baron (on dvd).

My MISSION more or less went to hell last week.  I seem to have some mental/physical blockage when it comes to long runs, even if I am not sore and/or wiped out from them I think that I need a lot of recovery.  The 8.31 miles on Tuesday left me feeling good but by the end of the week I had NO desire to run and felt like I had done enough for the week.

So, last weeks grand running milage was 8.31!  And yoga, well I only made it to one class.  Life goes on.  I was active most days at least.

It’s already Wednesday but I still want to set some goals for the last week of MISSION: 10k PR.

• 3 yoga sessions √
• 2 strength workouts (upper, lower, and abs) √
• 2 easy runs (4-5 miles)
• 10K in less than 55 minutes!!!!!!

The weather for Saturday looks perfect, sunny and high of 75 degrees.  Let’s hope it sticks!

My father-in-law is driving over from WV this afternoon to see our house for the first time (better get cleaning!).

How do you motivate yourself to get moving?  Do you run outside in the rain?