The Perfect Peanut Butter Cookie

Recently I have been crazing peanut butter ALL. THE. TIME.  And I have been searching for the perfect peanut butter cookie recipe to satisfy my craving.

I found three recipes online and decided to try each one to see which one turned out the best.  Over the last couple of weeks, I have made each recipe and then used Brian as a guinea pig.  Of course he loved all the homemade cookies coming his way, but it wasn't until this weekends batch that he said (without any prodding) that this was the best cookies.

These satisfy my peanut butter craving maybe a little too much because I can't stop eating them!  Maybe it is the special ingredient of Peanut M&M's or maybe it is because I accidentally got distracted while baking and let the ingredients whisk in my mixer extra long.  Either way, this recipe is definitely going into my recipe book!

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

 

1/2 c. butter flavored Crisco, soft

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp.milk

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. Peanut Butter M&M's

 

1. Preheat oven to 350.  

2.  In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside. 

3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat Crisco until smooth.  Beat in peanut butter, then sugars.  

4.  Add egg, vanilla, and milk and beat until smooth.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  

5.  Lastly, gently stir in Peanut Butter M&M's.  

6.  Place rounded tablespoons of cookie dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-11 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

(***cooking times may vary by oven so keep an eye on them until they are golden brown on the edges)  

Favorite Recipe -

From Sweet Treats and More

Runner's Up - 

From Let's Dish and Iowa Girl Eats

Perfect time to come back

Well it looks like the sickness has finally left this house! 

When I woke up Wednesday and felt pretty good, I took advantage of it and cleaned the house of all disease and sanitized all the dirty laundry.  I definitely over did it because by 10am I was on the couch asleep.  Thursday was much better and I even went into work for half the day.  By Friday I felt really good and pretty much back to normal.  Saturday I decided to head out for a run but of course the weather did not want to cooperate.

Saturday weather and forecast

I really hope Saturday is the last day of real winter around here!  Because of the cold, I decided to run on the treadmill Saturday.  The run was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I felt pretty good - my legs and lungs felt like I hadn't just taken 4 days off.

But Sunday was the perfect day for a run!  It finally feels like spring around here with the temperatures in the 50s and the sun shining so bright.  And with all this nice weather, all my neighbors decided to come out of hibernation - I saw so many bikers and runners while I was out.  And I broke out the capris!

Breaking out the capris once again!

Now that I am feeling better again, it is time to get back on track for marathon training.  This coming week was supposed to be a peak week for me with my first 20 miler on Saturday but I am not sure that is going to happen.

The past two weeks have stacked up like this mileage wise - 40 and 43 miles.  This past week when I was sick I was supposed to hit 47 miles and next week was 52 miles.  After the 52 mile week I am supposed to drop down to 46 miles.  After looking at my schedule and talking to my running coach and seeking some help from Marlene, I have made some adjustments.

First, I am going to take it one day at time because although I feel great, my appetite has been a little off lately.  I have not been feeling really hungry like I usually do but have been forcing myself to eat small meals throughout the day.

So with that in consideration, I plan to try and hit around 40 miles this week as long as every thing goes well.  If I feel good I will try for 46 and that way I can just go into next week and hit 46 miles again and will be right on track.

This all depends on how I feel and if my appetite decides to come back.  I haven't really dealt with sickness during training and I am hoping that this plan will go well.  Training really is all about being flexible and handling the challenges that come along.

Beautiful sunset after a beautiful day

Tomorrow its back to the normal schedule of work and morning runs! Hopefully this week will be better than last week!

What happens when you're sick

Monday night, Brian and I came down with severe flu symptoms.  I wont give too many details but lets just say it was bad and I haven't been that sick in a long time.

 I started feeling a tiny bit better around 3am Tuesday morning so I drove Brian to the emergency room because he was still vomiting every 30 minutes or so.  We arrived and they checked him in and shortly after that I became ill again so they admitted me and gave me an IV and anti-nausea medicine.  I must say the IV and medicine did help but it wasn't until this morning that I finally felt well enough again.  Brian on the other hand is still in bed. 

Seems like I have the stronger immune system in this family.  But it still stinks to be sick.  We are both very dehydrated but thankfully we are both able to keep fluids and some solid food down now.

So what happens to running when your sick.  Well yesterday it didn't happen and I have to say that bothered me.  While I was in the ER, I was tired and uncomfortable but I was also angry that I was sick.  All I could think about was how I was going to miss my workout.  And along with all these crazy thoughts, there were times I wanted to throw the whole training schedule out the window. 

Dramatic, I know.

Its just when you are sick and feeling your worst, I think your brain plays tricks on you.  You start to feel like you will never get better (Similarly to when you are injured) and that nothing will ever be the same.

This morning things are better, but not 100%.  Seems like this flu/intestinal virus thing has been going around.  Hopefully this is the last we see of it because it really is not fun. 

And hopefully I will be back to running soon.

Celebrating another year

Saturday was my birthday.  It was such a packed day of activity that I didn't even get to write a post!

I woke up very early to run 18 miles and it went really well.  The route was very hilly but I felt good pretty much the whole way which was awesome.  The temperature was perfect (40F) but the winds were horrible.  Half the run I was being pushed from behind by the wind and the other half I was running headfirst into the 30+mph winds!

My running buddy was so nice to remember my birthday and surprise me with mini cupcakes! They were definitely part of my refueling on Saturday!

When I arrived home from the run, I rushed to take an ice bath, shower, and pack to head to my in-laws.  Brian had planned for us to go see Les Miserables and go out to a nice dinner with his parents.  Sitting down for an extended period after my run was not ideal but I think the ice bath really helped.

The fun did not stop there because at the home of my mother in-law, there was a perfect red velvet cake waiting for me!  It was a perfect way to end the day.

By the end of the day I was pretty tired from all the excitement and full from all the cake! It definitely was a great birthday!

Pacing your long run

This weekend, similar to many others, I have a long run to complete Saturday morning!  The run tomorrow will be the longest I have ever run at one time and I excited but nervous.  Thanks to good friends, I wont be alone for the 18 hilly miles.

Source

 The question has crossed my mind this week about what kind of pace I should be running for my long runs.  Of course I have referred to the VDOT and McMillian calculators but while searching this week I came across a fun chart from Dailymile.

This chart is actually pretty accurate compared to the pacing calculators.  Its just more fun to look at the chart!

This will be my first time running 18 miles so I should run it at my easy pace (8:50 min/mile) + :30-:45 seconds.  

Are you running a long run this weekend?  How far and what's your pace?

Have a great Friday!