The other night, I tweeted that we were making Jenna’s enchiladas. I heard requests for reviews so here it goes!

Very, very good! Adam loved these, as did I. I think next time I would only use one can of diced green chiles but other then that, awesome! I would love to personalize my own recipe for enchiladas and may be working on my own spin. Thanks, Jenna for this amazing recipe!

In other random food news..

My new favorite pre-run meal/breakfast/snack/dessert:

Banana, honey, cinnamon toast. YUM! I’m slightly obsessed..

Favorite post-run combo:

No friends, not eaten together! A glass of chocolate milk and frozen peas on the knees.

It works.

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The Big Enchilada

Okay, I also have to make an official announcement since I’ve been wanting to tell you all for SO SO long..

We’re MOVING!!

While we’re not sure when we are moving, we do know where.

Ready for it?

We’re moving…to..

…..

CHARLOTTE!!

Ahh..feels so good to finally tell you all! Like I said, we’re not sure when. It really depends on when we find jobs. At the moment, I’m looking. If you thought job hunting where you lived was difficult, try it when you’re a few states away! If I find a job soon, I will most likely be moving there before Adam but we’ll climb that mountain when it gets here. Until then I’m here working part-time and enjoying time with Orlando friends.

You may be asking: Why Charlotte? I’ll definitely tell you all more about it tomorrow. I’m just glad you all finally know, if you hadn’t already guessed it before.

I’m so looking forward to calling Charlotte my home and being able to see those Carolina blue skies everyday!

We headed back to the happiest place on Earth to dine at a restaurant I’ve been so anxious to try since I first heart about it.

Kouzzina by Cat Cora!

Adam and I are big fans of Cat Cora’s and while watching an episode of “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” , we saw them list her restaurant here in Orlando.

Sadly, she was not there. But our server told us that she does come by about nine times a year which is impressive being as busy as she is!

Dinner started with the most delicious and light bread served with real butter sprinkled with black salt.

I sipped on a vodka soda with splash of cranberry and lime. My new favorite drink, thanks to Gracie.

I also sipped on a little pinot noir.

As we were seated the hostess explained to me that Kouzzina means “kitchen” in Greek and that’s why the kitchen is large and quite open. You’ll often see flames shoot up and a loud “opa” called out in celebration.

I ordered the whole fish(I’m pretty brave) but asked for it to be filleted for me at the table. I don’t mess with that. Warning: It really is a WHOLE fish. So you can skip over the next few pictures if that’s too much for you. You can’t say I didn’t warn you!

It was cooked with some peppers, onions and kalamata olives.

It was delicious! So moist with an amazing flavor from the light sauce. It was served over some cooked greens that had amazing texture with a little tenderness to them but had soaked up all the delicious flavor from the sauce.

The boys had a “fear factor” moment with the fish, but that’s as far as I’ll go with that story.

I also nibbled on Adam’s dish, a trio of some of their famous dishes. The lamb burger was incredible as well as their greek style lasagna. Actually, the greek-style lasagna was so good I begged for the recipe. I’ll definitely be making my own version soon! It tasted like a perfect holiday dish, so warm and comforting.

We just had to try dessert and ordered greek donuts with a fruit and vanilla sauce. We shared the whole table, they were so light and fluffy with a perfect bit of crispiness on the outside. YUM!

We all really enjoyed our dinner and would return in a heartbeat!

Until then, here’s some fun posts/pictures from the past summer.

• It started with a brand new home, we moved into a studio apartment!

• My mom bought Adam and I bikes.

• I got my first new(well, used but new) car.

• We traveled south to West Palm Beach and South Beach in Miami with Adam’s family.

• Got poured on for the 4th of July.

But still had fun, of course.

• Cheered on Megan as she completed her triathlon!

• Celebrated my grandma’s 90th birthday.

• Traveled to Charlotte and met some amazing bloggers!

..and hung out with some favorite blends(blog friends).

• Said hello to the mountains to celebrate my step-dad’s birthday.

• Rode my first ATV on my mom and Dave’s property in the mountains.

• Said goodbye to Leo.

• Did some yoga, outside, in downtown Orlando.

• Traveled to Chicago for the Healthy Living Summit!

• Met the bean, explored Chicago, and ate Chicago-style pizza!

• Got my wisdom teeth taken out.

• Went on a brownie making adventure.

• Found out the world’s seventh oldest tree was living just a town or two away.

• Did lots of yoga and had lunch with a great friend and blogger.

• Celebrated my friend Jamie and her upcoming wedding.

• ..and hosted a special visitor!

It’s been a good one, but boy am I ready for FALL!!

YAY!

Enjoy your labor day weekend!

It was tough but felt good at the same time. Especially finishing.

I know that their are tons of runners in the blog world. I’m definitely a beginner. Last spring I got very serious with training and made it to 8.6 miles on a trail with Ashley. That was the most amazing feeling.

My whole life I’ve wanted to be an “athlete”. Anxiety and my weight held me back often. I was either too scared to try out, or too out of shape to return to try-outs. I remember driving to the basketball courts of a local league and being so scared I begged and pleaded with my mom to drive us back home. We left.

I moved to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts my freshman year of high school and joined the freshman field hockey team.

[source]

It was my chance to start afresh, no one knew me and I could be an athlete if I wanted to be. During practice, I was always the last one running and as supportive as my team was I was eventually told be an older player that “we only cheered you on cause we had to”. Yep, that’s encouraging. After running “suicides” daily for a few weeks(and after only one game) I developed tendonitis and was barely able to walk. I then became the team “recorder” and kept records during the game(we ended up moving back home a couple months after 9/11).

[source]

My junior year, I wanted to be a soccer player SO much that I would practice in my backyard, kicking around a soccer ball in my field hockey shin guards and cleats. I went to the first try-out for soccer in high school and was the last one running, barely able to keep up let alone breathe. I didn’t come back the next day.

I’ve always wanted to be an athlete. Like I’ve said before, I’ve wanted (and want) to be many things. I came to realize, once I graduated high school, that maybe that wasn’t in the cards for me.

Then I met running.

I actually dated a marathon runner my sophomore year of college and went to a few races. A desire was set in my heart. Maybe I could do this. When it came down to it, running seemed to be the main problem in mission: athlete for me. In field hockey, soccer, even volleyball(you had to run under a 9 minute mile). I started running occasionally as a form of exercise but not seriously. It wasn’t until I ran the Miracle Miles 5k in September(and met some amazing blog friends before I even started my blog) that I was determined to race more and to run further.

That’s also where I met Ashley and Caitlin, who are two of my biggest inspirations (thank you both for that).

Somedays I fight with the label “athlete” or “runner” but I honestly love running. Even when it sucks, and I think that makes me a runner.

All this to say that, on my blog, you will be seeing me build up mileage again. It won’t always be fast, fun or easy. But it’s real. Hopefully somewhere in sharing my running struggles and victories you can find your inner athlete as well. I will always be honest in how I feel and they won’t always be the best runs but this is my mission to become the athlete I’ve always wanted to be. I’m not scared anymore. I may still be in the back of the pack, but the only one I have to prove anything to is myself.

Edited to add: If you have a story of working hard to become an athlete, I’d love to share it! Feel free to e-mail me, katy (at) balanced foodie (dot) com.

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