Tag Archives: Saxapahaw General Store

What’s in Your Cart: The First Edition

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I get a lot of questions about what I eat. Y’all are a curious bunch and I love it! But sometimes it’s even more specific such as, “What exactly do you buy at the grocery store, Cherie?, or more simply, “What’s in Your Cart?” Keeping this in mind and wanting to answer the question so that you’ll all get to see the answer {instead of the one person I respond to}, I decided to have a new section of posts on here aptly named, “What’s in Your Cart?” {WIYC}

I do have a long list of items that I usually buy, and that’s listed at the top of the page in the My Healthy Eating section if you want to scan it quickly!

I’m hoping to give you all an insight as to what foods I eat, why I chose one item over the other, my honest reviews of them, fun foods I stumble upon, and the usual clean-eating staples that fuel my body. Also, if I find anything out there that is simply knock-your-socks-off-shut-the-front-door-makes-you-wanna-slap-your-mama good, by all means, I’ll include that here too!

You know by now that I aim to eat clean 90% of the time. What do I mean by that? Well, as borrowed from one of my other posts: “I stay away from processed, artificial, chemical-laden, pre-packaged, and fast-food as best I can. I’m not a health-robot though. I don’t always eat organic, I do choose frozen over fresh for convenience sometimes and when I’m crunched for time or just really like a product, I’ll used it instead of having the super clean, super fresh version–such as substituting jarred marina sauce instead of making it myself with fresh tomatoes. Hey, I do my best the majority of the time!”

Starting off, these are the 10 foods that are pretty much in my cart any time I go grocery shopping:


Obviously there are times when I need to get more than these 10. But sometimes I have enough oatmeal or wild blueberries for example, so I may not have to get them again on that specific trip. But when I do my major shopping, you can bet these 10 items are in my cart!

In this first installment of WIYC, I just cannot go without mentioning the natural peanut butter that I have slightly gone NUTS for lately!! I’m pretty sure they must be tired of me tweeting about them, but I just can’t help myself.


This is the knock-my-socks-off-shut-the-front-door-makes-you-wanna-slap-your-mama stuff that I was talking about. Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Butter is made right here in Durham, NC, which is one big draw for me. I LOVE eating local foods! But even if this peanut butter was made in Iowa, I’d still have to have it. I’ve tried the regular peanut butter, peanut almond and peanut cashew, but there are others out there–like one with chocolate! I’ve yet to be able to get my hands on it {every time I hit up the Saxapahaw General Store it’s all sold out!}, but I will! Definitely, definitely difficult to stick to my self-imposed rule of one tablespoon per day!

This is sadness to me.

Less sock-knocking-off, but still exciting to me–I really have completely weened myself off the flavored Greek yogurt. It was hard as the dickens, but I did it. And actually now, I don’t miss the flavored at all! What’s that they say? It takes 21 days to create a habit? Well, I must have been eating plain for at least 21 days now because I have no desire to have the flavored ever again!


I do have a little brand loyalty to my Greek yogurt {CHOBANI}, but when times are tough as they usually are, I buy what’s on sale! As long as it has a great amount of protein and low sugar grams {that’s the beauty of the plain Greek}, I’ll get it. I eat it EVERY day, add wild blueberries, chia seeds and a smidgen of granola sometimes and it’s sooooo friggin’ good!

And lastly for today, quinoa. I just love quinoa.


Quinoa {keen-waa} makes me happy. It’s a grain {but I hear technically a seed} that is a complete protein. I use it all the time when I make a stir-fry, or in my clean stuffed peppers, or in any dish where I would normally use rice. So good and good for you! My tip? I cook it with vegetable broth instead of water–adds a little flavor!

So there you have it–that’s what’s in my cart this week. I’m liking this new blog topic already and look forward to bringing you more info on tasty foods!

What’s something that is always in YOUR cart?

Fifty Shades of My Weekend

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My first race is in 12 days and I finally ran yesterday for the first time in days. DAYS! I last ran-ran on Tuesday {one day after the gym machine ninja attack–dumb, I know}, and then couldn’t attempt another run until days later on Saturday. And that was surely JUST an attempt. Even after all of this:

Hanging in my inversion table!!

My back still was not cooperative and I couldn’t handle running even though my leg felt better. :-(

You can tell from my expression I was NOT pleased!!!

So yesterday was my first real run in a while. I was supposed to do six miles; I ran exactly 3.1. Hey, it was something. I was slightly in a better mood about it!

I really needed a good run after date night from this weekend. Saturday evening the hubby and I visited one of our favorite neighbor hangouts {there is only one hangout in our neighborhood, but luckily, we love it}, the Saxapahaw General Store for some pizza and beer!

Yes, oh yes, it was cheat meal time!

I wore a somewhat new skirt from Soul-Flower that’s just been waiting in my closet for too long as cute as it is!

It's so hippie!

We sipped on our beers of choice while we waited for the pizza. Yuengling was mine!


Then it was time for the pizza. Ohhhh, yeah, buddy!


I did have three slices. Mmmmph! And I’m not sorry about it either! Miraculously I’ve not dipped back up into the next weight bracket {since hitting my new milestone} this entire week–even without my running! So I just smiled and happily ate my slices. :-D

I'm old-school and keep track of my daily weigh-ins on paper. The little dashes stand for record lows. :)

But since I also haven’t dipped below the 149 point, haha, I’m not resting on my laurels for too long. Hubby offered me the leftovers yesterday and I politely declined! The 130s/maintenance level awaits!!

So besides working out and eating on this glorious 3-day-weekend I’m in the midst of, I’ve been getting a lot of reading done.

I’m ANTI Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games for damn sure with a passion {NO interest in wizards, teen vampires, and kids killing each other}, but this? OHHHHH yessss… this I can and have been getting into. Mmmmmmy!!!!!! Fifty Shades of Grey is my cup of passion right there!!! I will definitely be picking up the 2nd and 3rd book soon and sooooo looking forward to the movie!

I’ve been staying up late, ’til like 3am late, every night reading this book. Except for last night–had to get to bed so I could get up for HOT YOGA this morning!! Finally, again, right?!

How was your weekend, everyone? Have you read 50 Shades?

What are you capable of today?

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All righty. Let’s just get this weekend’s food transgressions out of the way, shall we?

I’ll warn you–they are not “clean” eats! But they were hella, hella tasty.

I started with a beer at Hooters on Friday night…

…and of course had to get wings, because ummm, it’s Hooters.

**I’ll skip the picture of Saturday night’s little meal because I was too busy enjoying myself and neglected to photo-document the lovely evening so I have to. But just picture one tall Killian’s, a basket of potato wedges {sans cheese} and 8 boneless wings from Buffalo Wild Wings.

And Sunday’s gooey dinner–a pepperoni and mushroom pizza from the Saxapahaw General Store. There really are no words to describe this pizza. So I’m not even going to try. It was THAT delicious.

Okay, soooo yeah. I know you’re thinking, “Umm, wow. This IS a health & fitness blog right? Maybe there’s another Cherie Runs This and I found this one by accident? And damn. That girl can throw down!!!”

Not so fast! I’ll have you know that I really can’t {and don’t want to} “throw down” anymore. My tummy shrunk {thank youuu} and I get full easily. So in reality, I did have the full beer at Hooters {it’s alcohol abuse to leave any alone in the glass I believe}, five of the wingettes, the full Killian’s {see aforementioned reason}, half of the wedges, four of the boneless wings, and three ‘lil slices of the pizza {it was thin crust!}. See–I didn’t eat ALL of it!

But what I did do to negate some of it was eat oh-so-healthy in the meals surrounding these and run, run, run. I was burning off mad calories this weekend!

A serious Lady Gaga workout the other day, four tempo-riffic miles on Saturday before work, lots of lifting at work, and then seven miles {as pictured above} from Sunday. I’ve definitely been killing the workouts!

Let’s also remember that my 5K {on May 5} is coming up soon! Eeek! 3 weeks away!!

I’ve been following my Smart Coach Training Plan religiously. Well, pretty much. I’ve had to increase the mileage on some of the days. My body feels good, I know I can do more and I am being smart about it. While running yesterday, I had the crazy notion that I think I can run a half marathon in the not so distant future.

How about this one?


It’ll be perfect! Easy for me to get to and I’m hoping not too hilly! But who knows…maybe by then hills and I will be friends? Or maybe I will have already run a Half by the time Spring 2013 rolls around! {Note to self to start looking…} I figure that since I ran 10 miles last week and seven today, with more training, I can surely do 13.1!

Heck, you couldn’t have told me  a year ago that I’d be at the point I’m at now running for miles continuously, training for a 5K and even contemplating a Half. I wouldn’t have believed a word of it! Never! But never say never, right?

I’m capable of so much more. More than I ever thought. In so many areas of my life. And it’s an amazing feeling.

“It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you’ve forgotten about.” –American Beauty

For one, I’m capable of realizing it’s okay to have some cheat meals, but also okay to not eat all of it. There are starving children somewhere, yes, but the husband is also probably starving so take the rest home to him.

Two, I’m capable of all this running! And singing up for races??? You KNOW I wasn’t having any of that last year at this time.

Three, I’m capable of believing in myself a little bit more each day. And believing that it’s deserved. :-)

So tell me…what are you capable of now that you weren’t a year ago?

Observations and assessments on a random afternoon.

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On Wednesday, I ventured into my country neighborhood to the Saxapahaw General Store to drop off some things at the Take a Book, Leave a Book area.

Granted I did this during the middle of the day when I should have been at work. But since they seem to be in the habit of cutting hours this week, my turn was up. I’ll be sad on payday, but at that moment in time, I was happy!

I always have this day dream of sitting at the SGS in the middle of the afternoon, kicking back and having lunch. So that’s exactly what I did.

First, I dropped off a bagful of magazines and a couple VHS tapes and then I picked up these:

david bowie rolling stone, daniel craig esquire
I scored three magazine and a Tales From the Crypt II VHS tape in the exchange. Woo hoo!

I went inside and placed my order. Really, it’s such a GEM to have this place near my house {check out this review of it}. I puffy heart it. I ordered a turkey club, home fries and a Diet Coke. And yes, yes, a big ‘ol chocolate chip cookie. I’m not hiding it {except from the picture}.

Sooooo good.

I had planned to have the place to myself. I thought the rest of the world would be at work in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday. Not so. But that was fine–no one tried to be weird by striking up an odd conversation. Except for some chick that asked me about my hair. Endlessly. Ad nauseum. Even after I answered her. Then she insisted that I should know some drummer from the area who is also originally from Pittsburgh. Because she too, is black. Really, lady? Really??

The only people the somehow irked me was this group. And I should say it was mainly the girl in the pink shirt.


And don’t be shocked that I took a picture. You know how I roll by now. I did at least black-bar their eyes.

I should have found some sort of solidarity with this chick. She was wearing a ZTA {Zeta Tau Alpha} shirt–we’re sisters! Aside from the, “Ohmisosh! Like! Awesome! Yeah, totally!” sorority talk {and y’all who know me in person think I’M bad? You should’ve heard her!} that was slightly grating my ears, she is probably a nice gal. But what she did that caused the irking, was all about the food.

She had a Reuben sandwich and a Diet Coke larger than mine. But she couldn’t eat it. Now, granted, I threw down on my sandwich:

Ish was good.

Hey, besides knowing that there are starving children in Ethiopia {and I’m sure my town for that matter}, I was about to go home and run it off. That food wasn’t to be wasted!

But homegirl sat there and loudly projected, “Ohmigosh! I am like, soooo full. I can’t like, eat any more! I can’t even believe, that like, I ate that much anyway. I’m totally stuffed. This bread is sooo bad for me. Like, no more food, really!!” Then, slyly looking around for the rest of the time while her sister and frat boytoys were eating, she kept breaking off itty bitty pieces of the bread and sneaking them into her mouth, chewing ever-so-slowly. Occasionally feeding a few pieces of the toasted sourdough to the dog under the table, but mostly into her mouth. Come on girl.

I HATE that this is how it is with some chicks. They feel like they have to hide their food consumption, or act like they’re not hungry or act like certain foods are going to cause them such harm mainly because their friends are watching. She was dressed in yoga booty pants, sneakers, and a tee. That’s total workout gear. I wanted to just say, “Hey sister, {after giving her the secret handshake of course}, just go run it off. Eat your sandwich. Enjoy it! Don’t be ashamed to eat your meal. You didn’t even have fries or a cookie on the side like I did. It’s just a sammy. Eat up!” She was petite and obviously looked like she worked out; she wasn’t scrawny like she had been skipping meals. But for some reason, in front of her friend, and these two dudes, she had to front. I swear this is how eating disorders and bad relationships with food begin. Arrggh. Dang society!

Anyhow, she continued pushing the food around her plate, making it look like she had tons leftover, as she kept sneaking bites. Obviously still hungry. We made eye contact a few times. I tried to send her some secret Zeta vibes, but it didn’t work. Ehh, even if I want to, I can’t help everyone.

After this meal, it was time to help myself. I went home for a glorious run and then assessed some of my Nike collection.

nike t-shirts

For the life of me, I cannot determine which of my shorts are Tempo, Pacer, or Road Racer shorts.

I looove Nike Tempos, but then I fell even in more love with Nike Pacers. And then, as if the love could get any deeper, I fell for the Nike Road Racers!

Me donning some Road Racers.

The only reason I give the edge to the Road Racers is because they are looser on my ample thighs and allow me to really get into squats. They were also amazing during my runs–so light, so free. But I still have mad love for the Tempos and Pacers! If you can tell by my picture and know which are which, let me know!  But yeah, I’m seeing that these shorts and a cami are pretty much going to be my summer attire. I waited a loooooooong time to don some shorts and not feel weird in public in them or have to keep grabbing at the cloth between my inner thighs to pull it down. This the summer of shorts!

And I just heart my motivational Nike tees. They really keep me inspired and ready to tackle the day, the workout and just life in general! Do you have a favorite?

What is your favorite workout wear? Do you ever feel pressure to eat less in public?

Sunday Funday: A new running trail!

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I soooo love my Sundays off. Even though there is no NFL to keep me occupied all day right now, I still find quite a bit to fill my time. Usually nothing I find will include leaving the house, though. One,  I need to conserve gas and two we do live in the middle of the sticks.

But yesterday, when hubs announced he was making his biweekly trip to the garbage dump/landfill {hey, again, we live in the sticks and have to take our garbage to them–50 cents a bag, yo!}, I decided to tag along so we could also attempt to find a new {to me} running trail I’d been spying online.

After the dump and before the trail, I was hoping to make a pit stop at the Saxapahaw General Store to drop some old magazines off here:


I heart Take-a-Book, Leave-a-Books but never see them anywhere. When we went out for St. Patty’s Day, I saw this and knew I’d have to come back to make a deposit! But of course, I plum forgot to pack up the mags before we left. Doh! Next time. Luckily, this is only 5 miles from our house–a rare close trip for us!

We pressed on a few miles down the road and came to the Haw River Trail/Swepsonville River Park.


Hubby and I walked around for a bit and took some pictures…

I think this is where you can put your canoe or kayak in the river!

Obviously I wasn't planning a photo session today...haha.

It'll be so pretty as soon as everything blooms!

Hubby is like, "Hey, come this way!"

Kind of brown, but reminds me of the rivers back home in Pittsburgh! :-)

I like this curvy tree.

I like these huge rocks, too!

I loved it here, but it seemed awfully secluded. So the main reason I will probably not run here unless the hubs is with me:

Yup, that's a knife.

I’m not trying to end up on Dateline NBC or anything. ;-)

Then I took a video with my Droid. I sound crazy. Even hubs was like, “Your voice sounds weird on tape.” Awesome. But I’m posting it anyhow because I need some practice taking videos and putting them on here. I promise to make them better as I go, haha.

How was your weekend? Do you ever do any trail running? Find anything interesting while out there?