Fun at 200mph or as fast as your electric beaters can go!

Hello Sweets,

Well now that I am finally settled back on Canadian soil again, which is more taxing than you would think.  When your energy is low, or non existent for that matter, unpacking is a nightmare.  I thought it would be a good time to do a recap of my weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway (it will be a little shorter but still great)!

I'm not sure of how many of you guys have ever been tailgating for any sport, but there is a lot of preparation that goes into it.  Making sure you have all the food and beverages, then the tent to protect you from the Texas sun, chairs, the grill, ice (lots of it), clothing options for the unpredictable Texas weather, and any thing else you think you might like (me for instance, I baked a whack of goodies to share with everyone).  But seriously it takes a couple of days to get everything together, and undoubtedly you'll forget something.  We forgot ice the first day, and the hot dogs on the second day lol.  But when you forget a couple of little things that are easy to replace, it's easier to just laugh it off.

So on my previous post about the race, I talked about how I came to love the sport and all that comes with it, and how even with my health, we have found ways to make it easier for me to enjoy it.  But today's post is all about the FOOD we had consumed over the weekend.  :)  Now I should give fair warning that there wasn't a whole lot of healthy food, but as long as you eat in moderation and stay active, you can indulge once in a while.

Nathan bought me my very own snack bag for tailgating and carrying into the speedway

Okay, so what we brought along with us could have probably fed a small army, but with three grown men I think bringing a little more is better than not enough lol.  On Friday we just brought some Doritos, hot dogs for grilling, an assortment of my baked goods (which included pecan pie muffins, pecan dreams, brownies, and the original pecan pie muffins), peanuts, and a Cajun trail mix for me (really need to make my own one day).  Now for anyone who knows Nathan, knows he doesn't like cheese so I don't really eat a whole lot of it when I'm around him, but when we go to the races he buys me nachos :D, so I had that during the race.  Saturday we pretty much had the same, but because Nathan's dad had joined us we brought some potato chips and El Fenix tostada chips and hot salsa (if you are in Texas find the restaurant and eat there, they're that good!!), but this time Nathan and I shared a funnel cake (note: do not go to the booth manned by high school students or be prepared to shake 1lb of powdered sugar off of it lol).  Sunday was by far the best food, but alas my health was against me near the end of the race and since I was feeling so awful I went to sleep in the truck until it was time to go home, but they boys got to enjoy some traditional southern food; BBQ chopped beef with spicy sauce (so upsetting that I could not partake :( )

                                                                                      

The boys at our tailgating area and my morning cup of special coffee ;) (our secret)

All in all it was a great weekend, we all had lots of fun and plenty of laughs.  Nathan, of course in his usual loving spoiling way, made it a great weekend for me and always goes out of his way to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm comfortable and happy :)  Oh and just like he did on  Saturday, we went back and got the second t-shirt which was still on sale (he spoils me so!).

My favorite part are the full length wings on the back :D

I am very excited because a few weeks back I won a giveaway that the lovely Sarah from My (mostly) Healthy life had put on for some allergen/gluten free mixes (bread, pancake/waffles, cakes too!) from Allergic Solutions and they arrived today in my Texas mail!!!

Eeekkk!!

So now I am going to do some research because I want to use these products in the most healthy way possible :)  If you have any suggestions please let me know, as you know I love to try new things.  Until next time......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Mini weekend catch-up :)

Hello Sweets,

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends.  Nathan and I are having a great time down at the Texas Motor Speedway!  Did any of you have something special going on this weekend?  I would love to hear all about it. :)  I wanted to write a quick filler blog since I am not baking or cooking this weekend, besides the batch of Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes I whipped up yesterday before the race, I wanted to give all my lovely readers an update.

Well we just finished day two of three of our race weekend, which means the longest race is tomorrow, which also means it's the most exciting day. :)  Now I know not everyone likes racing, or maybe you don't know much about it either.  I was that person (both ways) up until April of this year.  Nathan, his dad, cousin, and uncle all get season tickets every year out at the Texas Motor Speedway, and for 3 weekends a year, they are next to unreachable lol.

Last year at Christmas time, Nathan had asked me if I liked racing, or if I'd be willing to go to a race and see what it was all about.  Now I was one of those people who always thought there really wasn't anything interesting about racing (ask me to go to a hockey game and I'm in!).  But I love him, and love sharing past times with him almost as much, so of course I said yes, and for the April races his dad told me I could have his ticket :) (so sweet of him, since I was a newb and all).  First, and really only concern of mine, was the noise.  Now anyone who knows me, knows I suffer from daily migraines (it's a really good day if I DON'T get one :( ), but they reassured me I wouldn't have an issue since they had noise cancelling headsets.  I was a little weary as to how well they would work, but I'll be damned, they work wonders, and made it extremely easy for me to enjoy the races!  Not to mention they have scanners that allow you to listen to the drivers and their crew.  This is one aspect I REALLY enjoy, but once Nathan explained all the science that goes into the whole ordeal, I was officially a NASCAR girl!  I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with NASCAR, and ever since April I have been given a ticket to go with them :) (they love me lol).

Really the best part of a NASCAR weekend, is the tailgating you do before and after!  You and your friends arrive at the speedway at least a few hours before the race to sit, chat, grill a few hot dogs, and maybe make some friendly wagers in the parking lot before heading in.  Just about thirty minutes before the race is set to start, we make our way to the seats (which by the way have a COMPLETE view of the track!), get all settled with the headsets and scanners just in time for the famous "Drivers, start your engines!".  Because we have two sets of radios, one a scanner for the drivers/broadcast, and one to talk to each other, we can listen to the drivers talk smack, and of course, smack talk each other lol, all in good sport of course.  Once the race is over, the driver does his victory lap complete with a "smoke show" burnout, the fireworks adorn the backstretch, then it's back out to the the parking lot to wait at our little tailgate party/BBQ while the traffic thins out.  The best part of tailgating at NASCAR is really two things; 1) meeting new people and 2) seeing that complete strangers will help you out even if you didn't ask, they really are super sweet people.

While I was packing up all the baked goods I made (officially the popular baker of NASCAR now lol), and all the other miscellaneous items we needed, I grabbed a tin of Altoids.  Now I'm not sure if any of you have had Altoids before, but I never buy them so I did not know about their "curiously strong facts".  Well this particular tin had a "fact" that had me in tears because I was laughing so hard that I just had to share it with all of you in my blog world :p

I hope you all find this as funny as I did

Of course Nathan, being raised a proper southern gentlemen, walked with me for a little while to check out the vendors and what they were peddling to the public.  We came across a cute little vendor called "Race Angels".  They're geared strictly towards women and sell really cute racing related items.  I thought we were just window shopping but when I said "are you ready to go back?", Nathan replied "well did you see something you liked?", and of course, I did.  Needless to say, Nathan bought me a cute little "racing princess" t-shirt.  I absolutely love it, and will be wearing it tomorrow!  The sales girl mentioned a shirt that was on sale for $10, but after he had already paid with his card (I'm sure she didn't make that mistake again tonight lol).  Needless to say, we're going to wander back down tomorrow, and if it's still there, we're going to make them an offer they cannot refuse!  

Isn't it pretty? :)  He spoils me so much!

Well we are both exhausted and have to try and get to bed at a half decent time as tomorrows race is a day race, so that means I need to get some beauty sleep or strong coffee in the morning lol.  Until we do though, this is what we're doing/ where we'll be;

Best feeling in the world, relaxing with your feet up!

I promise a full NASCAR dedicated post, probably Tuesday, as I forgot to pack my computer adapter for my camera, lol figures, but I'll do a couple mini ones tomorrow and Monday.  Until next time......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo