Food to Run For

My Pregnant Running Routine

2012-01-19T17:35:00.000-05:00

So, the name of this blog is FOOD to RUN for. But, I haven't talked about running lately. It's been a long time since I've tried to run consecutively without walking. Even in the first trimester, I was often left defeated, slow and truthfully, ashamed. I wondered why it was so easy for other pregnant women to get out there and why it was so hard for me. I pretty much gave up early in my second trimester and succumbed to the idea that walking was enough. Then one day I was talking to my friend Leah about her running recovery. You see my friend Leah and I ran together in college.

We were both pretty similar runners with similar times (although she definitely got faster after I quit Junior Year). But after college something changed. Leah dropped the middle distances and started running long. And well, in 2008, Leah qualified for Boston running in the high 3:20s on a very hot Chicago day. And when she showed up to run Boston in 2009, she ran an amazingly impressive 3:11.

So that's my friend Leah in a nutshell. Once a standout 400-800 meter runner, she has now become my fastest marathon friend. Although I could go on and on about how awesome I think Leah is as a person and a runner, that is not my point of this post. But if you want to read about that and get to know her better, you should check out her new blog here!

My point is that in early June Leah found out she had a Labral Tear and all her fall running goals went out the window. She couldn't run and she couldn't do yoga and she was left frustrated. After surgery and months of Physical Therapy she began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And after many months off, her Doctor and Physical Therapist allowed her to run! Her Physical Therapist gave her a four week walk-to-run plan where she runs 3 days a week, gradually increasing the amount she runs.

The plan was something like this:
Day 1: Walking for 4 minutes and 30 seconds and running for 30 seconds
Day 2: Walking for 4 minutes and running 1 minute
Day 3: Walking for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and running for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
... and on...
lowering the walking and increasing the running...with each week...

Leah and I gchat daily so when she told me about this plan sometime around early December, I thought to myself... "hmmm, I can do this too!" And MAYBE this will make me feel successful at running instead of such a failure.

So for the past month and a half or so, this is the plan I've been doing. 1-3X a week (depending on how much time I have), I've been walk-running.

My workout plan that has worked for me is:

4 minutes walking to 3 minutes running for 30-45 minutes

Which translates to about 2 to 3.5 miles and about a 14 minute per mile pace

So I walk pretty slowly- 2.8-3.0mph on the treadmill and run at about 6.8mph.

I've done this workout on the treadmill at my gym, outside, with my brother and with Dave and it's made me feel strong and worth something. Although I can't run like I used to, the fact that I can still run at all brings a smile to my face. See, I'm smiling!

So at 6 + months pregnant, I'm still trying to get out there. I may not have had the ACTIVE pregnancy I would have liked, but I am happy that I'm doing something. And those 3 minute spurts of running is giving me just the adrenaline I need. I hope I can continue this plan for the rest of my pregnancy! Wish me luck : )

Red Curry Shrimp Dumplings & Green Vegetable Curry

2012-01-14T16:24:00.001-05:00

Also on my theme week using Wonton Wrappers, I made Red Curry Shrimp Dumplings and equally as delicious Green Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk over Jasmine Rice. Both dishes packed a ton of flavor and I had a ton of fun creating Asian takeout style meals at home!

First, before I tell you about these recipes, I first want to tell you about my favorite Asian ingredients. If you like eating this style of food, here are some ingredients I think you should always have on hand. And yes, some of them are "cheat" ingredients (meaning they make your life much easier!)

I always have red and green curry paste. One of my favorite ingredients! I also always buy :90 second Uncle Ben's Microwavable Rice. It's an awesome, easy product to have around! And the squeeze ginger.... it lasts longer and I love it.

Okay back to the dumplings. They take some prep work, but they are pretty simple to put together and cook. And look how gorgeous they turn out!

Red Curry Shrimp Dumplings

Inspired by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger (from a 2-inch piece) or 2 big squeezes of your ginger bottle

2 scallions, very thinly sliced

3/4 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined) (I bought mine pre cooked and already peeled and deveined- make it easy for yourself!)

4 teaspoons red curry paste

1 teaspoon fish sauce

24 wonton wrappers (from a 12-ounce package)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Instructions:

In a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil over medium-high. Add 2 tablespoons ginger and scallions and cook, stirring, until scallions are slightly softened and mixture is fragrant, 2 minutes. Remove from heat. In a food processor, pulse shrimp until finely chopped. Add ginger mixture, curry paste, and fish sauce and pulse a few more times.

Place a spoonful of the shrimp mixture in the center of each wonton wrapper. With a wet finger, moisten edges of wrapper, then bring all 4 corners together, pinching at top to seal. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil over medium-high. Add dumplings, seam side up, and cook until golden brown on bottom, 1 minute. Carefully add 1/2 cup water to skillet, and cook until water is almost evaporated and dumplings are tender, 3 minutes.

Continue to cook until water evaporates, 1 minute (reduce heat to medium if dumplings begin to overbrown). Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Serve dumplings with dipping sauce.

Quick, simple, beautiful and delicious. Can't beat that.

And because I can't just have dumplings for dinner, I also made a Green Vegetable Curry. I love curry dishes because curry paste mixed with coconut milk is one of my all time favorite combinations. I could drink the broth ... not that I did or anything....ummm...

This dish mixed together a ton of vegetables, you can really use anything you have on hand. It was another dish inspired by Martha Stewart.

Green Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons green curry paste

1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed, halved if large (I used half shitake, half portabella)

Handful of Broccoli

4 heads baby bok choy sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 can (13.5 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk

Cooked jasmine rice, for serving

Instructions

In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium-high. Add curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes.

Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer until beans are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Both these dishes I will make again in different ways. This was DEFINITELY a favorite of the week.

Curious what else I made using Wonton Wrappers?

Cara's Baked Salmon Rangoon with Apple. Combining salmon, goat cheese, sesame oil, ginger and apples... I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But they were quite good. I was really impressed!

Emily's Turkey Ravioli with Spinach Cream Sauce. Only I used swiss chard because I didn't have spinach and ground chicken instead of turkey. I don't think this dish was quite as pretty as the others, but wow did it have a ton of flavor. I loved every bite and I enjoyed it even more the next day! I mean c'mon, spinach cream sauce? How could it be bad! One other big thing I changed was I added cream cheese AND boursin cheese in the filling.

I also made a sweet dish- Mini Pumpkin Pies! I got this recipe from Dashing Dish and I really didn't change much. I can totally see myself making these again for parties!

So there you have it. My week in Wonton Wrappers. By the end, my husband was definitely sick of eating bite size meals but I know he enjoyed it. I do love theme weeks! If you're going to buy the ingredient, why not use it in a variety of different ways, especially when they give you so much in each package : )

What is the best meal you've made with Wonton Wrappers?

Taco Bites

2012-01-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

I had a few recipes in my queue that I've been wanting to make using Wonton Wrappers so I decided to make a whole week of meals using that ingredient. First up were these tasty Taco Bites. Do you like tacos? Well here's a new way to eat them! We all know I love everything in mini form and love using my cupcake pan to make savory dishes. This is an easy recipe that I know I will make over and over again in many different ways!

It's pretty simple really. You spray your cupcake pan. You put a wonton wrapper in each one. You saute up some ground meat (I used ground sirloin) mixed with taco seasoning. Add that to the wonton. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20ish minutes. Keep your eye on them and don't let them burn. Take them out, add salsa and any other toppings you like. Serve with side salad.

Boom. Dinner done in a flash.

PS, Do you like my pictures? I borrowed a friends Cannon Rebel T2i. I'm leaning towards getting one. I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but I can't wait to learn more.

Baked Taco Bites
Ingredients:
12-16 Wonton Wrappers
1lb Ground Meat of Choice (I used Ground Sirloin)
1/2 package of taco seasoning of choice
Sprinkling of Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
Salsa
Avocado (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put a little oil in a hot skillet. Add your ground meat and mix to brown the meat. Add taco seasoning mix and stir well. Once cooked through, turn off the heat and put aside. Grab your cupcake pan and spray with cooking spray. Add one Wonton Wrapper in each mold. Then spoon some meat in each cup, about 2-3 spoonfuls. Add the cheese on top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until your wontons start to crisp up. Remove from cupcake pan and serve with salsa and avocado on top.

This is one of those recipes I know I'll make again. It's the perfect party food! I also know I could do a million different things- turkey or chicken tacos? Most definitely. Maybe even a tofu taco or a fish taco! I can't wait to explore the possibilities!

What kind of taco would you fill in those tasty, crunchy mini shells?

New Years Eve Dinner: Beef Wellington

2012-01-08T10:56:00.000-05:00

Special Occasion Dinner Alert! This would be a perfect Anniversary Dinner or Valentine's Day Dinner. On Sunday of last week, I prepped this meal of my mom's Leek Soup, Individual Beef Wellingtons with Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin and Maple Glazed Salmon. After everything was all ready, we headed down to the South Shore to see our friends Stef and Mike's new house and celebrate the New Year together.

All I had to do was cook the Wellingtons, Salmon and reheat the Gratin before dinner. None of my photos are that fabulous because, well, I was so excited to eat!

Let's start with the showpiece recipe: Individual Beef Wellingtons. I took inspiration from many different sources- Simply Recipes, Ella Says Opa, and Tyler Florence. In the end I combined high quality filet mignon, sauteed delicious portobello and shiitake mushrooms, prosciutto and dijon mustard and wrapped it in a flaky puff pastry and cooked it to a perfect medium rare. The flavors were so well balanced it didn't need a sauce!

Individual Beef Wellington Recipe
Ingredients
4 Filet Mignon
Salt and pepper
olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb mushrooms (we used half portobello mushrooms, half shiitake)
4 thin slices prosciutto
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
2 egg yolks, beaten
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned. Remove the fillet from the pan and let cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Cook the mushrooms and onions until soft and onion is opaque. Transfer mixture to food processor and pulse a few times. Roll out your puff pastry. Cut 4 sheets big enough to cover the filets.

Lay the prosciutto on the pastry. Place the beef in the middle. Add the mushroom mixture on top.

Wrap up the beef securely. You can use plastic wrap to make sure it stays in a tight shape but I didn't do that. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Chill for awhile before baking. Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking pan. Brush the pastry again with beaten eggs. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely golden when done. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

The other dish I made was a Maple Salmon which is so simple to make.

Maple Salmon
Ingredients:
1 pound salmon
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
Marinate the salmon in the maple and soy for 20 minutes. Cook the salmon in a preheated oven set to broil for 5-10 minutes. (Pour some of the marinade over the salmon several times while cooking.)

And the last dish I made was Smitten Kitchen's Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin. Over the last couple years, I've made this dish many many times.

I loved using Smoked Gruyere cheese. It made this vegetarian dish taste like there was some bacon in it! This has a bunch of steps, but its totally worth it in the end.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin

Ingredients

1/2 stick of butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 pounds of swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut very finely

2 cups of half and half

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds

dried parsley and thyme

salt and pepper

1 1/3 cups of grated Smoked Gruyere Cheese

Instructions:

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan or pot. Add the chard stems and salt and pepper. Increase heat and add chard leaves by the handfuls. Season with salt and pepper then transfer to a colander and drain well. To make the sauce, combine half and half and garlic in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Melt two tablespoons of butter in another saucepan and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking then slowly whisk in warm cream and boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Then assemble gratin by first preheating oven to 400. Spread sweet potatoes in the baking dish and a handful of the cheese.

Spread the greens over the mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper and then pour the béchamel sauce over.

Repeat 1-2 more times and sprinkle the remaining quarter cup of the cheese. Bake gratin for around an hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

And that was our New Years Dinner!

What's your go-to special occasion meal?

2011: In Photos

2012-01-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm aware it's 2012. But I'm not ready to let go of 2011 yet. One more post...I promise...

I'm copying this from Katie who originally stole the idea from Liz. I think it's a good one.

2011 in Photos.

JANUARY

Hanging out at the beach on Cape Cod, first day of 2011. Was warm enough to wear flip flops!

Mid January- meeting up with my favorite bloggers for the very first time!

FEBRUARY

Finished FIRST in my age group at the Foxboro 5K!

Ran the Hyannis Half Marathon in the snow. Ran the whole thing with Becky by my side! And this may be the first time I met LB. Soon to be LC.

MARCH

Major PR in the National Half Marathon, finishing my last mile in 7:43.

APRIL

Ran the Boston Marathon on two months of training. Yes, you read that right. My two favorite on-the-run girls jumped in beside me in final 6.2.

Also turned 29 in April. The last year of my 20s....

MAY

Went to my first of what I hoped to be many Red Sox games and vowed to follow baseball again like I'd done in the past. Didn't last long...

Spent Memorial Day Weekend on Cape Cod and witnessed the most beautiful sunset

JUNE

Let's call June Blogger PR Month. Ran the Foxboro 5K and PR'd...

Followed by the Mini-NYRR 10K with fellow bloggers. PR'd barely.

JULY

Slip and Slide on the Cape, July 4th Weekend

Went on many walk/runs through various parks with my husband...

AUGUST

Ran my last race of 2011 by trying to pace Theodora to her first sub 2 hour half. She more then succeeded, I fell off the pace and finished in 2:01.

Deep down I had a feeling I was already pregnant (I was!)

Indulged in my favorite pasta dish of all-time: Lobster Ravioli from La Cantina

Finally met Cara and hang out with Elina again : )

SEPTEMBER

Visited my family in Omaha, Nebraska and got these professional photos done. I didn't know then, but it would be the last time I would see my Papa Jack.

OCTOBER

In October I flew back to Nebraska to celebrate my Papa's life

NOVEMBER

Finally announced my pregnancy on the blog! By this point, I was already 13 weeks...

Also hosted Thanksgiving with my family....

DECEMBER

And the biggest thing to happen in December was the birth of my nephews!

Hope you enjoyed my year in photos. I take a million photos every year so it was fun to choose my favorites from the best events of 2011.

I've thought about setting goals for 2012 but decided that I really only have ONE goal for this year....

And that goal is...

To have a healthy, happy baby BOY come MAY 2012!

The Best Meals of 2011

2011-12-28T13:47:00.000-05:00

Best Meals of 2011:

2011 was another big year for me in the kitchen. I made a ton of meals. Looking back, I was really happy to see that so many Vegetarian meals made my favorites list. All in all, I had a blast in the kitchen this year. As always my goals are to get the tastiest, most creative and quickest meals on the table and I think all of these recipes show that I accomplished that. Enjoy!

Vegetarian:

Eggplant Po' Boys

I originally saw this recipe while searching "eggplant" on pinterest. What I got was a link to a blog called "What the hell does a vegan eat anyway." I liked her recipe, but in true Lizzy fashion, I kept digging for more recipes that sang out to me. In the end, I mixed several recipes into one. But the steps were pretty much the same. Slice eggplant, fry eggplant, make a remoulade, make a slaw, combine on hearty bread. Eat. Enjoy.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

I made Giada's Butternut Squash Lasagna. I changed some of this recipe by making my béchamel sauce a bit healthier- using fat free milk and roasting the squash instead of boiling it. So if you are looking to do something fun with butternut squash, make this recipe. It has a bunch of steps and takes a bit of time, but it is easy to make and delicious to eat!

Peanuty Kale and Tofu Stew

I first saw this on Cara's blog and knew I had to make it. I love thai inspired dishes with peanut sauces but I don't like peanut butter on it's own (crazy I know)! This dish combined some of my favorite ingredients: spice and kale!

Mini Lasagna Cupcakes with Arugula Pesto

In March I had a week that I used Egg Rolls for every meal. I fell in love with the idea of making Lasagna Cupcakes. I really love everything in miniature form. I combined Arugula Pesto into the Ricotta Mixture to make a vegetarian lasagna.

Black Bean Burgers

In February, I had a week of making non-traditional burgers. Burgers that leave you feeling good inside, not guilty. These spicy black bean and corn burgers were so easy to make. I added salsa and avocado on top and loved every bite.

Kale Pesto Pasta

Most of you know I'm pretty obsessed with Kale. I have no idea where I got the idea but I thought to make Kale Pesto. Then I googled it and found an awesome NY Times recipe. I really don't think I'll make any other pesto ever again. This was so perfect!

Fish:

Fish Tacos with Strawberry Avocado Salsa

When I got beautiful strawberries from my CSA, I decided to turn these strawberries into the best avocado salsa I've ever had. Mixing creamy avocado with luscious fruity strawberries with lime juice, red onion and jalapeno and you get a salsa that is seriously delicious. Then combining that with flaky cod on a whole wheat tortilla with a bit of feta and cilantro makes the perfect, unexpected fish tacos.

Mussels Maranara

I made two mussels dishes I was really proud of... Dave and I order mussels all the time at restaurants so it was super fun to make these at home.

Thai Bouillabaisse

I loved the spiciness of this dish mixed with several other kinds of seafood.

This is a dish I must make again!

Blackened Fish Tacos

I loved the idea of crusting the fish with tons of spices and then (lightly) frying the fish. I only used 1 tablespoon of canola oil so I'm going to call it sauteing.

Creative Pizzas:

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza Pizza with Fresh Arugula

I used my CSA arugula to make a pizza that combines salty (prosciutto) and sweet (figs). Definitely one of my all time favorite combinations.

Grilled Zucchini Pizzas

Mini Pizzas on CSA Zucchini! Can't beat it. This would make a really quick and delicious, easy appetizer!

Thai Chicken Pizza

This is a health-i-fied version of CPK's version and I loved every delicious bite. I was shocked by how much flavor this pizza had.

Meat Dishes:

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Escalating meatballs to the next level by adding tiny mozzarella balls. They ooze out flavor and cheese, can't beat that!

Braised Short Ribs

I've made this dish twice now and it's my favorite special occasion meal. The meat falls off the bone and it's so deliciously tender. Combined with swiss chard and pearl onions over mashed potatoes, this is a VERY special meal. I made it last year for New Years dinner!

Pan Roasted Lamb with Tangerine Chili Sauce

I served my chops with a curried sweet potato puree and added the tangerine chili sauce on top. I also served this with a Blood Orange, Sweet Potato, Avocado, Feta and Arugula Salad, inspiration from Epicurious...

So as you can see, I cooked tons of delicious meals in 2011. I hope you enjoy and take inspiration from these dishes. I strive to make delicious tasting meals in a short amount of time while using the best produce and meats I can find. Let me know what you think!

Which one of these dishes would be your favorite?

Merry Chrismakkah!

2011-12-25T09:46:00.002-05:00

From our house to yours, we wish you a very Merry Chrismakkah!

Enjoy your day and take time to reflect on the important things in life:

love, health and of course, FOOD!

Oh, and I've been busy the last couple days...

With a trip to the gorgeous Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire....

And the arrival of my new baby nephews: Dante and Enzo!

My sister-in-law had her babies Thursday morning. Healthy and happy, these babies are too cute : )

Born a bit early at 36 weeks, these babies entered the world in between Hanukkah and Christmas. True Chrismakkah babies : )

I'm off to the hospital to visit more and then celebrate Christmas with my husband's family.

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

Butternut Squash Risotto

2011-12-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

You know how on all the cooking shows they say that risotto is one of the hardest dishes to make and virtually impossible to get done in under an hour? Well I disagree. I had this dinner on the table in forty minutes and my rice was perfectly cooked. You could easily make this during a busy weeknight. Just remember the key to delicious, perfectly cooked risotto is patience. And patience is not my strong suite so if I can do it, so can you!

I've made Butternut Squash Risotto before, but this time I decided to use squash puree (or you could use pumpkin) instead of squash pieces. This turned the dish an orangy color and added tons of flavor. I topped mine with Chicken Sausage, parmesan cheese and a sage leave for presentation : )

If you've always wanted to make risotto but feared it was too difficult, this is the recipe for you!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients:

1 quart chicken stock

1 cup of water

1 onion

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

2 cups of Arborio rice

1 box of cooked frozen butternut squash

nutmeg, a dash

1 spoonful of Earth Balance or 1 tablespoon of butter

1 cup of Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup of mexican blend cheese

5 sliced cooked chicken sausage

sage leaves for garnish (totally optional)

Instructions:

Bring 1 quart of stock plus 1 cup of water to a simmer in a sauce pan, then reduce to low. The key is to keep your stock liquid warm.

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat with olive oil and once hot add the garlic and onions. Add rice and toast for a few minutes. {If you can drink unlike me, add a 1/2 cup of your favorite white wine and let cook out completely.} Then ladle stock in intervals and mix thoroughly and allow the liquid to evaporate. This is where patience comes in handy. I probably ladled in 10 scoops of liquid before the rice was ready.

In another dish, saute your chicken sausage until lightly browned. Repeat until the rice is cooked and your liquids are gone. Defrost the squash in your microwave in a dish to collect any liquids and then add it to your risotto mixture once the rice is cooked through.

Then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. I found that I needed more salt than I expected. Taste as you go! In the last few minutes of cooking, add the cheese and butter or earth balance. Serve warm and top with the sausage, another sprinkling of cheese and a sage leave.

I've been eating the leftovers for the last few days and everyday I love it even more! Such a delicious, easy meal. I hope you make it!

Quinoa Chili

2011-12-13T17:36:00.001-05:00

I've been on a kick lately with re-making recipes from my own blog. Ever since I made Quinoa Chili on my blog last February I've been wanting to make it again. But I love cooking different things so I haven't gotten around to it. Until last week. Feeling quite a bit guilty from all the sweets I've been eating, I knew I needed a vegetarian dish that I could feel good about. And if you want to get this on the table in under a half hour, cook your quinoa the night before! I love the prep-ahead method and try to take advantage of it as often as possible.

Quinoa Chili

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1 cup veggie broth

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup chopped celery

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

2 tomatoes, cored and diced

1 cup diced carrots

Two 16-oz. cans black beans, drained

One 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/2 package of McCormicks Hot Chili Seasoning Mix

salt and pepper to taste

1 Avocado, sliced and a sprinkling of Mexican Blend Cheese

Instructions:

Combine quinoa and water/broth in saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until liquid is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes.Meanwhile, heat a large, non-stick pan; add onion, bell pepper, celery and jalapeno. Saute 7 minutes over medium heat. Stir in fresh tomatoes and carrots; saute 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in beans, crushed tomatoes, and seasonings; cook about 25 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in quinoa; cook 5 minutes more. Ladle chili into bowls and top with avocado and cheese.

This meal came together so quickly and tasted so good! I definitely recommend this quinoa chili if you are looking for some chili inspiration this winter.

What's your favorite way to use quinoa?

{Boston Blogger Cookie Swap}: Hot Chocolate Cookies with Toasted Marshmallows

2011-12-13T15:47:00.003-05:00

On Sunday Shannon hosted her annual Cookie Swap and I finally made it to the party! I've been thinking about what to make for quite awhile now and decided on a recipe I saw in my google reader for Hot Chocolate Cookies. I've seen this recipe a few different places: Dine and Dish, Baked Bree and Tasty Kitchen to name a few. But the one that really called out to me was from Baking Serendipity. The reason? She not only used marshmallows in her recipe... but she toasted them under the broiler first! Genius! Of course, in true Lizzy fashion I combined a couple of these recipes together to form my own.

Now before I tell you about the recipe, I should mention that I made these cookies with the help of my friend Meg Saturday night around 9pm. And... well... we almost burnt the house down. Just so you all know you cannot use WAX PAPER in the same way you would a silicon sheet or parchment paper. If you do, you may open your oven mid-way through cooking and smoke will take over your house. Consider yourself warned. What can I say? I'm a baking novice. Too much science to this game : ) But the cookies did not burn! We salvaged them and well, they are amazing.

Hot Chocolate Cookies
recipe adapted from the sources above
Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
1 cup of granulated sugar
2/3 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
3 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of Hot Chocolate Mix (I used Ghiradelli)
1 tsp of salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1 bag of marshmallows, (use mini if you can, I couldn't find them), toasted
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Then add eggs one at a time and beat in the vanilla until combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, hot chocolate mix, salt and baking soda. Add to wet ingredients in 3 or 4 steps. Stir well. Toast the regular or mini marshmallows under the broiler with aluminum foil until they start to brown (pay attention!). Fold the toasted marshmallows into the dough with the different kinds of chips. Chill the dough for about an hour. Drop the cookie dough by the spoonful onto a baking sheet lined with PARCHMENT PAPER (NOT WAX PAPER!!!). Bake for 9-11 minutes. Then cool and transfer to a wire rack.

I loved the little bites of toasted marshmallow and the over-abundance of chocolate in this recipe! And my cookies were perfectly soft- I somehow didn't burn the bottom! By the last batch I learned that the key to making delicious cookies is to make them REALLY small. Maybe I should invest in that whole cookie scoop things....

Anyway, these were not the only cookies at the cookie swap. There were tons of delicious treats!

Bridget's Butterscotch Brownies

Elizabeth's Nutella Oatmeal Cream Pies!
I loved these- reminded me of Little Debbie's Oatmeal Pies from my childhood. Cannot wait to make these at home!

Melissa’s Chocolate Mint Cookies

Kerstin’s Spiced Caramel Pecan Bars

Ranjani’s cranberry caramel bars

All pictures below were taken from Cara... She is a much better photographer (and has a better camera) than me!
Joanne's Rainbow Cookies
Cara's Cinnamon Coffee Pecan Cookies and Chocolate Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lauren's Better than Crack Brownies

Our hostess Shannon's Pumpkin Blondies and Pumpkin Oats Cookies

Oh and my cookies again : ) I also made Andes Mint Chocolate Chip cookies as well...

So many delicious cookies to enjoy! Here's a group shot of the bloggers at the party.

Back row: Shannon, Joanne, Kerstin, Ranjani and Elizabeth

Front Row: Bridget, Me and Cara!

And wow, I definitely overindulged quite a bit this weekend. So much so that my weight gain and how I'm feeling about it all prompted a depressing post on my baby blog. I almost posted on this blog but decided I was being irrational and way too hard on myself. After some great emails from one of my favorite bloggers Dorothy, I realize now what's important. So what if I've gained more weight than my other friends who are due around the same time as me. What's important is realizing the real goal, the real finish line: having a beautiful, healthy baby.

And with that I'm going to take Dorothy's advice:

"The people who gain weight during pregnancy and don't have it come off are people who aren't active, who aren't healthy and who aren't motivated. You are all of those things. Don't read too much, don't think about it too much - just enjoy the next 20 weeks. Honestly what's a little weight when you have a human growing in you."

She is right. And I feel like a completely different person now than the girl who cried last night trying on dresses feeling too fat. I forgot about the big picture. And I won't allow myself to do that again!

I apologize for the slight tangent... we were talking about cookies right?

What's your favorite cookie to bake?

Salmon Avocado Stackers

2011-12-10T11:56:00.001-05:00

This week I decided to take inspiration from my own blog for weekly dinners. I haven't gone back and cooked something twice in a long time so I figured it was about time. One of my favorite and quickest recipes is Salmon Avocado Stackers with Avocado Butter and Arugula. I used Pumpernickel bread last time I made these, but was super excited to try the Arnold Pretzel Rolls I found at the store.

These sandwiches are really simple to make and only involve 6 ingredients + salt and pepper. I think that's pretty impressive. It's easy to prepare on a busy weeknight and leaves you feeling satisfied without feeling guilty since it's pretty healthy! I know there's 1 tablespoon of butter and carbs but I think it's a really delicious dinner...

This epitomizes my favorite ingredients- Salmon, Avocado, Arugula, Carbs...

Salmon Stackers with Avocado Butter

(yes there is butter, 1 tablespoon and yes it makes a difference!)

Ingredients:

Pumpernickel Bread Toasted OR Arnold Pretzel Rolls Toasted

1lb of Salmon

1 handful of arugula

1.5 ripe avocados

1 Lemon

1 tablespoon of butter, slightly melted

Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

Toast the Pumpernickel Bread or Pretzel Bread in the toaster. Meanwhile, place a nonstick skillet over medium to high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle the Salmon with Salt and Pepper and cook until cooked through about 3-6 minutes per side. (I cooked with skin on and removed it after, or you can choose to remove skin first, either way works) Meanwhile, place the avocados, lemon juice, butter, and some salt in a food processor and give it a whirl. Process for :30 seconds until smooth. You may need more or less lemon depending. Taste as you go! (You will also probably have extra sauce... I always do!) Take out the bread/roll out of the toaster and spread the avocado butter on both sides. Then add pieces of the salmon and arugula and close the sandwich and enjoy!

Serve with a side Arugula salad and dinner is complete in minutes! Screw 30 minute meals... you can get this on the table in 15, tops.

I hope I've convinced you to try this sandwich out... I think it has a nice balance to it with the lemon, avocado, arugula and salmon. The pretzel roll just added more flavor, but any bread of your choosing would work.

What's your GO-TO quick, painless dinner that you can get out on the table in less than 20 minutes? Show me links!

PS- I'm almost halfway through my pregnancy!

Brined Turkey with Chipotle Maple Butter Gravy

2011-12-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

So maybe you're all turkied out and maybe this isn't the best timing for a "How-To" on Turkey's, but I wanted to get this recipe up here on my blog. Who knows, maybe one of you will make a Turkey for the other big holiday we have coming up THIS month... Hanukkah. Oops, I mean Christmas. Either way, it's a recipe worth having!

When I tell you the turkey dipped into the Chipotle Maple Butter Gravy was the best thing I had this Thanksgiving, I'm not kidding. It was delicious in every way and pretty simple. And usually I'm not even a huge fan of turkey!

First, I believe the key to the perfect turkey is brining. Every year Dave and I say we are going to create our own brine, and every year we find it easier to just buy it from a store. Yep, cheat when you can people. Plus, for 12 bucks, you get all the spices you need AND a bag to brine your turkey and liquids in. Easy Cleanup! I bet it would cost at least 12 bucks to buy all the spices you need for the brine.

In this brine mix, according to the Crate and Barrel website, you get:

salt, sugar, orange peel, spices, juniper berries, shallots and pink peppercorns

Crate and Barrel Instructions: And all you do is an overnight soak in our own seasonal brining blend transforms the holiday turkey. The requisite salt and sugar base produces the moistest, juiciest meat, while the inspired choice of spices imparts the flavors of orange peel, juniper berries and pink peppercorns. Heavy-duty brining bag included.

There are directions that come with the packaging. But for the most part you just mix your spices with water or broth over heat. Once combined, you cool it overnight. We did this on Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning we removed the giblets bag from our turkey, added the turkey to the brine bag and then added the brine mix. We put that in a huge cooler and left it on the deck. Then Wednesday morning we were ready to cook! After taking the turkey out of the brine, rinse and put dry.

Before we cooked the bird, I had to make some flavored butter. The first butter I made was a Chipotle Maple Butter. After I made it, I spread some on a piece of bread and fell in love. But I got worried. I got worried it may be a bit too advanced for the palettes that were coming to dinner. The recipes below are all adapted from Food Network Magazine- November 2011.

FLAVORED BUTTERS:

Chipotle Maple Butter
Pulse 2 sticks of softened butter in a food processor with 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce (depends on heat level), 1 garlic clove and a pinch of salt. Process that up and reserve for the Gravy. You will have lots leftover!

I saved all of it and decided to make a classic herb butter for the actual turkey itself.

Classic Herb Butter
Mix 1 stick of softened butter with parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, teaspoon of pepper, shake of paprika and salt. Process that up. Spread it under the turkey skin and on the breasts and legs. Then rub the rest on top of the skin.

Cooking the Turkey
Put the oven rack in the lowest position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the turkey breast side up on a rack in a large roasting pan, tucking the wings under and tying with twine. Tie the drumstick together as well. Put tinfoil over and cook for about 15 minutes per pound. We cooked for about 3 hours with the foil and an hour or so without. We also added chicken broth to the pan and basted the turkey throughout the cooking process. Roast until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees. Then Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for a bit before slicing.

Okay, now let's move on to the gravy.

Classic Turkey Gravy with Chipotle Maple Butter

FOR THE BROTH:

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 medium onion

1 leek

Neck and Giblets from Turkey (I omitted this because my husband had already throw it out...no biggie)

8 cups Chicken Broth

A Bundle of Aromatics- Sage, Thyme, Parsley

FOR THE GRAVY:

Turkey Drippings from your roasting pan

1/2 cup of flour

salt and pepper

a couple tablespoons of Chipotle Maple Butter

Instructions:

When turkey goes into the oven, start the broth: melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion/leek (and turkey giblets and neck if you have them) and cook until browned about 15 minutes. Add the broth, herb sprigs; cover and simmer while the turkey roasts, about 2 hours. Strain broth and keep warm.

When turkey is done, transfer it to a cutting board and pour all the pan drippings into a degreasing cup. Add 1/2 cup of the prepared broth to the roasting pan and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Add bits and liquid to a degreasing cup. (I didn't have a degreasing cup, so I just used a measuring cup... the fat will rise to the top... so after it does that, use your baster to remove the fat).

Next, make a roux. I did this in the same pan I had my broth in all day. I added a bit (maybe 3-5 TB of the chipotle maple butter and flour together until the flour browns slightly. Then I gradually added the broth back in whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium low.

Season with salt and pepper and add more butter in if necessary (I think necessary).

Enjoy the best gravy of your life.

You're welcome.

What's the best gravy you've ever made/had?

State Park Walk/Jog/Hikes

2011-11-29T16:50:00.001-05:00

First, thank you so much for everyones feedback on my running post. I realize now how important it is for me to do what's best for ME and the baby. And if running isn't part of that equation then that's okay. But walking and being active will be! PS- My other form of exercise lately has been playing the Wii. Have you ever boxed on Wii Sports? Now that is a workout!

Anyway, Saturday, Dave and I decided to walk/hike all the way around the State Park closest to our house. In all the years we've been going to this park, we've never made it the whole way. Saturday was our day! We had such a blast exploring and discovering new sights and both of us can't wait to get back out there.

While we were walking our first trail, we hit a crossroads; go the way we always go or try a different route. Choosing the different route made all the difference. We found this amazing gravel path that was flat and easy to jog on. On our walks/hikes, anytime I find a flat part, I run. Dave always jokes "There she goes!"

And off I went.

For a very short while.

Once we reached the end of the gravel path, we hit this....

We continued around the lake until I found a perfect spot to take a Baby Bump Shot of Week 17.

I still don't feel like I have a "baby" bump yet. I just kind of feel big all over. But I'm really trying to change my mindset and embrace it. I'm growing the belly because I have a baby inside of me after all!

An hour into our walk/jog/hike, we stopped for some snacks and water. This rock is now Dave's favorite spot.

And we eventually made it to the dam which is the path we are most familiar with.

As we were walking back to our car, I captured these gorgeous photos...

I'm lucky I live in a place where beautiful trails and paths are a short distance away. These walks mean the world to me and I feel very thankful that I can still enjoy them. As I've written before, the power of "place" is very important to me and this walk/jog/hike made me feel so much better about my inability to run like a used to. What's important to me now is just getting out there whether it be outside or the gym. Trying to stay active during this pregnancy is the goal for my remaining 23 weeks!

Do you have a go-to path or trail that you love?

Thanksgiving 2011!

2011-11-26T10:18:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all time. I love planning my menu, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking and seeing my families smiling faces while eating a delicious meal. Thursday was our fifth year hosting Thanksgiving. It's crazy how fast FIVE years goes by. I can't believe we've been in our house that long! Dave and I are lucky that from day 1, our two families combined. We don't run around from house to house on important holidays and we get spend the day with all the people we love. Although I wish we did have bigger families or extended family lived closer, I do love that we have an intimate dinner of eight including both sides of the family. Of course, we cooked like we were having about 20! But leftovers are a good thing, right?

I'm also happy to report that prepping and cooking this year was DRAMA FREE! I stayed relaxed and calm throughout the cooking process and really tried to go with the flow... if something didn't work out the way I hoped, I didn't get bent out of shape about it, I just moved on. I will tell you I made WAY too many sides and it really seemed like the options were endless!

My appetizer menu changed quite a bit from what I posted the other day. Instead, I made a savory Pumpkin Pesto Cheesecake inspired by Julia.

Made with eggs and cottage cheese, the recipe really interested me because I love cooking with Cottage cheese. I think its a great way to add protein and lower fat! I used store-bought fresh Basil Tomato Pesto from Whole Foods and a few tablespoons of Pumpkin Puree from a can. I also used Ritz cracker crumbs as the crust instead of breadcrumbs and I made the whole thing in an 8 inch cake pan, instead of 4 inch. It was a huge hit! I'll be blogging about this recipe later on!

My other appetizers were cheese and crackers and hummus and pretzel crisps. Easy peasy, stress free.

My mom made our first course: Leek Soup. I've tried making this recipe myself, but it never comes out as good as my moms. I think the reason is because there really is NO recipe. My mom cooks as she goes and this soup is my favorite!

I'm going to write another post about brining and roasting a turkey because Dave and I have become quite the expert over the years. We love brining our turkey for at least 20 hours. We think the turkey becomes so moist! We also use a flavored butter on the bird itself. Originally I made an amazing Chipotle Maple Butter and I LOVED it, but was worried it was a little too much for my families tastes. (Don't worry though, I used it later in the best GRAVY ever!) SOooo, I decided to make an herb butter instead. The herb butter was made in the food processor - I combined a stick of butter with a bunch of fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and paprika then we rubbed it over the turkey. And voila!

5 hours ish in the oven and our turkey was done! And once it rested, Dave got slicing!

19 Pound bird= way too much food for 8 people!

Alright now let me give you a run down of the sides.

Brown Sugar Glazed Baby Carrots and Peas.

Hearty Winter Green Saute with Pomegranates and Pancetta.

Cranberry Sauce with Orange Zest.

Sausage Herb Stuffing

Smoky Scalloped Potatoes

Mashed Potato and Kale Cakes

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Pomegranates

Chipotle Maple Butter Gravy (OMG! So GOOD!)

Natalia was ready to dig in!

Dave's insane plate of food..

And he ate it all! Pretty impressive stuff!

My delicious plate of food : )

After dinner, we rested for awhile and played lots of Wii.

And then we finally ate dessert as well. I feel awful, I forgot to take any pictures of dessert other than what I made! My mother-in-law made Pumpkin and Apple Pie AND Chocolate Chip Blondies. Everything was delicious. I made Pumpkin S'more Bars. And yes, they were as good as they sound!

I'll get all the recipes up on a Google Doc early next week for you guys to enjoy. I'm also going to do separate posts of the dishes I feel were standouts.

Overall it was such a wonderful day with family and I have a lot to be Thankful for.

Including the 3 babies coming in 2012!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipes of what I made listed here: Thanksgiving 2011

On Running...

2011-11-20T10:57:00.001-05:00

I'm about to write a post on the things you're not supposed to say while pregnant. But I feel the need to voice my opinion so I'm venting. I'm 16 weeks pregnant and I weigh more now then I've ever weighed in my life. I've already put on somewhere around 11 pounds. I feel large and I'm not even obviously showing yet. But it's not the weight gain that bothers me so much, I know thats par with the course. What really bothers me is that I can't run.

I shouldn't be that surprised that running is so difficult for me, but somehow I am. My running in 2011 has been less than spectacular. I ran great January-March even setting a new PR in the Half. Then I ran Boston on very little training and after it took me awhile to get focused again. In June I set PRs in both the 5K and 10K. I thought I was back!

Why don't I look that happy while running anymore?

Then I ran one of the worst races of my life at the end of June. I mentally and physically gave up by the second mile. After that, I don't know what happened. I tried to get my focus back in mid-July but I think it was a little too late. I ran two half marathons in August that I was in no shape to run and my times reflected that. And then a few weeks after my half in Freeport Maine with Lindsay and Theodora, I found out I was pregnant. Truthfully, I knew in my heart I was pregnant when I ran that last half marathon.

So, basically, I wasn't in the best of shape BEFORE I was pregnant. Then I got pregnant and I've had a really hard time having an active pregnancy. I wake up with massive headaches everyday and sometimes the only cure is throwing up. When I was training, I did most of my workouts in the morning. But with how awful I feel in the AM, that was out of the question. In the first month of my pregnancy, I was scared to run at all. I could feel weird stretches and cramps in my stomach and I didn't want to risk anything while my baby was developing. Then when I was ready to start running again, my body was not.

I probably workout about 3X a week. Every time I put on workout clothes, I set out to run only to be disappointed by what my body is capable of. Pretty much every time I go to the gym or run outside, I want to run a 5K as fast as I can, and that time is usually around 40 minutes with walking breaks. You see, I'll start off running, I'll feel okay. Then I need to walk, so I walk a quarter mile or a half mile and then try to run again. And that cycle continues until I've hit 3.1. I know something is better than nothing, but I generally get off the treadmill feeling more depressed then refreshed. Am I just weak mentally? Am I imagining that this is too hard? Why can't I push myself? These are the questions I've been struggling with.

It doesn't help when I read other pregnancy blogs where women were still racing and PRing in their second trimester. Now, I'm not the type of person that compares myself to others. I get jealous easily but I try not to judge myself against others, but it's not easy.

All my life, in order to maintain my weight, I've had to run. I know gaining weight is healthy for my baby, but it does seem like I'm gaining it at an aggressive speed. Working out and running has always kept me sane and without that rush of adrenaline, I feel a bit lost.

But in order to turn this already depressing post into something positive, I'll leave you with this thought. My mom has really been helping me a lot through all of this. Her biggest message is to let my body do what it needs to do while pregnant and just use it as EXTRA motivation to lose the excess weight after the baby comes. Because to me the most important thing is having a healthy baby.

If walk-running is what my body needs for now, that is what I will do. I am fortunate to live so close to many state parks and reservoirs because views like this have been keeping me positive. And of course I love going on these walks with my husband as well.

I hope I'll be able to run for a two or three mile length of time at some point in my pregnancy without walking breaks, but if that doesn't happen it just means I'll have more motivation come May.

Thanksgiving Day Menu

2011-11-18T08:04:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone! I'm back! I went on a vacation to the Dominican to celebrate Dave's buddy Jay's Wedding. Now I'm back with a pretty bad head cold. I had just a bronchitis-like-cough before the trip but that has turned into a full blown runny nose and sinus infection. And lucky me I can't take anything! But enough of the complaining- here's some photos from our trip.

Alright, now to the task at hand. It's Friday, which means we have exactly 6 days until my favorite holiday in the world: Thanksgiving!!!!

Dave and I have hosted Thanksgiving for the past four years. This will be our 5th year hosting at our house and I love every minute of it! The key to a successful Thanksgiving is PLANNING AHEAD and ACCEPTING HELP. Delegate dishes to guests. Oh and the fact that my husband takes care of the Turkey helps a ton as well.

In 2009, we had 14 people- my extended Nebraska family was here and I loved every second of it. Click here for a recap of Thanksgiving 2009.

In 2010, we had 8 people- just our immediate family.

Click here for a recap of Thanksgiving 2010.

And this year I will be hosting 8 people plus three babies in the womb! (Woah, that was weird to write!) I'm linking to either the recipes that inspired the menu or my own recipes on the blog. Or if I can't find them online, I'll tell you the magazine I found them in. I'm the type of home chef that cooks a lot of things up on the fly so this is all subject to change next week!

2011 Thanksgiving Day Menu

Appetizers:

Whipped Feta with Pita Chips

Sweet Potato Avocado Salsa (Everyday Food)

Cheese, Hummus and Crackers

First Course:

Leek Soup (Mom)

Main Dish:

Brined Turkey with Chipotle Maple Butter

Maple Butter Gravy (Food Network Magazine)

Side Dishes:

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Pomegranates

(same recipe as last year only with pomegranates instead of dried cranberries)

Winter Green Saute

Smokey Scalloped Potatoes

Glazed Carrots with Thyme

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes and Kale Cakes

Roasted Butternut Squash (Mom)

Basic Stuffing with Sausage

without the apples and cranberries (Mom)

Cranberry Sauce

from 2009 on the blog (Mom)

Roasted Potatoes (Mother-in-law)

Cranberry Mold (Mother-in-law)

Desserts:

Apple Pie (Mother-in-law)

Pumpkin Pie (Mother-in-law)

Coconut Macaroons

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Pumpkin Ice Cream

So that's the menu! I can't wait to celebrate with my family next week.

What are you making for Thanksgiving?

11•11•11

2011-11-10T12:49:00.002-05:00

Eleven is the best number in the world. I'm into saying things are the best in the world since I just told you NY was the best marathon in the world too. Maybe a bit dramatic of a description? Maybe. But I don't think so.

I've loved the number 11 for as long as I an remember. Which is funny because I hate all other odd numbers. 11 for me is just perfect! And when I saw the date 11•11•11 on the calendar I knew I had to take the day off to celebrate, because this date will not come around again in my lifetime.

But before I go on and on about my love affair with the number 11, November 11th is Veterans Day, an annual holiday that honors military veterans. It is the anniversary signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. So I just want to take this opportunity to honor and Thank all the Veterans out there. Our world would not be the same without you.

A special thanks to my Papa who served in World War II.

My papa at war, hanging my nana's picture up. This makes me cry every time.

Now because 11•11•11 is a date that I will only see once in my life, my husband and I planned out ELEVEN fun things to do with each other. Unfortunately, I can't always do everything as planned. My unplanned sickness caused me to stay up half the night and ended up keeping me in bed most of the day.

These things happen and right now my health is more important then the 11 fun things we had planned. We still did a few of the 11 things...
Like rake the leaves!

(the fun part was supposed to be jumping in the leaves, which they were too wet to do ... tear)

And go on a hike in our town!

But mainly there was a lot of resting... here's hoping my sickness goes away!

Do you have a favorite number? Did you make a wish at 11:11 on 11.11.11?? (You still can!)

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

2011-11-08T13:19:00.002-05:00

First, I want to say thank you so much on all the well-wishes about our pregnancy! We really couldn't be more excited.

Second, congrats to everyone who ran the New York Marathon! I spent a bunch of hours watching past years marathons on Universal Sports Saturday night and then I watched the entire marathon Sunday morning while tracking my friends and following on twitter. It really is such an inspirational race. I loved listening to the announcers talk about why this marathon is the greatest in the world. Because it REALLY is : ) It was so great that it motivated me to get out there and run/walk with my husband in our town's state park.

Oh look, another baby bump photo!

Now it's time to talk about something that I love but haven't made a lot of lately: FOOD!

I have a confession to make. I consider myself a food blogger. But not in the traditional sense. You see, I wish I could spend more time on my photos and wish I could do all my blog cooking on SaturDAY when the light is best, but it's not feasible for me. I food blog because I love to cook. But I cook mainly so we have something to eat. If it works out to be something I like, you guys get to see it, which happens almost every time I cook regardless if the photo is the best.

You see, I work 45 hours a week plus have an hour commute each way. I menu plan on the weekends and hope for the best to make the meals I planned on. But when and how is not always perfectly aligned. Sometimes I cook two meals on Monday so I don't have to worry about dinner on a Tuesday. Sometimes I have to work late and dinner is eggs and a bagel (with my pregnant belly, this has happened more times then I care to admit.) Sometimes I'm not in the mood for something I planned on and I completely change dinner on the fly. And sometimes I'm inspired by another meal I saw throughout the day.

So, what's my point?

Well these Butternut Squash Enchiladas are some of the best things I've had in awhile, even if they didn't photograph the best. But this is my FOOD blog and it's not only a blog about recipes {and running}, but its real meals that we eat. It's a real blog that shows that you can swap things out when you don't have a certain ingredient. I grocery shop once per week and if I find a recipe after I grocery shop and menu plan, I improvise. Because that's what cooking is about.

For instance, these enchiladas call for a can of black beans. I thought I had them in my lazy susan. I only had pinto. Pinto will do! This recipe called for Cream Cheese. I recently impulsively bought the Philly Cooking Creme and love the flavor impact it provides. This recipe also called for roasted butternut squash. I didn't have the time, so I used frozen pureed squash that I heated in the microwave.

As I said before, my life, like my cooking is about improvising and making good with what you have.

So without further introduction, here is a recipe I am insanely proud of and it can also be meat-free!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas
Inspired by The Savage Feast
Ingredients:
•1 Butternut Squash boiled or roasted then pureed, about 2-3 cups OR you can cheat like I did and use frozen pureed squash from the frozen veggie aisle
•6 ounces cream cheese OR 3 ounces of Phili Savory Garlic Cooking Creme mixed with 3 ounces of Whipped Cream Cheese
•3 teaspoons of Taco Seasoning Mix
•1 small can of green chilis
•15 ounce can of black beans (or whatever beans you got, I had pinto)
•6 large Flour Tortillas
•1-2 cups shredded/grated cheddar cheese (I used a Mexican blend, pre-shredded)
•2½-3 cups enchilada sauce (I use medium heat, but I like spice)
•2 links of bulk sausage, cooked (I had this in the fridge and wanted to use it up, you can easily make this a vegetarian meal!)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F and spray a rectangular glass baking dish. In a bowl, mix the squash and cream cheese until completely blended. Add the spices, chiles, and beans and mix well. Holding the tortilla like a taco, place a generous amount of filling in it. Roll it into a tube and place seam side down in the baking dish. Add a bit of cheese. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until your filling is used up.

Spoon the enchilada sauce on top and make sure you get it down in between the enchiladas and all
around the edges.

Get sauce on all the tortilla surfaces so that they don't dry out when they're baking. Then sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 30-40 minutes until they're bubbly and the cheese has browned.

Then enjoy!

What's your go-to cheat to get dinner on the table quicker?

Making Plans with some BIG NEWS!

2011-11-03T20:59:00.000-04:00

"Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans"

~John Lennon

My mom always told me I need to learn to live in the present. I was constantly planning out my life instead of just enjoying it. So for the past few years, I've tried to listen. But I'm a planner and it's hard to just LIVE and not plan.

After Dave and I had been married for two years, we started talking about starting a family. He was ready. I was not. I wanted to see the world, run marathons and be in the best shape of my life before having a baby.

So in May of 2010, I ran my first marathon.

At the end of May 2010, I saw a big part of the world.

The summer of 2010, I started training for my second marathon- New York. I told Dave I would be ready in November 2010. But November came and went and I wasn't quite there yet.

I decided April 2011 would be our time. I ran Boston in April. I turned 29 in April. I still wasn't ready to have a baby.

I did my best to forget about my plans and live my life. I enjoyed my summer, I took a break from running and really just ran when I felt like it.

Then it hit me. I was ready. I was more than ready, I reaaaallly wanted a baby! And in August

I found out we are pregnant and expecting our first child!

So the moral of this little story... stop planning out your life and live it. Oh, and don't start trying to have kids until you are ready, because sometimes it takes less time than expected : )

My guess is some of you already knew I was pregnant. My brother says it was pretty obvious due to my lack of posts. In the first trimester, I was barely running and barely cooking. It wasn't easy.

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant and I'm hoping I will finally start feeling like myself soon. As much as I hoped to have an active pregnancy, my first trimester was rough. I'm talking morning sickness, all day nausea, painful headaches and extreme tiredness. I'd look in the fridge and run to the bathroom. My foods of choice were bagels with cream cheese, eggs, soup and cheese. That's about all I ate for 12 weeks. But I hope that I've put that stage behind me. I hope I'll be able to continue running into my third trimester.

So what does it mean for the blog?

I've decided not to turn this into a pregnancy/baby blog. I've decided to keep this a food and running blog. I know a few of you are probably really excited about that! But... (c'mon you knew there would be a but), I have created a new blog that I've been documenting everything so far about my pregnancy. I've decided to keep it password protected for now, but if you are interested in reading, just email me and I will send you the password (foodtorunfor@gmail.com). That doesn't mean I won't post anything here though. Of course, Food to Run For is my main blog so I will also share big things with you here as well : )

So there you have it, my big news! Keeping a secret for three months is one of the hardest things I've ever done! Three months is a REALLY REALLY long time.

We're due May 5th, 2012 and we couldn't be happier : )

Why the New York Marathon is the Best Marathon in the World

2011-10-30T10:22:00.000-04:00

Long blog title, but I'm making a point here. I'm no marathon expert, but I feel pretty confident when I say that the ING New York Marathon is the best marathon out there. I've run three now, two of which are marathons that most people only dream of running: Boston and New York. And I'm finally going to tell you the truth. I've hinted at it before... but here it is, in my opinion- The New York Marathon is way better than Boston. From how NYRR organizes the race, to the crowd support, to the AMAZING city- the New York marathon is everything you could ever want from a marathon and in this post I'm going to tell you why.

I will never forget before I ran New York last year, my friend Kimmy told me "You will love it. It's the best race." I couldn't associate love and marathon in the same sentence. And even after I finished, I still couldn't understand how Kimmy could say that. But after awhile, I started to understand exactly what she meant. Because {in my opinion} there isn't another marathon out there like the ING New York Marathon.

To start, I've heard people say that you can't PR at this race because it's too crowded. To which I highly disagree. I think the NYRR does such a nice job with putting you in waves and corrals with people who ARE the SAME pace as you. There are three waves with seven corrals in each. Wave 1 begins at 9:40am, Wave 2 at 10:10, and Wave 3 at 10:40. In each wave, you are grouped in corrals based on your projected finish time and because of this you can feel pretty confident that you will be with other runners who are similar pace to you. Also, once you are lined up in your wave and corral, it only takes about six minutes to cross the starting line. And every wave has it's own starting ceremony so no matter what time you start and what pace you are, you feel like you are PART of this EPIC marathon. The other thing to note is that there are three ways to start in each wave- on top of the bridge, on the bridge and under the bridge and you don't combine into one group until mile 8. This makes it less crowded as well.

But before I talk about the race, let me tell you about getting to the race. The big downside to HUGE marathons is how early you have to get to the race site BEFORE it starts. I stayed on the Upper East Side last year and had to make it down to the Staten Island Ferry in Lower Manhattan. My friend Tara and I left around 6am and got to the terminal around 6:40am. Then we hung out in the terminal, using real bathrooms until we felt like getting on the ferry. Although you are assigned a specific time for the ferry, it's first come first serve. So if you get to the terminal early, you can get on the ferry early. If you get there later than your time, you can get on later. It's no big deal. Use the REAL bathrooms at the terminal because this will be your second to last chance! Once you are on the ferry, it's an incredible experience. What other race takes you on a boat ride where you can see the entire city? It was gorgeous and very calming which is something I so needed before a big race. Check out these views!

Once you get to the Staten Island station, you board buses to get you to Athlete's Village. This is another opportunity to use REAL bathrooms. After you get on the bus, you only have Port-a-Potties to use. The bus ride takes about 20 minutes. I was quiet and nervous on the bus, trying to enjoy the ride but sort of freaking out about the race. Once you get to Athlete's Village the first thing you will notice is how incredibly organized it is.

You are grouped by Wave and Color. My friend Tara and I planned to start in my wave together since I had the higher number and we had no problem doing so even though we had different colors. We hung out in the main area for over an hour. We put a blanket down, stretched and took turns going to the bathroom. The great thing about NY is how many bathrooms they have. It's really incredible. I don't think I ever waited in line longer than 5 minutes. Tara and I got to our corral and wave about ten minutes before we had to. We waited in a line of about 60 people until they opened up the gates and we entered the bridge. It was surreal. I felt like I was in a movie. And before we knew it, we were off!

The entire first mile is straight uphill. If I can give any piece of advice, it's to start slow. I truly believe this should be your slowest mile of the race. The second mile is all down hill. Be careful here. Hold yourself back. It would be very easy to run this mile too fast. Once you get to mile 3, you enter Brooklyn. I suggest running on one side of the road so the crowds can really scream for you. Wearing a shirt with your name on it is imperative in a race like this. You will never get fan support like this in any other marathon, including Boston.

From mile 3 to mile 8, you are running a straight-away down Fourth Avenue. You go through Bay Ridge, and Greenwood Heights. At mile 8, you converge with the other runners in your wave who started on different parts of the bridge and enter the Fort Greene neighborhood which is where Walt Whitman, John Steinbeck, Spike Lee and Chris Rock grew up. This is a good spot for your family to see you. My family met me at Mile 8 and they were easy to see. It was crowded, but if you know what side your family will be on, it's easy to see them. They were on the corner of Ashland and Lafayette.

9 miles in, I remember loving the course... crowds were still screaming for you and it was amazing to see all the different cultures that were out there supporting you.

You enter an area called Bedford-Stuyvesant where there are tons of very nice brownstone rowhouses. At mile 10, you enter Williamsburg which connects Manhattan's Lower East Side. The population here exploded when immigrants escaped overcrowding Manhattan and following World War II, the neighborhood became a place for Hasidic Jews from Europe. This neighborhood is also home to large communities of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Italians, Germans and younger Americans. This area is also knowns as the Artist's Community. And you can see all this in the crowds. This is why I love New York so much. It really is a microcosm of our world.

At mile 12, you enter Greenpoint which is home to the second largest Polish population. This area is home to multi-generational families, it is not uncommon to find 2-4 generations of a family living in the same area. Don't you just love that?! Also in this area, movies like "The Departed," "Sleepers," and the TV show "Rescue Me" were filmed here.

At mile 13, you enter the Pulaski bridge and say goodbye to Brooklyn and enter Queens. This is your first real hill (besides the first mile). I struggled here a bit and ended up saying goodbye to my friend Tara to slow down my pace. Right after this is another great place to spectate.

*If you are spectating: In 2009, I came to this point first, taking the train from the Upper East Side. There are tons of cute coffee shops over here that you can hang out in to keep warm in between seeing the elites and waiting for your friends. *

Mile 14, you are running in Long Island City in Queens. It's not particularly pretty in this area and the crowds start to thin out just a bit. Make sure to grab extra water, gatorade and fuel because you are about to enter the Queensboro Bridge, the most secluded and in my opinion, hardest part of the course.

Mile 15, you enter the Queensboro Bridge. I don't remember exactly, but it feels like a mile and a half of straight uphill. It also falls at a difficult part of the course- Mile 15-16 where your legs are already fatigued. Fight the urge to walk. Repeat mantras to yourself and stay strong. Whats waiting for you on the other side is absolutely incredible. One thing to note, the Queensboro bridge is completely closed off. You are running in the middle of the road with no crowd support. Stay strong. You will also see lots of people from other countries pulling off on the side to take pictures... there are beautiful views on the bridge.

Entering Manhattan is remarkable. There really is no way to describe it. As you're descending from the bridge, you start to hear a blaring, overpowering noise that cannot be fully described until you hear it yourself. The fan support on First Avenue is loud and astonishing. You will not be able to believe how many people are out there. Think 10 rows deep of fans on both sides screaming your name. If your family and friends are meeting you here, make sure you know what side of the road they are on. It's nearly impossible to weave because First Avenue is VERY large. I saw my support system at Mile 16.5 and was so happy to see them.

*If you are spectating, after you see your runner on first Avenue, head down on whatever cross street you are on (60th, 80th, whatever) toward the park. My family met me at 59th and First and then again at 84th and the park.*

I'm going to be honest now. Mile 16.5- Mile 20 is my least favorite part of the course. You are running on one street for what seems like forever. You enter First Avenue at 59th Street and don't leave until 127th-ish. And although the crowds are amazing, you don't see the diversity of fans that you saw earlier in the race. Most of the fans out here are younger. I honestly started to lose steam in these miles, hoping for a change of pace in more ways than one!

But then you get that change of pace. Mile 20-22 is pretty awesome. You go over another bridge into the Bronx, home of the Yankees. I yelled "Go Red Sox," as I entered. Probably not the smartest. Then you loop and go over another bridge into Harlem. I loved this area. The crowds were insane, there was music playing- I remember specifically hearing "Neeewww York" by Alicha Keys and Jay-Z. There were kids dancing, there was a woman on a loud speaker who read my shirt and said "Welcome to Harlem Liz!" I loved this area!

I kept thinking you enter the park at 22, but you really don't enter it until closer to Mile 23.5. I kept waiting to enter the park and when you finally did, the crowds were again so crazy and supportive. There are little hills and little downhills that I've heard for some people were really difficult but I didn't think they were that bad. Central Park is such a beautiful place that I really enjoyed this part of the course. (See doesn't it look like I'm enjoying it? Okay, maybe not...)

And of course, NOTHING feels better than seeing Mile 25 and knowing you only have a little over a mile left. After Mile 25, you loop around and at Mile 26, you are on the West Side of the park for a quarter mile. You finish right around West 65th Street and you grab your medal and your blanket. You are done! You finished the best marathon in the world!

Now the worst part about this race....it took me an hour to get out of the park and find my family on the east side. I'm lucky I had a phone. Without it, I would have been totally screwed. But once reunited, nothing can compare to the sense of pride I felt.

So, in my opinion, there isn't a race out there like New York. Some could argue Boston has amazing crowd support and pride, but the truth is that you run in the suburbs for 90% of the course. In New York, you go through five boroughs, you see so many types of fans and you experience all that New York City has to offer. For slower runners, you still feel PART of the marathon. I know runners who qualify for Boston have all sorts of opinions on runners who don't. But as a fundraising runner at Boston, I will tell you it's like running a completely different race than qualified runners. You start almost an hour later, you pay so much more and you fundraise. It's not easy. (FYI, qualified runners paid $130 for Boston, I paid $375). In New York, I didn't feel like an outsider running the race- I felt like an equal to the runners who finished hours ahead of me.

But this post is not meant to take anything away from the Boston Marathon, it's simply my opinion. And my opinion is the New York Marathon is the best marathon in the world. And if you are lucky enough to cross the starting line next Sunday, realize how lucky you are. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I really hope that everyone who wants to will be able to enjoy this marathon someday.

Good luck to all those New York Marathoners out there! I'll be cheering for you in spirit!

And I hope this post inspires all of you not running this year, to run this race in future years : )

Have you run New York? Have you run Boston? What is your opinion on each?

Butternut Squash Lasagna

2011-10-22T11:01:00.000-04:00

The end of my CSA with Stillman's Farm happened weeks ago. It was sad to go to City Hall one last time for my pick-up. I'll miss my CSA!

But our last pickup was crazy! We got an insane amount of produce! Check this out!

In the last pickup:

1 Sugar Pumpkin, 2 Butternut Squashes, 1 Lettuce, 1 Enormous bag of potatoes, Radishes, Arugula, Kale, Pears, Green Peppers, Corn, Tomatoes and a Giant bag of Apples.

With all the squash, I knew I had to make one of my favorite GO-TO recipes. Ironically, Meghan made it around the same time as me (but has blogged about it much sooner!) I made Giada's Butternut Squash Lasagna. I changed some of this recipe by making my béchamel sauce a bit healthier- using fat free milk. But I probably used more cheese then her so don't think it's too healthy! The other big change I made was roasting the squash instead of boiling it. I love the taste of roasted vegetables. However, it's a delicious vegetarian pasta dish that we absolutely love. So if you are looking to do something fun with butternut squash, make this recipe. It has a bunch of steps and takes a bit of time, but it is easy to make and delicious to eat!

Butternut Squash Lasagna
Inspired by Giada
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups skim milk
3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions:

Put squash on a baking sheet. Pour the oil on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix with your hands until well combined. Cook at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until squash is roasted.

Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes.

Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender. Add the basil and blend until smooth.

Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and lower oven to 375 degrees F. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Then slice up and ENJOY!

What's your favorite thing to make with butternut squash?

A tribute to Papa Jack

2011-10-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

I've been out of the loop for awhile. It's been two weeks since I've posted last and I do have a lot of posts swirling in my head, but I'm just not the type of girl who can schedule posts. I do my best writing on the fly, when I'm inspired. So I hope I haven't lost all my readers!

I've been taking some time off the blog because my Papa passed away a week ago. We rushed to Omaha to be with family and I just got back.

I wasn't sure if I should write about how I'm feeling on the blog since I have been really trying to stream line my posts to subjects of food or running. But writing has always been therapeutic to me and I feel like I need to get some thoughts off my chest.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

My papa Jack was the quintessential man; he was kind, compassionate, loving, generous, trustworthy and honest. His characteristics were the epitome of what I always looked for in a life partner. When I thought about what I wanted in a husband, I thought of my papa. And I'm lucky because I've found in my husband someone who represents all that my papa was to me.

My papa died at age 93. At age 92, he was still working at the liquor distributor where he started his career. He was still driving and the picture of perfect healthy. We thought we had years left with him. His father lived to be over 100. But, in a year, his health deteriorated so very quickly. I always say that you are never, ever prepared for death. And when my mom called me Wednesday night at midnight with the news, I burst into tears, even though we all knew it was coming.

My papa Jack was incredibly loved. Over 150 people showed up to his funeral. Several people that we had never met came up to us with stories we had never heard. The one that stood out to me was a man who told us he worked with Jack and twenty years ago his daughter was very ill and in the hospital. My papa showed up to give his support and brought her flowers. Even my Nana never knew of this story.

But that was the kind of man my papa was. He would give away his last dollar, his coat off his back, his shoes from his feet. He would do whatever you needed, whenever you needed it. He was the most loving man I had ever met.

There was an article in the Omaha World Herald newspaper about my grandfather and my favorite quote was "He was the kindest, sweetest man who ever lived." Because it is so very true.

Everyone who met my Papa loved him. There aren't enough adjectives in the English language to describe what an amazing man he was.

I leave you with this quote which I found online that deeply touched me.

"You can shed tears that he is gone

Or you can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back,

Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see him

Or you can be full of the love that you have shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him and only that he is gone,

Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,

Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on."

~David Harkins

Running is Boring.

2011-10-05T16:46:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything even remotely related to running on this blog. As Lauren recently wrote on her "Taking the Good with the Bad" Post, "Anyone who has been in a relationship with running for a period of time knows that you don’t stay in the honeymoon phase forever. Being in a lifelong relationship with the sport means that you are committed to a life of ups and downs." Smart words LB. Very Smart.

So even though I am currently in a running rut and taking time off, it doesn't mean I have any less love for the sport. In fact, I've watched more track on TV then I have in years. I'm still following tons of running blogs and paying attention to running times, races and results in my local area. I still enjoy getting my local running group emails with speed workouts and meetups even if I haven't showed up in awhile. Running is who I am and it will always be part of my life, even if it's not 365 days a year.

So without further ado, I'd like to discuss my least favorite running quote. No not the quotes that motivate you to get out that door and run for hours and hours. No, I'm talking the types of crazy things you hear from those people who don't understand runners. Your co-workers, family and friends who probably know you very well, but don't understand the first thing when it comes to distance running.

Over the last few years since I've picked up long distance running, I've heard the phrase "I don't know how you run marathons. Running is SO BORING," numerous times. And although it frustrates the hell out of me, I just chuckle to myself.

Because the truth is, I doubt PEOPLE don't run marathons because IT'S BORING. I bet they don't run marathons because it's HARD.

I cannot tell you the amount of times of heard someone say to me "I would run over 3 miles, but I get so bored." The expression makes absolutely zero sense to me. In all my years running, I've never once been out on a run and thought "Wow, I'm so bored right now, I should just stop." I have thought, "This is really hard, I should give in and stop." But then determination kicks in and I motivate myself to try to finish strongly.

Running isn't easy. If it was everyone would do it. Running isn't boring. If it was we wouldn't have millions of Americans signing up for marathons everyday. Running is a special sport- one in which you have to trick your mind into working against or with your body, depending on the day. It's a beautiful sport, one I love. Because it's so competitive and mostly competitive with yourself. The challenge is what keeps this sport from being boring. (thanks lb!)

Racetober has kicked into gear and I have tons of friends chasing their goals in the marathon in the next couple months. I can't wait to live vicariously through them because being a runner is permanent, whether I'm training or not.

So here's to our amazing sport that is challenging and not boring!

What's the most annoying running related phrase non-runners say to you?

A Busy Month

2011-10-03T21:17:00.001-04:00

Well hello blog world! I haven't been doing a very good job at blogging lately. I've done a ton of fun stuff so I wanted to share it with you! The month of September was crazy busy and first weekend of October was more of the same : )

First we had our friends Steve and Kendalle's wedding on the Cape. They had a full-on clam-bake! I've never been to a wedding like this, it was pretty awesome And they gave out aprons so we wouldn't dirty our pretty outfits : )

The delicious menu was your choice of a 1 and 1/2 pound lobster or rib eye steak with steamers and mussels, corn on the cob, sausage and red bliss potatoes. Does it get any better than this?

I mean look at this- how good does this look??! I think all weddings should have clam bakes!!

Later on in the month, I headed over to Elina's for a Blogger Get-Together mid-week. Now if you know me, I barely ever go out during the week so a party in the city on a Tuesday was a little tough. But I will always jump at a chance to hang out with these girls- Cara and Elina!

There was a great group of girls there including Elizabeth, Meghan, Megan, Melissa and Bridget, Shannon, Ranjani, Kerstin and Tiffany. I didn't take many photos of the food, but there was lots of deliciousness. If you want to see more food, check out Meghan's post- she has tons of photos there : )

The best part was definitely Elina's Monkey Bread Pepperoni Bread. It's pretty amazing and I can't wait to make it myself. I've made something similar, but using a bunt pan is the perfect idea since you can stick the sauce in the center.

Another highlight over the last month was celebrating my friend Michelle's 30th birthday! Michelle is my first friend in my grade to turn the big 3-0! Miche and I go wayyyy back- we were track superstars in high school : ) (There is an old school picture of us on my About Me page)

Do you see our gift? My friend Stephanie and I stole this idea of pinterest. We think it's a good one. 30 lolipops in a bowl= 30 SUCKS!! heheh

And the last special event I went to recently was our friends Laura and Pete's baby girls first birthday!!!! Little Lillian is the cutest : )

I've been busy over here and I apologize for the lack of blog posts and comments! Hopefully I will get back in a rhythm soon!

Have you been to any special events lately?

The Best Meals of Summer 2011

2011-09-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

So Summer is over. I'm not quite ready for fall but luckily either is New England. Our weather keeps going back and forth between 50s and 80s, rain and sunshine. But the days are shorter and it's the end of September so it's time to embrace fall. Before I do that, I want to recap my favorite dishes of the summer using farm fresh produce from my CSA! I've really enjoyed Stillman's Farm this year and I was incredibly happy with the amount of produce we got each week.

Enjoy the pictures! All the recipes will be linked to a word document at the end of this post.

Eggplant "Sandwiches"

Creole Spiced Corn Cakes

Eggplant Po' Boys!

Sweet and Salty Swiss Chard with Dried Cranberries, Blueberries and Chorizo

Rustic Summer Vegetable Tart

Grilled Zucchini Pizza Slices

Fish Tacos with Strawberry Avocado Salsa

Flatbread Swiss Chard Bianca

Thai Zucchini Cakes

All Recipes can be found here- Summer 2011 Stillman's Farm Recipes!

What was your favorite summer dish?

Summer 2011 Recap

2011-09-21T21:13:00.001-04:00

So September 23rd is officially the end of Summer.

This depresses me dearly. Because ever since I started working full-time seven years ago, summers haven't been the same. But luckily even with my 40+ hour weeks, I've had a pretty fantastic summer. So here we go, in photos.

Summer started at the Cape, at Stephanie's brand new house, only a mile from the beach where we had fun with the most beautiful sunset.

I ran a 5K with my blogger friends and PR'd. Taking 20 seconds off my 5 year old previous best time.

And I had fun, the most important part in racing : )

I traveled to NYC to hang out with some of my favorite bloggers. Oh and I also ran a 10K. And PR'd by like three seconds.

I celebrated and helped plan my companies 43rd Anniversary Party!

And participated in the biggest flip cup game ever assembled. Yep, I work at an amazing company : )

I headed back to the Cape for July 4th weekend. And sloshed around in our slip and slide game of fun.

Celebrated some 30th Birthday Parties. First, Meg's with Minute-to-Win-It-Games. If you've never played, I suggest you do this at your next gathering! So much fun!

And secondly, Melissa's. One of my oldest and dearest friends!

Enjoyed countless CSA pickups at City Hall.

Met countless babies, including Gretchen's adorable baby boy and Remi's baby girl.

Ran lots of laps around Lake Waban in Wellesley. And captured some gorgeous photos!

Ran a half marathon with Becky in the pouring rain. Eye opening experience for both of us. Apparently it's necessary to train for the half-marathon distance : )

A week later I ran another half with my friends from college Lindsay and Theodora. Learned another valuable lesson- it is not easy to break 2 hours without training for it : ) But I also learned how important it is to care more about friends performances then you're own. Lindsay broke 1:50 and Theo broke 2 hours!

Finished the summer with a trip to Chicago and Nebraska. I love the midwest.

Spending time with my family is always the best part of going to Omaha.

And on 9-10-11 we went to a wedding on the Cape. I love Cape Cod. Kendalle and Steve got married at a small chapel and we all celebrated at the Dennis Inn. Below are all the girlfriends and wives of Dave's best guy friends. I'm glad I've become close with these girls : ) I still need to recap this wedding. Trust me, the food was outstanding, it deserves a post of it's own!

And lastly, Dave and I ended summer with a trip to the farm to go Apple Picking. We now have countless apples. Apple Crisp soon perhaps?

Stay tuned... I'm also going to recap the best RECIPES of the Summer.

What was your favorite part of the summer?

CSA Week 13 & Stuffed Peppers

2011-09-18T20:21:00.000-04:00

I've skipped over CSA Weeks 10, 11 and 12. Week 10 I picked up the day I went to Market with my blogger friends. By the time I got home it was late and I didn't have the motivation to take a picture of my goods. I missed Week 11 because I was on vacation. And I don't remember what happened to week 12. So now we have Week 13!

We got: Lettuce, Green Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Eggplant, Corn, Heirloom Tomatoes, Apples and Melons.

Since I had been stashing several green peppers over the last few weeks and these peppers have been enormous, I decided to cut the peppers in half and make Stuffed Mexican Peppers. I mixed corn, black beans, spinach, onions, tomatoes, brown rice and mexican blend seasonings. After sautéing that up, I stuffed the peppers, sprinkled them with cheese and baked the peppers for 30 minutes.

The filling was so delicious and made almost entirely with CSA goods.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
2 extra large green peppers, cut in half, ribs and seeds removed
1 package of 90 second Uncle Ben's Brown Rice
1 small can of black beans, rinsed
3 ears of corn, cut off the cob
1 onion, diced
1 cup of frozen spinach defrosted
3 tomatoes, diced
mexican blend seasoning or cumin and chili powder
salt and pepper
1 cup of mexican blend cheese
Instructions:
In a skillet heat some olive oil and saute onion. Add in the corn, beans, spinach and tomatoes with the seasonings.

Microwave the rice, then add it to the mixture and mix all together. Add a half cup of cheese and turn off the heat. Incorporate the cheese in the mixture.

Cut the peppers in half. Spray Large pan with olive oil spray and add the peppers. Then start stuffing! Fill the peppers with the delicious mixture.

Add the cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes. You will probably have extra stuffing which is okay- you can eat that alone : ) Enjoy!

Simple to prepare and tons of flavor! And I loved the filling so I didn't mind eating it for days after : )

This dish used- from my CSA:
Onions
Green Peppers
Corn
Tomatoes

Can't beat that!

What's your favorite way to stuff peppers?

Creamy Avocado Pasta

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite quick dinner meals is Creamy Avocado Pasta. I've made this dish a handful of times but this time I adapted it with some of my favorite Trader Joe's products.

How awesome is Trader Joe's for help in the quick-fix dinner meals? I love that place! My secret ingredients of choice:

I thought Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta would pair nicely with a creamy avocado sauce. And Mango Chicken Sausage would add sweetness to this already fresh dish. Edamame Hummus brightened up the avocado sauce and added another delicious flavor element. This dish came together just as fast as it takes to cook the pasta. And its a meal you don't have to feel guilty about!

If you didn't know this already, I love to cook and I hate to bake. The reason? I don't measure. I have a really good idea of what a tablespoon is or what a half cup is. I don't need to measure anything. This is one of those recipes that is absolutely crucial to taste as you go. Blend the sauce up and add more as you see fit. Start with 1 Avocado and 1 Lemon Juiced and go from there. Salt and Pepper at the very end. Trust your instincts because this a dish you really can't mess up!

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Mango Chicken Sausage

Inspired by Cate's World Kitchen and Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

2 medium Avocado, very ripe

2 small lemons + lemon zest

1 teaspoon of pre-minced garlic

3 spoonfulls of edamame hummus

a handful or two of parmesan cheese

a little pasta water

a little olive oil

1 package of Lemon Pepper Pappadale Pasta or pasta of choice

2 Mango Sausage Links, cut in half and sliced and cooked over medium heat

1/2 cup of basil for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. While your pasta is cooking, add ripe avocado, lemon juice, garlic, hummus and cheese into the food processor. With the motor running, add a little olive oil. Taste and decide if you want more avocado flavor (I did). If so, add another avocado and more lemon juice. If sauce is too thick, add a little pasta water to make the sauce silkier. Cook the sausage links until browned. Once pasta is cooked, mix the sausage and sauce together in a giant bowl so the sauce covers all the pasta. Add some basil and more parmesan on top and enjoy!

Upon tasting this dish, the first thing my husband said is "Wow this is awesome, it has a ton of flavor." Exactly what I wanted to hear : )

What's the most unique pasta sauce you've ever made?

Restaurant Review: Girl & the Goat

2011-09-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Top Chef. I've loved the show since the beginning.

Season Four was a tough season. I loved Stephanie Izard and she totally deserved to win, but I loved Richard Blais as well and was just as psyched when he won Top Chef Masters.

But, when I heard about Stephanie's restaurant called Girl & the Goat located in the West Loop area of Chicago about a mile from our hotel, I knew we had to go there. Unfortunately when I tried to make a reservation online, Open Table told me they were booked solid for 8 weeks. So I called. And was told that if I got there at 4:30pm we'd have no problem walking right in. So we arrived at 4:25pm and waited until the doors opened. And we weren't the only ones. By 5pm on a random Tuesday night (late afternoon?) this place was bumping. Does the midwest like to eat early or is this place always so busy? I'm going to go with the latter.

The atmosphere is really cool; exposed ceilings, open bar, kitchen and windows and comfortable seating.

I enjoyed the fun artwork- see- Girl and her Goat. : )

This logo was on all of the waitstaff's shirts and on our check. It was pretty cute.

Speaking of waitstaff, our waiter (s) were awesome! Very attentive and answered all of our questions. She knew everything about the dishes.

The menu is set up in three different categories. V, F and M. V for Vegetarian, F for Fish, M for Meat. Now that doesn't mean that all the Vegetarian dishes are meatfree, it just means that the star of the dish is vegetables. Same goes for the others. So naturally we ordered 1 V dish, 1 F dish and two M dishes : ) Our waitress told us to order 2-3 dishes per person. We ordered 4 dishes plus bread and trust me it was enough! We were super full!

First up, we ordered the Culture Club- homemade bread with homemade butter and beer cheese sauce.

The butter was amazing and the cheese sauce was insanely addicting. Maybe this is a reason I got so full so quick : ) The bread was served hot and we savored every delicious bite.

Next up we ordered the squash blossom rangoon. Did you guys know that my ultimate favorite bad-for-you-food is Crab Rangoons? I'm completely addicted and in love with those fried little guys. So when I saw a take on crab rangoons in the form of squash blossoms, I had to try them. And let me just tell you, these were so unique and delicious!

The presentation was gorgeous as well. Served on a plank with some chive yogurt sauce with fried squash blossoms filled with a creamy crab filling and topped with almonds and mint.

Aren't they gorgeous?

In between dishes, I stalked Stephanie who had her back to me all night. I wish I had balls and asked for a photo, but I just couldn't do it. Stephanie finessed each dish before it went out to the patron. She seemed very much involved in every plate.

Our next dish was a F (fish) dish. Stephanie plays a lot on sweet and salty and this skate did just that.

This Hawaiian fish (I was pretty sure it was skate but maybe I'm wrong?) was light and flaky. The sweet broccoli rabe over a sweet nectarine kimchee sauce was the base of this dish and the topping was sauteed dandelion greens and caper brown butter. This dish definitely stood out.

I think Stephanie has a common thread in most of her dishes- she loves the sweet paired with the salty.

This theme I saw again in our next dish which was easily my favorite of the evening. I've even tried to recreate it myself since I've been home (with little success). This was a goat chorizo flatbread with eggplant and roasted red pepper sauce, green tomatoes, apples and fresh ricotta.

It was the epitome of sweet, salty and spicy. The whole thing was so well balanced that Dave and I were fighting over each delicious bite. The goat chorizo was so incredibly spicy but the matchstick sized apples complimented it well.

The last dish we ordered was the Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face. Yes you heard me correctly. I'm really not even sure what pig face is but it was served as a pieced together patty with potato sticks and a runny egg on top. Is there anything better than a runny egg?

The sauce was two fold- one was a tamarind sauce and the other was cilantro oil. Both complimented the dish very well. Now for some action shots of the cracking the runny egg!

It really did feel like we were eating the best hangover breakfast money could buy. Worth every delicious bite. This is one of their signature dishes and our waitress told us we must order it : )

Unfortunately, after so much food, we were unable to order dessert since we were so incredibly full. But check out their dessert list!

The Pork Fat doughnuts definitely intrigued me. Next time.

If you are in or visiting Chicago stop by Girl and the Goat. It is so worth it! I loved the atmosphere, the service and most importantly, the food was so unique and outstanding.

I highly recommend checking it out : )

Have you ever been to a Top Chef's restaurant?

9-11-01: A Tribute to NY

2011-09-11T22:22:00.002-04:00

I didn't think I had anything to write.

I didn't know if I wanted to write about 9/11/01.

I didn't think it seemed appropriate to tell you where I was.

Because I wasn't personally affected. Sure I was in Washington, D.C and my school was evacuated. I was 19 years old and pretty clueless about what was going on in the world. But I was safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been watching tributes all week. I've cried a million tears. I've been heartbroken by these stories.

I thought about how it could all relate to this blog.

And then I realized it does.

I have enormous respect and admiration for New York City and New Yorkers.

Boston will always be my home and have my heart. But I appreciate New York. Because New Yorkers are passionate about their city, about their people, their sports and cultures. I realize this every time I visit New York.

But I learned the most about New York the day I ran the

New York City Marathon.

I've run three marathons in less than a year. And all of them were hard for me. But the one I look back on the most is New York.

New York is a microcosm of different cultures, ethnicities, sights, religions, loves, beliefs and faiths.

During those 26.2 miles, you never get near Ground Zero.

But the passion of New Yorkers is all around you. People of New York love their city. And they should. The city is resilient and full of life even after the worst tragedy since Pearl Harbor.

So if you are running the New York City Marathon this year, dedicate the race to the fallen. Run this race for the people who can't. When you go through all five boroughs, realize how lucky you are to be there. Realize how special this marathon is. Look around at all the New Yorkers cheering for you and savor in the many different sights you get to see while running 26.2 miles. The race is inspirational and moving. And this year, it means even more.

New York is a special special place. A place I will always love.

I will never ever forget what happened on 9-11-01.

Take a look at this commercial if you haven't seen it. Truthfully, seeing this ad inspired this post.

Vacation Week

2011-09-05T20:13:00.000-04:00

Did you miss me? Did you know I was gone? I try to be pretty sneaky when I go on vacations. I'm not into the whole checking in on four square thing or telling people I'm leaving town on the internets. What can I say, I'm paranoid! Since Tuesday, my husband and I have been traveling the mid-west. We started in Chicago and had quite the trip! I've been going to midwest every year for as long as I can remember but I've never been to Chicago. No, our special place is Omaha, Nebraska. I know what you're thinking... Omaha?!? (Somewhere in the middle of America...) Well, I love Omaha! Not just because you can get the best corn in the world, but because its where my family is. Thats right, my mothers entire family lives in Omaha Nebraska and I love going back to visiting.

So here's a little preview of our amazing vacation to the midwest.
CHICAGO
Our vacation started at Girl & the Goat. We got into Chicago at 3pm and were at Stephanie Izard's restaurant (former Top Chef Winner) by 4:30. Yep, we ate dinner at 4:30pm and it was so worth it to be able to walk right in : ) Review on this amazing food to come...

We then headed to my buddy Greg's house and enjoyed drinks on his balcony with beautiful views of the city. Seriously, that's a lake? It looks like an ocean!!!!

The next day we started at Millenium Park visiting "The Bean." So much fun : )

And made it over to Sears (Willis) Tower where we took a picture on the glass plank. This is a huge deal to me since I am ridiculously scared of heights!

We had some authentic Deep Dish Pizza and had a battle of the two famous chains. (My review to come)

Visited the South Side for a White Sox game...

Ate Icream with Liquid Nitrogen with my friend Leah who also scored us the White Sox tix!

And finished our trip to Chicago with an Architectural Boat Tour and a Cubs game. Dave caught a foul ball!!! How amazing is that?

Chicago was a blast but the best part of this vacation was hanging out with my family in Nebraska. We had the worst flight getting into Omaha. We were on a small flight and there was a torrential rain/lightening storm as we made our way down but we landed safely : )

Saturday was spent cheering on the Huskers (Nebraska College Football) and eating Southern food while hanging out with family : )

We also had some fun at a local store with these amazing "Corn"huskers hats. I think these rival the cheese hats. I also think this might be the best picture of my brother and I ever taken : )

The weekend ended with professional family photos and a dinner out to celebrate my Papa's 93rd birthday.

I really couldn't have asked for a better week. The midwest gets a bad rap, but I loved every part of being out there. Chicago is totally a city I could see myself living in (if I ever decided to leave my beloved Boston which doesn't seem likely)! And Omaha will always have my heart. Omaha is a special place to me that I love visiting! Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so special. Stay tuned for some amazing Restaurant Reviews : )

How was your long weekend?

Running?

2011-09-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been running lately. Or doing much of anything. I think my body needs a well deserved break so I'm listening. I've run a few times but nothing blog worthy. I did manage to take this gorgeous picture while running around Lake Waban with my husband last week...

And we finished our run with a 400 sprint around the track in 79 seconds. Not too bad, but I would like to get back into the 60s at some point....

Since I feel like I need to take a running/working out hiatus, I thought I would link to my favorite running posts in the blog world in the past couple months. Just because I'm taking a break doesn't mean there hasn't been some amazing posts about the joy/love/excitement/hardships of our amazing sport. So tag along with me and READ these inspiring posts!

Emily's IRONMAN Report. I know it's over a month old but it is single-handedly the best race report I have ever read. READ IT.
Lauren's post on When Running SUCKS. LB is one of my favorite writers. She is also the running blogger I look up to the most. So if she can admit that well...yes... sometimes running does suck then I feel like I'm not alone. Her tips in this post are invaluable and you should all read it!
Dorothy's post on WANTS vs. Running. I want to get the feeling Dorothy gets while running and I know I will in the future, but I need a break right now. Dorothy is an amazing mother who in this post pushes her three children while running a 6:05 mile. Amazing? I think so.
Theodora's post on breaking 2 hours in the Freeport Half Marathon. How inspiring is this?
Angry Runner's post on Blogger Image Macro Pictures. Alright I know this really isn't about running, but it is WICKED funny and I loved it! It may be a bit mean, but it's definitely my kind of humor.
Susan's I Wonder Post. Its amazing how the brain wonders while running. I love hearing Susan's thoughts. This post rocked!
Kara Goucher's "Never Give Up" post. Kara recently competed in the 10K at the World Championships in South Korea. And unfortunately, it wasn't her race and she ended up getting lapped. But she didn't give up and this post is so inspiring.
Ali's post on "When did Running take over my life." I love this post because it bring me back to when I first fell in love with the sport...
Becky's post on the Fall Decision. This is the post Becky tells you why she is deferring her MCM number to next year. This is the post where she writes my favorite quote of all time. "Running makes me a runner, marathons do not."
And last but not least, if you love track as much as I do, watch Universal Sports coverage of the World Championships. I've been taping the coverage everyday and I love watching it every night. Track and sprints will always be my favorite event. I think the track is such a special place and I love watching these athletes compete at such a high level!

If you've read or written amazing and inspiring running posts, link them below! I need the motivation!

Restaurant Review: Market

2011-08-29T16:40:00.000-04:00

For awhile, Elina from Healthy and Sane and I have been g-chatting about meeting up for dinner and drinks. It took awhile but we finally coordinated during Restaurant Week here in Boston. We wanted to keep our party small so we could actually book a table and be able to chat. We invited two of our favorite foodies- Shannon from Tri2Cook and Cara from Caras Cravings. I've never met Cara or Shannon before so I was excited to hang out! We choose Market mainly because I've been dying to try it and Elina had rave reviews!

Elina, Cara and I met early at the Market Bar inside the W hotel in the Theater District/Chinatown. This is probably my least favorite area of Boston. I just never feel safe over here. But once I got inside and had a cocktail, all felt right in the world : )

Around 8, we met up with Shannon and were ready to sit. Unfortunately, our table wasn't ready until close to 8:30 even though our reservation was at 8pm. No big deal for us... we were all enjoying each other's company : )

When we sat down, our waiter tried to sell us on some appetizers but we all derailed the idea by telling him we wanted the Restaurant Week Menu.

But first things first. We needed drinks! We ordered a carafe of Sangria to share with the table. Our waiter informed us that a carafe would only fill 3 glasses. We told him to split it among four glasses. Another odd comment...

Pretty nails Elina : )

The Sangria was perfectly balanced and tasted fresh and delicious. I'm big into Sangria these days. For the first course, I ordered the Tuna Tartar.

My friend Gretchen went to Market earlier in the week and said that the Ginger Dressing overpowered the dish, but I disagreed. I loved this dish and loved the extra sauce. I thought it complimented the raw fish nicely. The crunch of the radishes was also a nice touch.

Elina ordered the Sweet Pea Soup and I stole a spoonful. Another great dish, but I'm happy with my choice!

For the main course, I had to go with the Short Ribs. Ever since I made Smitten Kitchen's recipe (twice actually) I'm immediately drawn to the ribs when I see it on a menu. Short Ribs are usually a really tender cut of meat that are cooked for hours upon hours until they are-fall-off-the-bone-delicious. These short ribs did not disappoint. The carrots were also so tender and sweet and I loved the sauce. I honestly just wish I had more of it : )

The beautiful orange color was a standout. Both Elina and I couldn't resist! Cara ordered the Salmon and Shannon ordered the chicken. Everyone seemed pretty happy with their meals.

I devoured every bite and loved my dish. I was so full, I barely had room for dessert. Or so I thought. My dessert was finished in no time!

The layers of almond was so satisfying without being too rich or two sweet. The homemade whip-cream and glazed apricots balanced the dish out so well. Shannon and I ordered this dish. Cara and Elina ordered Raspberry Cheesecake Sundae which ended up being Raspberry Cheesecake flavored Ice Cream with Raspberry Sorbet. Tricky!

After we paid and were wrapping up dinner, the fire-alarm went off which made the night even more comical. All in all, the four of us enjoyed a fabulous meal that was well balanced and delicious. But the best part of the meal was most definitely spending time with some of my favorite bloggers!!

Did you go anywhere fun for Restaurant Week? Link to it in the comments so I can check it out!

Eggplant Love

2011-08-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

It's eggplant season and I've been getting my fair share in my CSA from Stillman's Farm. I made a dish that I first saw while pinning that I truly believe should be on every Italian Restaurants appetizer menu. It was THAT good.

I'm always looking to make and create dinners that steer away from the norm. When I saw these Eggplant "Sandwiches," from Real Simple they got put on my MUST-MAKE-NOW List. And they were so simple! REAL Simple in fact : )

I mean really... how good do these look? Lightly battered and fried eggplant as the "sandwich bread" with yellow and red heirloom tomatoes, basil, arugula, goat cheese and fresh mozzarella. You really can't go wrong. And I guess you could bake them to make them healthier, but thats no fun, right?

Eggplant "Sandwiches"

adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup of panko

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch rounds (8)

1/2 cup of canola oil

salt, pepper

1 cup of arugula (fresh from your CSA!)

2 medium heirloom tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup of basil

2 ounces of mozzarella cheese sliced

2 ounces of herb goat cheese, sliced

Instructions:

Place the flour, eggs and panko in separate bowls or small plate. Dip the eggplant slices in the flour, then eggs and then breadcrumbs. Try to make sure the panko adheres to the eggplant. Heat half the oil in a non stick pan over medium heat.

(Curious about how to figure out if the oil is hot enough? Use this little trick I learned from all my years watching Rachel Ray- use the end of your wooden spoon and if you see little bubble forming around it, its hot enough so throw down your eggplant!)

(Source)

Cook half the eggplant until golden brown and crispy, about 2-4 minutes on each side. Then transfer to a paper towel lined place. Wipe out the skillet and repeat process with oil and eggplant. Then form your "sandwiches." Place one piece of eggplant, arugula, 1 or 2 tomato slices, slices of mozzarella cheese, basil, and goat cheese. Then place another piece of eggplant on top of the stack.

I loved these! The eggplant softened enough that it really was just like eating a sandwich : ) I even used my hands (hey I was at home : )

Two of these guys were really filling. Somedays I really think I could be vegetarian. Somedays...

Also while pinning, I came across this amazing recipe for Baked Eggplant Burgers. I was led to a site called The Tolerant Vegan. Nikki writes about being vegan but also being human and not beating herself up when she thinks about or craves a piece of cake or cheese. I love her recipes and in the short time I've been reading, I've already made two of her recipes! (I just ate the broccoli burgers for lunch).

But back to the eggplant burgers. I changed up a few things but the idea is still the same- roasted eggplant blended together with beans and other vegetables (& Hummus!) and then you bake the hell out of it until it forms into a burger. MMmm... Another great way to use up the insane amount of eggplant I've been getting from my CSA in a non-traditional way.

This made about 6 burgers for me and the depth of flavor in these burgers was so impressive. I was certain they were going to be mushy but that couldn't be further from the truth. So if you have lots of eggplant laying around and you're looking to do something different and fun with them, make these burgers... and check out Nikki's blog- you will love it!
Baked Eggplant Burgers
Adapted from The Tolerant Vegan
Ingredients:
1 medium sized eggplant, or 3 japanese eggplants
1 can of cannellini beans
2 green onions
1/2 green pepper
1/4 cup of arugula
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt, cumin, dash of creole seasoning
1/2 cup of your favorite hummus (I used garlic flavored and omitted the garlic above), plus more for serving
1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
Instructions:
Roast eggplant by cutting the pieces into circles and brushing it with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes on each side. Once eggplant is done roasting, turn down the oven to 400 degrees. Place eggplant, onions, beans, pepper, arugula, salt, cumin and creole seasoning with hummus into the food processor and pulse for 15-30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the panko. Using your hands, form the burgers into 6 patties or however many your mixture makes. (They will be SUPER sticky!) Place on either a foil lined baking pan or use a silicon sheet and bake for 45 minutes, turning them over halfway through.

So when these burgers were finished- they were so TASTY! I loved every bite! And since most of you know that I like to make dinner within 30 minutes, I used my prep ahead method to get these on the table fast. Meaning, I cooked them while we were eating the dinner above. Then I just reheated in the toaster the next night and served them with hummus, tomatoes and a salad with heirloom tomatoes, arugula, basil, and mozzarella cheese!

So what do you think? Did I intrigue you to try something fun like this with eggplant?

CSA Week 9- Summer Corn Love

2011-08-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

These weeks are flying by. I'm already at CSA Week 9!

I know I say this every week, but the amount of produce is getting insane. This doesn't even show everything we got!!

Peaches, Green Beans, Tomatoes (5), Corn (4), Cucumbers (too many to count), Broccoli (4), Green Pepper, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Japanese Eggplant, Eggplant, Romaine Lettuce.

I still had corn from last week so I KNEW I had to make Joanne's Corn Pesto. It was singing out to me :)! And pretty simple!

Corn Pesto with Rice Pasta

Ingredients:

2 bacon slices, cut into small pieces
4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
1 summer squash, cut down the middle and half mooned
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces rice pasta or pasta of your choice
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced (this is totally optional- I had it so I added it in)
3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided
Instructions:
Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown then transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Saute summer squash for a few minutes until cooked through then remove to a plate. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn mixture is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer all but 1 1/2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Place the rest of the corn mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves, and add in the summer squash. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon.
I served this with a make your own caprese salad with farm tomatoes and basil. Mmmm....

I don't think I will ever get enough of this combination. Summer tomatoes... please don't end...

The next recipe I made was Corn Cakes. I saw a recipe like this in Everyday Food and also on We are Not Martha and I couldn't wait to make them myself. I adapted the recipe quite a bit and added a little twist- my favorite seasoning: Creole Seasoning. If you don't have this spice, you should buy it. It transforms ANY dish in my opinion. This is the one I have! I'm obsessed!!! : )

With the addition of my secret ingredient, I absolutely adored these little cakes. They pack a ton of flavor and I enjoyed every bite : )

PS- curious what's in creole seasoning? Or don't have it? USE THIS!

salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika!

I served these cakes with an impulse buy at the grocery store- cajun marinated shrimp skewers FOR $1.50!!! SCORE!

Back to the cakes...

Creole Spiced Corn Cakes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of EVOO

3 cups of corn (3-4 ears)

1 small zucchini, grated

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

salt and pepper

creole seasoning (to taste)

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 eggs

1/4 cup of cornmeal

1/3 cup of feta cheese

Instructions:

Heat oil in a skillet and add corn and zucchini, season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until vegetables are soft. Put corn and zucchini in bowl to cool then add the peppers, scallions, eggs, cornmeal, feta cheese and creole seasoning. Stir well.

At the same time, clean out your skillet and add another tablespoon or so of either olive oil or canola oil. Form cakes out of the corn mixture and drop them into the hot oil. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. I served my cakes along some cajun shrimp skewers!

I loved the depth of flavor from these cakes! Some recipes I looked at called for jalapenos, but I always tend to make things too hot when I used jalapenos. That's why I love Creole Seasoning! It adds the punch without wiping out the rest of the flavors. I wanted to enhance the sweet corn, not hide or ruin it. And it worked!

If you are looking for a way to use up your summer corn and you're sick of grilling it, try these recipes out. They were great!

What's the most unique way you've used farm fresh corn?

Weekend in Portland (& Two Restaurant Reviews!)

2011-08-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

Remember a week ago I went to Maine? Well, I'm finally recapping the delicious restaurants we went to and our fun weekend : ) Immediately after I showed up, we headed to Portland Lobster Company so Theodora and I could satisfy our Lobster Roll cravings.

Once we ordered we got these nifty buzzers!

Soon enough we picked up our lobster rolls and they DEFINITELY satisfied our cravings.

Buttered Lobster Rolls are certainly preferred for me over mayonnaise based ones and this one did not disappoint. It was delicious and Theo and I gobbled it right down : )

Oh hey there Theo, are you taking some pictures of your food? Food Bloggers....

After lunch, we walked around Old Port and then headed to the beach. Beach and Lobster Rolls in one day?! Could this day get any better? (It did, because later on... smoked gouda and crusty bread was involved...)

With my Stonewall Kitchen goodies!
We hung out at Pine Point for a few hours before heading home to carbo (and cheese load) in preparation for Sunday's Half Marathon.

Here is our pre-race living room shot! If you haven't read the recap of the Freeport Half Marathon, check it out here. Oh and then read Theodora's! And if you've already read them, read them again! Theo broke 2 hours!!!

After showering and resting for a bit, we headed to the Front Room in Portland for lunch and scored a nice outside table. I was craving eggs and bacon and this sandwich sang out to me.

I switched the blue cheese for goat cheese. It was fabulous! And hit the spot!

I definitely recommend the Brunch at The Front Room if you are in the area! After brunch, Theo and I left Lindsay and headed back to Boston so Theo could make her train. It was an awesome weekend with awesome friends (that I miss already!)

Cannot wait for another trip up to Maine- hopefully it won't be too long.

Special shout out to my second Mommy Judy! Judy went out of her way to chauffeur us around, take our pictures, make us dinner and hang out with us all weekend long. It was a blast : )

What's your favorite place for a Lobster Roll?

CSA Week 8 & Cheesy Dinners

2011-08-18T13:20:00.002-04:00

The amount of produce I am getting in my half share is pretty amazing.

Last week in CSA Week 8, I got:

Summer Squash, Blueberries, Arugula, Eggplant, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Corn, Heirloom Tomatoes, Green Pepper, Potatoes, Radishes, and Kale.

I was in the mood for an easy dinner so I also picked up a loaf of french bread at the market. When I got home I took 5 ingredients and made it into a delicious sandwich!

This sandwich is modeled after my favorite sandwich at Al's Cafe on State Street. Now I don't often buy lunch during the week but when I do, Al's is a staple. Where else can you get Gourmet Subs for $5 in Boston?! Impressive right? Anyway, my favorite sandwich is the State Street Cafe Special.

Sounds easy enough right? So I made it at home with fresh arugula instead of basil. I also used hot pepper jelly instead of balsamic because I didn't have any. Dinner done in a flash.

Remember how I got some planters the first week of my CSA? Well what I thought was basil turned into peppers. Can someone tell me if my pepper is a red pepper or is going to turn green?

I also have SO much Kale and Chives. I need to actually do something with that! Soon, I promise.

Oh, and what's that you see in the background?

Just my husband smoking a cigar, sipping on some whiskey while reading a book on the Civil War. He is most definitely a man's man. : )

So what else did I make in CSA Week 8? I made Shannon's Zucchini and Kale Lasagna.

Only I also used pasta noodles in addition to the zucchini "noodles." Because I don't have a mandoline, I can't slice my zucchini the same and I always get worried it won't stay together.

Cheesy vegetarian dinners always win in my book.

The next recipe I made was adapted from Kalyn's Chicken Pesto or Pesto Chicken. Whenever I have greens that are starting to wilt, I always make pesto. My swiss chard and kale was starting to look a bit dead so I blanched that and mixed it in the food processor with pine nuts, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and EVOO. I think I had a couple basil leaves so I threw that in too.

I spread the pesto on the bottom of a pan, put my chicken pieces on top and spread more pesto over the top. I then added more parmesan cheese and tomato slices and baked it in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then I sprinkled basil on top.

And with this dish I served Whole Roasted Stuffed Eggplant, a recipe I saw on a new blog that I love- Proud Italian Cook.

What is this beauty you ask? Well it's a delicious caprese eggplant stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil. This is simple.

All you do is slice up the eggplant- I cut through about 6X. Then you drizzle that with salt, pepper and olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven until tender. Once it's tender, stuff mozzarella cheese and juicy tomatoes into the eggplant and place back into the oven until the cheese melts.

Ummm yes. This was delicious. In hindsight, I probably should have fanned out the eggplant and cut through completely so it gets more tender. Next time I know.

Cheesy dinner, served. Delicious indeed.

Theodora mentioned that I cook a lot of cheesy meals and that's probably true but I can't help myself. What can I say?

Oh right, that's what I can say. "Will Run for Cheese." YUM.

Have you made anything fun with eggplant lately? I got tons more yesterday!

Breakfasts of Champions

2011-08-17T16:32:00.000-04:00

If I had my way, I would eat a NY bagel with tons of cream cheese everyday of the week. But well, since I'm not an IRONMAN, that isn't exactly realistic in my diet. So I try to supplement my love of bagels {and bacon and cheese} with healthy breakfasts I can eat during the work week. You already know I love my baked banana oatmeal... well recently I made Oatcakes, inspired from my new Super Natural Everyday Cookbook by Heidi Swanson.

Oatcakes
Ingredients:
2 cups of rolled oats
1.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of flax meal
1/3 cup of coconut oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup of Earth Balance
3/4 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside. Combine the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, and flax in a large bowl. In the book you are supposed to {combine the coconut oil, earth balance, maple syrup and sugar in a saucepan and let it slowly melt together}. I totally skipped this step. My coconut oil was already liquid because it's summer and I melted the earth balance and stirred those ingredients together. Then I poured the coconut mixture over the oat mixture. Last I added the mashed banana and stirred it all together. Then spoon the dough into the muffin cups, almost filling them. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges of each oatcake are lightly brown. Remove from pan and pack away for weekly breakfasts!

I will tell you guys that I thought these were awfully doughy. I used a half cup less flour and 1 cup less oats then what was originally called for and I still felt like they were a bit doughy but still a good breakfast! I bring all 12 of these guys in on Monday and eat them throughout the week for breakfast!

The other recipe I'm loving lately is an adapted Zucchini Muffin recipe from All Recipes. My friend Lisa made these and brought them in and they were delicious. So she sent me the recipe so I could make them myself. When I looked at the recipe I saw this: 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of white sugar and 1.5 cups of flour. That's not healthy enough for me so I adapted it : ) And I'm happy to say they are just as good and do easy to make!

Zucchini Muffins:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of white flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, cardamon, cloves)
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/2 cup of sugar
1.5 cups of grated zucchini
2/3 cup of chopped walnuts
Instructions:
Spray 1 12 cup muffin pan and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, soda and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together then add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well incorporated. Pour into muffin pan and cook for 20-30 minutes, checking often.

I've been enjoying these all week and loving every delicious bite. I think this is the perfect breakfast or snack to get you through the workday.

And lastly, my favorite breakfast that utilizes the goodies I got while in Portland, Maine over the weekend at Stonewall Kitchen: Wild Maine Blueberry Jam and Syrup.

Clearly, I just had to make pancakes. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking & Pancake Mix. Pancakes on a weekday, in a flash. Along with following the recipe on the box, I also used a spoonful of jam and a handful of blueberries from my CSA.

mmmm, this is the best syrup I've ever had. I love you Stonewall Kitchen!

So there you have it. Three healthy breakfasts that you don't have to feel guilty about.

What's your favorite {healthy} breakfast that isn't oatmeal or yogurt?

{Did I mention I don't like either of those... I know I know, I shouldn't be a food blogger!}

Restaurant Review: La Cantina

2011-08-16T21:06:00.000-04:00

Does this sign look familiar to any of you Boston Marathon runners? You pass it on the route!

Located in Framingham, MA La Cantina has been around since 1946 and resides in the same spot where it was originally built. Leo and Fanny Mencoboni actually took their life savings and opened La Cantina next to their small grocery and meat market. With all the success La Cantina has, I can pretty safely say they got much more than their original investment.

I've been going to La Cantina since high school so when my husband and I moved close to the area, I knew I had to bring him there. Four years later, it's become our GO-TO Italian restaurant. In fact, we order from there 2-4X a month. And although I am a foodie, I order the same dish every time we order from there: Lobster ravioli. I love it sooooo much, that it's become my signature pre-race/pre-long run meal. It really is that good!

So... on that note, I have a confession to make. I make fun of my in-laws for going to the same restaurant every weekend and never trying any new place. (They go to Jimmy's Steer House in Saugus if you're interested). Well I got news for you. When I find a place I really REALLY love and a dish I can't get enough of, I'm totally predictable as well. La Cantina is that place to me : )

Also if you are ever in the area, La Cantina has Lobsterfest every Thursday from 11:30am until close. Which means you can get delicious Lobster for $11.99 along with several other amazing Lobster dishes.

So... a couple Thursdays ago, my mother, husband and I went to La Cantina around 7pm. And not surprisingly, we had to wait. So while we waited, we got some cocktails.

I got the special drink: Mixed Berry Infused Vodka Martini for $5.99. See that strawberry? Yeah, well, it tasted like pure vodka. I think I was drunk off one bite.

Once we were seated, we quickly ordered an appetizer. We got the Calamari and it was delicious. Served on a bed of Arugula with Lemon Juice and a homemade tartar sauce, it was the perfect snack before dinner.

After we placed our orders, our waitress brought over their signature iceberg salad. What makes it their signature you ask?

THE DRESSING. Ever heard of Fanny's Italian Dressing? Otherwise known as the best dressing on the planet! Dave and I stock up on this stuff and we use it on our salads at home all the time. If you see it in your grocery store, buy it. You won't be sorry. It's the owners and founders recipe and the dressing is sold online, in the restaurant and in local grocery stores.

For dinner I ordered {what else} the Lobster Ravioli & Lobster Cream Sauce. They don't skimp with the lobster in this dish. It's worth every penny of that $17 dollars.

There's also tons of lobster pieces inside the ravs. I seriously can't say enough about this dish. I love the sauce, I love the pasta and I love lobster!

My mom loves lobster too, apparently.

See I hated it, clearly.

So the moral of this story... if you live in the 'burbs or are passing through the metro west, give La Cantina a try. You won't be disappointed. It is old-school Italian food that makes everyone happy. And it's only 4 short miles from the start of the Boston Marathon : )

Do you have a go-to dish at your local italian restaurant?

And people from MA- tell me your favorite Italian restaurant!