Enjoying Some “Choice Eats”

Posted on March 23, 2010 | 10 comments

Good morning all! How is your Tuesday going so far? Mine is already busy, busy. I also have a feeling the rest of this week is going to be a little bit crazy.

But first, let me do a quick recap of my busy day yesterday. After missing my morning run, I finally dragged myself out of bed and ate some Kashi Heart to Heart Cinnamon cereal for breakfast.

My workday was very busy – I was tying up loose ends and prepping for a big training later this week. What I’m trying to say is that I forgot to take photos of my food throughout the day. I know – I’m a bad blogger. I had a granola bar as a my mid-morning snack, my regular salad for lunch and a pomegranate Chobani yogurt for an afternoon snack.

But the monotony of my daily foods was soon overshadowed by my “dinner” fun. After work I met my friend Katie and we headed to the Village Voice’s Choice Eats Tasting Event. This event featured 50+ restaurants and food from over 35 nations, including Vietnamese, Italian, Uzbekistani, Brazilian, Cambodian, Russian, Tunisian, and Cajun/Creole among many others.

Katie and I dove right in and tried so many things. Here are just a few snapshots:

This meatball, mashed potatoes and drizzle of cranberry sauce was delicious and came from Smorgas Chef.

We then had some delicious mac n’ cheese and I forgot to write down where it was from.

One of both of our absolute favorites was this mini salad with sweet glazed pork on top, along with pickled shalots and cilantro. Yum! This was from Xie Xie:

 I took this kind of cool action shot while we were walking around. This place was über crowded.

 
Despite the many, many vendors and food options, there was a clear winner in our book. We tried a whipped cheesecake with blueberry on top and it was divine. In fact, we went back to Spot Dessert Bar’s table twice! 😉

Yes, technically this was a sweet, but it was eaten for the sake of taste testing.

All in all, Katie and I had a great time. The event went until 9:30 p.m., but they began to run out of food around 8:00 p.m. At that point, we’d had our fill anyway and couldn’t eat anymore. I also sipped on three mini cups of wine…seriously mini. There were tons of beverage stations as well, but we were more focused on the food. Here we are at the end of the night:

There were definitely some way-too-crowded moments with a bit of bumping and pushing, but overall the amount of people was tolerable. I definitely think I’d hit this event up again next year.

One of the best parts about the event is their charitable partner: Slow Food NYC. “Slow Food NYC is the local chapter of a national association that is part of an international movement. Slow Food USA, with over 200 chapters in the USA, is dedicated to achieving a good, clean, and fair food system, where good means food that is real and culturally rooted, clean means food that is produced sustainably and humanely, and fair means that those who produce our food are treated fairly and that everyone has access to good, clean food. 

A portion of the Choice Eats ticket sales will be donated to Slow Food NYC. The donation will be used to maintain and expand these important Harvest Time Programs.”

Have you ever attended a tasting event like this?

This event was absolutely huge, but also a lot of fun.

I headed home in the pouring rain – not fun. I made it home by almost 9 p.m. and watched some of Dancing with the Stars and then headed to bed.

I expect a busy day today and then probably a 5-mile training run on the treadmill since the rain has continued. I’ve got a 15k race coming up this weekend which I’m pretty excited and nervous about. I won’t be racing it, but I’ll run it as a training run. I need to run 18 miles this weekend, so the 15k will be the first 9.3 miles of that long run. Fun, fun – right?

Have you ever run a race as a training run? I’ve seen a few other bloggers mention doing this (like this lady and this gal). And they are both pretty darn speedy, so maybe there’s something to the idea. I just have to focus on not running it too hard and getting caught up in the racing atmosphere or else my long run will turn into a painful run.

Have a nice day all!

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Brooklyn and the Blogger Hubby

Posted on March 22, 2010 | 5 comments

Good morning all – how was your weekend? Mine was busy and good, but I feel a bit exhausted at the moment. I was supposed to go for a run this morning, but my allergies were out of control and I felt not so hot. So I bailed and will have to add that run to the end of my week.

After my long run on Saturday (yay for 17 miles!), I headed downtown to meet my friends Rachael and Stephanie at the Brooklyn Bridge. From there we walked over the bridge into Brooklyn. I can’t believe it took me so long to finally walk the Brooklyn Bridge. It was very pretty, but also very busy. It was so crowded, I didn’t even want to stop to take some pics.

When we got into Brooklyn, we headed to Rachael’s new apartment in Carroll Gardens. It was super cute and in a fun area. We went to dinner right around the corner, but I can not for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant. Rachael and I got risotto, she got seafood and I got mushroom. It was amazing. Stephanie’s pesto pasta dish looked awesome as well. Here are the two risotto dishes:

Seafood Risotto

Mushroom Risotto

So yummy! Afterwards we hung out at Rachael’s apartment and watched a not-so-great movie: New York, I Love You. There were soo many big name actors in this movie and it was about New York, we thought for sure it would be good. It was not. I actually fell asleep about halfway through. Oops! I guess the 17 miles finally hit me.

On Sunday we woke up around 9:00, had some breakfast and then headed out. My allergies were going a bit haywire because of the doggie and they just continued to flare up all day Sunday and into the night. I told Hubby when I got home that his hopes of ever owning a dog are slim to none.  

Do you suffer from animal allergies or seasonal allergies?

My allergies to dogs are decidedly worse than to cats. Murphy is one lucky kitty cat.

While I was out exploring Brooklyn, it seems Hubby was spending some quality time in the kitchen. I came home to find these:

A huge plate of white chocolate chip cookies. And he also made some venison stew this weekend. He documented his progress – what a little secret blogger at heart! 🙂

Before

Oops – he also snuck in a Murphy snuggling shot:

After – when the stew was complete:

After a Sunday full of laundry (3 loads), vacuuming and cleaning. I was happy to not have to cook and enjoyed some of Hubby’s venison stew:

And I know I gave up sweets for lent, but that giant plate of cookies is bound to get stale, so for the sake of not wasting food I also ate a few.

I try to be helpful, you know?

I’m excited for this evening. I’m attending the Village Voice Choice Eats (thanks Megan for sharing the event info on your blog!) with my friend Katie. Then tomorrow it’s back to the grind, marathon training and hopefully 100% health. 

And congrats to all those people who ran the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday! I saw a ton of runners on my way home on Sunday morning and I was just the tiniest bit jealous (ok really jealous).  What a perfect day for it. Have a good Monday all!

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Posted in Bloggers, Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

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Saturday’s Successful 17

Posted on March 20, 2010 | 11 comments

Good morning! I just finished a 17 mile run and I feel surprisingly good! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had some running buddies for part of it. Seriously, I think it helps so much. Katherine and Liz ran with me for about 9 miles and then I ran the remainder of my 17 alone. We talked about some pretty exciting stuff. I found out Katherine’s good news (but I won’t tell) and we celebrated Liz finding out she was placed at her top choice hospital for her upcoming residency! Congrats to both!

It seemed a little chilly when I first got up this morning, so I wore shorts, a tank and a long sleeve shirt. I knew the long sleeve shirt was a mistake within the first three miles. We headed toward Central Park from our usual meet-up spot around 81st and York. From there were did a full exterior loop and then hit the bridal path upper part for a bit more – topping out at 9 miles. They headed out the East 90th entrance and I headed around the loop again. Boy it got really hot by the time I finished around 10:30. Here are the full 17 stats:

Mile 1 – 9:44
Mile 2 – 8:51
Mile 3 – 8:55
Mile 4 – 9:11
Mile 5 – 8:49
Mile 6 – 9:04
Mile 7 – 8:57
Mile 8 – 9:15
Mile 9 – 9:16
Mile 10 – 8:40
Mile 11 – 8:57
Mile 12 – 9:07
Mile 13 – 9:05
Mile 14 – 8:43
Mile 15 – 8:50
Mile 16 – 8:40
Mile 17 – 8:49

Total mileage – 17.04 miles in 2:33:33

I am feeling a little bit sore, but not altogether that bad. Time to hit the shower and get ready to head to Brooklyn to hang with some lovely lady friends! And what a gorgeous day out! So amazing. The people running the NYC Half Marathon tomorrow are going to have an amazing day. Good luck to all those runners!

What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?

I hope you can get out and enjoy the nice weather! 🙂 Have a great weekend.

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Spring is in the Air!

Posted on March 19, 2010 | 19 comments

Good morning all. Sorry I have been MIA, but the past few days have been crazy busy with work, St. Paddy’s Day fun and marathon training.

I started Wednesday off with a nice 4.5 mile run with Liz. The last time I ran in the morning we watched as the sun rose around 6:15. This time there was no sun on the horizon – it was a dark morning. Our splits were:

Mile 1 – 9:09
Mile 2 – 8:53
Mile 3 – 9:09
Mile 4 – 9:33
.53 – 4:31

Total mileage – 4.53 in 41:17 

When I woke up to head out for our run my hip was feeling very tight. But as we got moving it started to actually feel a little bit better. I think my body was not prepared for my super fast run on Tuesday night.

I’m not going to post all my eats for the past two days because there were a lot and I didn’t get a chance to photograph many of them.  I did take a few St. Paddy’s day pics though!

Here is me out in my green gear, trying to drink a Guinness.

I say trying because I only drank about 1/3 of it. I poured the rest into Bill’s beer. I really wanted to drink a glass of wine when we went out, but literally, not a soul in the bar had a wine and I knew I’d feel like a fool ordering one.

We went to three bars on St. Paddy’s day because we were searching for food. Yup – while everyone else was focused on drinking, Hubby and I each had our minds on food (Hubby also has his mind on Guinness though). At the second bar we went to, they were serving corned beef sandwiches, which was what Hubby wanted. But I wanted no part of that.

After he finished his gross-looking sammy, we left that bar in search of some nachos for me to snack on. We finally found The Back Page on 3rd Ave, which was serving food. I ordered a giant plate of nachos.

P.S. – these had WAY too much crap on them. We literally had to dig to find the chips. I still like making my own nachos better than I like most restaurant/bar nachos.

Hubby munched on some nachos as well, and enjoyed a few more pints of Guinness.

So much so that he had a Guinness “stach.”

He’s a little silly…

We stayed out with the crazy St. Paddy’s day partiers until about 9 p.m. – I know we’re so old! All in all, I had 1/3 of a Guinness and 1 Bud Light at the Back Page and then we called it quits. I took one “self portrait” before we headed out.

Thursday was a normal day with some normal eats. I was soo busy at work with a big project we are trying to wrap up. I may be a little scarce towards the end of next week as we launch the project and I devote about 4 hours of Wed, Thurs and Friday to it. Eek!

But anyway – after work yesterday I had another 8 mile run on my marathon training plan. Seriously – Hal Higdon is trying to kill me. I used his intermediate plan as a basis for my plan, but moved some of the runs around a little. And boy did these mid-week 8 milers sneak up on me. I still felt a twinge in my hip (p.s. – thanks for the stretching suggestions!), so I wanted to take my run slow. I had mixed success with that:

Mile 1 – 8:32
Mile 2 – 8:14
Mile 3 – 8:26
Mile 4 – 7:46
Mile 5 – 9:00
Mile 6 – 8:32
Mile 7 – 8:45
Mile 8 – 8:52

Total Mileage – 8 miles in 1:08:14

Ok – so I know about half of those splits aren’t taking it easy. And then yes, I know mile 4 is pretty ridiculous, but there was a reason. I ran on the East River Promenade and headed north to about 115 St. As I turned around and headed back, a big group of high school (I assume) boys trotted down one of the ramps and were basically running right beside me. Umm hello – awkward. Especially when I didn’t have headphones on and could clearly hear them talking about me. And then when they began making little yelps and noises, I decided it was time to pull ahead and get the heck out of there. Hence my speedy 7:46 pace. 

And Mom, before you read this and freak out, there were many other people around that area running, biking, etc., so I wasn’t in any danger, just kind of uncomfortable.  

Have you ever had a weird, scary or uncomfortable running experience? How did you handle it?

After my run I felt pretty good – the hip felt okay, but I was tired. Hubby and I did enjoy a nice steak last night with some broccoli on the side, but I forgot to upload the picture. I also had a banana with peanut butter for dessert. Then I headed to bed at about 10:15 and slept like a rock.

I also wanted to post that I finished Angela’s Ashes on St. Patrick’s Day – how appropriate right?! I hope to have a review coming soon, but I also feel like everyone has already read the book. All the same, I like to record my thoughts on it.

My next book is the The Help. I started reading it on the subway yesterday and last night before bed. It’s definitely very different and it was hard to get the dialect at first, but now it’s flowing.

I am definitely looking forward to the weekend and the nice weather we’re supposed to have in the city. I think it’s supposed to reach 72 degrees out tomorrow! Have a great weekend all and get outside if you can!

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Posted in Holidays, Running, Uncategorized

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Ok, Who Put Speed in my Seltzer?

Posted on March 17, 2010 | 15 comments

No seriously – someone must have. I am pushing my daily food recap out of this post so I can talk first and foremost about something magical (or speed-induced) that happened last night. I had an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. run. I actually think maybe my Garmin is wrong. Or maybe it was the stars aligning, the super-charged rice lunch I had, the extra water I drank, the lovely compliment Kelly paid me yesterday (she labeled me as a “real” runner), the fact that it was my first time wearing shorts this season, the balmy temps, the beautiful sun or the plethora of runners out in Central Park. Whatever it was, whatever the combination – I don’t want to lose it and I want it with me on the day of my marathon.

Seriously – I am in shock by these run stats. Here it goes:

Mile 1 – 8:24
Mile 2 – 7:47 (I know!!)
Mile 3 – 7:45 (what, what!)
Mile 4 – 7:59 (oh okay, it’s all over)
Mile 5 – 7:42 (oh no it’s not!)
Mile 6 – 7:54 (hanging in there)
Mile 7 – 7:56
Mile 8 – 8:06

Total mileage: 8.04 in 1:04:04 (maybe 4 is my lucky number?)

I know for many people, these stats aren’t that impressive. I know there are super runners out there that may balk at these times and wonder what I’m freaking out about. But holy moly, for me they are insane. Out of control. I honestly don’t know where this came from or how I sustained that pace.

Have you ever experienced a run like this? Blind-sided by your out-of-nowhere speed?

I’m pretty sure this was a one shot deal and I need to be prepared for the fact that my runs will likely never look like this again. Total fluke.

Plus, after my run I noticed some pain in my hip. I’ve been trying to stretch it out, but that sure is a hard area to stretch. Any suggestions?

I did a recovery run this morning (actual recap to come tomorrow) and that seemed to help a bit, but I know I need to be stretching it some more.

I’m going to forego my food recap for yesterday and just say that it was pretty normal. Oatmeal in the morning, mid-morning snack, leftover rice and chicken dish for lunch (good carbs before my run), Chobani yogurt and an apple around 3:45. Somehow, I guess that fuel combo was the right mix!

Oh and btw – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! I’m wearing green – how bout you?! The Hubby wants to go out for a few drinks tonight and since I got my recovery run in this morning and had an awesome run last night, I think I am totally entitled! Will you be celebrating this evening – or today? I still wish the parade was on the weekend. Have a great one all! 🙂

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Posted in Holidays, Running, Uncategorized

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Snack Attack!

Posted on March 16, 2010 | 10 comments

Good morning all. It’s Tuesday and I’m hoping today’s work day goes by as fast as yesterday’s. I was pretty busy. And I can’t believe it’s already mid-March. I’ve officially become a weather stalker – checking weather.com multiple times throughout my day. I can’t believe how nice the next few days are supposed to be. I’m hoping the rain will hold off until at least Sunday so I can get my nice long run in on Saturday.

If that isn’t beauty, I don’t know what is!

So I’ll just do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats. Breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart Cinnamon cereal.

I went with a light lunch after all the eating and drinking this past weekend. I was still feeling a little bit tired and decided some veggies would help. I had a salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, walnuts, artichoke hearts and chickpeas with balsamic vinaigrette.

My afternoon snack was Chobani yogurt with some Galaxy Granola and Kashi Go Lean cereal.

After work I headed to the gym since raindrops were falling on my head and I didn’t feel like running my 4 miles in the rain. I did a nice, easy 4 miles on the treadmill in 34:22.

Then I headed home with the fullest intention of starting dinner as soon as I got in. However, I started uploading photos from the bridal shower and bachelorette this weekend, while snacking on some Life cereal and before I knew it, I was kind of full. Not good. I totally had a snack attack without even realizing it.

I made dinner anyway, with the hope that maybe I would be hungry later. I tried out this recipe from Cooking Light.com.

Parmesan Chicken and Rice

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

  • 1  tablespoon  olive oil
  • 1/2  cup  chopped onion
  • 1  teaspoon  bottled minced garlic
  • 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
  • 1  (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
  • 3/4  pound  skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2  cup  dry white wine
  • 1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
  • 1  cup  uncooked instant rice
  • 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add chicken; sauté 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned. Add wine, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.

Stir in rice and broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese and parsley.

I had to cook everything a little bit longer than indicated, but it came out pretty well.

It will be my lunch for today though, since I really only ate a few spoonfuls last night because I was so full. Seriouly – Life cereal is addicting. I may not be buying it again. I just happened to spot it at the grocery store and felt a sudden urge to buy it.

How do you keep from snacking before dinner? Or is there a go-to snack you eat that isn’t too filling?

It looks like a beautiful day outside! I’ve got an 8 mile training run on my marathon training plan today, so I’m hoping I can get a quick Central Park run in before it gets dark out tonight.

Have a great Tuesday all – enjoy the lovely weather if you’ve got it!

10 Comments

Posted in Recipes, Running, Uncategorized

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No Rest for the Weary

Posted on March 15, 2010 | 5 comments

Good morning all – have you adjusted to the new time yet? I was actually so exhausted from my busy weekend that I was able to go to bed fairly early last night and adjust to the change a little bit easier.

My weekend was fabulous, but exhausting. I travelled to Albany on Friday night and had a nice dinner with my parents at Beff’s.

We were home pretty early and I went to bed at a decent hour so I could run on Saturday morning before the impending rain and all my activities. I was up by 6 a.m. and ate an English muffins with peanut butter and bananas for fuel. I was out the door a little before 7 a.m. and had a wonderful run. I did almost the same run as the last time I was home (when my Garmin and I got in a fight and I basically had a miserable run).

This time, the run was perfect. I felt really great, the predicted rain was holding off and I ran pretty well. Here are my run stats:

Mile 1 – 9:00
Mile 2 – 8:55
Mile 3 – 8:29
Mile 4 – 8:17
Mile 5 – 8:36
Mile 6 – 8:15
Mile 7 – 9:15
Mile 8 – 8:55
Mile 9 – 8:33
Mile 10 – 8:09
Mile 11 – 8:38
.25 – 1:54

Total mileage  was 11.25 in 1:37:01

I was feeling pretty good after this run. My fastest mile (mile 10) was partially run on my highschool track. I really picked it up and enjoyed doing some speedwork there. My slowest mile (mile 7) was one giant hill. I purposely added a bunch of hills to this route because I know that the Poconos marathon is going to be hilly. It scares me a bit that I was a little bit slow during that section – I hope I can maintain my speed during the marathon.

Overall, it was a great run and it started sprinkling just as I got back to my parent’s house. Very lucky!

After my run I showered and headed out to my friend Jenny’s bridal shower at the Edison Club in Rexford, N.Y. It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. We had a brunch/lunch selection of food and I went with both:

I was ravenous after my run and cleaned this entire plate. 🙂

And then there was a delicious bananas foster crepe for dessert. And you know how I love crepes…

Yummy! Jenny’s bachelorette party was that evening as well, so after we wrapped things up at the shower, we headed to our hotel in Saratoga to get ready for an evening of bachelorette fun! 

We spent the beginning portion of the evening in the hotel suite eating some amazing dips, veggies and pizza (sorry no photos). Then we headed out on the town. Here’s a lovely group shot of many of the girls:

The bridey is the lady in the middle in white! The rest of us were garbed in some Irish green attire since the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Albany took place on Saturday and we knew most people would be celebrating in Irish style. Such a great time – I can’t wait for the wedding!!

So now it’s Monday and back to the grind. I have plans for a nice, easy run on the treadmill after work (since the rain is still lingering in NYC) and then I’m heading to bed early again.

Did anyone else watch that new program Minute to Win it last night? I’ll admit that it totally hooked me. I was really rooting for the Rachel girl – I thought she could go pretty far. But don’t worry – you won’t catch me practicing at home or anything – I’m content to just watch.

And starting tomorrow, I think the weather in NYC is supposed to be amazing!! Can’t wait. I may have to do a nice Central Park run after work finally. I hope the nice weather hangs on through the weekend. Have a great day all!

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Posted in Dessert, Running, Travel, Uncategorized

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Where Did All the Food Go?

Posted on March 11, 2010 | 24 comments

Good Morning all! We’ve made it to Thursday – doesn’t it feel great? Although I am a bit sad that the rainy weather is moving in. This sunshine and warm air has been positively blissful!

More bliss – getting in a nice 4.5+ run with Katherine and Liz this morning! The temperature gauge claimed it was 47 degrees outside when I left the house, but it sure didn’t feel that warm. However, it was great to see so many other runners out in Central Park – it made it feel like Spring is finally here.

I’ll just do a quick recap of yesterday (Wednesday). I did not run in the morning, so I was up a little bit late and had some Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with blueberries for breakfast.

My morning went by really fast. All of  a sudden it was lunch (don’t you love that?) and I broke into my very ripe banana and PB&J on an Arnold Thin.

Little messy, lots of yum.

Afternoon snacks were: Yoplait yogurt with Galaxy Granola (we’re all out of Chobani) and an Apple Pie Larabar.

Human Garbage Disposals
Hubby and I went shopping last week (on Tuesday) when we were out in Staten Island getting our taxes done. It was a big load of food, to say the least. I said to him as we were going through the check-out that it looks like we’re feeding a family of four. We had soo much food. And the thought of carrying it up four flights of stairs frankly scared me. I tried to insist we put some things back. We didn’t.

It seemed ridiculous to me then. But now – I can’t seem to find any food in the house! We’re almost out of fruit, the only veggies we have are frozen, no Chobani, etc., etc. I told him last night that with the way things disappear, I feel like we must eat an incredible amount. And maybe we actually do, the food just happens to be healthy and so we don’t gain weight.

But this only serves to validate the fact that if you want to eat healthy, it’s going to cost you. A person goes through healthy, fresh foods so much faster than processed and packaged foods. I can understand why someone would buy canned goods, and pre-packaged meals and items – they will last them so much longer. I think one of the key goals in fighting the obesity epidemic has got to be to somehow make fresh, healthier foods more affordable and accessible to low-income individuals.

Sorry for that little rant. It just always boggles my mind how much food the Hubby and I go through alone – we are human garbage disposals it seems.

How often do you go grocery shopping? Do you ever feel you run out of food too quickly? Do you buy in bulk to make fewer trips or go as needed?

Anyhow – onto yesterday’s post-work activities. I headed to the gym and knocked out 5 miles in 43 minutes on the treadmill.

Then I headed home and ate a quick leftovers dinner. My Tomato Tortellini Spinach Soup leftovers had absorbed most of the liquid (note this if you decide to make it – add more broth – definitely 6 cups). I decided to eat it anyway and sprinkled on a bit of shredded cheese. It was yummy and very filling. The tortellini were especially flavorful from absorbing the liquid. I also threw a few sun-dried tomatoes on there as well.

After dinner I relaxed and watched Superbad on t.v. for a bit and then headed in to bed to read Angela’s Ashes around 9:00 p.m. I literally laughed out loud at one part and I just have to share:

Frankie is talking about how clean and nice it was in the hospital: “I lie in bed and think of the hospital where the white sheets were changed every day and there wasn’t a sign of a flea. There was a lavatory where you could sit and read your book till someone asked if you were dead.”

I don’t know why this cracks me up s0 much, but it does. The last line and his tone is just hysterical. This is his tone throughout the book. I’m just past page 200 and there’s about 360 pages in the book. Yes, it’s sad in many respects to read about the poverty they endure, but Frankie’s narration is  just great. You can’t help laughing despite the terrible conditions and things that happen to this family. So far I really like it – hopefully a book review to come soon.

Have you read Angela’s Ashes – did you like it?

That’s all for Thursdays – have a good one!

24 Comments

Posted in Books, Running, Uncategorized

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A Couple’s Run Gone Bad…

Posted on March 10, 2010 | 13 comments

Happy Hump Day all. How is your week going? Mine is going by pretty quickly – thank goodness.

I started yesterday off by skipping my morning run and opting to sleep in instead. I know – I’m so lazy. But I really love my sleep.

For breakfast I had a 3-minute breakfast cookie and was impatient with letting it cool, so it fell apart a bit. Oops. Still yummy.

I grabbed a coffee on my way into work and snacked on a granola bar around 11:00 a.m.

For lunch I had a salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries and chickpeas – with balsamic vinaigrette.

Late afternoon snack was…what else – Chobani yogurt with granola.

As the afternoon progressed the weather outside looked absolutely amazing. I texted Hubby to see if he might be game for an after-work run. He finally relented and said yes.

I flew home after work and got ready for our run. Hubby seemed a bit hesitant when I told him my plan was to run 4-5 miles. His first run of the season was on Monday night and he probably ran about 2.5 miles. He agreed to the distance, but only if we could take things slow.

Things started off okay – we ran about a 9 minute mile pace for the first two miles. However, as we got close to the end of the promenade around 115 Street there were some shady characters milling about and it made me uncomfortable. I told Hubby I’d like to pick up the pace a bit when we passed them on the way back.

Well, he had his headphones in and thought I was just saying I wanted to pick it up in general on the way back. So, as we turned around and passed those sketchy peeps I picked up the pace a bit. But then once we were past them, Hubby didn’t say anything about our speed, so I thought maybe he wanted to push things a bit longer.

Well…apparently he did not want to push things. We finished our run and he was not a happy camper. He had not intended to run that fast on his second run of the season and I think I pushed things a little too hard. I guess I’m so used to him zooming right by me when we run that I thought he is just always that speedy. I forgot that I usually don’t start running until the Spring (as does he) and generally have to take things easy at first and build up my endurance and speed.

Sorry I pushed you Hubby! 😦 I hope you’re not too sore today. Here are our stats from the run: 

Mile 1 – 8:58
Mile 2 – 9:06
Mile 3 – 8:40
Mile 4 – 8:24
.36 – 3:03

Total mileage – 4.36 miles in 38.18

Do you run with your significant other? How do you balance your differing endurance levels and speed?

To be fair: Hubby has definitely pushed me on many, many runs in the past. They were all pre-Garmin, so I can’t tell you exactly how fast we were running. But, I clearly remember finishing the Central Park loop (6.1 miles) in about 50 minutes, which was a record for me at the time. And he was completely unphased and wondered why I was nearly hyperventilating. A taste of his own medicine perhaps?

After our run last night, I had to throw in the last load of laundry (that I avoided didn’t have time for this weekend) so dinner needed to be quick and easy. I made one of these fellas:

Mmmm ketchup and pickles – yum!

A little while later I was definitely in need of some dessert. I decided to get creative a  make a mini cookie. It had:

1/8 cup granola
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup egg whites
1/8 cup of protein powder
1 packet of Truvia
Drizzle of agave
1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter

I nuked it in the microwave on high for 45 seconds and it was amazing!

It was a little sticky, but it was delicious and gave me that dessert taste that I needed. It probably had a few more calories than necessary, but oh well.

You’ve seen many a glass of wine on my blog, but here’s just a few more reasons why it’s usually my alcoholic drink of choice.

A few more reasons why I love wine… 

The Claim: A Glass of Wine With Dinner Aids Digestion – I love wine, so I’ll go with this one. Although I have no clue if the wine I pair with my food with actually aid in digestion, I think it best to at least give it a try. 😉

Wine may help women keep weight in check – ok, I’m not sure how much weight (pun intended) I’d give this study, but again – It might be a good idea to conduct my own study to substantiate. 🙂 

Have a good hump day all – I’m sad that I’ll be pounding away on the treadmill tonight – no running buddies around or willing (the consequence for pushing Hubby too hard last night). 😦

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Six Miles and Successful Soup

Posted on March 9, 2010 | 16 comments

Good morning all – how is your Tuesday morning going? I set my alarm this morning to go running, but it did not happen. I was very much enjoying my sleep. So – to the gym it is tonight!

A quick recap of yesterday eats starts with a yummy oatmeal, banana and peanut butter breakfast. This has been a recent favorite – it’s really creamy and filling.

Monday morning passed along quickly and soon it was time for lunch. I had leftovers from Sunday night’s pasta dish and it was delish.

Looks a little less than delicious in the heinous light and old tupperware, but it was yummy. Afternoon snacks included Chobani yogurt with Galaxy Granola and a small snack bag of walnuts and raisins.

I bolted out of work at 5 p.m. and flew home to get ready for a nice evening run with Katherine and Bodhi. After my 15 miler on Saturday and my speedy run on Sunday, I was ready for a nice longish not-so-fast run. Here are our stats:

Mile 1 – 8:58
Mile 2 – 8:53
Mile 3 – 9:16
Mile 4 – 9:25
Mile 5 – 9:18
Mile 6 – 9:07

Total mileage: 6.04 miles in 55:23

Not too shabby! My legs were feeling mighty heavy throughout this run. We headed out at 6:00 p.m. and it got dark faster than I expected. Running with Katherine and Bodhi really makes me want a dog…but I doubt Murphy would like that and our apartment is way too small. Still – it’s nice.

If you’re a dog owner, do you take your pup on your runs? How far can your dog comfortably run with you?

Once I got back from our run, I set to work on making dinner. I bought a huge bag of baby spinach a little more than a week ago and wanted to be sure to use it up before it went bad. I decided to make my mom’s: 

Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup

 1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
4 to 6 cups chicken broth (can also use vegetable broth)
1  14 oz. can whole tomatoes, crush them up 
1  9 oz. package fresh tortellini or dried tortellini
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Parsley and Basil
6 oz. package fresh baby spinach – tear into pieces
Parmesan Cheese

Directions
In a 3 quart soup pot, heat olive oil over med. high heat and saute onion for several minutes then add garlic stirring for few minutes then add broth and tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt and pepper ;  turn heat up to high and bring to a boil – add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.  When tortellini is almost done, add spinach.   Cook few minutes till spinach is wilted.  Once you dish soup into bowls, shave parmesan cheese over the top and serve. 

Takes about 10 minutes to prep. and approx. 20 to 30 minutes to cook.

The end result:

This is seriously one of the easiest soups to make and it came out great. It was delicious and filling. Thanks to Hubby for picking up the missing ingredients for me yesterday so I wouldn’t be late for my run. 🙂

The rest of my night was low-key. I did not watch The Bachelor wedding – I just couldn’t do it. I went to bed pretty early and am looking forward to doing the same tonight.

Have a great day all! P.S. – it was 57 degrees out when I went running last night. YAYAY!!!

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