Back on Monday!

I know I have been kind of MIA for the past few days, but I was back home in Connecticut catching up with my friends – it was our 5-year high school reunion this weekend!!  Anyway, I will be back to regular posting tomorrow (including a recap of the holiday).  I just sent in my Pile On The Miles grand total to Bobbi from In Her Shoes and I’m happy to say I logged a whopping 63.57 miles!! How’d you guys do??  See you tomorrow all!!

A relaxxxing day off

Oh man it’s good to have off from work…  Just being able to press snooze and lay in bed without worrying about being late for work is so awesome on a Wednesday.  I even let the little guy climb into bed with me for a little bit after my alarm went off… something I never do.  Not to sound mean, I just have a rule that if the lights are off in my room no kitties are allowed in my bed.  This way I don’t get any surprise guest waking me up with their purring.   

I finally pulled myself out of bed and went for an awesome 4.33 mi run through the park.  I was shocked by how many people were out an about!  I guess I’m just used to running much earlier when alot of people are sleeping.

When I got back I made the most fantastic bowl of oats!  I used my normal recipe for Banana Oatymeal with the following changes…

Pumpkin-Spiced Oats:

• 1/3 c. oats, milk, water
• 1/3 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 small banana, finely sliced
• 1 tsp fiber added Stevia (NuNaturals)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• a few drops Cocoa extract (NuNaturals)
• a dash salt
• a dash nutmeg

Pretty much all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a saucepan and whip everything together over medium low heat until it’s the perfect consistency.  I of course had to have 2 spoonfuls of ZAP peanut butter to go along with it… and a big cup of tea with milk.

Awww look at my little blogger buddy…

A Blue & Gold victory!!

Oh man, I didn’t think I was ever going to leave my desk today!! From the minute I got in this morning I was busy. I barely even had time for lunch between a pre-call meeting and then a conference call at 1:30pm which ended up getting pushed back, Craziness.

I finally got home around 6:40 and was racking my brain about what to make since I’m going home tomorrow and just wanted to use what I already had on hand. I ended up settling on the other half of my potato to make another batch of Paprika Fries (not to self, cut potatoes do not keep in the fridge well). They nevertheless turned out great, just not as crispy as yesterday.

Oh man.. I devoured those babies with a mix of Tabasco and Ketchup stirred together.

To go along with my fries I wanted another thick winter soup, but really wanted to save the leftover Split Pea Soup w/ Carrots that I had sitting in the freezer. I like saving leftovers in the freezer to have at a later date because it’s such a time saver and mixes things up so I’m not stuck eating the same thing multiple days in a row.

I ended up coming up with an original soup concoction that I call Moroccan Pumpkin Soup. Ok, it isn’t really Moroccan, but the spices seemed very similar to some Moroccan dishes that I have made. Here’s the recipe (although I tend to just throw dashes of things in so this isn’t 100% exact.

Moroccan Pumpkin Soup:

• 1 c. canned pumpkin puree
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• salt + pepper to taste

Sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium low heat until soft, then add the celery and continue to cook. Add the water, pumpkin and spices and cook until all the flavors have melded and the onion and celery are extra tender. Adjust seasonings as needed. I will without a doubt be making this again soon!! I topped off my meal with a Gluten-Free Walnut Blondie a la Veggie Girl that I had in the freezer.

After dinner I watched a very tense Notre Dame vs. Texas bball game while enjoying a huge bowl of stove-top popcorn. Such a close, tense game!! Notre Dame squeaked by 81 – 80!!! Seriously, I came close to having a heart attack as did the bro. I also enjoyed a glass or two of Cabernet to keep the stress levels from the close game to a minimum. Had to finish it before I went home!! Plus, I don’t have work tomorrow!! I’m looking forward to a relaxing day of running, cooking with my sister, and then a cocktail party at my brother-in-law’s parents apartment. Yay for holidays!!!

TGI…T?

Today is totally feeling like a Friday to me since my boss gave me the day off tomorrow!  Woohoo.. thank God it’s Tuesday!  I know it’s all gross and rainy in the city today, but nothing can ruin the good mood brought on my a 2-day work week…  I got up for my run this morning, completely unaware that it was raining, but once I got outside I figured what the heck, I’m already up and dressed so I was off.  I think I ran extra fast today in an attempt to dodge the raindrops. I was really surprised to see so many runners in the park though!  I guess I’m not the only crazy morning runner…  Even though it was wet out, it was actually a great day to run because it was 46 degrees outside and plus I had my new Oikos beenie to keep me warm.  Pile on the Miles = 45.44 mi.

When I got back I was totally craving something warm and sweet so I heated up a delicious bowl of Banana Oatymeal to which I added a pinch of Stevia for extra sweetness since I’m out of vanilla, and then topped it with a few chocolate chips!  The chocolate chips were so rich and delicious – they’re the Ghiradelli ones I won from Erica of Itzy’s Kitchen for my BSI win! 

Just look at those melty chips and peanut butter… sinfully delicious for a breakast food.

Along with my oats I had the leftover 1/2 latte I had sitting in my fridge (I hate wasting food) sweetened up with some Stevia.  I really like cold coffee… or should I say lattes.  I can’t have large amounts of caffeine at one time, but I love little sips here and there.

Superior Scribbler!

Eee! I got an award thanks to Jess from See Jess Run! Sorry for the delayed reaction Jess, but thanks for the nomination! I feel so privileged…

Here are the rules:

1. Post the award on your blog
2. Link to me for giving it to you
3. Link the originating post here
4. Pass it on to five deserving people
5. Post these rules for your recipients

I am so excited to get my first blogging award! Thanks to all of you guys for making your way over and finding my site. I didn’t want to nominate 5 people for the sake of picking 5 people, so instead I went with 3 goodies. Ok, so my picks for “Superior Scribblers” are:

• Bobbi from In Her Shoes
• Gina from The Fitnessista
• Erica from Itzy’s Kitchen

We go together like Peas & Carrots…

Today was a ridiculously busy day, so apologies for the late post!  When I got up this morning I was so sore I could barely move.  Yesterday I decided to use Jenna from Eat, Live Run‘s “burnout method” for lifting.  I started at 10 reps with 15 lb. weights and went down to 25 reps with 7.5 lbs. for triceps and biceps.  Oh good lord…

I decided to make some Banana Oats with a tbsp of raisins mixed in and 1/3 cup cottage cheese stirred in at the end.  I also added a tsp fiber added Stevia for some extra sweetness.  I really like the Fiber-added blend because it has a good flavor and doesn’t give me stomach problems the way alot of extra fiber products do.

Lunch was pretty boring, just a Cali burger, a salad, an Oikos and some gluten-free Ginger Snaps that one of my co-workers was sweet enough to give me.  I seriously love the people I work with…  

For dinner I reeeally didn’t want to spend any $$ on groceries since I have a cocktail party Wed night and am going home afterwards so I did a little brainstorming and came up with two childhood favorites – Split-Pea Soup w/ Carrots & Paprika Fries.  My mom used to make these amazing fries when I was little that I just had to replicate. 

Paprika Fries:

• 1/2 Russet potato, cut into sticks
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• pinch cayenne
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Meanwhile, toss the potatoes with the olive oil and spices.  When the oven is heated, spread out the fries on some tinfoil or a cookie pan and bake 15-20 minutes depending on thickness of potatoes.

The split pea soup was pretty simple – I just adapted a recipe by Mark Bittman. It was deliciously thick and flavorful despite the lack of added fats or ham like most recipes.

Split Pea Soup w/ Carrots:

• 1/3 c. dried split peas
• 1 c. beef broth
• 1.5 c. water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 tbsp minced carrots

Put the split peas, broth, water, salt, pepper and onions in a pot and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to low and cover; cook 45 min – 1 hour, until the peas are very soft.  Meanwhile cook the carrots in the microwave in a little water in a microwave for about 4 minutes.  When the peas are nice and soft use an immersion blender and puree the soup, leaving some chunks.  Stir in the cooked carrots and enjoy!

While catching up on my Grey’s Anatomy I enjoyed a nice glass of the Crosby Cabernet I had open along with a bowl of popcorn the bro was nice enough to make for me.  Perfect!!  Hopefully this soreness goes away tomorrow so I can go for a run before work.  So psyched my boss gave me off on Wednesday, it’s like tomorrow is Friday all over again!! 

Pizza & Prep Work

I didn’t have my camera with me for the majority of the weekend because I misplaced it, but before I did I thankfully was able to get a picture of the delicious Cranberry Chutney I pre-made for Thanksgiving.  I prefer to try out new recipes ahead of time when planning on using them for special occasions.  I adapted the recipes form one that I found in Gourmet magazine.  Here’s my version:

Cranberry Chutney:

• 4 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 (12 oz) bag fresh of frozen cranberries
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 small gala apple, minced & peeled

Cook shallots in oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries pop, 15-20 minutes, then cool.  **Chutney can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.

This was the perfect blend of savory and sweet in my opinion.  I absolutely cannot wait to try it on some warm turkey!

So… I found my camera this evening after I got to meet one of my readers!!!  Amie, you are like my blonde twin – so bizarre!!  Anyway, I don’t like to get too personal on this sooo…. I called the bf and my camera had been there all along!  I went to upload my pictures though and found out what happens when you leave your camera in your boyfriend’s hands:

Figures….    So anyway, I had lots of cooking to do to prepare for Thanksgiving!!  I wanted to test out my Corn & Bean Bread and Tomato Soup recipes to make sure they were up to snuff.  Both are definitely keepers!!!  For both recipes I used my copy of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman so I can’t take credit for any of the deliciousness.  Here are the recipes as they appear in the book:

Tomato Soup: (makes 4 servings)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 large carrot, peeled & diced
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 4 c. cored, peeled, seeded tomatoes (I used canned)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 c. chicken stock
• minced parsley or basil leaves for garnish

1. Place the oil in a large, deep saucepan and turn heat to medium.  A minute later, add the onion and carrot.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and thyme and cook until the tomatoes break up, about 10 minutes.  Add 1 cup stock and cook until carrots are soft.  Adjust seasonings as needed (I added a pinch garlic) and puree with a hand blender.  **Soup may be made a few days ahead of time and stored chilled & covered.

While this was going on I also made my Corn & Bean Bread.  This is basically a gluten-free version of cornbread and is sooo good!

Corn & Bean Bread: (makes about 6 servings)

• 1 c. soured milk (1 c. milk and 1 tbsp rice vinegar – see step 2)
• 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1.5 c. medium-grind cornmeal
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Added Fiber Baking Blend Stevia (by NuNaturals)
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 c. canned white beans, pureed

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. You may sub buttermilk or yogurt, but for the soured milk, warm the milk gently to take the chill off and then add the vinegar.  Let it rest while you prepare the other ingredients.
3. Place butter or oil in an 8″ pyrex baking dish and pop into the oven until good and hot, then set aside.  Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Mix the eggs and pureed white beans into the soured milk.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients; combining well.  If the mixture seems too dry, add a little more milk.  Pour the batter into the preheated fat, smooth out the top if necessary, and place in the oven.
4. Bake about 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the sides have pulled away from the sides and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

The bro wasn’t too impressed by the cornbread, but he hates cornbread so probably not the person to ask.  I however found it quite tasty…

After all that cooking I was pretty hungry – it was 8:30pm!!  I pulled out one of my individual rice pizza shells that I got from Ener-G Foods.  I mixed together some generic tomato sauce that I stole from the bro with about a tbsp chopped onion.  I added some garlic and some homemade pesto I had sitting in the freezer from a while back.  The pesto was a combo of fresh basil, salt, cashews, garlic, Parmesan cheese and olive oil.  Yum!!  I popped the shell topped with sauce into the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

I pulled out the crispy shell and added some slices of fat-free mozzarella and put it back into the oven for about 5 minutes.  Pesto pizza + a glass of my favorite everyday Cabernet (Crosby) = total yum! :grin:   Official opinion on the Ener-G Foods pizza shells??  Absolutely amazing and a must buy!!  Have a great night everybody!! 

**EDITED TO ADD:  Over the weekend I added another chunk of miles to my Pile On the Miles Running Total (hah), bringing it to 42.39 miles!!!  Heck yes!!!

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Man, I woke up today to the most gorgeous sunny day.  It almost makes you forget that it’s almost December!  I feel like the days and weeks have been flying by recently… seriously November 22nd?  How did that happen? 

I started off my morning with a delicious Oikos honey yogurt.  I had never had one of these before, but it was truly divine!  I was a little suspicious that the honey at the bottom would be too overpowering, but it was the perfect amount of sweetness.  How does it compare to Chobani??  Almost as thick, but I think I’m a little more partial to the texture of Chobani.  Definitely a very close second!!  What it does boast over Chobani though is that it is 100% organic milk produced with no toxic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, or artificial growth hormones (rBST).

How do I know all of this??  You’ll see in a bit.  But first, I had my yogurt along with a Rudi’s Organic spelt English muffin with some Polaner strawberry jam.  I really love Rudi’s Organic spelt products because they have a nice nutty flavor, but you don’t lose out on the light texture of the bread.

I was still a little hungry so I had 2 spoonfuls of my ZAP peanut butter along with a big mug of herbal tea.

Friday re-cap:

Friday morning I started off my day right with a fabulous 3.2 mi run!  When I got back I was sort of rushed because I had slept in a little longer than expected, so I just grabbed some mixed nuts, a big bag of frozen grapes and some PB Bumpers and was off to work!

Lunch was fabulous.  A co-worker and I decided to order sushi from this place with an awesome lunch special where you get miso soup, a salad and two rolls of your choice for $9.  What an awesome deal!!  I got a spicy tuna roll and a yellowtail scallion roll. 

I got off work a little early   so I came back and made a big snack out of more frozen grapes, some yogurt raisins and a few rice cakes (not pictured). 

Dinner was early and nothing too exciting.  Just some leftovers from the stir-fry I made a few days ago…  Man did it taste good though!!  I definitely went back for seconds!!

A few hours later after a huge bout of cleaning and organizing I settled down to catch up on all the Grey’s Anatomys I have saved on my DVR along with some yogurt covered malt balls from the health store, a big bowl of popcorn and a few small glasses of a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon.

Oh did I forget to mention my packages…   I came home from work today to find 3 packages!!!  One was from The lovely Sarah at Stonyfield who sent me a ton of Oikos and Stonyfield coupons (thus the yogurt for brekky), along with an Oikos beanie!!  This will definitely come in handy during those cold morning runs.

Next was a package from the great folks at  Ener-G Foods, Inc. who sent me a fabulous assortment of goodies.  I got GF hamburger buns, baking flour blend, and two sizes of pizza crusts!!!  I can’t wait to make myself a pizza.    Thanks guys!!

Last, but certainly not least was my package from Ron over at NuNaturals.  He sent over an awesome array of Stevia products as well as a new Stevia More Fiber Bakin Blend.  I seriously can’t wait to try everything out!!!

Have a great day guys!!  More to come later  

Spice it up!

Tonight the bf and I decided we were both in the mood for takeout so we order from one of our favorite restaurants – Spice!  How better to warm up on a cold night than with some ultra spice-y Pad Thai??   I was pretty psyched to try out the Lemongrass Tom Yum soup because one of my friends is always raving about it…hmm maybe I just ordered it from the wrong place because I was not impressed.  Sorry Spice!!

There were unbelievably huge chunks of tofu, onions and mushrooms – nothing delicate about it!  I don’t know if maybe I should’ve just ordered the chicken version, but then again I just felt like there was something lacking in flavor.  Too tomatoey with a subtle spice, but not enough underlying flavor for my likes.

I was however very pleased with my Vegetable Pad Thai!  I got spicy chili sauce on the side because I’m pretty obsessed with spices (hah).  The Vegetable Pad Thai comes with egg, a little bit of baked tofu, peanut, bok choy, scallion, julienned carrots and bean sprouts mixed into traditional Thai rice noodles.  Excellent!  One of my favorite places for Pad Thai although you can be sure that I will do more investigating…  

The bf ordered the 6 O’Clock Train Spicy Fried Rice with chicken and was quite pleased.  I had a small taste and was really intrigued by the basil flavor that permeated the whole dish.  A really pleasant new twist on fried rice!

Spice also gives you tons of food so you will have plenty left over for the next day.  When I’m ordering takeout I like to get a big portion so that it can carry over the next day or two.  I mean c’mon part of the reason you get takeout is for the convenience factor so of course you want extra!  I give Spice 3 out of 5 stars because it is very good for takeout, but is still just that – takeout.  It’s a little greasy, not too complex flavor-wise and I was really disappointed with the soup, but for a staple like Pad Thai it doesn’t disappoint.  Try it out for yourself: Spice on 2nd Ave between East 73rd and 74th Street.

Change of plans

Well I made the effort to make my lunch last night, but at the last minute my boss decided to order everybody lunch for our 1pm meeting.  Sweetness!!  There was a huuuge Cosisignature salad that contained mixed greens, dried cranberries, pistachios, grapes and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.  I’m not a huge fan of Gorgonzola cheese, but it gave a nice flavor to the salad so it didn’t even need dressing (although I avoided the big chunks of cheese).  There was also an assortment of sammies, so I snagged a pesto-chickenone and dumped the chicken over-top my massive salad since I’m mildly allergic to wheat.  I can eat it on occasion, but it makes me feel a little icky the next day and tends to make me break out a little.   

The meeting was actually really good because there’s been lots of tension lately in regards to the financial markets with businesses failing, companies cutting costs and consequently people losing jobs right and left.  Our meeting eased my worries alot although I guess the future is never 100% certain.  All I can really do is work hard and hope that it pays off and that I am one of the lucky ones whose job isn’t going anywhere.  It’s really scary though how many people are out of work these days… I’m sure all of you know at least a few people who have been affected.  Unfortunately as I work in private equity insurance and know people at Lehman, AIG, etc. I know alot more than a few…   

Wow, didn’t mean to turn this into such a negative post – especially when I’m actually quite optimistic about things.  I can only hope that 2009 brings more financial security and our economy rebounds.  What do you guys think about the state of our economy – are you optimistic, pessimistic or are you just trying not to think about it?