Spring Fever

When I find my camera one day, I will post pictures of how lovely it is these days.  We just returned home from a long walk around one of the parks we discovered.  Trooper is out on our balcony, watching over his kingdom, which he will do until I make him come in at dusk, like a kiddo.  After a winter with multiple days of wind chills reaching negative 30 degrees, it feels like we are emerging from a cocoon.  Tomorrow we plan to take the dog to one of the forest preserves in the area.  (I am slightly obsessed with being outdoors.)

My sweet and lovely bestie bought me Giada's Feel Good Food for Christmas, and I've been slowly working my way through the recipes.  I love it!  This week I made two recipes from it and loved them both.  The new one was her Chicken Salad with Mangos and Black Beans.  I loved the combo of flavors.  I actually added more mustard to add a little more flavor and a little olive oil.  I wasn't sure where to find Persian Pickling Cucumbers, but they actually sell them at Trader Joe's.  I really loved the mint in this.  I served it with brown rice and enjoyed it for lunch a lot this week.  I love mayo as much as the next girl, but it was a nice alternative.  I also thought it might be nice on a whole wheat pita.

And I am excited to see that the lovely Ina has a new cookbook coming out: make ahead meals!  I am always searching for good make ahead meals, especially slightly healthy ones.  I made this turkey and sweet potato shepherd's pie this week and really enjoyed it.  Jim had a great suggestion of adding pureed chipotle peppers in sauce next time.

It might seem like food is all that's on my mind, and, to be honest, it really does take up most of my free brain.  I'm a hungry girl who enjoys cooking!

Crock Pots

Do you use your Crock Pot?

I will be honest, we don't use it too much.  There are a few reasons.  First of all, I have an irrational fear of leaving it on while we aren't home.  Rather silly, as the whole point of a Crock Pot is that you can leave them unattended.  However, I was reading reviews of Crock Pots online and someone said there's shorted and sparked and caught fire.  Maybe that review as from Communist Russia circa 1080, who knows.  I also don't like to leave it on when the dog is home alone, as I feel it's cruel and unusual punishment for him to smell delicious meats cooking all day.  One of the other reasons I don't use it too much is because all of the food sort of starts to taste alike after while.  And if you aren't careful, all of a sudden you have a weird witch's brew on your hands with chicken tibias floating to the surface.  I did have someone suggest to me that I could cook in the Crock Pot at night while we are sleeping and then just reheat the food for dinner.  I am open to that.

But I do like Rachael Ray's crock pot recipes.  They are usually tasty and involve putting"toppers" on when you serve, giving your food a fresher taste.  Tonight I made her Asian Pepper Steak.  The directions make it seem like she cooks the rice in the Crock Pot (the picture doesn't seem that way) but I do cook it separately.  I also added cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and a cup of water to keep everything submerged while cooking.

Otherwise we had a lovely little Sunday.  We took the doggie to a near by forest preserve and went on a long walk in the woods.  I took a bath and was in my jammies by 2pm!  I spent a lot of time reading (currently reading The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri) and Jim spent a lot of time yelling at the Bears.  We both have Tuesday and Wednesday off and I am only working an hour on Thursday.  Should be a nice New Years week.

Happy Winter!

Happy Holidays, dear friends!

I hope you have all had a wonderful December.  We've been very cozy here.  We spent Christmas with quite a few family members.  We decided to only buy presents for Trooper in our household, but were spoiled rotten by everyone else.  Thank you dear friends and family!

I can't believe we are winding down 2013!  We started the year when Jim sabred a bottle of champagne at a house party in Eugene, Oregon.  (True story.)  (I will save my year in review for next week.)

Tonight I am making Giada's Shrimp and Pancetta with Chimichurri.  (She uses both chicken and shrimp but I am being lazy.)  I will let you know how it turns out!

Camarones

Run, Little Amanda!  Move those lil' pale legs!

We had a lovely weekend.  On Saturday, I was a lady who lunched al fresco, which was wonderful.  We also caught up with some friends and watched some kiddo anarchy.    On Sunday morning, I ran in the Graham's Sundae 5k.  It was a beautiful day and beautiful course.  I had the most awesome fan club cheering me on, which included my lovely in-laws, my husband and TWO doggies!  I pushed myself and finished in 26:05.  (My best 5k was 5 years ago at 26:02.)  This run was not microchipped, so I am thinking I actually ran it at just about 26 minutes.  I was the 45th runner to finish (out of 300 and some) and 16th female.  If the age groups had been in five year increments, I would have been second in my group, but since it was a small run, they were in 10 year increments, so I was fourth.  Still pretty good, if I do say so!  Then we headed to Graham's and enjoyed their wonderful coffee.  (I sadly did not get my free ice cream at the end; I felt like I was going to vomit.)  I tutored for a few hours and had a really great dinner cooked for me!  If you love shrimp and spicy and smokey foods, make this Shrimp Diabla!  http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130813/entlife/708139857/  It was so flavorful.  You could also use the same sauce and add chicken if you wanted.  Thanks, chefs!

Spaghetti Carbonara

The parents are on a date, so it's a Friday evening with Jim and five doggies.  I am making Jim one of his fave meals: Spaghetti Carbonara.  How many times am going to have to tell you to make this meal?  I love making this for other people when I visit.  I made it for my brother and he loved it, my best gal friend and her family and they loved it, and a few other lucky ducks.  Here's the deal: make it with pancetta!  I buy the Trader Joe's cubed pancetta (you can also buy slices at most delis; you could get thick cuts and cube it yourself) and saute that in a little olive oil first.  I then remove it from the pan and saute the asparagus in the oil and pancetta juice.  (I won't call it grease.)  From there I continue the recipe.  And you should NOT omit the fried egg(s)!  This is also a great recipe for anyone who's dairy free.  (Note: a lot of other American carbonaras use creamer.  Go with the egg yolks!)

Singapore Noodles

Are you looking for a yummy veggie recipe?  My darling husband found this recipe for Singapore Noodles and I whipped it up last night.  It was really tasty!  The only thing that was a little annoying was the carrots and cabbage.  I shredded them in the food processor which was much more convenient but then requires cleaning out the processor.  I used savoy cabbage but was thinking that you could even buy one of those bags of cabbage and carrots that is meant to be used for cole slaw if you wanted something faster.  Today I have a pot of Emeril's Shrimp Etouffee on the stove and am planning to reheat it when we get home and add the shrimp.  (I did change the shrimp stock to chicken stock.)  Another recipe with a bit of chopping and that wouldn't work well after work, as it has to simmer for 45 minutes, but could be a good Sunday or make ahead meal.  (Can you tell I don't like to chop?  Would you like to be my sous chef?)  Both of these recipes also used tomatoes, and I peeled and deseeded fresh tomatoes from our garden.  (Easy way to peel tomatoes: dunk them in boiling butter than ice water.)
And speaking of food and cooking, I was lucky enough to find Michael Pollan's new book, Cooked, on the new books shelf at the library.  I've just started reading it and am on the section on BBQ, so I'm obviously enjoying it.  If you haven't read any of his books, I highly recommend them.  He's a very easy to read author who will make you think a bit about the food you buy and eat. 
And if you are wondering, my pal JMD had a great first day of work!  I'm so proud of him! 
Okay, all of this food writing has made me hungry.

Whole Wheat Love

As most of you know, I love eating.  However, I try to not overeat and try to make sure the foods I'm eating are healthy for me.  (With the occasional pizza/ Italian Beef/ ice cream thrown in there.  Yolo.)  I have not done much baking since our return to Illinois, but I have been making whole wheat low sugar or sugar free muffins every week.  They are a great addition to Jim's lunchbox and a good snack for those of us on sabbatical.  This week I made whole wheat banana muffins (using three old bananas).  A lot of times I'll even just look at a regular recipe and substitute Canola oil for butter, honey for sugar, etc.  And if you're wondering, "Why even use whole grains?"  I found this article that is a nice little summary.  Why not at least give it a try?

Skinny

I just realized I haven't even looked at my blog in a week.  Sorry, peeps.
We made it through another week with nothing too exciting happening.  Marathon training is going well.  My joints and muscles are constantly tired and a little achy.  I am assuming they will be that way for six more weeks.  After a recovery week, we dive in to week 12 with a 6 mile run on Monday, yoga on Tuesday, 6.5 mile run on Wednesday, spin on Thursday, rest, then 19 miles on Saturday.  You literally have to be slightly insane to train for a marathon.
In baking news, the Legal Beagle (so spoiled) has been asking for brownies a LOT.  I love brownies, but have you ever looked at the ingredients?  I'll summarize: a ridiculous amount of butter, sugar, and chocolate.  Granted, I love all of those things, but we don't need a whole pan for the two of us.  With our hearts in mind, I baked these skinny peanut butter brownies today.  (Still a cup of sugar.)  Here's one thing I learned: don't use the word "skinny" when describing a baked good to the Legal Beagle.  Actually, a good rule is to not use the term "healthy" or discuss how you added Silken Tofu to a recipe.  I'll let you know how they taste when I cut into those suckers.
I also tried a new Crock Pot recipe tonight: Rachael Ray's Spanish Chicken.  This is a really tasty one.  I think the key is the lemon, keeping the new potatoes whole while cooking (to maintain some structure), and the fresh toppers added at the end.  (No olives, thank you.)  It's slightly reminiscent of a paella taste.  Also, I used chicken breasts instead of thighs.  I'm sure a mix of the thighs and breasts would also be tasty.  (Again, our hearts.)
All right, hopefully I'll just keeping running along.   

Recovery

The morning after you run 17 miles, you're bound to wake up feeling like an arthritic 90 year old.  A lot of hobbling happened today.  I did want to share a few yummy recipes that I whipped up.  Although we love our usual banana/ peanut butter granola bar, I experimented with homemade cereal bars.  I made a few minor changes: I used egg whites instead of an egg, I replaced the honey with one mashed ripe banana and a few tablespoons of a maple/ agave mix.  They will be our morning snacks for the week.  I also made oatmeal rhubarb bars for a treat.  I loved the addition of the coconut flakes.  (I think they would be really great dairy free by replacing the butter with coconut butter.)  Go bake yourself some treats!

17

Well, we ran 17 miles.  I was really nervous and so was my training partner.  I feel like the jump from 15 to 17 was a mental jump too.  As with most things, your brain is your own worst enemy.  We prepared last night with a feast of Giada's Carbonara with Pancetta.  I think it helped to fuel the journey.  We graduated to 2 energy gels (around 6 and 12 miles) and wrote a hip hop song along the way.  By around mile 15 our legs turned in to jelly and ran on auto pilot.  We finished in just under 3 hours.  We celebrated with a giant challah bread strata with chicken sausage, kale, and onions.  Mind over matter.  Or strata over matter.  Our next long run is in two weeks: 19 miles.
Today was also a big day because I told the little girl I mentor that I'd be ending my time with her and the program.  Luckily she is open to getting a new mentor with BBBS.  We've been together for almost 2 and a half years, so I think it came as quite a shock to her.  Although she's 12, she lacks the emotional skills needed to deal with things like this.  I think in the long run it will be good for her. 
After those two accomplishments, I think it's time for an adult beverage.

High Roller

 Power breakfast!  Two egg white fritattas, half of a whole wheat English muffin with avocado, OJ, and coffee in my Trooper mug! 

Most things that happen in our house are followed with, "You better not blog about this!"  But when someone's new bowling shoes arrived, he wanted the world to see.  Rumor has it all of the dudes are buying their own bowling balls.  And did you know they have their own personal Facebook wall? 

I survived 15 miles on Saturday!  I'm alive!  Now it's on to 17 miles this Saturday. 

And if you're looking for a yummy recipe, I recommend Rachael Ray's Dijon Chicken.  I served it with a wild rice/ barley combo.  I also replaced the creme fraiche with Greek yogurt.  (Greek yogurt does congeal at a high temperature, but it still tasted yummy.)  My dairy free friends could probably even omit the cream all together and still have a tasty meal. 

Feed Me

I am literally always hungry.  My mornings are spent just making it to lunch.  (With two to three snacks.)  I eat a banana, a granola bar, an apple, and maybe some almonds during the course of my work day, and I am still starving by the time I get home to eat lunch or dinner.  I spend time googling things like, "healthy snacks" to try to fill me up.  And marathon training is only making me hungrier.  How do you fill yourself up without taking in weird preservatives, chemicals, and sugars?  Yesterday I baked these spiced chickpeas and they were a really tasty little snack.  And for dinner tonight I made these really tasty chicken pitas.  I baked the chicken yesterday and feel like I should have also made the salsa and/ or ranch dressing ahead of time to shave some more minutes.  I also added avocado and it was a really filling meal.  (I am also not sure why RR calls them "tacos.")  But I will still probably be hungry when I wake up in the morning. 

Beef and Tempeh

As most of you know, I fancy myself a lover of all good foods.  I finally tried Ina's Beef Bourguignon.  What has been taking me so long??  It was amazing!  I did not include the Cognac (we are the 47%) or the frozen onions.  It was still wonderful.  Make it.  Make it now.
The next night, I made Heidi Swanson's Orange Glazed Tempeh.  I really enjoyed it.  I love tempeh in general.  A much lighter recipe after the beef adventure. 
You should all meet Holiday Jim.  He's filled his social calendar to the max.  No law school for one month.  Woot!  But plenty of work, as always. 
Also, I am still trying to figure out how to add pictures to the blog.  I deleted some old ones, but it seems they are still out there in the blogosphere.  Blech.
In more exciting news, I am definitely signing up for the half marathon again in 2013 and potentially the full marathon.  (Yikes??) 
And finally, we are taking a staycation week the first week of January.  On January 1st I will be given 88 hours from my company that will need to be used or lost in 2013, so why not stay home.  And try to find my zen. 

Candy Corn

 I love Halloween decor!  I made this table cloth myself.  I bought 1.5 yards of material and hemmed the edges.  It was a perfect fit for our small rectangular table.  And the lovely candy corn dish is a glass dish that was made by one of our loved relatives.  It fits perfectly! 

We are dog sitting Oliver this weekend.  He's such a good boy and Trooper loves having him here (except when Trooper has only child syndrome).  It's nice since it's the first rainy (wah) days of the year; they can play inside all day.  (Rainy days get Trooper Z down.)

I'll leave you with a recipe recommendation.  Make this coconut curried shrimp!  I used spicy curry powder and it was awesome.  And healthy.  Enjoy!

So Happy Its Thursday

I forgot to post this picture from a tide pool in Seaside that my friend and I saw on our morning jog.  Can you find the starfish?

Remember a few weeks ago when Asian Fusion Jim was around?  He's back tonight!  He's making Asian Noodles with Roast Pork.  This is another one of those recipes that involves a lot of Asian supermarket ingredients.  (You don't have black bean garlic paste in your pantry?)  I'm pretty excited.

We are experiencing the most beautiful weather this week.  High 70s, sunny, no rain.  Trooper Zika loves it.  We love it.  I'm assuming this will last for four more months.  Or it will start monsooning soon.  Either one.

Asian Fusion

Last night Jim made another recipe from Food and Wine, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce.  It was really good!  Very flavorful.  It did seem a bit time and labor intensive.  And like the curry from a few nights ago, a few special ingredients.  But I loved it and we have a lot of peanut sauce left to use in other dishes this week. 

Weekend time!  I am volunteering at the museum on Saturday morning and taking my LS out Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday we are partaking in some wine tasting for a gal's birthday.  We've also made some other fun summer plans: Jim is heading to Arizona to visit his grandparents at the end of July (Trooper and I are staying here to hold down the homestead) and we are driving up to Seattle for a quick visit the weekend of July 13.  I think I'm ready to retire and travel full time. 

Coco-Nuts

Typically, we make a grocery list on the weekends and try to shop for most of the food we will need for the week on Saturday or Sunday (and then inevitably need to run to the store at least four more times during the week.)  It takes a bit of discussion ("what do you want to eat this week?") and planning (lists!) but it's helpful.  This past weekend Jim decided he wanted to make Coconut Laska and Shrimp (as featured in the latest Food and Wine.)  It turned out really, really well, but definitely requires some special ingredients.  (Unless you happen to keep fresh lemongrass stalks on hand.)  He also decided to skip the first step (making your own shrimp broth) and purchase shrimp broth.  Well, Eugene made that a little hard.  I went to four local/ specialty stores before I found seafood stock (not shrimp, but oh well).  This meal ended up having restaurant quality and I'm excited to eat the rest for lunch.  Good work, Jim!
We are also slightly obsessed with coconut ice cream.  I've really been enjoying the So Delicious brand (also made right here in Eugene.)  I've read that it's good to avoid dairy when having allergy issues (can increase phlegm production... ew...) and coconut is soooo refreshing when it's warm out.  I love the mini ice cream sandwiches (only 100 calories) and Jim loves the chocolate ice cream with peanut butter.  So darn good.  (Coconut is still relatively high in fat, so if you want a healthier option I'd try the soy ice cream.  Also delicious.) 
Now I'm hungry.

Still More Granola Bars

Am I granola bar obsessed?  Mayhaps.  Last night I whipped up these awesome bars.  The addition of peanut butter and (mini) chocolate chips made them pretty delightful.  I did not include the seeds.  Yummy and filling. 
Otherwise, we are just enjoying our summer.  Trooper continues to be a (wonderful) handful.  Last night he was randomly limping at the dog park, but hasn't done it since.  Today he had dried blood in his ear.  He's such a rascal!  His itching has subsided quite a bit, though, so that is good, and he's still a happy and playful pup. 
I have been invited to a Bachelorette Party in Bend on August 3rd and 4th, which I am pretty excited about.  It sounds like a bunch of gals and breweries, so it should be a grand time!

Banana Granola Bars

Last night I tried these Banana Pecan Granola Bars, and they turned out really well.  I followed the recipe except I omitted the dried fruit.  (It sounded weird.)  Jim actually found this recipe in the blogosphere and sent it to me.  I was worried that they'd taste bland, but they were great.  I used sweetened coconut, but otherwise there was no sugar or honey in them.  They were pretty moist, so I would store them in the fridge as the directions say to avoid mold.  They were kind of like a cross between a banana muffin and granola bar, without flour or sugar.  Oh, and they are Legal Beagle approved. 

Busy Bees

We have just wrapped up a fun but tiring weekend.  Woo.

On Saturday morning, my running buddy and I woke up and ran 11 miles at 7am.  It took us almost exactly 1 hour and 50 minutes.  (Did you know that I ran 30 miles this week?)  That was our last long run before the half marathon.  We are totally ready.  After we ran, she and her boyfriend came over and I made us all Spanish baked eggs, then she and I went to the Saturday market and the fabric shop.  As always, it's great to have girlfriends, especially as finals approach. 

Saturday afternoon was a BBBS group day at a Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) studio.  My LS had a great time.  I, on the other hand, felt like my legs were going to fall off.  We were there for two hours, and after running 11 miles, not so easy.  But my LS had a great time and it was awesome for her to be exposed to something new. 

After a few hours of martial arts, I picked up Trooper and took him to a park where our friends were playing kickball.  (We had a really summery, dry weekend.)  Trooper was def the MVP of the game.  Then we grilled and played games before I had to put the Legal Beagle to bed.

This morning was one of my fave 5ks: King Estate winery.  We (my girlfriend and I) left Eugene around 7:45 this morning and drove around 40 minutes out to the winery.  It was a really foggy morning, but by the end of our run, the sun broke the fog and the winery looked beautiful.  The terrain was really hilly and it's a great challenge of a course.  I even rewarded myself with a half a glass of wine at the end.

After we drove back to town and ran a few errands, I took Trooper Z. to the dog park.  The pollen has been really bad here and he's had about 3 days of really intense itching.  The poor pup itches and itches and itches.  I can hear him itching in the other room right now.  We are giving him 2 Zyrtec a day, 1 cyclosporine, and I gave him an oatmeal bath.  Poor poopers. 

And finally, I made a few tasty recipes tonight.  They were both great for a nearly 80 degree and sunny day in Eugene (yayyyyyy global climate change!)  Even the Legal Beagle said they were both fresh recipes.  I made a spicy Cuban mojo chicken with a side of cilantro lime rice.  I also fried a plantain on the side and daydreamed of going to Cuba.

Well, blog readers, my dogs are barking.