Chicken and white bean chili and a trip to the Keys

I have been spoken to firmly about why I haven't been posting, so I'm back now and deciding to update this woefully neglected blog.  In my defense, I spent the last two weeks in FL with my Mama - she had surgery (nothing complicated), and I flew down there to help take care of her, cook, grocery shop, all that good stuff.  We also managed to make a trip down to a family friend's home in the Keys...in my opinion, there's nothing more healing than salt water and the sound of the ocean.  Our friends - who you would recognize if you were at our wedding, as Richard gave the father of the bride speech, he was one of my Dad's closest friends and he and his wife have always been close with me and my Mom - have the most lovely house on the Gulf of Mexico. 

Rant Blog

Today's blog has nothing to do with food, but rather, a rant that I've been wanting to have for awhile but so far, I've only had to John. However, I'm going to go ahead and have it here because I can.

Chicken, veggie, and fruit kabobs

Just for fun, I thought I'd throw some easy recipes out there for summertime.  John just got a new grill for his birthday, so every weekend we like to grill steaks, burgers, et cetera. However, I really want to start experimenting with things outside of the standard grill and BBQ fare, and so I am starting small and working my way up.

Casserole disasters and tooterfish dreams...

Lately, I've been a kick where I want to make casseroles. King Ranch casseroles, tuna fish casseroles, anything that I can just throw into a dish and then throw into the oven sounds good to me. Unfortunately, however, the love of my life is much less interested in these pursuits than I am, and so nary a casserole has been seen in my kitchen.

Secret blogs and Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So, friends in the blogosphere, you've noticed that my blog has become private. I'm completely safe, and there's nothing crazy going on with blog stalkers or people who have become violent in an attempt to make me confess my Mom's secret bulgogi recipe. (Don't get any ideas - I'll cook it for you anytime, but I'd never share the actual recipe. Have you ever been beaten with chopsticks? I have, and it's not pretty.)

Fish tacos, Cayman style

One of my favorite places in the world is Grand Cayman Island, where I spent my honeymoon last year.  I had the opportunity to go back again this March, and it's been firmly cemented as not only one of my favorite vacation spots, but my favorite dive location as well.  The place that we always eat first when going to the island (and usually visit several more times throughout the stay) is a little resort called Sunshine Grill, made famous by their fish tacos and their Painkiller cocktails.

Food blog: Spinach fettuccine with shrimp, goat cheese and veggies

Apologies in advance for the lack of pictures in this blog...

So one of my favorite dishes that I've created is this spinach fettuccine pasta dish.  I was tooling around in my pantry trying to figure out how to best make use of spinach pasta, and I had quite a few veggies that were sitting around in the fridge, so I came up with this.

Birthday cakes...(please don't call me a Wreckerator)

So, the love of my life turned 28 today. (I'm the older one in this relationship...hehe.) And I decided, since we were celebrating our wedding anniversary and his birthday this weekend, that it'd be fun to take on a whole new cake project in order to celebrate his birthday.  You see, with last year's wedding and honeymoon, his birthday sort of went on a back burner, and I've felt badly about that...so I wanted to go all out and make his birthday really special.

I'm laughing so hard I'm crying...

This website has me sitting at my desk dang near crying because I'm laughing so hard. I love to dabble in cake making, and occasionally I've been known to dabble in design...good thing to know that no matter how badly a dessert of mine may turn out, it won't necessarily be as bad as these winners. LOL.

Cake Wrecks

Three months later...and a new lasagna recipe :)

So I've been noticeably absent from my blog.  Noticeably as in, my BMF (that's best male friend) said, "You know, you can't get mad at me for not reading your blog when you don't write anything new."

Can't wait to make this...

...for dinner tonight. 

Coconut Curry Thai Chicken

Thanks Food Network!! :)

Food Blog: Twice Baked Potatoes

There are two ways to look at this recipe - either as twice baked potatoes as a complementary side dish, or as potato skins and an appetizer. I adapted this recipe from a version I found in Cook This, Not That that features jalapenos and a chipotle sour cream topping. For a shameless plug, I definitely think that the book provides some good insights on how to make healthier versions of foods that you may enjoy eating in restaurants.  The recipes can be modified further to be healthier (which is what I've done), but they're still much, much better than the same foods you would find in a restaurant. 

Food Blog: Sun-dried tomato and feta turkey meatloaf

First of all, sorry for the hiatus! A lot has been going on since I returned from Georgia, to include cutting my first orders for my Reserve job (really, this isn't complicated, but it was my first time so I was a little freaked about if I was doing it right), but I'm back on track.  I've been cooking a LOT lately, as well, and reading some foodie autobiographies, so I have a lot to update. 

Teaser

OK. It's been a long, indulgent week and a half of wonderful time with my Mama - who is also my best friend - traveling the Midwest and the South, creating new recipes together, road tripping, and eating some very authentic Korean food. However, all good things must come to an end, and this morning I'll be taking my Mom to the airport and coming home to catch up on a number of job-related tasks that built up over the last week. 


As promised, the triple chocolate toffee cookie recipe is coming - I've made it twice in the past week for friends and family, but as I was making it with some of our friends, I was more focused on the cooking part than the "taking pictures" part. Nonetheless, I will still post the recipe and some great tips. 


I also took some great shots of the mountains in Georgia, where I was able to do quite a bit of running and hiking.  The altitude wasn't nearly as severe as Colorado, but it was still enough to give me just a little more of a workout than I'd get at sea level.


With all of that, I'm going to leave you with this picture for now - something my Mama cooked that was amazingly simple to make, but more flavorful than anything we'd have ordered in a restaurant :)  Recipe to follow...New York Strip with lemon pepper char and chipotle shrimp :)

Been too long!

OK - so I'm usually pretty good about updating this blog, but between doing a ton of Air Force stuff this week (note to self: service dress blues simply will never look, fit, or feel the same way as a civilian business suit, and one should not be crestfallen one when looks into the mirror and admits this fact after 2 years out of the uniform), having my Mom come into town, and heading out on a girls' road trip, it's been crazy!

However, a few things: one, I started back up on my training for my next race and it's going smashingly. Sometime after finishing my last race, I realized that I have no excuses to stop on a run - unless I'm injured or sick, obviously - because I've proven to myself that I CAN do it, and therefore, owe it to myself and to my training to finish what I start. This "mental breakthrough" of sorts has been instrumental in me succeeding at my first bout of speedwork for this next race, and I intend to write much more on the topic.  My first experiments with speedwork have been doing one-mile 5K pace repeats...as a 5K race pace is much, much faster than a half-marathon pace, these have really been helpful.  Next up - fartleks.  Might be a word you don't like to say out loud, but they're great for picking up the speed :)

Secondly, I've really started getting into the creation of new desserts, so I will be posting a great recipe on how to make triple chocolate toffee cookies - they're the size of bakery cookies and just as delicious, and very easy to make....you just have to buy a lot of ingredients, because like the name says, they use three different types of chocolate.  I'm also experimenting with shortbread - it's the kind of cookie where you can make a ton of different flavors with very basic core ingredients of flour, sugar, and butter, so I'm looking forward to posting about that here. 

Now you can see why I have to counteract the cooking of the blog with the running of the blog, yes?  

Food Blog: Chicken Cordon Bleu Redux and Asparagus with baby Portobellos and sun-dried tomatoes

Today's blog focuses on a complete meal - Chicken Cordon Bleu (adapted from Tyler Florence, I admit that I take it easier on the butter and olive oil than he does to cut fat, and I use a little less cheese as well), along with my own creation of fresh asparagus stir fried with fresh baby Portobello mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes for a punch.

Food Blog: Sun-dried Tomato Marinade

As promised, there is a marinade recipe that goes along with the post from this week's pasta dish.  As I had already made it and had the chicken soaking in the marinade, I didn't have any pictures, but I thought I would still go ahead and post the recipe.  Here's what I used:

Food Blog: Penne with Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Walnuts

OK - so while I mentioned long ago in this blog that I absolutely love to cook, I noticed that I have yet to write about it.  I think food is an important part of this blog, however, for one of many reasons - as a runner, I love to eat. I follow a fairly specific diet to fuel myself for each run (especially the long ones and the races), and so I'm always looking for healthy, light, complex-carb laden meals that will actually taste good.  Every now and then, I create a new recipe, and I will feature one of those later on this blog.  

ZOMG I love racing!

Sometimes, there aren't words for how awesome something is. However, I'm going to attempt to use words here to describe how incredible my race was yesterday.  As those of you who read this know, I signed up for the Notre Dame Holy Half Marathon and ran it yesterday. So, this blog details what it was like, as well as three very memorable TODs that kept me going.  Truth be told, my entire playlist was on fire, I put all of the songs in a perfect order the night before and they all played right on time and as I thought I'd need them throughout the run...but there were, of course, a few standouts. 

Track of the Day

Yesterday I went for a nice 4.5 mile run on the treadmill due to lots of wind and rain outside. I don't mind running in the rain, per se, but I'd like to avoid it in this last week before the race just in case I get myself sick.  I'm hoping that next Sunday yields some of the gorgeous weather we've been having as of late, but now that it's April and spring is in bloom, I fear that there might be some rainstorms in store for me - there certainly were last year, according to the photos I've looked at of races past.


Running on the treadmill has become very routine for me - I think I would have gone much longer, but the combination of having a smoothie from Steak n' Shake and just being bored made it a shorter run than I was thinking it'd be.  Also? It's hard to find a TOD when you're already motivated. Therefore, I'll just say that the TOD from yesterday was a song I love to listen to when I'm running, and be thankful for the fact that I didn't need any additional bursts of energy to get through the run itself.

Track of the Day...and musings

I'm not doing the greatest job at updating my TODs lately - not because I haven't been running, but because I'm lacking a twee bit of motivation.  I feel much better this week than I did last week, so I'm taking that as a sign that this week will be better for running...it needs to be, since next week is my "taper" week before the race and I likely won't run more than a few miles next week before the half-marathon on Sunday. 

Last week I ran about 5 times, but I just felt incredibly blah about the whole process.  I did everything I usually do...ate enough carbs to give me fuel for the run, adjusted my music to play exactly what I'd need to motivate me, wore the right clothing for the weather, and went out when the sun was shining the brightest to maximize the beauty of the day.  Physically, the runs were easy and continue to get easier - but mentally, I might as well have had a 50-lb pack on my shoulders. 

I tried to change it up a little yesterday, and went running around my neighborhood and some of the surrounding developments.  That helped a bit, although in new neighborhoods, I always feel a little wary that a rogue dog may appear out of nowhere.  No dogs, and no other people, and I managed to enjoy the run. I also managed to find a track of the day, which last week seemed near impossible because the music wasn't doing anything for me.

What a Debbie Downer blog, eh?  Things are better now. I'm feeling much more motivated.  I'm looking forward to running this afternoon.  I may want to take it down a few notches, though - I wonder if part of my lacking motivation had anything to do with the fact that I'm running a lot more during the week. I know burnout is something to beware; yet I don't feel burned out, if anything, running is become as routine to me as washing my face and getting dressed in the morning.  Do anything for three weeks and your mind and body begin to see it as a habit, which I like.  

(Also, just for kicks, I tried on a skirt that I haven't worn since senior year of college...and yes, I realize it makes zero sense that I still own this skirt since I obviously am not using it...and it fit perfectly. Another benefit of running that I'm not technically looking for, but am happy to have nonetheless.)

OK.  Yesterday's track of the day is more or less what I started and ended the run on, just by chance - the iPod decided to play it twice, and it just so happened to be the first and the last song of the run, so here it is. It's a happy song that reminds me of the weeks before our wedding, and so I'll always like it. (Even if it totally doesn't seem like a running song.)

10.5 miles of good times and the Track of the Day

I'm definitely a huge fan of the website MapMyRun, which allows you to do several neat things; first, you can go ahead and just use a cursor to map any random run you decide to do, as long as that run shows up on Google maps (those of you who run on military installations may have a little trouble doing this).  Secondly, it allows you to find runs that other people have created in your area or hometown. 

I thought it would come in handy to highlight the loop I did yesterday for a total of 10.5 miles. The lakes at Notre Dame, which are easily my favorite place(s) to go in Indiana, make up a two mile loop if you do a figure eight around them.  The little leg jutting to the northwest is something I did in the middle of the 10-miler to break up the monotony. You see, as lovely as the lakes are, I occasionally have to do something to distract my mind from the fact that I'm running a double-digit distance...so I took off up St. Mary's road (the road that leads to St. Mary's University, an all-girls' Catholic university just across the way) and through a little path that leads out to Douglas. Douglas is a main thoroughfare, and South Bend drivers are mostly terrible at driving with respect to runners, so I decided to just loop and come back.

I would say this run easily made my top five favorite distance runs of all time. It's pretty difficult to beat any run that I did in the mountains of New Mexico or Colorado, for the sheer facts that one, I usually did them at a time where I wouldn't see other runners, so I felt like I had the scenery all to myself, and two, the environment and the weather were breathtaking.  This run, while definitely pretty, takes a top spot because I didn't know I'd be able to do it - whilst running the entire thing, mind you, even if it was at a slower pace - and it is the first double-digit run I've completed in over three years.  That, to me, marks a huge achievement.  I'm in some of the best running shape of my life, and that feels pretty good.

Ironically, one might think that I'd consider beach running amazing, but after three runs on Grand Cayman, I've come to the conclusion that I love walking on the beach, but not running on it...although it's a great leg workout, the sand is far too uneven and even with my gimpy orthotics, it's still too painful to make it enjoyable on my knees and feet. 

I think some of the great pleasure in this run came from the confidence of knowing I could do it. I'd felt a little unsure earlier in the week, from a combination of a post-vacation hangover/depression and a lack of long runs while in Cayman, but I feel fully restored now. Even better is knowing I only have two more long runs before the race. I'm more than on track to complete a marathon this year, a marathon that I'll be able to run in its entirety...no more walking!

(I should note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with walking during a race, and I certainly walk on water stops and for brief 30-second intervals when my heart rate monitor indicates to me that I'm pushing too hard.)

Only two things about this run were not perfect, but those are not so severe that they would keep me from basking in the glow of happiness for completing this.  One is the grumpy old man who actually accelerated as I was crossing the road and would have hit me if I had slowed for even a second; on a college campus, that is very poor driving behavior indeed. However, I would guess that he's just angry about something else in his life and it had very little to do with me.  The second is my slight fear of geese.  The Canadian geese at Notre Dame are plentiful and sometimes angry, and they crossed in front of me no less than 15 times at different spots in my run, thus forcing me to take a wide berth through the grass to avoid them as they honked at me.  Not a big deal, but I do always worry that one of them will eventually come after me, honking and flailing its wings, and I should get nipped.

Lastly, the track of the day. I went on a twee iTunes shopping spree yesterday before my run and downloaded this song. It played at mile 2 or 3, so it was hardly the song to push me through till the end, but it made me smile the entire time it was on and I would have been singing along if it wouldn't have offended the other runners on the path.

Jellyfish stings and being mrrr

I'm extremely mrrr today. Mrr, a word I picked up in college, is commonly used to indicate a feeling somewhat similar to "blah," "meh," or "giau," (pronounced 'goo') indicating that there is a source of great malcontent or displeasure in the mind of the person emitting the sound.


Right now, I'm mrrr.  I realize after a week in Grand Cayman that I miss the ocean life desperately.  Like most teenagers, I took my youthful environment completely for granted - I failed to understand that not everyone went to the beach every weekend, that not every teen had a boat in their backyard, that not everyone made haste down to the Keys for the lobster mini-season every July for scuba diving and lobster hunting.  I was more likely to complain about my Olympic-caliber track coach making me do 15 600-meter repeats in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity, or to be frustrated that the seas were running 5-7 feet in the bay, thus making it too choppy for a friends and family day on the ocean in our 24-foot Grady White (aptly named "Su-Kay" after my Mom and I).


After joining the Air Force, and seeing quite a bit of the other landscapes the good ol' US of A has to offer, I realize that I'm happiest in one of two places: either an ocean or a mountain range.  I take the mountains second to the ocean, because the one place I feel truly me is in the water.  When I'm scuba diving, for instance, I feel completely at peace.  There's something truly majestic about the world that exists beneath the waves, something that puts me in touch with a part of my soul that stays dormant when I'm away from the water too long.  Likewise, if you put me on a beach at sunrise or sunset, I'll tap into creative energies that seem to wither and go into a semi-permanent state of hibernation when surrounded by dirty snow and ice in the Midwest winter.


As I sit here in my office in South Bend, enjoying the ability to write my feelings at will and to ponder what really makes me happy, I have but two physical reminders of this amazing trip to the islands - a tan (which is still pretty dark, thanks to my genes, I suppose) and the remnants of my jellyfish sting.  Even a day where I was attacked by a fairly blobby, tentacled, gooey undersea native beats a normal, jellyfish-free day in a landlocked environment in sub-freezing temperatures (see below for picture of the offending creature - let's be honest, though, I was on his turf).  The sting is fading, although the series of brown spots left behind look suspiciously like scars. I suppose they will go away, too, although if they don't, I won't mind.  I could consider it my all-natural tattoo, a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling at 60 feet below the surface of the ocean. 

Truly, it's no wonder that one of my favorite quotes is simple: "The cure for anything is salt: sweat, tears, or the sea."  I leave you with a picture of me where I feel happiest (and where, 20 minutes later, Mr. Blobby Tentacles would latch onto my right hand for 10 seconds of pure stinging ouchiness.)

Track of the Day

Sigh. Today's track of the day comes from yesterday, and it is a pretty intense one. I tend to think that this music matches the mood I've been in the past three days - complex, a little dark, haunting at times...you could say I'm pretty bummed to be back in a landlocked state with no ocean for many miles. 

Anyhow. I digress. Here's the song..."Hysteria" by Muse.

Track of the Day

Today's track of the day...well, yesterday's track of the day, actually...is from Lady Gaga.  I find Lady Gaga to be somewhat off-putting, but there are a few songs of hers that I really find myself liking. And "Telephone" is one of those songs. I don't know how she gets in my head, but she does. Last night's run took place at about 10 PM, and was a quick three miles. I intended for yesterday to be a long run day, but I saved it for today or tomorrow because I'm going to be in Grand Cayman next week and I'm not sure how my long run is going to work out. I'm squeezing in just a bit extra this week.  Note to self: need to check the Ritz-Carlton website to see if they have a pay-per-day gym pass I can get, since the hotel is next door to where we are staying...


Also? John's orthotic recommendation has been a great one - no foot or knee pain since I began running with them full time :)

Track of the Day

Today's track of the day comes to you from The Offspring and...Zantac.  I was feeling kind of queasy during the run, but pushed through it for a solid 5 miles. Along the way, I found this song gave me the most energy at around the 3 mile mark. Enjoy!

(Side note: I know most of these aren't the original music videos, but the VEVO channel on YouTube makes the videos huge and I'm not re-formatting the entire blog just to fit these vidoes, so I'm putting the video that has the song as I listen to it...sorry if it's not the best quality at times, but for me it's all about the music!!)

Track of the Day

Long run day today...7 miles, time not relevant ;) Let's just say that it was a good, hard run after a weekend of only a little running. I didn't quite carb load for the run properly, but I found that I still had a great deal of energy, likely because I was running at 10 in the morning and was feeling ready for the day. And, good news, I am getting used to the orthotics. Still find them quite uncomfortable at the onset of the run, but after a mile or so they feel like they are molded to my feet. I like!


The track of the day is actually VERY close to the title of the blog, and is a classic on many distance runners' playlists...because we are running down a dream, are we not? Enjoy. 

Track of the Day

Blegh, why am I so tired today? Did a race pace two miles, great on the time but not so outstanding on the duration. I'm going to try to run again later on tonight....go for the long run tomorrow. The fact that I didn't take a rest day this week may have something to do with it.   Also, the new orthotics - which, I should mention, I only started wearing while running because John insisted that my knee pain was coming from not listening to my podiatrist (he was right) - aren't breaking in as quickly as I'd like.

Today's track of the day is brought to you by Kanye West...my favorite Kanye track, it never lets me down for a good running boost. 

It's the little things

Today is a good day. Why? Because I bought these lovelies on sale, and they feel delightful on my feet. Even with the wretched orthotics in place. 


Now, off for a test run. Har. 

Track of the Day

Today's run was an undeniably difficult one - not because of the distance (just over 3 miles) or the pace (I was trying to run just slightly under race pace) - but rather, the shoes! My podiatrist prescribed and then created orthotics for my shoes, and I'm meant to wear them at all times, even when working out.  Well, like the stubborn runner that I am, I absolutely balked at the idea of wearing them while running and have put off training in them until this week. Terrible idea. So today's run was basically an exercise in creating blisters on my feet where there previously were none, as my running shoes had been perfectly worn in to my non-orthotic wearing feet. 

This is likely why today's song, brought to you by Limp Bizkit, is so fitting.



Today's honorable mention? "Big Pimpin'" by Jay-Z - because before the blisters started, I felt like I was ;)

What are you here for, anyway?

Ah, blog, we meet again. After yet another hiatus - I originally started this blog in 2007, wrote a post or two, then picked it up again in 2008 for another two posts, and finally posted a few more blogs in 2009 - I've learned that the only way to be a writer is, well, to write.  For relevancy's sake, I've deleted any blogs that wouldn't be share-worthy, and am attempting to stick to topics that keep in line with what I'm trying to achieve.

In my spare time, I've been freelancing, which has been fun - if not humbling - and working on a novel.  I've found that when I actually let my imagination goes where it wants to, I have several ideas of what I want to write, but I'm trying to focus and produce at this point, and it's hard to do that if I'm writing four things at once. Therefore, I've narrowed it down to two things - a novel that has been a long time in the making, and this blog. (And the freelancing. Hmm. All speed, no vector? I digress.) 

As you can tell, writing and therapy are two passions of mine, and two things I've racked up some experience in.  The Air Force is another passion, and that currently comprises my day job.  I take cooking and baking pretty seriously, and I like to experiment with new recipes almost daily.  Lastly, I'm fairly obsessed with running.  I have always enjoyed working out, and started seriously working out in high school.  My whole life I've been interested in things that are athletic - my Dad started me scuba diving hitched to his hip at the tender age of 5, and I began lobstering soon thereafter (more on that later) - but running isn't something I picked up until freshman year of high school, when I joined the track team...and stayed on it for all four years, leading up to co-captaincy in my senior year, which was fairly cool for someone who wasn't a sprinter.  Nope - my glory came from shot put, discus, and long distance racing.  


Being in the military - and please, feel free to keep your Chair Force comments to yourself for the time being :) - physical fitness has always been important to me.  Some of the most memorable runs of my life came from time spent in the Middle East, with my fastest run of my life taking place while being chased by a camel spider...in his defense, he was likely seeking shade in my shadow...or running with my squadron-mates during PT on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.  I met some good friends in the Air Force who enjoyed running as well, and with some of those friends I did my first 10k, my first half-marathon, and my first marathon.


But, some time has lapsed. It's been two years since I separated from active duty (currently I'm in the Reserves), and it's been two years since I have raced.  So, at the end of last year, I decided it was time to do another race. I set my goals on the Marine Corps Marathon in October, in Washington, D.C.  This race has been an important one for me to run, because I was signed up to run it in 2006, but dropped out due to my Dad passing away.  The following year, I suppose I could have rolled over my registration, but with separating from the Air Force, starting a civilian career, and moving to Chicago, my motivation to do the run got lost along the way.


A good friend of mine, Kate, has agreed that as long as she's not deployed (as she currently is to Afghanistan) that she will run it with me. Even if she isn't able to, I fully intend to run the race.  And with that, I figure I need a training run.  So in 6 weeks, I've signed up to do the Notre Dame Holy Half marathon, which is designed to benefit survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.  

This blog in part will be used as a quasi-training log, to make note of my Tracks of the Day (see previous post), and to report on my general thoughts about running, cooking, writing, and the like.  The beautiful thing about a blog is that it can really be about whatever you want, so I'm taking great pleasure in taking advantage of that.  

On that note, I should probably wrap this one up, and go shower. Today was a cross-training day, which means I did a Wii Active workout (lunges, reverse flyes, tricep extensions, crunches, leg raises, stride jumps, lateral jumps, and a few other exercises that involve spot-training) and may walk a bit later.  No running today! 

Running Track Of The Day

Technically, this is the track of the day for yesterday, but I'm still posting it here to keep track of the songs that made me feel the most motivated during my training runs.  Every now and then, I'll post an honorable mention as well.  Tracks of the day are used to illustrate a song that basically assists me with a "second wind" of sorts by motivating me to run a little faster, a little harder, and pick it up a bit. 

"If" by Janet Jackson