Thursday, August 27, 2009

Running Cook!

Hello everyone! I have a lot of cooking to update you on! Monday night I ate a piece of the Tortilla Pie with a Salad and Annie's Goddess Dressing.

I also ran 7 miles in the morning on the treadmill in 61:48. Then on Tuesday, I ran an easy 3 during lunch in 25:50. Tuesday night, I made a feast. Dana was sleeping over and eating dinner with us and I had planned to make sirloin lettuce wraps but she doesn't eat red meat so in addition, I also made an adapted version from Bon Appetit of Spiced Pear Flatbreads with Mozzerela and Mustard Cream.

Ingredients:
Mustard Cream:

  • 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
TOPPING:
  • 2 firm but ripe pears, halved lengthwise, cored
  • Olive oil
  • red pepper flakes, a couple pinches
  • salt
  • 5 cups baby arugula (about 4 ounces)
  • 8 ounces mozzerela
Instructions:

Mustard Cream:


  • Whisk all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.
Topping:


  • Cut pear halves vertically into very scant 1/4-inch-thick slices.

  • Preheat oven to 400 °F

  • Stretch and roll dough lightly floured work surface. Place on floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Brush dough with oil; sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Scatter 1/4 of arugula over. Drizzle lightly with oil. Top with pear slices and the cheese, add the mustard cream on top and bake for 15 minutes..
  • Let cool and then serve.
This pizza was soooo tasty and different. I love the addition of the pepper flakes, it added a spice to the sweet mustard sauce.

So as I mentioned above, I was a busy Lizzy cook Tuesday! I also made Thai Sirloin Lettuce Wraps.


Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of lean ground sirloin
  • 2 shallots, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp of ginger
  • 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, cut into strips
  • 1 T of Hoisin Sauce
  • 2 T of Tamari
  • 1 t of fish sauce
  • 3 t of Sriracha
  • 1 Chipotle in Adobo, minced
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 15 leaves of bibb lettuce, washed and dried
Saute beef in large skillet over medium- high heat for 5-10 minutes until no longer pink. Then add the garlic, shallots, ginger and water chestnuts and cook until softened. Add the next 5 ingredients until combined and heated through. Top with Green Onions.

I also cooked Nasoya Japanese Style Noodles and combined those with soy sauce and sesame seeds.

So then I just took a leave of lettuce, put some noodles then topped with the beef and rolled it for a yummy dinner! And as you can see, I also had some pizza!



Wednesday morning I left when Dana left (6:10AM) and headed to Boston to run with a work friend around Castle Island in Southie. Gorgeous run! We ran 6.6 miles in just over 60 minutes. When I got home from work, I immediately started cooking! I decided to make Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of pad thai clear rice noodles
  • 2 T of fish sauce
  • 2 t of sugar
  • 2 T of Tamari
  • 1 t of hoisin
  • 1 t of chili-garlic sauce
  • 1 t of garlic
  • 1 package of frozen shrimp, defrosted
  • 2 chicken breasts, already cooked and diced
  • 2 chipotles in adobo (minced) - (you don't have to use these, I just had a can open and LOVE the smokey heat)
  • 1 ounce of water chestnuts (again, I had these leftover from the night before, you don't have to use them)
  • 1/2 cup of chicken broth to thin out the sauce
  • garnish with peanuts, lime wedges and green onions
Instructions:
Cook noodles according to package directions. In a bowl combine the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, hoisin, and chili-garlic sauce. Then add garlic to hot stirfry pan and add the shrimp and chicken until the shrimp turns pink. Add fish sauce mixture, and chilis, then add the water chestunuts and noodles and stirfry the noodles. If the sauce thickens too much, add some chicken broth to thin out the sauce. Then garnish with peanuts, lime wedges and green onions and serve!



So tonight, I have a meeting with my Ragnar Relay team and I decided to make Lasagna. This is a typical lasagna recipe made with no boil noodles, ricotta mixed with spinach and chicken sausage with mozzerela and parmesan cheese.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sunday Cook-A-Thon

This is going to be a long blog entry. I cooked up a storm today and I went to see Julie and Julia with my mom this afternoon so I have a lot to say. To start I will talk about yesterday's long run. We ran from my house and did 16 miles. (I had stopped the watch and forgot to turn it back on for about 2 minutes so thats why it says a little short). I had mapped out an 18 miler but we needed a bathroom break around mile 6 and had to go almost 2 miles out of the way to find one (we were in the 'burbs, aka, the middle of nowhere...). So then we just carried on main roads which was nice because there was some killer hills and thats good practice, but also because the suburban roads had huge trees which provided lots of shade from the intense, hot heat. We stopped three times to refill waters, but I'm happy we got through it. It was hot and slow but we managed.
Today I woke up, got my grocery list together and headed out the door. I went to both Trader Joe's and Stop N Shop and got tons of delicious food. On the menu tonight: Salmon Burgers with a Cream Cheese Sauce and Pesto Potato Salad.
Okay, here's what I did.

Ingredients:
-1 pound of salmon fillets, skin removed and cut into chunks
-1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons of dill
-1 zuchinni, grated
-10 saltines, crunched by hand

Place salmon in food processor and pulse a few times. Transfer to a bowl and combine with listed above ingredients. Form burgers and cook in hot skillet for 5 minutes on each side.

While the burgers cook, prepare the sauce.

-1/2 cup of cream cheese, softened
-3 scallions, chopped
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Combine ingredients together and spread over Ciabatta Roll (I put it on both sides!) Then top burgers with tomatoes and enjoy!

I also made Pesto Potato Salad that I made last week only adding some argula as well.

In addition, I made Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Similar to the ones I made here, but not quite as healthy....

Ingredients:
-2 small ripe mashed bananas
-1/2 dark brown sugar
-1/4 cup of melted butter
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 teaspoon of vanilla
-1 large egg
-1 and 1/4 cups of flour
-2 cups of oats
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-1/2 cup of chocolate chips cookies
-1/2 cup of trail mix

Preheat oven to 350 and combine first five ingredients and beat with mixer until smooth, add egg and beat well. Combine flour,oats, baking soda and add to banana mixture with mixer and then stir in the chocolate chips and trail mix. Drop cookies 2 inches apart and form 4 rows of 3. Cook for 18 minutes and cool on wire rack.
And I've wanted to cook these "Magic Bars" for weeks now and I figured this was the week to do it. I have a meeting with my Ragnar Relay team on Thursday night so I will bring leftovers there. I'm running a 12 person 48 hour relay race from CT-Boston in September. Can't wait!

Magic Bars:

Ingredients:
-1 stick of butter, melted
-12 graham crackers, pulsed in a food processor
-1 and 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
-1 cup shredded coconut
-1 cup of heath bar chips
-1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk*

*all of these measurements are approximations aside from the butter. All I did was melt one stick of butter in an 8X12 Pyrex pan and then added the crackers until it was pressed even to the bottom of the pan. Then I layered with coconut, chocolate chips, heath bar chips and then covered with the milk over top. I then baked this for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

This bars are seriously heaven on earth. (And totally not healthy- but amazing!!!) My mom used to make bars like these growing up and I think she'd appreciate the addition of the heath bar chips!

My after dinner bite:
OMG, I could probably eat 10 of these, but I controlled myself!

Next up, Dave's lunch in his brand new Celtics Lunch Box. I've been packing his lunches in my flowered Envirosax and he wasn't liking that so much so when I saw this lunchbox, I thought he'd be excited. haha. Anyway, his lunch consisted of the last salmon burger, an apple, banana, clementine, Cliff Bar, Blueberry Greek Yogurt AND an oatmeal banana cookie. Big lunch but he's gonna need the extra energy for his golf tournament late in the day. Aren't I the best wife ever???


And the last thing I made was a Tortilla Pie with Chicken from Martha's Stewarts Everyday Food. I didn't adapt much here aside from buying store bough fresh salsa AND store bought Salsa Verde. I decided to switch up the salsa's each layer. This is dinner tomorrow night and I feel happy its already done.


And, I would like you all to know that one room of our house finally has curtains!!! We still four rooms left to do, but we've started the process.
I love having such a handy husband. He can fix and hang anything : )
I'm too tired now and the Red Sox need my support so I will write my Julie & Julia review in the AM. It was definitely really well done, but I liked my version of Julie better in the book.

Weekly Runs 8/18-8/23

Planned Runs for Week of 8/24:
Monday: 6
Tuesday: boot camp
Wednesday:
7
Thursday: 5
Friday: 3
Saturday: 18
Sunday: 0ff - VACATION!

Total Mileage: 38 miles

Week of 8/18-8/23

Time Spent Running: 6 hours 20 minutes (ish)

Total Mileage: 40!!!!
Monday, off

Tuesday, 11:30

Date8 /18/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance6.00 mi
Time52:00
Pace08:40/mile


Wednesday=Ran with Mike

Date8 /19/2009
RouteBrookline-JP
Distance10.00 mi
Time1:39:12
Pace0:09:55/mile



Thursday= Ran during lunch

Date8 /20/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance5.00 mi
Time43:54
Pace08:46/mile




Friday =ran on treadmill at lunch

Date8 /21/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance3.00 mi
Time24:47
Pace08:15/mile


Saturday - Around the 'burbs with Laryssa and Nancy

Date8 /23/2009
Routeland-27-16-126
Distance16.00 mi
Time2:42:05
Pace0:10:07/mile


Sunday- OFF

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Quick Fix Dinner

I walked in the door tonight, threw my stuff down and got to work. I threw my leftover rotisserie chicken in a large glass Pyrex bowl and mixed it with diced jalapenos, banana peppers, corn, tomatoes, shallots and Mexican blend cheese. Then I threw the mix into a hot skillet to heat it up. At the same time, I made guac in the food processor; avocado, 1/2 red onion, 2 jalepenos (small), lots of lime juice and S &P. I also made a Romaine Lettuce salad with Tomatoes, Red Onion, Cucumbers and Feta Cheese. And last but not least, I heated up for a minute my whole wheat Josephs Lavish Wraps. Then its time to get wrapping....
I laid down some guac, cheese, then the chicken mixture. Here's what the chicken mixture looks like:
And now plated with my salad:
I just finished watching Top Chef Masters. Rick Bayless won! YAY! I would love to learn to the art of mexican cuisine by him. He's amazing!

Oh also I finally got around to taking a picture of all my swag from the blog conference...mmm I love bars! Kinda scared of the Green Food, but maybe I will give it a shot!


Brookline 10 Miler in 90 Degrees

So last night, I met my brother at his new place in Brookline to run 10 miles. It was somewhere between the temps of 85-90 degrees. I went out and bought the Nathan Pink Water Bottle at City Sports so I could be hydrated on the run (see below).
Our run started out pretty good. We were averaging just over 8:30 miles and I was feeling decent. When we hit the trails and the hills, I slowed down drastically (barely maintaining 10 minute pace). And then Negative Lizzy kicked in. I wanted to stop, I was mad at my brother, I was just plain evil. It just wasn't my night. Once we got to a place that I felt safe knowing where I was, I let my brother take off and I kept trucking along until I got to his place in exactly ten miles. So needless to say, it wasn't my day. But I'm still pretty happy I was able to finish!



Date8 /19/2009
RouteBrookline-JP
Distance10.00 mi
Time1:39:12
Pace0:09:55/mile


After the run, Dave met us at his place and the four of us went to a Middle Eastern Gourmet Restuarant up the street called Shawarma King. I got an amazing Hummus Chicken Kabob Wrap. Mike and Natalia were still pretty hungry but I felt pretty satisfied. Dave and I drove home and I got a good 8 hours asleep. (Can't wait to watch Top Chef and Project Runway tonight!!- Don't forget Project Runway starts tonight on Lifetime!)

I just got back from my lunch run. My legs were sore but I got on that treadmill anyway. Now it looks like a thunderstorm is going to hit any minute!


Date8 /20/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance5.00 mi
Time43:54
Pace08:46/mile

Tonights dinner include the quiche I made the other night and leftover chicken I cooked for lunches on Sunday.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Delicious (Not-so-Healthy) Dinners

So my foot was ridiculously itchy yesterday and I never made it out for my run. So Monday was ANOTHER day off. I'm gonna pay for that later in the week.

Monday night, I got off the train ready to start cooking. Inspired by this month's Everday Food by Martha Stewart, I cooked Pork Tenderloin with Bacon and Cabbage. Let me caveat this recipe by saying, a) the pictures don't do it justice b) this meal is categorized in the "moderation" list. Dave asked after we finished eating it if I was going to write this as a "healthy" meal. And truth is pork on pork never hurt anyone and eating something this good in moderation is worth it! Here's what I did:

Pork Tenderloin with Bacon and Cabbage

Ingredients:
-1lb Pork Tenderloin, nicely seasoned with salt and pepper
-4 strips of bacon, chopped
-1 medium onion
-2 large leeks
-1 green cabbage, sliced
-3 tablespoons of flour
-2 cups of skim milk (this is where I saved lots of fat, the original recipe called for whole)
-1/4 cup of cream

Instructions:
Heat EVOO on hot skillet and add full pork to sear on both sides. Once seared, remove and cut into medallions. Meanwhile, add the leeks, cabbage and onion to pan and let cook until tender. Then add the flour and stir until coated. Add milk and cook until thickened then nestle the pork chops in sauce. Transfer pan to hot oven for 10 minutes and let the pork cook through.

Here's what it looked like when it came out of the oven:

And my plate, served with a side salad:

Closeup of the pork next. Again, I wish you could really understand how tasty this was....

On to today.... well I was able to get out during lunch and run a pretty easy 6 in exactly 52 minutes.


Date8 /18/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance6.00 mi
Time52:00
Pace08:40/mile

For dinner, I modifed another recipe in Martha's everyday Food Magazine. I decided to make Turkey Meatloaf with Assorted Vegetables.

Ingredients:
-1 package of portobello mushrooms
-2 large leeks, thinly sliced
-1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
-2 roasted red peppers, diced
-1 big bunch of kale
-1 small shallot
-1 pound 93% fat free ground turkey
-1 large egg
-1 and 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
-1/4 cup of gouda

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add leeks, mushrooms, peppers, shallots and kale. Cook for 5-7 minutes. In a mixing bowl, add the egg whisked and add the turkey and bread crumbs. Once cool, add the skillet mixture. Season with salt and pepper and add cheese. Then form with your hands a 10 inch loaf. Put on baking sheet lined wtih parachment paper and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

In addition, I also made Tomatoes Provencal.

All I did was slice thinly two large tomatoes and add breadcrumbs, grated parmesan and mozzerela, thyme, salt and pepper and olive oil. I put the tomatoes in a baking dish, then added the breadcrumb mixture and baked for 15 minutes.

Here's what our leftovers look like, this is probably the best pic I have of this dish and I know its not great : (
Oh, so while the oven was hot, I decided to also make a Quiche with the leftover vegetables I made for the turkey meatloaf. I filled the pie crust with the assorted veggies, then added 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1/2 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of sour cream with two eggs, and lots of cheese oh... I also added bacon. I cooked this for about 30 minutes.


And now I have laundry to fold and its way past my bedtime!!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Weekly Runs 8/9-8/16

Planned Runs for Week of 8/17:
Monday: had to take off due to itchy feet!
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday:
10- Miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: 5
Saturday: 5
Sunday: 18

Total Mileage: 38-44 miles

Week of 8/10-8/17

Time Spent Running: 5 hours 20 minutes

Total Mileage: 35.29

Monday, 7:30

Date8/10/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance4.00 mi
Time33:50
Pace08:27/mile


Tuesday, 11:30

Date8/11/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance5.00 mi
Time42:54
Pace08:34/mile

Wednesday=Ran at 6:15 with HH crew and Laryssa

Date8/12/2009
RouteWork around Charles River
Distance10.25 mi
Time1:33:43
Pace09:08/mile


Thursday= Off



Friday =ran around Charlestown

Date8/14/2009
RouteAround Town
Distance16.04
Time2:33:27
Pace9:34

Saturday - OFF

Sunday- OFF

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Blog Summit + Steak Sunday Dinner (Again)

This weekend Gretchen and I went to the Healthy Living Summit in Boston with Kath, Meghann, Jenna, Heather, Caitlin and Tina. It was really interesting and I learned a lot! Here's Caitlin explaining Operation Beautiful, a global marketing campaign geared towards making women of all shapes and sizes feel beautiful about themselves by leaving positive post-it notes in unexpected places.

And here is everyone waiting in line for our delicious lunch!

Saturday night, I went to Dave's friends house for a house party. It was a really good time except for the fact that I got bitten alive on my foot. I have like 25 bites! On Sunday, we went to my mothers for brunch because my cousin and her new baby just moved to Newport. She is the cutest baby ever and soooo good!

For dinner, I made a Potato-Cucumber-Corn Soup adapted from Rachael Ray.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 large rustic potatoes, chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
1 large cucumber, diced
1/4 heavy cream
2 ears of corn
1 cup of kale

Instructions:
-In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened then add the potatoes then pour the chicken broth over the the vegetables and bring to a boil then let simmer for 15 minutes. When the potatoes are tender, use your hand blender to blend the soup. Add in the cucumbers and keep pureeing until mostly smooth. Then add in the cream, corn and kale. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with more kale as the garnish.

For our main course, we grilled London Broil. I marinated it with an Asian Terriaki Sauce and then gave it to Dave to put on the grill. I also whipped up a corn salad with fresh corn off the cob, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, lime juice and salt and pepper. And of course, what dinner is complete without kale chips?!?



And Dave and I decided to head to our local ice cream joint! I got soft serve vanilla with oreo. YUM!