Achilles Pain... Again

Friday morning I woke up with pain in my achilles. All I could think was not again. I gotta be honest. I never took the time off I probably needed to. When my Physical Therapist said I could run, I ran. I did little things like 1 mile to 2 to three but I thought I was finally healed. I had a strong week with runnng 7 miles Sunday, a speed workout Tuesday and 3 miles on Thursday, but pain started again. I had not been to Physical Therapy in over three weeks so I honestly think it could be all the electronic stim I got. Is that possible? I went in Wed and did a wall press with stim then did my exercises. Came back to the station and got more stim while doing a step up exercise, then iced with more stim. So that was 30 minutes of Stim. Then Friday morning I felt a ton of tightness. Like it hurt to touch. I took Friday, Saturday and today off from working out. Im going to go to Physical Therapy tomorrow. I think the true key is to listen to my body. If the achilles or hips hurt, I need to take the day off. I'm really hopeful this week will be more positive.

Now fast forward to food. We went out to dinner Friday night to AltaStrada. I enjoyed it, but David did not. A little too trendy for his liking. Saturday, I woke up and made Whole Wheat Apple Oatmeal Pancakes, inspired by Ellie Kreiger.
Ingredients:
1 cup eggnog (this was the last of it- wanted to use it up!- original recipe called for buttermilk)
3/4 cup nonfat milk
2 large eggs
1 cup of oats
1 tablespoon honey
6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 medium apple, diced
1 and 1/2 cup whole-wheat four
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:Put the apple in a microwave-safe bowl and tightly cover with plastic wrap; microwave on high until softened, about 2 minutes.In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, oats and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the eggnog, nonfat milk, eggs and honey, then slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Heat a large nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat. Spoon 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake and sprinkle each with apple, then drizzle a little more batter over the apple. Cook until the tops are bubbly and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 more minutes. Place 2 pancakes on each plate. Drizzle with the syrup.

I did typical Saturday activities minus the running. tear. Maybe someday I will meet this Running Club I signed up for. I cleaned and grocery shopped and cooked. For Saturday's dinner I made Butternut Squash Soup with Chipotle and Meatless Meatloaf from Peas and Thank You.

Meatless Meatloaf
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup quick oats
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
2 stalks of celery
1 large carrot
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 T. ketchup and 1 T of Catalina Dressing
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
3 T. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T. poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with non stick cooking spray. Pulse onion, carrot and celery in food processor until finely chopped. Set aside in a large mixing bowl. Grind oats in processor and add to vegetables. Pulse beans in processor, leaving some texture. Put beans in with oats and vegetables and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until well-combined and thoroughly moistened. Place evenly in loaf pan. (Like this)

Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are starting to brown. Serve with ketchup, barbecue sauce, tahini dressing or whatever other sauce you like.

I served this with an argula salad and Annie's Goddess Dressing and the soup. Saturday night we headed to Mike and Stephanie's to check out their new place. I drank lots of vodka and ate lots of chips and dip, so much for my diet. I better get healthy soon if I am going to win this competition! Here I am with some of my besties...

I've had a pretty lazy day today. I made myself 2 scrambled eggs with light cheese and banana peppers on a Joseph's 70 calorie wrap with lots of coffee. For lunch, we headed to my mom's to watch the Pats. She made us delicious Three-Bean Chili. Yum!

And like every Sunday, here is my Weekly Menu plan:
Sunday: Salmon with Hoison and Bok Choy with Cous Cous
Monday: Asian Turkey Wraps
Tuesday: Black Bean Cakes with Quinoa Risotta
Wednesday: Poached Chicken with Mango Chutney
Thursday: Hearty Winter Veggie Pilaf and Grilled Chicken
Friday: out to dinner with old roomie Lindsay and her husband!
For dinner tonight, I made Salmon with Hoisin, Orange and Bok Choy inspired from December 2009 Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

2 heads of baby bok choy, each cut lengthwise into 6 wedges
2 5-to 6-ounce salmon fillets
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
salt and pepper
a tiny splash of soy sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Form bed of bok choy in center of each of two 12-inch square pieces of parchment paper. Top bok choy with fish. Mix orange juice, green onion, hoisin, ginger, and soy sauce in small bowl. Spoon mixture over fish, dividing equally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Like below)Fold up sides and pinch tightly to seal above fish and at both ends of packets, enclosing contents completely. (Like below)Place packets on baking sheet. Bake until fish is just opaque in center, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer packets to plates and serve.


I served this with Nutty Couscous. I used a trick I saw yesterday on Ellie Kreiger's show. I used my tea kettle to heat up water. I put 1 cup of couscous in a bowl. Once the water was hot, I put a cup of water in a bowl and covered the bowl with a plate and let sit for 5 minutes. Then I fluffed it with Salt/Pepper, Green Onions and slivered almonds. I ended up adding the couscous to the bowl and it sucked up all the delicious juices!