Soup is one of my favorite foods. Yes, the entire category. In fact, when I was pregnant with Jones, I craved soup at every meal. Since Virginia has decided that today is winter, this potato leek soup is on the menu. I need to make it while it's actually cold enough to enjoy it. You think I'm kidding that we are getting one day of winter? Yesterday it was in the mid-60s and I ran in a skirt and short sleeve shirt! Today it's a high in the 30s. Sunday it will be in the 60s again. Go home, Mother Nature, you are drunk! Anyways, I love this potato leek soup as it is super easy to make, has lots of veggies, and is quite tasty. Add a scoop of Greek yogurt and you've got some extra protein as well. Win/Win! Potato Leek … [Read more...]
Turkey Sweet Potato Soup and more
It's almost Thanksgiving day and we all know what that means! Leftovers! I enjoy turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, but I'm not one to sit down to meal after meal of leftover turkey, sweet potatoes, and the various other sides. So, I immediately turn the leftovers into other meals if I can. Since today's Friday Five 2.0 topic with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness is "Holiday Foods", I'm going to share some of my favorite ways to use up the leftovers. Soup! I make a wicked good turkey and sweet potato soup. I've never tried it with mashed sweet potatoes, but I bet that would work as well.[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:48] Sweet Potatoes with candied walnuts - OK, this is totally cheating. I intend this to be on my T'day table. And I … [Read more...]
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
It's Monday and my kids are home with me for the 12th day in a row. Granted, this was a planned teacher work day and we haven't used up all of our snow days, so they did not reschedule it. But, wow, I'm ready for a normal life. Thankfully, the weather here has been super warm, so we should be snow free by the middle of this week. This weekend Jones had Honors Orchestra. They lost two of their practice days so they ended up practicing for 9 hours over two days. It was a lovely concert and they played really well, but that pretty much took everything out of my introverted musician. Shoo also had a futsal game and a birthday party, so I feel like I spent most of my weekend driving people places. Thankfully my dad and I got in a 10K run. … [Read more...]
DuClaw Beer Bread Pudding
DuClaw sent me some beer to sample and compensated me for this post. All enjoyment and opinions are my own. It's no secret that I'm a fan of craft beer and a huge supporter of the DC area craft beer scene. We host a few beer oriented parties each year: a beer and food pairing dinner where I usually use beer as an ingredient in each course and a holiday beer tasting where we taste as many seasonal beers as I can get my hands on. As you can guess, I was pretty excited to get my hands on DuClaw's 31 and 62. DuClaw Brewing Company is a leading craft brewery founded in 1996, and is based in Baltimore, Maryland. I love their company motto: “craft be cherished, rules be damned.” Since 1996, they've grown from a small brewpub to a brewery … [Read more...]
Unstuffed Freekeh Cabbage Rolls + Giveaway
Recently I was offered an opportunity to try out freekeh by Fit Approach and Freekeh Foods. Since I'm always trying to expand our eating horizons, I jumped on it. They sent me a package of plain and a package of Rosemary Sage flavor to try. So, what exactly is freekeh? Freekeh is roasted green wheat, so if you are looking for gluten free or wheat free, this is not your product. Freekeh is high in protein, fiber, and lutein. It cooks in a bit faster than white rice and a little slower than quinoa (22ish minutes after being brought to a boil), so it's a convenient grain to cook up quickly for dinner. The freekeh from Freekeh Foods is organic, non-GMO, and grown in the USA. The bag says it makes four servings, but I found that to … [Read more...]
Beer Brats and Ukrainian Coleslaw
As you can probably guess from the title, I'm still in Wisconsin. (What could be more Wisconsin the bratwurst? OK, maybe cheese...) Anyways, I've been indulging in a few of my favorite foods and drinks while I'm here. The beauty of being here in August is the bounty from my mom's garden. I've been indulging freely, which may have made me a bit fragrant on my last run. Ahem. I've eaten more cucumbers, grape tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant than most people eat in a year! I've also gorged on my mom's awesome coleslaw. It's her version of the coleslaw that their host family fed them when my parents visited the Ukraine a few summers ago. I am not a fan of creamy coleslaw, but this vinegar based coleslaw totally floats my boat. … [Read more...]
Run like a mother + Canton Pork Soup
We've all had that weekend. You know the one - kids have activities + errands need running + the husband needs to get his long bike ride in + you need to get in a mid-length run. Notice I said mid-length - that means at least an hour of running for me. Hmm, where would I fit in an hour of running? Ah ha! During the hour and a half soccer practice, I could run errands and then run on the track. And by run errands, I do mean run. Here's how I got in a 6.5 miles running + a half mile walk: … [Read more...]
Whip up a sweet dessert with Yoplait Greek 100 Whips!
Many thanks to Yoplait for sponsoring today’s story and encouraging me to try Yoplait Greek 100 Whips!! I love dessert! I have a HUGE sweet tooth, as I mentioned earlier this week. I'm also marathon training, so I'm hungry all.the.time. So, when I had the chance to try the Yoplait Greek 100 Whips!, I jumped on it. I already had a love for the Yoplait regular whipped yogurt, so getting that same texture but more protein sounded fabulous. … [Read more...]
Chicken Marsala recipe, fast run, and a busy weekend
Monday? Already? Where did the weekend go? Oh yeah, it was a blur of orchestra, running, and the Superbowl. Today I'm linking up with Tara at Running'n'Reading to share my weekend shenanigans and a recipe that I made when I finally had time to cook! Last week was a blur of running and orchestra. I hit almost all of my planned miles, including a back to back 12 miler and 9 miler. I managed to trip at mile 8 of the 12 and I'm still experiencing soreness in the knee I landed on. It's not bothering me much on the run, but it's still tender. The highlight of my running week was yesterday - an unplanned 6 mile tempo run. The mileage was planned, but I went out too fast (nothing new there) and decided to see how long I could hold it. I … [Read more...]
12 Easy weeknight meals + training plans
Selective amnesia is a scary thing. It's the reason that we are able to have more than one child. It's the reason we run more than one marathon. The euphoria we feel takes the edge off the memory of how hard or painful it was. I'd already forgotten how much time training takes. Never mind that last March I ran 200 miles and basically did nothing but run... This time I'm training differently. My body is capable of higher mileage than I ever thought possible as I discovered during my Mainly Marathon series' trainings. With my first marathon, my highest mileage week was 35 miles. With my second marathon, my highest mileage week was 40 miles. This past week, my mileage was 32 miles - 29 of those were part of my training plan miles. I … [Read more...]
Top 5 posts of 2014
I've been noticing these posts around the blogosphere, so I was curious to see what I'd find in my own statistics. I mean, I take a look at my stats on a regular basis, so I kind of have a feel for what is popular, but I wanted to see what posts came out on top. And there were some surprises... 1. Five Stages of Running a Half Marathon This did not surprise me at all. It went a little viral on Facebook when I published it. Honestly, I think it's my favorite post that I have ever written. And I have yet to run a long race that doesn't go down pretty much the same.exact.way. 2. Mental Side of Running These tips were written as much for me as for you. I really struggled with my running this fall and these are the things I … [Read more...]
DuClaw Brewing Sweet Baby Jesus Cupcakes
Yes. I made cupcakes using DuClaw Brewing's Sweet Baby Jesus beer and they were AH-MAZ-ING! Backstory: I have a friend who loves beer more than I do (yes, it's possible). He's also a better cook and a better runner. So, when we got invited to his and his wife's holiday party and, when I offered, he told me to bring a dessert, I knew the bar was high. I had to make something that would taste great and impress a beer crowd. Enter: Sweet Baby Jesus Cupcakes. [Tweet "Beer in cupcake form? Yes, please. @DuClaweBrewing Sweet Baby Jesus cupcakes #craftbeer #cookingwithbeer"] … [Read more...]
