Tag Archives: salad

Running Makes Me ME

I opted for the long run this morning and I am glad I did.  It was glorious.  I love running.

Running makes me proud.  Running makes me energized.  Running makes me strong.  Running clears my head.  Running makes me optimistic.  Running makes me inspired.  Running give me a new lease on life.  Running is quality “me” time.  Running makes me brain-storm.

And running makes me hungry 🙂 which is why I am currently chowing down on some lunch.

Leftover soup

And salad topped with baked tofu, pickled lemon, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette

I picked up the pickled lemons on super clearance and this was the first time I tried them

They are super strong but chopped up fine they were a nice addition to the salad.  I am not sure what else I would do with them though.?

I totally winged it on the soup last night but it turned out awesome.  Tate ate a big bowl of it last night but by the time it was done I wasn’t even hungry so this was my first (and second!) bowl.

Pumpkin, Lima Bean, & Herb Soup

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • fresh ginger chopped
  • 1 Tbs rosemary and 1 tsp sage (fresh or dried and chopped or ground)
  • 1 Tbs coconut oil
  • 2 cups baby lima beans that have been soaked for 24 hours (or canned)
  • 3-4 cups peeled and chopped fresh pumpkin
  • 1 medium zucchini chopped
  • 1/2 hot pepper finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Toss first 5 ingredients into a stockpot and allow to sauté, stirring occasionally.  When the onions are soft add the beans and a few cups of water.  The amount of water you add depends on whether you want your soup more brothy or more hearty.  Bring to simmer.  Add pumpkin, zucchini, and hot pepper.  When the lima beans are nearly cooked begin adding salt and pepper to taste.  The beans and veggies will soak up the salt so you may wish to add salt and fresh ground pepper at the table.  As with all soups, I think this one is better the next day so plan ahead or at least plan on leftovers so you get to taste how it gets better with time.

I am loving Map My Run.  My planned route took me 6.51 miles through new areas of town.  Honestly, the route wasn’t great, about 2/3rds of it were industrial areas and not so lovely.  The first couple miles were perfect though, taking me through downtown and through a gorgeous and quiet residential neighborhood.  I will repeat this part of the route.  My last 1.6 miles were super hilly also but I hung in there and even sprinted a bit towards the end.  The loop took me 1 hour exactly.

Back to resume writing! *(yuck)*

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Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away

Unfortunately, the running dread that I woke up with on Friday morning lasted all weekend.  Fortunately, I had great workouts anyway!

Yesterday’s run.  Lots of wine+not much sleep=slooow leisurely run.  After a few miles the two (petite) cups of coffee I drank finally kicked in and I was able to speed up a bit and actually run some sprints.  The whole run felt excellent and reminded me how much I LOVE RUNNING! I covered 4.55 miles along this route and appreciated the cooler temperatures and even the tiny bit of drizzle.

My mother-in-law brought me a stack of Vegetarian Times magazines along with the pumpkin, this women knows me so well!  The first magazine I browsed had a recipe for falafel, which sounded perfect for lunch since I had garbanzos soaking in the fridge already.  It is so rare for me to follow a recipe and this one I followed almost to a T!  I didn’t have baking powder and I sprayed the pan to cook them instead of the 1/4 inch called for to panfry. Here’s the recipe, they were very tasty!

We also had spinach salad, corn on the cob, and the yogurt sauce from the recipe

And these AMAZING corn chips

No salsa necessary (I never thought I would say that about anything!), these buggers are perfect straight out of the bag.  I am not even a big corn chip fan because I don’t eat much fried food but these are totally worth the indulgence every once in a while (like once a day :)).

After lunch my darling husband made my day!

Those are raised beds for our garden! Yay!  And they are made with free lumber from a nearby construction site (he asked permission)! Yay!

The herb garden is coming right along

My sister sent this gorgeous “pineapple sage” over with my mom as a housewarming present

We have wonderful neighbors right next door. In fact, they helped us in our decision to buy our house.  We were a bit skeptical about the neighborhood but after meeting them during a walk-through we felt much better.  Pascal and Jasmine have been so kind and generous since we moved in, Tate even showered over there the first two days we lived here while our plumbing was being fixed.

They invited us over for dinner last night and it was really lovely.  They have lived all over the world and their 1880’s house is full of incredible furniture and artwork from Africa, Russia, and France, including three GIANT armoires that have been in the family for over a hundred years that they shipped here from France!

Pascal is French and cooked all French food and served delicious French wine.

And so much food! I think we ate for 2 hours!  In the little pots in the back is a zucchini soufflé, the bowl of brown is an eggplant puree, and the quiche, oh the quiche, is smoked salmon.  They also served a warm and crusty baguette, harring (which I was able to politely ignore), homemade aioli (not a fan of anything mayonnaise-y), a tasty tapenade of olives, garlic, and anchovies, and dessert!

Upside-down apple pie!  Oh, how I wish you could hear the French name from Pascal, it is much more beautiful and fitting for this lovely thing than my description.

Whew!  I crashed after all that lovely food and wine!

Today is a cool and rainy day here in C’ville and I must say, I am not complaining!  It was definitely a day for oats.  Pumpkin oats.

Homemade pumpkin puree.

The “oats” turned out to be more pumpkin than oats but was awesome nonetheless, especially with 1/3 cup warm soymilk, a tablespoon of chopped nuts, and two pinches of unsweetened coconut.

I am going to puree a bunch of pumpkin to keep in the freezer so I can have pumpkin oats at the press of a (microwave) button.

Mission Get Moving had a very successful 6 week run.  I got moving.  A lot.  Everyday.  So I think it’s time for a new mission.

Introducing

Mission 10k PR

I have run a few 10 k’s in the past and I honestly don’t remember what my times were but I don’t think it was under 55 minutes so that is what I am going for.

There I said it.  It’s out there.

My plan to achieve this involves increasing my endurance through long runs and my speed through sprint workouts.  The 10k is the Charlottesville Fall Classic a mere 3 1/2 weeks away.  I know, it’s a bit late to start a training program but I have been running several times a week for almost 2 years now and upped both my speed and distance lately already.

Mission 10k PR Week 1

  • Long run 6.5 miles
  • 2 speed workouts (34-50 minute runs with sprint intervals)
  • 1 easy run (35-50 minutes)
  • 2 days full body workouts (upper, lower, and ab strength)
  • At least 3 yoga sessions

It’s going to be a good week!

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