up bright & early!

Goooood morning!

My alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, and by 5:35 I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for MORNING SPIN CLASS!  I have never done a morning spin class before, but I know this semester is going to be hectic, so I wanted to try to get my exercise in first thing.  With running, that's great... 7:00 or 7:30 depending on my/M's schedules isn't so bad.  But spin class starts at 6:15.  Crazy.  Luckily, I had a date with my new friend J, so I was motivated to actually show up.

It was the first time I had been to spinning in probably 3 months - and it felt sooo good to be back on the bike!  I can definitely tell that the running has help my cardiovascular system - I wasn't gasping for air nearly as much as I used to.  But, spinning works different muscles and I'm feeling it already.  Hurts so good!

I came home this morning pumped up, and decided it was time to try something I have been fearful of for approximately 20 years: oatmeal.  Many of the blogs I read regularly feature oatmeal for breakfast, and it always looks so nice: you can add nut butter, fruit, pretty much anything!  I can imagine how nutritious and delicious it would be to have bowls of oatmeal for breakfast.  But, to be honest: oatmeal grosses me out.  It looks gross.  The texture is gross.  I haven't had oatmeal since I was approximately 4 years old, when I put it on the "gross things I refuse to eat" list.  But after 20 years and watching ya'll eat oatmeal every day, I decided it was time to try it.

I borrowed and then adapted a recipe from Kath, and made myself S'More flavored oatmeal. I figured I should start with flavors/toppings I love.  And if graham crackers, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and marshmallows can't do the trick, nothing can.  I followed the instructions on the oatmeal box, and microwaved my oats for 2 minutes.  They still seemed pretty watery, so I put them back in for another 30 seconds.  At first,  the texture seemed just right.  Kind of creamy, but the graham crackers added a nice crunch.  But soon I felt like I was eating mud.  I added some more milk to make it soupier, but I never really found the right consistency.

So, they didn't taste bad, but the texture was hard to overcome... which was the same complaint my four year old self had.  The oats were chewy, the mix was a muddy/sticky mess, and I couldn't handle it.  Partly because I was getting full and partly because of the texture, I only finished half a bowl.  Ah well, at least I tried!  Any reader suggestions for making oatmeal? How can I get the oats to be less chewy, but the overall texture to not be too thick?  Does that even make sense? Any comments would be much appreciated!

teriyaki steak dinner

This morning, M and I enjoyed the mild weather (69 degrees, and not too humid...  weather.com reported 93% humidity, but it didn't feel all that bad!).  Thank goodness for the mildness, because when we looked at our running calendar we were a bit surprised to see that we had THREE miles to run today.  The past few weeks, our weekday runs have been 2.5 and 2 miles... but now we are onto 3 and 2 miles.  Yikes!  Anyway, we made it 3.02 miles in 33:07, for an average of 10:58.  Under 11 (just barely, I know)?  I'll take it!!

I never made it grocery shopping last night, so I treated myself to lunch out today!  But, I made my grocery list before I left my office and picked up stuff on the way home.  Tonight's dinner was Teriyaki Steak Dinner.  The theme of this week is quick meals, since I have a pretty busy week!  This was done in under 20 minutes, which is fabulous!  First, I sauteed the peppers and mushrooms...

Then I set the veggies aside to cook my meat!

Add back in the veggies and stir in teriyaki sauce - I picked out a SPICY version of stir fry teriyaki sauce, because I've been in a spicy mood lately.

Then, I served it on the leftover rice noodles from a few days ago. I also was craving Indian food today (I feel like Gina on a Wednesday!)... specifically palak paneer, so I picked some up at the grocery store and had it on the side.  Yeah, I know, it doesn't look even mildly appetizing.  But I swear, it's delicious!

Lastly, I was craving a beer, so I had one of my favorites: SUMMER ALE!

And there you have it, my dinner!  I would say this is a great recipe in terms of being quick and easy... but I'm not sure I feel like the pepper really went with the dish.  Maybe a different color pepper or cooking the peppers longer would have helped (they were still somewhat crisp).  I also think that onions would have made the flavors a lot better in this dish.  Next time!

sweet tooth.

Sunday's dinner was Scallop Pad Thai.  Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job of photographing throughout the cooking process.  The ingredient list on this baby was LONG, which was intimidating, but it was actually quite simple!  The sauce was delicious and included my favorite ingredient ever: FISH SAUCE!  Haha.  I will say that once again, the bay scallops were not nearly as tasty as sea scallops... so in the future I'll make sure to always get sea scallops!  I will also say that this is the first time I've eaten and enjoyed bean sprouts.  I think when they are cooked and mixed in they are great... I'm just not as big of a fan when they are raw and piled on top of a dish.

On Monday, I had a total sweet tooth.  I had some chocolate chips.  I had a snack-sized Oreo McFlurry.  And then, for dinner, I had Pork Chops and Apples.  It's more of a fall dish, but school starts in a week so I was feeling in a fall-esque mood... even if it is still very humid and summery here!  First I mixed brown sugar and cinnamon with apple slices.

Then I bakedit all with the pork on top.

Not the prettiest meal, but the flavors were fantastic!  I love baked apples, and this was a very dessert-y dinner: perfect for my sweet tooth!

longest run ever!!

Saturday morning I went for the longest run I've ever completed - 4.0 miles!  Woohoo!  I wasn't feeling great, so we took it nice and slow.  I wish I had been feeling better though, since the weather was really great - not as humid as it's been lately!  Anyway, we finished in 47:49, or at an 11:58 pace... but we did it!

Then, Saturday evening I made Tuna, Tomato, and Mozzarella Salad for a dinner party.  I didn't realize that the tuna was supposed to be grilled, so instead I seared it in a pan.

Then I chopped up fresh mozzarella and tomatoes and arrange them on a plate

Drizzled on balsamic vinagrette and fresh basil

It looks so pretty, right?  Until you add the tuna, haha.

Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy this dish.  Cooking the tuna correctly is definitely an art I'm still working on - it turned out good this time but I feel like it's so easy to over or under cook tuna!  Glad this turned out mostly medium rare, which I think is ideal for tuna.  Yum! :-)

I also wanted to share a new website I learned about.  Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you're interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and check the site out for yourself!

• Email subject line: MEMBERS

• Your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)

• Blog Name

• Blog URL (please start with http://, not www.)

• Your twitter handle, if applicable

• Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy's sake, that is completely understandable. We'll simply include your blog listing in the A-Z listing, not by location, too)

• Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.)

a spicy good day!

Today for lunch I had a Spicy Chili Bean Burger.  First, I had to smash up cereal (I actually used Kashi instead of Fiber One):

Then, I mashed chili beans...

The instructions said to mash the beans with a fork, but that was kind of annoying.  There has to be a better way to mash the beans.  Suggestions anyone?  Anyway, next put the cereal, some oats, and green onions into the bowl with the beans...

Mixed them up...

And made burgers!  I was pleasantly surprised about how well these burgers stayed together!  I for SURE thought they would fall apart and I'd be beating spicy chili bean mush. 

I made two small burgers for myself since I didn't realize have any sides to serve with them.  The first one, I had in a whole wheat tortilla with some spinach.

The second one, I just served on a bed of spinach.  However, after eating the first one I realized, this dish lacks any sort of spice!  So, I added some hot sauce and chili powder to spice things up, which made it much much better. 

Overall, I'd say it's a great burger but if you want spice, some hot sauce, chili powder, etc. would definitely help.  Oh, and more green onions! Haha.

Dinner tonight was Couscous-Stuffed Peppers.  I started with a yellow bell pepper, chopped off the top, and cleaned out the inside.

Then I made the filling: ground beef, onion, tomato sauce, couscous, and spices.

Stuffed this baby full, and threw it in the slow cooker!

Four hours later, I had a delicious, tender pepper stuffed with a nice, spicy couscous mix.  The combo of spices was really spectacular in this recipe: cayenne, ground cinnamon, cumin, and garlic.

This turned out AWESOME.  I can't wait to make them again.  Good recipe to make for a party too, I think, because it's so fancy looking.  Or it would have been if my pepper hadn't fallen over in the slow cooker... but if I had 4-5 other peppers in there that wouldn't happen :-)

a day of delicious PORK!

Well, just after complaining this morning about how bland my recent recipes have been, I hit two home runs in a row!  For lunch, I had Pork, Onion, and Pepper Fajitas.  First step was to make the marinade and let the pork sit overnight.

Then, this morning, I cooked the pork in a pan fore a few minutes before adding in the peppers and onions.

The recipe didn't specify what color bell pepper, so I went with orange and red.  I'm not really a fan of green pepper, so I tend to pick any other color.  For the first time ever, I have to say, I think green bell pepper would have made this recipe even better!  Hmm.

When looking over this recipe, my first thought was "Mexican food without melty cheese?  Can't be good."  See, I'm pretty much in love with cheese - so I can't imagine why you would ever leave cheese out of a recipe, particularly one with Mexican flavors.  But, I'm trying to stick to the recipes as closely as possible, so I reluctantly left the cheese out.

I have to say, I was 100% wrong.  This recipe was delicious without the cheese - and dare I say that I think cheese would have made it LESS enjoyable?  Who knows.  There was a suggestion on the page to add cilantro with sour cream + salsa... I skipped out on the sour cream and salsa, but I did add in the cilantro.

The combination of cilantro and lime juice is fan-freaking-tastic.  Yum yum yum.  I took my lunch to work and then constructed the fajita there at lunch time.  YAY delicious, flavorful lunch!

While I was at work, my dinner was cooking for me nice and slowly.  Before I left, I put butternut squash and pork into my crockpot.

I also mixed orange marmalade with finely chopped garlic...

... and poured it over the pork!  Then, I set the slow cooker for about 6 hours and left.

I came home to some very tender Orange Pork Tenderloin with Butternut Squash.

I realize now that I forgot to sprinkle salt on the squash.  Oops!  No worries, this turned out great.  Orange marmalade is often too sweet for me, but the garlic balanced it out and this dinner totally hit the spot!

And so you have it - two delicious recipes to make up for yesterday's blandness :-)  Hopefully tomorrow is another hit!  Time to get ready to watch Project Runway with the girls and ice my shins... they are definitely sore after today's run!
If you are a PR fan, who are your favorite designers so far this season?

a bland day in the cooking world

Yesterday for lunch, I quickly threw together Black Bean-Taco Salad.  This was a very quick and easy recipe - throw everything together, top with dressing, and you are done!

It was decent, but, nothing special.  Maybe I needed more dressing, or more cumin in my dressing.  I'd make it again, but I think I'd add some salsa in to spice things up!  Basically, it was just... bland.
For dinner, I made Veal with Asparagus.  I have never prepared veal myself, but Veal Parmesan is probably one of my favorite meals, so I was excited. First, I chopped up scallions and garlic to put in the pan.  This was my first time cooking with scallions - very exciting.

So, I got thin-cut veal, so it cooked really quickly.  It wasn't overdone per se, just not as rare as I would have liked it.

Overall, I have to say this meal was seriously bland.  I put quite a bit of thyme in it, and I do like thyme, but it just wasn't enough.  I need to find some more veal recipes to make up for the lackluster dinner.  I will say that more scallions would have helped - that was probably the tastiest part!

So, hopefully today's lunch and dinner will not be quite as bland!  Looking at the ingredients list, I think it'll be a much better day!
In other news, this morning M and I had a 2 mile run.  It wasn't very hot out but holy freaking humidity.  We ended up averaging 11:12/miles.  Could have been worse! ...haha.  I can't wait for cool weather!  This weekend we have FOUR miles to run - yikes.  That sounds so... far.  Oh well - off to work now, have a great day bloggie land!