Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-runningkellometers

Yes, you read the title of this post correct. I channeled the spirit of Kelly the Culinarian and her love for Taco Bell when I was thinking of a something fun to make for dinner. I know Cinco de Mayo was a few days ago, but I've been craving Mexican food and I thought I'd give these a try. I knew I had all the ingredients lying around so why not be creative?

Mexican Pizza
4 whole wheat tortillas
1 can of refried beans (I used refried black beans)
1 can of enchilada sauce
1 tomato, diced
1 can of olives, sliced in half
2 cups finely shredded Mexican/taco cheese (or to taste)
chives (I always get my Mexican pizza without chives, so I didn't include these)
a little olive oil
toppings: diced avocado, sour cream or Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375. Put a little bit of olive oil spread throughout the top and bottom of each tortilla. Put them directly on the oven rack and bake them until lightly crisp (be sure not to over cook). This honestly takes a few minutes on each side. Once the tortillas are crisp I removed them from the oven and set them aside. Then, I spread some of the black beans on a paper plate and microwaved them. (I didn't want to put it on the stove because of dirtying the extra dish. Lazy? Yes.) While the black beans were warming in the microwave, I diced up the tomatoes, olives, and avocado.

I then spread the black beans over the tortilla and placed the other tortilla on top, like a sandwich. I did this for both "pizzas". I then spread enchilada sauce on top of the tortilla, along with a sprinkle of tomatoes and olives. Then, I topped it off with a bunch of cheese. Like, way more than Taco Bell would give you. Folks, there is no need to be stingy with the cheese!

Yesterday I had a taste for chicken salad. When looking for recipes, Pinterest was my go-to, naturally. However, it seemed like they had a lot of recipes for salads with chicken on top, but no recipes that were fitting what I was looking for. I told my mom about it and she emailed me a delicious sounding recipe that had all the ingredients I had a taste for.

3 fake chicken breasts
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1/2 cup granny smith apples
handful of chopped almonds
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (for your vegetarian/vegan Worcestershire needs, check out FakeMeats.com!)
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Rolls to put crap on (I opted for pretzel rolls versus the traditional croissant)
Makes 4-5 healthy servings

The recipe really called for 1 small minced onion, 1 cup chopped celery, and a 1/2 cup mayonnaise. The hubs hates raw celery so I omitted it. We also are not huge fans of raw onion either so I went with the onion powder instead. Also, to cut down on some of heaviness of traditional "salad" types, I halfed the mayo and subbed for Greek yogurt.


The best thing about this recipe is that it didn't really require much. While the 3 chicken breasts were cooking, I had time to dice the green apple, half the grapes, measure out the rest of the spices and ingredients in a bowl. Since the "chicken" only takes a few minutes on each side, everything was done and ready within 10 minutes.


I really loved that this recipe had the sweet aspects of the grapes and apples, but the savory aspects of the chicken and Worcestershire sauce. I highly recommend this recipe which is why I wanted to share it with all of you!

The other day I was talking to my cousin and she gave me a scone recipe. She said her husband has become a scone junkie since she started making these so I just had to give them a try. The recipe is simple enough with only a few ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I'll probably try whole wheat flour next time)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder (note: baking powder is different than baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1 pt (16 oz) whipping cream
toppings or whatever you'd like to mix in

I made mine with pb2 (but I didn't add enough and the flavor didn't come through), bananas (I probably could have used 2 bananas instead of 1) and chocolate chips (I used half the bag and this is the most dominant flavor)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all dry ingredients. Next, add in toppings until evenly distributed. Lastly, add in all of that whipping cream. Mix until there are no dry pockets. The batter will be very sticky.

Plop dollups of batter onto a greased baking sheet (I just spread a little olive oil around a baking sheet with a paper towel and that worked out well). Feel free to place dollups close together as the scones do not rise or expand while cooking. They pretty much keep their shape. Toss into the oven for 20-24 minutes.

The smaller ones were ready by about 20-22 minutes where I let the bigger guys cook for a little longer. I used an oven timer as it was hard to tell by looking at them if they were done.
Lay on a cooling rack for quicker post-cooking consumption.

This recipe was SUPER EASY and delicious. The only thing I didn't already have on-hand was whipping cream. I had one for breakfast this morning and will probably have one every day this week!  I think next time I'm going to try mixing in some frozen blueberries. I will let you know how they turn out! If you make this recipe, please let me know what ingredients you try and what works best for you!

If you're following this blog for nothing but healthy recipes, you've come to the wrong place. I like to live a lifestyle that balances the healthy and unhealthy delicious things in life.

I always love having avocados at home. They are always delicious and I could have them with every meal at any time. The other day I had one that was at the perfect ripeness and I needed to use it ASAP. But it was breakfast time! What to do? Make some breakfast nachos, of course! I've made these a couple times before but I thought I would share the idea/recipe with you. The recipe is super complicated so be sure to keep up.


Ingredients:
2 eggs
vegetables of your choosing (I chose mushrooms and tomatoes)
1 avocado
1/8-1/4 cup of shredded cheese (pepper jack works wonderful)
Spices for seasoning (my favorite trifecta: Lawry's, garlic salt, pepper to taste)
tortilla chips (El Ranchero, only the best)

First, I sauteed the mushrooms and tomatoes together with a little salt and pepper.

I then added the eggs and the spice trifecta (Lawry's seasoning salt, pepper, garlic salt).

After the eggs started cooking a smidge, I added the cheese. I continued to stir the eggs until they were cooked all the way through (no raw eggs allowed). When the eggs were ready, I cut up the avocado and topped the eggs with 1/2 of an avocado. Then, instead of using a fork, I used tortilla chips. Voila! Breakfast nachos!

It sounds simple enough, but why have I never had this at a restaurant? I feel like it would be super duper popular. I mean, I'd order it!

I haven't been feeling very well lately so I decided to try out a new recipe. I got my regular Fake Meats email a few weeks ago with a recipe for "chicken" noodle soup. I had been just dying to try it. I picked up some organic carrots and celery (I don't normally buy organic but celery is on the "dirty dozen list for using 5 different types of pesticides. Yes, 5.) and some whole wheat pasta. In order to complete the recipe, I needed to place an order with Fake Meats for the Seitenbacher vegetable broth and some soy curls.

Chris and I don't like the crunch of an onion so I kept the onions whole. I let them cook and simmer with the soup but pulled them out before serving. We frequently do this as I like the flavor that onions add to a dish, but we just hate biting into a crunchy chunk.

I really like this recipe because it is basically just a "dump everything in the pot and stir." I mean, is there any better cooking techniques?
I couldn't find my recipe card, but there is a video explaining the recipe that I followed along with. The instructions were simple, clear, and helpful. (If you're part of the Fake Meats meal plan, you get ingredients and recipes delivered to your door monthly.)

After letting the soup simmer for the recommended 10 minutes, I checked the pasta and it needed just a little more time (maybe because it was whole wheat versus regular).
Either way, the kitchen smelled amazing just like homemade soup (well, because it is!). All of the ingredients are vegan but I don't think my vegetarian husband has had chicken noodle soup since he was about 14 years old! Haha. I really enjoyed making this and the recipe made a ton of food. We put some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer to save for another cold or rainy day. (It probably made about 5 portions.)

Since we aren't a vegan household, we had to serve up the soup the soup with some fresh French bread from Whole Foods. I must agree with Kelsey that bread makes everything better. And gluten.


Full Recipe:

Ingredients:
8 oz (half the bag shown) of uncooked pasta
1/2 bag of soy curls
1 packet of vegetable broth seasoning
8 cups of water
1 chopped onion
1 cup of celery
1 cup of carrots

Bring water to a boil first, then add in broth seasoning and stir. Afterwards, add all of the other ingredients and stir it up real good. Bring the mixture back up to a boil before turning it down to simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes (or until pasta is cooked through). Serve up and enjoy! Yields about 5-7 portions.

As my little break from running continues, I thought I would share a fun recipe that I put together this weekend from Pinterest.

Yes, you read that right. This is not a healthy living blog so I'm going to share this recipe with all of you! It actually wasn't too difficult to make, but kind of time-consuming to make more than one at a time. (Perhaps that is a sign not to share??) Here is a link to the original recipe.

Ingredients
Taco meat (we used refried beans that I flavored with taco seasoning)
Nacho cheese (this is surprisingly hard to find so I used salsa con queso instead)
Corn tortillas
Large flour tortillas
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Sour cream

1) First, you cook up the meat or beans as this step probably takes longest. We used refried beans with a little taco seasoning for a vegetarian version.
2) Next, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and crisp up the corn tortilla. Mine didn't get super crisp so I wonder if a toaster oven would work better? I was worried about them burning in the toaster oven (but I ended up leaving one in too long in the regular oven anyways...) Please let me know if you try this out.
3) Next, heat up a little bit of the cheese so it is easy to spread around. I poured out a little into a ramekin and popped it into the microwave for 15 seconds
4) Assemble your crunchwrap as follows:

Beans/meat on the bottom
Cheese
Crisp corn tortilla
Sour cream
Tomatoes
Lettuce (I omitted lettuce on mine and used avocado instead. Delicious!)

For those visual learners, here is a lovely picture guide. (Not drawn to scale, obviously)

When it is assembled, fold over the sides and heat in a small frying pan (with a little Pam cooking spray), face down. The directions said medium heat with 3 minutes on each side. This didn't crisp them up enough for me so I left them on a little longer. (Just be careful you don't burn them in this step or you'll have to start all over again!)


And voila. Homemade crunchwrap supremes! They were delicious! And since you are in charge of the ingredient distribution, it was evenly distributed from start to finish. I will probably make these again the next time the craving hits.

Yesterday was a cold and rainy fall day in Chicago. On my way to the train station as I was cold and wet, I was happy to know that I was coming home to a hearty crock pot meal. This is only the 2nd time I've ever used the crock pot and I'm loving it so much. My cousin had made this recipe for chicken enchilada soup so I decided to give it a try. Of course, I had to make some modifications based on what we had on hand, as well as making it vegetarian (and vegan) friendly.

Here is what the recipe calls for, with my modifications listed as well...

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
½ cup chicken broth (used vegetable broth instead)
2 cups milk (used almond milk instead)
1 can (15 ounce) black beans, rinsed and drained (used reduced sodium)
1 can (14.5 ounce) Rotel diced tomatoes and jalapenos (used 10oz can instead)
1 package (10 ounce) frozen corn (used 1 can of corn instead because that is what I had)
½ cup onion, chopped (we hate onions so I left this out, probably could have quartered an onion for flavor and taken out the big chunks before serving)
½ cup bell pepper, diced (didn't have any of these on-hand so omitted)
1 can (10 ounce) Enchilada sauce
2 whole chicken breasts (used 2 fake meat chicken breasts from Garedin)
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (optional)

I did everything else according to the instructions. I prepped the dish the night before and popped it in the crockpot the next morning. I left it on the "low" setting all day. To serve, I added some shredded cheese, sour cream, and crunched up tortilla chips on top of the bowl.

Photo taken before almost forgetting to add the tortilla chips

The sour cream helped cool off the dish and made it extra delicious. (If you're looking to make this vegan, you could use margarine instead of butter, fake/soy shredded cheese or just omit, and Tofutti Sour Cream.) I was nervous about using the almond milk but it tasted just fine (and didn't require an extra trip to the grocery store). I have the leftovers for lunch today and I'm looking forward to when I can eat this again! I'd say this recipe made about 4 servings so it was perfect for me and my husband.

Please let me know if you try this recipe. Do you have any crock pot vegetarian favorites? I'm always looking for easy recipes to add to my rotation!

When it comes to cooking, I'm pretty lazy. Lately, however, I've been trying to be better about cooking meals for me and Toph to try to get into some good habits before we start a family. It is definitely challenging while working full time, studying, and running. Whenever I find a recipe that is easy and not too bad for you, I put it into the (very small) rotation. A friend had made a couscous salad once for a barbecue and when I finally replicated it, I was amazed at how easy it was! I'm sure there are lots of variations that you could come up with, but this is the base and what I made for me and Toph.

Ingredients:
Couscous
Olive oil
Tomatoes
Almonds
Feta cheese
Fake chicken (but I'm sure you could use real chicken instead)
Green onions (optional)
Avocado (optional)






Couscous has to be one of the easiest things to make. Do you know how to boil water? If the answer is yes, you know how to make couscous. (I'm not joking.)

After cooking the couscous (with the olive oil) and fake chicken, I put all the ingredients in a bowl together after chopping up the (already oven roasted) almonds and tomatoes.

Clockwise from Top: tomatoes from our garden, fluffed couscous, fake chicken and diced almonds,

Mix ingredients in a bowl, chill for 15-30 minutes in the freezer (if desired), and serve. It is such an easy, easy dinner that is tasty and not too bad for you! I only seasoned with pepper as I know the fake chicken already contains a lot of sodium, but feel free to salt and pepper to your heart's desire! We had a few avocados that needed to be used yesterday so I sliced them up and put them on top. They added a buttery texture that only made the recipe better! Toph and I also despise onions so I left those out of the recipe as well. To those onion lovers, feel free to add them in!


After eating dinner and letting my stomach settle, I went out for a tempo run. With vacations and weddings, I haven't been able to get in as much speedwork as I would have liked in recent weeks, so I was a little apprehensive to go after it last night. The plan was to do 5 miles with 3 of them at tempo. When I was approaching mile 3, self-doubt started to creep in and I wanted to stop. My legs thought I could do it and so I pushed on for one more tempo mile. I completed the workout (tempo splits were 7:57, 7:54, 7:51), and I felt exhausted and accomplished at the same time. It was obvious during the workout that some of my fitness has dropped off since I was working with Coach Britt, but I knew this would happen. I'm just happy that I'm able to get out there and get these legs moving again! I think my next goal race is going to be the F^3 Half Marathon on Saturday, January 26. I'm going to be able to focus much more on my workouts after the exam on December 1. The temps last night were a little warmer than I had anticipated so I came back pretty sweaty from my workout.

Just a little sweaty

Do you like the recipes I occasionally post on my blog? Have any of you made any of the things I've posted?  Obviously I'm no chef, but I like to share when I find things that are easy and delicious! If you've made something I suggested, please let me know! :)

This week I decided to try and start speed work again in preparation of a 5k and half marathon I have coming up in October. After working out with Kate on Sunday, my arms were sore for most of the week. The soreness finally subsided yesterday, but I was worried how it would effect my running on Tuesday. Thankfully, it didn't. I wanted to kick things off with a tempo. I met up with the FNRC for the 2nd week in a row on a Tuesday. There are a few folks in the group who are around my pace and they were on board for the temp run attempt. However, I was a little rusty on how to properly adjust my Garmin. I had it set to the "average pace" function instead of the "lap pace" function so things didn't exactly go as planned.

The warm-up was a bit too fast at an 8:27 pace. The next two mile splits were exactly the same (including the turnaround) at 8:14. We picked it up for the last tempo mile and it was more 5k pace than tempo pace (7:21). The last mile I slowed things down for a legit cool-down (10:07). My legs felt great and I enjoyed pushing them, but I know this wasn't the best executed workout. However, I'm okay with it and this workout gave me a little bit of my confidence back. Next week I'll try something different for my speed work and I know it can only get better!

I don't really like to cook and when I make dinner, I look for the EASIEST recipes that include ingredients that we have on-hand. Thanks Pinterest for existing! Last night my husband and I wanted something lighter for dinner since neither of us were super hungry. I found an easy Pinterest recipe (found here) for a corn/tomato salad. I modified it slightly and left out some of the ingredients (on accident). My salad included:

All it needed was a quick toss and voila! I used the flash so things are kind of bright, but it was light, delicious, and totally hit the spot. I bought mozzarella cheese and croutons to use but totally forgot it. It still tasted good without it too! I made another one to bring to work today with the leftover corn and tomatoes.

After this delicious salad, I laid down to do my PT exercises. Pepper just wouldn't let me lay still so I did some strength training too. :)

Ropey is her 2nd favorite toy (after the tennis ball)

News flash. It is hot out there, throughout many parts of the midwest. We had a mild winter and are now paying for it with a ruthless summer. The temps and humidity continue to plague workouts and slow our times. But this type of training can make us stronger, if only we're not afraid to get out there (after taking the proper precautions, of course).

Thursday I met up with the FN Runners for an fn hot run.
Even though it was super warm out, we still had a good amount of crazies out there joining me for a run!

L to R: Maggie, me, Amanda, Genevieve (+2 munchkins), Jill, Michelle, Keith, Susan

Yes, Maggie and I ran in sports bras. It was so hot and gross, we just didn't care. Plus, it was kind of a delayed response to Kelly the Culinarian's Sports Bra Challenge. We ran it slow, we ran it steady, we completed our run on a hot day and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. (This run was meant to be a recovery run after my mile repeat workout earlier in the week, so there wasn't a planned pace anyways.)

On Saturday, I had a long run scheduled for 13 miles. 7 miles at an easy pace, 4 miles at half marathon goal pace, 2 miles cool down. Prepping for my long run the day before, I made sure I had plenty of fluids (trying to learn from my mistakes). Even though temperatures were warm and it was humid, I headed out and tried to do my best in the heat. To be honest, the first 9 miles weren't bad. I felt my body was doing ok in the heat. Something I haven't felt before and it felt good. I picked it up at mile 7 as planned but came into a snag at the water stop at mile 10. I had trouble getting into my groove again and the heat was starting to wear me out. Miles 11 and 12 at "goal pace" didn't really workout so well, but that's okay. I did my best considering the conditions. I feel like I'm coming around to acclimating in this weather. I'm liking the feeling. This weekend is a similar workout and I'm going go try it again. The best I can do at this point is try! At least I'm going out there and giving it a try instead of staying in on the treadmill. Plus, I don't think I could do 14 miles on the treadmill and live to tell the tale. I would die of boredom (not joking).

In an attempt at trying to be "healthier" I bought some good groceries this week to make actual recipes and real lunches. Last night I made corn cakes that were super easy and super delicious. By themselves they were kind of bland, but the toppings helped make them great! The recipe can be found here. I didn't include green onion since Toph and I both don't like it, and we added tomatoes on top afterwards (I didn't want to mix them in and have it be too wet.) We also thought avocados would go great on top, if you had some available. The goat cheese definitely made the dish though. So good!

Thanks Pinterest!

P.S. Have you entered my SpiBelt Raffle yet??

Yesterday I decided to take a rest day. My husband and I spent the night sitting on the couch, sharing a Red Baron pizza, watching Aladdin. I can't think of a more perfect evening, to be honest.

Since I've been posting a few recipes lately, I'll leave you with another one instead of a normal blog post. I absolutely love pot pies. They are my favorite thing in the whole world. A few weeks back I found a recipe online for pot pie pockets. On Sunday night, I whipped up these bad boys in less than a half hour (prep and baking). All you need is some crescent rolls (I keep several tubes of the seamless stuff on hand), can of vegetables, can of cream of mushroom soup, and meat. Since the husband is a vegetarian, I cooked up 2 fake chicken breasts to cut up and include as well. I spread out the dough and fill up the pockets until they can barely close (as opposed to following the specific portions on the recipe card). They baked for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Mine wasn't hot enough (I like my food scolding), but my husband thought the temperature was perfect.

Either way, this is a great way to use up leftover chicken or turkey and whip up if you're short on time. What's your favorite quick and easy recipe?

ALSO, if you're bored and looking for a laugh, send a call from Santa to all of your friends! Merry Christmas!

In addition to having my work holiday party on Friday, a friend had her annual Christmas party on Saturday. My husband and I have not yet been able to attend her party over the last few years so I was happy when our schedule was free for us to go. Because the party went into the late hours, I missed running with my group again on Sunday. I wasn't drinking any alcohol, but I didn't want to run 8 miles on only 4 hours of sleep. However, I didn't let this ruin my run for the weekend.

Old Plank Trail, with a light dusting of snow

Downtown Frankfort, the Grainery

I hit the trails solo around lunch time before the Bears game and got in 8 miles at 9:13 pace in 1 hour and 14 minutes. My foot started to bother me at mile 6, a pain that I haven't felt in over about 2 years. It was cold and I was on my way back so I didn't stop to investigate until I got to my car. I'm going to massage it, take it easy this week and do some more strength foot exercises as part of my regular routine. I think that should help.

Kate and I are running a 5k this weekend in Lemont (the Frigid 5K). We always get pretty competitive with one another so it should be interesting how this race plays out. Kate is training for the Polar Dash half marathon so I'm not sure How fast she plans to run the 5k. I guess I'll find out on Sunday! After the race I will be rushing home to get ready to attend the Bears game. I'm just hoping it isn't too cold, but you never know with this Chicago weather!

Last night I made dinner based on yet another Pinterest recipe (found here). I like recipes that are really easy and include mostly things we have around the house. Since my husband is vegetarian, we always have ingredients on hand for Mexican food since tacos and wraps are so easy to make with beans and fake meat. I assembled everything which only took about 5-10 minutes. The recipe called for a cooking time of 20-25 minutes. I cooked it for 23 minutes but it probably could have used another 5 to 7 minutes. I am excited to be eating the leftovers today for lunch since it turned out quite delicious.

Prep

Before the oven

Before it was devoured...

Another thing I love about this recipe is that you can change it up however you want. Add Rotel in the layers to make it spicier, add meat, put more vegetables on top or in the layers, use regular salsa if you don't have salsa verde, use whole wheat tortillas... There are so many different options, I will most definitely be making this dish again. It is perfect for a cool winter night (or to drown out the Bears Fan Blues)!

Last night I had my work holiday party after work. My husband came and met us and we had a really fun time. I had every intention of running with the Frankfort New Lenox Running Club today but when I got home after a few drinks, Saturday morning came a little too quickly. I didn't end up running today but our group is meeting tomorrow so I'm going to make it out for 8 miles then.

Instead of running, I baked a batch of red velvet cupcakes from a Paula Deen recipe (found here). I only used 1 tbsp of red food coloring instead of 2 and they turned out alright!

pre-mixed

Looking like ketchup cups

Cooling

Finished

My only concern is that I wasn't as liberal with the frosting as I could have been. I'm bringing them to a friend's Christmas party so I might just bring the extra frosting... just in case! Although it isn't that type of party, I fully plan on wearing an ugly Christmas sweater from my growing collection. I always have so much fun wearing them, I can't imagine why not. What is your favorite item to wear to a holiday party?

I hope you all now have the Salt-N-Pepa song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. I know I will!

Today I am going over to my Aunt's house for a dinner party. I said I would bring a dessert so I whipped up these bad boys in a few minutes. It took longer to unwrap the Rolos than it did to make the dessert! I found the recipe here. Aldi didn't have pecans and I don't eat walnuts, so I improvised and used roasted almonds. They worked out just as well.

As I know I won't have time to run tonight, I hit up the office fitness center. Tuesday has been my speed work day for the past few weeks and today was no different. Today I did 10x400m for a total of 2.5 miles. I alternated between 400m at 7:00 pace and 400m at 10:00 pace (except I ran the first 400m at 9:00 pace as a kind of warm up ish). I tried to be a pro and took a pic of the treadmill when I was done, but for some reason the time didn't show up since it was in "pause" mode. As I've never taken a treadmill photo before, I assume this is a rookie mistake. Either way, I calculated out what my time would be, about 21 minutes. Thanks Excel for always knowing how to fix my problems!


I felt pretty proud of myself for this distance. Most speed workouts I stop at 2 miles or just over. That last 400m was really tough, but I was so happy when I finished. If I keep this up, I'll have no problem building a strong base for my half marathons this year! With all this blogger talk about the Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon, I'm getting excited for my upcoming races. I really want to do a 10k this upcoming year and any recommendations are welcome!