menu planning:: january 15-21

This is what menu planning looks like in our house.

Not that we do it on a regular basis, but we try.

This week's eats will include the following:

Low GI Minestrone - pg. 34 Avoca Soups

Spinach & Nutmeg Soup - pg. 58 Avoca Soups

Edamame and Asparagus Stir Fry - pg. 289 The Food Matters Cookbook

Pasta with Broccoli, Garlic and Chili - pg. 261 River Cottage Veg

Zucchini, Pepper & Tomato Gratin - pg 63 The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook

Curried Bubble & Squeak - pg. 228 River Cottage Veg

Asparagus Spinach Dip - pg. 66 Veganomicon

Veggie Burgers - Oh She Glows

With our weekday nights jammed packed with work/working out, I am going to try to get a few of these meals made up today and store them in the freezer so we have some quick meals for a while.

But first, I must run.

(I wore this outfit on yesterday's run, when it was frigid. I got some funny looks - but I was warm! It is 37* right now, so I won't be as bundled up on my 13 miler)

treadmill tricks

Without a doubt, it is that time of year again.

There is a chill in the air and the days are short.

Ok - let's be real. Some days it is damn frigid out there (cold as a witches ti....well, you know the saying) and the Iowa winds are a howling.

Which means some of my runs are forced inside to the treadmill.

Now I am not one to bash the treadmill. Sure, I'd prefer to run outside, but they are good for something.

Personally, I love doing speed work on the treadmill for a few reasons.

#1 - You can run at a steady pace
#2 - You can push yourself a bit harder
#3 - If your doing a speed session, you're damn sure people are amazed at your awesomeness.

I particularly like using the treadmill for speed sessions (and no, not just so people think I am awesome), and especially for intervals.

Some days though, I lose track of the number of intervals I've done. Which can be good if you end up doing more than planned, but always leaves me wondering if I got in the six I was shooting for, or if I had one more to go.

My solution to this {white girl} problem - twisty ties.

Before I head to the gym, I grab enough twisty ties for however many intervals I have planned. I find a spot on the treadmill for them, and after completing each interval, I remove one twisty tie.



People probably wonder what the heck I am doing with a handful of twisty ties, but it works.

Plus, it feels good and motivates me to have a visual of the number of hellish 400s I have left...

everything fall

Apple picking.

Pumpkin carving.

Trail running.

These three things are officially the essence of my perfect Fall.

(Even though I have yet to carve a pumpkin)

Apple baking.

Pumpkin baking.

Trail running.

There - that sounds more like me.

Yesterday after work I had grand plans to head out for another epic trail run at Clemons Creek in Washington. Our favorite hiking spot in the area, I knew the gently rolling trail would rejuvenate my soul.

And as I was about to walk out the door, Maia gave me the puppy eyes of the century. I conceded that a long trail run was not in my future and a jog/walk with the pup was on tap instead.

We might have only gotten in 2.4ish miles, but it was awesome. I discovered some trails that I never knew existed, Maia made it a full 1.5 miles before plopping down out of sheer exhaustion, and we only heard one gun shot before calling it a day.

Too bad today is the pheasant opener, otherwise I'd be back there in a heartbeat to run the trails again.

 

This morning I have plans to hit up another area to get in a longer trail run. 

To begin my day today, in true Fall fashion, I decided to whip up a pumpkin latte. What I created was a perfectly spiced, not too sweet, steamy cup of coffee perfect for a weekend morning. 

Pumpkin Spiced Latte

In the mix::

1 cup soy milk

2 T pumpkin puree

drizzle maple syrup (2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon, depending on how sweet you want it)

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 cup strongly brewed coffee, or 1-2 shots of espresso if you happen to be that cool and have an espresso machine

In the small saucepan, heat soy milk, pumpkin and syrup until hot, but not boiling. Remove from heat and stir in spice and vanilla. Pour heated milk into a blender and blend on high until frothy, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Be sure to leave the top open a little to allow steam to escape. I cover the top with a towel just in case.)

In a coffee mug, add coffee and then slowly mix in the milk mixture. Sprinkle with some additional pumpkin pie spice, and if you are feeling extra crazy, drizzle with some caramel.

I had grand plans to enjoy this steamy latte with a pumpkin scone Nic so thoughtfully picked up for me from my favorite (the only??) vegan bakery in Iowa City, Fair Grounds Coffeehouse, unfortunately, it wasn't that great. Maybe I should have eaten it yesterday, while it was still warm and smelled of a pumpkin doughnut...

Off for a beautiful Fall run!

life

As if I even have to type it, for I am fairly certain it is obvious.

My life has been crazy busy.

My Google Reader says it all...



804 unread items. And that is after I marked a bunch as read (mostly recipes people, don't worry, I am trying to get to all of my favorites!).

If that is not proof enough, let's take a look back at October.

1st weekend:: October 2nd - I ran the Twin Cities Marathon
2nd weekend:: October 8th - Relay For Life Round Tables
3rd weekend:: October 16 - I ran the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon
4th weekend:: October 22 - Relay For Life Summit in Minneapolis & 2nd Annual Ladies Wine Night
This weekend:: October 29 - A possible trip to Des Moines for a cyclocross race (Nic)

And those are just the weekend events! Work has been busy with meetings, planning for the new fiscal year and much more.

Not to mention there is that inevitable countdown in the back of my mind - for which I am totally excited and totally freaking out over.

13 days until Sweden and England.

13 days until I get to see my sister.

13 days to get a ton of work done.

13 days.

Needless to say, I've been in need of some time to clear my head and just breathe.

And I got that chance yesterday afternoon, when I hit up Lake MacBride for a trail run with Diana after another work meeting.



Trail running is awesome, and Diana and I were reminiscing about our high school cross country days. Mostly about how we were able to run trails like the ones at Lake MacBride at such a brisk pace!

There were multiple times when we just stopped to take in the views and soak up the beautiful weather.



We did a bit over 5.5 miles and have plans to do it over again this weekend.

I suppose I should run these trails a few times if I plan on doing this race in March.

After our refreshing run, we met up with the husbands for dinner at Reds Ale House in North Liberty. The food was great and the beer list was even better (and longer than I am tall). We will be going back for sure.

while nic is away...

Turns out, I am uber productive as a single lady. I kind of like it...no offense of course Nic!

I've tackled 90% of the produce I picked up at Washington's and Iowa City's farmers market and had to stop only because I ran out of freezer space! We have a small chest freezer, but it might be time to upgrade.

Here is all of the produce I purchased this week:
 
Iowa City


Washington


I have yet to take care of the apples (apple sauce/butter) and zucchini (bread). Pretty darn good!! I will post tomorrow (hopefully) about what I made.

I forgot to include this photo in the post about the Iowa City's farmers market - check out this sunrise! What a great way to start the day.



Besides working on food today, I managed to sneak in a 16 mile run (8:46 pace). Which by the way, the oatmeal apple cider pancakes did a phenomenal job keeping me fueled for each and every mile! It was a very dreary, rainy run, but I enjoyed it. I listened to the first two discs of "Born to Run." I've read it before, but thought it would be appropriate to listen to it agin with just a few days left before the Twin Cities Marathon.

I also managed to work on getting the house ready for some guests that will be arriving next week. Our good friends, Ben and Debbie, along with their son, are moving back to Washington from Alaska and will be staying with us until they find a house.

We have a long list of things to check off before they get here, and one item was to install new curtains in the guest room. Well (Nic, you might want to stop reading right about now), Bed Bath & Beyond sucked me in its doors yesterday and I walked about quite a bit poorer, but with an arm full of goodies for the house! And a desire to not only update the guest room, but ours as well.

Take a look!

Our bedroom before:


There was a tall dresser to the left of the bed, which I removed to the guest room - hence all of my clothes on the bed.

And after!


New curtains, different dresser, organized books


I repurposed a few things around the house for bookends, love it!

 
Need to figure out what to do as far as curtains for the second, smaller, window. And a rehung painting.


The guest room before:


Normally it is not this messy. Wait, that is a lie. It is normally this messy, but just with piles upon piles of clean clothes that we never fold.

And after!


As a compromise to myself (and to save some $$) I re-used our curtains in the guest room. Not what I had in mind, but it works.

And just to ease Nic's mind, as I am certain he was scared to leave me this weekend knowing I was planning on spending all waking hours in the kitchen, here is a photo of the kitchen from just a few minutes ago.



Rest your weary mind husband of mine, and rest easy tonight! (I totally paid someone to clean for me...)


Jack liked it when I was too busy to clean...


I have a very early wake up call tomorrow, but want to finish watching The King's Speech first. I fell asleep half way through last night.

G'night!

{and running} in iowa

This blog is about my life here in Iowa.

My life as a wife.

My life as a full-time work horse.

My life as a wanna be chef.

My life as a runner.

Too bad it doesn't seem that I've shared much about my running on this little old blog lately, considering it takes up about 50% of my life.

So here's a quick little update about where I am at with my running as of late:

• I am training for the Twin Cities Marathon
• I am hoping to qualify for Boston at the Twin Cities Marathon
• The Twin Cities Marathon is less than 7 weeks away
• I have yet to put a plan on paper for the Twin Cities Marathon

Sure, I've been running, but not following an "official" plan for a race that I am hoping to qualify for Boston at, is kind of making me nervous. I shared this thought with my mom the other week and she quite bluntly reminded me that I've been training since at least 8-weeks before the Fargo Marathon (which was in May).

Mom's are always right.

But alas, I haven't really been keeping track of how many miles per week I've been running (except on DailyMile when I actually log-in. Hey - be my friend on DailyMile!), nor do I have days set aside to do specific runs (tempos, speed, etc).

With all of that being said, my last few runs have given me a little boost of confidence that, yes, I will be able to maintain an 8:15 mile pace for 26.2 miles on Sunday, October 2.

Monday, August 15th - 17.01 miles at 9:31 pace (including an extended stop at home without stopping my watch)
Sunday, August 14th - 8.05 miles with 6 miles are marathon pace (whoops, those 6 miles clocked in at 8:03, 7:56, 7:55, 7:52, 8:00, and 7:59), 8:19 pace overall
Saturday, August 13th - rest
Friday, August 12th - 6 miles at 7:20 pace (whoopsies again! This was supposed to be an easy 4 with a few 100-meter pickups).
Thursday, August 11th - rest
Wednesday, August 10th - 11 miles at 8:10 pace
Tuesday, August 9th - 8.5 miles with 5 x 600 meters at 10K pace (technology free run, no splits)
Monday, August 8th - taught Spin class + 4.2 mile run at 7:51 pace
Sunday, August 7th - rest
Saturday, August 6th - rest
Friday, August 5th - 20.01 miles at 8:55 pace

I really really hope I am on track to qualify. If I don't do it at Twin Cities, I need to find another marathon to run in November sometime.

Hmmm....maybe I could find one in England??!

pounding the pavement

Yesterday afternoon I laced up my sneakers for what was supposed to be a quick run before heading out to a friend's house for dinner.

The plan, an easy 4 mile recovery run with 6-100 meter pick ups.

The outcome, a speedy 6 mile run at 7:20 pace with 9-100 meter-ish pick ups, and a few tears.

That's right, I totally cried on my run. This is a rarity and I think it has only happened three times before yesterday. Once, on my first ever 20-miler with about 3 miles to go I just couldn't take it anymore and started sobbing. The second and third times happened towards the end/at the end of both the Fargo Marathon and Grandma's marathon. Those were tears of joy.

Yesterday's tears were of the frustrated type.

What brought them on? A few stressful weeks of work/life and actually listening to the lyrics of Katy Perry's Firework song.



I listened to the song over and over again while pounding all of the stresses of life out on the good old country road.

It helped, if not only for the time being, but I came home feeling like a new woman. I think this song needs to be my theme song for the next few weeks/months while I try to strike a better balance in my life.

happy birthday usa

Happy birthday to the good old U-S of A. I celebrated by enjoying a nice long run on one of our country's beautiful trails.



Get it?

burgers & beer

Last night Nic and I headed up to Iowa City to grab dinner at Short's Burger & Shine.  Our favorite brewery in Iowa, Peace Tree, was taking over the tap to help kick-off Iowa City's Jazz Fest, which will take place all weekend.



Twas a grand time.

You can't really beat a great burger, a cold beer and a pile of fries.

The chocolate chip cookies we grabbed at New Pioneer Food Coop were the proverbial cherries on top of an already fantastic night.

We took the scenic route home (read: rural highway) and started packing up for today's camping trip immediately when walking in the door.






This morning in snuck in a quick 12.48 mile run down the Kewash nature trail.

Camping....here we come!

the day kier told the wind who was boss

From the National Weather Service - attention runners, Mother Nature has decided to continue her quest to make your running lives miserable. She will continue to create winds that will always seem to be against you, blowing at least 15 mph constantly and gusting up to 40 mph 99% of the time. No matter what, you cannot avoid the windy wrath of Mother Nature.

Uuugh - this has been the story of my running life for the past three weeks! Every single long run I have battled against the wind for a majority of my route. While it is good training conditions for a potentially windy marathon up in Fargo, it reminds me of my last marathon in Tulsa, OK. Gah - I don't like to be reminded of that race.

Today the winds seemed especially bad, maybe just because I was tackling 20 miles and it was the last super long run before Fargo.  I was not really looking forward to heading out and managed to procrastinate for a good 2 hours before lacing up thee old running shoes.

I decided to head into the run for the first 10+ miles of the run, thus having the wind at my back for the last half.  Good idea. I headed out not letting the wind get to me (though it did literally take my breath away quite a few times) and just focused on keeping a slow consistent pace.

All in all it was a good run.  I stopped a few too many times towards the end (to walk up hills, strip off a layer, etc) but hey - I finished.

20 miles = a lot harder than 18 miles.

The stats::

mile 1 - 8:27                    mile 2 - 8:53                    mile 3 - 9:03                    mile 4 - 9:02
mile 5 - 9:01                    mile 6 - 8:56                    mile 7 - 10:18 (2 dates)   mile 8 - 9:11
mile 9 - 9:11                    mile 10 - 9:37                  mile 11 - 12:38 (1 gu)     mile 12 - 8:55
mile 13 - 9:14                  mile 14 - 9:08                  mile 15 - 9:49                  mile 16 - 9:22
mile 17 - 10:27 (2 dates) mile 18 - 10:50                mile 19 - 9:30                   mile 20 - 9:08

Total distance - 20.04 miles
Total time - 3:11:04
Average pace - 9:32
Elevation change - 180 feet (does that make sense? There was a difference of 180 feet between the lowest point and the highest point).

The run was done on one of my favorite county highways that I have always wanted to run, but the windy road + epic hills have always kept me away.  The city is currently paving the shoulders to make biking and running on this road safer and had up quite a few "road closed to thru traffic" signs, so there was surprisingly little traffic.

Here is the elevation profile of today's run:



Compared to the elevation profile of the Fargo Marathon:



Okay, so the graphs might not be too comparable, but you can see that today's route was just a bit more hilly than Fargo's is.

The instant I got home, I hauled two very heavy bags of ice up from the basement and filled up the tub with extremely cold water + ice.  I then inflicted the worst pain on myself for approximately 4.5 minutes.


Eeewww - please don't make fun of my stomach or my dirty shower. kthanks.

Torture. Pure torture.

But my legs felt very refreshed afterwards. I guess ice baths are a good thing.

I feel confident that I will PR at Fargo as long as I can hold onto a positive attitude.

Sub 4 here I come!

coffee and cupcake runner

I am absolutely loving my long runs lately.  Today's 18 miler left me with a feeling of great confidence that the Fargo Marathon will be a breeze.

Ha. We'll see if that happens!

Maybe these long runs have felt amazing because I am purposely making sure I do start out too fast and keep my pace at a moderate level instead of trying to run at marathon pace.

Here are the stats from today's run:

mile 1 - 8:50
mile 2 - 9:10
mile 3 - 9:23
mile 4 - 9:24
mile 5 - 9:23
mile 6 - 9:14
mile 7 - 10:36 (ate two dates)
mile 8 - 9:20
mile 9 - 9:10
mile 10 - 9:15
mile 11 - 9:21
mile 12 - 10:50 (ate one Gu)
mile 13 - 9:09 <------quick break at the dog park to say hello to Maia and Nic!
mile 14 - 9:20
mile 15 - 8:55
mile 16 - 10:49 (ate one Gu)
mile 17 - 9:15
mile 18 - 9:08
icing - 8:38 pace

Total distance - 18.35 miles
Total time - 2:53:37
Average pace - 9:28

Highlights from today's run - At mile 14 I was running on a trail behind someone's house and a bunch of people were outside drinking/BBQing. An older guy was running in place on the path waiting for me to pass and ran with me for a few steps.  I told him I had 4 miles left and he waved me off.  He thought he was pretty hilarious.

I circled back by the house at mile 16 and he did it again, this time with a kid at his side. The whole group thought they were pretty entertaining. I let him know I only had two miles left. "Of how many?" he asked. 18. He fell to the ground and yelled out "You go girl!" as I left him in my dust.

Nic and I promptly prepared lunch when I got home and were discussing work. I randomly got a craving for a cupcake and iced coffee and searched for vegan bakeries in Iowa City. Voila. Within 10 minutes we were in the car heading north.

Okay...so we needed to go to Petco to pick up some food for the pets, but it maybe could have waited until tomorrow.

I really wanted a cupcake and iced coffee.

Like really.

18 miles deserves a cupcake + coffee.

Hey - whatever motivates you, right? (Even if it is chicken nuggets...)

Fair Grounds Coffee House did not disappoint.  They had a nice variety of vegan bakery items and a full  vegetarian/vegan menu. I was glued to the bakery case trying to decide what kind of cupcake I was going to get, so did not spend too much time looking through the options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.



I only had one thing on my mind.

Nic and I both picked out a cupcake and shared bites of each.

For him:



A carrot cake cupcake with vegan cream cheese frosting. YUM. This was our favorite of the two.

For her:



Peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Another winner - and it totally scored bonus points for having two layers of frosting!



We also got a hazelnut latte to share.



We already have plans to head up to Fair Grounds again next Sunday to enjoy a feast of cupcakes, coffee and maybe some real food after my 20 miler.

We came home a few hours later and I immediately got to work on dinner. Pizza.  Pretty epic pizza. Alas, we have an early wake up call tomorrow - so I will have to share it with you later.

We are heading up to Minnesota to have Easter lunch with my dad's family. I whipped up dessert to bring along.  Let's hope they are all willing to sample a huge kitchen experiment...

Here's a sneak peak:



Happy Easter!

saturday randomness + awesome soup recipe

I have an 18 mile run on tap for today - and in an effort to procrastinate a little bit longer, I give you this very random post. :)

Last Saturday I saw something I never ever thought I would see in my whole entire life.


Maia - what the heck is this cat doing in my dog bed??


Meh - too tired to care.

On Wednesday I received an email from an associate editor at Women's Day magazine asking me if I would like to feature one of my favorite snacks on their "Snack Smart" blog. After I picked my jaw up from off the floor and did quite the happy dance, Nic popped open a beer and we celebrated. I had to call my Mom to share the good news.



We've been having quite the crappy weather here in Iowa lately. Temperatures way below normal and a lot of rain. So last night I whipped up a warm bowl of comfort - soup!  I've had this soup on my mind since Nic brought home a head of cauliflower the other day and the final product surpassed my expectations.  A healthy, creamy soup that doesn't taste healthy. Divine.  Four thumbs up.

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup



In the mix::

• 1t coconut oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 carrots grated - about 1 cup
• 1 small head cauliflower - cut into small florets, about 2.5 cups
• 2 3/4 cup veggie stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cup navy beans
• 1 whole head roasted garlic
• 1 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t white pepper
• 1/4 t dried parsley
• 1/4 t nutmeg

Heat coconut oil in a skillet over medium pot. Add onions and carrots and saute 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower florets and saute a minute more. Add veggie stock and bring to boil.  Reduce to a simmer, add the bay leaf, cover and cook until cauliflower is very tender.

When cauliflower is tender, add beans and garlic. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.

Add spices, tasting occasionally for taste. Add more or less to your taste.

Makes about 6 cups of soup.

This soup was amazing. Seriously creamy you wouldn't believe there was no cream in there! Nic and I both thought it tasted like cream of potato soup - without the cream or the potatoes.  Yum.

We served these up with a side of kale chips.



I have been slightly obsessed with kale chips lately. I dunked mine in the soup - and then later had a second serving with ketchup.

The soup would be really good with some kale stirred into it at the end.

Eat more kale.

I have an interesting idea for pizza planned for dinner tonight. I hope the crust that I just made ends up being a good base. This pizza will be epic (I hope!).

Alright. It is shaping up to be quite the nice day.



Time to head out to get a 18 mile dose of vitamin D.



18 miles...its been a while since I've tackled this distance.



But at 55* and sunny - it is bound to be a good run.



See ya on the flip side! :)

pantry and freezer week - day 9

Today, I turned in my two weeks notice and put a down deposit on a lovely piece of land in Northern Minnesota...

...and then I shook myself awake from that dream and woke up from an amazing one hour nap. :)

I love waking up super early, the rest of the day is always uber productive when that happens. Which is good - I needed a productive day. And being able to sneak in an afternoon nap is quite nice too...

After my lovely nap, I lazily climbed into my running gear for a track workout - 400m repeats. This used to be the most dreaded workout in high school track for most people. I secretly loved 400 days. Whenever it was pouring rain, the entire girls track team piled on the track for repeat 400s. Us distance girls were the studs as we were always the last ones to leave the track.

Stats::
Warmup - 1.88 miles @8:51 pace
400 pace - 7:34, 7:29, 7:17, 7:21, 7:17, 7:28, 7:05, 7:01, 7:40, 7:18
I jogged .12 miles in between 400s at 9:15ish pace
Cool down - .95 miles @ 9:56 pace
Total distance - 6.63 miles
Total time - 58:08
Average pace - 8:46

It was a great workout - the 400s were a little slow for my training plan, but with the knee pain last week, taking it a little easy was a good idea.  There were a few laps where I thought I would have to call it quits, but the pain never got too bad. Now, my calves are tiiiiight - it feels like the day after actually racing. Hopefully nothing a little foam rolling can't take care of.

Food today was a lot of the same as the past few days:

Breakfast - steel cut oats with banana and blueberries in an almost empty almond butter jar.
Lunch - the same delicious sandwich that we had for dinner last night

I snacked on a load of citrus around 3:30. One bruised and battered orange from our reduced price bag (almost gone!) and one of the moro oranges that we picked up on impulse during our last trip to Hy-Vee. Check this thing out!

Purple??!



A comparison:



I wasn't too hungry after my run so I just put together a small salad and smoothie to refuel with.

I topped the salad with lentil burgers with the last of our left over lentils from the night we made lentil tacos. To prepare I just threw in about 1 cup of lentils and 1/4 cup panko in a food processor for a few seconds. I formed this mixture into 4 small patties and rolled in more panko before popping them into a 400* oven for about 15 minutes (flipping once).



They were a great salad topper!  I am hoping Nic doesn't snatch them for lunch tomorrow...

The smoothie was just 5 ingredients and so refreshing!

• 1 whole frozen banan
• 1 whole peeled orange
• splash almond milk
• 1/2 t vanilla
• pomegranate seeds - to top with

Just give everything a quick whirl in the food processor and top with a small handful of pomegranate seeds. Enjoy!

In other news - the random dessert I made last night? DELICIOUS! Definitely better cold and had the texture of pumpkin pie. Nic and I both loved it.  I imagine it would be even better with some freshly whipped cream on top. I will make these again...maybe in individual ramekins - that would be cute!



------

Remember the discussion Nic and I had the other week - about adding a second dog to our family? Yeah, that is for sure not going to happen anytime soon.  Sorry to disappoint! :) Maia is a handful and I personally can not imagine walking two bratty puppies in the morning. I am so glad we slept on that idea for a few weeks, so glad.