Alright, enough talking, let's get cooking!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Cooking: Black beans w/ spinach, tomatoes, and pecorino romano cheese
Because I got home super late Sunday night, I had to go grocery shopping Monday night to make sure I had food. That meant when I got home I wanted to make something super quick. I went to my FAVORITE go-to dish: Black Beans w/ Spinach, Tomatoes, and Pecorino Romano cheese. This may not look/sound like much, but the pecorino romano cheese gives it the most amazing flavor!
This recipe is super simple and is ready in less than 15 minutes. The only thing I have to chop/dice/grate is the cheese. This dish was inspired by my trip to Puerto Rico in May. I spent a week eating great meals. I took the opportunity to test out different seafood, and did not have a single meal I didn't enjoy. My hands down favorite dish inspired this one. I ordered yucca gnocchi w/ black beans. Honestly, I don't even remember what the yucca gnocchi was like because I fell in love with the beans upon first bite. For the first time in my life, I asked the waiter what was in them and recreated it my first night home (with a tilapia filet of course!). I have made it several times at home, and I am never disappointed. I could probably eat this every day and not get sick of it.
Alright, enough talking, let's get cooking!
Alright, enough talking, let's get cooking!
Non-cooking: El Paso
This weekend I went to El Paso to celebrate my wonderful friend Valerie's wedding. Sadly, she will be leaving the area to move to Indiana so this was our last hurrah until Christmas. Valerie is actually a huge inspiration for me - my goal is to be like her where whenever I bring anything food-related to an event people get excited, regardless of what it is. These last few months, we have had a few cooking dates. I am pretty sure I am going to face time with her in my kitchen for more lessons although she may not know it yet.
I am happy to report the wedding was a wonderful success and I enjoyed dancing the night away!
I am happy to report the wedding was a wonderful success and I enjoyed dancing the night away!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Cooking: Simple Pesto with Whole Wheat Pasta and Hot Italian Sausage
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| Simple Pesto w/ Whole Wheat Pasta and Hot Italian Sausage (note the picture does not do the flavor justice) |
I like pesto but I haven't really made it before. Usually when I go for pasta I go for tomato sauce - it's the Italian wannabe in me. I just love it. But lately I have been in the mood to mix it up. I found a recipe in this super informative cookbook, "how to cook everything: the basics" that made me realize how easy pesto is. The recipe in the book is meatless, but I decided to add some hot Italian sausage. When doesn't sausage make something taste better?! However, you could go meatless or add pretty much any meat you want (meatballs, tofu, chicken). Once you learn the basic recipe, the possibilities are endless as you can keep experimenting and mixing it up. For example, you could add a different type of nut, switch up the proportions of basil/nuts, add in more seasoning (i.e. red pepper), or switch up the cheese.
Start to finish (including pasta cooking time), this dish took me less than 30 minutes, and that was with taking a million and 5 pictures.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Cooking: Simple Roasted Garlic Asparagus Fries
Since this will be my first cooking post (and it's a school night!), I will make this one short and sweet.
One of the things I have discovered this year is that most vegetables get about 10 to 1 million times better when you roast them. The roasting process really brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetable and softens it. For a sweet tooth like me, that is key. I even discovered I actually like brussel sprouts! The teenage me is rolling in her grave at that statement.
Generally, I try to roast some vegetables on nights I have leftovers from previous meals because I have the extra time and it's really easy. Once you learn the technique, you can substitute a variety of vegetables. The key is olive oil, salt, and pepper! All other seasonings/variations are optional and worth the experiment.
Ages ago, before I discovered this new found love of most vegetables (except beets, I still don't like beets), I ordered the Grilled Asparagus fries at the BGR joint and loved them. With this as an inspiration, I decided to see asparagus took to roasting, and realized I had a huge hit! It's by far my favorite thing I have tried. The roasting process makes them softer than in their natural state, but they also have this wonderful crisp to them which I crave. With the right seasonings (*cough*salt*cough), they really are a pretty good healthy alternative to french fries. Plus, it gives you your daily serving of essential fatty acids via the olive oil!
One of the things I have discovered this year is that most vegetables get about 10 to 1 million times better when you roast them. The roasting process really brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetable and softens it. For a sweet tooth like me, that is key. I even discovered I actually like brussel sprouts! The teenage me is rolling in her grave at that statement.
Generally, I try to roast some vegetables on nights I have leftovers from previous meals because I have the extra time and it's really easy. Once you learn the technique, you can substitute a variety of vegetables. The key is olive oil, salt, and pepper! All other seasonings/variations are optional and worth the experiment.
Ages ago, before I discovered this new found love of most vegetables (except beets, I still don't like beets), I ordered the Grilled Asparagus fries at the BGR joint and loved them. With this as an inspiration, I decided to see asparagus took to roasting, and realized I had a huge hit! It's by far my favorite thing I have tried. The roasting process makes them softer than in their natural state, but they also have this wonderful crisp to them which I crave. With the right seasonings (*cough*salt*cough), they really are a pretty good healthy alternative to french fries. Plus, it gives you your daily serving of essential fatty acids via the olive oil!
It's been awhile!
Hello there!
As you may have noticed, I haven't posted anything since my race report as my journey from Hilary to Ironman was finished. It's been almost a year since the race (?!) and I can let you know my pride hasn't diminished and life is busier than ever. I haven't done a single race this year and am not signed up for one until the New York Marathon in November. Don't worry though - I still have been getting to the gym/working out pretty much a similar amount. I just have been focusing on doing what I want to do on any given day versus following a training program. After four years of constantly training for something, I am loving the break!
What have I been up to since the race? A month after the race, I was sent to London for two months for work. I spent the time traveling (Dublin, Barcelona, Bath, Munich, and Paris) & learning about different cultures. My office is full of people from all over who have either grown up in the UK or were visiting for a few years. It was great! And yes, I was closely following the arrival of my future king ;)
However, I came home ABSOLUTELY exhausted. After the holidays, I had traveled (via car, plane, or train) 11 of 12 weekends in a row. I also just felt pretty awful/run down from all the eating out/holiday food.
I used to love to cook but I had fallen out of the habit, particularly as the Ironman training went into full swing. With a long bike ride and run every weekend, the grocery store was an afterthought, usually Monday nights on my way home.
Starting in January, I made a conscious effort to cook almost all my meals and to focus on making them as healthy/fresh as possible. For the first month or so, I was pretty strict with myself & only ate out once or twice a week. As I learned from when I made the conscious effort to start going to the gym, it takes about three weeks to get into a routine/habit and I was focused to turn this into one.
Since then, I have been pretty dang successful! After the first month, I loosened my "I have to cook all but one or two meals a week" rule, but I have found for the most part I have stuck with it. Also, anyone who trains for something like an Ironman is by nature slightly (at least) obsessive. Since I have not been focused on a racing this year (until now - why do you have to start training for a fall marathon during the hottest part of the summer?!), I have been diving deep into cooking. In the last 7 months I have taken an amazing beginner and intermediate cooking boot camp series (www.cookology.com) and various other classes. I even took one in London when I went back in June for a few weeks! I also bought a kitchen aid stand mixer and have been enjoying learning how to make a variety of delicious baked goods in order to get my money's worth. Yes, it breaks my "healthy" focus, but moderation is key and my coworkers make good testers!
Now, as the calendar prepares to turn to August, it has hit me that I will be signing up for another Ironman next month (Mt. Tremblant in Quebec!). I said after Wisconsin that I planned to do it, and now the time is actually here to turn that broad thought into an actual plan. It will definitely be hard to get back into the swing of hard training again. However, I loved the process, including getting to make so many new friends. Also, while I am happy to have finished, especially given my struggles race day, I feel like I could really improve my performance and I have some unfinished business.
With that thought, I have decided to start up my blog again. However, giving due appreciation to my love of cooking and all the "training" I have done this year, I want to turn it into a dual purpose cooking/training blog. This will help me make sure I focus on nutrition in addition to getting the workouts in. It will also help me share all of the knowledge I have learned and will hopefully prove to people that it's super easy to make a meal that is healthy/delicious and will impress your friends. Fear not! My new love of baking will also steal the show on occasion. After all, what's the point of all the training if you can't indulge every once in a while?
I can't promise how successful I will be at turning this dream into a reality, or how often I will post, but I hope you enjoy following along!
(P.S. Spell check does not recognize Ironman. For shame!)
As you may have noticed, I haven't posted anything since my race report as my journey from Hilary to Ironman was finished. It's been almost a year since the race (?!) and I can let you know my pride hasn't diminished and life is busier than ever. I haven't done a single race this year and am not signed up for one until the New York Marathon in November. Don't worry though - I still have been getting to the gym/working out pretty much a similar amount. I just have been focusing on doing what I want to do on any given day versus following a training program. After four years of constantly training for something, I am loving the break!
What have I been up to since the race? A month after the race, I was sent to London for two months for work. I spent the time traveling (Dublin, Barcelona, Bath, Munich, and Paris) & learning about different cultures. My office is full of people from all over who have either grown up in the UK or were visiting for a few years. It was great! And yes, I was closely following the arrival of my future king ;)
Cliffs of Moher! I am absolutely in love with Ireland.
However, I came home ABSOLUTELY exhausted. After the holidays, I had traveled (via car, plane, or train) 11 of 12 weekends in a row. I also just felt pretty awful/run down from all the eating out/holiday food.
I used to love to cook but I had fallen out of the habit, particularly as the Ironman training went into full swing. With a long bike ride and run every weekend, the grocery store was an afterthought, usually Monday nights on my way home.
Starting in January, I made a conscious effort to cook almost all my meals and to focus on making them as healthy/fresh as possible. For the first month or so, I was pretty strict with myself & only ate out once or twice a week. As I learned from when I made the conscious effort to start going to the gym, it takes about three weeks to get into a routine/habit and I was focused to turn this into one.
Since then, I have been pretty dang successful! After the first month, I loosened my "I have to cook all but one or two meals a week" rule, but I have found for the most part I have stuck with it. Also, anyone who trains for something like an Ironman is by nature slightly (at least) obsessive. Since I have not been focused on a racing this year (until now - why do you have to start training for a fall marathon during the hottest part of the summer?!), I have been diving deep into cooking. In the last 7 months I have taken an amazing beginner and intermediate cooking boot camp series (www.cookology.com) and various other classes. I even took one in London when I went back in June for a few weeks! I also bought a kitchen aid stand mixer and have been enjoying learning how to make a variety of delicious baked goods in order to get my money's worth. Yes, it breaks my "healthy" focus, but moderation is key and my coworkers make good testers!
Cooking class in London
Macaroons!
Now, as the calendar prepares to turn to August, it has hit me that I will be signing up for another Ironman next month (Mt. Tremblant in Quebec!). I said after Wisconsin that I planned to do it, and now the time is actually here to turn that broad thought into an actual plan. It will definitely be hard to get back into the swing of hard training again. However, I loved the process, including getting to make so many new friends. Also, while I am happy to have finished, especially given my struggles race day, I feel like I could really improve my performance and I have some unfinished business.
With that thought, I have decided to start up my blog again. However, giving due appreciation to my love of cooking and all the "training" I have done this year, I want to turn it into a dual purpose cooking/training blog. This will help me make sure I focus on nutrition in addition to getting the workouts in. It will also help me share all of the knowledge I have learned and will hopefully prove to people that it's super easy to make a meal that is healthy/delicious and will impress your friends. Fear not! My new love of baking will also steal the show on occasion. After all, what's the point of all the training if you can't indulge every once in a while?
I can't promise how successful I will be at turning this dream into a reality, or how often I will post, but I hope you enjoy following along!
(P.S. Spell check does not recognize Ironman. For shame!)
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