Non-Cooking: Thanksgiving in January!!!

If you are a cooking junkie like me, the epitome of the cooking experience each year is Thanksgiving. In September/October, I kept seeing recipes for Thanksgiving foods (stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc.) and I was dying to try my hand at them. However, I always travel to Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving with my dad's family, so for actual Thanksgiving I was limited to making a pecan pie and buttermilk biscuits (mmmm, pecan pie and biscuits). A few weeks ago, I decided to throw my own Thanksgiving, because let's face it, no one would object to a second Thanksgiving. I waited until the holiday season was finished, invited friends and family over, and got to planning.

This was my first time attempting to cook for a large party (12 of us in total), and trying to make more than one appetizer/main meal/dessert combo. In planning the menu/timing of everything, I looked for things cooked  tried to avoid cooking multiple hot items that needed the oven. I went pretty traditional with the side courses, but veered from tradition when it came to the meat. I am not a big Turkey person, and had seen an awesome looking Prime Rib & Roasted Vegetables recipe in Cook's Country magazine that had caught my fancy. My parents got me a roasting pan for Christmas, and this seemed like the perfect way to break it in! Now, I have never had prime rib before. I also was completely unaware of how expensive it was! However, I didn't let any of that stop me! The one change I made (which I am really happy I did) was to go smaller on the prime rib & to add a slow cooked pork loin as well. 

Overall, I decided on the following menu (pictures to follow) - all recipes are some offshoot of either America's Test Kitchen or Brown Eyed Baker:

1) Garlic/Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

2) Crispy Skillet Stuffing 

3) Roasted Prime Rib + Roasted Vegetables (my first time ever having prime rib! boy is it expensive!)

4) Slow-cooked pork loin w/ cranberry sauce

5) Whole Wheat Rolls

6) Sweet Potato Pie

7) Dutch Apple Pie

8) Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars (last minute add when I freaked out about not having enough dessert that was very worth it!)

Cooking: Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Today's recipe is another simple and satisfying roasted vegetable side! (If you like this dish, check out my roasted asparagus garlic fries.)

Brussel Sprouts! Before last March, I never would have believed that I would ever be enthusiastic about those words, unless it was enthusiastically expressing my distaste (having never had them, obviously). Then I went to Graffiatios for restaurant week and got the beets (trying new things!). Sadly, I disliked the beets & the rest of my meal but LOVED (and ate a lot of) my friend's appetizer. It was roasted brussel sprouts w/ maple syrup and bacon. Trying this was a GAME CHANGER, and as I later discovered had nothing to do w/ the maple syrup and bacon. When roasted, brussel sprouts become "sweet" on the inside, crispy on the outside, and are incredibly delicious.  Now I find myself excited when I have a longer workout because I can fit roasted brussel sprouts into my nutrition for the day! (And yes, 12 year old me is appalled, heck so is 21 year old me. Don't worry though - I still to this day have never attempted to eat them raw.) 

In the last year (starting immediately after that meal), I have roasted brussel sprouts probably 30 times or so (simply cutting in half, coating with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasting in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes).  I have even gotten my friends hooked on them! I took a break over the summer, but now that it's cold again (and snowing!) I have been really craving this dish and am full force back on board w/ brussel sprouts.

Then yesterday, another game changer. I stumbled upon another America's Test Kitchen recipe from the TV show cookbook that had a different technique for preparing them. Being up for adventure, I tried it out, and I will never go back! One of the potential issue with my previous technique is the inside can sometimes taste a bit bitter if you overcook the sprouts in order to get the crispiness on the outside. For the ATK recipe, they turn up the heat to 500 degrees, steam the Brussel sprouts in the baking dish using a little bit of water (covered) to cook the inside, and then uncover the dish and continue cooking until the outside caramelizes. This results in brussel sprouts that have the wonderful crispyness/sweetness on the outside, and a nice creamy inside. And I promise, it's much simpler than it sounds!

Let's get cooking!

Cooking: Skillet Tamale Pie

Last week I wrote about my favorite resources and mentioned the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. This recipe is from that. It has a great Mexican flavor, a delicious cornbread topping, and makes six plentiful portions. I also like that it is made in one dish for easy cleanup.

My baby nephew wasn't too sure what to think about it while I babysat him, but I think he came around eventually.

Serving information from Americas Test Kitchen (makes 6 servings): 420 calories, 13 g. fat (6g saturated), 45g carbs, 31g protein, 6g fiber

Let's get cooking!

Cooking: Favorite Recipe Resources & Essential Kitchen Tools

Over the last year, I have spent way too much money on kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, and cooking classes. However, in reality, for a beginner chef, a few kitchen essentials are all you need to cook delicious meals at home. I thought I would take the opportunity to put the money spent to good use by summarizing my favorite recipe resources and what I consider essential kitchen tools. With the exception of the cookbooks, the links are for the most part random links just to show you a visual of what I am talking about. Do some research (and read the reviews!) to find what works for you and places that offer the best prices.

Non-Cooking: Hello! and 2013 Year End Review!

Fairfax Four Miler

December 31, 2012 - 41:21 (10:20 pace)

December 31, 2013 - 32:49 (8:13 pace)

What a difference a year makes! 

Hi friends, I know I haven't posted in awhile. Don't worry, I have still been working out & cooking up a storm (this weekend I ran 15 miles on the ice w/ the help of yaktrax, did a two hour trainer ride, made a five-alarm chili, Irish soda bread, Guinness beef stew, and homemade pasta!). It's just that when my work hours increase, my desire to open my computer while not at work severely decreases. And the last few months have been busy to say the least (accountant + year end = bad news).

I don't know about you all, but Christmas/New Years didn't feel like they happened this year. With the late Thanksgiving, I didn't get to do a lot of the things I usually do during the season (visiting the national Christmas tree and the state trees being the big one). And with the work craziness, I haven't had a chance to read the 1,004,323,498 "Get fit for the new year!," "New Year, New You!" articles. I typically am not one to make New Year's resolutions (it is much harder to commit to a workout plan when you wake up to snow/ice covered sidewalks day 2)! However, I took a week and a half off of work recently and had a chance to reflect on 2013 (in addition to catching up with friends, cooking a ton, watching Homeland Season 3 - not sure how I feel, and spending 32 hours in a car to visit family). I realized this is the one year that a New Year's Resolution has impacted my life and resulted in such an amazing transformation.

Unlike the last several years, this year has not been defined by one or two life events (first marathon/half-Ironman, new house/job, Ironman). Rather, this year has been defined by my decision last year to start cooking again in an effort to get healthy, and having the time/resources due to lack of training for an Ironman to take a deep dive into it. When I ran the four miler last year, I had just come back from 2 months in London. I had eaten out every day, traveled almost every weekend, and had a stressful time work wise. I came back utterly exhausted/wrecked. That four miles was incredibly difficult for me, and if it wasn't for chatting with a new friend Nikki I would have had a much worse time then I did. After the race, rather than go out for New Year's, I came home and made my first lentil soup and haven't stopped cooking since. I wrote more in detail about all of this here. 

The deep-dive I have taken into the kitchen has greatly improved my self confidence and I have rediscovered/unlocked a passion that has always simmered beneath the surface. (And unlike my other passion of triathlon, this is one my high school friends can greatly benefit!). It has also completely changed my daily routine and my definition of "fun" and "relaxation." I have always enjoyed cooking, but this year my quest to understand the "why" of cooking has led me to great new heights. One of my goals I jokingly (not jokingly) made this year was to become someone that people get excited about whatever I bring to an event or coming over for dinner, regardless of what I am making. I feel like I have succeeded in this respect, but there is still so much to learn and I find that really exciting. I am no longer am afraid to try a new recipe when I have friends over and now believe I can make anything I want as long as I can find a good recipe. I will do a separate post about my favorite resources for learning how to cook/finding good recipes, but I truly believe with the information available on the Internet, anyone can become a decent cook.  

Thanks to my cooking and my workout addiction, I have been able to eat healthy/not feel deprived. I have also been able to invite people over for a delicious dinner/socializing rather than constantly going out to eat, eating big and spending a ton of money. With these changes, I have managed to lose about 25 pounds since the beginning of the year, am finally back at my pre-college weight (freshman 15 for everyone else = freshman 50 for me!), and am running better than ever. Huzzah! (My favorite part of my team long run this weekend was having three separate fast guys on the team come up to me afterwards to introduce themselves and to tell me good job! This gave me much more satisfaction than I should probably admit.) I know it's a process and I will have my ups and downs in the future, but I am happy to have discovered the tools I need to succeed.

Before: Fairfax four miler December 2012

Afterish: New York Marathon November 2013

Overall, when I initially started to think about 2013, I thought I would end up thinking it was a disappointment compared to 2012 (Ironman!). However, what I ultimately discovered is that it has been one of the best year's I've had in a long time, with such a growth in my self-confidence and so many highlights spread throughout the year. I am excited to see what next year brings! 

Thinking through the year, here are some of the highlights I want to remember (and given my horrific memory that I actually can remember - it's been quite a year!):

Non-Cooking: New York Marathon Race Recap!

The short story: I did it!!! Despite the crowds, the wind, and the hills (hello bridges!), I managed to set a 17 1/2 minute personal best, running a time of 4:11:29. I feel so proud/happy/excited about my time and can't wait to see what else I can do. 

The long story starts a few days prior...

Non-Cooking: Army Ten Miler (and other Birthday festivities), New York Marathon Goals

Finished!

Army Ten Miler

Two weekends ago, my dad and I completed our 6th Army Ten miler. The Army Ten Miler always falls on my birthday weekend, which is both a blessing and a curse (early wakeup!). This race means a whole lot to me, as it always reminds me of how far I have come. I started running in the summer of 2006. My dad (a lifetime runner) and I had taken to walking after work on a pretty regular basis and my dad kept saying he thought I would enjoy running. At that point, I had zero interest in running but I had started hitting the gym regularly in an effort to lose the freshman/sophomore 50 (sadly no exaggeration). The last time I had attempted runninh was the prior January, in the 15 degree weather, and I made it about a mile. (That is one of the reasons I always laugh about New Year's resolutions - who really wants to start exercising in January?! I am truly in awe of anyone who sticks with it.) One weekend I was going out of town and couldn't get to the gym. I told my dad we were going to try running on our nightly walk. We ran a quarter of a mile, walked a bit, ran some more. I made him hold my water bottle and had to keep telling him to slow down the whole summer. We kept with it though, and by the end of the summer I was running pretty regularly. We decided at the end of the summer to make next year's Army Ten Miler our goal race and trained for it for over a year. I remember the 5-7 mile runs that led to three hour naps (I did not know the power of Gatorade/electrolytes just yet). We had countless conversations about whether we were ready and if we could escape the dreaded "recovery bus" that swept the course. Finishing that race was a supremely proud moment for both of us!