Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Buzz, Buzz

These were delivered to my classroom yesterday:


As soon as the kids saw them, they got really excited because they knew they were full of:


Macbooks!

We've spend the last several days working on our first "official" essay of seventh grade. We are analyzing the theme of Langston Hughes' "Thank You, Ma'm." It is hard work, but they are doing a great job! I am actually maybe kind of looking forward to reading 130 rough drafts when they get turned in on Monday! Maybe... Kind of...

My desk last November...
If you don't live in California, maybe you don't know how hot it has been lately. I'll sum it up for you: HOT! So freaking unbelievably hot for the last week of September (113 degrees in LA yesterday)! I did not complain this weekend, because I really do love hot weather, but it's been tough at work. You know, 30 sweaty preteen bodies, questionable deodorant application, no AC, a classroom full of Macbooks buzzing away. Yeah. HOT.

This has pretty much thrown all cooking and working out plans into a complete tailspin. However, I plan to get back on track today! It's only (only!) 90 degrees in Campbell, so I think I can manage doing some Yoga Meltdown and abs and sticking a pork tenderloin in the oven. I might even bake some bread. I'll let you know how that all works out.

And finally, today is National Coffee Day! I couldn't let it pass without celebration, so I treated myself after work:


Please note, I went through seven lids before I could finally get one to stay on. It was well worth the effort. 


Happy hump day!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Busted

Are you ready for something you've never seen here on Running Foodie?


Pancakes!!

Today is National Pancake Day, and I didn't even know until after I had made pancakes, which is totally random because I never make pancakes! For some reason, I just woke up this morning thinking, "I should make pancakes."

I used Tina's Really Good Pancake Recipe and added about 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice.


They were a hit!

I was really looking forward to telling you about yesterday's Cake Wars, complete with incredible pictures of luscious cupcakes but... it was kind of a bust. I didn't take a single picture!

We got there about 45 minutes after it started and there was super long line. We thought we might never get in. Fortunately, Lindy and Ryan had arrived at on time and were just then getting to the front of line. We jumped in with them and got right in!

Inside, it was a total madhouse. Herbst Pavilion is big and it was packed.

[Source]

There were 6 bakeries competing in the cupcake wars and all of them were supposed to be offering tastings. However, only one hour into the event (it went from 4-9pm), two of the six  had already run out of samples and were only selling full-sized cupcakes! Also, the samples available were very small bites (maybe 1/4 of a bite-sized cupcake?), not really enough of a taste to base any judging off of. We did have a really delicious Cinnamon French Toast Bacon Praline cupcake from From Scratch, sf that tasted just like Sunday brunch (it was so yummy), but I didn't think the rest of them were very special. Plus, it was just so crowded!

Frustrated with the cupcakes, we decided to get our wine tasting on. We bought tickets at a discount through Groupon (which probably accounts for the crowds) and also got a $10 voucher per ticket to put towards wine purchases. There were 30+ local California wineries and we sampled a lot of wine (another reason I didn't take any pictures). We had a lot of favorites, but ended up purchasing a 2008 Chardonnay from Rielle Wines in Petaluma.


After about 2 hours of fighting the crowds and the heat (it was 85 degrees on the water in SF!), we decided to grab dinner at 21st Amendment Brewery in SOMA. They have some pretty incredible beers on tap, including the Come Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, which seriously tastes like a light wheat beer that has watermelon Jolly Ranchers dissolved in it! I didn't order any beer myself (I was feeling a little loopy from all that wine!), but I had several tastes of B's! It was delicious!

[Source]

In the end, it ended up being a fun afternoon with friends, but I was disappointed that Cupcake Wars was not more prepared for the crowds, because the wine market was definitely on top of their game.

What are the rest of your weekend plans?
This morning we are going to church, then cleaning the house/grading, and having dinner with my parents.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Moonlight 10K Recap


Happy Saturday!
B and I just finished our Saturday AM tradition of watching Project Runway - we were so excited to see Mondo win (and to see Ivy go home)!

[Source]

Did you know that B and I have not had a TV since we moved into together right before we got married last summer? We made the decision based on advice from the couple that did our premarital counseling and have really loved it! We spend a lot more time doing fun things together and, obviously, watch way less junk TV because we actually have to make an effort to find what we want to watch on Netflix, Hulu, network sites, etc. We also save a lot of money not paying a massive cable bill!

We have been sitting around all morning resting our weary legs from our race last night! I am much more sore than usual after a 10K (I think I am almost as sore as I was after the half!), but I think it is because we both came home and immediately fell into bed and slept for almost 10 hours! I was very stiff when I woke up this morning.

Recap!

When B and I left at 6:45 to drive to the race, it was 82 degrees outside still! Last year, I got pretty cold, so I had planned to wear long sleeves and capris this year. I ditched the long sleeves for short sleeves, but still wore capris. I totally could have worn shorts! It was humid and warm, even when the race started at 8:15 (and it was still only 75 degrees when we finished!).

Over 2,000 people were competing (half for the 10K and half for the 5K)! Even though the 5K runners started before us and the 5K walkers started after us, it was still really crowded. B and I ran together for the first four miles, and then he took off ahead of me for the final two. We were stuck in the middle of a huge group for the first two miles and it slowed us down a lot. For the rest of the race, I intentionally kept a slightly slower pace than usual since my knee wasn't hurting and I didn't want it to start!

Both the 5K and 10K courses cross the Palo Alto Baylands levee (which is actually really pretty when you aren't running in the dark) and run through the marshlands by the light of the Harvest Moon. The trails are narrow in some spots (and with so many runners, that can be frustrating) and you do have to be careful where you step since it is dark - the only light is from the moon! Some runners wear headlamps, but I find that to be really disorienting with the light bouncing around in front of you. There were tons of families and kids (I even saw a few of my students!).

The 2009 Moonlight 10K was my first official race (not counting some 5Ks I ran in college as a Running Buddy with Girls on the Run), so it was fun to come out and do it again after training all summer for a half marathon. I wanted to finish in under an hour, but due to the crowds and narrow trails, I got slowed down a bit. Even B finished later than I expected him to - he usually finishes a good 10 minutes ahead of me, but his finishing time was only 3 minutes faster than mine!
  • Clock Time: 1:05
  • Nike+ Time: 1:03
  • Place (total): 775/1037
  • Place (female 20-29): 76/108

Now I'm off to get my hair cut and then heading to SF for Cupcake Wars! Have a super weekend!

Friday, September 24, 2010

More Fall Flavors

Lately, I've been eating a lot of overnight oats, even though I haven't posted about it. I've been trying to perfect a recipe that I am actually excited to enjoy in the morning, since I'm kind of sensitive to textures and there's just something about bloated, slimy, cold oats that doesn't really appeal to me unless it tastes awesome (I know, I'm really selling you on the overnight oats idea with that description!).

[Source]
Well, I think I've found a combination that works for me. It actually happened by accident, when I realized that we were out of milk one night. I fretted for a few minutes since I had already mixed the oats and yogurt, but then saw a jar of applesauce in the back of the fridge. Jackpot! This has been my overnight oats recipe for the last week or so:

Basic Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

  • 1/3c oats
  • 1/3c plain yogurt
  • 1/3c unsweetened applesauce
  • 1-2t almond or peanut butter
  • handful of raisins
  • sprinkle of cinnamon

Method:

  1. Mix and refrigerate overnight.


Until last night, when I had a huge can of Libby's open as a result of my Pumpkin Blueberry Muffin baking adventure. Now, I made pumpkin overnight oats this summer and DID NOT like them. I think I had two bites and threw the rest away. I'm not sure if it was the maple syrup or just that it was still so dang hot out that I wasn't feeling the fall flavors yet, but they just did not sit well with me. I was willing to give them another go though and I had a feeling that the addition of applesauce might be the key here...



Apple-Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats

Ingredients

  • 1/3c oats
  • 1/3c pumpkin puree
  • 1/3c unsweetened applesauce
  • handful of raisins
  • sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice


Method:
  1. Mix and refrigerate overnight.


These oats were incredible! So incredible, in fact, that I put them in an empty PB jar and savored them all the way into 3rd period today, when my students asked, horrified, if I was eating peanut butter straight out of the jar (like that would be so horrible!).

While we're on the topic of things I'm eating from my desk today, I also just finished this yummy salad:


Mixed greens, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, chickpeas, BBB dressing, goat cheese.

Two more hours of student testing, then I am outta here!

Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins!

Last night I managed to peel myself off the couch (I have been so tired since school started, which is really bizarre - I have usually gotten past this by now) to make a messy egg scramble for dinner and then whip up some pumpkin-blueberry muffins.




I apologize for the poor picture quality. I snapped this at 6:30 this morning before I hit the road for work because I was afraid they would all be gone by the time I came home this afternoon. 


I let these cool for a bit last night before I broke one in half and took it to B as he was working on a lesson plan in the office. He peered at the blueberries then gave me a funny look and said, "It's a blueberry muffin? I thought you were making pump-" *takes a bite* "They're pumpkin-blueberry muffins!"


So yes, they're awesome. I took a dozen out of the oven at 8:30 last night and there were 6 remaining when I left for work this morning. I'm not sure when half of them disappeared, but I have a pretty good idea who is responsible! Fortunately, I did not use all of my can of pumpkin OR all of my frozen blueberries, so you can bet I'll whip up another batch this weekend (or maybe pumpkin-blueberry bread? I hate cleaning out my muffin tins...). 


Basically, these pretty much scream "fall" to me, even though it's supposed to be almost 90 degrees today... 


Global warming, what?




I made quite a few modifications to the original recipe, so here's my take on the perfect fall muffin:


Pumpkin-Blueberry Muffins
adapted from AllRecipes.com


Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour*
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour*
3/4 cup oats
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2T butter, melted
2T unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen and didn't even bother to thaw them)


Method

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
  2. Mix the flours, oats, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl until evenly blended. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, egg, butter, and applesauce. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, just until all ingredients are moistened. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling to the top.
  3. Bake in preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

Cooking Notes:
*Next time, I might swap the proportions of white to whole-wheat flour (that is, use 1/2 cup WW and 1/4 cup white). The batter is SUPER moist with the pumpkin and butter and applesauce, it might hold up to a larger amount of WW flour without becoming too dense.
*I also might increase the spices slightly - maybe closer to 2/3t each of cinnamon and nutmeg?


In other news...




B and I are running the Moonlight 10K tonight! The moon has been so bright this week - it's going to be a beautiful full moon for the run! I am excited and a little nervous - I have been pretty lazy about working out in general and haven't run much in the last week or so because of my knee. I'm not looking to place or set a PR or anything, but I'd like to have a good run (since most of my races end up being bad runs!) and not aggravate my knee any more. 

What are your weekend plans?
After our race tonight, B and I are going to Cake Moda's Cupcake Wars at Crush Barrel Wine Market in SF on Saturday night with our friends Lindy and Ryan as part of B's 29th birthday celebration! I think we will take the DSLR and hopefully get some great pictures (and drink some great wine while sampling cupcakes)! It's basically a foodie's dream come true.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Little Engine that CAN

Sorry to hit you with such a bummer post last night. I try not to take things my students say and do personally (especially since so many of them are not mature enough to make good decisions about their words and actions 100% of the time), but it's hard sometimes. I'm happy to say that this morning I am feeling much better, thanks in part to this:


I have a a confession: I don't like Starbucks very much. But come fall, like many, I am all over the pumpkin spice latte. I can't help myself!

Did you know that today is the first day of fall? Last night, B and I celebrated by making a very fall dinner, Heather's Roasted Acorn Squash Chili!


I think I roasted my squash a little too long because it was very mushy and kind of fell apart when I stirred it into the chili, but overall this was a really yummy dish. I especially love the roasted squash seeds on top!

In other fall news, I picked these up at Safeway last weekend:

Hello, lover...

I'm planning to make a batch of Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins this evening. Yum!

As many of you know, I teach junior high English. This is actually my first year teaching at the junior high level - for the last three years I have taught high school, mostly 9th and 12th grade. Teaching junior high has been fun, but also challenging for me. I have to be a lot more sensitive when I am giving student's consequences for bad behavior because they get their feelings hurt very easily (and I have a tendency to be sarcastic). There are also a lot of touchy-feely community-building activities that we are expected to do with our Advisory class (it's kind of like homeroom and meets once a week), and I am not a very touchy-feely person. 

Yesterday, we had one of those activities. I went into it thinking, "Well, at least the kids will be occupied during Advisory!" but it actually ended up being a really cool experience. Basically, the kids were given strips of paper and were instructed to write down things they are good at on each strip of paper. On one strip they had to say one activity they were good at, on another one academic thing they were good at, on another what their family would say they were good at, and on another what their friends would say. Then, they linked all their papers together to form one long chain that I put up in my room:


The idea, of course, is that we're all good at many things and that we are all connected somehow. Very touchy-feely. :)

As I struggled to stand on the top rung of my ladder and staple this massive paper chain to my wall (all the while thinking, I am totally going to fall and get hurt and no one will even know because my classroom is hidden and no one ever comes out here), I thought about how neat it was that my students had the opportunity to reflect on positive things in their lives. Their strips said cute things like: reading, making people laugh, listening, playing soccer and funny things like: doing my hair, texting, riding a bike with no hands, eating pizza.

We focus so much on the things we can't do. I can't run a sub-8 minute mile. I can't swim in open water. I can't do math. I can't find the time to get all my laundry put away before I have to do another load. It's kind of a bummer! Today I am going to celebrate the things I can do.
  • I can be a great wife.
  • I can teach 150 seventh graders how to write analytical paragraphs (it's hard!)
  • I can cook a lot of things.
  • I can be in control of what my family eats.
  • I can run a half-marathon.
  • I can read really fast.
  • I can, I can, I can...

What can you do/What are you good at?

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Bummer, Dude

Hi friends - where has this week gone?!

My schedule has been totally wonky. First, I was at a training all day Monday so I have been playing catch-up in my classes since I had to call a sub. Second, my students are taking a district-mandated 2-day on-demand writing test (whew!), which has them completely stressed out which causes them to act inappropriately because they aren't mature enough to handle their emotions. Third, I have not been sleeping well so I have been extra-cranky with my already squirrely students. Fourth, I did a workout video on Monday instead of running that has me so sore I can barely walk up the stairs (damn you, curtsy squats!) and I have a race on Friday! Fifth, I just saw on Facebook that one of my students from last year called me a bitch.

OK, I know that fifth one seems totally ridiculous, because why should that even bother me at all?! I know you can't please everyone! Especially teenagers! This case in particular just really bums me out because I had multiple meetings with this kid's parents last spring about how he had turned in zero work even after I gave him extra time on projects and extra credit assignments that he didn't do. I explained very clearly on several occasions that I would not give him a passing grade if he didn't turn anything in (I'm totally unreasonable, I know), and yet he still came to me with a 25% in the class and demanded that I pass him. I said no.

I know he was upset and I know it kept him from graduating and I should not be surprised in the least that he is spewing venom about me on the Internet, but it still really makes me sad because he clearly learned nothing from that situation even though I did everything in my power to help him be successful all along the way until the very end when I finally had to say "Enough is enough."

Sorry for that run-on sentence. 

And no, I do not troll my ex-students' Facebook accounts. In fact, I deliberately block them when I can. I just happened upon this by unfortunate accident.

Anyway, I know it's maybe a little silly to let that bug me this evening, but it was just kind of the icing on the cake of this frustrating week. I'm looking forward to sharing some fun things with you in the next day or so though, so let's all just hang in there!

What is your antidote for a rough week?
I'm planning to buy a latte on my way to work tomorrow!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Big 100!

This is my 100th post! I had hoped that I would have something really fun planned for the big 100, but basically all you are going to get is a recap of my weekend so far. Sorry! To make it more celebratory, I'll just put in more exclamation points than usual. :)

CSA Photo Shoot!
As I mentioned before, we got our CSA box on Friday. You can tell it's fall - the box seemed more full than usual! Check out the haul:


Cantaloupe, romaine lettuce, beets, swiss chard, fingerling potatoes, one giant heirloom tomato, red peppers, apples, and pears. I can't believe we get all of this for only $25!

And in case you can't tell how gigantic that tomato is:

B thought it was a grapefruit when we opened the box!

And yes, I am wearing a Silly Band on my wrist. If you don't know what Silly Bandz are, you probably don't work with kids! They are a BIG DEAL!

[Source]

My particular Silly Band was a gift from a student who gave it to me because it is in the shape of a penguin and I have penguin things all over my classroom. If I've learned anything in three years of teaching, it's that when a student gives you a gift, you need to use it! Otherwise, they get their feelings hurt. :(

Cookies!
Yesterday afternoon, while B was at a Physics teacher training, I whipped up a batch of Apricot Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are exquisite.


I made just a few modifications:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour + 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 3/4 cups oats instead of 2
  • reduced butter to 1 1/2 cups
  • accidentally used baking powder instead of soda (no ill effects though)


I  had a few after dinner yesterday, then one with my coffee this morning, and maybe another one today after lunch. B originally turned his nose up at the dried apricot, but has definitely changed his tune. I really recommend waiting until they are cool to taste-test though. The dried apricot doesn't have the best flavor when it is hot out of the oven.

The recipe makes a lot of cookies (but I like to make them small-ish), so after baking up two dozen, I still had quite a bit of dough left. So, I made balls of dough, put them on parchment, and froze them...


...then tossed the frozen dough into a ziplock bag and put it back in the freezer. Now it's super easy to have cookies during the week without making a huge batch!


One of my favorite kitchen shortcuts!

Running!
B and I did what felt like a super slow four mile run this morning. In truth, I kept a 8:40min/mi pace throughout, but my legs felt like lead. My knee is still giving me some grief and it is incredibly frustrating. Right around the time my breathing settles down and my body feels ready to really tackle the miles, my knee gives up. I'm currently dealing with some health insurance issues (I signed up for insurance with my school district, but then realized that I would have better coverage if I used B's insurance, so now we are trying to make the swap but of course there is a ton of paperwork involved), but as soon as we get it figured out, I'm heading to the doctor.

Leftovers!
After our run this morning, I parked myself on the couch with leftovers for lunch:


Mexican Veggie Soup (no longer very soupy though!), and Veggie Chickpea Curry (and maybe a cookie or two). Now I'm icing my knee, watching Buffy reruns, and grading papers.


It looks like it might rain today!!


Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Little of This and That

Whoops! Thought I hit "publish" last night, but didn't! Here's my Friday post:

Oh friends, aren't Friday's wonderful?

I have to admit, I was a little surprised to look at my calendar today and realize it was the fourth Friday of the school year! Have I really been back at work for a month now? It's a good thing I like my kids so much. Today, one of them asked me if the charm on my necklace was a piece of Swiss cheese (it's a map of the Cassiopeia constellation). They are so funny!

I am sore after my running/yoga meltdown workout yesterday! That yoga stuff is serious business! My favorite part is how tall and strong I feel today.

We got our CSA box this afternoon! So much yummy goodness. Look forward to a veggie photo shoot soon!

Brian and I don't really have much planned this weekend, which is quite a change from last weekend. I'm getting my nails done with Mom tomorrow and will try to get a longish run in - I have a race next Friday!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Unwind

As soon as I typed that title, I was reminded of a super-creepy young adult novel I read last year by Neal Shusterman by the same name and now I am totally creeped out remembering how weird it was! I might have nightmares...
 
B and I went running this afternoon. I planned to do 4 miles, but around 2.5 my knee started hurting (I forgot my brace again, I am a dummy). I managed to finish 3.1 miles (5K) in about 27 minutes, then power-walked the rest of the way in.

I was a little disappointed that like two weeks ago I ran a flipping half marathon and today I couldn't even complete 4 miles, so I decided to unwind with a little yoga.


....Unwind was the wrong word to use there. Jillian's Yoga Meltdown is a WORK. OUT. I was shaky and dripping with sweat when I finished. I find Jillian herself pretty obnoxious, but I have to admit, she knows her stuff. The workout combines power yoga poses with repetitions and intervals. My heart rate was up - it is definitely aerobic. I also didn't get bored or distracted, which tends to happen when I practice traditional yoga. However, it did not help me unwind! I took a long, hot shower afterward and felt a little better.

For dinner we just scrambled eggs and ate them in a tortilla with prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese. Sometimes, you just want eggs for dinner!

Last night, though, I made a pretty awesome soup. I recommend you make this soup immediately and then eat it for every subsequent meal for the next week, since that's about how much soup this makes.

[Source]

Mexican Inspired Vegetable Soup
from Shutterbean

Ingredients
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 1 32 oz. container vegetable stock
  • 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin (a heaping one is just fine)
  • 1 bunch kale, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 2 medium zucchini, chopped
  • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled & chopped
  • 2 12 oz. cans black beans, rinsed & drained
  • 3 corn tortillas, diced
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • hot sauce
  • salt & pepper
Method
In a large pot, heat olive oil with onions on medium heat and cook until onions are transparent. Add the carrots, garlic and cumin to the pot and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and canned tomatoes to the pot, raise the heat to medium high. Add the kale, zucchini, red pepper, sweet potatoes and black beans to the pot and bring to a boil.  Add in your tortillas, half of your chopped cilantro and a few splashes of hot sauce and stir.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.  In that 15 minutes, add the rest of your cilantro and taste the soup every now and then to see if it needs more salt, pepper or hot sauce.


I actually took pictures of this myself, but these are pictures that Tracy took because I'm too lazy to get my butt off the couch and get my camera. Doesn't it look yummy?

[Source]

Do you practice yoga?

Dear Sirs...

I know I have been a bit absent this week. I have to admit, that monster headache really threw me for a loop! I have a yummy recipe to share with you later, but saw this on Facebook this morning and wanted to share. 

*Please note, I am not posting this to express frustration with our President with regards to health care. Rather, I am interested in this article from a healthy living standpoint. This week's FitBlog chat included a question about fitness spending. Basically, do you budget for fitness? A lot of people commented that they feel comfortable splurging on fitness-related things (gym memberships, race fees, quality gear, etc) because they consider it to be a money saving practice down-the-line. In essence - spend money now to get and stay fit or spend money later in doctor's bills and hospital fees.  
Dear Sirs:
During my last night’s shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ring tone.

Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.

She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer. And our President expects me to pay for this woman’s health care?

Our nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture – a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".

Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear. 
 

Respectfully,

STARNER JONES, MD
From a letter to the editor of the Clarion Ledger from August 29, 2009.

What do you think?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Ugh

12-hour headache. Buffy reruns. Sleepytime tea. :(


¡Olè!

I got my ass handed to me on the spin bike yesterday. It felt awesome. I did a 40-minute spin class from iTrain. The instructor was good and the music was rockin. It felt good to sweat!

Meanwhile, B made dinner! This doesn't happen very often, but it's always good when it does!

Baked Eggplant Olè was one of the first meals B made for me when we started dating (aaawww). It is yummy and great as leftovers too.


Baked Eggplant Olè
from The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes (this is a totally awesome cookbook!)

Ingredients
  • 1t olive oil
  • 1/2c chopped onion
  • 1/2c chopped bell pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 medium eggplant, peels and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 medium, ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 1 15oz can of diced tomatoes)
  • 1 4-oz can green chilis, chopped and drained (or 2-3 fresh hot peppers)
  • 1/2c shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2c shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 2 slices whole wheat bread, cut into small cubes
  • 1/2t ground cumin
  • 1/2t chili powder
  • 1/2t dried oregano
  • 1/4t salt
  • 1/8t pepper
Method
  1. Preheat oven to 375F
  2. Lightly oil a 1 1/2 quart casserole or spray with nonstick cooking spray
  3. Heat oil in a large, nonstick skilled over medium. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and eggplant (and peppers if using fresh). Cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole. 
  5. Bake covered, 30 minutes.
You can serve this like a traditional casserole, or pile it into tortillas and roll them up like a burrito. We like ours with Tapatio, but that's not very surprising.

We enjoyed our eggplant with a simple salad on the side - mixed greens, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, and Angela's Better than Bottled Balsamic dressing. 


I was planning to go for a run today, but I've had a migraine all day long, despite consistent hydration and several doses of Excedrin Migraine. I once tried to run with a headahe, thinking that the endorphins would make it go away. This was a very bad idea. Running is hard when you have a headache. It literally felt like my brain was bouncing around inside my skull. Ouch.

Other things that are hard when you have a headache? Teaching 150 12-year-olds. I don't recommend it. I am exhausted (and I still have a headache!).