Early Morning & A Fun Recipe!

I woke up this morning thinking that it was going to be an odd day.  Different, at least.  Why?  Those that know me well know that I love to sleep.  I will hit the snooze button even if I am not tired out of sheer principle.  My husband is a wee bit different (what I like to refer to as a jumping bean- once the sun is up he is ready to get the day started!) so we’ve managed to find a common ground- 9:00 on the weekends!  Yesss.  He is probably reading this thinking yeah right (hi honey!) but I swear it is true, unless there is a crossfit workout or something.  Then it all goes out the window.  Anyway.  During the work week I set my alarm for 7:27 and hit snooze until around 7:45, leaving my house at 8:10 for my lovely commute.  I have never ever voluntarily gotten out of bed before the alarm before.  Today, I was up at 5:50 A.M.  I figured I should just roll with it and get out of bed.  It was like a whole new world opened up!  I made some delicious oatmeal (first time not eating breakfast at work during the workweek ever) and drank coffee from a mug as opposed to a to-go cup.  I boxed up a pair of boots I’m returning.  I played with Bailey.  I even had time to blow dry my hair!  Craziness.  Maybe this whole getting up early thing isn’t so bad.  😀  Are you an early riser or a sleeper-inner like me?  Normally I would blame it on the time change but even assuming the time change didn’t occur, I would still never voluntarily get up before my alarm!

So, on to a delicious, easy recipe.  I took a night off from yoga last night to curse bitterly at the snow get some cooking done.  After perusing Real Simple I found a vegetarian recipe that would work perfectly for meatless Monday (although, not yesterday, as last night was a grilled cheese and tomato soup kind of night.  It made me feel better about all of the snow).   I had it for lunch today and it is really delicious!  Original recipe can be found here.

Tortellini with Eggplant and Peppers

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into half inch pieces
• 2 1 bell pepper, cut into half inch pieces
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 pound fresh tortellini
• Fresh parsley basil

Directions

1.  Chop up the veggies into 1/2 inch cubes, like so:

2.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the eggplant and red peppers, along with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat for about 8 minutes, stirring. 

3.  Add garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and cook for approximately one minute.

4.  Add in the vegetable stock and the tortellini.  It should look like this:  

5.  Let the mixture simmer, covered, until the pasta is cooked through and the stock is absorbed (approximately 14 minutes).

6.  Add fresh basil, stir and enjoy!

This recipe was really easy to make (aside from peeling the eggplant.  I hate doing that!) and tastes awesome the next day!  You don’t need much to fill you up and you get a few servings of veggies to boot!  The crushed red pepper gives the dish a very mild bite that really worked with all of the flavors.  Overall, I definitely recommend this dish!

Lastly, Lily tagged me to answer a few questions about myself:

1) What was/is the name of your first pet?  Aw, a mean little calico cat named Nikita when I was five.  My mom named her. 

2) What is your favorite form of exercise?  Eek, that’s a tough one.  I feel like I’m cheating on running if I say yoga, so I’ll go with running 😉

3) Why did you start blogging?  As a way to hold myself accountable to living healthily and to connect with other awesome bloggers!

4) What’s your favorite store to shop for clothes?  Banana Republic, no doubt.  Practically every item in my closet is from there.

5) Favorite grocery store?  Wegman’s.  Oh sweet Wegman’s.  Pleassse come to the capital district.  I don’t think a better grocery store exists. 

6) What is your current profession?  Attorney. 

7) Favorite kind of muffin?  Ohh, I love the pumpkin cream cheese ones at starbux.  Good stuff!!

Now, I tag Lindsey, Jen, Linzi, Wendy, Jaclyn, Alicia and Michelle to answer these questions:

1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
2. What has surprised you the most about blogging?
3. What food could you not live without?
4. You have a Saturday all to yourself.  How would you spend it?
5. What is/was your major in undergrad? 
6. Are you in the field that you thought you would be when you were younger?
7. How often do you blog?  Why?

Have a good one, friends!

Meatless Monday, Blends & BCE

Hi friends!  I have to say I’m dragging today.  I stayed up WAY too late last night reading a Nicholas Sparks novel.  They are so predictable but still manage to suck me in every time!   Today is definitely an extra coffee kind of day 😉

Yesterday was super fun.  I met up with a bunch of local blends at one of my favorite cafes for breakfast.  It is so awesome to have met so many amazing people through blogging! 

Emily,  Rebecca, me, Julie, Heather, Cory, Alicia, Nicole (thanks for the photo Rebecca!)

After we parted ways I headed home to be productive take the pup and my nephew for a long walk.  Then it was time for the BCE, or BEST CLASS EVA!  Seriously.  Yesterday was my first experience with silent bikram yoga and it was AWESOME!  In a standard Bikram class the lights are on and the instructor talks the entire time, guiding you through the poses and the like.  Sometimes they remind me of an announcer at the horse races.  Anyway.  To take silent Bikram, you must have taken at least ten classes (which I have).  It coincided with my schedule so I figured I should check it out.  Amazing!  There were only ten people, the lights were dimmed and the instructor played awesome music.  We still did the traditional 26 postures times two, but instead of talking us through the entire thing the instructor just told us when to change positions. 

My stepmom took the class with me (she is a yoga rock star) and I remember looking over to her at various points during the class exclaiming (silently, haha) how awesome the class was.  It might sounds cheesy but the music really enhanced the poses.  It wasn’t traditional yoga music either- Black Eyed Peas, P!nk, IZ, Jay-Z and other random songs.  So relaxing.  That was a great way to end the weekend and start the week off on the right foot 😀

Since today is Meatless Monday, last night I made a dish to eat for lunch and dinner.  It was actually super easy to make and quite tasty!  The nutritional stats are pretty decent too: 477 calories, 21 g fat (5g saturated), 26 g protein, 13.1 g fiber and 56 g carbs.  Here’s the dish:

Whole Wheat Pasta with Edamame, Arugula and Herbs

Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked whole wheat penne (I used the whole box [14 oz] of multi grain pasta)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame (I used 3 cups)
• 2 cups arugula (they didn’t have arugula at the grocery store so I used an herb mix)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (I omitted)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 T chopped basil (omitted)
• 1 T chopped fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 ounces fresh parmigano-romano cheese, shaved
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I added this, original recipe doesn’t call for it)

Directions

1. Cook pasta and drain, set aside
2. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add edamame and garlic to pan, cook through until edamame are thoroughly heated and butter is melted, stirring occasionally.  Combine with pasta.
3. Add lemon juice, tomatoes, herb mix or arugula, fresh herbs and salt.  Mix everything together
4. Cover Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy!

I have to say, I had it for lunch today and it is pretty dang good. 

I like the fact that there is a lot of color in the dish- I feel like I’m doing my part in eating a rainbow of veggies 🙂  Have you tried edamame?  I love it!  It is packed with protein and makes a fantastic snack or addition to a meal (I love to add it into mac ‘n cheese 🙂 )

Do you have any meatless recipes to share?  I’m always on the lookout!  How was the weekend? 

See ya lata!

Meatless Monday- Cheddar Muffins and Santa Fe Casserole

Hello friends!  Thank you SO much for your congratulations on my half yesterday.  😀 😀 😀  I have a recap all ready to post- I am just waiting on some photos from my unofficial race photographer 🙂  I’m pretty surprised- my body isn’t as sore today once I got up and moving.  However, I’ve been a comedy of errors the past 24 hours.  It all started last night (after dealing with ischemia for a bit, good times- if you don’t know what it is, don’t look it up- just take my advice and don’t take three ibuprofen on race day when you typically taken none before a run) when Bailey woke me up in the middle of the night to go pee.  I didn’t turn on the light and walked right into a corner of the wall, smashing my nose.  Ow.  I was really disoriented from sleep so I felt it and it was crackly.  Ew.  Just the thought of it makes me want to throw up!!  😦  I think that hurts more than my half marathon soreness!  Then, while cooking dinner I got the bright idea to scoop the remaining beans out of a can using my hand.  Did you know that cans are wicked sharp?  So, here is to hoping for no more injuries in the next day!  On the bright side, it is taking  my mind off of my foot pain! 😀

On to the recipes!  This morning I woke up remembering it was Meatless Monday.  I have a delicious shrimp recipe that I was planning on making but I’m not sure if that qualifies under the category of “meat” per se.  Anyway, I played it safe and made two recipes that I found around the blogworld. 

First up:  Cheesy Corn Muffins courtesy of Joanne at Apple Crumbles.  These were SO easy to make.  Joanne’s recipe calls for a blend of italian cheese but I love me some cheddar so that’s what I used. 

The goods: you’ll need a muffin tin (for 12 biscuits) and a big mixing bowl.

Cheesy Corn Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 T sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425.  Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray
2. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Make a well in the middle (sidenote- make the “well” pretty deep)
3. Add the milk, oil and egg to well.  Stir to incorporate.  Do not use an electric mixer. 
4. Mix in cheese and stir
5. Spoon mixture into tins and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Makes 12 muffins

Then, try to limit yourself to just one.  I had two.  Yum!

Of course, I needed something more substantial than a mini cheddar muffin for dinner.  Enter: Caitlin’s Santa Fe Casserole recipe.  I had flagged this a while back and I had a lot of time to plan meals today (woohoo for a day off!) so it was the perfect time to try it. 

Santa Fe Casserole

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 T chopped fresh garlic
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1/2 T chili powder
• 1/2 T pepper
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups brown rice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 small green pepper, diced

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Then, cook the brown rice according to package directions.  Set aside to incorporate later
3. Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray
4. Add olive oil to skillet over medium high heat, add onion and garlic until it softens.  Add chili powder and salt to skillet, stir and remove from heat
5. In large mixing bowl, add two eggs, milk, beans, green pepper, pepper, cheddar cheese and cooked brown rice
6. Stir in garlic and onion mixture
7. Pour entire mixture into casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes
8. Serve and enjoy!

I thought that this dish was very good but prep-intensive.  I would recommend it for sure!  Especially if you sprinkle some leftover cheddar cheese on top 😉  Eat this dish with a cheddar muffin and much happiness will ensue 🙂

Again, thank you so much for all of your sweet and supportive comments about my race.  Y’all are too kind 😀  Before I sign off- I have exciting news!!  My dad started the Couch to 5k program TODAY!  Yay dad!!   I am dragging him to We are going to run a Turkey trot on Thanksgiving- his first EVER race.  Woohoo!  Does anyone in your family run?  My mom recently finished the Couch to 5k 😀

See you tomorrow with my recap 🙂  Good night!

A Meatless Monday Recipe (on a Wednesday)

Hi friends!  Welcome to a meatless Monday recipe.  No matter that it is Wednesday.  I’m a rebel, what can I say?  😉  Actually, I really did make this meal on Monday but I’m a wee bit behind in posting.   So what exactly is meatless Monday?  It is an initiative that was started to reduce meat consumption and increase our health and well-being.  I’m down with that.  Well, at the very least, I’m down with not eating meat produced in the horrifying factory conditions that has become of the meat industry. 

I follow a mainly pescetarian diet with the occasional red meat thrown in once a week or so.  My personal belief is that we are meant to eat meat (I think- I’m still struggling with this), just not the meat produced in the conditions big industry puts forth.  Ultimately, I would like to only eat grass-fed, local beef.   Are you a vegetarian/vegan?  If so, what pushed you in that direction?  Do you feel better/healthier?

That was my long-winded way of saying that I am going to be participating in meatless Mondays from here on out (unless I uh, forget that it is Monday or something).  So without further adieu, here is my first meatless Monday meal (oh alliteration, I heart thee):

Penne with Eggplant, Tomatoes and Mozzarella

• 1 box whole wheat penne
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium eggplant (approximately 1 1/4 pound), cut into half inch pieces
• 1 carton cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 in pieces
• 1/4 cup torn fresh mint basil leaves (the original recipe calls for mint; I had fresh basil on hand and it worked well)

Directions

1. Cook the pasta and reserve 1/4 cup of the water.  Drain the pasta and return to pot
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat
   Add eggplant to oil.  Cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and tender- ~ 8-10 minutes.  Tip- I read this after the fact in a magazine- to make the eggplant less absorbent, pour salt over it and then rinse off.  Once water beads on eggplant, pat eggplant dry.  This makes the eggplant less spongey and it won’t soak up the oil as quickly.
3. Add tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.  Stir until tomatoes soften- ~ 3 minutes
4. Add tomato mixture to pasta, along with fresh mozzarella and basil.  Stir and enjoy.

This recipe was yummy and fairly easy to make.   I really enjoyed it.  My parents and brother were also big fans.  I was hesitant to include the red pepper, but it adds a nice bite to the dish.  I will definitely be making it again!  You can find the original recipe here.   Do you have a vegetarian dish that you can share?  If so, hook a girl up!  😀

Okay friends, I’m out.  Stay tuned for a posts involving my Girls on the Run involvement and my adventures in meal planning (hint: it is very scientific and looks a little something like this):

 Enjoy the rest of your day! 🙂