Winter Wrap Up

It's a shame I don't discipline myself to update my blog more, I just don't have time. That's a lie really - I find time to read my InStyle magazine and watch Battlestar Galactica episodes on Netflix with John every night, so I can obviously find the time to chat about my food and health adventures.

HCA 8K

To start, I wrapped up my 2011 race season with 2 more races in November. I ran the HCA 8k instead of the half marathon this year since I didn't feel like doing anything too challenging after Tough Mudder. The 8k was so much fun - it's the perfect race distance ever. Just short enough to not hurt, but long enough to feel like a decent workout. Kali and I ran in our Tough Mudder orange sweat bands just to show off a bit. Only one guy called us out and that was it. So much for being a badass.


The last race was the Turkey Trot 10K on the University of Richmond's campus. It's quite the hilly course. Lots of ups and downs, but it was an absolutely beautiful day - cool, crisp, sunny and a slight breeze. Kali and I didn't train at all for this race but we finished in 56 minutes - 9 minute miles, so I'm pretty satisfied. Ironically, this race was on the 1-year anniversary of my broken arm (during a trail run on Thanksgiving with John), AND it was my 13th race of the year. No injuries this year, thank god!


I'll probably run in the Toys for Tots this Sunday just to even out my race count to 14 total (16 that I signed up for but did not race in 2 of them). Plus it's for a good cause and something to do.


So to continue my race mode, I just signed up for my first race in 2012! The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC. My friend Liz and I put our names in the lottery to see if we'll get in. I certainly hope so. 10 Milers are very challenging but not as painful as a half marathon. And since I really don't do long distance running races anymore, 10 miles is perfect. I'd rather do triathlons after that!


So what else have I been up to now that winter is here? Cooking of course! It's crockpot season! Naturally I turn to my favorite blogger of all time, Jenna of Eat Live Run. She literally has the best recipes and photos I've ever seen and tasted. Her writing is excellent and her lifestyle is exactly how I want mine (if only I could afford those Frye boots she wears!). I just tried her sweet potato lentil soup in the crockpot because it was completely effortless. If you love Trader Joes as much as I do, then you would understand how easy they make it to be a good cook. I got almost all the ingredients I needed for this one recipe on the first isle of the store - lentils, cubed sweet potatoes, fresh rosemary, chopped onions, celery, carrots and garlic - and I added chicken sausage to my soup for some added protein. Throw it all in the crock pot with 64 oz of chicken broth and voila - I'd say a pretty healthy and hearty soup ready for dinner!

Then there's the not-so-healthy pizza, but fun to make with Brett! We roll out the dough and I let him go to town with the pizza sauce all over the dough. Then the toppings. This time we tried prosciutto, spinach and arugula topped with 5-italian cheese and goat cheese. Brett actually enjoyed the prosciutto so he put some on his "side." YUM.

Tomorrow I'm going to make another Eat Live Run recipe with cubed butternut squash and quinoa. I'll probably add yet another protein to the dish - most likely baked wild alaskan salmon filets. John's favorite.

More to come - hopefully sooner rather than later! 

Blondie Soup and Pizza Tonight

I know the name is pretty lame, but it's all I can think of since the soup is yellow. It's my own creation, but inspired from a recipe a friend gave me called lasagna soup. The lasagna soup is a tomato-based version filled with ground Italian sausage and veggies. I decided to make a hearty wintry version instead. Here's the low-down:

• 32 oz. chicken broth
• 32 oz. butternut squash soup
• Trader Joe's soup mix (2 cups worth of chopped carrots, celery and onion)
• 4 chopped garlic cloves
• 2-4 sliced zucchinis (small slices or chopped)
• 2-4 sliced yellow squash (small slices or chopped)
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup of rotini noodles
• 1 package of Trader Joe's garlic chicken sausage (or 1lb ground turkey sausage), sliced
• 1 cup of baby spinach leaves
• fresh mozzarella slices
• tbsp cumin
• tbsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

It seems like a lot of ingredients, but honestly, you can buy almost all of these items already chopped (have I mentioned Trader Joe's is my obsession, or does everyone get the point?). Plus, once you chop everything up, all you do is toss them in a huge pot and let everything boil. As far as the seasoning goes, just make it spicy as you like it. You don't necessarily need the cumin or cayenne, but I like the kick (I'm a spice fanatic).

Place slices of fresh mozzarella on bottom of soup bowl. Pour boiling soup on top, and let it cool just a bit (trust me, you do not want to burn your tongue on this). ENJOY!

Okay, one more food mention and I'm done for the night... PIZZA TONIGHT.

I recently discovered a new make-at-home pizza and I think I'm in love. I don't usually eat pizza. Pizza was always a trigger for me as an overweight kid. I can never stop eating it, and I like the most unhealthy toppings too. I've even ordered a chicken parm slice and a baked ziti slice of pizza before. Who needs a meal on top of a meal, honestly??? So back to the amazing pizza. It's a dpizza kit you can buy at the Farmer's Market (SOTJ), Belmont Butchery, and Elwood Thompson grocery store. The kit comes with 2 balls of homemade dough, a cup of their amazing marinara and secret seasonings. You provide the toppings and cheese. We made our pizza with sliced sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, fresh garlic cloves, mushrooms, mozzarella and feta cheese. It was heavenly.

So, I will post soon on fitness since I've been talking about food quite a bit lately. I've gotten into a cooking kick ever since I started shopping more at Trader Joe's, and my workouts haven't changed much - spin, run, stair climb. I'm going to transition into run, bike, swim and lifting next month to prep for the 10K and of course the up-coming triathlon season. I'll keep you posted!

A look back at Food

OK... I found all these photos of great food I've either dined on or made. I felt I should share some of these delicious photos. Let's start by theme. My most favorite to photograph would have to be Sushi. I eat sushi 3 or 4 times a week on average. Sometimes it can reach every day of the week. Richmond offers quite a variety:

Best "grocery store" sushi: Fresh Market

#1 RVA Sushi : Umi (and their sister restaurant, Ichiban!)

#2 Best RVA Sushi (owned by the same man): Osaka, Sushi-O, Wild Ginger

#3 Best RVA Sushi: Mai Sushi

I could go on and on about other great sushi in Richmond, but there's the top of the line.

The next food genre on my list follows closely behind sushi and resembles it quite a bit... Seafood! It's lean, healthy, filled with omega 3's... Who d

oesn't like seafood (unless your allergic I guess)? Some of the best seafood I've had was made right home... For example, on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed amazing oysters, cooked on pewter oyster trays with toppings like spinach, garlic, butter, hot sauce, and old bay. OH SO GOOD. I could eat at least a dozen of these alone.

What's next... Oh, the obvious. Italian. Because I'm Italian! Well, specifically Sicilian... And boy does my family know good Italian food. I'd say our family meatball recipe beats out any other meatball in town. I also make amazing fried eggplant, except I use panko crumbs, and coat my sliced eggplant with egg whites to hold the panko crumbs together, followed by fresh mozzarella medallions, garlic and red pepper flake. I pretty much put red pepper flake on everything I eat - from eggs to eggplant!

And lets not forget Pizza. I try to steer clear of generic pizza, but a gourmet pizza from Stuzzi or Sette? Sure! Homemade pizza with toppings like spinach, artichoke, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and turkey pepperoni? Sure! Typically I make homemade pizzas using Flat Out Light wraps. First, you toast them with a little spray olive oil Pam, then layer on the pizza sauce, toppings and cheese! They can be lots of fun to make and super healthy too if you choose the right ingredients. I've made pesto pizza using Knorr's pesto seasoning mix with water (bring to boil so it mixes up to a creamy paste), and adding zucchini, spinach, artichokes and mushrooms with low fat thinly shredded mozzarella. Viola! The pest is a whole 60 calories, and the flat out is 90. Who knew?

And let's not forget Italian Wedding Soup. Brio makes a great Italian Wedding Soup, plus there's a little heart made out of parmesan cheese.... Fantastic presentation if I don't say so myself!

Foodie Weekend

Hungry?

I've been sharing my recent races so it was high time I got back to the food. I posted a blog earlier about my pumpkin muffins and only thought it was appropriate to remind everyone that it's still pumpkin season and I can't help myself. I made another 2 dozen chocolate chip pumpkin muffins for my HR team at work, but this time I changed up the icing from cream cheese to buttercream. YUM. I actually like them sans icing. Heat one up in the microwave, add a little butter and viola, breakfast (or dessert, or a snack, or with wine...).

I'm not the only family member with a food fetish. I'm Sicilian, and my Italian family revolves

around food. My Aunt Gina makes the best arancini's you will ever taste, and my Dad's

meatballs are a coveted recipe. My Aunt Felicia use to run a restaurant here in Richmond called Mama's Felicia's with the best pizza and spaghetti but unfortunately it recently closed after the horrendous economic times as did my cousin's cafe - Cafe Nuara's in the west end. But there's hope just yet! Sal and another cousin of mine,

Steven, plus their close friend Victor decided to

open up a pizzeria in the museum district of Richmond called Belmont Pizzeria. A pick-up and delivery establishment, Belmont Pizzeria has everything from pizza, to calamari, to eggplant parm subs and homemade cannoli's. They will soon have their licence to sell beer and wine too. The combination of wine and the fact that they deliver up until 3am on the weekends is a healthy girl's nightmare and every late night bar hopper's dream. Definitely a great addition to a city lacking in it's late night options. Bravo!

If pumpkin muffins and Sicilian pizza aren't your thing, let's move on to the rest of the weekend, which included homemade french onion soup and baked oysters! First, my roommates and I at #413 have always been fans of french onion soup. We'll try it anywhere we go, and compare to the best we've had. For example, Starlite's french onion is a big fat NO. Too oily. Republic's french onion (with Gruyeres instead of the common swiss) is a definite YES, along with Panera and Can Can. We decided to try out hand at it too. I would rate out first attempt at homemade french onion soup a 7. We used fontina instead of swiss and mini french baguettes toasted with the fontina on top. The soup was simply 2.5 chopped onions, 80 oz of beef broth and about a cup of wine. Since we made it in the crockpot, the alcohol didn't cook out of the wine and it tasted terrible. Once we brought it to the boil however it got a lot better. Paired with J.Lohr's Chardonnay and a little rosemary salt blend, and you've got yourself a pretty damn good meal! Since our craze for french onion soup is usually during the winter months, you will probably see another posting or 2 on any additional attempts at homemade french onion, or a snow day trip to some bar that offer's this delectable soup!

To top of the homemade soup, we also made baked oysters. October is when oysters are in season and to pregame before my sister's oyster roast, the #413 girls made a wonderful assortment of oysters, cooked with various toppings. My sister Becky and her husband Cory received 2 gorgeous pewter oyster trays for their wedding a few years back. This tray can go in the oven, sit on a stove top or even on the grill. It's truly an awesome piece of cookware. As you can see, all you need is a jar of shucked oysters, and the rest is up to your creativity. We tried the following toppings: Lemon pepper, goat cheese, old bay, Frank's red hot, Rosemary and Salt, and minced garlic. the toppings boil up around the oysters in the oven and made an excellent appetizer for any meal. Easy to make - literally we picked anything we could find in our kitchen to dress the oysters and it was a huge success! Now if only I can keep my sister's oyster trays forever... Will she notice???