This Week's Eats

Most of my friends know the depths of my anal retentiveness organizational prowess; but, to entertain those who don't know me that well, I thought I'd share how my meal planning and grocery shopping goes down.

We keep a magnetized notepad on the side of our fridge and jot down things we need to buy at the store, as well as meals that we might want to make the following week, whether they're old standbys or new recipes.

By Saturday or Sunday, we go over what we've written down and round it out so that we have at least seven dishes.  I suppose we only have to think of six, because we eat pizza every Monday (can take us out of Chicago, but not the Chicago out of us).  We aim to even things out with no more than two or three chicken dishes, two pasta dishes and one red meat based meal a week.  We also try to get some fish in there at least every other week, if not more. 


Then I flip the paper over and start writing down everything we need in the house and for the meals by the aisle in the grocery store.  Here's a blurry visual for ya of a half done list.

The veg/produce list is first and I make an effort to make it the longest. 

To cap the weekend off, I got to go solo grocery shopping (ahhhh) for this week's eats:

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Cajun quiche in a rice crust (an old Cooking Light fav)
• Wednesday - penne with vodka sauce (an old Rachael Ray recipe)
• Thursday - Carne Asada Fajitas with all the fixins (mostly from Trader Joes: we love the Carne Asada skirt steak, homemade flour tortillas, and salsa Especial.  Plus, they've got great prices on avocados and peppers)
• Friday - Roasted Garlic and Sea Salt Mahi Mahi filets and broccoli quinoa casserole
• Saturday - chicken Parmesan (made this recipe with eggplant the other week and missed the chicken, so we're having a do-over!)
• Sunday - trying this yummy looking Thai Chicken Crunch salad from How Sweet Eats, one of my absolute favorite food blogs *

*photo credit: from www.howsweeteats.com

Friday Things

My husband is home juuuust in time to tell me that he needs to take one more trip about three weeks from now, totally foiling my frantic last minute attempts to get down to Eugene to support the Oiselle athletes (<-check out this link with the profiles of these amazing competitors) at the Olympic Trials.  WAH.  And he's going to CHICAGO, of all places.  Without me.  I die.  I'm sure this is another meeting he could have weaseled his way out of with a video conference, but he's not going to pass up the opportunity to go and eat real pizza.  I guess I can't blame him. 

There's been a bit of fun Twitter talk amongst different team members that are totally out and proud for their love of cheesy pop; I myself have professed my love for Call Me Maybe, not just once - but twice.  It got me to thinking that I should just go ahead and confess my latest favorite.  Deep breath here...  I really am enjoying 'Hit the Lights' by Selena Gomez.  The lyrics are so trite and yet so fun at the same time.  It's all about putting yourself out there and taking chances - something I can certainly get behind.

Get this photo here!

A bit higher on the 'cooler' scale that I'm also loving right now is the Shiny Toy Guns Remixes album; it's not terribly new (came out in '09) but my husband introduced me to it recently.  Although, it has the most awesome cover of Major Tom on there, fueling my inner geek's love for 80s music and one of the best tv shows of all time:

So, did anyone watch the MTV Movie Awards?  I think I caught most of it in bits and pieces over the last week, since they re-air the shit out of it.  ANYWAY, who can say they don't absolutely love Emma Stone?  I have such a girlcrush.  She just made me want to be her bestie forever with her acceptance speech.  This is one of those videos I can't embed, but here's the link.  I was reminded of it when Oiselle linked this great list from NPR on 33 ways to stay creative, most notably #13 to surround yourself with creative people and #19 to stop trying to be someone else's perfect.  Happy Weekend, all.

The Race Recap in which I Reveal a bit of my Psyche (Iron Heart 4 mile)

First I'll start with the race recap...
As I said last week, I was a bit dubious about the Iron Heart Classic 4 Miler.  The last time I'd run a 4 miler was in in September, way before I'd become more serious about my running.  I knew I'd have no trouble beating my previous time of 37:20, so my goal was to focus on my pace and try my hardest to average an 8:30 minute mile.  Since my last two 'short' races (a 5K and an 8K) were a bit hilly and I averaged around 8:40, I figured this was a good goal.  Apparently it was, here are the mile splits:

 I'm really pleased with how much effort I put in during the race: I felt like I gave it my all.  There was zero gas in the tank after crossing that finish line, and that's how it should be.  I'm also pleased that I had a negative split and that I beat my 5K PR pace. (So I'd better PR in next weekend's 5K!)

The race itself was really rather small (only 119 finishers), with an out and back along the Sammamish River Trail from Marymoor Park.  I'm a big fan of the small races and the fact that they were giving out awards three deep in each age group was tantalizing.  One of the advantages of an out and back is that you can easily size up the competition and I felt pretty confident that I'd get outta there with a wee medal for my age group. 

So I stuck around and ate bananas and drank some Muscle Milk Light, a great post race freebie treat, while waiting for the awards.  It took awhile because there was also an 8 mile race that started 15 minutes before the 4 mile, and we waited for most of those finishers.  As well as a 1 miler that happened after the 4 milers had finished.  But the time went by pretty quickly since parking was so close I was able to go to my car to put on a jacket, call the family, etc. and when I came back, the announcer had a rather entertaining commentary going on.  He did an awesome job of cheering everyone on to the finish.
 
Finally we got to the age group awards and when they were handing out ones to women I'd passed in the younger age groups, I thought I had it in the bag - maybe I was even first in mine?!  Then, no such luck, not even top three when they announced the 35-40 group.  Bummer.  Oh well.  Imagine my surprise and, well, slight frustration when I got an email with the Webscorer results from the race director that said I was FIRST in the 36-40 category.  Wait, what?  That wasn't the age range they gave awards for...  So, something happened with the categories and they split out the 35 year olds into one group and only handed out awards to the top three to that category, thinking it encompassed us all when it did not.  Long story short (too late?), I ended up being 2nd in my age group by just 1.3 seconds.  So I emailed the race director back, asking what happened and I think he felt pretty bad, and said he'd mail my medal and some goodies. :)

If I wasn't doing the See Jane Run Half Marathon the next day, I'd definitely take advantage of this current Schwaggle for the Ironheart Classic in Monroe on July 14th.  Age group snafu aside, it was a very well organized, very fun race for a great cause.  From their website: It is Ironheart’s mission to support cardiac charities worldwide by raising awareness and funds via our active lifestyles. A percentage of the proceeds will go toward selected Ironheart Foundation charities, including: Nick of Time Foundation, Children’s Heart Foundation, Mended Little Hearts, and the Adult Congenital Heart Association.  This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart...

As I mentioned awhile back, my father died when I was young: I was seven years old to be exact.  He was only 40 when he went for a regular weekend run with my mom and collapsed from a heart attack.  They were just running along when he turned to her to say something, like, "honey.." and collapsed.

I'm closing in on that age myself and will have a seven year old of my own when I turn 40.  I shudder to think of my kids losing me, or my husband.  When I think about it, my heart always breaks all over again for my mom.  My eyes are prickling over right now.  But,  BUT.  Things do happen for a reason.  It's like those old Choose Your Own Adventure Books (dating myself much?), would I have met a different husband, had children, had a different relationship with my mom or brother if dad had lived?  I love my life, the people in it, the experiences I've been fortunate to have.  I firmly believe this is the way my life was supposed unfold, that we all have a destiny. 

My brother is 40 now and is pretty proactive about his health.  We certainly abide by the top 5 ways to prevent heart disease: exercise, don't smoke, go easy on saturated fats, maintain a healthy weight and get regular checkups.  Which I encourage EVERYONE to do for themselves, and their families, especially women: heart disease is the number one cause of death for women - not cancer, certainly not breast cancer.  Please make sure to take care of your ticker ladies.  Would we have been more reckless with our health had he not died?  Did his death somehow save our lives? 

Me and Dad circa 1980

And then there's the fact that he was running when he died.  Maybe it has some significance as to why I've become pretty passionate about it; in a way, I run for him.  Just as I run for my family, my husband and kids.  They are my life.  Never do I feel like I'm embracing life more than when I'm running.

One Word Wednesday

Farm

Books I Read in May

I think I've been too busy reading blogs this month, only three books to review...

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

This book blew me away. I haven't felt that emotionally invested in a character in a really long time.  Cameron Post takes you on a roller coaster of an emotional journey and gives you food for thought on love, whatever form it takes. It also felt like a very timely read given all the talk about same sex marriage these days. Hopefully it will strengthen your position on equal rights for everyone or change your mind about it.


The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This was a gritty, sometimes uncomfortable read and beautiful at the same time: a great story about love and redemption. I felt myself getting frustrated with Victoria (the protagonist), but I think that was by design and I burned through the pages wanting to know if she'd make the right choices in her life.


Insurgent by Veronica Roth

This was a good sequel to Divergent, one of the better dystopian books I've read in a long time. Lots of action and lots more suspense than the previous book. Not sure which came out first, but it's very similar to the Matched series by Ally Condie... I'd give the edge to Veronica Roth and her more poetic writing style. Despite comparisons, it does not surpass The Hunger Games, unless the 3rd book is in any way decent, because Mockingjay was a huge disappointment in my opinion.

This Week's Eats

Argh, my husband is leavin' on a jet plane for work this week.  He NEVER travels.  Last time he left me with the kiddos, well I only had one kiddo...  Big brother was only months old at the time.  So, it's been over four years that I've done a little single parent stint.  I need to nut up, he's only MIA for three days; it's just not what I'm used to.  I have friends who's husbands seem to be out of town at least every month, if not more, and it's so not a big deal.  And, of course, there are military wives (and husbands) and the truly single parents who inspire awe in me by doing it all on a daily basis. 

As a result, I'm gonna have a little fun with this week's dinners.  I'll gorge on random stuff like I did when I was a singleton!  Namely, my favorite potluck salad mom always used to make...  And after I nosh, I shall watch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice whilst painting my nails and reading girly magazines.  In other words, a typical Friday night.

• Monday, still eatin' pizza!
• Tuesday, 24 Hour Salad, awwww yeah!  (this is an old school pot luck salad with chopped iceberg lettuce, red onion, and peas topped with a layer of mayo, a dash of sugar, shredded sharp cheddar and bacon - it can be kept in the fridge for, you guessed it, 24 hours before you combine and season with salt and pepper)
• Wendesday - my favorite Tarte D'Alsace from Trader Joes (it's like a flatbread pizza with ham, Gruyere and caramelized onions) with a big salad, mmmmmm 
• Thursday - thinking homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese at this point, but if I'm feeling lazy, I'll have leftover enchiladas from last Sunday*
• Friday - hubs will be home and we're breaking into the Portillos dogs again
• Saturday - easy baked ziti (my favorite recipe I got off the back of a Safeway box of ziti - layer the noodles, shredded mozzarella/provolone and sauce like lasagna with the added secret ingredient of a little sour cream mixed in with the shredded cheese layer)
• Sunday - southwestern chopped salad (chicken, black beans, tomatoes, corn, peppers, red onion, with avocado dressing: blend an avocado, 1/4 C olive oil, juice of one large lemon, handful of cilantro and a jalapeno in a food processor - season to taste with salt)

* The Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas were a Pinterest success!  The sauce wasn't difficult to pull together at all, and the avocado on the INSIDE of the enchiladas was a big hit.  I also subbed low sodium black beans for some of the chicken and only made 6 tortillas because I like my enchiladas saucy.  It's rather spicy, so I wouldn't serve it to the kiddos!

source: novice chef blog via Andrea on Pinterest 

Friday Things

I've got the Iron Heart 4 miler tomorrow morning and I'm kind of dubious about it; I mean 4 miles is sort of a random distance.  I'm very enthusiastic about the charity and like that the miles represent the chambers of the heart, but still...  At least I have done a 4 mile race within the last year to have some sort of benchmark.  Got to beat 37:32.  I'm antsy to do another 5K and see if I can get in under 26 minutes.  So I'm signing up for the Fall City Days 5K - any local yokels want to join me?  There's a 10K, too, but I'm just not feelin' the 10K distance right now: anything longer than a 5K is going to be a half marathon for the foreseeable future...


To keep myself accountable this month, I've signed on for Another Mother Runner's challenge.  You can learn all about the authors on their website linked above, or read this great article from Runners World April 2012 issue on moms making time for running.  I'm SO excited that I'm going to get to meet them when they visit Seattle later this month! 

They're having a house party to talk about their latest book, Train Like a Mother - a follow up to Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving and not lose your Family, Job or Sanity. 


To round out this all about running 'Friday Things' I feel I must post a video.  If you haven't already seen the 'I am a runner' series on the Runners World website, check it out.  Sean Astin is one of my favorites, as well as Ben Gibbard - can't seem to embed the video, so click on this link. 

Happy Friday!