Roasted Yellow Squash Boat

Preheat the oven to 400.

Cut a large yellow squash in half, chop off the ends, and scoop out the seeds.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, ginger powder, oregano, and sea salt. 

Bake for 15 minutes.

Fill with quinoa and top top with pork tenderloin. 

(today's pork was rubbed with garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, and cumin) 

Due to the size of the squash, the skin may be too tough, but you can eat the inside!

Cinnamon Brownies

Cinnamon Brownies with Coffee Ice Cream

Cinnamon Brownies

(preheat oven to 350)

1/4 c butter, melted

1/4 c vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c white sugar

1/3 c cocoa powder

1/2 c flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c cashews, crushed

pour the batter into a 9x9 pan

bake for 20-25 minutes

11 miles this week!

Slowly making my way back to a normal running schedule.  Last week was 135.9 bike miles and 6.2 run miles.  This week was 116.4 bike miles and 11.2 run miles.  My legs have been working overtime for two weeks and I definitely felt it during today's 23.4 mile bike ride.  That, combined with the fact that I forgot my inhaler before the ride, made for a very not-fun ride today.  My 2 mile run after the ride felt surprisingly good though, I'll credit that to the inhaler dose I got in between the ride and run.

This was my last week for awhile where I was able to find some afternoons during the week to leave work early for my bike rides.  Starting tomorrow, I will probably never be home much before 3:45.  The few afternoons this week that I did bike that late, I found it really difficult, because I'm used to biking right after a meal, not right before a meal.  I might have to start eating two dinners on bike days, one before I bike, and one after.  Running late in the day is much easier for me than biking, so while I'm trying to be careful not to overdo it, I'm hoping I can get my running miles up soon so that I can stop trying to bike long distances after work.  Eventually I want to be able to save rides for the weekend.

Fruity Chicken Salad III

Place two B/S chicken breasts in the bottom of a saucepan.  Sprinkle them with garlic powder and turmeric.  Throw some fresh basil leaves on top.  Add 1/2 c pumpkin beer, and fill the pot with water.  Put on the stove with medium heat.  When it boils, reduce the temperature, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes.  Then remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, covered, for 20 minutes.  Then remove the chicken from the pot and shred it.

Mix the shredded chicken with mayonnaise, 2 spoonfuls of Basil-Cashew Pesto, 2 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 c chopped sprite melon, , and a handful of dried cherries.

Zucchini Pizza

Pizza Dough

2 tsp yeast

7 oz hot water (120 degrees)

garlic powder

oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 c whole wheat flour

2 c white flour

1 tbsp olive oil

Toppings

marinara/Basil-Cashew Pesto mix

sliced tomato

spaghetti-ed zucchini

fresh basil

colby jack cheese

Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes

Deliciousness.  I had some salmon on the side, extra deliciousness.

Cumin-Rubbed Beef

Step 1 : Mix together cumin, mustard powder, garlic powder, sea salt, sage, and bread crumbs.
             Heat water for pasta, add pasta when the water boils.  Try to time it so pasta is done around the                    same time as the beef.

Step 2 : Coat pieces of eye of round beef with the seasoning mixture, then brown them on each side.

Step 3 : Pour red wine into the pan, just enough to cover the beef. 

Step 4 : When the beef is about halfway done, add vegetables to the pan.  

             I used cabbage and carrots.  I also grated some ginger into the pan. 

Step 5 : Remove the beef from the pan when it is done.  Once the pasta is drained, add it to the pan with the              vegetables and sauce, mix well. 

Step 6 : Eat.

Making Progress

So far so good! I have been running every 2 or 3 days, and the foot feels pretty good. I have been doing a pretty flat loop, usually 2 miles, but today I added just a little bit extra. ( it turned out to only be an extra .2 miles... I thought it would be a little longer than that) My first 3 runs were increasingly faster, with the third at a crazy 6:39 pace.  I was all warmed up from a bike ride and that's how fast my legs wanted to go. My lungs were struggling hard to keep up. Today's jog after a 40.5 mile bike ride was considerably slower. Again, my lungs were dying. I'm not sure when I'm going to start adding hills, but I can tell it's going to be rough when I do. Still hoping my lungs will figure it out and start working again soon!

In biking news, after 2 low mileage weeks to help my back recover from the Wheels of Hope ride, I had my highest-ever mileage this week, with 135 miles. I had 3 rides of 30 or more miles this week, which was also new. Not sure what's going to happen to my exercise routines when school starts this week. I find biking after a long day of work to be much harder than runing. Running always re-energized me. Biking requires so much more energy and calories, I don't see myself getting in 20-30 miles after a day at school. Hopefully it will work out!