Me, myself and I Part II

I am home alone again tonight! Graham went to one of his company’s plants today, so he’s on the road coming back now. I had another crazy workday today… wasn’t leaving my desk until 6:23. That, considering that I was planning on going to spinning at 4:45. Suffice it to say, my afternoon was long! I was also intending to go to Ikea on my way home, but just didn’t feel like it.

For dinner, I decided on my favourite university lunch – quesadillas. I had one cheddar, green pepper and tomato (the standard). I switched it up on the second and did goat cheese, tomato and spinach. Tasty!

That wasn’t enough of a dinner, so I also had a small bowl of yogurt, with half a banana, a sprinkle of granola and a little honey.

I’m getting ready to watch a few of my shows now, while enjoying a warm cup of tea! I might just have a slice of peach bread defrosting in the oven too!

I’m hoping that tomorrow will be much more calm. I am going out with my colleagues after work, but don’t plan on being out later than dinner time. Hope you had a great day today!

Night!

PS – Am planning on trying some new things on the blog soon… stay tuned!

Warm meal on a warm day

I left work around 4 for a massage appt. at 5. My legs were still so sore today, so a good massage was in order. I feel much better! Coming home, I was very productive and tidied up, did the dishes, organized my banking and made cornbread.

My first time making it, I used Mark Bittman’s recipe – the Classic Cornbread version. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I was really pleased for my first attempt.

 

Turkey Black Bean Chili
Canadian Living, September 2008 

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can (28oz/796mL) diced tomatoes
1 can (19oz/540mL) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small zucchini, cubed
1/2 c corn kernels
3 tbsp chili powder
1/4 c minced fresh parsley

In large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat; saute turkey, breaking up, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Drain off fat; transfer turkey to bowl.

In same saucepan, heat remaining oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook for 1 minute.

Return turkey to pan. Add tomatoes, black beans, zucchini, corn and chili powder; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in parsley. Serve garnished with sour cream and jalapeno pepper (if using).

Makes 4 to 6 servings. 

Very tasty! Graham gave me his zucchini, but didn’t seem to mind it as a whole.

I have my legs on the hot water bottle again and am settled in to write some emails and watch Dancing with the Stars the results show. Night!

Me, myself and I

I had what can only be described as a miserable Monday. I don’t like complaining here because I don’t want to be the whining blogger. Today, though, was one of those days. I was at work from 7:45 til just before 6. It was crazy-busy, with a few fires along the way. Add to that my sore legs and a splitting headache. I never get sick… I don’t know if it’s related to the run, or just being run down.

Graham’s at his parents’ house tonight, so I am relaxing with Dancing with the Stars and the hot water bottle.

Two little BLTs

Pear cake (had a second small one)

I am still planning on posting the recipe, but not tonight. I’m going to just relax and see if I can keep my eyes open to read a little. Sorry for being so depressing – I’m really not normally like this, so when I am, I just feel like garbage. 

Hope I’m back in better spirits (feeling better & less work stress) tomorrow. Sleep well!

Half Marathon Recap (& dinner)

We got up this morning at 6:30. Graham’s brother-in-law stayed over, so the three of us got ready, called a cab and got to the starting area around 7:30. It was chilly – to say the least! 1 degree C! We checked our bags, went inside to warm up for a moment, then went out to the starting line. It was packed. We stayed probably 2/3 of the way back.

I think we crossed the start line around 8:05. Graham’s brother-in-law was running about 1:45, so we didn’t see him for the entire race. Our first 2k were slow, about 6:30 each. Then we picked it up a little. The Hoggs Hollow hill seemed easy today. I really enjoy the run down Yonge, so that was the best part of the race for me. The Rosedale Valley Road/Bayview Extension area was not as fun, because I’ve never run it before. I wasn’t sure exactly where we were and when it would end. We were keeping a good sub-6 minute pace, until about kilometer 17, when Graham got a gel. That really slowed us down. Still, we were on a good pace, or so I thought. We saw my mum on Front Street (about kilometer 18, or so). Then, at 19, I looked at my watch and saw 1:52. I knew there was no way we could be sub-2 hours. We gave it our all for the rest of the race, and the official times were…

Graham – 2:01:28.3 (chip time) pace 5:55

Sarah – 2:01:35.5 (chip time) pace 5:56

Yes, Graham beat me! I can’t believe it… I pride myself on being a faster runner! Here we are, with our medals.

After this, we went to Richtree for brunch with my mum. I had a bagel and lox, Graham had a burger and fries and my mum had a Belgian waffle with fruit. Graham’s sister, brother-in-law and their kids stopped in too.

I came home, but Graham went to the Ski/Snowboard show with my sister and her boyfriend. I took the subway, with a little delay. Once home, I did the laundry and went grocery shopping. Oh, and watched last Thursday’s CSI. I picked Graham up from the subway and we stopped in Crate & Barrel. We’ve found the sofa we want. Now, we just have to save our pennies!

I’ve been a busy beaver, making Pear Walnut Strusel cake and Turkey chili (to make an appearance Tuesday, probably). We’re heating up some beef stew and will enjoy while watching the Amazing Race. Photos to be posted soon.

Today’s half marathon was so much fun. I’m really glad that we did it together because I liked our weekly Running Room session, long runs and short ones in between. I don’t think the run today would have been as enjoyable if I had been running alone. We were talking today about what’s next… we didn’t decide, so we’ll see… No marathons, that’s for sure, but Graham did mention a sub-1:40 half…

Edited to add…

Afternoon snack – was craving a Lemon Cranberry muffin, so got one at the grocery store today

Dinner – beef stew, one dumpling, roll

Dessert – pear cake (will post recipe tomorrow)

Better photo to be posted tomorrow, too.

Night! (good luck with your Monday)

Finished!

Wow, we had a great run! The Toronto Marathon site is obviously overloaded because I can’t check our official results – the site won’t load. 

But… we think we were about 2:01. We really wanted to break 2 hours, but it just wasn’t to be… now we know for next time, though. So much of it is strategy, so now we’ve got the race experience. 

Back with photos and official time later… enjoy your Sunday afternoon!

Happy weekend!

Last night, Graham and I were going to have fish, but decided on PIZZA instead!

My half was the pepperoni half and Graham’s was the extra cheese and olives. I ate three of four on my side. Here’s another fun Graham fact: he likes to say he doesn’t eat meat on Fridays. This comes from his dad, pretty much, who isn’t really Catholic but decided that they would always eat fish on Fridays. So, that’s what Graham grew up doing. Now, I can sometimes twist his arm to eat Swiss Chalet, and if we were invited somewhere for dinner, he would have whatever was being served. But, he generally goes meat-free on Fridays. It’s funny, too, because I tried to get him to eat my leftover pepperoni piece, but he kept saying no to it – but he says it with this little smirk. Like he knows he’s being difficult. 

Oh, we had beer too. Yum. The movie Graham picked was one he’d PVR’d – Heros of Telemark. As far as movies like that go, it was not bad.

On to today!

Crepes for breakfast…

I had my four filled with slightly softened pears.

I haven’t really talked about this much, but tomorrow is our Half Marathon! I’m getting really excited. It starts from near our house, actually, then goes all the way downtown. My mum is going to come watch and since we’re also running with Graham’s brother in law, his sister and their kids are coming too. Should be lots of fun.

We don’t know what we’re up to yet today, so I’ll probably post later. Have a great Saturday!

Tricked

I came home and suggested breakfast for dinner or shrimp fried rice. Graham said he wanted to go over to the mall first. Then, when we were there, we didn’t go anywhere but the grocery store! Totally tricked me. He had a confusing day at work (new job possibility, potentially…) and said that browsing for food would make him feel better. He decided on burgers and (sweet potato) fries.

—–

Earlier today, I wanted a mid-afternoon snack around 3:30. The caf at work normally has Kashi granola bars, and that’s what I’ll get if I haven’t packed an afternoon snack. They didn’t have any today, so I was stumped. I ran into some of my co-workers and one of them told me to get this…

I had spotted it originally after realizing there weren’t any Kashi bars, but was turned off by the “Rainbow” package. But I decided to get it, so we could see what it looked like. I thought it would be coloured Rice Krispies – like at Christmas – but it was like little coloured chips on top. It was a good, small, sweet afternoon snack.

—–

At work, we don’t really have a “lunch break”. I would say at least 50% of the time, we all eat at our desks, individually. When we do eat downstairs together, it’s for half an hour, max. Since we have a cafeteria, we go out for lunch about once a month, or so. Our office has about 3,000 people at it, so it takes a long time to get outside, to a restaurant, drive back, find parking, etc. Up until about a week ago, we all had eaten at our desks for probably all of August, September and the beginning of October. It’s just so busy right now. Graham always says – just take 15 minutes to eat. But, if you’re preping for a 2pm meeting, and then had a morning full of meetings, you don’t really have time to eat downstairs. Even for 15 minutes. And, if I have time, but my colleagues don’t… well, I don’t want to eat alone!

So, my first question to my loyal blog readers: Do you have an “official” lunch break? Do you eat at your desk or away from your desk? How does staying at your desk, eating in a lunchroom/office caf or going out for lunch make a difference in your afternoon?

(I hope at least one person will answer!)

Happy Hump Day

Short post here. Graham is doing research on the computer so I’m going to watch one of my PVR’d shows – Lipstick Jungle or CSI… can’t decide.

We had this for dinner: very tasty beef stirfy with noodles and spinach-mandarin salad.

Went for CSI… night!

Election Day

Hope you all voted! My loyal Canadian blog readers, that is. I left work around 4:30 to get to the polls. There was no line at all! I even brought my book, just in case. Graham was home early and then we went to Running Room. I think we went about 6k today.

Dinner was leftover chili, raw broccoli and dinner rolls. Oh, and wine too!

His and hers!

FYI about the wine: Graham’s mum read about it in the paper, I think, and picked us up a case when she was getting one. It breaks out to about $7.75* a bottle and is really, really good. Apparently it’s flying off the shelves of the LCBO. My boss was talking about it today at work, that she had been able to secure a case, and I was proud to chime in that we already had a case! Here it is…

Highly recommend if you can score a bottle or a case!

[For any non-Ontarians, this is a bargain price! No Two Buck Chuck up here, that's for sure! $8 is about as cheap as it gets, and that's normally garbage wine.]

As promised, here is the side dish that we made yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture! So, here it is, from the magazine. It was so tasty – everyone ate every last bite!

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout Gratin with Pine Nut-Breadcrumb Topping
Bon Apetit November 2008

10 to 12 servings

1 1/2 lbs brussels sprouts, trimmed, quartered lengthwise through core 
1 1 1/2- to 1 3/4 lbs head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into small florets 
2 3/4 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c chopped shallots
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c plain dry breadcrumbs
1/2 c pine nuts, lightly toasted 
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 c grated Parmesan cheese, divided [used 1 c Parmesan, 2 c Cheddar]

Fill large bowl with ice and cold water. Cook brussels sprouts in large pot of generously salted boiling water 2 minutes. Add cauliflower to same pot; cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes longer. Drain. Transfer vegetables to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well.

Combine cream, shallots, and sage in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs; stir until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl; cool. Stir in pine nuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish; arrange half of vegeatbles in dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then 1 1/2 c Parmesan. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly over, then sprinkle with remaining 1 /2 cups Parmesan. Pour cream mixture evenly over.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover gratin with foil. Bake covered 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle breadcrumb topping over and bake uncovered 15 minutes longer. 

Hope you’re enjoying a relaxing evening at home! Off to score myself some dessert…

Dessert, Part II

Second great Thanksgiving meal in a row! We had fruit salad, turkey, stuffing, carrots, brussels sprouts & cauliflower gratin [recipe to come tomorrow], mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and apple strudel. Sorry… no pictures.

We were home around 6 and set out on a run about half an hour later. And an amazing run it was! I felt like I was flying, leaving Graham in my dust! 6.2km in 33:15. That’s pretty darn good!

I am on the computer and reading while Graham watches Top Gear. He’s not feeling the best, but I was up for a little food…

Small pumpkin pie and small apple strudel.

Not looking forward to work tomorrow… it’s been a great weekend but wish it could last!

Sleep well!