Sweat Fest

On Wednesday evening, for the third year in a row I ran Downtown Westfield’s 5k & Pizza Extravaganza race. And every year, it’s unbearably hot – somehow being just a bit hotter than the previous year. As you can guess from the title of the post, by the time the race was over, I looked like I went for a swim. I really think they should consider changing the name of the race to Sweat Fest. I can’t imagine anyone walked away from that race not needing a cold shower or two.

I’m not really complaining (much), rather stating the facts. I love the race for a few reasons, the biggest being that it’s right through the center of my hometown. Even though it doesn’t start until 7pm and it’s in the middle of the week, it’s still fun. I prepare myself the same each year, by guzzling as much water as I can at work, and reminding myself “it’s okay that it’s hot, it’s only 3.1 miles. It’ll be over before you know it.”

The race started as most do – me standing towards the front but not too far forward, yawning the entire time. When I was swimming, my parents always used to tell me it looked completely ridiculous as I stood behind the block waiting for my race, and I’d be jumping up and down, stretching, and yawning. Turns out that’s just your body’s way of trying to get more oxygen, so I always appreciated the extra yawning – plus it helped to psych out the competition, since they probably thought I was tired! We were of course all squeezed in and I had already started to sweat before the horn even sounded. Once it did, though, I was off and thankfully didn’t find myself needing to weave as much as I had during the Firecracker 4-miler.

Since this is the third year I’ve run the race and it’s in my hometown, I like to think I know the course pretty well. The first mile is pretty much uphill, the second is pretty level, and a large portion of the third is downhill. Since it’s all on residential streets, there are families out with water guns, hoses, and open fire hydrants, which I tried to take advantage of. I didn’t, however, stop for any water. This was somewhat strategic as I didn’t want to waste time, and I also already felt like I had to pee – I didn’t want to make it worse. My hip has been feeling less than stellar the past week (super tight and achy), so I wasn’t really sure how it would hold up during the race. I made sure to foam roll it the best I could beforehand, and I think that helped. I also wore a hat (I am so not a hat person) in hopes that it would keep the burning sweat out of my eyes, and it did!

Per the ususal as I was coming down the home stretch I was hoping no one would be in my way once I stopped just in case my almond butter sandwich decided to pay a visit. I tried to kick it up as much as I could, especially when I rounded the corner and could see the clock slowly ticking away at 23:50. Turns out my gun time was 24:00.01 (go figure), and my chip time was 23:50! I didn’t wear a watch, so I have no idea exactly what my splits were – but I remember my first mile was about a 7:35, and that made me nervous for the rest of the race. However, with my overall average pace of 7:40, it seems like I held on to it pretty well! That time was also good enough to land me 8th in my age group, and 306 overall out of over 2500 runners! I couldn’t be happier considering the injury prone winter and spring I’ve had!

Once it was over, I scored myself some free goodies (they have some pretty sweet sponsors – Shop Rite, Stop ‘n Shop, Balance Bar, etc.), and watched my fiance devour some pizza. It’s called the “Pizza Extravaganza,” so they always have boxes and boxes of pizza for the runners post-race. I have yet to enjoy a slice of pizza after the race, since the last thing I usually want to do is eat (at least for about 30 minutes). We were hot sweaty messes, but I think it’s safe to say it was worth it!

With temperatures rising as the week continues (we’re slated for a high of 102 on Friday!) I have a feeling the rest of the week in terms of running will be done very slowly and/or super early. I also have grand plans of spending Friday in and around the pool in our development, exclusively.

Showered with love… and kitchen gadgets!

This past Saturday was my bridal shower! It was a “surprise,” but because I insisted on being told when it was so I could dress accordingly, as soon as my mom told me to look cute for brunch, I knew what was up. It was still a little surprising when I walked in, though!

Once I made my rounds and said hello to everyone, we got started on the food. We had delicious Caesar salad with the best croutons (they were fried pieces of eggplant!), penne a la vodka, orichette pasta with sausage and broccoli rabbe, and some chicken. Of course after we enjoyed the food, it was time for cake and mini pastries. I had to take an obligatory photo with the cake…

And while everyone enjoyed their cake, I got to the important stuff – opening gifts! I have to say, having everyone watch me unwrap things was kind of awkward at first, but eventually I stopped caring what everyone thought (i.e. trying to read my reactions) and just went with it. Obviously I was excited for everything I opened, considering I had a bit of an idea what I’d be getting thanks to my registry stalking.

My bridesmaids went with a baking theme, and got me a basket filled of baking goodies (cake pans, doughnut pan, recipes, cake mixes, etc.) as well as a soda stream. Of course I couldn’t wait to get started using some of the stuff, so on Sunday morning I decided it would be a perfect time to make doughnuts and make some homemade seltzer! Since making our first bottle of seltzer, I’ve gone ahead and made three more (I’m a huge seltzer drinker when it’s around). I also made some delicious chocolate doughnuts from a boxed mix the girls got me from Stonewall Kitchen – they were SO good.

In addition to the baking goodies, I scored a food processer, coffee maker, some Le Crueset, lots of china, a spice rack, wine opener, wine making kit, knife set, a giant wooden salad bowl, and more! Needless to say I feel very blessed and so thankful to have such great friends and family. Unfortunately since it’s the summer, a lot of people were on vacation, working, etc., and weren’t able to make it. But I can’t wait to see them on the big day!

Next up on the wedding tour? Bachelorette party! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me. And if this hat is any indication, it should certainly be interesting!

Cracker, what?

A few weeks back, I received a large box of assorted crackers from Westminster Cracker Company. I was psyched to get them since I love crackers (especially oyster crackers!) but I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I thought about just throwing them into a soup or stew, but that didn’t seem to exciting to me. So, I figured why not try to use oyster crackers as a coating on baked fish? Since I don’t know much about fish, I wasn’t sure what type I should try the coating with. My first thought was cod, but that seemed kind of boring. Plus, Wegmans had some large bags of frozen tilapia, so that’s what ultimately aided in my decision. Paired with some french fries, it was my own fun spin on fish ‘n chips!

This past Monday marked the official beginning of our Philly marathon training. So, we ran the Firecracker 4 miler on Monday, another 4 miles on Wednesday, 5 on Saturday, and then we tackled 8 on Sunday. Since I’ve been battling shin splints on and off since November (I’m going to get rid of them this time!), I’ve been nervous to increase my mileage. I’ve decided that this time, though, unlike all of the others, I’m going to try to keep my pace significantly slower. I think the combination of the faster pace plus the increased mileage is what has caused me trouble in the past. Fingers crossed!

In addition to the running, this week I also had a solid yoga class on Saturday, and went swimming on Sunday! I really wish there was a gym nearby that had a pool, I really miss it sometimes. I’m tempted every now and then to look up masters programs and check them out, but I’m yet to bite the bullet on that. Maybe one day. Perhaps it was my time in the pool on Sunday that inspired me to make the oyster cracker baked tilapia and fries for dinner that night. Or it was just because we had a giant bag of frozen fish in the freezer. Either way.

Once the fish were thawed, the recipe took a total of 20 minutes (including cooking time). I cheated a little and just had frozen french fries, but that’s because last week at Wegmans the fiancé bought a giant bag of them. Might as well use them up! Now that we still have quite a few filets left, I’m thinking fish tacos are definitely in order. But next time you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner, and you have a bunch of crackers (any kind will do) on hand, you should consider this!

Cracker Crusted Tilapia
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
4 small tilapia filets
2 cups crushed crackers of your choice (I used Westminster Oyster Crackers)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beatten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Meanwhile, beat two eggs in a shallow bowl, and crush crackers over a large plate, mixing in the cheese. Take each filet, dip it in the egg mixture, and then place it on the plate. Flipping it from side to side and pressing, make sure the filets are coated with the cracker crumbs. Place each filet on a well greased baking sheet.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the fish begins to flake.

Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger

As some of you may have noticed (though most probably read these posts through some sort of Reader), I’ve added another badge to the lefthand side of the good ‘ole blog. Based on the title of the post, you can probably guess it’s the Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger badge! About a month ago I was contacted and asked if I would like to join in the fun, and I couldn’t refuse! I’ve had quite a few Hormel giveaways on the blog before, and they’ve always been so good to me, I just had to see what else they had to offer. Look what the sent just to get me started!

This month’s challenge was to make a meal using three Hormel ingredients, called Grocery Shopping 101 – Weekend BBQ Challenge. Only after perusing their website did I realize just how much I had to chose from! After some pondering, and assessing what I already had on hand and what was given to me in my “welcome kit,” I came up with the perfect Holiday weekend BBQ menu with some inspiration from a great bbq restaurant.

To start, I made some homemade tortillas using Chi-Chi’s burrito sized tortillas (same recipe found here), and had some Chi-Chi’s salsa and also some pico de guaco. I found pico de guaco in the produce section of the grocery store, and it’s exactly what it sounds like; pico de gallo on top of guacamole. It was like killing two birds with one stone, so I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised. After enjoying the chips and dip, we moved on to the main course.

I decided to keep it simple and have some Jennie-O turkey burgers, topped with some pepper jack cheese, and of course more pico de guaco. One the side, I decided to make a potato skins potato salad

. My fiancé loathes mayo, so I’m always hard pressed to find a potato salad recipe that doesn’t have that as a main ingredient. I started thinking about potato skins (you know, the ones you get at a bar and grill), and figured I’d try and turn that into a potato salad, since it doesn’t include mayo. It does have bacon in it, and I know how most people feel about that. Well, sweet success! It doesn’t look like much, but oh did it taste delicious.

Of course we had to have some veggies as well, so I marinated some portabello mushrooms and zucchini in balsamic vinegar and grilled those along with the burgers. Unfortunately, there was a serious thunderstorm going on for most of the afternoon, so we wound up doing our grilling inside on the George Forman. I didn’t mind too much, until I heard that our local fireworks were postponed until Friday due to the weather. Thankfully, we got to check out a different town’s fireworks, which was the perfect end to a delicious day!

Potato Skins Salad
– serves 6 –

Ingredients:
3 red skinned potatoes, roughly diced
1 Idaho potato, roughly diced
3 Tbsp red onion, diced
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup shredded cheese
6 slices of bacon (I used Hormel ready-cooked)
1 tsp olive oil
tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine diced potatoes with olive oil, chili powder, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Using a large spoon, make sure each piece of potato is coated with the seasoning. Place on a greased baking sheet.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, using a spatula to shake up the potatoes and move them around at about the 10 minute mark.
4. Once the potatoes are cooked, add them back to the original bowl, and mix in the rest of the ingredients, starting with the onions, followed by the bacon, sour cream and then the cheese. Again make sure everything is well coated.

*Disclaimer: I was provided a welcome kit to be a part of the program, and for this month’s challenge I received a $50 gift card to help cover the cost of food in order to complete the three ingredient challenge. Thanks again, Hormel!

You’re a Firecracker

For the third year in a row, my fiance and I participated in Cranford Jaycee’s Firecracker 4-miler on the fourth of July. Each year, I somehow manage to bring the previous year’s time down by about 2 minutes. This was especially shocking due to my lack of training for most of 2011 thanks to injury, but I certainly can’t complain!

The day started as most race days do – waking up and devouring a half of peanut butter and jelly sandwich and copious amounts of water. I knew ahead of time that if the weather was anything like it was last year (super hot and humid), I was going to need A LOT of water. Thankfully, the temperature was a solid 10 degrees cooler, but it was still humid and sunny.

Because both my fiance and I have been battling injuries, we decided to run the race together. This is the first race that my fiance has run with me in the 2.5 years we’ve been running races. As you can imagine I was really excited, even though I knew it would likely be holding him back a little. We weren’t sure where to line ourselves up, and I’ve decided that when in doubt, seat yourself higher because everyone else does it too. The amount of weaving and elbowing that goes on at the beginning of hometown races is really annoying. I won’t even begin to talk about the rudeness I experienced out there!

At any rate, by the time we hit the first mile marker (just under 8:15 pace), my eyes started to burn like no other, thanks to sweat. This continued for the rest of the race, which was only made marginally better thanks to some people with hoses and sprinklers out on the course. Aside from some cramping at mile 3 where I had to slow down, I think we kept a pretty solid pace.

The race always finishes down a stretch in the park where everyone lines up to cheer – we even had our own cheering section!

Since we ran the whole race together, the fiance and I crossed the finish hand-in-hand (totally lame, I know) and he even paused to let me cross first. My official time was 32:49, which is an 8:12 average pace. I couldn’t be happier considering the current state of my shin (ouch!) and the fact that I haven’t trained much. I know I have the potential to run faster, and I can’t wait to be healthy enough to get the training in to do it!

Birthday Cupcakes

If you’re a somewhat regular reader of this blog, or even if you simply look at the tag cloud on the right of the blog, you know that I love cupcakes. So it’s no surprise that I made sure to have plenty of cupcakes in the days surrounding my birthday!

On Sunday, the fiancé and I headed into the city with plans to go to a museum. Unfortunately we forgot about The Pride Parade, so our plans were interrupted. We certainly had plenty of entertainment watching the parade, though. On our way home we stopped at a bakery called Sweet in Hoboken for some cupcakes. Since we live in New Jersey, we try to find the easiest (and cheapest!) ways to get in and out of the city, and on Sunday we figured driving to Hoboken and parking there would be our best bet.

Sweet is cute and simple, and more importantly, has delicious cupcakes. We happened to get there at 5pm when they were closing at 6pm, so all of their cupcakes were by one-get one free! They have both regular and mini sized cupcakes, so the fiancé and I figured it was the perfect opportunity to sample a lot of what they had to offer. I also appreciated the fact that they were looking to get rid of the cupcakes, meaning they make them fresh every day – no one likes a cold, stale cupcake! For a mere $4.75 the fiancé and I each got to sample a red velvet, vanilla, mocha, ganache, coconut, and fluffernutter (only 4 pictured below). They were all delicious! I wish I had them in the full size so I could have enjoyed even more of them.

For my birthday on Tuesday, of course I had to have cupcakes to celebrate. So, my family brought over four Crumbs cupcakes to try (King Cone, Baba Booey, Three Muskateers, and Peanut Butter Cup). Between the six of us (my parents, sister, her boyfriend, and the fiancé) we each sampled each of the cupcakes – YUM.

Not only did we have the Crumbs cupcakes to enjoy, but I also received cupcakes from Serial Baker! Now this girl is serious – she dropped off birthday cupcakes for me at 10:30p on the eve of my birthday. I was so zonked from my morning run that I was already in bed, so my fiancé actually received the package for me. I had a recipe for a twist on S’mores cupcakes in my head, and she was able to bring them to fruition. A great bakery could always be able to bring to life the recipes in your head. I had mentioned I had a recipe for them and wanted to make them, but just didn’t have the time or energy, so I opted to make two simple pies and bring them to work. So, she decided to make them for me! I have such good friends – look at that bad boy. [The picture is actually from Serial Baker’s post, but was taken by my fiancé – circle of blogging!].

Needless to say, my birthday was pretty sweet! It was made even sweeter by the awesome gifts I received – a no-slip yoga towel, running socks, a yoga mat carrier, a cupcake stand, and a Marc Jacobs bag I’ve been eyeing up for a few months. Next up in terms of celebrations are my bridal shower, bachelorette party, and of course, the wedding. I can’t wait!

Chana Masala Tacos

Through Twitter, I stumbled upon Peas and Thank You and her absoultely delicious recipes. I had seen quite a few comments in regards to her chickpea tacos, so I figured I had to check them out for myself. When thinking about it, I wasn’t really sure how chickpeas stuffed inside a taco shell would taste. But then I had remembered making those West Indian Chana Masala Wraps, and was quickly persuaded.

When I remembered making those, I got to thinking. Of course, I was planning on going with a Southwestern/Mexican styled seasoning, as what the Peas and Thank You recipe calls for. However, I decided to do something different, and instead made a Channa Masala Taco of sorts with curry, cumin, chili powder, and garam masala. I used your typical hard corn taco shells, and they actually worked well with the flavors. I wasn’t totally confident in my decision to make “Indian tacos” but my fiancé reassured me I was making a good choice. Thankfully, after trying them, I agreed.

Chana Masala Tacos
– Makes 4 tacos –

Ingredients:
4 hard corn taco shells
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 medium baking potato, cubed
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
plain yogurt
shredded lettuce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine cubed potatoes with 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, and 1 tsp of olive oil. Using a spoon, make sure the spices coat the potatoes.
3. Spread the potatoes onto a well greased baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine chickpeas, zucchini, and onion with the remaining spices (1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp olive oil), and again mix to coat and combine.
5. Once the potatoes have cooked for 10 minutes, you can either add the chickpea mixture to that baking sheet, or place it on another well greased baking sheet. Have both the potatoes and the chickpea mixture bake for 10 minutes (so the potatoes will have cooked for a total of 20 minutes).
6. Fill each taco shell with some shredded lettuce, the chickpea and potato mixture, and a dollop of yogurt.

Quarter Life

Today, I turn 25.

It’s hard to believe that I’m 25 – sometimes I think to myself there’s no way I’m THAT old (yes, I know that’s not old at all), and other times I think to myself it’s amazing I’m still so young. Either way, today is my birthday! I’ve always loved my birthday, but who doesn’t?

Growing up, I was never in school to celebrate my birthday. In second grade, though, we made it all the way to June 27th because there were horrendous storms all winter, and we had to make up all our time off. Because I couldn’t have the in-class birthday celebrations on my actual birthday, during the last week of school my mom would always bring in watermelon that we would enjoy as a class outside. I always thought it was so cool to do something different, and looking back, my mom certainly had the right idea by giving the kids watermelon instead of cookies, cakes, and candy! My birthday parties were always a blast – roller skating, bowling, going to the pool, movies and pizza… my parents always made sure I got to do what I wanted.

bdayparty — Birthday party at an ice cream parlor. Checkout my sweet scrunchie!

Throughout high school and college, my birthdays started early, with 6am long course practice where I ususally had to do something “fun” to celebrate, such as a 400 free for time, or maybe some laps of birthday butterfly (while everyone stayed on the sidelines using a kickboard to splash). Even when I turned 21, I was up at the crack of dawn to get my swim in.

All the swimming paid off - Landmark Champs '08

I always loved the fact that my birthday was in the summer, and I never had to spend my day at school or in class. Even when I was working during the summer, I somehow always managed to get my birthday off. Since joining the real world, though, I’ve spent most of my birthdays at work. It’s really been quite a different experience. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m older, because I’m at work, or a combination of the two, but my birthday just doesn’t have that same pizzaz it used to. That isn’t to say I don’t love the day!

So today, aside from work, I’ll be celebrating with my wonderful fiancé and family, with dinner and of course cupcakes. I know this year is going to be epic – I’m getting married, running my very first marathon, and most importantly, really planning on loving every minute of it. I can’t wait to see what the year has in store for me!

Taco Tuesday

There have been quite a few taco recipes in my queue lately, so I decided to make some this week. First up was my variation of a recipe I saw posted on SeriousEats a few weeks ago, for roasted corn and zucchini tacos. I found the combination of just corn and zucchini interesting, so I decided to give it a whirl.

I did things a little differently, though, and I roased the zucchini and corn kernels on a baking sheet in the oven, along with some red onion. Before putting them in the oven, though, I tossed them in some seasoning to give them exta flavor. I also topped the tacos with some cheese, salsa verde, and avocado. It was quick and easy, which was just what we needed, since we recently aquired a new kitten!

Trying to get a new kitten acclimated to our house, while also conditioning our cat to be tolerant of the kitten, training for a marathon, and finishing up wedding planning and getting married should leave us quite busy this summer. At least I have some ideas for quick and easy dinners to fall back on!

Roasted Zucchini, Corn, and Onion Tacos inspired by this SeriousEats recipe
– Makes 6 tacos –

Ingredients:
6 corn or flour tortillas (I used flour)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 zucchini, sliced into quarter moons
1/2 red onion, cut into chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Adobo
1/4 tsp taco seasoning (I used chipotle flavored)
1/2 avocado, diced
2 Tbsp salsa of your choice (I used verde)
1/4 cup shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. In a medium bowl, combine zucchini, corn, and onion. Drizzle olive oil and spices over vegetables, and use a spoon to mix, making sure everything is evenly coated
3. Spread the vegetables onto a greased baking sheet, and roast for about 25 minutes
4. Top each tortilla with about a spoonful of the veggie mixture, followed by some cheese, salsa, and avocado

Cupcakes and Animals

Ever since trying Serial Baker’s delicious vegan cupcakes and then making some vegan cookies myself, I’ve been looking to try more vegan baking (whether made by me, or someone else!). So, when I saw that Sweet Avenue bake shop, a vegan bakery in Rutherford was hosting an event this past Saturday, I had to check it out… especially since it was to help raise funds for an animal shelter!

The fiancé and I headed up to Rutherford with plans to later head into the city to go to a show at Upright Citizen’s Brigade and enjoy dinner in the city. The event, Cupcakefest, was to help raise money for an animal shelter in Bloomfield. We joked that if they had adoptable cats or dogs at the event, we’d probably come home with a carful. Thankfully they didn’t have any animals actually there, otherwise our family would have grown Sunday! But as it turns out, our family grew on Monday, when we picked up a 5 week old kitten from a friend’s who found him under their deck! We thought it was only appropriate to name him Fry, one of the other characters in Futurama, to match our other cat, Leela. Hopefully they’ll get along just like the characters in the show!

After checking out the vendors, we headed down the street to the bakery to pick up some cupcakes. I decided to try their Oreo cupcake, and the fiancé went with the “Green Lantern” cupcake – it even came with a plastic ring! They were the perfect size (not too big, but not too small) and they had filling, which is my favorite part about cupcakes. Oh, and they were really good! The fiancé turned to me and said “wait, are ALL of their baked goods vegan?” I love when people are impressed by things like that. I always enjoy when someone who bemoans something (i.e. vegan or vegetarian lifestyles, certain cuisines, etc.), then they unknowingly try it, and really like it. Not that my fiancé is one of those people – he’ll try anything.

greenlantern — Green Lantern themed cupcake

I’m looking forward to a summer filled with cupcakes (my birthday is soon, so we know lots of cupcakes will be involved), and also trying some more vegan baking (either made by me, or others)! And now that we’re a family of four things should be interesting!