Pain & Pinterest

So true.

Today did not go as planned at the gym.  I'm still dealing with insane cramps in my calves.  I was dangerously close to tears (and I have a pretty high pain tolerance...ask Will, he's been present at the births of both our children).  I managed to run two miles.  One at 5.5mph and the other at 6.  After that I jogged for a short stint and then walked at a pretty slow pace.  I just wanted to keep my legs moving.  I did get in 65 minutes on the treadmill, but each one of them hurt.  The plan for today was to run 4 miles, so I did feel like a bit of a bum.  

I needed to see this one today.

Since the pain has been pretty persistent through my last few work outs/runs, I did what any sane person would do...I called and made an appointment with the doctor.  Today she felt poked and prodded my legs (especially my bad knee).  She said that for now it seems like it's just your typical wear and tear from pushing myself.  She was very impressed by the work out system I have going and the types of food I'm eating.  She gave me a Rx for an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer.  I'm praying that the muscle relaxer works it's magic before Saturday, because I really want to do a 7 mile run outside with T.  I really need to have at least one solid run this week.

This is exactly how I felt when I finished my 5-K.

I have to share my love for Pinterest here.  If you're on there, I'm sure you've noticed my obsession.  I LOVE this site!  It's especially great for finding things that inspire you.  All three of the pictures on this post are from my "Running" board.  It's filled with quotes, pictures, and people that inspire me to keep running.  It may also have a few cute articles of work out clothing that I love.  You can see my running board here.  Once you check out the running board, feel free to check out the other boards I have going.  There are plenty :)  I love seeing all of my friends' favorite things.  It is really a fun website.  

I also want to say something about my husband, Will.  He is currently training for a marathon, and I have been so impressed by his dedication and consistency.  I love being able to run next to him at the gym because we like to cheer each other on.  I haven't mentioned it in a while here, but I am so blessed to be married to such a great guy :)  I can't wait to see him cross that finish line in Athens in November! 

One final thought.  I made the roasted cherry (or grape) tomatoes with quinoa pasta found here last night.  I wanted to include some lean meat, so I searched online and found Balsamic Marinated Chicken.  It was a very nice addition and it was so easy to make. 

10-K, Recipe and New Songs

I ran 10-K with my running buddy, Terilyn!  We planned on running six miles, but once we got to the gym we decided to add the extra 0.2 and go for the full 10 kilometers.  We ran hard for the last minute.  It was a really enjoyable run.  We took our pace down a bit so we could last longer. 

10-K Run:
6 miles @ 5mph
0.2@ 7.5mph
Cooldown

Total miles = 6.42
Total calories burned = 1,175

Today was a weigh in day.  I lost 0.2lbs.  Definitely not what I was expecting, but I think that part of my problem is that I'm not getting in enough calories, so my body is trying to hang on to every lb.  It's not that I'm not eating, I'm just eating mostly low fat/low calorie foods.  I have been eating mostly vegetables, nuts and fruits.  Also, I did more extensive weight training this week, so that might have something to do with it.  We'll see what happens next Saturday with the scale.  On a VERY positive note, I am now three sizes down in jeans. 

Last night's Dinner:

 

This is roasted grape tomatoes on quinoa pasta with a little fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.  It was delicious!  I was very impressed by the quinoa pasta.  I get tired of whole wheat pasta, so I wanted to try something new.  The kids didn't even notice that it was different.  My mother and father-in-law passed along the recipe for the roasted grape tomatoes.  I'll do my part and pass it along again ;)

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

2 pints grape tomatoes
3 garlic cloves pealed and thinly sliced
2T olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t kosher salt
1/8 t freshly ground pepper
1/4 t fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine all the ingredients except the basil in a roasting pan.
Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes
are just bursting.
3. Carefully transfer the tomatoes, using a slotted spoon, to a serving bowl.
4. Transfer the liquid from the roasting pan to a small saucepan
and cook on medium high heat for about 5 min.  or until slightly thickened.
5. Drizzle some of the thickenid balsamic sauce over the tomatoes.
Top with fresh basil and serve with toasted french bread or with cooked
pasta.

I've added a few new songs to my work out playlist. 

"Monster" Paramore

"Run This Town" Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West (clean version)

"Devastation and Reform" Relient K

"Ain't No Other Man" Christina Aguilera

"White Tooth Man" Iron & Wine

"Boy With a Coin" Iron & Wine

Dinner, Weird Breakfasts and Tomorrow's Goal

A couple of nights ago we had goat cheese stuffed salmon for dinner.  It was really delicious.  Thanks for the suggestion, Seanna!  Anna loved it, but Daniel wanted nothing to do with it.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some!  We also had some roasted zucchini and hummus with pita bread.  I'm going to try to make some home-made hummus this weekend.  I was thrilled to find tahini at our commissary!  Yesterday's dinner was a simple marinated chicken.  Tomorrow we're going to go see Harry Potter at the movie theater, so I will probably make some sort of pasta.  I bought some noodles from the commissary that are made with quinoa.  I figure they're worth a try!

I finished Born to Run today.  It's been a busy week, so it took me a few days to finish it.  I definitely think that it could have been put together a bit better, but it's a great book for people who love to run.  This is where my weird breakfasts come in.  In the book, McDougall suggests having salad for breakfast.  It's supposed to help hydrate you after sleeping, give you a huge burst of antioxidants first thing in the morning, and it's loaded with good carbs that will take some time to burn off.  It's supposed to give you energy for your run and keep you full without feeling weighed down.

My breakfast salad:
A couple large handfuls of baby spinach leaves
6 or 7 blackberries
Handful of blueberries
Handful of sliced almonds
Sunflower seeds
Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette

I have been LOVING this breakfast salad.  It is full of protein and antioxidants.  It also tastes great!  I've never been a fan of fruit in salads, but with this salad dressing, it's amazing.  The almonds and sunflower seeds give it some great texture and they're a great source of protein (which my doctor said is a necessity when you're losing weight at a decent pace).  I don't eat meat until dinner time, so I get most of my protein from almonds, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.

Wednesday's run was great!  I wore my Vibram Five Fingers, and it made the run a lot of fun.  I did end up with a few blisters and insanely sore calves.  You run differently in minimalist shoes than you do when you're wearing Nike's that are supposed to correct every flaw in your run ;)  Hopefully I'll be back in the Vibram's next week (with a bit of moleskin acting as a buffer between the shoe and the blister areas).

Wednesday's Run:
4 miles @ 5.5mph
1 mile @5mph
Remaining time @4mph

Total miles covered = 5.53
Calories burned = 981

Tomorrow's run goal is 6 miles @ 5mph.  It will be interesting, but I think that by staying at 5mph (which is really comfortable for me now) I'll be able to lengthen my run.  Hopefully I'm right.  Will says that after running a couple of miles it ends up being mostly a mental battle.  I've definitely found that to be the truth.  I just have to make sure that my head is in it :)

Dinner, New Book and Goals

  Here's a picture of my dinner tonight.  Dinner consisted of baked herb-lime salmon, a little Persian super basmati rice and baked sweet potato fries.  It was all really good.  The salmon wasn't the most exciting recipe I've tried, but it was pretty quick and easy.  We're trying to eat fish on a regular basis, so I'm trying all kinds of recipes.  If anyone has an awesome tilapia or salmon recipe, please shoot it my way ;)  My favorite snacks right now are low-fat cottage cheese, almonds and blackberry Greek yogurt. 

Photo taken on my iPhone

I decided to buy a new book on the Kindle today.  It's called Ultramarathon Man.  I never plan on being an ultramarathoner, but I am hoping to run a marathon next year and I think it would be interesting to see what he went through to become the crazy runner that he is today ;).  It's supposed to be a running "classic."  I'll let you guys know once I finish it. 

I have been working on setting goals for my running days.  It really helps keep me motivated.  I'm trying to up my speed and endurance, so it's good to know what to aim for.  Yesterday, my goal was 3 miles at 5.5mph, 0.5 miles at 5mph and the rest of my time at 4mph.  I felt so proud of myself for pushing through all three miles at 5.5.  I beat my 5K pace :)  Tomorrow, my goal is 3.5 miles at 5.5mph, 0.5 miles at 5mph and 4mph for the rest.  Next week, I'm going to start working on 6mph.

As far as weight goals go, I would like to lose over 100 lbs by the time all is said and done.  I've still been mulling over the idea of posting before and after pictures on here.  I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to post my month by month pictures once I've lost about 60 lbs. 

Saturday is my weigh in day.  I'll try to post a blog so I can update on my progress :)

Corned Beef

Will and I caught an episode of Alton Brown's show on Food Network around this time last year.  He was making his own corned beef.  We decided that the next (this) St. Patrick's Day would be a great chance to try making our own corned beef.  Well, yesterday I made the brine and trimmed the massive 8.5 lb brisket we bought from the commissary.  It's insanely easy.  The biggest issue for us was the fact that our commissary isn't very well stocked with herbs and spices, so we had to go looking at the German store, Real.  We love Real, but spices have VERY different names in German than they do in English.  We spent a good twenty minutes in the spice aisle before we left with the correct spices. 

We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day a couple of days after the 17th because I'm going in for another sleep study on the actual holiday.  The beef needs to sit in the brine for 10 days.  I'll be posting a follow-up once it's done in the brine and it's been cooked and served.  It's a five star recipe on Food Network and it has 57 reviews.  Pretty impressive, Alton ;) 

Ingredients

• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons saltpeter  *We used Morton's Meat Tenderizer*
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 12 whole juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pounds ice
• 1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket, trimmed *In my case, 8.5lbs, so I did 1.5 of everything in the recipe*
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

Directions

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container *I had to use a rubbermaid container and use a smaller container to weigh down the meat because it wouldn't fit in any ziplock bag*, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.
After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

*My notes in asterisks

Side Note:

Will brought these home for me yesterday :)  Such a sweet thing to do.  I am spoiled.

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I stumbled upon this website the other day and found a recipe for Dulce de Leche cupcakes and decided that I needed to try them.  Baking has been interesting here due to the way the oven in our house works.  It's basically a glorified broiler, so I'm having to learn a bit along the way.

A friend came over and helped me make these.  First, we tried the old fashioned method for making dulce de leche which involves poking some holes on the top of a can of sweetened condensed milk and letting it simmer in a pot of water for hours, but it didn't work out so well for some reason.  Then, I stood over the stove stirring the condensed milk for over an hour to make dulce de leche, but I made it too thick.  Once it cooled it was more like dulce de leche fudge.  It tasted amazing, but it was not going to work for frosting.    The third, and final method, was pouring condensed milk into a microwave safe container and microwaving it in very small increments of time until it became dulce de leche.  This method worked, but made my microwave an absolute nightmare to clean.  *All that to say* If you live near a store that has dulce de leche in a jar, I would definitely take advantage of it!  :)  If you're like me and can't find a jar of dulce de leche anywhere near you, here's a link to an article that tells you all of the different ways to make it. 

Here's the recipe:

Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup dulce de leche, plus more for drizzling

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper or foil liners.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and sugars.  Beat on medium speed until fluffy and pale brown, about 3 minutes.   Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add one egg.  Beat on medium for one minute.  Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute between each addition.  Stop the bowl and scrape down the sides as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture.  Beat on low speed and slowly drizzle in the buttermilk.  Beat until just incorporated.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Beat on low speed until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish incorporating with a spatula.  Try not to over mix the mixture.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about two thirds full.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.  Let rest in the cupcake pans before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Cupcakes should be completely cooled before frosting.

To make the frosting:

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds, until very soft and pliable.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter and dulce de leche.  Beat on medium speed until well incorporated.  Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar.  Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy and lighter in color. Generously spoon frosting on top of cupcakes, or use a large frosting tip to pipe on frosting.