Crispy spaghetti!

Did you read that title??? Crispy spaghetti!! I tried this the other day and it was so good. Definitely something I will be making again.

Needed:
-spaghetti (or Fettuccini noodles like I used)
-olive oil
-veggies to be mixed inside - I used spinach and onion, but the original post used zucchini in theirs
-pasta sauce

1. Cook the noodles as directed.

2. Sauté up the veggies you're planning to use inside.

3. Mix the cooked noodles and cooked veggies together.

4. Add a little olive oil to a pan and spread it across the entire bottom. Spread the noodle/veggie mixture so that it's across the entire pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until browned on the bottom.

5. Here's the tricky part: slide the mixture on to a plate (so you can flip it), wipe out the pan, add a little more oil so it covers the bottom, then add the noodles back to the pan to cook the other side. Cook for another 8-10 minutes. 

6. Serve it with the pasta sauce.

I like it so much because of the texture of the noodles. They get really crispy (hence the name) and it's super tasty. The hubs doesn't usually like spaghetti, but he wanted more of this because the texture was so different.

"I wanna go fast!" - Ricky Bobby

I joined the half marathon training program for a couple reasons. First, to meet other runners in the area and learn different running paths and second, to (hopefully) make me faster.

I still have my goal of breaking the 2 hour mark for a half marathon, with a current PR of 2:01:40 as of May. With the help if this program, I really think I can get there because they make me do something I hate - speed work.

Last night is a great example. It was chilly, after 6 p.m., I was tired and already had dinner. If I had just been relying on myself to workout I probably would have given in and just ran a slower 5 miles instead of doing sprints, but since this program holds me accountable, I did those sprints.

We did 25 minutes of 400m repeats, which ended up being 6 rounds. One round was one quarter mile lap at a sprint, then one quarter mile lap at a jog. I was able to keep all my sprint laps at 1:57 - 1:58 and I was very proud of that! There were a couple times I just wanted to slow down, but I kept my eyes on the girls in front of me and they kept me motivated to keep pushing. I felt so good afterward that it made me want to sign up for more races. That's how it happens.

I also felt really good because I had eaten really well yesterday, too, so I just felt healthy all over. I roasted my acorn squash from last week's Backyard Produce box, scraped out the meat and turned it in to a little salad bowl with spinach, tomato, onion, avocado and the roasted squash seeds (that's my new obsession, roast all the seeds!).

 Look at the pretty colors!

The acorn squash shell makes its own bowl. Convenient.

After I got home from my run last night I also had my new Backyard Produce box, so that just added to my good feeling. Spinach, kale, bell peppers, avocados, tangerines and kiwis. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this service?!

Am i ... *gulp* ... Injury prone?

I've always gotten the common aches and pains from running - knees hurt, back hurts, sore muscles - but lately, it's been more. First it was the stress fracture in my foot, now it's a constant pain in my hip for the last two weeks. It's really hard to stay motivated when everything hurts.

The thing that has been keeping me moving though, is the half marathon training group I signed up for. I knew there was a reason to signed up for it! The people are really great and the Tuesday speed work kicks my butt, but my hip has been keeping me from pushing too hard. Hopefully, the insert I bought yesterday will help out with that because I'm not ready to accept the idea that my body can't handle running anymore.

Let's move on from the thought of that and I'll tell you about a couple recent recipes I've tried - butternut squash soup and diet cherry cola chocolate cake.

Butternut Squash Soup

Needed:
-butternut squash
-3 cups vegetable broth
-onion, chopped
-garlic, chopped
-thyme

Topping:
-sour cream
-green onions, chopped
-squash seeds (from the butternut squash)

1. Preheat the oven to 400, cut the squash in half, long ways, and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender.

2. Scoop out the meat of the squash and put in food processor with broth, onion, garlic and thyme. Mix until well blended. Put in to bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream, a pinch of green onions and a little handful of the roasted squash seeds.

To make the roasted squash seeds, before putting the squash in the oven, scrape out the seeds and set aside. Then while the squash is roasting:

1. Rinse the seeds really well to get all the extra guts off.

2. Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the seeds, lower the temp and let them simmer for 10 min.

3. Drain them, then pat them dry as much as possible between two papertowels. They become really sticky and will stick to the paper towel, but not a big deal, just peel them off.

4. Add the seeds to a bowl, drizzle olive oil and salt over the top and stir it around so they're all coated.

5. Lay them on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 325°. There's not a set amount of time for how long, you just have to watch them closely. They burn from the inside, so on the outside they look perfectly fine, but the inside they're a crisp. We checked ours every 5 minutes for about 20-25 minutes and kinda moved them around on the baking sheet each time we checked.

They are addictive.

Then, for dessert, check out the diet cherry cola chocolate cake.

All you need is cake mix and 12 ounces of diet cherry cola. Mix them together, pour in a pan and bake as directed on the box for the size pan you use. Delish! And slightly less guilt since there's no oil or eggs.

A day of firsts

Yesterday was pretty exciting. Not only did I start my half marathon training program with Fleet Feet Mt. Pleasant, but I also got my first box of produce delivered from Backyard Produce. It obviously doesn't take much to excite me.

But I am pretty excited about the training program. The people seem great, the trainers are experienced and informative and I have a feeling they are going to get me that sub-2 hour half marathon. Tuesdays are going to be a mixture of speed, hills and other intense workouts and Saturdays will be our long runs.

Yesterday we went to the track and after a warmup lap we went into some dynamic stretching before starting the sliders. I had never heard that term before but it came down to sprinting the straights and jogging the curves on the track, and we did that for 20 minutes. I have been so bad about speed work in the past that I'm positive this is going to help me reach my goal.

Then after that endorphin high, I came home to a box of fresh produce! I immediately popped the kale in the oven and made a batch of kale chips with olive oil, basil and shallot salt. Yummo! I also made a beautiful salad with the romaine and peppers for work today. Seriously, can you get any better than produce straight to your front door? Don't think so.

Kale chips, the dieters popcorn.

A little fruit and veg goes a long way

My eating had started getting out of control - Chik-fil-a stops on my way to work for waffle fries (10 WW points!!), overindulging in my favorite vice - sushi, and neglecting to track every BLT (bite, taste and lick!) - and the scale wasn't budging from the high end of my acceptable weight range (you know those 4 pounds that you juggle between). So, I had to do something and my mom sent me just the thing - Women's Running 3-day healthy cleanse diet plan. Score!

What it really comes down to is a whole lot of fruit and veg over 3 days to get you back on track. Exactly what I needed. And the soups are delicious! I will definitely be making the carrot soup again sometime and I highly recommend you check it out. I'm not a huge fan of ginger though, so I left that out. Check out the original post if you would prefer ginger in yours.

Carrot Soup

Needed:
-1.5 pounds of carrots
-1 onion, chopped
-1 zucchini, chopped
-4 cups of water
-Garlic
-Any additional spices you want to add - I went for basil and savory
-toppings to put on completed soup - i used avocado, sunflower seeds and tomato

1. Bring the water to a slight boil, add all the ingredients and let it simmer until soft - about an hour.

2. Add all the cooked veggies and half of the broth to a blender and blend until desired consistency. Done.

It's that simple.

Top it with whatever your heart's desire and that is the only thing that has Weight Watcher point values. It makes a lot, but they said you can freeze it and use it another time if you get a little overwhelmed by too much carrots.

I'm on the third day of the plan and I feel so good. The scale is back where it should be and I feel a new urge to eat healthy. Awesome.

Today is the broccoli soup. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Yasso 800's

If you've never heard of The Yasso 800 workout, I'll try to explain it. It's supposed to be a pretty good measure of estimating what time you're capable of running a marathon in (as long as you put in the training, of course) based on how fast you can run 800 meters.

Sounds simple, right? It's actually more challenging than you'd expect. You don't just run that 800 meters once, you do it 10 times. Not sounding so simple now, is it?

This is what you do - say you want to run a 4-hour marathon (like me!). So, you need to run 800 meters (or half a mile) in 4 minutes, then jog for 4 minutes and that is one round. And like I said, you work your way up to 10 rounds of that. A 3-minute half mile would equal a 3-hour marathon, 3 minutes and 30 seconds would equal 3 hours and 30 minutes, etc. I'm currently at two rounds, building a base, and I'm slightly dreading adding that third round. This is definitely going to be a lot of work, but so worth it if it works!

Adding to that, I'm looking into a half marathon training plan to get me under 2 hours and I'm going to be a lean, mean running machine! Fingers crossed!

On the food side of life, I have to tell you about my amazing discovery. There's this local business online called Backyard Produce and for $25 a week they deliver fresh, locally grown fruit and veg to my door. I don't think it's possible to beat that deal. You have the option to get their variety box and they'll send you what's best that week, or you can custom order what you want. My first delivery should show up this week and I'm so excited! I have a feeling I'm going to be coming up with all kinds of new recipes!

In case I don't post again for a bit, Happy Halloween and good luck on YOUR Yasso 800's!

Debooted

I went to the doctor this week and they gave me the go ahead to stop wearing the boot! Woohoo!

I celebrated with a 5-mile hill workout over the bridge in Mt. Pleasant and it just about kicked my butt. But it felt so good at the same time.

I also celebrated with some new shoes. I've been rockin'the Saucony Kinvaras for a couple years now, but the new model isn't really my taste. So, the good people at my local Fleet Feet talked me in to trying the Pearl Izumi E:Motion N2 Running Shoes.

I'll give them a shot and let you know.

And I don't even want to talk about the way I've been eating lately. Let's just say it's a good thing I've been given the thumbs up to start running again, otherwise I'm going to start packing on some serious pounds. I need to get back on track.