Here fishy, fishy

A few people asked me yesterday if the balloon people left us a bottle of champagne.  They hadn't when I left for work, but this morning my husband went out on the deck and saw this on one of our tables:

I didn't know this was customary.  They also left an entry form for a draw for a free balloon ride.  Hmmm, I've never had an urge to go up in a hot air balloon.  I think I'll see if one of my friends is interested in entering.

The other night (at 1 AM) my brother in law dropped in to spend the night.  He had been away fishing with a friend and our house is about halfway back to his place.  As usual, he caught a ton of fish, so he kindly left us a salmon.  I ♥ salmon, but rarely ever buy it because A) it's pretty expensive, B) the stuff in the stores don't often taste fantastic, and C) my kids won't touch it.  But free salmon, fresh as can be ... I ain't ever gonna pass up that!

Since I don't buy salmon often, I'm not very experienced in cooking it.  I was terrified I would ruin it.  So I looked at a few basic recipes and kind of did my own thing.  Mixed up a bit of olive oil, lots of lemon juice, fresh garlic, dill, salt & pepper.  Wrapped it up in parchment paper and baked at 375° for about 30 minutes.  Pretty basic, but a great combo.  It was a thing of beauty!

That thing is MASSIVE!  Probably about 18" x 10-12".  I had to use the biggest cookie sheet I own.  We're going to be eating salmon for a few days I think.  Can you freeze cooked salmon???

Another day without running.  Though I have now ridden my bike to work for the last 4 work days.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow ... BOOOO ... we'll see how bad it is, I may still ride.  My hips feel pretty good today.  I took an Advil after my ride yesterday and iced them, just to ward of inflammation.  I'm still going to wait a bit longer before I pound the pavement again. 

Keep Active!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Fiesta Chicken

Thank you so much to Darci for sharing her recipe for Fiesta Chicken!  I saw this last week and knew it was something I had to try.  Normally I get a little finicky about anything with a cream soup in it, but I'm so glad I gave this a shot.  Let me just say it is YUM, YUM, YUMMMMMMMMOOOOO!

Just a few changes:

• Added about 3/4 of a can of black beans (as suggested by my sister, though it was already in my mind).  I ♥ beans and it added just one more dimension to it. 
• Considered adding chopped red peppers to it, but the salsa actually gave it some decent color so I left it alone.
• Next time I will cube the chicken instead of putting in whole breasts.  Easier for dishing out leftovers (which this dish is amazing for) and for my husband who doesn't have a desk/table to eat at, it will be easier for him to eat if it's already cut up.

I used a fairly hot salsa because I like my food on the spicy side!  I think next time I may also chop up some green onions and toss them on top after cooking.

My adjusted recipe ....

• 1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
• 3/4 c. brown minute rice
• 1 to 1-1/2 c. salsa
• 1 can corn, drained
• 3/4 can (540 mL) black beans, drained & rinsed
• 4-5 chicken breasts, cubed
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp. paprika

Mix together soup, rice, salsa, corn, beans & chicken in baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 375° for approx. 45 minutes until chicken is cooked and rice is tender.

Optional: Top with chopped green onions after baking.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of it.  My husband stole my camera last week for his work projects and I haven't gotten it back from him yet.  The dish was made last night, but when he got home his clients had fed him and I wasn't hungry.  So I only had a little taste last night and am now devouring it for lunch.

Had a nice run yesterday.  Did an easy paced 10K run with a friend.  I'm still slowly getting back up to more distance and pace after being sick.  I've been working on a new running plan for the remainder of the summer.  Will update when I know how it's going.

Keep Active!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Getting Nervous

I wanted to share this with you a few days ago, but have been disorganized getting my picture in the right place at the right time.  Last weekend I finally got around to making something I've been wanting to make for a LONG time.

Back in June 2009, my buddy Syl made these Shrimp Salad Rolls that looked so good.  For about a month after that, everytime I went to a grocery store I looked for the rice paper wrappers that were needed and they were continually out of stock.  (Was that when there was that rice shortage thing going on???? Hmmm, I don't remember)

The other day I was looking for something interesting to pop out at me in the Asian isle and BAM, rice paper wraps!  I snatched them up like a thief and knew exactly what I wanted to make.

I made them slightly different from Syl.  Mine included the following:

• Rice paper wraps
• Rice Vermicelli
• Shrimp (we're the same to here) 

then I added:

• chopped Cilantro
• julienned carrots
• julienned orange peppers (would have preferred red)
• julienned cucumber 

mixed up some:

• Hoisin sauce
• peanut butter (4 to 1 mix)

SO GOOD!

I actually didn't find them too hard to wrap if you soak the paper until just barely plyable, like 2-3 seconds at the most.  Then I placed them onto a damp plate.  I found if you put them on a clean tea towel, as many sites suggest, they often stick to it and sometimes tear.  If everything is cut & chopped, ready to go, they don't take too long to assemble.  It was actually kind of fun!

The only thing is I made so many of them (and my kids won't touch them), so we had alot of leftovers.  They still TASTE great leftover, but they continue to get softer and the wrap gets very tender and break easily.  I just used a knife and fork to eat them.  This is one of the leftovers.  Maybe doesn't look appealing, but so YUM!!!  That's a side plate, they're not that huge☺.

So as the title of this post indicates ... I'm getting nervous.

My next race is in about a week and a half (on May 9th).  It's a massive 10K run (Vancouver Sun Run).  I did it last year, first vowing never to do it again, but then loving it and being excited for the next year. 

 

On one hand I am absolutely pumped to do this race.  Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I fully expect to beat my last years time of 58:56.  Possibly by quite a bit.

 

However, I'm starting to get extremely nervous about this race.  Why?  Because of the events that went down at my last race, the half marathon.  Since then, I DO NOT run anywhere unless I'm 100% sure there is available potties or I carry TP.  I've also become quite aware of how often I actually use the facilities during a run.  Over 5-8K I pretty much need the services once on most runs.  Afternoon/evening runs are suprisingly not so bad ... but morning runs (which races tend to be), pretty much guaranteed.

 

This makes me feel very nervous for this upcoming race.  Actually, no .... it's makes me nervous for ALL future races.  What if this is a continual problem?  Can I only enter races that have facilities on route?  Some of my favourite races there is no option other than bushes.

 

I didn't seem to have this problem last year.  The only thing I can see that's different is I used to NEVER eat before running in the morning.  No food, no drink (other than maybe a little water).  But then again, on the morning of the fateful run, I also didn't eat.  So maybe that isn't the solution.  Plus there seems to be so much positive information in regards to pre-race fuel.

 

I'm sure I'll get through this.  Likely that was a race out of the norm and hopefully it will never happen again.  But saying that and KNOWING that are two very different things.

 

Wow, this is almost a post worth of Shut Up & Run.  Sorry if it's TMI for you :)  It's just a concern that is weighing heavily on my mind.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to have a very exciting (well for me) post.  Stay tuned!!!

Have a wonderful today!!

And to my friends out there in bloggy world and beyond who are receiving snow today ... my heart goes out to you.  There is no words of condolence.  That just SUCKS!  Bring on SUMMER!!!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Kicking Excuses to the Curb

Haven't blogged in a while and all you fellow bloggers know what that means .....  things haven't been ideal.  Though I can't say they've been completely bad.

Workouts have been sparse.  I have a million excuses, none of them really valid.  I ran last Tuesday, then not again until this Monday and last night I walked with a friend (instead of running as I'd planned).  Other than that I've had very little activity unless you include one day of reasonably heavy yardwork and a day of shopping. ;)

Eating has been ... OK.  I haven't journalled my eating completely for about 3 weeks now.  But I've tried to be mindful and I don't think it's been bad really.

The good news is my weight is holding.  The scale is fluctuating around the same numbers and is basically the same.

The bad news is my body is not. :(  I feel gushy - yuck!  My muscles need a workout.

Unfortunately tonight I have hours of bookkeeping that I'm working on. (just taking a short break to post what I typed up earlier)  But, tomorrow morning I plan to go to a fitness class or do a similar workout at home.  No matter what I've got going on I can't let this slide.

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I have a new love ♥.  A while ago Susan posted about her new love ... her Magic Cookie.  I gave it a try and while it wasn't quite the thing for me, it did spark an interest in me for a great new breakfast I've been having.  Especially at this time of year I like something warm in my belly in the mornings.

1 cup water
1/2 cup oats
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tablespoon peanut butter

I put the oats & water in a pot on med-low for about 5 minutes and then just before eating I stir in the protein powder and the peanut butter.

You may remember that I have a variety of peanut butter on hand, so it's easy to make this a little different when I want.  Of course you can always do add-ins, but I'm really like this just the way it is.  Sometimes I top it with a few sliced almonds and/or add some ground flax.

This breakfast holds me for a LONG time.


I need to make an effort to post more often.  I've still been following everyone else's blogs, I just didn't get to posting my own. 

AND ... I really NEED to make more of an effort in exercising and journalling.

I can NOT let those things slide!

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