2:17:06

10:28 per mile, 82/152 in my age group. Not as good as I was hoping for, but still decent. I had to work through a couple of side stitches, a sore hip, and the desire to throw up for the last mile. I managed to hold a 10:00 mile for about 8 miles or so. (The first mile and 7 in the middle, in between the side stitches.)

Acorn Squash Risotto

Have I mentioned that I am in love with risotto? Especially in the pressure cooker? I think I have.

Today, it was even worth the blister on my thumb (from cutting and peeling and dicing a couple of acorn squash).

I am always looking for a good squash recipe. But the first gazillion acorn squash recipes you find are sliced and stuffed. Not really in the mood for that. But then I thought "risotto", and hit pay dirt.

My ending recipe was a combination of two found here and here. Now, you probably can't go wrong with Mario Batali (but really, he goes a little heavy on the butter). And the other one I just like because it's stored at www.cs.cmu.edu. So what are recipes doing in the computer science department at CMU? I dunno, but it's my alma mater, so I had to use it.

Acorn squash risotto
2 T olive oil, divided: $0.22
1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and diced into 1/4 inch pieces: $2.00 (just a guess, we got this from the CSA)
1 onion, diced: 0.25
2 cups arborio rice: 2.50
1/2 cup white wine: 0.40
3.5 to 4 cups vegetable broth: 0.50 (I used water and a veggie broth cube)
1 T. butter: 0.06
1/2 cup grated parmesan: 0.63
salt and pepper to taste
Total: $6.56 for about 8 cups, or $0.82 per cup

Saute onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil in pressure cooker for about 5 min, until softening. Add squash and continue to cook, stirring, for 10 min.

Add rice and other Tbsp olive oil, and toast rice a bit. Add wine and broth. Put cover on pressure cooker and lock into place.

Bring to high pressure over high heat. Once at pressure, reduce heat to maintain high pressure. Cook for 5 min at high pressure.

Remove from heat, run under cold water (quick-release method). Stir. It might be pretty soupy. Add butter and parmesan and stir some more.

This was SOOOO delicious. Yum yum yum. I served it with baked chicken, baked marinated tofu, and salad.

Skillet Pasta with Salmon

This is like tuna casserole, but with canned salmon. Why canned salmon?

Well, I grew up on the stuff. We were Catholic, no meat on Fridays during lent. But fish doesn't count. And we couldn't afford fresh fish.

Also, it's cheap. And it's Wild Alaskan salmon, which means it's safer and a better environmental choice than other salmon.

My hubby's got low good cholesterol, so I'm trying to fill him with omega 3's. We've got flax and chia seeds in the house too...

This was an experiment along the lines of the "Mexican skillet pasta".

I used fresh onion and portobellos (that's what I had). I made the white sauce with dried milk and cornstarch and herbs. Frozen peas, canned salmon, water, tri-color bow-tie pasta...and it took 40 mins start to finish, major score (since I made it after getting that burrito, and took it for lunch).

Skillet Pasta with Salmon
1 14-oz can Alaskan Salmon, drained: 2.00
1 T canola oil: 0.03
6-8 oz mushrooms, chopped: 2.50
1 onion, diced: 0.25
1/2 lb pasta: 0.60
make-your-own cream soup mix: 1/2 cup (see below): 0.15
3 to 3.5 cups water, divided
1/2 bag frozen peas: 0.55
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
handful of shredded cheese: 0.25
Total: $6.33 for 8 cups, $0.79 per cup, but a serving is more like 1.5 cups, or $1.18

Cream soup mix:
http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/creamsoupmix.htm

I leave out the bouillon.

Saute onion and mushroom in oil until softened and browned.

Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup cream soup mix with 2 cups of water. Add to the sauteed onion and mushroom and stir until thickened. Add remaining cup of water, pasta, crumbled salmon, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 mins or until water is absorbed (you may need more water). Stir occasionally.

Add peas, cover and steam 5 more minutes. Stir, add cheese and mix. Serve.

I had this for lunch today. Yum! A little bland, as is typical when I take a recipe that usually comes with canned soup and remove the can (less sodium). I think next time I'd add more pepper and more herbs (basil, thyme, garlic). I'll try to post a pic later.

Butternut Squash Soup and Pomegranate Seeds

Well, we've got a bunch of pumpkins this year...several from our CSA, one from the pumpkin patch. Yesterday was the day of carving and roasting pumpkin seeds. And butternut squash seeds, because we had one of those too.

My good friends invited us over for dinner last night. I brought a salad with seeds.

No picture, sadly, but it had red leaf lettuce, lightly steamed green beans from our garden (there was only a handful), broccoli, and...pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds.


Pomegranates are a pain in the butt. But we got 6 from the farm (one more to go woo!) I put them in the salad. I had a stowaway spider who ended up in my water bath. He got sent down the drain.


Yesterday I roasted the squash itself and used it today to make my mother-in-law's famous Butternut Squash Soup. I used my fancy new Lodge Dutch Oven (La Creuset is not in the budget, and neither was a trip to Target). I've been slowly replacing some of my pots and pans. I bought a large nonstick set at Costco a few years ago. It's been great...but nonstick wears out eventually. And I cook a lot. So I've worn out almost all of of the pans (they aren't nonstick anymore). The large stockpot, the two large frying pans, and the griddle...gone. We've started using cast iron for our griddle (should last forever), and I've now made the switch to the Dutch Oven. I also saute in stainless steel now for everything except a few things that will stick like crazy (potatoes...) Interestingly, our stainless pots that my spouse got used when he headed off to college in the late 80's are still going strong.

The soup is for dinner tomorrow night and probably later in the week too. Some will find its way into the freezer I'm sure. I'd like to note that the soup itself is vegan this time. I sauteed the vegetables in canola oil. I used water and vegetable bouillon instead of chicken stock. (I don't have chicken stock.) I will probably make the ginger butter, but you could use vegan margarine instead.

Running update

So yesterday I began my "tapering" weeks. Last week was 12 miles in the awful heat and humidity with a tight hamstring (it was...awful). 11 min miles with many many stops to stretch, plus stomach cramps...I almost feel like this is a big science experiment:

1. how much do I eat before the run, and when?
2. what can I eat in the days before (i.e., I've decided no beans on Thurs or Fri)
3. how much water to drink the day before and in the morning so that I don't have to pee one mile in...which I've had to do every day except for the day that I took cold medication with pseudoephedrine.
4. drugs. none? Aleve?

Yesterday I felt MUCH better on the 10.75 miler, but still my pace was 10:47, a ways off of my (good-weather) goal of 10:00. Can I make that up on the race? "The Complete Book Of Running for Women" says so...says that I should be running my long runs at 11:09, and my half should be around 2:08. I'm not so sure.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm either going to GET a good time or HAVE a good time, but not both (especially if it's 85 degrees like last week! then it will be neither).

So we'll see. Maybe if I don't hit 2:11 this time, I can run another one and get it later. I'm not so sure how well the 39-year old body likes distance though. I think my 2010 goal is going to be more of a speed goal. My best 5k thus far is 27:19, I'm thinking I set a goal of 25:00.

Mexican Skillet Spaghetti

This recipe started with a recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Favorites. And then I adjusted it. A lot. And it was delicious.

You could make this vegan by eliminating the cheese and sour cream. I liked it with that stuff, but it's good without it too. And you could add a couple of cups of beans to the recipe too. I threw in some fat free refried beans with the leftovers...yummy!

Mexican Skillet Spaghetti
8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti: 0.65
2 T. canola oil, divided: 0.07
1 onion, diced: 0.30
1 small bell pepper, diced: 0.30
1 stalk celery, diced: 0.05
2 cloves garlic: 0.10
1/2 an ice cube pureed chipotle in adobo: 0.20
2 cups crushed tomatoes: 0.38
1.5 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp cumin: 0.02
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz cheddar cheese, shredded: 0.34
sour cream for topping
Total: $2.41 for 4 servings, $0.60 per serving.

Heat 1 T. oil over medium heat in nonstick skillet. Toast spaghetti until it starts to brown, remove to a plate.

Heat other T. oil. Saute onion, celery, pepper until soft, 6-10 min. Add garlic and cumin, stir and fry for about a minute.

Add tomatoes, water, chipotle, salt and pepper, and pasta. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 min or until pasta is cooked.

Top with cheese. Serve with kale chips. Or whatever.

Sausage and Many Bean Soup

So...a new Whole Foods just opened here in our town. Word has it that there was a line around the block to get in on the first day. So I decided to wait a couple of weeks to check it out. I've never been to a Whole Foods, and I guess ours is on the small side.

On a Friday afternoon I decided to wander on over there with my boy. I enjoyed a bit of perusing...I found that red lentils are about $1.50 per lb cheaper than the other three stores with bulk bins. I scooped a bunch, then heard "but Mommy I want the colored ones!" Sure enough, right next to the red lentils was "sunshine soup" mix. Looked like a mix of red lentils, kidney beans, pinto beans, yellow and green split peas, barley, and a few other things. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I scooped some.

Google found another poor lost soul asking for advice, which was basically "cook on low all day". I figured it was a good candidate for the slow cooker.

Sausage and Many Bean Soup
1 lb mixed bean and barley soup mix: 2.99
4 links chicken and gouda sausage: 3.00
1 Tbsp canola oil: 0.03
1 large onion, diced: 0.50
2 cloves garlic, minced: 0.10
2 large carrots, diced: 0.30
4 stalks celery, diced: 0.50
1 medium tomato, diced: 0.75
1 tsp each basil, thyme, rosemary: 0.25
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
water

Total: $8.42 for about 14 cups, $0.60 per cup

Rinse the bean soup mix, put in the crockpot. Cover with 6 cups of water and turn on high for two hours. Reduce heat to low. Cook for several more hours.

Saute onions, sausage, carrots, and celery in a pan in oil until starting to brown. Add garlic and spices, except for salt and pepper. Saute a couple more minutes.

I have a vegetarian slow cooker book that specifically mentions sauteing vegetables - not only does it impart rich, carmel-y flavors, but it also gets them softened. I have learned the hard way that carrots don't like to soften in a low crockpot. When browned, deglaze the pan with a little bit of water.

Add the sausage and vegetables to the pot. At this point, I added two more cups of water that I heated in the microwave with a little bit of beef bouillon, until I read the package and realized there was no beef in the bouillon, but there was MSG. So, most of the cube went into the trash, but some made it into the soup.

Continue to cook over low for a couple more hours. Add the tomato, cook a bit more.

There was a method to my "add a bit here and there" madness. It's possible that you could dump everything in the crock in the morning and it would be fine at the end of the day. I don't know. I've read, though, that salting dried beans (or adding acid, like tomatoes) makes them impossible to soften. Of course, I've read elsewhere that it's not true. Being as this was a weekend, I decided why risk it? So I cooked the beans first, and basically added the rest of the stuff when the beans were mostly cooked through and softened.

The tomato was added last because I forgot about it.