Things I really love.

Everyone has a list of things that they can’t live without, including me.  As I was driving home the other day, the idea struck me to share these things with you.  Obviously, my husband and children are at the top of the list…but these goodies are a close second. 

I already shared with you one thing that has been a lifesaver…my friend, the foam roller.  I am telling you, this piece of Styrofoam is amazing and well worth the $20 I paid for him.   He massages sore muscles without the expense of a therapist.  

I am in love with Benefit’s Lemon Aid.  My friend, Beth, introduced me to this little miracle in a case.  It is a thick, soft yellow correcting cream that is used on the eyelids to erase redness and discoloration.  When I use this cream in the morning, my eyes look brighter and ready to go!  Plus it serves as a nice base for eyeliner and eyeshadow.  

Vaseline…the tried and true petroleum jelly that has about a zillion uses.  I like to use it on my lips at night, or before a run in the cold weather because it soothes and protects against dryness and cracking.  I have been known to slather it on my hands at night while covering them with a pair of cotton gloves.  The warmth generated from the gloves helps the Vaseline to penetrate into my skin causing me to wake-up with smooth and moisturized hands.  It is a great way to remove eye make-up too.

Last summer my husband bought me a Garmin running watch for my birthday and I will never go back to wearing an Ironman or a Nike watch again.  I love the way it tracks the distances and paces I run, plus it is great to keep track of splits.  It’s also perfect to take on a vacation run where you aren’t familiar with the area.  

I am not a big lipstick fan, nor do I wear a lot of make-up, but I do love Christian Dior’s Serum de Rouge.  This lip gloss goes on smooth for a lightweight, colorful sheen and it comes in a plethora of colors.  They don’t sell it at Sephora anymore, so I have been ordering it online through Nordstrom’s.  Trust me, it’s worth it!

While heels look amazing with many outfits, sometimes my feet just call for a comfy pair of ballet flats.  On those days, I turn to my favorite pair.  These black, jeweled beauties have been worn a ton!  They are comfortable and look great with just about any outfit.  It will be a sad day for me when they go into retirement.  

This past fall I hosted a Premier jewelry party for my friend Lauretta.  While I got a ton of cool pieces, my absolute favorite is the Runway necklace.  This silver sparkler goes with almost every outfit I own, and I find that I wear it to school a few times a week.  

I will admit it...I love dark chocolate.  My favorite is this delectable bar made by Chocolove.  It is a  hunk of sweetness that contains pure, rich dark chocolate along with almonds and sea salt.  In my opinion, it's the perfect combination of sweet and salty.  This treat will put you in the mood to do just about anything, maybe even a load of laundry! 

Lastly, while I love my family to pieces, I am truly in love with my little boy.  Willsey is my 10-month old Golden Retriever and he is a pure beauty.  He is loveable, but a little crazy at times.  And, he is always there for me at the end of a long day.  In the future, I believe he will make a fine training partner too. 

So here you have it…a few of my favorite things.  So what are your favorite things?  I would love to hear what your go-to items are and why they are special…

I need a rest from the weekend.

Ah, it’s Monday.  There’s nothing like starting a new workweek.  Kidding.

As I said yesterday morning, I was off to meet Coach Jesse at the track for a session of quality speed work.  This workout officially kicked off my speed training and going into it, I was a little nervous of the unknown.  But after completing the workout, it wasn’t half bad!  The craziness all began at approximately 8 am. 

The workout started off with the typical 2-mile warm-up.  Once I got back to the track, Jesse suggested that I continue my warm-up with a set of drills.  Apparently, these drills are “what the kids are doing these days.”  His words, not mine… 

Why do drills before a workout?

I found this link that explains why a runner should do drills in place of stretching before a hard workout.  I only did a few of them to get me started, but this link is very thorough.  Check it out!

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/warm-ups-mobility-exercises-will-prepare-the-body-to-move-quickly-and-efficiently-345

Now I was ready.  The actual workout consisted of 4 x 600 meters at 5:20 mile pace with 3 minutes rest in between, followed by a gradual cutdown of 3 x 200 meters with 2 minutes of rest in between.

Here are my times. The goal was to be around 2 minutes for the 600's and under 40 seconds for the 200's.  

600 = 2:00.75 / 2:01.76 / 2:01.13 / 2:01.32

200 = 38.8 / 36.99 / 35.5

1 ½ mile cool down

After my workout, I treated myself to a large decaf Dunkin Donuts coffee with cream and sugar.  Like they say, I run on Dunkin! 

Why this workout?  I’m planning on running a 1,500-meter race on the track in April.  A lot of these workouts are geared towards running that race, as well as the local 5Ks in the spring and summer.

Next up was dinner for a few friends at our house.  Here was the menu…

Appetizers:

Pea Pesto Crostini – a recipe created by Giada DeLaurentiis (link at bottom of page)

This is a delicious and creamy pesto that is delicious served on toasted baguette slices and topped with cherry tomato halves.  If you haven’t tried this one…do it!  It’s a keeper.  

Assorted cheese platter filled with a slice of smoky gouda, a wedge of creamy champagne cheddar, and pieces of extra sharp cheddar.  

And Lauretta brought this yummy guacamole with blue corn chips...

Entrée menu:

Marinated London broil

Mashed red potatoes with cream cheese

Steamed broccoli with a touch of Hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil from our local oil and vinegar tasting room

Arugula salad with feta, almonds, and cranberries topped with Meyer Lemon extra virgin olive oil (from the tasting room too!)

Dessert:

Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing

Here is the link for the pea pesto crostini:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pea-pesto-crostini-recipe/index.html

And Jesse brought some of my favorite wine, along with some beer from his home state of Wisconsin.  

Phew…Sunday was a busy day!  Now I need a rest day from the weekend.  I hope you have a great start to your week! 

Enjoy!

Tracy

A PA Dutch Lunch

Good morning!  Yesterday was a beautiful Saturday.  I woke up, took my daughter to basketball, and went for a nice and easy 4 ½ mile run.

Later on in the day, Fred and I were invited to a luncheon at the home of Cole and Elsie.  They are a nice couple from our church and they planned a very nice meal for us. Take a look!

We sat down to a beautiful table spread, complete with menu cards at each place setting.  I think I will have to steal this idea for my next lunch or dinner event!

First course started the lunch with a choice of clam chowder or tomato soup.  I chose tomato!  It was delicious and I have to get the recipe from Elsie.

The main course was a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch meal…chicken potpie.  This comfort food was creamy and rich, and it was filled with juicy chicken, potatoes, herbs and homemade noodles.  Yum! 

Dessert followed with a delectable tray of goodies including rice krispie treats with chocolate, assorted pastries, and a fruit combination of peaches and bananas in a rich cherry sauce.

Elsie and Cole have a huge garden during the summer months and they can a lot of veggies.  They make a lot of pickled relishes and homemade jellies and jams too.  Take a look at their canning cellar.  Isn’t it amazing?

They also have a cold cellar which is placed under their front porch.  It is a walk-in room nestled deep into the ground that remains at a steady 55 degrees all year long.  Here they keep their stock of onions and potatoes for use throughout the year.  You don’t find these too often in new construction!

What a nice way to spend a Saturday lunch!  Good food, good conversation, and I learned a lot!

Now I am off to my morning track workout with Coach Jesse.  This will be my first “real” workout on the track in years.  I told him to take it easy on me, so we’ll see if he listens.  I will fill you in on the details tomorrow.  Have a great Sunday! 

Tracy

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemon and Herbs

Poor Fred!  My husband has been under the weather for a few days and he asked me to make him some chicken noodle soup on Thursday night.  I decided that chicken soup would be the perfect ending to another cold and rainy day, so I looked in my fridge to see what ingredients I had and here’s what I came up with…

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemon and Herbs

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion (or a half of a large), diced

3-4 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cartons low-sodium chicken broth, 32-ounces each

¼ cup parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon thyme, chopped

1 bay leaf

¼ cup leaves from the tops of celery (optional)

1 small piece of a Parmesan cheese rind

1 small can of corn

¼ pound spaghetti noodles, broken into approximately 2 inch pieces, cooked and drained

Juice from ½ of a lemon

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place two chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked through.  Shred almost immediately and set aside. 

Bring a separate pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to the instructions on the package until they are al dente, or firm.  Set aside when finished.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add carrots, onion, and celery and cook until soft, about five minutes.  Make sure you add a little kosher salt at this point.  Add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a gentle boil.

Add rosemary, thyme, parsley, celery leaves (optional), bay leaf, corn, and cheese rind.  Let simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.   

Add the shredded chicken to the soup and heat through.  

When ready, ladle into bowls and squeeze a small amount of fresh lemon juice over the top to give it a fresh, clean taste.

The finished bowl of soup!

Why Herbs de Provence?  This is a mixture of dried herbs used primarily in French cooking.  The herbs that generally make up this mixture include savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender.  The flavor of these spices is amazing on chicken or pork.  I recently found a nice jar of Herbs de Provence at my local Marshall’s in their kitchen department.  

Why Celery leaves?  Celery leaves (you know, the leaves at the top of a stalk of celery) can be used like an herb. They add a ton of extra flavor to soups and stews, and tend to sweeten when cooked.

Other notes:  A store-bought rotisserie chicken can be used in place of baking the chicken breasts in the oven.  Just buy, and shred!  Also, I like to keep my noodles separate and add them as needed. 

For dessert: It's that time of year again!  I had myself some Girl Scout cookies...one of each: a Thin Mint and a Peanut Butter Patty.  

 

This soup was relatively fast, easy, and simply delicious.

Enjoy!

Tracy

TGIF and Pineapple Stuffing.

TGIF!

The weekend is finally upon us and I am super excited!  It’s not like I have anything marvelous planned, but I look just look forward to sleeping in an hour or two later, running earlier in the day, straightening up my house, and just being with my family. 

Yesterday at our early morning faculty meeting, my team was assigned breakfast duty.  At my school, we like to eat…so whenever there is an opportunity where food can be slipped in, we find it. 

I decided to make an old tried, but true recipe that I’ve had in my basket for many years.  It is a delicious casserole that can be made for breakfast, like I did yesterday, or it is amazing paired with a ham for dinner.

As you see in the picture, the recipe card is there.  However, I always make some changes for a few reasons.

1.     The crushed pineapple that I find comes in 20-ounce cans, rather than the 16 ounces the recipe suggests. 

2.     The white bread that I get has about 16 slices of bread (or so) so I try to use the whole thing (minus the ends).

3.     By adding the extra bread and pineapple, I can bake my casserole in a 9 x 13 dish, rather than in a pie plate.  This serves more people.

4.     As a teacher, I notice words that are misspelled and cinnamon is one of them! Who wrote that??

When I make this recipe for a breakfast, I try to cut the bread into cubes the night before and place them in a large plastic bag. I also measure out the sugar in a large bowl and set out the butter so it comes to room temperature. 

Here is my recipe:

Pineapple Stuffing

1 stick butter at room temperature

4 eggs

¾ cup sugar

20-ounce can of crushed pineapple

15-16 slices of white bread

cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

First, cream the eggs, sugar, and butter together in a large bowl. Add the drained pineapple and combine. 

  Finally, add the cubed bread and mix until coated. 

Place the mixture into a sprayed baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  

Tada!  The finished product!!  This dish can be served hot or at room temperature, so it is perfect to take to a function…plus it makes a great brunch addition.  

Here is a picture of my crazy team, sans Katie.  Overall, I think we did a great job since it was only 7:30 in the morning! 

As you can tell, this recipe isn’t exactly low fat or full of nutritious ingredients...but it sure is good…and worth it!

Enjoy!

Tracy

Progression run and a girls' night.

Hello!  I hope you are all doing well!  It's a little damp and rainy here today, but it's nothing a hot cup of tea can't fix...

Yesterday I really, really REALLY, wanted to get in a long run, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, it didn’t happen.  I finally got to run after I accomplished the few things I had to do.  Because I only had a limited amount of daylight available, I decided to do my progression run for the week.

Here I am getting ready for my run.  It was such a nice day here in the Lehigh Valley!

By the way, I love these types of shirts where the sleeves have the thumb loop built in.  They are perfect for chilly days when you want to cover your hands, but don’t want to wear gloves.

Here it is worn as a regular sleeve.  Cute, right?  It’s the little things that make me happy!! 

Ok, enough about sleeves….

Meet Coach Jesse...

He is the new Director of Cross-Country and Track & Field at my alma mater, Moravian College, and he is currently serving as my training “advisor.” Coach Jesse believes that progression runs are an essential part of a runner’s training.  Here’s what he has to say:

What is a progression run?

There are a few benefits/purposes.  The first is to simulate the end of a race.  You’ll be more tired in the last 3^rd of the race, so by doing a progression, you recreate that scenario.  You’ve accumulated some fatigue (not as much as in a race, but still), and now you’ve got to physically and mentally prepare to fight through that fatigue.  In a race, this requires you to focus on driving your knees forward, getting good heel recovery so you have a faster swing phase in your stride, rolling up onto the balls of your feet, and maintaining good upper body posture, all while you’re a little tired…a progression run recreates this scenario and requires you to do all of these things.

What I like about progression runs, though, is that you should keep them “aerobic,” meaning not dipping too close to your lactate threshold.  You can get in a high quality run, without accumulating a lot of the metabolic wastes that would come with a faster run (e.g. lactate accumulation in the legs which can take 36 hours to remove via the liver, or substantially depleting your glycogen)…so you get in a hard effort that simulates a race, but without being too taxing on the body.  For this reason, I do these a lot 2 days before a race – I can sneak in another workout without beating up athletes.  And usually you feel good about yourself when you can blast out a few good miles at the end of a run that don’t feel too terribly hard.

Additionally, by training at a faster pace that is still predominantly aerobic, you more effectively develop your capillaries within your working muscles, which means more blood is getting to the muscles.  This also means more oxygen than if you ran at a slower pace.  It increases some enzymes and mitochondria within the muscle as well…so basically it enhances a lot of the process that you utilize to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, and use it as an energy source…but again, it’s not overly taxing either from a mental, or physiologic standpoint.

Thanks, Jesse.  Your input was great!  You rock!

So today I decided to do a 5-mile progression run on a course that I like to run.  Here’s the run-down: I did the first 2 ½ miles at a decent pace (about 7:42) and ended up at the turn around point in 19:15.  I stopped for a few seconds to stretch and then immediately began my return home.  My second half was faster, just like I planned.  I completed the second 2 ½ miles in 16:34, which brought me to a final time of 35:49.  Coming back, my pace was just under 6:40 pace, with my last mile at 6:20.  I felt pretty good, the weather was perfect, and my muscles were ready. 

When I got home, I did the normal routine…stretched, foam rolled, and fed Willsey.  Then my daughter and I had a girls’ night complete with Panera Bread soup and a chocolate chip cookie to share.  It was the perfect ending to a good day!  

Tracy

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip-Flax Cookies with Cranberries

Happy Wednesday!  With half the workweek behind me, I see Friday in my forecast!  Yay!  

I decided to try a new recipe over the weekend and I must say, the feedback was more than positive.  When you tell people that a cookie or baked good is healthy (or semi-healthy), you can automatically see the reaction in their eyes.  Healthy cookies = yucky flavor.  Not so much with these cookies!!  I took them to school with me and let my colleagues try them out in the faculty room.  Keep in mind that my friends can be tough critics, but the cookies received glowing remarks…despite the whole-wheat flour, ground flaxseed, and wholesome oats.  So go ahead…try them out and let me know what you think!  Here's the recipe...

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip-Flax Cookies with Cranberries

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

¼ cup flaxseed, finely ground in a spice grinder or mini-blender, or pre-ground

1 teaspoon baking soda

½  teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ sticks butter

1 cup white sugar (granulated)

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup dried cranberries

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     In a small bowl, combine flour, oats, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3.     In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with a  mixer on medium-high until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each egg.  Beat in the vanilla.  Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture slowly and beat until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and cranberries.

4.     Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets.  Transfer onto racks and cool completely.  

Why flaxseed?

Flaxseed has been around for ages, possibly as early as 3000 BC in Babylon, according to the Flax Council of Canada.  Some may call this seed one of the most powerful plant foods on Earth.   Flaxseed contains an abundance of essential fatty acids, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, lignin, protein and zinc.  Some nutritionists now think that it’s the second most vital supplement after a multivitamin, as it helps every major system in your body (cardiovascular, immune, circulatory, reproductive nervous...even your joints!)  It also included both soluble and insoluble types of fiber. 

Flax seed has been shown to be specifically beneficial to:

• lower breast/colon cancer risks, due to its high lignan content (Flax is 100 times richer in lignan than most other grains)

• The Omega-3 fatty acids help lower cholesterol and triglycerides

• Reduces risk of high blood pressure, water retention, inflammation (inflammation....the runner's worst recurring issue)

• Shortens recovery time for post-exercise muscles (runners remedy)

• Increases energy and stamina (runners remedy)

• Speeds healing of sprains/bruises (who knew you could do something to get rid of bruises!)

• Helps fight obesity by increasing metabolism (sure there are 60 calories per 2 tablespoon serving, but lets keep our eye on the big picture here)

The brand I prefer is called Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal.  It is available in most grocery or health food stores.  For about $4 a bag, you can’t beat the benefits you get from such a small dose.  Just a reminder, flaxseed oil or meal must be kept refrigerated or frozen.

I hope you enjoy these delicious and nutritious cookies!  

Enjoy!

Tracy

healthy minestrone soup.

Hello! 

What else is better on a rainy day than a bowl of hot, homemade soup made with lots of vegetables and healthy ingredients?  Not much!  So I decided to make this version of minestrone soup over the weekend and we had it for dinner last night.  As you can see, I added cabbage to my soup.  Believe it or not, there are a handful of reasons why cabbage should be a part of our daily (or maybe weekly) diet. 

Why cabbage?

• Cabbage may be used to treat acute inflammation, the initial reaction your body has to trauma (ex: swelling or redness)
• Cabbage is also known as lactic acid that acts to disinfect the colon
• Cabbage can also be used to relieve headaches
• Cabbage has anti-cancer properties in it, and is also said to be capable of treating other skin conditions
• Drinking cabbage juice from the stem is a good cure for ulcers
• Cabbage may help reduce the risk of developing colon cancer
• Cabbage has high levels of fiber to help keep our intestines healthy

To start, I gathered a bunch of produce from my local grocery store.  Notice all of the gorgeous colors!

Willsey decided that he wanted to help too…

Tada!  The finished product was served with some fresh bread. Yum!

Here's the recipe!

Healthy Minestrone

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

2 large stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

½ head Savoy or Napa cabbage, finely sliced, blanched and drained

½ bunch Swiss chard, finely sliced

1 large baking potato, cut into small cubes

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 medium tomatoes, diced

1 – 28 ounce can coarse ground tomatoes

1 tablespoon thyme, chopped slightly

3 sprigs rosemary, chopped slightly

½ cup parsley, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

2 cups spinach, roughly chopped

Kosher salt and pepper

1 small piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional)

1.     To blanch the cabbage – first remove the core and cut into fine slices.  Place into a stockpot of boiling water and cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Drain and place into an ice bath.  Leave it in the ice bath until needed.

2.     Using the same stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high.  Add the onion, celery, garlic, and carrots and cook until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes. 

3.     Add 4 cups water, the cabbage, chard, potato, chicken broth, tomatoes, herbs, canned tomatoes, and cheese rind.  Bring soup to a gentle simmer and cook about 30 minutes. 

4.     Place half of the can of beans into a food processor or mini blender.  Add a splash of water and puree until smooth.  Add the bean puree and the beans to the soup and simmer for about 15 more minutes.  Add the spinach and cook 2 -3 more minutes.

Note: Season with kosher salt throughout the cooking process to add depth of flavor to the soup.  When you wait until the end to add the salt, you are left with a salty taste.  Also, save your parmesan cheese rinds!  Cut them up and put them in the freezer because they are a great way to add extra flavor to your soups.  Leave the cheese rind in the soup since it will eventually (almost) melt away.  Serves 8 people.

I guess Willsey is tired from all his cooking in the kitchen!

Willsey had a rough day at doggie training.  He is in the process of becoming a model doggie citizen.  I am sure all of his hard work tired him out!

Enjoy!

Tracy