Category: Health

Last week’s recipes

~ meh ~ 4 Comments

My first week of cooking was….less than exciting.  (And it was cut short by a weekend wedding in Texas.)   I was a little bit disappointed by my creativity, I tend to gravitate towards recipes I know and like as opposed to the Kentucky Proud site.  And the theme this week was apparently turkey.

Sunday:

Turkey loaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Green Salad

The turkey loaf was surprisingly healthy comfort food that I had never thought of making before.  Mashed potatoes and salad were fine.  Off to a good start.

Monday:

Tacos (with the leftover turkey from the turkey loaf.)  Boring.  But still tasty.

Tuesday:

My most favorite turkey chili recipe ever.  It is super easy to make and there are lots of leftovers.   I add a little extra chipotle (careful, it’s super hot…and P.S. no one in Kentucky knows what en adobo means…I had to go to three stores to find it), corn, and use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  If you have avocados it’s even better.  Super delish.  (My colleague told me that to maximize the scrumptiousness of any chili, corn and chipotle are a must.  So true.)

Wednesday

Leftover chili

Thursday

Beef Stroganoff (per Paul’s request)

A few changes to make it a little bit healthier: wheat noodles instead of egg (makes a huge difference in the amount of cholesterol), fake soy meat instead of ground beef (a bag of it stolen from Paul’s parents’ house), and again plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  Wasn’t a huge fan of the recipe, tasted like it was missing something…maybe meat.  Though I’ve made beef stroganoff before with fake meat and it tasted just fine.  Probably won’t use this recipe again.

Friday-Sunday

Tacos at 3am at taqueria Taco Cabana in Austin.

Here’s to a better 2nd week of cooking.

Letting go of the past…in the kitchen

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Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely…

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Paul's Birthday Banana Bread--final presentation

 

The cookies that came out like scones because there was a little mix up between baking soda and baking powder, almost burning everyone’s eyes out because you accidentally substituted 3 tablespoons of cayenne for what should have been paprika in the frying pan…those days are in the past.  Nowhere to go but up.

…and as fate would have it, I came across this site the other day.  What better way to start a new chapter in the kitchen than by following Kentucky Proud Recipes.  Because I am in Kentucky.  And I am proud.

Cook, Pray, Run

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Being new in town and unemployed, where the one person I do know well is attempting to survive the first year of med school, while living in a small apartment with very little furniture (our living room is 2 chairs), no internet, no TV, and few working appliances…I need to get out, find ways to maximize my enjoyment during this rare period of time off.

And so, in the spirit of productivity and enjoying my (hopefully) short-lived freedom, my days have been (and will continue to be) devoted to three central activities:

  • Cook:  I am not a good cook.  But I am going to be.  I have been trying to make sure Paul has dinner every night when he gets home (because, well, I am a lady that lunches, and that is what we do).  For both his and my own sake, I am committing myself to improving my technique…through practice.  I am cooking a different meal (that requires more than throwing bread and cheese or something frozen in the toaster oven) at least 5 nights a week.
  • Pray: for a job.
  • Run: I have that half marathon in December.  Instead of just trying to finish it (which was my original goal, considering I didn’t exercise at all for over 3 months), I have decided I am going to try to PR it…which may not be as impressive as it sounds, considering the only other half-marathons I’ve ran were 1.) with a friend who walked part of it, and 2.) the day after Halloween in San Francisco.

And coaching (but that messes up my title, and it’s a job, so I left that out.) Not a bad way to spend your day.   Anyone who’s around is welcome to join in the trifecta.

On the run

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I went for my first run last week since Argentina.  It had been 3 months since my last run, and after many many weeks on the couch I got excited.  So excited, in fact, that I signed up for a half marathon in December with an old colleague from grad school before I even went on my first run.   (And no, we didn’t realize that it was NASCAR theme until after we decided to sign up…it just reconfirmed we were making the right decision.)

So, I headed out on my easy, mellow, slow 3 mile jog pretty amped about being back in the game.  I made it about 15 minutes before I bent over double and almost barfed. Since then, I’ve run 5 more times.  It’s gotten marginally better.  On my four miler today I didn’t feel like barfing until 20 minutes in.

This half marathon should be great.

Fall 7 times…

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Nana korobi, ya oki.

~Japanese proverb

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

There is a guy that swims on the Masters team that I coach named George.  George is 55 and his life goal has been to qualify for the Ironman in Kona, Hawaii.  (For those of you unfamiliar with an Ironman, it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run…one right after the other.  Absurd.)   To qualify for Kona you have to either achieve a certain time or place at specific races.  It’s a prestigious race, really difficult to qualify.

2 weeks ago, George completed the Ironman Louisville.   He dropped his time by 40 minutes, won his age group, and will be flying to Hawaii in 3 weeks to race at Kona.  His marathon time was 3:41, over 20 minutes better than his previous PR.

Louisville was his 8th Ironman.

Fernet and Coke

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This is the polar opposite of favorite.  Fernet and coke is a popular drink here for both men and women.  It tastes like….death.  Mixed with coke.  But, our new Argentinian friends (below) were all about it and bought me one…so I had to pretend to like it.  Don’t ever get one, no matter what the locals tell you.