Food, Fit, & Fun

I’m still in the process of creating my blog & getting it up to speed….

I’m over here now!

Our meal started with some great bread with a seasoned olive oil for dipping.  My sister and I split the baby Arugula Salad with candied figs, fresh berries, french lentils, and warm goat cheese.

This picture is from the last time that I went here since I forgot to snap a picture this time.  I love this salad.

For my entree, I ordered the Whole Branzino (a delicate white fleshed fish).  This came with a grilled lemon, cous cous, and roasted brussel sprouts.

This was my first time ordered a whole fish without it being fileted prior to eating.  Very fresh & delicious.  Branzino is one of my favorites.

We decided to skip on the dessert this time and instead ordered cups of tea.  On our walk home, I knew I wanted to stop at a frozen yogurt place that I’ve been meaning to go to, Yogorino.  This is an Italian Frozen Yogurt place and this location is the first one in the United States.  Their frozen yogurt is all-natural and organic.  They have one flavor, Tart.  However, this is not as tart as the typical tart yogurts that I have tasted.  Their toppings are amazing.  I am so, so upset that I did not take a picture because they presented the yogurt in a really pretty way.  I ordered a yogurt with raspberries, pomegranate seeds, & a semi-sweet chocolate sauce that hardened as it dried.  Heaven on earth.  I was licking my bowl clean.  Loved it.  I will be back soon so don’t fret, you will be able to see the best tasting yogurt ever!

Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Broccoli, Spinach, & Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce topped with parm. cheese

My Favorite Tomato Sauce

1 big can of Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes

1 small can of Tomato Paste

water

Salt & Pepper

Garlic

Dried Basil & Parsley

Fresh Basil

Olive Oil

Saute a small amount of olive oil and garlic over medium heat in a big pot.  Be careful not to burn the garlic!!  After the garlic has had a chance to saute, add the can of Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes and break the tomatoes up with your hands or a wooden spoon.  I like to leave some of the tomatoes chunky, but that’s just my preference.  After the tomatoes are mostly broken up, add the can of Tomato Paste, half of a big can of water,  dried basil, dried parsley, salt, pepper and fresh basil.  Use your judgement with the amounts that you put in.  I like to rip some of the fresh basil up and toss it in & I also throw some whole leaves of basil in the pot.  Bring up to a boil and then let simmer for as long as you can!

There you have it.  My favorite tomato sauce ever.

Turkey meatballs are also delicious.  I actually can’t remember the last time I had a regular beef meatball.  I tend to make either chicken or turkey meatballs.  They are much healthier for you and I think that they taste better too.  Lots of people fry their meatballs, but this version is baked…making them even healthier for you.

Turkey Meatballs

1 package of ground turkey breast (it is important that you buy ground turkey BREAST, this is all white meat.  They also sell ground turkey, which is a mix of dark and white meat)

salt & pepper

dried basil & parsley

1 egg or 1 egg white

1-2 small handfuls breadcrumbs (I use Whole Grain Bread Crumbs)

1-2 small handfuls Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

few cloves of minced garlic

milk

Place the ground turkey in a big bowl.  Add the egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, dried basil & parsley.  Mix together with your hands.  Add a little bit of milk.  Be sure not to overmix the turkey mixture!  If the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs…if it is too dry, add more milk.  Form into balls.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with PAM.  Drizzle a little olive oil over meatballs.  Bake for about 20 minutes, turning the meatballs over about 1/2 way through cooking.  Enjoy!

Dinner was also served with an amazing loaf of bread that I picked up from Whole Foods today, Organic Multiseed Batard.  Next time you’re at Whole Foods, look for it and pick it up!  So amazing.

The ingredients list: water, organic wheat flour, organic whole wheat flour, organic rye flour, organic sunflower seeds, organic sesame seeds, organic rolled oats, organic pumpkin seeds, organic flax seed, sea salt, yeast, organic dough conditioner (organic wheat flour, enzymes, ascorbic acid)

Stay tuned later in the week for some more good recipes that I have planned!

This weekend I went to both an Eagles & Flyers game with Todd.  One of Todd’s friends works for the Flyers so we went along with him & some of his friends to the game and sat in box seats.  It was awesome.  I love Flyers games.  Last night, my Dad had tickets to the Eagles/Cowboys game and he gave them to Todd & I.  It was a beautiful night and the stadium was PACKED.  Unfortunately, the Eagles lost, but we still had an awesome time.  The fans that sit around us are absolutely crazy.  I was laughing the whole time.

I also spent some of my weekend helping my Mom move things out of my Grandmom’s house.  That was HARD work.

Anyway…I really have too much to update about that I’m just not going to!  haha

I am trying to think of a new format for my blog.  I threw around the idea of beginning a new blog and starting from scratch, which I may still do.  I just don’t have time right now.  So for now, I’m thinking of updating at least once a week with a recipe or something of the sort.  Still thinking about it.  Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Friday night was a lot of fun.  After teaching first grade, I picked up Christina at the train station.  I invited my parents over for dinner so Christina and I went to DiBruno Bros. to pick up some ingredients.  We bought some awesome cheese, my favorite being one called Primadonna.  We served this with grapes, crackers, red & white wine and some multi-grain bread.

For dinner, I made Filet Mignon, steamed Brussel Sprouts, and Sweet Potato gnocchi in a Brown Butter Sage Sauce.

haha the meat looks so tiny.  This was an awesome meal.

Lots more gnocchi was eaten!  DiBruno Bros. makes homemade sweet potato gnocchi, so that is what I used.  I made my own sauce for this…which was real easy!

I was SO stuffed after this meal.  SO filling but so good!

I was so happy that my parents came over.  We had a great time.  They even brought my dog, Andie!

Saturday morning was a big day for Christina and I…and the reason she came home for the night!  We had our 20 mile run.  Saturday was the peak of our training and we taper from here on out!  I was pretty nervous about this run.  My runs had not been so stellar since I had been real sick about a week ago.  My 19 miler while I was sick wasn’t really a run to remember either.  But towards the end of this week, I began to feel much better & I have been coughing much less.  During the run, it pretty much rained the entire time.  It wasn’t a hard rain though, so it wasn’t too bad–actually pretty refreshing.  The temperature was pretty warm too.  Our 20 miler was awesome.  I really had so much fun running.  During the last mile of my run, the song 99 Red Balloons came on my ipod.  I don’t know what it was but this song just pumped me up and I felt really good!  I think I actually sang out loud when no one was around.  We did it and we both had great runs.  Not quite positive, but I believe our average pace was around an 8:15.

After grabbing snacks and candy (It was HALLOWEEN!), showering, and all of that, we went out to a restaurant down the street called Parc. I had never been there before, but I walk by it everyday on my way home from school.  I always eye up the delicious looking bread basket as I walk by…

It was DELICIOUS!  I especially loved the Raisin Walnut Bread.

We shared the Yogurt Parfait….

Really good fruit, yogurt, and granola.

We both ordered the Oatmeal Brulee…

One word…DELICIOUS.  I tried to eat this slow to savour the deliciousness.  I didn’t want the bowl to end.  The top was crispy & caramelized just like creme brulee.  The raisins were so plump!  We said how it reminded us of our Mom-Mom’s Rice Pudding.  I DEFINITELY need to attempt to recreate this.  I have some ideas of how to in my mind already.

Last night, I met up with Todd and Kevan to watch the Phillies game at a bar down the street from Todd’s house.  Unfortunately, the Phillies lost.  They play again tonight, so we shall see what happens.  I did order a great meal there though….Grilled Apple Cider Pork Loin, with Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Mash, & Green Beans.  Sorry I didn’t take a picture!

I have a busy day of paper writing.  I have a pretty big paper due tomorrow and I haven’t started…oops!

I think I am on candy overload…I just keep going back to the candy bowl!  It’s a good way to distract me from doing work.

Back to eating candy and writing papers! Adios.

p.s. my legs are killin’ me today!

Saturday morning, I woke up and went for a run on the treadmill since it was raining outside and I am sick.  I wanted to run between 5-8 miles; however, it was pretty tough for me to run 5 miles.  So obviously, I stopped there.  These were some slowwww miles.  But at least I got myself moving again after being sick this week.  I came back to some delicious breakfast.

Oats with milk, raisins, dates, bananas, cinnamon, and honey.  So delicious.

I spent the rest of the day reading.  It was so hard to read though because I kept getting headaches.  Boo to being sick.

Later in the night, Todd called me up and we decided to get dinner at a small Italian restaurant in the city called Porcini’s.  I had been there before, but it has been a few years.

Todd & I polished off a couple of baskets of bread, per usual.  I started off with a grilled squid and octopus dish in a lemon vinaigrette.

Was okay.  I thought there was way too much dressing on this.  I would have preferred just fresh lemon juice.

For my entree, I really wanted their homemade Spinach Tagliatelle with Jumbo Lump Crab Meat, but I had both nights prior to Saturday night, so I decided that I should probably switch it up.  Instead, I went with the Balsamic Chicken.

I thought that this was okay too.  Nothing to write home about.  The potatoes were actually really, really good.  Too bad there were only a few!

Todd & I shared Tiramisu for dessert…one of my favorites.  This was pretty good!  I loveeeee Tiramisu.

SUNDAY was the best day of my weekend.  I woke up and went out for my long run.  I was thinking that I’d be happy if I completed 8 miles considering the way I’ve been feeling…although I really wanted to run more like 12-13.  On my way out the door, Todd told me to just do my best and go for it even if I have to walk it.  Well he might not even remember saying that because he was half asleep, but it really helped me and encouraged me to go out with a bang.  I ended up running 12 miles.  Although they were not the fastest miles ever, I ran them.  It was also SO BEAUTIFUL outside.  A perfect fall day.  I’m praying that I recover this week for the big TWENTY next weekend!!!!  Can you believe it??? Then it’s already Taper Time.  This is Crazy.

Todd took me out to brunch this morning at a place that he passes on his way to work.  A friend of his recommended Todd to take me there.  It was called Terrain at Styer’s.  Their menu constantly changes so the menu on the website is different than what they had when we went.  This place was so neat.  It was a big place with lots of different plants, flowers, pumpkins, fruits, books, cookbooks, soaps, candles, EVERYTHING.  Really cool place.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was pretty cool too.  The ground was dirt and it was located in a neat little Greenhouse.

Hi…

Hi Todd…

The brunch menu was pretty small and had only 4 items.  However, the lunch menu contained many more items.  I was in the mood for breakfast though & so was Todd.

I started off with a glass of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice and Todd ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte (or something along those lines).

I love fresh squeeze o.j.!  I also ordered a cup of Green Tea.

For my meal, I ordered the Oatmeal with Pears & Maple Syrup.

I thought that this was really good.  Although it did not taste like typical oatmeal, nor was it the consistency of regular oats.  I’m thinking there were some egg in there or something?  It was rather custardy I think.  There was also a TON of maple syrup.  I loved the maple syrup in there but I think there may have been just a little too much.

Todd ordered the Pumpkin French Toast.

Todd’s was SO GOOD!  I think I may have liked it more than mine.  It was made with Callah Bread.  It was so light and fluffy and pumpkiny.  Really, really incredible.

We obviously hated our meals…

I loved this little place and definitely want to go back soon.

The area we were in was very nice as well.  Todd decided to show me where he works since I had never been there.  For those of you who don’t know, Todd works for a Mushroom Company called To-Jo Mushrooms.  He has lots of responsibilities but is mainly works in Marketing and Sales.  He loves his job and I can see why.

Todd showed me his office…

The test kitchen…( I would have a ball in here)….

We walked through the Mushrooom Factory (I guess that’s what it’s called) too!

There were SO MANY mushrooms!  They looked really good too.

It was freezing in there and I had to wear a hair net.  haha.  I was surprised about how big the place was.  I was also surprised to see so much work being done on a Sunday.

Here are some To-Jo Trucks!

hahaha I loved going for a little tour.

After that adventure, we went Apple Picking.  I guess we waited too long or something because I was very unsuccessful….

Todd tried really hard, so he was a little more successful…

We both ended up filling up our bags with Apples from the bin that they had provided.  I guess they realized that they would not have many happy customers since their trees were way overpicked.  What a bummer.

It was still fun to spend some time outside though.  And we got to go on a little ride on a tractor.  We also saw goats!

My favorite goat… hahah…

We ended our fun-filled Sunday at the Flyers game.  They lost.  They played horrible.  But we still had fun!  This was my first game of the season so I really enjoyed being there.  We shared a big order of Chickie’s and Pete’s French Fries.  These are the best!  They load them with Old Bay Seasoning and have cheese to dip them in.  Love them.  I also got a soft pretzel.  Love them too.

My cold is still bothering me a lot.  It’s really giving me a headache.  I need to get better!!

I have a VERY long week ahead.  I will be working everyday all-day in the classroom and then I will have class every night until late.  That and a LOT of homework to be done.  I can get through it!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Today I bought the new ipod shuffle…in PINK!  haha I usually don’t go for the color pink, but why not?

They are so tiny!

I had the old ipod shuffle…but after using that for about 2 years of running it is only causing me trouble.  It works when it wants to.  So it’s about time for a new one.  I’ll probably load all of my songs tomorrow.

Tonight, I made the best dinner ever for Todd & I…Fusilli Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Plum Tomatoes.  I saw a recipe for this in my local newspaper the other day and knew I needed to try it.  Let me tell you, it is so much better than I imagined it would be !  I can’t wait to make it again.

Fusilli Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Plum Tomatoes

Serves: 4

6 cups peeled and cubed sugar pumpkin or butternut squash

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 1/2 Tbl olive oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4 plum tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup fresh sage leaves or 1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage

12 ounces whole wheat Fusilli (or other spiral pasta)

1/4 cup grated parm chese

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2) On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the pumpkin with the onions and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread the pumpkin in an even layer and roast until the vegetables are beginning to brown, about 15-20 minutes.

3) Stir in the tomatoes and sage, then roast, stirring once, until all the vegetables are browned and tender, about 10 minutes longer.

4) Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.

5) Drain pasta.  Toss with remaining 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil.  Add the roasted vegetables and toss gently to combine.

6) Serve.  Sprinkle with Parm Cheese.

*Note: This is not a pumpkin that you typically buy for carving/decorations.  This is a cooking/sugar pumpkin.

It did take some time to cut through this pumpkin.  I was thinking next time I could probably cut it in half and roast it in the oven for a couple of minutes to soften it up and then cube it.

These pictures do this meal no justice whatsoever…

My first serving of pasta, some salad (spinach, pears, feta cheese, candied pecans/walnuts, evoo/balsamic vinegar/s&p), Seeduction Bread.

I actually ended up not even hardly touching my salad…I went back for thirds of the pasta though…

This recipe is not to be missed.  I highly recommend that you give it a shot.  The parmesan cheese on top made ALL OF THE DIFFERENCE.  I would say it is completely necessary for this dish.  In my pictures, I had not added the cheese yet.

Another plus of making this dish…I got to roast pumpkin seeds !!!!  woo hoo!  Love these things, so tasty.

Well this meal was a huge plus side of my week.  That and the Phillies advancing to the World Series!  Can you believe it??  Two years in a row.  It was complete mayhem here.  Unfortunately I was feeling really sick that night and I had to leave Todd’s early…but they set off fireworks and celebrated on Broad Street.  I came home to my apartment and listened to the city go crazy for a few hours.  I don’t think there was a millisecond when I didn’t hear the sounds of a car horn for at least two hours.

Considering I have only ran one time this week, I am going to push my long run (which is only 13 miles this week–cut back week) back until Sunday.  It actually works out better since tomorrow it is supposed to rain !  Instead, I will do a shorter run tomorrow–probably 5-8 miles…on the treadmill if it’s not nice outside (I don’t want to get more sick!).

Tomorrow I plan to get a ton of work done.  Sunday Todd and I have a fun day planned!

I really hate being sick though.  I’m not sure what it is that I have and I’m praying it’s not the flu.  I’m sneezing, coughing, aching, and have a fever.  Not fun at all.  It also sucks because it looks like running will be pretty unproductive this week.  I doubt I will be on par with where I wanted to be for the Philly Marathon, but that’s okay.  I really care about enjoying my experience.

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post but really, I haven’t felt up to taking pictures.  I’m praying that I begin to feel better.  I think I might have to go to the doc if I’m not feeling better perhaps by tomorrow?

As of now, I have papers to write.  Watch the phillies tonight!

Yum.  Definitely one of my favorite meals.

 This was my first time to Boston, and although short, I had a great time.  My sister & I took the train and arrived to Boston Friday night.  We grabbed dinner at a restaurant downtown.  No pictures but I ordered Salmon, spinach, and a baked potato.  My sister and I also had a loaf of bread!

Saturday morning, I woke up sick!  I think Christina got me sick.  I have a horrible cold and my throat is sore.  Blah, being sick stinks.  But, anyway, my sister and I went on our 19 mile run.  Longest since the marathon last year.  We were thrilled that the sun was out–we were expecting a down pour.  It was a great run, but at about mile 14 we both were pretty beat.  Being sick is not good for running long distances.  We managed to pull through and finish the 19 miles.  At one point Christina said, let’s just call it a day.  This was around mile 17.  What do you think I told her?  That’s right.  We finished those 19 miles.  She was happy that we did.

Oh yeah, how could I forget??  Along our run we ran by tons of Vendors by the race course for the regatta including a LARABAR tent!!!  Free mini-lara bars for all!  Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Cashew Cookie, Tropical, PB & J, and Coconut.  THEY HAD PB & J!  My favorite!!!!!!  So, naturally, I loaded a bag up despite the 2 per person limit.  Oh the little things in life.  So we ran the last 6 miles with bags of lara bars.  haha.

After our run, we went out to this great little restaurant, The Friendly Toast.  I would describe this restaurant as retro.  They also gave us so much food.  Thankfully, we were hungry after just running 19 miles.  I ordered an Egg White Omelette with Tomatoes, Broccoli, and Spinach with a MOUND of Homefries.  This also came with a side of Whole Wheat Toast.

The toast was homemade and very THICKLY sliced.

SO MUCH FOOD and SO FILLING.

I also ordered a fruit salad with some sort of granola/nut mixture on top!

and a cup of Tea!

Perfect Post-Race meal.

We then spent some time shopping around before we went back to the hotel to take a short nap before meeting two of our friends, Katie & Lindsey,  for dinner in Harvard Square.

We went to Cambridge 1.

Their menu was very short and consisted of salads, pizza, beer, and wine.  So, I ordered one of my favorite meals…PIZZA!

I was pretty plain and simple tonight and ordered a pizza with tomato, fontina, romano, garlic, and basil. 

This was actually quite delicious!  I love pizza like this.  Very, very good. 

After dinner, we went to J.P. Lick’s!  I have always read about this place and now I can finally and happily say that I have been there! 

It.was.so.good.

I ordered Hard Frozen Yogurt–a scoop each of Chocolate Chip Cookie & Coffee Oreo.

I was in heaven and desperately wanted another cup of the Coffee Oreo.  That was my favorite and there were huge chunks of oreo.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Sunday we spent the day with the team for their race.  It POURED so unfortunately it was not very pleasant!  It actually even started to snow…very hard too.  We had a long ride home on the bus, and stopped at a few rest areas.  We got home around 10:00.  I turned on the Phillies game & did some laundry & reading before hitting the sack.  By the way, the Phillies had an AMAZING win last night.  Both my Dad and Todd were at the game (not together).  Lucky Ducks.

I woke up today feeling really crappy.  I really despise being sick.  I made myself a juice.  Forgot to take a picture but it consisted of CARROTS, APPLES, KIWI, & ROMAINE.  Delicious!  I love juice.

I also had an awesome bowl of Hot Oats made with Vanilla Almond Milk, Raisins, Dates, Bananas, Cinnamon, & Honey.

I spent the majority of the day writing papers and reading.  Real exciting stuff.  After class, I came home & had dinner and ice cream with the fam.  The phillies are on right now, so I’m going to go watch that with my Dad and Todd. 

Tomorrow is my Grandmom’s funeral.  I know I haven’t mentioned it on my blog yet, but my Grandmother passed away last Thursday night.  It has been really hard on my family as my Grandmom played a huge role in my life.  I have never lost anyone that has been this close to me.  I will not go into a whole speech here, but I just wanted to mention something.  It is impossible to stop thinking about her.  I will miss her so, so much.  Unfortunatley her health was rather poor, so I am trying to think about this situation in a positive manner.  I am glad that I do not have to see her suffering in the hospital bed anymore.  Well, I said I wasn’t going to make a whole speech here, so I better wrap it up.  I will love her forever with all of my heart.  She was such a strong lady and I look up to her so much.  She will be with me wherever I go in life.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week.  I’m glad that the sun has finally come out.