Touring the World: One bite at a Time!

Hello! I have had quite the tour of the world these last few days.....

Last night Evan, his family and I went to a wonderful French restaurant for their last night in Boston. Gaslight is a quaint little French bistro in the South End of Boston. The restaurant offers delicious food at reasonable prices.

We started with a bottle of Bordeaux.

I sipped on a small glass

This wine was very flavorful and bold. I enjoyed my glass greatly! Next came the WARM bread in a paper bag. I had to hold myself back before I ate the entire bag!!!

For an appetizer Evan and I split the Gaslight Salad.

My portion

For my entree I had the house special: Haddock Grill.

My meal was SOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!! It was kinda like clam chowder with haddock on top. The sauce on the bottom was creamy, but not too heavy. We then split two desserts: Chocolate Molten Cake and an Apple Tart.

I had one bite of each. Both cakes were incredible and by far the best part of the meal!

 -----------------------------

Today I went to Italy for lunch with leftover lasagna and salad (sorry I forgot to take a picture). I then took a quick pit stop at the gym where I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and then a "Club Strength" class, which was basically an hour weight lighting classes.

My final stop was Mexico where I had some tacos and black beans. YUM!

What a great trip! Hahaha! On a real note, I am currently packing for my trip to DC tomorrow for a reunion with a few high school friends. I am not sure what my running or blogging schedule will be like, but I will try my best to do an update at least once. And maybe there will be a special guest post as well.......

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

Lasagna Goodness!

Happy Hump day! I had a great day at internship today writing away and seeing students. I also ate a yummy "normal" lunch.

1/2 ham and cheese sandwich, goldfish, apple, carrots/cucumbers

After a snack, I went for a run in the BEAUTIFUL weather today:

Distance: 6.0 miles
Duration: Unknown because my Garmin had a hard time finding satellite for the first .7 of a mile
Mile .7: ???
Mile 1: 7:58
Mile 2: 8.32
Mile 3: 8:32
Mile 4: 8:22
Mile 5: 8:38
Mile .3: 2:56

I felt really good on the run and had a LOT of energy (which was weird because I have been really, really busy this week). I also experienced no knee or leg pain. I hope this holds up for the next 2 weeks. I cannot believe the race is in less than 2 weeks!!!!!

As for last night's vegetable lasagna

My table setting

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Pasta

Roasted vegetable tomato sauce

Eggplant

Mushrooms

Garlic

Olive oil

Sun dried tomatoes

Mozzarella 

Ricotta

Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

Basil

Oregano

Salt

Pepper

Garlic salt

Direction:

1) Cook lasagna noodles

2) Chop the eggplant and then grill the eggplant

3) Saute the mushrooms in the garlic and olive oil

4) While the vegetables are sauteing, mix the 3 eggs with the ricotta cheese (I used 2 small containers, but you can also use one large one), Parmesan cheese (I used half of a small container) and spices.

5) Spray the bottom of the glass baking dish and put a layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.

6) Layer the pasta, vegetables, ricotta mixture, sun dried, sauce and mozzarella cheese.

7) Continue the layering process for four layers

8) On the top put the rest of the sauce and bag of mozzarella cheese

9) Add some spices on top as well.

10) Put in the oven at 400 degrees and cook covered for 50 minutes and then an additional 10 minutes uncovered. 

11) Let cool for 10 minutes and the Enjoy!

YUM! I served mine with a large salad and garlic bread from Whole Foods.

My portion plus a little more lasagna

For dessert we had some coffee and a dessert plate we got from the North End the previous night.

Note: I did NOT eat all of this by myself!
I had 3 of the small Anise cookies that are on top. YUM!

Great night and great dinner!! Hope you are having a good day!

Striving For Balance

Happy Tuesday! It has been a rainy one here in Boston. How is your week going? Evan's parents have been in town since Saturday, so there has been a lot of dinners out and time spent away from my "normal" routine. I am also visiting friends in DC this weekend, so again there will be a lot of dinners out and drinking. I thought I would dedicate this post to finding balance, when it is not so easy to. Here are a few strategies I use to keep balance this week:

1) Try to maintain "normal" eating as much as possible. This week I have tried to eat my "normal"breakfast and lunch.

Monday's breakfast: cereal, strawberries, peanut butter and milk

Monday's Lunch: 1/2 ham and cheese sandwich, apple, carrots/celery, blueberry yogurt

Tuesday's breakfast: maple sugar oatmeal, peanut butter, banana, raisins, granola

2) Try to maintain your usual exercise routine: Yesterday (Monday) I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the stair climber and then did a few weight machines (upper and lower body). Today I did a speed workout on the treadmill at an incline of .5:

Distance: 5.15 miles
Duration: 42 minutes

Distance               Speed
.5                           6.0
.25                         7.5/8.0
.15                         6.3
.50                         7.5
.25                         6.5
.25                         8.0/8.5
.15                         6.5
.50                         8.0
.25                         6.5
.25                         8.5
.15                         6.5
.50                         8.0/8.5
.25                         6.3
.25                         8.5/9.0
.15                         6.3
.50                         8.5
.50                         6.0

3) Try to choose "healthier" meals when eating out: Last night Evan, his parents and I went to a restaurant in the North End called Bricco.

There were many, many wonderful options to eat, but I tried to go for a healthier choice. I started with just ONE slice of bread (this was most challenging for me) and a sip or two of wine (just for taste).

A small portion of the appetizer.

and a healthy entree: Grilled Salmon

I passed on dessert, but had a bite or two of Evan's Tiramisu.

4) Try to cook a meal or two. Tonight, Evan and I are making his parents vegtable lasagna (pictures and recipe tomorrow). Lasagna is not the healthiest meal, but preparing it at home ensures a healthier version than the restaurant.

5) Be flexible and have fun! It is not every day you have company or go away, so enjoy your time and understand you can pick up were you left off when your company leaves or you come home from vacation!

Have a GREAT night!!!

Newport for the Day!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, I had a lovely Sunday! The day started with a banana and some Asana yoga class at my gym. The yoga classes at my gym are not very challenging, but a perfect post-intense run workout. It actually, surprisingly, was a more challenging class than I was expecting and I am a little sore from it today. Once home, I made myself some oatmeal with apple, cinnamon, peanut butter, raisins and granola.

Oh and a little more coffee too! Around 11 my dad pulled up with his 7 passenger van and we filled up all 7 seats. We all headed down to the Newport Winery for the 1 o'clock tour. Here are a few pictures from the tour:

Then we did some tasting...

The wine was OK, not my favorite. I am no wine expert, but I felt the wine had a funny after taste that did not sit well with me. However, it was really fun tasting all the different kinds of wine and laughing with my family.

After the tasting we sat outside at the vineyard and had a picnic lunch. I was not thinking and left my camera in the car when I went to go get the picnic. So, I have no pictures of lunch. Sorry!! However, I can describe what we had: 3 types of cheese (Aged Chedder, Gouda, Comte), crackers, white bean hummus, grapes, carrots, celery, brownies and cookies. We had a feast!

We drove over to downtown Newport, RI and then to the mansions. We wanted to go into the Marble House, but it was closed for the Food and Wine festival. So, we instead went over to Rosecliffe and toured that home.

The house was BEAUTIFUL!!!! With incredible ocean views!! I wouldn't mind living here and having this view! How about you?

On the way home we stopped at Granite Links on Quarry Hill for dinner. The tavern has good food, but more important has spectacular views of Boston! Unfortunately it was starting to rain by the time we got there so we couldn't see the views too well. Oh well, the food was still great. I had lots and lots of rolls to start.

X2

I LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE bread!!! For my entree, I had a mixed greens salad with goat cheese and scallops.

The salad was good, but the scallops were a little gamey and not very good. However, it was a very nice dinner and a VERY nice day with Family!

12 Miles Done!!!

I did it! I did it!!! I ran 12 miles!!!!!! I woke up around 8 am and had some coffee, toast, peanut butter and banana. I digested and got ready for my run!

As I started getting ready Evan mentioned he would join me for 2 or 3 miles and I was thrilled to have a little company on this LONG run! So around 10am  Evan and I set out on our run. Neither one of us realized how hot it was outside (we didn't check the temps) and did not expect the heat/humidity that we encountered out there. WOW was it hot!!!! Evan lasted for 2 miles with me before he proclaimed he was too hot and dehydrated to go on. So I set out for the last 10 miles without him while he ran home.

Duration: 1:47:42
Distance: 12 miles
Mile 1.3: 9:58 (Evan was with me)
Mile 2: 9:17 (Evan was with me)
Mile 3: 8:40
Mile 4: 8:41
Mile 5: 8:56
Mile 6: 8:33
Mile 7: 9:01
Mile 8: 8:28
Mile 9: 9:06
Mile 10: 8:43
Mile 11: 9:08
Mile 12: 9:06

I felt great for the first 9 miles (except for a little boredom)! However, I was very, very thirsty the whole time and went through my whole camel pack, plus stopped at a few water fountains, and was still thirsty! It was VERY hot out!!! I tried to overcome the boredom by stopping a few times and switching up my music. After mile 9 things took a turn for the worst! My legs started to cramp up and my knee was a little achy (but not nearly as bad as it was on my 10 mile run I did two weeks ago). The worst part, after mile 9, was how hot and dehydrated I felt! I started getting nauseous and dizzy, but just tried to keep drinking water and keeping my pace steady. I made it back to my house at 11.5 miles and ran up and down my street until I hit 12 miles. Overall, this run was successful. I felt OK and my time was a little slower than normal, but still good. Two weeks to go until the half!

Once home I iced and stretched. Evan made me a smoothie to hold me over until lunch (we had to go grocery shopping). He put about a 1/2 cup of frozen berries, 1/4 cup of frozen tart yogurt, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup of almond milk. YUM!

After grocery shopping, I heated up some leftover corn chowder and bread!

I am currently getting a little work done so I can enjoy our out of town guests tonight (Evan's parents are here from Texas!!). We are hosting a dinner party for them tonight and spending the day at a winery in Newport, RI tomorrow with my parents and brother. So, I am not sure when I will be back with a recap, hopefully tomorrow night! Have a GREAT weekend!

Catching Up!

Hi Guys! Sorry I have been a little MIA, I have been very busy the last few days. I am currently getting ready for a 12 mile run (SO nervous!), but I thought I would back track and update you on the last few days.

Thursday

Thursday was very "Fallish," minus the weather. I ran 5 miles outside in the beautiful summer-like weather:

Distance: 5 miles
Duration: 42:40
Mile 1: 8:59
Mile 2: 8:03
Mile 3: 8:31
Mile 4: 8:33
Mile 5: 8:31

It was a pretty steady run, done on mostly flat terrain. I felt good and experienced no knee pain! Let's see if that holds up for today's run!

Once home (after water and icing) I had one of these guys.

Yum! I really like this pumpkin beer! It is a little heavier than Shipyard Pumpkin and a stronger beer flavor too. I had 1.5 beers throughout the night.

For dinner, Evan made a pork tenderloin seasoned with pepper, salt, tarragon, garlic powder and basil. He braised it on the stove top for a few minutes (until brown) and then let the pork roast in the oven. On the side we had some steamed broccoli (from the local Farmer's market) and mushroom risotto (frozen package from Trader Joe's).

There is a little Parmesan cheese sprinkled on the broccoli

It was the perfect Fall meal! Evan proclaimed it was the best pork tenderloin he has ever made and probably the simplest one as well.

Friday


Yesterday was a "rest" day for me, so I filled the afternoon with fun things like buying new sneakers and  getting my hair colored and cut (I will post a picture of my "new" hair cut soon). As far as the sneakers, I ended up buying (after trying on many different brands) Brooks Defyance 3.

 My old sneakers, Asics, were fine but they just were a little too stiff for my liking. The Brooks felt similar, but were not as stiff. The sales man also assured me that the Brooks have the same mechanics as the Asics shoe and both sneakers are good for a neutral foot (which I have). I bought my sneakers at Marathon Sports on Boylston street and the manager there is wonderful. He really took his time fitting me for the right shoe and even remembered my previous purchases. I highly recommend going to that Marathon Sports if you live around Boston and need new shoes!

After my purchase I headed over to the Fenway area for my hair cut. I was trying out a new place that a friend recommend called Phillipo Style Salon. I really liked this salon; everyone was very nice and continuously brought you beverages (including champagne). I was not 100% sure what I wanted to do with my color, but I new I wanted to go darker. I have been highlighting my hair for years now and it is looking very unhealthy, so I just needed a change. After talking with my stylist, we decided on the Biolage (not sure on the spelling??) treatment with a finishing gloss with dye in it. The Biolage treatment is like highlighting, but instead of foil the stylist "paints" the color directly on your hair. This creates a more natural look. Needless to say I was at the salon for 3 hours!!! I like my hair, however I am just trying to get use to it being SO dark! Evan did not even recognize me when we met up for dinner afterwards!

Since my hair appointment went so long and I was STARVING, Evan and I cancelled our plans to eat leftover soup and went to Cambridge, 1 for pizza and salad. It was our first time at this restaurant and we both really enjoyed it! I had 2 glasses of Chianti to drink and we both split 1/2 a grilled steak and cherry tomatoes, gorgonzola, and arugula pizza and 1/2 of a spinach, artichoke hearts, and chevre pizza. We also had an arugula salad with shaved Parmesan to split (sorry I have no photos because I forgot my camera at home). Everything was delicious and fresh tasting. The pizza was very, very flat and like a flat bread pizza instead of a pizza pie. Evan and I also split a Shipyard Pumpkin beer for dessert.

I am off for my longest run since my injury. Wish me luck! I will be back with a recap later today! Happy weekend to everyone!!!