Pasta with Italian Sausage and Toasted Ciabatta... dependably delicious.

Pasta with Italian Sausage and Toasted Ciabatta.

(A family favorite)

Olive oil over medium high heat with some freshly minced garlic, reduce heat and give a little stir when garlic starts to smell delicious.

2 cans of diced tomatoes with dried oregano and basil. Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Ciabatta bread with a little olive oil topped with Parmesan Reggiano and Pecorino Romano cheeses. toast in upper rack of oven at 390 until golden.

Italian sausages on the grill on medium high heat until done.

Mix with pasta of your choice and Eat up. 

Happy Cooking -Jen

Soups on'

Dinner tonight was delicious. It was a White Chicken Chili made by Mandi Forester on the Rachel Ray show a while back.  The batch I had tonight was frozen from a previous meal so I don't have any pics of ingredients and such.  But I can honestly say if you follow the recipe you won't be disappointed =)

Mandi Foresters White Chicken Chili

For dessert I treated myself to some Greek Yogurt mixed with Strawberries and Raisin Nut Bran Cereal.

Yum.

Goodnight All-Jen

Dinner was DELISH =)

Thanks Giada. This dinner was delicious.  The only thing I did differently was omit the 1/2 cup of Starchy water from the pasta.  I wanted it more of a salad then a pasta dish so wilting the greens wasn't important.  I also used sea salt with my fresh ground pepper. I cut my steak up into slivers and added it to the salad as well.  It is a must try.  You won't be disappointed.

Orecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese and Steak Slivers. YUM.

Meals and Marathons

There are only days left until I run this race that I am hoping to conquer......so from here on out I am going to do my best to eat all the foods that would make some good fuel for race day.  Cooking is a hobby of mine that lately comes 2nd.....to running =) If I have time and energy I'd totally cook crazy food always. So to start this marathon loading fiesta I went through all of my favorite websites: cookinglight.com, foodnetwork.com, allrecipes.com and found some recipes that I thought I would try.  I also am going to make some recipes that I know my family loves. Sometimes if I try too many new recipes in one week I kind of get a look from my husband that means... can you please cook something I've heard of. =)  

              

So below I have listed all the recipes I plan on making for dinner. I also plan on blogging about them, so on top of our daily workout postings hopefully you will hear from me about how some of these recipes turn out. They are listed in the order of when I am going to make them starting with the first dish tonight. So join me if you are looking to try something new. We can talk about what was good and what was great! I have made my grocery list and while my son is at cowboy camp I am going to make my way to the grocer and stock up. I am gearing to turn my kitchen into a mini Food Network.  Wish me luck =)   

Orecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese and Grilled Steak

Halibut in Artichoke and Tomato Broth Served over Quinoa

Grilled Havarti/Roast Beef Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Oven Fries

White Chicken Chili with Tortilla chips and Fruit

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Baked Sweet Potato and Grilled Veggies

Running Club pot luck.... (should be tasty, I am not sure what I am going to contribute but when I figure it out I'll let ya know)

Pasta with Italian Sausage, Veggies and Regular Tomato Sauce. Served with whole wheat Garlic cheese bread

Steak Fajitas on Corn Tortillas with Lime Sour Cream

Garlic Oil Sauteed Pasta with Broccoli

Parmesan Chicken from Barefoot Contessa

Tuna and Artichoke Panini's (this dish is extra but it is soo tasty I really want to try and fit it in somewhere.... I am just not sure which dish to eliminate yet. But if you want a good Tuna recipe try this. you won't be disappointed.)

P.S. although I realize "carbo loading" is the most popular term to get ready for a long race, I prefer to think of it as just healthy loading.  I personally think you need it all in order to preform well.

P.S.S. The recipes I don't have links to are recipes that are my own. I will post the recipe as I make the dish so you can try it at home.  If you'd like the recipe sooner shoot me an email at alwaystrainingtrio@gmail.com and I'd be happy to share.

My workout this week is going as follows:

Monday: 8 Miles slow
Tuesday: 6x800's with a 200m pickups; Barbell class with light weights
Wednesday: Swim
Thursday: 8 Miles with last 5 at marathon pace
Friday: Total Conditioning (class at Lifetime Fitness)
Saturday: Guess your own 5k pace at Running Club. This should be fun. We are all supposed to guess what we will run a 5k in and then take off our Garmins.. and the coaches will let us know how close we actually came.  Can you feel your pace or can't ya?

What are some of your favorite healthy loading meals?

How far in advance do you really watch what you eat before a race?

Do you guys like to cook?

Happy Running -Jen

Yasso 800s to the Test

Last weekend my sister Jen told me about the Yasso 800s.  Since I have come back from my injury I felt that I have been running slower and breathing harder.  Things that runners don't like to do.  I really do not like working on speed but decided that if I wanted to get back where I was before my injury I would have to incorporate it into my training.

Yesterday I woke up feeling great and headed out for my Yasso 800s. To give you a run down, the goal is if you are shooting for an 3:30 marathon, you will run 800 meters at 3 mins 30 secs and then rest for 3 mins and 30 sec.  Doing this 10 times.  Little did I know that you were supposed to work up to 10 but start out with 4 or so.  But back to the matter at hand.  I did a slow 3 mile warm up and then hit the track.  I didn't even hit 3:30!  Boy was I out of shape! I had trouble pacing myself, I didn't want to go to fast the first lap and then the second lap I found myself trying to speed up to get to my goal which was not happening.  But I felt that I did a great job, especially since this was my first time.  So Bart Yasso says do this once a week about 2 months before the marathon and you are in.

This is my challenge to myself!  My goal for the Savannah Marathon in November is to run a 3:30 marathon.  I am making it known to the blogging community!  So I am going to take the Yasso challenge.  To start I am going to do this once every other week and then starting in September I will do it every week!  I am hoping that because I am telling you all about it, that I will have no choice but to stick to it!  I will try to post about it every time to give you the run down on how it's going.

These are my splits below (highlighted are the 800s) As you can see I am a little on the slow side but have no fear! I will get there! Oh and I should say that I walk/jogged during my recoveries.

 

This is me after I got back home, salty and smiling just happy that was done.

  

This is the track that I run at close to my apt.

  

My breakfast was greek yogurt with blackberries and homemade granola. (will post recipe soon)

 

My lunch at City Bakery in the city.  I loved the Kale salad and cilantro chicken!

Dinner was de-lish!  I made grilled salmon with brown rice and stir fry broccoli, carrots and zucchini.

And yes I had dessert but did not take a picture.  I ate a small bowl of vanilla ice cream with crushed salty pretzels and chocolate sauce on top :)

So what do you think about the Yasso 800s?  Do you think you will give them a try?

Have you already done them?  Do they really work?

Sorry this post was forever long!
Sarah

Shopping

Aside from my everyday job I have, a close friend of mine will ask me to do a little babysitting from time to time.  Well yesterday she dropped off a check to me and you know what I did?!?!  I got in my car and instead of going to the Lululemon in Union Square where everything is sold out, I drove to the Mall!  Yep, the mall that is about a 30 minute drive if there is no traffic but there is always traffic so it took me over an hour to get to.  Did I mention I dropped everything that I was working on just so I could go to the mall.

Back on track, got to the mall and look what I found...  New yoga mat, running socks, two awesome running tanks that fit wonderfully and two sweatband.  It was so great and it totally made my day.  Wearing my new tank today as I head out for my 15 miler.

And it only gets better, I stopped in whole foods later to browse around to see if I needed any groceries and I found this yummy pretzel baguette!  I could not resist and I had to buy it, I mean I am running 15 miles tomorrow and I need to carbo load right?

So for dinner, you know I had the usual, grilled chicken, sauteed cauliflower, acorn squash and BREAD! Don't worry, Scott and I didn't eat the whole thing, we left about 1/4 of it for tomorrow.

What are your favorite workout clothes?  Do you have a food group weakness like bread?

Happy Workout!
xx
Sarah

Dinner with Me

 

My husband Scott has been busy with work which means dinner is with me, myself and I.  So I decided to make the usual.  This is a great dinner that is healthy and fast, I make it a lot so to change it up I just add different kinds of seasoning to the meat.

First off, I start the asparagus roasting in the oven at 400.  I spray them with canola oil from Trader Joe's  and season with salt and pepper.  I roast them for about 12-15 mins.

Next is the acorn squash. I slice it in half, scrape out the middle and put it upside down in the microwave for about 7-8 mins. (this time is for 1 half) I know it is not good to micro the veggies but sometimes I just run out of time and don't have that hour to let them roast.  Plus I DO think you get SOME nutrients, I mean really, it is still a veggie right?

On to the chicken, I buy the frozen chicken tenders from Trader's, unthaw them and last night I seasoned them with Emeril's steak rub which is really spicy.  I get my pan hot on the stove, spray with oil spray and put the chicken in the pan.  I cook each side about 5 mins or so.

When the micro goes off I flip the squash and continue to cook another 5 mins.  With about 1-2 mins left I put a little, bitty bit of butter.  I mean just a little people. You don't need a lot and then I add a small amount of brown sugar cuz I love it!

Then...... after all the timers are done and off and 15 mins later dinner is served!

It was so good and de-lish and for dessert I am sure I have room for some dark chocolate.

Bon Appetit!