hihi!

It's been a jammed pack week and I feel compelled to brave the business center computers (I don't know about you, but I'm a bit skeeved out by public computers...they always feel sticky and dirty to me) to do a quickie post! I hope everyone is running and eating well :) My new computer should be arriving on Monday (yay!!) since it's currently in Alaska. Hell yes I am tracking its every move!

I am happy to report that I got myself up and to the gym by 6am this morning, where I completed my first long-ish run since MCM...and by long-ish I mean a 20 minute shuffle/jog on the treadmill. Pretty big deal for this still broken lady! My PT suggested that I try running through the tightness to see what happens (if it loosens up or if I experience any pains) since I've really just stopped anytime I noticed the tight feeling around my achilles. So I did. I realized I don't really know the difference between tightness, soreness and pain. I just know it doesn't feel normal. Ah well, I was glad to get the legs running again :)

Since I didn't want to push it, I gave the achilles a rest and hopped on my good ol' buddy Mr. Elliptical. Let me tell you, 20 minutes of shuffling goes WAAAAAAY faster than 20 minutes on the elliptical. I probably should have done this in reverse ;) I decided to suck it up for 30 minutes so I could rack up my minutes for Kelly's Elliptical Challenge. Thankfully, I had this playlist to keep me going (probably my favorite so far):

Dream Machine (Downtempo Mix) - Mark Farina
Corcovado (Knee Deep Remix/Ben Watt Vocal Re-Edit) - Everything But The Girl
Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) - Lupe Fiasco
Control - Metro Station
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
Today (Unkle Remix) - Junkie XL

Post run/elliptical I put in some QT with my calves and the latest addition to my home:
Ah yes, The Stick. Upon closer examination, I noticed there's a sticker on it that says 'A Toothbrush for Muscles' HA! I'm not going to lie. I've been using it in the mornings and evenings ever since I picked it up on Monday. It's way better than my foam roller for working out that freakish golf ball-sized knot I keep getting on the outside of my calf on my busted leg. Just for fun, I 'sticked' my right calf and my left calf on the same spot...woah. HUGE difference.

I don't want to hog the computer too long so I'm going to leave you with this recipe I was itching to share just as my computer crashed. A little background - I was craving Japchae awhile back but wanted to get creative (plus I couldn't think of anywhere nearby that sold the right noodles) so I decided to give spaghetti squash an Asian flair!

Result - a delicious, VERY veggiful meal that served me for THREE days. OMG. This one small squash produced SO much food I actually had to toss the last serving b/c I had had enough. Yeeh! I was able to pull the recipe together from memory for Juliette over at Psychobabbles of a Running Fool since she was looking for some vegetarian recipes. Luckily, I didn't delete the email...OR the picture! Ta daaaaa (um, I seem to have misplaced my memory card for my camera so I apologize for the blurry pictures):

Japchae-y Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash

olive oil

salt

pepper

1 c shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 c snow peas

1/3 c carrots, julienned

1 small zuchinni, cut into thin half moons

1 package seitan, cut into bite sized pieces

handful omelet slices (see recipe that follows, though you can omit these)

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/3 c low sodium soy sauce

4 tbsp mirin

2 tbsb sesame oil

2 tbsp soba tsuyu (it'll be totally fine w/o this too)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, place cut side up on a cookie sheet and drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 40-50 minutes, depending on how large the squash is. Once it's done, spaghetti it up into a large bowl and set aside.

Combine soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and soba tsuyu in a bowl and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute shallot until it starts to soften and then add garlic. Cook for a minute or two and then add carrots and zuchinni. Cook for 3 minutes and then add seitan, snow peas and mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes and then add half off the sauce mixture and omelet slices. Stir and cook for a minute or two.

Pour the contents into the spaghetti squash bowl and mix well (tongs work best), slowly pouring the remaining sauce in. Serve immediately.

Sweet 'n Savory Omelet (variation on tamago)

2 eggs

pinch sugar

black pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp soba tsuyu

1 tbsp milk

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium low heat and spray some olive oil on the pan. Cook until omelet is cooked through and slice into thin pieces.

I know it seems like a pretty intense recipe, but seriously, it's all prep work. Once you have everything chopped up and ready to go, it takes no time to toss together! I ended up topping it with some kimchi because I also went through a kimchi craving phase. Two thumbs up in my book!

Speaking of books...I'm about 30 pages from finishing my book (no, I'm really not this slow of a reader, but it's my metro ride book) and I'm really liking it. So much, that I may read the follow up - The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection. I'll go into detail about why I enjoy this book so much once I finish it up and can write from the comfort of my own computer...who knows, maybe I'll even organize my thoughts ahead of time ;p