Shh. It's a secret.

This afternoon I took a lunchtime adventure with some of my fellow jurors (jurymates?). I figured, I've seen these people 3 days a week for the past 5 weeks...it's safe to socialize ;p

After flipping a coin, seven of us wandered over to Chinatown to Mehak Indian Cuisine. I had seen this place a million times when we lived in Chinatown, but I don't think I've ever stepped inside. Apparently a couple folks stopped in last week and were raving about the lunch special - Mini Thali (choice of Lamb, chicken, Vegetable or Vegan Curry with Basmati Rice, Raita/Salad, Beans, Jeera aloo, chef's appetizer, papadum and chutneys) for the reasonable price of $9.95!

I wish I had a camera on me (they take away cameras, including phone cameras every morning) because this was a MASSIVE lunch platter. No joke. I did some Googling and found this on the Yelp page, which is close...I think this has more stuff though:

I went with the Chicken Korma platter, though I totally lusted over the Lamb Curry platter most of the table ordered :/ It was a pretty solid lunch, not the most flavorful I've had, but it was good and filling. It definitely wins for best lunch value in that general area (well, until I try the Chinatown Express $5.95 lunch special - saw a sign on the walk back).

It was actually really nice to chat with people outside of the jury room. I even picked up nifty cheap travel tidbits! For cheap European vacation packages, Untours is the way to go. Basically you get set up with a rental car and accommodations for a reasonable price (I guess sort of like condos/furnished apartments) and then you're off and on your own!

Another site that came up in conversation - CouchSurfing.com. I had read about this before and thought it was pretty cool...maybe not for everyone, but a fun idea. The site allows travelers to network and share accommodations. I mean, I'd be a bit hesitant to just open my home to a random traveler from a website, but that's just me.

After jury duty, my crazy long hair and I had a date with Roberto at Bang Salon at the Verizon Center. Is it bad that this is the least amount of time between haircuts for me (November - March)?? Anyway, I got a chunk of hair cut off because I was just not feeling the long long locks.

This is my squinty, I don't really know how to pose face. I'm pretty sure I've had my haircut this way before...or something similar. I'm also beginning to realize that perhaps the new glasses and new haircut combo aren't exactly helping minimize round face. Boo. Or maybe I just shouldn't make that face hahaa.

My hair grows like weeds so we'll see how long this 'do lasts. Not really worried though, Roberto's cuts always grow out fabulously...perfect for lazy me that gets a haircut twice a year. HA.

That's all I've got for now. I'm hoping to get back into the kitchen tomorrow night - I've got some broccolini that needs some attention ;)

Back to cooking and blogging

And it feels sooo goood! :)

Howdy strangers! I feel like it's been weeks since I last blogged and even longer since I made a decent meal at home!

Jamie's mom came over for dinner tonight and we whipped up some Grilled Salmon with Orzo Salad. I took a mini-break from a crazy week at work to get my FoodGawker fix and came across this recipe on We [Heart] Food. It looked simple enough for Jamie to jump in on in case I got stuck at work late AND it looked light and delicious. Sold!
When I got home, Jamie was already hard at work chopping up the cucumber and tomatoes for the orzo. I got the water boiling and started chopping up some dill on the nifty cutting board my dad made out of a leftover chunk of kitchen counter (corian?)
Jamie picked up a 1.5 lb salmon fillet from Whole Foods that we were able to cut into 4 equal pieces. Check out how rich that color is!
I decided to sprinkle on some garlic powder since I thought it could use a little extra flavoring.

Some artsy lemon zest
My microplane is kinda wee but I love it. I'd like a regular sized flat microplane one day, but not right now. This one gets the job done!

Heated up the grill pan and cooked the salmon according to the directions (are you amazed? I sure am!)
Mixed up the orzo salad, threw some mixed greens on a plate (you know I needed to) and voila! Dinner!
Aside from the burning smell that always happens when the grill pan is used, I think dinner was a success! I'm definitely keeping this recipe on hand. It was light, simple and flavorful! I might add some more veggies to the orzo salad next time...artichokes, hearts of palm, corn (just kidding!). Betcha the salmon would be even better on an actual grill ;)

Tonight's dinner was exactly the sort of meal I was looking for, especially after a long weekend of eating out and eating heavy foods. When I last wrote, we were prepping for a wedding weekend in New Jersey for a good friend of mine/old roommate from college. I was running around a lot last week for both jobs so Friday night, I was not really into cooking a meal. We ended up at Fresh Med in Cleveland Park.
We've ordered from Fresh Med a ton of times (delivery is WAAAY slow) and have enjoyed pretty much everything we've tried. This time around we both went with platters - Jamie got the Mixed Platter (Chicken taouk, ground beef kafta, and lamb shish kabab, served with hommos, house salad, and rice) and I got the Chicken Platter (Grilled tender cubes of marinated, boneless chicken, served with hommos, house salad, and rice). I must say, the food is SO much better when it's eaten immediately and not after an hour or so of traveling.

Early Saturday morning we hopped on a train to my parents' house in New Jersey where we ran a few errands with my mom and ended up at the Phil-am Colonia lunch buffet. Um, Filipino lunch buffet is nothing but trouble. Here was my first plate:
Clockwise from the rice: Fried Dilis (translation, deep fried itty bitty fishies that taste delicious w/rice), Lumpia Shanghai (not the best I've had), Pancit Palabok (I only had a bite b/c it had no flavor. I might be partial to my mom's), Caldereta (beef stew that I NEED a recipe for), Pakbet (this is what my squash dish tasted like!), and Lechon Kawali (um, no plate is complete w/out some roasted pork).

I went back for more of the Pakbet because I realized I really do love it...the bagoong (fermented shrimp paste used in Filipino cooking) adds a nice briny taste to the dish, more than my fish sauce/squash/kale experiment. Who knew? I used to think that stuff was stinky and gross. Now I just think it's stinky, but delicious!

The other repeat on my plate? Caldereta. My gramma used to make a beef stew all the time when I was little. Beef stew had a very distinct flavor and look in my mind. I once tried to make a beef stew because I was craving it and failed miserably. Why? Because apparently this is a 'special' beef stew and there are tons of different versions, some that include vinegar and some that even use cheese (random, I know). I'm determined to find the perfect recipe. Anyone out there have one?

Jamie's dessert was a simple banana...
Of the mini variety.

We didn't have too much time to digest since wedding festivities began at 6:30 Saturday evening. My parents dropped us off (hi, high school moment!) and the eating and dancing madness began! This was my very first Indian wedding and I must say, SO. MUCH. FUN.

The cocktail hour was free of alcohol but loaded with fun food. My favorite of the night:
Not really sure what it was, but it was this crispy shell with a filling that looked like beef but wasn't, pomegranate, a yogurt sauce and some other sauces. It was such a great refreshing, slightly spicy flavor explosion!

I also loved the dosa filled with potatoes
As I said, there was a ton of dancing and I even jumped in on the stick dancing! Woo! We all scarfed down the main courses pretty quickly so I forgot to take pictures. Plus it was pretty spicy so I was a bit overwhelmed. Once I find out exactly what we ate I'll be sure to post!

Sunday was Baraat and the wedding ceremony. We all jumped in on the groom's side since we figured we could go either way ;) That meant we dance/walked/cheered between a van blasting music and the groom on a horse. Not lying - this is the most fun I've ever had at a wedding before. Also, please note I'm wearing A COLOR. Huge deal for me. I felt a little out of place even with a non-black dress! So many fun and happy colors at this wedding!
Dinner was a bit of a blur, probably because I had a couple of these
and was reunited with the AU crowd, minus Jamie who had to leave after an hour to catch a train back to DC.
I do remember the food was delicious and not as spicy as Saturday and the cake was gorgeous
AND I've never seen so many people on the dance floor at one time before! Awesome time!! Congrats to the bride and groom :)

Easy does it...

Howdy strangers. Sorry for being MIA...I've been a bad food photographer all week and I really hate posting without pictures :( Plus, gotta put in some QT with Jamie!

I really only cooked once since my last post and honestly, that seems so long ago and I can't remember what I put in it! Oops!!
I do know it was Pork Stirfry and I marinated the pork tenderloin in a splash of Maggi Seasoning, soy sauce, maple syrup and garlic. I also used asparagus, radishes, green pepper, shiitake mushrooms, shallots and celery. The sauce is a little fuzzier...I think I used some oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and maybe some chili garlic sauce? Yeah, that sounds about right ;)

We had a pretty full weekend after that...

• Saturday was a running fail. New kicks were good, achilles not so much. About 10 minutes into our run, I decided it just wasn't happening. It wasn't super painful or anything, but I knew it wasn't right so I stopped. I also decided that the Army Ten Miler wasn't going to happen either. Super bummed. :(
  
• Dinner at Fogo de Chao - if you haven't been, it's basically all the meat you can possibly eat...served on swords. I think we've been there way too many times to mention :[
  
• Engagement party at McFadden's where I totally got the shifty eye from random, barely 21 year old girls in the bathroom - pardon me for wearing flats and barely there makeup. Psh. I also saw what might be the GROSSEST thing ever - some girl in the stall next to me put her BARE FEET on the bathroom floor...UM, no. Never. Ever.
• Since I was too broken to run the ATM, Jamie agreed to fill in. I'm a big nerd so I went out to cheer...unfortunately he's too fast and I never saw him on the course haha. On the way back, we ran into a coworker of mine who suggested I check out this Achilles Tendon Support
  Did a little jog and walk around the store and was sold. It basically provides compression and stability for your achilles tendon and also raises your heel a bit to reduce stress on the tendon. God, I'm such a sucker for doodads.
  
• Dinner at Jaleo in Crystal City - I think we've now been to all the Jaleo locations in the DC metro area. We got two really good tapas that I had never tried before - Papas Arrugas (Canary Island-style wrinkled baby potatoes served with mojo verde - cilantro, cumin, garlic, sherry vinegar and olive oil sauce)
  This is what they looked like...sort of. This picture kinda looks like powdered Munchkins haha. Anyway, they were DELICIOUS - just the right amount of salt, warm and soft in the inside!
  
  The other new dish we tried was the Rossejat (traditional fried pasta, paella style, with shrimp cooked in a seafood broth).
  The flavor was nice and briny and the pasta was perfectly crisp on the top and full of seafood-y goodness!
  

After all that, we definitely needed a detox dinner. On Monday's dinner menu - Pre-packaged Mania:
Dole Southwest Salad Kit (it was the only kit the Giant had and it was a kit sort of day), to which I added a few handfuls of Arugula Salad from another bag and some
O yes...Purdue Short Cuts Oven Roasted Turkey. I really hate these things, mostly b/c they smell weird and the texture is just not right. BUT, I did require a meat product in Monday's salad and in a pinch, these will do.

Overall, it wasn't exactly the detox I was looking for. The salad dressing was a creamy ranch/salsa thing and there was a lot of iceberg lettuce...I'm not an iceberg girl. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Are you picky about salad greens?

I also stopped to pick up one of these:
Just for my buddy Mr. Achilles! So far it's been treating me well. I like that it straps on. Totally wore it at my desk today ;)

I was feeling good so I decided to take the Achilles support for a test run. What I didn't know was that a work emergency would have me literally running up and down Connecticut Avenue trying to find an office supply store that sold 11"x17" plastic sheet covers for a submission due tomorrow morning. WTF? So I probably did about 2 miles with lots of stops and starts. I also learned that these sheets DO NOT EXIST IN STORES! UGH. I stopped at like 3 stores with no success! I ended up at my office and working without them.

Once I got home, Jamie had dinner all ready and it smelled amazing. What was on the menu?
Hyderabadi Biryani courtesy of
It was actually pretty good for a box mix! Spicy, slightly sweet from the lemon curd - delish! Definitely buying this box again! Jamie also grabbed a package of naan because well, naan makes everything more fun :p

Ok, time to ice and rest the leg before tomorrow's bootcamp class - I've missed about half the classes since this is a shortened session so I feel like I HAVE to make it to the next three...or else it's a waste.

Quickie

Because we have a super early wake up tomorrow.

I did some shopping at job number two this afternoon...so much for saving the extra money! I managed to walk out with quite the bag of goodies haha.

Since I'm starting to loathe my fuel belt (I don't know what's going on, but it's been hiking my shorts up a lot lately and bruising my hip bone), I've been browsing hand held bottle options. I really wanted this one:
And meant to take a trip to City Sports between DCCK and work today, but it just didn't happen. So I stared down the new hand helds we got at the store. After much thought, and walking around with it on my hand, I went with this one:
Allow me to introduce you to my Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Pocket. I shall call him Kermie. He's coming with me on my 14 mile run tomorrow morning so I'll be sure to report back :)

I also walked away with some nutritional items:
I'm giving solids another shot. I've heard a ton of great things about the Luna Moons, so here we go! I took a sample of each flavor when I got home and yeah...not a fan of the Sport Beans. I think it's the saltiness combined with the sweetness and candy shell that just doesn't do it for me. The Moons on the other hand, YUUUM. The texture was a little better than the Shot Bloks and the flavor was freaking awesome. Watermelon was great - the PERFECT amount of sweetness. Blueberry was good too, but I'm a little concerned that it'll be too sweet for me while running. Since I'm weird about textures, I'm leaving these a little open overnight so they're not so smooshy/goopy. Again, I'll be sure to report back on these post-run!

We had a change of plans for dinner this evening since I wasn't feeling the whole cooking thing. I decided to push the BSI entry to tomorrow night and went with last night's leftovers from Naan & Beyond. You like that? Indian food the evening before a 14 miler? Introducing new energy products? New water bottle? haha. I can't wait to see how this goes. I will absolutely die if everything goes smoothly!

As I'm typing this, I got a gchat message from a friend of mine asking if I wanted to go to a house party. Is it weird that I now have no problems/don't feel bad or awkward saying no to a social activity on a Friday night? I'll admit that when I first got into running, I felt really lame saying no to a happy hour or party on a Friday night, but now I'm like eff that. I make very rare exceptions and sometimes I think my friends think I'm crazy. But that's ok. They stick around ;p

Again, sorry for all the running posts one after another! I'm planning on getting back on the fun food track starting tomorrow! For inspiration I might just have to pick up a copy of...
This has been on my Amazon wishlist for a long time and now that the movie is out, I feel compelled to rush out to buy it! Has anyone read it? Seen the movie yet? Thoughts on either?

90th post!

I'm surprised I've blogged that much! Wooo! Yay, me :)

This is gonna be a quickie...long day at work followed by a run followed by MORE WORK. Yep, had more to do once I got back to the office.

I needed a break from the computer yesterday so here's a brief recap of last night's dinner:

Turkey and Spinach Casserole

3 c whole wheat egg noodles, cooked and drained
3/4 lb ground turkey

1 9oz package frozen creamed spinach, defrosted

1/3 c frozen peas, defrosted

2 tbsp sherry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1/2 c mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp tarragon

1/2 c brie, chopped
pepper

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onions until softened. Add ground turkey and brown. Add mushrooms and cook until soft before adding sherry.

Add tarragon, pepper and spinach and stir to combine. Add brie and stir over low heat making sure that the cheese has melted.

Pour mixture into an 8x8 baking pan, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

So my dinner experiment wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I envisioned. I wanted it to be chunkier...so maybe I should have used chunks of chicken instead of ground turkey. Ah well. On to tonight!

Once again it was just Jamie and me on this downtown adventure. This time we took a break from Hains Point and did a portion of my 2nd favorite 10 mile route. This route took us through Georgetown, across the Key Bridge, along the Mount Vernon Trail, across the Memorial Bridge, along the Reflecting Pool, around the Washington Monument and the Mall. It ended up being a 7.19 mile route and despite a bunch of things going wrong (fuel belt kept hitching shorts up, shoes untied, tense shoulders, AGH!), we managed to run it at 10 min pace. Woo :)

During this crazy not right run I realized a few things. First of all, I must replace all my socks. I ran out of my trusty Balegas and had to run in my regular socks. My feet were sad. So sad, my pinky toe sprung a blister! Think I'm exaggerating? You should test these socks out...trust me, you'll never go back.

Second of all, I think I may have developed a love for my Nike Elites. Remember when I first got them and was so excited and then I decided they were giving me pains, well I've been switching back and forth between them and the Inspires. I'm sorry dear Inspires, you will not be my MCM sneaker, not if I can feel all the pebbles on the sidewalk when I try to adjust my form :(

I just purchased a pair of new Elites online because our store doesn't have them in my size. Hi, my name is Karena and I'm a running sneaker addict. I also purchased my other 'must have during training' item - a box of Mocha Clif Shot gels. Hell yes.

What is your 'must have' workout item (clothing/shoe/food)?

Since I was STARVING mid run last week, I paid a visit to the Daily Market around 4 and picked up some Sabra To Go Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Pretzel Crisps for my pre-run snack. Just enough food to keep my belly happy :)

Post run, Jamie helped me assemble some proposals that needed to go out first thing tomorrow and then we decided that some Naan and Beyond was in order! Um yes, apparently we like some Indian food post 7 mile weekday run...I believe this is the 2nd week in a row? I originally asked for some Chicken Biryani, and the guy scooped it and was like yeah, no. I can't serve this to you. I appreciate that. A lot. If you can be honest with me and tell me that there's something wrong with one of your dishes, you get a gold star in my book.

I went with the Veggie Combo Plate which was rice, saag, chickpeas, veggies and a side of naan.

That's a whole lotta food! I'm not quite sure what to do with all the leftovers since I plan on making my BSI entry tomorrow night. Ah well. My dinner was deeeeeeeeeeelicious, especially with a side of mango chutney. MMM.

I'm off to bed now that I'm all digested. Just some evening foam roller action and then it's off to wonderful WONDERFUL sleepyland. I think I might venture to the gym tomorrow night for some much needed strength training. Julia over at Chocolate Shoestrings had an awesome and motivating post about strength training the other day that made me remember that it is an absolute must...even though I always seem to forget about it. You should check it out!

Promise I'll have more fun stuff tomorrow! :)

It's OFFICIAL!

I'm all registered for the Marine Corps Marathon! WOOO! SEE??

I was SOOO excited to see this in my inbox :)

Just a little background - I entered the lottery for NYC, didn't get in. Found someone on Craigslist who DID get into NYC but had a Marine Corps bib to spare. She's been awesome the whole time and agreed to do the official transfer online when it opened up. Unfortunately the MCM folks took their sweet time posting the transfer form and she went off on vacay for a couple weeks. I've been SO anxious I couldn't even stand it and today I officially completed my end of the transfer process! Let the training excitement begin!

I know I know, I'm technically in the middle of week 6 of training, but I've been hesitant about getting excited and preparing for the race. I knew my girl wasn't going to let me down with the transfer, but you can never be too safe...I mean, she was just a stranger on Craigslist. There were times where I got all panicky wondering what if she found someone else to take her number...for more money?! Plus, I didn't want to start announcing to the world I was running (though, I suppose I was announcing it to the blogging world!) MCM just in case things did fall through. But today everything fell into place and I was SO excited for my 6 mile run :)

Even though we weren't meeting up w/the regular running crew for tonight's run, Jamie and I decided to do our 6 miles downtown. It definitely makes more sense since I can't seem to find routes around our apartment that don't involve gigantic inclines! Do you know what made an appearance on tonight's run?? Dumdumduuuummm....

You bet I was going to try to tackle this monster again! Especially since I failed last weekend. Unfortunately my mapping skills have failed me once again (ahem, someone can really use a Garmin, ahem) and we ended up only running 5.76 miles. Could have sworn it was the same route as the last Hains Point attempt! GAH! SO confused! Whatevs. Close enough ;p

Since it was almost 8 by the time we got back to my office (gotta stop with the late starts!), Jamie and I decided to stop by Naan and Beyond for a quick dinner. I've passed by this place a bunch of times, but haven't stopped in so I figured eh, why not give it a shot. Plus, my tastebuds had a CRAZY craving for Indian food. Do you ever get weird post-run cravings??

I got the Tandoori Chicken Tikka Naan Sandwich (sorry, no pics since I didn't pack my camera) and Jamie got the Tandoori Sheesh Tikka Naan Sandwich. SOOO YUMMY and reasonably priced too! Definitely hit the spot and there were three different sauces we grabbed on the side - Mint, Mango and Spicy Chutney. I could DRINK the Mango sauce it was that good. I was bummed that we didin't catch the dinner special sign! I'll definitely be adding this to my lunch list :)

I'm off to shower and sleep! Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday :)