OMG! OMG! (a good and bad one)

Good things go first, right? NO MORE PT FOR ME!!! :) :)

I don't want to get too excited and jinx myself, but it was such a great thing to hear this afternoon! I explained my whole experiment and how I felt on Wednesday to my PT and she checked me out and said everything was looking good. I've been sent to try two days of intervals this coming week and then try to increase to three days next week. If everything goes well, then I'm in the clear! If not, then I'm supposed to report back and she may have to send me off to another specialist that might be able to help. Cross your fingers!!

When I got back into the office it seemed fitting that I checked out a link sent to me by Lindy over at AudioFuel. Basically, AudioFuel provides music composed for runners to match their stride pattern. I know that sounds really nerdy and scientific, but think about it...have you ever listened to a song while running and get totally thrown off? I have.

In addition to the information on AudioFuel, Lindy also gave me the heads up about a "Music and Motivation" - they are working with the Virgin London Marathon (*big sigh* - I want to run this one day) and taking votes for your favorite running tracks. The top ten tracks will make up a motivating iMix! Share your favorite tracks here by February 1st! I already did ;)

Speaking of dates...two more days to submit your BSI entries!

On to the bad "OMG"...

A friend is coming down from NYC for a last minute visit and I grabbed some wine and snacks for us. Since I was picking up stuff on my way home from the running store, I stopped at Brookville Market in Cleveland Park. I've stopped here before to pick up random last minute items so no biggie. They have a pretty boring cheese selection, but I walked away with a Goat Brie. A nice safe bet. I also grabbed some Pillsbury Dinner Rolls, spinach and cremini mushrooms for an experimental snack.

I minced up some garlic, 1 anchovy fillet, a cup of spinach leaves, a couple tablespoons of toasted pine nuts, 3 cremini mushrooms, parrano cheese, salt and pepper - by hand, since I was concerned the food processor would make it too pasty. Smooshed it onto the dinner roll triangles, rolled them up and baked them. Voila!

I was a little worried about these guys, but they actually turned out pretty tasty. I have mixed feelings about Pillsbury dough items though...at least when making savory goods. It was a little sweeter than I wanted it to be. Maybe next time I'll try this with puff pastry? Something else?

Thank goodness that worked out because when I went to open the brie, I was greeted with this:

And a rancid, not right, garbagey smell. UGH. GROSS. Never again. EVER.

I did it :)

Told you I'd get back in the blogging routine soon enough!

I'm slowly getting all the recipes together so looks like you'll get one or two a day. Tonight's recipe - Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle! Who else but Paula Deen
could come up with such a recipe?!This morning I trekked out to our Alexandria office for a meeting. I just happened to be walking back to the metro around lunchtime when I saw The Perfect Pita. A friend o mine had just mentioned this place so clearly I had to stop in, especially since I forgot to pack a lunch this morning. I also forgot to pack/didn't grocery shop for the week breakfast so my tummy was a grumbling.

I went with the Chicken Hummus Veggie and it was o so oniony. I forgot to ask for no onions since we're in such close quarters right now - omg I smelled it on the metro. Oooops! It was soooo delicious. I'm a bit of a hummus nerd if you haven't noticed and this hummus was just the right texture (I might even say it's perfect haaa) - smooth and not too thick. I was even okay with all the onions ;p

I put in a few hours at the running store and started craving a nice crispy salad for dinner...exactly what I didn't have at home. Booo. I think I needed a big break from all the Thanksgiving goodies. I ended up grabbing a container of salad greens at the grocery store:
Um, I don't really know what 'Asian Salad' mix is, but it was the only non-spring mix mix they had. It was actually kinda nice...a few bitter greens with some baby greens. A perfect base for my salad toppings.

I also picked up some 'nanners for breakfast/snacking:
Please note how freakishly large they are! The whole banana rack was full of these massive guys. Ridic! I hope they don't get too ripe too soon.

Once I got settled, I saw an email from Rebeca over at All Vegged Out asking if I was planning on attending FitBloggin'10. Clearly it's been way too long since I've caught up on the blog world happenings because I had no idea what she was talking about. D'oh! FitBloggin' is a conference for fitness, wellness, good food and healthy lifestyle bloggers. I read up on it and it sounded like a fun weekend...plus it's in nearby Baltimore! Unfortunately, I checked the dates and that's the weekend of the National Half Marathon, which I will be running with first time half marathoners Susan and Sparky AND cheering on Heather from Trials of Training as she runs her surely speedy first marathon! :) Maybe next time?

Anyway, I thought I'd pass the word on to the rest of you bloggers! Happy Monday :)

Cook dinner? Me?

It feels like I haven't cooked in forever!

After my weekend food adventure, I was in serious need of ruffage...BIG TIME. I went boring, grabbed a rotisserie chicken to shred up for the week, a couple bags of salad greens and other salad toppings. I may be in salad overload.

A break from salad was totally necessary so I invited Susan over for dinner last night. I was feeling frisky and decided to experiment with spaghetti squash. I don't know a damn thing about spaghetti squash. Luckily there are bloggers that do!

On my somewhat daily visit to FoodGawker, I stumbled upon a recipe for Spaghetti Squash with Broccoli and Leek on sweet beet and green bean (btw, some tasty tasty looking vegan options on this blog, Val!)

I threw in some Aidells Portobello Mushroom Chicken & Turkey Sausage
because I do love me some sausage. Not a bad recipe...not sure how I feel about spaghetti squash, though. I thought the strands were going to be a little thicker. Hm. What's your favorite way to eat spaghetti squash?

Did I mention it was my first time cooking with leeks? I kinda love them now. Also, please note the return of BROCCOLI!! Please send over some fun broccoli/broccolini/broccoli rabe recipes! I'm going to aim to cook twice a week and you bet there's going to be a broccoli-ish item in those meals ;p

I was a little worried that the squash I got wasn't going to produce enough 'spaghetti', so I had Susan bring over some spinach for, are you ready? SALAD.
She made her own dressing from a bunch of different things, I think there was some balsamic vinegar in there? Topped the greens with hearts of palm, artichokes, craisins and corn and dinner was complete. :)

In addition to catching up with broccoli while Jamie is away, I've decided to also catch up on my sappy/ridiculous/girly movies. This will fade soon. Very soon. So far I've killed some time watching the following movies:


I'll admit it, I thought it was kinda cute. Totally predictable and a bit of a lame ending, but cute.

This one was a little bit better in terms of hitting the sappy nerve, but SUPER cheesy (perhaps it's because of the whole A Christmas Carol reference). Also, weird to see Lacey Chabert playing a) not a puppydog faced kid b) not a Mean Girl and c) an adult.

My favorite sappalicious chick flick so far, probably because I do love Ryan Reynolds. Duh, he's nice to look at, but he can also deliver a line (I also love Just Friends) I'd watch it again...PLUS, it has Betty White in it. C'mon. A GOLDEN GIRL!

AND, as if I haven't watched enough movies (I do this while blogging or passing out) I've had Adventureland on this whole time. I was excited about watching it, but it wasn't as funny as I was hoping. A little too much drama and not enough comedy. However, I did find myself cackling randomly. Worth checking out at least once.

I'm still here!!

I haven't forgotten about blogging...it's just been a super crazy few weeks! I'm making a tasty dinner tonight so I'm hoping to post some time tonight. PROMISE! I miss blogging and my blog buddies!

In the meantime...are any of you planning on being at the Foodbuzz Festival this weekend?? I'll be in San Francisco from Thursday to Monday and am trying to organize a couple blogger meet ups. Let me know if you'll be around!