A Bad Run Beats No Run

It's the truth.

This morning my alarm sounded at what felt like the middle of the night. Not an alarm to roll out of bed and get started on the day downstairs, or an alarm to get up and hop in the shower, or even an alarm to bundle up and head outside for a nice, even-paced run with Kate. It was an alarm to get up and outside into the dark, cold rain for a track workout!

I laid there in bed gripping my phone, and quickly sorted through all the reasons why I SHOULDN'T get up, out of bed, and out into the wet, dark cold to sprint, no less. I'd only been in bed for 4 hours! I was up changing sheets 2 hours ago!! I had a lot to do today and needed to save my energy!! I was feeling a little sick!! What if I'm too slow to keep up with everyone on the track??

Even though I KNEW from many, many, experiences that I would hate my decision later in the day, I still gave into the excuses and turned off the alarm. Was that extra hour of sleep worth it? Nope. Now I'm cranky about the rain outside, the fact that I'm a few steps behind the kids and my long to-do list, and my general lack of motivation.

On mornings like this one, I should have reminded myself that even a bad run would have beat no run! Whether you run, walk, do yoga, spin, swim, go out for a hike, or take a cardio class at your gym, I'm sure most people would agree its much better to start a long day with a little sweat, than a bad attitude! Even if its at the expense of a little sleep.

I was having the same train of thought last night. I was beat from the day and not really up to trying out the new recipe I had meal planned for dinner. Would all the work be worth it if it wasn't even good? But even a bad dinner would be better than no dinner!! Turns out it was a delicious new recipe! I would have never known, had I never tried!

Winter Mulligatawny Soup
(I grew up eating a lot of Indian food, and this didn't really taste like the Mulligatawny I've had in restaurants, but it was still REALLY tasty and I loved the use of the fall/winter produce!)

1 chicken breast (I cooked mine separately but you can brown it with veggies)
4-6 cups chicken broth (I used 4 but more is advised for more soupiness)
1 tbl butter
2 small apples
2 celery stalks
2-3 carrots
1 onion
couple cloves garlic and about an inch of chopped ginger (DOROT - huge time saver!!)
veg or chicken broth
3/4 cup lentils
2 tbl curry powder
1/8 tsp cayenne (leave it out if you can't take heat!)
3/4 cup light coconut milk (not pictured)
a cranky kid

I started by chopping all the veggies small. You could throw in a food processor if you don't feel like cutting with a knife, but I used my food chopper.

At the very least, it gave something for the cranky kid to do!
Melt butter in sauce pan first and add allllll the chopped veggies (saute the chicken first here if its not precooked)
Add in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cayenne, and a little salt
Add in the chicken broth, and let it come to a slow boil before you add in the lentils

Chicken is read to be added in!

Let the lentils simmer for about 10 minutes before you add in the chicken

Then add about 3/4 cup of the coconut milk

I put some parsley on top because it was pretty and I had some!