Kind of, But Better

Pardon the lack of posts, but I just ran a marathon.

Well kind of, but better.  Last Saturday night I set my alarm for 4:15 am.  It made me nervous that more than a few people were depending on my timeliness.  Becca and I decided on a whim that we would take our first-time marathoner friends into DC for the Marine Corp Marathon.  I have spectated MCM in the past… two years ago when I was sidelined halfway through the training season due to a very welcomed setback (pregnant with Sage), I went into the city with my sis-in-law, Kate, to spectate her first marathon.  I ran some of the course with her and she told me later that my presence from miles 20-26 was a huge help.


While I believed that I helped her by being there, I didn’t wholly grasp the value of having a pal to get you through the tough marathon miles until Meredith did it for me this past September!  And by some miles, I mean 14 miles, in her case.  Without a doubt, my marathon time would have been a different one without her encouragement.

So when the opportunity presented itself for me to “pay it forward” at MCM I was all about it.  I can thank the four years of Field Hockey, Lacrosse and Track in high school for teaching me about competition, teamwork, and pushing through pain.  I can thank the countless pregame potluck dinners for my love of an awesome post-workout meal.  But it was that one short season of cheerleading in high school that taught me the most useful skills for the weekend;  Feeling not a bit ashahmed to cheer your head off and, more importantly, being able to take yourself out of the spotlight in order to encourage another.

I prayed before the race that Becca and I would be able to navigate DC (on foot) and get from mile marker to mile marker in time to catch every one of our friends.  I prayed that the timing would work out so that I could be there for each runner, and be there in a way that they needed me, exactly when they needed me.  It worked out perfectly… I shared 16 miles race day morning with some amazing, inspiring women.

Becca and I at the start

I got to catch miles 20 to 22 with Dorothy.  I have never run with her in a race before!  I can’t even believe she was pulling out some 7:30 miles at mile 22 of her 18th marathon… what a rock star.  My marathon experience only made me appreciate my friends who have run COUNTLESS marathons and keep signing up for more!

sharing a smile with Dorothy at mile 21

I ran back to mile 20 just in time for Becca to toss me my stuff as she hit the road with our friend (and mother of FOUR!) Audrey who was racing her first marathon.  After a few encouraging words they were on their way to the finish, and finish she did under 4 hours in her first marathon!

I made it back just in time to catch Gwen.  Now Gwen and I have been running together since high school, so we fell right into step.  I never get to see her these days, and I’m only sad that I only got to get her through one mile before I had to head back.  Next time Gwen, I’m staying for more!

A few minutes later and I caught up with Leslie and Andrea.  These ladies trained their butts off ALL summer.  Training for a marathon is so much more than just fitting in long runs.  The running is the easy part, the fun part.  What makes it an accomplishment is keeping every other ball in the air while you do it… wife, mother, employee, friend, sister.  These ladies did it like pros.

It was my honor and privilege to “pay it forward” and run the last 6 miles of the marathon with them.  That cheerleader in me really shined through, and I’m pretty sure at the time, the people around us wanted to punch me in the face for all my encouraging, peppy words.

So here I am a week later and I kind of feel like I’m recovering from a marathon.  I passed out that night by 8 pm and woke up the next morning with a raspy, sore throat.  A cheerleader, through and through!  When all is said and done, it was so rewarding in a totally different way to be the encourager versus the encouraged.  I had the best day out there.  If you get the chance to be that person for someone I suggest you do it… it was almost like I ran a marathon, but even better.

A quick recipe to wrap up… I had a sweet potato left over from my last post, so I put it to good use in this hash.  It’s kind of like the Mexican Hash I’ve posted before, but in my opinion even better.

Sweet Potato Hash

2 sweet potatoes (I only had one left and wished I had more)
1 can of black beans
1 cup of frozen corn
clove or 2 of garlic
1 jalapeno
1 onion
1 lime
cilantro
2/3 cup water
1 tsp cumin

optional: ground sausage

I decided that I needed to add some turkey sausage to this because my husband would still be looking for dinner after he finished the vegetarian version.  Brown that first then add in onions (alternately, just heat olive oil in a skillet before adding onion)

Add the diced sweet potatoes

Then the jalapeno… slice in half and remove seeds (I left some in there because I like it hotter)

Slice into sticks

Then dice

Add the cumin

The water

And the drained beans

let that all cook together for a while over medium high heat so that the sweet potatoes can soften up a bit.

After about 10 minutes, add the frozen corn

Loving all the colors

Slice a lime and chop some cilantro, and assemble your garnishes on a very fancy Thomas the Train plate for serving

Yum

Easy Mini Meatball Sandwiches

Another meal that I thought I might be able to force a kid to eat.


Mini Meatball Sandwiches

3 sausages out of casing, or meatball mix, or ground turkey, whatever you've got!
half an onion finely chopped
finely chopped carrot (I like to sneak some carrot in there since they couldn't see it through all the cheese and sauce. Hm, maybe thats why they don't trust me when I feed them)
Couple cloves pressed garlic
About a fourth cup bread crumbs
1 egg
freshly grated parm
marinara
provolone or mozz slices
2 crescent roll rubes



Cut the crescent roll into rounds like so

Make the meatball mixture... add to meat the breadcrumbs, italian seasonings, egg, onion, carrot (if you are tricky like me), parm, garlic, salt, all that good stuff.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon round of the meatball mix on top of each crescent dough round.

Voila

Bake at 375 for about 20 - 24 minutes. I had to take it out and make sure it was cooked all the way through.

Top with a little slice of cheese

Let them get gooey

Then pour some heated tomato sauce on top. You could make crescent "tops" for these too, but I made mine open-faced so that I would have more. Top with basil too if you got it.

If Superman ate it, anyone will. After a couple hours of refusing dinner and begging for snacks, he finally came down at about 10 PM to try his "meatball pizza" ... I got an "I love you" sign so I guess it wasn't all that bad :)

Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup

Doesn't that just sound awesome? Well, it is. Some people might think the crockpot is perfect for cold weather... having something simmering and filling the house with yummy smells all day. I personally love my crockpot in the summer. I can throw dinner together real quick and then head outside to catch the end of the day with the kids outside. You can never have too many crock pot recipes in your arsenal if you ask me.

Another one of my wonderful neighbors brought this over last week (Thanks Tawnya and Eric!!!) Here is how they made it:

Crockpot Sausage Tortellini Soup

6 oz cooked Italian sausage (sweet or spicy, but they used sweet! Take the sausage out of the casings and brown it on the stove top crumbled up, place on a paper towel to drain extra fat.)
1 bag preshredded coleslaw mix (its about 2 cups, maybe a little more)
2 cups frozen green beans
2 - 14 1/2 oz cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 - 10 1/2 oz can condensed french onion soup
3 cups water
1 9 oz package refrigerated fresh cheese filled tortellini
freshly grated parm

In a crock pot add the sausage, coleslaw mix, green beans, undrained tomatoes, soup and water. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 20 minutes prior to serving, turn to high setting and add tortellini. Serve with parm sprinkled on top.

Easy and delicious!! (No picture... it went too fast to photograph)

Sausage Cheese Biscuits

At the last minute we decided we would be having Easter breakfast after church at our house, just my little family and my sister. I quickly brainstormed a go-to breakfast menu... veggie frittata, bagels, fruit, juice, coffee, and sausage/egg casserole. Yes, we were only having one extra person over but it's the Italian in me to make enough food to feed an army in these situations! While talking to some neighbors on Easter Eve, my one neighbor (who is an aweeeesome cook, I ask her what she's making for dinner every time I see her just so I can salivate a little) recommended making these biscuits instead of the egg casserole since I already had the egg frittata.

These were SOOOOO easy. A caveman could do it :)

Sausage and Cheese Biscuits

2 1/4 cup Bisquick Mix
2/3 cup Milk
Ground Breakfast Sausage (like the Bob Evans brand)
about a 4 oz block of cheddar cheese, shredded (freshly shredded cheese melts so much better than the preshredded stuff)... should make 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

Follow the directions on the Bisquick Box for Drop Biscuits... simply stir together the mix and milk. Then add in about 3/4 of the 1 pound of sausage. It seemed like the whole pound would be too much so I went with a little less. Throw in the cheese. Now you pretty much HAVE to use your hands to stir this up really well. Just do it.

Put aluminum foil over a baking sheet and spray liberally with PAM to prevent sticking. Place the drop biscuits about 2 inches apart, and make them to be about the size of your first (unless you're a man reading this, make them the size of your lady's fist :) ).



Put them in a 400 degree oven for 18 minutes. Mine got a little burned because I was experimenting with temperature and time but 18 minutes at 400 should be about right. Just check that the sausage is cooked through.

Then take them out of the oven, put them on a serving plate and stick them directly on your butt. Yes, these are terrible for you, theres no way around that! But they are soooo good! This is the kind of thing that would be perfect to bring to a Brunch. Believe me everyone will be asking you for the recipe!!

Sausage Pasta with Marscapone

I know... just by the title you can already tell how healthy this meal is :) I think anything you make at home yourself is better than anything you'd get while eating out though so I'm okay with it. My friend who cuts my hair and is also my neighbor let me in on this quick and simple recipe. The original recipe calls for canellini beans in place of the peas and mushrooms, but I didn't have any and besides, I like a little green in my meals. Then I can "justify" the mounds of marscapone.

Sausage Pasta with Marscapone

Farfalle Pasta

1 medium onion, chopped

a few cloves garlic, chopped (garlic powder is fine too)

1 cup frozen peas

handful of mushrooms

2 Italian Sausages

8 oz Marscapone cheese

While pasta cooks, remove sausage from casing and brown in a skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. Add onions and garlic and let them sweat for a few minutes while sausage browns.

Add peas and mushrooms...

Add 3/4 cup (about 8 oz) of Marscapone cheese. Let it sit and melt a little before you fold it in.

Yummy... add a little pasta water to thin it out if you think its too thick. I thought it was just right!
Add salt to taste and toss with Farfalle Pasta. Here I added some black pepper and crushed red pepper because I felt like it :)

This recipe was definitely a winner in my book - easy, yummy, and the kids even picked at it. This definitely makes enough for 4. Next time I would brown the sausage then remove it and let it drain to omit some fat, saute the onions, garlic, peas, and mushrooms separately and then add the sausage back in.