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

Holy Guacamole

My first-born baby starts kindergarten in exactly two weeks

Less than one month to go until my Allentown, PA marathon

HOLY GUACAMOLE where has the summer gone?  

I’ve been making guacamole since I was a kid.  Salads and guacamole were always delegated as my job for dinner.  Much preferred over the kid chosen to set the table or do the dishes.  I have very poignant memories of my dad teaching me how to make the perfect guacamole in the summer.  It’s a simple recipe but tried and true.  Only a few weeks left until we bid ado to this summer staple...

2 ripe avocados

half of a small white onion, chopped finely

4 roma tomatoes (I like mine more tomatoey)

1 jalapeno, seeds removed (or not, if you like more heat)

lime juice (crucial)

handful of cilantro

garlic powder and salt

First thing I do is add the lime juice to the bowl.  Half a lime is just the right amount.

Then I cut around the pit of the avocado

Loosen the pit by kind of whacking your knife into it.  Once its firmly in there, twist gently to remove

Like so… then I basically just bang that on the counter top til so it falls off.  I’m sure there’s a better way but I’m a creature of habit.

Scoop put the flesh with a spoon

Dice and add to lime juice

Mash well with a fork or a mix and chop

Add the tomatoes, diced finely

Remove the seeds from the jalapeno and dice finely

Add to guac

Chop the onion finely

Add to guac with chopped cilantro.  Season generously with garlic powder and salt.  I actually prefer garlic powder over fresh garlic for this.  I’m a salt addict so I usually add quite a bit of salt as well. :)

Love these chips from Trader Joes

The most heavenly summer bite

My Heart is Stuffed

Yesterday I celebrated my 26th birthday.  The past few days have left me feeling so loved, so blessed and so FULL.  It’s an interesting conundrum to be 26, married for 6 years, and a mom of three kids 5 and under.  Some days when I get in a funk, I feel like I don’t fit anywhere.  I feel too young to be “old” and to old to be “young,” so to speak. 

More often than not though, I am blissfully aware of how the unique path that God set out for me resulted in so much more than I could have crafted if I was to design my own life.  I get to dabble in a little bit of everything.  I get to have meaningful relationships with women who are 25 and with women who are 45.  Time has taught me age is much less about your chronological number and much more about the life stage you are at.  Case and point:  The lifeguard who saw me schlepping my three kids, cooler, towels and sunblock into the pool guessed I was turning 32.  The waiter who served my husband and I and some friends a few hours later while we were kid-free, care-free, and dressed like actual 20 year olds guessed I was 23.  Or maybe he wanted a bigger tip.  Anyway, I’ll take the average!

I digress - what made the past few days so incredibly special is how many of my dearest friends took the time out of their VERY busy lives to spend time with me.  As we get older, the gift of time becomes more and more valuable.  Its the only thing that as adults, we seem to have less of.  I’m so grateful for all of you and our special relationships, my heart is truly STUFFED!

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers with Cous Cous

*My beautiful Aunt made these at the beach for 35 people!  Her’s were much better but I tried to replicate as well as I could guess!  I loved how easy they were, thanks Aunt Patty!!**

1 pound of lean ground turkey or beef

4 peppers (I’m loving getting these at the farmers market, they are a STEAL compared to the grocery store.  79 cents a pepper!!)

1 jar of Corn and Black Bean Salsa (here’s where I screwed up, I needed twice this amount pictured)

1 cup of cous cous

shredded cheese for the top

First off slice the tops off the peppers.  Don’t throw those away!  I chopped the top part, sans stem, and saved for dinner for tonight.

Stab holes on the bottom to release steam.  You can boil them here first if you don’t want your peppers to be crunchy but I like mine with a little fresh crunch.  And let’s be real, it’s easier.

Bring a cup of water to a boil in a saucepan.  When its boiling, add cous cous

Remove from heat and let it fluff up

While the water was heating up I browned the ground turkey in a skillet

When it was about cooked through I added the jar of Corn and Black bean salsa.  Since this wasn’t enough liquid and ground turkey is very dry I SHOULD have added a can of Rotel or diced tomatoes or more salsa.  I would suggest that you have about 4 cups of salsa.  I know my Aunt swears by Walmart’s Black Bean Salsa, and says it is the best for this recipe!

I added more corn because I could get the kids to eat it

Add in the cooked cous cous

Toss it around!  How pretty

Stuff those peppers to the brim

Arrange in a baking dish, if I had more salsa I’d probably pour more on top of each one!

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  At the 20 minute mark, take it out and add cheese to the top.

I added a little hot sauce to the finished product because as I’ve mentioned before, I just can’t leave well enough alone.  These were even better the next day!

Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas

I'm always on the hunt for a meal that I can get all 5 of us to eat without anyone whining at me. I Saw this on Pioneer Woman's blog a few weeks back and figured it might be a meal that fit the bill. Of course I had to leave out the cilantro and jalapenos for Superman, but all in all it was a meal everyone could get into.

Now that it is grilling season, I like to make sure we grill a little extra meat on the weekends to use throughout the week. This is a great way to put some leftover grilled chicken to use!

Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

1 pineapple, grilled

1 to 2 chicken breasts, grilled

Monterey Jack or Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese

jalapenos (jar or fresh)

handful of cilantro

flour tortillas

any BBQ sauce

First I pounded out the chicken breast because I grilled this inside using a grill pan and press, so I wanted to be sure it cooked evenly.

A little olive oil, salt and pep on both sides and then to the grill pan for 5 minutes on each side. Next time I did this I marinated it in BBQ sauce and then grilled... much better
While that's going, I sliced the pineapple. Take off the top and bottom...
Slice into quarters
Then into 8ths
And then cut down both sides so that just the sweet tender part remains

Chicken is done!
While the pineapple grills, make a little assembly line.. rub olive oil on one side of each tortilla, then layer cheese on the other side of half of them

The rest of the assembly line ready to go; sliced grilled pineapple, grilled chicken, and chopped cilantro
On top of the cheese layer the chicken, pineapple, cilantro, jalapeno, and drizzle the BBQ sauce
Transfer to a warmed skillet or saute pan (olive oiled sides out) and brown on both sides. The flip will be tricky, but you have to let the cheese get melty enough to hold everything together, and then flip

Served it with some straight up Greek Yogurt. Yum! Love the combo of spicy, salt and sweet.