Good Days

I'm still happy.  I can't figure it out, but I'm loving it.  I managed my time effectively yesterday and had the time to take the dog for a two-hour long hike in the woods.  I wish I had a better photo, but his tolerance for sitting still for photos is limited.  As in non-existent.  But were were able to cover over 4 miles of trails, which is a pretty good clip when you consider all the time taken for sniffing! 

Since I'm back at work today, I don't have much for content.  But in looking through past entries, I noticed that I have posted recipes from time-to-time.  I'll include one that I made this past Sunday.  It has tarragon vinegar in it, which some people might not like, but if you are tolerant of tanginess, give it a whirl.  It's tasty!

 

Chicken and Artichokes

Yield: 6 Servings

      6    Boneless chicken breasts

      1 c  Bread crumbs, seasoned
    1/2 c  Olive oil
    1/4 c  Tarragon vinegar
      4    Garlic cloves
           Salt/pepper
      3 T  Parsley, chopped
      2    Jars artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
           (I just use the 15 oz can, the un-marinated kind, in brine)
            

  Cut chicken into bite size pieces and roll in bread crumbs. Heat oil

  and saute garlic to a golden color and remove. Add chicken, saute to
  a light brown on both sides. Place chicken in a large baking dish,
  add sauteed garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Sprinkle with parsley.
  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Add artichokes and bake 10
  minutes more.

(Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05)

 

Like most main dish recipes, this is quite amenable to quantity adjustments.  Since I'm only cooking for two, I purchase the "standard" two chicken breasts (maybe a little over 1.5 pounds?  I never actually pay attention).  I then cut back on the olive oil, probably closer to 1/4 cup, though I never bother to measure.  I keep the garlic somewhere around 4-5 cloves, never fewer than four, though!  I increase the tarragon to a full cup, though that might be a bit strong for some.  I like to have a little more juice, though, so perhaps a compromise would be 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water.  I also put the whole shebang into the oven to start baking while I snip and chop the parsley (about ten minutes).  The recipe doesn't state any preferences for baking covered or uncovered, so here's what I do.  Bake uncovered for the ten minutes you're chopping parsley.  Add the parsley and cover for 20 minutes.  Then add the artichokes and bake for the final ten minutes uncovered.  Serve over rice. 

 

 

Past year's reflection

I don’t “do” resolutions. I find them too broad and hard to fulfill. Train harder, love
more, procrastinate less? What do all those really mean and more importantly,
phrases like those do not provide any idea of how to accomplish them.
Instead, I prefer to look back upon the previous year. What went well? Where can I
improve? How can I make it better?

When I think on my frustrations for the year, it seems to boil down to time
management issues. And one diversion in particular – the internet. I spent way too
much time sitting in front of the computer screen. It’s like TV to me. (Since I rarely
watch TV, I guess that’s not too bad, but I still feel I spend too much time online). To
aid myself in correcting this, I am going to start keeping track of my time on the
computer using a timer. I’m sure it will be an eye-opener.

As for exercise and weight management (specifically the “Strength for Life” program
which I blogged about earlier). I am happy to report that the SFL program helped me
to shed my last 5 pesky pounds. But. It took constant vigilance to do that. I was
ferociously consistent with training. I didn’t miss a single day for two months. I was
also very strict with my food consumption. I ate very few sugary sweets, no soda, no
processed snacks (chips, pretzels, etc). I felt great, but I was pretty miserable. I felt
that my entire existence was centered around me and my physical needs. I don’t
mean to imply that I felt like I was depriving myself of foods that I enjoyed, because I
didn’t miss the junk. I was filling up on healthier stuff and just didn’t have room for
the junk. No, it was the feeling that I had to rush home and get my workout done. It
had crossed the line into an obsession. I have set some specific, measurable exercise
goals for 2009, but I’m going to try really hard to be realistic. If a day goes by without
exercise, I will be okay. I’ll just try to make sure it doesn’t turn into three, four or
more days without exercise. I will accept what I can do without settling into
complacency.

Enough with the psycho-babble. How did we ring in the New Year? Sleeping.
Really. I haven’t been awake to ring in the new year since 1999. I even got an extra
second of sleep last night because an extra second was added onto 2008. Boy do I feel
refreshed! We did treat ourselves to a movie (Million Dollar Baby) and homemade
popcorn. Forget about the healthy, air-popped popcorn. I delight in doing it the way
my father taught me – in a pan, over the stove with vegetable oil. And then I add real
butter, too (gasp!) And salt. Lots of salt. And we washed it down by splitting a bottle
of beer. Do we know how to party or what? It was a completely enjoyable evening –
a great way to say farewell to 2008.

I rang in the new year by going for a run with my uber-fit boyfriend. Well, truth be told, I ran and he jogged. I don't think he even broke a sweat. That's why we don't train together much, but it was fun to push myself today. The remainder of the day was spent cleaning up from the Christmas frenzy and generally organizing the house. Tonight we will cook a good dinner (seafood risotto with a green salad) and maybe even share another bottle of beer! Here's the recipe for the risotto - it's very easy and wonderfully delicious!

Seafood Risotto

3 cups each water and vegetable broth or clam juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (10oz.) can whole baby clams (optional)
3 cups Arborio or other short grain rice
1 cup HOLLAND HOUSE White Cooking Wine
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
Ground pepper to taste

Simmer water and broth in pot. In other heavy pot, saute onion in oil over medium heat, 4 minutes. Into pot with onions, add garlic and seafood, stir 1 minute. Add rice, stir 3 minutes. Stir in cooking wine, then tomatoes.

Once above mixture is stirred well, add one ladle of broth water. Stir until absorbed. Repeat until broth is almost all gone. Stir in seasonings.

Dish is done when rice is creamy but still firm, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 (courtesy Holland House cooking wine)

Rhubarb cake

Besides triathlons, one of my biggest passions is cooking and baking - especially baking. Unfortunately, baking leads to eating, so I don’t bake often. When I do, though, I’ll try to post some recipes here. Today, I’ve made a batch of rhubarb cake. This is from a recipe that came from one of my Dad’s aunts. Since my Dad favors pie over cake, my mother didn’t make this cake often, but it was (and still is) one of my favorites. Interestingly enough, before today, I’d only made it myself one other time. That first time that I made it, it came out extremely moist – too moist for my taste, so I have modified the recipe just a bit.

Rhubarb Cake

serves 12

½ C butter or margarine
1 ½ C brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 C sour or buttermilk
2 ¼ C flour
½ t salt
1 t baking soda
2 C finely chopped rhubarb

Topping:

½ C sugar
1 t cinnamon
½ C chopped nuts

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and buttermilk. Mix flour, salt and baking soda in separate bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir. Add the rhubarb. Pour into a 9x13” pan. Then combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes. (The baking time is where I’ve had to do most of the adjustments with this recipe. The original recipe says to bake for 25 – 30 minutes. The first time I made this, I started testing at 30 minutes and it wasn’t done. I left it in for another 5 minutes and it tested done, but it was still pretty gooey in the center of the cake. Today I started testing at 35 minutes, still not done. I ended up leaving it for another 10 minutes, making the total baking time 45 minutes). Now, I do not have a thermometer in my oven, so it *is* possible that my oven temperature is off; however, I have no troubles with other recipes. I suspect the moisture content of the rhubarb plays a significant role in the moistness of the cake.

Since writing this up, I have googled "rhubarb cake" and came up with several almost identical recipes. Hmmmm. So much for this being an old family recipe! Incidentally, they all say to bake at least 45 minutes, some closer to an hour. Just goes to show - I should have googled it first and left it in to bake a little longer.

Rough calorie count = 343 cal