Meal Plan July 28

Pat on the back to me. I have this week's meal plan organised on a Saturday and will be ready to post the blog on Sunday morning instead of making a mad dash on Sunday afternoon. It is all too possible (in my case very likely) that I sometimes over think these plans but it does take me at least half an hour to decide what to make and then to do up the shopping list. I don't want to eat pasta every night or have chicken two nights in a row so I have to do some juggling sometimes. Also, I tend to make the meals that I think will have leftovers the night before the meals which I think will be a little light so that I am prepared when I hear "I'm still hungry" five minutes after the last of the dinner has been served up.

I also like to try new things. My children love to watch Master Chef at the moment and they have taken to scoring the new meals out of 10 and make my husband rate them too. My lowest score was a 2 out of 10 from son number 1 because it had capsicum, tomato and onion in it - his 3 most hated vegetables. I've scored a few 10 out of 10's from the youngest son. He loves me and he loves his food. If he meets a girl who can cook I think he'll marry her!

This week all of the recipes I have chosen are new recipes to me so there will be plenty of Master Chef type judging that will occur. (When I say 'new' I refer to the particular recipe rather than the concept; ie. I've had fish and chips before but not used the recipe that I'll be using on Monday)


So here is what we'll be eating this week...


Monday

Baked Fish and Chips
Last week I got some dill and limes from a friend (who has an amazing vege garden) so fish and chips with a dill mayo on the side seemed a perfect way to use them. (I'll make the dill mayo instead of the tartare sauce that the recipe on the link has. It will simply be whole egg mayo, dill, lime rind and lime juice. The amounts will be decided on taste)
I also have an abundance of potatoes after I accidentally bought a big bag not realising (remembering) that I already had some. So, home made chips are perfect.
I try to avoid frying in my meals so that is another reason I have chosen this recipe - It is baked fish and baked chips


Tuesday


Chicken and Chorizo rice pot
I have made a very similar recipe to this one in the slow cooker but I couldn't find that exact recipe when I went Internet searching and stumbled across this one instead. I will be adding extra vegetables to the recipe - at this stage I am thinking zucchini or baby spinach or (probably) both. I am not anticipating a rave review from son number 1 due to the capsicum and onion but will persist anyway!


Wednesday

Moroccan carrot and pumpkin soup
I have a fairly busy day this Wednesday. I have volunteered to help in both sons classrooms and so will find myself at school until just before 2pm. Just enough time to dash home, make dinner, and go back to school to do pickup.
That night I also have the school parent forum meeting (don't know what that's called in other states or other countries - maybe P&C committee?) plus I am trying to squeeze in another meeting for another school function which I am organising. Putting it in writing is not filling me with any great excitement. However, there will come a time when I am just too embarrassing to be seen with, let alone allowed to help out at school so I will take it now while I can.
Soup is a perfect dinner for a day like that - I can make it in advance and will eat mine on the run in between my meetings. The boys and my husband will still sit down at the regular meal time and eat together.


Thursday

Thai beef and noodle stir fry
The only change that I'll make to this one is add more vege's - probably baby corn and capsicum or baby spinach and carrot or maybe all 4.


Friday

Chicken wraps
These are probably more of a lunch meal than a dinner meal but I am sure they will be well received. I am also hopeful that there'll be some leftovers for a road trip on Saturday.


For the disclaimer on my meals plans click here
For the current Pinterest board of this meal plan click here

Familiar territory on a new terrain... I went on a trail run

About a month ago I posted a blog about finding new running partners (you can read it here).
The summation of the blog was that, as a new runner, you shouldn't be scared off when a more experienced runner invites you along to one of their runs.

Well, I had to re-read it myself this morning because I was back in the familiar territory of being the slower, less experienced runner who had been invited to do a trail run with someone who sets a cracking pace. (This person also writes a fabulous blog of her own called Running in the Rain. Check it out here.)

I was a bit nervous especially as my leg is still letting me know that it's not 100%.
But I also thought that I could do with that little push and so I was very excited.

We set off.
There was some road, some mud, some rocks, some dirt, some grass - Yep enough mix to classify this as my first trail run
Oddly enough, I have lived in this town for 14 years and I truly never knew that most of the tracks we ran today even existed.

And yes, it was at a cracking pace for me, but I kept up (or did you slow down Kate?)
I never asked but I think at some points Kate knew that I was still behind her simply because she could hear me breathing so heavily!

As my leg doesn't particularly favour going downhill yet there came a point where I stopped to stretch and my running partner surged ahead to a turnaround point.
It gave me a great opportunity to get the photos in this blog (although I am annoyed that the one I got of Kate speeding down the hill didn't save on my silly phone).

But I did get the below photo which show what a great place we live in and what a beautiful path we ran and the glorious Winters day that we had.

 

Before I knew it we were done.

I can see why trail running appeals to people. The more I reflect on today the more I wonder if trail running is where I'd like to head to next. It still allows you time to think but it is also like a game with the terrain - you have to think about where you will place your feet rather than simply place one foot in front of the other.

Mmm, something to ponder.

I couldn't not put this photo. This beautiful rainbow lorikeet even popped in when I was stretching  and I only wish he'd posed a bit so that you could see his colour better


Oh and please really do check out the Running in the Rain's blog. You won't be disappointed.

Meal plan July 22

It has been a lovely, sunny winter's weekend here (For those not familiar with where I am, I live on the east coast of Australia, lets say at about the half way point between the tip and the bottom).
The kids were running around in shorts and t-shirts, not a jumper in sight. This morning we visited a friends house for coffee. They have a German exchange student staying with them and she commented on the fact that our Winter here in Australia is the same temperature as their Summer in Germany. It's funny how sometimes it takes another persons perspective on what a great place we live in for me to appreciate it.

I'm back to running this week after a self imposed ban due to a leg injury.
This time though I will listen to my body (leg) and take it slow if necessary. I have signed up to a second half marathon in 2 weeks time and should be running a bit more in preparation but I am not putting any pressure on myself for this run and so am not too worried. (I say this now; in a week's time I may hit panic mode).
I am hoping that a long run tomorrow goes smoothly, ie. pain free, and that I can join a new friend for some sprint sessions or a trail run later in the week.

In the meantime, this is what we'll be eating at our house

Monday
Chicken and vegetable soup with pasta
Chicken and vegetable soup with pasta
On the weekend I made some chicken in the slow cooker. I have shredded the leftover chicken and kept the broth which I plan on using to make this recipe. I don't plan on using the cabbage though simply because I think cabbage is a bit blah! Instead I think I'll add turnip or leek or zucchini - When I go shopping tomorrow for the veg I'll see what is available and make my decision then. That's one of the reasons I like soups like this one, once you add the staples the rest is fairly adaptable.
I will be harassed by the rest of the family to make bread rolls to go with this one, but to be honest it doesn't take that much to convince me.


Tuesday

Traditional lasagne
I like a traditional lasagne. The only change I'll make is to grate zucchini and carrot into the mince as it's cooking


Wednesday

Easy oven baked frittata
This is a yummy recipe that gets a thumbs up from everyone. The only annoying thing about it is slicing the potatoes. Every time I makes it I wish I had one of those mandolin slicers...Might put that on the Christmas wish list for Santa. If you want the vegetarian version simply omit the pancetta. I've also tried this with chorizo and it's nice to have the extra spiciness


Thursday

Chicken sausage rolls
This is a sure winner in our house, and it's fairly healthy too. Someone (in the ratings & comments section) made a great suggestion to add a tin of creamed corn and I have always done that - extra veg and extra flavour, yum.


Friday

Slow cooker Beef Massaman curry
I made this recipe a couple of months ago after I saw it on a friend's page. I wasn't super impressed but I didn't make it exactly to recipe as I was missing a couple of the ingredients. I vowed that I'd make it again and stick to the recipe. This is it's last chance though...


Have a fabulous week
The pinterest board for this week is here: http://pinterest.com/jenstrongy/this-weeks-dinner/
The meal plan/recipe disclaimer is here

Meal Plan and Recipes - Disclaimer/explanation...whatever you want to call it

As I know that a few people actually read my meal plan each week I thought I should put a little explanation to the logic behind the plan

I am not a dietitian nor calorie counter.
I make meals that I think are healthy and something that the whole family of 2 adults and 2 boys will eat.
Years ago, bc (before children) my husband and I followed a Weight Watchers point system on our food and we learnt so much about portion sizes and lower fat versions. So much so that we still remember some of the points.
I don't do separate meals for the kids. They have 2 choices for dinner - Eat what's on their plate or don't eat at all.
I will adapt a recipe to a healthier version (eg. evaporated milk instead of cream) where possible and will generally add extra vegetables.

Here's some other things you should know:

* I will only post meal plans for Monday to Friday. On the weekend we either have leftovers, are out and about, or make lazy meals

* I don't do lamb, at all. This is because it makes me feel sick (nauseous) when I smell it cooking. I don't even know how easily it substitutes into a beef recipe so you can decide that on your own.

* Our youngest son is allergic to prawns so, obviously, we don't have them (unless he is on a sleepover at a friends house, in which case we jump at the chance and do a little happy dance). We are not certain on other shellfish so err on the side of caution. In any case there won't be a lot of that type of seafood on the menu

* I will grate carrot and zucchini into EVERY mince meal. This is simply to get extra veg into my boys. Omit if you like

* I have a little rule that my boys must each 3 vegetables per night. So, in general, I will make 4 vegetables. My logic is that I am then allowing them to choose the 3 that they want out of the 4, hence they feel like they make some of the decision. The eldest is beyond great with veg and will help himself to seconds on nearly all of them. The youngest varies on a day to day basis.

* I try to include one meat free meal per week. That being said I will generally add ham or bacon or chorizo (or something like that) to the kids portions as I believe that they need the protein

Resting an injury.... it actually helps

In case it isn't so obvious, the title of this post is meant to be read with tongue in cheek. Common sense tells me that resting an injury will help. It's just stubbornness that didn't want me to listen.

The quick background to my 'injury' is that I rolled my foot (ankle) on a run about a month out from my first half. It was the outside part of the foot that hurt. I iced it and did what I was meant to do, ie. RICE. I rested it for 3 days and then went for a run when it felt ok. The mistake that I made was going for my long run as my first run back. I am fairly certain that at around the halfway point of that run I (subconsciously?) eased off the sore part of my foot and so leaned in, if that makes sense. And lo and behold, caused another pain to surface.
It meant that I limped each morning when I hopped out of bed and limped for around the first km of any run.

But I was 3 weeks out from my first half.

I couldn't rest now! So I kept running.

I finally partially admitted defeat and went to see an acupuncturist. I didn't notice any real improvement though. (In his defence he was great. I simply think I left it too long after the fact to get the benefit)
Then I went to see an awesome physio (Physio Plus) and he confirmed what Dr Google had told me - it was posterior shin splints. A good massage and strapping and it was feeling a lot better. I saw the physio once more the following week and got it massaged and strapped again. It made a massive difference, and I was as ready for the race as I could be.

The half went great (that's on another blog post here)

But then, as expected after pushing myself on the day, the pain was back. I had promised my husband and physio that i'd rest for at least a week once the race finished. I had good intentions to do so but, well, running is fun and, and.... I don't know, I can't think of any good excuses to write here!!

So, 2 days after the half I did a very slow recovery run/walk. My leg was a bit stiff, but ok I thought. Then I went back to my outdoor group on the Thursday and it included a small run at the start and finish (max 1km each time so very little), but I limped.

That night, after much consideration, I decided that a self imposed running ban was in order. My leg hurt and it wasn't getting better.

Everything that I'd read on posterior shin splints (or any injury for that matter) said that in order to get it better the treatment had to include rest.
My mind and body had a bit of an argument about this...

Rest, arrgggghhhh, nooo, don't make me rest. Anything but that.

 

My head won. Logic tends to be the victor in most of my rantings.

Seven days of no running at all is really hard when you are accustomed to going for a run every day or every second day. But I knew I had to give resting a chance.
I did squats and planks and went swimming to fill in the time.

And yesterday, after my ban of 7 days I went back to my outdoor group. It included going up an down some hell-ish local stairs (I so wish I had a photo of them so you could see i'm not exaggerating here), prisoner squats and, just when my legs couldn't get any more jelly-like, there were some lunges thrown in to finish me off.
I walked when I had to and I did extra stretches at the top and bottom of each stair set.
I was proud of myself for being so sensible. HA!

I got home and iced my leg, just to be safe. And then I iced it again another 3 times up until I went to bed. And it felt good.

This morning I woke up, no limp. Yay. I'm not going to say it was 100% but it's way waaayyyy better, and so I'll say 90%. Pretty good.

But I was still scared. Scared to write this, scared to update my Facebook page to say "I'm back", scared to post this link...

What if I jinxed myself.

And guess what....I did jinx myself a little!
In between starting to write this post this morning and finishing it now (at nearly 6pm) I thought I'd ice my leg one more time, just for good measure
Silly me though, I didn't concentrate when I was doing it. I rolled the ice pack back and forth and in doing so the tea towel that I had wrapped it in came away. So now when you Google the definition of stupidity you may see this image...

In case it's not obvious, this is a picture of an amazing freezer burn.
I am so mad at myself and yep, feel pretty dumb.
(And yes, I have burn gel and gauze dressing on it as I type)

But I always try to find the positive in everything. So, what's the positive? Um, actually I don't know. Maybe it's just a lesson learned and that's enough. Because if my leg is good enough to run on then nothing else matters anyway.

So, I'm BACK.

But let's just whisper that for now.

I don't want to jinx myself any more!

Meal Plan July 15

School starts again on Tuesday this week - Yay
As much as I love the boys, the bickering is something that I can most certainly do without and the last few days has seen lots of it!
Overall though, we've had a good 2 weeks and spent a lot of it enjoying the Winter sun at the beach or park.

We even spent some of the school holiday time baking up a storm - Carrot cake, smartie cookies, oatmeal choc chip cookies and chocolate brownies.
My little time saving trick is to leave some out for eating fresh but the rest (majority) is cut into individual serves and put into zip lock bags and into the freezer.
Each night when we are doing school lunches the boys choose their 'snack' from the cake/cookie box in the freezer. Come lunchtime the next day it is defrosted and ready to eat.
This also stops us all overeating for the sake of finishing what has been baked.

This is what we will be eating this week

Monday
Middle eastern Chicken with chickpeas

http://runcookrunrepeat.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/recipe-middle-eastern-chicken-with.html

This is a recipe that I have put up, adapted from a Family Circle cookbook. The only bad thing about this recipe is the amount of couscous that somehow ends up on the floor!


Tuesday
Apple and Onion stuffed pork















 http://cfscceat.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/apple-and-onion-stuffed-pork-chops.html
This is a new one for us. I don't plan on using the bacon in this recipe as I don't think it's necessary. I am hoping that the apple mixture keeps the meat from drying out which is what seems to happen a lot when I cook pork.
Depending on my day and the weather I will either serve this with roast potato or potato salad (simply because as I type this I have a hankering for potato salad. That may have waned by Tuesday)


Wednesday
Chilli con carne (kind of)
 
http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Beef+49/Easy-chilli-con-carne-recipe+2550.htm
I like this recipe instead of nachos which always seems to be chip heavy instead of meat and veg heavy. By doing it this way I am able to put a small handful of chips in each persons bowl simply to scoop it all up, therefore limiting the chip intake. My youngest is not so keen on that idea!
As with all the recipes that I make with mince I will be adding 1 x grated carrot and 1 x grated zucchini when I fry off the meat.
Also, I will add 1 tsp paprika & 1/2 tsp cayenne  at the same time that I add the cumin and oregano. You could use a pre-made taco or burrito seasoning mix just as easily in place of all the spices. ( I have done it in the past but prefer to not use them as I don't think the caking agents and added salt is totally necessary in our diet)
The final additions that i'll make is to serve it with some grated cheese and avocado/guacamole.


Thursday
Brown rice quiche


 http://www.southerninlaw.com/2013/04/cheesy-brown-rice-quiche-bake-recipe.html
 I really love that this blog's author gives options on how to change the recipe. I'll be using ricotta instead of cottage cheese and I'm also going to add bacon to the boys serves. I'm debating adding grated carrot and zucchini too and will look at that on the day after I have put the mix together.
Anything in individual serves tends to be a winner so I am hopeful that this is not the exception.

Friday
Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/chicken-with-40-cloves-of-garlic-recipe/index.html
I have looked at this recipe for a few weeks and there are lots of variations. I went with the Nigella version because it seems simple, she has notes about making ahead and leftovers and it's Nigella - so it should be good. I'll probably just do up some roast veg with this one although she does suggest freshly baked bread to soak up the garlic which also sound yummo

Have a great week.
You can see the list and links here: http://pinterest.com/jenstrongy/this-weeks-dinner/

Recipes - Middle eastern chicken with chickpeas

Middle eastern chicken with chickpeas

 

Ingredients

500g            Chicken breast fillet, diced (I normally  don't weigh; just do 2 average size fillets)

                     Cooking spray (or 2 tbs oil . I simply prefer cooking spray)

1                   Red onion, sliced

1 tbs            Cumin

2 tsp            Paprika

1 tsp            Lemon zest/rind finely grated

1/2 tsp        Tumeric

400g (1 tin) Baby corn  , drained                 

400g (1 tin) Chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup        Pistachio kernels (unsalted)

1/2 cup        Orange juice (or the juice or of orange)

60g               Baby spinach leaves (I normally don't measure this, but use a couple of handfuls)

1/4 cup        Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped      

Method

 

1. Spray a wok or frying pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about three minutes. Stir in the cumin, paprika, turmeric and lemon zest and cook for another minute.

2. Add the chicken to the pan and stir-fry until nearly cooked through (the chicken finishes cooking through when you add the other ingredients)

3. Add the baby corn, chickpeas and pistachio kernels. Stir fry for approx 3 minutes or until the chickpeas are warmed through

4. Add the orange juice and baby spinach leaves. Stir fry until the leaves have just wilted.

5. Stir in the parsley. Serve with couscous

 

 

* Adapted from a recipe from a Family Circle cookbook 'Quick Short Chicken recipes'

 

First Half Marathon recap

Gosh where to start...

I'll start with the dot point details

Race: Gold Coast Half Marathon 7th July 2013

Goal: Well, that depends on when you asked....
          I was only going to do the 10km until January this year when I swapped to half dreams.
          Up until around April the goal was to finish, with resignation that if I had to walk then that would be totally ok.
          In June the goal was to finish in under 2 hours 10 minutes.
          A fortnight before the race the goal went back to just finishing with walking in the mix. Then as quickly as that doubt crept in, it was gone and the goal was back to under 2 hours 10 minutes with a desire and hope to finish in under 2 hours

PB at Half marathon distance: No idea. I had purposely never done any more than 19.75km so that any finish time would be a PB

I hate to even type this as it kind of feels like I am trying to find an excuse but I also went into this race with a very minor soreness from posterior shin splints. I did get acupuncture on it but probably left that a little too late after the fact to have any real impact. I did have physio on it and got it taped with Dynamic tape and that helped wonders. I am lucky that my husband knows an awesome physio who I got to see twice in the last fortnight before the race. (Physio Plus link here)
Prior to the physio I was limping for the first half to one km of each run. With the physio the limp was pretty much gone and the pain minor and gone fairly quickly once I'd warmed up.

So, race day.
The plan was that my husband would drive me to the start then drive back to my sister's house, wake the boys and drive to the halfway point so that they could all cheer me on. But, god bless, my boys (aged 7 and 9) were so excited that they woke up at 4.30am and wanted to come too. So quick dressing and brushing of teeth and we were in the car.
(At this point I was pleased i'd thought to pre-pack some food and drinks for them while making my brekky the night before)

I met my friend in Southport and we walked over to the race area. Wow, so many people. I mean, I knew there were a lot of people in the race but it's still amazing to see thousands of people at a park 5:15 in the morning.

We wandered around, dazed, for a bit and then found the toilet line! (eww, enough said on those)

Before we knew it the time was 5:45 and we could hear them calling to get in lines and we didn't know where the line was! Luckily we just followed the lead of a couple of other people and jumped the barriers rather than try to find the actual correct entrance. It meant we ended up in zone B, when we were meant to be in zone C but we placed ourselves at the back of the pack so as not to get in the way of too many.

Chat chat chat, oh crap, we're moving!
Yep, we were real professionals here ha ha.
Stop, start again, stop, then we were off.

My friend streaked ahead at around the 2km mark and I lost sight of her around the 5km mark.
(She did it in 1:55. Yay for her)

I felt good. I ran at a steady pace I think; I didn't have any tech support to tell me that, but it felt steady.

My husband and boys were at the 10k mark. It was so great to see them and the youngest got a photo that I love because I look how I felt - excited and having fun (which it was)

10k mark (photo by son number 2)

At the halfway turn I felt good. I knew that my time wasn't fabulous as it had taken me a full hour to do the 10km, and I know that I can do it in 54 or 55 minutes normally.
I hadn't felt the need for water yet. I had a gel with me but didn't feel like I needed it which was great too.

Around the 14km mark I decided to have the gel. No real reason other than I wanted the coffee hit!! (I like Endure coffee flavoured gel).
The last 5km felt great. I love the last 5km (or half hour) of any run and it gave me a boost to be passing people who had passed me earlier in the race.

Having all the crowd there for the last 2-3 km was amazing too. I am pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot from 20km onwards because I had never run that far before.

I rounded the last corner and saw 2:22 on the clock. I was devastated but then as I got closer I saw that it was 2:02. (I normally wear glasses for distance so reading it incorrectly wasn't that much of a surprise)
2:02, yay, not under 2 but still under my goal of sub 2h10. I sprinted the last bit and saw the clock as I went over the line at 2:02:51.

My goal had been to stay with the black balloon pace runner which was a 2 hour finish. I know that they started behind me but I never saw them pass me. (Obviously they did though). I was slightly disappointed in that.

Grabbed my drink and fruit and then my medal and shirt and went out to find my family who were waiting at the exit.

With my husband. (Photography by son number 1)

We hung around for a bit then went back to the car so I could grab my phone because my sister was going to text me my net time...

And I'd done it. I cracked 2 hours with a net time of 1:57:39



I was so pleased with myself. We went out to breakfast at an old haunt to celebrate and then headed home.

Then my brain started ticking and I started over analysing...

I hate to say it but I went to bed feeling pretty crap about the race. Waking up I felt even worse.

I had soaked up the atmosphere, but maybe a bit too much. Looking back I think that at times I was so busy soaking up the people around me and the view that I was kind of daydreaming. I guess the positive is that at least it was relaxing!

Questions swirled in my head...
Could I have gone out harder?
Should I have made more effort to stay with my friend?
Should I have given that last 5km even more of a crack?
Did I do enough?

I actually think that I did the last 11.1km in around 57 minutes because I'm pretty sure the first 10km took an hour. So, that's really really good for me.

I'd finished, I didn't have to walk at any stage and i'd done it in under 2 hours goddam it!

Why wasn't my brain focusing on that instead of the self-doubt?

I chatted via email with another friend who had also completed the half for the first time. She felt the same as I did. Although I hated that she had the same feelings I was glad I wasn't alone.
And the longer we chatted the more I eased off on being so hard on myself.
I hope she did too.
I messaged another friend who helped me in the last few months. She made me feel better too.

And slowly, as the day wore on, I started to feel proud again.

Surprisingly, what really helped a lot was good old facebook. Nearly half of my facebook friends either liked or commented (or both) on a photo of me holding my medal. I wasn't expecting that at all.
A couple of other running pages sent a heap of new likes my way and other running pages wrote some fantastic comments to me.
Someone even said I was an inspiration. Me?
A few others said they'd wished they could do it and would try to join me next year.
Wow.

And the best bit - My boys may have caught the running bug! They nagged me all day to sign up to the Brisbane running festival 2.2km dash and they even practised the distance by running around the block with my runkeeper app going until they hit the 2km mark.

So, I have decided to forget last night and this morning. The self doubt was a waste of energy.

And tonight, as I type this, I am happy to tell you that I completed my first half marathon and achieved all my goals in doing so with a PB of 1:57:39

I will go to sleep tonight with a smile on my face and giving myself a pat on the back for job well done.