Baked Lentil Casserole

A new recipe to try in 2010! I got this recipe from a co-worker. She is a vegetarian and said she really loved this recipe. I made it a few days ago and all I can say is YUM! It is rich in flavor and texture. I have yet to tire of the leftovers! My slight variations/comments are in red.

1 – 12oz package dried, rinsed lentils <- store brand = $.80

2 C. water

1 bay leaf

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp sage

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cumin

2 large onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced <- at store I removed 2 cloves from fresh garlic = cheap

1 – 28oz can tomatoes, either crushed or petit diced, with juice <- used what I had 2-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes, one was no salt added and the other had green chiles mixed in.

2 large carrots cut in 1/8 inch slices

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 yellow or red pepper, chopped

2 T. parsley, finely chopped

1.5 C. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Place lentils in a shallow glass 13x9 inch baking dish with water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, cumin, onions, garlic, and tomatoes with juice. Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Add celery and carrot and bake covered for 40 more minutes.

Remove from oven, stir in parsley (I actually mixed the parsley in with the chopped celery and carrots and added in the step above) and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 5 more minutes (or until cheese is melted).

Happy New Year!

I'm back after being M.I.A.

Surprise! I’m back! I realize I’ve been M.I.A. for almost four months. I wasn’t enjoying myself and I felt sort of bored. Ran out of the desire to write. However, I’ve not been absent from the blogosphere…I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs but just haven’t written on my own.

I don’t plan on writing everyday and may not write every week. But I will be more present and I am excited to write about new recipes that I try, my workouts and goals, and whatever else floats my boat at the moment, lol! The goal of my blog is still the same, to document my experiences relating to my mind, body, and soul!

Big thanks to those of you that haven’t given up on me! Also thanks to the other wonderful bloggers out there that continue to motivate and inspire me!!

I'm 30!

Almost a week ago I turned 30! I kept trying to wrap my mind around the concept of turning 30 in the months and days leading up to the big day. I’m not going to lie, I experienced a bit of anxiety and nervousness. Most of that came from the fact that my twenties felt like they flew by. The idea of turning 30 was a bit foreign to me and I was having a hard time imagining myself being 30. On the outside I was playing it cool, but on the inside I was secretly freaking out….just a little. I’m not exactly in the place I thought I would be in my life when I turned 30….but hey, who is?!

I knew I was going to be ok, when the night before my birthday a wave of excitement washed over me! I have a bunch of things planned this year that I’m really excited about. I’m looking forward to those things as well as any new surprises that my 30th year will bring me!

I started celebrating about a week before my birthday and I even celebrated a few days after. Below are a few photos of my week and half celebration. Thank you to my friends and family for helping me to celebrate!!

Mediterranean Stuffed Bell Peppers

The other day I tried a new recipe which included an ingredient that was also very new to me. It called for Quinoa. If you were like me than you were thinking, what is quinoa? According to wikipedia, it’s “a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds.” Quinoa can be used as a rice and/or couscous substitute.

I thought the stuffed peppers were just ok. The recipe called for quinoa, diced tomatoes drained, feta cheese, and fresh basil. The fresh basil was too overpowering, so I ended up picking out most of it. I think I prefer fresh cooked basil. I also felt it was missing something in flavor, but I’m not sure what. I’m thinking if I added some balsamic vinaigrette to the mix, it might have been more satisfying. Maybe. I also realized that I prefer cooked stuffed peppers as opposed to raw peppers. I discovered my stomach doesn’t like that much raw peppers. But than again I guess I never really practically ate a whole pepper in one sitting. I also think you could use small to medium sized peppers instead of large peppers. Large was a bit too much red pepper for me. I may or may not make this again, we shall see! The prep time and cook time didn't take long at all. I also cooked the Quinoa in too much water, I think it is suppose to look fluffier and maybe not quite so slimy. It looks slimy but didn't taste slimy.

The stuffed peppers did look really colorful and yummy! Oh and I do like quinoa!

1st Annual Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run

We did it! Jamie and I completed our second 5k run...

and Stephanie finished her first 5k run! What a perfect day for the run, the weather was gorgeous…sunny and comfortable. I hadn’t realized that this was the first time they had ever done a run through any of the Bores of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. I’m happy to say I was a part of this event! We ran to support the Maryland Special Olympics.

Tolls Before the race

I was lucky enough to have my mom there to cheer us on! She was very nice and held/watched all of our bags for us while we were running. She also took most of the pictures for us! Thanks mom, I love you! The race started at 9am and everyone started to gather around the mysterious starting line around 8:45am. A blow horn sounded and the race began!

I was a little worried about the race course because a little over half of the course was up hill and the rest was down hill. Picture running down into the tunnel, up out of the tunnel, turning around and running down back into the tunnel, and the last mile or so is uphill. We did not have time chips to capture individual times so I have a very rough estimate of my time. Based on my time (not sure where the starting line was so guesstimated it) my “rough” splits are as follows:

1st mile – 9 mins

2nd mile – 7.34 mins

3rd mile + .14 – 10.96 mins

Like I said, who knows for certain when I started and when I finished according to time. The finish line was a little confusing because the women had to go to the left and men to the right. The girl in front of me literally stopped at the finish line which confused me because aren’t you suppose to run through the finish? That slowed me down some, area was very narrow and there wasn’t room for passing unless I had intended to plow her over, which I wasn’t! Although the thought did cross my mind. The time on the clock at the finish line was 28:08.

Here’s me (pink shirt/blue shorts) just a little while after crossing the finish line.
Overall, I felt really great in this run. My first 2 miles were awesome! I felt pretty good my last mile considering it was all up hill. I kicked up my pace a little too soon and petered out some towards the last stretch. I truly believe the training I’ve been doing the last 3 weeks (easy, long, tempo, repeats) really contributed to my endurance and pace. Granted I don’t think I beat my last 5k time, but I think I finished in the same time or right around it. I feel AWESOME because the majority of the race was hills and that is WAY different than running mostly level ground. I just know that if there wasn’t that last hill I would have creamed my last 5k time. I was well on course to a personal record. Another time!!

Jamie and Stephanie finished the race not to long after me and they were FANTASTIC!

Race mascots!

Yummy Treats

Just the other day I was happy to find my bruised and battered sample of cereal from Kashi! Thankfully it was only the outside box and not the actual cereal box that had taken a beating. Before I opened the box I was already going through my head how I was going to ask Kashi for another box of cereal, I was desperate to try it. For those of you that don’t know, I heart Kashi products more specifically their cereals and granola bars. Anyways, back to my free sample of cereal… I selected to try the Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters. I tore into the box Friday at lunch time and ate it with skim milk. Wow! I really enjoyed this box of cereal. The blueberry flavoring was great, not overpowering and not too sweet! I can see myself eating this for breakfast, lunch, and/or a snack. You still have time, hurry and get your free sample of cereal!

This evening I decided to try my baking hand at Montana Whoppers. I first heard of them on Meghann’s blog. They looked so yummy! So of course it was my turn to recreate these cookies in my kitchen. I put semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate M&M's, and raisins in mine. There’s a reason why I don’t bake cookies very often. I enjoy the mixing of the batter, but get really impatient with the baking part. I don’t like to wait which leads to huge cookies and them being in the oven FOREVER because I made them too big so they have to cook 10 times longer. I tried a cookie from my first batch and it was ok, it didn’t wow me. My other batches look pretty good, so I’m hoping they taste just as good!

Tomorrow, I will have the perfect test subjects! I run my second 5k tomorrow through the Fort McHenry Tunnel with Sweaty Hugs and her friend; this will be her first race!! EXCITING…so what better way to reward them than to treat them to one or two of my cookies?! After the race of course! I’ll let you know what they think…hahaha!

Night, Night…dreams of running in a tunnel…hmmm…

What a difference!

What a difference a week and the proper preparation make in my 6 mile run! Yesterday was Week 2, Day 3 in my 5k running plan. The goal was to run 6 miles, each mile at an 11:14 pace. I ended up running it in 58.31 minutes! This run went way differently than last week’s 6 miler. Here’s what I did differently:

• Ate a big nutritious breakfast which consisted of an egg, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, banana, some cottage cheese, and a mug of English Breakfast tea.
• Continued to hydrate moderately with water for the next 2 hours.
• Downloaded new music
• Stretched before my run
• Wore my knee strap, stopwatch, and hat
• Drove to my running site and began my run approximately 2-3 hours after breakfast (ran same trail as last week).
• Monitored my pace and ensured I ran at a comfortable, not too fast of a pace.
• Focus on relaxing my body
• Found the 10 mile marker post; they replaced it! I started at the end of the trail so the 10 mile post told me when I had run 3 miles and that I needed to turn around.

I felt so good and happy that it wasn’t a rerun of last week. I wasn’t sure how I would do because I was out celebrating a friend’s birthday the night before and I consumed some beer as well as a hot dog, hamburger, chips, crab legs, and some dip. On top of the not so good food and beer, I didn’t get home until 2am. I did drink lots of water throughout the night though. I find that does wonders for me both during the evening as well as the next morning. So when I woke up Sunday morning I decided I would allow my body to relax, eat a good meal, and ensure I was completely hydrated before going on my run. I went around 1pm and finished just before 2. The weather was great! I still need to purchase a new pair of shoes, which I’m going to do as soon as I post this!