The Shamrock Shuffle 2013 8k

Finish Time01:05:57

OVERALL 30,515 of 33,257

FEMALE 17,143 of 19,248

DIVISION 4,699 of 5,026

Point	Time	Time of Day	Pace
START	00:00:00	10:00:35 am	--
1M	00:12:09	10:12:44 am	12:09
2M	00:25:43	10:26:18 am	13:35
3M	00:39:34	10:40:09 am	13:51
5K	00:40:51	10:41:26 am	11:57
4M	00:53:11	10:53:46 am	13:49
FINISH	01:05:57	11:06:31 am	13:09
		Avg. Pace	13:16

Ok I have been probably the worst blogger ever for the simple fact I haven't posted in who knows how long not to mention that 90% of my post are in draft mode and it would have taken only a moment to actually publish it...SMH.

But where should I begin I am GLAD and overwhelmed that I actually did this race. I had my serious doubts that  would do well or even getting out of the bed to make it to the race. I sat in the bed then laid in the bed next got under the covers and pillow and finally looked at the email that should the receipt of the amount I spent on the race and got dressed and then left out. Not to mention that my Booger (Jadon) was waiting for me at the starting line up with my race items, and yes she was tweeting, calling, texting, and almost IG the fact that she was there and I WAS NOT. I made it in time to go with the last crowd and actually made great timing in my opinion especially when you look at the results. My thoughts raced as I ran through each mile and all I thought about was WHY DIDN'T I DRINK A PROTEIN SHAKE!!! and THANK GOD FOR THE WATER AND GATORADE. 

Mostaccioli or Baked "Spaghetti"

How many of us added a twist to an old school recipe; and I literally mean an old SCHOOL recipe...Remember those baked mostaccioli or spaghetti you would eat at lunch on hot lunch days well I took the recipe to the next level...

When I decided to go on this health kick a few years back and was only allowed 1 cheat day this was one of items on the menu. I start with chopping 1-2 cups of green peppers, onions, and set them to the side. Next I brown 1.5lbs of ground turkey (truthfully you could use any type of ground meat) and remove the casing and brown some Italian sausage either turkey or combo meat sweet and hot. While that is browning I then start the boil on the noodles (Penne, Fusilli, Farfalle, Rotini which are defined later),  no I am not that fancy that I make my own pasta I will get there one day VERY VERY soon. After the pasta is created and the meat is brown with the grease and a tablespoon of butter you add the green peppers and onions to the skillet. All the while I take tomatoes and dice them and also puree some to make my sauce along with adding 2 tablespoons of basil, marjoram, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and the secret ingredient to tone down the bitterness of the tomatoes a pinch of sugar. In a pan combine ALL ingredients: sauce, meat, pasta, vegetable into a pan along with shredded mild cheese and cube Colby cheese and top it off with shredded Mozzarella then baked for 45mins to 1 hour and let chill enough to spoon onto serving dish and enjoy.

Now I know there is no way that any one's cafeteria actually did ALL of this which is why it's an old SCHOOL recipe with a twist called Ari's Mostaccioli. *takes bow I hope you enjoy this recipe and add your own twist to make it your own. 

The different types of pasta, descriptions and literal translations if applicable:

Fusilli

Three-edged spiral, usually in mixed colors, many vendors and brands sold as Fusilli are two-edged

From the diminutive of fuso (spindle), relating to the idea of a cylindrical rotating object Little spindles.

Penne

Medium length tubes with ridges, cut diagonally at both ends

Pens (after a quill pen)

Ziti	Long, narrow hose-like tubes

Farfalle

Bow tie or butterfly shaped

Butterflies

Rotini

2-edged spiral, tightly wound, some vendors and brands are 3-edged and sold as Rotini

UGLY Sweater Run

 7

*sighs Where do I begin well I guess from the beginning.............THIS RUN WAS NO JOKE for me but apparently to others it served as a reason to come out with family and friends to just enjoy every one's company.  It all began with a lonely road...LOL let me stop it began with a plethora of people. Here's the VIDEO http://youtu.be/GzeNA66SGvo The run was approximately 3.1 miles long on city streets.  Runners and walkers dress up in their worst holiday sweaters, maybe have some holiday drinks before lining up at the start line.   It started in waves because of the amount of people participating, I was in the 3rd wave so my start was a little bit later than a expected. So I started out VERY VERY strong doing my best time ever 12:57 Mile 1 marker 13:17 Mile 2 marker cause I decided to stop and grab a cup of warm cocoa and 13:00 Mile 3...actually finishing really strong. I am glad that I did the run and actually am signing up for another run which is the Shamrock Shuffle....110 days n counting for training...

But back to the ugly Sweater Run I did the race with my best Buddy Tyree of course he finished WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY before me but did an excellent job at encouraging me along the way. The weather was also a challenge but thank goodness for thermal running clothes. It was a beautiful 31 F.  After finishing I treated myself to some well deserved Chipotle!!! 

Full Circle

Its been approximately a year since I started this Blog and unfortunately I haven't given it the justice that I was suppose to.  Partly because I deviated from the plan and got a promotion which eliminated a lot of the free time I would have had for the Fit/EatRight/CookBetter Challenge that I set for myself a year ago. However I did accomplish somethings that I normally would not have for example applying to appear on Food Network: Chopped or going to the casting call for Master Chef and Hell's Kitchen; although nothing resulted from those without trying to take my cooking to the next level I would have never had the guts to even try. I  might not get out as much as would like working out but when I do I go hard and challenge myself even more. For example I plan to do the Ugly Sweater Run 5K on November 24 and I would love the support of my family and friends there to cheer me on.   



I have also perfected some recipes that I originally started cooking that need a little fine tuning which are pictured here:  

Beef with Broccoli 
Chicken with Broccoli 






Most people order either of these when they go to a Chinese restaurant and with me its one of the only things I will order from ChiTung restaurant in Chicago on 95th and Kedzie.

For the Beef I used a Flank Steak, trimmed and thinly sliced against the grain and for the Chicken I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced against the grain. Now for a long time I questioned what it meant to cut against the grain and as I started working with different types of meat I found out how important it was to cut against the grain. Some cuts of meat have distinct lines in them. Flank steak, skirt steak, brisket and London broil are good examples. These long lines are fibers running through the meat, and they are difficult to chew through. These cuts of meat are usually sliced (before or after cooking) in a way that fibers are cut through. In this way, the meat becomes more tender and easy to eat. Lines are running from right to left down the length of the steak. If you slice this steak in the same direction as those lines, you'll have to chew through the fibers. Whereas if you cut across the lines, the knife will have already done that work. Think of it similarly to slicing a stalk of celery. The strings are less likely to get caught in your teeth if you cut those strings into smaller lengths. In case you were ever wondering about that. 

One other key item that I had to search for and actually order online was Chinese Rice Wine it is not something that is carried in any stores here in Chicago (specialty or regular grocery store) what I was using originally would be Rice Wine Vinegar which would add a lot of bitterness to the dish. I also experimented with the different sauces clear and brown. Well here are the recipes for you all to try at home just remember the few little tweaks I had to go through in order to get it the proper way....

For the Marinate:
Whisk 1 egg white, 1 tablespoon Chinese Rice Wine and 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Toss with your protein; cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Prep 3 cups of Vegetables
Baby Corn
Water Chestnuts
Broccoli Florets
Quartered Mushroom Caps

For the Clear Sauce
Mix 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 tablespoons Chinese Rice Wine, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar

For the Brown Sauce
Mix 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, soy sauce,  hoisin sauce, and Chinese Rice Wine

Drain the excess marinade from the protein. Place sauce, vegetables and protein near the stove. Heat peanut or vegetable oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Add the protein; slowly stir until almost opaque (about 1 minute). Add 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 2 minced scallions and a pinch of salt and sugar. Add the vegetable starting with the ones that take the longest to cook and stir until crisp tender. Add the sauce and stir until the sauce thickens and the vegetables and protein are cooked thoroughly. 

Its been a Minute...Sprouts and Chops

Although I have cooked so infrequently thanks to the advance in my position I now have 2 FT jobs and therefore any free time that I do have goes towards sleep. Over the last 3 weeks however I have come across some very interesting recipes that I will definitely give a try. The most recent recipe that I came across and actually attempted was a recipe for Brussels Sprouts. Now I know what you're thinking WHY IN THE WORLD would I want to eat that it gross. Well that's cause you haven't learned about the secret ingredient...BACON... I swear bacon makes everything taste so much better.

So I started with seasoning the pork chop with Italian Seasoning Lemon Pepper and cayenne pepper and then placed it in a cast iron skillet with a little bit of olive oil with a mixture of canola oil so that it wont stick to the pan and placed them in the oven to get it that overall crunchy taste.

Then a skillet I started with sliced thick bacon with the rind on in the skillet from there I removed the bacon and left the grease and fat behind. I then washed and cut the sprouts in half and basically seared them in the bacon fat and oil. While I was preparing that I also put some white rice on with Chicken broth and butter. After about 15 minutes the sprouts and the  rice were done. I had put the chicken on for about 45 minutes or so.

White Bean Chili, Home made Pizza Mexican Turkey and Black Bean Soup, Red Velvet Cupcake,

The Weekend Meals

I decided to make a meal that was comforting and also relaxing.....MEATLOAF and Mashed Potatoes

I had originally sworn off ingesting so much red meat because of the fact that it takes it so long to digest in your system. So I decided to do was take 1/2 lb of ground turkey and 1/2 lb of ground sirloin beef and combine the two along with chopped green peppers onions and an array of seasonings such as celery salt, poultry seasoning, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Mixed it all up and formed it into the shape placed in the oven for 1hour and 15 minutes. Make sure that the bottom of the pan is lined with olive oil so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. For the potatoes I mashed red potatoes with sour cream, chicken broth, and ranch dressing along with garlic butter and turkey bacon. I then took broccoli and steamed it with Colby and monterey jack cheese.


The next dish displayed it is an oven fried lemon whole wheat bread crusted chicken with peanut butter pureed peas and rice cooked in chicken broth.

I toasted several pieces of whole wheat bread in the oven and let the chicken pieces soak in lemon juice for approximately 30 minutes for it really to take in the flavor of the lemon juice. When the bread was toasted I placed them in the food processor until it was finely chopped. I then took some poultry seasoning, oregano, Italian seasoning and pepper and mixed it in with the breadcrumbs. I took an egg mixture to coat the chicken by dipping it first in the egg and then rolling it in the breadcrumb mixture. I then let it cook in the oven for 1hour and 15 minutes with olive oil and chicken broth and lemon juice coating the bottom of the pan. With the peas I took them n cooked them with butter in a skillet for about 3 minutes until they were just about ready and took them placed them in the food processor and and combines butter and peanut butter just about a tablespoon n pulsed until it was a thick puree. You could taste the peanut butter but you needed something sweet to cut the acidity of the lemon pepper chicken hence where the peanut butter pureed peas were good.

2 meals One night...

Last Night I had inspiration to cook two meals and it turned out Wonderful

First Meal

Broiled Ahi Tuna Steak with Pea-Puree

3 stalks of Celery, quartered lengthwise

1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Ahi Tuna Steak (cut thickly)

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 cup of peas

1/3 cup of cream

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Preheat the broiler. Line the broiler pan with foil and preheat for 5 minutes. Brush the celery and onions with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Brush the fish with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt pepper and sprinkle with the paprika; brush to coat the fish evenly with paprika. Carefully remove the pan from the oven, place the fish in the center and scatter the onion and celery around. Broil until the fish is golden and just cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile boil the peas until just about tender, just about 4 minutes. Transfer the peas and cream into a food processor and pulse with butter and pinch of salt to make a slightly chunky puree. Then Serve....

The peas where should I begin maybe because I am not a fan of Peas I should have known the Pea Puree would have bin a struggle to get through but I ate it. It tasted very sweet and was actually really good compliment to the fish but I was not a fan of the peas.

Second Meal

Chicken Soup

1 chopped onion

1 chopped celery stalk

2 teaspoons chopped oregano

2 sprigs of thyme

2 cups diced tomatoes

3 cups diced red potatoes

3 cups of sweet corn kernels

3 chicken skinless chicken breasts, sliced 

1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

4 cups of chicken broth

I combined all the ingredients into a crock pot and allowed them to cook overnight I literally woke up at 330AM engulfed in the smell of a beautiful chicken soup. You can also make this stove-top in a large pot. 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil add a base which could consist of onion garlic celery stalk and carrot next add your chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Then stir in the potatoes and tomatoes for about 4-6 minutes. From there you add your corn and chicken breast allow that to cook thoroughly for about 20 minutes if not already cooked. Once it has cooked thoroughly you can sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese croutons or crumbled crackers I added cooked noodles cause I feel that every soup needs some noodles.

Both of these recipes were taken from Food Network Magazine Cookbook pictured above. 

The workout was light because I didn't want to not cook for 30 days so I did two recipes to accommodate for today not being able to cook or workout. So last nights workout consisted of push ups and sit ups not total body just the simple areas that every girl wants to workout.

Skillet Pork & Peppers....Workout Injury

Last Night Dinner was a play on Skillet Pork and Peppers Recipe provided by Food Network Magazine Great EASY Meals 

1 large pork tenderloin

Kosher sale

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, sliced in chunks

2 bell peppers sliced into wide strips

6 cloves of garlic, smashed

16 bay leaves 

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup of sliced jalapeno peppers

1/4 cup of pickling liquid from the jar

2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the broiler. Slice the pork on an angle into 1-inch thick pieces; season with salt. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add the onion and bell peppers season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender and slightly browned. Transfer to plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet. Add the pork and sear over high heat until browned on both sides. Transfer the pork to the plate with the onion and peppers. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, sage and tomato paste to the skillet. Cook, stirring until the tomato paste turns brick-red. Add the jalapeno slices and their liquid, then pour in the broth slowly bringing it to a boil. Arrange the pork in a single layer in the skillet; add the onion and peppers and sprinkle the cheese. Transfer to the oven and broil until the pork is cook thoroughly, 4-7 minutes. 

The vegetables are navy beans, spinach and yellow carrots broiled and blanched and then sautéed with olive oil salt and pepper to taste.

I will be very VERY honest the vegetable were HORRIBLE I will not be trying that recipe again I believe it was the navy beans I am not a fan of ALL beans and those were the PITS....Why I chose Pork tenderloin is because it is just as lean as skinless, boneless, chicken breast and just as high in protein. Therefore when I got done with the workout that tried to kill me I would be putting the right supplements into my body.  

THE WORKOUT *dramatic music

I continued with arm exercises from yesterday and felt that I could amp them up by doing total body workouts with them adding in lunges and squats when there weren't any. Needless to say I pulled a muscle doing a squat n just collapsed over to circumvent the injury from preventing me to work out today I soaked in the tub with Epsom sale for an hour and then wrapped my leg and actually felt better today walking into work I didn't actually feel it until I had to go walk the property but it's alright the cold helped a lot and I didn't have a limp walking out of the office today. Therefore I will probably continue with arms later today and take a rest day tomorrow from the workout to give my body a rest.

Day 4 Experimental Play of Bacon wrapped Chicken and Arms

Last night was an experimental Recipe......

Took chicken drumsticks and soaked them in toasted sesame oil for about 10 minutes. While they were soaking I diced red potatoes, sweet onions, celery, green peppers, and limes. I then wrapped the chicken drumsticks in TURKEY bacon and seasoned them with seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, and lime juice. I cooked them at 400 F for about 1 hour 15 minutes with a low broil for the last 15 minutes to really give ignite the flavors. For my side I julienne green beans and steamed boiled them for about 10 minutes as they were steaming I finely chopped almonds and toasted them for 10 minutes also. Once they were done I just seasoned them with salt and pepper to taste.  There was hardly any measuring for this recipe I solely went off sight, smell, and taste. If it made my mouth water when I smelled it then it went into the dish.

Now the workout....*sighs deeply

I decided to alternate between upper and lower body since Sunday was lower Monday had to be upper. I did the Total Workout in 10 DVD... 

With a 8lb weight I did shoulder press, Bicep curls with a squat, and a few other exercises. Pictured around,  the hardest part were the push ups. You basically started in the center went down come up go out to the right down and up center down and up and to the left down and up. For a total of 30 push ups total, easy right, not so much I am super committed so if I took a break I would add another one to the full set. After my arms felt like spaghetti I felt as though I couldn't leave my abs out of the party. I did 20 sit ups to the center, 10 to the right and 10 to the left. By the time dinner was ready all I wanted to do was eat and soak, and sleep which is exactly what I did. I know if after this I don't have the body I'm trying to perfect I'm a be one Chiseled sexy Fit Woman :)