For The Love Of Friends and Family

So Saturday was the Paige's Butterfly run in Syracuse, our second race where we attempted to coral our friends to run or walk.  Like November's Jingle Bell run, we did pretty well I'd say.  This time of year it gets a little tricky because the kids all have sports and what not (we skipped a few things to do this but it was worth it).  I think its really great to get out there with your friends and family that you usually gather around food and drinks with to do something healthy together.  I was having fun with the photo editing so I thought I'd share a few pictures from the day.

This is my sister Ouije and I.  You've seen her before.  She's really a trooper when it comes to this stuff.  It wasn't all that long ago that she could be quoted saying things like "Running is bad for you!" an so on.  In the past couple of years she's decided that as an "older " parent (became a mom at 40) that it's time to get her butt in gear to live a nice long healthy life for her boy Chase.  We always take a pre-race photo.  In case one of us doesn't make it I suppose.  Just kidding.

This is Phoebe and her friend MacKenzie.  This was their second 5k in two weeks!  These little girls are impressive indeed.

These three cuties where geared up to run their first 3k.  Chase, Hayden and Sammi.

Here's me nearing the finish line.  I was working hard to beat last year's time, but also very focused on beating this guy.  Sometimes I just need to set my sights on someone and go for it.

Check it out, neck and neck with that guy.

Honestly, I'm not sure how its panned out but I'm pretty sure I'm beating him.

Here we have Rob, MacKenzie and Phoebe bringing it on home!  Phoebe's looking good, beat her time from Memorial day by 1 second (what are the odds?).

Here comes Ouije! Busting out the high fives for everyone.  She's such a celebrity.  Unfortunately there is no picture of Heather coming in because she was 5 seconds behind me and Melanie (who was taking pictures) had no clue where she was!  Next time Mrs. B!

Woot Woot! Here's PJ finishing his first 5k! This is a big accomplishment, especially when he had to overcome stress fractures before being able to really train for it. 

Here's MacKenzie's mom, Amy.  How does she keep her hair so cute after 3 sweaty, muggy miles?  I always have an Afro when I'm done.

I've been friends with PJ since about 5th grade.  We've never done anything healthy together until this year.  Sorry, I'm cracking myself up. Look how happy he is!

Ouije and I like to take an "after" picture too.  Just to prove we survived it.  After the 5k was the 3k walk/run.  Everybody participated in that one (except Ouije and Phoebe who were on photo duty).

Here's Haydo busting it out at the end of his 3k!

He and Nels had a pretty tight race to the finish! (Yes, Nelsy ran two races, one with each kid.)

Run Chase RUN!!!!!! I love this picture.  I'm pretty sure I need to blow it up and get it printed.

Talk about impressive.  Mike is practically a paraplegic, OK, I'm exaggerating but he has a really bad back and some days are pretty terrible.  He was supposed to walk the 3k but got caught up in all the excitement and decided to try and run.  And run he did.  Here H is meeting him for a high 5 as he nears the finish line (eating Chase's dust).

We all look pretty psyched in this picture.  Jenny's pumping her fist back there, Melanie looks pretty excited, I look like an orangutan.  Not sure what all that was...

One more for the road.  Jenny, Heather, Zoe and Sam.  Nice looking bunch!  Not sure what our next group event is, but I'm sure it will be fun and I'm sure we'll be glad we did it.  Now what are you waiting for? Go make a plan with your crew!

Aack! I almost forgot the Dance Party! Pretty funny stuff.  Gangnam Style.

Sans Meat Saturday?

Are you a vegetarian?  If not, do you make it a point to have meatless meals throughout the week?  I notice different groups on social media and elsewhere promote the idea of meatless Mondays to encourage people to reduce their consumption of meat and saturated fats.  Personally, I don't like being tied down to a certain day to eat a certain food (my kids thought it was cool that the neighbors have Taco Tuesdays but I say, what if I feel like spaghetti on Tuesday eh?).  We typically have at least one meatless dinner per week but it's not something we consciously plan out.  It just sort of happens that way.  Yesterday however, was a true meatless Monday (because I forgot to thaw the chicken).  I looked at a couple of different recipes and created my own Springy Pasta with Herbs.

I started with some frozen corn, a few zucchinis a couple of tomatoes, an onion and some garlic (always).

I heated a little olive oil and cooked the onion for a few minutes, then added the corn.

Once the corn was heated through I added the zucchini and cooked a few minutes more.

While the veggies were cooking and pasta was boiling I chopped up a variety of herbs.  Here I have a combo of thyme, parsley, oregano and basil for a total of about 3 tablespoons chopped.

Next I added the herbs, garlic and a couple of chopped tomatoes and a splash of the pasta water to the pan and cooked until the tomatoes broke down a little and zucchini was soft.

While that was working I whisked together a cup of part-skim ricotta, 1/4 cup skim milk and 1/4 cup pasta water.

I added the pasta right into my new fabulous pan that holds a ton!

Pour the cheese right on top and mix well.  I also stirred in a 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

In the end we had a nice creamy, veggie pasta dinner that everybody loved!  I love it when the experiments pay off.

Springy Pasta with Herbs

12 oz farfalle pasta cooked according to package (al dente)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
3 med zucchini, chopped
1 3/4 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 med tomatoes, chopped
3 Tbs chopped fresh herbs (any combination of thyme, basil, oregano, parsley)
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup reserved pasta water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
kosher salt
pepper

Cook pasta according to directions to al dente in salted water.  Drain and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a deep skillet.  Cook onions until soft about 5 min.  Add corn kernels and cook about 3 min until corn is heated through.  Add chopped zucchini and cook stirring occasionally 3 min.  When zucchini has softened, add tomatoes, garlic and herbs, cook until tomatoes start to break down slightly.  Add a splash of cooking water if needed.

Meanwhile, whisk ricotta, milk and 1/4 cup pasta water in a small bowl.  Add pasta and then cheese mixture to the skillet stirring to coat veggies and pasta.  Stir in Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately with a sprinkle of parm if desired.

Hayden loved this so much that he took some to school today and ate it cold for lunch.  Sounds better than a PBJ to me. 

Nuts For Pasta Salad

Tis the season to add plenty of cold fare to the weekly line up.  The great thing about pasta, farro and quinoa salads is that you can whip them up when ever you have a few extra minutes and have them in the fridge ready to go when you need them.  Here we have a Toasted Almond Pasta Salad from the Food Network website, which I did not alter in any way (well that's not totally true but if I had enough thyme I wouldn't have) and because I don't feel like typing it all out just click that link for the recipe.  It's nice and simple, easy to throw together ahead of time.  Here's how it goes...

 Cook up some pasta, drain and set aside.

While you're boiling water, toast up some slivered almonds.  If you have a toaster oven, use it.  I think it seems silly to heat the entire oven for a few nuts.

 As you can see from my herb pile, I didn't have much thyme to spare so I added oregano and chives.  This recipe only calls for thyme but I think just about any of your favorite herbs could work so use what ever you have/like.  This combo was quite nice.

The dressing starts with a little olive oil and some fresh lemon juice.

Add shallots, herbs, fresh ground pepper and red pepper flakes and give it a good whisk.  If you're not familiar with shallots, give them a try.  I love them.  They are like onions but more mild and are just really good.  Raw onion in this dressing might be a little too strong.

Toss it all together and add some grated parm, salt and pepper to taste and you have one nice pasta salad on your hands.

I like to toss in a little leftover grilled chicken and call it lunch! If it seems a little dry the next day, try adding a splash of red wine vinegar, that seems to do the trick. I'll leave you with the link again.  Enjoy and don't be afraid to change things up a smidge!

Single Pot, I Kid You Not

With such a busy evening schedule lately, I'm always looking for quick meals with few steps and not a lot of dishes to wash.  Sometimes I think something will be quick and we end up scrambling around to finish the meal with enough time to eat it before we have to dart out the door in a variety of directions.  I was super excited when I came across this traditional Italian one pot pasta in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living.  It never occurred to me that you could cook the sauce and the pasta in the same pot AT THE SAME TIME!  What, are you kidding me?  It's genius.  I roughly made it they way they advised in the magazine but with a couple of my own additions of course.  I can't wait to try it again with other variations on the sauce.

Nelsy and the kids got me this pot for Mother's day.  I've had my eye out for a nice large, deep skillet for a while.  I'd been struggling with the whole non-stick situation.  I have a large (not so deep) skillet that is full stick and can be rather annoying at times.  With all the info out there about the creepy materials used to make the pan non stick I wasn't sure what to do.  They found this ceramic pot which nothing sticks to, even wipes out with a paper towel if needed between stages. 

This is a simple pasta but you can get creative with it (and I intend to very soon!).  I chopped three tomatoes,  about a cup (loosely packed) of fresh basil, about a quarter of a red onion (that's the only onion I had), and four or five cloves of garlic.

Put about 12 or so ounces of linguine in the pot with the herbs and veg.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt and 4 1/2 cups of water to the pot.

Bring to a boil and toss occasionally with tongs to keep pasta from sticking together.  Cook according to directions on the pasta box, until al dente.

Most of the water will be absorbed by the end of the cooking time.  Remove from heat.  I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a little lemon zest to the pot stirring until slightly creamy but off the heat.  Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve Immediately.

Serve it up as a main dish or as a side with chicken, fish or what ever else you have on hand.  When you're ready to clean up, there's only one pot to wash! I love that.

Caprese For Farro

“I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”—Jamie Oliver

Well put Jamie.  I like it.  I'm trying to do my part by sharing easy recipes for people who don't think they can cook, don't think they have time to cook or don't know how to cook.  Processed foods are making us fat and unhealthy.  We can stop.  We may not be able to cure cancer from our own home, but we can cure obesity.  So, lets make something real and tasty!  I haven't made farro in a while and thought it would be the perfect accompaniment to a nice grilled steak.  I posted a recipe last summer for a farro salad with herbs.  This one has some similarities but I made this one up based on my kids' love for Caprese (pronounced  cah-PREHY-zay) Salad.  If you are unfamiliar with this, think nice slice of tomato topped with a slice of fresh mozzarella, topped with fresh basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  My mouth just watered.  So here we go....

Take one cup of farro and cook it in salted water for about 30 min.  Drain well and set aside to cool.

Get one cup of fresh basil leaves and chop them up.

Chop 1/2 teaspoon of fresh oregano.  I'm sure this would be just fine if you left it out.  I have oregano in a flower box that grows year round.  It's lovely to have around and takes no effort what so ever.

I'm really into chives right now too.  Chop 1 tablespoon of chives.

Put the chopped herbs in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil.  Add 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Throw in some fresh cracked pepper for good measure.

Chop about a pound of tomatoes, this was three mediumish sized tomatoes.

Toss them in the bowl with the cooled farro.

Chop an 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella (all 8oz does not make it into my salad, can't help myself.  It's one of my favorites).

Add it to the bowl with the dressing and you're done!  This is best served room temp but if its been refrigerated and you can wait that long.  No worries, tastes good cold too!

Caprese for Farro

1 cup farro
1 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 tsp fresh oregano chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 pound tomatoes chopped
1 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella chopped

Put 1cup farro in a medium pot with 2 1/2 cups of salted water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to a simmer (med-low), cover and let cook until tender, about 30 min.  Drain well and place in a bowl to cool.

In a small bowl add herbs, olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.

Add tomatoes and cheese to the cooled farro.  Add the dressing and mix well.  Serve right away or refrigerate and bring to room temp before serving.