Creamy Winter Squash Soup!

Good evening!

Today was a very very productive day

I woke up early, had breakfast, did my wash, studied for my exam tomorrow, and made Creamy Winter Squash Soup (a recipe that I found in Yoga Journal)

makes about 4 servings

2 T EVOO

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes

1 pound pumpkin, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes

3 C veggie broth

1-2 T agave nectar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon ( I used 1/2 because I love cinnamon)

salt and white pepper, to taste

(1) Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes

(2) Add the squash and pumpkin and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.  When the squash starts to get soft on the edges, add the broth.  Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.

(3) remove pan from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

(4) Transfer to a blender, along with agave nectar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Blend on medium speed until the soup is smooth.  Season with salt and white pepper to taste….and enjoy!!  (I had a whole foods roll with it )

I made this for dinner.  I stored it in the fridge with plastic wrap over it and enjoyed it before I went to teach my spinning class. It honestly was delishh. I liked it very much!!…it has such a sweet and delicious flavor to it. It honestly could have used even more cinnamon and nutmeg than I added… but I will take note of that for next time!  and the best part of all? I froze three servings of it…so Ill be able to enjoy it for awhile

After I made the soup, I did some work and then went to the gym for a group exercise instructor meeting.  It was super fun…not.  Afterwards, I went to starbucks and got an iced tea and then went to cvs to return an ink cartridge that I bought the other day (it was the wrong number…stupid stupid).

After that, my friend Larry came over and we did physics, I studied some more for my exam, ate my dinner of squash soup, taught spinning- playlist of choice: Daylight

song 1: played before class begins....song 2: warm-up...song 18: cool-down

Tonight I tried another new item I bought at whole foods:

oh and I also had this today- well half of it…ate the other half last night…. I love these!  I first had them for the “snack of the day” went I went to the rachel ray show in May.  may or may not have had some halloween candy today too haha…too addicting.

Now I am watching the Eagles-Cowboy game and doing some work.  hope you all had a wonderful sunday

-Christina

p.s. this is going to be a very busy week for me- so I will most likely not be updating the blog until this coming friday, saturday, or sunday (november 13, 14, or 15).  I will be updating my “marathon training” page daily- which hopefully will include “painfree” runs starting tomorrow!! but do not worry- it will just be 2-3 miles…my ankle is feeling fantastic today…so I really having high hopes for a full recovery…

anyway… just wanted to give you the heads up about my MIA’ness for this coming week…I wish you all a safe and awesome week

P.P.S. Katye from RunninAround is doing her first giveaway!  She is part of “Team in Training” and the giveaway is centered around this.  So share your cancer story and enter to win her awesome giveaway

Sweet Potato Ricotta Pasta LOVIN’

good evening bloggers

geez this morning was REALLY CHILLY!  As soon as I walked outside I thought to myself “wow..if it is this cold now.  Imagine how cold I am going to be two weeks from now and about 4 hours earlier than this” (aka at the start line of the philadelphia marathon).  I better make sure I have the proper attire, eh?  I should also focus on actually making it to the starting line!!! haha  I joke but in the back of my mind I am really, REALLY nervous about my ankle!  still slight pain, still feeling better each day.  but still hesitant and nervous. today I rowed on the erg for 20 minutes, did some lifting and core work, and went to bikram yoga.  I was supposed to run 12 miles- so this sorta kinda was equivalent?

Before working out, and after breakfast….I went to Whole Foods!

becky needed real 100% cranberry juice so I told her that I would make the trip to whole foods and get it for her…the plus side of this was that I got to shop at whole foods versus the local regular food store…I love being able to go to whole foods… its so much fun there! haha  I got lots of new things that I am excited to try out and I also bought ingredients to make butternut squash soup (I saw a recipe in Yoga magazine).

Tonight…I made one of my favorite dishes… Whole Wheat Pasta with Sweet Potato and Ricotta Cheese

I cant get enough of this dish!!  you guys all really really need to make it, PRONTO!

After dinner, I did some homework, watched some TV, and then tried out one of my new buys from whole foods:

as expected…this was deliosoooo!!

Today my sister and parents cleaned out my grandmom’s house.  Wish I was there with them to do it.  Even though I was just home, I miss my family very much.  I cannot wait to get home for thanksgiving  hope you all have a nice night…

-Christina

looking up…

hey hey!

Status on the ankle: things are looking up

less pain with each day…which is definitely a GREAT thing…it means that it most likely is not a stress fracture or anything like that…I am really thinking that it is tendonitis.  The icing and aleve have been doing their job very well.  Tonight I went to CVS and bought an ankle “futuro wrap around ankle support” bandage and ICYHOT patches.  I have not ran AT ALL…and I do not plan on trying to run until monday….maybe sunday….but leaning towards monday just so I am on the safe side!

Tonight, I decided to go to Bikram yoga!  I havent done bikram since the very beginning of September… it was awesome!!  I felt fantastic after I left  There was one pose that bothered my ankle only slightly so I decided to opt out of that one…but besides that…it felt great!

I came home and heated up some Split Pea Soup that I made the other night…

I forgot how much I loved this soup…so happy that it is has made it back into my life

oh and this morning I made a jar of oats with my leftover PB: 1/2 c oats, 1/2 c skim, 1/2 C H20, raisins, banana, leftover PB… this picture is from the last time I made it…I was too lazy to get the camera out this morning (I went out last night and was veryyyy tired upon waking up this morning).  wish there was more PB this time around but what can ya do…

since I went out last night and since I have loads of work to do for next week I am going to do some homework tonight, get to bed early, and wake up early to go to the gym, go food shopping, and study…exciting stuff.  haha  have a good friday!!

 

-Christina

the GOOD and the BAD

THE BAD:

my ankle still hurts.  I was walking to my first class today at 9 AM and had slight pain while walking– but when I had to climb up or down the stairs (especially down), the pain was REALLY bad.  I honestly felt like plopping down right there in the middle of the walkway and crying.  But to avoid looking like a complete weirdo, I pressed onward. haha I did go to the gym tonight and went on the bike for a little bit, lifted (arms) and did some core work.  experienced no pain.  Ill continue to ice and take aleve tonight.  and thank you for all of your helpful comments.  I actually did just get BRAND NEW running shoes. the same exact type as I had before, too.  so that cannot be it.  who knows.   I was thinking if maybe I did something on the 20 mile run that caused this?  At one point we were on an unpaved trail and I did lose my balance and kind of rolled my ankle a little bit but it not hurt then and that was at mile 10.  I continued 10 more miles with no pain at all. the next day was cross training and the next day was rest day.  and I really noticed the pain when I attempted to run once again on tuesday.  hmmm…

THE BAD, again:

I come home from my first class (that I almost didnt make it to due to my urge to plop on the ground and cry haha) to my roommate with a mask on her face.  she was diagnosed with the swine flu. YES. perfecto. Her parents came to get her and we spent the afternoon cleaning everything.  Now our room smells of lysol and bleach…YUMMY  So I will hope and I pray I do not get it!

and…inspired by holly…the good things that make me SMILE :

Fresh whole wheat pasta with spinach, broccoli, red sauce, and parmigiano reggiano

oh and like Holly…I too like starbucks holiday cups

green monstas:

and a cup of hot chocolate:

things to do tonight: watch the phillies! and study for a microbiology quiz tomorrow…woot woot….laterrrrr

-Christina

help!

so today I went out for a 5 miler and I had shooting pain in the my right inside ankle. The first thing I thought was “STRESS FRACTURE” (because I suffered from a Tibial Stress Fracture two summers ago). And even though I did not want to stop running AT ALL, I decided to.  I turned around and walked home.  I think I only got about 1 mile in but oh well!  When something hurts, that is a major sign that you should stop whatever you are doing that is causing that pain.  I have two weeks until the marathon and cannot get hurt!  I do not think it is a stress fracture though- from my experience- stress fractures usually start out as a dull pain and gradually (over weeks) worsen.  This pain did not slowly develop- it just appeared.  So that is what makes me thing that it is my tendon versus a bone.  Tendonitis perhaps??  I took some aleve and applied ice to my ankle… and I will continue to do so. hopefully this is nothing to worry about.  But its better to take the necessary precautions then to risk serious injury.  On the way back home I got so worked up thinking “what if this is serious and I have to take off a long amount of time from running? What if I cant run in the marathon? what if…what if… what if…”  I honestly was about to cry… I get very emotional, okay? haha  anyways I truly think I am fine…I think the aleve and and ice will do me good.

any insight you can give would be greatly appreciated!!!

anyways…I came home and decided to make a batch of Split pea soup My sister got this off of Jenna’s Blog in the summer and we both fell in love with this!

Serves 4

2 cups dried split peas

6-7 cups water

1 onion, chopped

1 yam or sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I kept the peel on!)

sea salt to taste

3/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

cayenne pepper to taste

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. When its sizzling, add the chopped onion and cook for about 10 minutes or so on low/medium heat until the onions are super soft and almost starting to caramelize. Add the split peas, water and sweet potato and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 30-40 minutes or until the peas are very soft and tender. Ladle about 75% of the soup into a blender and whirl until totally smooth (be very careful—soup is HOT!). Add the pureed soup back into the pot and stir to combine. Add the spices and season with salt to taste.

This came out thinner than I am used to (we usually make it VERY thick- almost like a dip than a soup haha) and I am not sure what version I like better to tell you the truth- they are both delcious!!  I do not have the most beautiful of photos of this meal to share with you…but here you go anyway:

I had this with baked blue chips and it was heaven!!!   Now I am devouring WAY too much bulk candy that I bought from Wegman’s…everytime I go I end up eating so much that I feel like I am going to get sick…haha what is wrong with me?  anyway…I must go now!  Hope your day went well

-Christina

Happy Halloween!

Hey everyone!  Sorry for being a bit M.I.A. lately!  This weekend was very fun!  On Friday (after my classes), I took the train back home to Philly (to my sisters’ apartment).  My sister and I went to a market called Di Bruno Brothers to get ingredients for dinner.  My parents (and doggie Andie!) came over the apartment for a nice home cooked dinner.  We had cheeses, grapes, crackers, and bread to start and for dinner we had filet mignon, brussel sprouts, and sweet potato gnocchi in a brown butter sage sauce.

the sweet potato gnocchi were AWESOME.  everyone loved it.  I had about 5 more servings of this- it was addicting!!!

The next morning, my sister and I set out on our longest run of our training plan- 20 miles.  I was really nervous for this run!  Even though I ran 19 miles a couple weeks ago- that didnt really “count” since I was really sick.  I was just happy to survive those 19 miles haha…this time I was looking to have a solid 20 mile run- and that is exactly what I had!  My garmin stopped working for the last 2 miles but I averaged ~ 8:15/mi.  And it was drizzling pretty much the entire time…but it kind of felt good!  Half way through the run I started to feel pretty tired and sluggish so we stopped to buy some gatorade (which helped tremendously).  It honestly is crazy just how much a little bit of fuel helps you get through a run.  anyway- I had a blast during the run but I am definitely looking forward to tapering!   For some reason my quads have be screaming this week!!!  I need to stretch them out and take it easy in my spinning class tonight.

After the run we got showered and headed outside to find a place to get some breakfast (well actually brunch- because by the time we ate it was about 1:30 pm haha) My sister and I decided to try out a french restaurant (that we ran by) for breakfast.  This place was really cool and had some very different choices on the menu.  We started off with a bread basket...(which was AWESOME, by the way- and yes we pretty much licked this basket clean minus a bite or two haha)

We shared a yogurt parfait:

and each got creme bruleed oatmeal with raisins for our meal:

I really was not sure what to expect with this oatmeal that I ordered- but I was not let down at all…this was AMAZING. tasted like my mommom’s famous rice pudding almost. I honestly would come back to this restaurant again just to get this alone.   I loved how it was crunchy on top.  By the end of this meal- we were STUFFED. but everything was excellent.

After hanging out for a little while, my sister dropped me off at the train station to go back to baltimore so I could spend halloween with my roommates  Here are some photos from the night:

We went downtown to Fells Point for halloween.  Becky had her sister and sister’s friend visiting (they are two years older than us).  They were not feeling the crowdedness of fells point and the bar that we were in was not the classiest of them all.  They wanted to leave and go somewhere else and so I decided to accompany becky and go with them where ever they wanted to go. and you know what? I am happy I did!  It was much too crowded where we were. Instead, we went to Fed Hill and had a really good time

Well- that is pretty much it!  Not much going on for the rest of the day- just doing a little homework and teaching spinning at night!  This week (finally) is not as crazy as my last several weeks.  Finally I get a  chance to breathe a little bit! woohoo.  Hope your Halloween was fantastic and I hope you enjoyed  this extra hour of sleep this morning  Have a nice sunday!

Go Eagles and Phillies!

-Christina

the return of evergreen mondays!

Good evening my fellow readers! haha… anywayss…monday was another beautiful fall day here in baltimore.  Rain is in the forecast for today and tomorrow though

On Monday I woke up and dug into yet another bowl of my new obsession- overnight pumpkin oats:

After I went to all of my classes, I went over to the evergreen to do some studying. I usually go here every monday but I havent been in awhile (due to exploring other places in baltimore to study at and my grandmom’s funeral last week)!  It felt nice to be back…I love it there.

I got some a medium cup of plain froyo with crushed oreos on top and one of my favorite brands of tea- Revolution (green tea).  Today is rest day and I am taking full advantage.  After running 14 miles, teaching spinning, studying, and getting no sleep…I am tired! the fro yo hit the spottt.  I studied for my Physics Exam and Microbiology Lab quiz and headed back home.

I took a black bean burger (that I made a while back) out of the freezer and decided to heat that up for dinner…with some roasted veggies

Now onto today!! I went to my classes- same old same old and then…since it was raining outside…I ran my 5 miles on the treadmill – I actually felt AWESOME during this run. for the last couple of miles I increased the speed to a pretty quick pace- first time I have felt strong while running in a couple weeks….still a little sick though!  After the run I went to yoga class. and then after yoga I noticed I had bumps all over my body and everything was itchy!  So I went to CVS to get some benadryl and on the way home I stopped at Ryan’s Daughter to get take out- since I didnt have time to make something at home and since I have been cravvvving the iliad- blackened grade ahi tuna atop mixed greens with an herb and feta vinaigrette. garnished with bell pepper, olives, onion, cucumbers, pepperoncinis, and feta

sorry for the so-so picture…I was in a hurry to eat this!  Okay I really must go now!!! got tons and tons of work and it’s not gonna get done by itself- but wouldnt that be cool if it could? haha goodnight!

-Christina

A beautiful Fall Day

Hello everyone!  Today is such a beautiful day outside, is it not? This morning I woke up feeling better than I have been feeling- still not 100%- but well enough to crank out my 14 miles.  I decided not to go to the NCR trail and just to run around the streets surrounding my school- I actually ended up picking a very awesome (yet very hilly) route!  I would absolutely do it again  My avg pace only ended up being 8:54/mi and even though I am clearly not thrilled with that pace in the least bit I was not worried about how fast I was running throughout the run at all. I knew I was feeling sick and so I decided to just take my time and enjoy the run as best as I could.  And I honestly did enjoy the run- it was too beautiful outside not to!  Next saturday (halloween) will be my longest run yet- 20 miles!  So on Friday I will go home to philly (get dinner with my sisters and parents or something) and run with my sister on saturday….. and then I will come back to baltimore to celebrate halloween with my friends!!! (we are being nerds ) The marathon is quickly approaching and I am getting sooo excited…and nervous too!  After next weekend’s 20 miles- it is time to taper down!  woot woot

I came home and had my very first bowl of overnight pumpkin oats- and let me tell you- this was AWESOME!  I added lots of spices in the morning which really brought out the pumpkiny flavor of it.  It was so creamy and pretty much hit the spottttt.  If you have not tried this- please do so ASAP.  that did not quite fill me up after the run- so I had a piece of cinnamon raisin ezekiel bread with pb and ab on top.  plus some grapes  hey- I am a hungry girl haha

1/2 C oats, 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 C pumpkin, 1/4 C plain fat free yogurt, 4 dates (chopped), with banana, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, a few chopped walnuts added in the morning

and then…. my friends and I went pumpkin and apple picking!! so much fun!  after we were done picking we went back up to where the bakery and farm market was.  There was tons of venders around- for food, face painting, etc.  I got kettle corn- yummyy.  on the way home- we stopped at Panera for dinner- always a good decision in my book- i got black bean soup and a mediterranean veggie sandwhichhhh. Here are some pictures of the day:

the roommates :

and then there is joe with his farm animals

I had to teach my spinning class tonight- I chose the playlist Lovers in Japan

songs # 1,2, 15, & 16 are for warm-up and cool-down

Okay—time for physics, microbiology, and Calc homework- let the week begin.  Hope you all had a nice day!!

-Christina

rainy day!

Hey everyone!  Sorry for being a little MIA recently!  Lets do a little recap shall we?

Thursday

made my first pumpkin smoothie- suggested by Taylor

pumpkin, unsweetened almond milk, ice, honey, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg

I liked this ….but… as I told Taylor…. I thought that it was not sweet enough.  She suggested to add more pumpkin or add a bit of maple syrup (like she does) to give it more sweetness.  I was also thinking of adding a little bit of frozen banana? hm.  anyway- I think I will try making this again soon- but I will tweek the “recipe” to give it more a pumpkin/sweet flavor.

workout: I ran a slow and enjoyable 5 miles outside and then went to yoga class at my gym.  It was challenging but just what I needed- like usual.

For dinner I heated up Mama’s Weeds’ Lentil Chili …with seduction bread of course

sorry the picture is not very attractive- I swear this chili is awesome haha

Friday

My sister has been sick lately and on thursday night I really started to feel sick! ah! so I went to bed early with hopes that I would feel better in the morning…..no such luck.  I woke up coughing and sneezing- boo.  I went to my classes and then out to lunch (Panera) with Meaghan and Rosina and had every intention on doing my long run of 14 miles…but with the way I was feeling, I thought hey maybe Ill just do 5 miles and save 14 for sunday.  Well I decided not to even do the 5 miles- I could not breathe out of my nose and I was so so tired!  So instead…I took a nap, went food shopping and got hot chocolate with my roommates

since I have not been out in forever with my friends, I thought I would suck it up and go out on friday night.  I ended up having a really fun time- It was karaoke night at the bar – Mckay, my friend Rob, and I sang LFO- summer girls woot woot!

Saturday

Woke up early feeling sick…once again.  yay.  I was starving and thought I should wake up and at least eat something and take some medicine and whatnot…. so I made a bowl of hot pumpkin oats

oats, raisins banana, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, cinnamon raisin PB

After breakfast I decided that it would be best to go back to bed for awhile- sleep is the best medicine— so they say anyway! haha  I slept until 10:40! WOOHOO….this is a milestone for me.  I woke up feeling fantastic. okay, not fantastic…but ALOT better than before.

I made my class schedule for next semester (we have to sign up on wednesday): I decided to take Cell biology (NO LAB! WOOHOO), bioethics (to fulfill my ethics core requirement), Revolutionary America (to fulfill my upper level history core), Intro to computers with software applications (a requirement for physician assistant school), physics II (plus lab). Anyway- it looks like my second semester schedule will be much easier for me…and I definitely need it.  The actual course load is better (easier- or so it seems-classes and not as many labs (1 compared to 3 and a calc lab presently) and I made my classes start a little later than I have ever started before.  I’m liking the schedule I made

I have to take Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II (plus lab) in the summer at a unversity near my home and an online medical terminology course (both for Physician Assistant school requirements)- my school does not offer these courses!  But I figured it all out and all I have left to take is Genetics, my upper level Theology, and my upper level Literature and I will everything completed to graduate!  how awesome?  Senior year should be very nice

After I made my schedule…. I studied calculus, took out the trash and cleaned the bathroom (it is my week!), and then headed to the gym. I am planning on doing my long run (14 miles) tomorrow and I have to teach my spinning class at night (do not worry…Ill take it very easy)… so I decided to do a nice and enjoyable run of 4 miles (or as enjoyable as running can be when you are sick) plus some pushups and corework.

For dinner, Mckay (my roommate!) and I went to One World Cafe!!

I ordered the veggie burger of the day with a side of broccoli- but they forgot to sub the chips for the broccoli so I got both instead!

homemade veggie burger with side of broccoli (no picture)

and Mckay and I shared a plate of baked old bay fries

Mckay got a black bean burrito- which looked awesome.  We had a fun time there together!!!!  I came home and opened up one of the goodies that Newman’s Own Organics gave to me: Dark chocolate PB cups

and now I am veryyy full and ready to hit the books.  want to hear about my week from hell for this coming week?

Monday- Physics problems due and Calc Quiz

Tuesday- Microbiology Lab Quiz

Wednesday- Biology of Mammals lab practical

Thursday- Physics lab quiz

Friday- Physics Exam and Calc Exam

Lets just say I will be a very happy camper once Friday is over!   I really better go now- I have a lot of work to get done tonight- I have my 14 miler in the morning and then my roomates and a few of our guy friends are going apple and pumpkin picking tomorrow afternoon! hope you guys are having a good weekend!

-Christina

back to the swing of things

Well I am back in baltimore and back to swing of things.  I got back on campus last night around 10:40 pm and I unpacked, talked with my roommates, and went to bed.  While I was unpacking, I saw a card that my roommate Becky had left on my desk.  She wrote a really really nice letter inside the card about my grandmom, etc.  What she said was honestly perfect and of course I started to cry right there… by myself…in the dark (because my roommate was sleeping).  I felt silly to go into becky’s room crying to say thanks so I waited until the next day haha…. it truly made my night though (the tears were happy tears not sad!)- its nice to know that I have such an awesome friend like becky by my side.

anyways… I skipped my first class today and I decided to go to the later option (at noon).  I just needed to sleep in for once.  Anyway, it felt very nice to wake up a little later.  and even nicer to make a hot bowl of pumpkin oats

1/2 C oats, 1/2 C H20, 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 C pumpkin, raisins (soaked), banana (soaked), cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, scoop of cinnamon raisin PB, chopped walnuts to top

I went to my classes- made up my biology lab- and set out on my 9 mile run. It was BEAUTIFUL outside.  perfect running weather.  I enjoyed every moment of it.  I averaged about 8:27/mi.  However, in the last mile I had to walk/run because I had really bad pain in my left knee.  I noticed the pain when I was walking up and down stairs after my 19 miler on saturday.  Maybe the pain is due to inflammation and not stretching enough?  I have no idea…but I will take some anti-inflammatory and stretch.  hopefully it will help!

For dinner…since my broccoli was going to go bad soon and I had some homemade pasta sauce in the fridge…I made my favorite concoction!

whole wheat penne, homemade red sauce, broccoli, turkey meatball, grated parm, seduction bread

yumm…perfect post run fuel.  I love these turkey meatballs! okay time to get to work! lots of catching up to do!

-Christina