What Dental School has kept from you - An Update!

Its been a while so this might take a while!! :o)

As my first full semester of dental school (13 classes and 28 credits) progressed and got more difficult I had less time to sit down and keep everyone updated on my progress. As Lex told you guys I did a 5K before thanksgiving and RAN the whole thing for the first time ever!! It was great to see the hard work that has gone into all of this training pay off. After the 5 K it got more difficult for me to run outdoors (Michigan cold + asthma = trouble). I started to use my elliptical again and my parent's put me on the family plan at our gym but I wasnt getting to do as much training as I would have liked. Over thanksgiving I also had some health trouble which kept me from training but as a pick me up my Dad got me my very own treadmill for my basement!! It was a wonderful early Christmas present!

After thanksgiving school got even harder; in the last 3 weeks of the semester I had 10 exams, 2 quizzes, 2 practicals, and 11 projects/assignments to get through, so my running and blogging really took a back seat. I did manage to continue to do some cooking, that bonus pasta recipes I posted was predominately featured in my diet! Yumm!! I finished the semester on the 16th and I am very excited about and pleased to announce my 3.97 GPA :o) I had a few days off at home in which I spent going to the gym with my parents ever day and getting caught up on a lot of sleep! Now I am in Alta getting some much needed time in with my other Muffie, my brother in law and my wonderful, handsome, talkative and adorable nephew!! Our brother Greg is also here from the NY/ New Jersey area which is awesome, I dont get to see him nearly as often since he moved in August! Lex updated you on our workouts and cross training in her previous post, all of which has been a lot of fun.

Soon to come... Muffie New Years Resolutions :o)

Happy Holidays everyone from the MUFFIES!!!

Running Through the Holidays

Again, it's been awhile since I've posted.  Which doesn't necessarily mean it's been a long time since I ran...but in this case, I think it does.  I've been cross-training, though!  I think my last significant outdoor run was on Thanksgiving Day -- a gorgeous, gentle jog through the lush farmlands of Junction City, OR.  I regularly sing the praises of CA weather, but during this run, I was lamenting its lack of such lovely scenery.  Since getting back to CA, I slept through the Christmas Run (oops!) but made up for it on the treadmill later that evening.  I managed to sneak in a few more quick treadmill sessions, I took several core fusion classes, and I battled an outrageous cough!  Now I've made it to Alta, UT -- where Seester and I have been hitting the gym, the slopes, and the "cat tracks" (on snow shoes!) to keep plugging away towards our Tinkerbell goal.  AND -- now I have my official lime green 1/2 marathon t-shirt.  Can't wait to rock it out during our Jan 29th race!

Posting For the Both of Us

As might be expected with a Seester who is in graduate school...she's busy!  No posted recipes lately...although both of us have been cooking.  (I'm not posting the recipes I've been cooking because there's not much "healthy" about things like pulled pork and cheesy pasta casserole!  I did make an orange chicken/sweet potato concoction in the crock pot recently, but it was mediocre and not worth sharing.)  What has been happening is a LOT of running!  We've both been on the lookout for local 5/10 K races -- Seester finished a hilly one in the Arb (hilly as in, where we used to go for killer H.S. track practices!) in a respectable time, and then finished the Dexter Turkey Trot last Saturday in just over 30 minutes.  Jogged the whole thing -- no walking!!  And with her encouragement, Ronen and I were out on the roads as well, clocking a 1:04 for a 10K along a lovely stretch of San Vicente Blvd in Brentwood.  One of the fabulous things about LA -- it's always running weather!!

Baby Jogging!

It's been quite some time since I've posted...no sense in an update stating "uggh, I'm behind!"  Except, well, that's exactly why we started this blog in the first place.  It's just a chance for us Seesters to keep each other accountable for the mini-changes we pledged to make after spaaaahing together in August.  Here's my update...after several weeks of "making it a priority" to get Ronen in the baby jogger, I FINALLY did it!  Twice!!  Last Sunday, he was up unusually early on Sunday morning -- so as soon as it was light out, I loaded him in the BoB and we jogged to his favorite park.  He was a bit perturbed that I didn't let him out to play -- I had to finish my lap around the perimeter-- but after I'd gotten in a good jog I let him out to scramble around for a bit.  Sadly, I didn't get my Tuesday run in last week; I had a time crunch and succumbed to 20 minutes on the elliptical.  BUT...This past Sunday was the annual Pancreatic Cancer Challenge, which Ronen and I ran together.  A full 10 K!  I don't know my time, as the highlight of the race was jogging the last few hundred yards to cross the finish line with my momma.  Whoooooo-hooooooooo!  My shins are sore today, but it feels great to have finally worked in a way to run more than once a week.  Next up race-wise is the Christmas Run (Dec 10th), and then just a few more weeks 'til our 1/2 marathon.  It's gonna be awesome.

Recipe Six - Italian Turkey Loaves with Pasta Pesto

Italian Turkey Loaves
Servings 6
Calories per Serving 100

1 Cup Zuccini
3/4 Cup Carrots
1/2 Cup Celery
1/4 Cup Onion
1/2 Tbs Garlic
Step 1 Wash and Chop Veggies
Step 2 with FOOD PROCESSOR (yay) running drop in the garlic to minc and then add the other veggies to fine chop them

1 1/4 Ground Turkey (yes I chose this recipe cause I needed to use up my ground turkey :o])
3/4 tsp Marjoram
1 1/2 Tbs Browth Powder
1/4 tsp Thyme
3 Egg Whites
Step 3 Add to mixture in the food processor and process to mix
Step 4 Form 6 Individual loaves on a cookie sheet

Italian Sauce
3/4 Cup Tomatoe Sauce
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Basil
Step 5 Grind herbs and mix into the tomatoe sauce
Step 6 Top loaves with sauce and bake at 375 for one hour
Step 7 Serve topped with fresh parsley


Pasta Pesto
Servings 6
Calories per serving 170

12 oz Spinach fettucini or Spaghetti
Step 1 Cook and set aside

1/2 Cup Fresh Spinach
1/2 Cup Fresh Basil leaves chopped
1/2 Tbs Fresh pressed garlic
1 1/2 Tbs Water
Step 2 Place in blender and process to liquify
Step 3 Heat a large skillet then add spinach mixture bring to a simmer
Step 4 Add pasta and toss to heat through

3 Tbs Grated parmesan cheese
Step 5 Serve on ehated plate and top each serving with a GENEROUS sprinkle of cheese :o)

YUMM

It's a Process

First -- no, I did not get Ronen out on a run last week.  Bummer.  And yes, I'm weeks behind on cooking the meals.  (It's one meal a week -- good grief, you'd think I could do it!!)  However, I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  In fact, I will publically celebrate the small victories since my last post.  (1) I did a yoga DVD last Thursday morning.  It wasn't quite the same as getting to class, but hey, it was yoga.  At 6 AM.  Victory.  (2) The Bailey Family has not had leftovers for dinner for quite some time.  I didn't get to making the halibut, but I've roasted veggies, made crock pot soup, experimented with buttermilk in several favorite recipes (thumbs up in the shephard's pie, thumbs down in the pancakes), and sent Ronen with something different for lunch every day.  Victory. (3) I ran the 1.5 miles in my annual fitness test in just under 12 minutes, passing the (fighter pilot) boss in the final 100 yards.  Victory!
The cooking and running routines are part of a larger effort to feel like my life and my schedule are manageable and under control.  It's been satisfying to go to bed every night with the dishwasher loaded, a load of laundry running in the dryer, and a sense that I'll be well rested and ready to tackle the next day.  Getting in a run and having the night's dinner planned out are one small part of the routine -- some days are more on the ball than others -- but I'm giving myself full credit for taking lots of steps in the right direction.  And yes, it's still on the agenda to get Ronen into the BOB for a run!

Bonus Recipe - Alena's Charizo Pasta

Extra Virgin Olive Oli
Red Pepper Flakes
Step 1: Heat Oil with Red Pepper Flakes in skillet

Pasta (usually Penne) - Boil Pasta as other stuff is cooking!

Sweet Onion Sliced
Garlic (2 or so cloves)
Step 2: Add Onions and cook for about 2 minutes
Step 3: Add Garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so

Charizo (uncased and pulled apart)
Step 4: Add charizo

Red and Yellow Bell Pepper
Step 5: Cut peppers into thinish slices and add to the skillet - cook for a few minutes

Tomatoe
Step 6: Chop up the tomatoe and add to the skillet approximatedly 2 minutes before the pasta is cooked

Spinch
Step 7: Add spinich and pasta unitl spinach is wilted

Goat Cheese
Step 8: SERVE!! add goat cheese once in your bowl!!

Yum Yum!!