Garden Special Primavera

For the first time, I made pasta with white sauce.  I usually don't do this because of the high fat content of the sauce but I needed to try it once (the basil, onion, and garlic were from our garden).  This blog is all about enjoying life, right?  Well, this was delicious!  So, every once in a while I will make this and enjoy every bite.  

 

Garden Special Primavera

Modified recipe from Midwest Living Magazine

 

Time: from start to finish: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 6  ounces  fresh wax or green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces (2 cups)
• 1/2  cup  bias-sliced carrot
• 8  ounces  fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 12  ounces  dried fettuccine, linguine, vermicelli or spaghetti
• 1    small red and/or yellow sweet pepper, cut into julienne strips
• 2    small zucchini or yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced (1 cup)
• 1    small onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2    cloves garlic, minced
• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 3/4  cup  chicken broth
• 3/4  cup  whipping cream
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 3  ounces  prosciutto or cooked ham, cut into thin strips (1/3 cup)
• 2    green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
• 3  tablespoons  snipped fresh basil or 3 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
•     Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
•     Sprigs of fresh basil (optional)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook beans and carrots in a small amount of boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Add asparagus. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook 5 minutes more or till vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cook pasta according to package directions. Add sweet pepper and zucchini or yellow summer squash to pasta in boiling water for the last 3 minutes of cooking. Vegetables should be crisp-tender. Drain and return mixture to the saucepan. Add the bean mixture to the saucepan and keep warm while preparing sauce

3. For sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot butter over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes or till tender, but not brown. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.

4. In a small bowl, stir together whipping cream and flour. Add cream mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in the 12 cup Parmesan cheese, prosciutto or cooked ham, green onions and snipped basil. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Pour sauce over pasta and vegetables. Toss gently to coat.

5. Arrange pasta mixture on a large serving platter. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan and garnish with basil sprigs, if you like. Makes 6 main-dish servings.

Increased running cadence = increased efficiency and pace

Running cadence is the rate at which leg turnover occurs, how many steps are taken per minute.  Before you go out and try this I recommend that it be done only for a few minutes within a run, and increase the amount of time working on cadence slowly.  Anytime you change something with your form or speed it must be done gradually and on occasion until your body is strong enough to handle it for a longer period of time.

Why would you want to increase your running cadence?  Check out some of the benefits to an increased cadence:

1. Improved running efficiency and form - the body doesn't have to work as hard
2. Minimized vertical movement - running should be a horizontal movement rather than a vertical movement
3. Minimized breaking force -breaking forces slow you down; if the foot is too far ahead of the hips upon initial contact the breaking forces on the leg are increased; when the cadence is increased, the foot lands more under your body and your muscles have better control of the landing of your foot.
4. Minimized ground contact time - ground contact time is the time that a runner's foot spends on the ground with each step; you want less ground contact time for increased efficiency
5. More efficient use of muscle energy (glycogen) - since the body doesn't work as hard, glycogen in the muscles isn't used up as fast

To start, count the number of times your right foot hits the ground in one minute.  When you do this don't change anything.  This is where you are at right now before you try to increase your cadence.  When I did it I was around 75-80.  From what I read online, 90 is a good cadence, probably for hard workouts and races.  I'm sure keeping that cadence for a long slow run would be difficult.  Maybe after working at it for a while one would naturally be around 90 all the time.   

Once you know your cadence count your steps again for one minute, this time increasing your cadence a bit.  Notice how your heart rate goes up and you are working a little harder.  This is how it will be in the beginning.  Once your body is used to the quicker cadence it will adjust and you will 'feel' more efficient. 

A great way to work on increasing your cadence would be to incorporate it into your speed workouts.  For example, the next time you do repeats pick one repeat (maybe a 400 meter) and think about taking quicker steps.  Remember, don't over do it!  Do this with one repeat the first time. 

Count your cadence on each run, going a little further with that pace each time, until you get a feel for that faster pace.  Before you know it, you'll be 10 seconds faster on your 400 repeats!

Source: http://www.easternregionalelitedistancecamp.com/pages/articles/BiomechanicsOfRunning.pdf

...What if I'm missing out...what if there's a greater purpose that I could be living right now...

May the lyrics to this song motivate us toward selfless living:

My Own Little World by Matthew West

"In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population me

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate, but I never give ’til it hurts
I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see
Yeah, it’s easy to do when it’s
Population: me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

Stopped at a red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign, said “Help this homeless widow”
Above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh how many times have I just passed her by?
So I gave her some money then I drove on through
And my own little world reached
Population two

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world
My own little world

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your Light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
That I could be living right now
I dont want to miss what matters
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
So i can start livin right now
Outside my own little world
Outside My own little world

Outside My own little world"

Enjoying my day off

Last night I was so happy when I realized today is my day off for running!  I didn't need to set my alarm, set my running clothes out, or worry about sleeping in and trying to fit my run in throughout the day.  All day I have been relaxing with my daughter and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Ever since junior high, I have appreciated the day off and have treated it like a biblical day of rest from exercise.  The day off is a great reward after a hard week of exercise and I believe the recovery day is just as important as our hardest workout days.  Our bodies need to rest each week and our minds need a day free of physical stress.

No matter how long it takes to get back into shape after pregnancy, I will let my body recover each week.  If I don't, I am bound to get injured or burnt out.

My goal this time around is, #1 to glorify God with my running and #2 to enjoy my day off...to not become obsessed with running!

Brunch with good friends

We invited some friends over for brunch the other day.  I enjoyed it so much that I want to do this every month.  I discovered that breakfast is my favorite meal to prepare.  I started with looking for egg dishes because we had a bunch of eggs a friend gave us from her farm.  I also knew I wanted to make steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot since it turned out so well the last time I made it.  I did some research on a few dishes to make sure they were easy to prepare and delicious, of course and here are two dishes I made...

Steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot
I had done the double boiler method in the crock pot and that worked out great but I wanted to make a double batch, which wouldn't fit in my dish if I did the double boiler method. So, despite others saying it would burn in the crock pot, I decided to try it this way.  It didn't burn and the consistency turned out great.  Of course it helped that I was making it in the early morning rather than overnight, that way I could stir it every 30 minutes. 
Spray crock pot with cooking spray
Mix together the following in the crock pot
2 c steel cut oatmeal
5 c water
3 c milk
1 c half and half
2 tbsp butter
1 apple cut in small chunks & peeled
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (could have used more)
1 tsp of cinnamon (could have used more)
Cook on low 5 hours or high for 2 1/2-3 hours (I started on low for 4 hours but switched to high the last hour thinking it wouldn't be done in time)

Mini crustless ham and egg tarts

Preheat oven to 350
Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray
Place 1 piece of ham in each cup, the ends will stick up above the cup
Crack 1 egg inside each piece of ham
Top with 1 cherry tomato, I cut them in half
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle chives, parsley or basil
Cook for 18-20 minutes (done when insert a knife and it comes out clean)