I woke up kind of dreading the run and I was in a pretty crabby mood, but about 3 miles in everything was good again. It was warm, my legs felt good, and it was nice to be able to run and chat with Mike (who pushed Ellie in the stroller – she loved it too!)
Afterwards we stopped at 7-11 and nothing sounded better than chocolate milk.  I guess that whole “refuel with chocolate milk” marketing thing worked on me.  It was divine.

Sunday morning there was a 5K in Golden Gate Park. It was same course as a month or two ago (when I ran 21:56), so I was curious how it would go with kind of tired legs. The weather was perfect for running (as usual) and I felt nice an relaxed the whole race. I ended up snagging a fifth place finish in 21:08, my second fastest 5K ever. I definitely didn’t see that one coming.

I also finally got to meet Kristine, who totally killed it in her first 5K!

Sunday night I wasn’t really in the mood to cook, but this recipe sounded too good to pass up, and it ended up being pretty easy. I used regular eggplants, but next time I might switch to Japanese eggplants because they have thinner skin.

This recipe made plenty for both dinner and lunch the next day, and the mix of flavors was awesome: sour lime, smoky eggplant, sweet mango, and earthy soba. I added a chopped habanero pepper, but you can leave it out if you’re don’t want it super spicy.

(adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi)

It’s been that way in the kitchen lately, too. Some things come out better than expected, and others are flops. I’m trying to make more original recipes, but it doesn’t always work out very well. This beet salad was actually pretty awesome (roasted beets, toasted pistachios, goat cheese, orange zest)…

but a couple other things I tried this week were pretty lame. Fortunately there are still a million recipes on my to-try list, so I have somewhere to turn when I’m feeling less than inspired.

This kind of turned out to be more of a project meal than I planned for, so it’s a good thing I made it on a lazy Sunday (well, it was lazy after my 9.5 mile run…) The original recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi, who shares with Heidi Swanson the honorable distinction of being my food idol. I used whole wheat couscous instead of bulgur, and added chickpeas for some extra protein. My preserved lemons won’t be ready for a few more weeks, so I skipped that part. In the end, though, it was worth the hour or so it took to but this all together. Plus, we had leftovers for lunches the next day, which is always a huge win!

I think I have a good schedule worked out that will let me get in all the things I want to do. At least, it’s worked so far this week:

5 AM – wake up, make breakfast, write blog post

6 AM – shower, get ready

6:30 AM – get Ellie up, feed her

7 AM – Leave the house to take Ellie to daycare

7:15 AM – Arrive at work

3:30 PM – Leave work, pick up Ellie, go home and feed her

4:15 PM – Run with the stroller

5:15 PM – Home from run, shower, start dinner and do general household chores

7:00 PM – Ellie’s bedtime

8:30 PM – My bedtime

Since working out after school can be a little tougher than getting it done first thing in the morning, I hung a little motivation up in my classroom. The kids instantly recognized it as “that run thing I did last year when I was pregnant” (I may have mentioned it just a few times…)

I promised the kids I’d run with them today. I have four PE classes, and I’m running about mile with each class. I really do have the perfect job!

OK, so this is definitely very similar to this salad, which also has kale and lentils and lemon juice. But can you ever really have too much of a good thing? Especially when that good thing is healthy and filling?

On our way home from San Luis Obispo a few days ago, we stopped at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz.

I’ve only been to Santa Cruz twice, once to go ride the Giant Dipper at the boardwalk, and once to go to a friend’s birthday party. This was my first time at this beach, which is apparently where all the surfers go.

It’s also where a lot of European tourists go. We heard a bunch of different languages.

I think that if I lived in Santa Cruz, the tourists would kind of stress me out. They’re everywhere (and yes I realize I am one too.)

It was a pretty big bummer to come home to drizzly fog after spending the afternoon in the sun, but fortunately we had some comfort food on hand.

I don’t know why I don’t make polenta more often…it’s so easy and so good. 1 tbsp butter, 4 cups water, 1 cup polenta, stir occasionally over medium heat for half an hour, add salt, done.

This tempeh is definitely easy too. I’ve used the same marinade for baked tofu but I like it a lot more in this application. It has so much flavor it really doesn’t need to marinate for long. I served it on top of polenta with this broccoli salad on the side.

We had a couple holiday parties this weekend, and since my parents were in town, we were able to go out just the two of us for only the second time EVER!

I celebrated the occasion by curling my hair… I don’t even remember the last time that happened. I also made some chocolate-dipped pretzels to take to the party. So easy and so festive!

I really, really love my new lens.

Anyway, to counteract the insane amounts of sugar I’ve been living on the past few days, I made this salad. Twice. It was such a hit with my parents on Friday for lunch that I made it again for dinner on Saturday. I love it most after it’s had a few hours to chill in the refrigerator.

I have a couple life updates to throw out there. First of all, this morning I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight! I gained 31 pounds while I was pregnant, lost all but 7 within the first week or two, and then the weight loss pretty much completely stalled.

A few weeks ago I decided to count calories for a few days just to monitor what I was eating (since being at home makes it way to easy to just graze on crap all day), and since then I’ve just been mindful about only eating when I’m actually hungry. I’m guessing all the running and Bikram I’ve been doing probably helped a little bit, too.

Second, I’m back at work and it’s AWESOME. The kids this year are so amazing. I had them write paragraphs explaining the difference between mass and weight, and was completely impressed with how well they write. Also, about a dozen students from last year (who are now in high school) stopped by one afternoon to visit and it totally made my day. I love this job!

Meals like this are perfect for those busy days (like yesterday, which involved work, a dentist appointment, and a trip to Costco to get stuff for our work party this weekend) that require something super fast and healthy. I served the noodles with a quick slaw made with red cabbage, mint, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.

After the run we met up with Kelsey and her husband for coffee! I’ve been internet-friends with her for about 3 years so it was awesome to finally meet in person.

We’ve never had much time in Portland to just get out and explore by ourselves, because our visits are usually short and there are so many people there to see. But this trip we made sure to leave some time open to check out some different neighborhoods.

Mike and I are pretty convinced that San Francisco has the best coffee of any city in America, but I know some people argue that Portland is better. We’d heard Stumptown was kind of overrated, so we went to Coffeehouse Northwest (19th and West Burnside) to see how it compared to our San Francisco favorites.

The lattes were amazing, and so was the ginger cookie.
Next we crossed the river and drove up to NE Alberta Street. There was pretty much nothing there when I was in high school, so it’s kind of crazy to see how much that neighborhood has changed.

I bought some yarn at Close Knit, an adorable yarn store with super friendly employees. My goal is to knit Mike a hat before I go back to work (a week from TODAY!)

I’ve professed my love for Bi-Rite Creamery a few times, but I think I have found my new favorite ice cream. Salt and Straw has so many great flavors. Mike got a scoop of pear with Rogue blue cheese (genius!) and I got a scoop of almond brittle with salted ganache.

As always, we ate way too much while we were in Portland, but it was a really fun trip that went by way too fast.

This week, I’m planning on cooking lots of healthy dinners like this. These are cute, flavorful, and not too heavy. I switched out white rice in favor of brown, which I soaked for a few hours so it would cook a little faster.

I know the “things I am thankful for” post has been done a million times, but I want to take a second to acknowledge a few things I’m really thankful for.  Yep, cheesy and cliché posts are apparently my specialty.

Our marriage

Four years and still going strong! Mike is such an amazing husband and father.

Our daughter

She’s happy and healthy, and I love her so much

Running

Post-partum running is going better than expected!

My job

Those letters are from my students last year, and I miss them like crazy! Being home with Ellie has been great and I know I’ll miss her when I go back to work, but there are about 150 middle school kids I can’t wait to get back to.

My family.

Although I didn’t realize it during those fun-filled adolescent years, they are wonderful (and Im not just saying that because they took us to Hawaii).

This salad is my attempt to re-create the one that was served at the Friday night dinner at Foodbuzz this year. I think it comes pretty close…and it’s always good to have ways to eat lentils other than soup. It can be served at room temperature or chilled, but it’s best after chilling for a few hours.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!

It’s never a secret when I like something. I will talk about it a lot, cook with it/listen to it/read it multiple times, and just generally make it perfectly clear to absolutely everyone around me that I found the best thing ever.

Right now the best thing ever is delicata squash.

I just love the pretty half moons I slice it into, and the fact that I don’t have to peel it. It’s been featured in quite a few dinners around here lately, but this one is probably my favorite.

The recipe is from the always amazing Joanne, which she posted on Marcus Samuelson’s site. Quick side note: Joanne is a doctor (or technically in the process of becoming a doctor) and her blog is completely awesome. Two other blogs I love (The Curvy Carrot and Annie’s Eats are also written by doctors. I can barely throw together blog posts with my far less demanding career, so those women are seriously impressive!

Recipe:
(adapted from Joanne Bruno for Marcus Samuelsson)

1/4 cup white miso
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 16-oz block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into dice
3 small delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets

Whisk together the miso, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cut the squash into 1/2″-thick slices. Toss with 1 tbsp oil and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tender.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet and add the broccoli. Saute until crisp-tender (you should be able to pierce it with a fork without too much trouble, but it shouldn’t be mushy), about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the last tbsp oil in the skillet and add the tofu (remove it from the marinade with a slotted spoon and reserve the mardinade). Stir-fry until golden brown.

Toss the squash, broccoli, and tofu together in a large bowl and add reserved marinade to taste (I added about half).