Today, I was standing next to him as he flipped through his notebook, looking for a blank page to do the warm-up. He’d stuck the post-it on one of the pages, and had traced over all the words a couple times in different colored ink. I know it seems like nothing, but I hope I’m starting to turn a corner with this kid. It’s little things like that that make this job amazing.

I was still a little tired after school but was determined to run since yesterday was a rest day. I had absolutely NO desire to run outside, so I made a deal with myself that all I had to do was 30 minutes on the treadmill at whatever pace felt good.

After warming up for 10 minutes, I decided to do intervals and ended up doing 5 x 2 minutes at 9.7 miles per hour. Definitely a confidence booster, and I felt a million times better after the run than before.

And since it appears we’re now on the topic of little triumphs, here’s one more. I’ve pretty much been riding high all week on the fact that I can now make rice krispie treats that I can actually eat. I’m not always a totally strict vegetarian (I still drink Guinness and eat Parmesan cheese) but I’m pretty adamant about not eating gelatin (why I pick and choose that way, I’m not entirely sure). I just assumed rice krispie treats weren’t going to happen for me anymore, but it turns out marshmallow creme doesn’t have gelatin in it!

They’re not exactly the same as when you make them with real marshmallows, but I’ll take them (and you can use a 10-ounce bag of marshmallows if you’re not vegetarian).

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)

I had a slightly traumatic experience Friday morning. I went to scan something and my computer told me I needed to restart to install updates. I usually just click “restart later” but for some reason, I clicked “restart now,” and was then met with this screen.

Frozen just like that. Any attempts to revive the computer were futile. Mike thinks he can save it, but it’s a $300 netbook that I’ve had for two and a half years, use constantly, and carted all over Asia. It was probably time for an upgrade anyway.

After that, the rest of Friday was pretty good. I was planning on taking a rest day, but ended up running a mile and a half with my PE kids (and doing tons of burpees. So fun.) Friday night was, as always, pizza night.

This week it was super simple: just marinara, mozzarella, a little cheddar, and some canned pineapple. One of my favorite combinations!

Oh, and I made some cookies. Mike really liked these; I wasn’t quite as sold. I always get really excited when I see Meyer lemons, so I buy a bunch, bake something with them, and then remember that I like regular lemons much better. Meyer lemons just remind me of gin for some reason, and that’s not really something I like to be reminded of.

But if you do like them, and you are looking for a nice simple cookie to make with them, here you go!

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!

This was a really good weekend, and it started off with a really good pizza.

My favorite thing about having 60+ food blogs in Google reader is that I can find inspiration for just about anything. And since I’m pretty much always in the market for new pizza ideas, I get particularly excited when blogs I read have great recipes for it.

One other highlight of this weekend was finally trying Yogurtland!

We went down to Palo Alto on Saturday to have breakfast with friends, and then stumbled across it. I obviously needed a little after-breakfast dessert.

I got a magnificent bowl of cookies and cream and Kona coffee yogurt topped with peanut butter cups, toffee bits, and caramel sauce. The guy working apparently thought two people would be eating it, but nope, it was ALL MINE!

Mike and this small creature hung out with me while I savored every bite and complained for the millionth time about the lack of good frozen yogurt within a 10 mile radius.

I think my favorite thing about this pizza is the color of the potatoes (so pretty!) followed closely by the rosemary and goat cheese combination (hard to beat!).  I’m including my new favorite crust recipe, which is made with equal amounts of white and whole wheat flour.  Normally I make the crust pretty thin, but lately I’ve been making it a little thicker and I LOVE it.

This recipe makes two pizzas.

I tweeted before this race that I wanted to run under 21. I figured putting it out there would be extra motivating, because I would hate to have to then tell the 18 people that actually read what I say on twitter that I failed.

It was cold and drizzly, which to me is pretty much perfect racing weather. Mike was running the 10 mile race with Ellie in the stroller, and since they were both out and back along the Embarcadero, it would be easy for me to tack on miles at the end by running out to meet him and then finish with him.

I did an easy 1 mile warm up, took off my warmups, and said goodbye to Mike and Ellie. I kind of bounced around for a little while and then we were off! I normally hold back in the beginning, but after that HUGE confidence boost I got from my tempo run on Thursday I decided to push it from the start. I was determined not to look at my Garmin because I didn’t want to psych myself out, but I wanted to know my splits at the end.

Before I knew it, we were at the turn around and it was starting to get a little painful. Burning lungs, legs getting a little tired, and a vague sense of “I may throw up” creeping into my stomach. I usually end up repeating random words or mantras when things get tough – not stuff I plan in advance, but things that just kind of pop into my head.

For a little while, I was thinking “less than 10 minutes to go” over and over, and then when it really started to hurt, “my eyes aren’t bleeding yet – keep pushing” (the lovely imagery of running til your eyes bleed comes from super speedster Page – thanks for that, it helped!)

With a mile to go, the wind was at my back and I was running as hard as I could. I saw the finish line in the distance, but couldn’t quite see the time (and still refused to look at my watch). As I got closer I saw that I was at 20:xx and was THRILLED my goal was in reach. I gave it all the kick that I had (which by that point wasn’t much) and crossed the line at 20:54. My mile splits were 6:45, 6:54, and 6:43.

The tweet after the race pretty much says it all:

I am now 54 seconds from my 2012 goal of breaking 20!

I guess it could have been the weather (50 and raining…just like home!). Or it could have been my new shoes.

Sorry, they’re a little dirty. I always hated Brooks, but when we were running shoe shopping a couple weeks ago I decided to try them. Going in I was pretty sure I wanted Newtons, but I liked these SO much more (and in the interest of full disclosure, I bought them with my own money and Brooks has no idea I’m writing about them). They’re light and feel just cushioned enough. I normally run in Asics 2170s, but these have become my shoe of choice.

Anyway, the run. I started out with a mile warm-up, then picked it up for three miles, which I ran in 6:53, 6:43, and 6:34 (whaaat?). I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in a tempo run, and since my 5K PR is 6:51 minutes/mile I think there’s a good chance I’m in PR shape. We’ll see…I may be making an attempt this Sunday.

Lately I feel like I haven’t been baking as often as I want to, so in addition to planning my weekly dinners, I’ve been planning for a couple baked goods every week too. First up was Black Bread (um, Heidi’s pictures are about a million times better than mine).

Rye bread with carrots in it is actually pretty good, who knew?

My sister gave me The Pastry Queen cookbook for Christmas and these brownies looked completely amazing. As my mom would say, they’re so sweet they’ll make your teeth curl, but to me that’s kind of a good thing.

Ellie got her first cold last week, and of course we ended up getting it too. I hate seeing her sick, but she’s a trooper.

I felt pretty crappy on Monday and Tuesday. My throat was killing me and I had basically zero energy. Sometimes I’ll try and run when I’m sick but it just wasn’t going to happen on those days. Today I felt a little better and figured getting outside and running just might give me a little extra energy, and it totally did. Just changing into my running clothes perked me up a little bit, so I headed out for 4.5 miles and felt great. Slow, but more human than I’d felt in at least 48 hours.

On Monday, when all three of us were feeling pretty miserable, I decided to make some soup. I was trying to go for the richly flavored broth that came with the noodle soups in Thailand, except those obviously use meat. I probably should have added some vegetables (I think bok choy would be great), but it kind of escaped my mind at the time.

I sauteed some shallots, ginger, and green onions, then added the tofu and let it soak up those flavors before I added broth (and a pinch of five spice powder). The dumplings aren’t completely necessary, but they are a nice addition. I just used basic yellow noodles I found at the Asian grocery store. The addition of chili garlic sauce, in my opinion, is non-negotiable (especially for cold-curing purposes).

I’m submitting this to my friend (and fellow science teacher) Branny’s Souper Bowl. Click on that link to participate too (you don’t even need a blog!) Branny loves animals more than anyone else I know, and for every soup that’s submitted, she’s giving a dollar to the ASPCA. I’m dedicating this to Berkeley, the golden retriever my family had during my teens and early twenties. He was probably one of the worlds dumbest dogs, but he was a total sweetheart. I miss so many things about him, but my favorite thing was his full-body wag every time I walked in the door.

I definitely made the most of this three day weekend. In addition to penguins, grocery shopping, and paper-grading, I got to go for an awesome 14 mile run to celebrate Aron’s birthday.

It was the longest run I’ve done since Boston, and it felt fantastic.

I also did a little kitchen project that should be ready in about 3 weeks.

There are tons of organic lemons available right now so it’s the perfect time to preserve them!

One thing we noticed after buying groceries last week was how much plastic was included with our produce. We were completely disgusted, so this week we made a point to buy everything at the farmers market or the co-op with our re-usable produce bags. The packaging from last week is on the left and this week is on the right. Definitely an improvement.

I also found a great blog about living without plastic.

The beauty of this salad is that everything in it can be bought in bulk so there’s no waste. I know some people have issues with bulk bins, but I’ve been shopping out of them for years and never had a problem. Plus it’s a great way to try just a little bit of something without having to commit to a big package.

As I was making this I really wasn’t sure about how well everything would work together…broccoli, lemon, pine nuts, tortellini, cilantro, mint, sprouts. It all sounded good, but it also sounded like a lot of different flavors. It turned out to be completely delicious (not surprising, it’s one of Heidi’s recipes!

I can’t say what exactly made this week so stressful, but I was TOTALLY ready for a beer and Pizza Friday when it finally rolled around. Fortunately, this three day weekend is already going pretty well, so I’m sure by Tuesday I’ll be out of my funk. I just have about 3 million papers to grade between now and then…

One of my essential Friday night or Saturday morning activities is planning my meals for the next week. I’ve done this on and off for years, but now that I’m using a Google Docs instead of random pieces of scratch paper that I inevitably lose, it’s going much better.

Using Google reader and one cookbook (I used to look at six or seven cookbooks and get totally overwhelmed), I put together a spreadsheet of what I plan to make. As I’m doing that, I write my grocery list, and we go grocery shopping and to the farmers market first thing Saturday morning. It’s nice to start the weekend knowing the whole week is already planned for, and not leave it hanging over my head until Sunday night.

Yesterday was grocery shopping day, but it also ended up being penguin-viewing day! We took Ellie back to the science museum and this time, the penguins were swimming!

I don’t know if she was more into watching the penguins or the other kids that came to see them, but we spent about 45 minutes there. Love that place.

This pizza went onto the menu as soon as I saw it. I forgot to get red peppers, and I don’t eat bacon, but I figured it would still be really good if I used some portabellos. And it was! The balsamic drizzle is amazing – don’t skip it!