Blueberry muffins

Who doesn't love a blueberry muffin hot from the oven? 

Whether you need a healthy snack or a delicious one, blueberry muffins are pretty great. Indulgent but not hedonistic unless you're into the butter scene (like me).

I had to use up some bran, so I rounded up frozen berries and milled flax, threw it in the oven and called it a day. 

Actually I called it dinner!  And then went for a skate. Brrr.

Lucky 13

I'm getting back in touch with a dear old friend, the Sunday long run. This friend is a big fan of outdoor adventures but those are hard to get excited about in these temperatures. This phase of winter is rancorous and repellant. 

I speak only for myself but I can't be the only one who thinks that way because the gym was crowded on the weekends until just last week when the chaotic vibe loosened up. Fewer people on the machines and more lockers available in the change room. One explanation could be that the snowbirds have flown to warmer places. If that's the case, the place will return to zoo city soon enough. Another possibility is that people have dropped interest in maintaining their memberships, and their ambition to see their new year's resolution through to the end, and returned to sleeping in on Sundays. Or maybe people are tougher than me and have taken up running on the canal! I definitely know that last option to be true.

So I was able to score a treadmill for 13k this morning without keeping anyone waiting for my machine. There was no lineup. Having broken the long run seal - it's been ages since a distance longer than 10k, maybe since my October half - it hopefully won't be long until I see some progress and the long runs lengthen like summer days. I definitely see a fall marathon in my future, maybe even someplace far away....

Festibiere d'hiver

Sweet chili shrimp

If you have to ask for something*

More than once or twice

It wasn't yours in the first place

And that's hard to accept

When you love 

Sweet chili shrimp

And you're lead to believe

In your moment of need

That someone will cook it

But they won't

// justify my love //

*like respect, say, or trust

Volcano curry

This morning I woke up to a sink full of dishes and mountains of dirty laundry. I've been burning the candle at both ends the last couple of evenings. Such adventures wipe out all my spare cleaning time and energy (I know - shucks) and since my roommate is the laziest, nothing gets done except the stuff I get paid to do. These stints are short and intense, with something like 15 butt-in-chair hours per day for a few days. But so be it. They're fun in a caffeine-driven, deadline-flogged kind of way. I'm also, for brief periods, tolerant of my own disarray.

Assisting me through my time crunch hell was my anticipation of dinner. I looked forward to finally getting the kitchen in order and cooking something new and tasty. I had a recipe in mind, and almost all the ingredients in my cupboards. All I needed was a hot Indian spice mix.

Mission accomplished.

Four bucks for a massive bag of spice!

The spice mix is fiery. I ate an hour ago and can still feel the lingering chili in my throat. The tomato base of the curry dampens its effects I think, but only until the flavours have a chance to mingle, at which point the curry will become a firebomb.

I just hope I can get my laundry done before the lightning strikes. ;-)

:: Chickpea spinach curry with Thai rice ::

PS: The text on the bottom of the spice bag reads, "This picture does not reflect the ingredients of the contents of the pouch. (no closing quotation marks)

Black bean soup

I rely on my crock pot to make soup on the regular. Particularly in winter when the need, nay desire, for comforting yet relatively low calorific food stuffs is highest. I read somewhere that cold temperatures condition us to crave more calories, but the body doesn't care if those calories are obtained through ooey gooey mac n' cheese or a crisp apple! Personally I would really rather not eat apples or any other cold foods in this weather. Salads are more or less banned from the kitchen. Soup to the rescue!

To the recipe below I added a 1/4 cup of brown rice for thickener.

With diced tomato, yogurt, and a lime squeeze

Oh yeah- ran about 9.3 km on the treadmill this a.m., bringing the total to 4 runs this week. Plus a spinning class and one session on the elliptical (a break from the treadmill but kinda feels like a time waster). And one gorgeous night of skating under the stars!

Here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/tsr-version-of-t-g-i-fridays-black-bean-soup-by-todd-wilbur-102274.

In the present

It's cold. The evening sky deletes its pink ribbon clouds quickly, leaving the dark to settle like dust on our shoulders. Yep, treadmill weather.

Had a solid 45 minute run tonight. Solid but not easy. Boredom flowed like gatorade. I didn't find my running groove. No state of euphoria was reached. Near the end a few tears threaten to flow (sappy sitcoms can get to me) and for a minute somewhere in the middle I felt a flicker of rage red hot as a flame. Running calls up inner demons I guess, and I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't  experience emotional aches and twinges myself once in a while. 

What made the run solid, then? I played some mind tricks on myself and loosened my grip on time. Focused on the present and not the end, which is always out of reach. It doesn't always work but it helped in a huge way tonight!

What's for din-din?
Whole wheat pasta w/ homemade sauce

Lentil burritos

// Salad, burritos and sweet corn muffin //

I cooked up a batch of lentil filling last weekend. It's a spicy, flexible meal that can be eaten in many formats. I bundled it into wraps and drizzled plain yogurt on top. For lunch the next day I folded in spoonfuls of tomato sauce and grated cheddar. It was tasty and flavourful, and warmed my tummy after a cold walk in the dark.