It made me a little gassy

Lebanese Lentil Soup

[The recipe - and bonus commentary to follow]

Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup red lentils
1 tablespoop olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons cilantro
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice

Directions
Bring chicken stock and lentils to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir garlic and onions into the lentils and season with cumin and cayenne. Continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 10 minutes. Puree half of the soup in a blender, or with a stick blender until smooth. Stir in cilantro and lemon juice before serving.

based off of http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lebanese-style-red-lentil-soup/detail.aspx

It was pretty delicious. I added 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and the juice from one lemon and both were a little much for me. I could handle the spiciness, as it was a good level, but I think it took away from the flavor a little, it being my first time tasting it. You know how spiciness can do that sometimes... I would add less...and that's why I put 1/8 tsp in the recipe. I also would add less lemon juice than I added. I kind of measured and it was less than 1/2 cup, but nothing too exact. Just add maybe half a lemon at first and taste it. Stir it a little while it's cooking because the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan (and make a delicious browned lentil mass of goodness) that I just blend back in. The recipe I mostly followed called for 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, but I didn't have any, so I ended up adding about 2 tsp cilantro.

I am pretty sure it gave me gas, so I wouldn't advise making it the day before you have to go somewhere. Maybe it's a friday night meal and a stay in Saturday kind of occasion ...ya know what I mean. :)

Oreo Softballs

A few months ago, I brought some Oreo Balls into work. Everybody loves them, so I try to make them on occasion. Plus, everybody is amazed at how simple they actually are. I was talking to a co-worker last time I made them and he came up with a great idea. He then proceeded to send me an Outlook invitation to make "Oreo Softball Thingies." Good thing he did that, or we wouldn't have had Oreo balls that looked like softballs at out Neogen/Hooker softball game Thursday night. I even made a double batch and brought some to our dinner on Wednesday night.

I don't remember where I originally got the recipe from. It's been such a long time, and I never actually had a physical recipe. It's not hard to remember the two basic ingredients.

Oreo Balls

1 (16 oz) package Oreo Cookies

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

White chocolate for coating

Crush the Oreos in a food processor until you have a fine crumb. Mix in the cream cheese and form into a dough. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (I usually get 50-60 balls per batch). Place the balls on wax paper and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.

Now comes the fun part. You can make these Oreo Balls look like anything you want. Personally I like them dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, but most people prefer white chocolate. I have also tried rolling them in cocoa powder. Nuts or extra oreo crumbs would work too, but I have not tried them.

I dipped them in white chocolate and let them set. Because it was already midnight, and I have to be to work at 7, I cheated on the red stitching lines. I just used one of those Betty Crocker frosting pouches with the decorating tip. It worked out pretty well considering my artistic abilities are quite limited.

Here's the end product:

I brought them to the softball game, and everyone enjoyed them. We even won our game!

Gyoza

Gyoza!

[Dumplings]

Like always when I cook, I didn't really follow one recipe in particular. I based most of it off of http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/gyoza/Detail.aspx

I also got some ideas from http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempuraappetizer/r/gyoza.htm

2 cups shredded cabbage - I used cole slaw mix

Almost a whole bunch of green onions, chopped

One carrot, grated

1 clove garlic, grated of pushed through a press

I heated some sesame oil in my wok and added all the veggies and cooked for a little bit.

I added 1/2 lb ground chicken, a few shakes of dried ginger (I forgot to buy fresh ginger root), a little soy sauce, and one egg and cooked until the chicken was done. I put about a tablespoon of the filling into each wonton wrapper and sealed them up into triangles. I boiled them instead of frying. They were probably in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then I flipped them and cooked for another 2 minutes.

Next time, I am going to try not cooking the chicken, but adding it to the cooked vegetables so the filling will not be as loose and crumbly. This would increase the time you would boil them. I'd say 4 minutes on each side should be reasonable in that situation.

I put the extras on a cookie sheet to freeze them. [I only had 10 left]

A mile a day

Continuing my tradition of not making resolutions, I have made a goal for this year. I am going to run 365 miles this year. One mile a day (but not really every day)

That is all.

I ran through Hell on Halloween

I ran a 5k through Hell dressed up as the Cat in the Hat. It was freezing out, and my time wasn't the greatest (29:18), but I had a lot of fun!

Flourless Chocolate Cake Experiment

9 eggs and 1 pound of sugar. What a cake!

Chocolate Cracked Earth (Flourless Chocolate Cake)

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Tyler's UltimateEpisode: Ultimate Sunday Dinner

Ingredients

• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 stick unsalted butter*
• 9 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 cups heavy cream, cold
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1 inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color.

Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate - then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

While the cake is cooking, whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners' sugar and topped with whipped cream.

*Cook's Note: Food Network Kitchens tested this recipe after this show was taped and determined that 1 stick butter is the correct amount.

from:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-cracked-earth-flourless-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

Thunderstorms

There was a pretty intense thunderstorm this morning. Probably made more intense by the fact that I was sleeping so the thunder sounded much louder than it actually was. Got up and started cutting up the veggies for my pot roast, and put the roast in the crock pot. Then I decided I should go for a run (I might have eaten peanut M&M's for breakfast). I ran 4 miles on the river trail today. It was still a little wet, but the weather was great. I ran 4 miles in 36:30, which is pretty good for me. It's a good thing I went running when I did because not even 20 minutes after I got back it started thunder storming again. I like thunderstorms!

The whole house smells like pot roast. I cannot wait to have some! Spartan football tonight...and it's on ABC so I can watch it!!! I am super excited!

The whole river trail

I finished the river trail today. I did the north end of it from around the Turner Dodge house, down to Kalamazoo and back. It was around 4 miles. I have ran the whole river trail (from MSU to Old Town) in segments-some of the segments multiple times. The whole thing is just over 6 miles, and I plan to run it all sometime very soon. It was a really nice day for a run

Grand Rapids Mud Run 5K

Mel, Erika, and I ran through mud and obstacles all morning. I had a lot of fun. Official times aren't up yet, but my watch said I did it in just under 43 minutes.

edit: My time was 42:10

Board of Water and Light 5K

I ran it in 28:10 and came in 3rd in my age group. It was on part of the river trail with some pretty big hills. It was pretty hot and humid, and I kinda felt nauseous when I got done. We all got medals, it was pretty sweet!!!

Soup Spoon Cafe

Mel and I went to the Soup Spoon Cafe this morning. It was pretty good.
I bought a 32" TV from Walmart and then I went over to my old house and visited with Becca and her mom. Got my security deposit back! It paid for most of my new TV. I got the tv all set up, still can't get channel 53, but oh well. I just went and ran a mile (8:52) just because I felt like I needed another reason to take a shower. Being all sweaty makes me want to take a shower.

Lathrop to Harrison

Ran along Kalamazoo from Lathrop to Harrison and back. 3.61 miles in 34:45. Now I am starving!

(you can tell I signed up for another race...I am running more often again...) I really need to get new shoes too. They don't last as long when you run.

River Trail part 2

I ran some more of the River Trail again tonight. I went for a run with Marie. I haven't ran in awhile, and it sure felt like that. ugh, I definitely need to start running more consistantly. We started out from her house and ran west down Shiawassee and got on the River Trail heading south. We ran south/east until Pennsylvania and north up Penn back to her house. 3.8 miles in 38:15.

It took me 6 minutes to ride my bike to her house. I definitely need to start biking to work! I just need to start getting up a little earlier.

Foupht Wedding

Kim and Chris are married! It was beautiful. I will post pictures once I can get them off my mom's camera.

Poison Ivy

Finally getting over my bout with poison ivy! It was all over my legs and spots on my arms. I went to Urgent Care and got a steroid shot and two prescriptions. I think it helped it clear up faster than last time I had it. Good thing!

Kim's bachelorette party is this weekend, and I am excited!

Softball tomorrow night!!!

River Trail

I ran part of the river trail today. I started from the house and ran east on Kalamazoo to the entrance of the river trail on Clippert by 127. Then I followed the river trail all the way past Potter Park and to Pennsylvania. Then I ran home through the neighborhoods to avoid traffic. 4.55 miles in 43:27.

Riverbank Run

I did it. I ran a 10K! It was fun!

Then I went to Central and watched Stephen graduate from College!

Racking up the miles

I registered for the Riverbank run 10k last week. Yesterday I ran 6.2 miles (10K) on the treadmill, and I was sore all day at work and softball practice. At least I know I can do it. I do not like the treadmill, but it was raining, or threatening to.

May 8, 2010 is the day.

Today

Today turned out to be a pretty good day, weather wise. I got off to a slow start running, but I went 4.4 miles in 40:50 so I made up some time. Ran 2 miles Saturday. I want to check a trail that goes off of the one I run on, maybe I will do that soon. It's supposed to be in the 70's this week, so that is amazing!!!

Can we stop and pet the horsies?

I went on a 5 mile run with Marie today around the MSU farmlands...We stopped to pet the ponies for a bit. It is hard to start running again after you stop. The weather was perfect though! Well, it was a bit chilly, but still good to run in.