I left work a little later then I had anticipated to make it home to complete my 55 minute run before dark. Part of it I think was my desire not to run this afternoon. I walked in my apartment and got changed – I then decided to check out Google Pedometer to try and find a new route. On my way home, I drive by a few streets that I thought would be great for running – long enough that I wouldn’t need to cross the street and with enough cross streets that I wasn’t running up and down the same street 10 times.
Today, I found the perfect neighborhood. About a 5 minute drive from my apartment, and has enough territory to cover that I never need to cross a busy street.
Being in a new neighborhood, as it was getting dark, made me nervous I would never find my car again. I did a lot of running out from my car and then running back. It was great though – and a welcome change of scenery.
I did something I have never done before – brought a water bottle with me – the water bottle had about 1/4 Gatorade, 3/4 water. I left it in the car and stopped at about 30 minutes for a few sips. Wow did that sugar give me some extra energy. I definitely got a small boost and my fastest pace of my entire run was in my 4th mile.
In the end, I am VERY glad I made myself do that run this afternoon. I feel very accomplished and now have tomorrow off (from running that is)!
On to dinner…I arrived home very sweaty…ready to nix our planned dinner and make some Mac and Cheese. My live-in-chef (otherwise known as my super husband Matt) was already in the process of working on dinner. He was mincing garlic and after a brief discussion, he continued on and I took a shower.
Look at what he made
He used a frozen package of seafood from Trader Joes (package contained shrimp, calamari, and scallops).
In the sauté pan went:
- Package of seafood
- Clam Juice
- Can of Whole Clams
- Sauvignon Blanc Wine
- Little bit of butter
- dried parsley
- Garlic (lots) – chopped and dried
- Oregano
- Olive Oil
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Spinach
He sautéed the garlic in a little olive oil. Then added the seafood and let that cook for a few minutes. Next, went the clams, clam juice and wine and that cooked for a few minutes more. Then he added the butter and herbs and lastly, the tomato and spinach.
Meanwhile, he cooked some whole wheat angel hair pasta and when that was done, he added it to the sauté pan and cooked the whole mixture for another minute or two.
We finished the plate with a little parmesan cheese.
This was excellent – I could not keep my hand out of the pan. I had the above plate and probably another one the same size. It had such a great flavor.
We were a little disappointed with the frozen seafood though – the scallops were so small you could barely taste them. Some of the calamari was a bit chewy as well. Something we probably wouldn’t eat again.
Overall a great meal that came together in about 20 minutes – who says you can’t go gourmet on a week night?!?
September 24, 2009: Reduce Banana Consumption
I eat bananas a lot – pretty much every day. To me, they go with everything and are a perfect way to sweeten something up without adding sugar.
While at a conference over a year ago, someone from Yale University was talking about how they don’t put bananas out in their cafeteria for lunch or dinner. This obviously dramatically reduced consumption and because bananas are grown primarily in Central America, they would never be local produce to Yale (Yale has an amazing local food dining program). I thought about the miles bananas travel to reach my kitchen counter in Massachusetts and realized that I eat a lot of bananas.
After some further research, I found this article that describes the farming practices used to grow bananas. It astonished me how much pesticides are use and how poorly a lot of banana farm workers are treated. I read one older article that talked about how a lot of men banana farm workers are sterile and how women were giving birth to children with birth defects.
I would like to reduce my banana consumption to no more then 5 per week. I hope to eat less then 5 but I need to start somewhere!
How many bananas do you eat a week?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re lucky to have such an amazing chef!
I never realized that about bananas. My mind is blown. I only eat maybe two bananas a week and can only eat half at a time. My boyfriend eats a banana a day, so we go through a lot in our house. I’ve been making an effort to buy more locally grown fruits lately though so our banana consumption has gone down in the past few weeks. I’m going to email the article to him so he can read it. I’m definitely going to explore better fruit options for us now. Thanks so much.
No problem Melissa – both Matt and I eat typically one banana a day – I figure if I can eat a few less a week, perhaps we only buy one bunch at the grocery store instead of two….every little bit helps! Bananas are not something you are going to find at a Farmers’ Market around here – that’s for sure!
I go through a ridiculous number of bananas each week. I could never give them up. They are a tummy friendly food for me, which is super important for my poor digestive tract! That is good information to have though. It’s good to be informed and to bring awareness.
You’re husband is so sweet! I have to teach mine to cook!
Hi Shannon – we also go through a crazy number of bananas each week. They are good for the tummy but I agree it is important to be informed. I am very grateful that my husband is a good cook!