A little bit of this...

I've been informed that this meal does not actually 'go together'.

In fact, everyone who sees me eat this tells me that it doesn't 'go together'. The problem is that this is one of my favorite meals. I love broccoli, I love black beans, I love the complete protein that is beans + rice. And I usually dump about a half cup of salsa on top for spice and extra veggies. It was so nice, I ate it twice (packed for lunch Tuesday and Wednesday...).

I guess to each their own, right? (or you can judge me...that's cool too)

So, how's it going? How is the new year treating you...? I am back to the grind (with my new goals in mind, of course). Of course, we're about four days into the new year, but so far my new year's goals are carrying on...

I have:


- Commented on many of my favorite blogs and made blog posts for a schedule (you're reading one!)


-Stayed positive and had positive interactions with others


-Made time for myself


-Exercised to be in the best shape possible for my upcoming race season! 


-Secured letters of reference for a few new job applications (so I can teach again!)

Obviously this is not a time-tested effort, but I feel good about myself. That was the whole goal, right? The secret to my success is that I'm going to a cycling class 2x a week at 5:30am and exercising in the morning before work 4x per week.

5:30am? Yes. It's disgusting. I wish it were at least 6:30. But it's not. It's 5:30. I haven't gotten to the point where it doesn't hurt yet, but I like spin class, so I do it.

So I go to spin class, and I spin for an hour, and I come home and eat a nice breakfast, get ready for work....and BLOG!

This was totally Jill's idea.

She was trying to convince me to come to bootcamp, which is from 6-7am (she totally can spy on me while I spin!), and I asked her what I would do from 7-9am since I was awake...?

I COULD go to work early (and I do, I go in at 8 right now) but my boss comes to work from 2-6pm, and I need to be there for the majority of that time. If were to go directly to work after bootcamp, or spin, I would be done and very tired by like 3pm..

Jill, the genius, suggested that I take that time to BLOG. I'm thinking that limiting my blogging requirement to the two mornings per week that I go to cycling class will make it easier and keep me motivated. So far, so good! But, if you see me start to backslide into the murky waters of THE DEVIL, please get on me. I might need a little help with this one...

In addition to all of my new-year-cheer, I've been continuing to try some new recipes. Last post I tantalized you with Almond-Lentil Cabbage Rolls (anyone try them? They were so good that they were gone THE NEXT DAY! That's right, two people, 24 hours, 10 cabbage rolls. New record?)

Unfortunately, I've been shoving too many bean products into the fiance lately, and he asked (begged) for something less...fibrous...and I obliged.

This recipe is called Afelia, and it is a marinated pork dish from the Mediteranean cookbook.

 "Mediterranean: a taste of the sun in over 150 recipes" by Jacqueline Clark and Joanna Farrow

Unlike the cabbage rolls, I followed this recipe to the letter. So....I can't give you the recipe. But I can give you the general idea.

 Marinade some pork in spices and olive oil - coriander, sugar, salt, pepper.

I used boneless ribs and trimmed a lot of the fat. I guess you could use loin, tenderloin, shoulder, chops, whatever. Or some nice dark meat chicken. I would suggest tofu, but I don't think tofu could hold up to the cooking process we're about to do.

Chop some onions.

Brown pork and add the onions. Saute until tender. Add red wine. And...if you're going to cook with the red wine, you probably should taste it first, right?

It's good. I'm glad I saved you the turmoil of having to taste it yourself (tease, tease).

Bring the mixture to a boil, add a little more salt and pepper and cover it. Throw it in a preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour. When it's done, it looks like this:

I made this at 8pm on a Tuesday, so I had already eaten dinner by the time it was done. But we tasted it, and it was good. It's really DIFFERENT. I've made a lot of meat preparations (simple roasts, latin, bbq, lemon-pepper, garlic, etc), but this doesn't taste like anything I've ever had. It's almost lemony from the coriander, but not acidic at all. They recommend serving it with a greek-style salad and bread. I bet it could also make a great sandwich - this meat, some lettuce, tomato, onion, and a little tzaziki sauce...yummmm.

That's it for this morning, but my weekend post will be a science-y one. Do you ever wonder what the big deal is with stem cells? Why do we want to use them? Why must our congressmen constantly fight about whether or not we can ethically use them? Well, I'm going to bring you up to date on stem cells as well as talk about why we may not ever need to fight about the use of stem cells ever again! 

How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions/goals?