Martha's So-Called Life

salmon cooked once, served two ways

The other night I defrosted some salmon for dinner, and then I came home from work, John wasn't home yet, and did not feel like cooking it.  I put it in the fridge and figured I'd cook it the next night.  The next night, I came home and John wasn't home (common occurrence these days) and I still didn't feel like cooking the fish, so I went to Brittany's for dinner instead.

Finally, today I decided that the salmon absolutely had to be cooked since it was defrosted several days ago, but it did not sound appealing to me at all.  I figured I would just bake it and then put it in the fridge to make salmon salad sandwiches for lunch this weekend and next week.  

When discussing dinner this evening with John (via text since he was still at work) I suggested quesadillas and he thought they sounded good.  Then I mentioned that I guess I could cook the fish and make salmon quesadillas, which he thought sounded even better.  

The more I thought about it the less appealing quesadillas sounded to me.  So I decided I would have salad topped with salmon salad.  I also figured I could just cook the fish the same way for both and then it could go it's separate ways after it was cooked.  

I sprinkled my fillets with salt, garlic powder, and a little bit of chili powder, put them on a baking sheet, and baked them for about 15 minutes at 375°F.  Then I took the skin off, put some aside for quesadillas, and turned the rest into salmon salad.

For the salad, I mashed an avocado and mixed some mustard into the fish.  Then I put it over lettuce, chopped mushrooms, and a few chopped artichoke hearts.  For dressing I mixed some spinach pesto that I have in the fridge with a little balsamic vinegar. It was delicious and quite filling.

John's quesadilla was just crumbled salmon, cheese, and a sliced avocado.  

There you have it…salmon cooked once and served twice!

 

a peek inside my dog's brain

Last week we started proofing class with Kiva. We've been to two classes so far, and it's been great.  The first week we worked on making sure the dogs actually knew what we were asking when we told them to "sit" or "down."  Kiva is pretty bad at sit.  She likes to sit for a bit and then lie down.  The instructor told us to just keep correcting her, so that's something we've been working on at home a lot.  

Before we go running, I always make her sit and wait with her leash on while I get ready.  Usually she ends up lying down because she gets tired of waiting for me.  Most of the time I let this go, because I really don't care if she's sitting or lying down, I just want her to wait.  Yesterday, rather than telling her just to "wait," I told her to sit.  She sat.  Then she laid down.  So I made her sit again.  Then she laid down.  We did this about five times in the 10 minutes it took me to get ready, and she never stayed sitting for more than a few seconds.  

Fast forward to after our run (she was really tired because we ran for 2 hours and 40 minutes)...I was sitting at the table eating dinner and Kiva was begging for attention.  So I told her to lie down.  She sat.  I said it again and used the hand signal. She kept sitting.  All the while she had this sassy look on her face that said "eff you, I'm sitting now."  I spent at least a minute trying (even physically trying) to get her to lie down...and she wouldn't.  What a jerk!

I told this story to John on our way home from dog class and he said, "you two totally deserve each other." Yep, she's definitely my dog. 

20.7

That's how many miles I ran this week!  

10 of which happened in these beauties...

Brooks PureFlow 2's.  Love them.  I have read a lot of reviews of the various shoes in the Brooks PureProject line (I'm a relatively recent convert to Brooks, and I love them) and have been curious.  I have a pair of true minimal shoes (NB Minimus) that I have a love/hate relationship with, so I was intrigued by the idea of something slightly more minimal but still a little on the traditional running shoe side.  I tried on all of the shoes in the line and found these to fit the best.  Besides...who doesn't need a pair of hot pink running shoes??  

While I was debating them I got a text from a friend about meeting for lunch.  I mentioned what I was doing and she said, "when it comes to shoes, the answer is always yes."  Sold :)  

For some reason I have not been into running by myself lately.  Usually it doesn't bother me, but for some reason I just can't seem to get into it right now.  Fortunately this happened after my long run on Sunday.  I went to run group on Tuesday, then ran with Brittany on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Hopefully I am able to embrace running alone again by Monday when I have a 2:45 run planned.  That's a long time to run alone when you don't want to be running alone!

post-run snacking

I just got back from a lovely 5 mile run with Brittany and Jack.  Jack had a nap while the boring grownups chatted away about boring grownup things.  I need to figure out how to nap while running...

On a side note, when did it become ok for me to refer to myself as a grownup?  Weird.  It's hard to feel grown up when most of your best friends are from high school.  Even though most of them have kids, it still doesn't feel like we are grown ups.  Also, the other day John pointed out that it has been eight (8!) years since we graduated from college.  WTF?  Where does time go?!

Ok, back to the snack.  I required sustenance between getting home from my run and the time that dinner would be ready.  I wanted something quick and filling, so I threw a banana in the fridge while I went to shower (I am not a huge fan of bananas, but when I do eat them, I prefer them cold).  Then when I was done showering, I sliced the chilly banana, and topped it with a large dollop of almond butter and some shredded coconut.  

Not the most photogenic food, but it sure was tasty!  It's definitely doing its job of tiding me over until John gets home from work (these days, it's not usually before 7pm) and we can have dinner.  

a running update

The significant lack of posts about running has been due to the significant lack of running.  I know you're thinking, but Martha, you are running a marathon in six (!) weeks...yes I am aware, thank you very much.

First I was lazy.  Then I was deathly ill.  Now I am playing catch-up.  

This week my long run was supposed to be 2:30.  Since I'd been sick and hadn't really done much running, I figured I'd shoot for anything over 2 hours and see how things went.  I felt pretty darn good until mile 9 (between 1:35 and 1:48), and things went downhill from there.  Since I was not home yet, I had no choice but to carry on, so I took lots of walking breaks and paid no attention to how slow I was going.  

(the funny drop off on the downhill side of the peak is where I forgot to restart my watch after waiting for a stoplight)

I figured that after a lot of non-running, I would be quite sore after a long run, but that is not the case.  My knees hurt a bit and my quads are tired, but it's no worse than it was after my last race (where I was surprisingly less sore than I have ever been after a half). This is not surprising considering I ran only a few minutes less than my half marathon PR time.  

Now, let's just hope I can stick to the plan for the next six weeks...

road trip playlist

A couple of weeks ago when we went to Seward, I made a playlist for our drive.  For the most part I listened to it quite loud.  I kept apologizing to John for turning the music up but claimed it was so he didn't have to listen to me sing.  I then apologized that he had to be stuck in the car with me for two hours while I danced.  He seemed unfazed...yet another reason why I like him!

 

what we're eating - week of may 13

Back on the meal planning bandwagon again!  The unfortunate part is that I was horribly uninspired while doing my planning and it took me over two hours to come up with seven days worth of dinner.  That might be a new record.  

Here's what's on the menu for this week...

Monday:
Lemon & Artichoke Chicken (from Practical Paleo)
Caprese Salad with Pesto (I am planning on making spinach walnut pesto for this)

Tuesday:
Crustless Quiche
Sesame Roasted Broccoli

Wednesday:
"Fast Food Fettucini"

Thursday:
Mushroom Lasagna (made with eggplant instead of noodles)

Friday:
Turkey Meatloaf

Saturday:
Fish Tacos 

Sunday:
Leftovers 

a mid-week menu

The last couple of weeks have not been the best as far as menu planning goes.  After our Seward adventure, we never really got back on track with the planning and shopping.  Then I got sick and we survived on breakfast burritos and quesadillas for dinner.  Not the healthies fare, but at least we weren't starving.

Sunday we had sweet potato hash.  This is becoming one of my go to meals when I need something fast and easy.  We even have leftover shredded sweet potatoes from last weekend so it was easier than usual to make.

Monday we were supposed to have salmon for dinner, but no one remembered to take the salmon out of the freezer.  So we did the logical thing and went out to dinner.  The fortunate part of not eating what's on the menu one night is that you get to not think about what to eat the next night...so Tuesay nights dinner was...you guessed it, salmon!

Today we're having some kind of shrimp and pasta dish (probably shrimp, tomatoes, onions, and pesto over spaghetti).  Then Thursday night is the Arctic Valley board meeting so we will eat out (again...I know, we rarely eat out twice in one week though).  

The rest of the week has no plan, but I'm off work so it will be easier for me to plan and shop by then.  

working on...

Even though I've been sick for the past week, I managed to muster enough energy to make some changes to the Kiva & Co. website.  

I've really only gotten started and have big plans, but coding hurts my brain so much that I can only do a little at at time.  

I also designed a couple new cards.  I still have to photograph them so I can post them, but they should be listed by the end of the week.

I'm finally starting to feel better, so hopefully I can accomplish some things that don't involve sitting on the couch soon!

loud but not so clear

Yesterday, Kiva spent the entire day sending me a very loud but not very clear message.  She was constantly in my face or laying on top of me.  I'm sick so I'm sure it had something to do with that.  Every time I sat down she jumped on to whatever I happened to be sitting on and stuck her nose in my face.  She also decided that she had to be on top of me in some way while I was sitting or lying down.  

First there was this...

And this...

And finally this...

I'm hoping it was just dog language for "I'm sorry you are sick and I hope you feel better soon" and not "please don't die!"