Tuesday, May 22, 2012

marathon monday aka patriots day aka the best day ever

I love the Boston Marathon! The marathon always takes place on Patriots Day in mid April (one of those weird holidays that only gets celebrated in Massachusetts). I get the day off from school so it's a great excuse to sit around and drink all day. Oh, and watch people run!

The marathon starts in Hopkington and winds through the towns of Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brighton (technically part of Boston), and Brookline, before finally ending up in Copley Square, Boston.

My old apartment (the tall brown building) used to be the BEST place to watch the marathon. My bedroom window overlooked the route and we had this sliding door with a fake balcony. We were also conveniently located at Mile 24.

Since I live across the street from my old place, I still live at Mile 24 and I still watch the marathon in the same place!


The runners in Coolidge Corner! Can I do this one day? I am not so sure...


Here's what Irene and I did instead of running...we drank some Sam Adams 26.2, a seasonal beer that Sam Adams made just for the marathon this year!


The finish line is in front of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. I took this photo the day before while they were still setting up.




I can't wait until next year!

Monday, May 21, 2012

roasted broccoli with panko bread crumbs and cheddar

SCHOOLS OUT!!!!! which means summer's here. which means plenty of BBQs, cooking (aka new recipes), beer drinking, porch sitting, tomato growing, and beach going.

After binge eating all last week during finals (and by binge eating, i mean i was on a diet of: m&ms, reeses peanut butter cups, burritos, like 10 bottles of seltzer water, a crapload of coffee, tons of fried chicken, and every single frozen meal trader joes has to offer), I need to go on a diet in order to fit into this bridesmaid dress for my cousin's wedding.

(don't worry I plan on writing a full finals week report. parts of it were quite entertaining. parts of it were quite awful. actually, who cares because it's over!)

So you thought I would post a healthy recipe right? Of course not. I had to go ahead and cook broccoli in bread crumbs and cheese. I can't help it. I think I am addicted to junk food. I'm going to have to slowly wean myself off of it or something.

Whatever. I made this recipe tonight for dinner...a pretty tasty way to eat broccoli. No need to be precise with any of the measurements (my favorite way to cook!).

Also, for those of you unfamiliar with panko bread crumbs, it's a japanese bread crumb, but it's pretty mainstream. I got mine at trader joes, but you can probably find it at any regular grocery store.

Roasted Broccoli with Panko Bread Crumbs and Cheddar
Ingredients:
A bag of broccoli florets or a couple of heads, rinsed and trimmed
1/3 cup of panko bread crumbs (I just eyeballed it. I probably used more than 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese (Again, I just eyeballed it)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, toss broccoli florets in olive oil, salt, and pepper. (feel free to add other spices if you wish!)


Spread bread crumbs into a cake pan and place in the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Remove break crumbs from the oven and toss with broccoli. Put it all back into the oven and roast until the broccoli is tender, about 8-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and toss with cheddar cheese. Serve immediately!



Sunday, May 6, 2012

living and eating in the library

I've been living in the Northeastern law library lately. With exams just around the corner, it's become my new home. While I am here, I also apparently only like to eat junk food. Which is why I've made a list of all the crap I've eaten in here today. I've been here for 12 hours and counting. So go ahead, be my guest and judge me.

Medium coconut iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts with cream and sugar. For those of you who know me, you know that: (1) I only drink iced coffee when it is hot out and it's too hot for me to stomach an iced coffee. Today's temp when I got it: probably around 50 degrees; and (2) I don't drink my coffees with sugar. These are clear signs that I am losing it!

Half a bag of peanut butter m&ms. On Friday when I was here, I ate the other half of the bag as my "dinner." Please note that this was my pre-10k race dinner

A couple of salt and vinegar flip chips. My friend Jo got these for free somewhere in Harvard Square. I think they are supposed to be "healthy" for you, but I'd rather eat lays.

A reeses peanut butter cup in the shape of a beautiful holiday bell. I think these were leftover Christmas candies from at least a few years ago.

A Trader Joes frozen meal. I think there was chicken and barley and risotto in it? I also added some frozen veggies to this.

Medium hot coffee from ABP. Please note, when I went to get my coffee, I also intended to get some chicken fingers from Wollastons as a snack, but they were sold out! Now I have a huge craving for chicken fingers...

White cheddar cheez-its.

Whole wheat pasta with canned tomato soup. I may have also dumped some more frozen veggies in this. Apparently I can't be bothered to eat real vegetables these days.

Half a piece of salmon. Possibly the only nutritious thing I ate all day.

this basically sums up my life these days

Friday, May 4, 2012

totally screwed + race goals? + sangria

I'm running the Attleboro 10k on Saturday (aka tomorrow) and I'm totally screwed. I'm not feeling confident about this at all, seeing as I can't run the whole 6.2 miles. This past week I tried to run/walk 7 miles on the treadmill and by the end of it, my body hated me and I passed out in bed at 7:00pm (when I should have been up late outlining).

I probably should have trained more, but life (aka school) got in the way.

There's a 5k on the same day. I went back and forth about whether to register for the 5k or 10k, but ultimately I decided that I need to start running further distances and there's no better time to start than tomorrow.

10k race goals: (I am not sure I even have any, other than trying not to die)
1. FINISH
2. Run at least the first 5k, and then alternate between running and walking
3. I am too scared to put a time down. 

My friend, Ashley, who lives in Attleboro, is having a BBQ at her house post-race and on the menu is sangria! I know everyone has their own recipe, but here's the recipe she's going to use:

Sangria
Ingredients:
1 bottle of red wine (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, rioja, zinfandel, shiraz)
1 lemon, cut in wedges
1 orange, cut in wedges
1 lime, cut in wedges
2 tablespoons sugar
splash of orange juice or lemonade
2 shots of gin or triple sec
1 cup of raspberries or strawberries
1 small can of diced pineapples, with juice
4 cups ginger ale

Directions:
Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange, and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple. Then add sugar, orange juice, and gin.

Chill overnight. The next day, add ginger ale, berries, and ice just before serving.

In other news, May is a big race month for me. In addition to the 10k tomorrow, I'm also running:
Sunday, May 20th - Harpoon 5 miler
Sunday, May 27th - Run to Remember 5 miler

I also have finals the week of May 14th-18th. Needless to say, it's going to be a crazy, busy month!