My 102nd Post!

I had big plans to write something special for my 100th post, but I lost track of the numbers, ( I had a lot to write about with my Brother's Graduation, and the Scott Procopio 10k all in one weekend) and now I'm up to 102.  oops.

102 is not as special as 100, but I still want to take the opportunity to recognize this accomplishment for my blog.  I've heard from many of my friends and readers (which are mostly one and the same) that my blog has improved in it's quality, and that it has "come a long way".  Yay!!

I want to say a giant THANK YOU to everyone who continues to read it and support it.  It really means a lot to me! :)

To celebrate (and reminisce)  I'm going to list my favorites from the past 101 posts:

My First Loaf
Accidental Fudge
The Black Cat Road Race
Banana Oat Walnut Bread
Spelt Pancakes with Carmelized bananas
How I learned to Food Shop
A Baking Story in Photos
Pretzel Bites 
May Kelly's Irish Cottage and the first breakfast at Red Elephant
Flatbread, The Muddy Moose, and The Stairway Cafe
Halloween Cupcakes and Jack-owl-Lanterns
My Hero

I hope you enjoy getting a second look at these posts!

Here's to 1000 more!

Cheers, and thanks everyone!!

Scott Procopio Gold Star Run for Honor 10k

Hi Guys!
Yesterday I woke up at 5 to run a 10k in my hometown of Saugus!  Yes, that's right, 5am on a Saturday, what was I thinking?? 

 I decided to try a different pre-race breakfast than what I've been having.  This was my 7th race, and I've had a bagel with cream cheese, coffee and orange juice before each one.  This time I had 3.25 English muffins halves with peanut butter, honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a mug of coffee.

I think this breakfast worked a lot better.  Bagels get digested pretty fast, so by the time I'm at the starting line, I'm usually feeling shaky (could be from nerves, though) and a little hungry, and depending on the length of the race, I feel like I need more energy.  This time I didn't feel hungry/shaky before the race, and I never felt like I was running out of energy on the course.

The humidity was at 87% and it was around 75 degrees.  Not ideal running conditions!

I ended up running into 2 friends from high school, Ryan and Josh, and they were both running the 5k.  It was really nice to see some familiar faces, and chatting with them really helped calm my pre-run jitters.  So, thanks guys!

The starting line

The course was not very scenic.  It went down some main roads in Saugus, and at mile 4, it lead us up a giant hill.  That was not fun, but I didn't stop to walk once, so I was pretty proud of myself for that.  I enjoyed the challenge!

I crossed the finish line in 58 minutes 19 seconds with a pace of 9:23.  For the women's division, I came in 19th out of 29, and in my age division 11th out of 16.  Not my best, but I had an awesome time running this race, and I loved the challenge of the big hill near the end.

This race was run in honor of Scott Procopio who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan in 2006.  The proceeds go to a scholarship in his name to help children of members in the armed forces go to college.

For more information:
www.procopioscholarship.com

Mike's Law School Graduation

Friday was a special day, my big brothers graduation from Law School!
I went to the commencement ceremony with my Mom, Dad, Grandma, and my brother's girlfriend, Yulia.  The ceremony was held at the Wang Theatre, which is gorgeous.  It was a really nice location, and even though it wasn't super hot, I was secretly glad it was held inside!  

The ceremony was nice, and it wasn't too long or boring.  I found out an interesting fact about New England Law, they were the first and only law school to allow women to attend! They were founded in 1908, so they were teaching women law before women even had the right to vote.  I thought that was pretty awesome.

After the ceremony, we met up with my brother, snapped some pics, and went to lunch.  Our original plan was to go to Texas Roadhouse. but when we got there, we saw it was under construction, and wasn't going to open until 3:30!  At this point it was only 2pm, so we decided to go to Chili's instead.

I wish my brother's eyes were open...

At Chili's, I got a blue moon to drink, and the shrimp tacos for my meal.  They were so good!  I think I ordered them because they have a giant strip of avocado in each taco and I had been craving some.

 mmmm, avocado.

But anyway, I'm really proud of my brother!  He is now the highest educated person in our immediate family (he's a doctor of law!), and I wish him all the luck in taking the bar, and finding employment.  I know he will make a terrific lawyer, so I wish him all the luck in the world. 

P.S: I'm getting his diploma framed for his graduation present, and I'm nervous just having it in my possession!  That's an expensive degree!

The Pea's Knees: Things that are currently making me happy

1.  My blooming Orchid

2.  The anticipation of my CSA opening day, June 7th!!!

3.   Ice Coffee Season!

4.  My new apple print dress

5.  Spending time outside

6. Living with this guy.

What (or who!) is making you happy right now?  It's the little things...

Meatless Monday: Open Faced Eggplant Parm Sandwiches

I'm a huge fan of meatless meals.  They are good for the environment, good for the wallet, and a great way to make a vegetable the center of the meal.

This Monday, the focus was Eggplant.  What a freaky looking vegetable.  With the Eggplant, I made open-faced Eggplant Parm Sandwiches.

This meal is great because it's really quick and easy to make, and super tasty!

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
Marinara sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Bread crumbs
1 Egg
really good bread


Instructions:
Chop up the eggplant into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch slices

 Whisk the egg in a bowl, and spread some breadcrumbs on a plate.

  Dip the eggplant in the egg and then place it on the plate of breadcrumbs to coat each side.

Fry them up in a little bit of olive oil.

Once they are cooked through (a few minutes on each side) top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Let the cheese melt on top for a minutes or two, then top with marinara sauce.
Toast your bread.  When the bread is toasted, top it with the eggplant, and sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and Voila!

 I ate mine with a side of baby spinach and some Italian salad dressing.

This Meatless Monday meal was approved by CJ.

Sunday Brunch and a 6 Mile Hike

This morning we decided to make an awesomely huge breakfast to fuel up before our hike.

While CJ shredded the potato for the hash browns, I worked on making the appetizer.

I made sliced bananas topped with a peanut butter and yogurt concoction.  I've made this before, but this time I added honey and cinnamon to the mix, yum!

I got some Tuscan Pane bread from TJ's so we toasted that and topped it with a fried egg and some cheese.  Delicious pre-hike fuel!

After we ate, we drove over to the Lynn Fells reservation called Sheepfold.  It's really close to our apartment so hopefully we can go often!  I really enjoyed the hike.

Apparently this park is a hot spot for people to bring their dogs! We saw so many different types of dogs, and it really made me want one!  But CJ said no, he's such a party pooper.

We decided to follow the Reservoir trail which is 6 miles long.  There is also a trail that goes 9 miles, and a shorter trail that is maybe around 3 miles.

CJ looks good, but I look bald.

 Along the way, we saw this cool tree house, and I was super jealous of the kid that gets to play in there!

The trail surrounded the Winchester public drinking water reservoir.  It was really pretty.  I wanted to dive in (but that's not allowed, and I don't really know how to dive).

It took us a little less than 3 hours to do the hike, which was slower than I anticipated, but we did stop to eat lunch, and accidentally got off the trail a few times.

It was such a beautiful day, and I'm glad I got to spend it outdoors!

Hope you had a nice Sunday as well!

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

What is it about stuffed foods that is so delicious and fun? 
Stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, stuffed clams......double stuff oreos..

I originally planned to make good old traditional stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice, but then I spotted the Quinoa (KEEN-wha) in my pantry and a lightbulb went off in my head, so I used the Quinoa in place of the rice.

Quinoa is like a miracle grain.  It's high in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and fiber.  It's gluten-free, and it's a good source of protein as well. 

According to my bag of Arrowhead Mills Quinoa, this grain was a staple of the ancient Inca's diet, and literally means "the mother grain."

Also, after some googling, I found out that Quinoa is actually a seed! Who knew.

makes 3-4 depending on pepper size

3 Green Bell Peppers
3/4 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup Quinoa
1 chopped white onion
10 ounces tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black pepper

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook the Quinoa in a rice cooker if you have one, if not, cook in a pan on the stove.
Cut the tops off the pepper and place in pan of boiling water for three minutes
After three minutes, run them under cold water, and place upside down on paper towel to dry
Cook the ground beef and onions in a skillet, add in the seasonings
After meat in done cooking, add half of the tomato sauce
Add in the cooked quinoa and cook for a few more minutes
Place the peppers in a roasting pan, and fill them with the mixture
Top the peppers with the rest of the tomato sauce
Bake for 25-30 minutes

and Enjoy!

Yay for CSA!

Q: What is a CSA?

A: A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture.  Basically, it's a program that you join, and once you are a member you receive a "share" of local and mostly organic fruits and vegetables weekly for the entire farming season. 

If you are already familiar with CSA's, please bear with me, I know there are a lot of people out there that are unfamiliar with the concept, and I want to share and educate!

The CSA I joined is the Farm direct Co-op and it's based out of Marblehead, Ma with three depot locations in Marblehead, Salem, and Melrose.  Their website said they had a waitlist for the Melrose Depot, but when I emailed them they told me they actually had 11 spots left! I was so thrilled to be able to join this year.

Once the season starts in June, I'll go once a week to the depot location to pick up my share.  Lucky for me, the depot pick-up location is less than a mile from my apartment, so it will be super convenient. 

source

A typical weekly vegetable share looks like this:

• 1 pound heirloom tomatoes,
• 4 ears organic sweet corn,
• 4 units choice.

The choice vegetables will be whatever they have available (in season) at that time

A typical weekly fruit share looks like this:

• a small watermelon,
• 1 pound of peaches,
• 1 pound of plums,
• ½ pint of raspberries and
• a pound of apples

This CSA also has a few other share options like herbs, bread, and cheese.  We were interested in the bread option, but we decided it was a little too expensive, and we could just get good bread at the local bakery that our friends work at.  

Since the CSA is a little pricey, I had my friend at work help me with a Pros and Cons list.  I love making these types of lists (even though they usually don't help me), but this one certainly did!

Cons:

• Cost (quite expensive)
• What if we end up not eating the food and it goes bad?
• What if I am unable to pick it up each week?

Pros:

• Healthy, fresh, local, mostly organic produce
• Getting involved in the town I just moved too
• Possibly meeting new people/making friends
• Being forced to learn how to cook with all these vegetables
• Blog post opportunities:  "hey, look what I got this week...here's what I plan to make..."
• Supporting local farmers

It was obvious to me after making this list that I had to do it.  There are both personal benefits (getting all my daily fruit and vegetable servings) and community benefits (since you make payments in advance, it helps with the local farmer's cash flow).

Hope I did a good job explaining CSA!

For more info:
http://www.farmdirectcoop.org/
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/


Are you planning on eating local this summer? Are there any farms near you?  What's your favorite summer vegetable/fruit?