There are many reasons why we choose to run - this could be one!

Recreating Italy - Homemade Pasta

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Life seems to be getting in the way.

Yesterday we re-created our Italian experience by making homemade pasta - in 2 courses. It was delicious!

We started off with some Italian bread drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Brought us right back to Tuscany.

Everything prepped for pasta making. Since we did all of our prep right on the kitchen table, we used a disposable plastic table cloth. Makes the clean-up really easy!

Making pasta is really easy. Using flour, create a little well for an egg and then slowly mix together with a fork. Then knead the "dough" until you get a good consistency.

Use pasta press to roll out pasta. mmm mmm. Use a round cutter or glass to cut circles for ravioli. Or, for linguine, simply run pressed pasta through the cutter on the other side. Voila!

Fill pasta circles with spinach & ricotta filling, fold, and seal with a fork.

Finished ravioli and linguine. Waiting to be cooked.

Primi: Linguine with bolognese sauce.

Secondi: Ravioli sauteed in a little butter, covered in freshly grated parmesan.

So Proud

I'm so proud of my wonderful husband and his team (3 guys and a girl runnin' the huffin' puffin) who came SECOND in the first ever Provincial Marathon Relay yesterday!!! Congratulations to Clark, Steve, Gord (G2) and April!!

Also, big congratulations to some of our other running friends, Mary, Jody, Gord and Colleen who's team (running with the big dogs) came in THIRD in the marathon relay!

Here's a picture of the whole group!

What a great bunch of people I am privileged to run with!! See the full Marathon, Half-Marathon and Relay results here!

As my return flight landed at noon, I rushed home to shower and go with the group to attend the FABULOUS race reception at the Bowering Park Bungalow. BBQ hamburgers have never been so tastefully presented.

I would like to try to run in the marathon relay next year.....who's in??

A great rainy day meal

Last night, during the beginnings of Hurricane Igor, we went for a run with the 10 km clinic.

It was raining HEAVILY and we were all soaked through by the time we got back to the running room in the dark. It was a lucky coincidence that we had supper ready and waiting for us in the slow cooker for us when we got home.

It was a new recipe, so I had been hoping it would turn out OK. Turns out, it's probably my favourite slow cooker recipe so far!

Slow Cooker Provencal Beef Stew

Here's the Recipe (source: Kraft Canada)

1 lb. (450 g) boneless stewing beef, cubed

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 lb. (450 g) sweet potatoes (2 large), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 can (28 fl oz/796 mL) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

1 Zucchini, cut into 1-inch-thick slices

1 Onion, chopped

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup 25%-less-sodium beef broth

1/4 cup Kraft Calorie-Wise Sun-Dried Tomato & Oregano Dressing

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Toss beef with flour in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except basil. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in Basil just before serving.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much flavour this had!

The slow cooker is one of our best friends on running nights - no worrying about what to eat when you get home late!

Will Run for Cupcakes

Had to write a post!

Anyone who knows me well, knows of my somewhat unhealthy obsession with the Web site Etsy. For anyone who is not familiar with Etsy, it's very similar to eBay but consists of all things handcrafted/artisan (love).

Not a day of mine goes by without spending a little bit of time seeing what kinds of goodies I can come across on Etsy (in fact, some of you are getting Christmas presents that have come from Etsy - get excited, because they're awesome!)

Anyways, THIS is what I just discovered. WILL RUN FOR CUPCAKES! I have often said that I want to get a t-shirt custom made that says just that. Seriously great.

On another note, tonight was the first night of Steve's 10 km clinic at the Running Room. What a turnout! It was a fabulous first night and I am looking forward to helping out with the group and meeting new people!

Link to an Amazing Giveaway!

Being a blogger, avid blog follower of many blogs, and photographer, I was SUPER excited to come across this giveaway. For anyone who reads blogs regularly, MANY do giveaways (I'm hoping to do one for this blog soon!)

Anyways, here's the link, and Monday, August 30 is the last day to enter!

I have been admiring these Epiphanie camera bags for a while now! I've never won anything in a blog giveaway yet, but if this time was the winner, it would be amazing!

Good Luck!

Gift Bag Giveaway: Epiphanie Bag and Photojojo Instant Camera from Mighty Girl.

My favourite pose

(in yoga that is)

photo source: yoga journal

To be completely honest, I haven't been running much lately. Once a week, twice if I'm lucky. I think I needed a break, and it seems to be working well for me right now. Next week I will be helping Steve as he begins teaching a 10 km clinic, and that will get me back into a regular schedule. In the meantime, I'm practising yoga, at least once a week (sometimes twice) and really enjoying it.

I have recently been introduced to the online world of the Yoga Journal (http://www.yogajournal.com/)

It's amazing! I think I would like to subscribe to this magazine.

My favourite part so far is the visual description of poses, along with the health benefits of each pose. For example, in "Half Lord of the Fishes" pose, above, some of the health benefits are stretching the shoulders, hips and neck (and my shoulders can use all the stretching they can get), energizing the spine, stimulation of liver and kidneys.

Another recipe coming soon!