Mole, as in chocolate

I'm trying to think about what I've been eating lately, mostly comfort type foods since the weather has gotten cooler. I created a profile on foodbuzz, which is a fun community, I feel like it's Facebook for Foodies. I've started following some great food blogs, it's amazing how many people take the time to make creative, fabulous looking food.

Last night I made Chicken Mole, which is one of the five ways that I make chicken. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a Mexican dish, with chocolate as a base, and a bunch of spices. There are several ingredients, again it's a combo of different recipes that I've tweaked to my liking. This is a great time of year for it, as it simmers away, the whole house smells like the Holiday season. I serve it over brown rice, with a side of something green, last night it was sauteed spinach, but I also like it with broccoli. You can get another meal of the leftovers by putting it in whole wheat tortillas, with a bit of sour cream and cheddar cheese. Ole!

Chicken Mole

one medium onion, chopped (I always use Vidalia's)

2 cloves garlic, minced

one bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I actually add a bit more, because I like it spicy)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon anise seed

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup chicken broth (I like the organic kind with no sodium or MSG)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1.5 ounces of bittersweet, dark chocolate

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

olive oil

1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

3 cups of cooked brown rice

In a large skillet, heat olive oil in a pan, and brown chicken, then set chicken aside.

In the same pan, cook the onions and garlic until soft (you may have to deglaze the pan with wine or stock before adding the onions).

Add the stock and sauce, as well as the bay leaf, pepper, cayenne, paprika, clove, cinnamon, anise, sugar, almonds, and sesame seeds.

If you like, transfer sauce to a blender and puree until a thick paste. This is the traditional method, I skip this step, because I like the consistency of the almonds and onions.

Return sauce to pan, add the chocolate and cocoa powder, along with chicken. Bring to a boil, and simmer on very low heat about 15 minutes.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Sportsfans, here's the latest

I'm feeling much better today, and I wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I truly appreciate all your encouraging words.

The funk started lifting after I got all that garbage off my chest. I spent today giving thanks to our Veterans, including my Dad, who is a Vietnam Vet, my two Grandfather's who are WWII Vets, and my cousin and friends who have served in Iraq. The kids didn't have school, so we spent a few hours at the mall stimulating the economy, then time at the playground, where I had one eye on Luke, and the other on Eliza.....good thing I dressed them in red so I could find them in the crowd. I channeled June Cleaver, and got the grocery shopping done, the house picked up, and now I sit with a glass of vino, getting ready to veg out in front of Top Chef.

Oh, and another thing......I registered for my Thanksgiving Day 10k.....and....I threw my name into the lottery for the 2010 NYC Marathon. Huh?!?! Yup. I did.

The chances are verrrry slim that my name is picked, but I figured, what the heck. My very good friend Jennifer has been really motivating me on the marathon front, and she entered the lottery herself.

I figured that if I don't get in (the names are drawn in March), I have a few other tricks up my sleeve. So, stay tuned.

Fighting a Funk

Warning: bitching and moaning ahead.

I feel like I'm in a funk. My motivation running wise has been good. But in all other areas of my life, I'm in a rut. I can't even find a way to express exactly how I'm feeling in this post.

This weekend we took a quick trip to Long Island for my niece's christening. I was dreading the drive (ten hours of driving in two days) but really wanted to see my family and friends. Mike has been driving 900 miles a week for work, and he wasn't too keen on another drive, but he was a good sport about it, and we had a great time. Today I'm faced with the confusion I always feel after a trip to NY, I still miss living there, but I also love living here.

My house is a mess. I pride myself on keeping my house clean and in order, but lately I honestly couldn't care what it looks like, the disorder matches my mood. It's a struggle to put the laundry away after it's done, right now I have dirty dishes in the sink, and there they will stay because I don't feel like emptying the dishwasher. The kids' toys have made their way out of the TV room, and are scattered in every other room of the house. None of the beds are made, I have overdue library books. I don't have the desire or energy to do anything, and the venti non fat vanilla latte from Starbucks isn't doing what I hoped it would.

I'm tired of worrying about money. Mike made it through the re org at his company, he was the only rep in the Northeast region who made it through all the cuts. Believe me, he and I know how lucky he is to have his job, but he's miserable. And he still worries about his mom's illness.

I don't feel like I'm being the best mother either. Eliza is in that terrible 3's stage, she is so headstrong I feel like all I do is yell at her. It's lunchtime and she's still in her pajama's, I don't feel like fighting with her. Luke is being a sweetheart as usual, he's doing great in school and surprises me every day with the things that come out of his mouth.

I'm annoyed with the kid's pediatrician, I call every week to get the kids' flu shot's scheduled, and they still don't have the seasonal shot, much less the H1N1.

And I want to know why I haven't been able to get into my hotmail account for the past five days.

I hate to bitch, because I really don't have anything to bitch about. My children are healthy, Mike is working, we have a house and cars and food. So I'll stop now.

On a lighter note, I found out I don't know how to tie shoes. Mike and I were talking with my sister about teaching Luke to tie shoes, and apparently I do an extra step when tying. I make bunny ears, but do the "loop, swoop and pull" as well. I guess you do one or the other, but not both. Yup, I'm 37 and can't tie my shoes.

Is it my age? Or my ambition?

I've started a new strategy this week running wise. With the amount of traveling that Mike is doing for work, I realized the treadmill is going to be my BFF sooner than I had hoped. It's a decent set up, the treadmill is in the basement, in front of the TV, facing the sliding glass doors so I can see what's going on in the backyard. But I still get bored, so to keep it interesting I play with the incline and the speed as the mood strikes me.

My next race is a 10k on Thanksgiving. So this week I'm doing four mile runs as often as I can, as quickly as I can. When I was training for my 15k and half marathon, I made it a habit of finding a decent pace, without pushing myself too hard, and sticking with it for the duration of the run. I know I can do six miles no sweat (well, with sweat), so I think if I do some speed work, I might pull a quicker time in my 10K.

Yesterday after my four mile run, I came upstairs, and iced my hamstring, right shin, and left arch. They ache from time to time, so I ice to prevent re-injuring these areas. Which has me wondering, is this because of my age (late 30's, gasp) or because I'm doing too much? I don't think it's overuse, I stretch and take rest days, and do a sit up from time to time. But is this how I'm going to be for the rest of my life? I want to be like my Dad, and still run when I'm in my 60's, but will these aches be a part of it?

I think this is why I'm afraid to take the next step and commit to running a full marathon. I can just see myself getting injured, and be out of the running game....for good. I think I'm up for the challenge mentally, but physically, am I just fooling myself?

This photo is from my first Turkey Trot, nine years ago. This dude came up next to me near the end and asked me to sprint with him, so I did. Which was a fun way to finish it off.

Just Like a Tatoo

I don't have a tatoo, but it's something I've thought of getting since college. I was in school during the days of grunge, plaid flannel shirts, clunky boots, Pearl Jam and Kurt Cobain. And tatoos. Everyone had one, or was getting one, and the night of graduation I decided to get one. Because I find easy ways to injure myself, I was running through the living room barefoot, and managed to step on a pencil with one foot, and stab my other foot into the pointy pencil end. It left a mark, (not lead, graphite) on the side of my foot. I figured if I was going to look at a dot for the rest of my life, it may as well be a tatoo.

I wanted to get a half moon, something I was into at the time, but then heard that was kind of a dark symbol, so I opted for a daisy, cheerful and pretty. I made it to the tatoo parlor, and sat there for over an hour, then chickened out. I went back a couple of years later with a friend, she got a sunflower, I chickened out and watched.

Now it seems people get tat's for a reason, to honor someone, or to mark a milestone. After Luke was born I understood why people tatoo their kids faces or name on their arms. My brother has a few, one is of an American Indian head (which, after a few drinks, I've been known to pinch the lips and make it "talk" to us). He also has a Celtic cross, which is what I think I would get, with the first initials of Mike, Luke, Eliza and myself.

I've also seen tats of marathon runners, to commemorate their races, which I think is really cool too. I must still want one, since I keep thinking about it. So I'm curious fellow bloggers, do you have one? What is it? Why did you get it?

Marathon Memories, and some other things

How great was the NYC Marathon yesterday? What a finish, for both the men and women, it's so cool that an American, Meb Keflezighi, came in first after 27 years! I love Marathon day, it's such a great time of year for it. The first time I went I was 11, my Dad was living in Brooklyn at the time, so we stood in his neighborhood and watched everyone go by. Years later, when Mike and I were living in Queens, we would snag a spot right where the race turned onto the 59th street Bridge. I would scream like crazy, and give high fives to my friends who were running. The year I was pregnant I had to watch from the couch, because I was on bed rest. But the photo below was a year later, Luke's first year as a spectator.

I got outside for a long run yesterday morning, and thought of my friend BW running the marathon at the same time as me....until I started to have some stomach issues, (too many pumpkin seeds?) and had to run home to my bathroom after only three miles. In my mad dash through the garage, I spotted my bike, so instead of going back out to run, I went out on the bike for about 45 minutes. I always forget about my bike, I want to get a trainer for it so I can use it inside this winter.

On a side note....not sure if you read my Ghost post. But this is really weird. We have a television in our room, and during the night on Thursday, it turned on and off five times in a row. The channel was turned to Bravo and that goofy guy Andy was doing his late night talk show. I grabbed the remote, and turned it on, and saw goofy Andy. So it couldn't have been a dream.

THEN, last night, we had a fire in the fireplace, and all of a sudden, one of the glass panes in the fireplace door shattered! As if someone hit it. The fire had only been lit for an hour so I don't think extreme heat did it. Yikes!

Final note, I wish I made the latte pictured in my last post! It was from my friend Jen's bridal shower brunch. Although I can make a mean foam for cappuchino, thanks to my waitressing days....I can also balance a tray full of martinis and walk down a full flight of stairs. Unless it's New Years Eve.....because that night I was rushing around, and I dropped a full tray of filled champagne glasses as I fell down the stairs. You should have seen that bruise.

Get Active is finished, but I'll stay active

I don't know what time it is, it's seven, but I think it used to be eight, I'm going to be doing this all day due to the time change. In any case, we let the kids stay up later than normal last night, because of all the Halloween fun, and Mike thought they might sleep later today because of it. Luke is still slumbering away, but Eliza's been up since 6:30, so I have her in front of Nick Junior.

My eight week long Get Active Challenge ended on Friday. For me, it was fun to chart my progress as I trained for my half marathon. I wanted to get in more strength training, and I did drop the ball on that. However I've kept up my long stretching sessions, which I think has kept my hamstring issues at bay. I hope everyone who committed to getting active these two months is able to keep it up, these Holiday months can wreck havoc on the bod!

I am still doing Kelly's nutrition challenge, with a weekly goal of 18 points. I tend to hover around 15, it's the weekends that do me in. I'm good about my sugar and junk food during the week, but I've been having some weeknight wine (gasp!). I'm still drinking my daily smoothie made with Amazing Grass, if I don't get them in for breakfast, I have it in the afternoon, so I'm definitely hitting my fruit and veggie quota. I've started freezing the banana's for the smoothies, which make them nice and cold and creamy.

On the running front, I've been doing great. After last Sunday's 5k, I fit in a six, a four and a two mile run. I agree with The Happy Runner , how running is more relaxing when you aren't training for something. I have a slight anxious feeling when I have a race coming up, making sure I stay on schedule, and hit the required miles each run. I have a 10k on Thanksgiving Day, but I know I can do it, so my runs this past week have felt more free. By the way, my time for the Halloween 5k was 33:36. I think I have a better chance of a faster time on Thanksgiving, the course is pretty much flat roads and some easy inclines, so that should help.

Off to make some coffee.....which is one vice I definitely won't be giving up!