I’m back from being up north! There is something about being up there that allows me to actually relax, because there is nothing that I have to do. Long runs on quiet rural roads, snow shoeing in the snowy forest, playing with the dogs, and lounging around made for some major battery recharging time. Of course, now that I’m back in Toronto, there are a million and one things I should get to. But all of that can wait till next year.
I went back to the gym this morning for the first time in a week (in my defense, there was no gym where I was). I was planning on doing two classes (an hour each), but after the first one, decided I should ease myself back to the intensity I was going at. It feels great to be back at it though.
A four-bottle Fuel Belt, Body Glide, new running shoes and a marathon clinic were waiting for my under the tree in the form of gift cards!
Yesterday, I had a chance to go and spend my gift cards for my local running store, and picked up a bunch of the things that were on my X-mas wish list. Shoes were also purchased, but my size had to be ordered in from a store in Quebec City (not because I have ginormous feet, but because my size is common and they were out ;-). I apologize for the quality of the photos in this post – my camera is on the frits and possible dead. I’m currently sourcing out a new one and for the time being, pictures will either come from my phone (booo) or my camera if it decides to work again.
Tofu-spinach "ricotta"
Initially, we were planning on going to a friend’s party tonight to ring in the next decade, but due to the hubby coming down with a nasty cold, we’ll be celebrating at a house party for two, complete with a homemade meal and some new DVD’s. I’ve whipped up a tofu-spinach lasagna dinner for us. I know most of you will be thinking “ewww… vegan lasagna”. But seriously, this recipe is really good.
Lasagna in progress..
Of course, lasagna isn’t complete without Caesar salad, so I also whipped up a vegan Caeser dressing from Laren Ulm’s Vegan Yum Yum (based on her award winning blog, veganyumyum.com — an invaluable website for amazing vegan recipes!).
Caesar dressing:
Ingredients:
¼ cup sliced almonds
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp miso
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 pinches salt
6 oz silken tofu
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp water (to thin).
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a food processor, and well, process.
Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting up with a bunch of my running buddies who are running the Hair of the Dog 9k (complete with peach schnapps at the 4.5 km mark!) and will have a report of that at some point this weekend. I’m not running the race, but will be my own little cheering squad for the Terrible Tutus!
Happy New Years everyone!
The Fartlek Runner 