Week 8 Runs and Final Decisions

Last Monday I was so excited that it was still light out after work due to day light savings, I immediately put on running shoes, grabbed my Garmin, and was off for a run. I was able to run 3 miles :) I tried to get Jake to run with me but he insisted on taking out the bike that needed some tire pumping action instead. We tried the "I'll catch up to you" plan... ya, that was a fail since we didn't agree on a set running route past .5 miles.. We ended up finishing at the apartment at the same time which I was particularly happy about since he had the keys. Jake also persuaded me away from my healthy dinner plans to celebrate day light savings at Chevy's Mexican Restaurant.. Pretty good start to the week :)

Friday was another beautiful day and since we had plans of going to Richmond for the weekend to see my friend Emily and her band East of Monroe perform, I wanted to get in a run before the weekend. My thighs have been pretty sore since our ski trip the weekend before so I felt like it was a solid but slow 3 miles. On another note, Emily's band was awesome! Seriously check out her songs (Careless thing by East of Monroe was one of my favorites).

Jake and I drove back from Richmond late Saturday night which gave us all day Sunday to relax, do laundry, and bike over to my all time favorite sub and pizza place in the DC area, The Italian Store. So freakin good!

Tuesday of this week rolled around and was able to get in a 3.38 run using mapmyruns.com. My legs were still pretty sore so I spent the remainder of the night stretching and getting in some protein by eating turkey burgers (the pictures came out badly so I will post the recipe next week when I make them again).

On another note, I have been struggling about what to do with my training for a 10K race that I will not be able to attend due to a family baby shower. I finally found a race that is near by, not too long, and looked fun. Chrystal City is about 5 minutes from where I live and beginning in April, they will be holding 5K races every Friday. This is something I feel like I can commit at least one Friday to. Not to mention I have begun recruiting some running buddies.. This means I will have to put my 10K Training Plan on hold and concentrate more on shorter runs to prepare for a 5K in April. I'm happy to be training for a race that I'll actually be able to participate in :)

Healthy Eggplant Parmesan

You know those foods that you thought were gross when you were little and now all of a sudden discover that you love them? This is true for the story of me and eggplant. I hated their texture, flavor, chewiness and weird shape. This all changed when I went to an Italian restaurant and mistakenly took a bite of what I thought was chicken Parmesan. I was happily surprised when I found out it was eggplant and so began my mission to make eggplant Parmesan not only from scratch, but healthy.

I think my version of the eggplant Parmesan actually tasted better then the Italian restaurants, but I'm slightly bias.. The eggplant was crispy on the outside and soft inside. It wasn't too chewy and definitely not soggy. Jake still has it in his head that he hates eggplant but he did eat a few pieces :)

The trick to making sure the eggplant doesn't come out soggy is to make sure you "weep it" after you cut it in order to remove some of the moisture. I salted both sides of the eggplant and left them on a paper towel to "weep" for about 20-30 minutes.

Once you see some pools of liquid, wipe off the salt and moisture.

Recipe adapted from Bakin and Eggs:

1 eggplant cut into 1/4 inch rounds

1 1/2 cups Italian panko bread crumbs

1 cup flour

1 egg beat plus a splash of water

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs salt

"Weep" the eggplant for 30 minutes then wipe off salt and moisture. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dredge each piece of eggplant in flour, then transfer to egg wash, and finally coat with a mixture of Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Lay on a wire rack that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Brush the tops of eggplants with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. Flip the eggplants and continue baking for 15 minutes. Top each eggplant with mozzarella cheese and bake until melted (about 3 minutes).

I served mine over spaghetti :)