Recipes

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sweat and Stew

Being sick last week really put a damper on my exercise schedule, but there’s really no sense in pushing yourself only to make yourself feel worse…I’ve learned over the years. 

Finally, after more than a week, I had my energy back on full blast and I wanted to break a sweat!  What better than hot yoga?  Tuesday night I hit up my nearby Prana Power Yoga for a nice sweaty 90 minutes and I felt stronger than usual!  Must of been all that rest ;)

Then tonight I was able to do a nice 2mile run outside before getting back to Body Pump.  Oh how I missed Pump :)  Once again the run felt great, I really needed that…although I was a bit shaky at Pump, esp. on the squats!

This weekend goals:

  • Longer run (5-6mi)
  • Body Pump on Sunday

Love being back on schedule :)

I received a lot of great soup and stew recipes last week (thank you!), and I can’t wait to dive into them as the temperature drops here in New England. 

Here is another one that is sure to make a re-appearance, this comes from the lovely Giada!

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

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I remember flagging this one in my cookbook a long time ago, and it came to me as I was staring at the beef in Trader Joes!

I already had a butternut squash at home and I love the flavor of fresh thyme in wintery dishes. 

This one had fresh thyme and rosemary…both of which are still thriving in our garden!

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Giada’s Italian element comes through with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes.

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This dish comes together quite simply, and leaves a lot of room for your own additions.  I followed the recipe this time, but in the future I’d like to add more veggies…maybe some carrots, and other root vegetables! 

I also read some of the comments others made on the recipe and a few people used a crock pot, another great idea.

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The sauce wasn’t very thick, but a big chunk of fresh bread would take care of that.

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I completed my Autumn dinner with a pumpkin beer in a glass with a cinnamon sugar rim :)

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Anyone have a great costume for this weekend?  This is actually the FIRST time I am not dressing up or doing anything!  I’m actually kind of happy about it :)  I do love to get dressed up, but I hate thinking of and then buying a costume.  I swear no matter how cheap I try to make it, there goes $40-$50 for a one-night ensemble. 

I am looking forward to trick-or-treaters though!

7 comments:

  1. Normally I don't gravitate towards beef stew, but this one sounds amazing! I love anything with butternut squash and the sundried tomatoes sound very unique. I have that book, I'll have to take a further look!

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  2. This sounds great! I actually have that cookbook, so I'll have to tackle that recipe one of these days. I am still trying to find my favorite beef stew recipe. Maybe this could be it!

    And I'm glad you're feeling better!

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  3. SO glad you're feeling better and getting into yoga, pump & running! The stew looks fabulous. My Mom used to make a beef stew for us when I was growing up and it was one of my favorite meals. Not dressing up over here either- but can't wait to hand out candy to all the kiddos

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  4. The stew looks great! I need to look through my cookbooks more often - I have so many saved recipes from the Internet that I forget about all of the others.

    This is the first year I'm not dressing up as well... actually it's the first year I won't be partaking in any Halloween shenanigans. John and I are heading out the Berkshires for a mini vacation :). Even though we're now out in the 'burbs, I doubt we'll get trick-or-treaters considering we're in an apartment complex. I'll miss all of the Halloween fun :(.

    There's always next year!

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  5. I've done a pumpkin and beef stew in the crockpot and loved the flavors! I'm sure I'd enjoy this combination as well...

    Glad to hear you're on the mend and I hope you have a great weekend!

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  6. Love, love, love pumpkin ale! It tastes like fall in a glass!

    I was Paula Deen for my office party - I just taped a bunch of butter wrappers to my shirt, I gave out goody bags and said in my best southern accent "love and best dishes from my kitchen to yours!"

    I won a $50 movie gift card! :D

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  7. i've tried that one and it is pretty yummy :) glad you're feeling better! i'm so glad to be back to body pump (or my gym's version) too!!

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