Recipes: Introduction and Caribbean Beef Burgers with Mango Salsa

I love it when blogs post a recipe that they have tried for the first time, or a tried and true family favorite. I have decided that I am going to take a page out of their book.

Nick and I are huge fans of cooking together and having family dinners (see Cold Meals post). This was one of the first things that attracted me to my wonderful hubby. Many a date nights were spent flipping through recipe books to find the meal of the evening- a joint venture!

So here it is: my first recipe (it is actually a recipe Nick found on-line). This is a great one for summer grilling!

Ingredients for Burgers

1-1/2 pounds Ground Beef

2 tablespoons Caribbean jerk

Ingredients for Mango Salsa

1 large mango, peeled, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Instructions

Combine ground beef and jerk seasoning in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Shape into four 3/4-inch thick patties. Grill, covered, 13 to 15 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill), flip once during cooking.

Meanwhile, combine salsa ingredients in medium bowl, mixing lightly. Serve burgers with salsa. No need for other burger toppings and a nice change!We LOVE this recipe and it is fairly healthy in my mind. We have substituted ground turkey breast (not just ground turkey) for a healthier option and it was still amazing. I think we first tried this recipe 3 weeks ago, we have already had it twice and it is on my short list for dinner options on the 4th!

Going so good, and then…

I hit a snag in the running. Well, I should say it got a little (or a lot) painful. From doing a little research on Runner’s World, I believe this may be the issue:

“Patellar tendinitis is inflammation of one of the knee-joint tendons. Tendinitis occurs when tissue breakdown outpaces regrowth, and is caused by increased mileage, hills (especially downhills), and pace. Running through tendinitis will make it worse and prolong your recovery, says Davis. But treated early, it can heal in a few weeks. Here's how: cross-train, ice, wear a patella strap, take anti-inflammatories, stretch, and do exercises to strengthen the joint and quadriceps, such as leg extensions.” - Runner’s World Website

This would make sense because the description matches my pain and reason why it happened (an increase in distance too quickly).

As a result, I have been avoiding of running for the past week. Late last week I took a long walk, with minimal pain and I considered it a success. Tonight I attempted to go for a light run, I made it about 1/3 of the distance I was doing before the pain started in and I decided to stop. It is all very discouraging, but I would rather slow down than make it worse. And so my timeline to be ready for the 5K in a few weeks is shot. I would still like to run/walk the event, and then continue to train for another one in the future (maybe with a little more time to up my distance).

In the meantime, I am going to see if I can dig out an old swimsuit (and see if it still fits), then maybe get in a few laps at the pool in my effort to cross-train as suggested by the website. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery and a less painful future run.

Keep on Running!

That is what I am trying to do anyway. Here is an update on where I stand:

This past week I had to go out of town on a business trip. Being the schedule oriented person I am, I packed my tennis shoes and running attire--- I didn’t want to miss my every other day planned run and get off my schedule. I was very excited to see that the resort we were staying at had a health room (what health room wouldn’t have a treadmill I could crack out 45 minutes on at some point in the two days!). On Thursday I found just enough time to get a quick workout in, only to discover that said ‘health room’ was three bikes and a weight machine in the corner of the indoor pool. The resort was located on a highway and the wind reminded me of walking to class from the quad in college- so running outside was out of the question. Disappointed, I decided to settle on a quick ride on one of the bikes, only to find that all three bikes were set-up for short people and it was impossible to adjust them. Even more disappointed, I decided that the workout for the day just wasn’t going to happen, and I would have to do my 28 minute run (not consecutive minutes, I am not that good) once I got home on Saturday.

So I am a day behind, but should still be on track to run the 5K three weeks from yesterday! I am adding 2 minutes each time I run, and just finished my 30 minutes a few minute ago (I only run every other day so I don’t get too burnt out and quit). I still don’t do all the running at once, but I am able to do longer periods of time and have a faster recovery between running sets.

My favorite part: In order to keep track of my minutes I have my handy red plastic cups next to the treadmill and for each minute I get to transfer one cup from the ‘time left to run’ pile to the ‘yippie, I ran that many minutes’ pile. It works, and I do get motivated when I see the pile get over half done. I have been trying to crank out running a mile to a mile and a half straight in the beginning in order to make the pile smaller from the start.

Oh, and I am now to the point where I don’t really get a side ache anymore, and instead can feel my legs get tired. On a positive note, I think I started to hit the point tonight where the legs don’t really feel that tired anymore (this is after they felt tired). My stretch goal by Sunday is to run 20 minutes straight, and then 5 minute intervals (run 5 minutes, walk 1-2 minutes). Wish me luck!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You feed me when I am hungry.

You are super funny!You are a great pillow.
And all around AMAZING! I love you Daddy!

Happy Daddy's Day.

Love, Eleanor

Happy Anniversary and an early Happy Birthday!

Happy 10 year anniversary to Aunt Jessie and Uncle Eric!

And an early Happy Birthday to Uncle Eric (what a week of celebrating)!

I love you guys, and am so glad I got to celebrate with you last Saturday.

Love, Ellie

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

I can always count on your to take me on 'tours' of the garage and outside! I hope you have a very special day and Grandma makes you German Chocolate Cheesecake (next year I will eat it with you).

Love, Eleanor

7-months

Two teeth coming in, and on the verge of crawling... these past 7 months have flown by way too fast. Happy 7 month birthday, Eleanor!