Bites of the Apple

Happy Pumpkin Friday!! Last night, I made Pumpkin Kale Vegetable Soup from Skinny and the City. And let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS. It was warm and hearty and the perfect thing for one of the first days that really felt like fall in NYC. It also was really easy to make! Who knew soup was that easy?? Basically all you had to do was cut everything up and wait for it to cook!

You just have to wait 25-30 minutes for everything simmer all together to create fall-flavored yumminess. When it was done, I served it with Grilled Apple and Cheddar Sandwiches (with spicy honey mustard). I was too excited to eat to remember to take a picture of those, but I definitely recommend adding some honey mustard and apple to your standard grilled cheese. Combined with the pumpkin soup, it made dinner into an autumn extravaganza.

Pumpkin Kale Soup (adapted from Skinny and the City)

 Ingredients:

• 1 pound canned pumpkin (13-ounce can)
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 cups raw kale
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used the frozen, pre-cut kind, so probably a little less than 2 full sweet potatoes)
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• ¾ cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1 cup edamame
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon red chili flakes

Cooking instructions:

1. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic until tender.
2. Add the chicken or vegetable stock, potatoes, kale, carrots, celery, pepper, edamame and corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
3. Stir in the pumpkin, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook 5-10 minutes longer.

On the running front, I’ve realized I NEED to run in the morning. I tried to run a 65 minute steady state last night, but petered out after only four miles. Autumn extravaganza isn’t the best pre-run fuel, so I was feeling a little naush. I made up for it this morning on the treadmill though! 

My Steady State run looked like this:

• 5 minute warmup at 10:00 pace
• 65 minutes at 8:00-8:15 pace (I like to rotate between 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 for varying lengths of time to keep things interesting)
• 7-8 minute power walk home from the gym to cool down (since I was SUPER late!)

 That makes for a total of 8.5 miles in 70 minutes.  (average pace of 8:15) That’s the longest I’ve run at that pace in a while and it felt GREAT! I’m finally feeling like I’m getting back in the kind of shape I want to be in to have a good race in January.