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Fall Comfort Foods

Fall has made an appearance in New York City, even if only for a brief stint this time around. Yesterday morning as Bo and I headed to the gym, a light jacket was required to keep the morning air from chilling my body. At Starbucks, I was tempted by their Fall posters, and finally chose a Chai Tea bag instead of my normal Green or Awake.

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But, my favorite part of Fall is definitely comfort food. While all good things must be enjoyed in moderation, I don’t think I will ever tire of roasted root vegetables, spaghetti squash, pumpkin oats, apples fresh from the orchard, pears, or brussel sprouts.

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Since Bo and I rarely make it home from work in time to cook a full meal during the week, we have a habit of cooking for the masses on Sunday. Around 3pm we’ll head to the grocery store, filling our cart with ingredients for at least two meals.

This week’s Sunday comfort meal was roasted chicken, fall salad, garlic green beans, and risotto!

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We followed our favorite roasted chicken recipe again this week but we opted for a larger chicken since we knew we wanted it to last a few days. If you use a larger chicken, make sure you do some research on cooking times as it is easy to under cook it.

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Our Fall salad included fresh greens and radicchio, chopped beets, a hint of blue cheese, sliced apples, tomatoes, and a homemade mustard vinaigrette.

I love to serve a hearty side with a meal like this but rarely have the time to make something from scratch. Luckily, my friends at Foodbuzz provided this week’s side; risotto!

IMG_4492 (478x640) I received two bags of Bird’s Eye Steamfresh Chef’s Favorites as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. We thought the mushroom and green bean risotto would pair well with the roasted chicken. This side is quite dense calorically, 180 calories per serving, but when enjoyed in moderation as a side it is perfect!

IMG_4493 (640x478) IMG_4496 (640x478)You can’t beat the ease of this risotto since all you do is stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes! The mushroom flavor was rich and the risotto was cooked perfectly! I highly recommend these items as a freezer staple, perfect for an easy week night dinner. They are available in grocery stores nation wide later this month.

Question: What is your favorite Fall comfort food?

 

 

Disclosure – As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received Birds Eye Steamfresh Chef’s Favorites (Lightly Sauced Mushroom & Green Bean Risotto, Lightly Sauced Primavera Vegetable Risotto, Light Sauced Roasted Red Potatoes & Green Beans and Lightly Sauced Creamed Spinach). All product opinions expressed are my own.

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Newbie Running Questions

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Fall greeted us in New York City this weekend resulting in cool, crisp weather and sunny skies! I enjoyed a Chai Tea each day, my favorite Fall drink!

In case you’re catching up from the weekend, it was a stress free weekend due to my last minute decision to forego the RNR Philadelphia Half Marathon.

This morning, I have a special post thanks to a weekend email. As a blogger who does my best to write daily, sometimes it’s a blessing to have topics requested! Luckily, this weekend, Kristine emailed me with a list of running questions. She just conquered her first 10k this weekend and is excited about her new sport but in need of guidance. I am still guilty of not considering myself a runner, so the fact that she emailed me was an honor in itself! You can read more about my journey to becoming a runner here.

I’m going to answer her questions over the next few days since there were quite a few. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert; these answers are merely my opinion.

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Part 1:

Do you have any tips for someone running their first half marathon in January?

Congratulations on signing up for your first half marathon! It will be an awesome and incredible feeling of accomplishment when you cross that finish line smiling ear to ear! I truly believe in the saying, “proper planning prevents poor performance.” You are at least ten weeks out from your big day which is plenty of time! I suggest finding a plan and sticking to it as closely as possible, especially since this is your first half. There are plenty of great places to find plans including Runner’s World Smart Coach and Hal Higdon’s website. I used his novice half marathon plan for my first half and loved it!

How many days a week should you run?

This is a very personal question, but based on my own experience I recommend 3-4 days maximum. There are clear benefits to cross training activities such as yoga, swimming, spinning, or strength training. If you are pushing your body each day through running you won’t have the opportunity to cross train and your muscles will get accustomed to the exercises. Last year, I trained for the marathon injury free even though I ran 6 days a week. But, I also gained 9 pounds in the process and lost a lot of upper body and abdominal strength. This time around, I’m only running 3-4 days per week and cross training the other days. So far, I’ve lost 8 inches and reduced my BMI 3% during marathon training!

How do you make running on a "dreadmill" more fun?

Over the past few months, I’ve actually done my best to breakup with the treadmill. I now prefer pounding the pavement, even with the crazy New York City streets, over running on the treadmill. But, if you’re stuck on the treadmill due to weather, travel, or other circumstances I have learned a few tricks over the years!

  1. Create a great playlist that will keep you excited each mile. I often put my iPod on random so I don’t know what to expect next.
  2. Break the run up into parts. During half marathon training last year, I had to do a 10 miler on the treadmill and broke it up into 2 5ks and then one 4 mile run. I even changed treadmills during each section!
  3. When all else fails, find a treadmill near either a high traffic area or a television. This way you can take your mind off the run and focus on the people watching or the news. I actually love watching the news while I’m doing a morning treadmill run as it’s a nice change of pace.

What are your top 5-10 essential running clothing items?

Over the past few years, I’ve rotated my running wardrobe almost seasonally. I used to try a new item every time I bought new shoes. Last year however, during marathon training, I finally found a few key pieces that I fell in love with after just a few runs. Since then, these have been my go to running items.

Question: What is your favorite item for working out during the winter months?

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BLT Fish Shack: Fifteen Bottles of Beer

There is nothing better than an evening of beer and delicious food after a long run.

After a relaxing afternoon with Bo, we headed over to the Galway Hooker to meet Theodora and Tina for a drink.

IMG_2143 (640x480)Luckily, the bar was pretty empty, so we were able to snag a booth and hear ourselves talk without having to scream. This is a rare find in New York City during football season so we were all pleasantly surprised!

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Per Theodora and Tina’s suggestion, I started with Sam Adams Octoberfest since the bar was lacking on pumpkin beer selections.

IMG_2144 (640x480) IMG_2141 (480x640) It was absolutely delicious! Drinking regular beers is still a very novel idea for me as I used to be the “light beer” girl who would never fathom drinking a full, malty beer. This beer was malty with a little bit of spice,  luckily lacking on the hop flavor that I don’t normally like. This may become my go to beer this season since Sam Adams is normally available in most bars.

After a round of drinks and lots of laughter, we headed downtown to meet Gabriella, Rebecca, and Clare at BLT Fish Shack.  Even though this is one of our favorite spots in Flatiron, we hadn’t been to BLT Fish Shack since our Memorial Day weekend date night.

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IMG_2150 (640x480)Bo saw on Twitter that BLT Fish Shack was celebrating NYC Beer Week with a special prix-fixe beer paired menu for $40! I quickly sent the suggestion to Theodora and Tina, originally hoping we could go Friday night before I left for Philadelphia. Luckily the stars aligned and we were able to enjoy the evening together last night!

IMG_2148 (480x640)Upon arriving, we were quickly seated towards the back of the restaurant. Luckily, unlike many NYC restaurants, they were willing to seat us even though only 6 of the 7 people had arrived. This is just one of the many ways the service out did their self last night.

I love the Shack’s cute decor details such as the lobster placemats and dish rag napkins.

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IMG_2155 (640x480) Within minutes of sitting down, our waitress graced our table with their famous garlic cheese bread. It’s easy to enjoy too much of this bread at one sitting as it’s so delicious. Luckily, I was forced to share last night and therefore limited myself to only one piece.

IMG_2156 (640x480)Bo was craving raw bar and quickly asked the group if anyone could help him enjoy some oysters, clams, and shrimp. Clearly we were all more than happy to oblige his request but were taken by surprise when the large seafood tower was presented!

IMG_2157 (480x640) The shrimp were absolutely divine and could have been a meal alone!

Everyone except for Bo chose the pre-fixe special for their meal since it was such a great deal and most of the items aren’t regularly on the menu.

The first round of beers were delivered to our table within seconds of us ordering!

IMG_2152 (480x640) Our first course was a rich but delicious corn & crab chowder, paired with Blue Point Toasted Lager. This was my favorite beer of the night, going down very smooth and paired perfectly with the rich soup. The chowder was delicious but the crispy bread, especially when dipped in the chowder, was the real winner. I only finished 1/3 or so of the bowl since I knew I still had two more courses coming.

IMG_2161 (640x480) IMG_2164 (640x480) The second course included tempura fried branzino served atop braised Swiss chard and lemon jalapeno aioli paired with Lagunitas IPA. Now I know why I stick to grilled or broiled fish. While the tempura was quite as heavy as other fried options, it really took away from the flavor and was too heavy to enjoy the whole serving. The Swiss chard was delicious however and thoroughly enjoyed!

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IMG_2168 (640x480) The final course of the evening was my least favorite unfortunately.  I was excited for donuts when I saw it on the menu but disappointed to find that they were churros instead. Furthermore, the final beer was Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, a very heavy beer that I could barely swallow. The rest of the ladies were very excited to happily pass my bottle around to share.

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The conversation flowed just as easily as the beers all night long! In fact, we may have hazed Tina at one point in the evening tempting her to double fist in true champ style!

IMG_2173 (640x480) IMG_2174 (640x480) Such a great time with wonderful food and wonderful ladies, plus Bo! He was a true champ!

After dinner I went to a friend’s house for a farewell to summer party but was in bed passed out by midnight! Beer+heavy foods+long runs=exhausted Ashley!

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