Help Meghan Run

It’s a long story about dinner, but I suppose I should show lunch first, right?

A small white fish fillet (~2-3 oz.), baked with adobo chili pepper, in a whole wheat wrap with diced mango and red onion slices! Wrapped in aluminum foil, this kept perfectly until lunch. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the mild fish mixed with the fresh punch of the mango and sharp red onion.

And onto dinner! I started with two mini eggplants around which to base dinner. After I thought of several different things and looked at a few recipes online, I decided on eggplant lasagna. I was planning on baking the eggplant, but then I switched to grilling it (my favorite way of preparing eggplant). I sliced the eggplant, put a little olive oil on it, and grilled it for 3-4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, I began to make what was supposed to be a tomato-veggie sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, I added about half of a big ol’ white onion and three garlic cloves (two of which were quite small). Next I threw in half a dozen cremini mushrooms, sliced, as well as nine farmers’-market-fresh cherry tomatoes, quartered. I let that cook for a while before adding half a diced green bell pepper, about 1/4 of a chopped zucchini, ~five olives, and a little leftover black beans (probably 1/4 cup or less).

So as I said, the original plan was to layer the grilled eggplant slices with tomato sauce and bake everything. Two problems: my eggplants were so mini that I wasn’t left with enough to layer. And my “tomato sauce” ended up more like a ratatouille because I didn’t add any tomato sauce or paste. So ratatouille it was! I chopped up the eggplant, added it to the pan, and warmed everything through. I seasoned with salt, dried basil, and dried oregano.

Looking at it, I wasn’t sure how it would taste. But it was great! I really loved it, and it was so flavorful. The olives added a nice salty touch. Admittedly this is a light dinner, but I wasn’t too hungry at the time, and I know I’ll make up for it with a bigger snack in a little bit.

A few other random housekeeping things:

• The cookbook is still for sale! I’ve sold a lot of ‘em, and everyone I’ve talked to has liked it a lot. So check it out and buy one! It’s for a great cause with 100% of the proceeds going to Team in Training.
• I’m also thinking of making another cookbook, this one specifically for college kids and for $5. Thoughts?
• Today, I reached 50% on my Team in Training fundraising!! (Officially, I am 51% of the way there.) I cannot believe that I’ve raised over $2100. Thanks so much to all of you who have supported me. I’ve got a little less than three months left!
• Afterthoughts on my seven-mile run: I was never really sore! This honestly surprised me. Throughout the rest of the day Saturday I stretched and at times my legs felt a little tight or heavy, but overall I was totally fine. I felt great for my easy run this morning, too. I did notice a heightened appetite on Saturday, and I slept a lot! I’m not sure how much is attributable to the run, but I took a 2.5 hour nap on Saturday, slept 8.5 hours Saturday night, and took a 2 hour nap Sunday morning (yes, Sunday morning). Kudos to exercise for helping me sleep!
• Yoga! Poor yoga. I haven’t practiced in a couple weeks. I had a bad class experience a few weeks ago, and I am having a hard time getting back into it. But I am committing myself and will get back into it.