The Ragnar Relay Del Sol is this weekend (February 25-25). What is Ragnar? Basically, me and 11 friends are going to hop into two vans and head up to Wickenburg to start a 200-mile relay race! (Yes, I said 2-0-0 miles!) It will take us about 32-ish hours to make it to the finish line which leaves plenty of time for laughter, great conversations and general silliness.

Next up, the Grilled Cheese Throwdown. Seriously. Best. Event. Ever. If I’ve never confessed it here before, I am a sucker for a good grilled cheese sandwich. Between grilled cheese and mac ‘n cheese, I scour a restaurant’s menu for the cheesy goodness – even if I ultimately order the spinach salad with cranberries.

Really, though. What’s not to love about grilled cheese? Bread…good! Butter…good! Melted, gooey cheese…ummm, hello!? Great! I attended this event last year and had a blast. I never knew some of the most popular local restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale had their own take on this classic meal. I can’t wait to wrap up my weekend of driving and running this Sunday (February 26) with an evening of stuffing myself with the best grilled cheese sandwiches the Valley has to offer. (NOTE: this year’s throwdown is sold out, but if you follow Girl Meets Fork, you’ll get the heads up on next year’s event!)

Bring it on, weekend! I am ready for all the challenges ahead.

I buy MaraNatha almond butter. I’ve seen it sold at Costco, Walmart, Target and Sprouts Farmers Market, so it’s easy to come by. They have a variety of types to choose from: smooth, crunchy, organic, sea salt and maple. Lots of great choices, but for these cookies, I went with the smooth no-stir almond butter. (NOTE: It says no stir, but I still find it best to take a butter knife and mix it a little before using it.) The maple or sea salt version might be tasty, as well.

Almond Butter Cookies
Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, almond butter and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Beat in both sugars. Scrape down the sides of bowl and stir in half of the dry ingredients. Add the egg and stir well. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients.

For each cookie, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough into a ball and arrange on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart to allow room for spreading. Using the back of a fork, flatten the balls and form crosshatch design on the tops. Bake cookies until dry on top and golden brown on bottom, about 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to racks and cool completely.

Recipe adapted from epicurious.com

And the great part about this dish is you can mix it up each time you make it by substituting the sausage for other breakfast meats such as crumbled bacon, strips of crispy prosciutto or maybe some spicy chorizo (I may have to try that next time).

Sausage, Egg and Potato Bake

Ingredients
1 bag refrigerated shredded potatoes, such as Simply Potatoes
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup Colby Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup country sausage, cooked and drained
 4 eggs

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine shredded potatoes, shallot, chives, 3/4 cup of the cheese, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Press potato mixture into an oven-safe dish, such as a ceramic pie plate and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove dish from oven and make 4 wells in the potatoes for the sausage and eggs. Sprinkle sausage into each well and carefully crack an egg over the sausage. Season eggs with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the potatoes. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until desired doneness of eggs.

(I mean, seriously! Look at this place!)

I love watching Ina’s Barefoot Contessa shows on Food Network, so I decided to add her “Back to Basics” cookbook to my collection of recipes. Best. Idea. Ever. I have tons of bookmarks for recipes all throughout the book, including this salad. The combination of cold, warm, crunchy, soft and chewy makes this salad a well rounded meal. The spiciness of the arugula and the slight sweetness of the squash provide a great balance, plus the bright colors make it pretty to look at. Ina really knew what she was doing when she created this recipe!

Chicken and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Recipe adapted from “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”

Ingredients
1 cup roasted chicken breast, shredded
1 (1 1/2-lb) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4″ pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
3/4 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 ounces arugula, washed and dried
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the squash on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil (for easy clean up). Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the maple syrup, Kosher salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast the squash for 15-20 minutes, turning once, until tender. Add the dried cranberries during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

While the squash is roasting, combine the apple juice, vinegar and shallots in a small pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup (about 6-8 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in mustard and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place arugula, chicken, squash, walnuts and cheese in a large bowl. Spoon just enough dressing over the salad to moisten – being careful not to overdress – and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Barn photo courtesy of HouseBeautiful.com.

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

Ingredients
2 lbs parsnips
1 lb carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper (to taste)
Fresh dill, minced

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Peel parsnips and cut into thick pieces. For the carrots, peel or scrub clean and cut into thick pieces. Combine parsnips, carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the vegetables. Stir occasionally throughout. Serve sprinkled with fresh dill.

I “cheated” and used a store bought crust because – as with my mini quiche – I’m still not quite comfortable making my own yet.

Ingredients
1 store-bought pie crust, frozen
2 tablespoons pesto
4 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
1/4 Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
5 sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained and cut into strips (I preffer Mezzetta)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread pesto evenly in the bottom of the pie crust and sprinkle goat cheese and Monterey Jack cheese over pesto.

In a bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over goat cheese in pie crust and arrange sun dried tomatoes on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until done. Cool to near room temperature before serving.

Note: The last step is important. The quiche needs to be completely cool before you try to slice it so it has time to settle a bit. Can you eat it hot out of the oven, yes, but it will be a hot mess (literally and figuratively) to get out of the pan. Plus, letting it cool down a bit allows the flavors a little more time to meld together.

WTF. No LOL here.

Best Laid Plans
I had high hopes for my return to the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll marathon. This time around was supposed to be different. This time, I was more prepared than for any other race. This time was supposed to be my time. I planned. I trained. I carbed. I fueled. I did so much more than I’ve done in the past because I know what could happen. Been there. Done that.

So, What Happened?
That’s a great question. The same problem I ran into during my last two marathons, reared it’s ugly head once again. I started off energized and strong. I kept my pace slower at the start so I had enough energy to last the second half. I felt good for the first several miles and I stayed on track with my hydration and fueling. Then, at mile 10 I started to struggle. My body felt ok, but my breathing felt strained. I tried to relax and focus, but with each passing mile, my chest felt tighter and breathing had become really difficult. I saw my husband at mile 13 and I knew I was in trouble, but I just warned him that I was slowing down and then I kept going. Bad idea. By mile 15 I was walking…a lot. I could feel the lack of oxygen attacking my muscles and it felt like every fiber of my body was on fire. How is this possible? I was so much smarter with my preparation this time. What if something is really wrong?

I saw my husband and parents at 17.5 and I broke down into tears. I was in pain and my breathing was really shallow. I knew I was in trouble and I had a decision to make. Could I make it another 9 miles? I could if I walked or lightly jogged, but even then, the pain the breathing issues weren’t going to go away. (I’ve learned my lesson there.) It took me a few minutes battling with myself to make the decision. The runner in me really wanted to keep going no matter what it took. But the wife, daughter and friend in me was concerned for my health and what forcing my body to finish could possibly do to me. My body was (and has been) trying to tell me something and I haven’t been listening – maybe this is the time I should start. So, I stopped. Even as I type this I still get teary-eyed to admit that I gave up.

I didn’t finish. I am heartbroken.

What Now?
I had an appointment with my doctor and he’s going to run some tests. I don’t have a medical answer yet, but the good news is he says I can keep running. I’m going to take a little doctor-prescribed break — maybe a week or two — to recover physically and mentally and then get back to it.

Am I going to try for another marathon? I don’t think so. Am I disappointed with that, yes. But if I can hold onto the great memories from my first marathon, I’ll (eventually) be ok with that decision. I still have goals I want to hit for my half marathon time and I think it will be good for me to ease back on my mileage for a while — at least until I’m sure I won’t ever go through what I’ve been through THREE times again, which for all I know may be never.

Maple + Pork = Yum. Just like maple syrup goes well with bacon, it goes great with other pieces of pork, too. The real kicker to this recipe is… wait for it… ketchup. Yup. Ketchup. And maple syrup. At first, it sounds a bit odd. But when you combine them together it turns into a kind of sweet and sour sauce. And who doesn’t like sweet and sour pork?

This is a great weekend meal because it takes about 1 1/2 hours to reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. Yes, that’s lower than the 160 degrees we’re used to adhering to, but the USDA has approved the new lower temperature, which is great news for moist pork-lovers all over.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin roast
Salt and pepper to taste
All-purpose flour for dredging
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon minced garlic

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, season the pork roast with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and shake off excess. Sear in hot oil until browned on all sides, about 1 minute per side.

Place onto a large sheet of aluminum foil set on top of a baking sheet. Stir together the maple syrup, ketchup and garlic. Pour the sauce over the pork. Fold the foil over the pork, and seal to form a packet.

Bake in preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F, about 1 1/2 hours.

Let roast rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Sometimes I get too comfortable and forget that running by myself is not the safest choice – especially in the dark. That’s not going to stop me from doing it, but occasional reminders that there are creepers and weirdos out there are definitely enough to make me be alert and aware of my surroundings. And so should you.

I moved my run from last night to this morning, which meant getting up and out the door by 4:30am. This isn’t unusual for me since I was running mostly at this time during the summer. This morning was dark, cold (in the low 40s) and did I mention the early part? As I did my typical warm-up walk to the corner (less than .25 miles from my house), I passed the large park in my neighborhood. The lights in the park aren’t on that early, but I saw a person walking on the park’s path. I thought it was a little odd, but kept walking and tried to keep my eye on them from time to time. Then, I saw another shadow trying to climb up the baseball cage in the field. That was even odder. Who in their right mind would be out “playing” in the unlit park at 4:30 in the morning? That’s when I saw the shadows meet up and there were three of them. Next thing I knew they were hollering at me and yelling something about my butt (which, I know they couldn’t really see because 1) it was really dark and 2) it’s practically non-existent). That’s when I started to panic a little. They were fairly far away from me, but close enough to make me uncomfortable. At that moment, I knew I had to decide if I was going to turn around and go back home or start my run and put as much distance as possible between me and the shadows. I decided on the latter because I figured if they were watching me, I live so close to the park I didn’t want them to follow me home. So off I went.

As I headed down one of the main streets of the housing development, I kept looking behind me and down every side street I passed. What if they had bikes and were trying to find out where I took off running to? I was wearing my reflective running vest, which is supposed to keep me safe when I run in the dark, but it had now turned me into a glowing beacon. I might as well have had a blinking neon sign above me that said “I’m right here.”

The panic drove me to run faster than I was planning, but it helped get me further away as quickly as possible. By the time I hit the 2 mile mark, I turned around to head back. Darn. What if they’re still in the park? I have to go by there to get home. Could I out run them if they were still there? I started to panic a little more. The last two miles felt like they went by so much quicker than the first two because with each step I was closer to home, which also meant that I could be getting closer to “them”. I started thinking about how to defend myself if I needed to. I know some good punches and I can throw a mean elbow, but if there are three of them, I’m not sure how that would work out for me. The only thing for me to do at that point was to wait to see what happened when I entered my neighborhood.

As I rounded the corner near the park, I could see the lights had been turned on. I’m not sure what time they normally turn on, but I wanted to hope that someone who lives near the park heard the yelling and called security or something and the shadows were long gone. Still a bit panicked, I booked it home (no cool down today!) and locked the door behind me. Whew. I made it safe and sound. That was a little scary.

So, (very) long story short: Be Aware. Be Alert. Be Safe.

What I Need to Do
Other than being aware of my surroundings, I need to get back into the habit of leaving a note with where I am running, what time I left and when I’ll be back. I used to do it for every run, now I tend to only do it for my really long runs. I think I’ll also look into a mini keychain alarm or something that’s easy to activate while running. Mace sticks are great, but the one I have you have to fiddle with the safety and then try to aim it correctly when you spray – I don’t think it would be very helpful to spray myself in the face!

Photo courtesy of stuant63 on flickr

Life is messy. No matter what I do to try to keep it spotless, there’s always some type of mess to clean up. It’s not always organized. It’s not always fair. And it’s definitely not always simple.

There’s a lot that weighs on my mind. From worrying about my family to wondering about my future — there’s constantly something there to remind me that life is pretty damn real and it’s not all hearts and flowers.

There will always be something there. Something there to draw me back in from my moments of blissful happiness. But the thing is… that’s just life. It’s not supposed to be perfect. It’s not meant to be worry-free. Without the things that can sometimes bring me down, how can I truly appreciate the things that make me happy?

Life is messy. So what? It’s what I do with that mess that counts.

Image source: http://pinkdragon-journal.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html