Strike, Snow, 500 Calories, and Soup

Belgium is on strike today - no trains, no metro, no school, no mail (although our mail carrier, who must be a rebel, just delivered to our box - unfortunately it was a pile of bills)...Except for my husband who had to get up early and drive the car to Brussels instead of taking the train as usual, we all slept in.  What a luxury on a Monday morning!  And when I woke up and finally came downstairs and pulled up the shutters - what a surprise - it is snowing!  There is a very light dusting on the sidewalks out front and the patio out back.  I was debating about waking up my boys to tell them about the snow, but decided that my three teenagers would probably rather sleep in.  So I am enjoying the quiet all by myself.

Yesterday it was so cold and gray out but I have been so lax about my running over the past few weeks that there was no way I was going to skip my run.  So I decided to go to the gym where I could get nice and sweaty without all those layers.  My goal was simple - run until the treadmill told me I had burned 500 calories!  I've definitely gotten slower - it took me 52 minutes and 7.6 kilometers to do it, including three short walk breaks.  But it felt good - as it always does.

It is still snowing so perhaps I will brave the cold today and go for a short run in the snow before it all melts away.  And then I am going to get a pot of this soup going on my stove:  pasta e fagioli, which has become one of my favorites for the winter - it is so yummy and comforting and warming....mmmmm! This is my simple version, based on Mark Bittman's recipe.

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove chopped

1 can chopped tomatoes with juice

1 t. dried rosemary

1/2 t. dried oregano or summer savory if you have it

1/4 t. dried thyme

2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed (I like to use cannelini and borlotti beans)

8 cups of vegetable broth

1/4 pound of small pasta

salt and pepper

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat in a soup pot until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, herbs and beans and continue to sauté until everything is warm. Add broth and bring to a gentle boil, then let simmer for about ten minutes. Finally add the pasta, simmer until the pasta is al denté, about another 10 to 15 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some good rustic bread to sop up the juices and enjoy!

Happy birthday to my mom

Happy birthday, Mom - you are the best.

I'm sorry for all the sad things overshadowing your day, but that is what life is all about, good things and bad things all mixed together.  What matters the most are the memories we have of the good things (and I sure do have a lot of those with you!) and, when bad times do come along, the support we can give to those we care about.

(Thanks, blog friends, for your support this week.)

My Uncle Brad lost his battle with cancer on Sunday.  Having kept in touch with him over the years meant a lot to me and I will miss him.  As will a lot of other people who loved him,  who are in my thoughts right now. 





Friday Night is Pizza Night!

Well, I haven't done much this week - between having kids at home sick and feeling a bit under the weather myself, it was one of those weeks... Thank goodness it's Friday and we can look forward to a relatively easy weekend to recuperate.  And homemade pizza for dinner to start the weekend out right!

I often make homemade pizza on a Friday night.  It's just so much healthier than frozen pizzas and not really difficult at all if I remember to mix up my dough early enough in the afternoon.  I finally found a recipe that works for me and my family likes it a lot, so I thought I would share!  This makes three large pizzas (enough for two parents and three hungry teenage boys).  You will need to mix up your dough about 2-3 hours before you actually want to eat, but once you’ve done that, the rest is hardly any work at all.

For the dough:

25 g fresh yeast
2 tsp honey or rice syrup
500 g flour (you can do half whole wheat if you want)
Olive oil
2 tsp sea salt

For the sauce:

1 can chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste (about 3 T)
1 tsp each basil and oregano
a pinch of sugar, salt and black pepper

Toppings:

Your choice!  We do mozzarella cheese (3x  125g balls of fresh mozzarella for this recipe), fresh basil, sliced red pepper, sliced fresh tomato, a bit of salami and parma ham (for the meat eaters), rucola (added after baking), black olives, … be creative and use what you like!  You can also leave the cheese off and load it up with veggies if you want to avoid dairy products.

You’ll need three large pizza pans or cookie sheets. 

Crumble the yeast into a large bowl.  Add the honey, about 150 grams of the flour and 375 ml of warm water; mix well.  Cover the bowl with a towel and leave it in a warm place to rest for about 30 minutes, or until the yeast begins to work (it will foam up and increase in volume).

Add the rest of the flour and 1 T of olive oil and knead until you get a smooth dough.  Add water or additional flour as needed to get a soft, sticky dough that is not too dry.  Add the salt and mix well.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

Grease the pizza pans with olive oil.  Divide the dough into three portions and spread each portion out in one of the pans.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t spread easily at first, press it out gently with your fingers and leave it to rest a few minutes from time to time, until you are able to press it to the edge of the pan.  This should take about 15 minutes. 

Cover each pan with a clean towel and let them rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 225 C (450 F).  Puree the tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs and seasonings for the sauce.  Spread a thin layer of sauce on each pizza, and garnish with toppings as desired.  Bake the pizzas 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden brown.  Cut into slices and enjoy!

Sunny Days

What is it about bright sunny winter days?  Everything seems prettier and perkier and this includes my mood!  I had a wonderful walk this morning, making sure I kept the sun on my face as much as I could.  And now I am enjoying the bright light pouring through my windows. 

The family drama (it was to do with the in-laws, I should have said this off this bat, and I would have avoided worrying my sister - sorry about that!) has subsided, too, for which I am grateful.

I started a new three week program at the gym on Monday, but when I got there I saw they were working on a skylight in the weight machine area, and workmen were walking back and forth through the area where the benches and free weights were.  So I did my cardio (treadmill, cycle and elliptical) and went home to do my weights and abs.  Hopefully they will be done by the time I go back tomorrow!

In Treatment

I just finished watching the second season of "In Treatment" and can I just say this is one of the best series I have ever seen (and I was loyal to "Northern Exposure" for many years).  I sure hope we get the third season here, and soon!

I learned a lot watching this (that therapy often doesn't actually solve any problems and usually creates new ones) and yet I often thought how nice it would be to have someone like Paul to listen to all my problems.  Especially this week!  Family drama and a painful hip have really been getting me down, and that has kept me from posting.

Of course you don't get to be 45 without learning that all things pass, and life is full of ups and downs, right?   Next post will most likely be a lot more positive...

Sven Nys ROCKS!!!

Sven Nys

Belgian national cyclocross champion today

for the 8th time! 

Woo hoo!