Welcome to 2013!

Welcome to 2013, another year down and a new one just beginning! 2012 was a pretty awesome year for me. I traveled to Amsterdam, Berlin, Florence and Rome with my brother.

Then Sarah and I explored Paris and went to London for the Olympics.

On top of all of all of the amazing traveling I got to participate in some great races, including my first cyclecross race.

Just recently we started another exciting adventure, we adopted a dog, say hello to Nanook! We adopted Nanook from the Humane Society of Western Quebec. Our little Nanook is 11 months old, is a shepherd something mix and weighs in at 54lbs. She loves to go for long walks, playing with other doggies and her kong. I’ll save more on Nanook for another post.

With a new dog and the holidays it has been super busy and we’ve been thrown out of our routine. Now that it’s a new year, it’s time to get back into some good habits. One way is to eat healthy.

Last night we had a great recipe from www.runnersworld.com. If you like Asian inspired recipes you’ll love this recipe. On top of the veggies already in the recipe, I added baby bok choy, green onions and yellow pepper. Not only is this recipe delicious but it’s also fast! It’s fast to make and fast to clean up, which is always nice when you’ve got to walk a dog and fit in a workout. One tip for this recipe is not to boil the undon noodles but to fry them with the veggies and meat. This cuts the pans down to one. Hope you like the recipe, give it a try and let me know what you think!

So good that I started eating before I took a picture!

Thai Beef with Udon

Ingredients:

• 1 pound trimmed sirloin steak, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons thai red curry paste
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 package (7 ounces) udon noodles
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk, well stirred
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves lime wedges, for serving

Directions:

1. Place the steak, 1 tablespoon of the oil, the curry paste, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for at least 20 minutes at room temperature (or in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours).
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the udon according to the package directions. Drain and rinse briefly with warm water. Set aside.
3. In a wok or 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and stir-fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the steak and stir-fry until browned all over, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the noodles and basil, and simmer 30 seconds. Serve with lime wedges. Serves 4.