Prosciutto-wrapped Pesto and Pine Nut Tilapia with Mushroom Risotto

Mexican Chicken Tortilla soup as appetizer and PB cookies and Pictionary for dessert (not pictured)

Homeostasis

I drank too much coffee today and then I went and drank an excessive amount of diet Pepsi post-dinnertime (so much so that I am too embarrassed to specify the exact amount in this pseudo-public domain). So now, it is 23:15 and it is past my bed-time and I cannot sleep :( I was lying in bed, thinking obsessively about running (as usual), and why I am so addicted. I've realized it's because running completely structures my life. It's not just something I do to feel good about myself physically... it forces me to be healthy, efficient, and focused.

When I am running, I have this great balance of good energy in (carbs and veggies and fruits, restful sleeping) and good energy out (workouts that are on the whole rewarding, good energy level, organization and focus during the day so I can run in the afternoon, great sleep at night). When I stop, everything goes down the tubes. I get eat like crap and get fat, I sleep horribly, I can't concentrate and waste my free time, and I'm tired and irritable all day.

::sigh::

The only good thing about not running is that I don't get night sweats!


Anyways, enough crying about my current knee injury... Despite having to bike all weekend, the rest of it was pretty good. I was off because I'm on inpatient Peds, so Friday night, I hung out at home with Raghu - we made my interpretation of his turkey burger recipe :) Saturday some friends and I made dinner (pictures to come!) - mexican chicken soup, proscuitto wrapped pesto tilapia with pomegranate seeds, mushroom risotto, peanut butter cookies, and wine, followed by a rousing, post-dinner late-night game of pictionary. Sunday, I studied and bought Bananagrams (most amazing game ever), and went to see Milk. It was a great movie - Sean Penn was so convincing! I wonder if had it come out before the election, would Prop 8 have passed?

Eep! time to go to bed. Night night~

Run update: Have run 1.5 then 3 miles in the past week, my comeback from a 2 month break! I'm using this terrible brace my orthopedist gave me that has these velcro straps designed to keep my patella from moving too lateral, but the straps are so rough on the edges, it ends up cutting my other knee when they sometimes rub together... I am still struggling with the knee pain... He said try to run for 6 weeks and if it doesn't work, I'll get you a referral for PT, but I think I need to do that now.

Bike update: The bike is amazing. It doesn't particularly do it for me as a way to feel good about myself, and I can never really feel like I get in the zone like I do when I run, but this is by far the best bike I've ever had! I still need to make some adjustments and buy some parts to make it fit me better, but for now it's working out well. As part of my denial that I am not in fact really that injured and that I will get back running as usual say, TOMORROW, I have not really invested that much into bike-specific clothing. I've got my bike shorts and my cleats.... that's about it. So 1 pair of bike shorts to wear EVERY DAY. GROSS.

Cooking extravaganza tonight! On the menu:

Herbed mushroom custard
Bim bim bap? or Asparagus and triple cream pizza... or cauliflower and pancetta pizza... tbd
Some thing that Vinh will make with brussel sprouts in an effort to convince me that I should like brussel sprouts
Walnut cream cheese sandwich cookies!

Hopefully I can find my camera in time to wow you.