In It for the Long Run : Recipe #11: Enchilada Quinoa and Some Random Happenings!

So, I have been working on this blog post since Sunday night, and four days later, it is finally ready to post. Truth is, after starting it on Sunday, I really have not been in the mood to write. Sunday night, (after devouring the delicious new recipe to come later in this post), we decided to bring Smokey the Cat back to the emergency vet (for the fourth time). We were now going on about 5 weeks of emergency vet/regular vet trips and an exorbitant amount of expenses.

One week of meds for poor Smokestack!

But we knew Smokey was sick again. The vet we saw was excellent, but sadly informed us that as a result of having the catheter in for too long, Smokey's kidneys had shut down and were unable to recover. As we were speaking, his little body was giving way - he had developed a heart murmur, and his body temperature was plummeting (earlier in the day we caught Smokey and Dixie cuddling on the bed...very strange for Smokey to let the dog so near, must have been for warmth). We had no other option at this point but to put him to rest. This was our first animal loss and was extremely hard on us, and especially on my husband as Smokey was his "wingman." I have been spending the week giving extra cuddles to our other cats and dogs, not wanting to take one moment with them for granted.

Dixie keeping Smokey warm in his final hours.
Dogs are amazing creatures...she knew he was not well,
and took care of him.

Nate's Wingman. They shared a love for Lays.

Smokey <3

Fenway, Smokey and Dixie upon one of Smokey's returns from the E-vet.

Anyways, tonight was the first night I started to feel a little bit more like myself, so, back to the delicious recipe.

On Sunday night, I made "Enchilada Quinoa and Black Beans." First and foremost, you should know that this recipe can serve a small army! I ended up splitting it in two and we ate (well!) for two nights this week. Nate really enjoyed this recipe and stated that it tasted just like enchiladas. This recipe was also extremely easy to make.

Here is the recipe:

1 Cup Quinoa
1 can black beans
Olive Oil
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 can of corn
3 cloves garlic
1c enchilada sauce
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste
Cilantro to taste
lime juice
Mexican shredded cheese mix

1. Boil the quinoa. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add in the onion, green and red peppers, corn and garlic. As it is cooking, add in the cumin, cilantro, and chili powder. (I say add to taste because I never measure my spices!). Sprinkle some lime juice over the mix.

2. In a large bowl, mix the quinoa with the can of black beans. Add in the sautéed vegetable mix and the enchilada sauce.

3. Pour the mixture into a greased casserole pan. Top the dish with the Mexican cheese (you may want to add some throughout the mix as well). Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and then enjoy!

As I said before, this recipe makes a ridiculous amount of food. It is going to be a great one to have on hand when we have late nights after school (conference night!) and need a quick pre-made meal.

HUGE skillet of vegetables!

Cheesy Enchilada deliciousness
(this is one dish of two this size that the recipe made)

On another, training related, note, someone using the Hanson's method reposted this quote from the Hanson's Marathon Method training book on their facebook page this week and I got a BIG kick out of it....

"How much and what kind of pain you feel the day after a marathon can vary; however, it's common to feel stiff, sore, and supremely worn-out. The marathon breaks down your muscles on a microscopic level, leaving them in dire need of time for rest and repair."
- Hansons Marathon Method, by Luke Humphrey, pg 207

Well, that is refreshing and reassuring (I think???). "Supremely worn out" might describe it at the moment! As of today I hit 725 miles training for this marathon (I don't think I hit 700 miles till the end of May, mid June last year....). My training seems up and down - one run feels awful, the next I feel amazing. The hip/glute issue I was having is slowwwllyyy resolving itself (knock on wood) and feels to be at about 80%-90% right now. I have come to the conclusion that I have absolutely no clue what to expect on marathon day and have no guesses to how it is going to go. If I wake up that morning and the hip feels good and loose, it will go fine. If it is tight and achy and I have no range of motion, I will probably have to settle for 8:30-8:45's for the race as that is all I can seem to get out of it range of motion wise when it is tight. Not knowing has kind of taken some of the pressure off. Whatever happens, happens. Time shall tell!

For now, I am going to enjoy this (semi) taper and I am really going to enjoy volunteering the mile 14 water stop at the Boston Marathon on Monday! Happy (almost) marathon Monday!