Winding down ...

My week is winding down, and it's only Wednesday. I'm off work for a few days and looking forward to getting LOTS of little projects done around the house. My lists are started and I look forward to checking things off. :-) I just mowed the lawn and as I did, my list grew. Trim some branches on the ash tree, get more mulch for around the pine tree on the east side, pull weeds under the junipers, trim the hedge alongside the garage, yadda, yadda ... But I enjoy that kind of work.

Laura Lenz said they gave out 494 purple ribbons at All Comers last night. That's HUGE. And that's great. It's wonderful to see that many kids out running ... and enjoying it. Everybody smiles at All Comers. You just can't help it. :-)

Here's the link to the Rochesterfest Triathlon photos.

This weather is a bit of a letdown. Nice for running, I guess as it's cool (only 63 degrees today, and cloudy and breezy) but I feel like we're getting cheated out of a bit of our summer. Yesterday was very cool, bordering on cold, so I made broccoli soup with broccoli from the garden.

I used a Cooking Light recipe, but modified it a bit.

1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 cups chicken broth
1 package broccoli florets (I used 2 heads, fresh)
2 1/2 cups 2% milk (I used mostly skim)
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. black pepper
8 oz. light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light) (I used about 3/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese from Kraft)

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender (I added the garlic the last 30 seconds or so so it didn't burn). Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.

Combine milk and flour, stirring with a which until well blended. Add milk mixture to broccoli mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Place one-third of the soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed soup mixture to pan. (I used an immersion blender and slightly chopped the broccoli.)

Tonight I'm cooking up some peas from the garden. Love 'em.

Today's workout: lifted, swam an hour and ran a mile in the morning. Somehow, I managed to waste about an hour talking. Oh well ... all good. :-) So then this afternoon I ran 8.02 miles. Felt good. Hip wasn't an issue. My legs didn't have much zip, probably a result of yesterday's long bike ride. I'm hoping to run one of the Stewartville Summerfest races on Saturday. That's one of my favorite events of the season. So festive. So fun. Even if I don't run, I'll be there. With cookies of course.

My friend Kathryn loaned me a book called Swim, Bike, Run. It looks like it will be very helpful, especially for the swim. Lots of pictures. :-)

Tonight, it's Yack 'n Snack night at Vicki's. I'll have to find some craft project to work on. Or maybe I'll just "yack". :-) Come to think of it, I have a white suit with brown buttons on it. I want to replace them with white. More versatile. :-)

Ciao!