Yes, this is the unassuming start of this year's garden. The idea actually came to me via our apartment newsletter's "science for kids" section. Take sweet potatoes and stick toothpicks in them so they will dangle down into a glass jar. Keep the jar filled with water, and they will start to grow. When they outgrow the jars, transplant to the garden or a larger pot. Our garden book actually says sweet potatoes are a good container garden crop, so we may experiment with growing these on the porch rather than the garden, depending on how much sun they need. Hopefully we'll have a sweet potato jungle on our window sill in a few weeks.
Continuing on the "productive around the house" theme, I actually cooked something that didn't involve the microwave last night! Sometimes I just have weeks like that. Anyway, I made Rachel Ray's shrimp (substituted scallops) and feta bake (see sidebar for recipe) and served it over brown rice.
It wasn't bad, but next time I'd make more sauce and serve it over linguine or some other kind of long pasta. Tonight is dinner out night- not sure where yet- but we are talking either Southeast Asian or this wood fire grill place I've been a few times with work but D has not.
Thanks to all of you who shared your favorite blogs. I'll be checking out some new sites/blog rolls when I'm on staycation next week!
Last, I had a great running workout yesterday. My progressive run was supposed to be 10 min at 9 min/mile, 10 min at 8:30 min/mile, 5 min at 8:15 min/mile and 5 min at 7:50 min/mile. Because it was easier, I set my watch to lap every 5 min. My 5 min splits were 9 min/mile, 8:19 min/mile (kinda fast- supposed to be 9 min/mile still), 8:14 min/mile, 8:04 min/mile (the trend continues, supposed to be 8:30 min/mile), 7:52 min/mile (supposed to be 8:15 min/mile), and 7:28 min/mile (supposed to be 7:50 min/mile). That last 5 minutes just about killed me. It felt like the end of a really hard 5k, which I guess is what it was supposed to feel like. It's too dark for me to see my watch when I'm running in the morning so I have to try to go by feel. I'm always afraid that I'm running slower than I think I am so I try to push myself a little extra whenever I'm trying to hit certain paces. Well, I guess I did that yesterday. It's exciting that I really think I'm getting faster, and that my A goal 1/2 marathon pace (8:15 min/mile) is maybe not totally crazy (the McMillan calculator doesn't think so either).
Anyway, I've been feeling a little sick for the past couple days (I think this is why I was in a blah mood earlier in the week), so I'm glad today is an off day and I'm just doing strength training this morning. However, that does require me to catch the bus in 11 minutes. Have a great Friday, all!
