wordless wednesday – morning hike

lighter beef chili – everyday food challenge

When I started my Everyday Food Challenge back in June of last year, my intention was to cook one recipe, in order, from issue #1 through the entire collection. Several problems arose. One, the crafty and smart editors create each issue to seasonally match what foods are available and at their peak. This can sometimes make it difficult to find copious amounts of basil when I come across an August issue in January. Second, and what brings us to today’s recipe for Lighter Beef Chili, I’ve jumped back on the weight loss bandwagon after tumbling off about a year ago. I’d kind of forgotten how great it felt to be a tad smaller and whole lot more energized. As a result, I’ve been immersing my self in all of the January issues of Everyday Food Magazine.  Those are the “light” editions that come out each year when we’re all making our resolutions to get back in the gym and back to healthier meals.

Don’t worry, the great thing about Everyday Food magazine is that most of the recipes are pretty healthy. It’s those  “in moderation” and “portion size” things that you need to keep an eye on. So here’s the deal, I still plan to cook at least one recipe from each of the EDF magazines I have. It’s just that I’ll probably be bouncing around and not cooking in order.

Now back to that Chili. Including this recipe, this is the second chili I’ve made with cocoa powder this year. And I’ve got to say that I’m a big fan. It adds a great depth of flavor and produces a real dark base. The chili tastes terrific. To make it lighter, you use very lean ground beef and just a tablespoon of oil.  There are a lot of beans and diced tomatoes that makes it very filling. I require toppings and mix-ins when I eat my chili. Here, I’ve gone with a little reduced fat sour cream.

What recipes are you cooking that are on the light or healthy side? And how do you control portion sizes and not go back for seconds?

five senses friday (the one about the canoe trip)

It’s a very special Five Senses Friday today. It all revolves around just one day, instead of the usual week. Today I was able to mark off another item on my 37 Things List, #33 canoe. I confessed to Greg this morning that the whole reason the list existed was to get to canoe. I hadn’t done it since High School. Just recently, Kent State University started a program called Crooked River Adventures. We canoed from Kent down the Cuyahoga River about 4.5 miles to Munroe Falls. The first half was shady and lovely. The second half was a bit more challenging. Evidently, the river is a bit low right now. We found ourselves getting out of the canoe and pushing it a bit in the very shallow areas.

So that’s the introduction. Here now is my Five Senses Friday – Canoe Edition:

• Seeing: the ladies in the canoe in front of us struggling down the river. We tried to do just the opposite of everything that they did. For the most part, that worked well for us. Amazing Race here we come…
• Tasting: our reward for the day, a late lunch at Marie’s Restaurant in Wadsworth. The pizza was fantastic.
• Hearing: the trains on the nearby railroad tracks, the birds in the trees, the paddles dipping in and out of the water. Float On by Modest Mouse on the radio in the car on the way home from our excursion. A fun coincidence.
• Smelling: the nature all around us and the faint hint of fall in the air.
• Feeling: jubilant to be able to mark this off my list and to have shared the experience with my partner.

We (meaning mostly Greg) took many more photos with a water-proof disposable camera. I’ll share those photos once they’re developed. I can’t remember the last time I had to have film developed.  In the mean time, here are a few more photos from my old shattered iPhone that still takes fairly decent photos and video. Oh, and what should I tackle next on The List? Leave your suggestions in the comment section.

five senses friday #11

Here’s my little week in just five senses. I hope you’ll share some of your five senses in the comment section. Enjoy your weekend.

• seeing: the tops of lots of buildings in downtown akron.
• tasting: smoked goat cheese from the Ornery Goat that we picked up at the farmer’s market in kent.
• hearing: for the price of a cup of tea by Belle and Sabastian (thanks for the recommendation Greg).
• smelling: triple citrus cupcakes fresh out of the oven.
• feeling: better about myself after getting out and doing a bit of hiking this week. nearly 5.5 miles.

PS & BTW, I’m kind of in love with the patterns and colors of the shingles on the church steeple below.

fun on the ledges

Greg and I headed to Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park in Garrettsville today for a hike. It was a neat park with lots of great rock structures. Oh, and Greg calls that my Spider-Man pose. So watch your back Tobey Maguire. Tomorrow we dust off the bikes for a short ride.

foggy morning hikes

On Sunday Greg and I ventured out into the foggy morning to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to hike a couple trails and take some pictures. Have I mentioned how lucky we are in Akron to have a National Park right at our front door step? It’s a great thing. The photo above is from Horseshoe Pond. We were fortunate to be greeted by one of the majestic blue herons at the water’s edge. We even got to watch it catch a fish for breakfast.

After our visit at the pond, we travelled up the road to the Ira Trailhead and walked the boardwalk above the murky marshes. There were lots of folks out taking pictures, riding bikes and walking dogs. Some really big dogs. Throughout the walk we were serenaded by a deep chorus of frog songs. Only problem, we couldn’t spot a frog. And Greg was really looking.

A little further distance from the marshes we visited Summit County’s only remaining covered bridge.

Fun fact we learned today: The Cuyahoga River twists and turns for about a distance of 90 miles. But from the start of the river to its end at Lake Erie is only a 30 mile straight shot. It truly is the “crooked river.”

Author’s note: As I was writing this post on Sunday afternoon, Greg made for me the most wonderful iced coffee beverage. I’m incredibly lucky.

tiny flower thursday

A little jem of a flower from our Sunday afternoon hike along the Towpath Trail. Enjoy your day, the week’s almost over. What do you do or think about to get you through the end of a long work week?

end of a long weekend

Enjoyed a very restful four-day weekend filled with family, friends and fun. This morning, Greg and I hiked our now weekly Sunday trail.  We headed back to the Nature Realm. I wanted to take a couple of photos of the flowering trees in bloom. I’m thinking that there might be some baking this afternoon.

blimp over the u

Greg and I did a little exploring around Akron this afternoon. First, we headed to The University of Akron campus to check out the new football stadium. All the while we were tailed by the Goodyear blimp, constantly monitoring our movements. Later we hiked one of the new portions of the Towpath Trail at Summit Lake.  A portion of the trail actually floats above the lake. This hike was a lesson in urban graffiti. I guess I was somewhat comforted by the peace sign…

a walk in the national park

This morning, a beautiful for November kind of morning, Greg and I ventured out to the nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Our goal was to get to the Ira Road Trailhead and hike the towpath from there for a bit. Now here’s an interesting fact. The Ira Road Trailhead is not actually on Ira Road. But that’s a good thing. Because if it was, we wouldn’t have driven a bit out of our way and stumbled upon the covered bridge pictured above. After a bit more driving we found the trailhead, just a ways down from where we had originally turned off on to Ira Road. Below are a few more pictures from this morning’s hike. We’re looking forward to coming back in the spring with our bikes to do the ride from Akron to the ever-so-quaint village of Peninsula.