A first.

Last night was the FIRST time my boyfriend, Todd, made dinner for me.  Yes, we have been dating for 6-7 years!  I sat back and did nothing to help…it was actually quite relaxing! 

I feel like I am on a role using Anna’s recipes, first her Barley Vegetable and now her Butternut Squash and Black Bean Vegan-Chiladas.  Both amazing recipes.  Thanks, Anna!

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Vegan-Chiladas

Ingredients

• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tsp. cumin, divided
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt (omitted this because we did not have)
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper
• 1 15 oz. can black beans
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce
• 4-6 whole wheat flour tortillas
• 1 avocado, cubed
• salsa
• fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Place butternut squash on a baking sheet.  Spray with olive oil cooking spray and toss with 1 tsp. of cumin, paprika, and garlic salt.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until squash is tender.  Set aside, and reduce oven heat to 400 degrees.

In a pan, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion has begun to turn transparent.  Add the second tsp. of cumin and red pepper to the onions and cook for another minute or so.  Add beans, butternut squash, tomato paste, and about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes more and remove from heat.

Spread another 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.  Fill the tortillas with about 1/2 cup of the mixture and place, seam-side down, in the baking dish.  There should be enough filling for about 4-6 tortillas, depending on how full you stuff them.

Once the enchiladas are arranged in the baking dish, pour the remainder of the enchilada sauce over them and bake in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with avocado, cilantro, and salsa.

Some of the mixture on the stovetop

In the Oven.

Well, Todd’s first cooking experience was a success!  We gobbled them right up.  It was delicious!!  I just wish I took picture of Todd cooking…that may be the first and last time I see that!

This weekend consisted of another first.  Today was my first “long run” for training for the Boston Marathon.  This week, the plan called for a timed run as opposed to a distance run.  The plan called for an hour and twenty minutes at an easy pace, picking up the pace for the last 1/4 of the run.   I guess it was actually long for me since I have not ran long in a while! 😛 

• Time: 1:20
• Distance: ~9.7  (+ ~1 mile cooldown)
• Pace: 8:14/mile

I felt great during this run.  Most of my splits were between 8:30 & 8:40.  I was cruising along and felt awesome.  Towards the end, I picked up the pace a bit and  was able to finish the last .7 of the run averaging a 7:30 pace. 

I was a bit hesitant to get out there today too since the weather said it felt like 10 degrees.  I am really  not a fan of cold weather.  But once I got out there, I felt pretty good!

It feels good to be getting back into the groove of things!