Another Yum For the Tum!

With another uneventful run behind me -- except that I overdressed for the cold and spent the majority of the run unlayering eventful ... I call it a drag! -- I had to share the warm thoughts I had while out there. Those warm thoughts were of our dinner last night! I heard about it from a friend who found the recipe on the internet. It's called Pumpkin Bean Soup. Mmmm ...

You should know that Nancy Logic was once again applied ... I do not do not do not like pumpkin. At the same time, I know it's really good for you. So, in an effort to find a way to make it tolerable-if-not-yummy, I gave this a whirl! Besides, I was enticed by how easy it sounded to make (yay, easy!):

It all starts by putting some chopped onion in the pot with just a
tablespoon of oil. I'm not a fan of eating onion, but I do like the
flavor, so I made mine quite small. Mmm ... smells really good!

While the onion is in the pot making friends with the garlic (we
didn't have on hand the cumin called for in the recipe ... and I was
only at the store twice today ... of course ...) we got the other things
ready to just dump in the pot. How easy is that?! (You'll note the
Diet Coke cups in the back. That's sad, though, because they're empty.)

Tomato sauce, chicken broth, corn, black beans, pumpkin and
cilantro all dumped in and ready to just sit there for 25 minutes.
No attention required. Seriously easy!

There it is ready to go. We topped ours with some Greek yogurt
as a bit of a thickener. (After eating it, Aaron said he didn't need it.
I liked it. Clearly, it's all a matter of preference.) The small bowl
is for our taste tester Pit Crew #3 who, unlike his mom, actually
likes pumpkin. But, he doesn't like soup. My hopes on this one
weren't too high for his thumbs up! It's a good thing, too, because
he didn't give it one.

The outcome: VERY delicious! The pumpkin flavor took a major back seat. I could taste it, but I think that's because I knew it was there. You need to like tomato soup to enjoy this one as that was the prevailing flavor (and the main issue had by Pit Crew #3). Next time, another can of black beans is going in to hearty it up. Paired with a sandwich, this was a great cold weather dinner and one we'll make again soon! (Have I mentioned it's so easy?! GREAT fuel for sure, too!)

With that, I look forward to Rest Day tomorrow! I'm seriously pondering a couple of days rest here soon ... either that or take down a long run or two to three miles instead of the planned seven and eight. I've learned to listen to my body when it asks for rest. It's whispering about it now, so I need to start planning. Shaking up the routine would do me some good before hitting the training for the half. I hate the should-I-shouldn't-I routine. It's sometimes hard to figure out the right thing to do. In the meantime, click here for the soup recipe! I wish you a day of warm thoughts and clear answers to the questions on your mind!