Baby Steps (and Soup #1)

It's soup season and leftovers mean tomorrow night's dinner is done!

Last week's mileage?  20.02.  Woo Hoo.  Back Over 20.

Portion ran (no matter how slowly)?  46%

Portion sub 9 min/mile?  9%

Other fitness efforts?  I made it back to the yoga studio after 13 weeks away.

IT HURT.

Not so much *during* class, but afterwards, I was sore in places I'd forgotten I have muscles for at least 3 days.

So, the hope is to average one visit to the studio a week for the next 5 weeks since I've got very little travel lined up.  Wish me luck.

In running goals, I've got a trail run coming up in 2 weeks with some local running ladies.  The stated goal is 8 miles, but frankly, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pull that off.  I'll just rebuild fitness as best I can and go join to enjoy the activity as much as possible.  In terms of actual race events, I've got a few potential trail runs on the calendar in 2015, but the only thing I'm registered for is the SF Chocolate 15K in January.  Most likely, I'll use that as a springboard to prep for Kaiser, and then Oakland. 

Other random fitness goal?  Soup. One of my favorite things about fall is soup.

So, I'd like to make a healthy soup from scratch at least once per week for the next 5 weeks.  The first offering?  Tofu, Bok Choy, Mushroom soup.

It was good, if a bit spicier than expected due to some extra-hot peppers from the garden.

2 T cooking oil (I used saffola)
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ginger powder (didn't have any root in the fridge)
2 insanely hot garden chiles  (next time, I'll likely taste each chile)
1 cup carrot match-sticks

soy sauce 1-2 T
mirin 1 T
rice wine vinegar 1-2 T
sesame oil 2 T
4-6 cups water

1 bunch bok choy (adult), chopped
1-2 cup(s) sliced mushrooms
1 package firm tofu, cubed

salt

1. Sautee first group of ingredients together until the onions are translucent.
2. Add second group of ingredients to the sauteed veggies and bring to a boil.
3. Add third group of ingredients, stir, lower to a simmer, add a pinch of salt.  Come back in 5 minutes and taste broth, add more salt if appropriate. 
4. Turn off heat after the tofu, bok choy, and mushrooms have been simmering for 10 minutes.

(Serves 4 -- or dinner for 2 nights for 2)

Enjoy!  (And if you have a favorite soup, please recommend it!)