Cooking with Ellie Bellie: Menu Plan, March 9

I am trying to get back into the blogging groove and maybe, just maybe, it will stick this time around. We were out of town last weekend, so it was nice to have some time to recharge for the work week ahead.

A couple of weeks ago J.T. and I bought a treadmill, which I absolutely love. I sit at a desk all day at work and have very little physical activity throughout the day. This was really starting to bother me, not to mention the 5 extra pounds that have crept up on the scale! I have been dieting and monitoring what I eat very closely, but with hypothyroidism it can be next to impossible to lose weight by diet alone. In college, I ran two miles every morning before class and I figured if I could do it then, I could do it again now. Two very successful weeks went by, where I woke up 15 minutes earlier every morning (at 5:00!) and ran one mile on my treadmill (bless our downstairs neighbors). Everything was going great until a week ago, when my knees really started to hurt. Since we went out of town last weekend, I took Saturday and Sunday off to rest my knees. My Monday run was torturous - awful knee pain - not just sore muscles. On Tuesday, I power walked a mile, but the knee pain was still very bad. I started researching what I dreaded, runner's knee. It's a self diagnosis, but I believe that is the culprit. Too much of a good thing too quick. I regret not stretching, not taking more off days, and not investing in new tennis shoes before I started my fitness regime. Never again. Next time will be different. I haven't exercised since last Tuesday and I have been taking the elevator when going downstairs, since it is much more painful on the knee when descending. I am also taking Aleve and icing my knees every 3 hours for 30 minutes, even at work. Yes, I am the girl with her legs propped up on her computer monitor with an ice pack. Friday was the first day I didn't want to cry when walking to and from my car. Small progress steps. I hope and pray that this will heal quickly.

This weekend I was on my knees far too long, but I did get a lot accomplished in the kitchen. I am still working on my butternut squash soup recipe. As you can see, I made a huge batch this weekend. There was so much soup that I was able to have a bowl for lunch on Saturday. Below is the menu plan for the week. My hope is that it doesn't look like we eat the same thing all the time. My goal is to try or create one new recipe a week!

Sunday