What we had for dinner and update on Couch to 5k

I made the following recipe for dinner:


Lentil and Macaroni Soup
Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed with garlic press
1 can (14 ounces) whole tomatoes in puree (or crushed tomatoes in juice, if unavailable)
1 can (14 ounces) vegetable broth
3/4 cup lentils
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon vegetable bullion (if you don't have, add a bit more salt to the soup)
6 cups water
1 pound fresh spinach
3/4 cup elbow macaroni
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
Lemon juice
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a nonstick 5-to-6-quart Dutch oven (or large soup pot), heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add carrots, onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and golden, about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes with their puree, broth, lentils, salt, pepper, thyme, bullion and water; heat to boiling, stirring to break up tomatoes with side of spoon. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until lentils are almost tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in spinach and macaroni; heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook, uncovered, until macaroni is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in basil. Serve with Parmesan cheese, if you like, and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

So very very yummy. I didn't follow the recipe exactly. (I rarely follow recipes to the letter.) I had all the ingredients and I just kind of added things by the handful. I made a pound of lentils and added the cooked lentils until it looked right and had the right flavor. I also used wagon wheel pasta instead of macaroni because that's what I had on hand.

What a great starting point!

The couch to 5k is going well, but I'm starting to worry that I'm never going to get up to actually running. I can walk for the full half hour really easily, but when I jog I can only go for about 20 yards before the asthma really starts to get to me. When i just keep it to walking, I feel great and like I got a great work out.