Friday Bake Day: Lenten Edition

In the spirit of Lent, and abstinence of meat on Fridays for some, here is a super simple Salmon Loaf recipe. I love to bake this one and serve over rice for an easy meal.

...and I as was writing this post I saw a recipe in Runners World March 2012 magazine for Mini-Salmon Loaf. Same idea, just "slider" or kid sized!

Enjoy!

Salmon Loaf

Recipe from Grandma Nancy (that woman knows a lot of recipes, I know!)

Oven at 350 degrees

1 lb. can salmon, drain (Look in the Canned Tuna section!)

1 can cream of mushroom/celery soup (10 ¾ oz)

1 beaten egg

1 cup dry bread crumbs (Probably won’t use whole cup)

½ cup chopped onions

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients. Depending on how moist/dry you would like the loaf to be, use less bread crumbs the recipe calls for. I like to make it a little more moist so I can reheat the loaf several times without it drying out. Place in greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Mini-Salmon Loafs (adapted from Runner’s World March 2012)

Oven at 375 degrees

2 x 5 oz. wild salmon, drained

1 cup frozen chopped spinach (thawed for cooking)

1 diced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons chopped dill

Juice from ½ a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

½ cup quick-cook rolled oats

2 large eggs

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Divide among greased muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

About Me

Hello Reader!

I am glad you found my corner of the internet! I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing on it!

My name is Erika and I am the author of this blog.  I originally created this blog in 2011 as a way to keep in touch with family & friends as we scatter throughout the country. This blog has blossomed into a great way for me to share my passions and I am happy to share advice on life, running and cooking. 
  

After growing up in a small town in Michigan, I left home to attend Albion College in Albion, Michigan. I majored in Economics and was a part of the cross country & track & field teams.  I loved being part of a team and running became a large part of my life, and still is.
 
It took two years of running after me, literally, for my husband to catch me. We both ran cross country & track at the same college and didn't start dating until my senior year. We married in the summer of 2011, after we both graduated. As if two graduations and a wedding weren't enough excitement, three days after our honeymoon we moved to Pennsylvania so my husband could attend medical school.

My husband is in his first year of medical school and hopes to become an emergency room Doctor. I work full time at an electrical distributor, yes I sell light bulbs!  We don't have children or pets yet, but in time I am sure we will have both!

I am an avid runner, reader and life liver.  (and a total sucker for chick flicks!)

My goal is to share my thoughts, life lessons and passions with the online community in a way that makes others inspired. Although my blog is still an infant, please feel free to contribute, link or comment. I love to hear about and from you!

Thank you for reading my blog. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you would like to see more or less of.

New Look!

Back when I started this blog I thought it would be a good way to let family and friends know what was going on in our lives, now that we are hundreds of miles apart. I quickly found that I like writing on this blog more than just what is going on day to day.

So I hope you like the new look and new set up. I am going to focus on three categories: Life, running and cooking.  

Life- I know this a broad category and maybe one day it will get narrowed down but for now I will write about life advice, experiences and the little joys. I want to share with you all the awesome things life has to offer! I am always striving to find true happiness, energy and peace in my life. I hope this blog helps you find what you are looking for too.

Running- Behind my faith and love for my family, running is up there on my list of important things. I love running, exercising and being outside. I hope this category shows you the joy and peace running can give you. Especially as a woman, I hope I can give you practical & useful advice. I am not a running expert, but I hope my passion can give you motivation to run!

Cooking- This category is a work in progress! Since living on my one after college and getting married, I find myself in the kitchen often. I love to bake and cooking has become a great joy. I love to learn new recipes, kitchen tools and cooking styles. I hope this category can give you "I learned it the hard way" advice so you too can learn to like cooking. I am not the best chef, but I find myself reading, learning and using more cooking advice which I want to share. 

My goal is make this blog more focused on a few things, in hopes that I can share my passions with others. 

I hope you find enjoyment and practical advice for you life.  

What would you like to see from me? What kind of things interest you? What do you want more (or less) of? 

 

Happiness

I can't take credit for what I am going to blog about today. I wish I had the wisdom to figure this out by myself. It took someone who knows me better than anyone else to look at me, with honest and truth, to verbalize what I have always thought about happiness. All the thoughts that swirl in my head every day can mean nothing without believing in this. 

Happiness makes you successful. 

Success does not always make you happy.

For me this logic makes so much sense. So much sense that I didn't even stop to really think about it. I have been going around for YEARS (!!) trying to be good at everything. I ran around finding the "best" education, getting outstanding grades, a successful job, trying to be a more successful runner, looking for a more successful position or job, and the list goes on. Seriously. Why? What for? So I could go around touting my success? So someone else would look at me and say "Wow, she is successful"?

Did that make me any happier?  Nope.

This is a slightly hard realization for me. See, I always thought there was more to happiness but I just couldn't come up with a concrete reason. Perhaps I didn't know any better or didn't want to face the fact that success is superficial. By acknowledging that success is not as important as I have made it to be, then all my hard work seems to be in vain, and pushing me further away from true happiness. Why admit to that?

This morning I was excited to tell my husband about possible advancements in my job.I had talked with my boss yesterday and we had discussed where my career could be headed, what training I could do help myself succeed and how long that might take. After I told him all this, he looked at me, said "That's great honey" and without anything further went about his routine. It bothered me that he didn't seem excited, he didn't even ask a question about it. I confronted him about it, asking why it didn't seem like he cared. He replied with "I do care but is that always going to make you happy? ...you think success makes you happy but really you should be thinking happiness makes you successful."

Just like that. Like it was a simple fact he figured out long ago. What? Where did I miss that note? I read every thing I find about success I can. How did he just know that?

Then I cried.

I cried because I realized how right he was. I had always done more to be more successful. Successful to whom though?  If I thought success would make me happy, why have I been sad or upset about my success?  I was not living to be happy but living to be successful in other people's eyes. I have been trying to do my best to look good on a resume or make my parents proud. My success was not defined by what made me, ME, happy. 

Enough. I decided this morning that I had had enough of that thinking. No more. I cannot, and should not, go through life trying to be the most successful person at everything I do. I need to focus on what makes me happy, not on how successful I think I could be. It's exhausting to try to be successful in order to reach happiness.

 I want to be happy; success will follow.

I am lucky to have someone around to tell me when I am wrong. I won't be heading down this path again. 

Spring Cleaning: Decultter with SimpleMom!

Project: Simplify 2012

March 5-30, 2012 (already on my Google calendar!)

Hosted by SimpleMom

I am really excited about this idea... Who doesn't nee d a little spring cleaning inspiration? After being cooped up inside all winter, why not get rid of some of that junk you found you don't need!? I love the idea of sharing the before and after with others too, this way I am accountable for what I do (and don't) get rid of! I already have my rooms to attack picked out!

Visit www.simplemom.net for more info!