From The Kitchen - Thai Beef with Basil

I feel like every week we have a new favorite recipe around here!  This one is for sure my favorite from last week, in fact it was a race to see who could eat the leftovers!  Really, yummy and it makes a pretty dish with all the colors!

The original recipe can be found at bonappetit.com or here: Thai Beef with Basil go check it out!

Two tips:
-Trust the directions when it says to let the meat brown and get crispy.  It almost seems like you'll burn it, but just go with it, those crispy parts are what add tons of flavor!

-3 cups of basil leaves = a lot of fresh basil!  I didn't get enough, so make sure you get a lot of basil, more than you think you'll need.  If you end up with too much you can flavor your plain old water with lemon slices and a few basil leaves.

I highly recommend Bon Appetit magazine!  For a long time it intimidated me as a cook, but of all the cooking/food related magazines I get every month Bon Appetit is the one I get the most out of, and find the highest number of recipes I want to try.

My first race of the year is coming up in March and for the first time I'm running in "costume"!  I'm not much of a running costume person/fan.  I think it's great when others do it, but I just don't like hassling with it. However I'm getting into the St. P Day spirit and have the first piece of my outfit figured out!

Shamrock leg warmers that will go over my compression socks!  Found them at Jo-Ann's fabric the other day, and for a way better price than I would pay if I were to buy themed compression socks.  I'm not going to spend $50 on compression socks aimed at one day/a few weeks out of the year, just can't do it.

I found a green sparkle skirt HERE that I'm checking the mail for daily.  Seriously for $20 you can get a cute skirt that goes over your shorts/tights and add's festive fun to themed races!  Great price, and it's not ton's of poof and tulle added to my hips.  Last thing I need to be doing is running in something that makes me look like an overweight ballerina!  Some can pull off the tulle look I can't!  

I just need a top now.  I have zero green running shirts, so am thinking I'll just wear the event shirt race day. It's usually long sleeve and obviously fits the theme.  I read a blog post the other day about the sin of wearing the race shirt the day of the race, and how "not real runner" it is.  Don't even get me started on how stupid and judgmental that post was.

I don't wear race/event shirts to the race simple because I have tech shirts that I run in and I know work for me.  But to assume someone is a newbie who doesn't know better, or is somehow wearing a shirt they haven't earned because they haven't crossed the finish line yet it petty.  If I paid for my registration and the shirt that goes along with it then I will wear that shirt whenever and wherever I want to!  Ok off my soap box.

Do you wear race shirts to the race, or do you wait until you finish?  
After, if at all.  I have so many race shirts now that unless they fit perfect and are a tech material they go in a pile that has become my yard work/camping clothes pile.  I actually just registered for a race that gave me the option of a shirt or a mug and went with the mug.

Anyone else running a St. P Day race?
Cool thing...the Tacoma St. P Day race is mentioned in the March issue of Runner's World magazine!