pasta and a movie: Without Limits

Wow, who knew getting back into running would be so good for my blog? (That said, is anyone still reading?)  As soon as I joined up with Team in Training again I thought about all the running themed movies I watched the first time around, some more inspiring than others. I remember Without Limits, one of two movies I watched about running legend Steve Prefontaine, being one of the more inspiring (we'll get to the less inspiring running films in a later post).  If I hadn't moved to Berkeley (right before the movie was made, incidentally) I probably would have transferred to U of O (since I was initially living in Bend, OR), where Prefontaine trained with Bill Bowerman. How I swooned for Billy Crudup back in the day...  And look at that, Parenthood's Monica Potter plays the romantic interest! Anyway, instead of "dinner and a movie" how about we start a little "pasta and a movie" series since I'll be doing a little carbo-loading on Friday nights over the next few months?

Now, I wouldn't normally make a pasta dish this heavy the night before a run, but since I'm solo parenting this weekend (and nursing a minor back hiccup so I won't be running tomorrow anyway) and had to throw together something we could eat after dance class tonight, I made one of Paula Deen's several crock pot macaroni and cheese recipes. It was alright - I like her use of cheddar cheese soup, which makes me nostalgic for a cookbook I had as a teenager that used a different Campbell's soup in each recipe, but I'm not so sure about the eggs. I used vegetable radiatore and served it with peas, one of about two vegetables my three year old will actually eat. Now let's see if I can make it through the entire movie in one night.