So once again -- I've been sick for the last week off and on. Not like I was before, but this time it was with headaches probably stemming from a combination of stress, runny nose and congestion :-/ I had "run 9 miles" on my calendar for about 5 days in a row with one headache after another. If you've ever tried to run with one, you know how impossible it is. If you're one of those who can push through the pounding that just gets worse and worse with every step, I highly respect you and want to know your secrets :-) Finally, yesterday I set out for a 6 mile run. I thought I was running my 3.5 mile route, but ended up running my 5 mile route which was going to be followed by a 3 mile route = a total of 8. I hadn't run in about 5-7 days, and I think my last run was about 7 so I didn't want to push my tired arches too hard, so I left it at 5. Becoming more body conscious in terms of preventing injury and preserving myself vs. pride and pushing to see how far I can make myself go has been an interesting transition. I think it comes with growing up maybe? Either way, you have to give into a little bit of that pride and use your brain a little more so I've come to find -- and believe me, my feet and knees thank me. :-)
Today I followed up that run with a 45 minute workout at the gym. I did a bunch of weights, working out everything from glutes, calves, hamstrings, biceps, triceps, and abs. They say not to work out everything all at once so you have other things to work out for the next day and so your muscles can heal properly (working out certain groups on certain days with time inbetween lets them heal rather than repetitive tearing of the muscle fibers), but tomorrow is my 9 mile run and I won't be doing any weights. Finally -- tackling my favorite task on my to-do list! :-)
Mom & Dad came into town this last weekend and it was so much fun getting to see them as always :-) They stocked my refrigerator and pantry prettttyyy well so that means time for new recipes! I've made a couple -- yesterday I made a butternut squash, pumpkin and apple soup that I devised from a recipe. I'm only listing the actual recipe for now because my recipe needs a bit of work and was mostly compiled of things that needed to be used (i.e. the open can of pumpkin in my frige).
Apple Butternut Squash Soup (from Clean Food by Terry Walters)
1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
4 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Sea salt to taste
Peel squash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into 2-inch pieces.
In large pot over medium heat, sauté onion in oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut milk and nutmeg. Cover, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree with handheld blender (or regular if you don't have handheld or food processor) and remove from heat to cool slightly. Season to taste with salt and serve.
Serves 6
I'm a huge fan of veggies. HUGE fan. Fresh, steamed, boiled, baked, broiled. Doesn't matter to me. One of my favorite things to do lately has been to slice turnips into circles and zucchini/summer squash long ways, toss in some asparagus and green beans, toss them in a little olive oil, sprinkle them with sea salt and multi-colored cracked pepper, then bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes on 375. Mmmm mmmm!! Of course, you can do any combo of this you want, or even throw in some others like brussle sprouts, sweet potatoes, etc. You really can not go wrong :-)
For lunch/dinner today at Skyviews, I decided to use my veggie combo, toss with a little whole wheat rotini pasta, and some turkey meat spaghetti sauce I made (my Momma's recipe--super easy and SO good!). I'm looking so forward to it!! :-)
With all that I have going on, I've been a little stressed. Not just with the never ending to do list for school, projects, tests, working out/running (which is actually my outlet of stress), but I finally discovered that it is because I don't have much semblance of a routine. Sure I have school daily, but projects and tests and homework are all over the place, multiple in one week which is normal for college. What gets me is that no day in the week is the same, schedules seem to always conflict for group projects not to mention they're all due within a couple weeks of each other (there will be 2 times this semesterwhen this happens), and I feel like sometimes there is not enough time left in the day. This realization in itself has helped me tremendously. I no longer feel like "Why can't I handle this?!" becuase I've always been able to handle a large load with no or minimal stress. I've also come to terms with the fact that you can control what you can control, and you have to learn to accept the things that you can't and work with or around them.
Have a good night! :-)
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how i react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Pain, No Gain...Or with these Muffins:)
When it comes to running, where there is actual, not supposed to be there pain, there probably won't be much gain. I was driving down Avenue X here in Lubbock the other day and I thought back to when I was training for a marathon over a year ago with my friend Lauren. As I was driving I thought about my old running motto I used to tell myself if I started to feel pain (real pain, not muscle fatigue or something normally related to exercise) which was "feel no pain". Looking back now, I couldn't have been more ignorant about it. I thought the pain and injury meant I was a real athlete and that I was pushing my body to the limits. Well I was pushing my body to the limits, just not in the way I wanted. For those of you who have read Marathoning for Mortals or follow RunnersWorld.com (or magazine), John "the penguin" Bingham used to have a very similar mindset. Even after reading Marathoning for Mortals and about how he was the same way as me, I kept on with the same mind set. But of course as with everything else, I learn the hard way--through my own experience. It was on this street, that the dreadful moment happened when I pushed it too far past the pain to run in the race. We were running down this street around mile 11 on a 16 mile run when the pain I had been having in my foot finally got too much for me to keep running. When we got to University and 19th, I told her quickly that my foot couldn't handle it anymore for the day and left her to finish the rest of the run as I ran/hobble/limp/walked back to my car about a mile away. It didn't take long for me to realize this wasn't going to go away so I called my Sports Medicine doctor to see what they could do. They said feet weren't his specialty and referred me to someone else. Unfortunately, this someone else was not on my insurance so I looked up what foot doctors here in Lubbock were on my insurance. I made an appointment for that week. Turns out, I had plantar fasciitis. The first step was to tape my feet and see how that went. If I responded well, I would get orthotics and not have to undergo cortisone shots or surgery. Luckily, besides the blisters and not being able to wash my feet from the tape for 2 weeks (that was worse than the blisters) my plantar fascia did seem to be doing better. I got the orthotics about 4 weeks later. I kept off of it for another couple of weeks before I went stir crazy and tried running with them. I experimented in many different ways -- having them on top of the pads, under the pads, one on top and one under. For a long time I had my right on top and my left under. My left foot never really hurt, but the right was killing me so I felt like I got more support out of it this way but left my left foot to be more comfortable (while still getting the extra support). It took a long long time to finally get back to real running shape, feet and otherwise (but mostly feet) -- I would say about 10 months to a year. There were times I would go out and run and it wouldn't hurt at all, others it would kill me. When this happened, I would rest it for as long as I could (usually about a few weeks) before I would break down and cry and mentally have to go on a run. For those of you who aren't runners or who don't know me, when I don't run I'm not myself. It's my morning coffee. My calming, mind clearing, relaxing, zoning out, fix. It's also what I do when I'm mad, stressed, upset or flat want to punch someone in the face. It's nothing a few sprints or a long run can't fix but when I can't do that, I go a little crazy and I can get a bit bitchy. However, I am finally back to having healthy (mostly) feet thanks to a lot of ice, A LOT of impatience that I just had to wait out, a lot of E-STIM (which I have my own so I don't have to go and pay $2,000 for treatment thankfully), and those orthotics. Now that I'm back to running my normal mileage (anywhere from 4-10 miles every other day), I'm being much more careful and much smarter (even though sometimes my pride will get in the way and try and sneak in every now and then telling me to run farther when I shouldn't). I'm finally accepting the fact that I may not be able to run a marathon anytime soon if ever. Not that I won't try and give it my best go, but this time I'm going to listen to my body. Lesson in my long spiel: if you feel pain (again--real pain, not fatigue or muscle exhaustion, or the pain you feel when you first start working out), there is no gain. In fact, you'll lose out on time of running or whatever it is that you're into that caused this, if you keep pushing through it. I'm not a fan of going to the doctor's office, but sometimes you suck it up and do what you gotta do. :)
Now for those muffins...
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Orange Banana Bread
(I swear if you think vegan is code for "not very tasty", these will change your mind:))
Yields 12 squares/muffins
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup white flour
3 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or applesauce)
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange zest
1 large orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non dairy like hemp, soy, coconut, etc...)
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt (omit if using salted nuts/seeds)
1/3 cup maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 cup crushed pecans/nuts
2 tbsp crushed/whole flax seeds
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees*
1. Add flour, dry spices, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
2. Add in the almond/soy/coconut/hemp milk, oil, vanilla extract, bananas, pumpkin or applesauce, orange juice and maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Mix in pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of the orange zest, and additional nuts.
4. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a shallow 8 x 14" baking pan/dish (for bars) or line muffin tin.
5. Pour batter into baking dish. Smooth out for bars.
6. Combine another 1/4 cup of maple syrup with a little cinnamon, and the other tsp of orange zest. Drizzle this over the top of the bars or muffins and then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds over the top.
7. bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your bars/muffins are. These should be lightly browned at the edges and you can always use a tootpick/knife/other long skinny object to poke in the middle and see if they're done.
8. Remove and let cool. I ate these every morning for breakfast, sometimes I'd even have two. They're great alone, or crumbled into chunks over fruit (I used diced honey crisp apples, a sliced banana, and an orange cut into bit size pieces) with vanilla almond milk and cinnamon. Mmmm mmm!!! I also tried just dipping it in my vanilla almond milk, and with jam -- both of which were also delicious!
Now for those muffins...
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Orange Banana Bread
(I swear if you think vegan is code for "not very tasty", these will change your mind:))
Yields 12 squares/muffins
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup white flour
3 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or applesauce)
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange zest
1 large orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non dairy like hemp, soy, coconut, etc...)
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt (omit if using salted nuts/seeds)
1/3 cup maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 cup crushed pecans/nuts
2 tbsp crushed/whole flax seeds
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees*
1. Add flour, dry spices, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
2. Add in the almond/soy/coconut/hemp milk, oil, vanilla extract, bananas, pumpkin or applesauce, orange juice and maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Mix in pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of the orange zest, and additional nuts.
4. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a shallow 8 x 14" baking pan/dish (for bars) or line muffin tin.
5. Pour batter into baking dish. Smooth out for bars.
6. Combine another 1/4 cup of maple syrup with a little cinnamon, and the other tsp of orange zest. Drizzle this over the top of the bars or muffins and then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds over the top.
7. bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your bars/muffins are. These should be lightly browned at the edges and you can always use a tootpick/knife/other long skinny object to poke in the middle and see if they're done.
8. Remove and let cool. I ate these every morning for breakfast, sometimes I'd even have two. They're great alone, or crumbled into chunks over fruit (I used diced honey crisp apples, a sliced banana, and an orange cut into bit size pieces) with vanilla almond milk and cinnamon. Mmmm mmm!!! I also tried just dipping it in my vanilla almond milk, and with jam -- both of which were also delicious!
I must fess up -- I snagged the one that is missing before taking this picture to make sure they were finished. Turns out they were, and they were also very delicious.:) They also kept me full for a very long time which is also a plus so you're not eating these calories (since carbs usually leave me pretty hungry a couple hours later) and then quickly consuing a whole bunch more from getting hungry again fast.
I am finally back to running and working out again after taking a 6 day hiatus because I was sick. Even those 6 days were almost too much for me to take. On the night of day 5, I started crying and had to explain to Patrick that nothing was really wrong, I simply just wanted to go on a run! Luckily, he understood and didn't think I was a crazy. :) The first day back, I ran a short 3.5 miles while listening to Michael Buble' in the amazing 48 degree weather, and yesterday I had a great workout at the gym for two solid hours -- just what I needed:) I may not be completely better so I'm not going to go balls to the wall just yet, but I am getting better and want to keep getting better so those 7 milers are going to have to wait until next week most likely. I did run a good 7.26 (thank you to map my run, I know exactly how far I went) the day before taking my wonderful/horrid 6 days off.
Something else that has been going on in my life is some spring (fall) cleaning. Not my house though, my life.:) In college (as most of you know), you have a lot of friends. Some are genuine and love you and have you're best interests at heart (and vice versa), but there are some that try to put on this face of the genuine friend but in fact end up coming very short of the genuine friend. These are the people that I literally do not have time for (I hardly have time for my genuine friends!), they suck energy, and this may sound a little selfish (but sometimes you have to be because you are who you are so you must do what makes you happy) but they don't give you anything. I'm not talking about physical posessions or drinks at the bar, what I mean is they don't contribute to your happiness. I'm also not talking about your best friend who you're in a huge fight with right now because those things happen. This might sound harsh to smoe of you but as you also know, I'm very into supreme happiness and how people get there. There are no right steps in some specific order for all of us because we all have to be true to our own selves. This is exactly what I'm doing, being true to myself and my wants and needs. My house did also get a little bit of a face-lift and I have been cleaning more often and more deeply (thank you Mom & Dad for the new vacuum!) which contributes to my happiness so that can count for the spring (fall) cleaning too:)
I'm sure a lot of you have tried, heard of, or seen these Garden of Eatin' chips at the store. I have, and I'll be honest I didn't try them because they had more calories than the Guiltless Gourmet chips I keep buying. Well, Patrick and I have been going through the salsa and chips like nobody's business (highly recommend Frontera's salsa (in all varieties -- you can not go wrong!) and he was not a fan of the Guiltless Gourmet (the spicy bean flavored was better for him, but didn't go so well with the Pineapple Mango Frontera slasa we had in the frige). So last night, we got a little hungry and made a trip down to Market Street. I was getting a little tired of the Guiltless Gourmet myself and decided to make the switch! I got the Multi Grain with Sea Salt and they're SO GOOD! They have flax seeds in them too so they have a little nutiness which is great and they aren't too salty like most chips are. I believe for 16 chips its 140 calories which isn't much different than the 18 chips for 120 that the Guiltless Gourmet offered, but they're also a very welcome change:) Not that I won't be buying my Guiltless Gourmet again, or that I'm bad mouthing them now that I found these -- no way. But 3 bags of them in one week for a couple weeks in a row did get to be a lot of the same after the same after the same. So with that, I highly recommend these marvelous chips! I took a picture but it isn't wanting to load. I'll leave you with that and I hope you have a great week!:)
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ohh Sangria & Peanut Butter...
I'd like to apologize: I thought this had been posted last Sunday (as in not yesterday, but the one before), and just now saw that this was saved to edit. Woops! You'll be getting 2 this week instead then:)
So besides the Texas Tech vs Texas game on Saturday, this week has been pretty OK. Stressfull to say the very least but I finally feel like it's lightening up. Yesterday all my Business Stats homework was due, I took my Marketing test, I took my Sports Nutrition test today, had my kitchen manager conference for my dinner series class yesterday so that will be over tomorrow -- thank goodness I feel like my load is finally lifting! I do need to get my butt to Stats tutoring though for my test next week, and we have more homework due Tuesday but that will be more manageable now that everything else will have calmed down so yay for that:)
The good thing about the game on Saturday though was the DELICIOUS food!! It probably (definitely) wasn't the best thing I could have eaten as far as fat content, but the brisket and pork shoulder were nothing short of amazing. My homemade bbq sauce was also a big hit which made my heart smile:)
Friday night, my family and Patrick's family went to La Diosa (a wine bar here in Lubbock) and drank about 4 pitchers of their sangria (you might be able to order it over the phone; here is the website -- http://www.ladiosacellars.com/aboutus.html )-- it's amazing. So if you like sangria, I'd definitely see about ordering a few bottles. If you live in the Lubbock area though, you can get it at Market Street for half the price at $7.50 a bottle. At La Diosa, they add a can of sprite and an orange slice to the mix. I personally like it all alone with an orange wheel over ice:) It does have a way of making me feel glowy and giggly! I absolutely LOVED having my family and Patrick's family in town!
Momma took me grocery shopping on Friday and on our little trip we got some PB2. I've had it before, and used to eat it like it was an addiction, but you know how sometimes when you eat too much of something in a short time, you don't really want it again for a LONG time after that? Well, that's what happened. However, if you're a peanut butter lover, (I'm more of an almond butter or cashew butter girl myself but still thought I'd give it a try and you'll see why--) this is an awesome product. It's compressed peanuts in the form of powder. They get rid of all the oils and you can get it in plain peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter (I've only had the chocolate which is delicious). At 45 calories for 2 Tbsp, and 10 from fat, you can't really get any better. It's still simple ingredients which is always important.
Hope you had a great week since I didn't get to wish you a good one last Sunday, and I hope this one is even better.:)
So besides the Texas Tech vs Texas game on Saturday, this week has been pretty OK. Stressfull to say the very least but I finally feel like it's lightening up. Yesterday all my Business Stats homework was due, I took my Marketing test, I took my Sports Nutrition test today, had my kitchen manager conference for my dinner series class yesterday so that will be over tomorrow -- thank goodness I feel like my load is finally lifting! I do need to get my butt to Stats tutoring though for my test next week, and we have more homework due Tuesday but that will be more manageable now that everything else will have calmed down so yay for that:)
The good thing about the game on Saturday though was the DELICIOUS food!! It probably (definitely) wasn't the best thing I could have eaten as far as fat content, but the brisket and pork shoulder were nothing short of amazing. My homemade bbq sauce was also a big hit which made my heart smile:)
Friday night, my family and Patrick's family went to La Diosa (a wine bar here in Lubbock) and drank about 4 pitchers of their sangria (you might be able to order it over the phone; here is the website -- http://www.ladiosacellars.com/aboutus.html )-- it's amazing. So if you like sangria, I'd definitely see about ordering a few bottles. If you live in the Lubbock area though, you can get it at Market Street for half the price at $7.50 a bottle. At La Diosa, they add a can of sprite and an orange slice to the mix. I personally like it all alone with an orange wheel over ice:) It does have a way of making me feel glowy and giggly! I absolutely LOVED having my family and Patrick's family in town!
Momma took me grocery shopping on Friday and on our little trip we got some PB2. I've had it before, and used to eat it like it was an addiction, but you know how sometimes when you eat too much of something in a short time, you don't really want it again for a LONG time after that? Well, that's what happened. However, if you're a peanut butter lover, (I'm more of an almond butter or cashew butter girl myself but still thought I'd give it a try and you'll see why--) this is an awesome product. It's compressed peanuts in the form of powder. They get rid of all the oils and you can get it in plain peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter (I've only had the chocolate which is delicious). At 45 calories for 2 Tbsp, and 10 from fat, you can't really get any better. It's still simple ingredients which is always important.
Hope you had a great week since I didn't get to wish you a good one last Sunday, and I hope this one is even better.:)
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Love of My Life is Quite Possibly BBQ
19 hours is. A. Lot. A lot a lot. I didn't realize how much organization it would take. I think a lot of it is me still getting settled but a lot of it too is there is just a bunch of school stuff going on. 5 Projects all due roughly at the same time. This wouldn't be awful if it was just me, but because they're group and most college students like to procrastinate it'll be difficult to juggle them all at the same time. Not to mention, they're all relatively pretty huge. The biggest being my Skyviews dinner series. Skyviews is a Texas Tech run restaurant that is located on University and 19th on the 6th floor of the Bank of America building. What we do in dinner series is partner up with somebody, the chef gives us a featured item (mine is beef medallions), we come up with a theme, get decorations, prepare it (I will not be preparing the beef medallions but the pot roast which is for another group -- this is what you do when you are the kitchen manager), invite everybody you know and make the reservations (100 people is what it takes to make the grade), and you manage the restaurant for that night. You also work with the two other groups in your week and collaborate on everything. We'll just see how this goes. I'm not too concerned, but I hate when I can't do much yet (mine is October 27th so it's hard to get reservations and trust people won't forget this far in advance). Frankly, it stresses me out. Fortunately or unfortunately -- however you want to look at it, I stress on the inside and rarely actually show it outwardly. So, I guess that is unfortunate for me and my little nerves as well as the people I may yell at on the road (in my car -- they don't hear me but they may think I look a little funny), but fortunate for everybody else;) The bright side is after this semester I'm pretty sure I'll be positive I can take on the world. This is even harder than working in the restaurant for 40 hours in 3 days. Yuck.
It's been hard to make a lot of different recipes because I've been on a budget for one (trying), and school is just taking up a lot of mental capacity as well as time. There just isn't much creative juice at the end of the day, and I feel like I'm "wasting" my time when I spend the time coming up with something new. That will change as the semester goes on. I'm already getting better about it. Today I had lunch with my mom and our family friend Ruth who told me "Life by the inch is a cinch. Life by the yard is hard. Life by the mile is a trial." So true. I've been telling myself to not look too far into the future (and by that I mean next week or the week after -- too many tests and papers and projects and homework!! Talk about mental overload!!). The farthest I'm letting myself look is the end of the week just to make sure I'm on top of everything, but I take it day by day. It seems to be helping a lot with the stress. And that's another thing, I am not a very stressed out person at all so this is something I'm learning to deal with. Running/swimming/gym, you are my savior in this respect.
However, in the midst of all the crazyness I make sure I have time for fun:) Fun is necessary for happiness afterall. This weekend I went home to Dallas with Patrick to see his mom and step-dad which was SO MUCH FUN! Big boost towards happiness;) Not to mention a much needed break. We went to the Rangers v. Yankees game on Friday night where the Blue Man Group did the national anthem and a little 5 minute number after the show -- followed by fireworks!! :) Then the next day we hung out with his family and went to Frankies to watch the Tech/NM game -- Wreck Em' Tech! This weekend is also the Tech/Texas game and it's here on our home turf. Pretty excited!! My mom is already here (though she isn't going to the game) and my dad and sister are driving out on Friday. Sarah (my sister) went to UT so it'll be a good game either way;) I'm making the BBQ sauce for the tailgate so I'll be sure and post that recipe after it's been made and fine-tuned:)
But back to the not cooking new things as much. What I have been doing a lot of is making shakes for breakfast and maybe having a handfull of cereal to go with it (Kashi cinnamon harvest is what I've been munching on lately -- love those whole grains!) To do this, I take 1 cup of Organic Pacific Vanilla Almond milk (70 calories per cup), roughly 1 - 2 (probably usually in the 1.5 cup area) cups frozen or fresh peaches/bananas/blueberries/rasperries/strawberries/mango/etc. Whatever combo you so desire:) Sometimes I throw in a little cocoa powder (I rarely measure it, I just start with 1 Tbsp and add on from there -- 1 Tbsp is about 20 calories) and then blend! Lately it's been the almond milk + strawberries + 1/2 banana + cocoa powder. This morning I switched it up with almond milk + frozen peaches + frozen rasperries + blueberries + cocoa powder + lavender infused honey (I got this in San Antonio at the Pearl Brewery farmers market they hold on Saturday mornings). D'LISH! I've officially moved on from the strawberry banana concoction:) Lunch sometimes will be just a cherry dark chocolate Kashi bar when I can't make it home and have to live off what I bring to school, but I've also been making a lot of healthy bbq sandwiches. Here is how I make these:
Ingredients:
Organic free range chicken tenders
Stubbs chicken marinade OR their texas steakhouse marinade
Stubbs smoky mesquite bbq sauce
Orowheat double fiber bread (1-2 slices whether you are wanting a half or a whole -- I usually make a half but 2 tenders should be enough for a whole as well)
Pickles (I like Claussen sandwich slices)
To keep chicken (and this also helps to tenderize as well as absorb the marinade better), I put it in a plastic baggie (usually 2 tenders to a bag) and put the marinade in with it (just enough to cover the chicken -- it doesn't have to be completely submerged). Then I put it in the freezer. Even if I know I'm going to be making it the next day, I just like what it does for the flavor and texture of the chicken.
When it's time to actually make the chicken, I take it out of the freezer and run it under ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER and let it sit for about 20 minutes (until thawed). While I'm doing this, I preheat the oven to 375. When my chicken is thawed, I place it in the foil with the marinade and close it on all sides so the chicken is in a little pouch. Now I pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes (this is for both tenders). Once done, I put the bread in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Now I tear the chicken (I like tearing more than cutting because it goes with the grain) and place on half of the bread. Top with the bbq sauce, the pickles and finally the other half of the bread. ENJOY!!:)
This is great for college and for bbq lovers -- SO much healthier than the fatty beef and white bread you get at bbq places and just as good in my opinion.
Dinner is whatever I'm feeling like. Either veggies, something from Market Street, chicken, a salad, whatever. I do try to keep it healthy and I'm trying to not eat after 7-8 PM. I have been drinking a lot of sangria and shiraz in these hours though;)
Have a good night and be happy<3
It's been hard to make a lot of different recipes because I've been on a budget for one (trying), and school is just taking up a lot of mental capacity as well as time. There just isn't much creative juice at the end of the day, and I feel like I'm "wasting" my time when I spend the time coming up with something new. That will change as the semester goes on. I'm already getting better about it. Today I had lunch with my mom and our family friend Ruth who told me "Life by the inch is a cinch. Life by the yard is hard. Life by the mile is a trial." So true. I've been telling myself to not look too far into the future (and by that I mean next week or the week after -- too many tests and papers and projects and homework!! Talk about mental overload!!). The farthest I'm letting myself look is the end of the week just to make sure I'm on top of everything, but I take it day by day. It seems to be helping a lot with the stress. And that's another thing, I am not a very stressed out person at all so this is something I'm learning to deal with. Running/swimming/gym, you are my savior in this respect.
However, in the midst of all the crazyness I make sure I have time for fun:) Fun is necessary for happiness afterall. This weekend I went home to Dallas with Patrick to see his mom and step-dad which was SO MUCH FUN! Big boost towards happiness;) Not to mention a much needed break. We went to the Rangers v. Yankees game on Friday night where the Blue Man Group did the national anthem and a little 5 minute number after the show -- followed by fireworks!! :) Then the next day we hung out with his family and went to Frankies to watch the Tech/NM game -- Wreck Em' Tech! This weekend is also the Tech/Texas game and it's here on our home turf. Pretty excited!! My mom is already here (though she isn't going to the game) and my dad and sister are driving out on Friday. Sarah (my sister) went to UT so it'll be a good game either way;) I'm making the BBQ sauce for the tailgate so I'll be sure and post that recipe after it's been made and fine-tuned:)
This is us at the Rangers game:) 13 innings is a long game, that's for sure! But it helped to make up for my 11 years of not being to a baseball game -- that's a long time for anyone let alone a sports lover. Apparently the Rangers and Yankees knew that so they tried to help me out;)
Gorgeous sunset on our drive back to Lubbock last night -- just wanted to share:)
But back to the not cooking new things as much. What I have been doing a lot of is making shakes for breakfast and maybe having a handfull of cereal to go with it (Kashi cinnamon harvest is what I've been munching on lately -- love those whole grains!) To do this, I take 1 cup of Organic Pacific Vanilla Almond milk (70 calories per cup), roughly 1 - 2 (probably usually in the 1.5 cup area) cups frozen or fresh peaches/bananas/blueberries/rasperries/strawberries/mango/etc. Whatever combo you so desire:) Sometimes I throw in a little cocoa powder (I rarely measure it, I just start with 1 Tbsp and add on from there -- 1 Tbsp is about 20 calories) and then blend! Lately it's been the almond milk + strawberries + 1/2 banana + cocoa powder. This morning I switched it up with almond milk + frozen peaches + frozen rasperries + blueberries + cocoa powder + lavender infused honey (I got this in San Antonio at the Pearl Brewery farmers market they hold on Saturday mornings). D'LISH! I've officially moved on from the strawberry banana concoction:) Lunch sometimes will be just a cherry dark chocolate Kashi bar when I can't make it home and have to live off what I bring to school, but I've also been making a lot of healthy bbq sandwiches. Here is how I make these:
Ingredients:
Organic free range chicken tenders
Stubbs chicken marinade OR their texas steakhouse marinade
Stubbs smoky mesquite bbq sauce
Orowheat double fiber bread (1-2 slices whether you are wanting a half or a whole -- I usually make a half but 2 tenders should be enough for a whole as well)
Pickles (I like Claussen sandwich slices)
To keep chicken (and this also helps to tenderize as well as absorb the marinade better), I put it in a plastic baggie (usually 2 tenders to a bag) and put the marinade in with it (just enough to cover the chicken -- it doesn't have to be completely submerged). Then I put it in the freezer. Even if I know I'm going to be making it the next day, I just like what it does for the flavor and texture of the chicken.
When it's time to actually make the chicken, I take it out of the freezer and run it under ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER and let it sit for about 20 minutes (until thawed). While I'm doing this, I preheat the oven to 375. When my chicken is thawed, I place it in the foil with the marinade and close it on all sides so the chicken is in a little pouch. Now I pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes (this is for both tenders). Once done, I put the bread in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Now I tear the chicken (I like tearing more than cutting because it goes with the grain) and place on half of the bread. Top with the bbq sauce, the pickles and finally the other half of the bread. ENJOY!!:)
This is great for college and for bbq lovers -- SO much healthier than the fatty beef and white bread you get at bbq places and just as good in my opinion.
Dinner is whatever I'm feeling like. Either veggies, something from Market Street, chicken, a salad, whatever. I do try to keep it healthy and I'm trying to not eat after 7-8 PM. I have been drinking a lot of sangria and shiraz in these hours though;)
Have a good night and be happy<3
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Change comes with time
I'm not even sure how long it has been since I last updated. To sum everything up, I've been busy with ending my internship, moving to Lubbock, starting school and now looking for a job. I wasn't sure I wanted to even continue the blog but I realized that I really do love sharing what I know with people. I felt like I was running out of new information to write these long posts, but I realized a few of things; 1) The posts do not have to be so lengthy, 2) I don't have to press myself to come up with things daily and 3) I am taking a Sports Nutrition class this semester so I'm sure to have a lot of information to post.
As for training, I'll just leave that to be whatever as of right now. I'm still wanting to do the marathon, I'm nervous however about over training. I just ordered new shoes (I needed them DESPERATELY) because I could feel these getting crappier with every run, which is just asking for a plantar fasciitis flair up. Here's the new game plan; train in one month (officially) for the marathon. If I don't have the time, or I start to feel like my foot is giving in, I'll stop. I get daily e-mails from runnersworld.com and this one had the headline of "Train for a Marathon in 1 Month" so I opened it and thought it looked like something I'd not yet tried. There are two catches -- it is one month yes, but you start at 12 miles. So officially, it'll be 1 month but I'll be getting up to 12 miles (or sustaining) until the official training start date. The second catch is that they say your only goal with this plan is to finish without any expectations. That is the hard one for me because I like to set a goal and surpass it (my goal being to beat the 4 hour mark). But, my first goal was to finish the marathon so I better just stick to tackling that one until I know I can do it without injury. If however, this does not work out, I will run the half marathon and call it good. From then, I'll be sticking to mostly triathalons once I get better at swimming laps without stopping.
The Happiness Project is a GREAT book and I highly recommend it to everybody:) I feel like I may have mentioned that in my last post, but regardless it deserves to be said again.
I am VERY READY for fall! I love the sunshine and all that it brings, but fall is oh-so cozy and I'm ready for the boots, jeans, ski trips, running in my northface pull over, snow, red noses, and football games where you won't sweat your buns off:)
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
-Alan Watts
As for training, I'll just leave that to be whatever as of right now. I'm still wanting to do the marathon, I'm nervous however about over training. I just ordered new shoes (I needed them DESPERATELY) because I could feel these getting crappier with every run, which is just asking for a plantar fasciitis flair up. Here's the new game plan; train in one month (officially) for the marathon. If I don't have the time, or I start to feel like my foot is giving in, I'll stop. I get daily e-mails from runnersworld.com and this one had the headline of "Train for a Marathon in 1 Month" so I opened it and thought it looked like something I'd not yet tried. There are two catches -- it is one month yes, but you start at 12 miles. So officially, it'll be 1 month but I'll be getting up to 12 miles (or sustaining) until the official training start date. The second catch is that they say your only goal with this plan is to finish without any expectations. That is the hard one for me because I like to set a goal and surpass it (my goal being to beat the 4 hour mark). But, my first goal was to finish the marathon so I better just stick to tackling that one until I know I can do it without injury. If however, this does not work out, I will run the half marathon and call it good. From then, I'll be sticking to mostly triathalons once I get better at swimming laps without stopping.
The Happiness Project is a GREAT book and I highly recommend it to everybody:) I feel like I may have mentioned that in my last post, but regardless it deserves to be said again.
I am VERY READY for fall! I love the sunshine and all that it brings, but fall is oh-so cozy and I'm ready for the boots, jeans, ski trips, running in my northface pull over, snow, red noses, and football games where you won't sweat your buns off:)
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
-Alan Watts
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Guilt, Overload, Happiness & Monster Muffins:)
So, I was feeling guilty for not updating as much as I said I would from the very start (and then it dwindled to once a week and now I let it get to 2 weeks). But I was reading somebody's blog the other day and it actually talked about how we always feel guilty when we don't update, like we let people down (which is exactly how I feel). She went into how we started a blog for fun, beyond whatever the other reasons are (mine were because I love food and creating new recipes and above all I really wanted to be a source for those who can not have lactose or want to improve what they eat but don't know where to start). So, that helped me a little bit to get over my guilt. The blogger talked about how it's the same feeling you get when you're a little kid and didn't do your homework so now you're having to tell the teacher why you didn't. Makes sense, doesn't it?:)
Truth is, I didn't want to blog just about my internship which is what it would have been if I'd posted any sooner. I've been so busy with work that I haven't created, let alone tried any new recipes or even made any huge trips to the grocery store to "discover" any new food I want to share. I've been working in the mornings mostly, so when I get off and it's time for my "day", I'm so exhausted I just come home, make something easy (and healthy), and pass out. This week however will be different. I work a lot of nights, so I get to have my "day" early on! Hooray:) More cooking/creating/blogging time!:)
Obviously, I'm having a bit of trouble with time management and probably taking on too much. Not too much anything -- that I could handle more of, but many athletic goals. I started swimming, which I've had 3 lessons out of 5 and if I don't even have the last two I still feel like I got out of it what I wanted. With that I want to do a triathalon which I've reluctantly put slightly to the side to make room for work and a marathon. Then you have the marathon -- the doozy that I'm battling with. It's not that the training is hard, I'm not even that far into it. I've fun farther for fun -- today was supposed to be a 9 mile long run. However, I fall into this every time I start to train and that is that training sucks the fun out of running for me. I hate having to have to run -- but I love getting up in the morning and just running 9 miles because I have the time or maybe I planned to do it the following morning the night before. There is something about training, I'm not sure what it is. Maybe all the complicated things I know I should be doing like the fartleks and the drills, but I hate having to make time for those too. I do sprints, and weights and I cross train like crazy but that's it. So here I am, in debate. Do I force myself to do this life goal? Or do I take a step back, do the half marathon's for a while and do that when the timing feels right? When I want to do things, I want to do them now and have a hard time waiting. But the voice in my head is speaking up a little more this time and it's telling me that I won't enjoy it if I hate the training. Who runs a marathon when they don't like running anyway? I love running. But right now, it's more of a frustration than an outlet for me. Thoughts? I've also taken up boxing. I get the GroupOn notifications and got a coupon for training like a fighter at Club K.O. I LOVE IT!! I loved punching the crap out of the bag, I loved the drills, I loved seeing all kinds of people in this club from super fit to morbidl obese wanting to work on their fitness -- because it wasn't easy let me tell you, but not so hard I couldn't do it. However, I'm feeling a little sore today and cannot WAIT to go back!! I got 25 classes for $25 with my GroupOn and I have only 3 weeks left here in SA. I fully intend to use as many of those as I can. That also interferes with training though of course! It counts as cross training, sure. But I want to do it as much as possible, not just once a week. So with that I have a couple to 3 days a week of running, then a couple days for boxing, a couple for swimming and one for weights. They can over lap, but I can't over expend my energy because at work I need a sharp mind and I'm constantly moving and thinking. Oh what to do, what to do?
The countdown is on and only 3 more weeks left until I'm back in Lubbock. I'm excited, but now I'm also very reluctant to leave my actual family (Mom, Dad, Sarah - in Austin, and Dakota -- the family dog) as well as my work family. I've come to love being around them (I already knew this about my family family--I'm talking about my Kona "family") and I look forward to going to work every day and seeing everybody and working hard with them. I'm really going to miss it this next year. Although I really want to travel, which I think I still with for a while if I have the funds; if I was offered a job at Kona, it would be a really hard decision for me to decide whether to take it or move across the ocean and apprentice for awhile. The experience of moving would be amazing, and being in the new place would be amazing, but I wouldn't have the family (family family, friends family, and work family) that I have here. We'll see, I suppose it's a year off but I want to start thinking now. This is if not the rest of my life, a huge part of my future and who I am/will be.
Quite a deep post:) A lot has been going on in this ol' noggin of mine that's for sure.:)
As for food, I found this recipe I have not yet made on green muffins made with spinich. Sounds awful right? Well I think they actually look really good and I've had a couple friends make them and have heard good things. I'll make them soon, but I haven't had the time. And I'm not much of a muffin person because they're usually loaded with sugar but these aren't so much:) Monster Muffin Recipe
I've also switched back to almond milk for the time being. I compared labels one day and came to find that almond milk generally has less chemicals than coconut milk. Maybe some of them are naturally occuring but I don't really think so or it wouldn't be on the ingredient label. I'm currently drinking the Pacific organic almond milk which is good and nutty, but I really enjoyed the Silk almond milk -- quite delicious.:)
I've also managed to get halfway through the Happiness Project! Me and this woman are nothing alike. First of all, she's married with kids and into law and politics. She's written books on Churchill and JFK and she seems fairly serious and doesn't have a ton of interests. However, even though I think we're as different as different can be, I love the book because I find that a lot of what she says is true and helpful! I think of myself as a pretty happy person, very happy a lot of the time. But this book has made me think about starting my own happiness project and picking something to work on for one month, adding on to it each month for a year to become happier and better yourself as a person. I definitely think everyone should read this. It has chapters on parenting and marriage but it's all relative, you can apply it to any relationship in your life. Did you know that because women are more empathetic, spending time with women increases your overall life satisfaction where as spending time with men does not at all? And women bond being face to face with a person where men can being side by side which is why women are usually the ones trying to bring up more meaningful conversations and wanting to "talk" so much with their spouse/boyfriend. I thought that was interesting:) It was in the chapter on marriage.
Eat to Live is still sitting on my bedside table staring at me. So is New Good Food. New Good Food though I feel is more of something to have, read through once, and then refer back to. Maybe take some notes on it as well which is what I'm planning to do when I can find the time and not feel like I'm going to fall asleep during the middle of the task. I'll get to them though, I promise. Odds are you'll have to be patient or give up on waiting and go read it first.:) And if you do, let me know what you think.;)
So for my birthday, on top of my marvelous knives -- I got a hand mixer/immersion blender and an olive oil spritzer from my parents, and my sister got me some really cute earrings! Yay, such a good birthday!:) I can't wait to use the cooking stuff! I've already worn the earrings and gotten many compliments:) It sure is great to have a sister who shares the same style as you, makes gift buying super easy and the recipient is pretty much guaranteed to love it.:)
"Perfection is unattainable, but as we strive for it, we might just reach excellence."-Vince Lombarde
Truth is, I didn't want to blog just about my internship which is what it would have been if I'd posted any sooner. I've been so busy with work that I haven't created, let alone tried any new recipes or even made any huge trips to the grocery store to "discover" any new food I want to share. I've been working in the mornings mostly, so when I get off and it's time for my "day", I'm so exhausted I just come home, make something easy (and healthy), and pass out. This week however will be different. I work a lot of nights, so I get to have my "day" early on! Hooray:) More cooking/creating/blogging time!:)
Obviously, I'm having a bit of trouble with time management and probably taking on too much. Not too much anything -- that I could handle more of, but many athletic goals. I started swimming, which I've had 3 lessons out of 5 and if I don't even have the last two I still feel like I got out of it what I wanted. With that I want to do a triathalon which I've reluctantly put slightly to the side to make room for work and a marathon. Then you have the marathon -- the doozy that I'm battling with. It's not that the training is hard, I'm not even that far into it. I've fun farther for fun -- today was supposed to be a 9 mile long run. However, I fall into this every time I start to train and that is that training sucks the fun out of running for me. I hate having to have to run -- but I love getting up in the morning and just running 9 miles because I have the time or maybe I planned to do it the following morning the night before. There is something about training, I'm not sure what it is. Maybe all the complicated things I know I should be doing like the fartleks and the drills, but I hate having to make time for those too. I do sprints, and weights and I cross train like crazy but that's it. So here I am, in debate. Do I force myself to do this life goal? Or do I take a step back, do the half marathon's for a while and do that when the timing feels right? When I want to do things, I want to do them now and have a hard time waiting. But the voice in my head is speaking up a little more this time and it's telling me that I won't enjoy it if I hate the training. Who runs a marathon when they don't like running anyway? I love running. But right now, it's more of a frustration than an outlet for me. Thoughts? I've also taken up boxing. I get the GroupOn notifications and got a coupon for training like a fighter at Club K.O. I LOVE IT!! I loved punching the crap out of the bag, I loved the drills, I loved seeing all kinds of people in this club from super fit to morbidl obese wanting to work on their fitness -- because it wasn't easy let me tell you, but not so hard I couldn't do it. However, I'm feeling a little sore today and cannot WAIT to go back!! I got 25 classes for $25 with my GroupOn and I have only 3 weeks left here in SA. I fully intend to use as many of those as I can. That also interferes with training though of course! It counts as cross training, sure. But I want to do it as much as possible, not just once a week. So with that I have a couple to 3 days a week of running, then a couple days for boxing, a couple for swimming and one for weights. They can over lap, but I can't over expend my energy because at work I need a sharp mind and I'm constantly moving and thinking. Oh what to do, what to do?
The countdown is on and only 3 more weeks left until I'm back in Lubbock. I'm excited, but now I'm also very reluctant to leave my actual family (Mom, Dad, Sarah - in Austin, and Dakota -- the family dog) as well as my work family. I've come to love being around them (I already knew this about my family family--I'm talking about my Kona "family") and I look forward to going to work every day and seeing everybody and working hard with them. I'm really going to miss it this next year. Although I really want to travel, which I think I still with for a while if I have the funds; if I was offered a job at Kona, it would be a really hard decision for me to decide whether to take it or move across the ocean and apprentice for awhile. The experience of moving would be amazing, and being in the new place would be amazing, but I wouldn't have the family (family family, friends family, and work family) that I have here. We'll see, I suppose it's a year off but I want to start thinking now. This is if not the rest of my life, a huge part of my future and who I am/will be.
Quite a deep post:) A lot has been going on in this ol' noggin of mine that's for sure.:)
As for food, I found this recipe I have not yet made on green muffins made with spinich. Sounds awful right? Well I think they actually look really good and I've had a couple friends make them and have heard good things. I'll make them soon, but I haven't had the time. And I'm not much of a muffin person because they're usually loaded with sugar but these aren't so much:) Monster Muffin Recipe
I've also switched back to almond milk for the time being. I compared labels one day and came to find that almond milk generally has less chemicals than coconut milk. Maybe some of them are naturally occuring but I don't really think so or it wouldn't be on the ingredient label. I'm currently drinking the Pacific organic almond milk which is good and nutty, but I really enjoyed the Silk almond milk -- quite delicious.:)
I've also managed to get halfway through the Happiness Project! Me and this woman are nothing alike. First of all, she's married with kids and into law and politics. She's written books on Churchill and JFK and she seems fairly serious and doesn't have a ton of interests. However, even though I think we're as different as different can be, I love the book because I find that a lot of what she says is true and helpful! I think of myself as a pretty happy person, very happy a lot of the time. But this book has made me think about starting my own happiness project and picking something to work on for one month, adding on to it each month for a year to become happier and better yourself as a person. I definitely think everyone should read this. It has chapters on parenting and marriage but it's all relative, you can apply it to any relationship in your life. Did you know that because women are more empathetic, spending time with women increases your overall life satisfaction where as spending time with men does not at all? And women bond being face to face with a person where men can being side by side which is why women are usually the ones trying to bring up more meaningful conversations and wanting to "talk" so much with their spouse/boyfriend. I thought that was interesting:) It was in the chapter on marriage.
Eat to Live is still sitting on my bedside table staring at me. So is New Good Food. New Good Food though I feel is more of something to have, read through once, and then refer back to. Maybe take some notes on it as well which is what I'm planning to do when I can find the time and not feel like I'm going to fall asleep during the middle of the task. I'll get to them though, I promise. Odds are you'll have to be patient or give up on waiting and go read it first.:) And if you do, let me know what you think.;)
So for my birthday, on top of my marvelous knives -- I got a hand mixer/immersion blender and an olive oil spritzer from my parents, and my sister got me some really cute earrings! Yay, such a good birthday!:) I can't wait to use the cooking stuff! I've already worn the earrings and gotten many compliments:) It sure is great to have a sister who shares the same style as you, makes gift buying super easy and the recipient is pretty much guaranteed to love it.:)
"Perfection is unattainable, but as we strive for it, we might just reach excellence."-Vince Lombarde
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Happy early Birthday to me:)
So this update is a little over due--but what else would you expect?;) Last Tuesday, I was in Lubbock and on my 7 mile long run of the week and I started to think -- I think everybody should live in West Texas for at least a year out of their lives. I feel like the world would be a much happier place! As I'm running down the road, it doesn't matter who it is whether it be a fellow student or someone working on the drainage system you almost always see a genuine smile creep up on their face followed by a hearty "Hello!" or "Hi! How are you today?". Then I'll respond just as equally happy with a very breathy response and a big smile on my face! These type of encounters go a long way to adding such a happy aura to my day:)
Following my 7 mile run, I decided I wanted to learn the bike route to school so I can be more eco-friendly in the fall. However, it was extremely hot and by the time I got to school (7 miles later--which really isn't that far), I was dripping sweat (that's the kicker -- I don't really want to be drenched and stinky by the time I get to class. However, this day I was just going to the pool so it was suitable:)). Then I swam about 25 laps (with stopping every couple) and working on my flip turn a little bit! My friends Jamie and Jessica and their brother came up as well and we played some water volleyball with some other people we had just met -- it was a good day!:) Then I got to ride my bike another scorching 7 miles home. Looks like being so eco-friendly will have to wait til the cooler months and then in the Spring when I move closer to campus. My classmates will thank me:)
I also took Dea on a mile run after I got home from my 7 mile run while I wore my 5-finger shoes. Here's the little trouper!
When I got home from my run earlier in the day, I was pretty hungry so this is what I came up with:
Collard Sandwich Wrap
1. Start by layering two (or three, I later had to add another because I had too many veggies in this to close it) leaves of washed collard (removing the stem as you see has been done here).
2. Add veggies (I'm showing mine in layers because I put sooooo many!). Here we have raw snap peas, sprouts, and baby carrots.
Here I have added the cherub and sunburst tomatoes -- Mmmm mmmm!!
And here we have orange bell pepper, a strip of cucumber (cut long ways), portobello and avodado (the avocado makes the wrap I think) and I then added some salsa (which is not shown). This is where I added the extra leaf but it's easier to just go ahead and lay two side by side and then the leaf on the bottom from the beginning.
3. Roll it all up and this is what you get! Pure, raw, deliciousness:)
I tried another time cooking the portobello, bell peppers, carrots and green beans and it just wasn't as good:( Looks like raw is the way to do this wrap!
I also got to use my brand new knives!! Happy early Birthday to me from M & D!:) <3
Williams Sanoma was having a sale on their knives and these which are Wustof Ikon Classic were marked way WAY down because this handle color is being discontinued -- AWESOME.:) Even though they're white, they won't stain! Hooray!:)
The day after my swim/bike/run, I took it easy. I tried to go to the gym, but I was just way too exhausted. Part of it was the lack of sleep I had gotten the night before more than anything but I admit, part of it was because I had drank a little bit much the night before to get up at 6 AM and have a productive run. If anything, it probably would have hurt me. Where have the days gone where I could drink myself silly and then get up at 6AM the next morning and run off my hangover? Sometimes this works, but I'm starting to feel the effects of growing up -- and it's taking a toll on my body and I do not like it. One. Bit. But, I think those days left when Junior year of college came to a close. However, you're only as old as you feel so I'm just going to stay 22 forever. :)
The following days, I'd run 5 miles or go to the gym (mostly running). Friday I ran 5 miles and then followed that with a swim lesson. My legs were pooped! He kicked my butt a little bit that day. He had me swim 4 laps back without touching the ground or stopping and he timed me. I'm a little competitive in case you didn't know that about me so I basically tried to go balls to the wall and forgot all about breathing and pace and technique so needless to say, it was rough. I'm gonna go work on that today or tomorrow. Yesterday was another long run of the week at 8 miles. Today, I think will be a weights day:) Hope ya'll have a great day! I'll post again soon:)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
42 days...
Until my half-marathon in Boulder, CO:). I literally just signed up -- & I'm really excited! I wanted to take a road trip (or plane for that matter--but they're just more expensive usually because you can't split your airfare like you can split the gas in a car with friends) somewhere the week/weekend before school starts back. It started off with Charleston, SC, then moved to Mexico, then changed to Florida...However, all these plans were never actually set. So, there I was reading my Runner's World thinking a race is just what I want to do. I knew though that the only half-marathon in Texas in August was the Hottest Half in Irving which does not sound appealing to me. At. All. So I started looking up in states around Texas and clicked on gorgeous ol' Colorado. I've always wanted to go to Boulder and this is the weekend before school so it just ended up being perfect. :) Whether or not I have anyone who wants to road trip it with me, I'm fine either way. I'm just excited about the race! It's a 10 hour drive, but I don't have school until Thursday the 26th so I can stay Sunday night and drive back down to Lubbock on Monday. Hooray!:)
This morning started with just a mile run and then an hour at the gym. Good workout! Tomorrow morning I'm up at 5:30 or 5:45 to pack and run 5 miles (pack first, run second). I'm off to Lubbock again tomorrow night-Thursday for a variety of reasons, mostly pertaining to school but I'm really excited about seeing everyone again already!:)
The Mesh Pot
Tonight for dinner was a little compilation (The Mesh Pot) of things like I usually do up at school. 1 cup whole wheat pasta, boiled snap peas, a variety of small (golden tomatoes and a random selection from the gourmet bunch I bought -- but you can never go wrong with the Nature Sweet cherubs!) tomatoes that have been boiled with the skin peeled off (takes about 5-7 minutes. You can do this in the same pot as the snap peas while the pasta boils), a sliced portobello that was cooked on the stove with olive oil spray and a little sprinkle of sea salt, olive oil, garlic salt, and a bunch of sliced fresh basil. Pretty much what you do is combine the peeled/boiled/cut (you cut them in half and then half again if you like--just one time should be enough but be sure to add the tomato juice to the concoction) tomatoes with the snap peas, portobello mushrooms, sliced basil and pasta in a bowl. Then drizzle a little olive oil--you don't need much--over the mix. Sprinkle some garlic salt and mix up! Add more garlic salt if you think it needs it:) I loved it! Fresh, and delicious mixtures like this are my favorites:)
Last night I got some good advice from Chef Rene. First thing he told me was to "Don't speak about your work. Let your work speak about you." and the second, "Don't think like a cook. Think like a chef/owner." So basically -- whatever you want to be, doesn't matter what you're doing, adopt that frame of mind and become that mentally--then you will get there.:)
I'm sure I'll be cooking a bit while I'm Lubbock so I'll be sure to add whatever it is I come up with:) Hope your day is full of lots of happiness and smiles tomorrow:) Goodnight! <3
This morning started with just a mile run and then an hour at the gym. Good workout! Tomorrow morning I'm up at 5:30 or 5:45 to pack and run 5 miles (pack first, run second). I'm off to Lubbock again tomorrow night-Thursday for a variety of reasons, mostly pertaining to school but I'm really excited about seeing everyone again already!:)
The Mesh Pot
Tonight for dinner was a little compilation (The Mesh Pot) of things like I usually do up at school. 1 cup whole wheat pasta, boiled snap peas, a variety of small (golden tomatoes and a random selection from the gourmet bunch I bought -- but you can never go wrong with the Nature Sweet cherubs!) tomatoes that have been boiled with the skin peeled off (takes about 5-7 minutes. You can do this in the same pot as the snap peas while the pasta boils), a sliced portobello that was cooked on the stove with olive oil spray and a little sprinkle of sea salt, olive oil, garlic salt, and a bunch of sliced fresh basil. Pretty much what you do is combine the peeled/boiled/cut (you cut them in half and then half again if you like--just one time should be enough but be sure to add the tomato juice to the concoction) tomatoes with the snap peas, portobello mushrooms, sliced basil and pasta in a bowl. Then drizzle a little olive oil--you don't need much--over the mix. Sprinkle some garlic salt and mix up! Add more garlic salt if you think it needs it:) I loved it! Fresh, and delicious mixtures like this are my favorites:)
Last night I got some good advice from Chef Rene. First thing he told me was to "Don't speak about your work. Let your work speak about you." and the second, "Don't think like a cook. Think like a chef/owner." So basically -- whatever you want to be, doesn't matter what you're doing, adopt that frame of mind and become that mentally--then you will get there.:)
I'm sure I'll be cooking a bit while I'm Lubbock so I'll be sure to add whatever it is I come up with:) Hope your day is full of lots of happiness and smiles tomorrow:) Goodnight! <3
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Scrumptious week of groceries:)
I had a pretty good week--minus a few blips along the way, but that's just life isn't it? Like whacking your face with your car door on your way to work because you're in a hurry, so you have to run inside to get ice making you even more late in the process -- Or maybe you're just having an off day? That happened to me on Thursday, but minus that blip...it was a very good week:)
Last Saturday (I know that technically counts as last week but since I have not updated since then, it will be included) was my sister Sarah's BBQ -- so much fun! We had a nice little dance party at the end of the night that ended in us jumping in the pool:) The next morning Sarah and I got up and went on a 4 mile run at Zilker park followed by us making the Banana Espresso Muffins I have the recipe to on here in a previous post...And also getting breakfast tacos:) Mmmm mmmm. Her oven kept turning off though so we had to use the 'stick a stick in it' test to see if they were done. Then I went to Whole Foods (my mecca) and I got a couple of things there but I mostly went for the organic cotton tee's. I got a couple for my sister and then a few more for me. I just can't get over how cheap they are while looking so cute and being sustainable for the environment!:) I love love love them. I now own 6 or 7 I believe? Then I also picked up some Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream for my sister in Almond Brownie Fudge...D'lish. Seriously, one of the best "ice creams" I've ever had. Then I got some steamed beets just to try and some more raw almond butter as well as some fruits and veggies:) But I didn't get anything out of the ordinary until I went to Central Market later in the week.
Monday I ran 5 miles. Even though I had just ran the day before, I was grumpy enough that it felt like I hadn't run in a week. Then Tuesday was swimming in the morning, then boot camp, followed by a bike ride up to my old middle school (only about 4 miles round trip) and a half mile run on their track in my Vibram shoes. The swim ended up being only about 9 or 10 laps because as it got lighter, more crickets were getting in the pool which I thought was odd. Me and bugs -- we'll we don't exactly see eye to eye;) Wednesday, I took off to run in the morning but only got about a mile out before turning back. I had the intention of running later in the day but I rested instead. Wednesday was supposed to be an off day (following Tuesday which was also an off day--two in a row never happens?!), but Chef asked me if I could come in and start saute so I did.:) Thursday, I had a really really good gym workout. I did the stairclimber and full body with weights and machines and a lot of abs. Friday was another boot camp and another off day! So I spent some time at La Cantera shopping around a little bit before going off to my swim lesson at 5. He taught me to be better at freestyle, and then the breath (breast?) stroke on my stomach and back, and then we worked on my back stroke and finally he taught me how to flip turn! I'm pretty excited--that's something I never saw myself doing because I've always had to hold my nose -- but as it turns out it's not that hard as long as you stick your landing on the wall and turn over quickly so you don't push off into the ground;) Then in the evening, Katy and I went to eat at Green -- the vegetarian restaurant again and because it's downtown-ish we decided to go to the Alamo. First, we stopped at the Menger hotel and had a drink in their bar (it's haunted supposedly) :) Then we went to Pat O'briens for a bit. This was the third time I've been actually out since being in San Antonio, and only the 4th time to have had any alcohol which is such a change from Lubbock:) It's nice though because there, pretty much all you can do is go out and while I've been known to say no to many drinks before or drinking at all--it's definitely harder to do there than it is here.
So like I said, I went to Central Market:) Here is some of the stuff I got while on my little trip there -- And some comparisons in products:)
Last Saturday (I know that technically counts as last week but since I have not updated since then, it will be included) was my sister Sarah's BBQ -- so much fun! We had a nice little dance party at the end of the night that ended in us jumping in the pool:) The next morning Sarah and I got up and went on a 4 mile run at Zilker park followed by us making the Banana Espresso Muffins I have the recipe to on here in a previous post...And also getting breakfast tacos:) Mmmm mmmm. Her oven kept turning off though so we had to use the 'stick a stick in it' test to see if they were done. Then I went to Whole Foods (my mecca) and I got a couple of things there but I mostly went for the organic cotton tee's. I got a couple for my sister and then a few more for me. I just can't get over how cheap they are while looking so cute and being sustainable for the environment!:) I love love love them. I now own 6 or 7 I believe? Then I also picked up some Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream for my sister in Almond Brownie Fudge...D'lish. Seriously, one of the best "ice creams" I've ever had. Then I got some steamed beets just to try and some more raw almond butter as well as some fruits and veggies:) But I didn't get anything out of the ordinary until I went to Central Market later in the week.
Monday I ran 5 miles. Even though I had just ran the day before, I was grumpy enough that it felt like I hadn't run in a week. Then Tuesday was swimming in the morning, then boot camp, followed by a bike ride up to my old middle school (only about 4 miles round trip) and a half mile run on their track in my Vibram shoes. The swim ended up being only about 9 or 10 laps because as it got lighter, more crickets were getting in the pool which I thought was odd. Me and bugs -- we'll we don't exactly see eye to eye;) Wednesday, I took off to run in the morning but only got about a mile out before turning back. I had the intention of running later in the day but I rested instead. Wednesday was supposed to be an off day (following Tuesday which was also an off day--two in a row never happens?!), but Chef asked me if I could come in and start saute so I did.:) Thursday, I had a really really good gym workout. I did the stairclimber and full body with weights and machines and a lot of abs. Friday was another boot camp and another off day! So I spent some time at La Cantera shopping around a little bit before going off to my swim lesson at 5. He taught me to be better at freestyle, and then the breath (breast?) stroke on my stomach and back, and then we worked on my back stroke and finally he taught me how to flip turn! I'm pretty excited--that's something I never saw myself doing because I've always had to hold my nose -- but as it turns out it's not that hard as long as you stick your landing on the wall and turn over quickly so you don't push off into the ground;) Then in the evening, Katy and I went to eat at Green -- the vegetarian restaurant again and because it's downtown-ish we decided to go to the Alamo. First, we stopped at the Menger hotel and had a drink in their bar (it's haunted supposedly) :) Then we went to Pat O'briens for a bit. This was the third time I've been actually out since being in San Antonio, and only the 4th time to have had any alcohol which is such a change from Lubbock:) It's nice though because there, pretty much all you can do is go out and while I've been known to say no to many drinks before or drinking at all--it's definitely harder to do there than it is here.
So like I said, I went to Central Market:) Here is some of the stuff I got while on my little trip there -- And some comparisons in products:)
The one on the left is called golden zucchini and the one on the right is zephyr squash. I prepared both together, sliced on the stove with a little olive oil spray, salt and pepper as well as doing the same thing in the oven only with olive oil non-spray:). They're really good -- similar to summer squash but not quite as sweet.
These are Baked Lentil Chips. The ones on the left are sea salt and on the right are cucumber dill (love the dill!). I eat them with the mozzarella almond cheese (below), or just by themselves. They have about 110 calories for 30 chips!
Oh my goodness -- heaven in my mouth. Savoy Sorbet is a local brand that I got at Central Market. You can look them up at savoysorbet.com. You can also find retail locations on the website. I have tried Chamomille Orange and Lavender. They're perfectly refreshing and even though the ones on the right are delicious as well, I would still pick these sorbets over the more decadent desserts any day! Lavender has 25 calories per ounce and 7g of sugar. Chamomille orange has 34 calories per ounce and 9g of sugar. They are made with purified water, cane sugar, organic or wild crafted herbs and other natural flavors. The Purely Decadent desserts on the right are cookie dough and chocolate peanutbutter swirl. Mmmm mmm:). 1/2 a cup of the cookie dough is 190 calories, 80 from fat, and 15g of sugar. 1/2 a cup of the peanut butter swirl is 210 calories, 120 from fat, and 12g of sugar.
These are three granolas I've compared: on the left we have Oat and Honey from the Central Market Organics brand (USDA Organic), followed by Cascadian Farms Maple granola which is also USDA Organic, and then we have Dylan's Chia granola with dried cherries. Oats and Honey has 210 calories for 1/2 cup, 60 calories from fat, 0 sodium, 33 carbs, and 9g of sugar. Cascadian Farms Maple granola has 220 calories for 2/3 cup, 40 from fat, 160g of sodium, 42 carbs and 14g of sugar. Dylan's Chia granola with dried cherries has 160 for 1/2 cup, 45 from fat, sodium 0, 25g carbs and 8g sugar. At first glance, Dylan's might look like the winner--however you must double the numbers to come up with a more accurate comparison. I love them all. Dylan's has a lot of flavor and is very chewy, but it's also not necessarily worth the 320 calories per 1/2 cup (100 calories roughly more than the other two brands and you're even getting more with the Cascadian Farms than you are with Dylan's!). I love the maple taste in the Cascadian Farms and it is the healthiest choice. However, I found I like the Oat and Honey granola from Central Market Organics to be the best fruit and milk (coconut milk that is) topper:)
I thought maybe I'd like plain oatmeal? I thought wrong. Not that it's awful--I just end up having to add some agave or honey to it to sweeten it up a bit which really defeats the whole purpose. I tried adding just fruit with it because I always put fruit in my oatmeal anyway and it was like I had a bite of this delicious sweet fruit, and then it was covered in all this mush...good brand, different flavor next time:).
Not very crazy about this. I thought this would be like the soy vanilla milk where you can just drink it when you want something sweet but no. This has 10 calories and 1g of sugar more than regular coconut milk and it really doesn't taste much different at all. I think it's acutally not even as good as the regular. Better save yourself the 10 calories and 1g of sugar for something more worth it:).
Love this stuff! From Central Market also--when you put the light agave (I'm not sure why it's light anyway, it has the same amount of sugar and same calories as regular agave--I just found that it's more runny. However it's still delicious.) on these Magic Pops (15 calories per round and made with whole wheat flour that has been puffed in the store and into these fresh little snack cakes -- perfect sub for toast), it tastes like a roasted marshmallow! So yummy:) I also like to dip the Magic Pop's in cashew butter or put apricot jam on them:) Mmm mmm.
The greatest find I've had in a long time!! ALMOND CHEESE!! I love love the mozzarella -- you can find them at central market (and they're soy free!) 50 calories per serving (1/8 of the block).
Golden raspberries -- YUMMY! Not quite as tart as regular rasperries and so yummy! I put them on toast yesterday with my cashew butter on half and the other half I had my chocolate peanutbutter. It was a different combo but it was really good:)
These are mango nectarines. They don't taste too terribly different from a regular nectarine, or at least I didn't think so but they're really good! And fun because they're different:) Maybe you'll taste a bigger difference than me if you try them!
I. Love. Tomatoes. On the left we have the Nature Sweet cherry tomatoes that I can eat like candy. In the middle we have a gourmet selection of a bunch of different kinds that I can also eat like candy. And on the right we have organic, local, sunburst tomatoes that I can also eat like candy. I do have to say though, the Nature Sweet have been my favorite for a long time and they may not be local, organic, or gourmet -- but they're still my favorite whether it be snacking, making pasta sauce with infused olive oil, salads, on eggs, roasting, whatever. They're my number one:)
So the other day I was eating some garbanzos because frankly I just love them. And I'd also read that if you eat some garbanzos, you're less likely to eat excess food throughout the rest of the day. The brand I had eaten was Progresso. The one above is the type I normally get but that was not what was available this particular day in the pantry. Immediately I tasted a very salty difference. A couple days later, I came home with these bad boys. I looked at the sodium difference -- Progresso = 470mg sodium where as these abbove had 110mg sodium. And they're organic. Looks like we have a winner:)
"Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year -- it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul." - Author unknown
Saturday, July 3, 2010
On my way :)
My swim lesson the other day was SO GOOD! I got so much out of it -- I'm really excited! I felt a little out of my element when he had me starting off holding onto the side of the pool while sticking my face in the water and blowing air bubbles. That's about the time I was thinking "I'm 21 and just taking swim lessons NOW?" but I've always had some crazy fear of deep water even though I never would really admit it. So now it is, and there I was blowing water bubbles:) But soon after, we moved to me using the kickboard with both hands and just working on my breathing, to using one hand to swim and one hand on the kick board, to actually doing laps. We then moved to arm placement -- all in 45 minutes:) My coach even said that he think's I'll be ready, or really on my way to a triathalon in about 5 weeks so we decided on 5 lessons which will be one a week. I can actually already tell a difference in my body! I love it, almost as much as running. I'll get there one day I'm sure but since I'm still new at it and I still tend to choke on water from time to time -- it'll just take a bit of getting it down. I've also been doing my 30 minutes of swimming about every other morning. I would have swam the day before yesterday but it was pouring when I got up. It was yesterday too, but I decided to suck it up and go swim (it wasn't lightning) and lucky for me -- the rain let up for those 30 minutes I swam!:) Yay!!:)
Work has continued to be crazy. Maybe even CRAZIER. I've been doing saucier and like yesterday, I bounced back between saucier and working in pantry on the line. 9-10 hour days on your feet without a break are a little exhausting. I fully intended to go out with my friend Ryan from work last night, but I was just too pooped and my head hurt even after my nap:/ I didn't even get to fit in a run! This morning I got up to go run 6 miles, but it was 5:30 when I was about to run and my Mom freaked me out a little bit about running so early even though I do it in Lubbock all the time so I opted for the gym and treadmill to find out it was closed!:( Maybe I'll get off early enough where I can run after work and before heading to Austin for my sister's bbq -- but I doubt it unfortunately:( Today may have to be an off day by default which wouldn't be awful since tomorrow I'm planning on running 6 miles at Zilker Park before going to the Whole Foods in Austin and coming back down to San Antonio. This way, my foot isn't over worked.
So yesterday, I created my tentative marathon pre-training training plan. Since my plan is 16 weeks long, I have to train to get to the 9 miles the long runs begin at. How I did this was I made a little calender for the month of July designating what I need to do every day. However, I will simply highlight what I have done even it if it is from another day in the week. I feel like when you're doing something so strenuous, you need to do what your body feels like it can do therefore this gives me the freedom to run my long runs when I feel able, rest when I need it and do intermediate work outs on those other days. I also created a food log:) We'll see how that goes since I'm hardly at home and with being at work all the time I can't really write stuff down -- but it's just to help me cut out the unnecessary snacking that goes on while I'm at work (unfortunately that's when I need my log the most--but I think if I visualize having to write it down later on, that'll help me not eat it. It's worked before!:)).
I'm also going to start my personal training certification here in a couple weeks. It's more expensive than I anticipated but I think it'll definitely be worth it in the long run. It'll take about 4-6 weeks so that's perfect for the amount of time I have remaining in the summer. I contacted the hospital I want to work at about what certifications are accepted but haven't heard anything back yet. I'll call again soon just to make sure! Hope you have a great weekend and happy 4th!:)
Work has continued to be crazy. Maybe even CRAZIER. I've been doing saucier and like yesterday, I bounced back between saucier and working in pantry on the line. 9-10 hour days on your feet without a break are a little exhausting. I fully intended to go out with my friend Ryan from work last night, but I was just too pooped and my head hurt even after my nap:/ I didn't even get to fit in a run! This morning I got up to go run 6 miles, but it was 5:30 when I was about to run and my Mom freaked me out a little bit about running so early even though I do it in Lubbock all the time so I opted for the gym and treadmill to find out it was closed!:( Maybe I'll get off early enough where I can run after work and before heading to Austin for my sister's bbq -- but I doubt it unfortunately:( Today may have to be an off day by default which wouldn't be awful since tomorrow I'm planning on running 6 miles at Zilker Park before going to the Whole Foods in Austin and coming back down to San Antonio. This way, my foot isn't over worked.
So yesterday, I created my tentative marathon pre-training training plan. Since my plan is 16 weeks long, I have to train to get to the 9 miles the long runs begin at. How I did this was I made a little calender for the month of July designating what I need to do every day. However, I will simply highlight what I have done even it if it is from another day in the week. I feel like when you're doing something so strenuous, you need to do what your body feels like it can do therefore this gives me the freedom to run my long runs when I feel able, rest when I need it and do intermediate work outs on those other days. I also created a food log:) We'll see how that goes since I'm hardly at home and with being at work all the time I can't really write stuff down -- but it's just to help me cut out the unnecessary snacking that goes on while I'm at work (unfortunately that's when I need my log the most--but I think if I visualize having to write it down later on, that'll help me not eat it. It's worked before!:)).
I'm also going to start my personal training certification here in a couple weeks. It's more expensive than I anticipated but I think it'll definitely be worth it in the long run. It'll take about 4-6 weeks so that's perfect for the amount of time I have remaining in the summer. I contacted the hospital I want to work at about what certifications are accepted but haven't heard anything back yet. I'll call again soon just to make sure! Hope you have a great weekend and happy 4th!:)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Summer is Delicious:)
Once again, as seems to be the trend of my summer -- a lot has gone on this week that's prevented me from updating. I've thought about it, but I never had the time to put into this update what I really wanted to.
I made my Mom & Dad the recipe I talked about in one of my more recent posts with the chicken, veggies, and stubbs rub as well as marinade. I made even more of it (with organic chicken from HEB Central Market), and there was even less left! I should let you know though, it was a little spicy. Bread helps cut that (says my Mom -- she's not huge into spicy) or you can use less rub. Either way, it was a hit! I'm glad it wasn't just because Patrick and I were absolutely famished the day we made it:)
Like I said, I've been reading a lot since I've been too tired to do much else. I still haven't read much of the Eat to Live because frankly...I can't get into it. I love nutrition, and maybe it's just because I'm tired and want easier reading when I'm sleepy but it's been making me drift off faster. I'll have to commit to that one once I have a bit more energy. The Happiness Project though I am really liking. One thing I am really taking away from this book is "act the way you want to feel". We usually feel the way we act, but if you're grumpy -- smile, I promise you'll feel happier. If you're tired, act with more energy and it seems to work. :) Back on the book track, I ordered another cookbook off Amazon called Clean Food by Terry Walters. I'm really excited about it! But it's also basically the cookbook I wish I had written. One day though, I'll get there and I'll come up with something similar as far a healthy and delicious but it'll have it's own special something:)
Roasted Portobello Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli (this could be a good alternative to greasy, traditional 4th of July burgers -- however I know you do need to do that from time to time, last night I had 1/2 a BLT and the bread was even white!;) But it sure filled up my soul:))
Ingredients:
Portobello mushrooms (1-2 per serving)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp minced italian herbs of choice (basil, oregano, thyme or parsley)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sourdough bread (2 slices per serving) -- I'd still recommend whole wheat or a grainy bread
Roasted red peppers, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
Avocado, thinly sliced (remember that only 1/8 of an avocado is a serving)
Romaine lettuce
Spicy honey mustard
Aioli Ingredients:
6 sun-dried tomatoes
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 1/2 cups grapeseed oil (or olive oil) mayo
2 Tbsp fress Italian herbs of choice
Pinch of sea salt
Preparing Aioli:
Soak sun dried tomatoes in hot water 15 minutes or until soft. With the food processor running, drop in garlic. Process until minced. Squeeze excess water from tomatoes and add them along with the mayonaise to processor. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed and process until smooth. Add herbs and salt and process lightly. Transfer to container and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.
Roasting Portobellos:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Wipe muschrooms with a damp towel to clean (DO NOT WASH). Discard stems and rub smooth side with olive oil. Place smooth side on cookie sheet and sprinkle insides with Italian herbs, pepper and a pinch of salt. Roast for 8-10 minutes until solf. Remove and set aside.
Assembling:
Slice bread and lightly toast. Spread aioli on toast and top wioth roasted portobello, roasted red pepper, avocado and lettuce. Spread mustard on second pice of toasted bread, top sandwich and serve warm.
This is from the Clean Food cookbook -- however, if you do not wish to make the portobellos in the oven you can also do them stovetop with a skillet, little bit of olive oil and a medium heat.
Another note: If you do not have a food processor, you can chop and mix by hand in a bowl. It's not as quick but it works. Or perhaps try a blender. I personally don't like blenders because they're such a pain to clean but to each their own:)
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/3 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp zesty honey mustard
Sea salt
Directions:
In medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients by hand or with a handheld blender.. Season to taste with salt. Vinaigrette will keep refrigerated for 1 week.
Makes 1 cup.
Jicama Strawberry Guacamole
Ingredients:
1 cup diced strawberries
1/2 cup peeled and diced jicama
1 watermelon radish, peeled and diced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced (save the pits)
1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil20
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine strawberries, jicama, watermelon radish, avocados and jalapeno. In separate bowl, combine lime juice, salt, garlic powder and oilve oil. Pour over strawberry mixture and stir until combined. If not serving immediately, place avocado pits in bowl to keep dip from turning brown, Cover and refrigerate. Before serving, remove pits and stir briefly.
(All of the above recipes are from Clean Food cookbook.)
Now here's one of my own.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
1 sweet potato (enough for sides for 2 people)
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
Sea salt
Chili powder (optional)
Multicolor peppercorns (I have a McCormick grinder -- LOVE it)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Now cut up the sweet potato into fry-like strips (I don't really have a method, I don't care if they don't look like McDonald's fries because that's not what I'm going for here:) I prefer the "home-fry" look). On a sheet pan, cover it with foil (easy clean up! I do this with everything that goes in the oven). Now lay out the fries on the foil covered sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Before you add too much, toss them in the oilve oil to see if they need more. They really only need enough to let the seasonsings stick. Now sprinkle the sea salt, pepper and/or chili powder over them. Cinnamon is also really good on these. (Usually I use just sea salt, but it's good to mix it up every once in a while). Pop in the oven and check them after about 20 minutes. They'll probably need about 20-30 though but keep an eye on them so they don't burn! Enjoy!:)
Simple Fruit Salad
Ingredients: -- buy organic if possible
Plums
Strawberries
Peaches
Cherries
Blueberries
Apricots
Basil
Sea Salt
Directions:
Cube or slice all fruit into small dice (maybe 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubed). Chop the basil until it is in small fine pieces. Add a little sea salt (depends how much of each fruit you are using, start with a tsp if your making it for a bunch of people, or just a pinch if it is just for yourself) and combine with fruit and basil and mix!
Here is one from Cooking Light below -- I wish you could see these pictures. I'm pretty sure I want to move to Australia now. :)
Tiger Prawn, Noodle, and Herb Salad
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed
12 tiger prawns (about 20 ounces)
Cooking spray (olive oil cooking spray!)
2 ounces rice vermicelli
1/2 cup thinly sliced green oinions
1/2 cup loosley packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped salted dry-roasted nut of your choice (it recommends peanuts here -- I might recommend tamari almonds)
2 finger hot chiles, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let stand 30 minutes; discard garlic.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
3. Peel prawns, leaving tails intact. Arrange prawns on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes or until done, turning once.
4. Cook noodles according to package directions. Combine noodles, green onions, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with juice mixture, tossing to coat. Top with prawns. Yield: 6 servings (2 prawns and 1/2 bowl of noodles per serving)
Nutritional info: Calories: 128; Fat 5.1g (sat 2.5g, poly 0.9g, mono 1.2g); Protein 5.4g; Carb 15.8g; Fiber 1.8g; Chol 21mg; Iron 1.2mg; Calc 33mg
Some of these recipes would be great for your 4th of July fiesta!:)
I've still been on the hunt for the perfect grocery store here in San Antonio. I've come a lot closer though! This last week I took the 25 minute car ride to HEB Central Market in the Alamo Heights area to go shopping. This is by far my favorite in San Antonio so far! I got fresh never frozen Wild Sockeye Salmon that I made for my parents the night before last (pop it in foil, sqeeze 1/2 a lemon over it, place 2 lemon slices on top, close foil, put in oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and voila! I don't like to overpower my food with other flavors so this is simple and tasty and great on salads or alone -- we had it with my Mom's garlic broccolini that I talked about in an earlier posting), organic apples (tentation--HIGHLY recommend, they didn't have fuji which is my favorite but I think I now have 2 favorites), organic berries (strawberries, blueberries and rasbperries), organic lettuce (they have a place where you can scoop it into your own bag and just FYI -- it's about 1/2 as much as buying it pre-packaged but it's the same thing), some seeds to grown my own organic lettuce and green beans, some wine, a medley of tomatoes, some big yellow tomatoes, bbq sauce, some sea salt (I'm really excited about this! I got some apricot sea salt from Australia and then I also got another type and I'm so mad at myself right now -- I thought I saved the name of it in my phone and it's not there!! Next time I go I'll have to check which one it was because you really can taste the difference), some fresh tuna and some more bumble bars and lara bars.
Let's start with my workouts. I've started training, but not really by a schedule. It's been more by how I feel and I read just yesterday, actually that could be the way to go. Have a plan that you follow, but there is no need to follow it down to the day, just the week. So that is what I have done. I have a 16 week plan from Runner's World that came in my magazine this month. This one helps with injury prevention and for those of you who personally know me, you guys know that is what I need most. My goal is to finish under 4 hours. My first goal has become to get to the starting line, and once I'm there I know I'll finish even if I have to crawl the last 5 miles (I'm sure that won't be the case -- let's just hope anyway :-) ). So, I've been running about 5-6 miles every other day or so. I've also had a day where I ran 2 to the gym, had a great workout, and 2 back (the day before yesterday), and I've also had just a plain ol' gym day which was nice since I've let those slip because I've been focusing on my running. I just have to remind myself to BALANCE rather than overdo one or the other. Today however, I'm just going to the gym before my 8PM swim lesson. Hooray! Time to FINALLY start taking those middle necessary steps towards a triathalon:) I never knew that work would be SO time consuming outside of work. Since I don't have a set schedule, it's hard to really make plans and then also sometimes I come home and I'm just so exhausted I don't want to do anything but read or flat out fall asleep. Yesterday for example, I had gotten home around 6 or so after a 9 1/2 hour Saucier shift at Kona and felt fine! Talked to Mom, Dad, my sister and some other friends. Then 8:30 came around and I was in bed reading The Happiness Project, and I passed out. Then I turned my phone off around 10 PM and slept another solid 9 hours before waking up just before 7. However, today I feel marvelous and refreshed:)
I made my Mom & Dad the recipe I talked about in one of my more recent posts with the chicken, veggies, and stubbs rub as well as marinade. I made even more of it (with organic chicken from HEB Central Market), and there was even less left! I should let you know though, it was a little spicy. Bread helps cut that (says my Mom -- she's not huge into spicy) or you can use less rub. Either way, it was a hit! I'm glad it wasn't just because Patrick and I were absolutely famished the day we made it:)
Like I said, I've been reading a lot since I've been too tired to do much else. I still haven't read much of the Eat to Live because frankly...I can't get into it. I love nutrition, and maybe it's just because I'm tired and want easier reading when I'm sleepy but it's been making me drift off faster. I'll have to commit to that one once I have a bit more energy. The Happiness Project though I am really liking. One thing I am really taking away from this book is "act the way you want to feel". We usually feel the way we act, but if you're grumpy -- smile, I promise you'll feel happier. If you're tired, act with more energy and it seems to work. :) Back on the book track, I ordered another cookbook off Amazon called Clean Food by Terry Walters. I'm really excited about it! But it's also basically the cookbook I wish I had written. One day though, I'll get there and I'll come up with something similar as far a healthy and delicious but it'll have it's own special something:)
Roasted Portobello Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli (this could be a good alternative to greasy, traditional 4th of July burgers -- however I know you do need to do that from time to time, last night I had 1/2 a BLT and the bread was even white!;) But it sure filled up my soul:))
Ingredients:
Portobello mushrooms (1-2 per serving)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp minced italian herbs of choice (basil, oregano, thyme or parsley)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sourdough bread (2 slices per serving) -- I'd still recommend whole wheat or a grainy bread
Roasted red peppers, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
Avocado, thinly sliced (remember that only 1/8 of an avocado is a serving)
Romaine lettuce
Spicy honey mustard
Aioli Ingredients:
6 sun-dried tomatoes
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 1/2 cups grapeseed oil (or olive oil) mayo
2 Tbsp fress Italian herbs of choice
Pinch of sea salt
Preparing Aioli:
Soak sun dried tomatoes in hot water 15 minutes or until soft. With the food processor running, drop in garlic. Process until minced. Squeeze excess water from tomatoes and add them along with the mayonaise to processor. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed and process until smooth. Add herbs and salt and process lightly. Transfer to container and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.
Roasting Portobellos:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Wipe muschrooms with a damp towel to clean (DO NOT WASH). Discard stems and rub smooth side with olive oil. Place smooth side on cookie sheet and sprinkle insides with Italian herbs, pepper and a pinch of salt. Roast for 8-10 minutes until solf. Remove and set aside.
Assembling:
Slice bread and lightly toast. Spread aioli on toast and top wioth roasted portobello, roasted red pepper, avocado and lettuce. Spread mustard on second pice of toasted bread, top sandwich and serve warm.
This is from the Clean Food cookbook -- however, if you do not wish to make the portobellos in the oven you can also do them stovetop with a skillet, little bit of olive oil and a medium heat.
Another note: If you do not have a food processor, you can chop and mix by hand in a bowl. It's not as quick but it works. Or perhaps try a blender. I personally don't like blenders because they're such a pain to clean but to each their own:)
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/3 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp zesty honey mustard
Sea salt
Directions:
In medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients by hand or with a handheld blender.. Season to taste with salt. Vinaigrette will keep refrigerated for 1 week.
Makes 1 cup.
Jicama Strawberry Guacamole
Ingredients:
1 cup diced strawberries
1/2 cup peeled and diced jicama
1 watermelon radish, peeled and diced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced (save the pits)
1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil20
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine strawberries, jicama, watermelon radish, avocados and jalapeno. In separate bowl, combine lime juice, salt, garlic powder and oilve oil. Pour over strawberry mixture and stir until combined. If not serving immediately, place avocado pits in bowl to keep dip from turning brown, Cover and refrigerate. Before serving, remove pits and stir briefly.
(All of the above recipes are from Clean Food cookbook.)
Now here's one of my own.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
1 sweet potato (enough for sides for 2 people)
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
Sea salt
Chili powder (optional)
Multicolor peppercorns (I have a McCormick grinder -- LOVE it)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Now cut up the sweet potato into fry-like strips (I don't really have a method, I don't care if they don't look like McDonald's fries because that's not what I'm going for here:) I prefer the "home-fry" look). On a sheet pan, cover it with foil (easy clean up! I do this with everything that goes in the oven). Now lay out the fries on the foil covered sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Before you add too much, toss them in the oilve oil to see if they need more. They really only need enough to let the seasonsings stick. Now sprinkle the sea salt, pepper and/or chili powder over them. Cinnamon is also really good on these. (Usually I use just sea salt, but it's good to mix it up every once in a while). Pop in the oven and check them after about 20 minutes. They'll probably need about 20-30 though but keep an eye on them so they don't burn! Enjoy!:)
Simple Fruit Salad
Ingredients: -- buy organic if possible
Plums
Strawberries
Peaches
Cherries
Blueberries
Apricots
Basil
Sea Salt
Directions:
Cube or slice all fruit into small dice (maybe 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubed). Chop the basil until it is in small fine pieces. Add a little sea salt (depends how much of each fruit you are using, start with a tsp if your making it for a bunch of people, or just a pinch if it is just for yourself) and combine with fruit and basil and mix!
Here is one from Cooking Light below -- I wish you could see these pictures. I'm pretty sure I want to move to Australia now. :)
Tiger Prawn, Noodle, and Herb Salad
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed
12 tiger prawns (about 20 ounces)
Cooking spray (olive oil cooking spray!)
2 ounces rice vermicelli
1/2 cup thinly sliced green oinions
1/2 cup loosley packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped salted dry-roasted nut of your choice (it recommends peanuts here -- I might recommend tamari almonds)
2 finger hot chiles, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let stand 30 minutes; discard garlic.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
3. Peel prawns, leaving tails intact. Arrange prawns on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes or until done, turning once.
4. Cook noodles according to package directions. Combine noodles, green onions, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with juice mixture, tossing to coat. Top with prawns. Yield: 6 servings (2 prawns and 1/2 bowl of noodles per serving)
Nutritional info: Calories: 128; Fat 5.1g (sat 2.5g, poly 0.9g, mono 1.2g); Protein 5.4g; Carb 15.8g; Fiber 1.8g; Chol 21mg; Iron 1.2mg; Calc 33mg
Some of these recipes would be great for your 4th of July fiesta!:)
I've still been on the hunt for the perfect grocery store here in San Antonio. I've come a lot closer though! This last week I took the 25 minute car ride to HEB Central Market in the Alamo Heights area to go shopping. This is by far my favorite in San Antonio so far! I got fresh never frozen Wild Sockeye Salmon that I made for my parents the night before last (pop it in foil, sqeeze 1/2 a lemon over it, place 2 lemon slices on top, close foil, put in oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and voila! I don't like to overpower my food with other flavors so this is simple and tasty and great on salads or alone -- we had it with my Mom's garlic broccolini that I talked about in an earlier posting), organic apples (tentation--HIGHLY recommend, they didn't have fuji which is my favorite but I think I now have 2 favorites), organic berries (strawberries, blueberries and rasbperries), organic lettuce (they have a place where you can scoop it into your own bag and just FYI -- it's about 1/2 as much as buying it pre-packaged but it's the same thing), some seeds to grown my own organic lettuce and green beans, some wine, a medley of tomatoes, some big yellow tomatoes, bbq sauce, some sea salt (I'm really excited about this! I got some apricot sea salt from Australia and then I also got another type and I'm so mad at myself right now -- I thought I saved the name of it in my phone and it's not there!! Next time I go I'll have to check which one it was because you really can taste the difference), some fresh tuna and some more bumble bars and lara bars.
This salsa is DELICIOUS!! it's a little on the spicy side though but I could eat the whole jar in one sitting! I tried them with the Guileless Gourmet Chili Lime tortilla chips and it was really good. Then I tried them with Central Market Organic Blue Corn chips and it was even better. I think the simple with the spicy was the best way to go:)
I haven't tried the Naked wine yet -- however it is made with organic grapes so I'm REALLY excited about that. The Evolution wine I have tried when I was on a trip in Pensacola last summer and absolutely LOVED it so that one is very highly recommended. It's semi-sweet but not too sweet or bitter from what I remember, which is honestly all it takes for me to love a wine. But on the other hand, it's really hard for me to find wines that have all those characteristics. :)
I had been shopping at Williams Sanoma one day for about an hour (I love that store! I can't wait to get my chefs knife -- it's farily dangerous for me to shop at places like that because I always seem to find more kitchen things I want, like a hand blender! And of course a food processor and juicer and cook books) when I saw some salad dressing makers/emusifiers. One was about $20 that had a batter powered spinner, and the other was $15 but didn't look to be as good of an emulsifier as this one which I got at Target later that day for $10.
They had samplings of this Peach BBQ Sauce on my Central Market trip and I found it delicious. They grilled chicken and used this for the sauce.
I try to buy organic everything I can. But I find that things such as berries, apples, pears and things that have a thin skin are most important. Things like bananas, oranges etc. that have a thick skin aren't as much so since you aren't directly eating the pesticides. I still opt for organic on these too when I find them or when I can find AND afford them (they may not be much different in price, but a college budget sure isn't a salary!:-))
I've also stopped taking a lot of my supplements. I still take the glucosamine with chondroitin though for my joints, and still take the calcium citrate sporadically but all of the others I've put on hold. I was having more stomach pain similar to what I was having before I was diagnosed with the microscopic colitis and thought maybe this was the cause. So far, my belly has been happy since I've stopped:)
My sister and I were talking yesterday and she mentioned how she and her boyfriend bought a "farm share". I had no idea what that was so when she told me about it I learned that they bought a little square of land from a local farmer and they get the veggies in a box every other week from their little square of land. They're organic and local so I thought this was great! I'm looking into it for Lubbock (as we speak) but if you're interested, goodle CSA and your city to find out more about it! When I looked up Lubbock, it also came up with a bunch of Famer's Markets which are also great for being sustainable and local!:)
Time to go eat at Green (San Antonio's first vegetarian restaurant) with my Mom! I'm excited about this restaurant:) Have a gorgeous day!:)
Live simply <3 -- "It is by studying little things, that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible". -Samuel Johnson
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