A Very Belated Update

I'll give you the rundown of my last week so you can understand my absence..Tuesday was orientation for the Byron Nelson (which I talked about last update). Then Wednesday-Sunday it was up at 4 AM, passed out at 7:30 Wednesday, but Thursday and the rest of the week it was anywhere from 10-11:30, and during the day it was working the bar and with customers from 6:30 (when I had to get there and set up) in the morning until about 6-7:30 at night. It really was a blast, it was just exhausting. I skipped a couple days of working out because I was SO tired, but I made good use of the gym a couple days and I definitely went on a few 4-5 mile runs around Valley Ranch:) My meals varied day to day. The first day I went free-food happy and ate until I popped, but the rest of the time I either ate really really well (fruit with cinnamon and coconut milk for breakfast, or one day I even ate the spagehetti squash with cinnamon and coconut milk for breakfast because it was quick and quiet [there were people sleeping in the living room that I didn't want to wake up], salads with veggies and lemon juice for lunch and something similar for dinner), or did the same with a little potato salad or roasted veggies, a cookie here and there, maybe some pretzels..Free food is hard to turn down. I don't care who you are:) But for the most part, I did this all in moderation.

While on my trip to Dallas, I made some good connections and good friends:) My new friend Jamie and I found we both love nutrition and eating well. She told me about the vegetable juice detox and I was all geared up to do it and was even about to go buy a juicer when my mom and I did some research. It is a really good idea, just not for me. The cons were reduced metabolism, and reduced muscle mass. Neither of which go hand in hand with endurance running. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I will give it a try, but for those who do eat not so great, or are wanting to start fresh with their diet (by diet I mean daily diet, not something you go on to lose a few lbs) I think it's a great idea. You can google 'vegable juice detox' and it will give you the whole shebang on it and even some recipes. Jamie's favorite was 3 bug's bunny carrots and a large tomato juiced. She also recommends cabbage and beets.

Today was the first day of my internship at Kona Grill and I am very excited! I feel so in my element there learning how to make all sorts of stuff and just learning the business. Yay!:)

My plan was to wake up around 5:30 this morning and make it to the gym to get my workout in early before going to work. Well, the alarm went off and I struggled a bit too much to get up (I guess I wasn't fully recovered from all the work last week) so I set my alarm for a marvelous 7:15 and opted to go to the gym later. Breakfast was a little larger today than usual because I wasn't sure when I'd be able to eat again (I'm so glad it was!). I used half an orange, a whole banana, and a cut up peach for my coconut/cinnamon concoction. Then I had a piece of the double fiber bread with almond butter and organic honey drizzled. Then I had a pear with almond butter, as well as a few grapes. SO FULL! Then it was off to work! I got off around 3:30, came home, ate a snack since I hadn't eaten since 8 that morning, hung out with mom, layed out for about 30 minutes before it started to drizzle, snacked some more on this d'lish recipe my mom made, and now I'm just waiting for my food to digest before going to the gym. Here is the recipe for the Texas Caviar she made - we kind of made it our own. It's great as a salsa or on a salad or just by itself!

Texas Caviar
Ingredients:
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drain and rinse and colander (I prefer the Eden Organic Canned Black Beans)
1 can whole kernel corn (pour over beans)
1 chopped, seeded jalapeno
1 chopped red bell pepper
Lime juice (to taste)
Drizzle of olive oil (not too oily, but enough to make it semi slick)
Maybe a tsp of sea salt (maybe a little more or little less depending how you like it--less is better!)
1/3 bunch of chopped cilantro
Chopped avocado (add as you serve so it doesn't turn brown--1/8 of an avocado is a serving but in this recipe because you already have your fats with the beans, I would put less)

Directions:
Just combine all ingredients and refrigerate! The Guiltless Gourmet would be GREAT with this:) However, they didn't have them at the store when I went yesterday so we substituted for HEB Central Market Organic Blue Tortilla chips:) Adjusting to a new grocery store is hard!

From this, my mom and I got to talking about ceviche. I have this really good recipe that seems to go over really well everytime I make it so I'll just plug it in right here too:) (Gotta cram in a bunch since I've missed a few days;)) Note: When I made this recipe, it was for 8-12 servings, so cut it in half to make 4-6.

I love all of their canned goods. They seem to have less sodium than the other brands as well as being organic. However, I'm finding that here in San Antonio they're more expensive than up in Lubbock (so is the Salmon!) so that kind of stinks, but maybe you won't find it a big deal. (1.80ish in Lubbock as opposed to 2.30 or so here in San Antonio)

Kate's Ceviche
Ingredients:
2 lb medium-small shrimp, peeled and devained

1 1/2 cup lime juice (juice from 8-12 limes)
3/4 cup lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro
1 1/2 (or 2, I just only had half of one) cucumber, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 avocado (or 2 if you really love the stuff), peeled, seed removed, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1. Boil water in a pot and boil shrimp for a minute or two (I bought already boiled at market street, but either way works)
2.Cut each piece of shrimp in half and place in bowl ith lime and lemon juice. Cover and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes
3. Mix in the chopped red onion and jalapeno. Add cilantro, cucumber, and avocado right before serving.

And here's the recipe to this REALLY YUMMY chicken we had last night:

Sweet Garlic Chicken
Ingredients: (yields 4 servings)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb chicken
1 tsp paprika
1/6 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup red wine

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the garlic in the oil until it is tender. Then place the chicken in the skillet and cook about 10 minutes on each side until it is no longer pink and the juices run clear.
2. Drain the oil from skillet. Then sprinkle chicken with paprika and the brown sugar. Follow by pouring the red wine around the chicken. Cover, and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes; lightly baste (spoon the juices over the chicken) the chicken with the wine sauce while cooking. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I also want to add that whatever recipe you have, even if you make it up off the top of your head, as long as you have the measurements you can plug them into NutritionData.com and find out all of the nutritional information. Such a great tool and I LOVE it because so many cook books and websites don't provide the information. This way it's also fairly easy to see what substituting different ingredients (i.e. coconut milk as opposed to soy or cows milk or applesauce instead of oil) will do to the information.


Tomorrow it's breakfast with Kayla at Mimi's, kayaking in Austin with David as well as Comal winery, and then making dinner for the parents! I'll be sure to post pictures of breakfast as well as events from the day and my recipe for dinner. It's a salmon/fruit salad with a lemon viniagrette:) I'll also put up the recipes to other dressings I love to make:) Have a good night and see you tomorrow!:)