Workouts and Cooking

My workouts last week went pretty well.  I was hoping to get some yoga in on Monday, but only ended up getting 20 minutes into it when I just wasn't feeling it.  I did better this week.  :)  I also reached 21 miles total of running last week.  My first week over 20 miles, so I was proud to see that I am slowing adding more miles while still continuing to play tennis at least once a week.  A little extra cross training should help out as well.  Here is how last week's workouts went

Monday:  Yoga (20 minutes)
Tuesday:  Running outside with the double JS (5.08 miles), abs (mostly planks)
Wednesday:  30 minute HIIT with an extra 5 minute cool-down (3.51 miles total)
Thursday:  Abs, push-ups
Friday:  5 mile tempo"ish" run, one mile warm-up, then 0.5 mile at 7.2-7.5mph followed by 0.25 mile at 6.5, this continued for the next 4 miles and then a 0.3 mile cool-down, incline at 1%, legs workout (squats, lunges, step-ups)
Saturday:  Easy run outside alone (oh, how I enjoy the peace and quiet), 7.22 miles averaging 9:32mph pace
Sunday: Rest

Total running miles:  21.11

Cooking
We have also done some good ole cooking at the house.  Earlier in the month, we picked blueberries and then the little lady woke up super early one morning so we made blueberry muffins.

 I didn't have any sour cream, so I had to tweak my previous posted recipe.

Rain also interrupted our afternoon plans last week, so I decided to make Runblondie's Cauliflower Chocolate Chip muffins.  We changed up the recipe a little, but not much (subbed in sugar for splenda and halfed the chocolate chips and added in some cocoa nibs).

Another yum!  If you haven't tried these, you are missing out.

Then, Monday morning started the craziness.  The little man was in a mood and because of all his rolling over (both tummy to back and back to tummy), we are having to wean him off the baby straight-jacket (aka The Miracle Blanket).  This has been a miracle for us for both kids as far as sleeping those first few months. 

But between him rolling over and breaking free from it on a nightly basis, we knew it was time to wean.

So after Monday daytime was rough, we had a terrible night with several waking by the little man.  I felt awful (but still ran, go me) on Tuesday so I didn't do my typical menu planning before heading to the farmer's market.  Once there, I grabbed some fingerling potatoes and snap beans (thinking of 2 different dinners for these), but neither was going to work for Tuesday night.  I wanted something comforting.  That brings me to the cheese section of the farmer's market.  Now since having the little man, I have limited my dairy intake considerably for 2 reasons, 1) I have seen where people have seen increased energy by eliminating dairy from their diet and having 2 small kids, I need all the energy I can get, 2) calorie restriction to lose the baby weight, i.e. not having cheese on my sandwiches reduces my calorie intake without having to think about it (I switched to almond milk a while back during pregnancy).  Well it hit me like a ton of bricks, I wanted to make homemade mac and cheese.  So I grabbed almost one pound of extra sharp white cheddar (from WI) and a little over a half a pound of gruyere cheese.  That was over $11 of cheese just for one dinner.  I didn't have a specific recipe in mind so I googled gruyere mac and cheese and found one from Barefoot Contessa. I pretty much followed this recipe to a T, except I had 4 cups of cheddar and 2 cups of gruyere.  It was awesome!!!

It was so good, but I had to be careful not to eat too much because it was very rich and my little tummy is not used to such things anymore.  It made me feel better even though Tuesday night was just as bad as Monday as far as sleep.  Luckily, Wednesday night was better.

Do you have any go to recipes or foods you turn to? 

How is the summer workouts treating you?

Summer Panzanella Salad

I had some fresh veggies I needed to use up, and couldn't figure out what to do with them.  Between having 2 small kiddos and the summer heat, my dinners have been lacking.  Acouple of searches later, I decided to do a panzanella salad.

Ingredients

1/2 loaf pumpernickel bread, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red onion, cut up

1 pint grape tomatoes (I cut them in half, but next time I would leave them whole)

2 zucchinis, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 T EVOO

3 T light balsamic vinegarette

1/4 cup parsley

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle 1 T EVOO on bread and toast for 10 minutes.

Transfer bread to bowl.

Place tomatoes, onion, and zucchini on baking sheet and drizzle 1 T EVOO on baking sheet.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on veggies and roast for 30-40 minutes. 

Remove baking sheet from oven, pour vinegarette over veggies and scrape the bottom of the baking sheet to get all the bits up.

Transfer veggies to bowl with toasted bowl.

Add parsley and chickpeas.

Stir to combine and serve.

Toasted bread

Veggies ready to roast

Roasted veggies with chickpeas and parsley

The finished product ready to serve

Makes a great summer meal and the chickpeas added make it filling.

As a main course, serves 2

As a side dish, serves 4.

Eating at work (Food log)

So it's been a while since I have shown you what it is that I am eating during the day.  This is a typical day when I have to go into the office (right now that is only one day a week). 

Breakfast

Here is my Green monster smoothie (coconut milk, frozen banana, almond butter, ground flaxseed, and kale) and my morning coffee (half-caf) with coconut milk in it.

Morning snack

A nectarine I took to a meeting.  I love summer fruits!!!

Lunch

The start of my water drinking for the day.  I aim to drink 3 of these bottles everyday.  For lunch, I had leftovers - bbq tempeh with green peppers and onions and quinoa.

And some watermelon for dessert.  Told you I like summer fruits.

Afternoon snack
(Not pictured, ate it before I got a pic)

Heaping 1/4 cup mixed nuts (roasted salted almonds and walnuts) with a couple of tablespoons of dried cranberries (raspberry flavored)

Dinner

Dinner on Wednesdays tends to be more leftover stuff in the fridge because I don't have much time to cook when I get home with 2 small children and a hubby that works until 8:30pm most nights.  So I had bought a zucchini, sun-dried tomato and feta quiche at the farmer's market on Tuesday (it was 1/2 off, so it was a steal of deal) that they make fresh there and use cage free eggs and organic dairy.  I had some of that along with some broccoli that I dipped in hummus.  And then we had leftover hashbrown casserole from a brunch so I had a few bites of that while I was getting hubby's dinner.

I didn't get my run in that day so my rule is no run, no dessert (that rarely works for me but that day it did).  :)  My totals for the day:

Calories:  1,712
Percent breakdown:  44% fat, 42% carbs, 14% protein

I am a little surprised that my fat was as high as it was.  I have been trying to eat more protein, but I have found it difficult, especially when I limit dairy and eat a veg diet.  I aim for 15% but I don't track my calories much anymore so I don't know how far off I am on a typical day. 

Any advice on other protein sources?  I don't tempeh or tofu more than once a week usually, so I need some other choices. 

Yummy recipe - Lentil Loaf

I had made a bunch of lentils, but didn't end up having something specific to use them for, so I started looking into the blog world for recipes.  I came across 2 lentil loaf recipes.  I had been eyeing this recipe for a while and now sounded like the perfect time to make this.

Lentil Loaf

adapted from Angela and Kate

Ingredients:



2 - 2 1/2 cup cooked lentils (cooked in water)

3 TBS ground flax seed

1/2 cup warm water

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small mild onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced (I used 4 baby carrots)

1 small apple grated (I used red delicious because that was what I had on hand)

3/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup oats, ground into a flour

3/4 cup bread crumbs

½ c bbq sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a loaf pan grease one large loaf pan or four small ones.

Toast 3/4 cup of walnuts in a 350 degree oven for about 5 min.

Mix 3 tbsp of ground flax with 1/2 cup warm water and stir well. Set aside for at least 5-10 minutes so it can gel up.

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onion and minced garlic for about 5 minutes on medium heat in 1 T olive oil, being careful not to burn. After the onions are tender, add carrot and sauté for 2-3 minutes over low heat. Add grated apple, and chopped walnuts and sauté another minute or two.  Add salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Take 75% of the lentils and place into a blender. Process until mostly smooth (some small lentils will remain!). Now take the processed lentils and scoop into a large bowl.

Add in the remaining 25% of non-processed lentils and place into bowl. Add the oil, breadcrumbs, flax egg, veggie mixture, oat flour, and ground flax seed. Stir well with a spoon and then remove the spoon and mix well with your hands, press mixture into loaf pan with your fingers.

Spread bbq sauce evenly over loaf and bake, uncovered 30-35 minutes at 350F.

Let cool a few minutes and serve!

The mixture before it went into the pan

The finished product

My plate - I paired my loaf with an organic spinach salad with chickpeas and carrots with Annie's dressing.

Definitely worth a try. 

A new purchase for me

I bought some extra virgin coconut oil yesterday when I was at the farmer's market.  I had been looking for it at both the grocery store and the farmer's market but hadn't seen it yet.  I saw it yesterday, so I grabbed some up.  I have seen a lot of information on coconut oil over the past several months as well as it coming up in a lot of recipes, so I thought I would give it a try. 

Benefits of Coconut Oil

The health benefits of coconut oil include

• Promoting heart health
• Promoting weight loss
• Supporting your immune system health
• Supporting a healthy metabolism
• Immediate energy source
• Helps with dry skin and hair

Coconut oil is about 92% saturated fat (OMG, no) and is solid at room temperature.  Research has shown that not all saturated fats are alike and that most of them are Medium Chain Triglycerides, which do not raise serum cholesterol or contribute to heart disease, but are in fact very healthy.  Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which is known for being anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-fungal.

Most oils are light and heat sensitive, meaning that they easily turn rancid if not kept in a cool, dark place. Coconut oil is highly stable and is much more resistant to heat than other oils, even olive oil. So it's great to cook with but supposedly also great to have raw.

What to do with coconut oil?

So now I have it, I don't have any specific recipes to use coconut oil.  How do you use coconut oil?  I will be scouring blogs for recipes, so if you have any good ones, please let me know.  Also, if you use coconut oil for things other than in recipes, I am all ears. 



A meal for both meat and veggie eaters

I saw the "Rachael Ray Show" a couple of weeks ago and one of her recipes caught my eye.  I knew I could make it a veggie version or at least a half veggie version. 

This is my take on the Rachael Ray's Roasted Sausage, Pumpkin Apples and Onions with Maple and Beer Pan Gravy:

Ingredients

• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite pieces (don't worry I will show you what to do with the other half)
• 1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into wedges with root ends attached
• 1 Gala apple, quartered, core trimmed away
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 links bratwurst or other sausage of choice (I did 2 veggie and 2 chicken sausage links)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for liberal drizzling
• 1.5 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup beer
• 3/4 cups veggie stock
• 1/8 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, combine squash, onions and apples with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little freshly grated nutmeg.

Add sausages and dress everything with a layer of EVOO, about 3 tablespoons to coat. Arrange on large baking sheet and roast 30-40 minutes.

Heat butter in small pan over medium heat. Whisk in flour for 1 minute then add beer and reduce half a minute more. Whisk in stock, syrup and soy sauce, add some coarse black pepper and let thicken a few minutes more to coat spoon.

Serve roasted sausages and squash doused with gravy.

This is before going into the oven.  ***Note:  I took the other half of the butternut squash and put some maple syrup, EVOO, and salt on it and roasted it as well.  I made 2 butternut squash salads during the week that were very yummy (spinach, roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, dried cranberries, bell pepper, and a light poppyseed dressing).

My sauce reducing.  If you really want a lot of sauce, consider doubling the recipe.  We did not have enough to "douse" our meal with this gravy.

After coming out of the oven, and ready to be plated.

I paired this dinner with a nice side spinach salad.  It was a pretty well received meal by everyone, although I was not a huge fan of the veggie sausage I had.  I think I will try a different brand next time. 

Snow Days 2 & 3

Well Tuesday and Wednesday were more snow days for us, so I decided to get creative with dinner on Tuesday.  I had some puff pastry left over from a veggie pot pie that I hadn't used up yet, so I did some searching on the internet to give me some ideas.  I saw a recipe for Taco Pockets.  The original recipe had ground beef in it so I decided to revamp the recipe to make it vegetarian and what was in our fridge and pantry. 

The Ingredients

2 teaspoons EVOO
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon chipotle in adobe sauce
1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar, shredded
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed for about 30 minutes
Flour for dusting

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat oil over a medium heat in a skillet.
Add beans and salsa.  Heat up.
Add seasonings and water and mix.  Once the water has been soaked up, add the frozen corn and chipotle in adobe sauce. 
Combine and heat for another 5 minutes.
Roll out the puff pastry on a dusted surface until it's a square (14 x 14 inches).
Cut into 4 equal parts.
Spoon 1/4 of the bean mixture into each square. 
Add cheese to the top of each one. 
Pull one corner over to make a triangle and pinch down all of the sides. 
Spray a little olive oil spray over the top of each one.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Serve warm with some sour cream or avocado slices.

The bean mixture with salsa, spices and water.

The mixture on the puff pastry squares.

The end result.  Yum!  Had I had onions and bell peppers, I would have sauteed them up first and probably omitted the corn, but we are out of a lot of produce right now with all the snow. 

Day 3 of snow meant another day on the treadmill for me.  Another 3 miles.  I finished it, but it was harder than Mondays.  Since Adam was home too, I had take a picture of what Hope usually does when I am on the treadmill - runs beside me.  It's so cute!

And another day of playing in the snow. 

We have definitely enjoyed these snow days.  It has been so nice to have the family together and have less distractions.  I think I am on the only one who doesn't have cabin fever.  I am just enjoying this time. 

Menu Planning - 1/3/11

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Well Adam has expressed the need to lose a few lbs (while I continue to gain, good luck hubby), so I thought I would start figuring out some meals for the week and why not post them as well.  This is what I am thinking for this week.

Monday - Wild rice pub burgers, homemade baked sweet potato fries, and roasted broccoli
Tuesday - Leftover butternut squash soup (from Vegetarian Times magazine), grilled cheese sandwiches
Wednesday - Cottage cheese and noodles (BTW, we have switched to using elbow macaroni)
Thursday - Trader Toe's simmer sauce with chicken and tofu (and veggies) with brown rice
Friday - Smoky Bean Burritos or homemade pizza

Hope everyone has a great week!

Novemeber Food Recipes

Here are some recipes I have been meaning to blog about, but never got around to it.  I am way behind in my blogging, so you are going to get 3 recipes in one post today.  Lucky you!  Well since we had so many apples, I wanted to find some other ways to enjoy them besides eating them for lunch everyday.  I thought Hope would enjoy making caramel apples (and obviously this baby has a major sweet tooth as well, which works for me).  Adam wasn't as excited about them at first but then when I told him he wasn't out and trying to eat them with his teeth (you can cut off a piece from the apple) and eat it, he perked up. 



My ingredients

5 apples with wooden sticks poked in the tops

1 bag of caramels microwaved until nice and soft

Butterfinger candy bars crushed up

Crushed walnuts (toasted and cooled)

Chocolate chips (not shown yet)

After I dipped the apples into the caramel and let the excess drip off, I immediately coated them in either the butterfinger crumbles or the walnuts (one had both - talk about yummy!). 

Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes.  You could be done or . . .  Then for good measure, I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzled the chocolate over the top of each caramel apple (like they weren't sweet enough).  These were amazing!  It was so nice to have these in the house.  They were so good!  Adam and I would split on after lunch most days.  Yummy!!!  I highly recommend!

After carving our pumpkin every year, I always take the seeds and separate them from the stringy stuff to roast.  This year I went took a different angle though.  My seeds from our pumpkin, cleaned.

Additonal ingredients - 1 tablespoon Earth Balance, 1 tablespoon organic sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (mixed together)

I threw the butter in the the seeds and mixed and followed by the sugar mixture.  Then it's off to the pan and into the oven (400 degrees) for about 45 minutes.   

Yum again!  This was my midmorning snack everyday for at least a week.

On Halloween, before all the crazy trick or treating started, I made a festive dinner for all 3 of us (yes, Hope got one too).  I adapted this recipe from Angela (thanks, it was great). 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili in Pumpkin Bowls

Ingredients

• 3 mini sweet pumpkins
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 1-15oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1-15oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Take the mini sweet pumpkin and slice the top off about 3/4 of the way up. Scoop out the insides of the pumpkin using a spoon. This is time consuming, so make sure you remember to do this earlier in the day. I saved the seeds again and did a savory roasted pumpkin seeds with a little kosher salt on them on then pop them in the oven.
When the pumpkins are empty and cleaned out, spray or drizzle the insides with olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. You will be eating the pumpkin flesh so you want it to taste delicious!
Now pop your pumpkins onto a baking pan and into the oven for 30 minutes. While they are roasting in the oven, make the chili.
In a large pot, add the oil and turn heat to medium. Add chopped onion and minced garlic and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or so. Reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning.
Now add the chopped pepper and butternut squash. Cook for about 12-15 minutes.
Now add in the drained and rinsed beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, vegetable broth, and S & P and stir well.
Simmer on low-medium for another 5 minutes.
Now remove your pumpkins from the oven and fill the bowls 3/4 of the way full. Place pumpkins carefully back into the oven (again without top) and bake for another 30 minutes.
Once they are cooked, turn oven off and leave pumpkins in the oven with lid on to stay warm. They will stay hot in the oven for another hour if necessary. Serves 3.

The chili was very good, but I might do a little emersion blending next time to thicken it up.  It was nice having the baked pumpkin to add into each chili bite but it was very time consuming, so I might have to save that for special occasions only. 

Well now I am caught up for October and Novemember recipes.  I did one last night that I will post soon!

Vegetarian BLT

I was reading my usual blogs, and ran across this.  What?  A vegetarian BLT or an ELT as she puts it.  My mouth was watering just thinking about it.  Unfortuantely, I didn't have an eggplant in the fridge so I had to wait a few days before I could try this out.  But I don't have a dehydrator, so I had to do some more searching around the internet and also what are the best ingredients for they marinade if you are going to bake the eggplant.  After some searching, I was ready to go. 

Eggplant Bacon

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant, peeled, thinly sliced

1/2 T salt

1 1/2 T Agave Nectar or maple syrup

2 T Soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos (I used soy sauce)

2 T Apple Cidar Vinegar

1 t chili powder

1/2 t paprika

1/2 t cumin powder (optional)

Directions

Combine all ingredients and then throw in the eggplant.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes to overnight. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Do not let it burn. 

My medium eggplant after I cut the top off.  Mine might have been a little bigger than a medium, but it worked with no problems.

My eggplant - peeled and thinly sliced.  

My eggplant in the marinade.  I have a nice little toy that helps with the marinating process.  I marinated my eggplant for 1 hour.  

My trick - cook the eggplant on the cooling wrack.  It helps to make sure the bottom does not get soggy.  I did put some cooking spray on the cooking wrack to make sure there was no sticking.

A closer look before the cooking.

After 20 minutes in the oven.  Personally, I think it could have been in there a little longer to give it a crispier texture.  It was still a little soft, but I wasn't going to fry them.  

So now, my eggplant bacon is done.  It's time for the sandwich.  Organic heirloom tomatoes were cheaper than the on the vine organic tomatoes, so I was all about trying out some heirloom tomatoes I hear so much about on the Food Network.  

I grabbed 2 slices of sprouted bread (toasted), some romaine, and some fat free mayo along with my eggplant bacon.  

All I can say is yummy!  Doesn't it look so good.  



Whether you are a vegetarian or not, this is a great sandwich.  And much healthier than a real BLT.  Go ahead - give it a try.