Feeding My Competitive Soul

Moving on to a new blog

2011-11-02T12:03:00.002-04:00

Hi All-
It's been a while, I know it. But so much has happened in these past 8-9 months and I just got caught up with life. I've started a new site over on Wordpress that will help you understand where we've been. I didn't have a baby or anything like that, but we bought a house and I'm trying to get a new blog to go along with it. New house, new life, new blog. I'll still be talking about the same stuff but in a new format. Come follow me at Next Stop: Our House (nextstopourhouse.com) and I'll try to pick up where I left off. I appreciate your patience and your support, and I look forward to having you guys meet me over there.
Thanks!!

A little something different–easy white pizza

2011-03-09T11:37:00.001-05:00

I am a garlic whore. Yes, I’ll admit it. I put garlic in just about everything (savory that is,) so much so that Dennis feels like I’m overpowering the food. Overpowering? What? You can never have too much garlic!

I found this recipe on the Food Network while watching it at work during lunch. Yes, my job is that cool.

I knew I had to try it because I love garlic, I love pizza, and since the Mr. always complains about homemade pizza, (“it just doesn’t taste as good!!”) I thought this would be worth a shot.

And, it’s easy. I mean, really easy. Thanks Sandra Lee!!

Quick and Easy White Pizza adapted from Semi Home Cooking with Sandra Lee (click HERE for original recipe)

What I used:

One package of Crescent Roll biscuits (in the can)
1/3 cup garlic Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
1/4 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
4 T shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

What I did:

Preheat oven to 400.

Open the can (wait for the POP! It scares me every time)
Roll out the dough on a cookie sheet. Press down to make even and stretch out as much as you can without breaking the dough

Place in oven for about 7 minutes, or until crust starts to brown

Doesn’t this look awesome? I could just eat the dough plain!

Remove from oven and put on your toppings. Start with the Alfredo sauce, then onions, then garlic, cheese, and seasonings. (that’s how I did it)
Bake for another 8-10 minutes

It’s not traditional, but it’s quick, easy, and pretty darned tasty. And I love Crescent rolls, so that made everything even better. The buttery, flaky crust mixed with the garlic and cheese…sooo good.

This would be good to take to a party. You can cut it into squares, put some maranara on the side, stick with toothpicks and BAM! Instant appetizer.

And who can say no to pizza?

New England Clam Chowder

2011-03-07T15:18:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, my mom and I used to eat New England Clam Chowder out of a can. How shameful.

When we moved to Boston in ‘06, we tried so many different kinds of NE clam chowder. Some were more watery, some were thicker. Some had huge clam chunks, some had smaller ones. We watched specials on the making of the perfect clam chowder, clipped many magazine recipes, and searched high and low online. After all that research, perfection was made.

I like mine chunky; full of potatoes and large pieces of clam. And I also like it creamy. Dennis prefers it served in bread bowl, but we’re not that fancy.

And in case you couldn’t already figure it out, there is nothing healthy about this recipe. You’ve been warned.

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

4 (6 1/2 oz.) cans minced clams with juice
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 medium baking potatoes, chopped in 1/2" cubes
1 large onion, minced
1-1/2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1/2 cup water retained from steaming clams
1 cup clam juice
1/2 cup dry white cooking wine
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. butter
2 T corn starch (or to desired consistency)
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Oyster crackers

Preparation:

In a large frying pan, cook bacon and potatoes over medium heat for 5-7 minutes
Add onion and garlic and cook for an additional 3 minutes
Transfer contents of frying pan to a large soup pot. Add chopped clams, clam juice and white wine and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, approximately 15 minutes
Stir in thyme, salt and pepper
Reduce heat to low. Add corn starch gradually to milk and stir until thick and smooth.
Add milk/cornstarch mixture slowly, then the heavy cream, stirring frequently until chowder begins to thicken slightly
Serve with oyster crackers (or not. I don’t need them)

This was better than any canned recipe could ever be, and it wasn’t that difficult to make. I found a recipe for the CrockPot that I might try next, only because I love my CrockPot.

And you know what else made this chowder so good? I didn’t make it. Dennis did. With a little company.

Do you prefer New England style clam chowder or Manhattan?

I like the NE style for a special treat because it’s so rich and heavy, but since the Manhattan style is tomato based, it’s a lot better for your waistline.

Nutella cookies

2011-03-04T11:00:00.002-05:00

Ok, ok, wipe the drool off your mouth. I know when I found this recipe on Tuesday afternoon that it took everything I had not to dive into the computer and attempt to eat one. Just seeing “Nutella” in a recipe title is enough to keep my attention, so I won’t waste any time.

Nutella Cookies, taken from here

Ingredients:

1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup AP flour
1 egg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat sugar with egg first. Add flour. Then add Nutella.

WARNING: Your batter will be crumbly and you will think you made a mistake. I know I did. I added some water to the batter just to make it workable. This batter was much too dry to hold a shape.

Roll them into 1 inch balls and flatten them with the back of a glass. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

The cookies on the left had water added to the batter. The cookies to the right did not. They tasted the same but the drier batter made for more crumbly cookies.

The verdict?

I hate to say it, but I wasn’t ALL that impressed. However, Dennis and my co-workers really liked them. One of my co-workers said he thought it was be a good breakfast cookie because it’s not too sweet and would pair well with coffee.

Don’t be afraid to try these just because I didn’t care for them. I don’t like peanut butter cookies but I love peanut butter, so I’m not a good judge here. If you like Nutella, give these a try. It’s a simple recipe that takes no time at all, and you probably already have everything in your pantry. We always have Nutella on hand, but if you don’t, it’s pretty cheap and available everywhere.

I’m not done working with Nutella though. My mom’s coming into town this weekend…I might have something up my sleeve.

Have you tried baking with Nutella?

Slow cooked Daal with Quinoa

2011-03-02T11:44:00.002-05:00

I ~~wasted~~ spent the first 25 years being afraid of Indian food. I had never tried it and for some reason, was scared at the thought. Curry, for SURE, is a weird spice that would definitely give me a stomach ache. Cardamom? What is that? Tumeric? What are these strange spices that you want me to consume? (ha! these thoughts coming form a Puerto Rican who grew up eating things that others would find weird too.)

Luckily, one of Dennis’ best friends from college is from Mumbai. He turned him on to his native cooking from the start, and it’s now Dennis’ favorite cuisine. When we first started dating, he insisted on taking me to his favorite Indian restaurant from college up in Rochester NY. I wont lie; I was scurrrd. But 6 years later, it’s now one my favorite cuisines as well.

Tip: If you’re going to try a new cuisine for the first time, go to a lunch buffet. I usually hate buffets, but it’s the only way to try lots of different things, allowing you to figure out what you like.

Since I have half of my 5 pound bag of lentils still sitting in my pantry, I decided to give Daal a shot. I found this recipe from my favorite veggie slowcooker book and went to town.

Slow Cooked Daal with Quinoa
Adapted from Here

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp minced fresh minced ginger (I used ground ginger)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 ground cardamom (I didn’t have any)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground curry
1 1/2 cups dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used pink beans)
3 cups water
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Pour the oil into a 4-quart slow cooker and set it on high
In a food processor, puree the onion, garlic and ginger and add it to the cooker. Cover and cook to mellow the flavor and remove the raw taste while you assemble the other ingredients. Stir in the spices and cook, Stir for 30 seconds.
Turn the setting to Low. Add the lentils, beans and water. Cover and cook for 8 hours. Before serving, season with salt and pepper and adjustthe others if necessary.

Most of the time, Indian dishes such as Daal are accompanied with basmati rice. I didn’t have any, so I decided to use Quinoa instead.

What I loved about this recipe is that it’s easy, it’s packed with protein, and my house smelled so good while it was cooking. I mixed it in with the quinoa but it can also be eaten plain and of course, the traditional way with basmati rice. The spices are not overpowering but they’re prevalent.

What’s your take on Indian food? Love it or hate it?

Vegetarian

2011-02-28T14:48:00.002-05:00

After Friday’s cry about Otto the cat, I started doing a lot of thinking about being a meat eater. Dennis made this awesome ribeye steak marinated in a sweet and spicy type sauce, and as I was eating it, I felt kind of guilty. He asked if I liked it and I said, “yeah, but it’s not as good as it was to me the last time I ate it.”

Wondering what was different, I said, “I think I need to give up meat again.”

I said “again” because when I was 15 I gave up meat. At the time it as mostly because I had very high cholesterol and I thought it would help. The thought of not eating animals did make me feel like I was doing something “good,” but it wasn’t a good enough excuse to get my mother to stop cooking with it. In fact, she was not very supportive about it (not in a mean way - it was more of a ‘You will eat what I make’ type attitude since we didn’t really have a lot of money and she couldn’t afford to cook separate meals.) So after a while, I decided to eat chicken but not beef, pork, or venison. This lasted about 3 years, and then I got lazy. I was in college, and at the time drinking soy milk was still considered weird (I always got picked on for choosing Soy Dream over milk in the cafeteria.) So being vegetarian was much more difficult than I had the desire to deal with.

Truth be told, I really don’t use a lot of meat when I cook anyway, and when Dennis travels for work, I go the entire week without one piece of meat without thinking twice. I don’t miss it. I don’t need it to feel like my meal is complete.

When he asked me why, I said, “Honestly, I get so upset when animals are hurt and abused. I got so upset over Otto last week, but here I am eating a slab of beef. It’s just .. not right.”

So instead of telling me I’m stupid or shrugging off my feelings he suggested making sure our meat is free range and grass fed, and said we’ll have to start paying more attention to the meats we buy. If we get them from local farmers, we’d be helping them stay in business while not supporting corporate slaughterhouses.

“But, you’re still killing the animal.”

I felt like I was a kid trying to understand how the world goes round. You know how kids can be so curious, innocently (and naively) questioning everything? Yeah, that was me yesterday. I almost felt like a hypocrite, and suddenly, it didn’t taste as good to me anymore.

So now what? Do I fall prey to the labeling thing and start going veg again? Or do I keep it open and only eat meat that I believe lived a happy life and was killed in a humane way?

Is there a humane way to kill an animal for our consumption?

I’ve battled with this on and off for years…this is definitely not the first time I’ve felt this way. I don’t, however, want to be labeled as something and the come Thanksgiving, fight with everyone about how I refuse to eat the turkey that was obviously killed anyway. Having it there defeats the purpose, no? What if it was a locally raised turkey and I could be helping a farmer put his kid through college?

Oh, the moral issues of eating meat. How do you feel about it?

This is straight up animal abuse

2011-02-25T10:53:00.003-05:00

View more videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com.

This story broke my heart.

I didn’t even want to watch this news story because I knew it would hurt. But I wanted to give Otto’s owners a chance to prove me wrong. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stereotyping the owners as being people who just didn’t know how to handle him, or who just have tried so hard with no avail and went to their vet for help.

Alas, I was absolutely right. The family was so frustrated after clearly over feeding and not properly caring for their animal, that they brought precious Otto (short for Ottoman if you didn’t watch it) to be euthanized.

In my eyes, this is a form of animal abuse. It’s avoidable and it shouldn’t be happening.

Everyone picks on us for having the largest cat they’ve ever seen.

Although he’s always been big (he was 10 pounds at 6 months) when he was 2 he hovered just under 20 pounds. Our vet said it was a normal weight for a cat his size, but advised that we be sure he doesn’t gain any more weight.

At his next checkup a year later, he was 24 pounds.

We didn’t know how it happened. Dennis had just started getting really sick with his Crohn’s, and I swear Marley felt sad for him. It was almost like he was suffering too.

We put him on a strict diet, but he hated it. The food was expensive and he refused to it it. He would cause such a racket at night knocking things over and jumping on our bed, meowing at us with such a hunger, that we decided to monitor his eating in a different way. We got him a healthy weight formula food he would actually eat, fed him small amounts throughout the day, and got him a buddy to play with.

We tried running him around the house, we tried luring him to his food…and even after all that, he still gained weight. By the time it was all said and done, he was 26.2 pounds, and our vet told us he was in great danger of disease.

We were devastated. But we were also determined to get him back on track.

I did a lot of reading up on overweight cats and I found out that feeding cats dry food is bad. They are carnivores, meant to eat proteins, so feeding them dry food can be detrimental to their health. They can’t process carbohydrates like people and dogs can, so they gain weight. And a lot of indoor cats don’t get the exercise they need to burn it off.

Both our cats were rescue cats that both came from feral backgrounds. Their instinct is to eat as much as they can at once because, in the wild, you never know when your next meal is coming. Couple that with dry carbs and not enough hunting, and you get a 26.2 pound cat that we love dearly and hate to see unhealthy.

So we did a complete change of their diets. We started giving them more and more wet food and less dry food. We started running Marley up and down the stairs more, and letting him go out on our patio to explore.

(until he starts eating grass….he likes to wait until he gets inside to throw up. so yeah, we have to monitor that too)

One time he actually starting chasing after a squirrel so fast that we thought we lost him. He took out a bird too. But we wanted to give him some of his natural instinct back without actually letting him be an outdoor cat because we thought it would help.

It takes time, it takes patience, and it takes a lot of dedication, but you can get your animals to lose weight and be healthy … as you SHOULD when you take on the responsibility of owning a pet. I feel like people get an animal for fun, but as soon as something goes wrong, they’re quick to abandon them. And as of Wednesday, Marley was down to 22.2 pounds.

The reason I bring this up is not to make you think I’m a crazy cat lady, or that I feel animals are better than humans. We need to wake up.

We are an obese country, not just our people, but our animals too. We need to stop and take a look around…take a minute to take better care of ourselves, our children, and our animals. They depend on us. And they deserve to be treated well too.

Happy Friday everyone, and if you have one, go hug your pet! And hopefully when Otto loses weight, he will be able to find a nice, loving and caring home to go to. Good luck buddy!

The best frosting ever

2011-02-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

Something about store bought frosting scares me. Maybe it’s the crap that’s in it. Have you read the ingredient list? Even before I started becoming more conscience of what I eat, I’ve never been a store bought frosting type of girl. Too sweet, too sticky..I especially dislike buttercream frosting. Anytime anyone orders a bakery cake, it has that crap on it. So whenever I make a cake, I must make the frosting. This annoys Dennis as he loves store bought Vanilla frosting (ugh) so I try to make his extra sweet. Me, I prefer cream cheese frosting. And if you do too, this one will not disappoint. And I’m sure this would work with vanilla, chocolate, any kind of frosting you like.

The BEST frosting EVER. (Cream Cheese Version)

Ingredients:

1 8oz. package of cream cheese (I used Philly 1/3 less fat)
3 T maple syrup, agave nectar, or sweetener of choice (I used raw half coconut nectar, half maple syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pint real whipping cream

Preparation:

In a big mixing bowl with an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese, vanilla, and the sweetener of your choice until smooth and creamy. Taste.
In another bowl, whip your whipping cream until it starts to form peaks and gets thick.
Fold the whipped cream into your frosting.

Try not to eat the entire bowl.

The frosting gets extra creamy and the whipped cream gives it almost a lighter texture.

I loved it, but it wasn’t sweet enough for Dennis. Maybe next time I’ll make a separate bowl for him and add more sweetener, and then actually sweeten the whipped cream too.

I’ve actually used this cream cheese in my oatmeal as an after dinner/before bedtime treat. And, I used some of Heather’s 2 Ingredient Fudge, melted it, and mixed it in with the frosting to make a cream cheese fudge frosting. Yeah, it’s that good.

Please, if you try this, let me know what you think! And by IF I mean WHEN because you really need to try this recipe!!!

President’s Day White Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

2011-02-21T21:22:00.001-05:00

I’ve been on a bread making kick lately huh? I made one good loaf and now all I want to do is keep making different recipes. This one I found while I was looking for pepperoni rolls (remember those from last week?) This bread recipe was very simple: yeast, water, salt, sugar, flour. Period. (oh, and sesame seeds, since I have them on hand)

I used white whole wheat because I thought it would be a nice transition for someone in this house (ahem Dennis) who refuses to eat wheat bread.

I adapted the recipe from here.

One-loaf standard recipe

1 1/2 cups warm water (I always use a thermometer to be sure my water is between 105-110*F)
1 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups flour (Again, I used white whole wheat)
Sesame seeds (optional. I added these myself)

Preparation

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let sit five minutes.
Stir in flour, a half cup at a time, and mix with a wooden spoon. When you get to the 2 cup mark, it will start to get tougher to mix, and although this can all be done by hand with your wooden spoon, I move the dough into my food processor.
Process the dough, adding the remaining 1.5 cups of flour slowly, until your dough forms a ball.
Take the dough out and knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Or, if you’re like me, until you’re sick of kneading and you realize you got some help from the food processor.) Mine never comes out perfect and I always fear it won’t rise, but it will. After a lot of research on bread making, a good rule of thumb is to knead until the dough can be pinched and the consistency is like an earlobe.
Place in a greased bowl (I use Pam) turning once to grease the whole roll. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot until it doubles (about an hour.)
Take out the dough, punch down, roll out a few times on a floured surface and place in a greased bread pan (again, I use Pam.)
Place the towel back on the pan, let rise for another hour. Bake at 350* for 35 minutes.***
The original recipe says to bake for 25 minutes, but it was clearly not enough for me. It’s still very light and not as crispy as I would have hoped. You can always start out at 25 minutes and then check, but I should have trusted my instinct because I didn’t think 25 minutes would be enough.

The texture of this bread was more like a bagel, but I’m OK with that. Next time I will bake it for 35 minutes, and I can’t wait to try this with spelt flour, oat flour, and even regular AP flour to make the boyfriend happy. Overall, I like the ease of this recipe and when I mess with it a little more I’ll be able to properly grade it. Right now though, I still like my honey whole wheat recipe better.

Have you found a food that you can’t help but keep making over and over again until you perfect it?

Follow your Instincts

2011-02-17T16:43:00.001-05:00

We’ve been getting unseasonably warm weather here in the DC metro area, and it’s been hard for me to run inside. Yesterday, I made happy hour plans with some girlfriends, so I decided to run before work to ensure I get my miles in. (Cherry Blossom 10 Miler here I come!)

It’s been getting lighter earlier too, which made this run especially easy for me. One of my favorite things about running in the morning is watching the sun rise. The sky lights up this orangey color, the birds start chirping, and it’s just peaceful to me.

But when you’re out there alone, it can make for a scary run.

(Isn’t that a cool photo? I got it from here)

I live in a pretty densely populated area, so there are always people out and about either driving or waiting for a bus in the morning, so I wasn’t worried about safety … until I got to a park that I love running through. It’s right next to a high school and it’s usually packed with people running and walking. As I came around the corner, I entered the park like usual and started running down the trail – and then it hit me: I’m the only one here.

One thing I DIDN’T do was run with my headphones. I figured I was already putting myself at risk by running in the morning when it was still slightly dark out, so I didn’t need the extra risk of not being tuned into my surroundings. As I ran farther down the trial and saw the glow of the sun peeping through the trees, I realized that I was running further into the woods. An eerie feeling washed over me and without even realizing it, I turned around and started sprinting back to the street.

I don’t know about you, but even though I cut my run short by a mile, I felt much better being safe than sorry. I just have to make that mile up later on this week.

Do you run/walk outside in the morning before the sun comes up? Do you feel it’s safer than at night?

Pepperoni Roll and a Vday (run) Fail

2011-02-15T12:50:00.001-05:00

First off, as you can see I’ve made some changes to my blog. I added an About Me page (finally!) and will be working on a recipes tab as well. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

Second, I hate Valentine’s Day. I do, however, enjoy an excuse to make something festive. Red Velvet cake? Sure! Chocolate fondue? Why not? I, however, found out that a friend of mine can’t make the Cherry Blossom 10 miler this year and asked if I would be willing to take her bib. (Umm, yes please!) This means that running is a priority since I only have about 6 weeks to prep for this. And since I’ve been doing a lot more Body Pump and spinning than running these past 6 weeks, I need to get my butt in gear pronto.

So instead of going straight home from work to have a nice evening with D, I decided to trek my sore behind to the gym. Why sore? Because Body Pump is kicking my ass, and I just upped my weights in Sunday’s class.
Holy cow did I struggle through this run.

Do you suffer from treadmill envy? I sure do. If I know there are people around me that can see my speed, I turn it up. If I know the person next to me is running faster than I am, I’ll turn it up. It’s stupid. I’m competitive. But yesterday, I was feeling like running at a 12 minute mile pace was perfect for me … and I just couldn’t bring myself to run that slow. My legs were like bricks, my back and legs were sooo soorree…. but God forbid I let anyone see me running with a 5.5 on the treadmill. Helllls no. I’m a runner!! What would they think?? “Oh, well if I was running that slow I’d be able to run too!”

Why do I care?

On to the Pepperoni Bread. (it’s kinda red, no?) And since I was a complete mess after my failed run, I was no good to do anything more than making this for dinner.

You can make the dough part of this ahead of time (which I did) and just add the filling, roll up and bake when you’re ready. It’s pretty easy once the dough is made, and after I tweak things I will come at you with a better recipe. For now, though, this will do.

INGREDIENTS: (makes two loaves)

Source Grandma's little red book
Submitted by Pualani Anzelmo Wagner

* 1 package active dry yeast
* 1/4 cup warm water 110*
* 1 cup warm milk 110*
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 cup thinly sliced pepperoni (or Turkey pepperoni .. still just as tasty but without all that grease dripping down your arm)
* 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
* 1 egg and a little water mixed together
* Sesame seeds for sprinkling on top (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand for 5 minutes to soften
Stir in milk, sugar, salt and oil. Add 1 cup of the flour and mix to blend. Stir in 1 1/2 cups more flour
Then add remaining flour in bowl and mix. (I did this with my hands)
Place on a floured flat surface and knead dough until elastic (about 5-6 minutes)
Then cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 1 hour
Punch dough down, turn out onto floured surface and divide in half
Grease baking sheet
Flatten dough like a pizza
Add all above mixture on the top of the bread

Roll like a jelly roll, pinch edges

Take egg and water mixture and wipe on the top of the bread roll, and bake 375 for 20 to 25 minutes

Looks good no? It was very doughy and I was a little disappointed. Dennis loved it though and has already asked me to make it again, so I’m going to have to play around with the dough a little bit.

Have you had a pepperoni roll before? Apparently it’s THE food of West Virginia. I grew up eating them in NY, but whatevs.

The “O face” brownies

2011-02-09T12:53:00.001-05:00

I’m telling you, these brownies were ridiculous.

Dennis and I subscribe to Bon Appetit and this month’s issue featured a brownie boasting this headline:

“These are some of the best brownies we've ever had—fudgy in the middle and chewy on the outside with a shiny, crackly top. The browned butter adds a rich, nutty flavor.”

Dennis looked at me, drool and all, and said, “Yeah, you have to make these.”

I’ve never been one to turn down the opportunity to make something that’s claimed to be the best ever. Our hopes were high with these, and I will tell you that they didn’t disappoint.

O Face Brownies
courtesy of Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Preparation

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F.
Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend.
Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot).

Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition.
When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended.
Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Look at how rich this batter is!!!

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes.
Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

It has a crunchy first layer and the middle is so moist and chewy. And the butter? Yeah, the butter makes this recipe. Now clean up your drool and go make them. Now. You will not regret it, I promise.

Spring Fever

2011-02-07T12:16:00.001-05:00

We had such a gorgeous day here yesterday. It was sunny and it reached a high near 50. Since Saturday was cold and rainy (and I’m the idiot who thought it would be a good idea to go for a run. Running in 40 degrees when it’s raining sucks. Just in case you didn’t know) we decided to take advantage of the day before the Superbowl festivities began.

As much as I complain about traffic, my commute, and overall congestion in Northern VA, it’s actually a very beautiful area. I can drive 15 minutes and be at a state park or gorgeous running trial.

And after all that nature love, we went home, drank beer and watched the Superbowl. Hey, it’s all about balance right?

Stay tuned for a brownie recipe that will make you never want to use anything out of a box again…

Finding ayuerveda

2011-02-04T16:08:00.001-05:00

I just learned about ayuerveda recently through a yogini whom I have known since junior high school. No she wasn’t a yogini then, but she is now and has been for about 10 years. She has completely transformed her life for the better by taking up yoga (and now teaching and writing about it) and the way her life has changed has made me a yoga believer.

The problem is that I have had issues with getting into yoga. I’m a mover and a shaker if you will, and I like to sweat. I love the way running makes me feel; not only because I’ve been an athlete my entire life, but just because I feel a massive sense of accomplishment when I’m done. Sure, that could be said for anything, but there’s something about running and playing competitive sports that I just explain. It just FEELS right, even when it feels wrong. Make sense?

However, this is how my life is in general. I’m uptight. I like to talk. My brain moves faster than the rest of my body does – it’s always non-stop, always thinking. I have digestive issues. I retain water easily. I am highly competitive. So what I should be doing is finding ways to balance those things. Instead of running, I should be walking. Instead of Body Pump and a lot of strength training, I should be doing more yoga and breathing exercises. Balance. Take my crazy brain and calm it down.

Ayurveda is Sanskirt for “the complete knowledge for long life.” The secret, of course, is balance, and finding your Dosha will help you determine how to find your balance.

A dosha is one of three bodily humors that make up one's constitution according to Ayurveda. If all three can exist in harmony or balance, then essentially you will be able to live your life to the fullest.

Now, this is all still new to me so if this doesn’t make sense to you, I’m sorry. I’m still learning. And I also found that I have a little bit of all three Doshas. I’m not sure if this is normal, and I’m not sure which one fits me best.

Check it out and see what fits you.

Pitta is principle of heat, digestion and all transformation in the body. Pitta is the acid secretion from the stomach, bile from the liver, and inflammation. Pitta sweat is sour causing body odor. Pitta is the color of the eyes and pitta people dream in color. Pitta also colors the skin and makes freckles and red hair. In the body, the element of fire always comes with water. Pitta is both. Pitta sense is vision but pitta also has a strong sense of smell.

Sharp, intelligent mind
Bright, colorful eyes
Rosy cheeks

Judgmental, Critical
Ambitious, Workaholic
Yellow or Red Eyes
Body Odor, Acid Reflux
Hair Loss

Ulcer or acid reflux
Bleeds or bruises easily
Nearsighted, sensitive to light, migraines
Judgemental, critical
Any inflammation or sharp pain.
High Blood Pressure

Sleep before 10pm
Increasing bitter, astringent or sweet taste.
Avoid heating foods.
Avoid pungent spices.

Kapha is growth of tissue, production of mucous and fat, and retention of fluids. Kapha is the stable, relaxed dosha. Kapha people are great homemakers. Kapha is water and earth element. Kapha is white in color. Kapha senses are taste and smell.

Heavier, likes comfort and food.
Steady, calm, healthy, strong
Sweet, loving, kind, loyal, supportive

Lack of motivation, bored, tired
Slow to change, difficulty learning but good memory
Food cravings, possessive

Overweight, diabetes, edema
High cholesterol, blood pressure
Depression
Congestion, colds, hay Fever

Wake up early & exercise
Avoid meat, wheat and dairy after sundown
Avoid salty & sweet taste
Avoid fatty, fried foods

Vata is the principle of movement, often described as a 'wind'. Vata is a subtle dosha that goes out of balance easily. Vata people often suffer from deficiency of some type. Vata is the element of ether and air in the body. Ether has a spacey quality, and air has movement. Vata senses are hearing and touch.

Light body weight
Talk & walk quickly
Creative and imaginative

Anxiety
Irregular schedule & appetite
Gas, bloating & constipation
Dry skin

Colon disorders including constipation
Dryness including dry skin
Underweight
Arthritis
Nervous system disorders, worry, anxiety and stress.
And many others...

Routine sleeping and eating schedule
Keeping warm and comfortable
Avoid raw foods & too much cleansing
Increase sweet, sour, salty and pungent taste.
Stay hydrated
Keep the colon clean

(This information came from here)

What is your dosha? Do you know anything about ayuerveda?

I’m trying to find my balance because I am looking to get off the pill (again.) I was diagnosed with PCOS last year and I don’t really believe that I have it. However, the easiest and most quick way to “treat” it is with birth control. (I took a break from blogging when this happened because it wore me out) I’m ready to get my body back on track and if ayuerveda works, I’d much rather do it that way. Any of your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Super Bowl weekend!!

Sometimes, life happens

2011-02-02T12:34:00.001-05:00

My weekend was planned, my agenda was set. But then I got a call informing me that I needed to make a trip home for a family emergency. So, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning to make the 6 hour drive to upstate NY.

Don’t worry, nobody died. But sometimes you realize that plans must get pushed aside to take care of things that are more important. I’m ok, my family is ok, but I had a very long, emotional and draining weekend. However, here’s what I can share with you.

I made some cookies with the best little helper ever.

Chocolate chip cookies are so much fun to make, and when you have company like this, who can resist?

When I was a kid, I used to make cookie dough not for the cookies, but just for the dough. When my little helper asked if she could lick the batter, my first reaction was NO! There are eggs in there! But her mom said we’re still alive after all the batches of raw dough we’ve eaten, so I gave her a very little bit to lick. Bad?

It seemed harmless to me.

(I didn’t actually eat it. I know, I’m a scardy cat)

By the way, these cookies were so good. Not only because of the company, but honestly, you can’t go wrong by using the back of the Nestle chocolate chips bag. I did, however, cut the sugar in half (as I normally do) and no one noticed. As a matter of fact, everyone raved about how good they were.

Hooray for cookies!

Work from home bean and barley chili

2011-01-26T16:23:00.001-05:00

Although I’m from the northeast (upstate NY) when it snows in DC, I do all I can to keep my butt at home. I can handle the winter weather, it’s the people around me I worry about. Last Tuesday we had an overnight ice storm and it took me 2 hours to get to work. Yes, 2 hours. So when I woke up to some snow and saw that the area schools were closed (we go by the county school schedule) I knew it would be an awesome day for some chili.

I always have beans and cans of crushed tomatoes in my cupboards. And 9 times out of 10 we will have onions and garlic as well. What we didn’t have were peppers.

Hmmm. Chili with no peppers? Yeah, it’s doable. Peppers give me heartburn anyway, so why not? (turns out, this chili is awesome without the peppers, and no heartburn! YAY!)

I was woken up at 5:30 a.m. by my mischievous kitties who were downstairs knocking things over. After checking the news and seeing schools were closed, I thought, “ehh what the hell? I’m already up.” and started chopping.

In a pan, I cooked up:

One whole white onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T olive oil

Cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to sweat.

Next, add:

2 T chili powder
1 T cumin (or less, depending on what you like)
1T Sambal *

Stir everything together and turn off the heat.

Into the CrockPot:

1 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.5 can pink beans, drained and rinsed (I prefer red kidney beans for chili but we didn’t have any)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup barley
1 cup water
Salt and pepper, about 1 tsp. each

Since I wanted to eat this for lunch, I set it on high and cooked it for 6 hours. You can also cook it on low for 8.

*Sambal is a is an Indonesian chili based sauce that you can find at any International or Asian store. I use Sambal because it has the perfect spice to sweet ratio. However, if you can’t find it or just don’t like it, you can use jalepeno peppers, chili sauce, or whatever else you use to spice up your food.

There is nothing better than walking through the front door and smelling good food. Since I didn’t have to ~~waste~~ spend an hour driving to work this morning, I started work early so I could hit up the gym for a 12:00 Body Pump class (can I just tell you that this class KICKS MY ASS? If I’m not buff by my birthday in May, I will be shocked.)

I walked in from the cold, wet, crappy weather outside and inhaled the deliciousness.

Topped with plain Greek yogurt (only 2% will do for me)

And then I realized…you know what would be REAALLYY good?

This:

Oh how heavenly was this…I baked a sweet potato in the microwave on 50% power for 10 minutes. This keeps it from drying out and it’s the closest method to baking it in the oven.

The best post-kick my ass fuel I’ve had in a while. And you know what else made this lunch awesome? I’m not sitting in this:

The view of the highway from our home office. I would be sitting in that if I had to drive into work today. Except for the HOV lane, they are not moving very fast at all. Thank God I have a job that allows working from home!

Oatmeal Soda Bread

2011-01-24T12:45:00.002-05:00

I love bread, but I’m still trying to get over the rolls on Thanksgiving that didn’t rise. Oh, was Dennis sad. He was going to buy rolls just incase mine didn’t rise, but he didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Thankfully there was a locally owned shop open … it saved the day.

So now, I’m experimenting in other ways.

The best part of this recipe is that it’s simple. The ingredient list is short and I had mostly everything I needed in my cupboards (and fridge.)

Oatmeal Soda Bread (from 101 Recipes)

I meant to make this a little differently than Heidi’s, but I was afraid if I changed it up too much it would ruin everything. Next time I make this, I’m going to use spelt flour instead of oatmeal. Don’t get me wrong; this was a great loaf of bread. It was slightly sweet from the oats and next time I want to try something a little more versatile.

Ingredients

butter, to grease pan
2 cups rolled oats

~2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading

1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk, plus more if needed, and 2T. for brushing *

mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy, etc.
* If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can make it by adding 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk. Let it stand for a few minutes to let the acid do it's work.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. I free formed my bread but you can use a bread pan if you wish.

To make the oat flour, use a food processor to pulse the rolled oats a few times. Then process into a fine powder - another minute or two.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.

Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk.

Stir just until everything comes together into a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks. (you can ignore the crack at the bottom of my dough)

If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough.

Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it.

Boy was this bread tasty.

This bread will stay good for a week or so if you leave it wrapped in parchment and foil in the refrigerator. Or, you can slice and freeze like I do. It is much more dense than regular bread, but it can still be used just like sliced bread to make sandwiches. I actually used this bread to make one of my Glorified Egg Sandwiches. It’s also really good with Nutella. Yes, I went there.

Are you afraid of making bread? Do you have any bread disasters?

I have a recipe that I’ve used before (with help) that might be broken out this week…

Glorified egg sandwich

2011-01-19T11:19:00.001-05:00

I love eating eggs for dinner. My days are so long between work, gym, and commuting that I have to find ways to eat something quick, healthy, and not TOO filling since I don’t get to eat until around 8 p.m. Breakfast seems to be my new dinner, with my bigger and more nutritious meal being lunch. So yes, I basically eat two breakfasts. Don’t judge.

That being said, I like to find ways to spice up these simple meals. I say, nothing works better than fresh herbs.

The other thing is make sure you have some really good bread.

Perfection.

What I used:

One egg plus one egg white
2 slices of Pain de Campagne (or any other type of sliced, crusty bread)
1 slice of provolone (or cheese of your choice)
One small handful of fresh parsley

Fry that bad boy up to perfection, add the parsley while the egg is still cooking, put the cheese on top, fold over. Place on toasted bread. Eat.

Do you have tips for glorifying up otherwise simple, bland foods?

Breakfast Quinoa

2011-01-17T12:59:00.001-05:00

I am so excited to have been able to restore the pictures from this a-MAZING breakfast recipe I got from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. I was so excited to share this with you all, especially since I’ve been trying to experiment with using different grains at breakfast.

One thing about food blogs is that you get so many ideas for new ways to try old things. I simply Google an ingredient and so many recipes will come to me. The best part is that most of them are from blogs I already read and love, which makes it even better.

I also needed to get out of my oats with bananas and peanut butter rut. I mean, I still love them, but a girl needs a little variety in her life, you know what I’m sayin’?

Once you try things out, you can then fiddle around to make the recipe your own. You can find the original recipe here.

I changed it up by using things I already had in the house.

SERVES 2

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
A little less than 1/4 pecans, toasted
Coconut butter (just a bit for some added sweet and creaminess)

Combine milk, quinoa and cinnamon in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium low heat and let simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. (I don’t cover my quinoa because every time I do, it bubbles over, so I just let it cook with the cover off and it’s fine.) Take off heat and let stand for five minutes. While the quinoa is simmering, toast the pecans on a dry skillet for about 4 minutes.

HERE IS A TIP:

I make this the night before and reheat in the morning. When I re-heat, I add a small amount of milk to help fluff it up a bit. Then I add a small squirt of coconut nectar, and a little bit of coconut butter.

It’s a little untraditional but filling and oh so tasty. It’s my new go-to and a definite must-try!

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Cream cheese frosting

2011-01-12T17:26:00.001-05:00

My computer has officially crashed. Dead. Done. I have to share now with Dennis, so we’ll see how this goes. It’s funny how we rely on technology so much. I mean, whatever will I do with myself? (I’m kidding. I’m in front of a computer all day at work. In a way, it’s actually kind of liberating.)

Which brings me to this:

Angela at Oh She Glows is amazing. This is one of the first recipes I’ve attempted of hers and why I was nervous is beyond me. (maybe I was afraid I wouldn’t do it justice.) It was everything I expected it to be and more.

I will admit that I made a slight change. Her recipe called for a buttercream frosting and I went for a cream cheese frosting instead. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cream cheese. You can get the original recipe here.

The middle is moist and chewy, just the way I like it. I made this originally for my company’s Thanksgiving potluck and they loved it. It was completely vegan (well, minus the cream cheese) but they were completely clueless to that fact. I’m sneaky like that, I guess.

Are you more of a baker or a cook? I’m definitely more of a baker, but I do love to get my cook on. Since Dennis likes to cook, it gives me more leeway with the oven. He just doesn’t like it when I mess with his peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies!

Raw Coconut Nectar approved!

2011-01-11T14:06:00.003-05:00

I love finding new “superfoods” to try, so when I was wandering along the natural food section at our local grocery store this weekend, I shrieked with joy when I came across this.

Raw coconut nectar? This is definitely something I did not hesitate to put in my cart. I knew absolutely nothing about it, and wasn’t even aware it existed. And with an ingredient list that simply reads, "Raw Coconut Sap grown without chemicals, pesticides or herbicides," I thought, "What the heck?"

I went home and started doing a little research. Apparently, raw coconut nectar is better nutritionally than agave nectar? Ok, let me do so more research on this.

Apparently there is only one brand available, since it’s the only brand I’ve seen on everything I’ve searched. Here are some of the reviews:

Coconut Nectar is raw, unprocessed and naturally sweet, making it a great, nutritionally superior alternative to agave syrup! This Raw Coconut Nectar is:

Raw processed - no heat, no chemicals
Full of 17 amino acids, minerals, Vitamin C, broad spectrum B vitamins, and has a nearly neutral pH
Organically grown - certification pending
Low Glycemic - rating of 35
FREE of gluten and dairy
Vegan

The first thing I used it for was as a sweetener for my salad dressing.

2 T red wine vinegar
1 T Olive Oil
1 tsp. whole grain, unsalted mustard
2 tsp. Coconut nectar

Yum. The coconut nectar is thick, more like a syrup…thicker than agave nectar. It doesn’t taste like coconut, just in case anyone was worried about that. It has a rich flavor but not overpowering. It’s definitely a distinct flavor, but nothing like maple syrup or honey. Much less defined than that, but definitely noticeable.

Next thing I used it on was this Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa recipe I borrowed from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks (I’ve mentioned before how much I love her recipes) This recipe calls for agave and I replaced it with the coconut nectar … it would so well with the roasted pecans. It brought out the flavor much more than the agave did.

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a sweetening alternative. Oh, and it was only $6.99 so it wasn't any more expensive than agave. Give it a try!

OH and a heads up...my computer is on the verge of dying. I don't have a lot of money to spend on a new one, but would really love suggestions. Something affordable but also, a name brand that I can trust. Any suggestions?

What’s this Zumba thing all about anyway?

2011-01-09T17:55:00.001-05:00

I have a confession to make…..I can’t dance.

I know, I know…a Latina that can’t dance? How can this be possible? Maybe it’s because when I was growing up and all the women were in the kitchen cooking and dancing, I was outside playing football with the boys. (My grandmother told me once that I needed to stop spending so much time doing boy things because they wouldn’t look at me as a girl…I wasn’t feminine enough. HA!)

I have rhythm. I love music, and I love to shake my booty. But when it comes down to it, I just don’t have it. This is one of the reasons I’ve avoided Zumba. I envisioned myself bumping into the person next to me,(check!) tripping over my own two feet, (check!) and being so far behind that I’d have to stop so I could catch up (check!) Oh, and laughing at myself for being so uncoordinated. (DOUBLE CHECK!)

Did I mention I can’t dance?

I looked like a fool out there, arms flying in the wrong direction, booty shaking one step behind everyone else. Truth be told, I really didn’t care what I looked like, but it may have been because I spent so much time trying to figure out which side of the room I was supposed to be facing.

I did like the energy of the class though. The instructor was cute…not sexual cute but happy cute, and I’d probably go back just for him. Well, him and the old ladies that were trying so hard to keep up. They all had smiles on their faces and I couldn’t help but join them.

Have you gotten hit with the Zumba craze? I’m afraid I’ll end up hurting myself … my knees hurt with all the “gettin’ low” that was going on.

Gym etiquette #17: The towel pick-up

2011-01-06T22:47:00.001-05:00

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been running on the treadmill and had to watch helplessly (and try not to trip) while my towel goes flying off the hand rails. It happened to me again today and while there were about five people around me, not one person had the decency to grab it for me when they walked by.

Really guys? You can’t see that I’m sweating profusely and I really REALLY need that damn towel? You all saw it happen. I know you did. Every time I see it happen to someone else, I’ll grab it for them if I’m walking by.

Is it just me or is that rude?

In case you’d like to know, I have not had the chance to try a new detergent or do any laundry for that matter, but I have been hearing some interesting stories. Kristina at Life as Kristina asked mentioned trying a different bra type and it made me realize that all the bras that stink are the same brand. Bummer. I’ll have to work on that.

Here’s a question for you…when you have a short amount time to fit in a workout, what do you do to make the best of it?

I did a quick 25 minute sprint routine on the treadmill that left me so sweaty, even a shower didn’t help. It still took an hour to cool down. Would using weights and walking on an incline be just as suffice, without as much sweat?

Help me get the stank out!

2011-01-04T21:37:00.001-05:00

I know I’m not the only one out there with this problem, but my workout clothes stink. Bad. Washing them doesn’t help either, because as soon as I start to sweat, the funk returns.

Take today for instance. I took a spin class, and toward the end of the class - like, the last 20 minutes – I started smelling fart. Not rotten egg farts, but just stank. I thought it was the girl in front of me and was starting to get annoyed…until I realized that it was my bra.

I was so embarrassed that I skipped the stretching at the end of the class and booked it out of there.

It’s not like I’m not washing my clothes either. I’ve tried pre-soaking, I’ve tried washing twice (which sucks because I don’t want to ruin my clothes!) and nothing is working. I use Tide right now, which I kind of have a weird obsession with (I love the smell of Tide and I really feel like it works best) but now I’m really disappointed.

My sister, a fitness instructor and activities director at L.A. Fitness, is having the same problem. We looked up detergents, but I don’t want to fork out mad moola for something that won’t work. We found one called WIN that we’re looking to try, and I also found a Tide Sport with Febreze but I only found it on Amazon; I have yet to see it in the stores.

HELP!! I don’t want to have to throw out my workout clothes! They aren’t cheap!!!

Bowling, the mental game

2011-01-03T21:57:00.002-05:00

My mom was an avid bowler when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time watching and learning from her techniques. When I was 6, I decided I wanted to bowl too, so she put me on a kid’s league where I learned the basics. By the end of the program I ended up with a bowling pin for my Christmas tree and my very own eight pound ball.

I was on leagues all the way up through middle school with people much older than me and I usually kept up. Then I got to high school and started focusing more on soccer, boys and ‘being cool,’ which meant bowling went down the tubes. So when my co-workers asked if I liked to bowl, without missing a beat I said, “hell yes I like to bowl!” and signed up as a part time member.

I showed up all excited, ready to rock….and ended up bowling worse than I ever had in my life. I started out with a 111 average and was barely hitting it. I made myself out to look like this pretty decent bowler (hey, my highest game is a 217 dammit!) and I just sucked. I called my mom for counseling and she gave me tips, but nothing was working. I was about ready to tell my co-workers to count me out because I was seriously bringing them down.

Until today.

I decided not to get worried about my scores this time. Everyone pretty much thought I sucked anyway, so they really weren’t expecting much from me. But I got on the line, found my sweet spot and banged them out like Ron Jeremy. (Uh did I just make a porno joke? Yeah, I did.)

First game, 120….ehhh not bad but the best start I’ve had so far.

Second game, 157. Hey, nice job!

Third game…170. I was so excited I nearly split my pants. Seriously.

My mom told me she has a book about bowling being a mental game which really made me think…aren’t all sports mental? Instead of going into the bowling alley today thinking, “I’m a good bowler and I should bowl well,” I went in thinking, “Well they all think I suck, we’re in last place, so really, who gives a damn?” And I rocked it.

It’s all about the mental game. But really, isn’t it always?

2011

2011-01-02T18:13:00.001-05:00

Well well well. It’s a new year already. How the heck did that happen?

Oh, and yeah I know I’ve been gone a while. In brief-a new job with a LONG commute, a nasty virus on my computer, and spending my Christmas break sick are three of my excuses for being MIA. I had a bunch of pictures ready to share from my holiday work party where I made Angela’s pumpkin gingerbread with spiced buttercream, but the demons that took over my computer didn’t allow me to post them. And I’ve lost more than half of my pictures from the year, so needless to say, I was hesitant to even start posting again.

Thanks for forgiving me. I knew you’d understand.

I wish I could do a recap of all the fun and exciting things I did in 2010 but without pictures, that will just suck. So instead, here is a list of goals I have for 2011.

Spend more time with my family (this one is huge!)
Stop talking so much (I hate uncomfortable silence. This has GOT to stop. I don’t always need to be talking)
Don’t sweat the small stuff! (I got the book for Christmas and I’m really trying to take it seriously)
Focus on strength - both physical and mental. This means more yoga and Body Pump classes
Be a better spender. i.e. I'll be spending money on yoga and a gym membership and also visiting my family in NY and AZ, so I still need to find a way to be better with my money
Run the Marine Corps Marathon. This is last on my list because I don't want to make it of high importance. If it happens, it happens. But I don't want to over-stress. I was just reading about it so that's probably why I'm thinking about it. This one definitely may change, but I figure it's nice to see it written out!

I will wish you all a Happy New Year with all the bells and whistles, health, prosperity and happiness you deserve. I truly believe life is what you make it. I am a pretty positive person overall, but I do have the tendency to let things get to me. “Let it go!” is going to be my daily mantra when I’m stuck in traffic and get cut off by that jerk-off who OBVIOUSLY saw me trying to merge in…

Reason #18,458 why I love my slow cooker: Better than yo’ momma’s slow cooked banana oats

2010-11-17T21:50:00.002-05:00

When I was a kid, my mom used to make the most amazing oatmeal. No one liked eating it but me. I remember all the kids whining .. “Oatmeal? NOOOO!!” But not me.

I’ve made countless bowls of oatmeal but never as good as hers, so today, I asked her how she made them. She said all she did was follow the recipe on the oatmeal box…but I knew there had to be more, so I had to bombard her with questions.

Me: “Mom, there’s no way you just followed the recipe. Did you use milk?”
Mom: “Oh yes I used milk. The recipe called for water so sometimes I used both water and milk, but mostly I used (whole) milk.”
Me: “Ok so what else did you do?”
Mom: “Well, I boiled my milk, and then I would put a cinnamon stick in there for flavor, and then I’d add some salt…and then when everything boiled, I slowly added the oats and stirred everything together…you know, there is a recipe on the box.”
Me: “Yes mom I know there’s a recipe on the box. I know how to make oatmeal. I wanted to know how you made YOUR oatmeal.”
Mom: “OH Oh, ok. So yeah, I’d add the cinnamon stick and the salt, and I’d boil the milk and add in the oats…”
Silence
Me: “ANNNNDDDD??”
Mom: “I’d let them cook on low for a while. Oh, and then I’d add some butter in at the very end for some extra flavor.”

Light bulb! Then I thought about it…

Me: “But we put butter on top of the oats after you served them to us too.”
Mom: “Mmm Hmmmm.”

I don’t know if it was the butter or what, but like I said, her oats were GOOD. I don’t have the patience to wait all day for my oats to cook. She would cook them for an hour or so. Wanna know how I make my oats 99% of the time? I put a half cup of oats in a microwave safe bowl and bring it to work. Once at work, I take about a cup of water and cut up a banana, and throw the whole hot mess in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir in PB. Eat.

Until last night.

I thought, maybe – JUST maybe – I can get thick, creamy oats by using my slow cooker!

Better than yo momma’s slow cooked banana oats

1/2 cup Steel cut oats (2 servings)
2.5 cups water
Cinnamon sprinkles (about 1 tbsp)
1 banana, mashed
Dash of sea salt

Throw in your slow cooker and cook on low overnight. Wake up to a banana cinnamony bliss.

Now I know you’ve made oatmeal before, so you’re probably wondering what the big deal is. It’s just a nice way to spin my childhood memory of my mom’s oatmeal into my crazy hectic and pathetic morning routine. Scoop and go? Yeah, I’ll take that.

Put your oats in a slow cooker and do it up. I promise you won’t regret it!

Discounted yoga? Anyone?

2010-11-14T21:28:00.001-05:00

I’ve been wanting to give yoga a fair shot for a very long time. About five years ago, Dennis got me a couple of yoga DVDs for Christmas and I couldn’t have been happier. However, I can’t get into on my own. I get very distracted, feel very frustrated with my lack of knowledge, and end up giving up after about 15 minutes. I TRY. It’s really difficult to get into when you’re a newbie and completely clueless.

My friend Reba took me to a hot yoga class for my 30th birthday last year and it was AWESOME. But it’s so expensive. I can’t afford $20 per class, especially since I’d like to be able to go at least twice a week. How can I get the wonderfully amazing benefits of yoga without the stress? I mean, isn’t that the whole point?

A little background: My commute round trip is usually around 2 hours. I found a yoga studio that takes volunteer work as payment but with a full time job, 10 hours a week of driving on top of that, and my normal workout routine, I’m not sure I’d be able to find the time.

Any suggestions?

Oh and check out my negative splits from yesterday’s 6 mile run with my running group. (boy did I miss them)

Mile 1: 9:19
Mile 2: 9:09
Mile 3: 9:43 (hills)
Mile 4: 9:17
Mile 5: 9:39
Mile 6: 9:07

Total time: 56:19
I’m starting to feel better again….still have some work to do but I’m getting there. This guy on the other hand…

What a life.

My “I’m so glad we broke up before you got the Clap” chocolate chip cookies

2010-11-07T21:47:00.002-05:00

So you remember my last post when I mentioned you might get smacked in the face with something a little out of the ordinary? Yeah, this is one of those posts. Beware, it’s a little raunchy, but it’s really not all that bad, so please bear with me.

You can thank Rachel Wilkerson for this one, as I found that I can relate to this week’s Project Tasteless challenge.

I contemplated not using this title since her example title included an STD but seriously, this is exactly how I’ve learned to perfect my baking. Let me back up here.

My boyfriend history is pretty short and boring, but they have all contributed to my love of baking. In a nutshell, it looks a little bit like this:

Puppy Love
First Love
Current Love

I started baking for fun, but after a few ridiculous breakups through four years of on-again, off-again torture with Puppy Love, I learned to turn to baking for comfort. I would bake my face off every time we’d break up, and between these cookies (which I’ve now healthified as I’ve gotten older) and the beer I drank with them, I gained about 30 pounds.

There was something about these cookies that my roommates and I could not get enough of. They were really that good.

About six months after our last and thank GOD our final breakup, (right around the time I got the “I have ‘the clap’ and I wanted to let you know” phone call – don’t worry, I was SOO in the clear) I took a much needed break from making cookies.

A year later, I met First love.

First love was the complete opposite of Puppy Love and our break up had me craving this classic cookie recipe something fierce. We dated for two years and he was the guy that ripped my heart out. Have you ever seriously dated a person your parents can’t stand? My mom HATED him and as much as I hate to say it, she was right. Not that he was a bad guy, he just wasn’t for me. Aaaand we broke up. (shortly after I got the “It’s 5 a.m., I’m wasted, and I can’t find my way home” phone call. Did I mention he was driving? And that he was calling me from 2 hours away asking me what he should do?) <sigh> More cookies please! Oh, with Toffee bits? Even better!

And just when I was “loved” out and ready to enjoy being single, I met Current Love. Current Love and I have seen and experienced some serious shit over the past 6 years. He’s a big part of the reason I started this blog, and luckily for him, he’s also the one that gets to benefit from the baking experience I gained from previous loves. He adores my chocolate chip cookies, and when he requested that I make them this weekend I thought “How perfect.” And my blog post was created.

I’m So Glad we broke up before you got the CLAP chocolate chip cookies – the healtified version
Adapted from Betty Crocker. Makes about 2 dozen cookies

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup spelt flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup butter (NOT unsalted) softened, but not melted
1/4 cup granulated cane sugar (I used unbleached)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1/2 cup Heath toffee bits (the star of these cookies, in my opinion)

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
In a larger bowl, combine sugars, vanilla and butter.
*Butter trick-if you don’t have the time to let the butter come to room temperature, simply pop it in the microwave for 1 minute at 50% strength. This will soften it without melting it*
Cream the sugar and butter for about a minute. Add egg and cream some more (maybe another 30 seconds)

4. Fold in chocolate chips and toffee bits

5. Drop by the spoonfuls onto your baking sheet

6. Bake at 350* for 11 minutes.

It’s not rocket science folks, but these cookies are damn good.

Anyone else have a go-to comfort recipe or comfort food to eat? Besides the cookies, I also made a banana nut cake with cream cheese frosting that never lasted more than 2 days in my apt. I still get emails and phone calls from friends requesting this recipe.

Have a great week!

Changing Gears (About me)

2010-11-04T21:48:00.002-04:00

Everyday I come across new blogs and give them a shot. Whether it be through someone that comments on my blog or someone else’s blog, I somehow get caught up reading three weeks worth of blog posts on some new site. I’ve learned a lot from reading other people’s blogs, including things NOT to do on my own.

Although I realize my blog is not perfect (hell, look at the format. It’s plain, sometimes my pictures suck, and I definitely don’t post on a daily) I do realize that I enjoy having it. And also, that my purpose has changed A LOT since day one.

When I first started blogging my reasoning was SO much different than it is now. I'm a former journalist and at the time, I had been laid off for a few months. My boyfriend had just had major surgery as a result of his Crohn’s Disease, so to say I was obsessed with food (and health) is an understatement.

I wasn’t only obsessed with food, I was obsessed with everything about it: Where it came from, how it was processed, how much sugar was in it, how it affected our bodies, etc. I was convinced (and on some level still am) that intestinal diseases are environmental and if we change the way we look at food, these scary and deadly diseases will eventually go away.

I found food blogs to be comforting; not only were they eating great, nutritious food but they were active too! Since I’ve always been an athlete, I started seeing that there are others who not only share my love for food, but my love for competition. That, coupled with my extreme boredom and lack of self worth from being laid off, is how this blog was created.

It took me a while to find my voice, and it took me a while to realize that this is NOT a competition. I won’t lie, I struggled with that. I saw people posting their run times and immediately thought I was too slow. I saw people making outrageous food and though my food was too plain…but then I grew up. Plain and simple.

I’ve also learned that even though I have my bad days, I’m comfortable with myself and my body. I FEEL good about myself, who I am and where I am in my life. That’s what matters most. And when I decide to train for my next race, I’ll continue to realize that time isn’t important…getting off my ass and DOING IT is important. (Gosh where was this wisdom a few ~~years~~ months ago?)

So why do I write this blog? Well, I care about health, running and staying active. I also want to continue to find fun recipes to recreate so I can share them with you. However, I don’t want it to be about JUST FOOD or JUST RUNNING. I have a story to tell – whether it be about the amazing pot of chili I made for Sunday football or about the road rage I had on my way to work – and I want to be able to share it with you. Yes my focuses are food, health and my competitive nature, but don’t be surprised to get smacked in the face with something else. It’s just how I roll.

Do I need to follow a consistent format to have a successful blog? Since I don’t have a large readership, I couldn’t answer that. But I do LOVE those of you who read and I appreciate your understanding of me.

Happy Friday!!

Fighting it

2010-11-03T22:20:00.001-04:00

I don’t know what’s going on but my appetite has been null these past few days. I’ve been feeling kind of off, so I’ve been trying to take it easy. I hate this time of the year—sick time. It seems as if as soon as school starts, all these gross germs and viruses start being spread around like freaking wild fire and no amount of anti-bacterial wipes and hand-washing can help.

I’m in need of some new germ fighting tricks. Got any?

Cheering on the marathoners

2010-11-01T15:54:00.005-04:00

Only a runner would wake up early on a Sunday to go cheer on other runners. I know how much it meant to me to see people on the sides of the roads with signs and bells, and just their enthusiasm overall made me feel better. So I figured since I’m only 15 minutes away from the 23 mile marker, I’d go meet my running group to go cheer on the Marine Corps Marathoners.

Boy was this a sight to see.

I have never seen so many emotions. Blood (seriously guys, suck it up and buy a sports bra!) sweat and tears like you wouldn’t believe. There was one guy who was probably around 23-24 years old who was walking so slowly and was on the verge of tears. I felt so badly for him that I didn’t even know what to say. “Good job?” “Keep pushing?” Yeah, I just let him go, trying not to cry for him myself.

I spent most of my time chatting it up with my running buddies and going nuts on everyone as they ran by.

“YOU GOT THIS!!”

“YOU ROCK!!”

“GREAT JOB!”

“DIG DEEP!!”

Yeah, all the cheesy crap, I said it all. I was trying so hard to get them excited and pumped that they were almost there. However, since I’ve never run a marathon, apparently I’m way out of the loop. There were people who obviously put their names on their shirts for a reason right? So here I am yelling people’s names…. “Go Drew!!” “Great job Sally!” and I got nothing. So my inexperience with marathons proved me as the “jackass on the side of the street yelling at me that I want to smack for being so freaking bubbly.”

I was happy to be there though, and I’m glad I experienced it. I might actually have mustered up the confidence to MAYBE start training for next year’s race. (Disclaimer: I’m not saying I WILL. Dennis works for the Marines and he has said that if I did decide to run it, he’d volunteer race day. This might have made me more excited about the idea.)

Running the Army 10 miler last week and being around the runners yesterday got me really pumped for the idea. But it’s a freaking marathon, so I don’t want to get too excited about it.

How do you feel about spectators cheering you on during long races? Do you enjoy them or do you want to punch them for being too perky?

Army 10 miler

2010-10-26T21:55:00.001-04:00

This past Sunday was the day that I’ve been complaining about for months. The Army 10 miler. And you know what? I survived!

Luckily this race was about 15 minutes down the road from where we live so Dennis dropped me off right by the Pentagon at 6:30 a.m. I found my running group’s tent, stretched, drank some water, warmed up, and nervously headed toward the start line.

This race was HUGE. Over 30,000 people huge, so naturally I had to fight my way to the start and find a good spot. Because it was a Army race, they were pretty clear that headphones were not allowed. Although I found that people did bring headphones, most didn’t. I have never run that long without headphones (except for the Boilermaker 15K but I ran that with a friend – HI ANN! – so it was different since I had someone to talk to) I really thought not having music would mess with me but honestly, I didn’t mind it. There were so many interesting conversations going on around me that kept me occupied enough.

I felt good all the way through to mile 8. At miles 3 and 7 I had a Gu, and at miles 2, 4, 6, and 8 I made sure to stop and walk through the water stations to be sure I was properly hydrated. I was keeping about a 9:30 pace until mile 8….that’s when it went down hill.

However, I didn’t feel bad. As much as I was worried that I would hit a wall (like I did last week when I ran with my friend Sue) that never happened. Even though I started a run/walk regimen for miles 8 through 10 it was more because my knee was bothering me a little and I just was ready for the race to be over. I was never miserable, and I never once felt like I couldn’t finish.

My time? 1:42:30 with an average of 10:15 min/mile. This is exactly 11 minutes longer than my results of the Cherry Blossom 10 miler but honestly, I’m not mad. I did what I could and I’m happy with my results. I felt great (still do!) at the finish and to be honest, it’s the first race since the Cherry Blossom that I actually finished feeling this way. So it’s all good.

The other positive that came out of this race is that I’m actually feeling a lot better about running. I stressed out so much over training for this race. I told Dennis at least three times that I was giving up my bib. I came close to tears while running last week’s 8 miler with Sue, this 7.5 mile “split” run, and even wrote about trying to convince myself that with time, I will eventually love to run again. But I had a great support system – Dennis, my friends, my family, and even you – and I realized that despite how stressed I was during the training, when you’re out there running the race with all those people around you pushing and motivating you to keep going (which they all did!) it’s a completely different feeling. I remembered why I signed up for this race 6 months ago.

As I walked off my jitters while waiting for the sun to come up at the race site, I knew I made the right decision.

Thanks everyone for all of your support and for helping me get through this wall. And thanks, Sue, for my beautiful flowers!!

Treadmill love?

2010-10-20T21:58:00.001-04:00

Most times I would rather poke my eyes out than run on the treadmill but for some reason, I’ve been finding it to be much less intimidating than running outside. I don’t know if it’s because I can have more control of what I’m doing, but I had the best treadmill run after work today. I felt like I could have ran for another three miles, but knowing the Army 10 miler is just around the corner (Sunday!) I kept it short: 3.0 miles in 27 minutes.

Maybe it was because it was one of those treadmills with the fans that blow right on you. Maybe it was because I was watching the NY Yankees vs Texas Rangers game. It could have been because I ate some Fage Honey yogurt as a pre-run snack.

Maybe it was because I had a great day overall, so it would only make sense to end it on such a high note. Either way, sometimes you just gotta give props to the treadmill.

Do you have a love/hate relationship with the treadmill?

If you can’t take the heat….

2010-10-18T20:44:00.001-04:00

I like heat but not HEAT. I can eat spicy food that doesn’t burn so much that I can no longer taste my food. If I’m spending too much time drinking water and wiping my forehead, it’s not worth it to me. But this is a kind of heat I can handle.

If you have not tried Sambal, you must. We get it at our local grocery store but you can also get it at any international market. It’s a spicy but sweet chili sauce that adds so much depth and flavor to your dishes. I use it on pizza, steamed veggies, eggs, certain meats, in curry sauces, in chili….SO.GOOD. Try it now.

On a running note, I am sad to report that I am officially on lock down after yesterday’s run. My IT band is SCREAMING at me, and I have no one to blame for myself. Looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time with this bad boy….

Oh foam roller … how I love to hate you.

Got by (with a little help from my friend)

2010-10-17T23:05:00.001-04:00

My goal for this week was to get in an 8 miler as my last long run before the Army 10 miler. In the past I’ve given myself more of a rest before a race like this, but I really needed this run. To make it a little more bearable, I asked my friend Sue to run the last 4 miles with me. I figured by breaking it up and having someone with fresh legs to pace me, it would help get me by.

I set out on my own for the first four miles and was feeling good. I kept a decent pace without overdoing it, and although I was getting warm from wearing a jacket, I was surprised at how good I felt. Sue had an idea of how long it would take me to run by, so she was already standing out on the sidewalk in front of our complex waiting for me…which was awesome…but I had to stop and take off my jacket. I was DYING and it was getting warm really quickly. We stopped into her place so I could take it off, use the bathroom, eat a Goo, and then take off. We might have stopped for 5 minutes or so, but that was all it took.

We headed off for the last 4 miles and I swear, my legs were like bricks. It wasn’t long before I lagged behind, and Sue was about 5-10 seconds ahead of me most of the way. I was completely OK with that, since just having her there pushed me. We got to a hill that I refused to run (I already ran up a long, crappy hill earlier and was NOT feeling this one) so we power walked up. I am completely OK with this, especially since during my first half marathon I refused to walk until I realized I was getting passed by people power walking up every hill.

It was rough but I made it to the 8.0 mile mark in a time of 1:21:07, averaging a pace of 10:08. Again, given the fact that we walked up a pretty good sized hill and I dragged my butt up another .34 mile hill earlier, I’m OK with this time. Thanks SO MUCH Sue for helping me through this! I would have walked a lot more if it wasn’t for you!!!

In other news, keep an eye out at A Fete for Food for Jess’s recap of her successful finish of the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco today. She did awesome! I met Jess and Cat last summer at the Blog Summit in Boston. They are both awesome and I love that all three of us have kept in touch. (I’m on the left, Jess is in the middle and Cat is on the right and there’s a random drunk girl in the background)

Do you have any races coming up?

Wine and chocolate

2010-10-15T22:40:00.001-04:00

I know some wine snobs who invite people over solely to taste fancy wines and stinky cheese. I went to one of these parties a few years ago and although I had a great time, I laughed at the pretentiousness of the hostesses … with their idea that the only way you can enjoy a good wine is with a specific cheese or a dish that matches the color of the wine (i.e. white wines to white dishes, red wines to red dishes.)

I personally like red wines better than white so I don’t care if I’m eating chicken or tofu-if I want a glass of red wine, dammit I’m drinking it. And tonight, I paired my favorite match as a celebratory end to a stressful week.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there’s a better end to a long week than wine AND chocolate.

What do you like to pair your wine with? Do you prefer red to white? Or how about blush?

Happy run

2010-10-13T22:14:00.001-04:00

I’m going to say something I haven’t been able to say in quite some time so prepare yourself.

I had a good run today, and it’s about freaking time.

It may have something to do with the weather (it’s finally not 100 degrees outside. Or 80. Whatever.) It was a perfect running temperature for me-68 and sunny, but with a brisk breeze that wreaked of fall. It made me so happy. And for the first time in MONTHS, I had a mile that was sub 9 minutes, and I averaged about a 9:40 mile pace. Honestly, this is amazing to me since most of my runs have included many 10+ minute mile paces. Even the short ones.

And when I came back from the run and saw that Dennis had made some (store bought) fresh pasta, I was even more happy.

Topped with some Korean style ribeye and spinach

Dennis said he thought I wasn’t eating enough carbs, so he bought this pasta. How thoughtful of him. And after this dinner, I couldn’t thank him enough.

What’s your favorite way to eat pasta?

As much as I love a good homemade traditional pasta sauce, I would much rather not have a tomato based sauce if I don’t have to.

Playing catch-up

2010-10-10T21:39:00.001-04:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted? Is it really the second week of October? Is the Army 10 miler really just 2 weeks away? What the hell have I been doing?

First of all, have you ever heard of The Legwarmers?

I can only do this type of thing once or twice a year, depending on when you asked me. Halloween is usually my answer but this was close enough. Sometimes I get roped into doing things I may otherwise have said no to due to harassment and being put on the spot. In other words, peer pressure. But it wasn’t all that bad …

That’s right…crimped hair, side ponies, legwarmers (of course) and lots of neon colors. Yeah, we’re hot. And if I had more than 10 minutes to prep for this I would have worn something hotter, but I had to settle for whatever no one else was wearing. Sigh.

In other news…I’ve been busting my ass trying to prep for the Army 10 miler. I logged in a 10 mile split last weekend where I ran 5 miles late Saturday night and then another 5 Sunday morning. I read in Runner’s World that splitting your runs this way is a completely legit way of training for longer distances. I ran another 6 miles today and struggled, but realized I didn’t properly fuel myself last night or this morning. When I got back from the run I told Dennis I was dropping out of the race (yes, again) and he very nicely encouraged me back to reality. It was nice to have the positive push.

Oh, and check out my Easy Mac n Cheese

Served with some zucchini

I was really in the mood form some comfort food, so I threw this together after work one night last week. Click here for the recipe. Mac and cheese is so easy to make, and it really can be a decently healthy meal if you make a few changes. And no, you don’t have to sacrifice taste. If you need a little protein you can add some chopped chicken or canned tuna (which I did for lunch the next day.)

I have a friend who participated in the Kona Ironman this past weekend … I can’t wait to hear how he did. And here I am complaining about a measly 10 miles…

What’s your favorite go-to comfort meal?

Abuela’s black beans

2010-09-29T21:38:00.001-04:00

Everybody in my family has gone through it….trying to replicate our mom’s or grandmother’s recipes with no avail. I remember when my sister Monique first got married, she didn’t know how to make beans so she made rice with corn. We made fun of her for years about that. It took some practice but she eventually got the hang of it.

My grandmother’s black beans, however, can only be replicated by my mom – and even hers aren’t as good as my grandmother’s (sorry mom.) Not that they’re not good, they’re just slightly different.

When Dennis and I first started dating my grandmother invited us over for dinner where she made black beans and rice. Dennis immediately fell in love with them, so whenever she needed work done around the house she’d lure him over with her black beans. However, we’ve since moved away from each other – she’s in Phoenix and we’re Northern VA – so if we want them we have to make them ourselves. So for the first time in my 31 years, I attempted Abuela’s black beans. (she is 90 years old, by the way, and still kickin’)

Attempted.

Ok, they weren’t bad….they just weren’t hers.

In a saucepan I sautéed:

1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 small red pepper
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1T oregano
2 bacon strips
salt, pepper to taste

I soaked the beans overnight. The in the morning I put the sautéed veggies, beans, 8 cups of water by suggestion (WAY too much) and 2 more strips of bacon for flavor (not enough.)

I cooked them on low while I was at work-about 9 hours.

The verdict? Dennis ate about three bites and very politely said, “They’re not…bad….” I ate them though. After all, it was a little piece of home.

It’s hard failing at a recipe that is so close to my heart. Oh well, with time…until then I’ve just have to fly to Phoenix to get them.

Re-thinking it all

2010-09-27T21:01:00.001-04:00

After pressing “publish” on yesterday’s post, I spent a lot of time thinking about my wanting to back out of the Army 10 miler. After a long chat with a friend from home, I realized that my problem is not running, it’s the pressure that I’ve let the running put on me. What happened to the days when running made me feel like this?

Ok, well that’s beer in my hand so of course I was feeling good…

So today, I decided to go for a short run with just a watch, and when I ended, I ended. I didn’t pay attention to the time, I didn’t pay attention to the mileage, I just ran. And it was all good until a Marine (he had the haircut and a Marines t-shirt on) blew by me in front of a line of traffic!! I can only imagine what that looked like!

Anyway, I’m feeling better today. Little by little and hopefully I’ll get back to this:

Football season does not have to equal fat season

2010-09-26T21:13:00.001-04:00

I can’t explain to you how much fun having a Fantasy Football team is. I loved watching football before, but now I have something at stake with every game that’s played. There’s no money involved, just bragging rights, but it’s fun to talk smack and beat your opponent every week.

The only downside to football is the food that it’s associated with pizza, wings, and beer. And chips. And just plain old junk. Don’t worry, I didn’t eat any of that.

How about a 99% fat free turkey burger with 3 bean salad wrapped in lettuce with avocado?

Ok, so I used cheese. It was completely unnecessary but it was kind of an accident (meaning Dennis put it on since I didn’t tell him not to)

Army 10 miler update:

I’m contemplating giving up my bib for this race. It’s not that I don’t think I can do it, it’s that I don’t really want to. I missed a lot of running time this week due to severely annoying allergies, a lot of paperwork that kept me at my desk through lunch, traffic, and 85-90+ degree weather that kept me from running after work. I know, excuses excuses, but honestly I’m OK with it. I made sure to get out and walk at least 3 miles every day, so I feel OK physically. If I can’t get in a good amount of miles this week, I’ll have to pass.

What about you—is it worth running a race if you’re not excited about it?

The only reason I ever started running races was because I loved doing it. I could never get enough of that feeling of exhilaration, but now all I feel is frustration and anxiety. Why force it?

Split it

2010-09-19T19:54:00.001-04:00

I had a 7.5 mile run on my schedule today and the idea of it was stressing me out. Running more than 5 or 6 miles alone can get a little boring, and it’s hard to stay properly fueled and hydrated when you’re out for so long. So I decided to split my run into two 40 minute sections with a stop back at my house to refuel.

I ran 20 minutes out, turned around and came home to fill up the water bottle and eat half a banana with a spoonful of honey. The first 3 miles were pretty easy and I was keeping a steady pace of just under a 10 minute mile. I was trying to keep it as easy as possible since lately I’ve been struggling with hills and anything over 5 miles. The fourth mile is where I started to feel the heat-it was in the mid 70s and sunny when I left at 10 a.m., which was a bit warmer than I had expected it to be. Plus, this part of the run back to my house is up a mean hill that has been killing me these past few runs.

The second time around wasn’t any better. The first mile out is mostly uphill and I thought I was going to throw up. But things started getting better as the road flattened itself out and mile 5-6 felt much better. Then I hit about a half mile uphill stretch around mile 6.5 where I started fighting with myself about whether or not I should give up my bib for the Army 10 miler. I finished the last mile and almost cried when I walked back into my house and tried to stretch out my sore back and legs.

Stats: 7.5 miles, 1:17:23

Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through so much torture, but in the end I’m usually glad I did. Especially since I came home to this. Mmmm carrot cake.

I found this recipe at 101 Cookbooks. The author of this blog is a genius.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 cup spelt flour and 1 cup all-purpose GF flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
4 ounces unsalted butter, heated until just melted
1/2 cup dried dates, seeded and finely chopped into a paste
3 ripe bananas (1 1/4 cups), mashed well
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or lowfat is ok)
2 eggs, lightly whisked
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup (or to taste) – I used the maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9x5x3 / 8-cup loaf pan (or 8x8 cake pan) and line it with parchment paper.Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and set aside. Stir the dates into the melted butter, breaking up the dates a bit.

In a separate bowl combine the bananas and carrots. Stir in the date-butter mixture, breaking up any date clumps as you go. Whisk in the yogurt and the eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir until everything just comes together. Spoon into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean in the center of the cake - it'll be less if you are using a standard cake pan. Remove from oven and let cool.

While the cake is baking whip together the cream cheese and agave nectar. Taste. If you like your frosting sweeter adjust to your liking. When the cake has completely cooled frost the top of the cake with an offset spatula.

I didn’t frost my cake with it since after it cooled, I cut it into single servings, wrapped them up in aluminum and threw them in a freezer bag to store. I can’t eat my baked goods fast enough so this keeps me from forcing myself to eat and also from anything going bad.

There are a few things I would do to make this recipe a little more to my liking (such as adding a few more spices) but overall it was the perfect texture and had great flavor. And the fact that it was sweetened only by bananas and dates made it even better.

It was so moist and thick…so good. A great compliment to a long run.

Off to watch my team play Sunday Night Football!

Nope, still don’t like ‘em

2010-09-18T21:17:00.001-04:00

I don’t like green smoothies and I keep trying to convince myself that I do. It’s been well over a year since I first tried this blog-crazed drink and I still don’t know why I keep trying them.

So many of you out there seem to like the green smoothies and swear you’ve experienced increased energy levels and great skin from drinking them daily. When I first read about them I thought, “I want to experience those things too!” So I started making green smoothies hoping to feel good…and every time I made them I was sadly disappointed. But for some ungodly reason I keep trying to like them. Hence this morning’s failed concoction.

Last night I stopped at the farmer’s market on my way home from work and found a fresh bunch of spinach that looked oh-so-good so I decided to buy it.

But this morning it started to look a little wilted, so I thought I should use some ASAP. Since I make green tea lattes every morning I thought, why not just throw a little spinach in there? I mean, the matcha tea is pretty earthy tasting already so adding a little spinach to it can’t hurt right?

I took one sip and thought, “Nope, still don’t like it.”

Once I got through the initial thick cloud of spinach, the latte was drinkable, but every couple of sips I’d get a taste of the spinach that would make me gag. Since I hate wasting food (especially my very expensive matcha tea) I drank it anyway. I love spinach, but something about the consistency when it’s blended is gross to me.

How about you-do you like sneaking greens into your drinks? I’d love to hear your recipes. I like using carrots in smoothies. And sweet potato too!

A nice day for a drive

2010-09-13T21:00:00.001-04:00

One of the cool things about being new to an area is exploring. Even though we’ve actually lived in the DC Metro area for a year, we still have a lot to learn. With traffic being a royal pain in the ass, we tend to spend our weekends running errands since doing them during the week is impossible. And running errands around here on the weekends takes up half of your day (if not more) so needless to say, we don’t really have the chance to do as much fun stuff as we would like. Oh and did I mention that during football season, nothing gets done on Sundays? Yeah…Sundays are for football so aside from a long run and some cooking, we don’t leave the house.

But that’s another story.

Anyway, Saturday morning we got up and decided to go for a drive. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and 75, so getting out early worked in our advantage. We just decided to drive with no place in mind. We ended up driving into Manassas, VA, which has a very bad reputation, but we actually had a great time.

We bumped into a farmer’s market

Where we bought some zucchini, tomatoes, a spaghetti squash and some Honey Crisp apples.

And we found a mystery veggie.

They labeled it as a zucchini (and it could be!) I just have never seen a zucchini look like this before.

But the best part came after.

We were feeling frisky (not that kind of frisky!) so we stopped at a housing development a few miles north of where Dennis works and randomly toured about 5 model homes. And we fell in love.

The kitchens in these places?! Hello double ovens, islands, counter and cupboard space galore! They were all gorgeous (and quite surprisingly in our price range) so we have done nothing but talk about how badly we want to move in. Like now.

Unfortunately we just signed another year lease on our townhouse, and oh yeah-we need to keep saving for a down payment! At least we have a goal to look forward to now. And the fact that I’d need to find a new job doesn’t help. The traffic from there would be horrendous and totally not worth it.

Do you own a house? Is it as exciting as I feel like it is? (besides the money-suking part)

Back in training mode

2010-09-09T20:33:00.002-04:00

I hate when I fall behind on my blog posts, especially when I actually have stuff to write about! An eye doctor’s appointment after work Tuesday and my fantasy football league draft last night has kept me busy, so I’m going to try to wrap this up in one post as quickly and easily as I can.

I have 6 weeks until the Army 10 miler and have to get my butt in gear.

Since Sunday I have run 13 miles. It started out with an easy 5 mile run Sunday afternoon. It’s pretty hilly around here so my time of 50:26 didn’t piss me off too much.

Tuesday was a quick and speedy workout that really kicked my arse.

The plan: 20 minutes of sprints, 10 minutes strength. What actually happened: 18 minutes of sprints, almost passed out next to the treadmill for 10 minutes.

Minute 0-5 Pace: 6.0
Minute 5-6 Pace 6.5
Minute 6-7 Pace 7.0
Minute 7-8 Pace 7.5
Minute 8-9 Pace 8.0 <---- really freaking hard
Minute 9-10 Pace 8.5 <----- even harder
Minute 10-11 Pace 5.5
Minute 11-12 Pace 6.0
Minute 12-13 Pace 6.5
Minute 13-14 Pace 7.0 <---- starting to feel it much sooner than last time
Minute 14-15 Pace 7.5 <---- starting to see spots
Minute 15-16 Pace 8.0 <---- don’t pass out…DON’T PASS OUT!!
Minute 16-16:30 Pace 8.5 <--Breathe! Breathe!
Minute 16:30-17 Pace 5.0 <---- Phew!
Minute 17-17:30 Pace 8.5 <--- a little more manageable with the break
Minute 17:30-18:30 Pace 5.0 <----- holy hell that was hard
Minutes 18:30-23:50 Pace 3.0 <----- seriously feeling like I’m going to die and surprised I made it this long

I was beat. Sprinting for a minute at a time is hard! That’s why I had to break it down at the end to 30 second intervals but believe me; sprinting at 30 second intervals is still hard.

Wednesday’s workout was an interval mix that have now become one of my favorite workouts.

Nicole’s kick ass interval workout

Warm up 5 minutes at 6.0 on the treadmill, and then pick it up for the last 5 minutes (I picked it up each minute by 1 to 6.5)
Jump off the treadmill and grab 2 15lb. dumbbells and a balance ball
Do 20 reps of butterflies on the balance ball.
Jump off the ball and immediately do planks: regular planks for 30 seconds, then side planks (on each side) for 15.
Immediately grab 5 pound weights and do lunges, 10 each side.
Grab 15 pound weights and do a set of 20 arm presses.
Put the weights down and do dips.
Jump back on the treadmill and do intervals for 10 minutes: 6.5 for one minute; 7.0 for the next; 7.5 the next; 6.0 for recovery. Then back up again until you reach a mile (around 9 minutes) and jog at 5.5 for a minute of recovery.
Back to the weights-do the same as above again. Then back to the treadmill to do the same as the last round.

Total time: around 50 minutes
Miles: 3.26
Strength achieved: arms, legs, abs, back

Thursday: 3 mile tempo run
I tried really hard to keep myself at an uncomfortable “tempo” pace for the entire 3 miles but after the second mile I had to slow down a bit. The tricky part about this run was that I didn’t have my Garmin so I had to go by feel. I know the route like the back of my hand so I knew it was right around a 5K, and I slowed down toward the end (hills) but the weather was perfect (74, sunny and low humidity) so it felt great overall. Then I came in and did some weighted squats, arm curls and planks.

Phew! I’m feeling a little sore but great! I won’t lie, I do have a slight sore throat and my ears are a little clogged, but I’m not sure if it’s just allergies or if I’m actually getting a cold. The ears started bothering me Monday night, the throat this afternoon (after my run.) Hopefully it’s nothing my Allegra prescription can’t handle.

It’s taking all I have to stay up for the first football game of the season (having a fantasy football team makes every game exciting) but I think I’ll be heading to bed VERY soon. Like now.

Are you a sports fan? Do you get really excited for a particular sports season to start?

I am a huge sports fan! Although I’m really excited for football, nothing beats opening day of baseball season for me.

Three Bean Salad and some good friends

2010-09-06T10:02:00.002-04:00

Happy Labor Day ya’ll! The weather has been amazing here and I couldn’t be more excited. The temperatures have dropped down to the low 80s with virtually no humidity with TONS of sun.

We drove up to Hanover MD to visit my friend from home, Megan, and her husband Richard. We really wish we lived closer to them since they are the first “couple friends” we’ve been able to hang out with in a while. Finding couple friends is really hard in my opinion, so I’m glad they’re only an hour away.

While there we hung out on their deck and grilled up a traditional Central NY dish, chicken spiedes.

And I made some 3 bean salad.

My neighbor Sue made this a few months back and I’ve kind of taken over the recipe since. It’s a very quick, light, healthy and easy way to add flavor to any meal.

3 bean salad (adapted from Simply Recipes)

1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
1/2 red onion, chopped fine
1 cup fresh, finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp fresh finely chopped rosemary

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I used 2 packets of Stevia in the Raw)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

In a large bowl, mix the beans, celery, onion, parsley and rosemary.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans. Toss to coat.
Chill beans in the refrigerator for several hours, to allow the beans to soak up the flavor of the dressing.

Also while visiting, Richard gave me a tutorial on my camera. I have manual settings and I have no idea how to use them. One of the pictures I took from our friends’ wedding last weekend came out very bright and I didn’t know why. I learned how to use the aperture feature and control the shutter speed, so I took many practice pictures.

Too bright!

A little better

Way too bright and too slow of a shutter speed

Ok I just really liked this picture.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

11 hours and finally refreshed

2010-09-04T11:11:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday everyone!

I don’t know what came over me but I slept for 11 hours last night! I had a half day at work and by 3 p.m. I had made my way upstairs for a nap. I don’t know why but I was feeling exhausted and figured a quick nap would help get me through the rest of the evening.

I woke up refreshed and at around 5 we headed out to get some dinner and run a few errands. (or dinner was nothing to blog about…..we were both very disappointed) We got home around 8:30 and watched a couple of episodes of Family Guy (I have a love/hate relationship with that show) and by 10:30 we were both ready for bed. (lame-os, we know) I woke up at 6 to feed the cats and thought about going for a run. Negative. I woke up again at 7:30 and thought about going for a run again. Before I even had the chance to argue with myself, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up again until 9:30. I don’t know why I would have been so tired! Maybe last weekend’s craziness caught up to me?

I finally was able to get my green tea latte down to a science:

Ohhh yeah. I am very lucky to have this magic bullet type blender that whips this up for me in no time.

1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or whatever kind you wish to use)
2 tsp. green tea matcha powder
cinnamon sprinkles
dash of vanilla
if you’re feeling it, a sweetener of your choice. Today I used Stevia in the Raw but I usually don’t use anything.

Warm your milk up to lukewarm and add to your blender with the tea sweetener. Blend blend blend (about 30 seconds) and pour back into your mug. I microwave it for about 30-40 seconds more to get it nice and warm.

The very first time I tried the matcha green tea was at Starbucks. It doesn’t taste the same because the tea is a little bit different grade (more green if you will) and I don’t use vanilla soymilk, but damn, this is pretty freaking good. I had a really hard time finding Matcha green tea and had to give in and order it from here.

The health benefits of matcha green tea are amazing too. And the author of that piece is also pretty amazing.

Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

It is a gorgeous day here in Northern VA and I am so very happy to be spending it today with a good friend from home who lives near Baltimore, MD. Directions to Hanover, MD according to Google Maps: 38.1 mi – about 52 mins – up to 1 hour 30 mins in traffic. Boy do I love traffic.

Have a great day!

Do what you can

2010-09-02T21:04:00.001-04:00

I had it all planned out to run 4 miles today with a little bit of strength training. I went down to the gym with full intentions of completing my workout in around 50 minutes. I had some extra time today since my boss was in meetings all afternoon and I got into work early so I thought why not?

I got to the gym around 1:30 and started pounding it out on the treadmill. The first mile started off slow and hard but I started feeling better around the 10 minute mark, so I picked up the pace with the intention of running 4 x 800s at different race pace speeds. Fartleks, if you will, with the first 800 at a 10K pace, slowed back to a jog for 800, then an 800 at a 5K pace, then back to 10K pace, then back to a jog. However, after the first set, I got such bad cramps I had no choice but to stop.

I thought I was going to pass out and I had only run 2 miles! What’s that all about?

I decided it was better to listen to my body than to push myself through any more. I actually woke up with really bad cramps too (yes, we’re talking THOSE kind of cramps) and I won’t lie, I was a little concerned. They hit me out of nowhere and they lasted about 10 minutes or so, then they went away. I’ve never had cramps this bad before, and I’m not sure if it’s the PCOS (even though I’m back on the pill) but it was not normal.

After the failed 4 mile attempt, I did a couple of planks and called it a day. Then I told myself that a 25 minute workout is better than nothing.

That’s ok, my dinner made up for it.

I was in the mood for grilled cheese. This hit the spot.

Steamed asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and garlic, sliced tomatoes and grilled swiss cheese with homemade hummus and sprouts on GF bread. Yum.

Do you feel like you set goals that are too high for yourself?

I am notorious for biting off more than I can chew, and it’s hard not to feel bad when the result is not what I’d hoped for. I’m getting better with my feeling of failure, and today is a good example of that. Normally I’d get down on myself for not finishing what I set out to do, but I walked away from the gym feeling satisfied that I did what I could. It’s a step in the right direction!

Happy Friday!

Impromptu dinner

2010-09-01T20:35:00.001-04:00

Well, hello there September! I am happy to see you, even though it’s always a bittersweet time of year for me. I love the fall but as you know, with fall comes shorter days and inevitably, winter. However, fall is still my favorite season, and with this new month I will be bringing my running game back.

I have to. I’m signed up for the Army 10 miler and I need to get my butt in gear. I haven’t run more than 5 miles since 4th of July weekend. After my first half marathon I got burned out and lost my love for running. I started walking more, doing shorter interval type workouts and have included a lot more strength training over these past few months and I’m really satisfied with the way I’ve been feeling. Honestly, I haven’t missed being in pain and stressing out over run times either. However, I need to cross that finish line pain and injury free, so my mileage will be increasing again starting this weekend, slowly and steady.

Ok … on to dinner.

We didn’t do any shopping since we were away this past weekend so our kitchen is a little sparse. I called Dennis on my way home and did the whole “What do you wanna do for dinner?” thing, but when I got home, I realized all we had were a bunch of sides. So I threw a few things together to make this:

1/4 red quinoa, 1/4 can white tuna, 1T homemade hummus, 2 handfuls of spinach (slightly cooked) and some onions. It actually turned out to be a great dinner.

After this yummy dinner I made my green tea latte

Which wasn’t as green as I’d hoped, but I’m experimenting with this new matcha tea. I think I need to use 2 tsp instead of one.

It just stinks because this stuff is not cheap! But it’s so worth the splurge!

Dennis would say that I splurge on everything since I buy mostly natural whole and organic foods, but I’d say besides the matcha tea I splurge on Sunshine burgers and Greek yogurt.

What types of food do you splurge on?

Home sweet home

2010-08-30T21:02:00.001-04:00

This statement is meant in more ways than one. Dennis and I made a trip back up to our hometown for his best friend’s wedding. Going “home” is always nice but I’m always glad to come back home to my own bed, my cats, and my kitchen!

We left after work on Wednesday for the 6 hour drive back to upstate NY and it was go go go from there. Well, more so for Dennis since he was the best man at the wedding, but I found ways to keep myself busy while the boys were being boys.

The weather was gorgeous and cool which was a nice break from the heat we’ve been getting in Northern VA. Thursday and Friday were sunny in the mid 60s and wedding day (Saturday) was sunny in the low-mid 70s, which is perfect in my opinion.

I packed my running sneakers with the intentions of pounding the pavement while I was home but instead of running, I opted to walk with Dennis’ father who walks every morning. He told me he walks four miles “around the block” and when he’s feeling well enough, adds another mile to the loop on the way back. I told him I was up for the entire 5 mile loop if he was feeling it, and boy was he. Both Thursday and Friday morning included the 5 mile loop, but Saturday I did a shorter walk on my own downtown.

Dennis’ parents live in the country, so our walks were very scenic. Actually, even though I pretty much grew up in the country I forget sometimes how beautiful it is. We saw deer, turkeys, horses and cows while we walked. It reminded me that slowing down is not just nice, it’s necessary. Luckily, it doesn’t take much to get to the countryside in Northern VA, so even though we live in the hustle and bustle of metro DC, we can wind down in just a short 15 minute drive if we so wish.

Anyway, the wedding was a blast. We spent a lot of time being dressed up which was kind of nice.

If I could zoom in on those shoes—my sister sent them to me. They killed my feet but I was determined to rock them hard!

Bride and groom gettin busy on the dance floor

Although I didn’t really drink much this weekend (it was open bar but I only had one glass of wine with my dinner. Imagine that!) I still feel like I’m toxic. I brought some food with me so I could eat as healthy as possible but I ended up eating out a lot since we were on the go. The first thing I did when I got home was drink tons of water and eat lots of veggies. It’s 8:30 and as soon as I hit publish I am going to bed!

How was your weekend?

Making food memories

2010-08-23T21:51:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons I love to cook and (especially) bake is because of the memories that were made doing these things while I was growing up. Everything in our family revolves around food. Everything. I know ours in not out of the ordinary in this aspect (and this aspect only since my family is crazy) but it’s just something we all can relate to. When someone does something nice for me, I bake for them. If they are hurting, suffering, sick, mourning; you name it: I will bake and/or cook my face off for them to show my affection. It’s how I roll.

This has become part of life with Dennis. We both love to cook and try new things. If it’s a failure we laugh about it. If it’s a success, we brag about it. My grandmother likes to pay us with food. When she found out that Dennis loves her black beans, every time she needed something done she’d cook them for him. Last week he traveled to Arizona (where she lives now) for work and we all joked that she would probably show up at his hotel room with black beans. The first thing she said to him was “I would have made you Frijoles negros but I don’t have a stove in my apartment anymore!” She recently moved to an independent living facility since she’s 90 years old and couldn’t be trusted in the house alone anymore. She can still cook up a storm though!

We have a neighbor who also likes to cook (hi Sue!) so we enjoy swapping foods. Today, for instance, I brought over some rice and beans and came home with fresh zucchini and Quinoa salad. Win/win in my eyes.

I don’t know how to make rice and beans for 2 people, so I always have enough to feed the neighborhood. I took this picture with my phone to send to my mom and sister. They both responded with lots of yums and indicated they were jealous in some way or another. Since I’m the baby I’ve spent the last five/six years trying to perfect our traditional Puerto Rican recipes so I can teach my kids to cook too someday.

I also made my own soy green tea latte with the last of the matcha tea I bought at our local farmer’s market. My tea lady hasn’t been back since 4th of July so I need to get my matcha green tea from somewhere else now. I bought some from Teavana but the quality wasn’t as good. Come back tea lady!!

Do you have any food memories with friends and/or family?

Mine include my grandmother’s frijoles negros, her breakfast custard called Crema, (OMG it’s so bad but so good) and a fork and dish she gave me when I was a kid that I still use today; my mom’s potato salad, flan, watching her teach Dennis how to make a few very key Puerto Rican recipes, and the Thanksgiving when I was designated the family baker. I was 14. My mom put my sister in charge of the pumpkin pies and they came out horrible. My job was apple pie and it came out perfect. Now I honestly don’t have a taste for either. Go figure.

Why am I so itchy??

2010-08-19T21:00:00.001-04:00

All week I’ve been itching like crazy. I have a few red bumps (small ones) on my arms, back, and thighs but it doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. Not like bug bites or anything like that. Little red tiny little guys. My arms, legs, thighs, back, sides, shoulders…they all itch. And it’s been going on all week. What is up with that??

I managed to ignore the itching through my awesome lunchtime workout today. I brought the plank back into my life and I think it’s here to stay.

Have you tried doing these on a balance ball or bosu ball? Holy cow that is hard! However I think it’s hard enough on the floor. I did three rounds of planks (including side planks) with one round on the balance ball, one round on the bosu and one on the balance ball (all side planks were on the floor.)

I am a firm believer that there is no better workout for the core than planks. This is my opinion, I’m sure there are people who may disagree, but honestly-these things are bad ass.

I had 30 minutes to get in a good workout so here’s what I did:

First 1o minutes: Treadmill
5 minutes at 6.0 mph-
2 minutes 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
1 minute 6.0 mph

Next 5 minutes: Strength
Plank on balance ball-held for 30 seconds, side planks on floor, 30 seconds each side
Lunges/bicep curls with 5 pound weights-count of 20
Squats/arm rows with 5 pound weights-count of 12

Next 5 minutes: Treadmill
2 minutes at 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
:30 seconds 7.5 mph
:30 seconds walk

Next 5 minutes: Strength
Same as above, except planks were on the bisu ball (with one added on the floor at the end)

Next 5 minutes : Treadmill
2 minutes at 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
:30 seconds 7.5 mph
:30 6.0 mph
1 minute walk

The total time ended up being around 33 minutes. I was able to get back to my desk exactly an hour after I left. Perfect.

Back to being itchy…I’m going to take some Benedryl in a few minutes to see if that helps. I’m wondering if I’m having an allergic reaction to something….

Happy Friday!

Rainy days and Mondays

2010-08-18T19:50:00.002-04:00

If I had to choose a day to stay home sick from work, it most definitely should have been today rather than yesterday. It’s been rainy and dreary all day today; a definite stay home under the covers type of day. Sometimes I don’t mind the rain but today’s rain included flooding which made traveling around the DC Metro area even more of a mess. Imagine that?

Besides the crappy commute, I am feeling better today. Still a little crampy but better. I even managed to get on the dreadmill today. I did a 30 minute hill walk workout with 5 pound weights. It looked a little something like this:

Minutes 0-5: Warm up 4.0 mph on 5% incline
Minutes 5-10: 4.0 mph, with a bump up on the incline by 1% every minute up to 10%
Minutes 10-20: One minute intervals at 10% incline – 3.0, 3.5, 4.0
Minutes 20-25: 4.0 mph, with a bump up on the incline by 1% every minute up to 10%
Minutes 25-28: Cool down, 4.0 on a 5% incline
Minutes 28-30: 3.5 at 5% incline

Who says you can’t get a good sweaty workout walking on the treadmill?

I was trying to get a close up so you can see the sweat….

This was the perfect workout since I still am not 100%. I didn’t want to overdo it.

I just got my official bib number for the Army 10 Miler and realized that I haven’t run more than 5 miles since 4^th of July weekend so I need to get my butt in gear. The race is October 24.

And then I came home and ate this:

Turkey taco salad. Minus the chips (although I did end up throwing a few in there) But this bad boy was GOOD. A ton of lettuce, avocado, fresh salsa and 99% fat free turkey with a taco seasoning that Dennis threw together. This is definitely one of our “go to” meals. Quick, easy, and healthy.

Do you have a go-to meal that you know you can always count on?

Sick day

2010-08-17T21:25:00.001-04:00

I got a phone call on Friday from my doctor’s office telling me I need to come back in ASAP to re-take my urine test. She said it came back abnormal and I might have an infection. I thought it was strange since I wasn’t feeling any type of symptoms but better safe than sorry.

After spending an hour and a half waiting (and that was only after I complained and pretty much demanded my co-pay back … that’s a different blog post) my urine sample showed I have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and I was prescribed antibiotics.

I hate taking antibiotics. And since I didn’t feel any of the symptoms I almost didn’t buy them. My sister convinced me to be on the safe side, so I took my first dose Monday evening along with a probiotic, and shortly after went to bed.

At 1 a.m. I woke up in SO MUCH PAIN. I couldn’t believe it! All of the symptoms I didn’t have suddenly appeared. On top of that, I was nauseas and freezing. I got up and put on wool socks and a hoodie because I couldn’t get warm. Oh, and I was wide awake and all alone since Dennis was out of town last night for work. Just my luck!

I spent about 2 hours watching Nick@Nite (I don’t remember The Cosby Show being as cheesy as it was last night—still love it though) and sometime after Home Improvement started, I finally fell asleep again. Sometime around 5 a.m. I woke up again with the same pain, but a little subdued, and I promptly sent my boss an email explaining that a sick day was in order.

I have been on the couch all day recovering with a heating pad watching crappy daytime TV and trying to drink as much water as I can. However, my symptoms feel more like a crampy, achy feeling in my ovaries, not so much in the bladder. Is it possible that I had a reaction to the antibiotics?

Something so simple

2010-08-16T22:17:00.002-04:00

We all know that movie theater popcorn is terrible for you. If you check the stats, it looks something like this:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 124 g - 1 large

Amount per Serving

Calories 664 Calories from Fat 310

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 31g 48%
Saturated Fat 27g 135%
Sodium 443mg 18%
Total Carbohydrate 75g 25%
Dietary Fiber 9g 36%
Sugars 0g
Protein 13g 26%

(source-Livestrong)

Microwave popcorn can be a better choice if you buy the low fat, no butter, no salt kinds but let’s face it: nothing beats homemade stovetop popcorn.

However, as much as I love to cook, my first two attempts at making popcorn on the stove failed. The first batch didn’t even pop! I ended up burning the bottom of the pot and nearly setting our kitchen on fire. The second batch – well let’s just say it wasn’t edible. Thank God for Dennis.

What you need:

An iron pot with a lid. Don’t use glass like I did. It obviously won’t work.
1 tbsp. corn oil
2 tbsp. popping corn
Salt, seasonings to taste
Butter if you wish

Heat up the corn oil in the pot on medium heat. After a few minutes, throw on one kernel and let it pop. Pull the pot off the fire and let it cool for a few seconds, then put the rest of the kernels in the pot and put back on the flame. Shake the pot a little and get excited when your popcorn pops. I sure do. (Edited to add: I changed the amount of oil from 3 tbsp to 1 because it was obviously way too much. I was estimating by watching Dennis but when I tried to do it myself I realized 1 tbsp. was more than enough. I'd even edit it down to 2 tsp. FYI)

Give me homemade popcorn on my couch and a bad reality show over fatty, salty movie theater popcorn and what might be a good movie in the theaters any day.

Drop it like it’s hot

2010-08-12T21:48:00.001-04:00

I got some good news when I picked up my blood test results today. I dropped my cholesterol by 75 points! I do have to admit that my LDL – the bad cholesterol – is high at 102, and this is consistent with PCOS. But let’s back up a little.

All of the women on my mom’s side of the family have high cholesterol, and the first time I was tested at the age of 14, it was 212. (My seven year old niece already has high cholesterol for her age.) I got it under control a few years ago (down to 186) but then it shot right back up again. Last year around this time it was 256! So it was nice to know that I was able to get it back down to an all time low of 181.

Yay for oatmeal!!

Keeping my mind busy

2010-08-11T21:27:00.002-04:00

When I start getting that “I want to munch on something” feeling an hour after I ate, I know more than likely it’s because I’m bored. There are two times of the day when this happens: after lunch and after dinner. After lunch I feel like I could eat a horse (it may be because I work out on my lunch hour and eat shortly after) and when I’m at home sitting on my couch reading/writing blogs. Makes sense right?

I can find a way to keep my mind busy at work by getting up and taking a quick walk around the building. Chances are, I’ll come back to my desk ready to roll. If that doesn’t work, I will actually stand at my desk while I’m working. I’ll take a call while I’m standing, respond to emails standing, etc. This leads me to doing paperwork that I put off because my lack of motivation seems to decrease while I’m on my feet. My co-workers are done with asking me what the hell I’m doing since I’m either doing or eating something strange.

Oh, and cinnamon Puffins rock my world.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch ain’t got nothin’ on you Puffins. Cap’n Crunch doesn’t either. (I think the original flavor tastes a lot like Cap’n Crunch) If you haven’t tried either, you must. They’re wheat free and they taste like heaven.

Do you have tricks to keep away from mindless eating?

Hummus, oh how I've missed you

2010-08-10T21:20:00.001-04:00

I didn't give hummus up or anything, I just pushed it off to the side for some reason. I do that every so often-eat something until I can't anymore, and then when I re-introduce it, it's like heaven in my mouth.

Kind of like this beer:

When I went to see my doctor last week, she tested me for Celiac, which undoubtedly came back negative. I didn't really think I was Celiac, but when she took the blood I thought she was testing for all food allergies, not just Celiac. I don't think I'm "allergic" to gluten, I think I just have a problem breaking it down and digesting it. I took to trying spelt flour and was able to tolerate that very nicely, so GF bread is not a necessity...although I do like the almond flour bread from Food For Life.

Anyway, I told Dennis that if I come back negative for wheat allergies I will still continue to steer as clear from the gluten as possible only because I feel strongly that it has ridden me of my headaches (and they were constant) but I will NOT continue to avoid beer.

Obviously I will drink with caution-as I always do-but I decided to dive into a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on Sunday and man was it good. I can't wait to drink a Guinness, Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. Easily my top favorite beers, not necessarily in that order. (depends on the day)

So my hummus-

I bought a big bag of garbanzos a while back with the intentions of making Channa Masala (which I did here.) Then I put them back in my pantry only to be neglected. So I decided to bring back my lost love.

I don't make hummus like the normal person does. When I was still a newspaper reporter in upstate NY, there was a deli that was exactly halfway between my house and my office. Every morning I went in and ordered a whole wheat bagel with hummus and tomatoes. I LOVED their hummus. My boss on the other hand...he hated it. Well, the smell that is. It was very garlicky and apparently it smelled up the entire office. I couldn't tell. ;)

I asked how they made it and adapted my recipe to theirs.

My favorite hummus recipe

1 cup cooked chickpeas (or canned but make sure you rinse them first!)
1 garlic clove
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (I just drizzle it in so I'm guesstimating here)
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin (I added this on my own. It makes a huge difference)
Salt, pepper to taste

Throw it in your blender/food processor/VitaMix and go to town. So.Freaking.Good.

I know I know, traditional hummus has tahini. However, I've made it with tahini and I don't really love it. I like the cumin instead.

Workout:

Today I tried something different. I did kind of a sprint/stations type workout. I started out with 10 minutes on the elliptical at level 9-just enough to loosen up the legs and work up a bit of a sweat.

Then I moved over to the balance ball and did 1 minute rotations for 5 minutes of crunches and arm rows. Then I went to the treadmill and ran 5 minutes hard. Then back to the weights and did 1 minute rotations of lunges with 5 pound weights, arm raises, crunches, repeat. Then back on the treadmill for 5 minutes hard. Two minute cool down. Lots of sweat.

Total time: 32 minutes. And it flew! Love workouts like this!

Enjoy your evening!

Feeling better

2010-08-09T20:31:00.001-04:00

…although I will have to say that I had a crappy visit to my doctor on Saturday. I’m on the hunt for a new one but we don’t have to get into all that right now.

I want to thank you though for your support and for understanding that not every day is a good one!

So let’s focus on food shall we? After all, with the PCOS diagnosis, I will be changing the way I do things around here. I’ve been toying with the whole vegan thing because I’ve read so many positive things about it, but again, I don’t want to label myself as anything yet. So I’ll start with this: Low carb/low sodium and as little yeast as possible.

Why? Because I feel like this will work best. According to my doctor (and a lot of research) my body is not properly processing sugar. My insulin is messed up, my metabolism is messed up, and this is the reason for the sudden weight gain. Also, after speaking to a co-worker, the bloating, gas and uncomfortable feelings are all normal. So I’m learning to live, adjust, and understand what makes me feel better and under control.

That being said, check out this recipe: Lentil Quinoa Salad

It was really easy to make and was perfect as a side to my homemade Sunburgers. I ate them both all week long for lunch and will probably do the same thing this week as well.

My version is an adaption of this recipe.

1/2 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1 1/4 cups water, plus 2 cups
1/2 cup lentils
1 teaspoon no salt added Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lime, zested
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a large microwave-proof bowl with a cover, add the rinsed quinoa and 1 1/4 cups water. Cover and microwave on high for 9 minutes. Let it sit for 2 minutes then stir. Quinoa should be tender enough to eat, but with a little "pop" upon biting.

Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a saucepan, simmer the lentils in 2 cups water until the lentils are tender, but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain and cool.

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard and vinegar together, and drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. Add the garlic powder, lime zest, and salt, and pepper, to taste.

To assemble the salad: In a medium salad bowl, mix the quinoa, lentils, green onions, and chopped cilantro. Top the salad with the dressing, toss to coat and serve.

This recipe is perfect as a side or main dish, and it’s perfect for everyone. Vegans, meat eaters, and those who make fun of me for eating “weird hippie shit” love this salad. I brought it to a barbecue this weekend with some friends from high school and they loved it.

I know, it’s not necessarily low carb but quinoa is good for you. I’m obviously not going to cut out ALL carbs, just unnecessary ones.

On a side note, I’ve been neglecting to discuss my exercise regimen. This is mostly because it’s changed drastically from before. I’ve been combining lifting with cardio 5 days a week during my lunch hour. I usually work out for about 45 minutes total: 30 minutes of cardio (run, walk, run/walk hills, elliptical) and tons of ab and arm work. Some legs (usually squats and lunges) and I’ve even started messing around with the cables. I did some bench presses last Friday.

I’ve been incorporating Jillian Michaels’ idea of doing something for one minute at at time…so I do a particular workout for a minute, then switch to abs for a minute, back to the first for a minute, back to abs for a minute, and on to the next. Make sense? And abs have been my go-to cool down exercise. In between my sets of whatever, I do crunches on the balance ball. It might not be perfect but it’s making me happy for now. And since I cancelled my gym membership at Washington Sports Club, I can’t go to any classes.

I’m still supposed to be running the Army 10 miler in October but I have not run more than 3 miles in 4 weeks. I’m not quite sure I’m ready yet either. I need to get my health in order before I start thinking about running this race.

If you have any fun, quick, and easy workout sessions please let me know. I have access to weights and machines, but only have about 45 minutes to work out. Anything to help change things up!

Sometimes it takes a stranger

2010-08-05T20:41:00.002-04:00

I’ve been going through a lot of things recently both emotionally and physically, but it wasn’t until today that I realized how hard I’ve been on myself. I’ve been treating myself like crap for something that’s beyond my control and I’ve had enough.

Earlier in the year (February to be exact) I gave up gluten. You can read about it here. I had been dealing with GI issues that I couldn’t put my finger on. I’d given up dairy, I’d tried giving up meat, and maybe I didn’t give myself enough time with either (a week or two) but the things that seemed to trigger bloating/gas/discomfort were glutinous: pastas, breads, crackers, etc. A light bulb went off and I made the decision to go gluten free.

I felt better after a few days. My migraines and constant headaches went away almost immediately. Then something crazy happened. I went nearly 4 months without a period. I took 3 pregnancy tests-all negative. Then I saw my Dr. where my blood results also showed negative. But I had gained about 5 pounds at this point with no period and no significant change to my diet (other than going GF.)

I was training for my half marathon and had already ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler so I scratched it up to being muscle. But I still didn’t have a period and my clothes started getting uncomfortably tight. I try not to listen to the scale but when the clothes start talking to me I know there’s a problem.

After a series of test, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal…it was explained that it was normal not to get a period for a while and that it will eventually work itself out. I was sent home thinking once I got my period I’d be OK. I had no idea what I was about to get slapped with.

Fast forward to June. I run a 17.75K race and my first half marathon 2 weeks later. I was very unhappy with my performance, but scratched it up to the heat and the hills. My body was struggling even after all of my training, and I was really not sure why. Again, I figured it was the change in temperature and the terrain that caused for my distress and kept on moving. My knees started bothering me again – something that hadn’t happened since I lost the weight. (I had lost 35 pounds – 20 pounds of which I had gained in college) An outfit I bought specifically to wear in Boston after the half marathon didn’t fit me as nicely as it did just a few weeks before. Something wasn’t right but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Then about 3 weeks ago we had a friend in town. After work I ran home to change but when I tried to button my jeans, they just didn’t fit. I had a meltdown. I was miserable…the entire time we were out I barely spoke. I tried but I was so miserable and uncomfortable that all I wanted to do was climb in a hole with a pair of sweatpants on and sleep.

It was all downhill from there.

I had worked so hard at losing weight, put so much effort at eating well and taking care of myself and finally saw some results. I was working at being healthy and being fit, and focusing on my goal to beat my 1/2 marathon race time and eventually maybe start thinking about more serious races. But now, all those same things are showing adverse results. I’m eating well, exercising, taking care of myself and GAINING weight? What’s this all about?

Nothing fits me. I had to buy a few new shirts and luckily I kept my bigger clothes (as per the advice of my sister who told me to keep them for when I have a baby. She’s so smart.) How can this not bother me? It would be abnormal for it not to bother me wouldn’t it?

I went back to my Dr. on Tuesday. Since my last appointment 9 weeks ago I’ve gained another 8 pounds. What? Why is this? What the hell is going on? I’ve gained 14 pounds since February!?

She asked me a million more questions, took a ton of blood, and gave me some trial medications to try (probiotics, antacids, etc.) I go back on Saturday for more blood work and hopefully will have some results from Tuesday’s tests to discuss. I went this morning for a sonogram on my abdomen/gallbladder. They said everything looks normal. Just more frustration in my eyes.

I’ve spent the last 3 weeks miserable, looking at myself in the mirror wondering what I can do to get myself back to normal. Sucking in my stomach, tugging at my clothes, feeling like I have to explain myself to everyone about how terrible I look. I’ve walked around the mall thinking how I don’t have the money to buy more clothes one size bigger-and then wanting to cry at the fact that I have to. I have a wedding coming up in 2 weeks that I don’t want to go to because I feel like crap. I don’t want people to see me.

I went out to lunch with two friends (that I am so grateful for) and told them of my feelings (My feelings were hard to hide.) They were both really supportive and helpful in making me see that I was being hard on myself, but I was still feeling bad. I thought long and hard about their advice - trying to keep weight and my emotions separate - but I couldn't wrap my head around it, so I kept on moping.

But something changed when I watched Caitlin on the Today Show and read this.

What am I doing? Why am I letting myself get so upset about this? Sometimes things are beyond our control and we have to take a deep breath and push forward. I am beautiful, even at 15 pounds heavier. Does the weight or the size of my jeans make me different than I was 6 months ago? No, so why the hell am I getting so worked up about it?

Sometimes it takes a stranger to help you see the obvious.

Writing this post is making me realize how silly I’ve been acting. My friend Gina told me to embrace my new booty (even though I wanted to punch her for saying it) and that she didn’t even notice I gained the weight. She said all she noticed was that I wasn’t smiling as much as I usually do.

My co-workers noticed it too. They’ve all been asking what’s wrong and why I look so sad.

So today – today I’ve decided to make a change. My attitude about this does not have to be negative. I have to take this challenge one step at a time until I can figure out what the problem is and make a proper plan of attack. It’s not fair to those around me – or to me – to be anything else but myself.

I’ve been focusing on the wrong things. Instead of focusing on the weight I’ve gained this last 6 months, I should be focusing on what I’ve achieved: My first 10 mile race, many PRs including my fastest 5K time, and my first half marathon. These are things that I never thought I’d see myself doing. These are things that my weight did not have an effect on.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still frustrated. I need to figure out how to control my body and keep working with my doctor to figure out exactly what’s going on with me. If PCOS is really causing all of these symptoms, then I need to figure out exactly how to handle it. But right now, starting today, my attitude is not anger, its acceptance. I’m not letting myself be miserable anymore. Life is too short.

Thank you Caitlin and Jenna for reminding me.

How can I stop the cravings?

2010-08-03T19:54:00.001-04:00

I’m having a bad day. Here’s my rant.

I think the hardest part of my quest to health has been dealing with cravings. I surely don't deprive myself of calories, but I try very hard to make sure they are good calories. But man, it never fails that I have to battle some kind of sweet tooth or salty crunchy craving, and it's like clockwork. Every day.

Usually after lunch I have a sweet craving. This is where a piece of fruit comes in handy. Today, for instance, I brought in some watermelon to eat as my mid-afternoon snack. However, it wasn't long after I was done eating lunch that I felt the need to eat something sweet. Rather than trying to ignore it (which only makes it worse) I ate the watermelon. I figured I'd deal with the lack of a mid-afternoon snack later. (I ate an apple that my co-worker gave me)

And every night after dinner...probably about 2 hours or so after...I get the crunch craving. Pretzels, crackers, Cheez-its (omg deadly) popcorn, blue tortilla chips (love them!) I find myself standing in the pantry searching for them without even thinking about it.

I gave up the Cheez-its, pretzels and crackers all and replaced them with Mary's Gone Crackers (lately I've been eating the Sticks and Twigs version.) I also tend to have the blue tortilla chips on hand for my salsa fix.

I've tried not buying snacks at all...like, not having anything in there for me to be tempted by. That was a big mistake. I ended up getting so agitated that I popped a bag of Dennis' butter popcorn and ate it with anger.

As much as I try, I can't fight the craving. I still, to this day, find myself counting out my portion, rolling up the bag, walking out of the kitchen, eating my portion, and getting my butt up to walk all the way across the house for more. It's like I have some kind of addiction. I've tried all the tricks but can't seem to break the habit. What do you do?

Am I not eating enough throughout the day? What causes these cravings? Maybe I'm missing some kind of nutrient?

Anyway, my training today consisted of 15 minutes of intervals on the elliptical, followed by 15 minutes of run/walking hills on the dreadmill. I'm trying to nurse my quad (even though it seems to be fine but I don't want to overdo it) and I found that the run/walk method with hills is still a kick ass workout. I was at a 5% incline, but when my quad heals I will add more. I think it will help me learn how to properly tackle hills.

How do you deal with cravings? Is there something you crave everyday? Something you feel like you must have?

My attempt at homemade veggie burgers

2010-08-02T20:02:00.001-04:00

I love veggie burgers. Scratch that-I love Sunshine burgers. They are, by far, my favorite veggie burger. It's a combination of the short ingredient list and I honestly think the sunflower seed base is just amazing. But they're so freakin expensive!

Then I read Lisa’s blog and she made her own veggie burgers…and a light bulb went off. I don’t know why I didn’t think to this before!

I used her recipe as a base (she got it from here)

Hmm. I didn’t have everything on hand so I made a few changes.

1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 green pepper
1 yellow squash
½ can corn, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp. cilantro
1 tsp cayenne pepper
¼ cup cashews, chopped
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
Salt, pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each?)
2 cups Bobs Red Mill GF all purpose flour

I threw all the veggies and spices into my food processor and blended until smooth.

Looks gross doesn’t it? I almost threw it out right here but I knew I needed to give it a try…

Then I added the flour ½ cup at a time.

I had a hard time getting them to form into patties so I had to keep adding flour. Finally, I got them to look like this:

The verdict? These actually weren’t bad. The texture was a little odd and might take some perfecting but I was surprised by the flavor. And that little bit of cayenne pepper added a nice little kick. I felt the flavors blended together well and that there was not one thing you could taste more than the other. I even let a co-worker try some and he said he would definitely eat them again. Score!

Although I enjoyed these, I felt there could be a better recipe. I didn’t like having to use so much flour and was hoping I could find one more of a nut base like the Sunshine burgers. So I did a little more searching and came across HEAB’s site on Google. (it recognized that she was in my network. I was so happy!)

Funny thing about this recipe is that I remember reading this post when she wrote it last September but it didn’t hit me to try it. I don’t know what I was thinking!

Sunburger Patties: (via HEAB. I halved it)

2 cup grated carrots
2 cups sunflower seeds (I suggest unsalted!!)
1/2 onion
2 TBSP water
1.25 cup tomato juice
1.5 tsp salt
1 TBS onion powder

Clean, grate and measure carrots. Place in bowl.. Grind sunflower seeds in blender or food processor until fine. Add to carrots. In skillet sauté onions in water until soft. Add to bowl along with remaining ingredients. Stir together well. Using 1/3 cup portions, place on oiled cookie sheet and form into patties. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Turn over and bake an additional 15 minutes.

The verdict?

They are exactly what I was looking for. The only complaint I have is that I used salted and roasted sunflower seeds, so next time I will get unsalted. At first I thought they were really small but these guys pack a lot of protein and are really filling. I had one for lunch with a cup of Amy’s split pea soup and I was good to go.

I love the taste of the sunflower seeds. I wonder what other kind of nut/seed would work with this. I'm thinking pumpkin seeds?

There are a couple of other recipes that I want to try so I can compare them all and figure out what I like best. I might even end up mixing and matching.

What do you love making homemade that you can easily buy at the store?

I just like knowing what I’m putting in my food. It’s so hard to know what you’re getting nowadays.

Trying to find my peace

2010-08-01T10:30:00.001-04:00

This week flew by me before I had the chance to blink. Between work, a college friend in town for work and the purchase of a new vehicle, we had something going on every single night this week and I didn’t even realize how tired I was until last night.

First-we’ll touch on my quad. I took this week off from running (I pulled my quad last week playing soccer,) but I was sure to get lots of walking and some elliptical training in. However, I thought lunges with 5 pound weights would be a good idea. After about the 3rd lunge, I felt my quad start to pull again … so I immediately stopped, put the weights down, stretched and headed for the showers. The last thing I need is to be out of commission for 6 more weeks. I’ve actually been enjoying the walks. I thought I’d be itching to get out and run but I haven’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been so busy or what, but I’ve been squeezing in either hour long speed walks or quick half-hour elliptical/lifting sessions on my lunch break. I’ve enjoyed the switch to lunch-hour workouts because it breaks up my day. I find I have more energy at the end of the day than I normally do, and that’s honestly when I need it most.

I made some interesting recipes this week, including a Bob’s Red Mill GF Chocolate cake that kind of tasted like ass (I was so disappointed in this cake mix.)

It was my boss’ birthday and he requested chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. He told me to go ahead and get a GF cake so I can eat too. I have baked for them before so when I offered to make it myself, he was thrilled. The cake … well, let’s just say I didn’t really like it. I stayed up until close to midnight to make it, and was so upset when I realized I was going to have to buy a cake after all. At least the cream cheese frosting was good.

I called Whole Foods Tuesday morning and asked them to hold a chocolate cake with no frosting for me. There was no way I was letting that frosting go to waste! My co-workers loved it. I ate the GF cake. Even the frosting didn’t cover up the aftertaste. Boo.

FYI-the best GF cake mix I’ve found so far is Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams. I made this for my birthday and everyone loved it.

Tuesday I got a call from D telling me he was driving out to look at a Jeep he’d been researching online. 2 hours later, after he told me he wasn’t sure if he liked it, I got a text: I bought it. Needless to say we spent Tuesday night driving it around.

Oh boys and their stuff.

Wednesday and Thursday we spent in Old Town with D’s friend from college. He’s a lot of fun and it’s always a good time when we see him. We had dinner at this place called Bilbo Baggins and I ordered the vegetarian platter: wild mushroom polenta, yukon gold mashed potatoes, portabella mushroom, spinach, butternut squash, asparagus spears, broccoli rabe and sundried tomato tapenade

Everything on here was excellent except for the squash. It had vinegar in it and the flavors didn’t blend well together for me.

Friday and Saturday consisted of me walking around like a zombie, a trip to Eastern Market (the oldest continuous fresh food public market in DC-136 years!) and a game of Apples to Apples with my neighbors. It was my first time playing and I won! I had never heard of it before but it was pretty fun.

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Summer lovin

2010-07-25T23:10:00.001-04:00

Things I loved about this weekend:

A trip to the farmer’s market

Indian food (channa masala from our new favorite Indian restaurant)

Lunch at Wegman’s

Where I had veggie sushi and found matcha green tea lattes. Score!

Our local Asian market where I found ridiculously cheap avocados, fresh spinach, cilantro, and

Kobacha squash which I thought was out of season.

This stuff is going to be the death of me, I know it.

A kick ass salad made with fresh farmer’s market veggies: spinach, romaine, green beans, tomatoes, and fresh homemade salsa…which makes the best salad dressing by the way. I am going to have to start canning salsa so I can have it all year round.

Things I didn’t love as much:

It actually got up to 106. Yuck.

This is the bruise that I woke up to after I pulled my quad playing soccer. Awesome.

And we had a really nasty storm Sunday afternoon that knocked out half of our power. Our fridge is not working and neither is our AC. Bad bad bad.

How was your weekend?

Must be I’m getting old

2010-07-22T21:19:00.001-04:00

I keep finding new ways to injure myself. You know that soft spot right under your thumb?

During my lunchtime soccer game, I somehow managed to severely bruise this area. So bad that I thought I broke my thumb. I’m still having a hard time holding a pen, but I’m feeling a little better. I iced the crap out of it and took some Mortin but it’s still swollen and bruised.

Can you see what I’m talking about? How do you injure this part of your body when you’re playing soccer??
The other thing I managed to do was pull my quad. At the very end of our game, I was dribbling up the field and I saw a guy wide open right in front of the goal in the middle of the field. So I looked up, took an extra step to get my balance, and perfectly executed the pass, but in mid kick I could feel the quad pull. After my teammate missed the goal (doh!) I hobbled off the field, completely done. By this point, my quad was burning and my hand was throbbing.

I’m still happy I played though, as sick as that sounds.

I know, something is severely wrong with me.

What’s the weirdest injury you’ve ever had?

Fiberlicious!

2010-07-21T22:12:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I felt like I had eaten my weight in fiber so I decided to log my eats for the day and tally up my fiber totals. I have to admit, I cheated toward the end of the day only because I didn’t want to overdo it, but for the most part, I ate as I normally would have. However I didn’t think about taking pictures of my food, so bear with me. I will list the amount of fiber in parenthesis. I looked up the fiber contents online if they didn’t come with a label.
And here we go:

Breakfast: Oats.

1/4 cup steel cut oats (4 grams)
1/2 cup Almond Breeze plain milk (1)
1/2 banana (1.2)
1 tbsp. ground flax (2)
1 tbsp. PB (1)

Green Tea Latte (not from Starbucks. I buy the matcha tea and have my favorite barista make it for me.)

1 tsp green matcha (1.1)
8 oz. Vanilla Soy (2)

Ok, so this was just breakfast. I consumed 12 grams of fiber just at breakfast. I should have stopped right there.

Lunch #1 (I ate this at around noon and stopped because I wasn’t all that hungry. Then I walked for about 45 minutes and came back to eat my soup)

2 slices toasted Bread for Life Almond Meal bread (4)
1/4 cup 2% cottage cheese (0)
1 tbsp. PB (1)

2 hours later, lunch #2:

1 cup Curry Lentil Soup. I’m assuming that this serving had about 1/4 cup of lentils and 1-2 servings of veggies with the tomatoes and zucchini. The lentils alone have 10 grams of fiber. So I’m going to guesstimate at 12.
1 really tasty and very ripe peach (1.5)
1 package of Alka Seltzer as a precautionary measure (it helped from having to unbutton my pants as I did yesterday)

Dinner: This is when I decided I needed to lay off the fiber. Breakfast tortilla with fresh salsa

1 Bread for Life Rice Flour wrap (2)
1 egg, 2 egg whites (0)
1/4 cup Daiya Mozzarella cheese (2)
1/4 freshly made, kick-ass salsa made by yours truly (~2)

I gave myself 2 hours to rest and headed out for a run at around 8. I ran 4 miles with 4x400 meter sprints. It was hot but it felt good.
When I came back, I took a shower and snacked on the last of my Puffins Cereal. As I was shoving the spoon in my mouth, I read the box and saw “High in Fiber!” right on the box. Awesome. Good thing there was less than a serving size left.

~1/2 cup plain Puffins cereal (3ish) One serving size is 3/4 cup, which contains 5 grams of fiber. I’m being very conservative with my guess here
1/2 cup Unsweetened soy milk (1)

OK so here are my totals for the day:

Breakfast: 12
Lunch: 13.5
Dinner: 6
Post run snack: 4

For a grand total of: 35.5 grams of fiber.

And that’s with cheating at dinner. I originally planned on having a Southwest Veggie burger with salsa, a little bit of my leftover potato salad and some warm arugula salad (I just cook it a little with a small bit of olive oil and garlic bc it’s easier for me to digest) but the Sunshine burger has 9 grams of fiber all in itself! So I went with the eggs instead. I would have been at or over 40 grams of fiber had I went that route!

Now here’s the deal. You’d think someone eating this much fiber is running to the bathroom 8 times a day. WRONG! If I go once a day I’m lucky. This is a huge problem. I’m sure this is part of the reason why I’m always so bloated. However I will have to say that I still firmly believe that I feel better after giving up the gluten, even if I’m still dealing with some issues. My constant headaches have gone away, for one. The summer time is prime migraine time for me (the humidity triggers my migraines) and I have yet *knock on wood* to get one. And this has been a HOT and sticky summer. That’s enough to keep me off the gluten.

I’m trying to look back and see if I’m eating more fibrous foods since I’m not eating gluten anymore. I have to do a little more research on that because it honestly could be. I’m wondering what kind of foods vegans eat to keep from eating so much fiber. In my research I saw that meat and dairy products contain very little to no fiber, and the eggs are what saved me today.

Let me know what you think. Is it normal to eat upwards of 40 grams of fiber a day? Do you have any suggestions of lower fiber meals that are gluten free and not necessarily meat or dairy related?

Curry lentil soup and a little experiment

2010-07-20T21:48:00.001-04:00

Can I say delicious?

If you like lentil soup, the flagrant taste of curry, and need to make something quick that will last you all week, this soup is for you.

The recipe actually calls for red lentils since they are known to cook faster, but I only had green lentils on hand which was fine. This recipe probably took me 40 minutes total, if that.

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained (since it’s summer, you could use fresh tomatoes. I didn’t think about it until it was too late)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 zucchini, sliced however you like
1 cup water, as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the scallions and the curry powder and cook until flagrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, and broth, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low, season to taste with the salt and pepper, and simmer for 10 minutes. While the lentils are simmering, thinly slice the zucchini and add it to the soup. Add up to 1 cup of the water if the soup is too think. Cook until the lentils are soft, about 10 minutes more.

So.Good. You can throw in any veggies you want. My neighbor made some with spinach as well as zucchini and yellow squash and I loved it.

The only problem I had with this soup is that it’s full of fiber, and I’m beginning to think I’m eating way more than I should.

My friend Gina calls me a walking time bomb; implying that I could explode at any minute with the amount of fiber I eat. I didn’t realize 1/4 cup of lentils had 10 grams of fiber! Coupled with the veggies and I’m looking at around 12-13 grams of fiber just for this one meal. I’ve noticed that this soup made me very very bloated and gassy the past two times I’ve eaten it (sorry folks!) However, I still highly recommend making this soup; it may not affect you like it does me. In case you haven’t noticed yet, I am very sensitive to everything.

Tomorrow I am going to keep a running tally of how much fiber I eat. I will have to guesstimate as much as I can with some items, but anything that is packaged will be counted. I read that the average person should be taking in 25-35 grams of fiber per day (I’m assuming the lower end of that number is geared toward women; the higher end toward men.) I think this will be an interesting experiment.

How much fiber are you eating? Are you a walking time bomb like me? (God I hope not!) Do you like curry?

A little something different

2010-07-19T21:26:00.001-04:00

This weekend was HOT. I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot but it’s just been so freaking uncomfortable. I’m hearing that this summer has been unseasonably hot, and according to my favorite coffee shop owner, it’s “Florida hot.” He lived there for 6 years before moving here, so he’s loving it.

I, however, am not.

Saturday morning I slept right through my alarm so I missed a run with my running group. However, after Thursday’s pickup soccer game, I could barely walk until this morning. I had a terrible time sleeping because every time I moved, the pain woke me up. How embarrassing! I haven’t been this sore in a while.

Since I didn’t run, we decided to jump in the car and explore the area. We ended up in the cute little town of Occoquan, VA. We walked around for a bit and had lunch at this cute little place.

I’ll admit-we mostly stopped because of the name.

But the food was good and the beer selection is insane. Too bad I can’t drink any of it! But I had a glass of chardonnay instead, which went well with my summer veggie salad. (Red peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, onions, garlic, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, seasoned with fresh herbs, oil and vinegar and served on a bed of lettuce) Perfect on a hot day.

Check out some of the pictures we took-this one place looked like Alice in Wonderland-

That window just makes me laugh!

This morning I woke up at 5 a.m unable to sleep, so I got out of bed and ran. I didn’t use my Garmin, I just went. It was so nice to just run for “feel” again. I think I’ll be leaving the Garmin behind for a while. Sometimes it stresses me out.

Do you need to keep track of time/distance in order to feel fulfilled?

Oh soccer, glad to have you back

2010-07-15T22:28:00.001-04:00

I grew up playing soccer. I played in college as well, so it’s something I take pretty seriously. So whenever the opportunity arises, I’m there.

There’s a group of people who play pick-up games on their lunch hours at work, but since I had been training for my half marathon, I didn’t want to take the chance of getting hurt. But today was the day that I welcomed soccer back in my life.

Let me tell you, on top of it being close to 100 degrees and really humid, I struggled. I am in BAD soccer shape. I fell a few times and had a hard time getting up because I was so beat! Soccer running is so different than marathon running, and boy am I feeling it. I’m not sore (yet) but I have 2 huge blisters ion the balls of my feet and I’m exhausted. But it was fun and I’m definitely going to be adding this to my weekly routine.

I had been struggling with runner’s rut, so this is the perfect way to change things up a little. Now if only I could convince my boss that taking 1.5 hour lunch breaks are appropriate!

And now, I leave you with these….

HEAB gave credit to Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers for flourless peanut butter cookie. Holy cow … you must make these.

The recipe calls for:

1 cup sugar
1 egg and
1 cup of PB.

Period.

However I used

1 egg
1 cup PB
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup honey

I would use less honey next time because I felt like it was too overpowering, and I would also use my natural PB rather than Dennis’ Jif because I just found them to bee a little sweeter than I wanted, but they were still really good. Also, I will use crunchy PB because I just think the crunch would make it that much better. I will definitely be making another batch this weekend with the changes.

Here’s to the weekend!

Lights out

2010-07-14T22:15:00.001-04:00

We lost power for some reason this evening, which we found strange since we had 2 days of pretty nasty thunderstorms without even a flicker. And usually I’d find this to be annoying but sometimes I think it’s fun to have an excuse to sit by candlelight.

And thank GOD for my Palm Pre. I have Mobile Hot Spot which can get me secured wireless internet access from anywhere. Love it. However, my battery on both my phone and computer are about to die. Darn.

Stay tuned for an awesome cookie recipe provided by HEAB. All I have to say is peanut butter chewy delight.

How do you pass the time when you lose power and you’re stuck in your house in the dark?

Weekend wrap-up: A Nats game and Tandoori chicken curry salad

2010-07-11T21:42:00.002-04:00

I swear I blinked this entire weekend away. Friday I went to the Nationals game to see Stephen Strasburg pitch (he’s doing great things for this team!) I’m not at Nats fan (I’m sure you all know by now that I’m a proud NY Yankees fan and have been since I was born) but I love baseball and had been dying to see him pitch. Nationals Stadium is really nice!

It was a last minute decision so my co workers and I paid $5 for standing room only seats. (Yes that’s granite….at a baseball stadium. Nuts if you ask me) We were kind of far but it really wasn’t that bad. It was a gorgeous night for baseball.

Saturday included shopping and dinner at a new (to us) Indian restaurant. I ordered Tandoori Chicken and brought the leftovers home. When lunchtime came around today, I wasn’t sure I wanted to eat just plain chicken, and I was feeling too lazy to cook up some rice. And thus, tandoori chicken salad was born.

I used:

2 pieces of leftover tandoori chicken (one small breast and and small thigh)

about 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 red onion
small handful of cashews, chopped
mustard powder, to taste
cumin powder, to taste
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mixed it up….

Placed on GF almond bread….

Not too shabby!

Being taken into consideration

I’ve been Gluten free since February now and I’m still trying to see what works for me. So far I’ve been feeling better but I’m still experimenting with it. Knowing that I’ve been working really hard with this, I find it really irritating when people purposefully request going to places where it would be really difficult for me to find something to eat.

A few friends had asked me to hang out with them earlier in the week, and just before I was getting ready to meet them, they texted to say the plan was for pizza.
“We know you can’t eat it, but you can have salad right?”

Well yes I can have salad but that doesn’t mean that was what I wanted. So I decided to turn them down and stay home instead. I figured it was easier than making a big deal out of it.

I kind of felt a little offended that they blatantly chose pizza knowing that I couldn’t eat it. Am I being too sensitive?

Vegan pizza and a ROCKIN spin class

2010-07-07T21:31:00.001-04:00

One of my co-workers told me she tried her first spinning class last week. I was so excited for her until I realized how much she suffered. She said she showed up a few minutes after the class had started, and just decided to jump on a bike and go. She said by the end of the class she could barely walk, and that its taken almost a week to recover.

After giving her some pointers about how to make her next class successful (i.e. going early enough to have her teacher show her how to properly set up her bike) I decided it had been long enough. I signed up for a 6:30 class and made it a point to go straight after work.

And I’m so glad I did.

I rocked this spin class. Seriously-it was one of the best spin experiences I’ve had…well, ever. I don’t know if it’s because I just got done running a half marathon, but I felt great. It was an hour long class with lots of hills and a crazy cadence session. Do you find the cadences to be harder than climbing hills? Because I sure do.

Anyway, I was so excited about this class that I will definitely be making an appearance more often. I liked the music and the teacher was cool, and that always makes or breaks a class.

When I got home, I tried something I’d been meaning to try for a while:

Last week I read Lisa’s blog last week and saw was having a pizza party. I’ve been wanting to make some for a few days, but I didn’t have any GF crust on hand and honestly, the thought of making it was too exhausting for me. I’ve seen other people make pizzas with just tortillas (HEAB) so I thought, why not give it a try?

I took one Food for Life Brown Rice Flour tortilla

and pan fried it on a dry pan for about 2 minutes each side.

Then I cut up a green zucchini and some arugula and topped the tortilla with:

1/4 cup tomato basil pasta sauce
1/4 of the zucchini
Daiya mozzerella cheese

OK, so I read about this cheese on HEAB’s blog and I’ll be honest-I’ve never really been a big fan of “fake” things. For some reason, this interested me so I decided to give it a shot.

I can’t believe how good this stuff is. And there is nothing fake about this ingredient list. Their website states:

Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds are made entirely from plant-based ingredients and are:

Cholesterol free

Trans Fat free

Dairy free

Free of all animal products (Vegan)

Free of common allergens including:

Soy, Casein, Lactose, Gluten, Egg, Wheat, Barley, Whey, Rice, and Nuts

Free of Artificial Ingredients

Free of Preservatives

Free of Hormones & Antibiotics

The full list of ingredients are as follows:

Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and /or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavours, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor).

I’m trying to be cautious of how much dairy and soy I eat, as I tend to eat a lot of both. I drink soy milk (down to only one serving a day) but I love cheese and Greek yogurt, so I figured this would be a good way to sub both. So good. It almost tastes like butter. You have to try it.

So after the cheese, I put the pizza back on the pan for another few minutes and covered it to let the cheese melt. The closest to a pizza alternative that I could find that actually satisfied me. Yum. It was the perfect compliment to my kick ass spin class.

How would I be sure not to lose where I am “shape” wise if I’m not planning on running as much? Would spinning, a yoga class, the occasional swim and a run once or twice a week be enough to maintain where I am in my training?

11 miles of lead

2010-07-05T20:49:00.001-04:00

Thanks so much for all of your support! Everyone has been awesome about responding to my first half marathon last weekend. I feel so great about it and have had a very interesting recovery week.

After taking two full days off, I ran a really nice and easy 3 mile recovery on Wednesday. I felt good, but still a little off, so I took it easy Thursday and Friday with just walking and easy stretching.

Since I took it pretty easy all week, I decided to run with my running group on Saturday morning. My intentions were to run 6 miles-3 miles out to the first water station and back. But then I met up with two wonderful ladies who were running at a good pace for me. The conversation was flowing and the next thing I knew, we ran 5.5 miles….out. Meaning, I had to run another 5.5 back.

What was I thinking?

I was OK until about mile 6. That’s when I realized I probably should have listened to my gut and turned around at mile 3. My legs felt like lead. I was trying to push myself but I couldn’t seem to go very fast. I must have been running at an 11 minute mile pace, but I couldn’t go any faster.

I spoke to a friend about it and she thinks I need to take time off completely – like 2 weeks or so. However, I’ve said I was going to give myself a break before and I always end back back on the pavement. I can’t help it. And now that the stress of training is finally over, I actually want to run again.

I can’t stick to schedules, so I am just going to take this week easy and see how I feel. Maybe I’ll throw in a couple of spin classes and a yoga class or something to change things up. It’s times like this where I really wish I had a bike!

PS my two new obsessions are watermelon

and homemade popcorn

Dennis makes it for me at least twice a week (since I somehow can’t keep from burning the pot)

What have you been craving?

My first half marathon

2010-06-30T20:47:00.003-04:00

I’m back! And I’m now a half marathoner! Wait, is that a term? Whatever, it’s what I am. And I have a metal (and two black toenails) to prove it!

Let’s back up to the night before the race. I ran this race with Team Challenge for Crohn’s and Colitis. So if you’ve ever run a race for charity, you know how it all works.

There’s an inspirational pasta party that’s set up to pump you up and remember the cause. Everyone shares their stories, makes connections, and carb-loads before the big day.

After dinner I ran a few errands, got some breakfast from the grocery store, and went to bed. I had to be up at 3:45 a.m. so I got all of my race gear ready and passed out around 10.

When my alarm went off, I realized how crazy I really am. Who wakes up in the middle of the freaking night to go run a race? This girl, that’s who. And all you other crazy runners out there know exactly what I’m talking about.

Since I didn’t have a spoon and I was NOT about to pay room service a $4 fee to have them bring me one (are you serious??) I had to improvise. I bought some plain instant oatmeal, a banana, some coconut water and the all mighty Barney Butter. There was about a year where all I read about was Barney Butter, and for the life of me I couldn’t find it. So when I move out of Boston they finally receive it in stock? Go figure.

The verdict? It’s good but nothing to call home about. I will say it was definitely tasty, but I think it’s just that I like peanut butter better. And this little tub cost me nearly $7!

OK back to breakfast.

So it’s kind of hard to eat breakfast without a spoon, but I didn’t let that stop me. I made some oatmeal with the help of our handy dandy room coffee maker, used my finger to dump in the Barney Butter, broke my banana into little pieces, and basically drank it. It was quite the ordeal but it got the job done.

We got on the bus at 5 a.m. On the way over, I talked to my coach about my concerns with the course. I heard it was hilly and I wasn’t sure how I felt about not seeing the course beforehand. He told me he had spoken to a few other coaches who ran the course and said it was really not as bad as we were thinking.

“You have nothing to worry about,” he said. “You’ve been running for a while and I’m confident you’re all ready to do this.”

So this is the map of the course along with the hill grades. Believe me, this map does not do this course justice. These hills were h.a.r.d.

I lined up at the front of the pack only because my “running partner” wanted to go where it was less crowded. I was planning on lining up by the 10 minute mile pack because I didn’t want to go out too fast, but I figured we’d be OK where we were. The gun went off, and my partner Lisa and I started moving. The race had begun and all I could think was “Holy crap, this is what I’ve been training for! It’s finally here! BRING IT!”

This feeling lasted until we got to the first hill. That was only mile 2.

I pushed myself up the hill and told Lisa, “Shit, if this is what we’re up against, I think I’ll be slowing down sooner than I expected.” She laughed at me and said, “You’ll be fine.”

For the first 3 miles we kept around a 9:40 pace. I didn’t want to go faster since the hills were already showing their faces, and I knew I had a loooong way to go.

Now, let me explain that I had 4 goals:

Don’t walk. No matter how hard it is, just jog your way through it. This was only because I was trying to prove a point to myself. I was running for Crohn’s and Colitis, a disease that has changed the lives of so many people, including Dennis. He didn’t have a choice, so I was trying to put myself in a position where I didn’t either.
Run under 2:30. It was my first half, so I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself. This was my “I’ll tell people I want to run under 2:30” goal. You know, the goal I’ll say out loud. My real goal was under 2:15 (or I should say, closer to 2 hours.)
Not to burn out by mile 7. Every long run I’ve run, I’m good through mile 6. After that, it’s all down hill. I brought some extra fuel with the intention of Gooing up at miles 4, 7 and 10. I figured the earlier I start, the better I would finish.
Enjoy myself. I spent so much time trying to push myself through the Cherry Blossom that I didn’t really enjoy the race. Last year when I ran the Boilermaker 15K with my friend Ann, we had so much fun. We chatted, we laughed, and we truly enjoyed ourselves. Well, until the last 2 miles of the race…when I bitched about how badly I wanted to stop.

Keeping those things in mind, I’ll take you on the course with me.

Miles 1-4 were the testers. I figured if I could run this part slow and steady; it would prep me for the rest of the race. However, these miles smacked in the face something fierce. The hills began almost immediately, and I was struggling to keep up with Lisa. After the start of mile 3, I decided to stay behind. This is when I knew I would not be running this race in 2 hours. I was OK with this decision only because I knew what lied ahead: many more of the same hills. I’d rather slow it down now and finish with dignity than end up feeling like garbage at the end.

At mile 4, I took my first Goo (Ok, so I wanted to stay Au Natural, but I honestly didn’t have enough room in my bra to hold anything other than a few Goo packets.) Starting early was definitely key for me. This really helped get me through the mile 7 wall.

The first 4 miles were hilly but doable. However, my pace had dropped significantly. I was jogging my way through the hills and just trying to take everything in.

Miles 4-8 were just the beginning of the pain.

We were told this course had “rolling hills.” Rolling my ass. How about hill after hill after hill. That’s more like it.

I was feeling frustrated with the fact that people were speed walking up these hills faster than I could run. I passed a woman who blew by me with a power walk, so I joked with her and said, “Geeze, I should be following your lead!” She laughed and said “Just take big steps!” But I had a goal: no walking allowed! I just kept pumping my arms and pushing my way up the hills. I actually tried taking a picture of myself running up one of these hills but it was extremely unsuccessful. I wanted to send out a few texts along the way but that didn’t happen.

Mile 7: Goo #2. A downhill stretch helped break up the string of hills, and I thought this would be a good time to try making up some of the time I lost. My training coach had said that the best thing to do when tackling hills is to save your energy running up, then push yourself to make up what you lost running down. He said this was much easier than using everything you have on the hill, especially when the course is mostly hills.

I pushed myself through a stretch of flat/downhill, trying to pretend like it would actually help get me back on track. I passed by a little boy in a wheelchair cheering on with his mom. This was the first time I was happy to see a spectator.

Before I knew it, I was back to climbing up hills. It was this stretch, 10-12, where I thought I was going to die.

Not because I didn’t have the energy, not because I was hitting a wall, but solely because I was sick of hills. My God, when are they going to END? And since I had taken a glimpse of the map beforehand, I knew a massive hill was on its way and this scared the crap out of me. This was around the time where my mantra REALLY started to kick in.
“Dennis didn’t have a choice…Dennis didn’t have a choice…Dennis… didn’t…have...a …. Choice……” It was harder than I thought. Aren’t mantras supposed to help inspire you? Ha! Ok, it helped, but not as much as I hoped.

At mile 10, I decided to go for my last Goo. I knew the “hill of death” was around the corner so I figured I’d tackle it with lots of energy since I knew I’d need all the help I could get. I came to the start of what was a mile and a half climb and just decided to take it slow.

11 mile mark-are you kidding me?? Really? Yeah, this is bullshit. Seriously, this hill was MUCH HARDER than I thought. It was hell and I was struggling. This was the point where I knew walking was not an option: it was a must. I was barely keeping a 13 minute mile pace jogging, and just as before, I was getting passed by people speed walking. So, I decided if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Believe it or not, my speed increased by speed walking because, just as that woman before said, my large steps were covering more ground than my little tiny jog steps were.

At this point, another of my four goals went down the tubes, but I did the best I could given the circumstances. You gotta do what you gotta do to finish right?

I knew that our Team Challenge race coordinator was at mile 11.5 waiting to cheer us on and I was determined not to let her see me walking, so I walked until I could hear her screams (she’s very upbeat and had clappers, so I knew where she was.) I started running and slapped her five when I ran by. Luckily at this point, it started to flatten out…for about ¼ mile. Then, back to climbing (and cursing) I went.

Mile 12. This was a PR for me. Inside I was cheering but I had no one to share it with.

Only 1 mile left. I can do this. You’re almost there! DO IT!

Another hill. Holy hell really?

At this point I started to hear people really getting into it on the sidelines. “You’re almost there! You’re coming up on the end! Keep going!”

In my mind, I’m thinking, “Yeah right…that’s what they always say.” When I ran the Boilermaker, spectators were telling us we’re almost done 3 miles before the end. It’s all relative, I thought, and kept pushing through.

This is when I started seeing race finishers cheering us on.

“The finish is right around the bend, you’re almost there!”

Ok , maybe … maybe….

And then I came around the bend and it was like heaven: The clock.

This was the point where I just gave it everything I had. I sprinted through that last quarter mile like I was running a sprint race in high school. I passed by people screaming my name, and I bolted past 5 people at the end.

And as soon as I got through that finish line, I lost it.

Everything I had went into that race. 6 months of training, raising money, talking to people about what I was doing and why, and 2 hours of hell….all of these emotions put into one moment … it was so amazing and overwhelming. I just burst into tears like a 2 year old. Looking back at it now, it’s funny (and slightly embarrassing) but at the time, I was a mess.

I came around the corner to find my friend Elizabeth waiting for me. I lost it again. What a baby I am!

Thank you SO MUCH Elizabeth for getting up at 5 a.m. to cheer me on! You ROCK!

So let’s check my goals:

1. Don’t walk. Ummm, yeah, mile 11 did me in.

2. Finish under 2:30? Check. Official chip time was 2:22:21. The other time goals … well, yeah they went out the window at mile 4.

3. Don’t burn out by mile 7. I’m proud to say that my fueling system worked and I will definitely continue this routine from here on out. 3 Goos worked well for me.

4. Enjoy the race. Weelllll yeah, I did enjoy the race. I was pissed at the course but enjoyed the experience.

My coach said this race was the equivalent of running 20 miles on flat ground. Don’t tell me that….putting ideas of a marathon in my head….

So there you have it; my first half marathon recap.

I was a little sore Monday and Tuesday but I’m feeling much better today. I even went for a 3 mile recovery run and felt great.

What’s next? I’m not sure. I’m signed up for the Army 10 miler in October, but until then I have nothing to train for. I’m relieved but bothered by that at the same time. We’ll see what I stumble across in the next few weeks. Until then, it’s just time to run for fun.

Happy hump day!

Prepping for race day

2010-06-25T12:23:00.005-04:00

It's Friday and my big race is Sunday. Needless to say, work has been nil for me. I've been giggling like a school girl all day, full of excitement for my trip back up to Boston for this weekend's festivities.

First things first-the US is playing at 2 p.m. Saturday so I'll be sitting at a bar (drinking water) watching the game. Most importantly, I'll be hydrating and staying off my feet. GO USA!

This week has been pretty uneventful on the workout front. I ran an easy 3 mile run on Monday afternoon, went for an hour walk on Tuesday (around the mall to stay cool) and another easy 30 minute run on Wednesday. That's it. I definitely did not want to burn myself out.
I really think I overtrained for my Cherry Blossom 10 Miler so this time, I'm hoping this rest will help.

Another thing-I've been slowly adding carbs to my diet all week. Tonight I will be making a gluten free pizza with my good friend Megan (from high school-she's taking me to the airport-I'm flying out of Baltimore and she lives 15 minutes away so it's just easier that way)
I've been doing everything possible to keep hydrated. Water and coconut water have been my 2 best friends this week (and green tea but that's a different post)

Did you know:

Coconut Water is More Nutritious than whole milk - Less fat and NO cholesterol
Coconut Water is More Healthy than Orange Juice - Much lower calories
Coconut Water is Better than processed baby milk- It contains lauric acid, which is present in human mother's milk
Coconut water is naturally sterile -- Water permeates though the filtering husk
Coconut water is a universal donor-- Its identical to human blook plasma
Coconut Water is a Natural Isotonic Beverage - The same level we have in our blood
Coconut water has saved lives in 3rd world countries thru Coconut IV

source

These are just a few things about coconut water that has made me a huge fan. I can go on for days.

Anyway, my game face is on. Time to get ready for Boston!

Spiedie season

2010-06-20T20:58:00.001-04:00

The best part about having a grill is not having to cook. Dennis is the grill master and loves putting his talents to work behind our Weber charcoal grill. That’s right, I said charcoal. We like it better….ok…we couldn’t afford the one we really wanted….

We’ll make due with the one we have…

Anyway, since the weather has gotten warmer (or should I say down right sweltering in Northern VA) we’ve been spending a lot of time eating off the grill…and I love it. Food just tastes so much better when it’s grilled, especially spiedies.

What are spiedie you ask? Well if you’re not from central NY you wouldn’t know.

According to Wikipedia

The spiedie (pronounced /ˈspiːdi/ "speedy") is a dish local to Greater Binghamton in the Southern Tier of New York State, and somewhat more broadly known and enjoyed throughout Central New York state.^[1] Spiedie consists of cubes of chicken or pork, but it may also be made from lamb, veal, venison or beef. The meat cubes are marinated overnight or longer (sometimes for as long as two weeks under a controlled environment) in a special marinade, then grilled carefully on spits (if steel skewers are used, they are called "spiedie rods") over a charcoal pit.
The freshly prepared cubes are served on soft Italian bread or a submarine roll, skewer and all, and sometimes drizzled with fresh marinade. The marinade recipe varies, usually involving olive oil, vinegar, and a variety of Italian spices and fresh mint.

And oh are they good.

Since we live near a Wegman’s (which is based out of Rochester, NY) we can find our favorite spiedie sauce

I would say 90% of what we barbecue includes this sauce. On veggies, salmon, pork, you name it. It’s THAT good. And it’s gluten free :)

On a sidenote: When I woke up this morning, I realized that in 7 days I will be in Boston running my first 1/2 marathon for Crohn’s and Colitis. This will be a very easy taper week with very clean eating and lots of water. Any suggestions of how I should train this week? Should I stay away from all running or should I do a few easy 20-30 minute runs? Should I stay away from strength training?

Happy Grilling!

11 down…

2010-06-17T21:13:00.001-04:00

On Saturday I ran the Crossroads 17.75K, a race that is part of the Marine Corps Marathon series. It was suggested by someone in my Team Challenge group and I was all over the idea. I decided to use this as a training run on a different level-racing situations are always different than training situations.

Let’s step back to the night before. My co-worker Nate (below) helped me set up a happy hour to raise money for my 1/2 marathon for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation (which is in Boston on June 27.) I pledged to raise $2800 and I have been struggling to meet my goal. We had an open bar where he and I guest bartended.

After a LONG day at work, we drove straight into the Georgetown part of Washington, DC for the 3 hour party. Since I knew I was running in the morning (the race started at 7 a.m.) I drank water while everyone else drank adult drinks. However, since it’s an Irish style pub, there wasn’t much on the menu that was gluten free, so my dinner was a garden salad with grilled chicken…essentially I didn’t eat any carbs which was a no-no.

After running around ensuring that no-one was left empty handed, I headed home at around 9:30.

(they were so good to me-I raised $250!)

I was so wound up when I got home that it took me another 2 hours or so to get to sleep…and was up at 4:15.

I had a bowl of overnight oats (1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt) topped with 1/2 banana and some PB. I figured the carbs from the breakfast would help since I didn’t get many the night before. I filled up my water bottle with coconut water and squeezed about 3 tbsp of honey into a ziploc baggie for fuel. And I was off.

When I walked outside it was around 5:30 and it was already 72 degrees and grossly humid. Not a good way to start an 11 mile race.

I made my way through the crowd to the starting line and saw that the temp was hovering around 75*. The forecast called for 92 and HUMID, so I knew it was going to be a tough one. The first thing I had to do was remind myself that this is a training run: I don’t need to beat anyone, I don’t need to rush through anything. This is to prepare myself for the race I’ve been training for for the past 6 months. If you have to walk, walk. It’s not a big deal.

Good thing I put myself in this mentality because this race was hard. I mean HARD.

The first 1/4 mile was uphill, and then we took a left into the woods and ran the next 4 1/2 miles or so in the woods. Uphill. On gravel. This was bittersweet since it was hot, so being in the woods was a nice shady run. But as you know, trail running is much different than road running so I lost a lot of time (and energy) from this.

When I got back on the road, the sun started beaming down on us and I started to get really hot. I made sure to keep drinking, and at every water station I stopped and got Powerade, but I was really getting drained. I broke into my honey at around mile 5 and stretched it out for the remainder of the race.

By mile 8, I started thinking I was going to die. Oh, did I mention that about 90% of this race was uphill? Yeah. It was awesome. But, again it was a good experience since I know New England is hilly and my 1/2 will not be flat.

By mile 9, I was realizing that a run-walk plan was going to have to take effect. The hills were brutal and so was the heat. I decided to run for 4 minutes and walk for one, which was the method I took during my 2 hour training run the week before. It worked, but I still didn’t think I was going to make it. Again, there were so many damn hills! Every time I thought I was done, another one came to slap me in the face.

And here was another issue: my hand went numb.

When I was in college, I pulled my shoulder out during an off season workout (I played soccer.) Ever since then, about once a month or so I wake up with a tingly arm. My arm will tingle all the way down to my fingers and it will stay that way for a day or 2 and then go away. My trainer in college told me it’s due to a pinched nerve, so I never thought much of it. However, during the race around mile 8, I realized I couldn’t feel my thumb.

I’m not going to lie-this really freaked me out. I started running with my arm in the air to circulate the blood flow and it seemed to be working but I couldn’t run that way comfortably. It took about an hour or so after the race for my arm/hand/thumb to feel normal again.

Anyway, after struggling through the woods and hills, my final destination: The Marine Corps Museum. This is where the race ended and I could not be any happier. I felt like such garbage after this race that I called my mom practically in tears and said, “I will not be running another long run after my 1/2 marathon for A LONG TIME.”

After begging the EMT people to get me some water (all I could find was beer!) I stumbled my way to the shuttle bus back to my car and drove home with my tail between my legs.
My stats? 1:57:30 with a 10:40 pace.

At first I was really disappointed by this time. After all, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in 1:31. How could it have taken me almost a half hour to run an extra mile? Oh yeah, those evil trails and hills may have had something to do with that—never mind the extreme heat.

Overall I’m very glad I ran this race. I woke up Sunday morning feeling like a million bucks! I wasn’t tired or sore or anything and I think that’s a good sign. I wish I could afford to buy the pictures that Marathonfoto took because they seriously say it all. But now, all I can say is bring it on Boston!! 13.1 or bust!

Gotta love a boss that runs

2010-06-16T20:55:00.001-04:00

Yeah I know, I disappeared. I have no excuse. I spent so much time stressing out over my 1/2 marathon (June 27th!) and raising money for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America that I hated the idea of blogging. And I even hated running for a little while. But I’m feeling a little better, so I’ll spend the next few days filling you in on what you might have missed.

But first, I have to say that my boss rocks.

He’s been stressing out a lot lately and as soon as he walked in to work this morning, it was written all over his face. He’s moving and his wife is pregnant, and work has been insanely busy. He played down his stress level when I asked him how he was doing this morning, but by noon he announced he was ordering the office pizza for lunch (with a side note to me- “and anything you might want” which I thought was funny.) At around 2:30, he got up , stretched and said, “I think I’m going for a run.”

I’ve changed my routine and have been running on my lunch hours, but today I got busy and figured I’d just run after work. But this was an invitation for a mid-afternoon run and it was just what we both needed.

We ran 3.2 miles in just over 30 minutes. We talked the whole time about work, life, the new house, the baby-on-the-way, and before we knew it, the run was over. It was the perfect way to get over the afternoon hump.

I have a race re-cap for you guys (Crossroads 17.75K,) some fundraising updates, and the final countdown toward my first 1/2 marathon. I’m sure you can’t wait!

A Race for Hope and my lost mojo

2010-05-09T10:25:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I ran in A Race for Hope here in Washington, DC to honor a high school friend who is recovering from a brain tumor.

It was awesome seeing familiar faces that I hadn’t seen in a while, and it made me miss home. Although I would never be happy living there again, it’s the people I miss the most.

The weather was HOT and HUMID. 90+ degrees and just sticky and gross does not make for perfect running conditions, but I was there to support a great cause. I figured I’d just run and see how it went.

My friend Maureen told me she was going to fly (her words precisely) and that her goal was to place for the honoree, so I didn’t expect to keep up with her. And I’m glad I didn’t try; she ran the 5K race in 21:06! She wasn’t kidding! She rocked it!

The rest of the group walked. I honestly considered just walking to enjoy the time with everyone but I also thought it would be a good idea to see where I was speed-wise.

As soon as I started running I was thirsty. Why didn’t I bring anything to drink? Oh, because its a measly 5K! I think after training for this 1/2 marathon, I’ve been neglecting the importance of water on the short runs too.

Anyway, I ran my little heart out and PR’ed by 38 seconds with a time of 25:40. I was very proud of myself, even though I got smoked by Maureen. (Oh and while I was running my 5K, I realized that my Garmin is off. So all of those quick miles I’ve been running are very misleading. My Garmin said I ran 3.52 miles in 25:42 last weekend, and that I kept a 7:47 pace when in reality I ran 3.12 miles in 25:40 at an 8:16 pace. That’s a huge difference. So now I’m not even sure how far and how fast I’m actually running, which is kind of a pain in the ass. Not that I expected perfection but it’s decieving to think I’m running faster than I am.)

That was last Sunday. A week ago today. I have been fighting with myself to run (and blog) ever since.

I took Monday off because I was a little sore from the race ( I can run 10 miles and be fine but be sore from a 5K??) and then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were struggles. Honestly, after the 5K, my foot was in a lot of pain. It felt like my stress fracture from last year. That was the number one reason for giving myself a day off. Tuesday I used the elliptical and did some core work and arm strength, and Wednesday I ran. And I struggled. Bad. I had no desire to be out there and I cursed myself out with every step I took.

I made it a point to run with a friend the next morning with the hopes that I’d change my tune. No such luck. I cursed and huffed and puffed, and we even took a few short walking breaks during our short 3 mile run. I had nothing in me. I don’t know what happened but I’ve completely lost my running mojo.

I don’t know what to do but I need to get it back and FAST. My 1/2 marathon is next month. I put so much energy and effort into training for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and now I have nothing left. HELP! I need to get out of this funk! Any ideas?

Is less really more?

2010-04-25T20:47:00.001-04:00

I had my GPS all set and ready to take me to the Tidal Basin to meet my Team Challenge group. We had an hour and a half run scheduled, and since I haven’t actually run with them yet, and the Cherry Blossom is over, it would be the perfect weekend to finally meet the whole team.

However, this location is not easy to find. And I’ve only ever taken the Metro there-I’ve never driven.

I could SEE it, but I could get there without jumping over the median or something. You see where it says Maine Avenue? Well, the meeting spot is supposed to be right off of that street. It’s actually where the big P for Parking is. But it’s a 2 lane, one-way road that takes you around in circles, so there was no real way to get to that parking spot. I drove around in circles for about 15 minutes before I accidentally ended up on the highway going south back to Alexandria. Screw it, I thought- I guess I’m just running at home….and now I’m just annoyed.

I decided to run by feeling. I wore my Garmin simply for mile tracking purposes, but I made it a point to just RUN and not worry about time. And since the watch beeps at every mile, I knew how far I was going.

I was running at what I thought was a pretty slow pace, but my legs were on fire. I kept wondering why I felt so tired-and why the hell am I breathing so hard? OK, I’ll just slow down. Here comes a hill-I’ll just jog up that hill. No worries, just run.

After the third “Beep,” I decided to turn around. 6 miles will be fine. Remember, I took most of this entire week off so I didn’t want to push it TOO much. So I turned around and made my way back home. The last 1/4 of a mile or so of the route back is uphill and I was honestly dreading it. I thought – there’s no WAY I’m making it up that freakin hill. I slowed down and took a quick walk break before making my way back up the hill, and then I dragged my ass up. Finally, the top of the hill came and my run was over.

And when I looked at my Garmin and saw that I just ran 6 miles in just under 53 minutes, and I almost crapped myself.

I looked at it and thought, there’s no WAY I was running that fast. I literally did the whole, “Is this thing ON? Can this possibly be right? Did I really just run 6 miles in 52:58 ? How the hell did I do that?”

Stats:
Mile 1: 8:42
Mile 2: 8:10
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:08
Mile 5: 8:23
Mile 6: 9:47 (with walk break and up the hill)

How the hell? Did taking that time off really help improve my time by that much?

So there you have it. Taking the week off from running worked. What does this mean? That my dear HEAB and miss Polly must be right: Less is more. Do I need to workout 6 days a week? Do I need to run 5 days a week and clock every damn workout I do to make sure I’m in the best shape for my 1/2 marathon or any other race I run? Do I have to be tired and cranky and be pissed off when I miss a workout? Well if this is not a fluke, then obviously not.

What does this mean? I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m not sure exactly what to take out of this, but one thing’s for sure-I don’t want to screw it up. Let’s see what next week brings me.

I suck at softball….

2010-04-23T22:22:00.002-04:00

I hate sucking. I know, who doesn’t? But when you’re an athlete, chances are you’re competitive. And if you’re like me, you hate to lose. (Hence the name of my blog) And the kicker? Softball was the first sport I ever played. Granted I gave it up in high school to run track, but I still was pretty good when I decided to play my freshman year in college. (I ended up getting hurt and not playing the whole season out, but I still made the team and played in the first few games.) I got hurt because I’m an idiot and couldn’t stay away from playing indoor soccer with my soccer team. Needless to say my softball coach was pretty pissed at me…and I wasn’t asked to play the following year. But that’s an entirely different story.

My game was at 7:30, so I decided to go for a walk after work to kill some time. Although I had planned to take a full week of from running, I decided it was just too nice of a day not to run. The weather was perfect-sunny and 72*. Although I purposely didn’t pack my new running sneakers or my Garmin OR my normal running attire, I still ran. And I was happy. It was only for about 45 minutes, so it wasn’t too long of a run, and I headed to the field feeling ready to swing a bat.

After striking out at my first at-bat, I grabbed a ball and yelled to one of my teammates, “I need to practice hitting. Here, pitch to me.”

I kept whiffing and I was getting SO.PISSED. So finally he said, “Nicole, you keep looking at me, not at the ball. Keep your eye on the BALL and I promise, you’ll hit it.”

“OK,” I thought, “Keep your damn eyes on the BALL!” and low-and-behold, I hit it. I made him pitch it to me about 10 more times to be sure it wasn’t a fluke, and it wasn’t. But I still never made it on base. I grounded out three times.

AND I suck in the field.

The ball was hit to me in the outfield, and it was hit so hard and fast, I just froze. I had my glove up in the air ready to catch it, started back stepping, and I don’t know what happened but the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I slid across the grass with my arm stretched out and the ball went flying past me.

Awesome.

I was so embarrassed. Everyone just laughed at me and I had no choice but to get up and wipe the dirt off. “Sorry guys!” I yelled, but it was too late.

My competitiveness has been compromised.

I’ll just have to put it back toward something I know I can do…run anyone?