Local food goodness

I went running yesterday morning before work with a friend, and it was definitely not easy! We ran for 37 minutes (not including the part where we walked up a hill….) and definitely no faster than a 9 min/mile pace. It is frustrating to not be able to run as fast and far as I could before my injury, but I still got that euphoric endorphin rush at the end and then I remembered that I don’t run to be the fastest; I run because it makes me feel good. (Although, running fast and kicking butt at the end of a triathlon is really fun!)

After my run, I was craving CARBS!

Ezekiel english muffin topped with a mashed banana and cinnamon. This definitely hit the spot! However, I didn’t feel like this was going to hold me over throughout my 4 hour shift, so I also ate some avocado slices before I left. Random? Yes. Satisfying? Oh, yeah!

After work I made some salmon and veggies.

I sauteed red pepper, zucchini, and spinach. I also made a yogurt sauce with greek yogurt, fresh lime juice, avocado, and black pepper. Very fresh and delicious!

At 6 PM, my roommate and I went to a local food tapas tasting contest! About a dozen restaurants had their chefs create a dish using at least one ingredient grown locally, and for $10, we got to try all of them!

Starting with the taco and going clockwise-ish: taco with chicken, mango, and onions; seared tuna with basil; corn soup with red peppers; tomato, basil and mozzarella panini; blueberry tart; tomato sauce topped with a grit cake, chicken, and peach sauce; squash salad with feta over spinach; fried zucchini with tomato sauce; cornmeal crusted shrimp over fingerling potato with basil; and bruschetta with mozzarella, tomato, and basil.

My favorites on this plate were the tuna, the blueberry tart (local blueberries = delicious!!), and the squash salad. But the one that I voted for isn’t pictured because it went straight to my mouth rather than my plate — fig stuffed with marscapone cheese drizzled with a balsamic glaze and topped with pecans. HOLY YUM!

TGIF, everybody!

Going the distance, going for speed

Any Cake fans out there? This song (plus a significant amount of caffeine) is what got me pumped up to go to the gym and do my swim workout this morning! What motivates you all to exercise?

To refuel afterwards, I wanted to make a tofu veggie wrap, but the tofu had gotten pushed back to the back of the fridge and froze solid. I discovered this yesterday and thawed it out, but when I opened the package today, the tofu’s texture was disgusting, and it was completely inedible. So, the lesson is do not freeze tofu! It does not thaw back to normal texture.

ewww...

So instead of tofu, I took about a half cup of cottage cheese and mashed half of an avocado in it. I also sauteed some zucchini from the farmer’s marker, some red pepper, and garlic.

The sauteed veggies were so flavorful (I ate a few pieces out of the pan…), but you couldn’t taste them that much over all the cottage cheese! The wrap definitely wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a culinary masterpiece either… I think the tofu would have been better!

After lunch, I went to my last physical therapy session to review all the exercises I’m supposed to be doing to strengthen my hip plus some squats and lunges. After swimming + physical therapy, I was exhausted! And I snacked some carrots and ate half the bag of carrots:

I go through bags of baby carrots so fast!! Good thing they are only $1.69 at Publix. If I had some hummus to dip them in, I bet this bag would be gone by now .

I was supposed to go biking with a friend tonight, but she was tired from running this morning, and I was tired from swimming, so we just decided to go on a run tomorrow morning together. We both thought that we were in 2-workouts-a-day shape, but apparently, we are not (or maybe we are just being lazy). I’m not suggesting that you have to workout twice a day to be in shape, but it is the most effective way to train for a triathlon. I have 7 more training days. I’m getting a little nervous, but mainly excited…I’m going to have to rely on adrenaline!

Dinner tonight was awesome. I cooked some organic spinach and feta chicken sausage:

I also sauteed some spinach, and made some guacamole with the other half of my avocado from lunch + fresh lime juice + diced tomato from the farmer’s market. Yum!

The chicken sausage was amazing!!! I highly recommend it. And of course you can’t go wrong with fresh guacamole…I could probably live off of avocados.

P.S. Going back Cake’s music, every foodie should watch their Love You Madly video. Trust me.

Lush

Summer time is not conducive to getting back into shape fast. No way. The sun makes me lazy, the gym has weird hours, and there are too many parties. In addition to my workout plan, I also made a nutrition plan that included no sweets or alcohol until the triathlon….pssh! I ate a whole pint of ice cream 2 days ago, and I’m currently icing my hip and drinking a glass of wine. I also went to a neighbor’s birthday party on Sunday night and hit up $1 wells downtown with one of my roommates last night. Oh, summer time…

I’m not actually getting drunk every night, but staying up late plus drinking even a little does not make me want to work out in the morning. I’ve been waitressing lunch shifts and getting home around 3 PM, and then it takes me FOREVER to get my butt out the door to go workout.

I discovered in the middle of my workout last night that the gym closes at 9 PM during the summer. So today I got there at 7:45 PM planning to do my 1500 meter swim plus 30 minute run I had scheduled for today. But when I got down to the pool I discovered that the pool closes at 8 PM. Crap. I decided to go run some trails for 40 minutes. This was so much harder than I thought it would be! In May, right before I got injured, I was running 6 miles at an 8 minute pace with no trouble. I don’t know what my pace was today, but it was SLOW, and I kept wanting to walk. 

I remember how hard it was to get into good running shape. I started running 6 years ago when I wanted to do cross county my junior year of high school. Running was painful and miserable at first, but I really wanted to make the team. I did, and I ended up falling in love with the sport. Once I was able to run 5 miles at a good pace and like it, I vowed never to get out of shape and have to build back up from square one. Now here I am… (ok, not exactly square one, but I feel really freakin’ slow!).

Confession: I just abandoned this post to go to a bar with some friends for half-off bottles of wine night. How could I pass that up? Anyway, my alarm is set for 9 AM (I have the day off work…whoo!), and I am going to go swimming! Seriously. I am also going to make some good food tomorrow . I can’t wait!

Question: What is your favorite kind of wine? Currently, I’m obsessed with Sauvignon Blanc

How to train for a triathlon in 2 weeks….

The good news: I am FINALLY running again! I have been injured for 2 whole months, but on Tuseday, I was able to run 1.5 miles in physical therapy without pain! I’ve been on two 30 minute runs outside since then.

The bad news: I’m really out of shape…my runs have been SLOW, and the triathlon I signed up for before the injury is in 2 weeks! 

If I had been cross training better, then my lack of running for the past couple months wouldn’t be a huge problem, but I went from running 4-6 times per week plus biking and swimming (averaging about 45 minutes of cardio 6 days a week) to swimming or biking for 30 minutes 2-3 times per week. So I’ve lost a lot of fitness. And gained 5 pounds.

I’m more passionate about running than any other form of exercise, so trying to stay in shape without running was really difficult for me, especially since we don’t have triathlon club practice over the summer. Not running was frustrating and depressing, and I was not optimistic that I was even going to be able to do this triathlon. Now that I can run (albeit slowly), there is no way I’m not racing participating in this tri. 

The triathlon is on August 2nd in Charleston. The swim is 0.3 miles, the bike is 13 miles, and the run is a 5k. Here is my last minute training plan:

7/20 Monday: Bike 45 minutes; Run 15 minutes
7/21 Tuesday: Swim 1500 meters; Run 30 minutes
7/22 Wednesday: Stationary bike 40; strength
7/23 Thursday: Swim 1500 meters; Run 30 minutes
7/24 Friday: Run 40 minutes
7/25 Saturday: Run 30 minutes
7/26 Sunday: REST

7/27 Monday: Stationary bike 30 minutes; strength
7/28 Tuesday: Bike 30 minutes; Run 30 minutes
7/29 Wednesday: Swim 30; Run 30 minutes
7/30 Thursday: Run 30 minutes
7/31 Friday: REST
8/1 Saturday: REST
8/2 Sunday: TRIATHLON!!!!

 My only goal is to finish the triathlon and have fun while I’m doing it. I’m hoping that my 6 year background of consistent cardio exercise will make this do-able despite my lack of exercise this summer. Anyone who has had experience in coming back from an injury have any tips?

I don’t usually use this blog to hold myself accountable for my diet and exercise, but in these next couple weeks, I’m going to try to post more to encourage myself to do my workout plan and eat healthier (I’ve been a snack monster lately…I need to eat real meals) so that I can feel good in the triathlon.

This morning was my second run of the summer, and it felt so good! When I got back to my apartment I made myself this wonderful breakfast:

Two scrambled eggs with sauteed spinach, cherry tomatoes, garlic, black pepper, avocado, and a piece of Publix multigrain bread. I got the tomatoes from the farmer’s market yesterday, and they are amazingly flavorful!! I’ve already eaten the whole pint

Black Bean Salad with Honey-Jalapeno-Lime Dressing

Salad inspired by this one from 101 Cookbooks.

The dressing:

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 small jalapeno, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 extra virgin olive oil

In 101 Cookbooks, she also used 1/2 tsp mustard and blended everything in a food processor. I didn’t have any mustard, and my food processor was dirty (more on that later…), but it turned out wonderful anyway.

I went ahead and made the full recipe for the dressing so I would have some leftover for more salads this week, but I scaled down the rest of the recipe to just serve one.

I used:

• 1 big handful baby spinach
• 1/2 cup black beans 
• 1/2 of a red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 of an avocado, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted 

The original recipe used these fabulous jumbo black beans cooked from scratch. I used canned organic black beans from Trader Joe’s. I also decided to add red pepper to the recipe for some extra flavor and color, and I forgot to buy omitted the feta cheese and added avocado. I can’t imagine a salad that would not be improved by adding avocado…

After making the dressing, I sauteed red bell pepper strips and garlic in some olive oil. Then I tossed the spinach and black beans with some of the dressing, put it in a bowl, and topped it with everything else.

The salad was fantastic! The only thing that kinda bothered me (but not really) was that the black beans were kind of awkward to stab with a fork and all fell to the bottom of the bowl. I ended up eating most of the beans with a spoon after I finished the rest of the salad. I guess the jumbo black beans in the original recipe would have worked better… Oh well. 

The reason that my food processor was dirty is because I had just used it to make banana soft serve! (Yes, sometimes I eat dessert before dinner.) I took some sliced frozen bananas and put them in my food processor with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and blended!

I had to add a little bit of milk to make it creamy because I have a $15 food processor from Wal-Mart, not a Vita-Mix. Before I added the milk, it looked like banana dippin’ dots, which were so cool in 5th grade but not what I was going for right now. The splash of milk gave it a better ice cream texture. I also drizzled some almond butter on mine .

To be honest, I expected this to be good, but I didn’t really think it would be an acceptable subsitute for ice cream. Also, I couldn’t stop thinking of one of my favorite Mitch Hedberg jokes, “My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, and I said ‘no, but I want a regular banana later, so…. yes.’”

Anyway, I was blown away because this actually did taste like real ice cream! It really did! I took a bite of real ice cream I had in the freezer right after eating this, and I decided I like the banana version better. I’m serious. Gena, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Random Question: I bought a bottle of white wine on clearance (I can’t pass up a good deal, and it was a brand I normally like…), but I soon realized why it was on clearance the second I tasted it. I’m not a wine connoisseur, but this wine has definitely gone bad. Tastes like vinegar. Is there anything I can do with this wine? Can I cook with it (like in risotto), or would it ruin my dish?

Also, Emily the health nut is having a coconut oil giveaway!

Beach Eats

I actually planned on posting some while I was at the beach…HA! I decided to get away from the computer for a while and enjoy the sun… and some good food!!! 

Here is a recap of the food highlights (aka the food I remember to photograph).

homemade pimento cheese on celery

edamame salad with red pepper dip

 

Holy Guacamole! This bowl was huge and delicious!

seared tuna steak with artichokes, tomatoes, green beans, and hard boiled egg

 

Lots of seafood

 

Ok, this picture doesn't do this salad justice, but it is seriously the BEST SPINACH SALAD I've ever had! Baby spinach with a lemon vinaigrette, pine nuts, and shaved parmesan. Very fresh and simple.

Dessert! Chocolate souffle.

Happy Weekend!!

Greetings from Hilton Head Island!

I spent my Forth of July driving to the BEACH!!!! We brought some food from home and also made a Fresh Market trip as soon as we got here, so our fridge is stocked:

Top Shelf: OJ, sparkling water, edamame salad

Next to Top Shelf: Red Pepper Almond Dip, guacamole, blueberries

Middle Shelf: homemade pimiento cheese, salsa verde, herbed goat cheese, sabra hummus

Bottom Shelf: Corona

In the door: Tea, chocolate, grapes, half and half, milk

And more groceries….

Last night, I enjoyed some edamame salad (made by Mom, recipe from epicurious) out on the balcony.

Grilled corn, edamame, fresh tomatoes, sauteed onion, black pepper, and fresh basil. Yum!

See ya, I’m headed to down to the beach! As much as I love snow skiing, I think there is nothing better than laying on the beach in the sun with a good book and the sound of the ocean. What is your ideal vacation….do you prefer the beach, the mountains, or somewhere else?