Tuesday, November 29, 2011

DOMS and Quinoa


*whimper*

DOMS – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. The pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise.

Oh yeah. I’m feeling it. I spent my lunch hour stretching and doing some yoga. Then kickboxing after work. I could hardly lift my arms over my head! I knew that the muscle soreness happened, just not what it's name was. Good thing tomorrow is a rest day.

Also, I felt self conscious because I had a new shirt on. Don’t you hate that? There’s a lot to be said for a comfy old tshirt.

Today I made one of Nick’s favorites! It’s pretty easy, too. It’s another Quinoa salad.

Quinoa, corn and avocado salad
-1 cup Quinoa (rinsed and cooked, per box instructions)
-1 can black beans, rinsed.
-1 red pepper, chopped
-1/4 cup chopped cilantro
-2 green onions, chopped
-1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
-1 small avocado
-1 chopped jalapeno, deseeded. (optional)
Dressing:
-4 Tbsp lime juice (1 lime squeezed)
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1/2 tsp cumin
-While you’re cooking quinoa, chop up, de-can, strain and rinse everything you need for the salad in a huge bowl. 

-Mix up the dressing in a small separate bowl, and whisk.

-Mix Quinoa with the salad.. mix the dressing in with the quinoa salad. 

You’re done!


It’s a beautiful, flavorful salad or side dish. Really great. I made it with black bean quesadillas.. no queso included! :)


Monday, November 28, 2011

Body Pump and more Butternut Squash mac n cheez

Long day!

Short entry tonight. Just wanted to let you know that I’m still here and blogging!

Back to work, back to reality. Blah.
But!

I decided to try another class that my gym offers, for the first time. It’s called Body Pump. It started at 6, and I got there at 5, so I spent the hour before class on the stairmaster and walking at an incline on the treadmill.
Then it was an hour of lifting weights to rhythmic beats. It was sort of counterintuitive because I’m used to lifting weights in a slow and controlled fashion. But there were lots of times where we had to pump the weights up on one beat counts.. pretty fast! I was hurting by the end of the class. I’ll sleep well tonight, that’s for sure.

But I’m feeling much better now, and I think that has to do with the Butternut Squash Mac N Cheeze.

I made it again, and it was fantastic. I didn’t get a picture this time, because I was busy stuffing my face with it. (I got home at 7!) Fortunately, I had roasted the squash last night, so all I had to do was cook the pasta and whip up the sauce in the food processor

Butternut Squash Mac N Cheeze Sauce:
1 Tbsp Earth Balance (margarine)
¾ cup soymilk
1 Tbsp cornstarch
6 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
¼ tsp garlic powder
¾ tsp salt
1 cup of roasted butternut squash. Or a can of squash will work, too.
8 oz pasta, whichever kind you like.*

*A note about the pasta. My box of elbows said 12 oz, so I just slightly increased most of the ingredients. Not in a very accurate way, though.

-Just whip up the sauce in the food processor until it's smooth, and mix in with the cooked and drained pasta. Presto! (Not pesto, obviously)

Stock Photo:


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Black Saturday


Wow, today was a busy day! Much busier than yesterday. I spent most of Black Friday on the couch, reading my book.

Today I found that I had gotten up in time for a Spinning class, so I decided to try it. WOW. Much more difficult than I thought it would be.

In ‘Fitocracy Forum’ (a kind of fitness tracking site), you have to gage the intensity of your workout. The levels they have are:
Mild
Moderate
Intense
God hates me

I was definitely leaning into the ‘God hates me’ category. Can’t wait for next week! 

Then I went to Target to see if they had any good deals on workout clothes. They didn’t, really, but I got some anyway. 

After that, I drove into Dallas to Whole Foods. Remember how I won a painting at the Mercy for Animals Silent Auction? This was the handoff! Here’s the painting:

I liked it because it reminded me of snow, or frost on a window.

THEN I went to The Life House coffee shop. I actually ended up driving right past it, since it looks like a small house and not really like a coffee shop. In fact, there were two sitting rooms that sort of looked like you were actually in someone’s house. Kind of neat! And the coffee is phenomenal.

Because it’s been dark and windy all day, I decided to go home and stay there. I bought dinner stuff while I was at Whole Foods and grocery shopping can wait until later. 

For dinner tonight, we had the Amazing Pesto Pizza, from OhSheGlows.com

 http://ohsheglows.com/2010/10/17/project-food-blog-challenge-5-a-pizza-complex/



Thursday, November 24, 2011

Revenge is a dish best served Vegan!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a surprisingly good one!

I say ‘surprisingly’ because last year’s was such a flop. Basically what happened, is that we were supposed to go to my in-law’s friend’s house and we were all going to eat together. At least that’s what I thought. What ended up happening is that they ate without us, and we got to eat leftovers at the kitchen table while everyone else played cards.

Well, I was determined not to let this somewhat thoughtless attitude ruin my Thanksgiving THIS year. So I came up with a whole menu and a plan...if they invited us to eat with them, I would bring the food I made to share. If they ate without us, we would eat our Thanksgiving meal at home and perhaps go over for dessert. As predicted, I asked them when they were eating (at 2pm) and they said they already ate. Nice.

I left it up to Nick if he wanted to go over there for dessert, or to play cards, and he’d rather stay home and play Arkham Asylum. Cool with me! I mean, I might’ve tried to convince him that Thanksgiving was family time and we really should go hang out with his parents because family time is important during the holidays. But hey, if they’re not going to wait for us, I don’t see why I should go to bat for them.

Curious about the menu? Well, it would be a monster post with recipes, but I’ll give a brief description and photo.

We started with Cinnamon rolls made from scratch (yeast and all) to eat while watching the parade! There was a recipe for glaze, but they were so gooey, that they didn’t need it. Seriously, almost the entire pan is gone now. It was pretty labor intensive. As indicated by these series of photos that I feel I need to share with you. It was from the book Vegan Brunch.

Dough, rolled out, sprinkled with filling and dotted with butter. (Earth Balance)

Dough, filling and butter rolled into cinnamon tube! Time to cut.

I think I may have stuffed too many rolls in a confined space. 
Still tasted good, though!
Okay, now the actual Thanksgiving dinner.

To start with.. A salad.

Spinach Salad with Pears, dried cranberries, candied pecans and a vinaigrette dressing. Yes, I candied the pecans myself. No, it actually wasn’t very hard! Might do it again, just to impress people.

Le Main Course:

Glazed Lentil loaf with apples and walnuts.  I really enjoy this recipe. It’s savory with a hint of sweet with the apple and the glaze. Then the toasted walnuts give it a little extra crunch.

Garlic mashed potatoes: Red skin farmer’s market potatoes. With the skins still on. Mmmm.. with Gravy! (Not pictured)

Sweet Potato Casserole
We had Roasted Brussel Sprouts: Photo not shown. But they basically looked like Brussel sprouts. 

Focaccia Bread: I made a small loaf with the rosemary I got from the Farmer’s Market.

Dessert:

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream Frosting.  The recipe made a lot of frosting. I was nipping tastes of it until I realized that I could practically hear my heart racing. (Lots of sugar. As you can imagine)

Unfrosted
 Frosted!

 Pumpkin Pie with brownie base and crunchy pecan topping. 



We were both so totally full, that we couldn’t finish our firsts, nevermind having dessert right away. We watched The Dark Knight and digested for a bit.  And now a relaxing weekend to play video games, watch movies… and hopefully live off of the leftovers for a few days. :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

New Workout Plan


Well, everyone seems to think that my bowing out of the Half Marathon was a good idea. It is comforting to hear that nobody thinks I’m just ‘being a wuss’ or that I could ‘push through it’ if I really applied myself. These are terrible self critical thoughts that I myself have been having. 

But enough of that! This is no vacation!

I’m spending this Thanksgiving weekend coming up with a new workout plan.  It will include weights, my beloved kickboxing class, light running, stretching and yoga, and possibly a new spinning class on Sunday! I’m starting to be less sad and more excited about tough new workouts to come!

I did end up going to kickboxing class tonight. I was worried about my tendon, and made low impact adjustments, but I felt SO GOOD after class. Very glad I went.

As far as dinner goes.. Well, you’ve seen it before! It's the coconut curry w/ veggies and walnuts. I actually made rice instead of pasta this time. It wasn’t as good. Probably because I forgot to buy actual ginger and tried to fake it with ginger powder instead. Oops.



So here is another funny picture for your time!

It is timely as well.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Achilles Tendonitis and Mushroom Risotto!

Throwing in the towel. Sort of.

I was supposed to run 9 miles on Saturday. Ended up stopping at 4 miles. My ankle/heel was at it again. So I decided to go through a bunch of my Runner’s World magazines. I cut out all the good articles that I wanted to keep, and tossed the rest. 

One of those articles was on common Runner’s Injuries… one looked VERY familiar. Acute Achilles Tendonitis.

Here are some symptoms off of Sportsinjuryclinic.net:
  • Gradual onset of achilles pain at the back of the ankle, just above the heel bone.
  • This develops over a period of days.
  • Pain at the onset of exercise which fades as the exercise progresses.
  • Pain eases with rest.
  • Tenderness on palpation.
Chronic achilles tendonitis may follow on from acute tendonitis if it goes untreated or is not allowed sufficient rest. Chronic achilles tendonitis is a difficult condition to treat.

This is what convinced me. This is what I’ve been feeling EXACTLY.  Also, Acute tendonitis can lead to chronic tendonitis which can lead to a ruptured tendon. EEEEEEK!

So unfortunately, I’ve decided that I’m not going to run the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon after all. I don’t think there’s any way I’d be well enough by 12/4. :(

I’m pretty bummed about it.  Some tears were shed. It’s not all bad, though. I can still crosstrain. 

Maybe I can take up some cycling, swimming, yoga, and weights, and just do some light running during recovery.

I ALSO decided that kind of bad news requires a drink with dinner. Dinner! From OhSheGlows.com

http://ohsheglows.com/2011/02/08/mushroom-risotto-with-caramelized-onions/

Mushroom Risotto with Carmelized Onions
  • 3-4 yellow onions, divided
  • 1 tbsp + 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms (~455 grams), washed and sliced
  • 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 cup uncooked pot barley (or grain of choice, like rice)* see note
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 3.5 cups vegetable broth (I used full-sodium), *see note
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to garnish
  • 1 tbsp Earth balance or butter, to stir in (optional)

Directions:
1. Chop 2 small yellow onions to make 2 cups worth. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook over medium-low for about 8 minutes. Reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning. Onion chop!

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add all the sliced cremini mushrooms to the skillet and let them cook for 5-10 minutes. 
Beautiful mushrooms!

Chopped! 

3. Add the rosemary sprig and seasonings to the skillet. Stir well. Cook for a couple minutes. Now add in the barley (or rice), balsamic vinegar, and vegetable broth gradually as it cooks. You may have to adjust the amount of liquid used depending on the type of grain used. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and stir every few minutes, reducing the heat when necessary to prevent it sticking to the bottom. Be careful because it will burn fast!

4. Meanwhile, make the caramelized onions. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Cut 1-2 yellow onions in half, and then slice them into thin half moons. Add them to the oil and sprinkle liberally with salt. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn a dark brown, for about 30 minutes. Watch closely. I

5. When the risotto has finished cooking remove rosemary sprig and stir in a spoonful of Earth balance or butter if desired. Distribute into bowl and top each bowl with a spoonful of caramelized onions and freshly ground pepper. Serves 2-4.

Note: Make sure that you add the vegetable broth slowly as different grains will absorb different amounts of liquid. You don’t want too much liquid at the end!

*Good with Winter Ales.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly.. and the Stuffed Fungus!


These past couple days have been like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly around here.

Friday was terrible. The ugly, I guess you could say. I got a flat tire on the way to work.  It happened right on I-30 (busy busy highway) and I was pretty freaked out.  I called Geico’s Road Side Assistance number, and they said they were sending a tow truck out.

About 40 minutes later, they call back and say the guy can’t find me. Not sure why, I could give a pretty definite location seeing as how I was staring at the Ferguson Rd. Exit 50 sign for 40 minutes. My phone's battery was dying and I was getting really nervous. ANYWAY, he eventually did get to me. He dropped me and the car off at Discount Tire. My tire was covered under their warrantee program. So they gave me a new one, and sent me on my merry way.

I got in to work at 10, and already I wanted to turn around and go home.

Today has been better, though.

I tried to run my 9 miles, but I decided not to.  My ankle was feeling a little tender. Weird. So that’s bad. But I’ll give it another shot tomorrow morning.

Although, since I could not run my miles, I was able to go to the Farmer’s Market again!  YAY! The Good!

I really enjoy going to the Farmer’s Market.  Especially the second time, seeing everyone there, and kind of knowing where things are, is really neat.

Here’s my Haul:


-Hand roasted, organic, fair trade (ect, ect,) Coffee! What’s really exciting about this coffee is that the guy came out from Rockwall. That’s practically in our backyard! I foresee several trips to Rockwall in my near future.
-Cremini mushrooms – 1lb
-2 gorgeous tomatoes
-4 onions
-4 Large Sweet Potatoes
-Fresh Cilantro
-Red Potatoes
-Portobello Linguine
-Basil
-A tiny pumpkin pie (for Nick)

 I’m extremely excited about the basil. As you can see, it came in a bag, with its roots. The guy said to change its water everyday, and it’ll last about 2-3 weeks. This is pretty much my ideal basil situation. I can keep it on the counter, and cut off of it. It might grow some more leaves, but it’s got a shelf life. So I don’t have to feel bad when I (inevitably) kill it.


Also, it’s very pretty.

So speaking of the Farmer’s Market and mushrooms.. Do you remember last week when I told you about the Portobello mushroom as big as my hand? (Maybe even two hands) Well, I couldn’t bring myself to cut it up. It was simply too beautiful.

Also, I felt like I had to show it off. IT IS NOT TO BE BELIEVED! 

Look at the sized of this thing! And I am 5' 10" with hands fit to proportion. I do not have small hands.

I’m going to make a throw-together stuffed Portobello mushroom for lunch.

First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

-Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp Soy sauce, (also a little Dijon mustard if you have it) and rub the mushroom cap down in it, then cap up. Leave it with the cut side facing up. Bake for 10 min.

-Then I checked out my cabinets to see what I had. Hmm.. ¼ cup of couscous, 13 grape tomatoes and ¼ of an eggplant? That works!

-I prepared the couscous according to box instructions and set aside.

-Then I added a little oil and balsamic vinegar and sautéed the diced eggplant for about 5 min. Then tossed in the grape tomatoes… couple more minutes.. Then added a couple leaves of my new basil plant! Also, a little salt and garlic powder.


-After the mushroom comes out of the oven, stuff it!  Then put it back for about 10 more minutes.

Voila!  And if you’re wondering if I ate the whole thing… Yes, I ate the whole thing. I only had an English muffin for breakfast (thinking I was going to run) and then by the time I got home from the Farmer’s Market it was 12:30. LAY OFF ME, I WAS STARVING! :)