Running With Forks and Spoons

The Gastronomical Dad

2010-04-03T15:03:00.002-04:00

I reject the belief that food is merely fuel for our bodies. In times of familial and emotional turmoil, the power of food becomes increasingly evident. Recently, my father got placed in intensive care, and it appears like he will be staying there for a few weeks. It goes without saying that the past few days have been trying.

My dad was the first gastronomic influence in my life. As far as I can remember, my dad has been happiest in the garden. My childhood summers were full of fresh greens, potatoes, rhubarb, tomatoes, etc. One of my favorite pictures of my brothers was taken when Petie was approximately three and Charlie five. They are standing by the garden at our Maine house, beaming, holding carrots they had just picked from my dad's garden.

I have understood the importance of good food from a young age, and I attribute that to my dad.

Thus, it is not shocking that watching my dad choke down hospital food was nothing short of depressing. I was sitting on his hospital bed when the nurse came in with dinner. My dad turned to me and informed me that this was the most exciting part of his day. He unveiled his food; white rice, boiled baby carrots, and some yellow matter that I had to assume was “the protein.” I asked him what it was, “I think it's and omelette,” he said and dug in. He cut off a piece of the omelette, chewed for a second, and said, “Nope, chicken.”

I left the hospital, sad and tired. When I got home, I didn't have any energy to cook, and in a weird way, I felt guilty eating good food when I knew my dad didn't have the same luxury. Instead, I picked up M.F.K. Fisher's Long Ago in France, in which Fisher describes her gastronomic adventure in Dijon, France. Over the course of her recollection, food becomes a central character. Actually, aside from Fisher and her husband, food is the only lasting character. Her relationship with food and the dining experience parallels my dad's attitude toward food. They both understand that food comforts, physically and emotionally; it can incite happiness and excitement, and it can bring people together.
Fisher describes one of her most memorable dining experiences. She writes:

One bitter February Sunday when I stood panting on a hill near Les Laumes-Alesia, the earth was hard as granite beneath me, and air drawn into my tired lungs felt like heavy fire before it thawed. I broke a twig clumsily between my mittened fingers...“Here!” a voice said, roughly. I looked with surprise at the old general, who stood, shaggy and immense, beside me...he held out a piece of chocolate, pale brown with cold...In my mouth the chocolate broke at first life gravel into many separate, disagreeable bits. I began to wonder if I could swallow them. Then they grew soft, and melted voluptuosly into a warm steam down my throat. The little doctor came bustling up, his proudly displayed alpenstock tucked under one short arm...“Never eat chocolate without bread, young lady! Very bad for the interior, very bad...” And in two minutes, my mouth was full of fresh bread, and melting chocolate, and as we sat gingerly, the three of us, on the frozen hill...peered shyly and silently at each other and smiled and chewed at one of the most satisfying things I have ever eaten.

I apologize for the lengthiness of that passage, but I do believe that it encompasses the power that food can have in its most simplistic form. The mere act of eating bread and chocolate is the catalyst for this memorable experience. It reawakens Fisher's frozen self and gives her a sense of livelihood that had disappeared in the cold. In addition, three near strangers find their lives temporarily intertwined by sharing food with each other.

I know my dad will be out of the hospital soon, and the only thing I can hope is that he, like Fisher, will have a meal that will rejuvenate his morale and repair the emotional damage these past few weeks have caused.

Food Writing, In All its Shapes and Sizes

2010-03-18T14:35:00.001-04:00

America's interest in food seems to be at a high point right now. The various forms of food writing that is currently in circulation support this claim.

It is difficult to argue that diet books should be catalogued as forms of food writing, but it is undeniable that they have been the most popular and prevalent publications on food in the past thirty years. The Atkins diet was first introduced onto the dieting scene in 1972 with the publication of Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. Weight Watchers has published a series of inspirational diet books in addition to books of recipes. More recent was the South Beach diet, which took America by storm.

The diet book form of “food writing” focuses on the physical impact of what foods one eats. In other words, what one should eat to be thin. These books lack art, emotion, and creativity.

In the same vein, another form of food writing has erupted in the past few years. Journalistic food writing. These writers are not asking what should I eat to be thin, instead they are asking what should I eat to be healthy. One of the more explosive books in this area of writing is The China Study written by Dr. T. Campbell published in 2005 in which Campbell advocates for a plant-based diet. The other more popular writers of journalistic writing are Eric Scholsser and Michael Pollan. These writers try to open readers eyes to the current state of our food system. Scholsser and Pollan investigate the inner workings of the dairy and meat industries; industries that have been conveniently hidden from America for the past hundred years. One could argue that Upton Sinclair was the inventor of journalistic food writing with the publication of The Jungle in 1906.

Blog writing is the everyman's approach to food. It is accessible, easy, and convenient. Some bloggers choose to simply write about literally everything that passes through their lips. Others post when they have tried out an interesting recipe they want to share with readers. These sorts of bloggers tend to divulge into more detail about the food they are preparing and the emotional process that goes along with it. Orangette is a good example.

Lastly, there is the tried and true novelistic food writers. These writers draw the readers' attention to the dining experience, interweaving personal stories of their lives with the culinary experiences that seem to shape them. I am currently reading M.F.K. Fisher's Long Ago in France in which she reminisces about her culinary amakening she experienced while living in France with her husband.

Novestic writing is arguably the most artful form of food writing, which could explain its growing popularity. An example of said popularity is the literary magazine, Alimentun. Alimentum is a collection of essays and pieces that nourishes one's literary appetite. I have yet to receive my copies of Alimentum in the mail, but there will be more on that later.

Over the next couple of months, I will dedicate posts to the various forms of food writing and the many ways in which they differ.

Greek Feast

2010-03-06T21:48:00.003-05:00

My lovely day ended with a lovely dinner.

Over the past few weeks, I have seen Greek food popping up all over the blog world. Hummus is everywhere, and it always seems to be accompanied by tabouli and pita. It is not surprising that I have found myself craving it constantly.

Tonight, I caved. I set out to make my own healthy Greek feast.

It was exactly what I wanted. Falafel, hummus, tabouli, tzatziki, and pita. The falafel came out of a box (next time I want to make it from scratch), but it ended up being shockingly good. The brand is Fantastic World Food, and if you want falafel fast, this is what you want. I also broiled it for two minutes on each side instead of frying it. It tasted the same and saved many many calories. I made the hummus from scratch courtesy of Angela. It turned out great, but I added more lemon juice and paprika than what she called for.

For the tabouli, I pulled stuff from a bunch of different recipes but ended up with something like this...

1 c bulgur
1 c hot water
1/2 cucumber
1 tomato
4 green onions (mainly the white part)
1 c fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1 T mint

The dressing:
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 c oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the directions, I followed this recipe.

It was so easy, and I thought it turned out really well.

Lastly, the tzatziki dip was Greek yogurt, the other half of the cucumber, 2 of the discarded stalks of green onion (finely chopped) from the tabouli, and the juice of half a lemon.

A lighter, yet equally satisfying, alternative.

Last but not least, we microwaved a little but of pita so it was soft and warm for dipping! I was very pleased with this meal!

A little while later, I had a little bit of Girl Scout Samoa ice cream...heavenly. And now, I am pooped and ready for bed. I feel a little silly that I can't stay up past 10:30, but I decided I am just going to go with it. There is no shame in getting a good night sleep!

Sunshiney day!

2010-03-06T15:45:00.005-05:00

I have decided that running with friends is much more fun than running alone!

I knew I would be running with Jeff and Mariclare this morning, but I also wanted to get a longer run in. No offense to either of them, but I don't think they would have been excited had I tried to drag them on a 3.5 mile run.

So, I woke up extra early to crank out my longer run before we all headed over to the track. I ran 3.5 amazing miles! I was definitely panting by the end, but in a satisfied and happy kind of a way, not a "I want to kill myself" kind of a way.

When I got home, I stretched really quickly and hopped in the car, and we were off to fetch Mariclare.

When we got to the track, it was sunny and warm, a perfect morning for an easy run!

Mariclare was very receptive of the camera.

Jeff, not so much. He wouldn't look at me or take the hood off. Oh well, I still snuck some in!

We did a very easy mile and a half and enjoyed the weather. Afterwards, I was more than ready to go home and make breakfast.

1/2 c Kashi GoLean
1/2 c Peanut Butter Puffs
1/2 Peach Chobani
1 clementine
1/2 apple
1 tbsp chia seeds

I inhaled this breakfast. It was so good, and I was so hungry. I was a little apprehensive about the orange, but it ended up tasting great!

After breakfast, Jeff and I puttered around the house for a bit, but I got pretty antsy to get back outside so we packed a picnic and went over to a nearby dam to walk and picnic.

The walk was so pretty. The weather stayed perfect, and the walk was a great way to stretch out my legs after a morning full or running.

The trail.

Jeff and I happy to be on the trail.

Our picnic.

Our picnic's view.

Jeff and I happy to be picnicing.

Our picnic eats were easy and fast. I made us each a cashew butter and spiced apple butter sandwich on whole wheat bagels with grapefruit, apples, and hummus chips. I ended up being full after the bagel and 1/2 the grapefruit. So the apple and chips are for later.

Now, I am sitting on the couch enjoying one of these

and resting my legs.

I love spring break.

Calling all ideas!

2010-03-05T15:23:00.003-05:00

My funk has lifted, and I have had a very nice and relaxing start to my day.

It all started with a leisurely run with Jeffrey. I had originally planned on going for a longer solo run, but when Jeff showed interest in coming with me, the distance got sliced in half. I didn't mind though; I was happy I had the company!

As soon I we got home, I got working on this...

I have had a serious craving for pancakes lately, but going out to breakfast always leaving me feeling gross. It's something to do with the quantity breakfast places they give you and the amount of grease that makes its way into everything. When I go out to breakfast, the rest of my day is usually sluggish.

So, I whipped up the cheap and healthy alternative.

We didn't have any maple syrup either, so I improvised with what was around. The following picture is not aesthetically pleasing but the contents were delicious.

I had two smallish pancakes topped with plain Greek yogurt, apple, pear, banana, and a drizzle of honey. I cut up way too much fruit, so I ate the remainder of the fruit on the side.

It was really good overall, but my only complaint is that the yogurt and fruit make the pancakes cold. Either way, it was tasty and really filling.

The rest of the morning was slow. Jeff left for work, and I puttered. Around 11 I had an apple with homemade cashew butter (yep, I made cashew butter, and I think it might be better than almond!!). And around 1 I was ready for lunch.

Our fridge is seriously lacking in food so my lunch was not ideal but it did the trick.

We had two corn tortillas in the freezer (turns out, I really don't like corn tortillas) which inspired me to make quesodillas. I smeared one tortilla with the last of the "refried" beans; I chopped up some red pepper and onion, and shredded a little cheese on top. I baked this at 350 for about 10 minutes and put a dollop of yogurt and salsa on the finished product.

It was okay. The top tortilla got really crunchy; I ended up taking it off and dipping it in the salsa like a chip. The rest was pretty good though.

Topics of Discussion: Solo Outdoor Activities
I promised to write about something a little more interesting today, so this is my stab at it. However, it is less of me telling you something and more of me asking you to tell me something.

Right now, it is 50 degrees in Connecticut, and the sun is out (sort of). For the past few months, I have been yearning for a day just like this. It started off great with an outdoor run, but now, I am sitting inside at a loss as to what I can do to get me outside.

The dilemma:
-I enjoy going for walks, but I like it a lot more with a companion (or at least a dog)
-I don't have a bike
-I already went for a run
-It's too cold to merely sit outside and read
-It's Friday so there aren't any farmer's markets, flea markets, etc.

I really want to go outside and do something, but I really don't know what I can do!

So, if you have any input on this matter, I would love to hear it.

I am probably going to go out for a walk by myself anyway, but more interesting activites are welcome!!

Funk.

2010-03-04T22:42:00.003-05:00

The day started off strong. Around 3, that started to fade.

I got a call from Jeffrey in the afternoon, informing me that my car could not get about 55 mph on the highway. My funds cannot allow for a car repairs right now, so this news was a little disconcerting.

The remainder of the day wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't good. I fell into a weird funk that I am sure everyone is familiar with. You're irritable and pissed off but you can't really explain why. It's that kind of funk. I am sure I will wake up feeling better; I just wanted to vent a little bit.

Prior to said funk, I did manage to have a very tasty lunch.

1/2 lentil burrito and a massaged kale salad. For the massaged kale, I merely drizzled olive oil, lemon juice, and salt over kale and massaged it all together. Then, I let it stand in the fridge for an hour. After that, I diced up a little tomato and red pepper, and I had a salad!

This is a definite repeat.

The lentil burrito was from the Co-op. I bought a whole one yesterday, but these guys are filling, and I could only make it through half. So, I had the remainder today.

I want to try to make these. They seem so simple, and I love them dearly. It seems to be just lentils, sweet potatoes, onions, and spices. It can't be too hard.

Snacking...

I was very snacky and very hungry at school today. I had the banana around 3, thinking it would hold me for a while. Unfortunately, I was hungry again by 4. I managed to hold off till 4:30 to eat my Suncake. The Suncakes are actually from the same company that makes the Heart Thrive cookies. I love their products because they are packed with protein and fiber from the oats and dried fruit.

This snack barely held me over until my late, and boring, dinner.

Sweet potato with tomato sauce and mozzerella.

Now, I am exhausted, still in a funk, and I want to go to sleep.

I promise there will be a more interesting post tomorrow. I am on spring break now (yay!!) and can devote much time to making this blog interesting...at least for the next week.

Lovely start to the day!

2010-03-04T12:18:00.003-05:00

This morning is going swimmingly!

I woke up bright and early for my usual 3 mile run. When I first opened my eyes, I thought it was raining due to the amount of moisture that had gathered on the outside of my windows. I actually laid in bed and tried to pump myself up for a rainy run. I reminded myself that I had done it before, and I didn't mind it, and I would feel better once I had done it, etc. etc. etc. Once I thought I was sufficiently pumped, I got out of bed and realized it was not raining at all. It was actually a really nice morning.

Jeffrey recently got me the Rent soundtrack, which I was really excited about for it gives me something new to listen to while I run. It worked like a charm! Running to Rent is awesome!

As I was running, I kept catching myself daydreaming. Usually, I am in way too much pain to day dream and the only thing occupying my thoughts is said pain. This morning, however, I found myself thinking about my midterm, my breakfast, a car that drove by me with two golden retrievers hanging out the window, and many other silly and mindless things. I was comfortable enough running to day dream. Huge step in the right direction.

Another first: when I got to the turn that I usually use as my finish line, I realized that I still had a little left in me, so I decided to run a loop around a nearby baseball field before I went home. This only added .3 of a mile to my run, but still, the intention of lengthening my run was there!

Jeffrey said he will run with me tomorrow, so that will be a lovely change of pace.

When I got back from my run, I was very excited to throw the breakfast I had been day dreaming about together.

It is the exact same mixture as the past two days. Don't mess with success.

1/2 c Kashi GoLean
1/2 c Peanut Butter Puffs
1/2 pear
1/2 apple
1/2 Chobani

All mixed up...

Perfect!

It's shocking how far a little bit of yogurt can go.

I will switch up my breakfast tomorrow, but this combination is really really good. I highly suggest it.

Post midterm (which went better than expected), was this precious little snack...

This is a Heart Thrive cookie which is made out of only the good stuff. It was a very tasty, sweet treat to hold me until lunch!

Now, I am off to do some homework for my last two classes before Spring Break! I even heard it was supposed to be 50 this weekend. Spring is coming....

Complete Loss of Motivation

2010-03-03T21:20:00.003-05:00

Any college graduate reading this can most likely relate. Right now, I am currently half way through my last semester of college, and I am trying to study for a 100 level political science mid term. Shockingly enough, I am finding it extremely difficult to muster up the motivation to actually study. I have worked really hard the past three and a half years, and I genuinely do believe all of my academic energy is spent. At least for the time being.

So, what does a college student do when he or she has a midterm in the morning? Procrastinate.

This, my friends, is what procrastination looks like.

Although I have no energy to study, I have been able to pull together a couple tasty meals.

Meet my new breakfast.

(From yesterday)

(Had to repeat it today)

This glorious concoction is
1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch
1/2 c Envirokids Peanut Butter Puffs
1/3 red pear
1/3 apple
1/2 container of Chobani

I would be lying if I said I didn't rip this from Meghann. This was indescribably refreshing and satisfying.

My dinner from last night, unfortunately, did not live up to my breakfast.

This sad and lonely blob that took up residence on my plate was my half-assed attempt at a black bean burger. In my defense, I have made black bean burgers in the past that were delicious. Also, in my defense, it was 9:30 when I made this, and I had just returned from my 3 hour night class feeling like I was going to gnaw off my own arm. Jeffrey was also at a friend's apartment, so I was alone on the creativity front.

So, I grabbed what looked most appealing to me in my fridge. My "refried" black beans that will be going bad soon. I chopped up a little bit of green pepper, onion, and mushroom and threw it into a bowl with a heaping spoonful of the beans. Then, I added some whole wheat bread crumbs into the mixture and formed a patty. I ended up frying the patty (is it considered frying when you don't use oil??) for about 5 minutes per side. While it was cooking, I realized I didn't have any buns or bread. I looked around the kitchen to see what we had, and my eyes landed on the half moldy tomatoes on the table. So, I chopped off the moldy parts and was able to cut two edible slices. Now I had a bun.

Last minute, I decided to throw a little cheese on the burger (to spruce it up a little bit, it looked very sad in the frying pan all alone).

The final product what sad. And boring. And not satisfying in the slightest.

Oh well.

This evening, we made up for it.

Sundried tomato ravioli with homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese with sweet potato and steamed broccoli on the side.

Much better.

This meal was incredibly easy. Jeffrey made the sauce by pureeing four whole tomatoes, garlic, and spices (chili powder, italian spice blend, salt, pepper) into the blender, and then letting it simmer on the stove for about 45 minutes.

The result was a comforting yet reasonably healthy dinner.

For this meal, cheese was a necessity.

I decided to give myself a rest day from exercise today. I woke up extremely tired, looked out the window, saw that it was snowing, and climbed right back in bed. I felt a little guilty, but I kept reminding myself that I had run for three days in a row, and a rest day was completely justified.

The rest day helped me a lot. Now, I am excited to wake up this morning and geta good 3 miles
in before my last day of class before sprink break!

Off to study. Wish me luck!

Racing in Zucchini Boats.

2010-03-01T21:48:00.003-05:00

The title of this post makes very little sense, but I wanted to incorporate the two highlights of my day. Making zucchini boats and signing up for my first 5k!

Zucchini first. Seeing I am still fighting off sickness, all I wanted for dinner tonight was veggies. So, veggies we had.

We sliced three zucchinis in half (we had to toss one half because it was really mushy) and spooned out the seedy insides. Then laid them out on wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Then, I spread some of the left over "refried" beans from the other night over the zucchinis.

Then, I chopped up an orange pepper, half an onion, and some mushrooms, and laid them on top of the beans.

I popped those babies in the oven at about 420 for 15 minutes, then pulled them out, added a little salsa and cheese, and put it back in the oven for about 3 minutes.

Zucchini boats!

My plate...

These were pretty tasty, but not as good as I was hoping they would be. Growing up, I hated zucchini. I hated it to the point of gagging. Over the past few years, I have begun throwing little bits of zucchini into stir frys, pastas, etc. and I never minded it. So, I thought I was over my hatred. The zucchini boats were a little too intense for me though. I didn't gag, but I kind of wish I did a pepper boat instead.

If you like zucchini, the boats are for you! They are also a perfectly portioned meal for anyone cooking for one or two people.

Now, the race. I asked Jeffrey in the car this morning if he wanted to run a 5k with me in the spring. He agreed. A couple hours later, curiousity drove me to check upcoming races in the Connecticut area. That's when I found Hartford's St. Patrick's Day 5k taking place on March 14th!! Less than two weeks! I asked Jeff to run it with me, but he said he wouldn't be ready in time, but he will cheer me on. I asked my dad and my stepmom, but they will be sunning themselves in the French West Indies that week. Looks like I am on my own!

I am so excited!! I have ran in races before, but it was always something I dreaded. I was never in shape; I didn't care, and I just wanted it to be done.

This is completely different. I am pretty comfortably running 3 miles on a day to day basis, so the distance should not be a problem. As I looked over pictures from this race over the years, it looks like a really fun one to be a part of. Everyone is dressed up, there is live music, radio stations sponsor it, and I heard through the grapevine that you get a free beer when you'e done! Woohoo!

So, it has been a pretty productive day. Now, I am off to bed so I wake up bright and early and train for my 5k!!

Inspired.

2010-02-28T21:20:00.004-05:00

For those of you who do not follow Meghann's blog and are wanting to get into running, read her latest post. You will most certainly be inspired.

Meghann just completed the Michelob Challenge, which consists of a 5k, 15k, and marathon in one weekend. Yesterday, she ran the 15k followed by the 5k, and then woke up this morning and ran a marathon. I was in complete awe reading her recap of the races. She completed the marathon in record time and feeling strong.

Again, if you are unfamiliar with her blog, check it out. What she has accomplished in terms of running is truly amazing. I will have to keep it in mind while I am struggling to finish my 3 miles tomorrow...

In terms of my progress, my 3 miles seem to be getting easier! I don't want to jinx myself, but this morning, I woke up (a little sick), dragged myself out the door, and actually completed a reasonably painless 3 mile run! I think I am going to stick with this distance for a little while before taking on any more miles. My knees are starting to hurt slightly, and I do not want to push it.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's run because I get to try out a new sports bra I picked up from Old Navy today. Turns out, Old Navy has some pretty good work out clothes! They were also having a big sale, so I got three sports bras for $12 each (and a couple other things...)! New workout clothing always gets me excited for the workout itself.

Prior to my shopping adventure, Jeff and I threw a lunch together trying to use up some of our leftovers. Of course, we needed to use salsa, so we ended up having a Mexican themed lunch yet again.

This little bowl of happiness includes quinoa, "refried" beans, black beans, salsa, avocado, peppers, tomato, and mushrooms. Oh boy. It was tasty.

Now, I am sitting on bed, about to go back to the studying, but a certain friend of mine had other plans.

Gretta thinks she deserves my attention more than my homework does. Thus, she will sit on my studies until I succumb to her wishes.

One more thing. I have never been a gadget person. I don't have an iPod (I lost mine, and now I steal Jeffrey's); my cellphone is dangerously similar in appearance to Zach Morris', and my laptop was the cheapest I could find. However, there is one gadget out there that has snuck into my dreams...

Hello, lover. The Forerunner Garmin 305. This baby will provide you with any information you could ever need while running. It is unbelievable. When I start running real distances, the Garmin would really come in handy.

Graduation present....?

Ok, time to give Gretta some love, finish some work, and go to bed!

Taco Night!

2010-02-27T19:41:00.003-05:00

I am loving this Mexican themed weekend!

To back track slightly, I actually had to work pretty hard at making this Saturday a nice one. I woke up after an extremely bad night sleep feeling really sick. Everyone in my life seems to be sick right now, and unfortunately, I think I'm next.

I decided that getting out of the house and enjoying my weekend was the only way I was going to feel better. And it sort of worked.

My recipe for making a bad day better...

1. Coffee and a scone with Jeffrey at the new local coffee shop, Cafemantic.

2. Go to a winter farmer's market (sans Jeffrey. He had to work.)

3. Find cheap work out clothes at TJ Maxx.

4. Eat a wonderful (and cheap) dinner.

Although my throat still hurts, and I am currently nursing a cup of echinacea tea, I am in very high spirits!

Dinner tonight was tacos. It seemed natural given the fact that we have quite literally between 70-80 oz. of salsa in the fridge.

Last night, I began soaking black beans. Then, I simmered them for about 2 hours this afternoon. Soaking and cooking your own beans always seems like a hassle in my head, but it really so much more economically efficient.

The beans turned out a little mushy for my liking (if you like harder beans, you probably only want to simmer them for roughly an hour and a half). However, my mushy beans got my creative wheels turning. I took the mush and threw it into the food processor with the juice from one lime, some salt, pepper, chilli powder, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. The result? Healthy and delicious mock-refried beans. I was extremely proud.

The remainder of the dinner was very simple. I was illustrate with photos.

(Corn tortillas heated up in a cast iron pan without oil)

(Refried beans)

(Avocado and quinoa)

(Cheese and salsa)

(Seconds...)

I decided to go without cheese the second time around. I realized I rarely can even taste cheese in most meals (except pizza, of course), so I have been leaving it off lately. I really don't miss it at all.

As for running, I took a rest day. I woke up at 10:15 this morning! I honestly cannot remember the last time I slept that late. I didn't even wake up on my own; Jeff had to stir me. I took that as a sign that my body needed rest, so I gave it some. Hopefully tomorrow I am feeling well enough to run because Jeffrey said he wanted to go with me.

Now we are off to a friend's house for the evening. I plan on bringing some more echinacea tea with me to sip on...not exactly my ideal drink on a Saturday night, but oh well.

Crock-pottery Salsa

2010-02-26T22:32:00.003-05:00

Ever since Jeffrey got me my crock pot, he has been wanting to make salsa.

This afternoon, he sent me a text message from the Coop telling me he got upwards of 15 free tomatoes. Naturally, making salsa was a top priority.

I tried to follow an extremely simple recipe from the crock pot manual, but I ended up winging it and making do with what we had on hand.

It ended up being something like this:

10 large, cored tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 c green pepper
1 whole red pepper
1 jalapeno pepper (with seeds)
salt, pepper, chili powder, basil, oregeo (and I think some other stuff Jeff threw in while I wasn't looking).

The process was easy.

Wash and core the tomatoes. To core, simply cut an inch deep circle around the stem and spoon out. I then chopped the tomato in half and spooned out the seeds and superfluous innards. Then, throw them in the crock.

Then, I (roughly) chopped up the onion, garlic, and peppers, and threw those in the crock as well.

Let it simmer for about 2 1/2 hours or until tomatoes are soft. Then, ladle the mixture into the food processor and pulse until you read the desired consistency. Add in your spices and pulse some more.

I realized I did not take a picture of the final product. Tomorrow! Once it was finished, we realized it desperately needed cilantro. Again, tomorrow!

I did manage to take a picture of our lovely Mexican feast that incorporated the salsa, though.

This was delicious! Quinoa, black beans, avocado, cheddar cheese (it's all we had), and our homemade salsa. I am in such a Mexican food frame of mind right now. You will be seeing a lot of this!

In addition to a successful dinner, I had a very successful run this morning. It was snowing/raining this morning for the third morning in a row, and I simply could not handle another wet and cold run. I had to go to UConn today anyway, so I decided to go to the gym for the first time in a while. I found this workout courtesy of Tina. I have always been one to question those who claim any workout (especially on a treadmill) is "great," but this one really wasn't bad. There was so much switching of the incline and speed that the time really did fly by.

I was definitely tired by the end (it turned out to be about 4 miles), but at no point was I miserable.

After the run, I stretch a lot and did some ab work and called it a day.

I really needed a successful run. I was starting to get really frustrated, but I feel like I am now back on track. I am supposed to run with some people from work and Jeffrey in the morning, but I know one of my running partners has fallen ill, Jeffrey is in her footsteps, and I have yet to hear from the last remaining running buddy.

Oh well. I guess it will be another lonely run for Annie. My knee kind of hurts right now though, so who knows, maybe I will give myself a rest day.

We will see....

Homemade Almond Butter!

2010-02-21T14:59:00.005-05:00

As I was sitting at the breakfast table with Jeffrey this morning, slathering almond butter on a piece of toast, we began talking about our newfound, yet passionate, love for almond butter. I bought my first jar at the Coop when our distributor sent it to the store by accident, and we sold it for a discounted price. This was the moment I fell in love. A week (and one jar of almond butter) later, I was wandering through Ocean State Job Lot, and I stumbled up on a whole display of discounted almond butter. I bought two jars.

Now, the last last jar is waning, Ocean State is not selling almond butter, and my wallet will not allow me to spend $13.99 on a jar from the Coop.

We were heartbroken.

Until...

Almonds, please meet...

The food processor.

We decided to make our own! I bought two cups of unsprayed almonds for roughly $3.00, threw them in the food processor, and waited patiently.

(After about two minutes it resembled almond meal)

(Seven more minutes, the almonds became doughy)

(Six more minutes, it was looking like chunky almond butter!)

I tasted it at this stage, and decided I wanted creamy almond butter, so I let it go for roughly three more minutes.

The final product! I was nervous I was going to need to add oil, but it ended up being completely unnecessary. I did add a tiny bit of sea salt and agave, but that is completely optional. Also, while it is processing, you need to stop and scrape the sides frequently. It is kind of a pain, but completely worth it.

In the end, 2 cups of almonds yields about 1.5 cups of delicious almond butter. Not bad for $3.00! If you do not have access to reasonably priced almonds, I highly suggest buying them in bulk at a local food store or online.

In running news, I went for a pretty discouraging run (again) today.

It started when I tried to go to the local track, only to find that it was occupied. Then, I thought it would be nice to just park my car and run on the surrounding roads just for a change of scenery. I got out of my car, and the wind was howling, so I decided to wait a little bit and run around my neighborhood in hopes of it being less windy. Before going home, I decided to go to the Coop to pick up almonds (for the almond butter). That was when I got pulled over by the cops. Not just one cop car, but two.

Apparently, I rolled through a stop sign. To be honest, I am pretty awful about rolling through stop signs, something Jeffrey always points out. You can imagine how much fun it was for him when I told him the news. Anyways, two cop cars pulled up behind me once I was already safely in the Coop parking lot. Meanwhile, customers were walking in and out staring at me sitting in my car looking like a felon. The cop came up to my window, told me what I did, license and registration, etc. etc. He proceeded to ask me if there were any weapons in the car he should know about. I stared at him blankly in a moment of disbelief. I quite simply do not look like someone who is packing heat.

After the whole ordeal, he gave me a written warning, and I got to go inside and buy my almonds.

Once I got home, in a very bad mood, the last thing I wanted to do was go running. But, I read a few blogs, got motivated, and left.

The run was pretty painful from beginning to end. I know that I am making progress, and I am slowly getting into better shape, but it is really frustrating to be winded after running two miles. I have been at this for a month now, and I thought I would be farther along than where I am. Granted, a month is not that long, so I should probably be easier on myself, but I am still a little frustrated. I am starting to think that I need to push the half marathon back a little bit so I have ample time to train without hurting myself, but I can make that decision a little later.

I finished the 2.5 mile run with very little walking and a lot of heavy breathing. Once I got home, my legs felt really tight, and I knew I needed the assistance of Yoga is Yummy. I felt so much better after this! I highly suggest it for anyone whose hamstrings are in need of a good stretch.

In addition to that I did a few pushups (I could only do 7), and some ab work.

I am obviously going to stick with running and training. I just can't wait for warmer weather and stronger endurance.

Absence.

2010-02-19T18:45:00.003-05:00

I realize I am getting very bad about daily blogging, and for that, I apologize. However, my schedule is really busy right now, and with graduation lurking around the corner, things like blogging need to be placed on the back burner. Thus, I do not think my schedule allows for the three mealtime recap. Instead, I will focus on only the (somewhat) interesting stuff.

Project Glow is in full swing...almost. So, as I promised, I will explain it a little further.

The aim of Project Glow is to better your skin without taking extreme chemical measures.
The necessary materials...
-St. Ives Apricot Scrub
-St. Ives Blemish Fighting cleanser
-Exfoliating gloves (mine are coming in the mail!)
-Neutrogena Daily Moisturizer (SPF 30/45)
-Optional: Coconut Oil for body moisturizing (I am skipping this because coconut oil is expensive and if I am going to buy it, I am going to cook with it)
-Optional: Oil Blotting Sheets (I am skipping this too. My skin isn't that oily)

My addition...
-Cinnamon tablets

Cinnamon regulates your blood sugar levels, and a lot of acne is caused by fluctuation in blood sugar levels. So, as Moocy (a fellow blogger and coworker) suggested, I am taking two tablets in the morning and two tablets at night.

The routine..
In the morning:
Remove any leftover eye make up. Put on one exfoliating glove and wet. Place a quarter sized amount of St Ives Apricot Scrub on wet glove. Gently exfoliate your face with circular motions. Pay close attention to problem spots where blackheads form: around the nose, chin, etc. Rinse
face well. Use exfoliating glove and some more St Ives Scrub to exfoliate entire body. When you get out of the shower pay dry and while skin is still damp, apply.

Before bed:
Remove eye make-up. Use St Ives Blemish Fighting Cleanser. Be sure to clean entire face well (it is very easy to rush through this given everyone's desire to climb into bed). Pat dry and apply your favourite night cream. Be sure that the night cream won’t clog pores (I am using the Neutrogena lotion for this too, because I am poor and didn't want to buy more).

The food...

GREEN MONSTERS! Although Angela suggests starting out slow with the greens, I have already gotten accustomed to drinking spinach, kale, collards, etc., so I am going to try to have at least 3 cups of greens in each of my green monsters. In addition to greens, I usually add almond milk, 1/2 banana, flax, chia, and whatever else looks good.

Fruits and veggies!! As Angela writes, "The more V + F you eat, the less processed foods you will eat" Simple enough.

Limit dairy intake-research shows that the consumption of processed dairy can have negative repercussions on your skin. I am in no way a vegan, but by circumstance, I usually eat a vegan diet. I have foung that dairy products are expensive and unnecessary, so I usually don't buy them (except the occasional ice cream sale). Cutting back on dairy will not be a big issue for me, and hopefully I will see the positive effects in my complexion.

Lastly, try to drink green tea and lemon water. I am also going to decrease my coffee intake. Coffee really dehyrates me, and in turn, dehydrates my skin.

Behavioral modification...
Limit stress...I will probably struggle with this one seeing I am always trying to limit the amount of stressors in my life, but sometimes, being stressed in unavoidable. No one wants to be stressed out. It just happens.
My additions...
Reduce hand-face contact. I am a nail biter. A really bad nail biter. So, my hands are constantly touching my mouth, chin, etc. Coincidentally, my worst skin area is my chin....SO, I am going to try to stop biting my nails! It will be tough, but I think I can do it!

No more make-up. Yep. I am trying it. Right now, I simply cannot afford nice, natural make up. And, I cannot deny it any longer, slathering my face in cheap cover up cannot be good for my skin. I have never been a big make up person, but I have always relied on it to cover up glaring imperfections. Now, I am going to make the leap into the no make up realm. It will take a little while to adjust, but I think I can do it. Of course, I will wear make up for special occasions and what not, but I mean on a day to day basis, I am going to let my skin breathe. Jeffrey strongly supports this. What a guy!

So, that's about it! I have sort of begun this routine, but I am still waiting on the exfoliating gloves.

In other news, I went on another brutal 3 mile run today. It should not have been that bad, but it really was. The wind was terrible when I started, so for the first mile it felt like I was running against a brick wall. When I finally got to the gigantic hill I tackled last week, I was exhausted. I made it to the top, but with two walking breaks. After the hill, the wind died down, and I got to run on either a down hill slope or flat ground for the remainder of the run. I felt tired but content by the end.

This process is very frustrating, but I am determined to stick with it. I even subscribed to Runner's World today, so that every month, a little bit of inspiration comes in the mail!

A friend of mine is starting to toy around with the idea of running, so I convinced her to run with me tomorrow morning at a local track. Once I got her on board, her boyfriend decided he wanted to come too. At that point, Jeffrey jumped on the band wagon too! Couples running! I know it's dorky, but I think it will be a lot of fun, and we are all in terrible shape, which will just make it better!

Now, I am off to make dinner and a little bit of socializing.

Glowing skin and snow.

2010-02-16T21:50:00.004-05:00

Connecticut has rung in another snowy day! And, once again, the snow got me out of an evening class!

I decided I needed to celebrate my free night and the cold weather with a warm and comforting dinner.

Baked sweet potato with leftover chili and cheese!

This meal was easy, filling, and so unbelievably satisfying. We had leftover chili in the freezer that I have been wanting to eat up, but I was definitely not in the mood for a mere bowl of chili. So this was my solution.

I simply thawed out the chili in a pot on the stove, stirring often. I punctured a couple holes in half a sweet potato with a fork and microwaved it for 5 minutes (turning it over half way through), and grated up some cheese for some added decadence. It was exactly what I was craving.

I made a very boring salad too just to incorporate a little green into my life.

Aside from that, my eats were very boring today. Oats, leftovers, and fruit.

I did get Jeffrey to start eating almond butter though!

His and hers apple with almond butter.

In other news, I was very proud of my running determination today. I lounged around all morning, knowing that I had to make myself run at least two miles (I have been playing catch up after my lazy weekend), but going running in the snow was extremely unappealing. However, I knew my only other option was going to the UConn gym before my class, which was even less appealing.

So, I sucked it up and went for a run. As soon as I started running, I was happy I forced myself outside. The majority of the sidewalks were shoveled, and my legs felt surprisingly good after my painful three mile run yesterday. I decided to push for two and a half miles, and I ended up completing it without walking!

I have noticed that my recovery time after my runs has decreased substantially. I was winded when I got home, but as soon as I got inside and drank a glass of water, I felt fine again. I need to cherish these small milestones!

It is still snowing now, so I anticpate another snowy run in the morning...

LASTLY: a different kind of news...
I was blog stalking today, and I came across something on Oh She Glows, which was then repeated on Healthy Tipping Point. It's called "Project Glow," and it is something of a natural beauty regiment to improve your skin. Check out the links for the details!

Lately, my skin has been terrible, and I honestly do not know what it is. I eat pretty well, I exercise, I don't smoke, I don't drink that much, and I drink a ton of water. It was a pretty recent thing too. I have never had perfect skin, but it also hasn't been this bad before.

So, I want to try to resolve this in a healthy way! I have done things like Proactiv before, but it was always too harsh on my skin. Once I have all of the necessary supplies, I will start Project Glow and tell you a little more about it.

Is there anyone out there who wants to join?

Now, it is time for bed. Sleep is good for your skin, right?

Cakes and crocks.

2010-02-15T21:30:00.006-05:00

First off, the final product of my cake.

It's pretty, no?

It actually came out really well! And the Coop birthday party was a lot of fun, and I filled up on cake and coffee. I had a piece of this, and sampled a few others. It was a delicious, and unhealthy, morning at the Coop.

The rest of the weekend flew by. Jeff and I went to Tupelo in Boston on Friday night to celebrate our one year anniversary. I did not end up taking pictures because it was a very small restaurant, and I did not want to disturb anyone. I also cannot deny that I am still getting used to taking pictures of food in public. I get so nervous and embarrassed. Did you go through this too, fellow bloggers? Maybe it just comes with time.

Anyway, I had a watercress salad with candied pecans, roasted pear, and goat cheese. Oh man, it was so good!! For my man course, I had blackened catfish and cheddar grits. That too was fantastic. I was stuffed after my dinner but as soon as the waiter started describing the peanut butter and chocolate cake with bourbon ice cream, I was sold. Jeff told me he would eat some too, but he had one bite and was "stuffed."

Overall, it was a great night!

This morning, I was ready to get back into the swing of healthy things.

I woke up and went for my very first three mile run!! I had mapped it out on Google maps, so I ended up going on a route I have never been on before. I felt fine for the first mile, but as soon as I ventured into unchartered territory, I was hit with a hill as steep as Everest that lasted about 3/4 of a mile. It doesn't sound like much, but it destroyed me. I had to stop to walk three times! The rest of the run went smoothly though. There was a nice, long, and steady downhill so I could sufficiently recover.

I also bumped into a new friend of mine while I was at work today. She is a pretty intense runner, and she started telling me about a bunch of races that will be starting in the spring and summer. I started thinking it might be a good idea to run a 5k or a 10k before the half marathon. I think it will be good just for my overall mental stability to have raced a few times. It is definitely something worth looking into!

This morning, I refueled with one of these bad boys.

Hello, handsome.

This is roughly...

1/2 c lacinata kale
1/2 c spinach
1 c almond milk
1 banana
1 T flax
1 T hemp protein powder
1 T almond butter
1 T chia seeds

Sweet and delicious!

This evening, Jeff had a crock pot creation waiting for me when I got home. I got to be there for the initial preparation, and when I got home, everything was finished!

The crock pot creation was made up of tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onion, pineapple, chili powder, curry powder, and hot sauce.

First stages...

My bowl (there is some brown rice underneath all of that)...

My bowl with a little bit of cheese (it was necessary!)...

Now, it is time for bed. More interesting posts will come tomorrow!

Chocolate, Wine, and Carrot Cake.

2010-02-12T15:59:00.012-05:00

Last night brought a little too much of this...

(Oh Rex, how you slay me)

Which resulted in too much of this...

(Green and Blacks Dark Chocolate...oh my)

And I even got into a little bit of this...

Yikes.

For some reason, whenever I have night classes following my usual eight hour work day, I find myself constantly rushing. Clearly, at times this rush is necessary. For example, my boyfriend was using my car when I was at work, and he was supposed to pick me up at 5:00 so I could go home, grab a few things, and make it to my class at 6 on time. Jeff didn't pick me up until 5:15...rush rush rush...I made it to my class by 6:00. In this case, the rush was necessary and beneficial.

However, my eating was rushed too. I knew I needed to have a pretty bulky snack because there was a chance I wasn't going to be eating dinner until 9:30 or 10:00, but as soon as I found out that Jeff was late, I just started rushing around looking for snacks. I ate some nuts then a little bit of dried fruit then some chocolate...

Then, when Jeff was driving me to school, I staretd eating trail mix. Then more trail mix. And a little more to the point where I was uncomfortably full. This whole time, I was frantic I was going to be late.

When I got home at a reasonable hour (8:30ish), you would think that the rushing would stop. But it didn't. I rushed to heat up dinner. I proceeded to inhale my food, guzzle wine, and immediately go for the chocolate bar, commencing the photographic journey above.

I do not know why normal, every day rushing correlates into rushed, unnecessary eating, but I cannot deny that the correlation exists.

When I woke up, kind of hung over, I was upset with myself. Not really upset, but upset with my behavior the night before. I have definitely struggled with disordered eating in the past, so flare ups like this are always a little bit unsettling.

I decided to calm my nerves the smart way. I ate half a banana and went for a 2.5 mile run that I determined was going to be a good one.

I started off really strong, and I felt better. My headache was disappearing, and it felt good knowing my body was doing some damage control. Then, I started getting really tired and really discouraged. I had not gone that far, and I knew my legs shouldn't feel this terrible this quickly.

A mile later, I realized I had been running against a very cold, very strong wind. Once I turned around, things started looking up. I was definitely tired by the time I got home, but I wasn't exhausted.

I did a little Yoga for Runners when I got home, which felt great! And I have had a really nice day so far.

I had a great breakfast...more oats.

An even better lunch...

Roasted eggplant and sweet potato on Ezeikel bread with hummus, orange pepper, red onion, and lettuce. I threw some Mary's crackers and the remainder of the pepper on my plate for good measure.

And now...

Carrot cake!

(Final product will be displayed once it has had time to set in the fridge!)

Jeff liked my baking adventure as much as I did.

The cake is not for us actually. It the Food Coop's 30th birthday tomorrow. Every year, the Coop has "a party" to celebrate. There is music, food, and best of all lots of cake. This year, there will be 30 cakes (including mine) to celebrate 30 years. I am really excited...

Jeff and I are off to Boston tonight to go to Tupelo. Apparently it is a great, southern cookin' restaurant. My parents got us a gift certificate for Christmas, and we saved it until now because we knew we would want to use it for our one year anniversary. The anniversary was actually yesterday. Oh well.

There will be lots of pictures later!

Why hello oats.

2010-02-11T08:42:00.002-05:00

How I've missed you.

Although these were steel cut and not my usual rolled, this breakfast hit the stop.

1/3 c steel cut oats
1/2 apple sprinkled with cinnamon and microwaved for a minute (sweet heavens. so good.)
1/2 banana
1 T almond butter
1 T flax
last bits of my granola
Sprinkle of cinnamon and agave

I think I need to start decreasing the size of my breakfast. I am stuffed to the brim right now.

I woke up with every intention to run, but when I looked out the window, I saw that snow was still covering the streets. So, I decided today will be my rest day, and tomorrow will be a run day. I feel a little guilty, but I thought this was the safer, more comfortable plan.

Now it is off to work and then a very long night class.

Whitewashed

2010-02-10T18:52:00.010-05:00

After a day of anticipation, I awoke to 34 degree weather and no snow.

Fast forward 12 hours, and I am sitting at my dining room table in my warm apartment that is covered in snow. On days like this, I really like winter.

The snow has yet to be stained by the exhaust from cars; I can blissfully ignore the fact I will need to shovel my driveway in the morning, and I was even able to escape from work four hours early due to the "bad roads."

Today was nice.

My run was a relatively easy 2 mile loop. I tried something new though. Back in my track days (yes, I ran track, yes, I finished either last or second to last in every race), our coach would make us go for 3 mile runs in which we would jog from one telephone poll to the next and then sprint from that telephone to the next, then jog, then sprint, and so on. I thought I would give it a whirl this morning. After about a mile, I was wheezing for air. Turns out, sprinting really takes it out of you, who knew?

Once I got back to my apartment, I decided I still had a little bit of energy to expend, so I jogged to the bottom of the hill adjacent my apartment, and sprinted back up it. It tired me out, and my ass hurt all day.

My apartment was still oat-less this morning (Jeffrey brought home some steel cut oats tonight, so that problem is remedied!), so I had to go with yogurt again. In the summertime, I eat yogurt nearly every morning. On winter mornings, however, my body craves oats...and sometimes pancakes.

Yogurt and almond butter is genius. Add in banana, apple, and a little bit of granola, and it is a near perfect breakfast in a bowl.

Unfortunately, I ate it while checking my email and rushing out the door to work. Today is the final day students can submit to the literary magazine, so all of the editors are in a frenzy trying to get everything organized so we can make first cuts tomorrow. This would have been a hectic day on its own, but with the addition of the snow and the cancellation of school, it has reached a whole new level of crazy.

Luckily, I left work early and was able to enjoy a relaxed lunch at home.

The classic PB and J, with some slight alterations. Almond butter instead of peanut, and I threw in the remainder of the banana I used for my breakfast.

Paired with this guy for a little green in my day.

Spinach, banana, lemon, cinnamon, and almond milk.

I spent the entirety of the afternoon sifting through submissions. By the third hour, my stomach was growling, my eyes were sick of staring at a computer screen, and my overall mood had plummeted. I figured, for the submittees sake, I should eat and snack and stay happy while I read their stories. And so I did.

This serving looks tiny, but I think my baby bowl is deceptive. There are a bunch of cashews hidden underneath all of that too. This is my first encounter with goji berries. I can't really taste them. Maybe they are just overpowered by everything else and they taste delicious on their own. Have you ever tried goji berries?

This snack satisfied my stomach for about two hours, and then I was more than ready to heat up leftovers. Left over eggplant lasagna, eggplant parm, and some salad.

It still hasn't gotten old for me, but I am sure it has for you. I think I will be taking a break from eggplant for a bit.

I will most certainly have some ice cream later tonight, but I am trying to hold off until later. I want to savor it.

And into bed I go...

2010-02-09T21:06:00.007-05:00

Jeffrey's eggplant parmesan was delicious!

oonjmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhuy

Gretta just walked across my keyboard, and that's what happened. Gretta is a very independent cat, but as soon as Jeff and I climb in bed, she runs into the room, climbs on my chest (or keyboard), and begs for love. After a few minutes, she gets bored, and settles down between our legs and bathes.

She will lay on Jeffrey's chest when his cat is watching to make her jealous; Gretta is very catty.

Back to the eggplant parm.

It was cheesy...

And melty...

And delicious! This was my serving, plus a little munching during the clean up process...

The dish was made up of breaded and fried eggplant, mozzerella, parmesan, peppers, spinach, and some sort of tomato sauce. It was a very hearty dinner that left me stuffed. After a rough couple of days, this sort of comfort food is all I need. And a little bit of buy 1 get 1 ice cream.

I am hoping to get out for a morning run tomorrow before the snow gets too bad. I can not seem to find any excitement in running in the snow. I guess I will wait and see what tomorrow brings!

Success!

2010-02-09T18:18:00.006-05:00

It was a close call, but I have managed to be in a good mood [almost] all day. In the middle of the day, I had to fill out my "plan of study," which is an organized list of all of the classes I have taken over the course of the past four years, and I got extremely nervous that I did not fulfill one of my requirements. I freaked out for about an hour, but as soon as Kenzi reassured me that I had indeed fulfilled it, I calmed down. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Now, I am sitting at my kitchen table munching on a couple of these guys

While this guy makes me dinner

...eggplant parm!

Breaded and fried eggplant. What a guy.

With some of this in the freezer!

Buy one get one free!

On top of it all, there is going to be a huge snowstorm tomorrow! No work? No school? Perhaps.

Mondays.

2010-02-09T09:46:00.011-05:00

Although my Sundays seem to get better with time, my Mondays are not so lucky.

I woke up feeling pretty good. I went for a nice, and relatively easy, 1.5 mile run. I came home, stretched, and had a delicious breakfast.

I even switched up my breakfast this morning as an attempt to break away from Monday morning glum. Instead of my usual oats, I had

1/2 c of plain yogurt (roughly half a cup, it was a full, single serving container)
1/2 apple
1/2 dying pear
1/3 c my homemade granola
1 T almond butter

It was delicious, and I was temporarily happy.

However, my moody funk lingered. All day. It was one of those days where nothing goes terribly wrong, but everything upsets you anyway. I tried multiple times to calm down, drink tea, have a snack (snack was a peanut butter chocolate bar this afternoon, and even that didn't work), but everything I tried had no lasting effect.

Around 11, I thought a Green Monster would make me feel better.

2.5 c spinach
3/4 c almond milk
1/2 banana
1 T flax

It did. For a little while. Then I had to fill out an Accident Report from my car accident, and shockingly enough, I was in a bad mood again.

Lunch was delicious though. Boring, but delicious.

Almond butter, apple spiced butter, and 1/2 pear on whole wheat. So tasty.

I ate the rest of the pear and my last chickpeas blondie as dessert, neither of which I photographed.

The remainder of the day dragged, and I finally decided to go with it. Clearly, this Monday was a loss.

Dinner was the highlight of my day (and the wine that went with it, thanks Jeff!). There was a bruised spaghetti squash and some sub-par brussel sprouts at work, so I snagged them and began brainstorming dinner. I came up with spaghetti squash with mushroom and red pepper sauce and chevre (exprired, so free) with sauteed brussel sprouts.

This meal made me smile.

Spaghetti squash turns out to be incredibly easy to make! I cut it in half (lengthwise), scooped out the fibrous center, and baked it (rind up, cut side down) in a pan with about an inch of water at 400 for 30 minutes. I let it cool for about five minutes, then scraped out the insides with a fork forming spaghetti!

For the sauce, I simply sauteed mushrooms and red pepper (in butter, I needed decadence last night), and when they began to brown, I poured in 1/2 jar of Newmans Sockarooni pasta sauce.

Lastly, I washed the brussel sprouts thoroughly, sliced them in half, and sauteed them with garlic and coconut oil (and butter...decadence). I added some salt and pepper. I went a little overboard with the salt, though. I'm still learning.

(x2 the wine).

Perfect. AND there are leftovers of everything (except the wine...whoops)!

Finally, it is a new day! When I woke up this morning (slightly later than usual because today is my rest day), the sun was shining, and Gretta was sitting on my chest waiting patiently for me to get up and feed her. I decided, right then and there, that today was going to be a better day. I will make it be a better day by forcing myself into a good mood.

Breakfast was a good start.

1/3 c Bob's Redmill high fiber hot cereal
1/2 banana
1 T chia seeds
1 T almond butter
1/3 c my homemade granola
sprinkle of cinnamon and agave

I ate breakfast while catching up on my emails and sipping some Awake tea. Now I am sitting in class catching up on my blogging (which I will be better about soon), and I am already feeling better than I did yesterday at this time.

Good start. Very good start.

Sundays seem nice.

2010-02-07T20:08:00.010-05:00

Growing up, I hated Sunday. My whole family did. A wave of depression always seemed to accompany Sunday, and we would end up sitting at home, on the couch, sort of watching TV, sort of staring into space, sort of wanting to die.

Now, I like Sundays. Aside from catching up on school work, I usually don't have any other obligations. Today was no exception. I woke up, drank some tea, and leisurely made some oats. This morning's bowl of oats was a new creation. I have been reading so much about almond butter on blogs for the past few months, and I have been dying to try it. Unfortunately, almond butter is expensive. I like cheap. However, I found some almond butter on sale at the Coop! $4.49!! So I got two jars!

Of course, I added them into my oats along with 1/2 a pear, 1/2 apple, and 1/2 banana. Very fruity and very delicious!

Only now do I realize how much almond butter I put in there.

A while after my oats, Jeffrey and I went for a nice and easy 2 mile run. Jeff, like me, is still getting the hang of running. We had to walk a few times, but I did not complain; I like walking too. I was slightly ambitious, though, and took a mini detour so I could run up a ridiculously steep hill. I need to try to incorporate hills into my runs more often. Willimantic is very flat.

Jeffrey, Petie (my big brother), Kenzi (his girlfriend), and I went out to lunch today at one of the greatest tasting/worst decorated restaurants in Connecticut. Fred's Brickhouse Oven. Fred's has a special place in my heart. Not only did they introduce me to the potential a pita pocket has, but it was the first restaurant that Jeff ever took me too. One might say it was our first date...There have been periods of time when Jeff and I would go two or three times a week. We have cut back since then.

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. Rookie mistake. There will be many more trips to Fred's to document though.

I got the "veggie-nator" pocket, which is tons of veggies, feta, and balsamic vinagarette heated up in a giant pita pocket. Perfect.

After lunch and a couple hours of lounging, I was itching to bake something. Again, reading all of these blogs makes me want granola and granola bars more than I have ever craved them in my life. So, I set out to make my own! I

I tried to follow this recipe, but I didn't have all of the ingredients, so it ended up looking a little something like this.

1 c oats
1/4 c w.w. flour
1/8 c flax
1/8 c honey
1/4 apple butter
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/4 c raw cashews

They were supposed to be granola bars, but they came out kind of crumbly, so now it's granola!

They aren't great, but they will be good with a little yogurt!

Lastly dinner...

Yep. We made eggplant lasagna and sweet potato fries again. It was just so good!

And salad.

Now it is movie time.

Slacking on the blog.

2010-02-07T09:36:00.011-05:00

After a very long week of very long classes, I took a day off (two) from blogging, and now it is time to play catch up.

I went for my longest run yet yesterday morning. 2.5 miles! I know for most people that is not an accomplishment, but right now, if I am going to stick with this, I need to appreciate these milestones! The only breaks I took were waiting for stop lights to turn. I was definitely panting by the end, but I made it, and that is all that matters!

After my run...I relied on a few faithful friends to make me feel better.

Mixed with some oats and chia seeds, they never let me down. In terms of the peanut butter, I usually take advantage of the "grind your own" machine at the Coop, but Jeff's mom gave this to us, so I thought I would use it up! The "grind your own" peanut butter machine is one of the greatest inventions ever. You press a button and watch the peanuts grind into butter into your own recycled jar. It simply could not be fresher...unless I was grinding it by hand.

The final product...

Lovely.

This held me over for a while, but hunger came crawling back around 1, and Jeff and I were more than ready for a can of black bean soup.

Black bean soup is hands down my favorite soup, but I hate getting in a can because it always seems to be lacking in something. Our fix:

1/2 green pepper
1/2 onion
1 stalk of broccoli

We used up the almost bad veggies in our fridge and bulked up our soup!

Much better.

Unfortunately, this did not hold me over for long, and I had to rely on some snacks to get me through until dinner. I had a little yogurt, with banana, and jam. It did the trick.

Dinner was homemade pizza! We are living on the cheap right now. The very cheap. So not only did we make the dough, but we made the sauce too. I felt very domestic.

The dough:
2 c whole wheat flour
1 packet active yeast
1 cup warm water
1 T raw honey
1 T olive oil
1 t salt

The sauce:
3 small cloves of garlic
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 T italian seasoning
1 t garlic powder
Splash of red wine
Salt and Pepp to taste

I should've taken a picture of the pizza as a whole, but I didn't think of it. I am still learning. So this was my plate, and I had one additional slice.

And dessert...

Yesterday breakfast and lunch were boring, so I will spare you. But, dinner, dinner was great! It was on the creative side, because, again, we are living on the cheap. In our fridge, we had eggplant, mushrooms, tomato, leftover pizza sauce, and leftover cheese.

We made eggplant lasagna! It was incredibly simple and incredibly good. I sliced the eggplant lengthwise, each slice roughly a quarter of an inch, and laid the in a sauced casserole dish. Then, I layered roma tomatoes, shroomies, more sauce, and cheese. One more layed of eggplant and sauce. Into the over it went (preheated to 400 degrees). After roughly 15 minutes, I pulled it out, sprinkled a little cheese on the top, and threw it back in the oven until the cheese melted, about 4 minutes.

We made some asian sweet potato fries to go with it, and I threw a couple carrots on our plates for a few more veggies.

Not the prettiest meal, but so good!

Lastly, dessert was a little cheese cakesplit two ways!

Woweee. That was a long one. Now, it is time to start my day and not fall behind on blogging!

Have a good day!

Long one.

2010-02-04T22:39:00.004-05:00

Today was a long day. A really long day.

I am currently in my last semester of college, and I have reached the point where it is near impossible to motivate to do any work. So being stuck at school for 12 hours straight having nothing to do but homework is strikingly similar to how I envision hell.

Luckily Jeffrey brought me lunch today!

Leftover chilli with a hunk of wheat bread! I ate all of the bread and about 3/4 of the chilli. Jeff brought a lot. What a guy!

It is simply impossible to make chilli look appealing... As I was waiting for the chilli to heat up in the microwave, I did a little bit of stretching. I find that stretching throughout the course of the day and then right before I go to sleep makes a huge difference the following morning.

I snacked a bit in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I was running around campus so much I had to sneak the snacks in transit, so no photos. I had an apple, chickpea blondie, and a couple of Mary's crackers, all of which held me over until dinner.

More leftovers!

I had another navy bean burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a little bit of jalapeno goat cheese (so good!) all on sprouted wheat buns. This enormous burger was paired with some mashed sweet potato on the side. I also chopped up a yellow pepper for me and my man friend to split. I was a little light on the veggies today, and I was trying to bulk up where I could. I will be better tomorrow!

Dessert was two coconut date rolls (unpictured). If you have not tried coconut date rolls, do so now. You can find them at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and probably any local food coop.

Gretta is ready to go to sleep. As am I.

Playing with pictures!

2010-02-04T09:42:00.008-05:00

In the past 24 hours, I have begun playing around with the brightness, contrast, cropping, etc. of my pictures. Thanks, Jeff! It is a slow process, but I think I am actually beginning to learn how to use my camera.

I have a long list of eats today. First off, lunch!

On really good days, I get free lunch from work. By free, I mean expired, of course. We sell pre-made wraps, and sometimes I am lucky enough to be around when the expired wraps get pulled. Today was one of those glorious days. I saw the avocado aioli wrap sitting on the "expired foods table," I inspected it for mold, and off I went. You will learn I am a complete scavenger of free food...

I paired my wrap with some Mary's Gone Crackers.

Later in the day, I got really hungry and did some snacking sans camera. I also met up with my boyfriend and a couple of his friends for a beer (and possible a chicken wing), which somehow escaped the camera's eye also. Whoopsies.

By the time we got home, I was more than ready for dinner. Luckily, my lovely boyfriend had prepared everything in advance, and all we had to do was heat it up. Dinner was a navy bean burger (made from expired navy beans...again, complete scavenger), with portabella mushrooms, tomato, onions, and lettuce. The burger was huge! Jeff also made the most delicious mashed sweet potatoes I have ever had! So much butter.

And then I spied a furry friend lurking in the corner...

She wanted a burger too. We refused. Then, I stepped away from the table, and when I came back, I found the little beast in a very compromised position.

Maybe that's why she is getting plumpy...

No dessert for me last night. I decided to pick my poison yesterday, and I chose beer.

This morning, I managed to get outside for a two mile run and ab work! I am trying to incorporate ab stuff into my daily exercise routine. What can I say, Angela is an inspiration. The run was okay. I was a little disappointed by how difficult it was. Last time I did this same loop it felt so good! The ab work hurt a lot too. Oh well, these things take time.

When I came home, oats and coffee!

1/2 c oats
1 small banana
1 (heaping) T of PB
1 T chia seeds
Sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and agave
1 t hemp protein powder

I got a sample of hemp protein powder a few days ago. I was a little nervous about how it would taste, but in the end, I didn't taste it at all, and it had a whopping 13 grams of protein! And it looks like chocolate chips, doesn't it? This is giving me ideas....

Sooo much peanut butter. Sooo good.

Now it is time to go to school (for 12 hours!!).

Meet Gretta.

2010-02-03T19:19:00.004-05:00

This is Gretta. I have neglected my furry friend for too long on this blog. I got Gretta last year (it is almost our anniversary!) very impulsively.

I was always a dog person. My mom has cats; Sweetness and Bobo. Sweetness is an ill-tempered, 25 pound ass, who is named after the pimp in He Got Game. Bobo is autistic, and I often forget he exists.

I work with cat people. They would come into work in the morning regaling stories about their cat falling asleep in a box or tripping on cat nip. Sweetness would pop into my mind. "I don't like cats; I'm a dog person."

Then, I met Jeffrey, and in turn, Fandals. Fandals is Jeffrey's cat. She is equally as fat as Sweetness and almost as ill-tempered, but for some reason, I warmed up to her. She lays in puddles, on her back, with her paws crossed. Awesome. Soon, my co-workers stories about cats became precious, and the idea of having a cat of my own was slowly forming in the back of my mind.

One day, I was sitting in the office at work, and I decided I wanted to go to the animal shelter "just to look around." I didn't necessarily want to adopt a cat, but I wanted to look. Lo and behold, I was met by Gretta's enormous, sad eyes, and I was filling out paper work.

It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Gretta is an integral part of my life; thus, Gretta is an integral part of this blog.

Man , I take bad pictures.

2010-02-03T07:40:00.003-05:00

I am mad at myself for two reasons this morning. One, when I woke up for my morning run, I looked out the window, saw it had snowed, and climbed right back in bed. Two, I could not seem to keep my hands steady long enough to take an okay picture.

In terms of the running, I actually think I have made some progress. When I blew off my run this morning, I felt really guilty. That has never really happened to me before. Oh well, I will make it up on Friday (my original rest day).

As I was laying in bed, feeling guilty, my stomach started growling like I have never heard it growl before. I honestly did not know if I was going to make it until my oats were done. Luckily I did, and now I feel just fine.

This morning, I went with

(Still so blurry!!)

1/3 c Bob's Red Mill High Fiber Cereal (I got it for free, and now I love it!)
3/4 c water
1/2 banana
1 T PB
1 T chia seeds
Sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, agave, and unsweetened coconut

Now I am off to work then class. Wednesdays are long.

Thank goodness I'm home.

2010-02-02T21:32:00.005-05:00

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to set up my schedule so I have class from 6pm-9pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This was a terrible idea. I get so unbelievably hungry when I'm at school. Some might say it's boredom, but it feels like real hunger to me. I had packed three emergency snacks, planning on returning home with at least one, I ended up eating all of them. Again, school makes me really hungry. I had a makeshift PB and J on wheat bread. The bread is from a local bakery, and I could honestly eat it at every meal. I love it. For anyone living in Connecticut, try to find "Now That's Good Bread." Holy cow.

Accompanying my sandie was a slightly bruised apple.

During my night class, hunger struck once again, and I knew I would not be able to make it to my late night dinner, so I ate my remaining emergency snack...chickpea blondie! Again, unpictured, for two reasons. 1. They are ugly. 2. I was in class, and I didn't want to take a picture.

When I got home, I threw together the quickest possible dinner a la Meghann. I had left over chili and a lot of veggies about to spoil. I was so hungry that I forgot to take the picture at first. So this is my dinner minus a few bites...

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I am still getting used to the camera. To clarify, this bowl of randoms included

Chili
Yellow Pepper
Tomato
Brocoli
Romaine

And dessert...

Fuzzy. Sorry. These are coconut date rolls...delicious.

Well, now my eyes are heavy, I still need to fold laundry, and I am going to wake up and run in the morning.

Goodnight!

Pictures!

2010-02-02T13:05:00.010-05:00

I have made my decision. I will be posting pictures of what I eat on my blog. I realized that I don't enjoy reading blogs without a visual component, so why would anyone else?

This morning was another surprisingly nice morning of running. I wanted to try to push myself a little bit further today seeing yesterday went so smoothly, so I decided to try for two miles. To my delight, it wasn't that hard! I stopped to walk for about 30 seconds, but then I was right back to running, and my recovery time was little to nothing. This running business is actually getting easier!

When I got back, I was more than ready for a very warm bowl of oatmeal. I wanted to switch it up this morning, so I decided to make PB and J oats. I got this at the Food Coop yesterday, and I was very eager to try it.

In addition to that, I added
1/2 ripe frozen banana
1 T PB
1 T flax
Very light sprinkle of agave.

Perfect.

Later in the morning, my boyfriend and I walked down to a little coffee shop that just opened up in our town. I got a sencha green tea and ate a pear I brought along in case hunger struck (which it did).

It did not tide me over for too long though, so we decided to go home and warm up with chili, wheat bread, veggies and hummus! The veggies and hummus were communal, but he got a phone call in the middle of lunch, so I ended up eating most of them...whoopsies.

I also had half of a chickpea blondie (not pictured). I made them last night, and they turned out great! Recipe thanks to http://havecakewilltravel.com/!

I realize I have mentioned my boyfriend a couple times now, and just so I do not have to keep writing "my boyfriend," I will clarify. I have a lovely boyfriend named Jeffrey, whom I live with, and thus, eat with frequently. He also just started running! Woohoo!

Now, I am off to class. Lots of class.

Freezing.

2010-02-01T10:35:00.003-05:00

I knew getting out of bed this morning was going to be difficult. It shouldn't have been seeing I climbed into bed at 9:45 last night, but as expected, I was tired this morning. I planned ahead though. I put my cell phone (alarm clock) across the room so I had to get out of bed to turn it off, and I laid out my running clothes last night so I would have no excuse. The alarm went off and off I went.
This morning's run was not that painful!! For the first time, I could actually feel the progress I have made over the past two weeks. Granted, I only ran 1.5 miles, but as my boyfriend's mother told me this weekend "The first mile is the hardest." I decided from the get go that I was going to take it slow in terms of training. Whenever I've tried to "start running" in the past, I push it way too hard the first few times out, and I never do it again. So, I will go slow and hopefully stick with it.
Throughout my whole run I was thinking about the delicious bowl of oatmeal I was going to eat as soon as I got home. This is another thing about me. I love oatmeal. I really love oatmeal. Prior to my obsession with food blogs, I made extremely boring oatmeal that was made up of solely cinnamon, oats, and water. Then Kath opened my eyes. This morning, my combo looked a little something like this:

1/2 c oats
1 c water
1/2 very brown frozen banana
1 T peanut butter
1 T chia seeds
1 T flax seeds
1 T agave
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Heavenly.

I am trying to decide if I want to photo everything I eat. That may be starting soon. Who knows. Off to work!

I'm a blogger now.

2010-01-31T15:35:00.000-05:00

It is a beautiful, yet chilly, day in sunny CT. I declared today a rest day from running, but it is so nice out, that I am considering going out anyway. I recently decided I wanted to try to run a half marathon! I am not a runner. I ran track in high school; I was terrible. I am simply not a competitive person. Fast forward six years, and here I am giving it another shot. My decision to run again stems from a few things:

1. I hate paying for a gym membership.

2. I hate my school’s gym (and I hate paying for the gas to get there).

3. Some people make running sound like so much fun!

I have decided to train for a half marathon so I have something to shoot for. Whenever I have gone on running kicks in the past, they always fizzle out. Now, I have a half marathon waiting for me in May that gets me out of bed in the morning.

In addition to running, this blog will be about eating. I work at a Food Cooperative (a member owned grocery store), and I love it! It is mostly organic, and it’s local when possible. I have been working there for a year and a half, and it has completely transformed the way I eat. Throughout the course of this blog, I will show you how I eat.

I am not overweight, and I like to believe I am healthier than a lot of people my age. But, I have become near obsessed with food blogs, and I wanted to try this out for myself.