Monthly archives for May, 2011

Aah, The Three Day Weekend

May31
2011 1 Comment

Written by Linda

It was a hot, sunny, hot (did I say hot?) three day weekend here in Maryland. Temps in the 90′s, and it is only May. I can only imagine what August will bring us.

Even though it was a holiday today, I did go to work for a few hours this morning. Last night I prepared another recipe from Clean Eating magazine, this one a breakfast item – Easy Make Ahead Breakfast Quiches. And it was easy.

Easy Make Ahead Breakfast Quiche (adapted from Clean Eating March 2011)

Ingredients

2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1 tablespoon olive oil
sprinkling of Herbes de Provence
non stick cooking spray
6 eggs, beaten
2 triangles of Laughing Cow Blue Cheese
1/2 ounce Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large skillet on medium heat saute mushrooms, peppers, artichoke hearts and herbes de provence in olive oil until softened.

3. Divide mixture into four ramekins sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

4. Cover with eggs, chunks of Laughing Cow cheese, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.

5. Place in oven (I put the ramekins in a baking dish) for 25 minutes.

I let these cool off for a while, then put them in the refrigerator. I took one for breakfast this morning, heated it up in the microwave at work, and it was delicious. I also brought along some mango and strawberries. I will be very sad when mango season is over.

After work I put together some food to take to the pool. I used the left over pork tenderloin from last night and made a salad with veggies, dried cranberries, walnuts, and this yummy cheddar gruyere cheese from Trader Joe’s.

Then it was off to the pool!

I ate my salad and let it digest, then did a swimming workout. I am not a good swimmer, wait, that is an understatement – I am a terrible swimmer. I can do 50 meters of free style and my lungs feel like they are about to explode. How is that possible when I can run 10 miles? So I have always felt useless about swimming, that is until I read another blogger’s idea of coming up with a new way to do a swimming workout. Thank you, Shelley, for putting this great idea out there. So this is what I did, 50 meters of each of these:

1. kickboard

2. free style

3. kickboard

4. walk/jog

5. backstroke

6. kickboard

7. free style

8. walk/jog

9. backstroke

10. kickboard

This took 24 minutes. Then I rested for an hour, ate some cherries and drank some water, and got back in the pool and did it again. The second time it only took me 23 minutes (I got better at the kickboard.)

Right now my triceps, shoulders and quads are really really sore. I think it was the backstroke and the kickboard that worked me the hardest. I’m not crazy about strengthening my quads any more than they already are, because I have read that a lot of women’s injuries are due to the quads being much stronger than the hamstrings and glutes. This isn’t true for most men. I need to do more hamstring/glute work.

Then I attempted to eat my pita crackers while sitting by the pool, but I got swarmed by gnats, so I went home.

I had a POM/club soda mocktail, and ate my crackers sans gnats.

I was too lazy to make anything for dinner, so Trader Joe came to rescue once again.

Served over white basmati rice. Very good – but look at this ingredient list, ack!

Not exactly a clean food. OK, so it is my one overly processed food item for the week. Fish scent?

Back to the routine tomorrow. According to the weather report at 8:00am it will be 79 degrees with 76% humidity. At 7:00pm it will be 94 degrees with 55% humidity. Looks like I’ll be running in the morning. And carrying lots of water. Stay cool!

Posted in Cross Training, Fitness, Food, Recipes

Horse Show Day

May30
2011 1 Comment

Written by Linda

Fitness Recap

Sunday 5/22/11	Biked 10 miles – just for fun	Don’t know speed
Monday 5/23/11	Running 3 miles in 35:32	11:46 pace
Tuesday 5/24/11	Strength Training Upper Body 30 minutes
Wednesday 5/25/11	Running 4 miles in 50:24	12:28 pace
Thursday 5/26/11	30 Day Shred DVD Level 1 - 30 minutes
Friday 5/27/11	Rest Day
Saturday 5/28/11	Running 6 miles in 1:16:14	12:39 pace

Last night my son and I went to Matchbox for dinner. This has been my favorite restaurant since it opened this year. They have really delicious sandwiches and salads. I wasn’t very hungry last night, so I was deciding between my usual chopped salad with grilled salmon, or something I have never had before, the Crab and Avocado Salad. I decided to go with that one and I’m glad I did. It’s not exactly a salad, unless you count the big sprig of arugula that comes with it, but it was a nice layer of avocado topped with a lot of crabmeat and corn in some kind of mayo dressing. And served with little toasts. It was really good.

This morning I had to get up early to workout, pack my stuff, and leave for the horse show. Horse shows can be ridiculous, you never know what time anyone is competing, so you rush to get there early, and then sit around all day. Today was no different.

Normally I bike on Sundays, but there was not enough time, so I did a 30 minute workout. Twenty minutes of Jackie Warner’s lower body, and then the 200 Situps Challenge followed by two planks. I’m up to 34 seconds each!

For breakfast I had cereal, which I don’t normally eat for breakfast. I find it doesn’t really fill me up, but I was in the mood today.

I love this cereal, and look at the ingredient list:

And the nutritional information:

Mainly carbs, which is probably why it doesn’t fill me up for very long, even though I eat two servings since the calorie count is low. I added a banana and soy milk.

Then I packed my stuff for the day. Food:

Veggies, hummus, a sandwich thin, two bran crisps, laughing cow, left over spinach orzo salad, watermelon, cantaloupe and cherries. And a Hint water. I didn’t want to run out of food since the food available at horse shows is not exactly healthy.

Other things to pack:

Sunscreen, bug spray, allergy meds, and lots of magazines. I’ve been behind on my reading.

It was a typical horse show, hot, dusty, dirty, buggy. But my daughter did really well!

While I was waiting for her to have her turn, I went through all of those Clean Eating magazines. I absolutely love this magazine, it is full of really great, easy recipes. I pulled out a ton of recipes, and made one for dinner tonight. It is a Spiced Pork Tenderloin:

Spiced Pork Tenderloin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1.25 pound pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup POM juice
3/4 teaspoon corn starch
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stir together the coriander, cinnamon, cumin, paprika and salt. Pat the tenderloin dry and season with the spice mixture until evenly covered.

3. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and sear the pork until it is nicely browned on all sides. If you are using an oven safe pan, pop the whole thing into the oven. If not, transfer the pork to a baking dish and put it in the oven. Cook 20 minutes or until a thermometer inserted diagonally into the center registers 145 degrees. Remove from oven, transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Pour off and discard any remaining fat in the pan. Add the pomegranate juice to the pan and boil over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until juice is reduced to about 1/2 cup. In a small bowl whisk together the corn starch and 1 tablespoon of the reduced POM juice. Whisk this mixture back into the skillet, and boil until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add vinegar.

5. Slice pork on the diagonal and drizzle with the sauce.

Even my daughter liked it. Kind of. She said she didn’t like the meat, but if I made it with chicken instead she would like it. This sauce can be used on anything, it’s really good and very easy.

Hope everyone had a great day, one more day of the weekend!

Posted in Fitness, Food, Recipes

Cherries!

May28
2011 1 Comment

Written by Linda

I last wrote on Thursday night (forgot to include the recipe for the salmon cakes – I’ll put it in the recipe section), when I attempted overnight “oats” with Bob’s Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. I mixed the cereal with soy milk, peanut flour, chia seeds and a little cocoa, put it in a bowl in the refrigerator.

(Please excuse these photos, my daughter took both my camera and her camera to a horse show for the weekend.)

The next morning I was anticipating something wonderful and I saw this:

Looks basically the same. Not much happened. It didn’t get thick like oats do, but I ate it and it was good. And the best part, it didn’t bother my stomach at all. But when I went shopping last night I picked up this:

Gluten free oats, so I can have “real” overnight oats. I’ll test it out this week.

Yesterday was super busy, with work, doctors appointment and taking my dog to and from the vet for her surgery. She did great! They had to pull out one of her teeth because when they were cleaning them it got loose. And it’s an upper front tooth! Luckily you can’t see her teeth when she smiles.

I was so low on groceries so I went to Whole Foods (aka hell on earth). When I got home it was after 8, and luckily I bought stuff for my dinner there. Teriyaki Salmon, salad from the salad bar, and a wonderful grain salad, which by the time I got home I couldn’t remember the name of! This grain was really good, and the salad had bits of fruit and nuts in it too. Delicious.

Friday is my rest day, so there was no fitness workout for me yesterday. I did do a lot of running around though!

This morning was running group, and we did 6 miles. The last mile was tough, it really warmed up by then. I think next week we are going to start earlier to try to beat the heat a bit. I’m worried that I don’t have enough of a base right now, and next week we are running 8 miles. I don’t like the idea of increasing by 2 miles, I’m only running 3 miles twice in the middle of the week. I have always heard that you should never increase more than 10% a week, and if I did 12 miles this week that would be 1.2 miles. I was talking to another woman in the group and we are either going to join a slower pace group next week, or do 7 miles and walk the last mile. If 6 was tough today, I can’t imagine how 8 will be next week.

Before I ran I had my usual decaf coffee, banana and peanut butter. On the run I had water and a Gu after the 4^th mile, and afterwards I mixed up a protein shake in the car. The water I had left in the car was really warm, next time I’ll either have to bring a frozen bottle, or put it in a cooler. Nothing like drinking warm water after a long hot run!

I can’t eat after I run normally, so I showered and rested for a while, then made my lunch. Spinach and Orzo salad:

Along with my “mocktail”, POM juice and club soda. I am really loving this on these hot days, and I read that POM juice is good for recovery after runs.

Then I got involved in a major project, cleaning out and organizing my pantry, and the shelves in the garage where we keep overflow food. I had no idea what I have and I kept buying the same things, even though I had them at home. This is what happens when you don’t know what is in your pantry:

And none of us even eat pancakes, so why do I have three bottles of this?

The counter had quite a mess during the process:

But when I was done it was so organized:

And the garage:

After that was done I was ready for a snack. I cut up some veggies and sprinkled them with freshly ground sea salt:

And then I wanted something sweet. I bought these last night:

My favorite fruit!

Now I’m going to put the whole pantry inventory into excel so I know what I have, and I can plan meals and snacks around what I already own. I have four cans of diced tomatoes! Definitely need to find a diced tomato recipe.

Another project for the weekend is to come up with a beginner’s interval running plan. I’m going to the track on Tuesday night to work on my running, and I don’t want intense intervals because I just started running again on April 3^rd after a 4 month break, and because if I train too intensely I always get hurt. I’ve been doing some research and reading, and I think I have the beginnings of a plan. I really want to get my speed back up to where it was before I took the break, and hopefully this will help. And I’ve lost 6 pounds in the last 2 months, so that should help as well.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to a horse show to watch my daughter compete. It’s supposed to be another hot day!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far!

Posted in Fitness, Food, Running

A Pantry Dinner

May27
2011 Leave a Comment

Written by Linda

I took a picture of all of the stuff I had to bring with me yesterday – running stuff, change of clothes, food, backpack, purse, water bottle. Sheesh, I definitely don’t travel light, but I am colorful!

Yesterday I wore one of my new running shirts that I had bought on Tuesday night with my gift certificate.

I think it is so cute! It’s about time athletic clothing companies are making shirts from tech fabrics that are not boring. I bought three:

I like pink. The running store is in a newly developed area of town and it is very family friendly. Lots of people hanging out once the warm weather hits. There are a lot of restaurants there too, and they all have outdoor seating; it’s a great place.

This morning I did Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred Level 1 again. It seemed harder this time, and I kept getting light headed. I drank a lot of water yesterday and last night, and drank during the workout, I don’t know what the problem was. I also incorporated my 200 Sit Ups into her abs routine, and did my two planks at the end. 32 seconds each!

I’m so low on groceries right now, so I had to improvise from my pantry tonight. I knew I had canned salmon, so I thought Salmon Cakes would be the way to go. Salmon, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, panko bread crumbs and greek yogurt. I always have those around.

Mix it up in a bowl.

Form into two patties and coat with panko bread crumbs.

I put these in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, then cooked them in a nonstick pan sprayed with Pam. Served on a bed of lettuce with some grape tomatoes, a dollop of Trader Joe’s wasabi mayonnaise and Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pita Chips on the side.

Have I mentioned my problem with oats? When I eat oats I have a terrible stomach all day. I am not sensitive to gluten normally, so I’m not sure what the problem is. Oats don’t even have gluten unless they have been contaminated by other grains. So I eat Bob’s Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. This is a gluten free cereal made from brown rice, corn, buckwheat, and sorghum. The one time I made overnight oats I really regretted it the next day, and I’m wondering if I can make overnight Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. I’m going to give it a try tonight and see what happens. I have a bag of peanut flour that I haven’t opened up yet, so I’ll add some of that. I’ll let you know tomorrow how this turns out.

Am I the only person who plans out their whole meal plan for the next day the night before? I write everything down, including important things I need to do during the day, and a timeline for the morning so that I have time to workout, shower, pack food, have coffee, etc. I feel much calmer going to bed knowing I have a plan for the next day. Tomorrow’s plan includes taking Sheila to the vet, he is going to remove a growth on her eyelid. It’s scary, and she gets so nervous at the vet, poor girl.

Posted in Fitness, Food, Recipes

A New Workout DVD

May26
2011 2 Comments

Written by Linda

Yesterday morning I worked out with the Jackie Warner One on One Training DVD. Jackie looks a little intimidating on the cover of the DVD, but she is actually adorable. And her other trainers are also. They wear the cutest workout clothes, nothing like what I have seen on anyone around here. I think it must be very California. And their bodies are amazing. I wonder if there any workout DVDs made by average sized women? Do you think anyone would buy them? I would.

The DVD has three segments, upper body, lower body and abs. Each is 20 minutes long and of course you can do one, two or all three. I chose to do the upper body workout, and this was quite a workout! Much harder than Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred, but also only concentrating on one part of the body. I had to modify quite a bit by taking rests in between sets (they have no sets on the DVD, just continuous motion), using one arm at a time, and taking water breaks! But when I woke up this morning I wasn’t sore at all, which makes me wonder if it did anything. I was using 5 pound hand weights. There is also cardio interspersed with the weights, but for very short periods.

I am also working on the 200 sit ups program.

Yesterday I did Week 2 Day 3, but I’m not very consistent and I had to go backwards a bit. I reached a plateau and couldn’t progress, so I might stick to this level for a while.

AND I am doing the Planks challenge.

I started out doing two planks for 20 seconds each, with about a minute of rest in between. Now I can do two planks for 30 seconds each. What a weakling I am! I really need more core strength.

After my workout I was in the mood for something creamy, banana-y and almond butter-y. A smoothie was in order.

Along with the energy bar I made the other day. This was yummy!

Banana Almond Smoothie

1 frozen banana
5 ounces coconut water
1 scoop Syntrax vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 tablespoon chia seeds
Ice

Combine in blender and mix away!

This morning I met a friend to run (with a little walking) on the Capital Crescent Trail before work. We ran 4 miles, and then got iced coffees – it was very humid. It’s really great to run with a friend, the time and distance just fly by. But I was so tired at work today (didn’t sleep well last night – snoring husband), so as soon as I got home I made a big Green Smoothie. Amazing how much energy is in one of those.

And for dinner I was craving something with pasta and chickpeas, two of my favorite ingredients. How about a Pasta Chickpea Salad?

Pasta Chickpea Salad

4 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped oil-cured olives
1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup shelled edamame
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.

Combine everything in a big bowl. Makes 2 servings.

I think it would be good with feta rather than parmesan also. Or any of your favorite veggies.

Did anyone watch the Biggest Loser finale last night? I thought the finalists looked amazing, and the at home people were fantastic as well. What incredible achievements these people have accomplished. I think about the 5 pounds I want to lose and I feel ashamed! How about Olivia’s husband who lost 113 pounds on his own at home while she was at the ranch? Wow.