Cooking & Prepping & Eating, It Must Be Fall!

September 21, 2015 by Jennifer

You guys, fall arrives this week! Are you ridiculously excited and on your eleventh Pumpkin Spice Latte? I know, me too! Which is unusual for me, spring is my favorite season followed by summer. Something is different this year, though. With the cooler nights and my garden producing its late-planted bounty, I’ve been cooking and meal prepping and eating A LOT. I thought I’d share my recent escapades and ask for you to share with me; I’m on the hunt for an amazing pumpkin scone recipe.

Our first garden ever!

For the record, I’m not a great cook but I’m a passable cook. Yes, it’s hard to admit that. I recently told my husband that for me, hearing him make yummy sounds over my cooking is just as important as hearing him make other sounds when, well…you know. It’s a pride thing.

These Spaghetti Squash Fiesta Bowls are a current favorite!

He did make some fantastic yummy sounds when I made my great grandmother’s banana bread recipe for the first time this week. I had never attempted Grandma Maxine’s family favorite but my mom and aunt had with limited success, theirs didn’t turn out as moist as grandma’s. Since I had some ripe (but not super ripe) bananas around, I mustered up the courage to give it a go. I must say it turned out as close to grandma’s as we’ve tasted in 15 years since her passing.

Add the buttermilk when you add the egg and oil.

Looks pretty perfect if I do say so myself.

I’ve been experimenting with meal prep, too. The evenings are so short, and when we’re busy we tend to grab what’s easy. The solution in my house is to make healthy easy stuff we can grab. Well, relatively healthy anyway. I figure if I can at least cut out the preservatives and fake food factor that comes with packaged convenience foods, it’s an improvement. Homemade pizza is always a winner in my house so when I make it, I make a double batch and freeze half of it. Each batch makes two generous sized personal pizzas, and we can each put whatever toppings we want on them. I let the dough rise once, punch it down and put it in a Ziploc freezer back. It may continue to rise a little in the freezer but that’s okay. The night before we want pizza again, I pull out the dough and thaw it in the fridge. When I come home from work I pull out the dough, punch it down, roll it out, and viola! Works like a charm every time.

I like mine with pesto, fresh basil, goat cheese crumbles, and bacon !

My husband LOVES breakfast burritos, and I always seem to run out of time to pack a lunch. I decided to try making my own breakfast and lunch microwave burritos. For breakfast (disclaimer, NOT healthy), I scrambled eggs, made ranch potatoes, fried up some bacon and shredded some cheese. For lunch, I browned some ground turkey and seasoned it with a packet of organic burrito seasoning. I cooked some brown rice with red chili powder and seasoned salt, and used a can of black beans and a can of corn. After building the burritos, I wrapped them in cellophane and then in foil before putting them in a gallon freezer bag for storage in the freezer. In the morning, they are ready to pull out and toss into our lunch bags. These may not be the most healthy burritos ever, but you can certainly experiment with whatever ingredients you like. I feel better knowing exactly what’s in my burrito, and it’s better than going to the Wendy’s one block from my office which seems to happen way more than it should.

You’ll have to pry bacon from my cold, dead hands.

We add the salsa and hot sauce on the side. Because I’m a wimp.

I’m freezing all the raspberries I harvest from our bushes to make jam, and my mom gave me a TON of Roma tomatoes for making and canning sauce. I have enough zucchini to for fritters and ratatouille, bread and frittatas. I’m determined to use my bread machine constantly this winter. I feel oddly self-sufficient. We’re saving money and I’m being incredibly domestic. Taking a more active role in where my food is coming from and making as much homemade food as I can has been very rewarding so far. Next on the agenda, homemade pasta!

What is your go-to meal prep option? Do you find prepping helps you stay on track with your nutrition goals? Have a favorite recipe to share? Tell me all about it in the comments!

Why Fitbit is My Boyfriend

August 5, 2015 by Jennifer

It’s SO RARE that you encounter a company that takes customer service seriously. Seriously, right? When I’m fortunate enough to find that in a company, they can guarantee they have a customer for life. I know I’m sounding sales-y, but let me say that I am receiving nothing in the way of compensation for this post. This is all just pure fangirling over Fitbit, because they treated me so well when I lost my One recently that had we been on a date, we might have gone to third base.

So July 4th weekend, I lost my Fitbit One somewhere in this red circle:

Kiss that baby goodbye!

I tweeted my heartbreak and tagged Fitbit. I’d gotten that One right before my trip to Paris and had it on through my first half marathon; we’d been through a lot together. Fitbit Support tweeted me back, offering to help me find my One. Since I lost it in an area likely the size of Rhode Island, I knew my One and I would never be reunited.

Fitbit reached out and asked me for some proof my One purchase and said that they’d review my case to see if they could replace my One as a “gesture of goodwill”. A GESTURE OF GOODWILL. I could not believe it! I sent them a copy of my online purchase invoice, and a new One was in the mail the SAME DAY, Y’ALL. When it arrived just in time for last weekend’s half marathon! I was legit like this:

Fitbit, you are the BOMB. That is all!!

Do you have a Fitbit? Do you love it and why? Let’s dish in the comments!!

Recipe Box: Summer Veggies Three Ways

July 27, 2015 by bec2point0

If you’ve been following along the last couple of Fridays, me and my chicks have been posting all about eating local. You know what happens when you’re hitting the farmer’s market and getting produce delivery?

You have a LOT of veggies laying around.

I don’t even know what my counter looks like anymore.

Which is great! Except what the heck are you going to do with them all?

Here are three recipes I found to help me use up these beautiful bounties. And as a bonus, all three of these recipes are vegan, gluten free and paleo friendly, because I’m nice like that (it was mostly coincidence, but lets roll with it).

The first is recipe is adapted from the awesome vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet. If you don’t know this one, it’s written by Alicia Silverstone. I’m not a vegan (right now), but vegan cooking is happening a lot right now due to the dairy elimination. If you don’t know much about succotash, get ready to make the ‘ewww, Lima Beans’ face. Honestly, though, lima beans are awesome. And if you really, really hate them, you could swap in edamame instead. Don’t let the beans scare you off though, this is delicious.

Summer Succotash

Lima beans, the bane of my childhood existence, getting some action with my fresh corn and tomatoes.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 diced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn (I used ridiculously fresh local corn, cut right off the cob)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Heat the butter and oil together in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until the onions begin to brown (5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

Stir in the lima beans and saute another 5 minutes. Add the corn and tomatoes, saute 1 minute longer until heated through. Remove from heat and add parsley, basil and vinegar.

This can be served warm or chilled. And it’s great either way. Do it. You’ll love it. All I am saying, if give (lima) beans a chance.

The next recipe came from Pinterest, where I spend far too much time pinning recipes I will likely never make. But this one, Warm Zucchini Salad, I did! And it was fab. Pinterest led me to Vikalinka, a blog I hadn’t heard of before.

When you have a LOT of zucchini, make this.

Go here to check out the original recipe post, her pictures are stunning.

The last recipe came from a trip to the library, where I stumbled upon The Real Girl’s Kitchen cookbook. I didn’t actually notice that it was written by Haylie Duff (do I secretly have a thing for cookbooks written by blonde actresses? maybe.), I just liked the pictures. Thank goodness I like pretty things, because this cookbook provided me with a few great new recipes, including this one.

I hesitate to even call this a recipe, it’s that simple. Like, even if you can’t cook, you can cook this. And you should, because I’ve made it three times in the last month, and I’m making it again this week. And you know, I DON’T like repeats.

Haricot Vert Salad

Five ingredients never looked so good.

Ingredients:

1 pound of french green beans (I used regular green beans, they’re just French, only fatter, and I feel it’s important not to judge beans on their size)
1 cup of cherry tomatoes – quartered
Fresh Dill
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Blanche green beans in boiling water for 4-5 minutes (you want them still crunchy, but not raw), and the put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once cooled down, drain and put them in a large bowl.

Cut tomatoes in quarters. Or halves. Don’t stress it. Add those to the beans, along with the chopped dill.

Mix the red wine vinegar and mustard together and drizzle over the beans and tomatoes. Or just dump those in the bowl and mix everything around. Salt and pepper to taste, and you’re good to go.

Now, get a plate. Or just stand there, eating it out of the bowl with your fingers. You know, as one does.

Don’t you just want some veggies now? Do you have any great vegetable recipes? Please feel free to share!

Keeping It Local, Part 2

July 17, 2015 by bec2point0

So, last week, we talked about different places you can go to get local produce; farms, farmer’s markets, community gardens. But, if those aren’t options in your area, there are some other options. Namely, CSAs/Produce Delivery and home gardening.

Now, none of are currently participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share, but it’s an idea we fully support. CSAs have some risk, in that if the crops don’t do as well as expected, your return on investment might not be as high. But, a worthy risk in that it supports your local agricultural system. And fun bonus? You’ll get to know fruits and veggies you’ve never met before (some of which look like aliens. I’m looking at you, kohlrabi.)

The newest thing in local produce seems to be delivery. We’ve got chicks on both coasts getting boxes of fresh veg!

Cam

When we first started this quest toward healthy eating, we were looking into joining a CSA. During my investigation, I stumbled across Farm Fresh to You, a home delivery company that drops farm fresh veggies and fruits directly on your doorstep. You can pick how big of a box you need, when, where, and how often it’s delivered, and you can even look up online exactly which farm your food is coming from.

Box of awesomeness

I love, love, love being able to customize my box, especially because there are a bunch of picky eaters in this house.

It’s just what I wanted!

I also love that every Tuesday morning there’s a box on my doorstep, because, well, I’m busy (read lazy) and I really hate grocery shopping.

As an added bonus, there’s always a couple recipes included with the invoice that incorporates produce you picked for your box. How considerate is that?!?

Bec

Listen, I’d love to have a home garden, but my thumb is as black as tar. I am barely keeping the basil plant in the window alive at this point. So, what’s a busy (and gardening challenged) lady like myself to do when I want fresh produce?

Get it delivered!

It’s like a present!

Like Cam, I can customize my basket. I can substitute out things I don’t like, and I can add on things like fresh eggs and bread. And bacon, I’m just saying.

BREAD

The absolute best nectarines in the world

The bananas aren’t local, but they are organic. And bananas go like hotcakes, and sometimes go in hotcakes, around my house.

As much as I’d love to do a CSA, this is my preferred method of supporting my local growing community. Each week, they tell me where all my produce comes from, and give some recipes for the lesser know veggies. Like these…

Garlic scapes. If garlic grew in heaven, it would look, and taste, like this.

And there’s no risk. I can cancel for the week when I go on vacation, or take a break from delivery if I’m not going to be home to cook much for a while. If you can find a produce delivery company in your area, I highly recommend checking it out!

We do have a couple of green thumbs in our group, though!

Vic

Hubs and I love to garden. We have a full acre and typically plant a 25 foot-by-25-foot garden in the backyard each spring. Hubs grew up on a farm and harvesting a garden each year is among his favorite activities.

Zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, green beans and parsley are our favorites. Just ask the neighborhood rabbits…and squirrel…and deer.

Vic’s luscious garden midsummer in its prime. We snapped this one in 2011, before the critters became so brazen.

Until we add a substantial fence, we decided not to plant. It’s a lot of work for few results in recent years, so we decided to table it this year.

“What’s the definition of insanity?” my husband asked. “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

It was a tough call, but it’s where we are just now. To get our fresh veggie fix, we head regularly to Rochester’s Public Market or my beloved Wegmans for delicious, local produce. And our dear neighbor has been generous enough to share his CSA share with us. We loved what we’ve tried (SNAP PEAS!!!) and find it fabulous that each share was in the ground just hours before we cart it home.

Snap peas, (my favorite!), lettuce, Swiss chard and other greens in a shared CSA haul from Vic’s neighbor.

If we don’t have our fence installed by next spring, we’ll definitely be signing up for the CSA!

Jenn

Fresh food options in my local vicinity are much harder to find than one might assume. My area is very agricultural, and generally, pretty active and health conscious. My little town has a farmers market, but it seems to be one-half food and one-half handmade crafts, and I’m not talking about honey or jam.

Not much going on here, folks.

No one delivers out here in the not so boonies so a CSA or organic service are not options. I could get in my car and drive 10 miles east to buy the freshest seasonal fare, but that seems like it’s missing the point. I heard on NPR that eating local meant eating food that comes from within a 10 miles radius of your home. There’s a Whole Foods three miles from my office, but at my house we call it Whole Paycheck. If we wanted to eat organic and healthy and conveniently, there was one solution left.

Welcome to my home garden! I’ve never gardened before. I really have no idea what I’m doing and am relying on my husband because he has some experience in this realm of food growing. First, we built raised bed boxes.

I got to use a hammer and drill!

Next, we scored some fantastic compost from a local farm for TEN BUCKS. My husband and I were ridiculously excited about it and repeatedly called it beautiful.

Yep, we were happy as two pigs shoveling this…stuff.

Then, we ran to Home Depot to buy some plants and seeds. Since it’s late in the season, we focused on fall harvest plants. We also did some homework on companion planting and had a loose plan before going shopping. We decided on cucumber, zucchini, three kinds of peppers, carrots, broccoli, a blueberry bush, a slew of herbs, and bed dedicated to bee-attracting wildflowers.

The berries have grown SO MUCH already this season!

We’re planted! Not start growing, plants!

I’m SO excited to see how this works out and hope that in a few weeks, I can just go in the backyard to pick my salad greens and smoothie berries. I bet they will be the best greens and berries in the history of ever!

Do you garden? Get produce delivery? Have a CSA share? Tell us about it! And next week, we’ll give one last look into how we eat local. Enjoy!

A Month Without Moo

July 13, 2015 by bec2point0

If anyone had told me I’d go a full month without eating dairy, I would have laughed at them. Loudly. I mean, I’m the girl who turned Whole 30 into Whole 4, just because I couldn’t live without cream in my coffee. I am the girl who ~~considers~~…~~considere~~d….considers cheese and ice cream two four food groups (the other two being bacon and coffee). I mean, a life without Ben & Jerry’s? That’s no life at all.

But, I did it. Actually, to be exact, tomorrow it will be 40 days without dairy. And I’m still here to talk about it. So, I figured I’d talk about it!

First off, let me give a shoutout to everyone who chimed in with tips when I originally posted about going dairy-free. The Daiya cheesecake, man. Completely fab.

Cheesecake aside, I’ve eaten some truly delicious stuff in the last month (and a few things that I’d rather not remember), so since you guys were kind enough to share with me, I’m going to share some of the highlights with you.

Straight out of the gate, I knew ice cream was going to be one of the hardest things for me to stay away from. So I didn’t! It’s summerm after all. And, there are a ton of dairy-free ice cream alternatives out there. I tried a lot of them. Some, I threw out, because ewwww. The most popular dairy-replacement right now is coconut, which is awesome if you love coconut, which I do. BUT, not every flavor complements coconut. Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut ice cream was a hard pass. It just wasn’t right. But, the FOMU (get it? haha!) Bourbon Maple Walnut? Divine. Seriously, see if you can get this near you, and if not, they’ll ship all over the U.S. (If you truly hate coconut, So Delicious Cashew Milk Salted Caramel Crunch does not such at all).

Game. Changer.

Directly behind ice cream, sits my BFF cheese. And I will say, this one seems a lot harder to replicate. I completely ruined a dairy free roasted veg pizza by smothering it in Faux Mozz (there may have been tears). But, here and there, I found some gems. Namely, the Aged Artisanal Nut Cheese from Treeline. FANTASTIC. It made cheese and crackers for dinner a reality again. A very tasty reality. (Side note, I emailed them to see where I could find other varieties, and they emailed me back in like 20 minutes. I love amazing Customer Service almost as much as I love cheese. Almost.)

I didn’t realize this going in, but the biggest challenge, by far, has been eating out. Considering that dairy is a significant allergen, I’m shocked at how many establishments don’t know what is in their food. I’m not going to go on a cross contamination rant, but the confused look I get when I ask ‘Does your bread contain dairy?’ is getting annoying. One woman said ‘why would there be dairy in bread?’ (Hint: A lot of bread contains dairy, namely butter, for browning).

And while my state, overall, has many vegetarian and vegan restaurants, the number of them in my part of the state is a whopping zero. Luckily, my hippie sister was more than willing to trek into the city with me to go check out Veggie Galaxy. Primarily vegan, with some cheese and egg dishes (there’s always a vegan alternative), and a full vegan bakery, this place knocked my socks off. I can’t wait to go back.

Eggs Benedict – Poached Eggs, Balsamic Roasted
Tomato, Grilled Red Onion & Chipotle Hollandaise
on a Grilled Housemade Black Pepper Biscuit. DAYUM.

Cooking isn’t as difficult as I expected, at least not most of them time. And as if not using dairy wasn’t change enough, my daughter recently decided to become a vegetarian. I’m glad that I’m a seasoned cook, though. Otherwise, this would be a lot tougher.

Sometimes, it’s a simple breakfast…

Vanilla Chia Pudding with Candied Walnuts and Fresh Berries

…and sometimes, it’s a more complex dinner.

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Cashew Cream Sauce

Either way, we’re eating just fine around here.

I’ve got a month left to before the next procedure, and then I’ll find out if I truly have a dairy allergy. When this started, I would have said, with complete conviction, that if it wasn’t a dairy allergy, I would be all up in a milkshake before you could say boo. Now, I’m not so sure.

As much as I don’t love being the person at the restaurant that ALWAYS has to have the manager come over, living without dairy is much more possible than I expected. So, I guess we’ll see. But, I did find out that I’m much more capable of restraint than I’d been giving myself credit for, which was awesome.

So, maybe someday, I’ll turn Whole 4 back into Whole 30. Maybe.

Calling All FitBit-ers – Let’s Feed America!

February 3, 2015 by Jennifer

Do you like helping people? Did you know that being hungry sucks? Do you own a FitBit?

If you answered yes to these life questions like I did, then LEMME TELL YOU A STORY.

Last Thursday, I found out about the FitBit/Feed America challenge to make the calories I burn between today and March 3rd count toward 1.5 million meals for hungry Americans. HELLO, SIGN ME UP!

It’s ridiculously simple. All you need is a FitBit and a few minutes of time. Here’s the scoop:

1. Read more about the project on the FitBit Blog and on Feeding America’s Website.

2. Sign up here.

3. Track your calories on your dashboard.

4. Watch the video because it’s kinda hilarious.

I hope you’ll join Mer, Vic, and I in this virtual race to punch hunger in the face! MyFitBit Profile Link

The Lies They Tell Us

January 16, 2015 by Jennifer

As a one of the new Chicks, I’ve been very conscious of the content of my posts. I mean, duh, right? Us Chicks always want to provide you with informative, entertaining, and maybe sometimes, thought-provoking content. As writers, we expect no less of ourselves, and as readers, you expect no less of us. Personally, I’ve also tried to stay in neutral topic territory. Because, well…opinions. And I assure you I can be quite opinionated about my opinions. The thing is, I saw something the other day that bothered me, and I’d like to share it with you and get your opinion, friends.

On my lunch break, I went to the local supermarket and was all excited to look through the January issue of Women’s Running, which I didn’t find. So, I started looking over the rack. thinking that maybe a Runner’s World would do. Nope, didn’t see that either. On to plan C. I need some help with strength and cross training, maybe a women’s fitness magazine? Obviously, I just wanted to buy a magazine. Any magazine. I stood there perusing the covers, and nearly shouted my disgust aloud when I realized what I was seeing. I snapped this photo, my mouth agape in horror.

I don’t care what you say, you evil, evil magazine covers, I’m not fat!

Aside from poor Katie Holmes’ divorce drama, this scene inspired some epic eye rolling on my part. Okay, I admit I rolled my eyes in sympathy for Katie, too, because we all know Tom is lame-o. But seriously, look at this photo.

Immediately, subconsciously, it triggered several responses in my brain. The nasty, blaring appearance of the word belly on three of the covers made me guiltily think about the six pounds I’m looking forward to running off, forever with any luck. Although you can’t see them all, trust me that all of them had some blurb about a diet or losing weight. The models are beautiful and their figures are inspiring, but for most of us, they are hardly a realistic ideal. Not to mention the store’s thoughtlessness in placing the Family Circle chocolate trifle and Women’s Day cupcake covers RIGHT NEXT to the fitness and diet magazines. Sadly, not even diabetics can catch a break at this store. Thanks for the support, Kroger.

Now, I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. We see this all the time, and I’m the zillionth person to rabble-rabble-rabble about it. So yes, perhaps I’m failing in the informative category this week. Also, I must allow for the fact that it is January, the time when people set new goals to be fit and lose weight. I must allow that it is possible that these magazines are writing to that annual trend. Also, I was looking at fitness magazines after all, and they should have this information in them. I suppose it struck me because I wasn’t looking to read about losing weight or the latest diet, I only wanted some sound advice on safe and effective fitness. I just couldn’t get past the you’re-too-fat messaging. At least, that’s how it made me feel.

Then yesterday, I stumbled upon this Buzzfeed article wherein contributor Marie Southard Ospina tries on ten different brands of size sixteen jeans and all of them fit differently, or not at all. I found it reassuring because I can totally relate. My guess is you will as well. In contrast to Marie, I’m 5’ 2” and a buck twenty sopping wet. But like Marie, I have 6 different sizes of pants in my closet right now. When I buy jeans, which I hate doing despite my addiction to shopping, I seriously question who, or what, was in control of product development at all of these labels. If I find a pair that fits my pygmy height, it’s two or three inches too big in the waist. If I find a pair that fits my waist, there are 7 inches of extra denim covering my toes. With the latter, I’m always wondering who the eff wears these?! You can see that Marie and I have the same problem only we’re on opposite sides of the sizing spectrum. Based on that, I would venture to bet that most women have this same problem regardless of their weight.

Let’s talk numbers for a sec, shall we? If I’m 5’10 and weigh 118 (i.e. tall and thin enough to actually fit into those jeans), my BMI would be 16.9. A BMI of less than 18.5 is underweight for that height/weight ratio. Clearly, this is complete and total insanity. The kind of insanity that makes us feel inadequate and imperfect. It makes us feel…not pretty. And whether we’re a size 0 or 24, it makes us feel overweight. Worst of all, it’s not a healthy message in any respect.

What in the hell do these people want from us? More importantly, WHY ARE THEY MESSING WITH OUR HEADS?

When the jeans thing happens to me, I shake it off. Those people who design those clothes are nuts. Maybe it’s the seamstress in me that can say that because I know what it takes to make a pair of jeans, and seriously, some of those people have got to be high. Don’t believe them, gorgeous readers. Don’t let them, or anyone, trick you into feeling shitty about any aspect of the beautiful force of life that is you and only you. Plus, remember this girl?

Neither do I, sister.

She really wanted to have a pot. Yep. That’s right. The adorable French girl in Pulp Fiction actually wanted a pot belly because she thought they were sexy. And French girls know.

What types of body image messaging affects you most? Do you have opinions? Do you have opinions on pot bellies and/or blueberry pancakes? Hit me up, yo!

Not Gonna Half A** My First 1/2

January 5, 2015 by Jennifer

Today is a BIG day for me. Exactly fourteen weeks from today, I will be in Atlantic City with a few of my fellow Chicks, laughing and eating and giggling and running in the AC April Fool’s Half Marathon. It will be my first half, and I really want to have a strong race. It’s important to me that I’m able to keep up with Mer, Vic, and Cam because it’s not often that I get to run with my girls. I registered for the race many moons ago, determined to train safely over ten months. I stuck to that over the summer, but then the fall semester started up and training was replaced with homework.

Blahhhhhh.

So here I am, fourteen weeks out from my first half marathon and not nearly where I wanted to be. Same old song and dance, right? YUP. Not for long, though, because this girl has a plan.

Jenn’s First Half Training Plan:

Start Training in Earnest. I found a fourteen week half marathon training plan from Women’s Running Magazine that I think will work well for me. I’m super excited to start it, and even though day one (today) is a “rest day”, it is SO ON tomorrow. The plan offers enough flexibility with the strength training and cross training that I can pick activities that I enjoy like rock climbing and vinyasa yoga. Yay for variety! Without variety, I know I would fail a few weeks in.

Eat healthier. Notice I didn’t say eat clean or diet. I’ve accepted that there are few things in life that I just cannot and will not give up. My life without any bacon, chocolate, or those blasted lemon poppy seed scones the local store bakery sells really couldn’t be called life. What I need to practice is moderation.

I’m like Rick Astley with these things.

Also, I could do a better job of satisfying my demanding sweet tooth with healthy alternatives like the chocolate chip chia seed energy bites from Gimmesomeoven. I made them yesterday and my husband called them “balls of yummy goodness.” I was forced to tell him to back off my chocolate fix. It was about to get ugly.

No Bake Energy Bites Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

Stay Motivated This is likely the most difficult aspect of training in any sport. The strategy I chose was to carefully plot out my goals and the plan for achieving them. I created an achievement board, a training calendar outlining the 14 week plan, and organized a cork board to act as a half marathon command center. I was sure to highlight the reasons why I enjoy running such as the sense of accomplishment after a race and how it helps me burn off negative energy. I also broke up my goals into to smaller more manageable segments because I have a tendency to overwhelm myself with the BIG picture.

Board of awesome!

Accept My Limits I discovered this fall that running in cold weather aggravates my asthma too much. The treadmill at the office gym and I are soon to be quite well acquainted. I can’t continue to let asthma hold me back eight months out of the year. I HAVE THINGS TO DO, LUNGS! I am terrified of getting bored on the treadmill early on in my training. Audio books are definitely on tap, and I’m going to try to learn meditation running. I’ve been wanting to read “Running With The Mind of Meditation” for a while now. Anyone have any experience with this technique?

Read to Achieve!

That’s it, that’s my plan. Admittedly, I’m sort of winging, but it’s my plan nonetheless. More importantly, I want to hear your go-to training strategies, as well as what you feel doesn’t work for you. Please share your wisdom with me, I’d be so grateful! I might even make you some balls of yummy goodness.

How do you stay motivated? Do you have a favorite training workout? Do you have to hide your chocolate stash from your husband like I do? Let’s trade hiding places in the comments!

Pumpkin: It’s Not Just For Yogurt Anymore

October 24, 2014 by bec2point0

I mean, it never really was. But if you read the Pumpkin Yogurt Wars post a couple weeks back, you might have thought so.

Seriously though, pumpkin is kind of everywhere this year. Like, way more than I can remember in past years. Trader Joe’s new Fearless Flyer has somewhere around 50 Pumpkin Items. I should know, I bought most of them. So, remember when I said I needed someone to stage a ‘pumpkintervention’? I purchased almost every pumpkin spice flavored item I could get my hands on, and my cabinets and counter tops we’re a bevy of orange boxes. I’m a marketing director’s dream, guys. Then, guess what happened?

I got really sick of all of it. It’s terribly sad, I know. But, most of the items were too pumpkin-y, or too spicy, or too sweet, or just plain not good. I hit total pumpkin overload and just didn’t want any of it anymore. Except for one thing.

Actual pumpkin.

See, somewhere buried at the heart of this pumpkin spice lunacy, is a beautiful squash, a superfood that is low in calories (15 per 1/2 cup raw, fresh) and high in fiber, vitamin C and beta carotene. And? It’s freaking delicious!

Now, let’s talk about what to do with pumpkin!

Pumpkin can typically be found in your regular grocery store in three forms; halloween/jack o’ lantern pumpkins (don’t eat those, I don’t think they’ll kill you, but I think they would be pretty woody), whole sugar pumpkins and canned mashed pumpkin. If you shop at Trader Joe’s, one of their 50 pumpkin items is actual pumpkin, peeled, cut, cubed, raw. Unless you don’t have a local Trader Joe’s (I’m so sorry, Mer), you might want to get some of this. I’m about to explain why.

New fun fact I learned this year: Working with whole, raw pumpkin is a major pain in the ass.

My nemesis

You guys know, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. I don’t shy away from food prep. I have a knife callus the size of a small country on my hand. I do NOT mind getting in there and getting my hands dirty.

All that said, if you plan to venture into the world, of cooking with raw pumpkin, get ready for a workout. The skin is tough, there is an incredible amount of slimy goop and seeds inside, and just cutting the pumpkin into chunks is hard work. And you know that smell when you carve jack o’ lanterns with the kids? Same. So, recap: lots of work, lots of smell, lots of slime.

So, why bother? Because it tastes ahhhhh-ma-zing.

Like almost any squash, pumpkin roasted in the oven with a little oil, salt and pepper is phenomenal. I can, and did, eat it straight out of the pan. But, in case you are looking for some ways to serve pumpkin that don’t involve burning your fingers and tongue, I pulled together a few of my favorites for you.

Pumpkin Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins from Ambitious Kitchen. This recipe called for pumpkin puree, so you could make your own, or go with canned. I used canned.

My word, these were delicious. Dense, incredibly moist, spicy but not too spicy. I could have eaten the entire batch.

Pumpkin and White Bean Soup from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook. This recipe called for cut, raw pumpkin. I picked up a bag of the pre-prepped TJ’s pumpkin for this.

This was unexpectedly good. Meaning, when I heard pumpkin and white bean, I was wondering how those were going to fit together. But, in this soup, the beans aren’t pureed, and half the pumpkin is roasted chunks that go in after the puree. The result is a lovely, smooth soup with cubes of roasted pumpkin and white beans in every bite. It was awesome.

Autumn Pumpkin Mix from Women’s Health Magazine. This is another recipe that calls for cut, raw pumpkin. For this one, I cut and prepped my own.

Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t even know what to say about this. Just, if you like delicious food, make this. The flavor combination just WORKS. Brussel sprouts, pumpkin, pistachios and goat cheese. This came from a list of lunch recipes, but would make an excellent dinner side as well.

There are a million pumpkin recipes in the world. If you know some excellent ones, please share them with me in the comments below. Pretty please. With pumpkin on top.

What do you think of this year’s pumpkin craze? What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe? Do you want recipes for other types of squash? Let’s chat!

Putting Up a Fight…And Winning!

October 17, 2014 by writeitdownjess

Well, so far.

A few weeks ago I blogged about how I was going on a diet. And the next day I went on said diet. And that same day I asked myself, “Self? Why did you go on this diet?” The day after that I seriously pondered the link between lack of carbs and homicide. But I kept going. And going. And going on phase 1 of the South Beach diet, which lets you have yummy things like lean protein and veggies and dairy (THANK GOD) and nuts and beans and blah blah blah no carbs blah no sugar blah blah what the hell am I going to eat blah blah etcetera.

At any rate, I kept chugging along. And what do you know?

It’s working! I’m down 6 pounds. I’ve actually been down 6 pounds for a couple weeks and have basically plateaued, but you know what? That’s okay, because I’ve lost 6 POUNDS!

Other interesting things to note: when I sneak a bite of something that’s not-so-healthy, I immediately feel it. As in, “wow that was good in my mouth but no me gusta in my stomach.” It seems that my body likes the good stuff I’m feeding it, and now that I’m feeding it 90% good stuff, the bad stuff sticks out even more. I’m surprised by this revelation because I felt like I was always going to have to battle against wanting to eat the crapola foods.

Of course, I say this having just snuck a piece of brownie. But I snuck JUST a piece. That was enough, and yeah, my body’s kind of eh about it. But my mouth? Looooved it.

The best part of all of this is that I’m starting to feel good about my body again. The second best part of all of this is that my co-workers are telling me how great I look. I’m still the same size I was before. I don’t think my body looks insanely different. But my clothes fit better and I’m definitely slimmer and the scale and I are really starting to mend our relationship.

So there it is, people. I’m winning the fight so far. You were all so lovely with your words of commiseration and encouragement that I had to update you.

And, may I submit into evidence this before (left) and after (right)? Both taken in work restrooms, I’m sorry to say. I wish I had a more beautiful backdrop but alas.

I’m going to keep at it and fight the good fight. If any of you out there are dealing with the same thing (and I know you are!) I hope this encourages YOU, since you were all so wonderful about encouraging me.

Scootadoot

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Tag Archives: healthy eating