The Runner's Kitchen

Last night I attended a cooking class at the Whole Foods Bowery Culinary Center. You can read all about my previous cooking class adventures here:

• Hanukkah Latkes
• Cakes and desserts
• Breadbaking 101
• Pie baking fundamentals 

Yesterday’s course was all about….asian noodles! I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I actually don’t like pasta. For a runner who lived in Italy for 4 months, I realize that this is bizarre. However, my distaste for pasta does not seem to carry over to asian noodles. I wouldn’t say that they’re my favorite food, but I certainly won’t turn down a good plate of pad thai

Our first dish of the night was Classic Pad Thai adapted from David Thompson’s Thai Street Food.

We were grouped into teams of 4 and cooked our pad thai in a wok over high heat. Fun!

Yum! I loved the combination of chewy noodles, crispy bean sprouts, crunchy peanuts, savory fish sauce, and spicy Thai chile paste. And since all of the ingredients were from Whole Foods I felt confident that it was a quality dish. While we were cooking, someone mentioned that restaurants often use ketchup (instead of chile powder/tamarind paste) in their pad thai to save money and time. No thanks!

Next on the agenda was Pork and Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup. The filling was a mixture of ground pork and chopped shrimp. As you know, I don’t eat meat all that often, but I make an exception for special occasions – like cooking classes!

Ani and I had a blast making wontons. Note: Ani is sitting and I’m standing. I’m not a giant – I swear!!

After the class filled up a tray of wontons, we boiled them in broth and garnished with some spinach.

Mmm, wonton soup is perfect for the chilly, wintery weather NYC has been dealing with.

Ready for more noodles? We’re not done yet! Our third dish was Singapore Curry Rice Noodles. This dish contained a good balance of carbohydrate (noodles!), protein (shrimp and pork), and vegetables (onions, scallions, and snow peas). Plus lots of antioxidant-packed curry powder!

Dish number four was a Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Grilled Pork. We arranged glass noodles, pickled vegetables, mung bean sprouts, romaine lettuce, grilled pork chops, and topped with a spicy chile dressing and chopped mint & cilantro. This was a very light and fresh dish – perhaps my favorite!

Our final noodle dish (dessert!) was perhaps the most interesting. We’ve all had rice pudding, but what about noodle pudding? This was different AND delicious, plus the recipe was super easy!

Toasted Vermicelli Milk Pudding adapted from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Yamuna Devi

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons of ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 cup fine vermicelli (or angel hair pasta), broken into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 5 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup unsalted pistachios, slivered
• 1/2 Tablespoon rose water (optional, but recommended!)

Directions:

• Melt the ghee or butter in a heavy-bottomed, 5-quart nonstick pan over moderate heat. When it is hot, add the vermicelli and fry, stirring to ensure even browning, until the noodles turn a golden brown.
• Pour in the milk, sugar, almonds, and pistachios and stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the pudding is slightly thickened and creamy. Cool to room temperature, add the rose water, and chill thoroughly. Stir well, then serve in individual bowls.
• Note: raisins or another dried fruit must be a nice addition to this dish!

After sampling my way through the noodles of Asia, I left class with a full belly and a tupperware full of leftovers. Can’t wait to eat them for lunch today!

What’s your favorite type of noodle dish?

The weather was absolutely horrendous in NYC yesterday (heavy rain and blowing wind), so I did the assigned Central Park Track Club fartlek workout on the treadmill. Did you know the running term “fartlek” means ”speed play” in Swedish? It basically means you switch between running fast and easy. If you do a fartlek on the road, your fast segments don’t need to be timed. Instead you can run fast to the next mailbox or lampost and then recover (jog) before doing it all over again. Pretend it’s a game!

• 2 mile warm-up
• 5 x 4 minute pick-ups (roughly 1/2 marathon pace, ~7:10 per mile) with 90 seconds of recovery (~9 minute per mile pace)
• 1.5 mile cool-down
• 7 miles total

This workout was tough, but manageable. I was majorly sweaty (unusual for me), so I was especially thankful for the chilled, eucalyptis-soaked towels that my gym offers. My monthly membership to Equinox is definitely my most pricey expenditure (besides rent), so I try to make it worth it! Bring on the locker room goodies. I finished up with a little stretching, foam rolling, and core work afterward.

Workout complete? Check! Now it’s time for a fun recipe.

The other day I was intrigued by a wonderful creation I saw on the blog Caroline Dines. Peanut and sweet potato stew? Sign me up!  I altered the recipe quite a bit due to my own taste preferences and what I had in the pantry. This comforting winter stew is packed with quality carbs, protein, fiber, and healthy fats (peanut butter!). It would make an excellent post-run recovery meal. And it’s so easy to make! If you can chop veggies and stir, you can make this recipe

Peanutty Root Veggie Stew (Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 very large sweet potato, cubed
• 1 large celeriac (a.k.a. celery root), peeled and cubed
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz. canned tomato sauce (no salt added variety)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 generous Tbs cinnamon, 1 generous Tbs cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or more! be generous)
• 1 Tbs sriracha sauce
• sprinkling of peanuts to garnish

Directions:

• Place all ingredients (except for peanut butter, sriracha, and peanuts) in a large pot and cook on medium-high for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
• I recommend covering the pot for the first 20 minutes of cooking and then allowing the stew to finish up uncovered. This will help it to thicken up.
• Turn off the heat, add the peanut butter and sriracha, stir until combined.
• Garnish with chopped peanuts and devour!

Nutritional information (per serving): 350 calories, 12 grams of fat, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber. This recipe also provides a good amount of Vitamin A, C, and iron. Hooray!

If you could only eat 3 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be? I’d pick peanut butter, greek yogurt, and crinkle cut french fries.

 Holy comments! You guys must really like popchips

And the winner is:

Comment #39:  Erin says: February 17, 2010 at 1:04 pm  I love that speed workout – I need to try it sometime. My favorite chip flavor is definitely sour cream and onion. Yum!

Erin – email me your shipping info and I’ll have popchips send the goods

So last night, I attended my 4th consecutive CPTC Thursday road workout. After what seemed like an entire year of frustration and injury, I’m finally starting to feel in “racing shape” again. I’m still a little nervous about doing twice weekly workouts and a long run, but so far so good. I haven’t been so vigilent about my PT exercises, but I’m trying to give myself some extra TLC in other ways (sleep, lots of fruits & veggies, stretching). And the foam roller and I have been seeing a lot of each other lately! Last night was a pretty brutal workout, but I felt GOOD. As I was grinding out the last tough mile, I thought to myself: “This is FUN! I love running hard and pushing myself to the limit”.

CPTC Thursday Night Road Workout

• About 1.5 miles to warm-up
• 8.1 mile tempo run in 59:28 (average pace = 7:20)
• Ran the first 4.05 mile loop at roughly marathon pace – 31:00 minutes total, averaged about 7:39 per mile
• Ran the second 4.05 loop at half-marathon pace – 28:28 total, averaged about 7:02 pace
• About 2 miles to cool-down

11.5 miles total – yikes, that’s a lot of miles for a mid-week run!
Wore the lunaracers – no blister problems. I think they’re a go for the NYC 1/2 marathon next month. I love these lightweight racing shoes – they make me feels so fast!

By the time I returned home, it was almost 9pm and I was ready for food in a major way. I wasn’t up for cooking anything elaborate, so I just threw a bunch of leftovers into a bowl and called it a junk salad. It was actually pretty yummy!

In the bowl:

• romaine lettuce and homegrown sprouts
• dried tart cherries and walnuts
• triscuits topped with melted cheddar cheese
• homemade dressing made with 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar, spoonful of dijon mustard, and a spoonful of lingonberry jam whisked together until combined

I gobbled that down and they had a bunch of yummy (vegan!) cookies. They just might be the *best* vegan cookies ever. Are you ready for the recipe?? A few weeks ago I mentioned how enamored I’d become with Momofuku’s compost cookie. I made it my mission to create an animal product-free version for a vegan friend and while the results are not exactly the same, these cookies are pretty dayum good

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup packed earth balance (not the same as smart balance, FYI)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1 Tbs ground flax
• 3 Tbs water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 BIG handful of chips, roughly crushed
• 2 oz. pretzels, roughly crushed
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
• With a mixer, cream together the earthbalance, sugar, and instant coffee powder
• In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax and the water until smooth, add the vanilla extract
• Fold the flax mixture into the earth balance & sugar 
• In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (oats through chocolate chips)
• Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated
• If the batter isn’t holding together well, try chilling the batter for about 20 minutes
• Scoop rounded Tablespoons of batter on to the cookie sheet and bake for about 10-13 minutes or until golden brown
• Cool on the baking sheet for a minute or so and then transfer to a wire cooling rack

Nutritional stats (per cookie – approximate): 95 calories, 4g fat, 13g carbs, 1.5g protein, .5g fiber.

More of your “Ask Me Anything” question answered:

In your opinion, what bakery serves the best cupcakes in NYC? I’m a sucker for frosting, so I’d have to say Magnolia Bakery. Although the Reese’s PB Cup cupcake from Crumbs is also really delicious….

How many calories do you eat a day when you’re running vs. a rest day and what is the break down of foods throughout the day? I don’t usually count calories, but I’d have to estimate that on a rest day I consume about 2,000 calories and on a hard workout or long run day it’s closer to 3,000. On my FAQ page I discuss what I usually eat in a typical day.

What events did you run as a member of your college track team? Which college PR are you most proud of? During my first few years of college I mainly focused on the 1500m  for indoor and outdoor track, but by senior year I made the switch over to the 5K. The college PR I am most proud of is my outdoor track 5K (18:52.73) It’s the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to a runner’s high. It was one of the best days of my life

As an experienced runner, what do you think about barefoot running? After reading Born to Run, I’m much more skeptical of all the fancy cushioning and stability features that modern running shoes offer. The human foot is a pretty amazing thing,  so it seems like we might actually be designed for barefoot running. HOWEVER, few of us have been running barefoot since childhood (like our ancestors did), so I think it’s important to ease into barefoot running very slowly. I’ve started wearing lightweight training shoes (Nike lunaracers) for workouts and some easy runs and I plan on incorporating some barefoot strides in the grass come springtime.

How do you get motivated or stay motivated to run in such cold weather? Good question! I am not a big fan of winter, so cold weather running is tough for me too. I’ve found that good gear helps (tights, running jacket, hat, mittens, etc.) and having a  buddy to run with in the morning motivates me on days when I’d rather by hibernating It’s already mid-February, let the countdown to spring begin!

Last, but not least:

Want to experience less pain during and after running? Tart cherries might be the answer!

Live in NYC? Check out this awesome runner’s map.

Happy Weekend! Anything fun planned??

I was snowed in yesterday evening, so I decided to get cozy in the kitchen and experiment with a new recipe. I received a cookbook for Christmas called The Craft of Baking and I love it! Lots of inventive recipes, beautiful photos, and easy-to-follow techniques. Today’s spicy caramel popcorn is based on a recipe from this book, however I made a few changes so that I could post the instructions without copyright infringement

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs canola oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 Tbs salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

• Heat the oil over medium-high in a large pot, add the popcorn kernels and cover with a lid.
• Allow kernels to pop (about 3-4 minutes) while occasionally shaking the pot and moving it around on the burner.
• Once kernels are done popping, dump them into a bowl that is sprayed lightly with cooking spray, remove any un-popped kernels.

I love the various flavors and textures in this recipe – sweet, spicy, salty, crispy, crackly, yum! You can play around with the spice level, adjusting the heat to your taste preference. I also really like that this recipe isn’t full of scary ingredients. No artificial preservatives, colors, or additives. Yay!

 Some runs (like last weekend’s 14-miler) are awesome and others….not so much. Last night I headed out the door for a post-work run and felt crappy for most of the 4.5 miles.  Maybe it was my frustrating day at work, maybe I was just tired.  I guess I can’t really be sure,  but at least the bad runs help you appreciate the good ones even more. I got 8+ hours of sleep last night, so here’s hoping today is a better day!

When I returned from my run, I crafted a giant salad. There’s nothing like fresh veggies and whole foods to chase away the winter blahs.

I chopped up some organic hearts of romaine, added leftover roasted beets, great northern beans, dried cherries, chopped walnuts, a big scoop of cottage cheese, and lots of hot sauce. Sounds weird, I know. But it was delicious! I love the combo of cottage cheese and hot sauce – the creamy and fiery flavors compliment each other perfectly.

And then I put on my baking apron! I’ve been itching to try the black bean brownie recipe created by Christine (NoMeatAthlete’s resident baker), but I used what I had on hand and made some modifications.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (use a good quality brand such as Ghiradelli)
• 2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 2 Tbs chocolate chips
• 1/2 can white beans (or any kind that you have on hand), rinsed and filled with new water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 8″ x 8″ baking pan
• Whisk together all of the dry ingredients
• Puree the beans and the water they are canned in
• Add pureed beans, vanilla, and additional water to dry mixture
• Mix thoroughly and then pour into baking pan
• Bake for 22-25 minutes, rotating pan half-way through cooking time
• Keep an eye on the brownies – you don’t want the edges to overcook!
• Allow brownies to cool completely and then cut into 9 squares

These brownies are incredibly moist and the serving size is BIG! I hate it when a “serving” of something is puny. These big, fudgy, moist brownies will satisfy your chocolate craving while providing a good dose of fiber and protein.

I know that using pureed beans instead of butter, eggs, or oil is a little unconventional, but I promise these are yummy. When Alma found out that the brownies were made with beans she was skeptical, but after taste-testing she was very impressed. Try this recipe, you’ll like it!

Nutritional stats per serving (based on 9 servings): 215 calories, 5.5 grams of fat, 5.5 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber.

Do you ever bake with “unconventional” ingredients?

Before you go – check out my latest True/Slant article: Lose weight, gain speed?

Happy February! Here’s hoping that the worst of the winter weather is behind us…

I had houseful of boys (friends from college) staying with me this weekend, so I baked a batch of pumpkin muffins on Saturday morning. The muffins served as the perfect pre-run fuel!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• dash of salt
• tsp cinnamon
• dash of ginger and nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup whey that was leftover from my strained yogurt (you could use milk instead)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 F and lightly grease a muffin tin
• Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients
• Using a spatula, add the wet ingredients to the dry until combined – but don’t overmix!
• Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full and bake for about 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
• Cool for about 5 minutes and then remove from the pan and enjoy warm with butter. Yum.

After a chilly, but pleasant 5-miler in Central Park, I was able to try someplace that’s been on my to-go list for ages: Community Food & Juice (thanks for the great suggestion Ada! We need to meet up soon!) This hip uptown restaurant is affiliated with the reknowned Clinton Street Baking Company. While it’s not a vegetarian restaurant, there are plenty of seasonal veggie options and the meats are organic, free-range, and grass-fed.

I was impressed by my homemade veggie bean burger that came atop a brioche bun and was accompanied by tomato jam, avocado spread, and mixed greens.

Saturday continued to be a day of good eats – for dinner I purchased a ball of organic whole wheat pizza dough for $1.69 and turned it into homemade pizza! After stretching the dough to fit an inverted baking sheet, I topped the pie with sauteed garlic and broccoli rabe, goat cheese, and sundried tomato chicken sausage. I baked the pizza for about 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees. The crust came out crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Buying the dough from Whole Foods saved me about 2 hours worth of work and it was quite economical. I’ve made my own pizza dough before and to be honest, I couldn’t really notice a difference! The whole wheat dough, naturally low in fat goat cheese, antioxidant rich broccoli rabe, and high protein chicken sausage made this a power packed dinner. Perfect for runners!

Sunday was designated long run day and since I knew it was probably going to be cold outside, I procrastinated for as long as possible. About an 1.5 hours before I planned on heading out the door I chowed down quite a few servings of Nature’s Path peanut butter granola. I was a little bit worried about how this would sit in my stomach, but it ended up working out great. I felt awesome during my 14 mile long run! Maybe this granola is magic running fuel?

The sun was shining and eventhough it was only about 25 degrees, it didn’t feel all that bad. I ran my first 6 or so miles with Alma, mostly on the bridle path, and finished up the remaining 8 miles solo. My legs felt good enough that I threw in a few quick “pick-ups” around mile 11. The only annoying thing was that I started to get really thirsty around mile 12 – can’t wait till they turn the water fountains back on in Central Park! I ran for 2 hours and while I’m not positive about the distance, I’m going to call it 14 miles. Best part of the run (and weekend)?? No back or hip pain, woo! Maybe this physical therapy stuff is working….

What was the best part of your weekend?

Free Ways for New Yorkers to Get Healthy in February:

• Every Saturday in February, the JCC Manhattan offers an Afro-Caribbean dance class with live drums.
• Check out the Winter Jam in Central Park on February 6: snowshoeing, snowboarding and more.
• The new mind-body venue Studio Anya lets you try out your first group Pilates or yoga class on the house.

As part of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for a free dozen of eggs. Eggland’s Best is my “go-to” brand because the eggs have four times more Vitamin D and over three times more Omega-3 compared to ordinary eggs. And the 6 grams of protein (per egg) and B-vitamins help me recover more quickly from tough runs. The other night I created a low fat, protein packed cheesecake and while the dessert was chilling, I even snuck in a nighttime run!

The main component in this dish is strained yogurt – the end result is very similar to greek yogurt!

I lined a colander with 6 flattened out coffee filters and then I placed the colander inside a large mixing bowl. Next I spooned the yogurt into the colander and let it drain overnight in the fridge.

My 32 oz ($2.99) container of Whole Foods brand plain non-fat yogurt yielded about 2 cups of strained yogurt. Plus a cup of whey – I’m saving this to use in cooking/baking because it’s packed with nutrients.

Protein Packed Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter (4 Tbs), melted
• 1 cup whole-wheat graham cracker crumbs
• 2 cups of strained non-fat yogurt (from a 32 oz. tub)
• 2 8-oz containers of non-fat cream cheese
• 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, lightly beaten (Eggland’s Best brand)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs flour
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and place a pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven (this will provide a humid baking environment for the cheesecake)
• Mix together the butter and the graham cracker crumbs, press mixture firmly into the bottom of an 9-inch springform cake pan, refrigerate while you prepare the filling
• Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar
• Gently fold in the eggs, yogurt, flour, and vanilla
• Pour the filling into the springform cake pan and bake the cheesecake on the top shelf of the oven for about 50-60 minutes. Don’t open the door until the 50 minutes are up!
• Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven with the door ajar for about 30 minutes.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Add chocolate chips or raspberry jam as garnish!

Nutritional stats per serving (cheesecake yields about 10 slices): 230 calories, 10.5 grams of protein, and 5.5  grams of fat.

One of my favorite recipes of all time is olive oil granola. I was inspired by a New York Times recipe over the summer and made my first batch in August. The combination of savory olive oil, sweet agave nectar, chewy dried fruit, crisp oats, and salt is amazing.  Seriously, you must try this recipe!

I can’t believe it’s taken me nearly 6 months to make this yummy combo again. My creation differs quite a bit from both the original NY Times recipe and the granola I made in August, but I think the 2010 version is the best yet!

Ingredients:

Directions:

News you can use:

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Jamba Juice is selling it’s steel cut oatmeal for only $1!

On Friday, February 5th you can snag a free KIND bar sample from any starbucks.

Do you care about childhood nutrition, the environment, and food affordability? Sign the NYC food charter and pledge to promote healthy and sustainable eating!

What’s your favorite granola variety?

Dear Susan Herrmann Loomis,

I love your book On Rue Tatin, but your pear and honey clafoutis recipe made me want to tear my hair out!

If you’re wondering “what the heck is a clafoutis?”, you’re not alone. I had never made or eaten one before this weekend! According to Wikipedia:

a Clafoutis, sometimes in Anglophone countries spelled clafouti, is a baked French dessert that is typically made by baking fresh fruit (traditionally cherries) and a batter, halfway between a Yorkshire pudding/pancake batter and a custard, in a baking dish.

By Sunday afternoon I had an edible version, but let’s review what went wrong:

1) Don’t bring your computer into the kitchen and g-chat while you’re baking. You will probably do things like add 3 x the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. Once I realized my mistake I spent a good 5 minutes removing the extra sugar from the mixing bowl with a tiny teaspoon.

2) If the recipe calls for an 11-inch tart pan, a 10-inch spring form pan might give you problems. 5 minutes after popping clafoutis #1 into the oven I noticed a horrid burning smell. “Don’t worry,” I tell my roommate, “it’s probably just some excess flour on the outside of the pan that’s browning”. No. My spring form pan leaked and a big blob of batter was burning on the oven floor. Hello, smoke alarm. I tucked some foil around the pan to stop up the leak and continued to let it bake.

3) After I pulled clafoutis #1 out of the oven, I attempted to make the caramel sauce. I made it 3 times before I got it right. Note: The measurements on the website recipe are NOT correct. I hunted around for some other caramel sauce recipes and deduced that you need 1 Tbs sugar (not 2!) and 2 tsp water for the sauce to form. Also, don’t taste-test hot caramel with a metal spoon. You’ve been warned.

4) When I woke up on Sunday morning and lifted the foil to admire my clafoutis I noticed a pool of liquid in the middle of the pan. I cut a small slice and discovered that the center was completely undercooked. $#@%!! Luckily I didn’t have too much time to freak out, I had a half-marathon to run.

5) After my run, I went to the grocery story to buy more eggs and pears and started on attempt #2. Fortunately, the second round went more smoothly. My modifications:

• 9-inch pie plate as the baking vessel (vs. 11-inch tart pan/10-inch spring form pan)
• agave nectar in place of honey
• lowered the oven temperature to 375 F
• covered the clafoutis with aluminum foil after 15 minutes to prevent the top from over-browning
• added a dusting of powdered sugar in lieu of the caramel sauce

Before baking:

After baking:

The verdict? This was actually a pretty delicious (and healthy!) dessert. I would certainly eat it again as long as someone else makes it for me.

Question: Have you ever had any baking/cooking mishaps?

Thursday morning started off with some homemade fruit salad. The best thing about fruit salad? You can change the produce depending on what’s in season!

Winter Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 orange, peeled and sectioned
• 1 apple, cubed
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 Tbs dried cranberries
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 tsp lime juice

Directions:

• Mix together the fruit in a medium bowl, sprinkle with lime juice (to prevent browning)
• Drizzle honey over top
• Enjoy! Makes about 3 servings

Followed by some protein and carbs in the form of scrambled egg whites with sriracha sauce and Eli Zabar’s health bread topped with pb & j.

And a mid-morning decaf cappuccino

Lunch was a mix of leftover roasted vegetables and some goodies from the salad bar. In the mix:

• 1 cup roasted brussels sprouts, fennel, and potatoes
• mixed greens
• feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
• Tastings of chickpea salad and udon noodle salad

I had the afternoon off of work, so my snacks were on the go: Kashi TLC granola bar and Voskos Greek yogurt.

I had my first PT session today and learned that 1) I have very tight hip flexors and 2) I need to strengthen my gluteus medius. Stay tunes for strengthening exercise demos!

It was fun taking a day off from the gym, but by Thursday evening I was ready to get back in the swing of things. I ran an easy 3 miles (back felt pretty good!) and then elliptical-ed for 60 minutes while reading Born to Run. I’m really liking the book so far – it gives me hope for pain-free running And the story reads more like a novel than non-fiction. I can’t put it down! I finished up my gym session with some strength training:

• 3 x 10 curtsy lunges
• 3 x 10 squats
• 3 x 10 push-ups
• foam-rolling!!

I was reallyyyy hungry when I left the gym and the only thing I had in my bag was Ghiradelli peppermint bark. Definitely not the best post-gym option, but at least I didn’t spend $4 on an over-priced Clif bar!

When I arrived back at my apartment, I wanted dinner and FAST. I toasted up two slices of Ezekiel Bran of Life bread and topped them with peanut butter, raspberry preserves, and sliced banana. Why are the slices in pieces, you ask? I got into a bit of a tussel with the toaster. The toaster won.

Dessert was a cup of milk + scoop of chocolate soy protein powder + ice +  mini chocolate chips. Served in a wine glass. I’m classy like that.

Feeling a little hungry? Check out these 8 healthy snacks (the list even includes ice cream!)