every once in awhile

You know how sometimes it’s just nice to have a little fun?  Let it all go and just sample a few 100 different types of wines?  Well, that’s what I did this past weekend and it was a lot of fun!  Every once in awhile that is . . .

Prior to the wine tasting event I made sure to get a good chunk of school work done and it served as a very good motivator.  There’s nothing like having good things to look forward to, whether it’s a wine tasting, seeing my family, or getting to go on a long bike ride, to make me get things done in order to fully enjoy the occasion.  I still have tons of school work to do mind you, but I still made progress at least! 

Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Hilton and made it to the Lee’s Wine Experience around 5pm.  We also decided to get a room there so we wouldn’t have to worry about driving home.  There were about 1,000 wines for sampling!  They gave quite the pour just for a sampling too!  Of course we couldn’t make it to every table, or else risk alcohol poisoning, but we did make it to quite a few.  Here Chris was sampling the Hilltop J. Lohr Cab . . .

  

We both were feeling it by about the third sample since we haven’t been drinking all too much lately with biking and its detriment to performance.  The only bad thing about a big tasting like that is it’s very hard to judge just how much you’ve had.  At each table I made sure to have a tiny sip and if I didn’t like it into the tub it went.  I feel bad wasting, but you can’t drink everything.  Guys were walking around with giant garbage cans full of wine that people had dumped after tasting.

 

There were so many people there and they didn’t have too many munchies to go around.  As the crackers and cheese were re-stocked, everyone swooped down like vultures and you had to elbow your way to get anything!  Well, it wasn’t that dramatic, but when you have a room full of people that have been drinking and need some carbohydrates, watch out!  :)

It was a lot of fun and we found several wines that we really enjoyed, the best one being a Pinot Noir from Chile called Ritual.  Recently, I’ve lost my faith in Pinots because they all are just lacking and taste like dull, dead trees to me.  This one was perfectly balanced and interesting with subtle oak and bright berries.  We want to order some of this for Thanksgiving.  Another really interesting wine was Bodega Norton Reserve Malbec and I always love the Twomey Merlot.

Towards the end of the tasting you could tell everyone was a little less subdued, people were dancing, laughing and everyone wanted to talk up a storm!  It is so interesting to me how powerful alcohol is, myself included (that’s another post).

After the tasting we went to dinner at a place called the Grand Lux Cafe It was really yummy, but I could barely eat even 1/2 of my dish.  Chris got the big burger since we only really get those every once in awhile.

I got the yellow tomato pasta pomodoro with chicken meatballs, it was delish.  I’m a big pasta lover as you know!

We didn’t have dessert but grabbed some gelato while walking around.  It is fun to play tourist even though we live here! 

I think I could count how many times I went to the strip as a kid on one hand.

And look they had kabocha on display!!!  I wanted to steal it and take it home to bake :)

I feel so old saying this but by 11 o’clock it was waaaay past our bed time and we were tuckered!  I can hardly stay up past 9pm anymore.  The next day I didn’t feel too bad, but definitely not chipper, but you know what, every once in awhile . . . it’s just fun :)

What’s something you like to do or indulge in every once in awhile? 

    

new favorite

Happy Wednesday!  I just found my new favorite squash and it’s name is KABOCHA!!! 

I was first intrigued by this pre-historic looking creature by Sophia.  She’s made many enticingly delicious recipes with this squash, that when I saw it at the farmer’s market, I had to try it!

At first I was thinking of making a pizza base with it, but then I saw a box of quinoa in the pantry and decided to stuff it with some kind of quinoa mixture.  Boy, this is a keeper for sure!  I would have to say that this is one of my new favorite recipes, the top of the top, the cream of the crop, the  . . . you get the picture. 

I couldn’t really find any reliable nutrition facts on the kabocha, but I could imagine that like most winter squash it is a great source of beta carotene, potassium and vitamin C, along with fiber, especially if you eat the skin.  Cutting into it I thought I would have to break out the chain saw, but after baking in the oven the skin is quite tasty.  The flesh has a pleasantly sweet flavor, like a cross between a sweet potato and butternut squash and the texture is very smooth, not stringy. 

Even if you can’t find Kabocha, you can most certainly use an acorn, butternut or any winter squash you can manage to cut!  Don’t be intimidated by squash, all you need is a sturdy board, sharp knife and a careful hand and you’ll get rewarded by some sweet eats!

Apple Quinoa Stuffed Kabocha

Serves 2-4

• 1 medium kabocha squash
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms
• 2 apple chicken sausage links, chopped (you could also use chickpeas)
• 1 small apple, chopped (I left the skin on) 
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup chicken or veggie broth
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup parmesan
• 1 inch knob of cranberry goat cheese (from Trader Joe’s or just the plain kind)
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and a bit of red pepper flakes for a slightly spicy kick
• 1/2-1 cup shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese

Pre heat oven to 400.  Cut the kabocha in 1/2 to get two nice halves to stuff, scrape out seeds, and place in a baking pan.  I cut one down a little bit more and also spread about 1/4 tbsp of butter in each half :) 

Sauté the next 5 ingredients (up to apple), until nice and golden.  Add the quinoa and let sauté for a minute, add the broth, turn to low, cover and simmer for 12 minutes.

Uncover, turn off heat, and add the maple syrup, parm, goat cheese, and spices.  Stuff kabocha with the mixture (I had a bit left over), bake covered for about 30-40 minutes.  Uncover and top with cheese and bake until nice, golden and bubbly.

Oh so yum in my tum!

Any new favorites on your list??

 

   

   

     

thesis drama & a nice bike ride

With the time change I can’t believe it’s getting dark so soon.  Even though this inevitably happens every year, I never can quite adjust. 

It just seems so darn late now and all the wonderful, precious sunlight dwindles faster and it’s harder to get good food pictures! 

Anywho, the weekend for me was pretty unproductive.  Several projects/presentations are fast approaching the due date and I’m trying to find the time and motivation to get them done. 

I also had some disappointing news with my thesis . . . First, the professor who first told me she would be my chair and help form my committee pretty much blew me off and I just found out that she eagerly said she would chair another student’s thesis that isn’t even related to sports nutrition.  I’m trying to not take it personally, but I can’t help it.  Then, ever since I sent my research outline to my chair (twice) over a month ago, he hasn’t responded to me at all.  I spoke to the graduate coordinator about it and he said that he could be my chair, but he doesn’t really do lab work.  What?  I was really wanting to work in the lab, but now I guess I have to come up with a whole new idea and it has to be more like survey research.  Any ideas???  At this point I’m just desperate for anything, very disappointing. *sigh*

Other than that we made some yummy dinners!

Since I had Friday off, I spent most of the day running errands and getting ready for dinner.  I made fresh pasta manicotti and fettuccine too.  Fresh pasta is so cheap to make and you get a butt load of it!  The whole drying rack was full by the time Chris was done rolling/cutting it in the mixer.   

I stuffed the manicotti with a mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, spinach, chicken sausage, and Italian spices.  I also made a homemade tomato sauce in the crock-pot which is very easy.

Did you have a good Halloween??  We didn’t even get dressed up this year!  Terrible.  We did hand out some candy and fruit snacks to the few kiddies that came in our neighborhood.  We bought waaaayy too much and now we must get rid of it asap! 

I spent most of the night trying to find research articles and a new thesis topic (with no luck) and went to bed pretty early even with the time change.  I’m so glad we didn’t forget, which is unusual!

Sunday morning Chris and I went with the Green Valley Cyclists on the Lake Mead Loop trail.  It was just about 50 miles with 2300 ft of elevation change.  This is the longest I’ve done so far and boy my legs were sure letting me know it by the end of the ride!  My legs weren’t used to all that climbing.

At this point in the ride I was still feeling pretty strong and there were some awesome views of Lake Mead . . .

I also did a little calorie calculation experimentation with an equation I found from an RD.  I’m not sure where this equation was developed or if it’s reliable, but I love playing with numbers :)  It did seem pretty accurate with what my HR monitor says.

118 lbs x 0.0561 (15mph) = 6.6198

6.6198 x 60 x 3 hours = 1,191 kcals

2300 ft gained/100ft x 22 = 500 extra kcals  = 1,691 total kcals

Min – x 0.3/3 = 170kcals/hour         Max – x 0.5/3 = 281kals/hour

I went with about 200kcals/hour to try to match, which seems about right.  I think they multiplied the total by .3 or .5 because of actual absorption of what’s expended?

Let’s see if I matched this . . . 

• Breakfast: big bowl of cereal, 1/2 banana, 10oz H20 – 500 kcals
• On the Ride:
• luna moons – 100 kcals
• Power Bar Energy Chews – 300 kcals
• Gatorade (42oz I think) – 180 kcals
• 1 L of H20
• Post Ride:
• Smoothie – milk, 1/2 banana, strawberries, blueberries, scoop whey protein, honey, chia seeds, flax, wheat germ, peanut butter – 500 kcals
• leftover 1/4 omelet, hash browns and 1/4 pita – 300 kcals
• 1 L of H20
• Dinner:
• Beef and Barley Soup and cheesy bread – 650 kcals
• glass of milk and 1 TJ’s cookie – 160 kcals

total kcals for the day -  2,690 kcals  (net gain of 1,000 kcals)

I’d say I didn’t do too bad, but still 1,000 kcals net gain isn’t really enough, but I’d also say I have a few extra kcals in storage since my mom came :)  It is important for athletes and active individuals to maintain proper nutrition throughout training and off days to make up for potential losses.  I’m no athlete, but it’s just fun to try things and see.  I usually wear an old HR monitor, but I guess my data capacity was full so it didn’t even work :(  Calorie expenditure is just fascinating to me. 

This smoothie was amazing and I added a huge heaping spoonful of peanut butter so I could really taste it, yum!  Funny it’s in a beer glass :)

aaaah, cheesy toast is a great dipping vehicle for soups.  I think fontina is my favorite cheese, next to goat cheese.

Soup is great for post-workout replenishment.  It gives extra fluids, veggies, a bit more iron from the beef, fiber and carbs from the barley and even a bit more salt for electrolyte losses.

 

Do you track your calorie expenditure and how?  Hope you have a great week!  I’m counting the days till the holidays and a little winter break, woo-hoo!