first time for . . . running?

I would consider myself a pretty active person.  On most weeks I get to the gym about 4 times and then try to fit in an outdoor weekend activity, which is usually cycling or more gym time.  Lately this exercise schedule has been thrown out the window with the end of the semester approaching fast.  Now I’m getting to the gym 2, maybe 3 times per week if I’m lucky?  Fitness is a huge part of my life and it just makes me feel better too, so I’ve been a bit blah not being able to get that time in.  Weekends have actually been my saving grace because I’m still able to fit in something, and this past weekend I tried my hand at running!

I know that I am an anomaly in the blog world since I don’t run, and so many of you are awesome runners!  I really have been wanting to try my hand at a sprint triathlon sometime in the future, so I figured I better start training now for next season’s races!  Honestly I can say that I’ve never just gone for a run for the fun of it.  I’ve had to run a bit for dance team in college and we had to run up and down the bleachers of the football stadium, but that’s about it.  I’ve never really liked running because it is very repetitive and gets old on a treadmill to me, but running outside is so much better! 

On Sunday I met Kristen at 7am at a local running store and we went for a chilly 5 miles with a couple short walking breaks in between.  Honestly, aerobically I felt great, like I could keep going (we were taking it easy which was good).  My body didn’t feel too bad afterwards, and right when I got home I fueled with a nice smoothie and handful of pistachios.  As the day wore on though, my joints were not liking me at all.  Right below and to the outside of my knee was hurting like a mother and I could tell my IT band was not right.  I could barely make it up the stairs.  Darn it all, I just want to be a runner!  I can cycle 50 miles, dance for hours and jump around for kickbox, but running is just different.  I think it is the repetitive motions.  I took some Aleve, and finally tonight it’s starting to feel a bit better, but I’m hoping that with time and gradual training my body won’t hurt as much . . . right???  (reassurance please!)  I may have to have someone look at my form and see if it’s off. 

I am sure wanting one of these right now to track my training and practically run and cycle for me! lol 

The rest of the weekend was spent in the library and working on presentations, so I won’t go into detail.  I’m still working on my last proposal, and hope to start actually writing it tonight.  My goal is to have it all done before Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the holiday.

I had a request from Amanda to recap the sweet tater lasagna I recently posted :)  This was a small version since I was using random leftovers, but you can always make more and have more layers!

• 2-3 cups pasta sauce
• 4 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 2 cups ricotta with Italian seasoning, garlic powder & fresh basil
• 2 small sweet potatoes (yams) sliced very thin
• sautéed mushrooms, along with a roux added (1 cup NF milk and 1 tbsp flour) and a bit of pasta sauce
• Any kind of cheese for topping:  mozzarella, parmesan, etc.

Layer everything in the pan, alternating, and cover it with foil so the sweet potatoes will cook.  Bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes then un-cover, top with cheese and bake till golden. 

I loved all your pistachio ideas and links, thank you!!!  With an overwhelming majority, most of you want some pistachio ice cream, and boy that doesn’t sound like a bad idea if I do say so myself :)  Plus I have a couple vanilla beans screaming to be used in ice cream!  Even though it’s getting pretty chilly outside, I always enjoy some of that.

Speaking of pistachios, here’s another quick and easy way to use them . . .

Coconut-Pistachio Crusted Chicken 

(measurements are approximate)

• cup pistachios
• 1/2 cup shredded plain coconut
• 1/3 cup parmesan
• all-purpose seasoning (mrs. dash) 
• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup egg white
• 1 tbsp honey

Pre-heat oven to 425.  Pour the pistachios, coconut, parmesan and seasoning in a food processor and pulse until fine; place in a shallow dish.  Pour the egg and honey in another shallow dish.  Cut chicken lengthwise to make them thin, or you can pound it.  Dip chicken in egg white mixture, then coconut mixture and place on a wire rack in a sheet pan.  Drizzle chicken with a little olive oil.

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.  So amazing!

 

They are also great chopped on top of a big salad!  I’ve been eating a quite a few pistachios lately.

Are you a runner?  How did you get started?  Any tips?  And if not a runner, how did you get started in your hobby of choice?

Hope your week got off to a good start :) 

     

seeing green

Well, I really wish I could tell you it’s lots of money, but alas it’s PISTACHIOS, lots and lots of pistachios!  If you follow me on twitter, I won a contest from @thegreennut for a years worth of pistachios plus a subscription to Prevention magazine.  I was so excited because I rarely win anything!  I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was thinking that maybe I would get a bag every month, or little bags so I could do a giveaway.  I was so shocked when I opened the door to find a giant box full of pistachios!  Thank you!

I guess this would be a years worth!  wow, I couldn’t get over it and I don’t think I’ve seen that many nuts in my entire life.  Right now I have 3 gallon bags in the freezer, 2 bags in the fridge, 1 in the pantry and 5 sandwich bags full of them.

Do you have any good pistachio recipes??  One that I have to try to make is baklava.  Anyone ever try to make pistachio butter?  hmmm so many possibilities!

Here are some cool facts on pistachios:

• One serving of pistachios is 49 nuts (160 kcals), more than any other tree nut
• Pistachios are high in phytosterols which may lower cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of heart disease. In animal studies phytosterols have been shown to potentially have anti-cancer properties
• One serving of pistachios has as much potassium (300mg, 8%) as an orange (250mg, 7%)
• Just a single serving of pistachios provides you with the same amount of protein in a one-ounce serving of soybeans and can serve as a protein alternative to meat, poultry or beans according to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid
• Forty-nine pistachios serve up to 20 percent of your Daily Value of B₆, about the same as half an avocado

Check out their website, they have lots of yummy looking recipes that I want to try too.

Since I had the day off today (glorious!), I got caught up on some school work.  I finished a lit review and presentation for sports nutrition, although I didn’t make too much progress on my proposal and presentation for research methods :(  the day just flew by too darn fast!

I also treated myself to a little house cleaning since it was in desperate need, and did a little baking :)  Could this have been the reason my day flashed before my eyes?? . . . nah  I blame it on taking Chris out to lunch at BJ’s since he had to work :)

Morning eats started with pistachio date oats.  I can’t get over dates in oatmeal!  It makes it taste like caramel-y heaven, and the pistachios give a nice contrasting crunch.

For a snack I had 1/2 of the Clif Spiced Pumpkin Pie Bar.  I didn’t really like this flavor, and I will not be getting this one again.  It didn’t have any cinnamon in it and had a strange ‘fish-like’ taste to me?  Weird.  I would much prefer making these bars from Dan which are soo much better. 

I tried a new spice today called cardamom in Cardamom Banana Bread with Pistachios from CookingLight.  It’s a very interesting spice, aromatic and warm, but with a licorice type flavor.  I can’t quite put my finger on the taste?  I guess I just have to keep tasting! 

I used 1/2 whole wheat & 1/2 AP flour.  I reduced the butter by 1 tbsp, doubled the cardamom and added a bit of cinnamon and some dates.  It turned out nice and Chris is very fond of the quick breads. 

Dinner consisted of a bunch of leftover items in the fridge that I needed to use or risk wastage.  I enjoy trying to make things from random ingredients because I hate wasting. 

I made a mix of roasted goodness (sweet potato, apple, brussels sprouts, and apple chicken sausage) with a maple glaze . . .

And a little lasagna with some leftover homemade pasta sauce, and some sweet potatoes, oyster mushrooms and thai basil I got from the farmer’s market.  It actually worked and tasted pretty darn good!

 

Hope you are having a fantastic week so far!  I am so looking forward to the holidays and a little break, just have to get through.  I also want to say Happy Veteran’s Day, so thankful for those who dedicate their lives for our protection. 

What’s your favorite way to use pistachios? 

        

 

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?