Freshly yours...

Well, I've let another year slip through my fingers on this, my little blog endeavor! Few updates to share- ran another marathon, bringing my total now to four. It was a 90+ degree day in Chicago and it was highly not enjoyable or fast. Oh well. Resolving to take this year off of marathoning and instead, focus my efforts towards another goal - getting my nutritionist certification! Yay! I have my textbooks and am reading away, getting ready for my exam. I am learning so much, and am absolutely enthralled with it all. I also fortunately am now in a job that values this kind of knowledge, so they have ever so generously covered my certification expenses and are patiently awaiting my becoming official. Said job also revolves largely around food accounts and new food product innovation AND provides great work/life balance, which my previous job so sorely lacked, so needless to say, I am in HEAVEN! Working with food, having time to make food on my own, and not having every Friday night meal revolve around a perfect balance of carbs and protein in order to fuel a multi-hour 5 am Saturday run. Life is good.

I have also been helping to plan and lead a Food Revolution month at work, so I got to bring in speakers from all over to talk about the issues in the food industry, the merits and drawbacks of things like GMOs and organics, how to eat seasonally, locally, sustainably...all kinds of fun stuff. So perhaps I'll also share some of the newsletters I wrote over the past month for ya'll's reading pleasure.

For starters though, if you haven't read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, go, now (well, not exactly now, but REALLY soon) to your local bookstore or fav online literature merchant and get a copy. This book changed my life. It might take you a chapter or two to get fully absorbed, I'll admit, it took me about four tries over a year to finally get fully immersed, but persevere - it's worth it. Having this foundation in knowledge about how our diets have changed and what we need to do to be our healthiest is sooooo goooooood.

Because of it, I am eating lots less meat (and lots more veggies) - and not missing it! In this and future posts, I will share some of my favorite veg recipes where, I promise, even the most angus-loving amongst you will enjoy the fresh flavors and not feel deprived! I have also joined a CSA again this year (new farm, promises to be much better than 2009's not-so-awesome CSA experience), so I'm sure once that starts in another month or so, it will get my culinary creative juices flowing, as well. Stay tuned...

So, I'm BACK, and ready to share lots of healthy stuff that I'm learning and cooking!

Here's one for starters - cheers!

Lentil and Chickpea salad (courtesy of Health magazine. This and Eating Well are my mainstays these days - reeeally great recipes!)

Heat 1 T of olive oil in a large skillet. Add 2 chopped yellow onions and saute until soft. Add 3 minced garlic cloves (I am now using the jarred kind and thank higher powers every day for this time saver, what was I thinking with that papery clove mess before?) and saute a couple more mins. Then add 6-8 swiss chard leaves, julienned - skip the stems, and saute until tender, a few more minutes. Add 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained, then mix in 1 T pomegranate molasses, (can find this at WholeFoods if you must, which I despise, see Monday Night Salmon, but more on that some other time), 1 T lemon juice or white wine vinegar, 2 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Bring 6 C of water to a boil and add 3/4 C petite green lentils (oooo I love these...). Simmer 15-20 mins, until tender but not mushy. Add 2 t salt and let sit for 5 mins, then drain.

Mix it all together and YUM - healthy and oh-so-flavorful vegetarian dinner. I served with a small spinach and tomato salad and some Ezekiel raisin toast. Yes, I'm fully hard core and into sprouted grains now, too.

Nutritional reasons why this is good - lentils and chickpeas are fantastic sources of vegetable protein. There is no saturated fat, and lots of good dark greens and healthy fat. Also, makes lots so allows for a healthy lunch the next day!

Enjoy and more soon!

Experimentation

Last month, Rob and I took on a new challenge. Inspired by a friend who was doing a cleanse, we devised a little “cleanse” of our own. Ours didn’t involve cutting calories or relying on any special tonics, shakes or supplements. In fact, we could eat as much as we wanted. It was quite simple really. No meat. No dairy. No gluten. No processed or refined anything. No alcohol. And for me (though not Rob), no caffeine. We were going vegan (plus) for a week.

Why were we doing it? Good question. Mostly I think because we like a healthy challenge. We like a little bit of suffering to make us feel alive. And we were just plain curious. Lots of people swear that even if you’re not technically lactose intolerant or allergic to gluten, that they’re still tough for the body to process and can lead to myriad not-niceties, everything from bloating to acne. So, while neither of us was ever aware of any issues, we were curious to see if we felt any different after a week without.

To kick things off, I did some preparatory cooking. I made a big pot of quinoa porridge, and a big pot of my Antioxidant Bomb Vegetable Soup, (recipes coming soon) and put single servings of each in containers to bring to work. Breakfasts weren’t too bad. I wasn’t feeling very deprived as I ate my quinoa porridge, with a handful of dried fruit and soy milk. It was both filling and tasty. My morning green tea did get somewhat of a downgrade though, as I switched to a decaf green tea kombucha blend, and had to forego the generous squeeze of honey I typically use. Still, not awful.

Lunch was somewhat more challenging. I love my vegetable soup, but missed having a grainy hunk of something glutenous on the side to soak up those last drops of broth. My organic red grapes were good, but not quite as satisfying. Afternoon snacks were rather torturous. No sweets, no baked goods, no treats. Carrots and hummus.

Dinner wasn’t too bad, but definitely required some creativity. Many of the vegetarian recipes I found involved wraps or flour or eggs or yogurt, all things off limits for us. The first night I made a white bean soup with rosemary (and no parmesan, even though the recipe teasingly called for it), and served it with a salad. It was good, but given that Rob and I are both athletes accustomed to a generous intake of protein at each meal, we polished off the whole pot, meant for 4-6 people, in one sitting. The next nights included a black bean chili, vegan burgers with sweet potato fries, tempeh and vegetable stir fry and, most interestingly, a West African Groundnut Stew. I added a package of extra firm tofu for some extra protein power. It was a surprisingly delicious success!

So, overall, how did the week go? How did we feel? Did it change our lives forever? Well, by the end of the first day I was verging on a migraine. I think my daily cup of green tea left me more accustomed to caffeine than I’d realized or hoped, so I’ve since switched to decaf green tea permanently. As for everything else…well…I was kind of miserable. I really did feel deprived and sad and unsatisfied (especially in the first couple days). I could have done the vegetarian bit pretty easily, it was going without dairy and gluten that presented the true hardship. Dairy and/or gluten are in EVERYTHING. Everything good at least… But, I’m glad we did it. I’m glad that, when I wanted to throw in the towel with all of my being on the second day, we didn’t. It proved that it was possible. It made us more aware of alternate options. It broadened our vegan horizons. And at the end of the week I was feeling pretty “streamlined.”

So, what did we do to celebrate our accomplishment? We enjoyed our Valentine’s Day dinner at a fabulous local vegetarian restaurant, Leaf, and capped it off with a well deserved glass of wine.

Wider is better

Looking back, it’s no surprise to me that when I began this little endeavor last November, coming off of my third marathon, there was far more focus on cooking than running. That’s been pretty much the pattern each time I’ve done a marathon; intense, focused build up, training nose to the grindstone, eating simple but balanced carb/protein fare for a few months. Then, with the race over, a comfortable relaxation period, heavy on cooking and sparse on routine. After all, my Friday night-before-long-run meal of udon or soba noodles and a turkey burger patty didn’t leave a lot of room for creativity.

Anyway, it seems the third phase in this progression this year has turned to work, and after November I wasn’t running OR cooking (or blogging) enough! At any rate, I now find myself at the end of March, less than two weeks out from my first half marathon of the year, and with a renewed lust for mileage. Well…maybe “lust” is a little strong, but “commitment” feels about right. I’ve committed to this race, and I’m committed to not failing miserably, thus, I’ve committed myself to some mileage over the past couple months.

Unlike a marathon, in my world, a half marathon doesn’t require much training in the sense of “can I do it?”, but, while I am masochistic enough to sign up for these things, I’m not masochistic enough to want to suffer through them, so I do ramp up enough so that I can complete them comfortably and usually with some goal time in mind. This time around, I’d say I’m ready for the distance, less so for the time.

My running year got off to a bit of a rough start, hindered by my least favorite injury, iliotibial band syndrome. It’s a pain, literally. (The IT band is a thick stretch of tissue that runs down the outside of your thigh, connecting your hip to the outside of your knee. It can get tight and make things hurt anywhere in that vicinity. Yuck.) I’d had a bout of it four years ago, which landed me in five months of intense physical therapy and with some heavy duty prescription orthotics in my running shoes ever since. I’d not had a glimmer of a relapse until this year. After alternating trying to ignore it and trying to fix it myself with some of my old moves from PT with no success, I broke down and saw my Sports Med Guy. I fully expected to have to commit to months of PT or get new orthotics, or both. However, this time, a new approach.

Tim videotaped me running from all angles. He took measurements, watched in slow motion, watched the top half of my body with relation to the bottom, the hips with relation to the knees with relation to the feet with relation to the elbows and on and on… Within minutes he had a diagnosis (and solution!) and was quite excited about it. Turns out, my foot plant was quite narrow, thereby emphasizing the angle of my hips to my feet, and, as a result, putting more stress on the outside of my legs. The fix, he said, was quite simple – run wider. Umm…are we sure I can’t just put something new in my shoes, or do some exercise to fix this? Do I really have to consciously CONCENTRATE on my running form? The form I’ve had for thirteen years? Please tell me no! Yes. I had to change my running form.

The plan was simple. The first two weeks I was supposed to alternate “old” and “new” running forms evenly every thirty seconds during my runs. By the fourth week it should be more like 75% of the time in the new form, and after two months, almost exclusively new form, with just the occasional hit of the old, “to remind my body what it was like,” presumably so the difference remains clear and I don’t revert back into the old. I was skeptical and nervous, but I complied. The hardest part for me was just being cognizant of anything in particular while running. It has always been my mindless time, where I drift through passing thoughts, with the occasional glance at my (beloved) GPS watch. But no more – focus! And to my surprise and delight, it has actually worked. Like, immediately and dramatically. In fact, after a couple weeks of alternating, I was actually MORE comfortable in the new form, and found myself reverting back less and less, until I now try to do my entire run in the new form because it just feels better. It still requires concentration, but it’s feeling more and more natural by the day. Hoorah! Platte River Half Marathon, here I come… And after that, Bolder Boulder, and a handful of summer races and ultimately, this year’s premiere event, the Chicago Marathon. Eek! One at a time…

As for the cooking, I’m getting there, too. But more on that next time.

More Adventures With Bread Friend

Last night we attended a dinner gathering hosted by our friends Erica and Doug. Erica made an absolutely DIVINE Pork Posole, which, though of course I can take zero credit for, I did promptly hunt down her recipe so I can soon replicate it. It was completely awesome, fall/winter comfort food at its best. Erica served it with a yummy salad of dark greens and some corn bread, which was perfect. Our contributions to the table were a 12-pack of Pacifico, (classy I know, but hey, beer really is the best pairing with Mexican), and a seven grain bread I threw together thanks to Bread Friend. The bread smelled divine and was very good, a nice addition on the appetizer spread with butter or cheese, but it was also very dense. Yes, I know, with seven whole grains, it's gonna be dense, but I began wondering if there was some detail of working with Bread Friend I was missing, so I've done some research. Turns out, not surprisingly of course, that BF is calibrated to bake at sea level, and that the decreased air pressure up here at 5400 feet above sea level Boulder doesn't allow for enough rising during the first proofing segment of the process. To get technical, (thanks to University of Wyoming's Department of Home Economics) "when air pressure decreases (which it does, for those of us above 3000 ft), there is less resistance on water molecules, which makes water boil at a lower temperature than the typical 212 degrees F. The evaporation of water before the baked product structure is developed and set causes collapsed baked products. " This and other articles go on to suggest various solutions, including increasing the amount of salt (logic is that salt restrains the yeast somewhat and this prevents quick rising during the first proofing, which should help create properly aerated dough since the structure will be more solid and hold up through the second proofing rather than collapse) or decreasing yeast, which basically has the same effect increasing the salt. You can also decrease the sugar, which is food for the yeast, to get a similar effect, but most of the breads I'll be attempting are so low sugar anyway there's hardly anything to reduce (Mr. Seven Grain bread says "don't rob me my measly 1 T of honey!")

So, I'm going to make my seven grain again today and try the above suggestions. And given my impatience and lack of interest in true scientific process and methodical testing, I'll probably try both a little less yeast and a little more salt, just for good measure. I want results!!

And while we're on the topic of yeast, I've quickly realized that I will be graduating from buying the little individual packets of yeast to buying the jar. Silly as it may sound, this is a very exciting prospect for me, and I feel official and accomplished.

Anyway, off to my yeasty adventures, and I'll be sure to share a full report of the results!

UPDATE - Second loaf of Seven Grain and...absolutely no improvement. Sigh...if at first you don't succeed...bake more bread!

Monday Night Salmon

As I'm sure is plainly evident by my lack of posts the past two weeks, I've not been doing much running or cooking, or really much of anything other than work, including sleeping, eating or most other normal daily activities. I've been a slave to my desk, laptop and blackberry. Takeout and Rob's simply yet thoughtfully prepared meals have sustained us. But, there have been a couple nights where I get home late enough where I don't want to cook anything at all involved, but early enough that I'm not desperate and bringing home something unhealthy and of the "fast" variety. On nights like this, I turn to recipes such as what I'll call my "Monday Night Salmon." It's insanely easy, and in 15 minutes you have a healthy, highly edible fish dish.

As for my preference in salmon, I must admit that Rob and I are kind of babies when it comes to salmon selection. Yes, I know that the wild caught variety, smallest possible fish, are the healthiest, like Coho and Sockeye (lower on the food chain equals less mercury blah blah blah) and the like...but...it really tastes much fishier than the lovely, smooth Norwegian farmed variety. And Wholefoods promises me that even though it's farmed, they don't use antibiotics or any of the other nasties that typically give farmed salmon a bad rap. So, I buy the Norwegian farmed salmon and to add insult to fishy injury, get it skinned at the fish counter. I almost came to blows (not really) with the fish monger at Wholefoods once over this request because he said I was removing a lot of the healthy fat and oils that make salmon good for you in the first place. I spared him the long story of how I just really don't like the way it makes the house smell when I cook it with the skin on and stood my ground. He grudgingly did as I'd asked, but I was still annoyed. Cut me some slack here guy, we're still eating salmon, not a T-bone! I now take my skinned farmed Norwegian salmon business to King Soopers, who sells the same fish, from the same supplier for half the price as Wholefoods, and never makes me feel less virtuous for having my salmon skinned.

Anyway, I digress...

Christie's Monday Night Salmon

Salmon filets - whatever the hell kind you like, skin, no skin, wild, farmed, whatever!!!

Drizzle with soy sauce

Drizzle with fresh lime juice

Sprinkle with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and ginger to taste. Freshly grated ginger is lovely, but again, this is MONDAY night salmon, so more often than not I'm using the dried powder variety and it's just fine.

I bake this in our handy dandy "counter top oven" aka toaster oven, because, once again time (and efficiency) are paramount here, and it requires no time to get up to temperature, unlike the big oven. I even line the pan with foil so I (err, Rob, let's be honest here Christie) don't have dishes to do. So, I throw it in there for about 15 mins at 300 degrees, but you can do higher temp for less time...whatever you want to get the fish to your preferred temperature. Unless I'm at a restaurant, I don't mess with "seared" so we go for cooked all the way through, flaky when forked on this.

I have found quick cooking brown and wild rices, of which I'm a huge fan. So I'll often get that going while I prepare the salmon. Then I'll cut up a head of broccoli and microwave steam it for five minutes, and there ya go...within 20 mins we have a very passable weeknight meal! Hooray! And no I don't have a beautiful picture to add to this post because, like I said, it's for late on a Monday night and who has time to take pics in a situation like this!?

An Autumnal Feast

The day's ventures were a delicious success, and boy did the house smell good in the process. While Bread Friend finished kneading and moved on to baking my Oatmeal Anadama to a perfect caramel brown, I moved on to preparing a spicy pork, bean and beer chili. While that simmered and the bread baked, I turned my attention to the day's third project, using up the last of my farmshare produce with a winter pear and apple pie with streusel topping.

Though I am not typically (intentionally) an active participant in the slow food movement, tonight, Rob's delayed return from a football game meant my chili got a full two hours of simmering time, and I've no doubt it was a good thing. The chipotle adobo flavor permeated throughout and the pork became melt-in-your-mouth tender. YUM! I garnished it with some fresh lime juice, and served it up with a spinach salad with cranberries, walnuts, pear and herbed goat cheese, and of course, some fresh bread. It was the perfect early November dinner. Time to cap off the night with some pie...and think about tomorrow's long run!

Today's Recipe:

Pork Bean and Beer Chili (courtesy of Eating Well magazine)

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion, diced

2 bell peppers (I used one red and one orange), coarsely chopped

2 T tomato paste (I forgot this, and it was still fine)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T cumin

1 T minced chipotles in adobo sauce

1 1/2 t dried oregano

1 12oz bottle beer, preferably Mexican

2 15oz cans pinto beans, rinsed

1 14oz can plum tomatoes, chopped with juice reserved

Juice of half a lime

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over med high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Reduce heat to med and add onion and bell pepper, cooking until they begin to soften, 5-7 mins. Add tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chipotles and oregano. Cook the mixture, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 mins. Stir in beer, deglazing pan. Simmer 2 mins. Stir in beans, tomatoes with juice and pork, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, at least 30 mins or until pork is tender. Add lime juice before serving. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

My New Bread Friend

When Rob and I got engaged nearly three and a half years ago and I was starting to piece together our gift registries, my mom casually suggested I include a breadmaker. I'd never given it much thought, but the vision (what's the future verb of to smell?) of fresh homemade bread seemed like a good idea, so I researched a few different machines and added the Breadman Deluxe to our list. Fast forward to...well...three and a half years later, and today I've finally opened the box of our fancy Breadman! To whomever gave us this lovely gift - apologies I was a little (lot) slow to get started. It's been a busy few years!

Anyway, in addition to being slow to open the box, I also realize I'm about fifteen years late on the whole breadmaker trend in general...especially since now all the of-the-moment folks are going gluten-free. But, back to the running - I'm not afraid of carbs!

And so on to my first go with my new Bread Friend, as I think I'll call her, since I can promise you there are no male bread creators in my kitchen, Anadama Oatmeal Bread. I gathered all my ingredients and carefully followed the instructions, liquids first, dries, yeast last, and whatever you do, don't let the yeast mix with the salt! Check. It took me no more than thirty seconds to figure out BF's computerized display panel, which is pretty good considering she has thirteen different bread settings, plus makes pasta dough and jam, and has various options for different loaf sizes and crust preferences. With a deft poke of her green start button she immediately started humming and mixing. I'm already enthralled! How did she so thoroughly combine all the ingredients, not even leaving a trace of unmixed flour on the side of the pan with just a two inch mixer paddle in the bottom!? Amazing! Her timer tells me it'll be over three hours until my Anadama is done, (but fear not, she does have a 56 min ultra fast wheat option, should I ever be in a pinch for homemade bread in a hurry) and I suspect I may be glued to her viewing window for much of that time. Time to let the dough rise...and for me to attend to the rest of my autumnal supper menu!