thoughtsday :: 3.21.13

1. Homemade salad dressing is the BOMB! Last night, I mixed a zesty concoction of Siracha, BBQ sauce, and apple cider vinegar up and poured it over roasted sweet potatoes, beets, cilantro, sunflower seeds, butter lettuce, nutritional yeast, and broccoli. My taste buds were siiiiinging.

Here are some other salad dressings I've got my sights on:

Ginger Orange Dressing

Fig Balsamic Dressing

Lemon Sesame Dressing

2. Laughing so hard it can be considered my ab workout. Note that I said "my," because my abs are weak as sin.

These will do the trick.  Some of these will work, too.

3.Feedly, my new bloggy assistant. I realize I was a little dramatic when I found out that Google Reader was done for. I love the simplicity of it, and the fact that it's directly attached to my Gmail account. But then, there were some recommendations for Feedly (thanks, Kim!) and I think my heart has been revived. I've only been using it the past 24 hours, but thus far it's easy to tell that Feedly is sleek, user-friendly and -the best part- snatched all my Reader subscriptions over to it, including all my "starred" posts. I'm excited to go in and create new categories for the sites I follow, which is something Reader wasn't capable of. Ohhh snap, Reader.


Tell me about what's going on in your head these days!

what I ate wednesday :: 3.20.13

Here we go again! I had such a great time partying with Jen last week, I had to come back for more. Since last week I showed you what I ate on a day that I wasn't running, I figured I should probably show what a day of eats looks like when there's some exercise involved.

This was Monday's food selection, which was also the day after I ran 20 miles in a weekend and had to run another 6 miles later on that night. Appetite = raging.

Breakfast :: 6:30am
Bowl o' oatmeal and a sliced apple for dipping purposes. With a large cup of the best tea in the world.

Morning Snack :: 9:00am & Afternoon Snack :: 3:00pm
A fruit and nut energy bar.

Lunch :: 11:30am
A salad monster, complete with some chickpea salad, an apple, nutritional yeast, and ginger dressing.

Dinner :: 6:00pm
Veggie red curry with cauliflower rice. ("Rice"=I cut the cauliflower into florets, pulverized it in the food processor, then steamed it.) For consisting of mainly veggies, this was incredibly filling and lasted me a solid 12 hours until breakfast the next morning.

What is a fruit that you could eat every day until you die and never get sick of?

Are you a fan of Thai food? What's your g-to dish?

Hanson Brothers Marathon Training :: Monday marathoning :: 3.18.13

That's a wrap for week 7! I feel pretty good today, despite running my first 14-miler in a few months on Saturday. Contrary to the picture below when it hailed on me, we've had gorgeous weather the past few days, which is nice and spirit-lifting.

Here's what went down:

Monday: 6 miles, 8:38 pace.
Tuesday: Speed work on the treadmill! 1 mile w/u, six 800's with one lap jog between each, 1 mile c/d.
Thursday: 7 miles at marathon pace; I averaged 7:56/mile.
Friday: 5.25 miles, 8:34 pace.
Saturday: 14 miles, 8:14 pace.
Sunday: 6.16 miles, 8:39 pace.

 Here's what to expect this week:

I've realized that tiredness has been weighing me down this past week, which I think means I need to drink more water. This may or may not be due to the fact that I don't drink water. (Intelligent, thought-provoking conclusion, no?) It's flavorless, it makes me burp (anyone else with me on that?) and unless I'm really craving it or trying to balance out my wine consumption, I would really rather care about not drinking it.  

Too bad there's this nasty rumor going around that apparently I need to drink water to remain healthy.

Too bad that's not even a rumor and it's totally true.

Too bad my bad self is going suck it up and buckle down with the H20 this week. 

Wish me luck! How do you get your water in throughout the day?

weekend happenings :: 3.17.13

Friday night Homemade Happy Hour, which was my friends and mine attempt at greatly partaking in Happy Hour while walking away not fretting about how much you really did not need that second hummus platter or glass of Riesling.

Guess what? It was a success! Not so much of a surprise when you get 3 girls together that can chat the roof off any old place while partaking in snackage and vino. We went the healthy route (and failed to plan ahead and do a St. Patty's Day theme) and had homemade red pepper hummus, veggie and bread dippers, a sampling of TJ's dark chocolate, and 2 bottles of wine. I foresee the future success rate for such an activity being 100%.

For future reference, the winner for "Best Taste" went to the Swiss 72% Dark (middle, neon green). This was the only one that had Madagascar Vanilla in it, and twas bomb. The "Best Nutrients but Has Weirdest Coffee Taste" went to the Organic 73% Dark Chocolate (left purple). It was a bit thicker, had less calories and fat, and had a strong coffee taste to it. Unless you have wine that you can swish around after each bite, it might only be good for one square. The Fair Trade Belgian was a little insignificant, and just tasted deliciously dark.

Saturday morning = long run biznass: 14 miles, 1 Vanilla GU, and 0 raindrops.

Saturday afternoon = party hopping: Scott had his aunt's 90th birthday, which was briefly followed by our niece's 5th birthday party, which was followed by dinner at a friend's new house. Like the alert documentor I am, I didn't take any pics of any of these events, but I do have these important three things to share:

1. My sister-in-law will be making all of my children's sweet treats for any of their celebrations. Hers looked a little like this:

2. Portobello mushrooms are really tasty when they're sauteed and stuffed in tacos - even meat-lovers love 'em. How have I not tried this?

3. "Card Against Humanity" is the worst and best game ever. It's R-rated, so be careful.


Sunday for St. Patrick: Included church, errands, and some greenish soup. I use this recipe all the time (seriously, it's SO good) but just use whatever veggies I have in the fridge so it changes weekly. Tonight featured sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and broccoli.

Who ran a St. Patrick's Day race? How did you do? I saw so many fun race pics on Instagram (Instaddicting!) - I'll have to jump in and partake next year.

Did you have any green eats? Beer totally counts.

thoughtsday :: 3.14.13

1. R.I.P. Google Reader...if this is true, then R.I.P. Brittani's beloved morning ritual.

and there goes my morning ritual. (Did anyone else take Philosophy in college, or did that just sound like the Pope speaking Latin to you?) I have until July to cherish my beloved RSS feed, and then all my bloggy updates will need to fit into a new home. Any suggestions?

2. Cracked, dry, and irresponsible broken fingernails. Thanks for that, winter. Hardly any snow you gave us, yet your chill is still managing to ruin my nails. I've been using this Sally Hansen business for probably, oh, 3 months, and not much as changed. I don't like it a bit, but I suppose there are worse things, like getting my head chopped off or running out of chocolate. So yeah, brittle nails aren't the absolute nightmare I originally thought when writing this.

3.Homie Homey Happy Hour: That is, a happy hour served at a friend's home. That is going down tomorrow evening, and I'm so ready. This is the first time we've done this, but I think it's going to be a hit. My girlfraaaands and I figured out that this could be the magical way to maintain happiness while still budgeting monies.

On the menu for tomorrow: wine, chocolate, fruit, dips, dippables, and wine.

What do you and your friends typically do for fun?

How do you keep track of blog updates?

Any ideas on how to manage bad nails?

what I ate wednesday :: 3.13.13

Welcome to the first edition of "what I ate Wednesday"! (AKA "I will be that awkward girl that takes pictures of every morsel of food that passes her lips.") While I truly did feel ridiculous being caught taking a photo of my chai tea by "Pest Man in the Truck" today, I am happy to jump on board with this series.

Looking at, reading about, and eating food is a dear hobby of mine, so naturally I love to see what others are chowing down on around different parts this wild world. I've found some great ideas and inspiration checking others' eats, so why wouldn't I join in on the fun?

Here is a Tuesday's day of food stuffs, which is slightly different than normal. Typically, Tuesdays are my speed workout days when I run an average of 7 miles and have a beast of an appetite. Today, however, involved a lot of "taking care of business" items (the joy!) so running will resume on track (ooo, see what I did there?) today.

Also, I got to eat all 3 meals at home, which is highly unusual. Every other day lunch is sloppily shoved into my mouth at rocket pace, but today I was able to take a nice little lunch break at home. That's a win!

Breakfast :: 6:30am
The last Saturday morning waffle, complete with peanut butter, banana, a syrup smidge and tea.

Morning snack :: 9:45am
Chai tea made with water. I finally told myself I need to budget my barista-made coffee/tea and now limit my addiction to $20/month...umm, it's been ridiculously easy. This was my first one for March - $17.25 of addiction-feeding left!

 Lunch :: 12:00pm
Salad mania, with the contents being: romaine, roasted broccoli stalks, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted chickpeas, vegan parmesan cheese (nutritional yeast/almond mix), craisins, and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Apple with cinnamon and a large H20 on the side.

 Afternoon snack:: 2:30pm
One of these delicious buggers.

 Supper :: 6:00pm
Oh whatdoyaknow, another salad monster for the salad monster. This one starred romaine, stir-fried eggplant skins (no, I don't throw any plant article out) with carrots and garlic, roasted chickpeas, vegan parmesan cheese, craisins, sunflower seeds, homemade zucchini relish (thank, Mom!), oregano, cilantro and a artichoke/balsamic vinaigrette. And a tall drink of water (no, it was not Ryan Gosling. He remains in my dreams.)

 Evening Snack :: 8:00pm
The "Life-Changing Bread" from My New Roots. Life = changed.

Thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for the hosting of this faaaabulous series!

Do you ever find yourself craving salad? It's off and on for me, but obviously today that craving was turned UP.

Are you a 3-meal or 5-meal a day kind of person?

Hanson Brothers Marathon Training :: Monday Marathoning 3.11.13

That's a wrap for week 6.While my legs are constantly tired, with the exception of the day after my rest day, I feel like I'm getting stronger and and my endurance is building. My mentality has also gained some strength, as it is not the least bit easy to go out for a run with legs that feel like lead. Good thing they warm up after the first mile or so - that combined with a little mix of self-talk and thoughts of a snack attack afterwards make runs go by pretty speedy.

Here's what went down:

Monday: 6 miles, 8:39 pace.
Tuesday: Speed work on the treadmill! 1 mile w/u, six 800's with one lap jog between each, 1 mile c/d.
Thursday: 7 miles at marathon pace; I averaged 7:49/mile.
 Friday: 5.83 miles, 8:22 pace.
Saturday: My watch decided it no longer wanted to work halfway through my 10-miler, so according to technology I averaged 16 minutes/mile. How humbling.
Sunday: 8 miles, 8:36 pace.

 Here's what to expect this week:

How do you mentally prepare for long runs and/or motivate yourself on tough runs?

weekend happenings :: 3.10.13

Saturday morning waffles! I snatched my parents waffle maker straight away from them in order to satisfy a deep, ceaseless craving for waffles. There's something so unique about them that sets them apart from pancakes - you gotta love the melting "butter" in those little holes. Oh, and don't even get my started on the fruit/syrup combo.

Saturday run, read, and SUN! The Pacific Northwest got a little taste of spring, which I feel guilty for mentioning when so much of the country is still covered in, what is that called again? Oh, SNOW. I'm sorry, guys. Unless you're enjoying it, then AWESOME!


After my 10-miler, Scott and I took a nice long road trip on some Northwest backroads that we haven't driven down in years. It's easy to forget about all the pretty we're lucky enough to be surrounded by, and MAN, it was a great day for exploring.

I was, to say the least, STOKED that our little trip ended up at our favorite Thai restaurant, Sawatdy in Bainbridge Island.  100% unplanned, 100% devoured.

Good thing the library has extended checkout. This might take me until November.

Scenes from Manette bridge.

Seattle, Mount Rainier, and beyond.

Sunday as a down day. It went church, visiting family, prepping food for the week, an 8 mile (back to the rain) run, and dinner. However, dinner's big find was vegan parmesan cheese! Behold the glory:

Chyeah. Tell me about it. I used it to top our veggie lasagna, which is cooling from the oven as I type. I just blended whole almonds, cashews, and nutritional yeast until it got to be the right texture. (Here's a similar recipe to what I used.)I didn't measure anything out, just added more nuts if it wasn't as crumbly as I wanted it to be. I'm thinking it will also be a great substitute for bread crumbs, since we're all gluten-free like that.

What wild adventures did you partake in this weekend? Keep in mind, "wild" is all your perspective. Did you read a whole book? I love how crazy you are! ;)

thoughtsday :: 3.7.13

oh HEY! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week thus far. I'm currently sitting in my pajamas at 6:08pm and it's still light outside, which has me a little thrown off. It feels like the days were 8 hours long yesterday, when it was perfectly normal to start getting ready for bed at 5:30. Now I feel like a lazy scrub making dinner in flannel pants...a feeling that obviously doesn't affect me too terribly, since there are no intentions of changing.

If you need more riveting tidbits from my brain, here we go:

1. Commuting. I was a 3.5 hour a day commuter for 3 years until last August, and while it didn't feel too awful at the time, I had to do it again yesterday and almost scratched my eyeballs out. While 80% of the time I would say I really enjoyed my job, it got to the point where it was no longer compensating for the time I spent riding a ferry to and from work. Lindsey had a good post discussing a similar topic, and I was definitely on the "living to work" end of things for awhile. Fast forward to now, where I (mostly) make my own schedule with an organization 5 miles from home. Pure bliss, I tell ya.

 

 

 

Not a terrible commute...for one day.

2. Speed workouts. After five weeks of completing my speed workouts on a track, I realized that the treadmill is a sweet way to crank 'em out. While the track is a predictable, flat and distance-accurate place to get a speed workout in, I think it triggers a sort of "inadequacy" feeling for me. Despite frantically checking my speed every 2 seconds, I always feel like I'm not going fast enough and not getting the workout in like I should be. However, when I run on the treadmill, I feel like I'm hoofing it 80 miles per hour, which makes me feel pretty badass. I always know I'm going the speed I want, because I'm forced to. Magic!

Mom, there's a glimmering monster in your basement.

3. Bangin' vegan foodstuffs. I don't know how I can ever have kids, since I focus the majority of my energy at home researching, preparing and cleaning up meals. I feel like I've learned so much these past few months on how to live a quality, healthy vegan lifestyle that it completely both overwhelms and excites me.

Here are a couple links to recipes we've enjoyed this week:

Pasta Salad with Creamy Sundried Tomato Sauce (I suggest cooking the red onions, which the recipe doesn't say to do. I didn't, which was a mistake.)

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches (We eaten this on bread, apples, and spoons. It's pretty versatile.)

Did you test out any great recipes this week that you want to share?

What's your work commute like?

the "life changing loaf of bread" (vegan | gluten-free)

The second I saw a photo of this bread, I knew I had to have it. It's packed with all things nutritious and makes you feel like you just consumed a balanced meal after a slice - not because you're stuffed full, but because it has it all!

Carbs? Check.

Protein? Check.

Healthy fats? Check.

Throw in some veggies and fruit and you have yourself a well-rounded, make-Grandma-proud-meal.

I used whole almonds, which I thought would be difficult to slice, but I was wrong. The oven crisped them up perfectly, so they are quite forgiving when a knife comes their way. The flax seeds got slightly crispy around the sides, and added a nice nutty flavor.

This bread is damn good when it popped into the toasted and slathered in Earth Balance and some jam. This decision created some internal conflict since peanut butter is my go-to spread, but I realized that since the bread is already chock-full of nuts I should really take a sweeter route. Best/worst decision because now I can't be stopped.

 

I first mentioned this bread at the end of last weekend, because it was all I could really think about eating whenever I got hungry. I even made it a home by permanently leaving out a cutting board, serrated knife, and small plate for prepping purposes. The toaster also started to live on the counter, when it's typically stored in the cupboard.

Lastly, I was a little hesitant to pop it out of the pan and straight onto the rack, as instructed after you first bake it for 20 minutes. Don't be scared. I didn't oil my pan first, so I took it out of the oven and ran a butter knife around the edges to loosen it up. That did the trick, and it came right out. I'm so glad too, because it resulted in a crunchy outside texture all around the bread - looove it.

Sarah's Life Changing Loaf of Bread
makes one loaf

You will need:

1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup  flax seeds
½ cup hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
1 ½ cups water

 How you do:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients, from the sunflower seeds to the salt, in your loaf pan and stir well to thoroughly combine.

2. In a measuring cup, whisk together the maple syrup, coconut oil and water. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick. You might need to ad a tablespoon or two of water to make it less thick. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.

3. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours.


4. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.

5. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).

Hanson Brothers Marathon Training :: Monday Marathoning 3.4.13

That's a wrap for week 5. I feel pretty god coming out of it, although I am feeling a little more tired and sluggish than I remember being that last few weeks. I know that's expected, though, and what this plan is all about - teaching your body to run on tired legs.

And whew, these legs are tuckered. I went to bed at the ripe time of 8:30pm last night, and woke up feeling lovely. It's amazing how easy it is to listen to our bodies when they tell us what they want goshdarnit. Along the same lines as this, my appetite has also been raging lately, which has been fun. Lots of snacking, which is what, one of the 10 best things in life?

I've worn my new Brooks Ghost 5's the past 5 runs, and they've been great. I can tell I'm getting a blister on my left foot, but that's to be expected when breaking in new shoes. I love how comfortable they are, and that they're snug on my foot while letting my toes breath. I'll be sure to write about any problems I encounter, but for now I love them!

Monday: 8 miles at 8:04 pace.
Tuesday: Track time! 1.5 miles w/u, five 800's with one lap jog between each, 1 mile c/d.
Thursday: 6 miles at marathon pace; I averaged 8:05/mile.
 Friday: 6.16 miles, 9:08 pace. I beat my previous 1KM and 1 mile time on this one, which I wasn't expecting since this was a way slower pace that I've previously done.
Saturday: 7.51 miles, 8:33 pace.
Sunday: 11 miles, 8:37 pace.

 Here's what to expect this week:

What time do you typically hit the hay? I'm a 9:30-10 girl

weekend happenings :: 3.3.13

Friday night birthday shindig for my wild friend Amanda:

Saturday, LAZY day:
These pancakes were SO good.  I followed this recipe to the T and was definitely happy with how they turned out. I microwaved frozen strawberries and mashed them up to make sauce for a topping, along with peanut butter and syrup.

Yeah, this bread turned out phenomenal as well. I swear, I will be making this once a week. I just need to invest in more psyllium seed husks. I will have to do a full recipe post later this week that directs all attention to this bread.

Love me some bulk bin goodies. We needed a good stock-up.

SUNday, long run + bake grapefruit bars FAIL day:

Oh, Bremerton. You're no Bali, but you sure work with what you've got. This was how my entire 11 mile run was today, and there was nay a complaint from me.

See what I mean by FAIL? This is that. I found an awesome recipe for vegan lemon bars, which I adapted to accommodate my never-ending grapefruit supply, and then whoops. Burn city. Good thing we have two spoons for the husby and I to get down on the gooey center as a Sunday night treat.

Are you more of a sweet or savory breakfast person?

What was your most recent kitchen fail?

fruit & nut energy bars (vegan | gluten-free)

I couldn't NOT post this recipe for you guys, because I've been living off these for the past week. They're vegan and gluten-free, have some serious staying power, and best of all they're delicious.

After they set in the fridge, I popped them into a baggie and stored them in the fridge for easy access. Whenever Scott or I need a quick snack, there they are. I also ate them after dinner one night with a huge glass of orange juice, and called it dessert. Who have I become?

You can use any mix of fried fruits and nuts for  these, just make sure to chop them up nice and small. The original recipe called for honey (not vegan) and barley malt syrup (what the heck is that?), so I subbed that out with a combination of molasses and maple syrup.

Fruit & Nut Energy Bars
adapted from Jean Enersen
makes one 9x11 pan

Ingredients
2 cups oats (ensure they're certified gluten-free if necessary)
1 cup nuts (I used cashews and almonds)
1 T cinnamon
1 cup dried fruit (I used prunes, apricots and cranberries)

1/3 cup  maple syrup
1/4 cup  molasses
1 cup peanut butter
2 T oil
1/2 t  sea salt

To do
1. Toast the oats and nuts in a baking pan for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

2. While oats and nuts are roasting, combine all wet ingredients and salt in a sauce pan on medium to low heat on the stove and stir until well blended about 10 minutes.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped fruit, cinnamon, toasted oats and nuts, and the liquid and thoroughly combine.



4. Transfer mixture to a 9x11 baking pan and push down evenly with your hands. Pop into the fridge for at least 2 hours, then cut into squares.

thoughtsday :: 3.1.13

This post was supposed to go up yesterday, on regularly scheduled "Thursday Thoughtsday," but I must have partied too hard at February 2013's goodbye party. This means I worked until 6, came home, and was promptly hinted at that we should take a trip to my parents to soak in their hot tub. After sitting in hot water for 45 minutes following a glass of vino and a long day of work does not a good Thoughtsday post come about. (No, I still haven't mastered the art of scheduled posts. That will comes with time...I have hopes.)

Onto those thoughts I promised...

1. Brooks Ghost 5: meet my newest running shoes. I sucked it up and went out to Poulsbo Runners yesterday, with my $30 gift certificate in hand from my 3rd place spot in the Poulsbo marathon. I tried on these and the Mizuno Waveriders, and took them for a couple spins around the block. While both are extremely comfortable and fit my feet well, the Mizunos felt like they were slipping around my heel, which happened even when I tried on a smaller size.

out with the old - New Balances :: in with the new - Brooks Ghost 5

2. Spring! The fact that March has arrived has to mean that the promise of the next season is right around the corner...riiiiight? I actually saw tulips I had planted in the Fall coming out of the ground yesterday, and was stoked. It's weird - you plant something and don't really think it will come to fruition, but lo and behold, there they were. My husband was all "what are these? They must be weeds, and they shall be slaughtered" (or something to that effect) and I was like "NO!! Those are my baaaabies." Crisis averted.

Yeah, they're hard to see. You wonder why Scott thought they were weeds...

3. Birthdays! I get to celebrate one of my best's tonight. There will undoubtedly be food and libations. I can hardly wait.

How long does it typically take you to break in a new pair of shoes?

Are you a big fan of celebrating your birthday, or do you opt for a more low-key day?