Fuel for the Road

The amount of money I spent last year on "exercise nutrition" is ridiculous.  Gels.  Clif bars.  Hornet juice.  Gatorade.  At $1 a pop for most of these (and that's when you buy in bulk on the internet.....) a long run costs me $5-7 in Gu and Gatorade, and a long ride can be $10-15.

And let's be honest - most of it tastes like....  well, not very good.  

At about mile 80 of the Ironman, I reached the point where any packet of gel made me want to vomit.  I couldn't stomach Powerade anymore.  All I wanted was real food,  which they didn't have in the ride, so I ended up not fueling properly and getting severely dehydrated.  I survived the marathon on chicken broth and potato chips, and had an IV in my arm minutes after crossing the finish.

I couldn't even look at Gu for months without feeling sick.  To this day I can't even smell blueberry pomegranate, which they served on the course.

Since then I have discovered that real food not only tastes a lot better, it also is radically less expensive.  I still use Gatorade for the electrolytes, but I've stopped with the rest of it for the most part. My favorite long ride snacks at the moment -  

1.  Jelly beans

2.  Gum drops

3.  My own trail mix made of Teddy Grahams, almonds, and dried cranberries.

4.  Candy corn (I pretty much fueled all my October long runs with these.)

5.  7-11 Slurpees

For added electrolytes I will sometimes pop Saltstick tablets with caffeine - they help me if I ever have cramping.  

Someone recently told me about a new gel made with just fruit, sugar cane syrup, and chia seeds.  I looked online and they are $50 a box, so I tried it out on my own tonight.  Here is what I used-

1.5 T of Chia Seed (105 calories)

4 T of Jam (100 calories - use the kind without corn syrup.)

1 T hot water

I put the chia seeds in the blender (dry) and puréed it for 90 seconds.  Then I added the hot water and let it sit for a couple of minutes.  Then add the jam and purée again for another 90 seconds. 

I'm not sure what the texture is of the gel out on the market, but this wasn't quite as smooth as Gu - you could still feel the chia - but I like that.  It was still pretty smooth compared to the chia and almond mike I often have for breakfast.   It tasted a lot better than Gu in my humble opinion.

This made two servings (about 100 calories each) as it was just an experiment.  Now... if I can find my gel flask.....  

Easy Balsamic Kale Side

This was super easy and a great side dish!  Our dinner was chicken piccatta (Dinner Done - I made it at the shop, but I cannot take credit for the recipe), so I did a google search for something that would compliment it.  This was my modification, using some on hand jarred ingredients and of course, my Pampered Chef microwave steamer!

Ingredients:

Bag of Kale (TJs, of course)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Put all that Kale in the steamer and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Then toss in some minced garlic (I use the Safeway variety that comes in a big plastic jar.) Stick it in the steamer and nuke it for 4 minutes.  Add another 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinigar, season with salt and pepper, and it's ready to serve!  

Our other side was sweet potato, prepared the way our neighbor Andy has gotten us hooked on.  Stick on a pan in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes, then fire it up to 425 for another 25 minutes or so.  Perfect every time.   

I'd love to say I ate this healthfully all day long.  I did pretty well before I left home -- an egg scrambled with some Laughing Cow cheese and a piece of whole wheat toast -- but sadly the end of year school stress got to me and my 8 hours at school diet consisted of a red velvet cupcake, two burritos from Taco Bell (I had forgotten my lunch in the fridge), a diet Pepsi,  and four cups of coffee to stay awake.  With cream.  

Asian Kale Salad

Yup, I'm on a Kale Role.  It supposedly is one of the healthiest things you can eat for bone density issues.  Tonight we were having a Thai dish (one I made at Dinner Done) and I used what I had on hand.

1 bag of Kale from TJs
A handful of shredded carrots (again, TJs... precut)
A couple of slices of red onion, chopped up.
1 heaping tablespoon of smooth peanut butter.
1 tablespoon of jarred chopped ginger
1 lime, juiced
Balsamic Vinegar (I just dumped in a little swish -- do this to taste, I guess.)
Soy sauce (same as above -- to taste)

I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef microwave steamer, dumped in the bag of Kale, and steamed for 3 minutes.  Then I put in the peanut butter, ginger, lime juice, vinegar, and soy sauce and microwaved for one more minute.  Then I stirred it up, and threw in the ginger and onion.  Pretty good!  Here's a photo:

On another note, I ate entirely unhealthy last week, also didn't drink much water at all, and am feeling the effects now.  Bloating, weight gain, low energy, low mood... .bad, bad me.  Time to get back on track.

Kale and Beet Salad

I have a strange obsession with beets.  They are my absolute favorite vegetable.  I'm supposed to eat more kale, so I modified a recipe I found on the food network and made this for lunch tomorrow.

I used:  A roasting pan
A big old mixing bowl

Preheat oven to 400

Ingredients -

1. BIG OLD BEETS -- The only place I can find these is at the Super H Mart.  I used two beets that were twice the size of a large apple, and cut them into bite sized chunks.
2. KALE:    From TJs, of course.  

1. 3.  Awesome Balsamic Vinegar given to me by me fabulous brother and sister in law, Kaw and Emma.  I'm sure you can find awesome balsamic vinegar in a specialty store near you -- MOM's Organic Market has some nice stuff.  

4. Olive Oil
5. Honey
6.  Couscous  (cooked according to package)
7.  Walnuts (pieces)
8.  Raisins or dried cranberries

So cut the beets and dump them in the measuring bowl.  Drizzle with 1/3 c of balsamic vinegar, 1/3 c of honey, and a 2 TB of olive oil.  Mix it up and then spread out on a roasting pan.  Roast about 15 minutes.  While this is going on, use the same mixing bowl and combine the kale (frozen or thawed, it doesn't matter) with the couscous.  Add the walnuts and raisins or cranberries.  When the beets are roasted, spoon them into the large bowl and combine everything.  Add another drizzle of the oil and balsamic.  Salt and pepper to taste.

And taste.  And taste.  Yeah, maybe I made this for my lunch tomorrow and ended up eating a second dinner in the process.  I happen to LOOOOOOOVE beets!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

I really think it would be even better with some goat cheese, but I don't have any.  The past two attempted recipes have convinced me that I need to keep frozen goat cheese on hand at all times.

Oh, and nutrition information?  I have no idea but I think everything in there is healthy, except if you consider honey or balsamic not healthy.  I don't do calories, but I do look at content.  This is pretty good content, even with the honey drizzle.

Salmon and Greens - Greek Style!

I'm trying to eat more greens, and more salmon, and this was SUPER easy and super delicious.  Most of the stuff is from TJs, and I got the idea from the cooking greens bag and improvised.  It was DELICIOUS!

Cooking tools I used:
Pampered Chef Microwave Steamer
Big old skillet with glass cover
Big old stock pot

Ingredients:
Wild Caught Salmon (3 servings)
1 onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Can of Tomato Sauce (15 oz)
Mixed Cooking Greens (16 oz - Got this bag from Trader Joe's -- it was Turnip Greens, Collards, and Spinach)
Black Olives (3 oz)
Green Olives (3 oz)
Sundried Tomatoes in Oil (2 T)
Orzo Pasta
Greek Seasoning
Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper

First, microwave the greens in the microwave steamer for 6 minutes (if you don't have a one, I'm sure you could just put them in a bowl or soemthing.)  While that is going on, sautee the onion and garlic in the skillet. Then dump in the greens, tomoato sauce, olives, sundried tomatoes, as well a some salt and pepper.  Turn it to low, and then turn on the pasta water.  While that is heating up, drizzle some olive oil on the salmon and season with Greek seasoning, salt and pepper.  Cook the pasta/ broil the fish.  This will take about 7 minutes.  Take out the fish, add a little butter, cheese and greek seasoning to the pasta.  Serve the pasta with the skillet sauce and the salmon on the side.  Parmesan cheese to top it all.

In retrospect, I'll bet feta cheese would have been even better.