And I’m back

Sorry for the long hiatus. Once I got sick I got a little off in my schedule. I’m a very habitual person and not exercising and eating oddly for almost a week threw me off my game. I’m only just finally getting back to normal.

My food photography has been pretty sporadic and I don’t actually have any pictures from yesterday or today so I’m just going to share some of the ones I’ve taken this month and you can just pretend that’s what I ate today.

Let’s start with a yummy plate of french toast-ed cinnamon raisin ezekiel english muffin. That’s quite the mouthful. I topped it with sliced pear, maple syrup and some goat feta. I love using tangy cheeses with sweet breakfast dishes, it’s such a good combo.

For lunch, lets say I had this:

I remember this meal as if it were yesterday, so close enough. A massaged kale salad with chipotle avocado, tomatoes and hemp seeds. Paired with a foodgasmic sandwich on whole wheat baguette – hummus, sliced radish, carrot, cucumber, avocado and pesto. So, so good.

And, what about dinner?

A stuffed acorn squash, perhaps. Filled with a vegan stuffing of whole wheat bread, apple, onion and cranberries. Stuffing is one of my favourite foods but I usually don’t think to make it for just a random dinner. I’m so glad that I did in this case because it was really good. I also had some spicy baked tofu with BBQ sauce for dipping.

Now back to reality -

Yesterday was a fun gym day. I was supposed to go to my weekly strength/cardio class but my favourite instructor wasn’t there and I don’t usually bother going if she isn’t teaching. Nothing against the other instructors, I just don’t usually find them as challenging and I end up regretting that I’m not off doing my own thing. So, I was left with an unplanned gym trip on my hands, my very favourite kind.

If I don’t have a set plan at the gym I just have fun with it and do whatever my heart desires. Yesterday that involved the following:

2 min on the rower (was supposed to be 5min but, being the klutz that I am, I jammed the hand grip against my knees and it hurt too much to continue).

1 min limping around in pain, deciding what to do next.

10 min on the step machine (I did the ‘aerobic intervals’ on level 10) while reading Impact’s feature on triathlon training.

5 min run around the track, gradually increasing speed to a sprint and then back down again. (~ 1km)

2 x 10 @ 12.5lb – bicep curl to shoulder press

2 x 10 @ 12.5lb – tricep extention

1 x 20 @ 12.5lb – lunges

5 min run around the track, gradually increasing speed to a sprint and then back down again. (~ 1km)

13 min on the bike (2 min spin, 1 min right leg, 1 min both legs, 1 min left leg, 1 min spin, 1 min climb, 1 min spin, 1 min right leg, 1 min both, 1 min left leg, 2 min spin). 6km total.

1 x 20 @ 12.5lb – squats and hammer curls

10 min run around the track, varying speed however I felt like (~2km)

I was a sweaty mess after this. Does anyone else sweat like gangbusters on the bike? I’m always dripping and it’s kind of gross, although also awesome.

Today I started off right with some pancakes . . . okay, not really.

But they were definitely worth sharing. I made these from a gluten-free baking mix I bought on accident but I really like it as a healthier alternative that still comes out with similar consistency and taste to classic, white flour pancakes. I made a really lovely sauce out of sauteed apple, pomegranate arils and maple syrup.

Then I half-jogged my way to yoga with 50lbs of baggage through a foot of snow, did a 90 min class, cleaned the studio (as part of my volunteer job), walked 25 min to the bus and came to work. I’m actually really exhausted now, even though it doesn’t seem like much I’m definitely feeling it. I’ve been ravenous all shift and finished my whole lunchbox before 3. I might have to scrounge up something from the dregs of the office fridge in an hour if my stomach doesn’t settle down.

Tomorrow should be pretty fun. I’m going to the gym to run, then meeting up with some friends for some swimming and then I have a family party to go to for my twin cousins’ birthday. The theme is Hollywood and I have no idea what to wear. Any ideas?

It’s an ugly day in the neighbourhood

Blah. So my words are coming back to bite me and I’m feeling a bit sick today. It’s always right after I talk about how I don’t get sick that I inevitably do.

I’m pretty sure it’s just a short bug, probably because I went from hot to cold so many times yesterday. This morning I’ve instigated my get-well routine:

- Sleep in until 9am – Check

- Shot of Wheatgrass – Check (really isn’t all that bad)

- Curled up on couch with big blanket, computer and TV – Check

- Big pot of tea (Echinacea Plus and Lemon Ginger Green Tea steeped together) – Check

I feel better already.

I’m not feeling very hungry this morning, probably because I had a huge meal last night after yoga, so for breakfast I’m just having an apple and some almond butter for now.

I may see some oats in my future, though.

I was supposed to swim and maybe bike today, not to mention soccer tonight, but I’m thinking I should just take the day off. I had a trail run planned for tomorrow that I really want to do, so I want to get better for that. I’m undecided on soccer because I think I could easily do it, but I also don’t want to spread my germs to other players. We’ll see.

Since I didn’t have time to post it yesterday I thought I’d sneak yesterday’s lunch in here, too. It was just so fun.

I’ve had a loaf of pumpernickel cocktail bread in the freezer for months and I finally decided to pull it out and make some mini sandwiches. I often say that my favourite kind of meal is a one-pot concoction of a bunch of different ingredients piled together happily, but I also have a soft spot for meals with lots of variety and snacky components.

I made three little sandwiches.

Far left: Sabra pinenut hummus, hot sauce, pickles!, meatless meatballs.

Centre: Marinara sauce, eggplant bacon, goat gouda.

Far right: Cranberry sauce, sweet potato patty.

They were all good but I think the hummus won out. I love my spicy foods.

I also had some grapes on the side.

I wanted to talk about the special yoga class I did yesterday, because it was so amazing.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it yet but I’ve always struggled a bit with yoga. Not only with the physical side but with actually buckling down and doing it with regularity. Hot yoga has been really great for me this past month because the environment is perfectly conducive to motivating me. I don’t usually deal with heat well, but in yoga it’s been indispensable in getting my muscles to relax enough to do the moves and calming my mind enough to stay focused. I’ve still been struggling with my breathing, though.

The instructor we had yesterday was the first to get me to a place where I finally understood what it meant to have your breath guide you through your practice. We did a lot of breathing exercises, which helped, including this awesome quick breathing pattern in warrior two. She also brought in a djembe (one of my favourite instruments, I’ve always had great experiences around djembe drumming) and the rhythmic sound was so helpful to me because I really respond to that kind of stimulus. We even did some Sanskrit singing while in dancer pose, which was a great way to stay balanced and focused in the pose. We also ended the class with a long floor sequence and some chanting. I love chanting and it reminded me of the days when I used to be heavily involved in meditation and studying Tibetan buddhist rituals. I spent a good, long time in Savasana and left the class feeling like butter.

I highly recommend taking a yoga class with djembe, singing, or chanting if you can find it. It was a totally different experience and really made a huge difference in experiencing the whole realm of yoga.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. I just finished my whole pot of tea while writing this, so I’m off to make more

What do you mean it’s not Sunday?

I am loving having Wednesday off in the middle of the week (It’s Remembrance Day in Canada).  The last two days have felt like an extra weekend.

Yesterday I dragged my butt out of bed early so I could adjust my schedule and headed straight to hot yoga class. It was a new instructor and she was having some difficulty so the class didn’t flow quite as well as usual but it was still awesome. I think she might have been an athlete too, because we did a lot of pigeons, runner’s lunges and all my favourite poses for loosening up my ridiculously tight hamstrings and hips. I feel so much better with all the yoga I’ve been doing lately.

I also got a fantastic tempo run in. It was crazy windy out but I was feeling speedy and energetic. I always second guess myself on this route because there’s a giant hill halfway and I often question if I can keep my pace despite it, but it barely fazed me today.

Distance: 9km (5.6 miles)

Time: 47:40

Pace: 8:31 min/mile

This is right where I want to be with my tempo pace right now so I’m quite pleased. I felt so good at the end of the run, like I could have gone another 5k at that pace, so I’m stoked. Hopefully I can do another 10k race soon because I’m definitely on target to set a PR. My last 10k was May 30 and I ran a 51:46. My goal now is to make it under 50 min. It may be a lofty goal but I think I can do it.

Before yoga I was finally able to try Brendan’s Toasted Apple Cinnamon Cereal recipe from Thrive. I’ve been meaning to make this for months now but I’ve procrastinated because for some reason the long cooking time was throwing me off. It was more than worth the wait, though.

The best thing about this cereal, aside from the crunch factor, is the great roasted flavour the molasses provide. The “cereal” is pretty much a granola made with a ton of seeds and nuts and a coating made up of molasses, hemp oil and spices. It’s quite delicious. Unfortunately I ran out of almond milk the day before and forgot to soak any nuts to make some more so I ended up doing a cheater version of coconut milk. It was pretty much about 3 tbsp of dried, unsweetened coconut blended with just over 1/2 cup of milk and a couple drops of vanilla stevia extract. That blinding white blob in the middle of the bowl is some of the yummy coconut pulp left over after straining (holy overexposure, sorry about that). This is quite a lovely and quick milk solution when in a pinch.

For dinner I decided to try out Melissa’s Raw Pad Thai, which has been waiting patiently in my recipe folder for months now. I really wasn’t expecting this to turn out as well as it did.

It might not look like much – a bowl of red cabbage, carrot, cucumber and green onion may be a feast for the eyes but it isn’t that palatable on its own. However the dressing for this was outstanding and I almost gobbled up the whole (HUGE) bowl before remembering that we were going for dessert in an hour and I might not want a belly full of fiber first. This would have been even better if I’d had the mango & cilantro recommended but I’d used the last of my cilantro in a smoothie that afternoon. Damn me.

It was a good smoothie, though. You can’t really go wrong when pineapple & cilantro play together.

Post-dinner we went out with some new (!) friends for dinner at a great restaurant in town called The Ranche. The last time I was there the dessert was absolutely transcendent. I could have waxed poetic about the intricacies and perfection of that dessert for hours. And, like all good food, it had me swinging from the rafters. Alas, the dessert I had yesterday (the Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Marshmallow & Cranberry Beet Syrup), while lovely, did not quite reach those heights. I plan to go back to try the Banana Rum Sticky Toffee Pudding and hope for better luck. Not to be too greedy or anything. But I love sticky toffee pudding and would have chosen it had I not ordered my wine first and thought the cheesecake seemed like a better match for it.

I really, really planned to take pictures and even had my camera sitting patiently on the windowsill beside me, but I got wrapped up in friendly conversation and didn’t remember until my plate had been licked clean. Too bad, because the presentation was impeccable. I’ll definitely remember when I go back for seconds.

This morning I had a fabulous swim. I’ve been slacking hardcore on my swimming training lately. It’s unfortunately my least favourite of the triathlon disciplines and therefore the one I need the most work on, but I’ve had difficulty being motivated to swim since fall has arrived. Luckily I managed to make it there today and the best thing about midday swims is that I usually have a full lane to myself. It felt good to just get in the water, cruise, and let my mind wander. Unfortunately, since I tend to zone out while swimming I have a hard time keeping track of my stats. I think this is pretty close, though.

Distance: 1750 m (70 lengths)

Time: 42 minutes

Workout: 2 x 25m breast stroke, 2 x 750m freestyle, 2 x 50m side stroke, 4 x 50m breast stroke

Dan picked me up after the pool (he’s had the week off work) and we went to an early matinee at the cheap theatre. We finally saw District 9, which I’ve been wanting to see for awhile now. It actually exceeded my expectations (which were already quite high) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had an early dinner/late lunch that was pretty much just thrown together on a whim. It consisted of roasted cauliflower with a crunchy coating of bread crumbs, nutritional yeast & red pepper flakes, sweet potato fries with chipotle seasoning, and a mushroom, onion & spinach frittata with a little blue cheese on toast. I may or may not have added some ketchup to this post-pic.

Tonight I went to see a play with a friend who got free tickets through work. It was called Speed the Plow, written by David Mamet, on the suitable topic of the movie industry (in case I didn’t mention it before, I work in film/television post-production). The play was really funny with blazing fast dialogue and very truthful subject matter. If it’s playing in your area I’d definitely recommend checking it out. I don’t go to the theatre nearly as much as I’d like because I really do think it’s a completely under-appreciated form of entertainment. The talent involved in even a local production is often amazing.

I’ve had a fabulous ‘faux’ weekend so hopefully the real one lives up to it

Just the basics

I’m starting to feel like I’m talking to myself here. I think I need to be a little more proactive in advertising my blog. Hello to anyone who stops by.

Part of my problem is that I’m not really sure what I want to be talking about yet and I’m having a hard time working out how to maximize my blogging time. I feel weird asking people to read my blog when I’m not sure it’s what I want it to be yet. But I may as well get into the habit anyway.

Yesterday’s post-yoga dinner was a quick but fun number.

Some nori rolls made with leftover brown rice mashed with miso, cucumber and avocado. Soy sauce and wasabi for dipping. And a guac salad – just spinach/arugula topped with guac & tomatoes.

I did a lovely bike workout at the gym today. I was supposed to do some strength work as well but I was still super sore from my long run/yoga yesterday so I tried to lift a few weights but finally decided to call it quits so as not to make my muscles worse. Instead I got on the bike and rode my heart out.

Time: 37:00

Distance: 17.00 km

I’m really happy with this time. My goal is to achieve a 2min/km pace for my races next summer, specifically I want to ride a 3hr Half Ironman bike leg. This time included a warm up and cool down so I’m right on track for pace. Now I just have to do 5 times this distance

I had another spelt pizza crust leftover from Monday so I whipped up another pizza tonight. It was beyond fabulous.

I stuck with a really basic formula – pesto sauce, sliced tomato, sundried tomatoes, and a little goat gouda. This was mind-numbingly awesome. I had a salad on the side – spinach/arugula, black kale, carrot, cucumber, sunflower seeds and a dressing made with cilantro, hummus, lemon juice and a little water. Perfection.

I thought I’d share my lunch today as well because I haven’t yet and I’m mildly obsessed with my lunchbox.

It’s from Laptop Lunches and I’ve used it every single workday since I bought it about a year ago. I work nights so I don’t really have a choice about bringing a lunch – there’s nothing open except 7-11 – but I never mind because this lunchbox brings me incomparable joy. It’s the perfect portion size for me and usually allows me 2 snacks and one meal per work day. I almost always fill the yellow square with fruit, the green square with a fun snack (nuts & dried fruit, a muffin, crackers, etc.) and the purple and red usually house leftovers from dinner.

Today I had:

Yellow: Grapes and apple

Purple: Leftover pesto pizza

Red: Oatgurt with simple raspberry sauce (raspberries, agave & apple juice, smushed together) & flax

Green: Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas, Medjool date with almond butter, and a piece of Zazubean Ego (goji berries & matcha) chocolate.

I probably won’t share my lunch very often because it’s often just a replay of other meals but it makes me happy so if it’s an interesting mix I might feel compelled to share.

A long time coming

Well I’m already a terrible blogger. I’ve been so busy this week and am dealing with some technical issues so I haven’t been able to do much posting.

I’m crazy excited though because I just heard back about a volunteer position I applied for (I know, it’s not exactly hard to get a volunteer job, but let me have my moment). Anyway, it’s with a new hot yoga studio near my house that my sister and I tried out at Thanksgiving. The awesome thing is that I only have to volunteer from 7:30-10pm on Friday nights and I get unlimited free yoga, which is a crazy bargain. On top of my gym and pool memberships I just can’t afford to do yoga otherwise. I also love the atmosphere in this place, it’s the only real studio I’ve ever done yoga in so I don’t have much to compare it to, but it has a nice dark studio, with great instructors and a very modern, zen decor. They follow good environmental practices as well, which is important to me, especially when they’re using as much heat as they have to.

Anyway, I had some great breakfast this week. I made some Butternut Squash pancakes out of leftover roasted butternut squash that I mashed with some Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl, almond milk, and a flax egg, then added to my oat pancake/waffle mix.

I actually tried to make these into waffles at first but they went a mess in the waffle maker (too gooey), so I salvaged them into pancakes. No worries – I salvaged the sketchy waffles for use elsewhere.

I served my lovely pancakes with my rid-onk-ulously delish homemade cranberry sauce. I have to tear the spoon out of my hand on a regular basis in order to not shovel the whole batch into my mouth at once. I also added some chopped walnuts and a little maple syrup (I don’t sweeten my cran sauce very much so I wanted a little added sweetness). And I put them on my penguin plate! Mumble would approve.

Later in the week I made some classic banana oats with a little added flax and used one of my discarded waffles as a topper with more banana and crantastic sauce. I can never get over beautiful fall flavours like this.

You might be thinking, do you ever eat anything other than breakfast? The answer is, sometimes, but the lighting pretty much starts sucking the second I wake up so it’s the only meal that looks good this time of year. Nonetheless, I’ll share a couple photos of some dinners under a beautiful kitchen-fan glow.

This is a congee-esque dish made from millet and veggie broth, with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, a fried egg and green onions. Not bad, not great. I’ll definitely either cook the millet longer next time (I was hungry and impatient) or use a different grain (oats, maybe? I know – the horror!) because it wasn’t as creamy as I would have liked.

I also had collard wraps and a yummy garlic soup but my camera decided to eat the pictures. I can’t really blame it, they were delicious.

One last thing to share – I know, it’s more breakfast, but I had the pomegranate muesli again and it deserves to be shown again. I swear this one deserves to go down in the overnight oats hall of fame. It’s so good.

In case anyone wants to try it here’s the exact(ish) measurements I used:

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 scoop hemp protein powder (I used Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp Pro 70)

1/4 cup pomegranate arils

Let sit overnight. Then add:

5-6 almonds, chopped

1-2 tbsp dried currants

1 tbsp coconut

more pom arils

drizzle of maple syrup

So good! I’ll hopefully get another post up soon with more interesting topics. I really don’t want this to be a food journal but so far that’s all I have to share. I’m working on some more pages to add to the header as well.

Kisses.