Smooth Operator

February 8, 2011 By Laura

Day 2 of liquid diet.

Wasting away to nothing. Famished.

I kid, I kid.

Still broken. The whiplash part is worse today and my head is killing me. And I still look like a swollen Frankenstein-chipmunk:

Exhibit A

But I enjoyed some butternut squash soup with fennel, onions, jalapeños, and Sriracha sauce for lunch. Pureed, of course.

In a moment of psychic planning, I scheduled a photo shoot with Ed Selby last Saturday (the day before I wrecked my face). Ed is an awesome photog. He sent me an email a few weeks ago asking if he could shoot me. I was so excited and we set up a time before the season began. Smart, eh?

Below are a few of Ed’s shots. Pretty awesome, right? Through the magic of Ed and photoshop, you can’t even see the massive zit I had right between my eyebrows.

The Dr. said that when I feel better I can run and lift weights. Just no contact sports for a while.

Therefore, I’ve been plotting my body building debut. Kidding.

What I HAVE been plotting is my race schedule. I’m revising my 2011 goals to include 1 race a month.

I don’t know if I can stand the pounding enough to effectively train for the Publix Georgia Half in March, but I do really want to run a Half-Marathon again this year. In preparation, I’m committing to run a race each month beginning March 12th with an adventure race I am already registered for: Tough Mudder.

This is a 10 mile race with obstacles that will have me swinging across a mud pit, walking through fire, and running UP a slippery motorcross slope. Check out the obstacle map.

It is 4 weeks post-jaw break and it isn’t a contact sport… so I’m good to go!

2 weeks later is the Atlanta Women’s 5K. That’s more than 1 a month, but I need to make up for January and February. 🙂 All the finishers receive a flower at the end – how sweet is that?!

April 16th I will definitely do a race. Perfect way to celebrate surviving Tax Day. I was planing on Run the River. But I just realized that is also the day of the Gerogia Tech Pi Mile (Pi = 3.14… get it?) AND the Sweetwater 420 5K. The Pi Mile starts at 8a. The Sweetwater 5K starts at 10a… are you thinking what I’m thinking???

Tonight I am really excited to try the Garbanzo Bean Soup Angela@ Oh She Glows created.

One of the saddest parts about breaking my jaw was the thought of not being able to have hummus. I could eat it by the spoonful… but people would stare. Angela has solved that problem!

More on that when I make it this evening. 🙂

The smooth creation of the day so far was an Orange Cream Smoothie.

This Orange Cream Smoothies is a glass of creamy, vanilla-orange deliciousness. Reminiscent of those yummy push-up pops from the ice cream truck. 🙂

Orange Cream Smoothie

1 medium orange
1/4 C Greek yogurt
1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1T Twister Power (sprouted omega blend)
1/2 packet of Stevia
Big handful of spinach
Water + Ice to taste

Throw it in a blender, mix until smooth, and enjoy!

***

Two 5Ks in a day would really only be a 10K with a really long break in the middle…

What races are you planning this year?

Have you ever done 2 5Ks in a day?

Spicing Up My Smoothie

February 2, 2011 By Laura

Guys. Oprah is vegan-ish.

Did everyone see Oprah’s vegan episode yesterday? Everybody and their brother has written about it, so I’ll spare you. In case you missed it, Angela @ Oh She Glows did a great recap. You can also watch clips online.

I’d make fun of her… but I realized that I, too, am a vegan-ish individual.

No joke.

If you look at what the majority of my diet consists of nowadays…

Mostly veggies, fruits, nuts, beans (I always hated beans?!), tofu/tempeh, almond milk…

You’d peg me for a big, scary vegan.

Vegan-ish plate

Then again, I will have the occasional piece ‘o chicken.

Some eggs on the weekend.

My love affair with Atlanta Farm Fresh Greek-style yogurt is never-ending. Watch your fingers!

However, I would say that I am about 85% vegan.

One of the complaints by Oprah staffer’s what that it is difficult to find food you can eat. For me, that is part of the fun. It’s not difficult so much as an opportunity to be more creative in the kitchen (and you know I like that).

This “difficulty” has made me more aware of how I fuel my body. I now think – really think – before I eat. Would a $15 10 oz. burger be good? Yes. With fries? Yes, please. Does it make sense for me to eat that when I have a fridge full of veggies, the making of chickpea patties, and a hard workout on the horizon? No.

Once I get chopping on my fresh foods, I’m actually more satisfied with with my own creation. And I had fun making it.

Yep – that’s my sick idea of fun.

It works for me. 🙂

Three cheers for being vegan-ish!

How about cheering with a spicy vegan… smoothie?

Obviously, as a vegan-ish, it must be green.

Spicy Chocolate Smoothie

1 scoop cookie dough flavored whey protein
1/2 c unsweetened chocolate almond milk
1/3 c water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp chili powder
Shake of salt
Handful spinach
Ice, to taste

Put it in a blender, give it a whirrrr, and enjoy!

My Top 5

January 19, 2011 By Laura

I have an announcement: My skinny pants are too big.

OMGOMGOMGOMG.

When I started this blog, I had a gained a pretty significant amount of weight. I had been out of grad school for a year, and had gotten accustomed to sitting at a desk all day and still eating anything I wanted. My body revolted.

Basically, my fat pants became my skinny pants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC0Nsba1fWQ&feature=related

***Disclaimer: I love my job – I just love this video. And I don’t like sitting all day.***

Last week my trainer made me get on a scale for the first time in a couple of months. Post-grad school sitting-on-my-butt weight is officially GONE!!!

Fat pants, be damned!!!

I still sit at a desk all day, but I adjusted my eating habits and made exercise a part of my daily routine. Just like brushing my teeth.

How did I do it?

There were many, many habits I changed, new behaviors I learned, and – last but not least – an amazing amount of self-control. I could write pages, but here are my Top 5 Factors (after the jump).

…

Read More »

Slurp Your Sweet Potato

January 15, 2011 By Laura

Despite being up until 3am working, I woke up (late) this morning ready to MOVE.

Breakfast was a coffee, an apple, and a jalapeno-cheddar scone (recipe to come… it still needs a little work). To fuel my energy, I read some neglected fitness magazines.

What resulted was an amazing workout:

5 min elliptical warm-up
Wide grip lat pull-downs – 3 sets of 12
Bent over dumbbell row – 3 sets of 15
Seated cable row – 3 sets of 12
30 second planks as an active rest between sets in #2-4 (total 10)
Dumbbell pullover – 3 sets of 12
Row to raise – 2 sets of 12
Push-ups- 3 sets of 15 – superset with…
Standing dumbbell curl – 3 sets of 12
Alternating dumbbell curl – 5 sets of 12
Hammer curl – 4 sets of 15 (or to exhaustion)
1 min sprint intervals on the treadmill between each set in #10-11 (total 8 )

Then I took the stairs back up to my condo. Whew!

That killer workout called for a gigantic protein shake.

You’re probably going to think this is weird… BUT just trust me.

Sweet Potato Smoothie

1/4 large sweet potato, cooked (mine was left over from this)
1 hand full of spinach
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Ice + water/milk to taste

Combine all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Slurp away!

***

Time to head out the door for the derby sleepover – so excited to hang out with the team off-skates!

Does anyone else have adult sleepovers?!

It’s like high school but now you don’t have to sneak in the alcohol.

Winter Fruit Salsa

November 23, 2010 By Laura

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Also referred to as the beginning of the holiday shopping madness extravaganza.

In other news, Mom and I are almost done with the Cleanse!

Wednesday morning we break the cleanse. What will I eat first… OATMEAL for breakfast!

I miss oatmeal, peanut butter, and red wine. (I think I’ve written about these items 21 times during this 21 day cleanse.)

We are supposed to introduce foods back into our diets one at a time in order to see how our bodies react. I’m going with gluten-free carbs first. However… I don’t want Thanksgiving to totally suck. Sooooo… a small glass of wine and a bite of the chocolate cake I’m baking are just what the doctor ordered.

It really has been fun. I’m almost sad to see it end. Almost.

Check out some of the great, healthy food I’ve been eating (click pics for recipes):

Lentil Stuffed Acorn Squash

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Many awesome salads

TONS of creative smoothie-love

Enough about food. Let’s talk about food (and cameras!).

Remember the butternut squash I had next to yesterday’s Asian stir-fry pics?

It was used for more of my new soup addiction: Butternut Squash Apple.

I may or may not have licked this pot

I also made more of my super-good-for-you Flax Crackers.

Healthiest Crackers Ever Made

And the new camera!!!

I had to begin my holiday shopping like everyone else.

It is a Panasonic Lumix. I think I’m in love… and I don’t even know how to use it.

I had to test it with a colorful winter fruit salsa.

Winter Fruit Salsa

1/2 butternut squash, chopped into ~1/2 in cubes
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 apple, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 C pomegranate arils
2 T lemon thyme
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread chopped squash out on baking sheet. Toss with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Roast for 15 mins, flipping once. Check to be sure it is still fairly firm – it needs to hold together in the salsa. Remove and let cool.

Meanwhile, combines all other ingredients in medium bowl and mix. Add squash (once cooled), season to taste, toss to mix, and serve.

Drink Yer Squash

November 12, 2010 By Laura

I went to kickboxing last night for the first time in months. Knuckle Up is a great local boxing gym that offers intense, sweat-inducing 50 minute kickboxing classes.

One of the many pieces of sporting equipment in the trunk of my car

It felt good to be back and the instructor even complemented my form! Very exciting.

(I’m thinking about trying a boxing class… more on that if/when I get the kahunas to actually do it.)

My need to to hit something is dedicated to Excel. Which I spent the entire day yesterday in. And then stayed up until 3am working on the same document. Needless to say, I am falling asleep sitting up this morning! But it is done and I’m pretty happy about that. 🙂

Day 11 of the SP Cleanse (tomorrow) means we get to add chicken. Strangely enough I haven’t craved meat. I’m still really excited to get protein from something other than smoothies.

Speaking of smoothies… have you ever tried squash in a smoothie?

This butternut-cherry-chocolate combo sounds strange, but it was almost cake-like. And filling!

Drink yer SQUASH

Butternut Squash-Chocolate-Cherry Smoothie

1/4 C Butternut Squash
1/2 Banana (frozen)
1/4 C Black cherries (frozen)
2 scoops chocolate protein powder (I used Juice Plus)
Pumpkin Spice
Cinnamon
Fresh grated nutmeg

Throw it all in a blender, add ice, water (or milk – no dairy allowed on the cleanse), and spices to taste, and slurp away!

Makes 1 huge or 2 medium smoothies.

***

I know it sounds weird, but give it a try. It was sweet, thick (even using the water), and a great way to use some leftover squash. YUM.

Would you ever tried a non-conventional smoothie item?

Halloween and Squash

November 5, 2010 By Laura

First the fun part – Halloween in San Francisco.

I woke up and ran through the city – along the Embarcadero and through Chinatown. I didn’t save it on my watch, but it was something like 5.1 miles in 43 mins. Not bad with all the hills!

Then the day was ON. After a few minutes in Urban Outfitters where we purchased sumos, Mallory and I had an awesome brunch at Orson (Elizabeth Falkner from Top Chef’s restaurant).

Sumo Thumb Wrestling

We had some “Apple Juice.”

Waiter... there's a sumo in my drink!

Then some toast.

French toast, maple syrup, pumpkin pie butter, and cinnamon cream

And some eggs.

Eggs benedict on house-made english muffin, canadian bacon, spinach, and cheddar mornay sauce

We opted to pass on dessert.

What better way to spend Halloween than at a famous prison?!

Arriving at Alcatraz

Apparently Native Americans occupied the island for 19 months from 1969-1971. All the history surrounding Alcatraz was really neat.

The Sumos enjoyed the view

Gorgeous day for prison!

: I wore stripes, ironically.

Back in San Fran, we took a looooog walk.

Coit Tower

Somehow we ended up in Chinatown right at snack time.

Pork Sticky Buns

The Sumos felt at home

We finally made it home and spent the next hour rushing around to get ready for Halloween!

It was a lazy costume year

We walked through the Mission to get dinner. Kids there trick-or-treat at businesses (the neighborhood isn’t safe conducive to the pastime).

They aren't as well stocked as Laura would have hoped.

Pit stop for ice cream at Humphry Solcombe before dinner (priorities, people!).

Bacon in ice cream. Brilliant.

Once we devoured finished our dessert, we headed to El Metate for dinner.

El Metate = El Tasty

Tacos with corn tortillas are my favorite. I ordered one veggie and one salsa verde shredded pork. The tortilla chips on the side were freshly baked into a nice, thick chip. The spicy array of treats from the salsa bar were delish too.

Taco heaven

My friends had the veggie burrito and the fried chicken. Do yourself a favor and don’t ever get the fried chicken. It was sinfully good and I’ll be craving it for a looooong time. The guac was also hauntingly good.

Finally, we were off to celebrate All Hallows Eve and oogle other people’s costumes!

The Sumos are party animals!

Now that I’ve posted about all that food… what am I eating on the detox?!

…

Read More »

Friday Wrap Up + Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 1, 2010 By Laura

This is my first official food post!

Very exciting.

Today was filled with good stuff. It was a Friday and I was working from home – that is a recipe for some good eating! It was a day for wraps.

Breakfast was an accidental egg wrap – a side effect of putting scrambled eggs in a pan on medium heat, and promptly forgetting about them while logging into my computer. Luckily, I caught it just before they burned and added some bacon, feta cheese, and salsa to make the wrap.

The Accidental Egg Mexican Wrap

Word of Caution: When you buy salsa at the Mexican grocery store it is going to be hot. They don’t even bother stocking varying degrees of heat or indicating on the bottle that it is spicy. But I love spicy food.

I needed to read a bunch of material for a new project at work, so instead of sitting on my butt I took it down to the gym in my building and read for an hour on the stationary bike. It is amazing how that makes the time fly! Before I knew it, my stomach was growling for lunch. The end of the week means using up the things in my fridge that I bought/made at the beginning of the week.

Today that resulted in a veggie wrap: homemade red pepper white bean dip, homemade pesto, the most delicious arugula EVER from the Piedmont Park Green Market, carrots, and red onion all wrapped in a spinach Flat Out.

Veggie Wrap Construction

Flat Out wraps are awesome – flavorful, 90 cals, 9g protein, and 9g of protein, and no sugar. If you haven’t tried these, I highly recommend!

Served with a side of crunchy cucumber slices and a big glass of ice water. It was so beautiful outside I decided to enjoy my lunch on the deck:

The best way to eat!

One of my Sake teammates – Samwise Banshee – is getting married in a few weeks. We (her teammates) are making the cake for her Bachelorette party tomorrow night. In true Bachelorette fashion, the cake will be creatively shaped… 🙂

I am in charge of making a cannoli cream to spread between the layers. So I took a jog to Publix for ricotta cheese. It is so nice to be able to walk to the store on days like this!

I didn’t take a picture of the delicious cream, but will hopefully have a shot of the cake to post tomorrow.

Cannoli Cream

32oz of good ricotta (this is not the time for a fat-free or off brand)
1 C of powdered sugar (you can add more to taste – I did!)
2 tsp cinnamon
2T orange liquor

Put it all in a bowl and beat it with a mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Mine took about 3 minutes. You can also reduce the sugar a bit and use the cream for a tasty fresh fruit topping!

What I did get a picture of was the bacon chocolate chip cookies I made for a softball teammate who had emergency surgery Wednesday night. Bacon makes everything better, right?

This is closely based on a recipe featured on NPR last winter, by Susan from Food Blogga. I added coffee, reduced the butter (they were pretty greasy with all the bacon), didn’t add the salt (I used salted butter – it added enough), and reduced the flour a tad.

The coffee addition was good, but I was afraid of putting too much in. Next time I will definitely add the whole teaspoon ’cause what goes better with bacon than coffee???

Bacon Coffee Chocolate Chip DeliciousnessMmmmm… serve with a glass of milk. Then bag the rest up ASAP so you don’t eat them all before you can give them to your buddy!

I saw my friend at our softball game tonight. The doctor benched her for 6 weeks, but she was so bored of laying around a good sport and came out to cheer on the team. We won – 3-2. It was a great game. I even threw a girl out at 2nd from center field! This is an accomplishment since a) I am used to playing 1st base and b) the accuracy of my throws is somewhat unreliable.

Bacon Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 strips bacon
Just under 1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick (1/2 C) salted butter at room temperature
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C chopped pecans
1T instant coffee granules

Cook bacon until browned and done (about 8 mins – it is better/more crispy when you cook it slowly). Crumple a paper town over a plate and lay bacon across to drain and cool. Chop finely.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small-ish bowl, whisk flour and baking soda.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer (I used a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugars until smooth.

Add egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just blended.

Add the dry ingredients; beat until just incorporated and the flour is dissolved. Fold in the chocolate chips, pecans, and bacon.

Mix the instant coffee with ~ 1tsp of hot water (no need to microwave – hot water from the tap works). Drizzle the coffee mix into the batter and ever so slightly fold. You should still be able to see the streaks of black coffee.

Drop one large tablespoon cookie dough 2 to 3 inches apart (they spread a lot) on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until firm and golden brown around the edges, and still slightly soft in the center.

Cool for 15 minutes.

Can be stored on the counter for 1-2 days, then refrigerated in an airtight container.

Makes ~15 cookies.

***

BIG day tomorrow – I just got a ticket to the Braves game! It is Bobby Cox’s 2nd to last one was the Braves’ manager. Hopefully, the Phillies will not beat us like they did tonight. 🙁