Real Summer Treats

For the most part, we eat pretty well in our household.  But like most people, there are a few areas we could improve on (cereal, granola bars, etc).  Recently I was revisiting Lisa Leake's blog, 100 Days of Real Food (if you haven't already checked this out, do it!) and as careful as I am about reading ingredient labels, I let some things slip occasionally for the sake of convenience, but after reading a few of her posts I was re-inspired to be more careful.  More careful about looking where my food is coming from; about how many ingredients are listed and how many are unfamiliar; about whether or not my food comes from a bag, box, or can.

In my opinion, eating whole foods is the easiest "diet" out there because you don't have to count or keep track of anything.  You just eat real food.  A lot of people think that means giving up sweets, but they're sorely mistaken.  It might take a bit more effort, but your food (including treats) will taste that much better.  Not to mention, you'll crave more wholesome, nutritious food, and less of the junk.

Take popsicles for example.  A typical box will have a list of ingredients including things like artificial dyes, processed sugars and other unrecognizable ingredients.  Now take a look at this:

It only has three ingredients.  And you'd recognize all of them.  These Berry Yogurt Pops are easy to make and taste so fresh.  The hardest part is waiting for them to freeze.  All you need is a popsicle mold (I found this one at Bed Bath and Beyond) and a few simple ingredients.  Find the recipe here.

What's your favorite frozen treat to make at home?

Homemade > Store-bought

Just as the name says, I like things "Made from Scratch" better than things from a box or bag.  Even if it takes a little extra work.  I like to know where my food comes from and what's all in it.  I have been itching to make hummus from scratch for a while now (I've had a jar of tahini sitting in the pantry for months) and today, I finally did.  I only have regret: I didn't make it sooner!

The flavor isn't anything special, just your classic hummus, but sometimes simple is better.  Although, now that I know how well it turns out, I'm excited to try some different flavors - roasted red pepper, spicy, etc.

You can find the recipe here.  If you try this recipe or another flavor variation, please, share your ideas below!

"Hungry for Change"

A couple of months ago, David and I made the brave decision to get rid of cable.  I decided to sign up for Netflix though because sometimes you just need to veg out.  Plus, I love all of the documentaries they have to offer, especially the food-related ones.

Last night I had the house to myself so I decided to watch one of the many options I have saved on my "Instant Queue."  Hungry For Change was the winner.  Every now and then I am going to give a movie review for some of these documentaries.  Here is the first:

Overall, I enjoyed the film.  It got me thinking and it inspired me to make some small changes in my own routine (like juicing one day a week).  What I didn't like was that they kept comparing sugar to dangerous drugs like cocaine and heroine.  I understand, and for the most part agree, that sugar can be addictive for many of us.  However, I don't think it's comparable to drugs such as those previously mentioned.  Life is short, and sometimes you just need something sweet (but please don't do drugs).

Several of the interviewees seemed to suggest also cutting grains out because carbohydrates are broken down into sugar during digestion.  I also disagree with this.  First of all, we need carbohydrates and the right grains (whole grains) can be good for you.  Whole wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, etc.-- they have fiber to fill us up and improve our colon health.  Second of all, I don't like restrictive diets because when people restrict things, especially food, it tends to only make them crave it more.  After all, you want what you can't have.  I believe that people can maintain a healthy lifestyle by consuming just about everything in moderation, hence, "My moderation & me."  

As always, these are my own opinions.  If you haven't seen Hungry for Change, I encourage you to watch it and decide for yourself.  If you have seen it, what did you think?  

For more information go to HungryForChange.tv.

Shopping by season

I know some people hate it, but I love grocery shopping.  I really do.  I could wander around in there for hours.  Going up and down the aisles, looking at all different varieties of the same product.  It's kind of is fascinating... but maybe it's just me. 

Recently, I made a new goal of trying to stick to recipes using in-season produce.  Tonight was the first recipe I made with that goal in mind.  The dish: Green Pizza.  Test it out for yourself and let me know what you think!  

I also decided to make a chart so I can easily check which fruits and vegetables are in season during which month.  I wanted to share it here to help anyone else with the same goal.  I apologize for the tiny font (and the fact that December is cut off) but I wanted to get it posted.  I will try to make some adjustments soon to make it easier to read. 

Tomorrow is Wednesday, that means we are halfway to the weekend!  I hope everyone is having a great week!!

Bran Bars and Brewers

Well, hello strangers!  I didn't think it would be this long until my next post, but it's been a little hectic since the half marathon.  Let's catch-up, shall we?

The race was almost two weeks ago now and it couldn't have gone much better!  We did wake up to thunderstorms and hail, but by race time we were just about good to go.  Our start time was delayed by about fifteen minutes because of some lightening, but it was worth the wait since it stayed clear and dry from then on.  I started out strong and maintained a steady pace throughout.  I cut off eight minutes from my last race and finished at 2:09, only seven minutes behind David!  I was thrilled... and very cold!  But it was such a fun day I didn't care.  Plus we got these sweet medals!

Other than that I have just been staying busy with school... tests and quizzes galore!!  I did manage to get my UW application sent in which was a huge weight off my shoulders.

Speaking of school-- Lately my mornings have been so chaotic I've been having a hard time managing to get a good breakfast in.  I'm one of those people who has to eat in the morning (although really everyone should!).  I searched the internet high and low for a good breakfast bar but nothing really grabbed me.  I've always wanted to create my own recipe so I figured this was the perfect opportunity!  I found a recipe guideline for cookies {here} and used that as my starting point.  I'm a little biased but I think what I came up with was pretty tasty.  It's nothing too crazy but I was excited that they turned out.  I might tweak them a bit, but it's definitely a good start.  I like alliteration so for now they are Banana Bran Bars.  If you want to get real crazy you could call them Banana Bran Breakfast Bars. :)

I think for breakfast tomorrow I might crumble one over some Greek yogurt... mmm.  {Here} is the recipe for those of you who are interested.  Make a batch of them and let me know what you think.  Any feedback would be great!

Happy Hump Day!

Back in the game

Apparently I'm a terrible blogger.  I've gone months without a word but it's time to get back at it! 

David's a teacher and last night a bunch of his colleages and several of their spouses got together for Labor Day, one last summer hoorah!  It was actually one of the wives there that I was talking to that "re-inspired" me to get back to this blog.  I'm hoping to really stick to it this time. 

Overall, David and I had a really nice summer.  I can't say that it was necessarily a quiet, relaxing one, but it was fun.  I started out with two weeks of break while he finished his last two weeks of his school year.  Once he was done, I started my summer Chemistry class.  That certainly kept me busy!  But we found time for a trip to St. Louis, a couple camping trips and a few baseball games.  We stayed active with an Ultimate Frisbee team and rewarded ourselves with free pitchers of beer. 

It was a hot summer too!  Wisconsin had record temps and weeks without rain.  Our usual green grass was was crisp and brown.  It was not a pretty sight, but slowly things have turned around!

Anyways, that was our summer in a nutshell.  Now I'm already back in school and we have our second half marathon coming up in three short weeks!  I haven't been as good about training, I think because now that I've done one I know what to expect and I'm not as worried.  As long as I beat my time I'll be happy :)

I've mentioned before how healthy living has become such a big priority of my life.  It's not that I want to be the skinniest (hate that word) person out there, I just want to feel good.  I want to wake up with energy and have it last throughout the day so I'm able to get the things done I not only need to, but want to accomplish.  Now, Rome wasn't built in a day, so I have to look at the changes I want to make as baby steps. 

Back before my hiatus, I wrote how I went without added sugar for two weeks.  I'd like to work on that again at some point but I first I think I want to work on my veggie intake.  I was never a veggie lover growing up.  But slowly, I'm finding more and more that I really do like.  Over the summer we participated in a CSA which forced me to find new recipes for these vegetables that I had never tried, sometimes never even heard of.  One of my favorites was kohlrabi.  I made the most delicious vegetarian stir-fry... sooo good!!  So now that I have more ways to incorporate vegetables I want to work on the regular intake of them.  My challenge for the next month is to get the recommended 4 1/2 cups of fruits and vegetables (2 cups fruit, 2 1/2 cups veggies) for women my age.  Every day.  Feel free to take the challenge with me, or just cheer me on!

Well I think this post is long enough...Until next time!

Overdue.

It's been a busy time of year obviously, since I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I thought about just forgetting about my blog but I feel like I do that with a lot of things I set out to do so I'm posting again because I want to stick with this.  So here I am :)  I just finished with finals and have started my summer.  I'd say it's already off to a great start!

Our big race day has come and gone!  Yesterday David and I ran our very first half marathon up in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It went well for the most part, except one minor detail-- yesterday was a scorcher!!  It started at 7 AM but it quickly warmed up and I was tiring out at mile four.  That's not good when you have nine more to go!  But I pulled through and I crossed the finish line with a race time of 2 hours 17 minutes.  I'm happy with it considering the conditions we ran in.  In fact, about ten minutes after I crossed the finish line they shut the course down because it was getting too dangerous for the runners (there was also a full marathon so several runners were still out there).

Here we are, post marathon, just glistening away!

David and I had separated early on in the race, as he has much longer legs and therefore faster than I am, so afterwards I looked for him.  And looked some more.  And some more.  Until finally, I found him- about an hour afterwards.  Just what you want to do after you run 13.1 miles, wander around in a hot parking lot full of other sweaty runners in search of someone.  Not so much.  We grabbed our running bags, found some strangers to snap a victory photo and headed out.  We were tired and sore along with post-running stomachaches.  We drove back to his parents house where we stayed for the weekend, showered off and went to lunch.  He mowed down half a pizza while I devoured a burger.  We took a nice nap and headed home.

Even though we didn't run as fast as we'd have liked to, we're happy with our first half marathon experience.  Now we have times to beat!  I'm mostly proud that I set a goal, stuck with it and reached it.  And I'm happy we did it together :)  We actually signed up for another half marathon tonight coming up in September.  Hopefully we'll have some cooler weather!

Enough about running, how about food??  Lately I've been trying to work on my sugar intake. We had a container of cookies in the house a while ago and when I was home during the day I was finding it hard to control myself.  I decided to quit cold turkey.  Temporarily, that is.  This Thursday I'll have gone two weeks without added sugar (with the exception of yesterday, the race day, I treated myself to not one, but two cookies on a job well done- or should I say run?).  But now it's back to reality.  It really hasn't been as bad as I thought.  I use my fruit as dessert and have been making more smoothies as a treat.

Sugar isn't the only thing I'm trying to cut out.  I'm trying to eat less red meat (so yes, that burger yesterday was a nice treat as well!) and follow more of the "Mediterranean" diet.  I hate using the term diet though.  I just like to watch what I eat.  I like to know what my food is made of and where it comes from.  I like to know that it's nourishing my body and not just tasting good.

My goal is to eat well most of the time and indulge less of the time.  I want to enjoy treats as they are meant to be enjoyed, once in a while.  As a...wait for it... treat!

One other thing that has been occupying my time lately is the four-part documentary that aired on HBO last week, "The Weight of the Nation."  All four parts are online so PLEASE go watch!  People don't realize how much damage we really are doing to ourselves.  It's scary.

Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing rest of the week.  I'm actually flying down to Georgia on Thursday to visit one of my best friends for a mini vacay.  I'm pretty excited to be laying on the beach!  We plan on doing some baking so I will have to update again soon with some photos from our adventures.

Until next time!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I survived!!  Thanks to Kelly Clarkson and some other good tunes :)

Here's the verdict on the CLIF energy shot:  It's comparable to eating three spoonfuls of straight jelly.  And I for one do not enjoy eating straight jelly.  With that being said, my run felt pretty great!  But I'm sure the sunshine-y weather helped!

I follow Bob Harper (Biggest Loser, anybody?) on Facebook.  The other day he had a post about a breakfast smoothie.  I've been using it as a post-run smoothie to refuel.  Recipe is as follows:

• 3/4 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cups berries
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 12 ounces milk or water
• Note: this makes 2 servings.

The fruit all ready to go!

Today instead of all berries I used half of a frozen banana and 1/4 cup blueberries.  I have vegetable protein powder but don't care for the taste that it gives.  I need to get a flavored powder if I choose to buy another can of it.  For now, I mixed one part of the protein powder with one part Ovaltine.  I also soak the oats overnight to make it nice and thick.  Let me tell you, my smoothie today was delicious!!!  

Yummy in a jar.

After long runs like today's, I don't do any "extras" (i.e. abs, weights, etc).  Today I just did some good stretching, my legs definitely needed it!  A nice hot shower always feels great on the muscles as well. :)

I must say, it can be very hard to get myself started when I know nine miles lies ahead of me.  But what I've learned throughout this training process, is that incorporating healthy eating and regular exercise has to be something that you want.  Other people can want it for you, but other people can't do it for you.  You really have to be self motivated, and for me, there are plenty of reasons to take care of myself!!  Slowly but surely it becomes habit.

Here's to a good week!