Category Archives: January ~ 2015

Yogurt ~ Yes!!

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If you like yogurt you are going to love this simple recipe I found in Prevention Magazine that my friend Mike let me borrow.  Time always seems to be an issue when it comes to preparing healthy meals.  Sometimes I hit it out of the park and other days it’s Dominos.  For the most part I do a pretty good job and having Dominos every now and then isn’t a bad thing.

I love yogurt and I’ve tried countless brands.  Most of them are loaded with sugar and are okay but not great.  I really don’t like the gelled fruit on the bottom, often settling for the fruit flavored.  When I came across this recipe I just had to try it because I could control how much “stuff” goes into “my” yogurt.  I will clearly say once you do this, you may never buy a “prepared” yogurt again.  I’m acting like I just found the Ark of the Covenant.  I know this is old news, but this was really good, easy to prepare and tailored to your individual taste.

Pineapple yogurt

The recipe (consider a single serving):

1 cup plain yogurt ~ I chose a standard Greek

2 Tbsp Honey

1/3 cup Frozen Pineapple

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon ~ You can add more or less depending on your taste

Chopped Raw Pistachios

Directions:

Sauté the frozen pineapple, honey and cinnamon over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.  Allow to cool. Place the pineapple on the yogurt, garnish with the nuts and Walla!  You’re done!

My Take:

If you are using fruits with more fiber I you could use fresh fruit.  You could even use fruit like raspberries, just don’t cook until soupy or maybe do if that’s what you like.

I found using the frozen fruit took a little more than 3-5 minutes.  I can see taking the fruit out 30 minuets before and making the recipe or just cook it a little longer.  I tend to like a little caramelization on mine so I let it Sauté for about 8 minutes.

I couldn’t find any raw pistachios so I used lightly salted and roasted nuts.  This really sent this over the top.  The crunch and saltiness of the nuts played well with the fruit and the plain yogurt.

You can sauté the fruit the night before and assemble in the morning before work/day.  Enjoy!  Happy Miles to You!!

 

 

Mileage Recap ~ 1 – 17 January

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Happy Monday!  I hope everyone’s month is off to a good start.  Mine is okay….  I started off well.  Starting back with my kettle bell/yoga routine and slowly getting back into running.  The weather here as been up and down.  But mostly down lately or it looks a little like this:

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This was a cold weather day.  No snow but in the 20s.  Also was a short run day trying to get the muscles acclimated to the colder temps.

It great to run and bike but sometimes it’s nice to mix things up a bit ~ and always nice to mix them up with friends.  My friend Ann invited me to walk with her in a local park a couple of Sundays and it proved to be both challenging and fun.  What would a walk in the park be without a few pictures.  It was a great walk with two and four-legged friends.

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Mileage this time around was a combination of walking, running and indoor biking.  Unfortunately, some days in the Midwest you just have to take it indoors.

I’m also excited I signed up for my first race this year, the Nippy Niner.  I ran this race a couple of years ago.  It’s a 9 mile trail/road race that takes place in a Missouri conservation area.  The last time I ran it there was snow on the ground, it was windy and let’s just say rather unpleasant.  I didn’t really see myself running it again until…a challenge was thrown out.  You know, the kind of challenge where you’re walking by someone’s office only to hear your name yelled out after you pass.  “Hey Laurel, we got a group going to run the Niner this year ~ you in?”  Hmmm, a challenge was thrown  down.  “I know it’s been a while…..”  Yeah I took that bait ~ hook, line and sinker.  Not only did I sign up within the hour I sent the obligatory email stating ~ done and done.  Sigh.  So, time to get back into my training.

Now comes the unfortunate part of this post.  I was doing pretty well running.  I went out this past Saturday to run and 10 minutes in the calf muscle injury I had months ago came back.  Yes, I had to hobble home.  Very, very frustrating to say the least.  I’ve been nursing it for two days and the race is in about 2 weeks.  I guess it leaves me wondering what I could have done to cause this again.  I think I just pushed too hard with some of the kettle bell exercises.  Not going to let it get to me I just need to learn to pace myself a little better than I do.  So what do you do when you get an injury?  You go buy new running shoes of course.  I chose to go back to Brooks this time.  I tried on different types of Brooks shoes and I came away with the Ravenna 6.  I like that it has high arch support ~ something I need.

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I have every intention of showing up for the race.  There might be a bit of airborne shuffling going on ~ but I will be there.  Maybe a little down ~ but definitely not out.

I gratefully completed 19.49 miles with 9,515.26 thankfully remaining in my journey.  Happy miles to you!

 

Meatless Monday ~ Vegetarian Lentil Burger Recipe

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Tonight’s recipe is lentil burgers.  At first I thought no way, but…..  I have to say not bad, not bad at all and worth the try.

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A few tips:

3 cups of lentils is a lot.  This made more burgers than I really wanted.  I think I could have halved the recipe.

I would have added more spices.  This only called for salt.  For me, a little more salt and maybe some other spices to make it a little more flavorful.

I cooked mine a little longer to get a nice crust on the outside.  I really liked the crunchy texture on the outside with the more tender inside.

I ate mine with some ketchup.  I imagine you could spice the recipe up with greens and other condiments as desired.

Hat tip to 101 Cookbooks Vegetarian Lentil Burger.  Enjoy and Happy Miles to You!

 

Kale and Quinoa Cakes

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January is the month of making new resolutions for the upcoming year.  I stopped  making resolutions a long time ago.  I figure why wait until the beginning of each new year.  If you want to do something do it now.  With that being said ~ one of the most popular resolutions is to eat healthier.  We all want to do it but sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day.

I pretty much think about food all the time.  How to prepare it, change it up, the health factor and serving it up.  I love everything about and preparing food.  One food I have heard a lot about but really haven’t tried is kale.  I hear nothing but good things about kale and how healthy it is for us.  So, I decided to find some recipes.  I’ve been hitting the Yummly site lately and came across Kale and Quinoa Cakes by Joy the Baker.  If you have time stop by her site ~ she’s got great recipes and a cute blog.   Joy The Baker

This is absolutely a fantastic recipe.  It does take a bit of prep (the author points this out) but it is well worth the time and effort.  They are filling and….good!.  I imagine you can use different oils if you wish like grape seed or coconut oil.  The flavors are really outstanding.  I loved the sun-dried tomatoes.  The recipe called for parmesan cheese but I had to use what I had on hand (cheddar) and it worked fine too.  Using parmesan will take care of the salt and maybe you can add less than the recipe calls for.  This will be a great additions to the meatless Mondays.

I’ve linked the recipe below.  Not sure if you need to have an account to access.

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Kale-and-quinoa-cakes-309116

A few tips:

(1)  Allow the oil to heat through.  If you don’t your first cakes may fall apart.  (2)  Finely chop all of your ingredients .   If they are too large your cakes might not stay together well when cooking.

I served mine up with lemon wedges and capers.  The capers added an extra punch of saltiness, which I love.  Enjoy and Happy Miles to You!!

Kale