From BLAH to OOH LA LA

Eating and running aren't the only things I do.

Sometimes I sew, too.

My girlfriend sent me a link for this really cool way to upcycle a man's dress shirt. I had seen the idea before, but didn't really consider making it until my sweet friend brought my attention to it again.

I got my hands on the coolest pearl snap western shirt with a great color scheme and fun natural print and immediately knew that I had to turn it into an apron. The pearl snaps look almost like tiger eye which makes this so unique.

 

It was fun, quick, and easy to make! I love the end product.

 

Now I have something to wear while I'm working on developing recipes for you, my faithful readers!

 

 

Enjoy your day!

Marinated Chickpea Salad

I have a great big pot of home cooked chickpeas sitting in my fridge. I like to have a batch available because my daughters love hummus, and this way I can whip up a batch anytime. They like to eat it with fresh veggies, especially carrots, peppers, and cauliflower.

I, however, tend to enjoy chickpeas in their natural form and I often add them to dishes such as my simple curry bowls or as toppings to my salads.

On my way home from work Monday, I was pondering what to make myself for lunch. I was really craving something light and fresh, but with enough oomph that would satisfy the big hunger I had. I knew it would have to be something with these chickpeas so I came up with this recipe. It is bright, delicious, and very satisfying. I also discovered yesterday (Wednesday) that is tastes even better after a day or two in the fridge.

For the marinade:
1/3 c apple cider vinegar
1 T maple syrup or sweetener of choice (I like to use it to cut the twang of the vinegar)
1 T olive oil (omit if you are oil free, no problem!)
2 t stone ground mustard
1/2 t finely minced garlic or garlic paste
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all your ingredients in a bowl. It'll look something like this:

 

For the salad, you will need (don't forget, you can sub any ingredients and make it YOURS! Just go with what you like)

 

2 c drained chickpeas

1/2 cucumber

1/2 red bell pepper

1/4 onion, minced or 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced

handful cherry tomatoes, cut into 1/4ths

 

Chop cucumbers and peppers to small bite sized pieces. Think chopped salad. Add all veggies and chickpeas to the marinade. If you made the marinade in too small a bowl like I did, transfer all ingredients to a bowl and pour marinade on top and give it a good stir. If you can't wait, go ahead and ladle some over a bed of mixed baby greens right now and enjoy! For best results, though, let this mixture sit for an hour or two (or 24, etc...) before eating.

I like everything with avocados on it, so I served my salad with a half of an avocado mixed in.

 

To make this a satisfying dish for my husband and his brother, I served it up with some tuna fish and they both loved it. We were all happy. :)

 

While I'd love for everyone under my roof to be plant based eaters, they aren't, and I'm not going to whack them over their heads with a giant zucchini or anything. However, the meals I make are all plant based with a meat option on the side. Since it isn't the main focus of the meal anymore, everyone is eating less meat, and they don't seem to miss it as much as I thought they would. I can honestly say that I am happy with that. If they change to plant based eating, it'll be on their own terms, just like it was on mine, and I'll support them in whatever they decide.

 

Enjoy!

~Melanie

Baby Potato and Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad

Earlier this summer, the kids and I took a little mini stay-cation to San Antonio. We went roller skating, perused the Japanese Tea Gardens (advertised as the Japanese Tea Gardens but there is a sign at the entry that says Chinese Tea Gardens, strange), made an attempt at free Tuesday at the Witte Museum (didn't even get out of the car for that one because there were 5 tour buses full of kids ahead of us!) and then to Trader Joe's.

I had always heard great things about TJs from friends who had the privilege of living near one. We only recently got one in San Antonio and this was my first time there.

As I made my starry-eyed way through this sweet little store, I immediately was drawn to these little mesh bags of assorted baby potatoes - waxy purple, yellow, and red tender young things. Next I saw plastic clamshell trays of heirloom cherry tomatoes. There were yellow, red and purple tomatoes, larger and smaller, perfectly round and grape shaped. It took about a half second for the idea to come to mind....a fresh summer salad dressed with basil and balsamic vinegar!

There is something to be said about finding a good aged balsamic vinegar. You can find it at the grocery store (a little pricier than standard BV). The best balsamic is thick and syrupy, sweet and tangy. It is so versatile and can be used on its own to dress salads, drizzle over roasted veggies (my kids dip roasted Brussels sprouts in it), or anywhere you desire a little zing of flavor with no added fat. Another benefit of a good balsamic is that it has a little cling to it, where it actually stays on your food rather than pooling at the bottom of the dish.

Following is the recipe that came to mind that fateful day we discovered Trader Joe's.

 

Baby Potato and Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad

 

1/2 lb baby potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise and boiled in lightly salted water till al dente then cooled*

1 pint heirloom or regular cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/4 c thinly sliced green onions or red onions

1 red bell pepper, sliced

a good handful fresh basil, thinly sliced (or roughly chopped, your choice)

aged balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

mixed baby greens, optional

 

Prepare potatoes. Once al dente, drain them and put in a bowl in the fridge while you prepare other ingredients. You can also do this step ahead of time so the potatoes are ready to work with when you are.

 

Add tomatoes, peppers, basil, and onions to the cooled potatoes. Toss with balsamic vinegar, starting with about 1 tablespoon. You can add more if desired, just make sure to gently toss and coat everything in the bowl before you do. Season with salt and pepper and serve over a bed of mixed baby greens, if desired.

 

*if you cannot find baby potatoes, you can used waxy red or yellow ones. Just wash and cut into bite sized pieced before cooking.

 

Enjoy!!!

Adult Blueberry Lemonade

 

I just returned from vacation in Maine. It was lovely, lovely, lovely. We left Texas temperatures of 100 and above and spent 10 days in a cool, lush climate. The warmest days were around 80 but it was mostly in the 70's with lows in the 40's.

 

Up in Northern Maine, there is a network of trails that span hundreds of miles. The trails are beautifully groomed and are designed to accommodate ATV's, bicycles, snowmobiles, etc. My mom's friend took us out on his ATV's for half the day, enjoying the scenery and the fresh air. It was so refreshing. At the end of our ride, he took us off the trail and up some logging roads and into this great clearing where we found hundreds and hundreds of blueberry bushes! We picked blueberries for a half hour or so and made away with two quarts of the tiny delectable sapphire colored gems.

 

Since I wasn't in my own home and didn't have the desire to bake a blueberry pie or muffins, I decided to try a little mixology. Remember the previous post entitled Why I Love Saturdays ? I told you about this fabulous juice that I get at the market. Since I didn't have the divine pleasure of being able to load up on the amazing juice, I took it upon myself to make some myself. I also took it upon myself to find a locally made, wheat free vodka to mix it with. Oh, yeah.

 

I filled a Magic Bullet cup to the fill line with fresh blueberries and added enough water to cover and gave it a whir. I left it on for a couple of minutes because I didn't have access to a strainer and wanted it as smooth as possible. Then I juiced three lemons into a pitcher (I'd say it was a 1.5 quart pitcher) and sliced another lemon and threw it in, too. I made a simple syrup with 1 c sugar and 1/2 c water (over med heat till syrup-y). I added the blueberry juice to the lemon juice in the pitcher, filled almost to the top with water, and stirred in some simple syrup, a little at a time, till it was pleasing to my taste buds*. I then filled a tall glass with ice, poured in some vodka, and topped off with the fresh juice.

 

*The sweetness level will be different for everyone, so I won't give you an exact measure on the syrup. I'm not a stickler on following recipes to a T, and I am all about using what you have on hand and what tastes good to you. You could make this with strawberries or raspberries, lemons or limes, even oranges! You get the point. Use what you have and use what you like. Be creative, be happy, be joyful when you prepare your food and drink.

 

Salud!

I'm Back!

Vacation is over, and I am back to reality. Stay tuned, I'll be doing some recipe development soon!

(Plus a non-food, non-running post on hitting the big 4-0!)

Seasonal Eating at its Finest

Oh my, my, I can hardly contain myself! Our Maine vacation is coming up, and I can honestly tell you that my eating probably won't be right on track for the next 10 days, so I'm kicking it off with a nutrient dense meal made with local ingredients. Fueling up for the trip!

Miraculously, a few farmers are still harvesting kale! I don't know why I haven't been buying it up every week, but I did yesterday! Check out this glorious bag of yumminess!

 

It's been a while since I've had a good massaged kale salad. For a while there, I was eating it every day! But since my garden stopped producing it, I stopped making it. I bought this bag of kale so I could change that! I also bought a small bag of delicate young okra, but you'll have to imagine how cute that looked, I forgot to take a picture.

 

So what is it they say about necessity being the mother of invention? So is laziness. My hubby threw me a surprise 40th birthday party last night and I have been moving slow all day. We are also preparing for my trip to Maine, so I could hardly see myself joyfully and gently massaging kale in a bowl for 10 minutes. So, I whipped out the ol' KitchenAid stand mixer and massaged the kale with the paddle attachment. I was able to get other stuff done (like work on the okra) and the finished product was spectacular! I was very pleased with the outcome.

 

While the act of massaging the kale with your hands is fulfilling, relaxing, and, well, fun, if you're in a time crunch and you're really looking forward to this salad, I give you permission to use your stand mixer!

 

To make your salad, you will need a bunch of kale (dinosaur, curly, green or purple), 1-2 teaspoons of oil of your choice (I use olive oil or coconut oil) and an acidic liquid of your choice such as apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I like lemon juice but my girlfriend who introduced me to this salad prefers acv. Then you can use salt and pepper, a little finely minced garlic, any flavoring you'd like to add. At serving, I like to sprinkle some pumpkin seeds or other seeds or nuts on top.

 

Today, I used 2 t coconut oil and the juice of a lemon and a little salt. It was divine!

 

To prepare, remove the stems from the leaves and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Throw into a bowl with your oil and acidic liquid (omit the oil of you are oil free) and massage it with your hands for 5-10 minutes. If time is lacking, throw ingredients into the bowl of your KitchenAid and run it with the paddle attachment for 5 minutes or so. When you notice that the leaves are dark green and pliable, your salad is ready. Massaging the kale completely changes the taste and texture, removing the bitterness and transforming it into a delectable raw salad.

I made a simple curry bowl with the okra. I think that people are sometimes afraid of cooking okra because of its slimy reputation. I say, reputations aren't everything. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some young, tender okra, you can cook it whole and it almost melts in your mouth.

For this simple curried okra dish, you will need
1/2 lb fresh young okra
1/4 onion
1 red pepper
curry seasoning of choice - I used 2 t Patak's mild curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk
1 t coconut oil (omit if you are oil free)
salt to taste
crushed red pepper flakes for serving

Trim the lids from your okra, being careful not to cut into the flesh of the pods. Cut onion and pepper into bite sized pieces. Heat your oil (or water or stock if oil free) in a skillet. Sauté onions and peppers until translucent and fragrant. Add curry seasoning and stir through. Add okra and coconut milk. cover and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, till okra is tender but not mushy. Serve with red pepper flakes on the side.

This entire meal was prepared using food from the Farmer's market, except for the cashews, coconut milk, and curry paste. The red pepper flakes I produce myself from the wild chili piquin plants that grow in my yard. Red peppers and onions are from Braune Farms (the farmers I work for). Okra and Armenian cucumber are from Fruitful Hill, my neighbor at the market. Kale is from Austin Pesto Company.

Enjoy!

Smoky Butternut Chili

I am getting ready to go to my hometown of Fort Kent, Maine for an end of summer vacation, so I thought I'd do my best to use up some of the food in the fridge. My hubby can cook, but he is not one to experiment with creating new recipes, so I had better use up the unusual stuff while I can before it goes bad while I'm gone! I also promised my buddy, Lewis Carlan, that I'd come up with some new recipes for his plant based radio show, seeing as I'm the recipe expert and all...

My garden embraced the idea of producing butternut squash. Somehow, the plants grew like crazy and produced and abundance of this beautiful vegetable.

I knew that I wanted to make something with butternut and the lovely little bunch of baby collard greens that I had in the fridge. Since I love to have a range of flavors in the dishes I cook, I thought the delicate sweetness of the squash would pair well with smoky chipotle. The rest, my friends, is history. Here is the recipe:

Smoky Butternut Chili

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 large onion (or a small one), chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
12 c water or vegetable stock
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 bunch hearty greens, such as collards or kale, stems removed and torn or cut into bite sized pieces
1 t olive oil (omit if oil free and replace w water or stock)
1 T chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (more or less to taste)
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
sliced avocado for garnish

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat up olive oil or water, sauté onions, peppers, and garlic. Add butternut squash, water or stock, chipotle, chili powder and cumin. Add greens. Simmer over medium till butternut is tender. Add fire roasted diced tomatoes and black beans. Heat through.

Serve with avocado slices as garnish. Ladle over rice or straight into the bowl!

The sweetness of the butternut squash with the smoky chipotle, the nourishing greens, and the earthy beans is a perfect combination that you won't soon forget. Enjoy!!

Eat This Not That

As the title of my blog suggests, I love to eat AND run. I love both, I really do. I tend to be more of an "expert" in the eating part, always insisting on real, whole foods to fuel this wondrous body of mine.

This leads me to wonder why on God's Green Earth I spent so much money and effort on finding the right gel to fuel my long runs while training for a marathon earlier this year. Short term, the gels weren't such a bad thing, they gave me energy and provided sustenance every 4 miles or so while I was logging some serious mileage.

The proof, however, was in the proverbial pudding, when I was actually running the Austin Livestrong marathon in February of this year. I dutifully packed some sport gels, such as Gu and Hammer gel. Since I began my running career, my delicate, gastrointestinally challenged tummy has proven difficult to achieve balance. During the marathon, the gels started affecting me in a very unpleasant way. They made me nauseous and dizzy, and I was soon forgoing the fuel in order to avoid the adverse effects. My girlfriend insisted that I at least drink some Gatorade for some caloric intake and electrolyte replacement.

After this episode, I began searching for alternatives, knowing that I would never want to repeat how I felt with the gels during the marathon, especially since I work hard to avoid processed sugars and only consume them in small amounts when I do.

I soon discovered that eating dates while running is a great substitute for sport gels, and since I have been doing this, I feel much better during runs. The only challenge is carrying 2-3 dates for every 4 miles of running. This is very important to me, so where there is a will there is a way. I purchased some small jewelry baggies from the local hobby store and they work perfectly, tucked into a pouch that I can attach to my running belt.

I haven't run a full marathon on dates yet, but I have run a 10 miler and it was good. I don't recommend skipping the sport drinks because you need the electrolytes to replenish what you lose through activity.

I am no expert and I suggest you do what works best for you. With the tummy issues I've had over the years, dates have become the solution. They may not be yours, but it's worth a try! Don't be afraid to experiment, research, and find out what you need to feel your best during a run or extended physical exertion.

Simple Curry Bowls

I love a good curry. But I have to admit, I like a simple ingredient list and usually don't have all the time needed to prepare it in the true, authentic method. I love to make this dish with whatever veggies I have lying around, getting lost in the bottom of the produce drawer of my fridge, whatever is abundant at the farmer's market or on sale at the grocery store.

As I was cruising the aisles the other day at our local grocer, I came across some 1.5 pound bags of small roasting potatoes for $.50 a bag! They are great - a combo of little waxy golden and red potatoes with a few red fleshed ones in the mix! They made a beautiful addition to my curry, I tell ya!

As with all my recipes, you can take the general idea and make it yours. If there are ingredients that you want to use that are not included, do it! You can swap veggies out*, just make sure that you take into consideration their cooking times.

If you're looking for authentic curry, this one's not for you. If you're looking for a simple curry dish that is easy to prepare and makes a perfect light plant based meal, then keep reading!

 

Simple Curry Bowl

 

1 c basmati rice, prepared according to package directions**

1 15 oz can coconut milk

1 T coconut oil (omit for oil free)

1/2 large onion

1 lg bell pepper, red or green or combo

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t grated ginger

1-2 t curry powder or paste, red or green, whatever you have on hand

1 c vegetable stock or water

1/2 lb potatoes

2-3 large handfuls of baby spinach

1/4 c chopped cilantro

salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

 

Cut onions, peppers, and potatoes into bite sized pieces. In a large heavy bottomed pot, simmer potatoes in stock or water. When tender but still a bit firm, drain potatoes and set aside.

 

Add coconut oil to bottom of pot (use some stock or water if oil free). Add onions, peppers, garlic, and ginger. Sauté till onions are translucent. Add curry powder and stir through. Add coconut milk and put the potatoes back into pot. Throw the spinach on top, give it a stir, and simmer till spinach is wilted and everything is heated through. Season to taste.

 

Place a scoop of rice into a bowl and ladle your curry mixture over top. Serve with red pepper flakes and cilantro as a garnish. Enjoy!!

 

*great additions/substitutions: cauliflower, carrots, green peas, squash, kale, broccoli

**can use regular white rice, brown rice, brown basmati, texmati, etc. Can also use quinoa or other grain.