The Runner's Kitchen

Sizzle off the Snow-- FAJITAS

2011-12-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like spicy hot fajita's to warm you up in this cold weather! And after a ten mile run and a long day of sledding with friends, nothing could taste better! Plus, it gives me a chance to test out my new fajita skillet, an early Christmas present from Steve's mom!

Marinading the steak:

2 limes, juiced (2 tablespoons lime juice works too)
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 tablespoon chile powder
3 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
Whisk all ingredients together in a medium size bowl then sumerge steak strips in marinade.
1 pounds flank steak, trimmed of fat and cut into 4 inch strips.

(***Flank steak is meat from the abdomen of a cow and is a relatively long and flat cut of meat- this makes it perfect for fajitas!***)

Let the meat sit in the marinade while you slice up the vegetables.

Veggies:
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into think strips
1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced into strips
(you can use what ever color of pepper appeals to you- I couldn't find any green ones at the store!)
1 large onion, sliced into rings

Lightly sauté the vegetables in:
Lime juice + olive oil
On low-medium heat until soft and juice with a little brown on the edges.
Once the veggies are on lay out the strips of steak onto the skillet. I get to use my new fancy fajita skillet! Pour a little marinate into the pan to cook the meat it. Medium heat will do.

To heat up the tortillas I lay them directly over the steaming vegetable for about 20 seconds each. The microwave also works just as well- put a stack of tortillas in the microwave and nuck 'em for about 30 seconds or until warm and steaming.

Lay out your tortilla and the assembling is up to the creative mind! I like top off my fajita meat and veggies with fresh avocado, salsa, and cheese!

Happy eating!

Chilly Chili

2011-12-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

"Well the weather outside is frightful,

and finals aren't going to be delightful,

and since there's a lot to do... how about a big pot of chili to eat all week!"

This morning I was greeted by fresh granulated snow that had blown in over night and deep cold 9 degree F temperature that clung to my exposed face. Right away I knew it would be a chili night.

After a full day of classes, a slippery five mile run, and a back pack crammed with books and papers- it was finally time to head home to do well, more work. I stopped by the store to grab a few things for the night's super.

1can chili beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

2 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 pound ground beef

1small onion

spices:

1 Tablespoon steak seasoning? Found this baby in the cupboard

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

I started with the small onion diced in a table spoon of olive oil, after it had a couple minutes to itself, I through in the ground beef. I mashed the ground beef up best I could with a spatula and added all the spices. After this I put in the 2 cans of diced tomatoes, the corn, and both cans of beans. It looks super watery at this point, but keeping the pot on low simmering heat and in no time it turns to thick and chunky chili.

While the chili simmered I preheated the oven to 350 and got out my ingredients for corn bread!

3/4 cup corn meal

1.5 cups flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg (beaten in a separate small bowl first)

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

I combine all the dry ingredients before adding all the wet ones. Once completely mixed, no clumps, I poured it into an 8x8 square oiled pan to bake for 20 min.

I put the corn bread into the oven once the chili had been on for 40 min. Once the hour was up the chili and corn bread where both complete and ready for consumption!

Happy Finals Week!

Personalizing Your Eggs

2011-10-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Eggs: My breakfast just about every morning includes some sort of "egg dish." My roommate Allie would always call them "scramblers," my father would refer to them as "non-boring eggs," but regardless of the name, to me they're the protein that gets my day going!

One might think that eggs every morning would get dull and repetitive. But I like to keep things fun and constantly changing. I love to try new things in my eggs- spices, herbs, cheeses, yogurts, veggies, anything I can think of!
The next four egg dishes are some of my favorite. I have not included measurements of ingredient in every dish due the fact everyone wants their eggs a different way. Eggs can become very personal. However I hope that these dishes can inspire creativity!

1. Creamy Citrus Salmon

I'm not sure if it's the dill, or the cream cheese or the salmon in these eggs, but the flavor is powerful and savory! I whisk the eggs in a small bowl, then mix in the remaining ingredients before pouring into a lightly greased skillet.

Amounts of each ingredient is a personal preference.

Capers

Salmon (canned salmon makes these eggs super easy)

Cream cheese, cut into cubes

Lemon juice (1 tablespoon for 2 eggs)

Dill, or any herb readily on hand

2. Sundried tomato, basil and parmesan:

More often than not I make these eggs with only dried basil leaves and parmesan- things I usually have on hand. But today I went a little more fancy

2 eggs

small handful of fresh basil leaves chopped up

4 sundried tomatoes (in oil)

1/8 cup shredded parmesan cheese

3. Veg out

These are the my "every day eggs," meaning that when I wake up in the morning and get out the cartoon of eggs, I also hunt for what ever spear vegetable are lurking the fridge.
When I find the veggies I want, I sauté them until they are soft in a little olive oil before pouring in my whisked eggs.
Vegetable I often seek out:

Yellow squash

Zuchine

Mushrooms

Red onion

Spinach

Tomatos

4. Spicy Greek-yogurt and Avocado

These eggs started out as an experiment, and then turned into something I really enjoyed. It took me a bit of time to fit it all together, but eventually here's what it came down to:

2 eggs

¼ cup greek yogurt

1 small avocado cubed

1 tablespoon paprika

salt to taste

Ribs and Roommates

2011-08-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

December, 2008- It was the Footlocker National meet. High schoolers from all over the country were in San Diego, California to race each other. 10 from the West, 10 from the South, 10 from the Midwest, and 10 from the NorthEast. To make even more "friends," racers were paired up with someone from a different region of the country. I walked into my hotel room that December afternoon, two days before the race, to meet the girl I'd share a room with for the long weekend. She was my age, a senior in high school, from Colorado Springs. Her name was Allie McLaughlin.
Little did either of us know that in a years time we'd both be buffalos running for the University of Colorado. Allie has become not only by teammate, but my current roommate and good friend in college; and tonight she has taught me how to make ribs!

We started with a dry rub on our full rack of baby back ribs:

1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
a dash of black pepper

(All mixed together in a small bowl)

From there the rub was... well, rubbed on...

We let the ribs sit out for 10 minutes after it's little "massage." Just to let all the flavors sink in.

Fire up the grill! It's time to throw them on!

We wrapped the ribs fully in aluminum foil before closing the grill.

Allie's creativity lead to placing a rock under the ribs when they were in smily face position, to cook them more evenly. 10 minutes for the upper left lip, 10 minutes for the bottom (no rock), and 10 minutes for the upper right lip. Then the ribs were flipped into frowny face position for a final 10 minutes on the grill.

We pulled off the shinny silver blanket and delicious ribs were revealed!

Bon appetite my friends! And remember you never know the days that you're going to meet your good friends! (who might just share delicious recipes with you :)

Taste the Rainbow!

2011-07-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

A colorful plate is probably a healthy plate. This is my rule of thumb most nights at dinner. I try not to get stuck into a "brown meat/ white bread" color scheme. Having a variety of colors to choose from on your plate is the easiest way not to miss out on any of the major food.

Dinner last night: Shish-kabobs and corn! Colorful, easy and delicious!

Now go eat a rainbow!

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Pesto and Citrus Corn Salad

2011-07-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Whole wheat pasta verse the regular stuff. Every once and awhile I choose the "healthier" whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat pasta is less processed and contains less glucose (lower glycemic index) therefore making it a bit of a healthier choice. Enough with the science junk- I'll be honest, I like that regular processed stuff I grew up on. My rule of thumb- enjoy what you're eating! So use regular if that's what your buds are craving! However it just so happened that whole-wheat pasta was on sale (and cheaper) at my local market- thus my choosing it.

Pesto! I learned how to make homemade pesto from my green thumb mother. In our back yard garden, I'd be sent down to the basil patch to pick as much fresh basil as possible.

From the repetition of this exercise, I subconsciously memorized this simple recipe.

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts (normally my back pocket chooses the inexpensive walnuts, but I splurged today)
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper, to taste (tasting is the most fun part)

I grew up with a food processor in the kitchen, however in college, there are no such luxuries. Luckily my roommate owns a baby blender. I made do with that.

Simply putting all the ingredients into the blender worked just fine- as long as the olive oil goes in first.

Once everything was all blended to perfection, the salt and pepper was mixed in. Only thing left to do was wait for the pasta to boil.

In the mean time a side citrus corn salad was thrown together.

2 avocados, cut into cubes (or the closest shape to that)
1 can of corn
3 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup dried cilantro

All ingredients were thrown into a large bowl and gently mixed together.

It feels a little incomplete to give only one sentence of instructions for a recipe, but I like simple stuff, and it doesn't get much easier than this.

My second favorite part of this meal is it makes fantastic leftovers (cold)!

Especially when you have it for lunch in the middle of the flooded creek path. (Yep hasn't stopped raining since the Linguine and Clams!)

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Never lock your brain into recipe mode. I reserve the right to change any of my recipe on a moments notice! And that includes adding food coloring to waffle batter to make patriotic flag waffles with my roommates for the Fourth of July!

I topped my flag of with vanilla yogurt and coconut

to make white stripes! (runner's syrup)

All we did was simple designate three bowls of waffle batter to the colors red, white (plain) and blue. Then we poured into the appropriate places on the waffle press. And vuala, the American flag!

My Macho, Nacho Father

2011-06-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Growing up I was messy child- chocolate goo smeared on the fridge, flour sprinkled in the kitchen drawers- I left every drawer open- and egg whites shinned the hardwood floor.-Just a quick description of the kitchen without going into detail of what it looked like after I had been in there. However I was fortunate enough to have a patient, tolerable father who followed me around with a sponge complaint-less. And would swallow down any half baked, malformed treat I cooked up.

As I got older (and cleanlier) most of my kitchen memories consisted of slapping my father’s hand to save my food from the “human vacuum cleaner”. However, still to this day there is one thing my father can build in the kitchen that has been dubbed the status of “World Famous.” A creation so simple, but so complete that after long days of skiing I’d beg for. After mountains of homework never failed to put a smile on my face. My father’s “World Famous Nachos”:

Chips

Re-fried Beans

Corn

Olives

Cheese

And maybe some Chicken

The ingredients are simple staples, which makes building the nachos ever easier. Place chips on a plate, spoon some re-fried beans over, throw on some corn and olives. Look in the fridge for some chicken to cut up and put on. Sprinkle cheese and nuke in the microwave. Bam! Ready to eat!

With my Dad in mind, I made a giant plate of nachos last night! Accompanied by a tall glass of milk too!

Happy Fathers Day! I love you Dad!

How much does FRESH matter?

2011-06-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

I found this bumper sticker last week in the parking lot of the Marshal Mesa trail head. While I instantly loved it, it made me wonder how much does FRESH really matter?

Welcome to the Boulder Farmers Market, where the hype for FRESH, ORGANIC, LOCALLY GROWN food is the equivalent to a child on Christmas, every Wednesday and Saturday.

The obvious selling point for local Farms might be less chemical usage than commercially sold vegetables and fruits to big name supermarkets. However what I want to know is how much greater is the nutritional value at the Farmers Market? How much does FRESH matter?
All veggies lose some of their nutritional value from the time they're picked, shipped, unloaded and sold in the grocery stores. Considering the average fruit or vegetable travels 1500- 2500 mile from the farm to your plate, this shouldn't be surprising. At the Farmer's Market, everything is locally grown and picked-so there is no lag time.

In my search, the common motif of the suffering green beans and spinach kept popping up.
According to a study published in GlycoScience and Nutrition:

Green beans refrigerated after harvest lost more than 90% ascorbic acid following 16 days of refrigeration

Broccoli lost about 50% of both ascorbic acid and beta-carotene following 5 days of storage.

Following cold storage for 8 days in the light, spinach lost 22% lutein; in 8 days of dark cold, spinach lost 18% beta-carotene. Carrot carotenoids were stable under both conditions.
Storage partially depletes milk of vitamin C.

While the elite runner in me would like all of my fruits and vegetable to come from the Farmer's Market, the college student's wallet argues that it's not going to happen. I settled with a bag of spinach and a tomato plant!

Stuffing the Stomach with Stuffed Peppers

2011-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

My dinner menu can often be dictated by the sale ads of the local grocery store’s newspaper. 77 cent red bell peppers this week made my college wallet happy! Yep, I might have had an over flowing basket of peppers. I love bell peppers! Raw, bell peppers are crunchy, flavorful, and full of vitamin c, however tonight I cooked them! Adding heat to the peppers makes them soft and sweeter. However it's important to realize the heat also diminishes their vitamin c content; but the good new is the heat also allows for a crucial release of some antioxidants we can't obtain from a purely raw diet. So lets crank up the heat and get to work.

Here we go:

I started with cooking some brown jasmine rice (rice always takes so long for my impatient tolerance, so I made sure to start it first).

1 cup brown jasmine rice
2 cups water

Then I took a pound of ground beef, throw it into my cast-iron skillet (no literal meaning of throw) and dowsed the beef with three table spoons of lime juice. I used a spatula to make sure all the meat had a change to get a sip of the sour liquid. Following this I added a half cup diced red onion, a tablespoon Onion powder, 2 teaspoons chili powder, and two teaspoons salt. I let the meat sit in the skillet for about five minutes before turning on the stove burner.

3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup diced red onion
tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon salt

The great part of stuffed bell pepper is there is no right or wrong way. I merely used the things on hand. I would have loved to put in some taco seasoning! But unfortunately I didn't have any. With a can of black beans and a jar of salsa in my cupboard, I decided to take a southwestern approach.

I turned on the stove to start cooking the meat (medium heat). Then proceeded to add a cup of black beans (drained and rinsed) half a cup salsa and a generous cup of the now cooked rice.
1 cup rice
1 cup black beans
1/2 cup salsa

Once the peppers were hollowed, it was stuffin' time! Alternating cheese, meat, cheese, meat, I filled the peppers and slid them into the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Dig in with a fork- and don't be afraid to eat the pepper like an ice-cream cone!

The Runner's Burger

2011-06-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

Burger and fries- that’s what I craved after the NCAA National Track Meet. For an unfortunate, but somewhat valid reason, the plate of burger and fries has been pushed away by the runner many times. The greasy, fat filled burgers and oily salty french-fries aren’t always appealing to the runner’s temple, uh a runner’s stomach. Still everything in moderation is ok once in a while- I still ordered a juicy gorgonzola burger with french-fries after my race; I felt I deserved it.

Tonight I attempted a “runner’s burger”, a bit more lean and green. While most burgers use 80/20 ground beef for their patties I used 93/7 (97% lean meat to 7% fat). The downfall to this decision is that the less fat in the meat, more likely you are to get a dry-crumbly burger. To compensate for the lack of fat, I threw in an egg.

Patty time:

1lb. ground beef 93/7

1 egg

¼ cup feta cheese

2-table spoons fresh cilantro

3-table spoons diced red onion

¼ cup corn meal

Mix completely and form into patties.

Since we’re doing this running style, I decided to give the potatoes a night off. Nothing against potatoes- without a load of condiments or hot oil, they’re a great carbohydrate. I sliced up some fresh veggies for a side of “fries”

Red Bell Peppers

Squash

Zucchini

Another runners call- I swapped the average, white, fluffy, high glycemic hamburger buns with Oroweat's Mulit-grain Sandwich Thins (upper right hand corner of the picture above). With a lower glycemic index, less calories and some more whole-grains, they definitely are the way to go.

I drizzled a tad of olive oil over them, then sprinkled some salt and ground pepper before putting them on the grill.

Time to fire up the grill and slide the patties on. I gave them about 10 minutes with the lid up before flipping them. Once they were laying on their backs I dispersed the zucchini, squash and bell pepper strips around them. Another 7-10 minutes and I pulled the burgers off! The veggies were soon to follow.

Assembling of The Runner's Burger! Mashed avocado, spinach, and thinly sliced tomatos, yum, that’s what I added to tower my burger to perfection.

ENJOY!

THINK BEFORE YOU EAT

2011-06-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I found this bike parked in front of the Walnut Cafe. "Think Before you Eat," what a great bumper-bike-sticker. How often have I been so ravenously hungry that I just tear through the whole kitchen snacking on a bit of this and a bit of that until my stomach is sufficed? Probably more than I should. To fight back on the urge of extreme-acute hunger (normally found right after stepping into the kitchen after a long run) here's what I do.

1. Have a plan- "I'm going to have an omelet and toast"

2. Drink a big glass of cold milk- Milk has just enough calories to hold me over until the toast has popped and the omelet's stuffed. Plus liquids are good at making the stomach feel momentarily full.

Think before you eat! Bon appetite!

On the Road: On Eating Out-

2011-06-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Des Moines, Iowa- the NCAA Track and Field National meet is upon us! It feels like we were just up in Eugene, Oregon! But it is time to hit the road and lace up the spikes again!
With all this travel a friend asked the question,

“So, like do you guys always have to eat out?”

She knew- eating out is not always an endurance runner’s preference. Heavily dressed salads and oil-shinned food are often the things found at restaurants.

“We generally stay away from chain restaurants,” I told her, “ Chain restaurants always seem to be a little more greasy than locally owned ones. Plus it lets us experience the town we’re staying in too- which is really fun!”

Last night we went to the Raccoon River Brewing Company, right by the Raccoon River- notorious for flooding the city of Des Moines. There, Joe made the claim that he could look over the two page menu and in three chances, guess what Emma was going to order. He got in two.

So maybe we become a little predictable when it comes to ordering- but that's not a bad thing. We know what works in our bodies, and the night before race day, we don't want to chance ANYTHING. But also endurance runners learn to read the language of menus. What heavy cream-cheese sauce might sound appealing, a runner crossed off the menu and skims down to the next item.

"But doesn't that get pricey?" My friend asked

"Yeah, but the Coaches are pretty good about taking us to grocery stores to stock up on provisions. I normally get sandwich fixings to build sandwiches for lunch; crackers and pretzels too."

I filled my shopping carte with my regular items this afternoon. Granola cereal (good for snacking), Oatmeal (good for breakfast), crackers, salsa, milk and avocados- things to get me through the weekend.

Now that my stomach is fed, and body happy, it's time to get ready for the races ahead!

Prelims tomorrow!

Picnics and Pasta Salads

2011-06-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

After arriving home late Sunday night from our Regional track meet in Eugene Oregon, the Boulder Creek Festival greeted me.

Memorial Day in Boulder, Colorado is celebrated by the infamous Boulder-Boulder 10K race. Over 50,000 runners hit the street creating a thick flow of all imaginable (and unimaginable) types of runners. Costumes, wheelchairs, baby-strollers, elite athletes, enlarged athletes- the Boulder-Boulder sees it all! If Historic Hayward Field gives Eugene, Oregon the title Track Town USA, then the Boulder-Boulder is what makes Boulder, Colorado the Mecca of distance and trail running.

The race is sandwiched between days of carnival rides, arts & crafts booths, sample tents, live music and a duck race!

After the few last remaining runners trickled through, a bunch of us headed up to the Festival and laid out picnic blankets. We made sure to have front row seats in order to cheer on our rubber ducks that we’d entered in the race. Prior to heading up, Cameron and I had thrown together a Salmon Orzo Pasta Salad to pack along.

Salmon Orzo Pasta Salad:

1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

1 (1 1/4-pound) skinless salmon fillet (If you’re short on time, canned salmon works fine)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 pound asparagus, steamed and cut into 2-inch pieces

Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

 1/3 cup (1.3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill 

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Combine all lemon-dill dressing ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Set vinaigrette aside

Boil and cook Orzo pasta like any other type of pasta
Drain and add other ingredients

Dress with vinaigrette (pour and toss)

Good Chilled or Warm. (I personally like chilled better)

Sounds easy, huh? Well that’s probably because it is! And it made a great bring-along-salad as well!
Unfortunately it wasn't our lucky duck day. None of our ducks won, but I don't think anyone really cared. It was hanging out and making jokes with friends that mattered that day.

Too Many Cows in the Kitchen!

2011-05-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Any six-year-old can the name element 20 on the periodic table that runners use to fight and prevent the evils of stress fractures (aka build strong bones). However, be cautioned that the most common way to consume this mineral might result in a white mustache above your upper lip. Milk! (calcium)

In a house with seven runners, cartons and gallon jugs of milk can clog up our refrigerator. But I’m not complaining. Why? Because I like to bake! And whenever milk is called for I’m certain I can find some expired milk hiding in the back corner of the fridge. This morning as luck would have it I was able to find two cup of milk that expired the first of May! Perfect for my waffles!

Wunners Waffles:
2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steve enjoying a generous helping of peanut-butter-granola waffles!

What kind of room has no windows?

2011-05-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

A handful of my teammates and I- about a dozen of us- hit our alarm clocks this morning in order to be ready to hit the track at eight this morning. Next on target is the Regional Meet in Eugene Oregon- what does this mean? Now that it’s summer Time to start living the runners life style. “Run. Sleep. Run.” might be a funny slogan printed on t-shirts found at Boulder Running Company, but the truth is, this is the what the running life style comes downs to. Running and Recovering and Repeating- of course where this blog plays a roll is in the recovering. What we eat enhances or inhibits recovery.

Today after spiking up on the track and spending some time in the weight room , Steve and I hobbled our way three quarters of a mile up the Boulder Creek Path to the Farmer’s Market.

Any fatigue that was being felt was submerged as the bright colors and energy of the Farmer’s Market washed over us. We sampled cheeses, granola, yogurt and nuts, before making it over to a Vietnamese food tent and devouring up a bowl of noodles.

At the Market I got some fresh mushrooms for tonight’s dinner plate-

Stuffed mushrooms with mozzarella, basil and tomato:

Food that's extremely simple, filling, and your body will appreciate. Portabella mushrooms, the kind I bought today, can even beat bananas in a potassium battle! Yep that little fun guy (uh fungi) can have more potassium than your rich yellow bananas! (medium sized portabella mushroom verse a medium sized banana)

The little herb garden I started from seed this spring break had just enough basil to fuel this dish! Can you get any more fresh than this!

Stuffed mushrooms with mozzarella and a little basil....

Toped with a tomato, add some grated cheese, and sprinkle a basil....

Bake at 350 F for about 20 min.

Enjoy!

Summer Reminiscing

2011-05-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

Coffee stained shirts, baggies under our eyes, the kitchen littered with gum wrappers- but smiles on our faces- we have survived finals week. Welcome summer!

It feels unreal that a year has been pulled out from under us. We are all free from the textbooks (at least for a short while). Boxes are being packed, as some move out and others go home for a visit. As for myself, I will be here to monitor the kitchen. There is still training and races to be had for some of us.

Sitting at the kitchen table on what is marked as my third day of summer I reminisce of all chaos, laughs, and stress that has been had in this house:

From the day we all moved into this house, feeling like we were going to be swallowed by the house that still felt foreign and unfamiliar.

Celebrating Birthdays with still no more than a couch and a few chairs as items of furniture to fill empty rooms-

To fall jack-o-lantern carving and toasted pumpkin seeds-

To making holiday gingerbread cookies with my engineering roommate:

(Diana won the "prettiest cookies" award in an Engineering competition with these cookies.

This year has flown by and I have no regrets about any of it. I look forward to another year full of adventure, messes, and of course good food!
New roommates will come into the picture and this time we're branching out from just the distance runner. Sprinting, throwing, jumping will be added to this up coming year!

Sunday's Bounty of Protein!

2011-04-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Easter- A day for biblical remembrance, has some how mortified itself into a day where many children hope that a mysterious rabbit will come in the middle of the night and hide bright pastel eggs for them. Maybe it's the nice weather and the spring season, that makes people focus on cute baby creatures, and soft, perfumed flowers and some how this led to the strange rabbit theory. But whatever you choose to observe or believe on this day, the resurrection, the season of new life, or the brightly-colored, sugar-covered marshmallows on sale, if you are a runner take advantage of the bounty of protein! EGGS!

Eggs are packed with protein, plus you can pick up varying amounts of Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Mine a little deeper and you'll hit some minerals, particularly iron. Plus eggs contain essential amino acids the body can’t manufacture. I could ramble on.

So how'd we celebrate? By dying about 2 dozen hard boiled eggs Saturday night! I'm sure when you think "snack", Easter eggs don't jump to mind, but really, they make for a fantastic snack! And at 70 callories a pop, who can complain?

Home Meets and Home Dinners

2011-04-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 9th was the Potts Invitational, our home track meet! The first time this season that many of us laced up our spikes and turn on the race mode mindset. And what better way to prepare for a six hour meet in the sun then by carboloading! (I probably shouldn't throw around the term carboloading like that- to really carboloading you must first deplete your cells of carbs, a process that takes about a week, then consume a large amount of carbs-we merrily had a team pasta dinner.)
Pasta, meat sauce,a varriety of bread, salads, some ice tea and cookies covered our kitchen tables. Everyoneone on the track and field team was invited, as long as they possessed two X chromosomes.

As the hosting house, I began the meat sauce 3 hours before the feasting began. Why so early? Because the vine ripe tomatoes needed that much time to boil down and simmer with the fresh oregano and basil.
I colored it up too- yellow squash, orange bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion.

About 25 of us in total devoured the feast! And by looking at the results, I think it paid off!
Bon Appetit Buffalos!

Pizza Break!

2011-03-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

Even though it's Spring Break, for the runner, that does not mean a break from running. We're still pushing workouts and accumulating the miles. Though we're still running, less time in the class room means more time in the kitchen! After running around beautiful, sunny Boulder (I snicker as I think of those on the rainy beaches of California- those who I initially envied as I made the decision to stay homebound to Boulder to nurture the running life style) It's time for some food! As my stomach starts to rumble and my mind flips through a mental cookbook, I know it's time for something fun- Pizza.

Starting an hour ahead I make the dough:

3/4 cup warm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
(combine in a little bowl and wait a couple minutes)

(Combine in a big bowl)

2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

Pour the little bowl into the big bowl!

Add a splash of olive oil!

3 tablespoons olive oil

Give your legs a break and use your forearm muscles!

Kneed that bread!! (5-10 min)

Let rise in a warm area!

Have you ever hear the saying don't go to the store hungry... well Steve and I headed to Sunflower Market to get my favorite part, the pizza toppings and well... we WERE HUNGRY!

Squash

Zucchini

Red onion

Bell Pepper
Eggplant

Spinach

Pepperoni

Sausage

Asiago cheese

Colby-Jack cheddar

Mozzarella

After letting the dough rise sufficiently, it was rolled out into rectangular form and put on the cookie sheet- a little sprinkle of cornmeal on the bottom- (omission with no hard feelings)

Smothered it in tomato rich pizza sauce (will have to try this from scratch some time)

and loaded with the veggies lightly sautéed.

Once the veggies we distributed evenly the meat took over! We covered it with a blanket of cheese and put it in for a 30 min nap. (450 F)

All that was left was to pour the milk!

Pizza is being devoured before Shalaya can take adequate pictures.

Waffels

2011-03-17T21:49:00.001-07:00

Track season is upon us, and for me that mean it's time to play in the water. It's steeple time! Because the track can get so crowded in the afternoon- each of my teammates doing a different workout- and because the men's steeple barrier is at a higher height, Emma and I have elected to do our workout in the morning.
Spiked and psyched at nine! (That means you've done your 3 mile warm up, stretched, gone to the bathroom and put your shoes on before nine)
8 x [300 meters flat, 300 meters with barriers and the water jump]. Woo! Let me tell you it looked a lot easier written down in Coach Wetmore notebook than it actually was!

After defying death, Emma and I untied our steeple spikes and put on our training shoes. We shared and mentally indulged in the breakfasts we were going to have. Emma was planning for decadent peanut-butter french toast with caramelized bananas and I had chocolate on the mind. Maybe a giant stack of pancakes or waffles I could put chocolate-chips in.

As I finished my cool down and entered my back yard I could see my boyfriend Steve through the kitchen window. "What is Steve doing lurking in my kitchen!!" To my extreme excitement, I found him making waffles for me!

I might have rushed through my stretches due to the hypnotically incising aromas coming from the kitchen. Once I had the steaming plate of waffles in my little paws, I smothered them in peanut-butter and topped them with coconut and chocolate-chips! Yum! Nothing like a few calories to get you ready for the next run in a couple hours!

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

2011-03-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Out to dinner Friday night with my girls in Boulder Colorado.

We pull the prius into a front row parking spot for "alternative fuel vehicles only." A parking sign that is not surprising to find in the organic, natural, Wholefoods loving Boulder. Tonight we are going to Mod Market. Their slogan- Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. They're famous for salads, with as many toppings and condiments as an icecream parlor (but we'll get to dessert later). Start with a some spring greens, add a scoop of walnuts, some potatoes, a little goat cheese, throw some edamame in there, a little corn, maybe steak- you literally feel like you could stand there with a clipboard and pen, checking off all your daily vitamins and minerals as you watch them mix and lightly dress everything in a bowl.

And maybe today you're feeling macho and extra hungry, you want one of their flatbread, whole grain pizzas. They'll fill you up and you'll still leave feeling you ate something green.

While most night going out with the girls is fun, tonight it is mysterious. All seven of us have received anonymous letters in the mail telling us to go to Mod Market at 6:30p.m Mountain Standard time on Friday, March 11th. The letters are printed on CU track and field stationary, so we know it's someone on the team that's pulling this shenanigans. So now we're here. We look around at the crowded tables for a familiar face (actually, we're expecting a table of snickering boys). Unsure of what to do, Paige, Kelly and I pursue the line and order. As Paige pays she's handed something....

At the table, as we all sit with delicious food in front of us beginning to devour it, we pass around a strange card printed to The Factory (Our house is unanimously known as "The Factory" to everyone on our team").

There once were these girls from the Factory,

who are very close to finding me,

to unravel this pickle,

you must next go to Ripple.

But first eat, relax

and loosen the belt on your slacks.

Welp, I had no trouble with the idea of dessert.

We call it icecream, but this is Boulder, it's really frozen yogurt. Ripple is a build your own cup, top it yourself, frozen yogurt place! I guess you could call it healthy... that is until you pile on the cookie dough, brownies, poptarts, marshmallows, chocolate sauce and totally bypass the fruit station.

We get to Ripple and we're expecting another clue like the time from before. With our eyes large with icecream (uh frozen yogurt) we all sit down, spoons in hand, and I proceed to tell a little story.

My little story starts with some letters I mailed. And I cashier I talked to at Mod Market. Telling her I'd be back in a half hour with a group of girls, wearing "this same bright red jacket" and I'd be so very grateful if she's give them this card addressed to the factory.

In the end we all sat at the table enjoying our dessert as we see more of our runner kin toping off their own bowls of dessert.

I got exactly what I wanted- A family dinner!

Seven Beans in one Salad; Seven Girls in one House

2011-03-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

This is my twist on the classic four bean salad.
Apparently the idea of a salad full of beans is troubling to some people. I never thought twice about it. But the first time I served it to my boyfriend he stared at it a little confused. There was no lettuce, or noodle, or anything else to be comforted by (that you'd normally find in a salad). Like any runner, I'm always craving some carbs, so when I made it this time, I threw in a little pasta! and BAM- I had a fueling pasta salad packed with a ton of protein from the beans.

(Rinse in a strainer and combine in a giant bowl)
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can green beans
1 can corn
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1.5 cups cooked orzo past

Dressing:
2 cups white vinegar
1.5 cups sugar
.5 cups olive oil
splash of worcestershire sauce
(combine in a bowl and whisk together before pouring over beans and pasta)

I like to let this sit over night. The longer you let it sit, the better it becomes!

Morning Miles, Family Feasts

2011-03-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Most of us distance runner are as sensitive and picky about our food as three-year-olds are. For this reason there is always seven different breakfast, seven different lunches, and seven different dinners in our house. However on the rare occasion we all make it to the table to share a meal together.

This morning was one of those few breakfasts. Wonderful roommate Paige had blueberry pancakes, bacon, and sweet potato fries steaming and ready for us famished long runners as we came dragging our feet through the door. It couldn't have been a better day to come home and find food already on the table. After our longest run of the week at Magnolia Road (made famous in Chris Lear's, Running with the Buffalos) at an elevation of 8,000, with an extra mile tacked on to everyone's "normal" Sunday long run amount (normally I only run 13 miles, today I ran 14) devouring Paige's feast was no problem!!

Granola Boulderites

2011-02-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

While granola might describe most of the hippies in Boulder, its also what I munched on after this mornings easy ten mile run.
1/4 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup honey
a splash of vanilla
a dash of cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
walnuts, slivered almonds, cashews, coconut (you choose what you want to throw in!)

Simply whisk the oil, honey, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl, pour over your oats and nuts. Mix together well and then spread onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes @ 350.

If you ran hard this morning, serve the warm granola over hot peanut butter waffles.
Enjoy!