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chill out!

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Jen

I sat in the gym parking lot for a good 5 minutes this afternoon debating whether or not I wanted to go in.  See the thing is that I didn’t want to go in, but I almost felt guilty for not wanting to.  I just had no motivation to workout!  Then, I realized that my body is probably trying to tell me something – that I need a rest after my half marathon last weekend.  My legs are sending a signal to my brain saying “please don’t run!”, so I decided that I just need to chill out already!  Forget the guilt, it’s just not worth it.  Listening to your bodies cues are much more important in regards to working out and eating, so that’s what I did.  I’m pretty proud of myself. 🙂  Does this happen to anyone?  Do you feel guilty for not working out?

Instead of the gym, I came home to cook a fun meal using some beets in my fridge that were on their last legs that my friend Michi recommended.  I had 3 huge beets waiting to be used.

The recipe I used is from The New Moosewood Cookbook.  I love so many of their recipes, so I knew that this would be a winner as well!  It uses many of my favorites, including beets, pineapple, dried prunes and walnuts.  Check out the recipe here!

I preheated my oven to 400°F and cooked my beets wrapped in aluminum foil for 40 minutes.

While they were cooking I prepped my other ingredients by chopping up the pineapple, dried prunes and walnuts.

Once cooked, I popped the beets into my food processor using the grater attachment.  This is so much easier than grating my hand!  They were grated within seconds.  Gosh, beets are super messy – I now have red hands!

Then, I mixed everything together and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.  This recipe was so easy, and it tastes delicious.  It would be perfect for a BBQ.

For dinner purposes, I served the beet mix over some red leaf lettuce with a slice of seven grain bread.

This is a great way to get new colors into your diet, which is important for making sure that your body is getting all of the nutrients that it needs.  Different fruits and veggie colors mean that you are getting a few different vitamins and minerals that you don’t normally get!

Odessa Beets Recipe

from The New Moosewood Cookbook, found through Calorie Count

Ingredients:

  • 5 medium beets (I used 3 large)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice (next time i’d use more)
  • 8 prunes, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped pineapple

Directions:

  1. Wrap beets in foil and cook at 400°F for about 40 minutes or until tender.
  2. Meanwhile, chop pineapple, prunes and walnuts.
  3. Peel and grate beets.
  4. Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving.
  5. Enjoy!

I love spending Friday night’s on the couch!  I am just about ready to whip up some Banana soft serve and chill out!!

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somersaults

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Jen

It was cold and rainy when I woke up this morning.  What happened to our 75 degree weather?!  I miss it!

Due to the weather, I felt like some oats for breakfast.  I wanted something a little different from my normal banana oats with peanut butter, but of course I didn’t think of it until after my banana oats (1/4 cup rolled oats + 1/4 cup oat bran, 1 banana, 1 tbsp ground flax) were cooking, so I just switched up the toppings!

I decided to chop up an apple and throw it in a bowl with a squirt of agave nectar and a few shakes of cinnamon.  I popped it in the microwave for a minute and 30 seconds and it came out smelling and tasting just liked a baked apple – yum!  This would be perfect for a mid-morning or afternoon snack!

Once my banana oats were cooked, I topped it with my apple topping and some toasted pecans to get Baked Apple Oatmeal!

It was so delicious and perfect for a snowy/rainy morning!  I might have to replicate tomorrow. 🙂

I met my Mom for some shopping at the new Nordstroms at South Shore Plaza at lunch time today, so I ate lunch on the later side.  Nordstroms was packed, but it is such a great store!

Lunch included a salad for which I literally tossed random items into my lunch bag this morning!

Lots of good random stuff though!  Who knows how long that can of tuna has been in my cabinet – but, the expiration date was still good. 🙂

My salad contained red leaf lettuce, 1 can of tuna, raisins, salty pepper somersaults and spinach & artichoke hummus.

It was surprisingly delicious!  The Salty Pepper Somersaults were a great addition.

The Somersault Snack Company aims to bring you unexpected pleasure and a moment of mindful munching combined with a delectable blend of spice and absolutely nothing artificial.  Their snacks are made with toasted grains, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and a sprinkle of spices which are then baked into nuggets for snacking.  They have 4 different flavors for which they flavor using wholesome ingredients, which you can read about here.

A few weeks ago, they sent me 3 of their flavors to sample for a review.  I had never tried Somersaults before, but was intrigued by the concept of these little nuggets.  I am happy to say that they are cruncy and delicious!  I was able to try the Sea Salt, Salty Pepper and Chez Cocoa.  I tried them plain, mixed in with yogurt and as salad toppers.  They were perfect each way.

The Sea Salt was my favorite flavor.  It had just a hint of sea salt and were best eaten on their own as a snack.

The Salty Pepper was next on my list.  I loved the hint of spice from the pepper, but these contain a little garlic, which kind of lingered.  Still super crunchy and delicous, though!

My least favorite was the Chez Cocoa.  When I received my package of samples, I immediately tore into these ones because they are chocolate!  They were good and flavorful and crunchy, but I was expecting and wanting more chocolate flavor.  I did still like them and loved them mixed into my chocolate yogurt, but the flavor was just a little off.  I’d stick with the Sea Salt anyday!

Overall, these were great healthy snacks.  They come in smaller pouches as well, which would be perfect to through in your purse, car or gym back when you need a quick snack.  Each serving contains about 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs and 7 grams of fiber and wholesome ingredients, so it would be a good pre-workout snack!  You can purchase them from their website, or from Amazon.  I have also seen them at Peet’s Coffee & Tea!  Next time I am there, I will definitely be trying the new Santa Fe Salsa flavor.  Thanks for letting me try these out, Somersaults!!

I feel a mid-afternoon snack time coming on – maybe some tea and a big juicy grapefruit I brought with me.  Have a great Friday!

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