Gourmet Runner

A few days ago the lovely Vanessa (yes, she has an awesome name) from Swift as Shadows  tagged me in a neat survey about fashion. Now, Vanessa is crazy fashion forward and always has the cutest stuff. Me? Not so much. If you already know how to buy clothes on sale from Old Navy and re-wear your jeans 4 times before you wash them (don't lie, you know you do it) then I have nothing more to show you... ...until today. Straight from the backroads of rural Georgia, I bring you hands-down the most awesome new fashion accessory imaginable. Bet you didn't know kneepads could be so sexy, did you? The last few days I've been doing scraping/trimming/cleaning up of insulation in our house. SO GLAMOROUS . Today I decided to take a break to show you just how awesome my favorite knee pads are.  1) They help you not rip up your knees when you're kneeling and working. Boring . You already knew that.  2) They make you feel like a roller derby girl and you start pretending you'...

After a pretty horrific experience with rice pasta a few months ago, I thought maybe my pasta days were over since I'm been eating more gluten-free. I took a chance and bought a new corn/rice blend the other day: I was so suspicious when I cooked it. The previous rice pasta I made just FELL apart as it was cooking. No bueno . This one was perfect! Topped with some chicken breast cooked in tomato sauce and rosemary, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. Yum! In other food news, I've been seriously overusing my oven lately. It's just so nice to have one after so long! EVERYTHING is being roasted, so I've made some pretty exciting healthy fries. A potato cut up and lightly sprayed with oil, salt and pepper makes yummy "fries", but it's probably one you already know about: So here's one you probably haven't tried: okra fries! I got this amazing bag of garden veggies from my friend this past weekend: But I was a little stumped about what ...

My fitness goals for this week were to re-discover strength training and cross-training, and let running take a backseat for a few days. So far, it's been great! I'm not feeling the heavy legs I had all last week, but I still feel like I'm keeping fit. Monday- 45 minutes of yoga video, 30 minutes of abwork and push-ups Tuesday - P90X Plyometrics It was my first time in about a year doing this P90X video. How did I do? I kid, I kid. It wasn't that bad. The 60 minutes video didn't kill me, but it was definitely enough to get me sweaty! This is going to be my new rainy day workout, when I just don't want to head outside for a run. Love mixing it up! Speaking of mixing it up....here are the mix-ins for my post-workout greek yogurt: Mixed with a sliced peach and flax seeds. And someone snuck a few chocolate chips in there. Weird. Absolutely no idea how that happened.  If you haven't entered my giveaway  for a free pack of BumbleBars, get to it peeps...

If you read my  Bar Review  a while ago, you'll know I think a good energy bar is a hard thing to find! One bar really stood out above the rest in terms of taste and nutrition: BumbleBar.  BumbleBars are organic sesame bars, and are gluten-free and vegan. Yay! So far, so good. Additionally, all their ingredients are real and recognizable. But the real test--how do they taste? The verdict?  Delicious , even after a tough run! The lovely folks over at BumbleBar sent me 5 bars to test, and lucky for me they happened to all be flavors I had never tried before. I received: - Chocolate Crisp - Chocolate Cherry - Awesome Apricot - Original Peanut - Amazing Almond I'm such a fan! Hands down, my absolute favorite was the chocolate crisp. Unlike some of the other bars, this has crisp rice as an ingredient, and it really does taste like a (healthier) chocolate rice krispie treat. Amazing! The original flavor is very sweet--thanks to brown rice syrup-- with a vanilla/...

Let's start with my least favorite post of the week (lately). While my mileage is ok, I feel like each week I'm slacking just a little bit more in the whole cross training/upper body thing. Gotta keep trying! Here's the week in recap: Monday : Ran 5.5 Miles, walked 1.5 Miles Tuesday : Ran 5.5 Miles Wednesday : Walked 3 Miles, 30 minutes of yoga/core, push-ups Thursday : Ran 5 Miles Friday : Ran 5 Miles Saturday : Ran 7 Miles Sunday : Complete Rest Day Mileage Total: 33 miles (28 running)--oddly enough, the exact same numbers as last week, unplanned! Cross training: pitiful Goals: Running this week is going to be my 2nd priority, for a change. My goal is to to do one thing each day non-running related. Even if it's 10 minutes of ab work, or 20 minutes of yoga. Really need to recommit to strengthening my body! There's one event coming up that I'm pretty excited for. Kari over at Running Ricig is hosting a virtual one-miler in the month of July. She'll even...

On Saturday hubby and I made a trip down to the big city--Atlanta. We had a dinner invite with friends, plus some things to pick up from Ikea while we were down there.  We didn't get to buy the awesome office chairs (BOO!) but it was more fun to have a photo shoot here than in the bathroom sink section.  My friend named Vanessa --name twin!--and I met when we were 14 at summer camp in Germany. Since then, we've visited each other in Hawaii, Georgia, and again in Germany. She was back in town for a few days and invited us to dinner with her family. To make it even better, it was a vegan dinner party!  Here is the table loaded with dishes before we sat down to eat: On the table, we've got: a "non-meat-loaf", samosas, carrot and sweet potato soup, ratatouille, couscous, corn on the cob, cucumber rolls, fresh cucumbers from their garden, chinese sauteed eggplant, and of course---some wine! It was a really fantastic meal, and great company. Nice to meet up with o...

Dear Google Users, I'm sorry. Obviously some scam is at work to trick you into finding my blog. When you typed "porn" into the search bar, I'm sure you did not expect to find a post about Peanut Butter . I can only hope that you quickly left my blog and found what you were looking for elsewhere. Those pictures of me in the ice bath are for educational purposes only, so don't even think about it. And to the girl who wanted to know how to "increase my boob size in one week"? Honey, if I knew that I would gladly tell you, but I don't. You're certainly not finding the answers here, or I would be rocking something other than A cups. Read my post on embracing your body shape , because I'm pretty sure that short of surgery, you're stuck with what God gave you. To the few people who found my blog by searching for "jelly beans and running", welcome! I think you might be the only ones who find what you're looking for on this b...

The short version--the hill won. Every time I head out for a run or even a walk, I am forced to meet the world's meanest hill. Seriously, it hates me. Why else would it slow me down to 15 minutes miles even when I swear my legs are moving as fast as humanly possible? I attempted hill repeats a while ago and nearly cried. Here's what happens at the end of what is supposed be a be a easy rest day stroll with hubs: Collapsed It's ok, still alive If someone knows more about science than me (haha, if you can spell science you know more than me) please invent some sort of transport device to get people to the top of hills.  Or...wait. Someone's already done that.  {source} Geniuses.  Hubs and I went to a local trivia night last night, and had so much fun. We've been going with some new friends for a few weeks now, but I haven't taken a single picture. Why? I'm embarrassed! I don't understand...I can post ridiculous (and unflattering, I might ...

Don't worry guys, I promise this is suitable for work. Alison, over at The Peacock Diaries , posted a couple of days ago about the Nutropolitan Museum of Art . My beloved Peanut Butter and Co. has a glorious gallery of pictures like this one here: PB and fig jelly sandwich with whole fig slices and caramel corn.  Oh, and this one too: Dark Chocolate Dream PB w/black cherry preserves, whole blackberries, and chocolate chips Honestly, I thought it was all pretty rude. How can they show us this stuff and not let me eat it? My PB&J sandwiches were looking pretty pathetic. I got my thinking cap on and got ready to make my own PB creation. Maybe not quite as drool-worthy in the photos, but every bit as delicious. Peanut Butter Rice Pudding  This makes 2 portions, so adjust if you need more. Ingredients: -1 cup of cooked rice (I used some leftover basmati) -1 whole egg -3 tablespoons of White Chocolate Wonderful PB -1 tsp. Vanilla -1/4 cup brown sugar Mix all ing...

Remember my disastrous cookie-making attempt a few days ago? I was hoping to redeem myself, and make a delicious homemade cookie that I could serve to hubby warm from the oven and earn a gazillion good wifey points. I've done it! Well...kind of. They look good.  Hubby likes them.  My neighbor liked them so much I got a thank you note! You guys are probably all really excited for the recipe, right? Um....can we pretend that I was a domestic goddess, and slaved over these for hours? And that they're sugar-free and packed with fiber and protein? Because the truth is just too sad.  My secret? Not even a cookie mix. PRE-MADE cookie dough. Directions: 1) spoon dough onto sheet 2) bake 3) soak up compliments Please don't sign a petition making me change my blog name to "runner who occasionally heats things up." I promise there is occasionally some gourmet-ness going on around here.  At least I can prove I am in fact running. Yesterday was speed day on th...

Last time I had a post about fish , they were live and swimming around in a plastic bag (and then a pond). Today, the only ones I'm talking about are good and dead--and in my belly! I bought a 3 pound bag of tilapia fillets the other day, and I wasn't entirely sure how to go about cooking them. I decided to play it simple and bake them with some olive oil, a little vinaigrette, and some salt. Good, but maybe boring. The exciting way to spice it up? Fruit salsa! Such a refreshing addition to fish. This particular one was made of diced mango, cucumbers, bell peppers, and strawberries. I tossed it with some vinaigrette (just a touch) but I think a squeeze of lemon or lime would be even better.  I got two meals out of this one.  1) Tilapia with wild rice, corn on the cob, and fruit salsa: 2) Baked tilapia tacos! All the same ingredients (minus the rice, + corn tortillas) That fruit salsa made me feel so tropical, so I can pretend I'm relaxing on a beach somewhere tropic...

I'm seriously confused. Outside = a gazillion degrees (approximately) Inside = freezing cold and I need to wear socks and hoodies all the time Inside, I'm in denial. I'm still eating popsicles because it's summer, dang it. All the cool kids open popsicle wrappers with their teeth. 30 calories & sugar free means you get to eat 6 at a time, right? But it just seems a little bit silly to be eating popsicles when you're wearing these on your feet: I have to wear socks inside because it's freezing. Therefore, on laundry day, I'm wearing the christmas socks with separated toes. Why yes, tomorrow (June 21st) IS the first day of summer. How appropriate! I clearly need more socks. Donations to Gourmet Runner's Warm and Seasonally Appropriate Sock Fund can be made. Thank you.  Today's workout was a run on the trails/around the lake. About 1.5 mile warm up/cool down walking, and 5.5 miles of running.  Who decides the temperature in yo...

I just wanted to let you know about a new page on Gourmet Runner, called " Nutrition Series ". This will be the quick way for you to find my posts that are about nutrition and health, as well as the posts where I share what I've learned about how much of various macronutrients we need (especially as it pertains to athletes). The regularly scheduled posts about bugs, caving, running, and candy will still be right here! So far, the articles you can find under that tab will include: Could Sugar Really Be TOXIC? Iron Women: Do You Get Enough? How Much Protein Do We Need? Much Ado About Fiber How Much Water Do You Really Need? Check them out if you haven't read them yet!

Thank goodness for menfolk. Remember how I said earlier that my day would consist of chainsawing and clearing all the trees that fell over because of our storm? Not so much. Instead, the guys took care of everything and left me to my own devices! I managed to get some work done and then we spent the afternoon exploring. Hubs has become my quad-bike chauffeur, and let's just say he doesn't hate it: We drove around our neighbor's property until we got to the lake--the one I've been running around all week. MUCH more fun to drive down in the quad than to run. Just saying. We hopped in and the water was so refreshing. I managed to get about 30 minutes of actual swimming in, followed by 45 minutes of floating and chatting. Can you guess which one was more relaxing? After the lake, one more adventure: spelunking. Yes, spelunking. What? Note: its really hard to "smile for the camera" when you're in a completely pitch black cave. We had to get down on our ha...

Well, the last day has not gone quite as planned. Yesterday afternoon Hubs and I headed down to our house to get some work done, and it started sprinkling. I was feeling especially lazy and tried to convince him it was a sign we needed to stay home, watch repeats of our favorite series and nap. That didn't work. We got there, got started, and then the rain really hit. I have never seen torrential downpour quite like this, and the hail was intense too. We were really just standing around watching in awe (and checking the roof to make sure it doesn't leak!) When we tried to leave, we realized tons of trees had fallen down in our driveway, but we managed to avoid most of them and get back to where we're staying. Only to realize there was no electricity. That was yesterday at 5 in the afternoon, and this morning at 9 still no dice. That's where the next few photos come in: Our neighbors are just about the friendliest, kindest people around. They got the generator up...