Girls on the Run!

Hey guys! I know, I know. I let 5 days go by again. For being unemployed, I have been a busy woman! However, in super exciting news, today is my first day as an assistant coach for Girls on the Run!

I have been kind of playing this one close to the chest because I wasn’t sure if I could actually commit to it, but I went to the training on Saturday so I guess it’s official! For those of you unfamiliar with Girls on the Run, it is a non-profit started by Molly Barker in Charlotte, North Carolina back in 1996. The goal of the program is to build character and help little girls develop into functioning teens and adults with healthy self-esteem. This is achieved through lessons, games and then, of course, running! At the end of the program, there is a 5K for the girls to run. I am so excited that I have the time right now to commit to this program but if you don’t there are other ways to help! If you are running a race, I strongly urge you to become a solemate and help raise money for the organization. The minimum you have to raise is $262 dollars and you get a super cool package from GOTR that includes a tech shirt, New Balance gear and more!  Raising $262 is so doable and the rewards really are endless.

In other exciting news, I ate a delicious meal on Friday! Drew and I went out to one our favorite restaurants, Urban Solace. Located in the North Park area of San Diego, Urban Solace features an menu filled with what they describe as “new American comfort food.”

The inside is dimly lit, but very cozy. There are several small tables along with a bar inside the restaurant and a patio with outside seating. We were seated and immediately ordered the warm cheese biscuits with orange honey butter.

They may look a little blurry (it was pretty dark in there), but these biscuits are like heaven. Imagine the softest, warmest, and most decadent buttermilk biscuits you have ever had and then add a sprinkling of cheese and orange honey butter. Yeah. They were that good.

For dinner, I went with the “Pan Seared Sustainable Idaho Trout, Sweet Corn Spoonbread, Apple-Fennel Salad, Lemon Butter Sauce.” Unfortunately, I was so caught up in eating this masterpiece, that I only remembered to take a picture when I was mostly done.

The trout was cooked perfectly and the spoonbread was delicious. I thought that the butter sauce needed a little acidity or spice because it was a little overwhelmingly buttery. All in all, though, I was a happy girl when we left the restaurant.

No Guilt Challenge

I am thankful for: having the time to help out GOTR!

One nice thing about myself: I have a nice rack. There. I said it.

Souper Salad!

Have I  ever told you about my love affair with salad bar restaurants? Yes, I know, I am super classy but what could be better than mountains of salad fixin’s, muffins, and pudding for dessert?? Filet Mignon you say? Well, yes, that would be better but unlimited salad bar and soup is only 8 bucks!

When I was a kid, my friends and I used to chow down at a place called Souper Salad. Yep, it is a clever name indeed. I used to get a huge mountain of salad, a baked potato and then pudding for dessert. What can I say, as a kid I ate like a locust. Anyway, the love of such places endures and after years of living without, I finally indulged in a little place called Souplantation (also called Sweet Tomatoes in some parts of the country) today. Did you know that Souplantation actually started in San Diego? I had no idea but I like to think that I perhaps I ate at the original and that somehow makes me cooler.

Anyhoo…I got the salad to go along with a mini apple bran muffin and a small delicious cornbread (no processed foods?? what’s that?).

Honestly, I’m amazed I made it out of there with just a salad! In addition to the salad bar that stretched on for miles, there was a fresh pasta bar, soups, a bakery, and a sundae bar! If I had brought a good book with me, I would have eaten there but as it was, I didn’t feel like staring at the wall or making conversation. I will be back Souplantation! Mark my words.

In other news, I am in the midst of a free week of yoga at a local hot yoga studio. Last night, I took a 60 minute yoga class. I don’t think it was any particular style as I recognized poses from both Bikram and traditional Hatha classes that I have taken. It was great to get my sweat on, but the ladies in SoCal yoga classes are incredibly intimidating. By intimidating, I mean, they had perfect little bodies and I felt like the elephant in the room. Seriously. Honestly, it bothered me for  the first few minutes and then I stopped caring. I was there to yoga not to compare myself to others.

Tonight, I went on a 4 mile run. My ankle is still a little swollen, but it doesn’t hurt. Hopefully it won’t hinder my training anymore.

No Guilt Challenge

I am thankful for: having nutritious food to eat. Not everyone can say that.

One nice thing about me: I am a silly person and it works in my favor.

What was your favorite restaurant as a kid? Anyone else like salad bar restaurants?

Can’t Believe I Did it Again!

Hi. I am coming back to all of you with my tail tucked between legs because it has been 5DAYS since I have posted. I can’t believe I didn’t post anything yesterday!

I think that there are a few reasons for this:

1.) Shame-I didn’t do so well on my no processed foods challenge this weekend. While what I ate was delicious and fresh and in most cases locally grown, there were some pizza crust and tortilla chips involved.

2.) Sheer boneheadedness- I left my memory card for camera in the computer all weekend so my picture taking was minimal at best.

So, there you have it. Stupid reasons right? I mean, this is MY blog. If I set a challenge for myself, I am allowed to make a mistake and move on. I am also allowed to play some things close to the chest and my time in L.A. this weekend was less about sight-seeing and more about seeing some ladies I hadn’t seen in a good long while. I really didn’t feel like blogging about it. I wasn’t sure how to get around this on the blog but then I realized that I could just tell you guys. Everyone has a life and there are some aspects of it that we wish to keep private. So, I am asking you guys to let me have this weekend as mine and I promise I will tell you all about the fun hiking trip Drew and I took on Monday.Deal? Ok.

Now in food and exercise related news, I went on a hike on Monday and it was fun and then I promptly twisted my ankle. As a result, I didn’t run yesterday. It’s still a little swollen today, so I am going to take it easy again today and maybe go sign up for a free yoga class or something.

Also in food news, I made some awesome curried split peas yesterday for lunch. I wanted lentils, but they were so much more expensive and yellow split peas have a similar nutritional profile. Here is my masterpiece served over brown rice with a dollop of Greek yogurt and avocado.

Stephanie’s Curried Split Peas

1 TBSP of Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 cup Dried yellow split peas

4 cups Water (if you want more of a soup, use an additional cup of water)

2 carrots, diced

Spices, to  taste:

Garam Masala

Curry Powder

Smoked Paprika

Coriander

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan and saute the garlic. After the garlic gets a little brown, add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add dried yellow split peas and water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer. Add spices to taste but do not add the salt until the beans become tender. Continue to simmer and when beans become soft, use a potato masher and mash the mixture (in my opinion, this is easier than throwing part of the mixture into the blender) so that the mixture will thicken. When it has reached desired consistency, take off heat and serve over brown rice.

No-Guilt Challenge

I am thankful for: My friends. It still boggles my mind sometimes that people that are not obligated to love me (i.e. my parents) do. Friendship is truly a miracle.

One nice thing about myself: I am a good friend.

A Quickie

Heading out to L.A. in 30 minutes and I haven’t even packed yet! I am a little nervous because it’s my first big freeway trip in the car and L.A. is notorious for traffic and just bad driving in general!

Breakfast was a quick bowl of oatbran and almond butter

Delicious but ugly as usual. Now it’s time for me to quickly pack and then pick up some clothes from the dry cleaners. Have a great weekend everyone! I am not bringing the laptop so I will be blogging of my exploits when I get back either late tomorrow or early Sunday.

No-Guilt Challenge?

I am thankful for: My wonderful family, particularly my mom. She is my rock and without her, I don’t know what I’d do.

One nice thing about myself: I like my shoulders.

What is everyone else thankful for?

The Never-ending Bag of Spinach

Today started out with a visit from an old friend: oat bran. I forgot how much I missed it and when it was so cloudy and cool this morning, I figured I would indulge.

Nope. Even after all this time, oat bran is still not photogenic. I ate this with almond butter and cinnamon on top. Delicious!

Continuing with my no processed foods challenge, I had a giant salad for lunch. I am going to L.A. this weekend for a couple of nights so I want to empty out the fridge and I don’t want to cook anything new.

This had hummus, tzatziki sauce, black beans, spinach, tomatoes and carrots. I know the tzatziki isn’t completely unprocessed but the ingredient list isn’t bad I don’t want to waste it.

Snacks were some frozen grapes and a spoonful of PB when I got back from my run. Dinner was basically a repeat of lunch with broccoli and peas and no tzatziki sauce. Just as delicious the second time around!

For dessert I had a couple of small plums. I haven’t a plum in years and I forgot how good they are! Sweet and satisfying!

As I said before, I am going up to L.A. to stay with some girlfriends this weekend so my “no-processed foods” challenge is going to be tricky but I plan to pick up some snacks on the way and with some creative menu ordering, I should be able to control what I eat to some extent. However, I am also not planning to be a slave to this challenge. If we end up in place where I can absolutely not find anything adhering to the rules of the challenge, I am going to just do the best I can and focus on my time with my friends.

No-Guilt Challenge

I am thankful for: My health. Without it, I would never have run a marathon or completed a triathlon. I am so grateful that I am alive and I have all of my arms and legs. Not everyone can say that!!!

One nice thing about myself: I am an incredibly kind person.

What are you guys doing for the holiday weekend?

More September Challenges!

Hi guys! Sorry about the lack of post yesterday. I was pretty busy and then Drew came home and sucked me into watching Mad Men. Twas a nice evening!

To go along with my anti-guilt challenge, I have decided on another challenge. This one is related to food. I have decided for the month of September not to eat any processed food. My goal is to eat as close to nature as possible. This means no breads, pastas, crackers, deli meats, artificial sweeteners (gum, diet soft drinks), and other things with ridiculous ingredient lists. Not included? Things like frozen vegetables and nut butters. Even though “processing” goes into making them, it is minimal and doesn’t really affect the nutritional integrity of the food.

The reason I decided on this challenge is because I have recently developed some bad habits when it comes to food. Since Cleveland, my diet drink consumption has gone up exponentially. I don’t really document my drinks on the blog, but I think I am going to start. I mean, this stuff is bad for you. There is no other way around it. It’s cancer in a bottle. Aside from diet soda, I have noticed that my intake of processed meats/veggie burgers and bread has been sky high. Even though I am home for lunch and have the resources of a full kitchen, I am still eating a bunch of convenience foods. No more I say!

I am also hoping that this challenge will help liven up the blog a little. Nothing is more boring than looking at a bunch of sandwiches and Clif Bars everyday. I like to cook, I really do. Hopefully, I can prove that this month.

With that being said, yesterday I managed to eat up some of the remaining processed stuff we had lying around. Breakfast was a yogurt bowl with Kashi H2H and almond butter.

Lunch was a veggie burger with spinach and tomato on Ezekiel Bread with carrots on the side.

I had a Clif Bar for a snack and then made a delicious stif-fry for dinner. Into the skillet went 1.5 tsps of sesame oil and 3 cloves of garlic. After browning the garlic, I added some chopped mushrooms and a little water to keep everything from sticking. After cooking the mushrooms for a bit, I added some frozen broccoli and half a head of chopped bok choy and some frozen peas. for seasoning, I added ginger, tamari and ume plum vinegar. I let everything cook down and then ate it with brown rice.

For dessert, I had a spoonful of PB from the jar and then Drew suggested fro-yo. Not being one to turn one down, we went. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was the perfect way to end the night and make way for the challenge beginning today.

September’s “No-Guilt” Challenge!

These are from yesterday:

I am thankful for: having a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in each night.

One nice thing about me: I have a good sense of humor

What about you? I forgot to say this the other day, but I invite anyone reading this to answer the above two statements in the comments. Sometimes, it’s nice to reflect.

What’s your absolute favorite processed food? I love Cheez-its. So good but so bad for you!

Low-Key Day

Hey guys! Today has been a very low-key day for yours truly. I woke up and had the usual yogurt  bowl.

Greek yogurt and Kashi H2H with almond butter. Delicious as usual but boring. I need to start stepping it up a notch in the kitchen! My meals are so boring lately! Lunch was another wrap from college with carrot sticks and some honey mustard for dipping.

This time I took a pic of the wrapper also.

I was actually going to finally use up the bok choy and other veggies in the fridge but I was working on something for my mom and when lunch came around I was HUNGRY and wanted something fast. I am also still feeling a little off and I was too tired to take on a full on cooking project.

For a snack, I had a Clif Bar (of course!) and since tonight is improv, I will probably be eating Subway for dinner.

Guilt

Yep, the G-word. I have been fighting a lot of guilty feelings lately. Guilt about not working and that as a result, I am becoming a burden on Drew. Guilt about having left a decently paying job voluntarily when so many people have been laid off with families to feed.

Now, I have absolutely no reason to feel guilty. I left a situation that was making me miserable and killing my spirit and yet, I still feel the need to “punish” myself in someway. I honestly feel guilty for having any fun because I don’t have a job. It’s almost like I don’t “deserve” any joy in my life because I am not “perfect” the way I feel I should be. Isn’t that horrible?

Part of the reason I started the blog was to fight these feelings. I wanted to do something that I loved because I deserve to pursue my passions in life even if the rest of my life isn’t “perfect” or settled. I wanted to fight back against these feelings of guilt because, really, what good will they do? Will guilt help me get a job? Will it make me a better person? Will it make me a better girlfriend to Drew or daughter to my parents? No, no, and no. Instead, it is making me sad, self-conscious, and a rather depressing person to be around.

I have decided to attack this problem of guilt head on using the blog. Everyday, for the entire month of September, I will write one nice thing about myself and one thing for which I am thankful. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I am hoping that something this small will finally help me to stop beating myself up all the time.

Nice thing: I have really nice hair

Thing I am thankful for: Drew. Trust me on this one, he is amazing.

Do you ever feel guilt? How do you deal with it?

Just Call Me Sniffles McGee

I am feeling a little congested in the sinus passages so this post is going to be kind of quick. I felt bad when I woke up this morning but I improved throughout the day. I may have pushed myself a little too hard on my 8 mile hike today though because I am back to feeling a little crummy. Hopefully some sleep will take care of that!

Breakfast was a yogurt bowl with the triumphant return of plain Greek yogurt!

Also in the mix, Kashi H2H and almond butter. Mid-morning, I had a bowl of frozen grapes.

Lunch was left something to be desired. I was feeling tired so I just nuked a frozen Cedarlane low fat pizza wrap and cut up some carrots.

I know. Exciting right? I’m bored just looking at it. I used to eat those frozen wraps all the time when I lived in the dorms my freshman year of college. I was nostalgic at the grocery store the other day and bought them again for the hell of it. Honestly, it’s really not bad as far as frozen wraps go and most of the ingredients are organic.

Snacks were some fro-yo and a Clif bar before I headed out for an 8 mile walk. It was nice to get out for the day, but now I am really tired. Luckily, my handsome boyfriend made some delicious Chicken Marsala for dinner. I had mine over a bed of spinach with tomatoes and cucumbers.

It was delicious and very light. I haven’t had Chicken Marsala before but I have had Veal Marsala and I was pleasantly surprised that Drew’s chicken was not coated. It made the dish not so heavy.

Dessert was chocolate covered pretzels and grapes.

What kind of crazy convenience food did you eat in college? My mom used to freeze me chili and stew to keep in my dorm freezer. I loved it, but it made me homesick.

Weekend Recap

Whew! What a recap! Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but we had a busy day and then Drew and I needed some time to finish watching season 4 of Dexter. Ummm…..for all of you Dexter fans out there, all I have to say is…Holy Crap!!! I can’t believe that’s how it ended. Drew was sad about it for hours! I wish we had Showtime so we could watch season 5. Hopefully it will be on itunes.

Friday after surfing we went to a bar with some friends where beers were consumed and some new dance moves were cultivated.

Sorry ladies, he’s taken.

On Saturday, we went to a couple of breweries with a friend of Drew’s and his girlfriend. Drew’s friend lives in L.A. but comes to San Diego often because the breweries here are good and he has an interest in craft beers. We ended up at Stone Brewery (I have also written about Stone here) because the eats are good and the beers are delicious.

They don’t call it Stone for nothin’! These big boulders are everywhere!

**A note about this picture: Full body pictures of myself make me EXTREMELY uncomfortable. It is for that reason that I am posting this on the blog. No, I’m not model skinny. Now you know. Do you you like me any less? No? I didn’t think so. I know my picture thing is just one more thing I need to get over in an effort to “love myself” and have better body image but it is not easy. Note ended.**

For lunch, I decided to go nuts and order the bar-b-que pulled pork sandwich because it jut sounded delicious.

I ate about half the sandwich and gave the rest to Drew because he didn’t like what he ordered (in his defense, it was gross). After lunch, I did some impressions. Guess who?

That’s right, yo. I’m crazy like that.

This morning, we got up and made some Kodiak Cakes. I topped mine with almond butter and a little maple flavored yogurt. Yum.

We watched a couple episodes of Top Gear (this show deserves it’s own post. Anyone else watch it?) and then set out for lunch and other shenanigans in La Jolla, another area of San Diego.

After parking, we stopped to eat at a cute little cafe called Cody’s. The menu was a collection of new american style dishes with an emphasis on fresh vegetables and seafood. While I neglected to get any pictures of the decor or even the sign, I did manage to snap a picture of my handsome lunch date.

They brought us some doughy delicious french bread when we sat down.

For lunch, I ordered a mixed green salad with a back bean and corn salsa and topped with a piece of grilled salmon.

The salmon was perfectly cooked and the salsa was so flavorful that I barely used any of the delicious chili dressing that was served to me on the side. Drew ordered the grilled mahi-mahi tacos which came with black beans. I stole a bite, they were delicious.

After lunch, we walked around in La Jolla Cove and took pictures.

Seals!

So, what makes this picture funny is that Drew told me to stand on that rock so that he could get a picture with the waves breaking in the background. Unfortunately, as I was standing there, a huge wave broke and drenched my entire right side. It was pretty funny at the time and now I can relive the moment over and over again through the miracle of photography. Thanks Drew!

We walked around for a while more and then stopped at the store and came home. After vegging for an hour, I took off on my long run for the week. This is the first time I’ve run six miles since the marathon and I have to say, it felt great. I went at a slow and steady pace and I didn’t stop at all, despite the enormous hills that dot the landscape of all of my runs. I think I’ve been trying to go too fast (which is still not very fast at all) and with the hills, I would find myself completely out of breath and exhausted all the time. Now that I am taking it easier, I am finding the hills much more manageable.

Do you have any weird hang-ups about having pictures taken? C’mon. I can’t be the only crazy one.

Lost!

The thing I hate most about moving to a new city is not knowing where anything is. Today, I was running errands and I had written down directions to get to a UPS store from Google. The directions, however, were awful and I ended up driving around for about 2.5 hours trying to find this place that was only like ten miles away! I will never understand why with all of the names in the world, a city would choose to name 3 different streets the same damn thing. ANNOYING to say the least.

Eats were good. Breakfast was cream on top maple yogurt (super delicious! You should try it!) with Kashi H2H and almond butter.

I don’t normally eat full fat yogurt but my greek yogurt supply was exhausted so I turned to Drew’s. It’s good, but not worth the extra calories or fat in my humble opinion.

Lunch was a Morningstar Farm veggie burger on Ezekiel bread with carrot sticks and honey mustard dressing for dipping.

I also had a Clif bar and some dried mango for a snack. We are surfing in an hour so dinner probably won’t be until close to 8:30 by the time we get cleaned up. Yay for surfing!

Do you have a GPS or do you just rely on internet mapping? Drew wants me to get a GPS but I can’t afford it right now so I am stuck doing it the old fashioned way.