Pumpkin Pancakes

I've been so busy lately that cooking has just not been something I've been able to do. Mostly it's been peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and some awesome Chobani and granola for breakfast. But after a while, I start to crave something warm and fresh. Especially since, though it isn't TECHNICALLY fall, the chill in the air makes it FEEL like it.

And since it's fall, of course I had to make something pumpkin. Again. For like, the fifth time. Somehow, I just don't get tired of it (so I hope no one else does either, or I'm just being really annoying with all the pumpkin posts...)

Last weekend, I attempted to make my own pancakes, and they didn't go so well. Not to be discouraged, I went for it again this morning when I needed a little pick-me-up. And they WORKED! (cue the bells!)

PUMPKIN OAT PANCAKES

makes one small, snack-size serving

1/4 cup oats, ground

2 T. Pumpkin Puree

2 T. Egg Whites

2 T. Water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Baking Soda

Sweetener (opt.)

1. Mix all ingredients together and stir until well blended.
2. Cook on greased or buttered skillet over medium-high heat until bubbles form. Flip and cook additional 1-2 minutes. (this would make 4 mini-pancakes. Timing will vary with size of pancake you make.)
3. Top with syrup and chopped nuts or more pumpkin butter! ENJOY!

For those of you who are curious, this little snack is low-calorie and healthy! The entire recipe has only 100 calories, so eat up! If you're making these for breakfast, round out the meal with some scrambled eggs or yogurt and fruit and you've got a nice meal to start your day!

A Rainy Day Calls for Eating Brownie Batter...right?

I can't be alone in hating rainy days, can I? Something about the gray, dark sky just tends to make my mood plummet into the deep, dark depths of despair (yes, I like alliteration!). The good thing about rainy days, however, is the comfort you can get by just trying to ward off the blues. You know... that perfect "read a book, bake some cookies, batten down the hatches and snuggle up with a blanket watching Disney movies" feeling. Why don't we do that on every other day?

Well, in any case, we don't, so at least rainy days give us a reason to really rest and take care of ourselves. Even if we can't shake the blues. (Seriously, I think I really might have weather-dependent moods. Any one else like that?) 

What's an awesome mood-booster? CHOCOLATE! 

It's true... at least for me. There is some science behind it also, but even if there wasn't.... I think I could support this claim on experience alone. And what makes chocolate even better. Oh, I don't know... maybe eating it in the form of

FUDGY PUMPKIN BROWNIE BATTER 

This picture just doesn't do the creation justice!

1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup water/milk or combo of the two
3 T. Egg Whites
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1-2 T. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
Pinch Cinnamon
Sweetener, to taste
(or leave out for DEEP INTENSE COCOA Flavor. It won't be sweet... but...)

1. Cook oats on stove top by boiling water/milk, then adding oats and reducing heat to medium. Stir occasionally until majority of liquid is absorbed.
2. Add egg whites and STIR CONSTANTLY while adding. I can't emphasize this enough... otherwise you will end up with some scrambled egg whites in your brownie batter, and that's just not very tasty. After the eggs are incorporated into the oats, continue cooking until even more liquid is absorbed.
3. Stir in cocoa powder and sugar/sweetener as desired. The cinnamon should help bring out the flavor a bit, especially with the addition of pumpkin
4. Stir in the pumpkin, and allow to fully heat. The pumpkin is the real 'secret' ingredient here, making this oatmeal EXTREMELY fudgy and brownie-batter textured. You CAN still taste it, which I like because I love pumpkin, but just be aware if you don't like it. You could sub banana for a milder flavor, I would expect.
5. Serve in a nice little bowl and ENJOY!

Nutrition wise, this is a pretty thick, filling recipe with plenty of protein and some good antioxidants from the cocoa. The oatmeal provides the fiber, and the pumpkin gives you a  little serving of veggies as well! The entire recipe (which can easily be doubled!) is only 130 calories and yields about 8 grams of protein! YUM!

Banana Bread Pudding and a Long Run

Let's cut to the chase... since once again, I SHOULD be doing homework and am instead writing a blogpost, because the things I made this morning was really, really good.

It was pudding...or maybe more like soft serve ice cream....or a super thick smoothie (you decide!) but it had the taste of banana bread. Really. I kid you not. EXACTLY like it... and then that added cold, frozen dreamy creaminess that 'banana soft-serve' has, for those of you who have just blended up frozen bananas know.

I STRONGLY recommend this. I think it may be my favorite thing I've made thus far! Sweet, refreshing, fruity, and really... banana bready :)

BANANA BREAD FROZEN PUDDING

1 frozen banana

1/3 cup almond milk

1/8 cup rolled oats, ground in food processer to powder

Dash Cinnamon

Dash Nutmeg

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:

Coconut Flakes

Chocolate Chips

Chopped Almonds

Peanut Butter

Caramel Sauce

1. Put everything into your blender and blend on high until you get a creamy, soft-serve ice cream/pudding consistency.
2. Top with whatever your little heart desires. I went with coconut flakes (overcoming my fear of saturated fats!) and some cocoa roasted almonds, which were awesome because a little bit of chocolate got in there in the almond bites but I also got the plain-banana bread taste in others, which I LOVED. ENJOY!

Here she is! All topped up!

Okay, so I ate the toppings first :)

 At practice today we got the pleasure of getting in a long run. I love long runs, because you can really let loose and get the acid out of your muscles but still get in a bit of a workout. I find that my mind really clears up and I start to get in touch with my body more and more as the run goes on. Plus, you can talk with your teammates! We played a little game in which we speculated where all the people we knew would be in 10 years. It's funny, but according to us, it seems that we will all be doctors or physical therapists or physchologists. That tells you a bit about the kind of girls on our team, haha....fun-loving but also loving. And smart. I love my team. They are always there for me. Plus, when I shared the embarrassing fact that yes, I started a blog, no one laughed. They were very interested in learning how to make a smoothie taste like banana bread, I'll say that!

Question of the Day: Where do you see YOURSELF in 10 years?

Strawberries and Cream yOATgurt

All right, then. I posted about these in my WIAW post, but it just didn't seem the appropriate place to put a recipe, you know?

So let's get on with it :) Besides, I like posting pictures of yummy food, despite lacking photography skills on my part. But you do what you can... If it tastes good, I think I'm satisfied.

These are super creamy and they really warm you from inside out. Especially when you add some delicious toppings...like peanut butter. Because that improves everything. I pity those with nut allergies.

CREAMY STRAWBERRY yOATgurt (easily doubled)

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds (optional)

1/2 cup almond milk+ 1/2 cup water (or some combo of the two)

2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt (plain, vanilla, or strawberry)

1 cup frozen strawberries, partially thawed

Sweetener (optional)

Toppings (optional)

Peanut Butter

 Kashi GoLean Crunch or Granola

Slivered Almonds

White Chocolate Chips

1. Combine liquid, oats, and chia seeds on stovetop in medium size pot. Heat on high until it begins to boil, and then stir constantly for 2 minutes to make sure the oats do not burn.
2. Reduce heat to medium and let cook until about half liquid is absorbed (about 4 minutes). Stir in yogurt and let cook again until it begins to thicken.
3. Add your somewhat frozen strawberries and stir. (It turns pink!)
4. You may cook for a few additional minutes to thicken, but I liked mine runny because it was more like warm yogurt/oatmeal. Sounds weird, but delicious.  
5. Top with whatever you like, and ENJOY!

Natural Food Store Review +WIAW

Yesterday, I fell in love. With a store.

To be fair, it was a cute little store, stuffed to the brim with organic and vegetarian products. I had never seen anything like it near me- the closest I'd come was the giant Whole Foods monolith an hour away in West Hartford. But this was in my very town! Sadly, my new crush and I did not have much time together, since my mom had to go to the bathroom and kept reminding me to 'make my choices and get out'. But I could have stayed for an hour. Maybe two. Just LOOKING at all the possibilities. It was my new health food dream come true.

Maybe if you live down in shoreline CT you should stop by. It's called, quite literally, 'The Natural Food Store' in downtown Niantic. But that's enough of that. Here are some of my new finds, which I'm excited to try out:


Arctic Zero Ice Cream- High Protein and looks sooo good. (If you can't tell, this is the coffee flavor.)

Nutritional Yeast. I've been searching and searching and FINALLY found it!



The Uber-cool bag....



Ultra Energy Bar- with 22 grams protein. You know me and protein. It's good stuff! And look at this! Cookies and Cream! I can't wait to sample all my new goodies!

  On to WIAW. The theme is 'FALL into good habits'. What's my good habit? Well, mine is pretty simple, actually. It's...eating. For those who don't know my story, check out the food philosophy page. In short, though, my eating habits these past few weeks have fallen apart. I've really been giving in to restricting urges and it's time that I took control back. My body deserves to be fed, and it deserves a healthy, balanced diet that can fuel my running and daily activities and not leave me an emotional wreck. So the goal for me this Wednesday, and days to come, is to EAT. More. More calories, more often, more nutritionally-concious. It will be good for me.
 

Today's breakfast started off nice and hearty with some Creamy yOATgurt on the stove (recipe to follow). The flavor I settled on was strawberries and cream, topped generously with some peanut butter to make a little PBandJ yOATgurt.



I may also have had some ah-mazing coffee. Another new obsession. It's fall and pumpkin is everywhere, what can I say? It's simply delicious, and the smell just makes you want to hug someone. Spread the love, won't you?



Lunch included a veggie burger on toasted whole wheat bread, Spicy Pizza Hummus and cauliflower for dipping, and some cocoa roasted almonds to snack on before practice.

Haven't gotten to dinner and evening snack yet, but I'm pretty sure the agenda will include some fresh roasted spaghetti squash and Spinach N Veggie Wraps.



And dessert? Well, I'm thinking that coffee ice cream looks pretty good ;)

Why Everyone Should Love Speedwork

I'm anticipating another Uber-busy week coming up. School will take off as normal, I assume, and I'm going to have to drag myself out of bed and get moving each morning in order to make it to the bus stop and through 3 hours of classes before the next real break for lunch. So of course, I need to be extra prepared with a filling breakfast that can carry me through!

Before I share my (hopefully) delicious new recipe, let's talk about speed work. Duh duh duh.... I know. If you're strictly a distance runner like me, the very phrase brings chills to your spine. To be honest, despite the title of this post, I don't love speedwork. I actually kind of loathe it...but just a little less than I did before.

You see, I had to face a grueling set of speed drills this morning at 8:00 AM, which is either a really good thing or a really bad thing depending on how you spin in. If you want to look at it negatively...it was 8 in the morning on Labor Day and I would really have preferred to be snuggled down in my warm bed, head buried deep in my yummy-scented pillow. If you want to put a positive spin on it, though... the fact that it was 8 meant that my mind hadn't completely woken up to figure out what the heck I was doing to it yet, so I got in maybe 200 meters before I had a mental breakdown. Hey. That's 200 meters more than last time, so I'm happy.

But the long and short of it is: speedwork DOES help you. It can't be denied (I've looked for a way. No go) The reason speedwork helps improve performance is it literally 'creates' a different energy-usage pathway in our muscles so we can burn through glycogen more efficiently. That means increased metabolism, people!

In more detail, our body only has so much accessible glucose at any given time, and this gets quickly used up in short sprints through Anaerobic Respiration. However, longer, sustained workouts activate Aerobic Respiration, in which the body has to use available oxygen for conversions. The more we build our Anaerobic pathway, the more we can prolong the time that the body starts Aerobic Respiration, and the more we can burn through any excesses of glycogen (essentially, sugar). So it helps our body out! Yea speedwork! (I'm not cheering, either, don't worry. I still do not love it, and probably never will.)

But let's get on to something I do love. Like food. Like maybe... FROYO!! Or even better...

CHOCOLATE BANANA PROTEIN FROYO

Okay... with some chopped espresso beans too :)

1 ripe banana, mashed

8 oz Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt (could use vanilla or honey, also)

1-2 T. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder

1 Packet Sweetener (optional)

2 T. Chopped Coffee Beans (optional)

Banana

Banana and Yogurt

Everything!

AND FREEZE!

1. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Place in freezer for at least 1 hour. Take out and thaw for a few minutes, stirring up or putting in blender to obtain soft-serve consistency. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information for ENTIRE RECIPE: 250 calories, 1.5 g fat, 24g protein, 33g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber

Savory Oats?

The idea has always turned me off, quite honestly. I mean, I love my oatmeal and my porridge, but I don't get much savorier with it than plain. I guess that's the natural thing to expect from someone with a huge sweet tooth...I swoon over chocolate, peanut butter, cookies, fruit, and coffee (ok, so that's not really sweet at all. But it deserved to be included). And funfetti. I just devoured ate the final funfetti protein oat cake tonight, and they do get better with age after freezing and then thawing in the fridge, FYI.

Here's that little oatfetti cake again! YUMMY!

I've been eating slowly through my butternut burgers all week, but I was starting to get tired of them. Luckily, when I looked today, there was only 1 left (I usually eat them as a pair, so of course I had to find a different use for it!) What could one do with a little lone veggie burger? The real question seems to be: what can one do with just about ANYTHING?

Oatmeal. The answer is ALWAYS oatmeal.

But for a burger? Really? Was I going there, after all this fuss about keeping my oatmeal sweet and fruity? Apparently....yes. I was.

Because it's me, I had to make it high-protein, to give it even more staying power, but in this situation I doubted vanilla or chocolate protein powder was really going to work. What savory option did I have for a good low fat, high-protein addition to oatmeal? It's another miracle ingredient, folks:

EGG WHITES. Among other things, of course. Enough chit chat, though. Here's what I did.

SAVORY PROTEIN PORRIDGE

2 and 1/4 cups water or milk

2/3 cup rolled oats

6 T. egg whites

1 leftover Butternut Burger

Dash Ginger

S+P, to taste

1. Heat water on stovetop to boiling. Add oats and reduce to medium.
2. Cook until most of the water is absorbed (it may take a while.) Stir every 3-4 minutes to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot.
3. Once liquid has been absorbed, add in egg whites and stir constantly, or you will get some scrambled egg bits in your porridge. Because it is savory, this will be okay, but you want most of the egg to go to making a thicker liquidy part of the oatmeal.
4. After another 2 minutes, and all liquid absorbed, remove pot from heat and turn off stove. Crumble up the burger into it and add ginger and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, and pour into 2 dishes to serve (or makes one hearty serving, like I did!)

*ANOTHER NOTE. You can refrigerate this for about 3 days after cooking both for thickening purposes and if you just aren't ready to eat it yet. Make sure you heat it up, of course, and ENJOY!

So, it doesn't look very yummy. I'm well aware of that. But it was actually pretty good. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. I still prefer my sweet oats, but, well...it's worth a try if you haven't been brave enough yet!

The Daily Grind

School, you shall be taking over my life for the next 10 months. I submit. With 4 APs, a couple of clubs, and afterschool sports, I officially have no life again.

SO WHY THE HECK AM I WRITING A BLOG POST?!!

It's a good question. And I have really no idea. Basically, since it's just the first day, we don't have any homework yet, so I figured this would be one of the last opportunities I would have to make a longish post of any kind. Not that I have anything life-shattering to share today... I was sitting in a seat for 6 hours after all!

I woke up late this morning, due to an alarm clock that decided NOT to go off at 6:00AM. My bus supposedly comes at 6:52, and when do I wake up (no thanks to YOU, unhelpful alarm clock)? 6:45. I panicked, of course, because that seems to be what I do best, but because I had already packed my bag the night before, everything turned out okay. I threw on clothes, shoved contacts in my eyes (again...not a good decision. Sorry, corneas!) and grabbed a Nature Valley Bar package for a breakfast to go. (I was pretty bummed because I REALLY wanted more of my pumpkin protein oats...they're awesome. Really. Check out this for the recipe:YUMMM

And my stomach was DEFINETELY rumbling by the time lunch rolled around 3 hours later. Note to self: even if in a hurry, grab something in addition to the granola bars. They don't have the staying power! Before a workout... yeah, but only because you eat AFTER it too. B-fast? No can do.

We were also informed of the school's new policies during each one of our 8 classes that day: you will lose credit for a class if you miss 12, you will lose points for being tardy 3 times, you need a swipe card to the bathrooms...blah blah blah.

Wait. A swipe card to the bathrooms?
Yup. It's real. Apparently, to handle any possible vandalism, this way the school can track who's been using the bathroom at different times to pinpoint the students behind it. Sounds like a good idea, except for MY concern.... what about if you lose the card and you just GOTTA GO? I think any one of you can see why this might be a slight worry... I have noticed that runners need to pee way more than the average person!

Practice was enjoyable. A 40 minute run at different speeds every 10 minutes. In the 100 degree weather. Which equals lots of sweat. And some really hot, thirsty teenage girls! To celebrate surviving, one of my friends and I headed to Starbucks and got some nice, cold drinks to refresh us. Like I said, it's okay to indulge yourself from time to time!

And that coffee frappacino was worth it.

Here's a nice quote today for anyone getting more active and hesitating to embrace 'the athlete identity':
I AM A RUNNER because I run. Not because I run fast. Not because I run far. I AM A RUNNER because I say I am. And no one can tell me I'm not.
John Bingham, author and runner

Question of the day: What's your breakfast on the go or breakfast in a rush? AND... how do you feel about the identity of being a runner? Are YOU?

Happy Banana Day! (Celebrate with a Smoothie!)

Did you know that today, August 27, is National Banana Day? Don't worry, I only discovered this recently, too. But bananas deserve some recognition, don't you agree? I mean, their versatility is praiseworthy! Banana 'Ice Cream'! A base for pudding! A link in vegan baking! An essential piece in the Elvis sandwich! A boat for every kind of sweet deliciousness!

Yeah. I love bananas.

Plus, as if it couldn't get any better, my XC team calls ourselves the bananas (although the high school mascot is the viking. Don't worry... no one could cheer 'MASH THOSE BANANASSS!' at our football games. Our football team needs no help...) We sing a little song before every meet which goes like this:

I AM A 'B'.

I AM A 'B-A.'

I AM A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' YES I AM.

I HAVE A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' IN MY 'M-O-U-T-H' AND I WILL 'E-A-T' A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' Every Day!

It's a little silly, but I love it. No race is complete without the banana song, even if the challenging teams stare at us and try to spell out in their head to figure out what we're babbling about (we sing it pretty fast).

So...Bananas. Gotta love 'em.

I tried to make something with bananas today as a celebration, but the only thing I really made was not all that creative or original. It DID taste exceptional, however (imho), so I guess I'll share :) 

MY GO-TO SMOOTHIE (Chocolate Banana!)

1 Frozen Banana, Split in Half for easier blending

1/3-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 Scoop Chocolate Designer Whey Protein Powder

Do you really need instructions for this? Throw everything in the blender and have at it! Vary your milk content to get either a thicker or thinner smoothie, based on your taste. ENJOY! I like to eat mine with a spoon, because I just don't really like drinking smoothies...

Question of the day (please leave a comment!): Did you do anything to appreciate bananas and their awesomeness today? Even if not, what interesting things do you use bananas for? 

Saving the World with FUNFETTI!

Boy do I have something special to share. I think I may burst with the excitement of holding it in. This kind of thing can't be kept to ones self, after all. Not when funfetti is involved. The whole world needs to know. Funfetti just seems to make everything better.

Lately, I've been really swept up in all the funfetti craze. I've been pinning recipes right and left: funfetti puppy chow, funfetti blondies, funfetti cookies, funfetti milkshakes, funfetti dip... it doesn't end. But the one thing I haven't seen are a lot of healthy funfetti adaptations. Especially protein-chocked ones.

A girl's gotta have her protein.

So I was in a dilemma. Often, all my recipe creations are inspired by other things I have seen or heard about. But with the funfetti...there was nothing. It was an open market. I was on my own. So, with much trepidation, I went off to the kitchen to concoct

Baked Oatfetti Protein Cups!

Makes 4 mini cakes

EAT ME! RIGHT NOW! I LIVE TO SERVE!

2 scoops (27g) vanilla whey protein powder

1/2 c. funfetti cake mix

2/3 c. oats

1/2 c. almond milk

3 T. Egg Whites

1/3 c. Vanilla Greek Yogurt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Extra Sprinkles

*Optional: for a topping, you could put on some frozen Greek Yogurt, ice milk, whipped cream, or try Katie's Vanilla Fudge Frosting or Creamy Dreamy Frosting (add some sprinkles in it to make it funfetti of course!)

1. Combine Dry Ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another (no extra sprinkles yet)
2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and mix very well until batter begins to thicken as oats absorb a little bit of liquid. (If you wanted, I bet you could just increase the milk amount and cook on the stove to make funfetti protein oatmeal!) If there doesn't seem to be enough sprinkles, add some more (and let's be honest... are there EVER enough sprinkles in the world? No. So go ahead and pour 'em in)
3. Transfer mixture into 4 individual (4oz) ramekins.
4. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until no longer gooey in center. Dig in and ENJOY!

Now, I don't always post nutritional data, but you might want to see it for this. Prepare to be astonished. In each individual oatfetti cup, you get: a whopping 12g whole grains and 11g protein, and ONLY 4g fat and 185 calories. Yeah. I know. Mind blown. So what are you doing still at your computer reading this post. GO! Make some oatfetti cups! They're calling your name!

A Plethora of Pumpkin

School starts this week, and I cannot believe it! People always say that summer flies by... but they's be right about that. It's a sad, sad story for those of us who want that extra time outdoors in the sun, getting tan and eating ice cream at the beach (by now it's back to being too cold for good old Long Island Sound).

But I'm still excited. I mean, it's my Junior year! Okay, so I'm about to become one BUSY girl between XC and AP homework, but this is going to be the year when you really start to have fun at school: prom, spirit week, SATs, and just being an upper classman! But I'm nervous to see how I do keeping up on the blogging. It's a lot of fun, so I don't want to give it up.

I just hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

What was I doing to prepare? Oh, you know... cooking.

Lots and lots of cooking.

I figured I could make a plethora of freezer meals/ already cooked oatmeal that will get super thick and creamy in the fridge so I will have another 5 minutes here and there to do other things. It better be worth it...I was cooking for 4 hours. (Who am I kidding? I loved every minute of that four hours. It was like my little present to myself. OF COURSE it was worth it!)

One of my favorite flavors, next to chocolate and peanut butter, would have to be pumpkin. Especially since school is starting up, I can finally say that it's "fallish" enough to start putting the pumpkin in just about everything. Plus, I was trying to be economical by buying the GIANT 40oz can, only to realize that most recipes don't call for more than 1/2 cup or so...

Oh well. All the more pumpkin-y items to make!

Here are the recipes that inspired my little pumpkin party:

• Powered Up Pumpkin Oats by Lindsay at 'A Pinch of Yum'
• Pumpkin Muffins  by Katie at 'Chocolate Covered Katie'
• Pumpkin Protein Pancakes by Julie at 'Peanut Butter Fingers'
• Apple Cinnamon Chobani Bread (which I made pumpkin!) by Kelly at 'The No Sugar Sweet Life'

And best of all... I still have about 1/3 of my can of pumpkin left! Looks like there will be more baking in store for today! Now the awful dilemma as I decide what I want to make... (I'm trying to make things that will keep well or can be frozen so I can heat them up for a speedy pre-school breakfast or workout snack! See my post about what makes good pre-workout fuel here.)

Here's what I did to adapt the recipes:

• Doubled the Pumpkin Oats Recipe so I could eat it TWICE, it was THAT good. Also, substitued 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean for the bran flakes to give it some more clusters, added 1 tsp dark chocolate cocoa powder in at the end, and substituted brown sugar with honey. Also, by leaving it in the fridge overnight, it got MUCH thicker and creamier, so I added another 1/2 cup almond milk before heating again and it was AWESOME. Even better than before, if I do say so myself. You could also eat cold as a pudding and I bet it would be great.
• For Katie's muffins, I actually quadrupled the recipe so I could make 4 muffins and freeze them. Instead of chocolate chips, I added raisins, chopped walnuts, and coconut flakes. As a side note, I had to bake for longer because there were more muffins (about 20 minutes instead of 12).
• For the Pumpkin Protein Pancakes, I subbed Greek Yogurt for the cottage cheese and also added 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder to the mix. I added 1/2 tsp baking soda because I wanted my pancakes even fluffier (it worked!) and then, because I'm a naughty girl, I added chocolate chips to the batter (no measurements here!)
• The Chobani Bread was slightly more work to recreate since I was totally changing the flavors, but I proceeded with as much confidence as I could muster. HA! Recipe, you shall not phase me! Instead of cinnamon, I used pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have this on hand, combine some nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger). I subbed the agave with molasses for a different, deeper flavored sweetener (I used 1/4 cup). Instead of apple cinnamon yogurt, I used plain with 2 drops stevia, and then instead of the applesauce I used 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. I STILL used the softened apple in the bread because pumpkin-apple is actually a very nice combo and it gave the bread the extra lightness a midst a more dense cakey-part. As an attempt to be creative, near the end of the bread's baking I mixed together 1/4 cup oats, 3 T. chopped pecans, and 2 T. brown sugar and took the bread out to sprinkle these on. I then turned the oven to broil and waited to get a nice crust on top. Yumm!

Phew! Well, now you know how I spent a good portion of my day. How was your Saturday? Do you ever get really caught up in the kitchen just going around like a whirling dervish and trying to make 10 things at once? Tell me your story!After all, as I had to remember when trying to make adaptations:

IT IS BETTER TO DO THE WRONG THING THAN IT IS TO DO NOTHING.

What do you think of today's quote? Tell me!

First Practice of the Season

XC has finally begun! I am officially in season! Woo Hoo!

Well, I'm going to start off with some nice tips about running in honor of such a glorious day. Because the sun is shining, I've already done my workout, and I'm just feeling AWESOME. Do you ever get those days? Where everything is just, well... AWESOME. I'll say it again. That's how today is for me.

If you haven't figured it out by now...I'm a sarcasm machine. And I love little humorous pictures like this :)

TODAY'S TIP: Pre-Workout Fuel

Let's be honest: this has us all a little puzzled sometimes. You want to eat enough so that you're not passing out with exhaustion at mile 2, but you don't want to feel like there's a rock in your stomach. (Or that you're about to throw up...) So what do you eat? Especially if you're in a time crunch, as I was this morning, rolling out of bed at 7:30 for a practice beginning at 8:00.

My tips:

• No matter what, you need some carbohydrates.  If you can not scarf down anything else, JUST GET THE CARBS. Try and get a mix of just a few simple sugars, but you want more of your carbs to be complex. This will help sustain you over the miles. You want a few simple sugars, however, to give you available energy for bursts of speed or just to get going initially. Too much sugar, however, can upset your stomach or will be burned off more rapidly than you would wish, and you will start to feel sluggish later on.
• Get some easily-digestible protein. Foods with lactose are NOT going to be your go-to's at this time, despite their easy to chug down nature and good protein content. I steer clear of the milk and yogurt before a run. Aim for something with a small amount of fat, also, as this helps it 'stick to your ribs' and allows you to absorb more of the available nutrition.
• Drink something! Before you run, especially if it's in the morning, you need to be hydrated. Even 1 8oz glass of water can be enough for a 3 or 4 mile run. I find that if I don't drink something, I get achy, sweaty, and develop a huge headache. This 1 glass should not lead to any cramps as it is more for hydration purposes. DO NOT overhydrate (ie, chugging down a 20oz water bottle): this will only make you feel nauseated and will lead to cramps.

A Couple of Good Pre-Workout Snacks

• 3 Fig Newtons and a small handful almonds
• Packet of Nature Valley Bars
• Banana (extra good because of the potassium) with 1 T. Peanut Butter on top of a slice of toast
• Scrambled Egg in Half a tortilla
• Trail Mix!
• Dry Cereal with Coconut Flakes, Chocolate Chips, Craisins, and Nuts
• Raw Veggies with Ranch Dip and Ritz Crackers
• Graham Crackers with Nutella and PB
• Protein Bar- Check the labels!

None of this was super revolutionary, I realize that, but I think it's a helpful tip from someone who has tried the whole gambit of running foods to optimize my performance. Which is NOT to say that I am a professional...diet wise or running wise. As you can see...

First 4F Challenge: a Healthy Coffee Coolatta

Breakfast today was a fail. I tried making some Overnight Oats last night, because my oatmeal obsession is still going strong, but they remained liquidy and kind of tasteless. I even tried adding some yogurt pre-overnighting and it didn't help. Anyone have any advice? Oh, well. You win some, you lose some. And since the oats lost, something else could win...

An awesome mix of strawberry Greek Yogurt and Delicious Kashi GoLean for protein, fiber, and staying power! (I also had an apple, because I love them, and some fruit seemed to be needed for this meal.)
Plus, the good thing is I am really lazy today could put my cereal straight in the yogurt cup and had NO CLEAN UP! After yesterday, I was in no mood to clean (though I could go for another cauliflower pizza today!)

So I mentioned in yesterday's post that I wanted to start another Foodie Blogger Challenge. THE 4F!

'Fast-Food Fantasy Friday' ('for foodies'. Maybe the 6F?) That's right. Take a favorite dish that you like to get out at a restaurant, preferably a fast food or at least a chain, and then remake it so it is more economical, healthful, and maybe, dare I say it? TASTIER. Try and post nutritional information and cost for both original and your versions for a comparison. And if you do take on this weekly challenge, please link back to me or at least post a little gadget thing (I'm working on designs!) Thanks to everyone!

I myself have a coffee weakness. I love the stuff black, but also in iced form with oodles of sugar and milk. Particularly Dunkin' Donuts "Coffee Coolatta" (although I wouldn't snub my nose at a Starbucks frappacino or a Peet's Blender either. Or a DQ moolatte... the list goes on on and on.)

It's an interesting story, actually. The idea for 4F came up a while ago, but I wasn't actually intending to make my submission when I was creating this marvelous little beastie. I wanted ice cream. I wanted Katie's Vanilla Frosty (seen here)

Well, I didn't have the tofu, so then I decided I was just going to change it to one of her ice creams. HA! Luck was against me again. Because I can be a little bit ditzy (and because I had no option- I have no ice cube tray. What is this madness?) I froze all the milk in a LARGE dixie cup. I took it out and I have this HUGE, 16 oz frozen milk cup. There was no way my little blender could handle that. So dutifully, I began to try and mutilate cut it into smaller cubes.Not really working out either. At last, it thawed enough that I was able to take the knife and 'shave' the whole thing. Like an icee or a slushie in consistency, if you will. And it probably took a good 25 minutes. But during that long stretch of time, it came to me. This milk-mistake was not meant to be ice cream- although that would have been lovely. It was meant to be my first 4F, forever something near and dear to my heart. It was meant to be...

DUNKIN' DONUTS COFFEE COOLATTA- 4F

ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS!

2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)

2 packets instant Hazelnut Coffee, or any flavor variety for a variation

3-5 Packets Zero-Calorie Sweetener

In the mixin' bowl

1. Freeze the nondairy milk. I DON'T recommend doing it all in one cup as I did, because the shaving will be hard. Try doing it in several small ice cube trays.
2. After at LEAST 2 hours, or when frozen, take out your milk and 'shave it'. This can be done if you have one of those Italian Ice Shavers, or I bet you could use a food processor also. What I did was take a large, very sharp knife and kind of 'grate' the sides of the ice so it sort of peeled off. You could also do some chopping up if you chop it very fine. (Those chunks in my picture? Not good)
3. Throw ice milk shavings in a bowl or large measuring cup (see Pyrex in background of picture). Do this as you go so that your ice shavings don't melt completely all over the place.
4. Pour in instant coffee and sweetener to taste. Mix it all up and let it melt just the tiniest bit so there is a coffee brown liquid, and then stir again to re-coat everything. This gives it that optimal melty slushy thing that DD and the Bucks have going on.

DUNKIN DONUTS Small Coffee Coolatta: 350 calories, 22g fat, 40g carbohydrate (35g sugar), 10% DV Calcium, 3g protein. Cost: $2.75

Sarah's 4F Coffee Coolatta: 70 calories, 3g fat, 5g carbohydrate (4g sugar), 90% DV Calcium (I used the extra calcium almond milk.), 3 g protein. Cost: 80 cents

TASTE? AMAZINGLY COMPRABLE!!

Today I found an amazing quote that I thought I'd share, for running and for life: 

SUCCESS ISN'T HOW FAR YOU GOT, BUT THE DISTANCE YOU TRAVELED FROM WHERE YOU STARTED. -Steve Prefontaine (if you don't know who he is...well, look him up. Probably greatest American Distance Runner ever. A hero of mine!)

So think about that next time you're considering whether or not you succeeded. No, you didn't meet your 7:30 split at the 5K. No, you had to walk that last mile because you thought your shins were going to give out on you. But metaphorically... you've traveled beyond your past limits, and THAT, my friends is success.

*Other note- official XC practice starts tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!!*

Question of the Day: How far have you come in YOUR journey towards success? And what would you say being successful is?