Run for Wellness 5K Series (June) Race Recap!

Race: Run for Wellness 5K Series (June)
Date: Saturday, June 24 @ 7:00 a.m.
Distance: 5K
Time: 29:27
Average Pace: 9:32 min/mi
Course:

Nice trail, but it's small when the cyclists show up.

I did this one with no music, I just hadn't prepared a good playlist and didn't feel like clicking through the 90 songs I like and somewhat like.  I'm not a music person.  There were a lot more people, close to 125?  It's getting to be a bigger and bigger race every month!  There are more sponsors helping out, I really like this race series.

I was 9 seconds slower (D'oh!) than last month, which is fine because my knee was hurting and it has been a crazy weird week in the work out department.  But damn, 9 seconds!  It's ok, it's ok.  It is ok.  I took more pictures this time around and warmed up for 0.7 mi which I think made a huge difference at the start.  I wasn't trying to get my heart rate up at all, it was a good run.  I have to remember to warm up with a slow run from now on.

...the pictures weren't as great as I thought, LOL.  Here are the few that made the cut.

59 was the best number there.

I didn't participate in the warm-up... too much jumping.  Too early.

It's hard to find the right spot at the startling line!

I always end up too far back, it seems.  I have to pass a lot of people and it's stressful because you're so close to each other.  Ew, sweat!  I'm pleased with today's results, my knee is still bothering me.  I may have to take off a few days and let it do whatever it needs to do.

I met a nice woman who invited me to participate in her group's early morning runs. They start at around 5 a.m. and do 4-5 miles. She said she wanted to do longer runs but her group was stuck at 4 mi. I know the feeling, past 5 mi and there are no running buddies. I liked her! Determined to not let her running affect her mommy duties. Her kids wake up at 6:30 a.m., those are some early risers. Mine wake up at 8:05 on the dot, every morning. Sigh. But on to the recipe.

I made these last night because it'll be a long day and I won't be back in time to feed the Big Bear. I prepared the plate by adding cooked brown rice and fresh broccoli. He'll just have to add some of the strips and heat it all up. There, wife duties done.

My mom makes Milanesa all the time and brings it over. She makes the breading with crushed saltines, fries the coated chicken in oil, and tempts me to run 10 miles the next day. God bless that woman, she can make a meal out of twigs and salt. (No, I didn't get those genes either.)

Heart Healthy Chicken Strips
Serves 4-5

Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts, skinless/boneless, sliced into strips

1 medium egg
1 tablespoon fat free milk

1 cup Cheerios (powdered in food processor or crushed with whatever heavy thing you can get--a can works)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Check it

Red and black, always a good combination.

In one small flat bowl, mix the egg and milk together. Whisk until frothy. Place another small flat bowl next to eggy one and add the crushed/powdered Cheerios, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper and cumin. Shake until well combined.

Slice your chicken breasts however you like them, I didn't want to spend too much time trying to flip little nugget bites so I made them into strips.

Chicken--dipping.

After washing your hands, use one to dump a few pieces of chicken into the egg mixture. Using the same hand, pick up ONE piece and let some of the extra egg slime off. Just hold it over the bowl, the less liquid, the better the coverage.

Dumped chicken.

With the same hand, drop the chicken into the Cheerio bowl and shake back and forth. Don't touch the chicken yet, just keep shaking the bowl.

Coated chicken.

After the chicken has been completely coated with the dry ingredients, use your other (egg-less) hand to take the chicken out and place it on an extra plate until all pieces are coated and are ready to be cooked.

Oil or no oil?

I used Pam to spray the pan, but you can use whatever oil you like (changes nutritional value). My mom uses canola oil but I don't like having hot oil anywhere near me.

Done!

Brown both sides and cook until... cooked. I usually cover my pan with a lid because I'm afraid of under-cooking the chicken. I'm a newbie. Let the chicken pieces rest on a cooling rack until ready to eat or ready to pack up and throw in the fridge.

I have a thing about breading falling off the chicken so I waited until completely cooled before I put them in an airtight container and then in the fridge. If I'd had more time (and less children) I would've made a nice dipping sauce out of peanut butter, soy sauce, chicken stock and some pepper flakes. But I didn't have time, so the Big Bear will just have to just eat them with ketchup (the American way).

Yogurt topper - Apples, Peanuts, Cinnamon, and Honey

In Mexico, we'd go to the yogurt shop and buy a big ol' tub full of yogurt and topped with granola, fruit, honey, and everything delicious. I was craving something sweet and decided to get some dairy, protein and fiber.

Apple, Cinnamon, Peanuts and Honey over YogurtServes 1


Ingredients
1/2 fat free Greek yogurt (I use Oiko's)
1/4 dry roasted (salted) peanuts, chopped into small pieces
1 small Gala apple, chopped
Honey (I used 2 drizzles of it)

Check it

Since this isn't really a recipe, there are no steps. You dump it all in a small cup/mug/margarita glass and mix it up. I layered it b/c it reminded me of the way we'd eat it back in Me-xi-co:

Missing my spoon.

It hit the spot. Crunchy, sweet, salty, tart... it's all one gal can ask for.

My Fitness Pal

Bread Pudding Muffins (with coconut!)

Hm. This is my fifth try of peas and thank you's Chocolate Chip Zee Bars.  I have changed the ingredients but the proportions of dry to wet have remained the same.  I also wanted to add more fiber this time around so I added ground flax seed and wheat germ.  I also added two eggs because my bars kept coming out a little crumbly and I like the extra protein since my hubby will be helping himself to these, too.  I've also been adding almond butter (peanut butter didn't work out, too sour) but I ran out of it!  Dang.

Replacing half of the almond butter with coconut butter made the end result taste like delicious bread pudding.  Once again, I was not ending up with Chocolate Chip Zee Bars, which is a shame b/c they look really pretty!  But that's what you get when you change so many ingredients :|

Seriously, this is a ninja muffin. It looks like a typical healthy oat-ful muffin but then it goes, "Wham! BAM!" and it isn't. I have to say, these are dangerous in my kitchen. I love coconut (from shampoo to lip balm to coconut butter and milk) and I've had 1.75 of these already (as they were cooling).  My daughter ate the other 1/4 and she's deemed them "delicioso."

Coconut Bread Pudding
Makes 12 muffins but could be made into 16 flat bars

Yes, they stick to the muffin paper.
Yes, I ended up eating some of it trying to get the last of the muffin off.

Ingredients

Make sure to add chocolate chips at the end or they get mushy

Dry ingredients
1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons shredded (unsweetened) coconut

1/8 cup wheat germ

1/8 cup ground flax seed

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used EAS)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

28 grams mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 tablespoons)

Wet ingredients

2 tablespoons creamy almond butter

2 tablespoons coconut butter

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/4 cup agave 

1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup coconut milk (I used Silk)

2 extra large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract

Check it

Pre-heat oven to 350*.  Mix all dry ingredients (except chocolate chips or they will melt) in a large bowl and in a separate cup/bowl, mix all liquid ingredients until there are no lumps.  The coconut butter will blend in once stirred for a while.  Add liquid to dry and mix until well combined.  

Add chocolate chips, stir some more and transfer to pre-lined muffin pan.  Pre-lined?  I used muffin cups because I can never get all the little muffin spots oiled right.  One muffin or another doesn't make it.

Mmmmmuffins!

I baked mine for 20 minutes at 350* and the toothpick came out clean.  When I ate one (not 10 minutes later) it was gooey inside.  It made me think of bread pudding instantly, I had been craving bread pudding but it's somewhat hard to find a healthy one at the local panaderia.

Each muffin comes out to 140 calories, but you can cut back on the agave or chocolate chips (or replacing them with raisins!).  I'm making these for my family (so I can run out of muffins and try another recipe!) so sweet stuff they are.

Eat me!  

MyFitnessPal

Tavos and some healthy Ducks

My mother came over and we walked the kids.  I also took the loaf of bread that came out too "not right" and fed it to the ducks.  The bread was fine, but I was testing out the Smart Butter and I didn't like the taste of it.  Them ducks got some healthy bread, though.  We walked for 30 minutes and came back to bathe the monsters.  Very tiring work!

Earlier today, we went grocery shopping and I finally bought TVP and nutritional yeast, which I've learned is also called "nooch."  Cool name.  We ate Subway (again!) so we weren't starving, but my daughter doesn't eat anything lately and I had to try once again to cook something she'd eat.  It worked, hallelujah.

Tavos (TVP taco filling)
Serves 7 (84g, around 3/4 cup)

Ingredients
Filling
55 g green bell pepper
74g chopped onion
78 g carrots

1 cup TVP
1 can of chopped, fire roasted tomatoes (I used 1/4 c of the drained tomatoes and the juice--8 oz)
60 g of diced canned potatoes

Taco seasoning (I only used around half of it this time)
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t cilantro (I ran out, I usually use more)
1 t garlic powder
1 t ground cumen
1/2 t paprika
1 big pinch of salt
Lots of black pepper

Check It
You'll need a medium-sized pan, once heated, add onion and spray with Pam.  After a minute or so, add the carrots and repeat with the green bell peppers.  You'll want the mix to look like this before adding the tomato:

I don't like my carrot getting too sweet.

Add the drained tomato and mix around.  If you used the fire roasted type, it'll start getting hot in your kitchen.

After mixed through, add the 8 oz of the tomato juice and once it starts boiling, remove the pan from the heat and add the spices.  Then add the TVP granules once the spices and veggies have mixed together.

Continue mixing the TVP until there's no more liquid sloshing around.  Cover the pan and let it hang out for around 5-10 minutes.

If you're like me and just stumble around in the kitchen, you forgot to add the diced potatoes.  Well, the kitchen is forgiving, add them while the TVP is rehydrating itself.  I did, it came out just fine.

Here are the steps for adding the TVP, I was scared of trying it out b/c I thought it'd be hard to cook.  Not at all.

Looks like cereal!

Before it's been thoroughly mixed.

Seasoned and topped with forgotten potatoes.

Artfully decorated.

I like!

From MyFitnessPal!

I really liked it, we'll see tomorrow.  My husband usually buys Taco Bell on the way home and I hope I can replace that.  The filling isn't as salty, but he can add some if he likes.  I'll be cooking this more often, it's supposed to freeze well, too.  Double awesome!

Rest day and Celery

Today was supposed to be a rest day so I can do 50 minutes of cross training tomorrow before Friday's Big 7.  The Big 7.  Instead, I did some cleaning, baking, babysitting and visiting with my family.  My little (not so much anymore!) nephew graduated from elementary school.  About time, that kid is half bear, half human.  He doesn't fit in the school's tiny desks.  His dad is HUGE, all mean muscle and charm.  My sister and my BIL made that kid a heart breaker.  He doesn't believe me now, but he will see.

Anyway, I didn't feel like cooking but didn't feel like having Subway again.  Subway is close to us and it's the place to go when I don't want to cook.  At $7 for our meals, it isn't a bad deal but we have to save as much as we can.  You have to.  I looked in my pantry and saw a can of condensed creamed celery.  Ew, celery?  But then, Roni from Green Lite Bites came to mind and it was set.  She's awesome at stocking her pantry, cooking on the spot, and simplifying recipes so that even people like me understand them.  I copied this meal from her "One Pot Creamy Braised Chops with Rice and Peas" and her "Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms with Peas" recipes.  I wished I had used pasta and then baked it topped with flax meal and breadcrumbs.

I ended up with a lot of sauce left over (almost a cup and a half) but I may just leave it in the fridge for my hubby to eat with a sandwich.  He comes home HUNGRY and I'd rather he skip Taco Bell.  Here is how I made my Chicken with Celery Gravy, Broccoli and Brown Rice.  I paired it with some of my home made bread.

Chicken with Celery Gravy, Broccoli and Brown Rice
Serves 2 (plus an individual soup bowl)


Ingredients
Sauce (1 2/3 cups)
1 can condensed creamed celery
1/2 c fat free milk
1/2 c fat free, low sodium chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 t freeze dried chives
1/2 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder

1 chicken breast (mine was 13.8 oz raw) seasoned with salt and pepper, more garlic and onion powder

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 or more cup of veggies (we used steamed broccoli)
More black pepper to top (I love black pepper!)

Check it

It's dark in my kitchen, my phone has no flash :|

Heat up a large non-stick pan on medium heat, on my electric stove that'd be a 4.  Slice your chicken breast into manageable pieces.  I like mine rounded because they look prettier, don't they?  Season to taste on one side, and lightly spray with Pam.  Once the pan has heated up, place chicken pieces seasoned side down.  Lightly spray the unseasoned side and add your spices (if you added too much on the other side, you can skip it).

Cook chicken until lightly brown and flip over.  You don't have to cook completely, you'll finish cooking it after you add the creamed celery.

I love black pepper, I would travel the world for it.

Open up your canned creamed celery and measure 1/2 cup each of milk and chicken stock.  Water would work fine, but my husband was eating and I didn't want him to be all whiny about the fat free meal.  Men.  After the chicken has browned on both sides, put it in a foil pouch so it doesn't completely cool down.

Chicken, taking a break.

Add the creamed celery, chicken stock, milk and mix.  The creamed celery will be lumpy at first but as it warms up, it'll start thinning out.  Try adding a little milk and chicken stock until you like the consistency, you may end up not using the whole amount.  Season up.  I added more garlic and a little onion powder, some chives and more black pepper.  You can replace the dried chives for real chopped chives, I just didn't feel like dirtying up more dishes.  Let the sauce start bubbling a little, turn down the heat to LOW.

Boiling away.

After the sauce has boiled some, add the chicken back and cover so the dried spices have time to... blossom.  I read somewhere (how I learned to cook) that dried spices need time to rehydrate.  Taste the sauce, add more black pepper!  Or not.  I'm crazy about it.  I even take extra little black pepper packets from What-a-burger to keep in my purse.

You never know when you'll run out of black pepper!

Serve with brown rice with a side of broccoli and some of the sauce spread on top.  My husband kept calling it a gravy, which I guess it is, but it's a sauce to me.

I added a slice of bread because it had cooled and I just love bread.

Do you ever take a great picture, Nubia?  Nope.

Nutritional Information:
I used 1/3 cup of the sauce over the chicken.  The following information is only for the sauce made, a total of  1 2/3 cups:

Thank you, MyFitnessPal!  I couldn't cook without you.

This is my home made bread!  I really enjoy baking it, though it never gets to be the right size.  It's always a little deflated on one side.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it's my fourth try.  It tastes great and it's only 45 calories per slice.  I like it because it's a hardy bread.  I got the recipe from the manual that came with the food processor.  I subbed apple sauce and coconut oil for the butter.

Love me, don't toast me!

For the left over sauce, I think I may add some of the silken tofu to it.  The sauce tastes a little too sweet to be eaten like a soup, but it may just need some fat free, plain Greek yogurt on top.  I'll update after I have my husband taste it.