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By Katy, March 4, 2010

I may not be the best cook in the world — but I know how to read a recipe.

So when I tell you to make this now…make.this.now.

As Kel said better than me, POM + Fish (I used tilapia) = Happy! The reduced pomegranate-mint sauce was delicious, but I have to say, I think it would be even better over ice cream. It got sweet and sticky and ohhhhh so good.

Also so good? My recipe for Chocolate Popcorn Brittle, kicked up with the addition of some Naturally Nutty Vanilla Cinnamon Sunflower butter. I’d show you a picture, but I didn’t wait to dig in!

It’s been a very busy, very stressful week…nothing too bad, just lots of busy work! So you KNOW this made my day:

My sweet husband texted me, saying my boys missed their mama!

This also cracked me up — this morning, I tweeted:

And got this video in return, from @NoMoreBacon:

I cracked up — one of those gut-busting, feel sick afterwards laughs. How funny is that?

And a less funny, but still important video…I implore you to follow this link for a clip from Jessica Simpson’s new show. Now, yes, I am a Jessica fan girl (confession: I even bought her clip-in hair extensions) BUT, I think her message is one that’s so important when it comes to media, women and body image. Men too!

OK, gotta end it on a positive note.

How’s about this — my other favorite video?

What do you do when you need a laugh?

          

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By Katy, February 7, 2010

P-p-p-p-perfect!

Let’s back up, so I can catch you up on the last few days. On Friday night, Lucas and I hit up a local bar known for its craft beers. A beer blogger’s gotta see what people are drinking, right?

It was a special release party for Brooklyn Brewery, which I normally love. But after a few sips of Luke’s beer:

I decided I was more interested in playing a few games:

And talking to a bunch of friends that showed up. It was a blast! We even managed to record a quick video, using my iPhone:

On Saturday, I worked up an appetite cleaning the inside of my stove. We had an, ahem, incident with some overflowing custard, and no amount of elbow grease was getting it clean. Then we found a natural cleaner recipe online — just a mix of baking soda, vinegar and dish soap and VOILA:

Just like the day we bought the stove! Ahh, happiness…

I celebrated with a POM martini, made with pomegranate-mango juice, Absolut Boston and triple sec, in a martini glass that I rimmed with organic cane sugar and lime juice. More happiness…

Gotta support Pom, since it’s a sponsor of Fitbloggin‘, and I’m going in March! Will you be there?

I’ve also had a weekend of awesome food. Saturday night, I made curried tilapia, broiled until crispy and served over the most amazing spinach and tomato paella:

And tonight, for the superbowl, I made (unpictured) chipotle beef and carmelized onion tacos, from Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. Awesome!

It’s very possible that I’m the last to know this, but did you know that you can pop popcorn right on your stovetop, using kernels and a little bit of butter or oil?

It’s so much cheaper and easier (duh) than buying the microwave popcorn, and better for you. I’ve been topping mine with coconut-lime salt:

And eating by the faceful:

Off to watch the rest of the Superbowl. The commercials have been very disappointing — hello, sexist much? — but the Puppy Bowl made my night.

LOOK WHAT ONE OF THE DOGS WAS NAMED! Tater Tot!

Tater Tot the Puppy Bowl star

OK, off to get in PJs. I am going to a big social media conference in the morning, and I will be tweeting while I’m there. So be sure to follow me!

P.S. I updated my Google Reader with all the Fitbloggin’ bloggers — if you want to add it to your own reader, click here!

          

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By Katy, January 16, 2010

Well, ya’ll have certainly given my friend some new healthy food resources, and turned me on to some new ones, as well! Here were the most popular suggestions from my last post:

• Blogs and Web sites:
  • KathEats.com
  • OhSheGlows.com
  • StephChows.blogspot.com
  • CarrotsNCake.com
  • CookinCanuck.blogspot.com
  • KsGoodEats.wordpress.com
  • Fitnessista.com
  • NataliesKillerCuisine.com
  • FoodNetwork.com
  • AllRecipes.com
  • AimeesAdventures.com
• Cookbooks:
  • Rick Bayless “Everyday Mexican”
  • “Vegan With a Vengeance”
  • “Cupcakes Take Over the World”
  • “Bluephies American Cooking”
  • “Laurel’s Kitchen”
  • “Fix and Leave it Light”
  • “Joy of Cooking”
  • “Pretty Darn Quick”
• Magazines:
  • Real Simple
  • Eating Well

And, for all your hard work and great suggestions, it’s time to announce the winner of a Bondi Band…

Congratulations, emueller! You were selected as my random winner, and you also really touched my heart with this comment:

I am super proud of you for finishing and for enjoying the process and the results…Having just finished my own half marathon, it is tough…I was proud of myself for finishing but then everyone wanted to know how fast I ran, which was a snail’s pace comparatively to how you ran, but still – I had to remember I had the courage to start and finish and ran the whole thing..even if it wasn’t a fast run….Love your Bondi Band BTW….thanks for being so honest in your thoughts/feelings…helps to know i’m not the only one HUGS

I will contact you to get your address and send your new headband out!

Speaking of things that are touching my heart — the situation in Haiti. I have been watching the heartbreaking photos and video around the clock, and feeling so many emotions. Empathy and sadness for the victims; desperation for those who have survived but are still in danger, hungry and dehydrated. Compassion and thanks for the tens of thousands of people mobilizing around the world to help. Frustration that the resources just can’t get there quickly enough, or are blocked by bad roads, clogged airports, chaos and confusion.

Like many others, I have donated to relief efforts, and wished I could do more. I know that as a global community, we will come together and do whatever we can — whatever it takes — to bring a bit of stability and hope to Haiti.

Wow, Debbie Downer much? I’ll leave you with something a little happier. This time a week ago, it was sleeting, freezing cold and I was just thankful to be done with 13.1 miles.

Today, it’s 70 degrees outside. Life is good.

          

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By Katy, January 12, 2010

This post is inspired by a dear college friend who made my day with an email and a plea — to point her to places that inspire me in my healthy eating journey.

More on that in a moment, but first…

I finally uploaded my Stella stats from the half marathon this weekend! And, I have to say — I’m done beating up on myself. No, I’m not the fastest runner out there…I never thought I was! No, I didn’t reach my 10:00/mile average…but I did maintain that for much of the race, in unexpectedly freezing conditions!

And, thanks to all of your lovely comments on my recap post, I’ve decided it’s time to embrace the awesome. And realize that just by starting the race, I was a winner.

Dork alert…

So, back to the email. My friend (who will remain anonymous unless she wants to peek out in comments, hint hint) wrote this:

I’m wondering if you have a spot where you get your recipes.  Your blog has inspired me to start thinking more naturally, and I’m trying to come up with recipes that are healthy for my husband and I that don’t use a lot of processed ingredients.

Swoon. You had me at inspired.

I know I’m luckier than many — I grew up eating “health food,” although I just knew it as food.

(Reminds me of the magnet my friends Jackie and Jim got me for Christmas)

So for me, giving up junk food, processed food and most crap, mostly meant going back to what Mom and Dad fed me in the first place!

Having said that, I rely on three sources, in this order:

• Cookbooks
  • My favorites are Veganomicon, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (thanks, Andy!), the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook and good ol’ Joy of Cooking.
• Online Recipe Databases
  • I like Recipezaar, A Veggie Venture, VegWeb, Cooking Light and FoodNetwork.com, in particular.
• Other Blogs
  • I subscribe to more than 100 blogs (bless you, Google Reader!) so I bookmark posts that include recipes I’d like to try. I also use Google Blog search if I’m looking for something specific (i.e. tomato soup, lasagna, bread, etc.)

Now, are you ready for my three-part plan for successful healthy cooking and eating?

1. A stocked pantry. I am almost never without staples like:

**Brown Rice, Quinoa, Millet, Bulgur, Rolled Oats: I buy these in bulk and use them in almost every meal. I typically don’t eat many potatoes or other simple starches, although I don’t make a lot of rules (because they’re too easy to break!)

**Stock: I normally keep chicken and vegetable stock in the pantry, and use it to cook grains, meats, etc. It’s also very easy to use if I want to make a kitchen sink soup, which is basically stock heated up with any vegetables I have on hand!

**Vegetables: I am a veggie freak, so I buy whatever looks good at the store, and work it into my meals through the week. I also stock up on organic frozen green beans, broccoli and more, which I buy in bulk at Costco.

2. Meal Planning. I take an hour or so on Friday night, after work, and plan our menus for the week. I used to plan lunches and dinner, but that got to be too time consuming, so now I just make extras of dinner, and bring that or a big salad for lunch. I typically serve a lean protein (meat, beans, etc.), a vegetable, and a grain. If I am serving beans, I double up on the veggies and ditch the grain. The hour that I spend doing this gets me more than that back during the week, because I come home and get started right away, rather than poring through books, Web sites, etc., trying to figure out what to make.

3. Substitutions, substitutions, substitutions. I am very lucky to have a husband who will eat just about anything I put in front of him.

I have made changes to recipes that have resulted in culinary disaster. I’ve also made some pretty impressive dishes. Through trial and error, I have learned when to replace oil with applesauce, and when to stick with the oil; when to use whole wheat flour and when all-purpose is the only choice. I’ve tried foods I couldn’t pronounce, and remade old favorites.

I’m not sure if this helps you, old friend, but I know my readers will have even better ideas for you…

So, leave me a comment and let me know where you find your healthy recipes! I’ll make it worth your while:

• Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a chance to win a Bondi Band, the rockin’ hairband that’s sweeping the nation (right, Ashley?)
  
• You can leave as many comments as you want, and get up to three chances to win.
  
• Giveaway ends Friday, January 15th at 5pmET.

They’re wicked cool — in fact, here’s a picture of me enjoying a Bondi at a 5K last year. Enter now!

          

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By Katy, December 10, 2009

I learned many lessons during Vegan Week — and the most important one had nothing to do with food. Or, let me clarify — it had nothing to do with eating food.

In order to shop, cook and ensure that all my meals were animal product-free, I planned my meals for the week. I went through cookbooks, online recipes, blogs and more to come up with ideas, crafted a shopping list, and followed the plan to the T.

And I was the happiest I’ve been in a long time.

So, even though I’m back to eating animal products, I’m still planning meals. Here’s how this week looked:

• Sunday: Yuca Empanadas with Plantain-Black Been Filling, Sauteed Squash

• Monday: Beef Stew

• Tuesday: Split Pea Daal, Roti, Roasted Cauliflower (no picture, sniff sniff)
• Wednesday: Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops, Oat Groat Pilaf, Steamed Bok Choy

• Thursday: Pepin Potatoes, Braised Carrots and Fennel
• Friday: General Tao’s Tofu, Steamed Veggies

It’s more work up front, but a LOT less stress through the week. And, unfortunately, I’m not one of those people that can just throw things in a pot and make it come out delicious. I live with one of those people. But I’m a recipe girl.

On the exercise front…um, yeah. I have set my alarm for 5am every day since Monday. And I have woken up, turned the alarm off and gone back to sleep. Every day since Monday.

A girl needs her post-half marathon rest, right? I don’t feel too bad. I have another race in January, so I’m going to get back to normal training on Saturday.

What’s your best source for healthy recipes? The Web? Cookbooks? Family recipes?

          

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By Katy, November 25, 2009

WHINE ALERT!

Don’t worry — it will be short-lived because I have a lot to be thankful for.

Remember that amazing 8-mile run I had on Friday?

I felt great all day Friday, all day Saturday, all day Sunday. And on Monday, I wanted to run, but I thought — give it one more day of rest.

Then on Tuesday, I set out for what I hoped would be a nice 6-mile pre-work run and I just couldn’t make it. I got about a mile in before I decided to bust it down to a ralk, and even that was painful. I decided to walk another two miles, then I ran a mile home. All in all, not too bad. If I wasn’t registered for two half marathons in the next month, I wouldn’t be so worried.

But I am.

It would have been easy to give up on exercise until my injury is feeling better, but it’s hard to watch this show:

and not be inspired.

So, this morning I decided to re-vist my old friend ExerciseTV on Demand. I did a mix-and-match workout of Jay’s Bootcamp Cardio, Power Sculpt Yoga and Bridal AB-session.

And as I cycled through the dozens of FREE available workouts, it amazed me how many there were for beginners.

For a cooldown, I thought I’d try the beginner’s walking workout, but let me tell you — it may be basic, but it’s still a sweat-inducer!

So, if you read blogs from people who are completing marathons, strength training challenges or other intimidating workouts, just know that you can get started quickly and easily, and in the privacy of your own home. Whether you want to walk, tone up or build a stronger core — all of which will help you live a healthier, happier and longer life — you have no excuses.

(I just saw there there are a lot of free workouts on their Web site, too!)

Plus, Kim Kardashian, Carmen Electra, the Real Housewives and Jillian Michaels are on ExerciseTV, so you even get your celebrity watching in!

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving here in the States, and many of you may have seen the Thanksgiving Challenge from Diana:

Lucas and I have been invited over to a friend’s house, and I’ll be bringing three healthy sides — each of which has been made over from a “regular” recipe:

• Cranberry Sauce
  • I’m making a Cranberry-Pomegranate-Orange Terrine with Pom Wonderful
• Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Nuts
  • I’m making steamed Brussels Sprouts with cranberries and pecans
• Green Bean Casserole
  • I’m making Roasted Green Beans with homemade Crispy Shallots and Onions

Don’t worry — Lucas will be bringing a homemade cheesecake that is the real deal.

OK, time to get moving — I’m cramming five full days of work into three days, so I’m going to indulge in a rare mid-week French Press with foamy creamer.

Yum.

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

          

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By Katy, November 19, 2009

I hope you’re not sick of hearing how overwhelmed I am with gratitude to those who have followed the #VeganWeek…hard to believe this started as a random conversation between me and Michelle — miles apart — and became a blogging sensation.

Today, we asked you to consider making one meal or all your meals vegan, to see what it’s like.

Here are just SOME of the people who posted:

• sarahghostworld: I will be participating!! i’m a total omnivore with no plans of putting labels or restrictions on my diet, but i do have have ethical qualms about the environmental and economic impact of meat-eating. so i figured . . . .why not! i linked to both of you in my post today (here) and will be photographing my eats all day to show tomorrow! i have a 20 mile run planned, so . . . there will be a lot of them
• Kristen: I’m participating in vegan for a day: http://inspiredbydooce.blogspot.com/2009/11/blo… So far the hardest part is the pictures…I’m taking pictures of what I eat for the day and it is hard to remember to put all of the ingredients in the shot.
• nutritionista: Yay for Vegan Week/Day!! I just posted my list of 10 Reasons to Go Vegan, and I plan to post a summary of my day’s vegan eats later today. http://yournutritionista.com/post/249757081/10-…
• Megan @ Healthy Hoggin: I just put up my first post about being Vegan 4 A Day: http://wp.me/pB1yI-5q So far so good, although the second I tell myself I “can’t” have something, I seem to want it more than ever!! Isn’t it funny how that works?? I have a feeling some cheese is in my future… but not today.

And on Twitter:

• @vegetarianwife: My vegan eats http://vegetarianwife.blogspot.com/2009/11/vegan-eats.html #veganweek
• @BodyandSoulmag: some friends were doing a #VeganWeek challenge, so here are some delicious vegan recipes to try! http://ow.ly/DQiM
• @pure2raw: Twin’s 20 reasons for being #vegans in honor of #VeganWeek http://bit.ly/3P5LgK
• @dysterious: Back to the gym tomorrow I hope! Been since monday and I’m itching to go but must clean all night. + drink Stickelback vegan wine #veganweek
• @abbynormally: http://twitpic.com/q4wmz – Does this meet the requirements for #VeganWeek?

And on, and on, and on. You guys rock my world.

So does this:

If you follow me on Twitter, you noticed that I talked about moving today. We packed up our current offices, and moved to some swanky new digs that afford me an incredible view. And this hunky husband wasn’t too bad to look at, either — he helped us lug some of the heavy stuff around!

Luckily, I’d fueled up with some Kitchen Sink Granola and oatmeal, served with a splash of almond milk:

Because the moving took all morning and part of the afternoon…while on a key-copying run, I got a caffeine boost with a soy, 4-pump sugar-free hazelnut coffee:

Then finally tucked into these beauties…a salad with veggies and tahini dressing:

And a juicy grapefruit:

Ran around some more, then headed home to catch up on #VeganWeek tweets (and soothe my pacrhed throat):

While my pre-made Yuca Shepherd’s Pie casserole (Veganomicon, again) cooked, along with some Cornmeal-crusted masala brussels sprouts:

So, so good. I stuck it under the broiler for 2 minutes after baking, and the yuca topping got crispy and crunchy. And the sprouts…heaven. By the way, heaven is spicy. Just like me.

I already have plans for cooling my mouth down:

And, since I have some work to catch up on, this guy gets remote control (which is good, because Syracuse is on TV!) This means I’ll be DVR’ing Project Runway, so heaven help the person that spoils it for me.

Evil dog in the background.

So, what can you look forward to when it comes to #VeganWeek?

**The Glo Bakery bar giveaway is open until 7pmET tomorrow. ENTER NOW!

**Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about a vegan diet and weight loss. Check it out and let me know what you think!

**Jess from A Fete For Food just did an amazing post on Michelle’s blog, about the environmental impact a vegan diet has. She taught me so much!

**Catch up on all the #VeganWeek action on my page here and Michelle’s page here.

          

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By Katy, November 2, 2009

I have a few exciting announcements!

• I wrote a guest post about my journey through weight loss and triathlon training for Michelle at Eating Journey — click here to check it out. If you don’t read Michelle’s blog, you really should. She’s an American living in Australia, chasing not only her career dreams but her healthy living goals. For her, that means becoming a triathlete and I’m so excited to see how she does!
• I just posted a new article at Examiner.com, all about the so-called Intention Experiment that’s at the center of Dan Brown’s new book “The Lost Symbol.” Read it here to see what some (real, not fictional) scientists think about mind over matter, and our ability to change the world with the power of thought. The idea came to me because I’m listening to the audiobook while I walk.
• I am up for a pretty big award through my local newspaper, The Orlando Sentinel! Here’s the scoop — over the last few weeks, people could nominate their favorite Central Florida blogs. If I win, I get huge exposure on the Sentinel’s homepage, as well as some other cool prizes.

I (Silly Tater Tot) was nominated for:

• Best Overall Blog
• Personal
• Sports/Other

And my darling husband Lucas (A Night With The Hops) was nominated for:

• Best Overall Blog
• Personal
• Foodies

You can vote in each category once per day. Lucas and I each have links on the right side of our blogs, to make it easier. Now, you do have to register — it’s free, and relatively painless…we’d sure appreciate any votes we get, but if it’s too much of a pain, we understand. We’ll just have to break it to these guys:

I’m shameless, I know.

That’s enough pandering for now…Let’s get you up to speed on other fun!

Gotta brag about my dinner last night — oatmeal pancakes a la Kath, except we added walnuts, almond milk and doubled her recipe.

Then spread applesauce on top. Breakfast — it’s what’s for dinner.

So, when you take away toys from kids, what happens? They cry. Take away a bone from a dog, and he’ll growl. Take away running from a runner?

You get a tantrum. This morning, I thought — mind over matter. I’ll just forget the excruciating pain that my leg is in (which, by the way, has been diagnosed by my social networking friends as an “adductor” injury) and go for a run as planned.

Not so much. I got about a 1/2 mile into my run and nearly collapsed in tears. It just hurts too dang much, and I am now on the delicate tightrope that is falling off my training wagon and not being able to complete my two half marathons, and injuring myself so badly that I’ll never be able to run again.

I got through 4 miles, walking, and figured at the very least, it all adds up for the POTM challenge.

Have you ever been injured? How do you decide if and when to press through, and when to rest?

The frustrating thing is that I did absolutely no exercise, short of some light stretching and yoga, for a full week after my Olympic triathlon, and didn’t see much improvement.

But, my good mood improved with some (unpictured) Coffee Coconut Cinnamon Pumpkin Oats and this amazing Hugh Jass:

It was too much for mere plastic:

Super salad!

Now I’m settling in for some much-needed office cleaning, some doggie time and an early bedtime.

          

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By Katy, November 1, 2009

Well, No Nonsense November is off to a rocking start! After making that post, I decided to spend the last day of October living out those principles.

With some delicious oats and a book:

That’s a concoction of raw cocoa, unsweetened coconut, rolled oats, cinnamon, stevia and a splash of unsweetened almond milk.

I had a friendly face accompany me:

And the two of us spent an amazing hour outside, gearing up for the day. After hitting the grocery store and doing a little housekeeping, it was time to tackle the Foodie Fights challenge.

Foodie Fights is a fun, blog-style Throwdown, in which people submit the idea for one ingredient (I submitted pumpkin) and the organizers submit the idea for a second ingredient (in this case, bulgur wheat).

The judges’ decisions are based on these criteria:

Most Important:  Which would you rather eat?

Also Important:  Creativity – Is it an original recipe?  Did they make something unexpected?

Less Important but still Important: Is it a good overall Blog post.   Is the method explained well?  Is there humor?  Good photography?

I brainstormed all sorts of ideas — a soup? Some kind of protein-based entree? But, in the end, I decided to make something I’m calling:

Vegan Pumpkin Bulgur Beer Bread

Here’s the beauty of the recipe. I am a terrible baker. This came out perfectly, in three forms: bread, muffins and a cake. It is also vegan, highly organic (and could be completely organic, based on your shopping list), has a perfect fall flavor and is husband approved.

Luckily, I got pictures of the process and the finished product before Lucas got his greedy hands on it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2C whole wheat flour
• 1C all-purpose flour
• 1C oat flour
• 2 Tsp salt
• 2 Tsp baking soda
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tsp allspice
• 1 C water
• 1/2 C bulgur wheat
• 2 1/2 C sugar
• 2/3 C applesauce
• 2/3 C beer (at room temperature)
• **note: I used pumpkin ale and it really tasted great!
• 1 (15oz) can of pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Cooking spray

Technique:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep your baking pans by spraying them with cooking spray and lining them with foil (if necessary).

For my first batch, I wanted to test cooking times so I made six muffins, one round cake and one loaf.

You can use all AP flour if you’d like, or a mix, like I did! Sift the flour(s), salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a medium bowl then whisk together until the mix is light and mixed.

(click on the photos to view them in a larger window)

Bring your water to a boil, then pour over the bulgur wheat. The water will go over the top of the wheat at first, but after it sits for 10-15 minutes, the wheat will soak up the water and cook.

In the meantime, put the sugar into a bowl and add the applesauce, beer, pumpkin and vanilla. Mix it all together, then add the bulgur/water mixture. You don’t need a beater or blender for this — just mix it until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, then mix JUST until incorporated and no more!

Using an ice cream scoop, ladle even portions of the batter into your muffin tins, then split the remaining batter between the loaf pan and cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees until a knife or toothpick comes out cleanly:

–Muffins 30 minutes

–Cake 30-40 minutes

–Loaf 40-50 minutes

Let your goodies cool on a wire rack, then enjoy!

Note: I used this recipe as a guide to proportions, but obviously made major changes.

Finished Recipe:

I have to say…this is pretty freaking delicious. If you separate this recipe into 30 servings (one muffin=one serving, then the cake and bread are each split into 12 servings), the nutritional data is not too bad:

Lucas can’t stop eating them, which is a great sign…especially since he’s brewing his own batch of pumpkin spice ale. If that works out, I’ll definitely whip up another batch of this bread with his booze!

Please let me know if you give these a try — I’m going to play with the ingredients a bit, and may substitute the bulgur with ground flaxseed, oats or even quinoa. I think this could also make good macaroons or even raw truffles, so I’m glad I figured out the basic recipe!

P.S. I just did a post for Examiner.com on using Pumpkin as a baking substitute. Check it out and make me one of your favorite examiners!

          

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By Katy, September 5, 2009

Anyone get the reference in the post title? Anyone? Bueller? Here you go.

I have been known to exaggerate from time to time, using superlatives when they might not be totally warranted; from “I had the worst day” to “I have a million things to do” to “I must have the biggest butt on the East Coast.” None of them are true, but I’m a drama queen.

But I truly believe that this statement is no hyperbole:

The following is a representation of the most amazing homemade pizza ever created.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise — after all, I got the dough recipe from Jenna at Eat, Live, Run, who called this The Best Pizza Dough.

I made the dough from Jenna’s instructions, although I used all whole wheat pastry flour instead of a mix. I slathered the rolled out dough with organic sauce, cheese and a heaping pile of veggies (sauteed peppers and onions and raw purple onions for both; additional portobello mushrooms for me):

Crispy on the edges (because I rolled them up a bit before cooking), soft warm melty gooey heavenly oh my gosh delicious veggies on top. I caught myself crossing my eyes a few times while devouring the entire personal pizza I’d made!

It kept me stuffed all night, which is rare — I didn’t even think about indulging my sweet tooth. This morning, I woke up ready to rock. Usually, I take long bike rides on Saturday, but I’m a little sore from Thursday’s run, and I want to do a long run tomorrow, so I decided to take a day of rest.

But rest from a workout did not mean I didn’t stay busy! I like to take long weekends to clean out the house as much as possible. I get rid of clothes, shoes and other stuff I haven’t used in a while. Today, it meant tearing apart the kitchen and putting it back together:

Faegan helped me by recycling some of the boxes I was getting rid of:

He mistook the corner for our recycling station. I couldn’t be mad, because he helped Lucas pick a winner for his Stella Artois giveaway this morning. Check out the cutest video ever!

Time to watch Project Runway on the DVR get back to cleaning. Lucas brought me home a present — Bombay Sapphire and tonic water, a favorite combo of mine — so I need to hustle and get my work done so I can relax soon!

P.S. What do you all think of the new blog style? It’s in progress — I found a great theme and am in the process of tweaking it. I’m no coder but I’m learning, slowly but surely!

          

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By Katy, September 1, 2009

Why, hello!

Faegan doesn’t really like all the storms we’ve been having. After last night’s adventure with the firefighters, and tonight’s round of nasty storms, he’s been trying to hide under the curtains. Can’t blame him, because they have been boomy!

I thought the rain might thwart my plans for a run, but the clouds cleared up just long enough for a quick 3.1 miles. I thought Lucas and I would be running together. But he is SO fast — he couldn’t even be my rabbit because after about a quarter-mile I couldn’t see him anymore. He did his 5K in about 21 minutes; I did mine in about 28. Not bad. I think we’re both going to do a race together next weekend:

And obviously, I mean by do it together, he’ll wait for me at the finish line with water and a banana. (That’s what she said).

I have to brag on some pretty successful food experiments over the last few days. For dinner last night, I used up (finally) the last of the pesto, mixing it into some organic wheat udon noodles and some summer squash:

That little sprinkle of parmesan made the meal.

Tonight, I decided to take this recipe and tweak it a little to make homemade spinach tortillas, stuffed with organic beef, corn, onions, cheese and salsa.

Drool. The tortillas weren’t as pliable as I had hoped, and the meat, corn and salsa made them a little soggy, but they tasted great, and we just scooped everything onto a fork and ate it up. I halved the tortilla recipe and it still made 6 tortillas, so I’ll be using the rest up in lunches this week!

Hey, love Kashi? Love FREE Kashi? Click here. You can also play fun games and make your picture look like this:

I rocked the Kashi game

Great googly moogly! Anyone else shocked how September snuck up? September is my half-birthday month, which means that I am almost 29.5 and about to head down the hill to 30. Yikes. I am conflicted about the birthday. I don’t mind getting older, and I’ve accomplished almost all of the goals I laid out for myself by this age, but I find myself cringing when I realize that kids in college now were born in the ’90s. Shudder.

I’ve started a free fantasy football league, and if you want to join, drop me a comment with your email address, or send me an email: kwidrick@sillytatertot.com. It’s going to be fun and there’s no pressure to do well — you don’t even have to follow football! You can pick a team of hot players, or funny names or be totally random. Or, you can be like me, and study the fantasy football forums and refresh your iPhone every 5 minutes to check on your team. All types are welcome.

Falling asleep at the keyboard, so I’ll leave you with some eye candy:

Ahhh, I miss home.

          

Comments

By Katy, August 29, 2009

Ugh — I equal parts love and hate the Black Eyed Peas. LOVE their songs for about a month, then HATE hearing them over and over and over again on the radio. Plus, I’m too lazy to clear out my iPod — I just keep adding new songs — so right now, BEP is on heavy rotation. Oh well, it’s good to run to. Which is exactly what I did this morning!

First, you have to see the genius that is Friday night laziness. What happens when you have tons of pesto and no motivation to put together a proper meal? This:

Just looking at the pictures makes me hungry … and with a side of organic red vino, I was out like a fat kid playing dodgeball. Slept-watched the Patriots game (Tommy, you WILL be okay, right?)

We used organic tomatoes, because we’ve heard that they taste so much better, and because we really are making every effort to buy locally-grown, organic food whenever possible. The tomatoes? Meh. Nothing stunning. But they did allow me to make a mockery of Lucas:

Don’t worry, he was well-rewarded for his goofiness:

Anyone watch “Three Sheets” on Fine Living? “That’s good Oktoberfest!” Zane Lamprey is a Syracuse boy, so holla! Go ‘Cuse!

And in the spirit of celebrating our favorite TV shows, I have to share this picture. Lucas told me this shirt reminded him of an episode of “Family Guy.” Watch, and watch.

“I flew today.”

It’s a good thing I passed out on the couch got to bed early, because I had a very early start to my Saturday:

I wanted to get a good long exercise session in today, so I headed down to Lucky’s Lake Swim but left myself enough time for a run. I was hoping for 8 miles but only did 7. Oh well — c’est la vie. Then, I did one lap of the swim, which is about .75K. Although, with the amount of off-course, zig-zaggy swimming I did this morning, it was probably closer to a full 1K. I’m usually a VERY straight swimmer, so I don’t know what was up with me today!

Here’s the experience in pictures:

Couple of things here:

• Yes, I ran in my bathing suit today, with a sports bra underneath and my heart rate monitor underneath that. I don’t usually wear my suit during training runs, but I DO typically wear this getup during real triathlons. So, since I was swimming today, it made sense to run in my suit.
• Yes, I got funny looks. Here’s how I justify them — I’m running and your fat ass is in the car. I get a little snippy when I’m running.
• I wear a Nike heart rate monitor. It’s fine. I bought it with a gift certificate, and so it was free to me ($99 to you). It’s not the best on the market, but it does its job. If I had unlimited funds, I would buy a Garmin Forerunner 305 (or maybe even the 405).
• To find your maximum heart rate, take 220 and subtract your age. That puts me at about 200 190. Depending on the intensity of the exercise, I try and stay between 120 and 175.
  • Spinning/Running = 165-175
  • Cycling = 140 (on hills, at least)
  • Swimming = 120
• I hate to admit this, because I do believe in proper fitness nutrition, but I don’t like to eat or drink before a workout, even a long one like this. Today, I forced down a Fruition Bar (unpictured, from the HLS swag bag) just because I knew I wouldn’t be eating until lunchtime, and I’d be burning about 800-900 calories. If the workout had been any shorter, I probably wouldn’t have eaten anything. It just doesn’t sit well, especially when I run.

Lucas is puttering in the kitchen, putting together some pesto and cheese sandwiches for lunch, then we have to head to IKEA and finally — the Taste of the Nation! There are still tickets available. They’re spendy. I get it if you can’t afford the trip. If you can, I encourage you to attend. 100% of the ticket money goes to Share Our Strength, an amazing organization that’s doing everything it can to make sure no child goes hungry.

If you can’t go, and want to see what it’s like, follow me on Twitter and also look for the #OrlTaste hashtag!

I leave you with two members of the zoo who feel they don’t get enough blog love:

          

Comments

By Katy, August 25, 2009

And it feels so decadent! Lucas has a very early wakeup time, because he has to be on a job site before sunrise! I hate it when we don’t go to bed together, so he’s on his way to dreamland and I’m watching trashy TV. And busting out a quick blog post.

A big day of food for me, starting with Cascadian Farms kids cinnamon crunch cereal, which although delicious did NOT keep me full for very long:

So I broke my normal no-coffee-on-weekdays rule:

And that held me over for an amazing lunch — an egg sandwich on leftover focaccia bread:

Mmmmm, toasty. I also had a bunch of veggies and some kettle corn.

I had thawed some salmon for dinner, but didn’t feel like the same ol’ grilled preparation. So, I stopped by an Asian grocery store on the way home from work and did homemade sushi!

This was pretty good — I need a sharper knife and a real bamboo roller thing. I used saran wrap and a flexible cutting board and made do, but the rolls started to fall apart when I cut them.

I had a ton of leftovers, so I’ll be munching on these rolls for lunch and dinner tomorrow, most likely.

Time for blogger truth? I went a little nuts after dinner. I was listless, a little bored and basically unfulfilled by dinner — so I hit the pantry pretty hard. Cookies, an apple with barney butter, some cereal and almond milk … ouch. When the binge monster comes on, it’s like I know what’s happening, I just don’t have the power to stop it. I eat way past a comfortable feeling, and basically have to wait until the monster is done.

I notice it most on days when I work out, which is … well, almost every day. This morning, I got up and did a 4-mile run before work. I’m not sure if I should just eat a bigger breakfast on my workout days, or just force myself to stop eating at 9pm? I’d love to hear any advice you have.

Tomorrow’s another day, and I refuse to feel defeated. Here’s to a WONDERFUL Wednesday!