I’m no stranger to weird.
When I saw the title of Kat’s guest post today I grinned. Â This girl rocks my weird world. Â You know it’s a sign of a good friend with a 3 hour trail run/hike flies by.
What doesn’t fly by is the soreness after a long day of exercise.  After that run and then this past weekend’s race I am no stranger to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).  But I do have a solution!  Or… a relief strategy.  Some of you will think it’s weird but…
Seriously. Â If you can keep moving, that soreness will move on out. Â The day after my 8 hour race I walked 3 miles and jogged 1. Â By Monday I was back in the gym with my trainer. Â It’s not a miracle cure, but it DOES help.
Note: Be smart – if it’s beyond normal soreness, you have a strain or an injury, or you are sick REST is what you need. Â If you are just tight, walk it out!
Enough about me… read on for my weird friend Kat and her killer Strange But Good recipe.
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BE WEIRD, TAKE CHANCES, BE YOURSELF!
Let your spirit move you!!!! Â Do things that inspire you! Â That is my theme this week, this year, this lifetime.
I’m going to San Francisco today.  It’s my first time as an actual tourist there.  I used to go to California for wrestling tournaments in college.  Read: All I saw were the insides of hotels and gyms. This time I will be going wine tasting, cheese tasting, and running a trail race on Sunday!!  The Steep Ravine trail run (only the 25K distance I think) will be my favorite part!  *sounds steep*  (Editor’s note: Only 25k?!  Kat is a trail running beast.)
I have learned to travel the world and make time for friends you haven’t seen in ages and some great, beautiful races. Â I will see my friend Jaime, from college (see her blog – Event Crashing at its finest ), who is amazing, and a few other friends. Jaime is the kind of friend you can take your hairless cats to a laser show with. Â No, that’s not a joke. Â We did that.
Jaime and I a couple of years ago at Dave & Busters
When I was little, the last thing I wanted to be was weird. Â Now I embrace it! Â I think it is one of the reasons I take to Laura. Â She embraces her unique weirdness just like I do. Â (Editor’s note: Awwww! Â I heart you.)
A huge part of enjoying life, for me, is taking chances, doing things I’ve never done before, and being totally okay doing everything and anything that moves me.  It creates more smiles, and more smiles means less stress!  So let’s get out of the box today and share things that make us weird, happy, and stress-free, and brings a smile to your face.  All photos were taken within the last two years.
Ride your bike 100 miles wearing a lei
Do Yoga Poses Anywhere and everywhere – let people stare!
Volunteer to model for a friend.. then become the cover of their look book
Run as far as you can through the woods… surprise yourself
The point of all this is… is that you must have random, fun, sporadic and unique moments in order to make the most out of life. Â Life is not meant to be suffered through, it’s meant to be enjoyed. Â That is why I spent a lot of time doing things that are outside of my comfort zone (or used to be).
Other things that make me smile include uncommongoods.com. Â I could browse that site ALL day! Â Amazing stuff like this:
Yes, that’s right
And just as good as weird, fun, and sporadic moments are – weird, fun and sporadic foods help you smile!  I know, I know, another recipe.. but I have been cooking a LOT. (Editor’s note: That is encouraged here 🙂 )
After my amazing training day with Laura, I made dinner for my friend Martha. Â A cocoa rubbed pork tenderloin with … dun dun dun… Cocoa Cinnamon Cayenne (CCC) Sweet Potatoes (feel free to ask for the pork tenderloin recipe.. but honestly, they’re all the same).
Cocoa Cinnamon Cayenne (CCC)Â Sweet Potatoes
- Cocoa Powder – 1/4 cup
- Cinnamon – 1.5 tbsp or so
- Cayenne – 3 tsp-ish
- White pepper – a sprinkle
- Salt – a couple sprinkles
- Sweet potatoes
I used two types of sweet potatoes – regular and Japanese. Â I coated them in melted coconut oil (~2 tbsp), and tossed them in the CCC mixture. Â Disclaimer: I never actually measure
Place in a 375* oven for ~20 mins, stir, leave again (~20 mins). Â
They are absolutely delish! Â Ask Martha.
Serve with a homemade apple chutney (this was amazing… you can also ask for that recipe if you want… lots of mustard seeds… more savory than sweet).
Sweet potatoes finished in dish
The way I cook is….
…whatever I feel & the way my spirit moves me.
The best part of all of this… the recipe, cooking for friends, and randomness… is that a random and happy life is just that… a happy life!
When you live inspired, you will inspire others.
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I love this post by Kat… I’m inspired daily by her determination and “can do” attitude.  Time to get inspired in the kitchen for tomorrow’s Strange But Good link up!  I hope you will all join! 🙂
What recently inspired you? Have you done something inspired/out-side the box?
Tell me something really positive!
Sweet potatoes and chocolate…. goodness, Girl, you do have adventuresome tastebuds! just like you! love it.
It’s sooooo good!!
Love this post && I especially love your lovely book cover face. I bet guys were lining up to get a piece of youuu 🙂
Haha – Kat always has a line out the door. 😉
I always wanted to do cocoa cayenne sweet potatoes, so I don’t think this is weird, but looks AMAZING!!!!!!!! 😀
I knew YOU wouldn’t think so. 😉
Great post, Kat! The taters sound great!
I’ve never tried the cocoa cayenne combo but I would like to. This looks like the perfect recipe to try it with!
I definitely agree on keeping moving to help the muscle soreness. Sounds counterintuitive, but it works. And I absolutely love this quote “When you live inspired, you will inspire others.”
holy sh*t im making these potatoes
Well said, friend. 😉
That combo of cocoa & cayenne sounds interesting, but I’ll need to try it soon! 🙂
I agree with muscle soreness it is best to keep moving!
I’ve never tried the cocoa cayenne combo on sweet potatoes, that’s pretty brilliant!
I did it in oatmeal today – soooo good!
i think that sweet potato recipe sounds so good!
Yay for active recovery!! 🙂 I think the cocoa sweet potato recipe sounds heavenly!!
I put my mind right when it wanted to veer left!
I’m weird. Very weird. I like it. A lot.
Did I mention I was voted most weird in high school? Yep. Me 🙂 I’m proud of that award!
That is such a fun award!!!
Have you noticed that weird is one of those words that start to look, well, weird, after you’ve seen it in print a few times?
I think that we are all weird in our own way. The difference is that some embrace, some try to hide from it. I say, Embrace your Weird!
YES! I notice that as I edited this post, actually. I was convinced I’d spelled it wrong after looking at it so much.
that combo sounds killer, not strange at all. I love pairing squash with cinnamon. the sweet and savory just totally works.
Love this post, Kat! And I’m with you–embrace the weird and the strange, ’cause it’s way more fun than trying to be normal! And often tastier, too. Something really positive? I get to spend three days on a beach starting tomorrow! I might even get in a few jogs–because I’m not a fan of running until you add “on the beach first thing in the morning.” Then I’m game!
I love this post because I am as werid and quirky as they get! Just ask my husband. But honestly, being able to take that with me where I go means that I’m happy and that others around me feel that they can be themselves too. It’s the best way to be! Thanks for this post!
That’s a great point – letting your weird-o out does make others feel more at ease. 🙂
Just like mole sweet potatoes! I’m in:)
P.S. I’m always been “unique”, and usually not too fussed by it. I love that, nowadays, people describe me as quirky and whimsical and, sometimes, odd. I love being the me that I am. High five!
Whimsical is the BEST word. 🙂
When I did my long cycling, the second day was always the worst… but after an hour or so of soreness, I must have become numb to it because it wasn’t too bad… so yeah, I agree! Keep moving~ 🙂
Love this post – random and happy IS happy. And CCC sweet potatoes? Those look amazing.
I love that quote. It’s so…inspiring! Lately I’m inspired by nice coworkers. It makes me want to make our environment better too.
That’s a great inspiration. I love having a great day at work – its fulfilling!
OK, I now officially feel like I have missed out on life! YOU ARE FUN & AMAZING!!! Such a beautiful lady too!!!
BTW, I agree totally on the first part of this post!!!
YOU ROCK!
Kat does rock. 🙂
These sweet potatoes look awesome! Thank you for posting.
Being weird gives you character 😀
Loving your dish today, looks addictive!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I think you should turn it into a cake! 😉
Amen on the moving to eliminate DOMS. My boyfriend always gets sore, and then won’t go back for a week, to meet the same fate the next week. He finally listened and pushed through it and now he’s in a routine. I’m so sore from legday yesterday (yay!) but I will be doing some upperbody hiit and some incline walking tonight to get the junk out.
I used to feel weird and out of place like it was a bad thing. Most of that was in my head, but I’m glad I’m not like everyone else. I really played it safe and needed to control everything in my life. I’ve learned to let go and am aiming to push myself out of those comfort zones to achieve new things and have new experiences. It’s working! 🙂
I used to be the same… I think the older you get, the less you care about letting your freak flag fly. 😉
Well, Laura can certainly tell you that I am a HUGE weirdo. I am happy that I learned to embrace it long ago, and to be fatefully connected to a number of others out there who also revel in their quirks and craziness. I can’t say that I have done some of the physical challenges you have, but I do find great joy in things made for small children, move across the country on gut feelings, and try to always love what makes me…me! [Even if it is hard sometimes…]
Love the recipe, too. I pretty much cook with a “wonder what will happen if I put THIS together?” attitude, so I’m all for the ‘weird.’
I want the apple chutney recipe…
Sarah… you’re weird?! Noooo…. 😉
With all your indoor (non-treadmill) running, you are going to be running Ultras with Kat soon!
Amazing post. Again. Love it!! I think my favorite line was ” Life is not meant to be suffered through, it’s meant to be enjoyed.” You should be a motivational speaker Kat!
San Fran??? My old haunts. Is it crazy that I miss the fog?