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Appetites and Adventures

Smoothie Demo + Cherry-Ginger Smoothie

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I admit it.  I enjoy being the center of attention.

I’m the oldest child.  I can’t help myself.

Surprisingly public speaking does NOT appeal to me.  It’s not the standing in front of people part that gets me.  It’s the opportunity to look like an idiot while standing in front of people.

Last weekend I did a “things you can make in a blender” demo for my gym.  Speaking AND making food in front of people.  Lots of room for error.  I was nervous.

My trainer’s daughter was nice enough to take some action shots.  I *think* this pic is the carrot cake batter smoothie.

I’m relieved to report it went well!  Nothing exploded or tasted bad.  It wasn’t a large crowd, but people liked my food!  For my demo I made 3 smoothies and a lemon-rosemary bean dip.  You guys have seen 2 of the smoothies before:

Carrot Cake Batter Shake (click for recipe)

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Shake (click for recipe)

The new smoothie was the crowd favorite.  It is also my submission to Heather’s ginger-themed  Meatless Mondays from A-Z challenge this week.

I wanted to create a recovery smoothie for gym-goers that would help muscles bounce back fast after an intense workout.  (My gym is called “House of Payne” for good reason.)

The recovery drink I concocted is a Cherry-Ginger Smoothie. Cherries have been found to have unique anti-inflammatory properties; they may aid muscle recovery, reduce oxidative stress in athletes, and are good for pain relief.

Ginger also has anti-inflammatory properties, and is a powerful natural pain-killer. It has long been used to settle stomachs and relieves migraines. And ladies, it can be used for menstrual cramp relief. Wine works too… but you didn’t hear that here.

Of course you need a protein powder in this smoothie. Taking in 20g of protein within 30 mins of a workout is the key for muscle repair and building. To learn more on this topic, click here.

Aside from making a great recovery smoothie, the cherry-ginger combo tastes delicious too.  Sweet, dark cherries compliment the spice of the ginger.  I love how the flavors balance each other.  In this recipe I used my favorite Growing Naturals Vanilla Rice Protein Powder. However, you can shake things up by using chocolate for a Cherry Bomb twist.

Recipe at bottom.

Workout Recap

I realized I’m always complaining about leg day in these recaps.  This week I’m praising leg day.  I have always complained about my “chicken legs.”  Even when I was 30 lbs heavier than I am now, I had chicken legs.

This weekend I saw some pics of myself in posing practice.  There was a lot I wasn’t happy with size-wise, but for the first time I realized my legs didn’t look terrible.  Also this week I PR’d on my dreaded hack squats.  And I lived to tell the story. 🙂  Hard work pays off. 

Workout Recap (9/17 – 9/23):

  • Monday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Tuesday – Shoulders/Butt, 1.5 mile walk
  • Wednesday – Chest/Biceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Thursday – Legs (w/ trainer), 2 mile walk
  • Friday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Saturday – Shoulders/Butt, 2 mile walk, 50 push-ups
  • Sunday – Rest-ish… 3 mile sprints

Cherry Ginger Protein Smoothie

Cherry-Ginger Smoothie

  • 1/2 C cherries (fresh or frozen) 
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Growing Naturals Rice Protein)
  • 1 in piece of fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp Guar Gum (optional)
  • 1/4-1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
  • Ice, to taste
  • 1 C spinach (optional)

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

Serves 1.

Notes:

  • You can adjust the milk and ice to suit your preference.  I like my smoothies super thick, so I use more ice and less milk.
  • Guar Gum is optional, but I recommend investing in some.  It’s often used as a binder and volume-enhancer in ice creams and shakes, making them more creamy and thick.
  • I include a giant handful of spinach in nearly all of my protein smoothies.  I swear you can’t taste it.  This is a great way to sneak in another serving of greens and add a little more iron to your diet to promote muscle health and energy metabolism.  Warning: Spinach will turn your pretty red smoothie a funky green color!

***

My second posing practice taught me I need more practice… more with the actual posing and general confidence than with the heels (surprise, surprise).

How do you recover after an especially hard workout?

Do you like public speaking?

Fig and Edamame Salad with Sriracha-Lime Vinaigrette

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I have a few confessions:

  • I abuse the 5 second rule… yet I’m not a religious floor-cleaner.
  • I ate a giant piece of flour-less chocolate cake this weekend.  It was sprinkled with flaky sea salt and drizzled with olive oil.  And it was worth every sugar-y calorie.
  • Sometimes rather than washing the sheets I just wash the pillowcases.
  • It’s not unusual for me to “fluff” the laundry no less than 3 times.
  • My least favorite part of blogging is taking and editing pictures.  Can’t I just Instagram everything?!
  • I spaced out and missed last week’s Meatless Mondays from A-Z challenge.  Sorry Heather.

Last week’s theme was edamame, which I LOVE.  I did link up a tasty old recipe – Edamame Jicima Salad – I still felt like I owed Heather a little something extra this week… so I went for the 1-2 punch with the ingredient themes.

You might remember when I did this with the Overachieving Cauliflower Crust Pizza.  I used all 3 of the first ingredients – artichokes, beets, and capers.

For my recipe this week, I made a gain salad of Kamut berries (see this post for more info on Kamut), edamame and figs.  Never one to eat a mild dish, I spiced this up with my favorite flavors: cilantro and sriracha.

I know there are a few of you who aren’t fans of cilantro.  Basil or parsley would also work well here!

The figs may sound a little odd to add to this combo (another Strange But Good candidate?), but their sweetness worked well to tame the sriracha heat.  The slight sweetness of the edamame also had a cooling effect.  I am a texture feign, so I especially adored the chewy Kamut berries with the crisp edamame and soft figs.

I wanted to keep it vegan for Heather, but another great add here would be some Greek yogurt.  Kamut berries are high in protein.  The yogurt would give you even more protein, and also add a luscious creaminess.

Aren’t figs gorgeous?

[Tweet “Figs and Sriracha come together for a sweet heat in this whole grain salad!”]

Workout Recap

It has been quite the workout week!  Monday’s leg day with my trainer left me damn near paralyzed.  My second-day-soreness on Wednesday left me gripping the handicap rail in the bathroom.

BUT… it’s paying off.  This exciting news this week came on Saturday (leg day #2).  I got the green light from my trainer.  I AM competing in November!!!!!!

No, I won’t be to the point we want yet.  I’ll probably be the leanest person there (read: too lean), but I’m going to work even harder to grow between now and then (and maybe have another piece of chocolate cake).  BAM.

Workout Recap (9/10 – 9/16):

  • Monday – Legs (w/ trainer), 2 mile walk
  • Tuesday – Rest, 2 mile walk
  • Wednesday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises, 3 mile walk
  • Thursday – Shoulders/Butt, 2 mile walk
  • Friday – Chest/Biceps, Calf raises
  • Saturday – Legs (w/ trainer), 2 mile walk, 50 push-ups
  • Sunday – Rest-ish… 2.8 mile sprints

Fig and Edamame Kamut Berries with Sriracha-Lime Vinaigrette

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 10 mins

Keywords: entree salad low-sugar nut-free soy-free vegan vegetarian fig kamut lime cilantro Asian

Ingredients (2 servings, easily doubled)

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together cilantro, lime juice, oil, sriracha, and cumin to make the vinaigrette.

Place berries in medium bowl and toss with vinaigrette.

Stir in edamame and figs.

Powered by Recipage

***

Time for important decisions… like what color should my suit be.  Blue?  Green?  Aqua?

What is your confession today?

Is your next-day or second-day soreness worse?

Golden Beet and Tempeh Stuffed Poblano Pepper

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I’m beet up and ‘choked up this Monday!

 

It’s the second installment of Heather’s Meatless Mondays from A-Z challenge!

 

 

Last week the ingredient we were to use was artichokes, and I submitted this Quinoa Stuffed Artichoke.  Without thinking, I incorporated this week’s ingredient – beets – into the recipe by soaking my quinoa in beet juice.

 

 

This week… Oops, I did it again.

My submission is a Golden Beet and Tempeh Stuffed Poblano Pepper, and in my tempeh stuffing I incorporated both beets AND artichoke hearts.

 

 

If you are someone who doesn’t do well with red beets, I encourage you to try the golden variety.  Golden beets tend to have less of an “earthy” taste, and are slightly sweeter than red beets.  I loved that sweetness in this dish balanced with the mild heat of the poblano pepper.

Don’t be scared of the poblano.  It rates a 4 out of 10 on the Scoville Scale (compared to a habanero which is 9 out of 10).  A poblano’s heat is more of an accent than a punch.  They are perfect for those who like just a touch of spiciness.  FYI – the reddish-brown poblanos are more ripe, and are sweeter than the true green ones.

 

 

Poblanos are commonly used in Mexican dishes, but I took this in a more Indian direction by coating my sautéed stuffing ingredients in a quick sauce made of curry and nutritional yeast.  Curry is an excellent pairing with the nutty tempeh and nutritional yeast flavors, and the sweetness of the beets added a fun twist to the stronger flavors.

Admittedly, I’d never roasted a pepper before.  It seemed like a complex task for some reason.  Rest assured it was stupid-easy, and definitely worth a shot.  This recipe can be easily multiplied and customized to fit the needs of a crowd!

 Next week’s ingredient is caperberries… should I purposefully aim for artichokes, beets, and capers?  😉

_____________________________________________________________________________

Workout recap before food though!  This week was a weird one.  I traveled on Wed/Thursday so I had to take a rest day midweek.  Being on an airplane makes my body really tired/weak-feeling, making Friday’s workout was a hard one.  I also had a weird pain in my heel on Friday morning.  It feels bruised, but I didn’t do anything that would bruise it.  It happened before I workout – almost immediately as I got out of bed.  It still hurts today… I’ve been resting and icing, and I skipped past leg day Saturday to give it a rest and instead focused on upper body.  Like my triceps:

 

Last week I mentioned being frustrated that while I have seen increase in weight I can move, my weight is the same.  This week will bring some adjustments to my diet, adding more fats, protein from “real” sources (not powder), and a small increase in carbs and veggies (woo hoo!).  Candidly, I am a little nervous.  That’s a LOT of food, and I often struggle to get in all  7 meals with the smaller portions.  If anyone wants to come shovel food in with me, I could use the encouragement! LOL!

 

Workout Recap (8/6 – 8/12):

  • Monday – Legs (w/ trainer)
  • Tuesday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Wednesday – Shoulders/Butt
  • Thursday – Rest, 1.5 mile walk
  • Friday – Chest/Biceps, Calf raises
  • Saturday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises
  • Sunday – Shoulders/Butt
______________________________________________________________________________________

Golden Beet and Tempeh Stuffed Poblano Pepper

  • 1 large poblano
  • 1/2 tsp avocado oil
  • 2 T red onion, chopped
  • 1/3 C golden beet, diced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 serving tempeh
  • 1/4 C chopped artichoke hearts
  • 1 T apple cider vinegar
  • 1 T nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 tsp curry
  • Shake of cumin
  • ~2T water

 

Preheat oven to 475.

Place the pepper on a baking sheet, and place in oven.  Roast for 30 mins, turning pepper every ~10 mins.  The goal is to char it on all sides.

Once charred, place in a bowl and cover with a towel to steam for ~10 mins.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet and begin to saute onions and beets.  Once onion begins to turn translucent, add garlic, tempeh, and artichokes.  Add apple cider vinegar (or other white vinegar), and stir to combine.  Cook until warmed through, and garlic becomes fragrant (~2 mins).

Mix nutritional yeast, curry, and cumin with water and pour over saute.  Stir to combine and remove from heat.  

Remove pepper from bowl and begin peeling.  The skin with come off easily when they’re cooked like this.

Make a small slit down the length of one side of the pepper, being careful not to cut through to the other side. Carefully remove seeds, leaving stem intact.  Spoon tempeh mixture into the pepper to fill.

Transfer stuffed peppers to baking sheet dish.  Place in oven and bake until golden, 5-8 mins. Cool for a moment before transferring to a plate.  Sprinkle with chopped mint, lime juice, and additional nooch sauce if desired.

Makes 1 (easily doubled or quadrupled). 

***

I didn’t want to clutter the post with all of my cheat day treats, but this happened (among other things):

 

Have you ever had an odd heel pain?  Any advice?

Do you like beets?  What is your favorite way to eat them?

 

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