2014 in review

I don't usually really sit down and reflect much on each year as it passes, but 2014 was a bit of a doozy, so I feel it warrants some reflection.

In some ways, it was an amazing year that brought me a lot of joy. But it was also a crappy year for many reasons:  loved ones (of mine or of people I love) have passed away, I've felt stagnant in some areas of my life, and I've been reminded that while some friendships grow, others, sadly, dwindle. And all of this was happening against the back drop of our community experiencing tragedy and unrest, filling many with hopelessness and anger.  It's really easy to dwell on the negative, forgetting that I actually have a lot to be thankful for. In an attempt not to forget, here are some of the highs of my year:

• Winter/Spring:
• I started a bunch of home improvement projects, these would actually continue through the year. My house definitely feels more "put together," and is a more pleasant place to be. Without the help of my awesome brother, this would not have been possible. He is super cool.
• Cooper and I had the opportunity to work with a fabulous dog trainer (Tovah) one on one for months. She helped me and my pup so incredibly much; her training has made our lives much happier. 
• I bought a new bike, and was able to hit the trails here and at the farm.
• Summer:
• I  traveled to see dear friends I haven't seen in years. Friends that my heart identifies as family. It was fantastic, and not to be traded for the world.
• I spent a day in Missoula, the city that breaths life in my soul.
• I ate huckleberries :)
• I watched my best friend full of happiness and love as she got married. It was a beautiful ceremony.
• I was able to travel to all these places to see friends for free because I won airline tickets in a raffle (yay!)
• I tried something new and terrifying:  rowing (ultra beginner stage), and found I absolutely love the peace that being on the water brings. 
• My niece (K) and I spent more time together; she is a ball of energy and makes the world better. She's hilarious, too. 
• My garden, especially my tomatoes and cucumbers, grew like crazy.
• Fall/Winter:
• I visited Boston (for free, again) and drank in the history and beauty of that city, meeting new friends while doing it.
• I cut 70-80% of the meat out of my diet. I feel better about my impact on the earth's resources in this respect.
• I found out Twin Peaks is coming back for a Season 3, with all episodes being co-written by Lynch/Frost (the only way it can work!)
• I was invited to a "surprise" wedding (the surprise being on us, the guests) by two of my favorite people. It was one of the best weddings I've ever attended.
• I, with a couple of friends, lots of community members tried to bring something positive  to our city in the midst of unrest and pain.
• I have a new fence that keeps my dog safely in the back yard. :)

So, what do I wish I'd done more of?

• hiked, climbed, biked
• cooked
• created less trash
• run (I couldn't, due to an injury.. hopefully I'll be able to this spring)
• gotten at least 7 hour of sleep a night
• made healthier choices
• spent less money/saved more money
• volunteered
• planted sunflowers

the 80/20 lacto-ovo vegetarian

Lately I've been thinking about decreasing my meat consumption. Although I think it is perfectly fine for humans to eat meat, I do think that many of us (especially in our high-protein crazed culture) eat meat in a quantity that is unsustainable and unethical, so I am cutting back.

My goal is to follow the 80/20 rule, where most of my meals are meatless, but I can enjoy turkey at Thanksgiving, a good pork steak at a St. Louis bbq, and I will able to eat anything served when I am a guest a someone's house for dinner.  Factoring 21 meals in a week, this means I can eat meat 4 meals a week if I want to. When I put it like that, it doesn't seem too difficult! Maybe I'll even end up going 90/10 meatless later.

As easy as it should be, it will be an adjustment.  For me, the best way to start is to start small. With that in mind, I've started with going vegetarian for breakfast (something that I do 98% of the time already) and for lunch.  That way, I only have to worry about meatless dinners 3 times a week at the start.  It's easiest for me to control breakfast and lunch, so I'm starting there. Of course, my 4 meat meals could be eaten anytime, so if you invite me over for brunch, don't worry if there is sausage in that casserole you made!

As expected, the first (& 2nd & 3rd) person I told about my plan was worried about my protein consumption. But guess what? Meat is not the only way to get protein. Also, I'm going 80% lacto-ovo vegetarian, which means eggs, dairy and all that jazz are okay*. But even if I wasn't eating eggs, I could still get good protein from veggies & such. 

Going veggie isn't totally new for me; I give up meat for most Lenten seasons. Even so, this is going to be a lifestyle change, so I've got some good sources of help.  100 Days of Real Food is a great website with tons of recipes and tips on clean eating, which translates very well to healthy vegetarian eating. Also, my friend & vegetarian just started a blog with great Bento Lunch ideas.  

Wish me luck! 

*yes, I realize my reasons for over-consuming animal flesh are applicable to animal by-products, but the idea of going vegan is too difficult for me to entertain. In an effort to start small & find success, this is where I'm starting. Who knows what the future holds (although a future without ice cream seems pretty bleak, indeed, so it probably still holds dairy products).

pin 9: whole wheat pizza dough

Pizza time! I have a pizza dough recipe I like (this honey wheat pizza crust),that I posted on my "Against the Grain" a few years ago, but I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and I thought it was worth a shot as I'm always looking for ways to make my favorite Friday meal healthier.

The Pin: 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
The Verdict: Mixed:  Easy to make, insane amount of prep-time, super yummy crust.

Apparently I should read recipes more carefully because I planned to have this Friday, until I read that the dough should sit in the fridge for 24-72 hours. Yikes! That's crazy; this better be the best pizza dough ever. I made the dough Friday morning (late) and made the pizza for lunch on Saturday, so it sat in the fridge for the minimum time suggested.

Slight tweaks I made to the recipe: 

• I substituted honey for the white sugar
• After you take the dough out of the fridge, it should rise for an hour on the counter. My kitchen is usually cold, so I stuck it in a warm oven for 45 minutes.
• Sadly, I don't have a pizza stone, so I pre-baked the crust for 5 minutes before putting on the toppings. 
• Because I was just making 1 pizza (I halved the recipe), I didn't bother with the parchment paper, and instead just made the pizza on my pizza pan, but in hindsight, it would have been useful for faster clean up.

Crispiness:

On her blog, the author indicated that this pizza doesn't get "crispy," but I found mine got to a good crispness level.  Crispiness was an issue with my other recipe, but I had no such problems with this -- perhaps because I pre-baked the crust and/or didn't use the parchment paper? 

My sauce and toppings:
For my sauce I used the crushed tomato recipe (on the same blog post as the honey wheat crust) because it is still the best tasting sauce I've ever made. YUM. so easy. You should do it.

My go-to homemade pizza toppings are cheese, left over hamburger, and bell peppers, but this time I opted for basil leaves, turkey pepperoni & some left over bell peppers. I used mozzarella cheese (but I usually just use whatever I happen to have): I'm not a big cheese person, so her recipe called for way to much in my book. I probably used 1/2 a cup or so.

How does it compare to my Honey Wheat Crust?

• On the one hand, it has a lighter flavor (I taste more pizza than crust) and it was easier to get a crisper crust.
• On the other hand, I had to prepare the dough days in advance. LITERALLY (I'm really hung up on this).
• I think the 100% whole wheat is a better dough than the honey wheat, but not significantly better to win out over practicality. That said, if I plan ahead and just think to make the dough during a Scandal commercial break, I could make this a normal part of my menu. 

pin 8: chicken soup with lentils and barley

The heart healthy recipes continue! Fortunately, my parents gave me a small deep freezer and a super food saver for Christmas, so I will be eating well even when I'm busy. :)  Okay, down to business:

The Pin: Chicken Soup with Lentils and Barely*
The Verdict: Delicious! This is definitely going to be a staple in my meal rotation.

Just like the lentil and kielbasa soup, this is relatively easy to make, but it would definitely be too much to deal with on a weeknight. This is a perfect Sunday (or freezer) meal.

Changes to the recipe:

• I substituted leftover turkey from Thanksgiving for the chicken.  Having to cook meat beforehand for this soup would make the prep time on this a little much, so I highly recommend making it with leftover meat.
• I think it could have used more garlic and basil, salt & pepper. I used fresh (for both the basil and garlic), but could barely taste them. I also use low sodium everything, so found I did need to salt it. I pepper everything, so it's no surprise I needed to pepper it!

*Please note, one of the pins for this recipe (the one I pinned) only lead me to an ingredient list. From there, I had to Google the recipe to get the full thing. I linked to the actual recipe above. 

pin 7: lentil soup

Some of my readers know of my heart disease phobia,* and with that phobia in mind, I've decided to take control of my heart health in 2014. This means learning to cook with barely and lentils (among other things). As you can imagine, I've been pinning recipes on Pinterest like crazy, and this is the tale of one such pin.

The Pin: Lentil and Turkey Kielbasa Soup

The verdict: Pretty damn good!

I followed her recipe exactly, although I just bought the brand of turkey sausage that was on sale & I didn't accompany the soup with bread.  I have to say, this is a good winter soup. It is hearty (heh, pun intended), and the kielbasa makes this dish delish. It was also fairly easy to make: the prep time was minimal. 

A word about Lentils: I don't think I've ever eaten lentils before, and their flavor is strong, but not unpleasant. It is one that I think may take some getting used to, but overall, I like this dish, and will eat all 10 servings of it over the course of the winter. 

Things I might do differently:  Because the spice of the kielbasa is my favorite thing about the soup, I may play around with adding other spices/herbs - not much, just something to take it up a notch. I may also throw it in the crockpot, so the flavors can mingle a bit more.  I will also quarter or halve my sausage circles so I can have more bites that include the meat. My roommate, who likes things to have a carnival of flavor will likely say this is too bland for him.

For vegetarians: the recipe says you can omit the sausage and use all vegetable broth (rather than 1/2 veggie, 1/2 chicken), but I think you will really need to spice it up if you make this. There just isn't that much flavor outside of the sausage.

One last tip: After dinner mint recommended.

*My phobia began upon learning that women's heart attacks often present themselves differently from men's, and women sometimes have heart-attacks without knowing it, which can lead to their body being wrecked, or them being dead.  I spend about 30% of the time wondering if I'm having a heart-attack.  This PSA with Elizabeth Banks is both hilarious and terrifying; enjoy! (plays automatically)

great article

Great article,and many of my sentiments exactly about training/running the St. Louis Rock 'n Roll 1/2 marathon.  Yay, we did it!

A sign better than "what's your excuse," by Aisha Sultan

half-marathon training: the rest day

Today is my 1st rest day since beginning the training. My biggest fear is that I will loose my momentum with this rest day. That I will remember how wonderful lazy days can be.

irony defined

Yesterday I went on search for this book to help me create healthy meals during my training. Although it is available on Amazon, I took to the book store because I both want it now and  prefer shopping in person.

I hit up a used bookstore & this was the exchange I had with the owner:

Him: Can I help you find something?
Me: Oh, no thanks. I was just looking for a specific book on running; you didn't have it.
Him: Yeah, we don't carry that sort of thing.
Me: Yep; there were only about 5 running books. It's okay; I knew it was a long shot.
Him: You know, you can get pretty much anything on-line these days; you should try there.
Me:  Yeah; it is available on Amazon; I'd just rather give my business to actual stores.
Him: Sometimes the internet is just easier though.
Me: I guess I'm just old fashioned. Thanks!

So, was this proprietor of a used bookstore actually advocating that I have not come into his store at all? That instead of trying to buy books in a brick and mortar store I just start with Amazon, his main source of competition? Really?

Although they did not have the book I was looking for the do have HUNDREDS of books; books that I (as a reader) started perusing. That's what readers do. That's why we like books stores. That's how books stores stay in business. The 2 B&N stores I ultimately visited didn't have this book, and yet I left each store with a book. I would have likely left his store with a book had he not shooed me away.

As it was, I left the store completely baffled. The only thing I can come up with the explain his behavior is that I smell. I must smell. Right?

1/2 marathon training part 1: research

As you know, I've started training for a 1/2 marathon. I am currently in the learn-how-to-train-with-out-killing-myself stage, so I'm reading.

My first book was No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running, by John Bingham.  In this book, the author discusses how he began running as a 43 year old smoker/drinker who was 80 pounds overweight. He currently runs marathons, and although he is "at the back of the pack," he is no less a runner than anyone else just because he is slow. Slow and steady does win the race, after all.  This book was really inspiring to me - a slow runner.

It is really easy to get discouraged when you are a slow-runner: to think you aren't really doing anything worthwhile, or at least was for me (explaining why I let the heat-wave end my 1st running career). For me, this discouragement often comes in the form of little jokes that others think are harmless (and should be) or well-meaning advice from those who think speed is the only measurement of running success. What I loved about this book is that it is filled with testimonials of other slow runners, talking about their successes.  It is not saying a runner *should* be slow, just that it's fine if they are. That they are still a runner.But beyond that, it asks the reader to really analyze why they want to run.  I found it very inspirational and encouraging. If you are a slowbie, I highly recommend it.

Some things to consider before buying the book (which I think any new/slow runner should do):
The book is actually geared less towards "slow runners" as a whole, and more towards those who are likely to be slow (at least at first):  inactive adults who are looking to change their lives and become more active. Because this is not me (although I am an adult who is less active than she should be), some of the advice didn't apply to me, but it was a good read none-the-less. Additionally, it can be repetitive at times, but when discouragement is all around you (or even just all inside your head), it can't hurt to hear stories encouragement more than once. In fact, I think that may have been the author's goal.

on your mark! get set! go!

A couple years ago I became super obsessed with running. I was not fast, but I was dedicated. Within a few weeks I ran my first 5K, and I routinely ran several days a week, usually 2-3 miles a day & 6 miles on Sundays. I was obsessed with going farther, and even though I ran 15 minute miles, I was happy; I felt good. There was a cool meditative feeling to getting lost in a long run.

Then a heat wave hit.

I stopped running. I stopped going outside at all, actually. It was brutal.

The following fall I tried recapturing the joy I once felt. I just couldn't do it. Working my way back up to a mile was such a chore, and the thrill was gone.  I kept at it, however, because I was signed up for the Warrior Dash. By the time of the dash, I'd gotten back up to being able to run a 5K (barely), but had only run on fairly even terrain, so I quickly petered out on the hilly course of the event.  I happily walked the remainder of the course (which I can do as fast as I can run, give or take 30 seconds/mile), and I managed to do the awesome obstacles at the event.

After that, I pretty much hung up my running shoes, and never looked back.

Suffice it to say, I've lately started to look longingly at those running shoes. I loved it so much, why did I quit? Why did I let the hard work of building up my stamina again keep me from getting back to what I (ever so briefly) loved with a passion? So, I've decided I need a challenge; a goal. There is a 1/2 marathon in my city in late October. If I was running 6 miles straight after a 6 weeks before, I can certainly get to 13.1 after 6 months, right?

Right?

I think so, too.

And so, my running regime begins! Wish me luck.

website plug

I really like the site Livestrong.com On it you can track all the foods you eat & exercise you do while it calculates your calories and all other nutritional information. If you become a paid member, they'll even make a nutritional label for you. I'm not a paid member, and the site still suits me fine, for I already know I'm made of sugar, spice, and everything nice.

the problem, as i see it

The problem with eating Fritos with one's chilli is that then there is a bag of Fritos in the house.