Wrapping up 2011 in words…

Happy New Year!

Thank you for reading Running Leaner and Greener.

I apologize for my absence these past two weeks – a take home mid-term has been consuming my computer time.  I’ve been cooking though and for the next few days, you will find some of my recent cooking adventures!

For the week of October 24-28th, I participated in the 100 Days of Real Food Challenge – except my personal challenge was 5 days.  Here are the rules:

1. Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry
2. Lots of fruits and vegetables(we recommend that you shop for these at your local farmers’ market)
3. Dairy products like milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and cheese
4. 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains (find a local bakery for approved sandwich bread and check the Understanding Grains post for more info)
5. Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
6. Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken (preferably in moderation)
7. Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
8. Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
9. All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation

My one “cheat” for the week was soy nut butter.  Because of my allergies, soy nut butter is the only nut butter I can eat – I could not find an unsweetened kind anywhere.  I tried. 

Unfortunately I didn’t take pictures of all my meals as I should have – I plan on doing this challenge again in the very near future.  I will do a much better job of documenting my eating. 

What I learned…

• Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt is not bad – especially when mixed with mashed banana to sweeten
• Pomegranate arils can replace the crunch missing in granola when eating yogurt
• Speaking of yogurt – greek yogurt is no substitute for Mayo/Miracle Whip and tuna.  Same goes for hummus.  I tried.  It is not edible in my opinion.
• Homemade bread is heavenly.
• Sugar is in everything.  Even dijon mustard. 
• Honey Hot Chocolate is not good.  Tastes way too much like honey.  It sucks when all you want is hot chocolate.  Bad.
• White Whole Wheat Flour is legit.  Even King Arthur says so.
• It is pretty much impossible to eat in a school cafeteria.
• It is difficult to find plain oatmeal packets that are just oats.  (That means you Quaker)
• It sucks when you are just about at school and realize that you are missing 3/4 of your dinner.  Hence the search for instant oatmeal packets.
• The ultimate test of willpower is baking two batches of brownies and not being able to lick the bowl or taste a brownie.  I have more strength then I thought I did.

This was not easy to say the least.  It required TONS of planning and if I didn’t have a snack or food with me, I was pretty much stranded.  I made my own bread using my breadmaker and replaced the sugar with honey.  There were a lot of soy nut butter and jelly sandwiches and oatmeal consumed that week. 

I enjoyed the challenge and it forced me to take a hard look at my eating.  I appreciated the challenge and have learned from the experience. 

Next time: 10 days. 

We are in Maine right now – unfortunately the weather isn’t the best today but we had a beautiful day yesterday. 

The lobster count is on:

• Heather: 2 lobster rolls, 1 lobster
• Matt: 2 lobster rolls, 2 lobsters

A few weeks ago, I posted pictures of my basil and parsley plants which I started with seeds.

About a month later, do you see the progress?

and the parsley

We had a few weeks of no sun which I think slowed down the progress but now that we have had some sun, the plants have really started growing. 

Can’t wait to start eating what I’ve grown!

Last Sunday, I planted 4 flower pots – 2 with basil seeds and 2 with parsley seeds. 

Matt didn’t think they would grow, but I wanted to try.  I ordered the seeds from Johnny’s seeds which was highly recommended to me by the Farmer that works at my school. 

I don’t know whether this is basil or parsley – Matt mixed up the pots. 

I ran 4 miles on the treadmill in 41.10 today – while watching When Harry Met Sally.  I think that is one of the best movies out there. 

Hoping to get some cleaning done today as well as the grocery shopping – lets see how productive I am!

I have been on the search for Tempeh Bacon for months – I have been craving a B.L.T for a  while now and wanted to try a vegetarian version to see how it would compare.

I finally found the Tempeh Bacon at Whole Foods last weekend and this morning Matt and I cooked a few strips.

Even though it was only 10:30 am – I went for a B.L.T on a Thomas’s Whole Wheat Bagel thin – I wish we had bread.

Sadly the tempeh bacon didn’t taste too much like real bacon – it wasn’t bad, just not something that could be compared to regular bacon. 

It did have a smoky flavor, but I was missing the crispiness of real bacon.  Matt made a great analogy: tempeh bacon is like a veggie burger – good in its own way, just not a replacement for the real thing. 

I couldn’t agree more.

I was hoping to go for a run this morning but my foot is still not right – I’ve got my running sneakers on now and am wearing them while I do some cleaning.  I’m hoping that in wearing them in short doses, I get my foot used to them again.  An epsom salt bath or two will be in my future again today.  I think the epsom salt has really helped with the bruise. 

Happy Earth Day!  I thought I would share some easy tips to green your eating habits.

1. Fill Your Freezer – a full freezer uses less energy than an empty one.
2. Read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
3. Make a Bison Burger – one of the easiest ways to save a species is to eat it – increase in demand
4. Talk to your local farmer – are they certified organic or do they use organic farm practices?
5. Don’t Open the Oven Door – every time you do, it drops 20-50 degrees Fahrenheit
6. Cook More Often – you will save on packaging and the preservatives in processed food.
7. Roast a Whole Chicken – and then make stock with the bones
8. Eat Alaskan Wild Salmon
9. Shop in the Bulk-Bin Section – save on packaging and buy only what you need
10. Plant an Heirloom Vegetable Garden
11. Be Your Own Barista – buy fair-trade, organic coffee and use a french press coffee maker.  Of course, put your coffee in a reusable mug or travel mug
12. Make Veggie Stock with whatever leftover veggies you have in your veggie bin
13. Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture.  Find one at Local Harvest
14. Eat American-Made Cheese – especially those labeled artisan or farmstead
15. Enjoy Meatless Mondays – Vegetarian dishes less energy and water to grow and produce fewer greenhouse gases
16. If you are going to eat beef, eat grass-fed beef.  Cows are meant to eat grass – a corn-based diet requires more antibiotics for the cows to stay healthy
17. Eat sustainable shrimp – American shrimp, farmed or wild, is more sustainable
18. Become a locavore – try to make a meal or two a week with ingredients produced within 100 miles of your home
19. Ride your bike to the market – it’s a great source of exercise too!
20. Support restaurants in your area that use local food
21. When making tea, boil water just until your tea kettle starts to steam.  Full boiling water can burn the tea
22. Use Your Dishwasher – only when full though
23. Pack Your Lunch – not only more healthy, but cheaper too.  Make sure to use reusable containers and a reusable lunch bag
24. Reduce the amount of paper towels you use – instead use a dishtowel to dry veggies and clean up kitchen spills

Source.

I had read on Stephanie’s blog that you can grow scallions on your window sill simply by using the ends of scallions you already had.  Last week after using scallions in our dinner, I saved the white ends (with the little roots) and put them in a small glass jar with water to see what happened. 

I was amazed. 

Here is Day 6

Amazing.  I just used scallions again in dinner preparation so I’m starting a second batch – I can’t wait to use these and see if I can continue growing scallions. 

I will let you know. 

Have you ever grown scallions?

Matt flipped through the April/May 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times and found a recipe for Funghi and Taleggio Pizza that he wanted to try.  Not wanting to deny trying any vegetarian recipe, I agreed to make it on Sunday.  Sadly the recipe is not online yet but I would highly recommend going out to buy the magazine – there are many great looking recipes inside. 

This recipe comes from Mario Batali and he tells readers to cook their pizza dough on a skillet before topping it – and then cooking the pizza under the broiler.  We tried that method and enjoyed the difference in our normal pizza crust.  It was definitely more time intensive though.

The pizza had a combination of shitake and cremini mushrooms plus shallots and a vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar – that dressing added an amazing flavor. 

Instead of taleggio cheese, we used fontina cheese which is all I could find at the store. 

This pizza was amazing and I will make it again – a very gourmet pizza for a Sunday night dinner!

Last Wednesday, friends Maribeth and John, Matt and I, went to see a sneak peak viewing of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  The movie was shown jointly with Whole Foods Market and was a fundraiser for a local group. 

I was fascinated by this movie – every single moment.  Joe, the subject of the movie, drank a fresh fruit and vegetable juice only diet for 61 days before moving to a diet of mostly fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts.  After the movie Joe was around for a Q & A period – with the nutritionist from the film – to provide some additional information. 

Throughout the movie, I began thinking about how I have been feeling and eating lately.  Horribly is about what I came up with.  I am always tired, drink way more tea (for caffeine) then I should.   I haven’t been sleeping well and would love to have more energy – I’ve been having trouble focusing on work or reading for school.  It was time for a change.

This week, ironically, my students at work are on Spring Break.  I had planned on taking Monday and Tuesday off from work to catch up on some homework – I figured it was a perfectly good time to try to “reboot” my system.

There is a website – Join the Reboot – that has information about this juicing program.  Matt and I decided we would try this “reboot” for a  few days – until Saturday at max – and see how it made us feel.

We started last night at dinner and I plan on documenting how the “reboot” is making me feel. 

Within 20 minutes of consuming my first juice tonight, I felt like I had more energy.  I hope that feeling continues. 

I am eliminating caffeine and hope for the next few days to only consume herbal tea (with no sweetener), water and homemade juice. 

I hope you stick with me throughout the week!

Please note – if at any point I feel that this is putting my health at risk, I will stop immediately.