New Site

Hey guys,

I’ve officially moved over to the new site.  “Adventures in Clean Eating” can now be found at:

http://www.suzeatsclean.com

I’m still having some html issues, etc.  If anyone knows how I can change of the dorky cutline headline (as cute as bamboo and puppies are…) to something of my choosing, please give me a shout!  In the mean time, see you on the flip side!

All my love,

Suz

Fettuccine with Crab and Asparagus

When I got home from work today I was STARVING!  Luckily, I had a sample of Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax cereal in my mailbox when I returned!

I started by just eating one small bowl of this… which turned into two.  It’s really good!  Cereal is a weakness of mine.  I can’t stop with just one bowl!

One of my other weaknesses is dried fruit, like the dried apricots I bought to make granola with.  I’ve been sneaking handfuls of those babies all night!  But did you know that one serving of dried apricots have more potassium than a banana?  That’s my excuse!

After battling with Blue Host for most of the night (hopefully the new site will be up and running tomorrow) I threw together some pasta that was loosely based on the fourth recipe down on this page, although I didn’t have nearly enough crab.  I added extra pasta and some squash that was on its last leg to boost this up.

But it does look pretty though, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately it was a bit flavorless.  I added a little grated parmesan after this pic was taken to liven it up a bit.

Have a good night, and hopefully when I see you tomorrow it will be from my very own domain name!

Asian Chicken Wraps

Since I stayed up way too late last night contemplating “The Wrestler”, I had little energy to get a creative meal going on this AM.  Thus, today’s breakfast was very similar to yesterday’s.  I added a tablespoon of ground flax and a dash of cinnamon to my 1/2 cup of 0% plain Greek yogurt, and topped that with a 1/2 cup serving of Power Breakfast Granola and several sliced strawberries.

I’m loving this granola so much that I had another serving of it as my morning snack, eaten with my hands.  Messy, but delicious… although it didn’t hold me over as well as I would have liked.  I ate the banana I packed for my afternoon snack before spin.

Class was alright today.  We had a substitute teacher who was very… energetic.  I found myself getting a little annoyed with her by the end, but I realized I was annoyed because she was pushing me harder than I usually work.  60 seconds of sprints?  A whole song of “level 8-10″ hills?  Woman, I am only human.  Class is usually 45 minutes, but she said that anyone who wanted to stay for a full hour could.  I was planning on staying, but I left.  I was spent after 45 minutes.

Back at the office, I devoured this baby…

Asian Chicken Wrap from So Easy by Ellie Krieger

Makes 4 servings:

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

• 3 tbsp plain Greek-style nonfat yogurt
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp Thai-style chili sauce (such as Sriracha), optional

For the Sandwich:

• 12 napa cabbage leaves, white center ribs removed (I couldn’t find napa cabbage-I don’t think it’s in season yet- so I used romaine which was still good)
• 4 whole-wheat wrap breads (about 9 inches in diameter)
• 4 cooked chicken breast halves (about 5 oz each), sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

1. To make the sauce, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, brown sugar, soy sauce, mustard, sesame oil, and chili sauce, if using, and stir until well blended.  The sauce will keep up to 5 days  in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
2. To make each wrap, place 2 cabbage leaves on 1 wrap bread, then layer with a quarter of the chicken and peppers.  Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the sauce.  Top with an additional cabbage leaf.  Fold the bread about an inch over each end of the filling, then roll up.
3. Serve or wrap in foil to go.

This was really good, although I wish I had gotten larger tortillas.  These little guys don’t “wrap” very well.  Expect to see this much more this week!

Also, I definitely ate almond butter with a spoon for my afternoon snack.. I figured if it’s good enough to do while standing in the kitchen, it’s good enough to do at work!

Note: I’m in the process of becoming self-hosted, so there may be a few kinks to work out and I might have to go offline for a bit.  If so, don’t panic (haha!).  I’ll be back in no time! Be on the lookout for a new domain name soon!

Pork Piccata with Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

We had a really nice (and easy!) dinner tonight.  I made Ellie Krieger’s Pork Piccata with Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Ingredients:

Serves 4.

Pork Piccata

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick medallions
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (I just realized I forgot this!  Oops!)

Express “Steamed” Spinach

• 5 ounces pre-washed baby spinach leaves

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 1 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, left unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

To make the Pork Piccata:

1. Combine the flour and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a sealable plastic bag. Place the pork medallions in the bag and shake until well-coated.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillt (not nonstick) over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, cook the pork until it is browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate.
3. Add the garlic to the same skillet, then immediately add the wine and cook over medium-high heat. As the wine reduces, stir to dissolve the small bits and juices remaining in the pan from the meat. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half, 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, and remaining salt and pepper and cook until the mixture has reduced slightly, an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Return the medallions to the skillet along with the remaining tablespoon of oil and heat until the sauce thickens and the meat is cooked to medium doneness, about 3 minutes.
5. Serve over the Express “Steamed” Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and top with the parsley.

To make the Express “Steamed” Spinach:

1. Place the spinach in a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly. Microwave on high for 90 seconds.

To make the Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

1. Place the potatoes and garlic in a steamer basket fitted over a large pot of boiling water. Cover and steam until the potatoes are knife tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Warm the chicken broth in a small saucepan on the stove or in a glass container in the microwave.
3. Remove the steamer basket and drain the water from the large pot. Transfer the potatoes and garlic to the pot, add the oil, salt, and broth, and mash until smooth.

This was a really nice dinner!  I’m not a big fan of using white flour, but this was such a small amount I think it was ok.  I’m planning on making this again later in the week, so I’ll remember the parsley then!

We got sucked in watching ‘The Wrestler” tonight.  It was a great film, but it’s late now and I need to hit the hay!  Until tomorrow, chickadees!

Kettlebell Hell

The star of my breakfast this morning was yesterday’s Power Breakfast Granola.  I put a half-cup serving of the granola (how great is it that I can use a whole half cup of this stuff and not feel guilty about it?!) over half a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt and sliced some strawberries on top.

Before I met up with my trainer at the gym I ate some unpictured make-shift trail mix.  You’ve seen it before, you’re not missing out.  Some cereal, chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts… you know.

My workout today kicked my booty.  After about ten minutes of core work, we did a good kettlebell circuit with a 15 lb weight:

• 10 x halos in each direction
• 10 x around the world (low) in each direction
• 15 x swings (center, right, and left)
• 10 x wood chops on a bosu ball on each side
• 10 x front raises on bosu ball in a squat position
• 10 x Russian twists, lifting kettlebell above head in between sides
• 20 x swings (center, right, and left)

Man, oh, MAN!  I’m going to seriously feel it in my abs and booty tomorrow.  After the gym I rushed back to the office and devoured the leftovers from last night’s White Turkey Chili.  Just what I needed on this raining, dreary day.

As delicious as my lunch was (and rightfully so, after the debacle I went through to put it on the table last night), it didn’t hold me over as long as I expected.  I broke into my afternoon snack a little early.  I had a ‘naner with a tablespoon of cashew butter.  I began by smearing the cashew butter on the banana, but then abandoned that idea and ate each one straight.  Yes, it’s that good.

On tap for the night: watching “The Wrestler” that Netflix just sent me and perusing my new Clean Eating magazine!  Sounds like a Suz kind of evening

Healthy Granola and an Important PSA to All

After grocery shopping today I hurried home to create a new breakfast recipe for the week…

Power Breakfast Granola

by chef Rolf Runkel from The Athlete’s Palate Cookbook

Makes six cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tbsp flaxseed
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup dried banana chips
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of fine sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the oats, nuts, flaxseed, and sunflower seeds on a large cookie sheet and toast for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent burning.
2. Mix the raisins, blueberries, apricots, and banana chips in a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vanilla extract in a microwave oven.  Stir in the cinnamon and salt.
4. Add the toasted oat mixture to the dried fruits, and mix until well combined.  Pour the honey mixture over the oats and dried fruit and stir until the oats and fruit are slightly sticking.
5. Spread the mixture out on foil to cool completely, about 15 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container.  Will keep for 10 to 14 days in a cool place.  Do not refrigerate.

This is by far the healthiest granola recipe I’ve ever seen, with only 208 calories per 1/2 cup serving.  It’s delicious, too!  Customize whatever fruit and nuts you prefer.

For dinner, I decided to go with Ellie Krieger’s White Turkey Chili.  Although I normally crave chili during colder months, we’re going through a cold front in DC at the moment so I thought it was perfect.

Do not let this simple picture deceive you.  Blood, sweat, and tears went into this pot of chili.  Warning to all: after seeding poblano peppers, do not forget to THOROUGHLY wash your hands before scratching your eye.  Not unless you are an unfeeling, masochistic person do you want to endure that pain (and this coming from someone with a very high pain tolerance).  At least this tasted good (thank the good Lord for that…).  I may not be making chili again for a while.  And thank you to my wonderful boyfriend for Googling what to do when you get poblano pepper juice in your eye while I had my face stuck under the bathroom sink… even if the answer was just “it’ll go away in an hour”.

And then I read more “Naked Lunch” so I would stop feeling sorry for myself.  The end.

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

I had every intention last night of waking up this morning and doing my speed work before church, but when my alarm went off this morning at 7 I just wasn’t feeling it.  It’s pretty dreary outside, and I was super tired.  I had already slept for nine hours, but my body still wasn’t feeling up for exercising.  I laid in bed for another half hour without really falling back to sleep, and decided to take advantage of a lazy Sunday morning to make a yummy breakfast and read a good book.  Soon it’ll be too hot to run any other time but the mornings, so I greatly enjoyed my morning off.  I was out of bananas, so I experimented with a new oatmeal combo…

My Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal contained:

• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• pinch fine sea salt
• ~1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 packet Truvia
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• LOTS of strawberries, hulled and sliced

Make the base a little runnier than you would normally make your oatmeal.  That’s where the “cream” part comes in!  This was super tasty!

After church, I inhaled my last chocolate, fig, and almond bite, then headed out the door to the local high school track.  I intended to do 8 x 400 m at 5k pace, but I ended up doing them a little faster than I intended:

• Distance (including .25 mile warm-up): 2.26 mi
• Elapsed time: 18:51
• Avg Pace: 8:20/mi
• Calories: 218 cal
• Avg Heart: 159 bpm

After I got home I made a new protein shake recipe that I found in this month’s Oxygen.

Green Tea Protein Shake

• 1 large cup green tea, steeped from two bags
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 scoop whey protein powder (I used vanilla Designer Whey)
• Pinch cinnamon
• Ice cubes (I used a lot because I didn’t want a warm protein shake!)

This was alright.  It packs a great nutritional punch, but the taste was kind of blah.  Maybe it would have been better with a banana?

Ok, I need to go grocery shopping.  Ta-ta for now!

Old Town Adventures

It may be only 9:00 pm, but I am exhausted!  Today was fun, but long.  After the race today I had lunch at my parent’s house.

A pepperjack cheese appetizer.

A turkey, hummus, and gouda sandwich on bread thins with grapes.

And then I hit the road to come back to DC.  After I made the two hour drive, we almost immediately went to Old Town, Alexandria to meet friends for a bar crawl.  We started at O’Connell’s, then moved to the Warehouse, then to Bayou Room, and finally King Street Blues.  I had a good time, but since I didn’t eat or drink anything at any of them, I don’t really have an opinion, except that Warehouse is not suitable for a bar crawl and Bayou Room is super sketchy/I would probably love it if I was drinking.  We didn’t plan to stay as long as we did.  We ended up having dinner at Mai Thai.  I started with the vegetable dumplings.

These were good enough.  I got the shrimp asparagus for dinner.

This was good, but nothing special.  I think the appeal of this place is it’s location overlooking the water.  Otherwise, I could have done without.  Pete really liked his seafood dish, though.

Instead of having dessert at Mai Thai, we drove the extra mile to Buzz Bakery, which was definitely worth the trip.  I had heard they had a special Cherry Blossom themed cupcake, but I think it’s not available until next month.  The current seasonal cupcake is the March Madness, which has bacon… and even I’m not adventurous enough for that.  I went with the buzz cupcake instead.

This had devil’s food cake, espresso buttercream, and Oreo cookie crumbs.  It was a great way to end the evening!

I am beat, and will hopefully wake up early tomorrow to do the speed-work I missed during the week.  In the mean time… I send you love and best dishes, from my kitchen to yours (yers…).

Whoever knows that reference gets a gold star and my undying affection.

Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k Race Recap

I woke up bright and early this morning at 6:00 am (ok… I pressed snooze until 6:10…) and fueled up with my favorite pre-10k breakfast.

1 cup oatmeal cooked in water with sliced berries and honey and a big glass of water (my parents only drink decaf coffee or else I would have had that, too).  Normally I wouldn’t eat oatmeal before a run, but eaten at least two hours ahead of time, it’s the perfect amount of carbs for long lasting energy to last through the race.  Any longer distance and I would have added some more protein, but this worked perfectly today.

Dad and I left the house at 7:15 this morning for our 8:38 am start.  This race wasn’t nearly as large when I was going to high school in Richmond, but over the past five years it’s become an establishment.  Watching the news this morning, the 10k was all they talked about.  Nearly every car we passed this morning was full of runners.  There were over 30,000 participants this year, and claimed to be the largest 10k in the country.  I’d never run a race this large before, and it was definitely something to get excited about!

The weather, however, was not quite as exciting.  As opposed to the beautiful weather of the past few days, it was 33 degrees when we left the house this morning.  I kept trying to be positive about it, saying that it’s nothing compared to the winter we just experienced, but we both were dreading getting out of the car, especially with the long walk to the start and lots of waiting around.  I hate running races in the cold because I always dress for the wait before the start and am hot once I get going because of all my layers.  Today was no different.  I had on two long sleeve layers and capris, with my bib pinned over my jacket.  I definitely regretted not being able to unzip!

The course was a blast.  Monument Ave. is a beautiful part of Richmond, lined with gorgeous old houses.  There was a different band every .25 mile or so and there were TONS of cheering spectators, many dressed up in wacky costumes, all over the place.  I definitely didn’t regret not having my ipod.

This was the first seeded race I’ve ever run, and was a bit surprised that I was put in the 53-54 minute group.  The last 10k I ran I finished in 58:04.  I’m definitely faster than I was then, and there are virtually no hills along Monument Ave, so I set the lofty goal of 54 minutes.  Dad said he’d pace me, even though he was placed two waves ahead of me.  I decided it was possible, although unlikely, but would be happy no matter how it turned out.

I’ll tell you what, if you have a difficult race goal that you want to beat, find someone faster than you to pace you.  Dad pushed me to my limit.  We passed the 5k point at 26:46.  I was feeling ok, but wasn’t sure how long my pace would last.  I gathered motivation from my surroundings, and tried to just concentrate on the motion, not the pain.  Surprisingly, it got easier after the halfway mark.  I settled into what I thought was a slower pace, and looked down at my watch to see I was running at 8:10/mi!  I let my legs do their thing, kept beside Dad, and just held on for dear life.  We sped up a bit at mile 5, and then when we passed mile 6, we hit the gas a bit.  I could see the finish and I sprinted.  I thought I was going to vomit, but I did it.  And here were my stats, according to Garmin…

• Distance: 6.27 mi
• Elapsed Times: 52:41
• Avg Pace: 8:23/mi
• Calories: 643 cal
• Avg Heart: 176 bpm

Wow.  52:41?!  I not only beat my last PR, I slaughtered it!  I had no idea I had that in me!  The stars aligned in my favor today.

I really needed this.  Lately I’ve been dreading my decision to continue working full-time while going to law school.  My schedule is going to be so hard, and I’ve been worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it.  Today reminded me that I’m so much more capable than I realize.  Things that are difficult often reap the greatest rewards.  I’m powerful enough to get through this.

After the race I downed a banana and a small bagel.  We also stopped at Starbucks to warm our frozen limbs, where I got a tall non-fat chocolate cherry mocha with no whip.  It was good, although it tasted just like a regular mocha to me!

I’m gonna scarf down some lunch and head back to DC now.  See you soon!

Home Makes Me Want to Eat My Face

It took me forever to get home today.  Strangely, getting out of DC was fine, but traffic was really bad once I got into Richmond.  That almost never happens!  All I had after breakfast was one chocolate, fig, and almond bite, so I was starving.  I breezed through the Expo after I picked up mine and Dad’s packets and ate this Powerbar in my car on the way home.

Yeah, it was pretty gross, but at that point I would take anything.

When I got home I ate this neat ginger candy my parents had.

Gin-Gins!  It was so yummy and chewy, and the ginger flavor wasn’t overpowering.  I really liked it.

I also stuffed my face with Stacy’s Pita Chips and Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

For dinner, my mom made Tuna Steak Au Poivre with White Beans and Bitter Greens Salad.

With a wee bit of broccoli.

Ok, to bed early!  It’s going to be cold again tomorrow  Oh Virginia weather, you never cease to surprise me…