Friday, June 29, 2012

Asian Peanut Sauce

Happy Friday!

I've been meaning to post about this peanut sauce for the past few days, but I keep forgetting.  Basically, when I'm home, Tyler and Tony make fun of the food I eat constantly...but Tyler actually said this sauce smelled good, and then he ate it, and he LIKED it!  Of course the first words out of his mouth were "You know what would be good with this? Chicken!"  And yes, for all of the non-vegetarians reading this, I'm sure this sauce would be great with chicken.  That night I had the sauce over pasta with kidney beans, broccoli and asparagus.  I've also had this sauce over a salad with brown rice, avocado and pineapple.  It's incredibly easy and quick to make...here's the recipe:

1 tablespoon peanut butter (I've found the all natural pb without any added sugars whips the best- not to mention it's better for you anyway!)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar (I use whatever's lying around the house, but apple cider vinegar tastes best)
2 tablespoons orange juice

All you do is combine all of the ingredients into a bowl and whip with a fork and viola! This only serves one, so it's great for when you're trying to make a meal out of smorgasbord leftovers in the fridge, but if you're cooking for the family this may not be the best bet.

In other news, I had my last day with the Engler's yesterday =(.  I'm so blessed to have been a part of their family for the past year, and I'm really going to miss these kiddos!  Probably my favorite picture in the whole wide world from when we made Dora the Explorer's princess castle cake:



Getting ready for the big move tomorrow! The living room is a disaster (sorry Horton).  I was packing up last night and all of the boxes in my room were kind of stressing me out, so I put them in the living room.  Unfortunately, now the living room stresses me out.  At least Nora is having fun....


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Last Day at BodyScapes

This morning I taught my last class at BodyScapes Longwood! I learned a lot there and had a great time teaching classes and making friends who share my passion. At BodyScapes, I taught spin and muscle conditioning classes. My muscle conditioning class is set up as two circuits with 8 different stages of equipment. One minute is spent at each station, and each circuit is performed twice. Here is today's workout:

Circuit 1
Bosu- feet on top plank shoulder touch
Bench- squat straddle jump
Dumbbells- overhead press with twisting torso
Body bar- overhead chest lift
Stability ball- triceps dips
Medicine ball- hold overhead, lunge with left lower to right (and vice versa)
Mat- plank, jump feet to right, jump back to plank, jump feet to left
Ladder- icky shuffle

Circuit 2
Bosu- side switch squats
Bench-uneven pushups
Dumbells- burpee with overhead press
Body bar- seated twist with legs lifted
Stability ball- abs press up
Medicine ball- superman back lift with arms extended towards the feet
Mat- tip toe lunges with arms extended overhead
Ladder- icky shuffle backwards

Yes- my attendees are tough cookies! I typically don't use this much equipment when I workout on my own...in my opinion, the more simplistic the better-so I will be posting more user-friendly workouts in the future!

I other news, I'm taking a few days off from running. I ended up twisting my ankle while walking home from my DC cupcakes adventure with Kimmie yesterday. I'm hoping to be "back up and running" within a week! In the mean time lots of swimming,elliptical and weights.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Bun Run

First off, thanks to everyone who read my first post and showed support! Especially to my mom who sent me the most adorable, encouraging card in response to my running NY marathon:
But I have to say- it was no accident I ended up this way, I learned from the best =).

I had a great day yesterday with Mom, Loo and Kimmie, we had brunch and then shopped around Boston for what will probably be the last time until I pick up and move to NY.  Loo and I went for a run later on after dinner.  We ran the typical route that we've been doing probably since we were in strollers with our moms.  It's about a 4.5 mile loop around the neighborhood we grew up in Freetown, MA. Unfortunately, we had to suffer throuh the attack of the horseflies-but there was also an abundance of bunnies hopping all over, which definitely made up for the horseflies! A little grey kitty tried to follow us for a little while too.  It was so great to have a running partner for the night.  I never used to like running with other people, but in the past year or so I've learned to really LOVE having the company! I'm really missing all my running buddies who've moved out of Boston, and I'll be anxious to find some more once moving to NY.  Here's me and Loo before heading out last night:

Saturday, June 23, 2012

First Post! Recovery Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars

Hello everyone, welcome to my new blog and first post! The past few days in Boston have been so steamy-not optimal running conditions.  I did make it out the past few days, though.  I woke up early in an attempt to beat the heat-which despite my efforts, failed-and ran 9 miles through Jamaica Pond.  I'm looking forward to exploring  my new neighborhood in NY once I move, but the convenience of knowing Boston so well will be missed!

Last night when I got home from a long day outside at the pool with Jackie and Campbell (two wonderful kids I've babysat for the past year), I was in a cooking kind of mood.  I don't know why, it was still ridiculously hot and sticky, but I made some oatmeal pumpkin bars.  I've been making them for a few months now, they're a great recovery food and vegan (I am a vegetarian, and I do flirt with vegan-ism). After a good workout, your muscles are very susceptible to up-taking glucose from the blood and storing it as glycogen within the muscles for later use.  Because of this, it's important that recovery foods are source of simple carbohydrates-like sugar-so that the glucose can be quickly taken up by your muscle cells.  Maximizing the muscle's ability to store glycogen is very important for distance runners especially who go extended periods of time without taking in any glucose.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars Recipe:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup canned, pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup softened earth balance soy butter (regular butter would work too if you're not feeling the whole vegan thing going on here)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon to taste

Soften the butter then combine all above ingredients into a bowl and mash it with a fork.  Add some add-ins like chocolate chips, walnuts or raisins (I used all three).  Press the dough evenly into a greased bread pan and bake at 400 deg F for about 30 minutes.  Once out of the oven and cool, slice into "bars" and wrap in individual foil.  Perfect for a homemade bar on the go or for breakfast-like I just had this morning with a banana and almond milk!