Adding Some Spice

22 Apr 467389_10100286440977996_1875396744_o

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I am going to be adding a new ingredient to my food blog. I’ve been on a different kind of adventure for the last few months; I’ve been training for a triathlon. Now instead of only posting about food, I’ll also be talking about triathlon and my training.

When I talk about triathlon most people automatically think of the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Though it would be amazing to be competing in Kona, I am nowhere near ready for a full Ironman. The most recognizable triathlons are the Ironman distance races but there are actually a number of different distances including Kids of Steel, Try-A-Tri, Sprint, Olympic, Ironman 70.3 (Half) and an Ironman (full). Some of the races are really long like the full Ironman about 226km and some are short like the Sprint about 26km.

 

My big race for this year is the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant. An Ironman 70.3 is 70.3 miles or 113 kilometers, 2km swim, 90km bike and 21km run. I’ve been training for this race since October and have been really stepping up my training in the past few weeks. There’s another 61 days until the race, so I still have a little bit to train. Since a triathlon consists of swimming, biking and running, in that order, there is lots of training to do.  Right now I am swimming twice a week, cycling three times a week and running four times a week. In total my training takes about seven and a half hours a week. This is one reason that I haven’t been blogging much.

For the next while on top of posting some great recipes, information on events and reviews of restaurants, I’ll be writing about triathlon and my training. Just to spice things up.

 

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Mexican Polenta Scramble

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To continue on the stream of healthy eating I thought that this would be another good recipe to share, Mexican Polenta Scramble from www.eatingwell.com. This recipe is another fast and easy meal, the longest part is prepping all of the veggies. One of the great things about the Eating Well website is that they provide you with the nutritional information for a lot of the recipes. I’ve included the information below or you can check out their website for more information www.eatingwell.com.

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Mexican Polenta Scramble

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 poblanos or 2 green bell peppers, diced
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 16-ounce tube prepared plain polenta, cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
  • 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, preferably sharp
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 avocado, diced

Preperation:

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green and just starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
  2. Stir in tomatoes, cumin and salt; cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes start to break down, 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Crumble polenta slices into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in scallions, cheese, cilantro and lime juice.
  5. Serve the scramble topped with diced avocado.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 315 calories; 20 g fat ( 6 g sat , 8 g mono ); 20 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrates; 13 g protein; 6 g fiber; 600 mg sodium; 645 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (220% daily value), Calcium (45% dv), Vitamin A (35% dv), Folate (20% dv), Potassium (18% dv).

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

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Welcome to 2013!

7 Jan So good that I started eating before I took a picture!

Welcome to 2013, another year down and a new one just beginning! 2012 was a pretty awesome year for me. I traveled to Amsterdam, Berlin, Florence and Rome with my brother.

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Then Sarah and I explored Paris and went to London for the Olympics.

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On top of all of all of the amazing traveling I got to participate in some great races, including my first cyclecross race.

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Just recently we started another exciting adventure, we adopted a dog, say hello to Nanook! We adopted Nanook from the Humane Society of Western Quebec. Our little Nanook is 11 months old, is a shepherd something mix and weighs in at 54lbs. She loves to go for long walks, playing with other doggies and her kong. I’ll save more on Nanook for another post.

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With a new dog and the holidays it has been super busy and we’ve been thrown out of our routine. Now that it’s a new year, it’s time to get back into some good habits. One way is to eat healthy.

Last night we had a great recipe from www.runnersworld.com. If you like Asian inspired recipes you’ll love this recipe. On top of the veggies already in the recipe, I added baby bok choy, green onions and yellow pepper. Not only is this recipe delicious but it’s also fast! It’s fast to make and fast to clean up, which is always nice when you’ve got to walk a dog and fit in a workout. One tip for this recipe is not to boil the undon noodles but to fry them with the veggies and meat. This cuts the pans down to one. Hope you like the recipe, give it a try and let me know what you think!

So good that I started eating before I took a picture!

So good that I started eating before I took a picture!

Thai Beef with Udon

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound trimmed sirloin steak, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons thai red curry paste
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 package (7 ounces) udon noodles
  • 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk, well stirred
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves lime wedges, for serving

Directions:

  1. Place the steak, 1 tablespoon of the oil, the curry paste, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for at least 20 minutes at room temperature (or in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours).
  2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the udon according to the package directions. Drain and rinse briefly with warm water. Set aside.
  3. In a wok or 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and stir-fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the steak and stir-fry until browned all over, 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the noodles and basil, and simmer 30 seconds. Serve with lime wedges. Serves 4.

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