Life {and running} in Iowa

scenes from yesterday

2012-02-08T04:49:00.002-06:00

Looks interesting, right?

More details forthcoming.

Happy Wednesday & Happy Birthday to Nic!

{updated & improved} single serve brownie for two

2012-01-22T10:34:00.000-06:00

It is cold and rainy today.

A day that just screams curl up on the couch with a mug of coffee and a good book.

And day that just screams for sweat pants and comfort food.

A day that just screams chocolate.

Warm ooey gooey chocolate.

But it is still January.

And people are still clinging to their New Years resolutions.

Desperately convincing themselves that they will follow through this year.

Best not to get off track with too much chocolate, right?

But just a taste is okay.

As long as they don't go overboard, they say.

And that is when they preheat their oven.

Mix up one single serve brownie

and dig into a warm pot of chocolate within minutes.

Savoring each bite.

The spoonful of rich chocolate feels indulgent

but it could be far worse.

Just be sure to share, as this single serve recipe

is meant for two.

Single Serve Brownie
adapted {and improved} from my original recipe

Serves 2

In the mix::

6 tablespoons oat flour - (or any other type of flour)
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons brown sugar*
1 tablespoon honey*
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond milk**
4 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 325*

Mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda - set aside.

In another bowl, mix together sugar, honey, vanilla, milk and coffee.

Stir dry ingredients into wet, mixing just until combined.

Divide batter into two 1/2 cup ramekins.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Dig in.

Notes:

*I really like to make these with maple syrup instead of sugar & honey (although both variations are delicious). Sub in 4 tablespoons of syrup and decrease almond milk or coffee by 1 tablespoon.
**I've also made these using just coffee with amazing results. Sub in 6 tablespoons coffee and eliminate almond milk.

Rarely do we make these without any mix ins. A few of our favorites:

A spoonful of peanut butter or almond butter

Chopped nuts

A square (or two) of our favorite chocolate bar (dark chocolate + mint is amazing)

Frozen cherries + dark chocolate

All mix ins are added to the center of the batter right before placing the brownies into the oven.

-----------------

Snapping back to reality -

It is cold and rainy today.

A day meant to curl up on the couch and read.

A day to indulge with a single serve brownie.

But this day also has a 15 mile run is on tap.

And it is still early enough in January,

where I am still dedicated enough to my marathon training,

to brave the weather and at least make a good attempt.

Here goes nothing.

Please enjoy a brownie while I am out.

my kind of bar

2012-01-21T18:05:00.000-06:00

The holidays are long gone (thank god!), which means Nic and I are hunkering down for a few weekends spent lazily at home.

We made three consecutive road trips to Minnesota for the holidays, logging over 2,100 miles and over 35 hours of road time to spend the weekends with our family and friends.

35 hours is a lot of time on the road.

We always try to be prepared and pack drinks, snacks, and meals while traveling in order to cut down on expenses (we figured the cost of gas alone was about $100 each trip), but sometimes these things are overlooked and grabbing a snack at a gas station is inevitable.

One late Friday night, we were browsing the isles of a Kwik Trip in Rochester looking for something semi healthy to give us one last surge of energy to get us to the Cities.

The typical go to gas station snack lately has been a bag of almonds, trail mix, or pretzels. But this night, I was happy to see that they had a selection of Kind Bars. And by a selection, I mean two varieties.

Hey - beggars can't be choosers, right?

Paying entirely too much for a bar made of nuts, dried fruit and sweetener, Nic and I grabbed one of each and hit the road, sinking our teeth into a salty sweet treat.

And I've been craving one ever since.

My Kind of Bar

adapted from Peas and Thank You

In the mix::

1 cup raw almonds - coarsely chopped

1/2 cup raw walnuts - coarsely chopped

1/2 cup raw cashews - coarsely chopped

1/2 cup raisins

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1 tablespoon flax seeds

1/4 cup pure syrup

1/4 cup raw honey*

3 tablespoons ground flax

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*

In a bowl, combine syrup, honey, ground flax, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine almonds, walnuts, cashews, raisins, chia seeds and flax seeds.

Stir in syrup + honey mixture into nut mixture until combined.

Press into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment.

Bake at 350* for 20 minutes, until edges are beginning to brown.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into 16 bars.

*for an entirely vegan recipe, use an additional 1/4 cup syrup instead of honey.

The combination possibilities are endless for these bars.

Try dried cherries (instead of raisins) and drizzle with chocolate (like Mama's Pea's version).

Use apricots (instead of raisins), replace the walnuts with more almonds, and almond extract for vanilla for a very almond-y apricot bar.

How about an apple pie bar? Using dried apples, replace the cashews with more walnuts, and a pinch of cloves in addition to the cinnamon.

And the stats:

I figured the stats using Livestrong's Daily Plate calorie tracker and is just an estimate.

kicking off the weekend

2012-01-20T07:25:00.000-06:00

TGIF, right?

I was hoping to take the entire day off of work today since I opted to work on MLK Day, but it doesn't look I will be able to escape the day without doing something.

Thankfully, I had a good start to my morning.

A 5:15 Absolute Body Conditioning class (that I always wake up dreading to teach, but come home an absolute ball of energy), followed by a cuppa joe*, green monster and a pot of oats cooking away on the stove.

My workout this morning was a good one. I love it when I hear groans and sighs from the participants.

I can't believe she is making us do that again.

What? Another one?

It took me four days to feel normal again after last week!

I am sure I'll hear a few comments next week about what we did this morning.

1 minute each:

Bench Press

Body Weight Squats

Shoulder Press

Three minutes cardio/1 minute each:
Jump Rope
Running Up on Bench
Jumping Jacks

1 minute each:

Right Lunge w/ weight

Left Lunge w/ weight

Bicep Curls

Three minutes cardio/1 minute each:
Jump Rope

Running Up on Bench
Jumping Jacks

1 minute each:

Tricep Bench Press

Weighted Squats

Calf Raises w/ weight

Three minutes cardio/1 minute each:
Jump Rope
Running Up on Bench
Jumping Jacks

Wash, Rinse, Repeat x 2

Abs:

1 minute crunches

1 minute flutter kicks

------------------

Here's to the weekend!! Any fun plans? We are keeping it low key here and the only thing I really need to get done is some school stuff and a 15 miler.

*Do you listen to the How Stuff Works: Stuff You Should Know podcast? If you don't, you should. I just started listening to them while walking the dog, and I am hooked. A few weeks ago, I learned how this phrase, cuppa joe, originated. Quite interesting.

marathon training - week 2 review

2012-01-16T22:24:00.001-06:00

I still haven't decided what Spring marathon I am going to run, but I continue to plug away at a somewhat organized training plan.

Here is what I accomplished during week number two:

(click for a larger image)

Once I get a minute of spare time, I plan on typing up all of the workouts that I am doing for my Absolute Body Conditioning and Boot Camp classes. Typically I am able to do most of the workouts in those classes, so I would like to be able to reference them.

Who knows - maybe I'll even update my "workouts" page so others can give them a try.

So back to the marathon debate.

Since I haven't decided yet, maybe I should open it up to a vote.

Here are the three marathons I am looking at:

1) Wisconsin Marathon

Date: May 5th

Registration Fee: $72.99

Hours from Home: 5 hours

Why I like it: Fairly flat with a few rolling hills, smaller race, a lot of people seem to PR on the course, great views (course is along the lake), close to Milwaukee and Chicago
Why I hesitate: Out and back, along the lake - could be windy

2) Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

Date: May 6th

Registration Fee: $90 if I register by 1/30, $105 by 4/20

Hours from Home: 8 hours

Why I like it: 4 runners from town are going, I would potentially have my own personal pacer

Why I hesitate: I've heard the hills are pretty, well - hilly

3) Lake Woebegon Trail Marathon

Date: May 12

Registration Fee: $45 by 3/31

Hours from Home: 6.5 hours
Why I like it: Pancake flat, on a trail similar to the Kewash Trail which I run on quite often, smaller race, very affordable, great reviews, and close to my Mom's (thus eliminating hotel expense)

Why I hesitate: Few spectators

Remember, I am trying to qualify for Boston early so I can, as I said to another runner the other day, just get the BQ out of the way (like it is that easy), and then run some fun runs later this summer.

I know I've asked before, but which would you choose?

Truth be told, as much as I want to join the others for Cincinnati, I am really leaning towards the other two.

menu planning:: january 15-21

2012-01-15T12:15:00.000-06:00

This is what menu planning looks like in our house.

Not that we do it on a regular basis, but we try.

This week's eats will include the following:

Low GI Minestrone - pg. 34 Avoca Soups

Spinach & Nutmeg Soup - pg. 58 Avoca Soups

Edamame and Asparagus Stir Fry - pg. 289 The Food Matters Cookbook

Pasta with Broccoli, Garlic and Chili - pg. 261 River Cottage Veg

Zucchini, Pepper & Tomato Gratin - pg 63 The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook

Curried Bubble & Squeak - pg. 228 River Cottage Veg

Asparagus Spinach Dip - pg. 66 Veganomicon

Veggie Burgers - Oh She Glows

With our weekday nights jammed packed with work/working out, I am going to try to get a few of these meals made up today and store them in the freezer so we have some quick meals for a while.

But first, I must run.

(I wore this outfit on yesterday's run, when it was frigid. I got some funny looks - but I was warm! It is 37* right now, so I won't be as bundled up on my 13 miler)

marathon training

2012-01-07T13:24:00.000-06:00

Already a week into the New Year - hard to believe, eh?

It's high time that I start cranking out some serious miles in my 2012 attempt to qualify for Boston. With a busy schedule that includes a full time job, a part time job, teaching classes at the Y, and taking a class for the first time in 5+ years - marathon training must be super efficient.

I have been looking at the FIRST method of training, and its three runs a week + two days of cross training really appeal to me.

Basically it entails one speed session, one tempo run, and one long run each week, with an added two sessions of cross training.

Because of the few runs each week, the paces are pretty quick to ensure you are working your tail off.

With my schedule of teaching classes at the Y (which will cover my cross training sessions), I think my weekly workouts will look something like this:

A little crazy, yes. Doable - I certainly hope so since I've committed to teaching classes through June. One of the classes (Women's Lift) I don't actually lift besides showing the participants proper form, etc.

My workouts this week looked like this:

I am going to have one hot strong little runner's body by June (that's my hope at least!).

I've seen FIRST plans that are 16-18 weeks in length, which would put me at running my first BQ attempt the first or second weekend of May.

I've been looking at the Wisconsin Marathon (May 5) and Lake Woebegone Marathon (May 12) and both of these appeal to me because of their flat courses, but I am also being corerced to run the Cinncinati Flying Pig (May 6) marathon with some truely amazing runners from town. This is a hillier route, but a larger race and I would have my own pacer making sure I don't slack off during the race.

Decisions decisions.

One marathon is set in stone though, and I have been looking forward to it for a while. I ran my first marathon way back in 2009 with Ike and Maddie. Well, three years later, we are all planning on running together again (or at least the same race)...

That's right. My first international marathon.

My original plan was to try to BQ in Stockholm, but with the travel, time change, jet lag, etc, I don't want to put all of my BQ eggs in one basket, hence trying to pick a marathon the previous month.

However, if I can BQ in Stockholm, that would be pretty sweet.

Off to enjoy some unseasonably warm temps with a 10 mile run.

Let the marathon training begin!

think you know iowa?

2012-01-03T08:49:00.005-06:00

I love this. And hopefully it brings a smile to your face.

swedish fika

2012-01-01T21:51:00.000-06:00

On Saturday my sister, Maddie, and I invaded our mom's kitchen and hosted a Swedish fika for a few of our family and friends. Maddie, who has been living in Stockholm for the past 1.5 years, and I decided hosting a fika would be the perfect opportunity to share a few stories of her adventures of life in Sweden, a few photos from my vacation there in November, and a bit of Swedish culture with our family and friends.

fika:: a social institution in Sweden; it means having a break, most often a coffee break, with one's colleagues, friends, date or family. The word "fika" can serve as both a verb and a noun.

While promising each other we wouldn't turn this fika into a big deal, we both knew it would be something bigger than we imagined. And it certainly became a big deal when I submitted a proposal to Foodbuzz detailing why they should select an event like this for their monthly 24x24 campaign.

Swedes consider having a coffee an important part of the culture. You can fika at work by taking a "coffee break," fika with someone like a "coffee date" or just drink a cup of coffee. ... This practice of taking a break, typically with a cinnamon roll or some biscuits or cookies, or fruit on the side is central to Swedish life...

A few phone calls where exchanged to plan the menu the previous week, my mother-in-law dusted off her collection of dala horses and other items of Swedish heritage, and I made a couple of trips down to Swedesburg, Iowa to pick up some last minute food items and decorative touches from the Swedish Heritage Society.

Traditionally, fika requires sweet, baked goods, especially cinnamon rolls. According to Helene Henderson, author of The Swedish Table, one needs three items to avoid insult to Swedish guests; "to impress, serve a variety of freshly baked items, and be ready to talk about the weather. {source}

Before we knew it, it was the night before our event. Nic and I pulled into Minnesota around Midnight on Friday, and I got right to work preparing my rolls before the chaos of the morning ensued. Kneading, rolling and shaping dough at 2:00 in the morning is really quite meditative.

Saturday morning came and we were up early prepping for our guests. The cinnamon rolls were baked, coffee brewed and we were ready to fika.

Maddie gets all of the credit for the layout of our fika, and thanks to my mother-in-law's collection of Swedish items, the house had hints of Sweden wherever you looked.

We selected a few recipes from Swedish Cakes and Cookies, a beautiful cookbook that has become a modern classic since it was first published in 1945. Maddie gave me a copy for Christmas and let me know that many kitchens in Sweden have a copy of it.

Maddie made beautiful Kanellbullar, or cinnamon buns

I made Lussebullar, or saffron buns - a Swedish Christmas roll

I also made Choklabullar, or chocolate balls. I had one of these at a bakery in Stockholm and knew I had to share it at our fika.

We rounded out the buffet with a platter of berries, clementines and strawberries

We also had a package of Leksands Crispbread that we broke apart and served with a jar of lingon berries.

And of course we had coffee, which my brother worked on all morning trying to come up with a perfect pot.

As we took one final look at our spread, Maddie and I decided we should do this for a living. The above photo will be the cover of our upcoming How to Host a Swedish Fika guidebook. We charge by the hour, but are oh so worth it.

Everything looked almost too pretty to eat...

But it also looked too pretty not to eat, and soon enough, people began to dig in.

Our late nights and early mornings of baking paid off. It seemed people were enjoying our Swedish eats!

As people enjoyed their baked goods and coffee, I shared stories of my vacation in Sweden.

And Maddie was able to take a break from working on her thesis, relax a bit, and tell people of her adventures in Stockholm.

We were even able to make a plate for ourselves and slip back into a life across the Atlantic.

People were having a good time...

...enjoying the food...

...and catching up with old friends.

As good as the food was, the details that were set throughout the house, were just as important.

Everyone left with a taste of Sweden and a few of my photographs that I had matted and set out on the table for everyone to take.

Until I am able to go back to Sweden, I am certain more fikas will enter my daily grind. And as I embrace a New Year, I will remember to sit back, relax, grab a cuppa joe, cinnamon roll, a friend, and just enjoy a fika.

A very big and grateful thanks to my beautiful friend Leah, owner of Leah Maria Photography, who took most of the photos included in the post, and many many more.

many have eaten here...

2011-12-28T09:06:00.001-06:00

While Nic and I prefer to give gifts than to receive, we were very lucky to bring home some great, practical items from our weekend in Minnesota. And while we love them all, and can not pick a favorite, I have to share what my father-in-law gave me.

Not a minute after I got done with my shower after a Christmas morning run, my father-in-law told me to go find my present on the fridge. Clearly, he was excited for me to open it.

So I go and stand in front of the fridge for a full minute searching for the gift. I finally spot a small wrapped magnet.

I open it and laugh.

So so so true.

It is the perfect phrase to have adorning my fridge, and I am certain everyone who has stayed with us will agree.

christmas weekend 2011

2011-12-26T12:30:00.000-06:00

Well, if that wasn't a crazy weekend, it wasn't a holiday weekend.

Nic and I left Minnesota at 3:30 this morning to return to Iowa in time for Nic to get to work (lame-sauce!). Our holiday weekend was full of family, fun, a few friends, a strict schedule, and much much love.

Friday::

On Friday we loaded up the car and hit the road around 5:30. After quick stop for dinner at Noodles and Company in Iowa City, we boogied up to Rochester for a quick visit + gift exchange + beer with my friends from college. Although the visit was short, I was happy to have time to catch up with them (even though they wouldn't let me wake up their daughter, who is by far one of the cutest kids I have ever met and one of the only ones who makes me want to have a kid of my own someday...).

We got to my mom's around 1:00AM and got to bed. Our schedule for Saturday was jam packed and we had not a minute to waste on sleep.

Saturday::

We shared our first gift with Mom at breakfast, and spent the next 20 minutes convincing her that, I did in fact, make the marmalade and did not buy it from some Amish lady. I still don't think she believes me.

On our way to Nic's family's house, where we were spending the afternoon, we stopped to drop off some cupcakes with our friends, Laura and Josh. Vegan cupcakes for all! {or at least for as many people as we could cram in to our schedule}.

The next chunk of hours were spent hanging out with Nic's family and a short visit from Nic's friend Greg and his girlfriend, Christina.

I watched in awe as Marissa wrapped gifts for the kids and strategized with Barb on what to give each kid, and made sure each of them had about the same number of items to open. I always knew this was a challenge for parents, but never did I realize it was that hard. Just the thought of it makes my head hurt!

On the way back to Mom's for dinner, we stopped at Leah's to deliver some more cupcakes and get a baby fix. Isaac and I played with a new toy for a bit and Ezra was all smiles for us. A short visit, but happy to have been able to connect!

Back at Mom's, Maddie and I prepared an easy Christmas Eve dinner of soup (squash + tomato + roasted yellow pepper), balsamic glazed brussel sprouts, and bread. Dessert was a tour of cupcakes that we split between the five of us.

I made four different varieites from a new cookbook:

Gingerbread cupcakes with lemony frosting & almond mocha cupcakes with coffee buttercreamMexican hot chocolate cupcakes & maple cupcakes with creamy maple frosting

The favorite was the maple cupcake with creamy maple frosting and sugared walnuts. The flavors of Fall in a cupcake - how can you go wrong?

Sunday::
We were up before the sun on Sunday so I could fit in a run and Nic could walk Maia. We headed back over to Nic's family's so we could run/walk around our old stomping grounds.

It was a beautiful morning and I ended up getting in about 6.5 miles at a respectable pace.

Merry Christmas to me. While Nic's family was at Christmas mass, I headed out to enjoy my version of mass and loved every minute of it.

I planned my route to run by the family's church about the mass was about to get out. Best part of my day. I was sure I had missed them, but they spotted me, pulled over and cheered as I ran past. Nothing beats a whole van of crazies (kidding, of course!) cheering for you on a standard morning jog.

The next five hours was full of unwrapping gifts, kids playing with toys that make noise, eating, kids playing with toys on Maia, Kajsa and I reading the gifts we exchanged (a cookbook for me, a farming book for her), and fun. It was also a very very good dose of birth control.

We stopped off to see Nancy and Nick 2.0 on the way back to Mom's to give Nancy her birthday gift. Nothing like crashing another family's Christmas gathering!

Most of the family were at Mom's for Christmas lunch. We ate a ton of delicious food, exchanged gifts (white elephant exchange, guy exchange, girl exchange), and played Apples 2 Apples.

Showing off very exciting white elephant gifts

The hippie nutcracker was the hot item of 2011

Family photo!

This is what happens when you balance your camera on your car's roof rack in an attempt to get a group photo...luckily, no lenses were harmed in the short fall, although Nic might have had a slight heart attack.

Mom loves Ike the most. Neither Maddie, Nic nor I, had a banner waiting for us when we got home.

Monday::
Nic and I got back to Iowa at 9:00 this morning and were happy to see that Santa had indeed stopped by and left us with stockings to open.

Santa knows us very very well...

While Nic works, I have quite a bit of reading {and perhaps cooking} to do - thanks to my family, who knows me so well and sent me home with no fewer than five cookbooks.

sew to inspire winner

2011-12-21T09:53:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Courtney M! You have won this very cute bag from Angie at Sew to Inspire!

Email your shipping information to lifeandrunninginiowa@gmail.com by Noon on Sunday and I will get it in the mail to you ASAP! (Or I might decide to keep it for myself!!)

Happy Happy Holidays!

muddin'

2011-12-19T17:27:00.000-06:00

Nic's sister is in town visiting for a few days before heading up to Minnesota for the holidays.

We decided to show her a good time on Sunday and took her mudding.

Because we are red necks like that.

Or we might have just made a really stupid decision and happened to get almost get stuck on a minimum maintenance road...

Thanks to our (Kajsa and I) brute strength - we were able to make it through the mud pit to safety.

Too bad Nic had just spent the previous day doing this:

It goes without saying that a few glasses of this was needed after all of that:

sew to inspire {giveaway}

2011-12-17T10:04:00.000-06:00

A few weeks before I left for Europe, my cousin decided to get crafty.

Okay, that is a lie. My cousin is a natural crafter and can turn some ordinary piece of whatever into something very chic.

And although I am not sure what prompted this (perhaps it had something due to do with the greatest website ever invented in 2011 - Pinterest??), she started making bags.

And she sent me one to test out to see what I thought and provide feedback.

So you can expect I was so very excited when I got this chic tote in the mail:

The bold colors and retro pattern grabbed me right away, and the ruffles added a little something something.

A removable flower is just icing on this chic cake.

And the size?? I've used this bag for many things, including lugging around my laptop, notebook, power cord and other things for work. Going to the grocery store and using it to carry home my finds, and just as a general use tote that always has room for just one more thing.

Check out how much stuff I was able to fit into it:

Two cookbooks, one text book (say what?!), a magazine and some dog treats. That's a lot of stuff, those cookbooks and text book (say what?!) are big.

All of the tote's contents compared to a standard cuppa joe

Angie was nice enough to think of Maia when she sent the tote and included some Tail Wagging Peanut Butter Treats.

I am pretty sure Maia enjoyed the treats...

Back to the totes. Angie has an Etsy shop with a lot of great items. And although Christmas is only eight days away, I am sure if you saw something on there, she would be able to ship it out ASAP so you would have it in time to put under your Christmas tree. Or perhaps you want to give a tote to someone for winter solstice. Or maybe Festivus? Hanukkah?

Whatever holiday you are celebrating with your family this year (or next), I would totally recommend something from Angie's Sew to Inspire

And just for you guys, Angie and I are going to give one of you lucky ducks a tote! Just leave a comment on this post letting me know what gift you are most excited to GIVE this year. Nic and I would much better give gifts than to receive them and we have some fun stuff up our sleeves this year to give to our family and friends. And since a lot of them read this, I can't really say in particular what I am most excited to give, but everything rocks (at least I think so!).

I'll pick a winner on Tuesday, December 20th at Noon (central time).

treadmill tricks

2011-12-16T07:16:00.000-06:00

Without a doubt, it is that time of year again.

There is a chill in the air and the days are short.

Ok - let's be real. Some days it is damn frigid out there (cold as a witches ti....well, you know the saying) and the Iowa winds are a howling.

Which means some of my runs are forced inside to the treadmill.

Now I am not one to bash the treadmill. Sure, I'd prefer to run outside, but they are good for something.

Personally, I love doing speed work on the treadmill for a few reasons.

#1 - You can run at a steady pace
#2 - You can push yourself a bit harder
#3 - If your doing a speed session, you're damn sure people are amazed at your awesomeness.

I particularly like using the treadmill for speed sessions (and no, not just so people think I am awesome), and especially for intervals.

Some days though, I lose track of the number of intervals I've done. Which can be good if you end up doing more than planned, but always leaves me wondering if I got in the six I was shooting for, or if I had one more to go.

My solution to this {white girl} problem - twisty ties.

Before I head to the gym, I grab enough twisty ties for however many intervals I have planned. I find a spot on the treadmill for them, and after completing each interval, I remove one twisty tie.

People probably wonder what the heck I am doing with a handful of twisty ties, but it works.

Plus, it feels good and motivates me to have a visual of the number of hellish 400s I have left...

Sweden: Day 3

2011-12-14T21:48:00.000-06:00

Day three in Sweden starts a little rough.

I am up at 2:00AM. Struck with my usual jet lag insomnia. I read a few chapters of A Homemade Life. It is a great book, but all about food and I.Am.Starving.

Dig into my emergency stash of Lara bars and try not to wake Maddie up.

We have an early morning run planned and I want to enjoy it. Try counting back from 100 by multiples of three.

Sleep finally comes over me and I get a few solid hours of shut eye.

I wake up. It is Sunday. I am in Sweden. Still can't believe it.

I think about cancelling our run, but decide it would do my body good after all the sitting I did on the flights here. (Not to mention we have many many more bakeries to cross off our list!)

There is a chill in the air as we set out for our run. The destinaton: Boson.

Maddie tells me Boson is on the edge of Lidingo (the island where she lives), the beginning of the Archipelago, and where all of the elite athletes in Sweden live and train.

Our route there is about two miles. We disregard a trespassing forbidden sign, and then I see this,

I am awestruck.

Now I know why Maddie wants to live here.

We decide to explore the trails around the area, and I decide I need to become an elite Swedish athlete so I can live here.

Maybe it is time to become a ski jumper, I mean - they have the jump for it...

There is too much to see and our run quickly becomes a run.STOP.takeaphoto.run.STOP.takeaphoto. We decide to hike this trail a few days from now and bring my monster camera.

The trail. Oh the trail. I just started running trails in Washington and thought I had it made. This trail trumps everything in Washington. I practically set up camp and will send for Nic + necessities later.

Sixty minutes later we return to the house. The family is eating breakfast. We get ready for the day and chat a bit. The husband sneaks off to work on the pool he is digging in the backyard with a Polish guy.

On the agenda for the rest of the day is more sightseeing. Which means more walking until we happen across a bakery.

This vacation rocks.

We hop on a metro and hop off at a stop near a park Maddie loves. Even in the winter, I can see why.

I still can not get over the colorful, architecturally interesting buildings. Why don't we build them like this in the States?

Maddie tries to master the pensive stare.

Our ultimate destination is Djurgarden, a calm oasis, and royal land since the 15th century. The island is also home to many famous museums, walking paths, and cafes.

Jenny Lind was a famous lady...and that is all we know.
{ah ha! Maddie - Jenny Lind was a famous opera singer in the 19th century. often known as the "Swedish Nightingale"}

The views of Stockholm are beautiful.

But our noses and stomachs ultimately lead the way on this chilly day. And we just so happen to stumble upon Rosendals Cafe. This place is amazing. An organic garden open to the public. An apple orchard, a few grape vines, and a cut-your-own flower garden.

I need to come back in the Summer.

But I digress, I am getting off track. We came for baked goods, and baked goods we will have.

Situated in glass greenhouses, we enter the cafe.

And sit down with piping hot coffees to warm our chilled fingers and a lunch made for Swedish queens.

Carrot cake & biscotti.

Maddie is happy. And even lets me take few too many photos of our eats.

And then gives me the I needed to start eating 8 minutes ago glare.

A glare only she can give.

We finish and head back out into the windy day to explore the rest of the grounds.

And then continue walking around the island. I make a mental note to come running here later in the week.

A canal cuts through the island and beautiful paths wind along each side.

We spot a few people riding horseback and I immediately think of my friend Leah and snap a photo for her. She would love this place.

Anyone would love this place.

Anyone would love this place.

We head back to Gamla Stan so I can get a few good photos.

We arrive around 3:00PM, just as the sun is setting.

We need to remember to plan our days better. Photos in the AM, inside activities in the afternoon.

The sun sets so early here.

We pop into a department store quickly so Maddie can buy a hat to warm her frozen ears. And continue our walking tour.

As the sun sets over Stockholm, we head to dinner (where did we go Maddie?).

We hop on the metro, and then the bus. We walk up 97 steps to Maddie's neighborhood.

Maddie loses the hat she just bought.

Day three in Sweden. 15 days to go.

brand loyalty

2011-12-13T17:20:00.002-06:00

This time of year, I bet a lot of you get excited to see the UPS/FedEx man/woman pull up to your house and drop a package off on your doorstep.

I dread it.

I get a lot of deliveries for work and lately it has been non-stop, much to Nic's chagrin. Our basement it quickly filling up with 2012 Relay For Life materials, awards, gifts, you name it, I have it.

Today though - the box was too small for any work stuff. So my mind instantly went to our massive Amazon.com holiday order. I was expecting a gift for my brother's girlfriend first, and I was stocked to see it in person.

So I was a little surprised when I opened the box and found this:

A nice package from Bob's Red Mill!

It is not all that often that you come across a company that you absolutely can stand behind and feel good about purchasing any of their products.

Since Nic and I have been eating a much cleaner diet (is not that term just used far too much, "eating clean"?? Can't we just call it eating real food?), we have run across a handful of companies that have captured our loyalty. One of these brands is Bob's Red Mill.

I first fell in love with their steel cut oats (and even entered their Spar For the Spurtle contest back in July) and buy them in bulk. Like B-U-L-K. Can you say 25 pounds of deliciousness?! For the record, a 25 pound bag of steel cut oats looks like a sack of animal feed.

We continue to ask our HyVee store to stock their shelves with new Bob's Red Mill products and they are very happy to oblige.

Thanks Bob! What a great gift on a rainy December afternoon.

Even though it sounds like it, Bob's Red Mill did not ask my to write this post. I was just generally excited to receive such a thoughtful package.

25 day workout challenge:: days 1-12

2011-12-12T11:23:00.001-06:00

Despite a few really disappointing runs, a few too many days of rest, not feeling on top of my game, and one nice goose-egg/bruise on my right shin, I guess the first twelve days of my 25 day workout challenge didn't go all that bad.

I am still trying to figure out how to best incorporate weights into my running routine that will propel me towards my BQ marathon attempts this spring. However, come January, I really won't have to think about that too hard, as I will be teaching a few different weight classes at the Y each week.

With the exception of my 10.5 mile run on Saturday, I have felt very slow and sluggish while running (which is funny considering I literally fell on my ass during said 10.5 mile run. I think that was the first time I have ever fallen while running. Should I be proud?!). I haven't been able to knock out any solid speed work, nor have I been surprised by speedy mile splits beeping at my from my Garmin. This all really puts me in a funk and makes me second guess my ability to BQ in 4-5 short months.

Thursday December 1:
Since it was the first day of this challenge, I must have done close to 6-8 miles and thrown in a bit of speed work, but I did't record anything, so I can only assume...

Friday, December 2:
ABC Circuit class

Saturday, December 3:
7.15 miles @ 8:54 pace

Sunday, December 4:
7.28 miles @ 8:44 pace

Monday, December 5:
3.72 miles @ 8:44 pace

Tuesday, December 6:
REST

Wednesday, December 7:
Weights, 6.39 mile run @ 8:29 pace, Abs-olutely spin

Thursday, December 8:
1.52 miles - ha. REST. (Might have overdone it a bit yesterday, ya think?)

Friday, December 9:
ABC Circuit class & 3.5 miles on treadmill (29:30 minutes), was hoping for a solid 5K time trial, but lost motivation quickly. Ended up doing a 1 mile warm up, 2 quick-ish miles, and a cool down.

Saturday, December 10:
10.5 mile run @ 9:03 pace. Would have been faster, but I spent a few minutes during my last mile sitting on my ass after slipping on ice.

Sunday, December 11:
.61 mile run - ha. REST

Monday, December 12:
Weights, 5.65 mile run @ 8:34 pace

Total miles: 52.32 miles
Total weight sessions: 4 (including two ABC classes)
Total spin sessions: one
Total bonus workouts (pool): zero

Sweden: Days 1 & 2

2011-12-10T09:37:00.001-06:00

One month after I departed Iowa for my 18 day European adventure, I am finally able to sit down and write about it and share a few photos.

I hope I remember everything.

People, you should always listen to your mom and keep a travel journal, no matter how many times you groaned about it when you were a kid. When we were younger and went on family vacations (Hawaii and England come to mind), Mom would always make us share our favorite and most memorable part of the day as we sat down to dinner. We groaned when it came to "journal time," but looking back, I am sure she has many many fun memories captured in ink.

We walked a lot.

How many more cathedrals are we going to see tomorrow.

Woohoo, we saw yet another church

I am sure all of those are in her journal from our first trip to England. Along with,

I miss Nic, I would rather be in Minnesota.

True. The first time I went to England, I was love-sick for Nic. My how things have changed. In 2004 we were young and in love. In 2011 we are still young, but married. :)

Anyway, onto Sweden.

Kier's European Adventure - Days One & Two: November 10-11, 2011
Cedar Rapids, Detroit, London, Stockholm

Day One
Nic and I head up to the Cedar Rapids airport. I have three flights ahead of me, and try to pretend I am not nervous to board each and every flight. All of the cop cars, undercover vehicles and a KCRG news van at the Cedar Rapids airport do not help anything, but I quickly push that scene to the back of my mind. We unload my luggage from the car and say goodbye. I can't believe I am going on vacation without Nic for nearly three weeks. I look forward to it and I know Nic is looking forward to having the house to himself.

The Cedar Rapids airport is by far my favorite. Small, but nice - it is a breeze to check my bag, go through security and wait to board.

As I get settled for my flight, I have my usual pre-flight talk with God, "Dear God, if you get me to and from my destinations safely, I swear I will start going to church when I get back to Iowa." knowing in the back of my mind that I won't keep up my end of the deal, feeling guilty because if 'God' is all-knowing, he/she knows I lie. Oh well.

My flight to Detroit is less than 45 minutes from wheels up to wheels down, and is the best flight of the entire adventure merely because I was handed two packages of Biscoff cookies. Two packages, on a 45 minute flight?! I can't wait until my international flight - I will be in Biscoff heaven...

Biscoff cookies - did you know they are vegan? #Win.

Once I arrive in Detroit, I have a few hours to kill. I find my gate, grab a hummus + tabbouleh wrap, because I know I won't be served a vegan meal on the plane (not that it would be good anyway), and give Nic a call letting him know I have arrived safely.

Nic tells me that there was a bomb scare at the Cedar Rapids airport and we arrived 15 minutes after they re-opened. Great. Glad I didn't know that at the time. Apparently someone had found a water bottle that was wrapped in duct tape in a bathroom garbage can and reported it to authorities. Bomb squad, dogs and the works were sent into check things out.

It was just a water bottle wrapped in duct tape.

30 minutes before I boarding my international flight, I pop an over-the-counter sleeping pill. Me + jet lag do not get along. The good looking Brits sitting across from me do the same. They must be wrestlers, muscle men they are.

One last text to Nic and I am ready to board. The flight takes off at 6:30PM, set to arrive at London-Heathrow at 7:40 the next morning.

The sleeping pill works, sort of. If it weren't for the crying baby two rows ahead of me, I might have slept more soundly. I feel terribly sorry for the parents, I am not annoyed, yet others are. I nod off through two movies, Midnight in Paris, and Larry Crowne. The parts I see are good - may have to rent when I get home.

We arrive in London early, the 7-ish hour flight seems short (and to my horror, no Biscoff cookies are offered! What the heck Delta?!). Customs is a breeze, I grab my bag and head to the nearest restaurant for breakfast. My vegan diet comes to an end here. I order a bowl of oatmeal - stoked for a hot bowl of good eats, and it comes swimming in milk. I dont even think to ask how it was cooked. Bummed, I still eat it. It was good, but I will feel it later for sure.

Wanting to tell Nic I have arrived safely, I buy an hour of internet use for $5. iPhones rock, especially if your spouse has one too. We use Facetime to chat for a while, and send iMessages whenever I stumble across wi-fi.

My next flight is to Stockholm. 2.5 hours until I see Maddie. I must nod off, sleeping off the residual effects of the sleeping pill. Maddie has told me where to meet her and I memorize the note - 2nd level information desk. I hope I find her, otherwise I will have to beg someone to use their cell phone.

It seems to take forever for my bag to show up at baggage claim. I spot it and take off in a daze brought on by three flights and over 18 hours of travel, to find Maddie.

Thank the good Swedish vikings, she is waiting for me as I clamber down the stairs. I haven't seen this girl {in person} since we parted ways in Spain last January.

We visit three, if not more convenience stores, to purchase a public transportation card for the week, along with some fruit to settle a stomach already craving a plate of freshness. We board a bus and head to Lidingo, the island where she lives.

I am struck at how much Sweden reminds me of northern Minnesota - no wonder so many settled in the Midwest years and years ago.

We arrive at the house and as Maddie has warned, the girls invade her room and have a pile of drawings, handmade books and other items that they have been working on all week, to give me. It is sweet. Maddie told them I have a dog and a cat, and they have drawn them. The wondered if I was brining the pets with me, I am sure they are sad when I do not pull them out of my suitcase.

I rest for a minute, then take the best shower of my life.

Revitalized, we head to downtown Stockholm for dinner and drinks at Vapiano. The place is busy, but that is to be expected on a Friday night. We share pizza, salad, two glasses of wine, and a table with four guys.

I struggle to keep my eyes open, but assure Maddie I am good. We head out to explore a bit on foot, and end up in "Old Town" or Gamla Stan. This is what I expect Sweden to be like. This square is probably the most photographed area of Stockholm and is featured in many guidebooks Maddie tells me.

Eager to start crossing off our list of bakeries to eat at (oh yes, this is a list), and despite full stomaches, we head in to Kaffegillet i Gamla Stan to share carrot cake.

Outside of Kaffefillet i Gamla Stan (photo taken a few days later)

I am fighting with my 10 pound eyelids by this point, and we decide to head back to the house. I worry I won't sleep well, but conk out before Maddie even knows my head hit the pillow. Blissfully, I sleep through the night.

Day Two

Today is all about exploring Stockholm on foot.

We walk along the water to give me a good feel for Stockholm. The place is clearly amazing. Comprised of 14 islands, Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden.

This buildings are like photos from guidebooks (heh) and I begin taking a thousand photos. Maddie becomes my photography assistant, dutifully holding lenses with the upmost care as I ponder which one to use. (Little does she know that this will be her role for the next three weeks.)

As we continue along the water, Maddie points out various sights, tells me over and over again what neighborhood we are in, and I wonder if tourists in Minneapolis are as awestruck as I am by buildings there as I am by these beautiful buildings here.

I fall in love with these posters promoting a Christmas buffet. Maddie tells me that they include a lot of meat, I my heart falls knowing that we won't be served dinner by St. Nick.

Maddie blends in really well here. We are stopped by an old man who asks for directions in Swedish. Easily, Maddie pulls out her map and helps the guy. I stand back, impressed.

We must go back to the house for lunch, or grab a bite to eat while walking around (Maddie - help! This is why you should keep a travel journal people!).

In the afternoon we decide to go on the Millennium Tour to see the sights of Steig Larsson's, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Pinching pennies sounds better, and we just buy the guide and do a self guided tour.

Good call. We are able to go off the beaten path and explore a bit more.

Stop #1 - Home of Mikael Blomkvist

Stop #2 - City Hall (in the background)

A good night's sleep clearly did me good and I am happy to be on my feet for 12+ miles today.

We venture off the beaten path, and find a great view of Stockholm near a radio tower. Of course I snap photos for Nic.

As I zoom in, we discover little figures climbing the tour.

As we walk through the neighborhoods of Soderman, I am impressed with the number of people commuting on bike. We also stumble upon a bike shop, but do not go in - a decision that will haunt me to this day.

The Millennium Tour takes us to weird locations, and we decide we are glad we saved money just purchasing the guide. I mean, we were both really looking forward to seeing the 7-Eleven where Lisbeth bought large packages of Billy's pan pizza, cartons of Marlboro Lights, and other supplies...

However, following the map did lead us to interesting locations, sights and shops. We step into various places, including a book + paper store, a fun household store, an expensive clothes shop, among others. We say we'll come back to actually shop another day.

Someday, I will have a mail box like this.

For the record, Maddie is holding up 10 fingers, to represent our tenth stop on the tour, and not being crude next to this very famous statue of two nekkid sisters (right?).

Later in the evening, Maddie has to meet with two of her classmates (Diego and Rosana) to work on a project. The decision is easy and we go to Cafe Saturnus. The place is packed, so we walk to two other bakeries (adding on at least another five miles to our daily walking total) which are also packed. A good hour later, we decide to head back to Cafe Saturnus and manage to grab a table.

I am instantly inspired. This is the type of cafe I will open someday on the square in Washington. The floor alone is enough to make my heart melt.

We have a coffee and split a famous kanelbullar, or Swedish cinnamon roll. Maddie has been looking forward to this all day. The treat lived up to its hype and between three of us, we demolish it.

There are two ladies sitting at the table next to us. They each order their own kanelbullar + the largest hot chocolate I have seen in my life, and demolish them as well. I feel sick.

Their group finishes their discussion, and we depart ways.

We are meeting up wtih another friend, Marco, for dinner. The destination is Sibiriens Soppkok, a cozy little soup place that Maddie has been talking up all day as well.

Another winner. The conversation flows and the bread + soup are savored. I get a vegetable soup determined to maintain somewhat healthful diet while traveling, but Maddie's soup wins hands down. It is called "Orange" and contains bell peppers, mango chutney, and orange (among other things).

We ask the waitress for the recipe, but are denied. Will try to recreate it some other time.

After dinner, we meander our way to a metro, hop on a bus and return home.

I am in Sweden. It is still hard to believe. 16 days to go.

{Maddie - what am I forgetting? Please fill in any missed details, stops, or things you remember from the day. We should have listened to Mom...}

mystery date

2011-12-06T09:29:00.001-06:00

Monday night, Nic took me out on a mystery date. He revealed little information (I could wear whatever I wanted and should bring a notebook), and told me to be ready to walk out the door at 5:20.

I was dressed in my favorite Lole dress, sporting a new favorite necklace that I picked up at Spirals, a fair trade, eco store that we stumbled upon in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and ready for my surprise when he walked in the door.

The destination:: Iowa City
The surprise:: "Theories of Vegan Cuisine" - a continuing education class offered by Kirkwood Community College.

My husband knows the quickest way to my heart, don't you think?

The instructor for the class was David Burt, owner and co-founder of The Red Avocado, a delicious vegan restaurant that we have dined at a few times in Iowa City. (We've also taken a vegetarian sushi class taught by David at New Pioneer Coop).

There were five of us in the class which made for great conversation and discussion and David was able to share the information we were looking for. Nothing was too earth shattering for Nic and I, but we did come away with a few good reminders and tips.

Take-A-Ways::

Eating lower on the food chain allows your body to work less (use less energy) to digest and absorb nutrients, as well as reduces your ecological impact. Here is a great article highlighting the impact on the Earth if Americans gave up meat for 1-7 days.

the less energy we use, the longer we live

Eating a plant based diet does amazing things for your health. (Have you read The China Study or watched Fork Over Knives?) There was a lady in class whom reversed all of her poor medical conditions within a year of becoming vegan. After just a week she no longer needed to take her diabetes medication.
The importance of seasonal eating - nature provides what we need, when we need it.
The importance of eating organically (when able) - keeping in mind "the dirty dozen" and "clean 15"

The Dirty Dozen:

Peach, Apple, Bell Pepper, Celery, Nectarine, Strawberry, Cherry, Kale, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Carrot, Pea

The Clean 15:

Onion, Avocado, Sweet Corn, Pineapple, Mango, Asparagus, Sweet Peas, Kiwi, Cabbage, Eggplant, Papaya, Watermelon, Broccoli, Tomato, Sweet Potato

For the last time, YES! I eat enough protein! There have been studies that have shown that we eat too much protein anyway (over eating protein is cause of calcium loss). Protein can be found in all vegetables, all grains, beans and sea vegetables. It is much more bio-available than animal protein.

The following are complete proteins (containing all of the amino acids that we can't make):

Amaranth, Quinoa, Soy Beans, Black Beans, Hemp Seeds, Buckwheat, Nutritional Yeast, Spirulina

Grains and nuts often are deficient in one ore two of the amino acids, yet nature has provided a solution - combining certain foods allow you to eat complete protein. All cultures have some example of this:

Hummus and pita
Black beans and corn tortilla
Azuki beans and rice
Beans on toast (Hey! I ate this in England a few times!)

Micro-nutrients are important and sea vegetables are a great source, especially for iodine, which can be low in a vegan diet.

Kelp, kombu, spirulina, arame, wakame, and nore are examples of where to get micro-nutrients
1/4 teaspoon of kelp powder each day
soaking beans with kombu is a great way to get micro-nutrients, also aid in digestion

Layering flavors/flavor enhancement

The following are great ways to add/enhance flavors of vegan foods

lemon, lime, vinegars, shoyu, tamari, miso, salts, sugars, olive oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, sesame seed, fresh herbs, spices

Useful flavor combinations

Tamari + olive oil
Tarka of whole cumin seeds quickly sauteed in a hot neutral oil (1T oil to 103T seeds)
3:1 combo of ground fresh coriander to ground fresh cumin (especially good with beans)

Resources/Authors to check out

Paul's Grains - Organic Iowa grain producer
Gold Mine Natural Foods
Madhur Jaffery - cookbook author
John Robbins
Joel Fuhrman
Dr. Michael Greggor - bringing nutrition related research in the form of easy to understand, short, videos
Vegetarian Summer Fest - (vacation 2012??!)

Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine

David has a vegan cooking series at Kirkwood in the coming months that I would love to attend. As much as I already know about cooking, I can always learn something new!

The Red Avocado is having a five-course beer dinner on December 21st! You can bet your bottom dollar that Nic and I will be there!

Best surprise date ever! Thanks Nic!

25 day workout challenge

2011-12-02T16:53:00.001-06:00

It is time to get serious about working out again.

After an indulgent vacation, and slacking off on working out after a disappointing marathon and half marathon in October, it is high time to refocus and set my sights on a BQ (Boston qualifying) race again.

And what perfect time to set in place a tough workout challenge than smack dab in the middle of a busy, stressful, frantic, holiday season? Seriously - when did seven family Christmas/Holiday gatherings become the norm? Because it is in our house. Plus work parties, getting together with friends...it is a good thing I found this gem while on vacation:

Quotes from the book:

"Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home."

"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough."

"People really act weird at Christmas time! What other time of year do you sit in front of a dead tree in the living room and eat nuts and sweets out of your socks?"

"People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between New Year and Christmas."

Ironic, right? Calm and Christmas just don't go together. To try to make things easier this year, I tried to convince our family and friends to move to Iowa as to avoid multiple (expensive) weekends driving up North - but for some reason, they all declined.

Alas - in order to try to keep calm (and carry on), I have devised the below workout plan for December 1st through 25th.

Monday - Tempo run (6-9 miles total)
Tuesday - Mid distance (8-10 miles total)
Wednesday - AM: Rest or Weights + swim (bonus workout), PM: Spin (I teach this class)
Thursday - Speed (6-8 miles total)
Friday - AM: ABC Circuit (I teach this class), PM: Rest or Swim (bonus workout)
Saturday - Long run (10+ miles)
Sunday - Mid distance easy (6-8 miles total)

This plan would give me a total of 36 - 48 miles per week, two strength training sessions and a possible bonus of two trips to the pool (I always say I am going to start swimming again, but never do. Hopefully this time around I can stick to it).

I got started off on the right foot (or left, I can't remember. Ha.) yesterday with a 90+ minute run (no watch or garmin) at 5:30PM. On the Kewash trail. In the dark.

It was all fun and games until I ran into three sets of eyes and couldn't determine what animal they belonged to (deer or coyote?) and then things really got interesting when I scared two raccoons. One scampered into the woods and the other stood its ground and barked/growled at me. Hmmm, yea - trail running at night, alone, with a not-bright-enough flashlight is not going to happen again.

So, here's to 25 days of getting back on track!

vacation detox: day #1

2011-11-29T06:43:00.001-06:00

Well I am back.

Back from from 18 long, fabulous days of holiday.

Back from visiting three countries: Sweden, England, Wales.

Back from 18 days of a deliciously non-vegan diet.

Back from two very, very, very bumpy flights.

Back to my amazing husband, pup, kitty, home and great state.

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind - and I really can't believe it is already over! Clearly, I didn't blog while I was gone, or post photos. So today, I have three goals and three goals only:

Unpack
Sort photos
Cook my own food!

I indulged on vacation (because that is what vacations are for!) and ate way too much food, and way too much food that I don't normally eat. While it was all delicious, my body is excited to get back to its 99% vegan ways. So today is day #1 of my vacation detox. I am beginning my detox with a big bowl of oatmeal, tea, and a kale/spinach/berry smoothie (made by Nic!).

Be back later (hopefully) with photos!!

my bags are packed...

2011-11-10T06:31:00.000-06:00

...and I'm almost ready to go!

Packing was a success on the first attempt!

From this:

To this!

See you in three flights, Maddie!

See you in eight days, Mom & Roger!

a thanksgiving side dish

2011-11-09T22:56:00.001-06:00

I was cleaning out the fridge the other day and decided to use up the last of a head of red cabbage and a few brussels sprouts for lunch.

What resulted was a really simple, beautiful, side dish that could be served for your Thanksgiving dinner.

Simple Brussels Sprouts + Red Cabbage Thanksgiving Side Dish

In the mix::

1 t coconut oil
1 cup shredded red cabbage
2 cups thinly sliced brussels sprouts (ends cuts off and outer leaves removed)
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Process::

Heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium heat. When hot, add the remaining ingredients and saute until golden brown, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

one week

2011-11-04T07:44:00.001-05:00

When I logged into my email this morning, three emails immediately jumped out at me.

LensRentals.com - Your order has shipped
British Airways - Your departure...
Maddie - Operas

I giggled with excitement.

In six days I will leave Iowa and make my way over to Europe for the second time this year.

First stop:

source

Stockholm, Sweden

My sister is anxiously awaiting my arrival (because she is just that excited to see me) and has the most important elements of each of our days planned. This is how she tells me our days will go:

Mornings - runs through different neighborhoods followed by visits to a different bakeries each day (clearly, these two things are what I am looking forward to the most)
Afternoons - walking through different neighborhoods taking thousands of photos
Evenings - dinners with her friends and family, an opera or two, and drinks

In two weeks I will leave Sweden and make my way here:

London, England

I will meet up with my mom and her husband for 10 days of travelling throughout England, visiting Roger's family, running, eating, and taking thousands of photos of castles and cathedrals (can you tell what I like to do on vacations?). I will also meet up with our good friends, John and Diana, who happen to be visiting England at the same time.

Dearest Nic, as much as I love you - I can't promise I will ever come back. You might want to start packing up the house and making arrangements to move overseas.

roasted brussels sprout + hummus sandwich

2011-11-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

Who craves brussels sprouts?

Seriously. I want to know.

I want to know that I am not the only freak out there who had an intense craving for them today.

::crickets::

No?

Well, despite being weird, this craving lead to an amazing lunch. One that will be replicated a few more times this week for sure.

Roasted Brussels Sprout + Hummus Sandwich
Warmed brussels sprouts combined with a tangy apple-cabbage-carrot slaw prove a interesting, yet crave-able combination when topped off with an ultra creamy hummus. When people give you the side eye when you tell them this is on the menu for lunch - glady serve them something else and save their portion for dinner.

Serves 2, with a few leftovers.
Inspired by this recipe.

For the roasted brussels sprouts::

24 brussels sprouts - washed, outer leaves removed and cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T coconut oil (or other oil)

For the apple + cabbage + carrot slow::

juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 t cumin
2 t olive oil
1 t agave
1/2 cup grated granny smith apple
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup cabbage, finely chopped

You'll also need::

two buns, we used cibatta rolls (warmed slightly)
1/4 cup ultra creamy hummus, or your favorite store bought

Cook the brussels sprouts according to these directions (follow the method, not ingredients). Set aside.

While the brussels sprouts are cooking, prepare the slaw (this can also be prepared ahead of time to let the flavors meld). Whisk together the lime juice, cumin, olive oil, and agave. Season to taste with a sprinkle of salt + pepper. In a bowl, mix together the apple, carrot and cabbage. Toss with dressing. Set aside.

Cut the warmed buns/rolls open and spread a thick layer of hummus on each side. Add a healthy spoonful of slaw on the bottom and then top with brussels sprouts.

Serve with any remaining sprouts + slaw and enjoy!

lake darling trail run & peanut butter mocha

2011-10-30T09:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday mid-morning was the perfect time to hit the trails for another trail run.

The destination:: Lake Darling State Park

The distance:: 9 miles

The feeling:: refreshing, amazing, relaxing, and again - rejuvenating.

The sites::

I love the fact that when trail running (at least for me) pace is something not to worry about. For me, it is more about just getting out there, enjoying the sites and change of pace from road running, exploring new paths and trying to remember the way back to the car.

I feel that I could trail run for miles and miles. Which is awesome, considering I would like to run a few trail ultras someday.

This morning, we slept in until 6:00 (seriously!) and woke up to a rain soaked lawn - a dreary Fall morning. Mornings like this just scream curl up with a good book and a piping hot cuppa joe and read until you can't stand it any more.

Instead, we bundled up and took Maia for a long walk and then came home and made peanut butter mochas to warm up our chilled fingers and toes.

Peanut Butter Mocha

In the mix::

2 cups dark chocolate almond milk*
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups strongly brewed coffee, or 2-4 espresso shots

*alternatively you could use 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk (or any other dairy/non-dairy milk for that matter), mixed with 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons sweetener (maple syrup, agave, etc).

In a small saucepan, heat the almond milk and peanut butter until hot, but not boiling. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour heated milk into a blender and blend on high until frothy, about 30 seconds to one minute. (Be sure to leave the top open a little to allow steam to escape. I cover the top with a towel, just in case.)

Pour coffee into two large or four small mugs and slowly stir in milk.

Serves:: 2-4

These peanut butter mocha are super rich so I would recommend serving four. That being said, Nic and I had no problem sipping down the entire batch ourselves.

ultra creamy hummus

2011-10-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

There are thousands of recipes out there for hummus. I realize this, and the recipe below is nothing earth shattering.

And the method might not be new to you, but it's the method below that produces an ultra creamy, silky hummus.

What's the secret?

Let me tell you what its not first - you don't have to spend hours peeling the skin off of all the chickpeas. That is just crazy. Believe me, I've been there before and am not going back.

Are you ready for it? You might want to have a seat, as this is earth shattering.

Leave your beloved food processor in the pantry and pull our your raggedy blender that you've had since college and cost a mere $15.

Believe me, it was hard passing up my food processor, but wanted to give thee old blender a try when whipping up a staple food item in the PS house.

Ultra Creamy Hummus

In the mix::

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed (reserve liquid)
1-2 cloves of garlic (I used one, but love garlic, so would use two next time)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons tahini
1 T olive oil
Salt to taste (about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon)
7-9 tablespoons of chickpea water (or just water)
Kalamata olives, optional

Process::

Put chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil and 5 tablespoons of the chickpea water into the blender. Blend on low until everything comes together. Be patient, you will have to scrape down the sides often. Begin adding more water, 1 tablespoon at at time, until you have a silky smooth hummus. Season with salt and blend to combine.

To serve, top the hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and a few chopped kalamata olives. Pita bread and veggies are good choices to serve with this silky hummus. My favorite though, is a spoon.

Can you imagine how silky smooth this would be if I owned a $500+ VitaMix? That might just be the death of me.

Like I said, this is not a crazy new recipe for hummus, but if you want homemade hummus that even comes close to the delicious dip that you get at your favorite Mediterranean restaurant, ditch the food processor and give your blender a try.

everything fall

2011-10-29T10:22:00.000-05:00

Apple picking.

Pumpkin carving.

Trail running.

These three things are officially the essence of my perfect Fall.

(Even though I have yet to carve a pumpkin)

Apple baking.

Pumpkin baking.

Trail running.

There - that sounds more like me.

Yesterday after work I had grand plans to head out for another epic trail run at Clemons Creek in Washington. Our favorite hiking spot in the area, I knew the gently rolling trail would rejuvenate my soul.

And as I was about to walk out the door, Maia gave me the puppy eyes of the century. I conceded that a long trail run was not in my future and a jog/walk with the pup was on tap instead.

We might have only gotten in 2.4ish miles, but it was awesome. I discovered some trails that I never knew existed, Maia made it a full 1.5 miles before plopping down out of sheer exhaustion, and we only heard one gun shot before calling it a day.

Too bad today is the pheasant opener, otherwise I'd be back there in a heartbeat to run the trails again.

This morning I have plans to hit up another area to get in a longer trail run.

To begin my day today, in true Fall fashion, I decided to whip up a pumpkin latte. What I created was a perfectly spiced, not too sweet, steamy cup of coffee perfect for a weekend morning.

Pumpkin Spiced Latte

In the mix::

1 cup soy milk

2 T pumpkin puree

drizzle maple syrup (2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon, depending on how sweet you want it)

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 cup strongly brewed coffee, or 1-2 shots of espresso if you happen to be that cool and have an espresso machine

In the small saucepan, heat soy milk, pumpkin and syrup until hot, but not boiling. Remove from heat and stir in spice and vanilla. Pour heated milk into a blender and blend on high until frothy, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Be sure to leave the top open a little to allow steam to escape. I cover the top with a towel just in case.)

In a coffee mug, add coffee and then slowly mix in the milk mixture. Sprinkle with some additional pumpkin pie spice, and if you are feeling extra crazy, drizzle with some caramel.

I had grand plans to enjoy this steamy latte with a pumpkin scone Nic so thoughtfully picked up for me from my favorite (the only??) vegan bakery in Iowa City, Fair Grounds Coffeehouse, unfortunately, it wasn't that great. Maybe I should have eaten it yesterday, while it was still warm and smelled of a pumpkin doughnut...

Off for a beautiful Fall run!

life

2011-10-28T08:18:00.000-05:00

As if I even have to type it, for I am fairly certain it is obvious.

My life has been crazy busy.

My Google Reader says it all...

804 unread items. And that is after I marked a bunch as read (mostly recipes people, don't worry, I am trying to get to all of my favorites!).

If that is not proof enough, let's take a look back at October.

1st weekend:: October 2nd - I ran the Twin Cities Marathon
2nd weekend:: October 8th - Relay For Life Round Tables
3rd weekend:: October 16 - I ran the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon
4th weekend:: October 22 - Relay For Life Summit in Minneapolis & 2nd Annual Ladies Wine Night
This weekend:: October 29 - A possible trip to Des Moines for a cyclocross race (Nic)

And those are just the weekend events! Work has been busy with meetings, planning for the new fiscal year and much more.

Not to mention there is that inevitable countdown in the back of my mind - for which I am totally excited and totally freaking out over.

13 days until Sweden and England.

13 days until I get to see my sister.

13 days to get a ton of work done.

13 days.

Needless to say, I've been in need of some time to clear my head and just breathe.

And I got that chance yesterday afternoon, when I hit up Lake MacBride for a trail run with Diana after another work meeting.

Trail running is awesome, and Diana and I were reminiscing about our high school cross country days. Mostly about how we were able to run trails like the ones at Lake MacBride at such a brisk pace!

There were multiple times when we just stopped to take in the views and soak up the beautiful weather.

We did a bit over 5.5 miles and have plans to do it over again this weekend.

I suppose I should run these trails a few times if I plan on doing this race in March.

After our refreshing run, we met up with the husbands for dinner at Reds Ale House in North Liberty. The food was great and the beer list was even better (and longer than I am tall). We will be going back for sure.

apple love

2011-10-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

No, Maddie, I am not rubbing it in that I got a new iPhone.

I am talking about other apples.

Like real apples.

Fall and apples just go together, right? I get the pumpkin craze, I have a few cans myself. But if I had to choose, I would go for a tart, crisp apple any day.

A few weeks ago I received a Tervis Tumber as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. A virtually indestructible, insulated tumbler - I was excited to see if it really kept hot drinks hot.

The weather had a different idea though. I received the tumbler on a rare HOT fall day. So instead of making a batch of hot spiced cider, I opted for a simple apple cider smoothie.

This was a quick way to cool down after a workout and provided a taste of Fall, despite the summer like temps.

In the mix::

1.5 cups apple cider
2 frozen bananas
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

A few days later, the temps finally cooled down to seasonal averages and I was able to let some cider cook away on the stove with a blend of spices.

In the mix::

4 cups apple cider
1 small orange, sliced into thin rounds
1 honey crisp apple, sliced into thin rounds
1 cinnamon stick

Combine everything and cook on low until heated through.

I heart Fall.

piles 'o green

2011-10-20T19:15:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I am not referring to piles 'o green cash.

If I were, I would be blogging from some warm beach location, and not in Iowa where it is supposed to dip below 30* tonight.

I knew yesterday that it was supposed to freeze tonight. And as it was the last Farmers Market, I knew I had to spend some time in the garden saving a few green tomatoes that were still clinging to the vine.

Or so I thought.

I ended up with hoards of green tomatoes.

Like thousands of them.

So my question is...what do I do with them?

Clearly I cannot fry them all.

Ideas?

pinterest fashion

2011-10-18T14:24:00.000-05:00

Oh Pinterest.

I never knew I cared so much about the way I dressed until you came along.

Kier "pinning" to a style pin board? Surely it would be full of yoga pants, Nic's t-shirts, and running gear.

Instead, inspired by pins largely coming from Maddie, Leah, and Jeri - I have a new found interest (pinterest??!) in the clothes I desire to own.

Wanting only though to spend money on new running shoes, and race entry fees, these pins, were bound to forever be just that.

Until Sunday. When inspiration struck at JCrew Outlet.

Inspired by this pin...

Transformed into this outfit...

Success?

I like it.

Happy Pinning!

scenes from race day

2011-10-16T21:06:00.000-05:00

From the top:
1 - Me before the race, feeling confident.
2, 3 & 4 - Scenes from while I was running. Nic took a break from being my "fuel mule" and set up shop at Java Joe's to get some work done.
5 - Done. 1:51:30. Good. Not great.
6 & 7 - Post race lunch at Gateway Market. Can.Not.Wait. to get back to Des Moines to eat here again.
8 - Best.Chocolate.Ever (not vegan, but oh so worth it)

Lesson from today: I am not a superhero. I need to give my body a rest. I need to get back on track in regards to my diet (read: healthful vegan eating, not diet as in dieting).

scenes from today

2011-10-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

Nic and I are in Des Moines this weekend for the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon. No real goals for this race, just to run as fast/hard as I can, have fun and stay positive.

Here are just a few scenes from our day so far:

We started off the afternoon with a trip to the expo. This was the first time I've been to the Des Moines Marathon expo, and it was actually quite pleasant. Not too many people or booths to make my head spin.

...and the boxes full of mini lara bars didn't hurt either.

Seriously, I made Nic go to the expo twice so we could dig out handfuls of them! We ended up with over 45...

My name is Kierstan, and I have a problem.

We then walked a few blocks to West End Architectural Salvage aka the coolest place ever. Next time we will be bringing piles of cash and a U-Haul.

A quick stop at Java Joes rounded out our time spent walking around downtown Des Moines.

Last up for the night was a stop at Mullet's to watch the first race of the Oakley Night Cap Cross. Again, cyclocross races seem pretty epic. Cyclocross races at night, with live bands and beaucoup beer, seem insanely epic. I really hope Nic decides to get into this!

Good night from Des Moines!

cyclocross at morgan creek

2011-10-14T06:44:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday, Nic and I headed up to Cedar Rapids to watch a friend in a cyclocross race.

Have you heard of cyclocross? This was new to me last year.

It is basically like cross country running, but for cyclists, and includes obstacles. Here - I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

A friend of ours is trying to get Nic addicted to biking any way he can. I think he just might have hooked him with cyclocross.

It was an amazingly beautiful Fall day to be outside.

I'll be back soon with some Fall inspired recipes...and a race recap of my upcoming half marathon in Des Moines on Sunday!

summoned

2011-10-08T06:38:00.000-05:00

I received this lovely letter in my mailbox yesterday.

For some reason, I knew what it was even before I opened the letter.

Jury Duty.

My time has come.

Awesome, right? Not that I have been waiting my entire life to be a on jury, but it isn't exactly the worse thing that could happen, and who knows, it might be kind of interesting.

Except for the fact that I kind of sort of have previous plans.

Plans that will not allow me to serve on a jury for 30% of the required service.

Plans that take me out of this country to further explore a few of my favorite places.

Places that are home to fun things like this:

and this:

So here's hoping that a trip where my flight and accommodations have already been paid for will be good enough reason for a deferral of service.

Otherwise I have no idea what I will do, and I hear being in contempt of court is not that cool...

fashionable finds

2011-10-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

I have been hooked on buying dresses lately.

Perhaps I am searching for a style that I can take on my next vacation with me in an attempt to fit in. Or perhaps it is just because I am finally deciding that dresses are kind of cool.

Or warm.

Because when you find a dress that is essentially a pair of very stylish sweat pants for your entire body, you can't really pass it up.

Enter, this Lole "Calm" dress.

Get going in this shawl collar dress, a versatile addition to any busy body’s wardrobe. Wear it with your favorite Lolë leggings or well-worn jeans for a sporty, yet feminine look. It not only looks good, it’s good for the planet in our soft and comfortable Organic Fleece, a luscious blend of organic cotton and elastane woven for the maximum UPF 50+ factor. A welt pocket on the left side gives it a fun finish.

I bought it in "bark."

Lole has some other pretty amazing stuff, and a great story. I can't wait to get my hands on some more items!

Similar in style, I also picked up Patagonia's Au Bateau dress on Sunday after the marathon.

Paired with a pair of black tights and and some boots, how can I not go wrong with this simple grey dress?

Cute and soft, this sleeveless cowl-neck dress layers perfectly over jeans or leggings, or under sweaters.

Now I am just searching for reasons to sport these new dresses - perhaps a date night is in order.

you win some...

2011-10-04T04:52:00.003-05:00

You can't win 'em all, right?

You win some, you lose some.

Not that I was even close to winning. And there are no losers.

You can not always set a PR.

There, that's better.

I came no where near setting a PR at the Twin Cities Marathon last Sunday, and was even further from hitting my goal of qualifying for Boston.

3:58:21.

Twas an ugly race.

I cried.

I walked.

I couldn't catch my breath.

I finished. And that is more than I thought I would do.

I've run four marathons in the past 11 months, and three since the end of May. No, I am not making up excuses (if I were, I would have told you I caught a cold last week), rather, I am looking on the bright side and celebrating what I have done in the past year.

Four marathons.

That is something to be proud of.

I am still chasing the BQ.

But in the meantime, over the next few months, I am going to give my legs a well deserved break.

And maybe eat some Swedish Fish while I dream of my next BQ attempt...

{source}

More in depth race recap will hopefully be coming soon. Although I won't promise anything as I have been a very lazy blogger of late.

today is the day

2011-10-02T06:06:00.000-05:00

Today is the day that totally snuck up on me.

Today is the day two years ago when I ran my first marathon.

Today is the day that I hope to crush my first marathon time by well over an hour.

Today is the day that I chase down that Boston qualifying time.

Today is the day for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Today is the day.

predator-vegan

2011-09-23T11:19:00.003-05:00

Nic's boss shared this "Zits" comic with him yesterday, stating that he immediately thought of me.

source

Love it.

weekend cooking results

2011-09-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

Aaaand the results are in.

From this:

...and this:

To this:

I figured I was chained to the stove for approximately 12 hours this weekend (like any good little wife should be), slaving away over my farmers markets goodies, until my freezers screamed no more!

Only a few items went unscathed (zucchini, apples, hungarian peppers and paw paws) and the was turned into some farm fresh eats that we can enjoy this winter.

12 pints stewed tomatoes (too lazy/not enough herbs to make spaghetti sauce)
5 1/2 pints roasted roma tomatoes
9 pints pumpkin puree
2 pints roasted bell peppers
6 pints pumpkin butter
6.5 pints almond butter (not a farmers market find, but still...)
4 loaves bread (2 pumpkin, 2 bananna - both yeast breads, not sweet)
5 bags green beans
2 bags acorn squash
2 bags butternut squash
2 bags spaghetti squash (overcooked spaghetti squash, hopefully it is still good!)
3 bags kale

Believe it or not, if I could have kept going, I would have.

All in all though, it was a very productive weekend in the kitchen! :)

while nic is away...

2011-09-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

Turns out, I am uber productive as a single lady. I kind of like it...no offense of course Nic!

I've tackled 90% of the produce I picked up at Washington's and Iowa City's farmers market and had to stop only because I ran out of freezer space! We have a small chest freezer, but it might be time to upgrade.

Here is all of the produce I purchased this week:

Iowa City

Washington

I have yet to take care of the apples (apple sauce/butter) and zucchini (bread). Pretty darn good!! I will post tomorrow (hopefully) about what I made.

I forgot to include this photo in the post about the Iowa City's farmers market - check out this sunrise! What a great way to start the day.

Besides working on food today, I managed to sneak in a 16 mile run (8:46 pace). Which by the way, the oatmeal apple cider pancakes did a phenomenal job keeping me fueled for each and every mile! It was a very dreary, rainy run, but I enjoyed it. I listened to the first two discs of "Born to Run." I've read it before, but thought it would be appropriate to listen to it agin with just a few days left before the Twin Cities Marathon.

I also managed to work on getting the house ready for some guests that will be arriving next week. Our good friends, Ben and Debbie, along with their son, are moving back to Washington from Alaska and will be staying with us until they find a house.

We have a long list of things to check off before they get here, and one item was to install new curtains in the guest room. Well (Nic, you might want to stop reading right about now), Bed Bath & Beyond sucked me in its doors yesterday and I walked about quite a bit poorer, but with an arm full of goodies for the house! And a desire to not only update the guest room, but ours as well.

Take a look!

Our bedroom before:

There was a tall dresser to the left of the bed, which I removed to the guest room - hence all of my clothes on the bed.

And after!

New curtains, different dresser, organized books

I repurposed a few things around the house for bookends, love it!

Need to figure out what to do as far as curtains for the second, smaller, window. And a rehung painting.

The guest room before:

Normally it is not this messy. Wait, that is a lie. It is normally this messy, but just with piles upon piles of clean clothes that we never fold.

And after!

As a compromise to myself (and to save some $$) I re-used our curtains in the guest room. Not what I had in mind, but it works.

And just to ease Nic's mind, as I am certain he was scared to leave me this weekend knowing I was planning on spending all waking hours in the kitchen, here is a photo of the kitchen from just a few minutes ago.

Rest your weary mind husband of mine, and rest easy tonight! (I totally paid someone to clean for me...)

Jack liked it when I was too busy to clean...

I have a very early wake up call tomorrow, but want to finish watching The King's Speech first. I fell asleep half way through last night.

G'night!

oatmeal apple cider pancakes {vegan}

2011-09-18T11:08:00.001-05:00

There is nothing better than digging into a stack of hearty pancakes on a cold, dreary, {nearly} fall morning. And after hitting snooze a few dozen times (thus postponing my early morning run), that is exactly what I did.

After cleaning up some of the mess that was left behind after 9 solid hours in the kitchen yesterday.

These pancakes were very good. Like, hey - if you are planning on running 16 miles at some point today, go ahead and eat the.entire.batch.

Self control I have not.

These were especially tasty topped with a smear of freshly homemade pumpkin butter and a drizzle of syrup.

Oatmeal Apple Cider Pancakes
adapted from Mark Bittman's "Oatmeal Griddle Cakes", Food Matters, pg. 284

If you are looking for a light and fluffy pancake, these are not for you. If you are looking more for a stick-to-your-ribs type of short stack to warm up with on a chilly fall morning, these are for you. Serve with a mug of steamy hot apple cider and this is basically Fall on a plate!

In the mix:

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch salt
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water)
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 t vanilla
1 cup cooked oatmeal (I used scottish oats, old fashioned oats would work as well)

To prepare:

Heat a griddle to 350*

In a small bowl, make your flax egg. Stir together ground flax and warm water. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Stir together the flax egg with the apple cider and vanilla. Gently mix in oatmeal. Add oatmeal mixture to flour and stir until just combined.

Test the griddle, it is ready when a few drops of water dance across its surface. Lightly grease with coconut (or other) oil.

Pour batter onto the griddle. Cook until bubbles form on the top (about 2-3 minutes) and then flip and cook a few minutes more.

Serve topped with pumpkin butter (or apple butter) and warm syrup.

This batch made 6 pancakes, which I promptly gobbled up, all the while reminding myself that I was going to run them off later.

I love this time of year mostly because I can walk into any grocery store and a huge display of apple cider is glowing, calling my name, begging me to take home a gallon. I was excited to see this local brand at New Pioneer yesterday. It is good, as you can see. I've already polished off about half of this container myself!

I suppose I should knock out this 16 mile run before I finish up my weekend cooking marathon!

Speaking of marathons...since when is October 2nd only two (TWO!) weeks away? 14 days until I attempt to qualify for Boston at the Twin Cities Marathon. I am shaking in my ~~boots~~ running shoes!

{iowa city} farmers market finds

2011-09-17T12:53:00.000-05:00

Up and at 'em super early this morning to hit up the Iowa City farmers market to supplement all of the produce I scored at Washington's on Thursday.

Check it out...!

Arugula and Lake of the Woods Bread

More tomatoes and kale, lots and lots of kale!

Three pounds of green beans

Bell peppers and organic garlic

I aslo gobbled up a few apple cider donut holes and an amazing burrito stuffed with kale, leaks, zucchini, organic eggs and hot sauce. Best.burrito.ever.

Time to chain myself to the stove like a good little wife! Yesterday I froze nine pints of pureed squash, and I have hardly made a dent in my loot!

Back soon with the results of my endeavors!

ode to mark bittman

2011-09-16T18:30:00.000-05:00

I have a slight food crush on Mark Bittman. Or crush on Mark Bittman because of his food??

It all started with the beautiful How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook of his that I picked up a while back. Honestly, at the time, I had no idea who he was. I was drawn to the book because A) I was looking for a vegetarian cookbook, B) it was green, and C) I saw that it won an award, and naturally, any book that has won an award is worth shelling out some cash for, no?

My crush for him deepened when my mom handed me an autographed copy of Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook that she picked up at a food conference in Minnesota. They totally connected and talked about marathons (hey Mark, in case you happen to stumble across this little blog of mine, do you remember my mom? You guys chatted about the Stockholm Marathon...).

Now, as most people know, when I cook I tend to do most of it intuitively. I have a craving or an idea and just start throwing things together. Sometimes I dive into cookbooks for some inspiration, but often feel constrained and don't want to follow the rules of the recipes.

Lately though, my nose has been buried deep in the pages of Bittman's books and I find myself reading recipes out loud to Nic, totally engrossed in how amazing and interesting the combinations seems, oblivious to Nic's lack of enthusiasm.

K: Nic! Listen to this...ohmigod, doesn't that just sound incredibly delicious? My mouth is watering. I need to make this now.

N: Sounds good.

K: Ugh, you don't even care.

N: Stop talking and just cook for me woman.

(Okay okay, that last line I threw in there for dramatic affect.)

I would absolutely recommend both of these cookbooks to anyone. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian clearly is a vegetarian cookbook (duh.), however, Bittman's Food Matters cookbook offers a variety of recipes (including meat dishes), as well as suggestions as to how to make them vegetarian/vegan.

Here are just a few of the recipes I have made in the past few weeks:

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Grits Gratin with Arugula and Garlic, pg. 550
Simple, beautiful and bursting with flavor. I added freshly picked cherry tomatoes that offered a pop of sweetness with every bite, and omitted the cheese. Totally worthy of being on a menu at a fine dining establishment.
Okra Stew with Tomatoes, pg. 324
Okra is a vegetable the Nic is scared of. I bought it a couple of times at our farmers market last year and made okra "fries." Nic wasn't a fan. So I am sure he was quite leery when I told him I was making okra stew for dinner last night. Surprisingly after a few bits, he exclaimed that is was really good. News flash - Nic never says, "really good" when I ask him how he likes something. His usual response is, "it's good," with a slight head nod. He then proceeded to state that it was very flavorful. I agree. Another meal that was thrown together relatively quickly (with mostly local produce to boot!) and was a great huge bowl of comfort on a chilly fall-like night.
Beer Glazed Black Beans, pg. 585
We lived off of these for at least two weeks a few months back.
Butternut Squash with Coconut Milk and Curry, pg. 365
I made quite a few alterations to this recipe, but it was a great base with an awesome curry!
Fresh Spring Vegetable Burger, pg. 664

What I plan to make (just to name a few...):

Chickpea Soup with Saffron and Almonds, pg. 117-118
Brussel Sprouts in Coconut Milk, pg. 274
Braised Tofu and Peas in Coconut Milk, pg. 648
Marinated Garden Vegetables, pg. 67-68
Lentils and Potatoes with Curry, pg. 600 - I think I will make this for dinner tonight!
Eggplant Gnocchi, pg. 487

The Food Matters

Banana Nut Muffins, pg. 533
Even with my eight changes to the recipe, these were awesome. Not too sweet, vegan, YUM.
Whole Wheat Bread with Zucchini, pg. 541
A yeast bread, I added honey and this has been our go-to bread for a few weeks now. I plan on making the banana and pumpkin variations this weekend.
Noodles with Spicy Vegetable Stir-Fry, pg. 206
Like Big Bowl's "Cold Cucumber Noodles" - only better.
Wheat Berries with Berries, pg. 279
A breakfast that is uber elegant (and uber easy). I made this for the first time when my mom and grandparents were visiting and everyone raved. Nice job Mark Bittman, nice job.
Brownie Cake, pg. 557-558
A cake made with dates. Don't scoff. Just make it and thank me later. This brownie cakes gets ultra fudgey when stored in the fridge - no one would even know that they are sort of healthy for you.
Easiest Dal, pg. 360-361
Nic actually made this the other night. While it might not be a pretty dish, it was a pretty tasty dish.
Beans Rancheros, pg. 375
Beans and eggs. A great breakfast or dinner.
Savory Tomato Crisp, pg. 423
A tomato crisp, you say?! Yes! Crisps are not just for dessert any more. I brought this dish to a friend's house and of course I got some weird looks at first, but everyone liked it! One person insisted on bringing a helping to his mom!

What I plan to make (just to name a few...):

Walnut Biscotti, pg. 553-554
Bread and Nut Mayonnaise, pg. 189
Okay, I was intrigued by this recipe and it is one of the ones I read out loud to Nic. A mixture of bread, oil, nuts, garlic and lemon juice - this mayo "is based on skrodilia, the classic Greek sauce that tastes great with almost anything." Sign me up!
Coconut and Brown Rice Pudding, pg. 572
I knew even before I saw this recipe that I was going to be experimenting with rice pudding this weekend. This recipe will serve as a great base.
Beans 'n Greens Burritos, pg. 509-510
It is just such a catchy name that whenever I browse the index of the cookbook, my eyes always land on it.
Hippie Rice, pg. 290-291
Same as above, the name totally draws me in.
Bow Ties with Arugula, Olives, Bulgur, and Fresh Tomato Wedges, pg. 226-227

Honestly, if you are in the market for a quality, all around great cookbook, I would highly recommend both of these!

Mark Bittman has no idea who I am and did not offer me anything to write this post.

farmers market finds

2011-09-15T19:24:00.000-05:00

I am alive.

Just in case you were worried.

Life has been busy. And although things are not slowing down all that much, I have been able to take a few moments here and there to breathe.

Today was a busy day that began at 4:20AM an included time on the road, Rotary, and an afternoon spent working at my favorite coffee shop, Dodici's Shop, and attending my favorite town activity, the farmers market.

I practically needed a trailer to haul home all of the produce I picked up today!

Check it out.

All of this for around $40. Not to shabby!

Oh wait, did you just call me crazy? You bet. But I will be a single woman this weekend and I plan to spend my time at the Iowa City's Farmers Market and then home, in the kitchen, getting ready to hunker down for winter.

Clockwise from upper left: Iowa paw paw, butternut squash, acorn squash, hungarian wax peppers

Green and purple beans

Zucchini, sweet potato, spaghetti squash

Three third place ribbons for my peach-pineapple recipe I entered into Washington's annual salsa contest two weeks ago!! Third place in each of the following categories - 1st choice, 2nd choice, most votes.

These items were not picked up at the farmers market, but are equally as awesome and local - roma tomatoes from my favorite farmer Kevin, and pink banana squash from Kathy's Pumpkin Patch. Pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter are on my list of items to make this weekend!

Gala and Jonathan apples from Apple Tree Orchard and Farm in Lockridge, IA

Hmmm....with all of this produce, I am thinking I might want to dig a root cellar out back this weekend. Anyone want to help a girl out?

Back with more soon, I promise.

life is good.

2011-08-27T00:49:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh....today was pretty much a fantastic and perfect birthday.

Although my day started out just a wee bit early (up at 4:30 to teach a 5:15 circuit class), I powered through like the birthday champ that I am.

Yeah, a birthday CHAMP - because I am cool like that.

I enjoyed breakfast with Nic before he headed off to work.

Sipped on coffee and read for a while on our new patio set.

Took at nap at 8:30AM. Because it is never too early to nap on your birthday!

And then the real fun began!

I headed up to Iowa City and...

...got an hour long massage at Zenders. It was lovely albeit not the best I've had, but you can't go wrong with a $35 massage (including tip) thanks to a nearly year old gift card.

...shopped around the Ped Mall, which very well could be one of my most favorite places to be. So many neat shops and a gazillion restaurants to dine at. It reminds me a lot of Uptown, MN. I like it.

...grabbed lunch with Diana at The Red Avocado. It was delicious. Diana was a little nervous to dine at an all vegan restaurant, but jumped in feet first and licked her plate clean. Diana is a wonderful friend and I am so glad we have been able to reconnect this past year. She gave me a card and had figured out that we've been friends for 15 years - doesn't that seem like a looooong time?

...went antiquing/shopping at a few gems of stores that Diana stumbled across a while ago.

...headed over to one of my most favorite places in Coralville - Running Wild, to have a gait analysis (get a gait analysis?). Walked out of there with a brand new shiny pair of shoes and a reflective vest to keep my old self safe of early morning runs.

...and then I went to a candy store. Well, it is my version of a candy store - New Pioneer Food Coop! Yep, second time in two days and third time in a week. I could seriously wander the isles for hours. I would love to work at New-Pi someday...I think they could use someone with 5+ year experience in the non-profit sector who is passionate about healthy living, don't you?!

After New-Pi, I made my way back to Washington (while snacking on a birthday chocolate chip cookie of course!) to sneak in a quick nap, power clean the house and get ready for the evening activities.

We went to our friends' house for a quick drink (and got to open a sweet birthday present - a bunch of food from New-Pi! My friends know my so well!), and with 10 minutes to spare, we hit up Hy-Vee for a wine tasting.

Fireside Winery was sampling eight of their wines, and Brad put up with our group as we sampled and re-sampled many of the wines.

Brad was fun - especially since we showed up so late and kept him in Washington for longer than he was probably planning on be there. We walked out with a few bottles of wine though, so I am sure he was okay with staying a few minutes late.

I've been up to Fireside twice. Both times for work and it has been awesome. We need to get up there again soon to enjoy some of the music they have on the weekends.

We invited everyone back to the house for an impromptu BBQ were copious amounts of cider, beer and whiskey were consumed.

And a bit of Pirates Booty as well.

Screen doors always seem to break when our friends come over...

The men powered through that bottle of Busmills' like champs!

And as if the house wasn't full enough, Nic's dad, sister and our nephew and niece showed up around 9:30 to visit for a few days.

Life is good.

kicking off my 28th year

2011-08-26T09:07:00.000-05:00

Go ~~Shorty~~ Kierstan, it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday!

Yeah, that song is seriously stuck in my head. Aren't there any other, better, birthday songs out there??

So today is my birthday, I am bound and determined NOT to spend it like last year.

Remember last year? How I spent my 27th Birthday

The highlight of my day was a morning trip to Costco to buy a huge jar of almond butter.

The next stop was visiting my mom at the hospital's burn unit. Dear Mom - be careful today!

I ended the night very late with a birthday cheers from Roger and a frozen pizza baked to perfection.

I have different plans for today, and those plans include a 1 hour massage (that I have to scoot out the door ASAP to get to!), lunch with Diana and various other activities that I'll post about later.

We did kick-off my birthday with attending "Kale Fest!" last night. Yes, you read that right. Kale.Fest. I love it.

This festival of kale was put on by New Pioneer Food Coop and Earth Source Gardens. This was our first time to visit the gardens and it was beautiful!

After the festivities that was Kale Fest, Diana and I made a quick trip to New Pioneer to pick up dinner. Lamb burgers for them, a shroom burger for me. We were very European and ate at 9:00 and it was 10:00ish before Nic and I headed home.

My 4:30AM wake up call was fun....! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

fruits of my labor

2011-08-26T04:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to grab what I thought would be just a few cherry tomatoes from my garden and ended up with this. Nearly 10 pounds of deliciousness. This happens about every two - three days.

Gardens rock.

role reversal

2011-08-24T09:21:00.001-05:00

Something weird happened yesterday. And I am not quite sure what to think about it.

Nic raced.

I spectated.

I think that tragic earthquake shook things up a little more than people thought.

We scooted up to Lone Tree after Nic got home from work yesterday so he could participate in his first time trial. He's been wanting to try his hand at racing for a while now and got in at just the right time - yesterday was the last time trial of the season (for this series at least).

The venue: a beautiful country road.

The route: 5 miles out at back - careful for the gravel!

The weather: sunny and sticky.

A friend of Nic's also came up to try her hand at the time trial, it was her first race as well.

The starting line was two miles away from the registration area and no parking was available. So there were a few minutes before Nic took off that I was worried I wouldn't be able to actually watch him race. I kicked myself for not bringing my own bike/running shoes.

I decided to chance it and went out to the start, pulled into a ditch and was able to watch everyone take off and finish!

Like I said, this was a time trial (not really a race), so everyone lined up and the timer let people start one at a time, one minute apart.

It really was a nice country road and a beautiful night (minus the stickiness!).

As we watched the bikers before Nic leave, we noticed this guy was holding up their bikes. Apparently this gives you a stronger start as you are able to have both shoes clipped in. Nic decided to give it a try and I worried that once the guy let go, Nic would topple over.

He didn't and was off and ~~running~~ cycling.

While Nic raced on his refurbished 1980 Panasonic bike, there were quite a few people with crazy time trial bikes. Who knew they made bikes specifically for time trials? Their helmets were pretty sweet as well.

I like this shot of Angi starting, it looks as if "the holder" is sending her off on her first spin on a bike.

Nic finished with a very respectable 30 minutes and change. He was hoping to finish between 30 and 36 minutes.

{Side note:: some people need to learn how to share the road. After Nic left and I watched the rest of the bikers take off, a truck pulling a trailer decided to see how close he could come to them without actually hitting them. Ridiculous. Turns out the same guy followed another biker for a quarter of a mile, yelling and swearing at him before he literally attempted to run him off the road. 9-1-1 was called at the finish.}

Happy with his finish!

Cheers to next year and more races in Nic's future!

stuffed tomatoes with grilled kale and drunken fruit

2011-08-24T05:30:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, last Friday Nic and I were invited over to our friend's house for a BBQ. We ended up bringing veggie burgers for ourselves to grill (plus two extra in case our friends decided to take a dive and try my crazy food) and a huge bowl of fruit - but not just any bowl of fruit. More on that in a second.

The veggie burgers I made were just slightly adapted from Oh She Glows "Perfect Veggie Burger."

My modifications included:

I did not saute the onions and garlic
used two cups of black beans, and processed 1/2 of them in the food processor
toasted three slices of french bread and made bread crumbs
subbed in cilantro for the parsley

This is a great recipe and easy to put together as well. I just chopped everything in the food processor and then mix it all together (oatmeal first, 3 slices of toasted french bread, carrots, onions + garlic and half of the black beans). I baked four patties at 350* before were cooked them again on the grill. They were amazing!

So on Saturday night, after Nic and I were done working on the basement, I took some of the left over veggie burger mixture and stuffed it into three halved and de-seeded Roma tomatoes (from my garden!) and baked them at 375* for 30ish minutes.

Delicious.

We grilled a few stalks of kale that had been massaged with a bit of olive oil and rounded out the meal with some of that fruit salad I mentioned above...

The fruit salad was a hit at the BBQ on Friday, and it was nearly gone within 30 minutes of serving it (it was a HUGE bowl of fruit).

So, what is the key to get grown adults to choose a serving of fruit over another can of beer?

Champagne.

I was inspired by this recipe, but it is really just a method: take a bunch of your favorite fruit, chop into bite sized pieces, place in a large serving bowl or pitcher and cover with a bottle of champagne. Spoon into glasses and give everyone a spoon and watch them devour their daily serving of fruit.

Seriously, while one of our friends was recounting a story from their work, another friend very randomly looked over at the near empty bowl of fruit and exclaimed - I have never seen a bowl of fruit disappear so quickly!

#1 - clearly he has never been to our house were fruit disappears the day we buy it
#2 - I have got to figure out how to make a huge bowl of vegetable disappear just a quickly....vodka maybe??

frozen chocolate mousse

2011-08-23T05:30:00.000-05:00

We were invited over to our friends house for a BBQ on Friday night. We were told to bring something to grill and a dish to share. I scoured to "Food to Eat" board on Pinterest and this raw brownie recipe jumped out at me as something easy and quick to prepare.

Unfortunately due to a few liberties I took with the recipe, the dish was not ready by the time we were to head over for the BBQ.

What a blessing in disguise! While I am sure my friends would have loved this dish (no matter how much they would have mocked me for making another dessert from dates + nuts), I absolutely love the dish and am happy to keep it all to myself. I guess I have shared a few bites with Nic...

Frozen Chocolate Mousse with a Raw Brownie Crust
Whipping the frozen bananas in the food processor creates a delicately light "mousse" that is best served right out of the freezer. While this dish is good enough to serve to your friends, take a cue from me and hide it in the deepest corner of your freezer and save it all for yourself!

In the mix::
For the raw brownie base -

1 cup pitted dates
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt

For the chocolate mousse -

2 chopped bananas, frozen
1/3 - 1/2 cup cocoa powder (to taste)
4 T cashew/peanut butter (or other nut butter)
4 T honey (use maple syrup for a vegan dish)
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt

To prepare the brownie base::
In a food processor, add all brownie ingredients and process until finely chopped and will hold together when you form a small bit of the dough into a ball. Press firmly into an 8" x 8" pan. Set aside.

To prepare the chocolate mousse::
In a food processor (it is not necessary to clean the bowl, just make sure all big crumbs have been scrapped out), add the frozen bananas and process until smooth and creamy. Add cocoa powder, cashew-peanut butter, honey, vanilla and salt. Process until mixed. Spread mousse onto brownie crust, cover and place in freezer until firm.

These are best serve right from the freezer - the mousse will be firm but not frozen. Delicious topped with a strawberry!

The raw brownie crust was a great base for the mousse. Chocolaty with just a hint of saltiness and chew. As I type this I am already thinking of the next version of this dish - raw chocolate chip cookie dough with frozen peanut butter mousse - heck yes.

Who am I kidding, if you let these sit at room temperature for just a few minutes, the frozen mousse turns into a chocolate pudding and is equally delicious!

Having a Labor Day BBQ? You could be nice and make a pan of these to share with your friends. I know I will.

basement renovation take one: carpet

2011-08-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

When Nic and I moved in to our house nearly 4 years ago, everything was right with the world. Our first house, it was perfect.

We got to work right away making minor changes (paint, flooring, etc), making the house our home.

And then one summer it rained. And rained and rained and rained.

And our basement leaked. And leaked and leaked and leaked.

That summer much of eastern Iowa was devastated by historic floods.

source and source

Clearly the water issue we were having paled in comparrison to thousands of others being displaced because their entire house was under water, or floating down a river - but it as a problem that need to be taken care of nonetheless.

During the flooding, we were visiting our friend, Greg, in Alaska. We learned of the floods when a story appeared on the front page of the Anchorage paper. We were not too concerned about our house, as our friends had been keeping an eye on it for us and we hadn't heard from them. However, upon returning to my mom's house, we received a call from Lucky Pawz, were Maia was being boarded, letting us know that they were in the process of evacuating all of the dogs, but to not worry as they were all safe.

When we finally returned home, we got right to work removing a large section of soggy carpet in our basement. As we rolled it up, ready to take it out to the curb, gallons of water literally spilled out the ends.

Thankfully, the entire basement wasn't waterlogged and we were able to stop after removing one large section.

Since that summer, we have talked about future plans for the basement and three years later, we finally took the next step!

On Saturday night, Nic and I got to work removing the rest of the carpet from the basement - step number one in creating an awesome useable living space.

The plan::

clean up floors, and possibly pour another layer of concrete down and polish it
install an egress window
maybe sheetrock
repaint walls - biggest task, the paint that is there currently is peeling
move my office downstairs

Here are some before and afters (note, currently the basement is pretty much a dumping ground for old crap that we need to sort through and work stuff).

Before::

North end -

South end -

During::

After::

North end -

South end -

And we are now officially the white trash neighbors in our hood...

I love the blank slate and can not wait to get started! We are hoping to have a few people over this week to give us quotes/ideas on the floors, walls and windows.

What would you do to make your basement a fun, functional living space?

today i...

2011-08-21T20:55:00.004-05:00

Woke up.

Enjoyed a cuppa joe while Nic biked 10 miles.

Made Nic stuffed french toast for breakfast.

Blogged.

Watch Nic power clean the house.

Ran 11.75 miles while Nic did five loads of laundry.

Felt like a failure because my pace was slow and my goal was 15 miles.

Ate lunch...at 4:00.

Watched Nic do yard work.

Went to Hy-Vee for a $2 bag of top soil.

Came home with a $200 patio set (talked down from $225, originally $300).

Repotted a plant.

Made spaghetti sauce with 90% of the ingredients from my garden.

Made dinner.

Ate outside.

Tried a new beer.

Dreamt of a dream that I've been dreaming since high school.

Strategized ways to live out that dream.

Enjoyed a refreshing drink.

Got excited about my next vacation.

Took another sip of said refreshing drink.

Day dreamed about seeing my sister on my next vacation.

Wished away September and October so I could go on vacation (guess where I am going).

Blogged from outside from my new patio set.

Ate dessert.

Twas a good day.

chocolate truffle raspberry float

2011-08-21T10:29:00.000-05:00

Enjoying an iced coffee is one of my favorite ways to cool off on a hot summer day. When I am out and about for work, I might stop by a local coffee joint to pick up some sort of cold drink for an afternoon pick-me-up. And then approximately three seconds later I cringe as I shell out the four to six bucks for a cup of coffee blended with ice.

Sometimes this is a necessary evil, but this summer I have been trying to forego the coffee shop delights in favor of some delicious homemade treats - like this Chocolate Truffle Raspberry Float.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received two free bags of Godiva Coffee, and the second I saw one of the bags was a Chocolate Truffle blend, I knew I would be pairing it with some fresh raspberries for a cool summertime treat.

Chocolate Truffle Raspberry Float

In the mix::

1 cup brewed Godiva Chocolate Truffle coffee, chilled
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 T cocoa powder
2 T chocolate protein powder
1 t corn starch
1-2 cup ice cubes
1 pint raspberries, frozen
2 chopped bananas, frozen
2 T coconut milk

To prepare::
In a blender, mix the coffee, 1/2 cup coconut milk, cocoa powder, protein powder, corn starch and ice cubes until well blended. Pour into two glasses.

In a food processor, add the raspberries, bananas and 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. Process until smooth and creamy.

Dollop a large spoonful of the raspberry "ice cream" on top of the iced coffee.

Enjoy!

This was delicious served right away and the raspberry ice cream stole the show - I will be making that again and again until the snow falls. I was left with at least one serving of the coffee mixture and another serving of the ice cream - which I stored in the freezer to enjoy another time (like an hour later!). Dare I say, I liked it better the next day?

After removing the coffee mixture and letting it thaw for just a few minutes on the counter, I chipped away and was left with chocolate truffle shaved iced, which I topped with some of the raspberry ice cream, and then died and went to heaven. The flavors were mellow and reminded my of Neapolitan ice cream. I promptly emailed myself with a reminder to make a mock Neapolitan ice cream in the coming weeks.

Thanks Godiva and Foodbuzz!

coming home

2011-08-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

We all know that I have fallen in love with Iowa. And as much as I would love to move back to Minnesota to be closer to my family and friends, that just is not in the picture (at least for the next couple of years). What would it matter anyway...my brother and sister live on the other side of the world and my mom and Roger travel there every week is seems - we might as well move to Europe to be closer to my family. Hmmm....interesting idea.

I digress.

I love Iowa.

Iowa, and Washington in particular, has a certain charm to it. If you have visited and stayed for a while, you know what I am speaking of.

Small town charm. Big city access. Activities abound. Nature to explore.

So it was only a matter of time before our friends, who ditched us for the great state of Alaska, felt the tug to move back.

It didn't hurt that our friend's dream job became available and she was quick to throw her hat into the ring.

We picked Debbie up from the airport last Sunday for a short two day visit. In those two days we caught up, toured Washington, I reminded her of all the fantastic food I used to cook for them, visited old friends, and Debbie nailed her interview.

Like nailed it.

As we said goodbye to her on early Tuesday morning, I was on pins and needles, anxious to hear if she was selected for the position.

Don't judge us - this photo was taken at 3:59AM, clearly we were way too busy to take photos the prior two days!

In my heart, I knew she would get it, but was hesitant. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much.

Luckily just two days later, we heard the news.

Debbie got the job and would be moving back before October.

My heart sang and I did a happy dance, for approximately 3,423 hours. (Yes, I am still doing the happy dance.)

Welcome home Ben, Debbie, Sammy and Baby #2!

{and running} in iowa

2011-08-16T09:45:00.002-05:00

This blog is about my life here in Iowa.

My life as a wife.

My life as a full-time work horse.

My life as a wanna be chef.

My life as a runner.

Too bad it doesn't seem that I've shared much about my running on this little old blog lately, considering it takes up about 50% of my life.

So here's a quick little update about where I am at with my running as of late:

I am training for the Twin Cities Marathon
I am hoping to qualify for Boston at the Twin Cities Marathon
The Twin Cities Marathon is less than 7 weeks away
I have yet to put a plan on paper for the Twin Cities Marathon

Sure, I've been running, but not following an "official" plan for a race that I am hoping to qualify for Boston at, is kind of making me nervous. I shared this thought with my mom the other week and she quite bluntly reminded me that I've been training since at least 8-weeks before the Fargo Marathon (which was in May).

Mom's are always right.

But alas, I haven't really been keeping track of how many miles per week I've been running (except on DailyMile when I actually log-in. Hey - be my friend on DailyMile!), nor do I have days set aside to do specific runs (tempos, speed, etc).

With all of that being said, my last few runs have given me a little boost of confidence that, yes, I will be able to maintain an 8:15 mile pace for 26.2 miles on Sunday, October 2.

Monday, August 15th - 17.01 miles at 9:31 pace (including an extended stop at home without stopping my watch)
Sunday, August 14th - 8.05 miles with 6 miles are marathon pace (whoops, those 6 miles clocked in at 8:03, 7:56, 7:55, 7:52, 8:00, and 7:59), 8:19 pace overall
Saturday, August 13th - rest
Friday, August 12th - 6 miles at 7:20 pace (whoopsies again! This was supposed to be an easy 4 with a few 100-meter pickups).
Thursday, August 11th - rest
Wednesday, August 10th - 11 miles at 8:10 pace
Tuesday, August 9th - 8.5 miles with 5 x 600 meters at 10K pace (technology free run, no splits)
Monday, August 8th - taught Spin class + 4.2 mile run at 7:51 pace
Sunday, August 7th - rest
Saturday, August 6th - rest
Friday, August 5th - 20.01 miles at 8:55 pace

I really really hope I am on track to qualify. If I don't do it at Twin Cities, I need to find another marathon to run in November sometime.

Hmmm....maybe I could find one in England??!

en route

2011-08-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

Approximately 30 days late, I finally managed to put together birthday gifts to send to Ike (Iraq) and Maddie (Sweden) and get them in the mail.

#worstsisterever

Happy Birthday Ike and Maddie! Since the both of you are celebrating big mile stones (Ike = ~~ancient~~ 30, Maddie = 25) I thought I would help to extend your celebrations by sending your gifts in August...

pounding the pavement

2011-08-13T07:59:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I laced up my sneakers for what was supposed to be a quick run before heading out to a friend's house for dinner.

The plan, an easy 4 mile recovery run with 6-100 meter pick ups.

The outcome, a speedy 6 mile run at 7:20 pace with 9-100 meter-ish pick ups, and a few tears.

That's right, I totally cried on my run. This is a rarity and I think it has only happened three times before yesterday. Once, on my first ever 20-miler with about 3 miles to go I just couldn't take it anymore and started sobbing. The second and third times happened towards the end/at the end of both the Fargo Marathon and Grandma's marathon. Those were tears of joy.

Yesterday's tears were of the frustrated type.

What brought them on? A few stressful weeks of work/life and actually listening to the lyrics of Katy Perry's Firework song.

I listened to the song over and over again while pounding all of the stresses of life out on the good old country road.

It helped, if not only for the time being, but I came home feeling like a new woman. I think this song needs to be my theme song for the next few weeks/months while I try to strike a better balance in my life.

what i wore

2011-08-10T08:49:00.001-05:00

Thank you all for your comments on what I should wear to the two weddings that we attended the last two weekends!

Here is what I ended up wearing:

My cousin Kasey's wedding My friend Nancy's wedding

And in case you haven't been able to tell by my lack of posting lately, life has been extremely busy. I need to strike a better balance between work, running, being a good wife, and being a generally happy person. I have never felt so out of whack and I really don't like it. I need a day (or three) to breathe and get my life in order. I am just not sure when I will have time to do that!

cheers to 4 years

2011-08-04T08:14:00.000-05:00

Today, Nic and I are celebrating our anniversary pretty much the only way we know how - totally lame style, and this year, apart.

You see, our anniversary ~~typically~~ always falls on a day that I have a meeting for work that I just can't miss. So I beg and bribe Nic to pile in the car, sit through an hour + long meeting (sometimes, he might scout out the area and play some frisbee golf or something) and then we rendezvous at a local restaurant for dinner and drinks.

Sucks, but there is nothing I can do about it.

This year, we are spending the day apart because my best friend Nancy decided to honor a tradition now five years in the making, by getting married on the first weekend in August. Okay, so people may have been getting married on the first weekend in August for many moons, but when it comes to my "group that tries really hard not to be a group" of friends from high school - this weekend tends to be the weekend.

Leah & Tony - August 5th, 2006 (Happy golden anniversary tomorrow!!)
Kier & Nic - August 4th, 2007
Nancy & Nick - August 6, 2011
Who is next? - August 4, 2012

So while I am up here trying to do anything I can to help Nancy get ready for her big day, I am sending a lot of happy anniversary wishes to Nic who is working his butt off at home.

"Cheers to 4 years, here's to 1 more!"

Three year anniversary
Two Year Anniversary
One Year Anniversary - no post.
We're Married!

Let's take a look at how we've changed through the years

From top left: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, the night Nic proposed (December 2005), dating life.

Also - be sure to wish Bree and her hubby a happy golden anniversary too!

spar for the spurtle - steel cut oats with wild rice and dried blueberries

2011-07-27T22:15:00.000-05:00

Okay everyone, I have a confession to make.

I LOVE steel cut oatmeal.

In fact, I love it so much that I had my manager at Hy-Vee order me a 25 pound bag of Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats.

Crazy?

For sure.

But I seriously love the stuff. I eat it every morning for breakfast and enjoy a huge bowl of it before all of my long runs and races.

Plus, when you order in bulk like that, you can share it with your friends and get a super duper good deal.

So, when I heard about Bob's Red Mill Spar For the Spurtle contest, I knew I had to enter. The rules, create a dish using Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut oat and post a short video detailing how to make it. Scary, right! A video...of me talking?! By doing so, I was taking a step out of my comfort zone, but it was fun and funny...

Just see for yourself...

This dish I created featured Minnesota's own, wild rice and I must say, I was quite pleased with the end result. This is a quick dish (30 minutes or less!) that you could whip on on a Saturday morning and impress your friends and family. Who knew oatmeal could be so good?!

The prizes are awesome for winning this contest. Bob's Red Mill will select three finalist to go to Portland to compete in a live cook-off and the winner of that will travel on to Scotland with the Bob's Red Mill team to compete.

So, watch the video, laugh at {and with} me, but most of all, make sure you "LIKE" the video on YouTube. The more "likes" I get, the better the chances I have.

Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top like me!!

And if you were to share this and tell all of your friends to like the video too, I would be so very appreciative.

You could even tweet this - "I just "liked" @KierInIowa's submission for #sparforthespurtle and you should too! http://youtu.be/c94ZcbTvDrc"

vlog

2011-07-27T09:15:00.000-05:00

Yumm....that bowl of oats looks good, right?!

Like, so good that when I post a video (yes!) of me making them (hopefully tomorrow) you will 'like' it, right?!

Because I really need you all to like to video to help me win something big.

Kier's first vlog...coming soon!

zucchini soup

2011-07-25T23:28:00.000-05:00

After admitting to the world that I have an entire case of peanut butter patties on top of my fridge, I thought I'd better make up for it with a big old bowl of vegetables.

Ha.

Just kidding.

But I really had no idea what we were going to have for dinner and I just started pulling a bunch of stuff out of the fridge, including one very large zucchini and decided to make soup.

Because it was like 86* and nothing sounded better than a steaming hot bowl of soup.

{raise your hand if your haven't set foot outside all.day.long...}

Basil Zucchini Soup

In the mix::

1 t olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 medium new potatoes
2 cups broccoli
4 cups zucchini
1 cup carrots
1 t red pepper flakes
1 t garlic powder
1 T lemon juice
2.5 cups veggie stock
1/2 cup basil, loosely packed
5 cups spinach, loosely packed

This soup really couldn't be much easier - heat the olive oil in a medium pot, add the onions and garlic and saute over medium heat. While those are cooking away, give all of the veggies a quick chop chop, and throw everything into the pot except for the lemon juice, basil and spinach.

Cook until all of the veggies are fork tender, about 30-40 minutes and then stir in the lemon juice, spinach and basil.

Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth, or working carefully in small batches, blend in a blender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with some crusty rolls!

Our crusty rolls were tomato basil rolls that I made this morning. It wasn't a kitchen success, but it wasn't a failure either.

You see, today I tried to grind my own flour.

And it worked...kind of.

I think I need to try it again before I go posting a recipe for the rolls though.

The soup was really good. I think Nic was a bit skeptical at first (it is verrry green!), but after a few spoonfuls he gave it a thumbs up. The recipe is pretty versatile as you could just throw in pretty much whatever veggies you have on hand.

Green soup...yum!

jack the cat

2011-07-25T19:22:00.001-05:00

Why hello there, Mr. Jack.

You are looking pretty comfy up there in that basket...that is sitting on top of a CASE of peanut butter patties.

That is sitting on top of the fridge.

Weirdo.

Yes, that really is a case of peanut butter patties, AKA my favorite Girl Scout Cookie ever. Surprisingly, I think I have only eaten one (cookie, not case). Shocking. I paid $20 for the entire case at an auction for Relay, the previous bidder had put down a $2 bid. That is just wrong.

in my garden

2011-07-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

From this...

To this (May 20)...

To this (today)!

My garden is really coming along (I think!). Each day that I take the time to walk through the rows to pull a few weeds, I get a little giddy seeing the fruits of my labor paying off...in vegetables!

I pulled Nic outside today so ecstatic to show him the cucumbers that are growing. Seriously people, I will reiterate, that these things we usually buy at HyVee or the Farmers Markets are growing in my garden!

Let's take a tour, shall we?

Green tomatoes, lots of green tomatoes.

Hairy sweet corn and itty bitty baby bell peppers (I think my boss might have been right when she warned me that the huge tomato plants might block out too much sun for these guys).

Salsa...er, I mean roma tomatoes (for now!).

Banana peppers and an almost ripe for the picking cherry tomato.

Jalapenos and maybe a baby eggplant? I should really look to see how long eggplants take to mature.

Maybe I will get some more HUGE squash!?

Our row of corn and a cucumber (go ahead and giggle).

More cucumbers! One of these guys will become a FOOD experiment this weekend (mind out of the gutter people!). Can you say tzatziki hummus??

Let's not forget about the basil!

I spent about 30 minutes picking this huge bowl of basil leaves this morning. The plants were starting to flower, so I thought it was about time to give them a good cut. I love basil. I plan on making tons of pesto, and chopping the basil up and freezing it in ice cube trays covered in water.

Mmmmm....basil.

This was the first tomato that we ate from our garden. I accidently knocked it off the plant a few days ago when it was still green. Its been busy ripening in our window sill. We split it last night. One bite each.

I love tomatoes right from the garden (or window sill in this case). Mmmm mmmm good!

The big picture...

If a tornado comes through this weekend (after I pick all of the veggies that are ready beforehand) and destroys the garden, I will still consider it a resounding success. I mean come on:

I grew food.

And ate it.

And it was good.

And life is good.

Garden recap:

Growing Roots - Planting of the PS garden
Farmers Market Finds - July 14 - HUGE squash
Summer Squash with Sweet Corn and New Potatoes
Vegan Summer Lasagna
Summer Squash Roundup

i never knew...

2011-07-20T06:49:00.001-05:00

Who knew water had zero calories?! Thanks Deja Blue, I will now heed the advice of everyone out there and be sure to stay hydrated during this heat wave without worrying about the excessive calories I thought I was drinking...

two weddings, seven dresses

2011-07-19T19:58:00.002-05:00

Help! I have two weddings in the next three weeks and I need to know what dress to wear to each one. Which ones are your favorites?

Who knew I had so many dresses?! Fun fact - I stole three of them from my sister's closet and one of those was her bridesmaid dress for my wedding. Can you guess which one it is? (No cheating people who were at my wedding!)

summer squash roundup

2011-07-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

So far I made a gratin and a lasagna with the summer squash I harvested from my garden last week. Both were great dishes that I would make again in a heartbeat. I kept it simple though with the last squash that was sitting in my fridge.

I grilled this baby up with just a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and brought it over to our friends house for dinner last Friday night.

Sometimes keeping it simple (stupid) is best. You can't really beat grilled vegetables.

So here is a round up of the first dishes I made with veggies from my garden:

Summer Squash Gratin Vegan Summer Lasagna Grilled Summer Squash

Up next: who knows?! Actually, I will be posting a garden update soon. Last night I took a nice walking tour of the garden and was surprised to see that we have some cucumbers, banana peppers and jalapeno peppers that are almost ready to be picked. Our tomatoes are abundant, but still green, the sweet corn is getting taller, the bell peppers are still babies, and I have no idea about the eggplant, sweet potatoes, and watermelon...

summer lasagna {vegan}

2011-07-19T05:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it is not the prettiest photo, but this Summer Lasagna that I made last week was truly outstanding. The star ingredient was the second half of the huge yellow squash I harvested from my garden last week, and when paired with the rest of the ingredients and some amazing basil hummus, I found myself "mmmmm-ing" with every bite I took.

Summer Lasagna {vegan}

In the mix::

kernels from three ears of sweet corn
1/2 large yellow squash, sliced thinly lengthwise (for your lasagna noodles)
4 new potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 candy onion, slices into thin rounds
a few handfuls of organic baby spinach
1 cup of chickpeas tossed in a teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 cup basil hummus (recipe below)

In a colander over a large bowl, layer squash and sprinkle with salt. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. (If your squash was smaller and not ginormous like mine, you could probably skip this step).

Begin preparing your lasagna by layering all of the ingredients in a 9 x 13 pan in the following order, squash, 1/2 cup basil hummus, new potatoes, onion, corn, and one handful of spinach. Repeat that layer one more time saving enough squash for one more layer, and just a bit of corn and onions to sprinkle over the top.

Top everything off with the chickpeas and bake in a 350* oven for 1 hour. Place under the broiler for just a few minutes to crisp up the top.

The dish really was spectacular and we are still eating leftovers a few days later. Every time we eat it, I ask Nic what changes he would make and he had a great idea to add a layer of sweet potatoes. I love that idea because I think the sweetness would really compliment the sweetness of the corn and it would add another layer of creaminess to the dish.

We served the lasanga up with our first tomatoes of the season, grown by someone else in town. I can't wait for all of the green tomatoes in my garden to start ripen up!

Basil Hummus
This basil might be my favorite yet. Used in the recipe for lasagna above, it does a nice job replacing the traditional cheese layer.

In the mix::

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed but save the cooking liquid
1/2 T tahini
6 T of the bean cooking liquid (or water)
1.5 T olive oil
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves

Combine everything in a food processor and process until smooth.

typical saturday night

2011-07-18T19:36:00.000-05:00

Nic and I always seem to be super busy on the weekends. If we aren't running/biking, working on projects (or just plain working), running errands, we are probably cleaning the house. Why is cleaning such a never ending chore? It seems that as soon as we get everything in order and my heart sings (my heart loves a clean house), I turn around and it is a disaster again. And I swear, it has nothing to do with my never ending cooking spree. I swear.

So this past Saturday night, after a long day of biking and running errands in Iowa City, Nic and I finally had a chance to just sit down, put our feet up and catch up on the season finale of Dexter. I instructed Nic to make sure I kept my butt on the couch and not to let me get up and do something. You see, I am notorious for starting a movie/show and within five minutes of starting it, I declare that some baked goods are necessary and we thus proceed watching whatever in five minute increments until I am done in the kitchen.

A.D.D. much?

Yeah. So Saturday, as hard as I tried to remain parked on the couch, I knew chocolate chip cookies would make the night perfect. I tried waiting just a few minutes to see if the craving would pass.

Heh.

Amazingly, when I asked Nic if he would like some chocolate chip cookies, he said yes! Normally, he shrugs it off and says he is fine. He is typically not a big sweets person, but lately he's been changing his tune. Hmmm....maybe he's preggers.

So chocolate chip cookies it was. Commence our typical Saturday night of trying to watch a show, uninterrupted...it was never going to happen.

Besides, I am totally on a quest to make a perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie with no fake butter or oil. I knew these wouldn't be it, but the end product was gobbled up in one episode of Dexter, so I thought they would be worth sharing.

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the mix::

1 cup oatmeal
2 T ground flax
2 T peanut/almond butter
2 T coconut butter
2 T chocolate chips
scant 1/4 t baking soda
and CRAP - some maple syrup, but we didn't write it down! I'd say probably about 2 tablespoons. Darn, guess I will just have to make these again!

Mix everything together and bake at 350* for 10 minutes.

They were seriously amazing, although not the perfect chocolate chip cookie I am looking for.

The quest continues...

good timing

2011-07-17T07:41:00.001-05:00

Today is my first official day of training for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Of course I don't have a plan put together yet, that would be just too smart.

But there are only 11 weeks to go, so I figured I'd better get my rear in gear.

On tap for today, a nice and easy long run of 13-15 miles.

I am dreading it just a little.

Why?

Because at 7:00AM it is already 82 degrees, but feels like 89 degrees.

And the week is only going to get worse.

Cheers! To marathon training...

summer squash gratin with sweet corn and new potatoes

2011-07-16T09:38:00.000-05:00

Remember this beauty of a photo I took last Thursday after snagging some delicious looking produce from the farmers market and my garden?

Seriously, I think I might print and frame it and hang it in my kitchen. I am sure gazing at it during the dreary cold winter months in Iowa will instantly snap me out of a funk and send me back to thoughts of summertime.

Well, after a long time baking away in the oven, Nic and I feasted on the flavors of summer.

Side by side:

Seven main ingredients + spices and vegetable stock = a simple, yet elegant, summer dish.

Summer Squash Gratin with Sweet Corn and New Potatoes

In the mix::

1/2 huge summer squash, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 sweet onion, sliced into thin rounds
3 new potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn
3 small tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds
5 basil leaves, roughly chopped (I would use more next time)
1/2 cup chickpeas
1/2 T olive oil
1 t garlic powder
1.5 cups vegetable stock
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375* and grease a nine in pie plate with a little bit of olive oil.

In a small bowl, mix the chickpeas with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, garlic powder and a bit of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare the gratin. Beginning on the outer edge of the pie plate, layer your vegeatbles in the following order; squash, potato, tomato, onion and a sprinkle of sweet corn. Continue until the pie plate is filled.

I then gently tucked the basil in between a few of the layers, however, I think next time I would double the basil and include a piece in between each layer.

Pour the vegetable stock over the vegetable layer, being careful not to overflow pie plate. You might not need the entire amount, just enough to come about one-half of the way up the veggie layer.

Gratins typically have breadcrumbs or cheese on the top, but since I had no bread and opted not to use cheese, I thought throwing some chickpeas on top sounded like my best bet. And it was a great idea. So, top your gratin with the chickpeas (or breadcrumbs/cheese) and place into the oven for about one hour.

When the vegetables are fork tender and the top is beginning to brown, turn on the broiler and allow the top and chickpeas to crisp up a bit (about 3-5 minutes).

The roasted chickpeas - my favorite part and a fabulous addition. The rest of the dish was really delicious as well. It was a simple dish with mellow flavors. Like I said above, I think I would up the basil next time around. Another great idea would be to toss the vegetables in a bit of olive oil flavored with an herb of your choice (basil, thyme, rosemary...) and let the vegetables marinate for a few hours before baking.

Ultimately, this was a great dish that highlighted a vegetable the I grew (did I tell you that yet?!) and some awesome seasonal produce that was grown right here in town.

mango banana muffins

2011-07-15T07:04:00.001-05:00

When I saw Joy the Baker's Vegan Mango Banana Bread recipe the other day, I knew I would be making it within a matter of hours. In the very back corner of my fridge was a mango just screaming to be used somehow and this recipe fit the bill.

Beyond turning the bread into muffins, I made a few other adaptations (of course) and I think the final product turned out quite nicely!

Mango Banana Muffins with a Crumb Topping
Adapted from Joy the Baker

In the mix::

3 frozen bananas
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut butter
1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt
1 very ripe mango, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup pecan pieces

For the topping::

3 T pecan pieces
1/2 t cinnamon
3 T oatmeal
1 T maple syrup
1/2 T coconut butter

Preheat the oven to 325* and grease or line 12 muffin cups.

In a food processor, process the frozen bananas, honey and maple syrup until relatively smooth (a few chunks are okay).

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add the coconut butter and mix in using a pastry knife until a coarse meal is formed. Fold in the banana mixture and finally the mango and pecans.

Divide batter between 12 muffin cups.

To prepare the topping, add all of the ingredients to the food processor and pulse just a few times until everything comes together.

Top each muffin with the topping, slightly pressing it into the batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

WHOA! Even with all the changes I made, these muffins turned out delicious! This recipe will be kept close and made often.

YUM! Check out that huge piece of mango! I think you could easily get away with adding another mango to the recipe, or swapping the mango for a peach (or two!) - now that would be great.

farmers market finds - july 14

2011-07-14T19:34:00.001-05:00

Another great night at the farmers market! But first, check this out:

That my friends, is squash that I grew in my garden.

Did you get that?

Squash.

That I grew.

In.My.Garden.

These suckers are huge - like at least 1.5 feet long. Yeah, maybe I should have picked them sooner, but they seriously grew about 4 inches every single night, so by the time I actually got out there to pick them, they were ginormous!

So being that I finally picked these suckers, I knew they hard to be the star of tonight's dinner. I asked a few people for some inspiration, and was overloaded with great suggestions. This squash will indeed be the star of tonight's dinner, as well as Friday's, Saturday's and Sunday's.

With an idea in mind, I biked to the square to hit up the farmers market. Here's my loot:

Tomatoes, new potatoes, candy onions and 13 ears of sweet corn. All for a whopping $11.

A little bit of everything + my squash, made it into tonight's dinner. It's baking away in the oven right now, so I have no idea if it is going to be good - but I can tell you this, it sure looks pretty!

How can it not taste good?

will bike for tacos

2011-07-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

Last night, our local bike club met up for their annual "taco ride." I've never biked with this group before, but Nic has and invited me to tag along.

After struggling with the decision on whether I should bike or run, I gave myself a good shake and told myself it was okay not to run and biking was just as good of a workout.

So, at 5:45 we met up with one other biker (the rest of the group had left much earlier) and made our way to Hills, Iowa.

Meet Kierstan, the slowpoke of the group.

Meet Nic's new old bike. He picked this up at a bike auction a few weeks ago and has been working on it to bring it back to biking life. I think it looks pretty spiffy.

Really, I was the slowpoke. Even though I am in great running shape, biking is a whole other beast. And as much as I love biking, when we passed a runner along the way, I really wanted to trade places with him.

I suppose the bike makes a little bit of a difference, right? I was not on a road bike and like to think that that slowed me down a bit.

The ride was absolutely gorgeous and I plan on running part of the route someday soon.

Hey Maddie - look! An Iowa State barn in the heart of Hawkeye country!

I love all of the old one room school houses that you find in our area.

A scene of the beautiful farm country we biked through - after biking a roller coaster of hills for about 5-ish miles.

We made it to Hills in about 2 hours, covering about 28 miles total. Now, I was under the impression that this biking group generally rides with the wind on their rides, stops to eat (usually pancakes) and then takes a bus back to town.

Yesterday, this was not the case. Seriously, we were biking into the wind the.entire.time.

However I wasn't complaining as there was an ice cold Dos Equis and some authentic Mexican cuisine waiting for me at the end of the 28 miles.

And...a big pink bus waiting to take me back home.

I am looking forward to doing a few more rides with this group - it was a great way to spend a Wednesday evening. Way better than sitting in front of the computer reading blogs (no offense!) or watching mind numbing TV.

Nic and I are actually going to do another ride on Saturday, the first annual Corridor Craft Ride. It's basically a 30-mile bike ride with various stops along the way at local bars that offer deals on their craft beer. Win.

fourth of july - take three: the way home

2011-07-10T22:49:00.001-05:00

After a very fun time camping (for the most part) and a great time with family celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday, Nic and I packed up the car and headed up to Rochester to grab drinks with my friend from college and her family.

Drinks turned into dinner and before you knew it, we had been there for quite some time.

I made a new best friend, she rocks.

We decided to meander our way home and weren't quite sure if we were going to camp again. Setting up an eight person tent for two people seemed a little ridiculous.

So we enjoyed the views:

{I totally turned into my mother-in-law on the way home and made Nic pull the car over so I could snap some photos...what is happening to me?! :) }

...made a pit stop in Decorah for a quick walk around town, and pulled into our driveway around 1:30AM.

It was a fantastic Fourth.

first brick

2011-07-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

As of 9:00AM this morning, I have a new respect for triathletes.

You see, silly me - last night Nic and I decided that we would join our local running group this morning for a 20 mile bike ride, followed by a 6 mile run.

Can't be too hard, right?

I mean 20 miles on a bike? I can run 26.2 miles no problem. Easy peasy.

6 mile run? That is like a recovery run for me.

My first brick workout.

You know, it wasn't too bad, and really I expected the run to be hard after 20 glorious miles on the bike. I just didn't expect it to be as hard as it was. I mean, it took a good two miles of running to get my legs warmed up to running. And I took at least four walking breaks during that six miler.

You might just make a triathlete out of me, Dan - I just can't promise it will be any time soon.

I mean, I can't even imagine doing a swim + run or swim + bike workout. Heck, I can't even imagine a swim workout right now!

Someday though, someday.

The bike - 20.9 miles
The run - 6.2ish miles
The bike - 2.92 (because I had to ride home, and might as well end at a nice even mileage.)
Total - 30.02 miles
Total time - 2:39:26

So...does this mean I shouldn't run 10+ miles tomorrow morning? Seriously.

farmers market finds - july 7

2011-07-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

Thursday, due to a change in my work schedule, I was able to hit up our farmers market. I wasn't planning on picking anything up, but after walking the stalls a few times, I had my sights set on a few things.

Apricots, yellow beans, and kohlrabi. All for $7.

#1 - What should I do with the apricots? I was thinking of trying to dry them...

They are so little and cute, I had to buy them!

#2 - Kohlrabi - it has been years and years since I've had this. I had to ask the farmer how to eat it! :)

As I strolled through the square checking out all of the other stalls, I was trying to think of what I could make for dinner using up some of the goodies that I picked up.

Two Bean Salad with Kohlrabi & Basil

In the mix::

2 cups yellow beans - cut into 1 inch pieces {local!}
2 cups green beans - cut into 1 inch pieces {local!}
1 cup kohlrabi - pealed and cut into 1 inch pieces {local!}
1/4 cup basil - chopped {from MY garden!}
3 small cloves garlic - minced
2T white wine vinegar
1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
three large basil leaves slices, for garnish

In a large pot, bring some water to a boil. While you are waiting for that to boil, prepare an ice bath. Quickly blanch the beans for 2-4 minutes (depending on their size) in the boiling water and promptly remove to ice bath to stop cooking.

Whisk together the minced garlic, chopped basil, vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the beans, kohlrabi and dressing together in a large bowl. When ready to serve, top salad with additional basil.

Enjoy right away, or let the flavors marinate in the fridge for a few hours or over night.

This was a great salad - very crisp and fresh. Perfection.

Next time, I might try the combination with a lemon-basil vinaigrette.