Lately I have been running a lot.  I had begun to train for a half-marathon, but have put that on hold for the time being.  I had a heel injury that led to some blood work, that led to some results that say that I may be doing more damage to my body than good by doing so much cardio & endurance training.  So, that left me in quite a quandary.  I had discovered that I loved to run.  It was such an outlet, a stress reliever.  Plus, I was excited to train and run in a race.  However, after doing some reading & researching, I made the decision to put the race on hold for now and back off on my cardio a bit.  I started to read about the PACE program by Dr. Al Sears, MD.  This program was very hard to wrap my mind around at first.  All the information on cardio & aerobics that I had ever been taught or read about was blown out the window.  High intensity intervals with periods of recovery are much better for your body.  Endurance training shrinks your muscles to make you more efficient, your heart is one of those muscles, as are your lungs.  Smaller lungs mean loss of  lung power.  Dr. Sears found that Dr. Dean Ward uncovered clinical evidence connecting the loss of lung power to aging and that lung capacity is the key indicator to how long you will live!  Fascinating stuff, really. 

So, my workout at the gym this AM consisted of an interval session that last roughly 26 minutes, including warm-up & recovery periods.  I think I was more worn out from that than I get from running for 7 miles!  As far as mileage goes, I only logged a total of 3.5, that includes my cool-down walk.  30 minutes.  I then headed to the free weights and did some are work and also used my own body weight to do dips, push-ups & ab work. 

Now, for those of you who know how high-strung I am, I can’t believe I am saying this, but I have started to “practice” Yoga and am really, really enjoying it.  I haven’t ventured outside of my house yet to practice to save myself a lot of embarrassment.  I have been using yogadownloads.com and I just discovered Dave Farmar and the podcasts that I hope to try out tomorrow AM.  What inspired this you ask?  Well, first, the need to stretch.  The running makes for tight leg muscles.  Secondly, Tina at Carrots N Cake is doing a 31-Day Yoga Challenge and I thought this was a great way to learn some yoga, stretch my body and possibly learn some new ways to relieve stress & learn some new relaxation techniques.   I am excited!  It is a new challenge for me, a sort of goal, if you will.  If I do all 31 days, great.  If not, no biggie, it is a great place for me to start.  So far, so good.  I have done 3 days of yoga.  Yesterday was a short, 15 minute session, but tomorrow AM will be a longer 30 -45 minute session as it is a day off from the gym and I want to wake up refreshed and start the day with a great positive attitude. 

My overall goal is to be healthy so that I can be around for my kids & family for a long time to come.  🙂

It is often that Jon and I have a difference on opinion.  Things like homework, TV, friends, bedtime, eating veggies.  It is not often that we have a difference of opinion on gluten-free food, baked goods, to be more specific.  The other day I made some Baked Banana Donuts.  I based the recipe on one I found here.  Obviously I had to make some changes to make the recipe gluten-free.  The changes I made were:

Changes

1/2 tsp Xanthan

3/4 tsp Guar Gum

2 1/4 cup Bette’s Four Flour Blend

Coconut (shredded) to tops for baking (should have been added towards the end)

What I noticed……a little dry.  Not much oil in the recipe.  Maybe some applesauce, like 1/4 cup for moistness.  I never made the frosting due the the coconut I put on part of the donuts.  Maybe frosting would have helped with the dryness?  Now, Jon absolutely loved them.  He didn’t say a word about them being dry!  LOL!  So, maybe a recipe to play around with and add either more oil or some applesauce or even pumpkin to moisten it up. 

As listed in the original recipe, they do call for frosting.  I just opted not to do it.  Guess I should listen next time, huh?  LOL!

Last night Jon had a hockey game right after his baseball practice.  This left Hannah and I without any time for dinner and with the hockey game not starting until almost 7:00 PM, waiting until after the game was not an option.  Jon has to be at the game about 30 minutes beforehand, so I dropped him off and Hannah and I headed out in search of something to eat.  I didn’t want fast food…..too much of a risk of CC and there were plenty of other restaurants around.  Question was, which one would be most accommodating to my GF diet.  I hadn’t dined at any of them, except Ruth’s Chris & The Fish Market, both of which were a little more than I wanted to spend on a quick dinner.  So, I saw Champp’s and decided to give it a try.  I figured at the very least I could ask them to slap a burger in a clean frying pan and make me a dry salad (I carry dressing in my purse in small packets ~ made by Kraft).  I asked to speak with the manager on duty and she immediately said there would be no problem and headed off to get me a print out of what would be safe for me to eat. 

The manager returned with a nice print out of many things that would be safe for me to eat.  There was chili, several different meal salads, burgers, grilled chicken, fajitas (sans tortillas), steak.  WOW!  I was impressed!  I ended up ordering the Cobb salad with grilled chicken.  They had several GF dressings, but I stuck with my Kraft Light Balsamic that I carry with me.  I know there are no onions in it; those make me almost as sick as gluten.  My salad was HUGE and very, very yummy.  Way too much bacon, black olives &  egg, but still very yummy.  Next time I know to order light on that stuff.  $9.99 for that….great deal.  I will definitely be adding this to my list of places to eat GF safely.  🙂

March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb, isn’t that how it goes?  Well, the weather sure seems to be following this pattern, well, at least today on March 1st!  LOL!  Last week we had mild temps….50s & low 60s.  It was nice.  Today, high winds, cold & snow flurries.  I am counting my blessings that we don’t live in the South (how often do you hear from Ohio say that?) because they all seem to be getting more snow than we are!  Atlanta is getting 3-4 inches!  OMG!  Unheard of. 

Well, my meal plan last week went out like a lion!  LOL!  The whole thing was shot to heck!  Baseball & hockey got in the way.  Then sales at the grocery, you know how it goes.  It probably won’t be much better this week.  Aaron & Jon are still in Erie for a weekend hockey tourney and won’t be home until late tonight.  Mon & Tues. will both have baseball practice and a tournament hockey game.  The rest of the week will include daily baseball practice, but at least the hockey is over, or I think it is.  So, here is my tentative plan:

Sunday ~ Breakfast for dinner (omelets, sweet potato hash browns & toast) Baked Banana Donuts for dessert (recipe to follow)

Monday ~ Burgers or Black Bean Burgers, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, & salad.

Tuesday ~ Take Out or quick stuff after hockey

Wednesday~ Herb Pork Roast that got booted last week, mashed potatoes, veggies & salad.

Thursday ~ Leftovers (I am going to get my hair did!!!  😉 ) 

Friday ~ Homemade pizza (hoping to get a pizza stone before then to try out), veggies & salad

Saturday ~ Shrimp Scampi over spaghetti squash or brown rice pasta, veggies & salad

Baked Goods

Baked Banana Donuts

Bread

Coconut Macaroons

Carob Fudge (I finally tracked down all the ingredients!)

So, I read many different blogs over the course of the week.  Some are strictly gluten-free, others are based on healthy living (eating & exercising).  I have run across many bloggers making “Overnight Oats” a lot recently and it really piqued my curiousity.  I have been in a breakfast rut for quite a while.  Eating what is familiar and what I know can get me through the better part of the morning without having to snack.  I have been eating 2 brown rice cakes, 2 TBSP peanut butter or Barney Butter, 2 egg whites mixed in with 1 Roma tomato & fresh basil.  I also have a couple cups of coffee and sometimes some tomato juice.  I eat around 7:00 AM and am hungry by 9:30 AM.  I am sure some of this is due to the fact that I go to the gym 5 mornings a week, before breakfast.  So, I need something with more staying power.  Whole grains are tough to get when you are gluten-free, as so many contain gluten.  So, this is one reason the Overnight Oats appealed to me.  I have had Lara’s GF Oats (Cream Hill Estates) before, but just a small simple bowl topped with berries.  I believe I talked about it here.   Tina at Carrots N Cake posted not too long ago about Overnight Oats.  I decided that today was the day to try them.  Last night I readied up my bowl and put it in the fridge.  Here is the play by play:

Overnight Oats

1/2 cup oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill Certified GF Oats)

1/2 cup milk (could use soy, almond, rice milk or water)

pinch of salt

Cover & stick in fridge overnight.  Mine were in for about 12 hours, maybe a little less.

This AM….

Added 1/4 cup canned pumpkin

cinnamon ~ dash

vanilla ~ dash

Cooked for 1 minute, then stirred & covered again.  Cooked for another minute, then stirred & covered again.  Cooked for 30 seconds more.

Then I topped with 1 TBSP White Chocolate PB and 1 TBSP PB and 1 TBSP Boysenberry preserves. 

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  So creamy and all the flavors….WOW!  I am going to play with the toppings the next few times.  Maybe some walnuts, cocoa or carob powder, chocolate chips, coconut.  I also am going to add in some ground flax seed meal next time for the extra fiber boost.  Wish I could do fruit….banana would ROCK in this!

BTW, if you find the the mixture to thick after sitting overnight, you can add more milk before micro-waving. 

I was full a little over half way through the bowl, but finished it because it was so darn good.  I stayed “satisfied” for over 4.5 hours!!!  I wasn’t really “hungry” for lunch until about 12:30.  WOW!  Now, today was my day “off” from the gym and I only did yoga this AM, so the real test will be having this to eat after a good workout and how long it holds me over.  I don’t have anything against eating snacks, and enjoy eating them, but I don’t always have time and if I know I have a super busy day, I can eat this instead and not be starving by the time I can get to eat.  I am one cranky person when I am hungry. 

Sorry I didn’t get a picture.  It was a big bowl of goop that tasted amazing.  One of those “ugly” foods they talk about on Tina’s site in the comments. 

I saw this on my friend Brandii’s site .  Looks like fun!

So this is how it works: The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise.
There’s a small catch… You knew there would be, didn’t you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you’re in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive a gift. Give it a try!

The last week of February is upon us.  Why sometimes does it seem that the shortest month of the year seems to last the longest?  I honestly believe that it is because the weather is miserable and illnesses are running rampant.  We have been fortunate to have a slight warm up here in Ohio, but today it is back to cold & a smattering of snow on the ground.  I look forward to March and the prospect of warmer weather.  I know that it can and does snow in Ohio in March, as evidenced by the 20 inches we got last year in March from 1 storm.  It was UGLY and not something I wish to have repeated this year.  I look at the end of February as the signal that the end of winter is near.  This week also happens to be the start of Lent, Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and that means that Easter is not too far off, 46 days to be exact. 

This year for Lent I will be giving up gluten.  Ha ha…just kidding.  LOL!  No, seriously, I will be giving up wine.  I remember as a child we used to give up candy or soda pop (not that we ever had these 2 items freely anyway).  I don’t drink an overly abundant amount of wine, but I drink enough and I love the taste of my cabernet or pinot grigio with dinner or my dark chocolate with some good red wine. 

Onto the meal plan:

Sunday ~ Salmon, brown rice (steamed), veggies & salad

Monday ~Shrimp Scampi Alfredo, veggies & salad

Tuesday ~Herbed Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes & veggies, & salad

Wednesday ~Lasagna, steamed veggies, bread & salad

Thursday~ Mexican Pizzas or soft tacos, corn, & salad

Friday~ Homemade pizza, veggies & salad

Saturday~Out or leftovers

Baked Goods for the Week

Bread

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (modified to be GF, of course)

Carob Fudge 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Yum, yum and more YUM!!  The first time I had Dagoba Chocolate was last Spring when we went to Atlanta to visit my sister & her family for Spring Break/Easter/Noah’s Baptism.  Kelly (my sister), had her in-laws staying with them as well for Noah’s Baptism.  Nancy, Kelly’s MIL, was kind enough to bring Jon & I some wonderful gluten-free treats.  Among the treats were Pamela’s Brownies, Jennie’s Macaroons & a Dagoba chocolate bar.  I remember my first bite of that chocolate bar and it was pure heaven.  I believe that it was the “milk chocolate” one. 

I was in Whole Foods the other day looking for carob powder and I ran across the Dagoba chocolate shelves.  Not only were there more than a dozen varieties to choose from, but they were on SALE!  Darn sales!  Who passes up chocolate on sale?  Not me!  LOL!  So, I bought myself a “New Moon” 74% Cacao Dark Chocolate Dagoba bar.  OH.MY.GOD.  Have I really gone all these years without having good chocolate?  What was I thinking?  Not that I don’t enjoy a good Hershey bar or Special Dark, but now I found out what I have been missing.  An added bonus….according to Dagoba’s FAQ they don’t handle any products made with gluten, making cross contamination virtually impossible! 

The package:

The back has my favorite quote: “You can deprive the body but the soul needs chocolate”

Okay, we all know that I *heart* chocolate, right?  Well, when I happened upon these cookies at The Gluten-Free Homemaker’s site, I just knew that I had to make them.  I modified the recipe, slightly, as I had some pre-mixed GF flour mix that was already opened and needed to be used up. 

The recipe as I made it:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

2 1/4 cup GF Flour Mix (I used Bette’s Four Flour Blend)

3/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. butter, softened (2 sticks)

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 small box instant chocolate pudding (Jell-O brand is GF, as is Wal-Mart)

2 eggs

2 c. (12 oz.) chocolate chips (I used part semi-sweet, part milk chocolate; dark chocolate would ROCK!)

Combine the flours, gum and baking soda in a small bowl. In your mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and pudding and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat again. Gradually add the flour mixture. With a spoon or spatula, stir in the chips and nuts if using. Drop by spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

The results…..A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!   I have never heard Jon moan & groan over how good a cookie/dessert was before.  They were melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey goodness.  Holy YUM!!!  We then immediately started brainstorming over the other flavor combos we could make.  We came up with butterscotch pudding with caramel chips; chocolate pudding with caramel chips, peanut butter pudding with peanut butter or chocolate chips, chocolate pudding with PB chips, lemon pudding with some kind of add in, though we aren’t sure what, maybe coconut?  Very versatile, moist and delicious!  You MUST try this recipe!  Thank you, Linda, excellent recipe! 

Are your hands just a mess right now with the cold weather & dryness?  UGH!  My hands are just a mess.  I feel like I am constantly washing them.  I am sure that is adding to the nightmare that is in the form of cracks in the skin along my thumbs.  OUCH!  I try to remember to lotion up, but I literally wash my hands so much I am not sure that it helps.  Not only do we have gluten in the house, with my making sandwiches out of Whole Wheat bread for my daughter, but I baby-sit a little girl and after changing her diaper or wiping her nose, etc, I am washing my hands.  I am currently using Curel Targeted Therapy Hand & Cuticle Cream.  It works well, when I remember to use it or don’t wash it right off.  For more targeted treatment on the cracks, I have been using Aquaphor or Bacitracin and then covering with a band aid overnight. 

Anyone else have this issue?  What do you use for hand care?  All the products I use on my hands are gluten-free.  I know that gluten can’t be absorbed through the skin and isn’t an issue unless you have Dermatitis Herpetiformis, but if I eat with my hands, that could be a problem.