It's Christmastime!

Ho ho ho and holly jolly and all that cheery stuff!


2010 has been a pretty good year for the Winters. We both have jobs, we have a teenager who still likes us and our cats only throw up occasionally!

Moving into 2011 James and I hope to keep our jobs, buy a house, keep up the exercise and really nail down some diet/food changes. Nick's working on A's (he's currently around a 3.0 gpa) and his goal of 24/7 computer gaming (good luck with that one buddy).

I had a New Year's Resolution at the beginning of 2010 to do the C25K (Couch to 5k) and then run the Portland Shamrock Run 5k. I succeeded at that and found that I like running so much I'm still doing it, I even made it easy on myself and made the resolution for only a 3 month time period in case I really hated it (because obviously, per it's name, the Shamrock run is in March).

For 2011 I don't have a specific resolution but I do have a few goals: I'll run the Portland Shamrock Run 10k (instead of 5k) and will run the Sound to Narrows in June in Tacoma. I keep toying with the thought of a half marathon but that thought goes away every time I go out on a run and realize how long 13.1 miles really is.

Merry Christmas to my family and friends, you all are what make life worth living. My wish for everyone I know is the same: health, happiness and good fortune :-)

Love Anne

The food experiment continues with glute-free biscuits

Oh my goodness, these biscuits were so good! We put some honey inside and ohhhhhhh, yummmmm. They look kind of flat in the picture but I think that's because I didn't make them thick enough. I rolled them thinner than the recipe calls for.

Biscuits

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour, plus extra for dusting the dough (I used Bob's Red Mill)
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup butter (soft but not melted into liquid)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together butter, eggs and agave
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a nice dough forms
4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1 ½ inches thick
5. Dust dough with extra almond flour if it is sticky and/or misbehaving
6. Cut the dough into biscuits using a mason jar with a 3-inch wide mouth
7. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until biscuits are browned on the bottom edges
9. Serve with gravy, jelly or whatever else your heart desires
   recipe courtesy elenaspantry.com

Paying Attention to Food

Lol, well, I always pay attention to food! What I really mean is I want to stop taking shortcuts and start eating more REAL food rather than processed pre-packaged food.

I really feel like I could do better with my choices of food and I know I can provide better foods for Nick. I'm stuck in a rut of buying pre-made stuff: meatballs (full of meat and god knows how many other fillers and additives), chicken nuggets (full of chicken and god knows how many other fillers and additives), boxed this, pre-packaged that.  Nick's stuck in the habit of going to the bag of chips or pretzels or goldfish or whatever, when he's hungry. You know....they tell people goldfish are a good snack. But really? Come on.

Our family doesn't NEED to eat gluten-free or sugar-free, at least not for any medical reason. But I think the recipes that ARE gluten-free or sugar-free are healthier and use as replacements items that are of other benefits...higher in protein or healthy fats (as in almond flour) and such.

I'm not making any radical changes. But am making changes where I know I can make them. I feel like I've got the exercise and fitness part of my life working well and on auto-pilot, now it's time to concentrate on the diet.

So here are a couple things I've made recently, all taste just as good or better than the pre-packaged stuff, cost less money and make me feel good about eating and serving them. In the case of the chicken nuggets and meatballs I made huge amounts and froze them in small vacuum sealed packages for use later.

Chocolate Chip Brownies
(These are so good, chewy and chocolatey!)

1 (16) ounce jar almond butter
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups agave nectar (or honey)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender
2. Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla
3. Blend in cocoa, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips
4. Grease a 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish
5. Pour batter into dish
6. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes
   

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

3-4 chicken breasts, diced into chunks
1/2 c. mayo
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp yellow or dijon mustard

Breading:
1/3 c. sesame seeds (optional)
3/4 c. almond flour
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt

Put raw chicken pieces into mayo mixture and coat well. Then roll in breading mixture. Place on a cookie sheet that is covered in foil and greased. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until cook through and browned.

Homemade Meatballs and/or Meatloaf

2 lbs ground turkey
2 lbs ground beef
1 bag crushed pork rinds
1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup A-1 sauce
2 eggs
3 Tbls yellow mustard
salt
pepper
Johnny's seasoning
garlic poweder
1 cup pureed carrots
1 cup pureed broccoli

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, form into meatballs or meat loaves. Bake at 350 until cooked through and lightly browned.

Note: The pureed carrots and broccoli can be baby food (seriously!) or you can cook and puree your own. Either way works great for adding sneaking veggies into the food. Just be sure the baby food you choose doesn't have any additives or fillers.

Jingle Bell Run = Christmas Fun!

Nick and I ran the Jingle Bell Run together. We put bells on our shoes, Santa hats on our heads, drove to downtown Portland and had a holly jolly good time. We arrived at a parking garage that was about 4 blocks from the starting line. I had pre-planned this so new exactly where to go....off the 4th street exit, straight down 4th to the Smart Park (street parking is free on Sundays but there wasn't a spot anywhere and we had no time to drive in circles.).

By the time we parked, got our hats, gloves and etc on and headed towards the race we had 10 minutes to spare. That was good and bad. 10 minutes meant no standing around in the cold waiting for the start, 10 minutes also meant no time to wait in the honeybucket lines, arghhh, that's tough news for a morning race (i.e. lots of coffee!). Since Nick always takes off fast and leaves me in the dust, we agreed on a meeting place and then positioned ourselves towards the middle of the pack at the start line. A few minutes later and we were off!

It was a nice flat course, an out and back on Naito along the waterfront. There were around 3000 participants (according to the announcer) and it was a crowded race. I passed a lot of people and got passed by even more. It was the kind of race where everyone dresses up and just has a good time. I liked the out and back course, it was the first time I've run one of those and I really liked seeing the front-of-the-pack runners heading back towards us. I never get to see the people who win, until today!

Nick and I ended up finishing about 30 seconds apart from each other because he stopped and waited for me at around mile 2. We ran the rest of the way together and about a half block from the finish line he smoked me and sprinted away.  I'm really proud of him for having a positive attitude and finishing strong, he was great company the whole time and for a 13 year old who'd rather be in bed on a Sunday morning, that's saying a lot!

Oh yeah....and I got a 5k PR so Merry Christmas to me! Time today was 36:48. My next 5k will be under 35:00 (ultimate goal? under 30:00 in 2011).

I got passed by THIS!, it scared me for a second until I got a good look:

Running is fun again! (unless you're on a treadmill)

Late last May I was forced to quit running because my knee was behaving badly. So badly in fact that there were some days I struggled to even walk. Then I went to physical therapist who recommended ASTYM along with specific exercises and I recovered. Slowly. I walked most of July and didn't start really running again until August.

Since then I've been running regularly, haven't had so much as a niggle or a twinge and have been able remain consistent, even increasing my mileage. I really think what got me into trouble in the first place was the running group I joined. Not that they were bad....just that I'm stubborn and competitive and when things didn't feel right I'd be damned if I'd slow down and walk. Oh no. I kept the pace with that group....much to my eventual dismay.

By running on my own, without the peer pressure from the group (they didn't really pressure me, I put that on myself, but still....), I was able to walk when I needed to. And now, six months later, I'm running 5, 6 even 7 miles without thinking! One of my goals is to increase speed, but my main goal is, and will always be, to stay healthy, enjoy it and remain consistent.

My monthly mileage stats tell the tale:

June:    8 miles
July:     8.4 miles
Aug.:   26.2 miles
Sept.:   41.6 miles
Oct.:    62.5 miles
Nov.:   56 miles

In all those months I never ran on a treadmill. Every mile was outdoors in the rain, sun, hail and even snow. Last week I thought to myself, "hey, I think I'll run on a treadmill for a change of pace!". Ha, Ha.

It turned out to be horrible. I had forgotten how boring treadmills are. I struggled through the first mile, my feet felt like LEAD and I took a walk break, looked down at my mileage and I was at .88. Oh geez, I knew then that I was in trouble. When you run outside there's no stopping or you don't get home, but not on a treadmill.

Then I made it two (long, painfully slow) miles at which point I switched from music on my ipod to a podcast and did much better, listening to the conversation distracted me more than music...then three miles, then made it four miles! I walked a lot during these miles because it was just so easy to stop. I hate that about treadmills.

By the time I got to four I figured I might as well go five. So for the last mile I did ladder-climbs to break up the monotony. I could see the stopclock over by the indoor track so I used it to run for 30 seconds at 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5 and then did it again. And yes, I know some people WALK at 5 mph but I'm not claiming to be a fast runner.  (In case you're wondering, I didn't use the timer on the treadmill because I had the screen covered so it wouldn't distract me. Plus I hate how other people at the gym will look at my treadmill screen and make me feel like I'm being judged--yes it's in probably all in my mind but still.....).

Hey the ladder climbs worked! They kept my mind occupied for the last mile and I'm sure will help me get faster. My lesson learned was that the treadmill could be good for me if I do speedwork drills on it and leave the fun, mileage busting runs for the great outdoors. 

The Grotto at Christmastime

In Portland there's a mysterious place near the airport and the Swedish furniture store that is hidden on a hill, behind a forest of trees. I've always known it was there, you can see the giant cross lighting up the night. In fact, the cross is visible from Washington. A long time ago my mom mentioned as we were driving by on the freeway that she went to a Catholic retreat "up on that hill". I've been curious about it ever since.

On Thanksgiving one of my brothers mentioned that his choir was going to sing at The Grotto during the Festival of Lights. This was awesome for a couple reasons:

1. The choir was from St. Charles, the church we went to when we lived in Tacoma and also the place where Nick went to school.
2. We'd have a perfect excuse to finally go to The Grotto!

So we went and it was really cool. The Christmas Festival of Lights has ½ a million lights, the largest Choral festival in the Pacific Northwest, puppet shows, The Grotto Carolers, a petting zoo and outdoor theatrical performances. We walked around and saw the lights, then headed indoors to hear the choir who sang beautifully as expected.

The thing that surprised me about The Grotto was that it is much larger than we could see that night. There is an actual GROTTO that was lit up and had a nativity scene  inside, above the nativity was a sheer cliff. I'm sure in the daylight it is very impressive but in the dark was hard to see. There's an elevator that can be taken to the top where (according to their website) "there are 62-acres of manicured gardens and walking paths. There are numerous chapels, statues, walking paths and reflective spaces on the upper level. The Upper Level Gardens are possibly the best kept secret in Portland as well as one of its largest green spaces."

So I guess I STILL can't say I've really been to The Grotto, since we only explored a fraction of it. But I'll go back on a spring day, to do some walking and meditating. It sounds gorgeous up there.

Picture of the Day 11/25/10 - Happy Thanksgiving!

I went on a run along Ruston Way this morning. Enjoyed the peace and calm before the Thanksgiving feast. One of the things I am most thankful for is my health, and the fact that I CAN go for a run.

Picture of the Day 11/24/10 - Snow Day, No School.

The best day when you're a kid! Who cares that it's only an inch of snow?

Picture of the Day 11/23/10 - A welcome house guest

Picture of the Day 11/22/10 - Slow food and boys who cook