Bowl of Berries

One warmed leftover Flying Biscuit oatmeal pancake topped with microwaved apple and yogurt mixed with a bit of maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon.  Must make oatmal pancakes this weekend!

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

Scottie and I got in around lunchtime from Va Beach, twas a lovely trip as usual filled with lots of food, laughter and uh…adult beverages!  Got lots of great stuff for Christmas, 75% of which was race/trainng related including an Augusta 70.3 race entry from Scottie!  It takes place during my birthday weekend and nothing says Happy Birthday like a Half Ironman!  Only 10 months to train!

Mom and I did lots of cooking as usual, including the star of the Christmas Dinner:

The 10 lbs Baby Jesus Ham! Seriously that thing was massive!  My Dad’s company sent it as  Christmas gift and I think we made about 3 meals out of it in 3 days and I took some home and I know Mom still has enougyh left to feed a small country….give a man a ham feed him for a week?

Mom and I talked about the weekend menu for a good 4-5 days and we both though Sweet Potato biscuits would be the perfect vehicle for day 2 of the ham, so pulled out a recipe I have had since 2002 and crossed my fingers my inner Mama Dip came through.

Well she did because these were so good!  We made “sandwich” size biscuits which means they were about 4 inches in circumference, perfect for a breakfast sandwich.  They were easy to make and were even better the next day!  I think I am going to make more lady like sized biscuits for this coming weekend when I visit my very Southern Grandparents in Elizabeth City…oh that city girl still knows her biscuits!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
4 cups self-rising flour**
1 stick butter, melted
pinch of baking soda (I omitted any additional since I made self rising flour)
1-1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar

Mix together the sweet potatoes, butter, and milk until well blended. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and sugar. Shape the dough into a ball and knead about 8 to 10 times on a well-floured board. Roll the dough out 1 inch thick and cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.Brush with melted butter. Bake in a greased baking pan in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown.

Makes about 15

** Mom didn’t have self rising flour but this is what I used for the recipe:
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Back when I had DVR I would always tape the Rachael Ray show, not sure why really because she can annoy me at time, I would usually fast forward to what she was making for dinner and if it didn’t interest me that episode would be immediately deleted.  Every once and a while she would feature a Bottom of the Jar recipe which would use that little bit left at the bottom of the container.  Well the Bottom of the Almond Butter Jar method ha spread like wildfire through the healthy living blogworld and since I too was nearing the end of my jar, I decided I must try this.

I made these after an 11 mile run a few Saturdays ago.  Weird for me to want hot oats on a really hot day but I think I was looking for the satiety and oats always does that for me.  I used the Kath method for whipped banana oats and poured it into the jar.  Be aware the jar gets HOT!  So I quickly moved it to the kitchen table to cool a tad.  I paired the oats with a juicy peach and I was set for hours!

I then decided to use up the last of my greek yogurt by making some muesli!  I love making this as it can be done the night before and makes eating on the go very easy!  I combined about 1/2 cup of oats in with the rest of the yogurt (about a half a cup) then splashed in some milk, added a bit of oat bran, ground flax, brown sugar and a few slivered almonds and golden raisins.  In the morning I chopped up another juicy peach and breakfast was done!  No dishes and the container is recyclable!  I made this before my open water swim clinic a few weeks ago and it lasted a good 4 hours.

So think about making up some of your own bottom of the jar recipes!

I was once again faced with an abundance of over ripe bananas due to the “scratch and dent” produce bin at Harris Teeter and my inability to pass up a bag of bananas for 50 cents.  I have been chunking up said ripe bananas and freezing them for Green Monster smoothies but thought I would bake up some muffins to enjoy with my smoothies in the morning.  I have a go to banana bread recipe but I can’t help but experiment with new recipes so after a bit of searching I found this recipe from Recipe Girl.  I love that this recipe doesn’t have a load of sugar in it (my go to recipe has a cup of white sugar- eek!) and already uses whole wheat pastry flour.  The original recipe called for chopped apricots but I decied to throw in pecans instead because we have about 4 pounds in the freezer plus I thought they would add a nice crunch.  The chopped dates should not be substituted or left out as they add great little pockets of sweetness and moisture, I used Medjool dates.  They are a bit expensive but I am in love with these dates!  I also baked these as muffins as opposed to a loaf as they are just easier for me to throw in a ziploc and into the fridge.  I am keeping all baked goods in the fridge these days so as to avoid premature moldiness- not good eats!  So just nuke these in the microwave for about 20 and if you feel so moved, slather on some almond butter for extra protein!  So good!  I think these come in just under 150 calories per muffin but don’t quote me on that as I am too lazy to figure out the exact details myself

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins
Adapted from Recipe Girl
1¾ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
3 Tbs (packed) light brown sugar
2¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
8 dried dates, chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 large egg
3 medium very ripe bananas
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup skim milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray  12 count muffin tin with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in chopped dates and pecans.

3. In a separate bowl, mash bananas; add egg, vanilla and milk & stir well. Pour onto flour mixture and stir gently just until blended.

4. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely before removing from tin.

I came downstairs this morning to this!  One of my favorite breakfasts…2 eggs over easy/medium over whole wheat toast, fruit, coffee, and the morning paper!  I love the little surprises of life :)  I also love the fact that Scottie and I have time in the morning to sit and have breakfast together just about every morning.  With all of the craziness of training and work and social events I feel like that is really “our” time to talk and start the day off right.

We got up a bit earlier this morning as we were increasing our swim distance, we did 400 meters consistently (or so we think, we kinda lost count of our laps!)  We then did a few 100’s then a bunch of 50’s and finished with 4- 25’s.  I felt so good this morning, not as tired as I have been after other swims.  I have been tweaking my stroke and breathing and I think I have found a good groove.

In other news we signed up for another tri, this one is in two weeks!  The swim and bike distance are much shorter then the “big” tri in July so we are going to use this one as our “training” race.  It is a pool swim as opposed to the open water swim of the one in July and it should mimic the one we watched a couple weeks ago.  I am so excited and I feel like it will really ease my nerves when the big race comes in 25 days!

Also, I am taking Scottie to Boston for his birthday weekend!  He is a HUGE fan of Boston and of the Red Sox (which pains me as a Yankees fan) so I saw they were playing that weekend and I bought tickets, found a great hotel (at a great price!) and just booked the plane tickets today!  I wanted to wait until the tickets were delivered on Monday but I ended up telling him last Thursday at dinner…I couldn’t contain it any longer I was too excited!  So now I will begin researching things to see and places to eat, we will be doing a nice seafood dinner on Saturday night and then the game on Sunday afternoon (his actual birthday.)  It’s wont be quite as research intensive as the CA trip since Scottie spent many years in the Boston area growing up, but I am still looking forward to coming up with our itinerary

Meatloaf is on the menu for tonight, and not the healthy kind I have been making so it shall be interesting!

This is one fo those “don’t knock it till you try it” recipes.  Even when I was making this I had doubts.  When Scottie asked what was for dinner, he turned up his nose at the mear mention of tofu, stating that he “wasn’t a fan.”  So I was ready to order Papa John’s after we had the first taste.  Luckily, pizza was not needed.  This stuff was good!

I altered an AllRecipes recipe,  switching out the spinach for fresh broccoli that was just delivered.  I also added an egg for good measure to make things bind, thought I think you could easily leave that out.  I also added some sliced deli ham to give it more flavor, again you could leave this out or substitute some other meat or meat like product. I cut back on the cheese significantly for obvious calorie reasons, this is a recipe where a little good quality, bold flavored cheese goes a long way. Oh and I used more tofu then originally stated as 8 oz. didn’t seem to be enough to me, I also used a softer tofu not firm but I think either will work once it is processed.

I did cheat and use a frozen crust, I had it leftover from Thanksgiving and I am on a mission to slowly start eating through the pantry and freezer.  I only had a few bites of crust but Scottie said it was the best part- gee thanks!  I added a side salad and the meal was complete.  Scottie inhaled 1/2 the quiche so it was either ravenous hunger or complete tastiness that made him do it, I like to think it is the latter.

Broccoli Tofu Quiche

1 (16 ounce) container tofu
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 head of broccoli, steamed
1/4 cup diced onion, sauteed
2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 slices of deli ham, chopped
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a food processor, combine tofu, milk and egg; process until smooth, adding more milk if necessary. Blend in salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine broccoli, onion, Cheddar cheese, ham and tofu mixture. Mix well, and pour into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle a little cheese on top if desired.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until set and golden brown on top. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

After a really mediocre run last night (my knee is acting weird) I decided it was time to get in the pool. Luckily Scottie and I were on the same page so we got our lazy butts out of bed at 6:30 to go to the pool. 6:30 may not be early for some people, but I HATE getting up in the morning, absolutely hate it and I wait until the very last minute to get up. Luckily it was pretty warm already and the water was not as cold as I expected it to be!

Now I will preface this by saying, I am not much of a swimmer. Apparently when my Grandparents took me to swim class when I was a wee tyke I screamed bloody murder. So I didn’t get the swimming gene, that was passed onto my sister. I kinda taught myself to swim when I was about 12 and Steph says I look like a drowning dog. Oh well, I keep myself from drowning for the most part. Last summer Scottie and I tried to swim a few times and I was ok, but since I didn’t really have a goal I didn’t really stick to it. Now that we have decided to sign up for this tri I now have a goal!

I realized pretty soon that my form was not going to be perfected before this race, I just needed to get my endurance up to be able to do 750 meters, which we calculated to mean 30 laps in our community pool. Ugh, I almost died after the first lap! But I did 4 laps at a time, 3 times and felt pretty good about that. I alternated between my modified, head out of water freestyle stroke and breaststroke. My hearts has never beat that fast! I forgot how tiring swimming was! We both got out of the water and drove home and I think we both could have gone back to bed, it really took it out of us. So we have our work cut out for us. I think instead of 2 swims a week we will increase it to 3 or 4 just because we really need to get stronger and I can make that sleep sacrifice so as to not end up drowning in Harris lake. I also think I will nix the weight lifting until after the tri, I just think it will be too much and swimming will give me enough of a workout for my stick arms.

Luckily I was thinking ahead last night and prepared my breakfast before bed. Meghann posted about a muesli she made yesterday morning and since the spinach and egg white omelets are nearing the end of their appeal I figured this would be a great, filling breakfast after a workout.

Last night I combined :

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 T. oat bran
1 T. ground flax seeds
2 T. golden raisins
2 T. sliced almonds
a drizzle of honey
1/2 cup non fat plain yogurt
sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top

I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.

This morning I topped the bowl with a tablespoon of almond butter and a sliced banana.

This bowl was FILLING!  As in I couldn’t even finish it!  It was also a bit drier then I would have liked, so next time I will thin the yogurt with some milk.   I loved how everything softened up though and the easy prep allowed me to take my time and eat at the table with Scottie, felt like a leisurely Saturday morning, except for the whole dragging my butt to work thing.   I will certainly be making this again, especially on mornings we have a hard workout!

Smoothie in a Stella glass with a paper towel backdrop- classy!

I started the day of green with some GREENS!

Angela over at Oh She Glows makes these “Green Monsters” which I just had to try.  I made it once with spinach and carrot and had a hard time choking it down but this morning I used some leftover baby kale (about 3 big handfuls), a couple small carrots, a cup or so of milk, a tablespoon of flax seeds, some ice cubes and about 1/2 cup of pineapple!  Pineapple was the key as it takes away some of the bitterness of the greens and made it much more palatable for me.  I have made a green smoothie before using less greens and adding in pear and orange juice but I like that the green monsters have less sugar and more greens!  I am surprised that I am still not hungry even with just a smoothie for breakfast.

We are taking the day off from exercise with 12 miles on Sunday and 3 very painful miles last night I think the bodies need a rest!  So I am watching what I eat today as I know there is a Guinness and Onion Soup on the menu tonight!

What better way to start the day of love then to have a nice warm mug of pink hot chocolate! So cute and yummy!

Valentine’s Day this year was pretty normal for Scottie and I, though I thought we would start the day one of Scottie’s favorite breakfast dishes, quiche.  I found this to be interesting the first time he told me, quiche is not considered a “manly” food but then again Scottie is pretty set in his masculinity.  I found a pretty basic recipe and added some ham to it to bulk it up.  I cheated and used frozen pie crust as I have not yet mastered pie crust but I don’t think either of us cared.  This took no time to whip up and soon we were enjoying a nice breakfast and the beautiful sunshine outside.

And I was treated to some lovely flowers as well. Not a bad Saturday!

Broccoli, Ham, and Cheese Quiche

2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped fresh broccoli
1 cup chopped ham
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables and ham into crust and sprinkle with cheese.

Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables, meat and cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

Scottie is always giving me a hard time about the fact that I never make waffles for him, so I made a point to add it to the Thanksgiving menu.  Unfortunately, it got pushed back in favor of a much easier cinnamon french toast but I did not back out on my promise, I made these last weekend and they are really good.  This recipe makes a TON of waffles, like 10 waffles or so, I would make them for a crowd or freeze some for a busy morning.  Scottie likes his waffles “soft” (as in not crispy) because that is the way he had them in boarding school, and these waffles were perfect for him.  If you want a crispy waffle, try separating the eggs adding the yolks to the wet mixture then whipping the egg whites and folding them in at the end, that should help.

Next time I will add some caramelized pecans and maple butter to the top but for a busy Saturday this did the trick!

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon(s) baking powder
2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
1 teaspoon(s) ginger
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon(s) cloves
4 large eggs
2 cup(s) buttermilk (I used half whole milk and half skim milk with a touch of white vinegar)
1 cup pumpkin purée
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

Preheat a waffle iron. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside.

Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin purée, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and cook the batter in the waffle iron as recommended in the manufacturer’s instructions. Repeat with remaining batter.