First we had technical difficulties when my computer decided to stop working. It had to be sent across Canada to be fixed. Fortunately it was.

Of course like many things, once you get out of habit it can be difficult to get back into habit.

But I’m hoping things will be back to normal blogging (aka not very scheduled, but still something once in a while) soon.

But thought it was worth popping in to say hello, I’m alive.

How did I do?

Mindful March: really good. I kept a pretty good record of all my eats, moods and everything. And I actually went back over it too. I can’t say any trends stuck out to me, but it was interesting.

Cardio: did not make this goal. I got out on my bike 2-3 times per week, but there were some days of epically odd weather ( = rain, snow, sun, and hale). So that put a little damper on things. The last couple weeks have been good since I’m on a dragonboating team and that gets me pretty pumped.

April

So April is here, and the weekends have been feeling like Spring. The days are longer and the sun is finally out when I get out of bed in the morning. I’m feeling pretty energized and motivated, a lot like my old self, and damn does it feel good.

So I have some goals for April.

Mileage: I’d like to hit some mileage goals for biking and for running. For biking I’d like to get in at least 90km this month (~30km a week) and for running 30km (~10km per week). Both might sound low, but hey with strength training, dragonboating, and having a life, I feel this is doable.

Strength Training: continue follow New Rules of Lifting for Women, at least 2x/week (which I’ve found works best for me. I get really tired if I fit in any more than that…).

Mindful April: continue being mindful. And incorporate more mindful meals into my week. As someone who lives alone I have a tendency to turn on the TV or computer while I’m eating, but I know that eating without distractions helps us tune into our body’s signals better. I’d like to get at least 3 mindful meals a week.

So that’s it for April. Obviously I’m upping the ante a bit here. Added an extra goal. But I’m really excited. Running has felt great lately and while it’s slow for me(I run a 6minute Km right now, and I have run a 4.5min km in the past) it’s still good. And cycling of course.

Dragonboating is a challenge and half since it’s not something I’ve done much of (spent one summer doing it, but on a very casual/recreational basis), so the technique will take a while, and most of the muscles are not as “well used”.

Anyway, what I want to share with you guys today is the recipe for the spicy almond sauce from last week that I showed a peek of.

Yup, I’ve been having lots of it. I actually made a big batch that can sit in my fridge and I can use for an easy meal any time.

Spicy Almond Sauce
Makes roughly 9-10 2 tbsp servings.

1/2 cup Almond butter
1/2 cup water
1-2 tbsp Siracha (or other hot sauce of your choice)
1-2 tsp soy sauce**

1. Mix all ingredients together until they are a consistent colour. (I used a blender, easy-peasy).
2. Enjoy! Over noodles, vegetables, rice, edamame, or whatever floats your boat.
3. Store in jar or airtight container in fridge.
** I’m not a big fan of lots of soy sauce, it was such a strong flavour. If you like a more salty flavour though, swap out some water for more soy sauce.

Notes: you could totally use any nut butter in this (hmmm spice peanut sauce anyone?) and adjust the ingredients to taste. I found equal parts almond butter to water to be the best ratio but you could definitely add more or less for a different consistency.

Lately I haven’t really felt like writing much of anything for the blog. And idea comes, an idea goes, and I just keep doing other things.

Lately I’ve been sick of seeing so much grey.

Seriously! This time of year I’m ready to give winter the boot and get into some serious spring weather. Unfortunately this hasn’t happened quite yet. Winter is have a final death rattle before going down; we’ve had days of rain, sun, wind, snow, and hale, all within minutes of each other!

Lately I’ve been craving cardio, and have gotten out on my bike as much as weather permits. I’ve also started running a bit more again.

Lately I’ve been thinking about signing up for a race or two this summer. Maybe running, or trail running, or a triathlon, or something like that. Just a thought, but I have been seeing what’s around the island this season.

Lately I’ve been enjoying a lot of this delicious meal:

(Spicy Almond Sauce with Soba noodles, edamame and Napa cabbage)

And some of this meal:

(Mexican Black Bean Salad)

And a whole bunch of these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Lately I’d been craving oatmeal cookies like mad, and finally made followed a recipe that was edible. (I’d experimented the week before with the result being a mound of ruined cookies).

Lately I’ve been super excited/impatient for the long weekend because I’m going to Vancouver to see friends and family. We’ll see a Canucks game, go to the movie theater (where I live has a theater with movies that are 2-3months old, kinda like movies on an airplane), go shopping. It’ll be grand.

In fact I leave today, so really I need to go, get a little bit of work done and then head to the airport.

This post came to mind earlier this week, or rather last week, when I joined some friends for board game night, or rather nerd night as it’s being affectionately called.

The guy who organizes the nights asked me at one point what I thought of the new Hobbit movie.

“It’s long,” I replied, because it was.

“Oh,” he said shaking his head regretfully, “I almost gave you nerd cred there.”

It had happened, someone called me out on my lack of true nerdiness – but wait let me explain just what I mean a little bit more.

This comment is part of a series in my life recently, which at first glance might not seem to connect. I had a friend comment early in January when we were skiing that I was obviously a really good athlete. The comment made me really uncomfortable, and I couldn’t figure out why (after all shouldn’t that be a compliment?).

Back in November at brunch with friends, another friend commented, “But you’ve always been really healthy” (on the topic of me being a dietitian). Again I felt really uncomfortable (and bit my tongue from curtly asking, “And what does it mean to be “really healthy”?).

Mostly these comments made me feel like a fraud, because despite the fact that yes I am “really healthy” and I am “a really good athlete” these descriptors have never been ones I’ve considered myself to be belong to. These are not boxes I felt I truly fit in; I was neither born an athlete, nor the most crazy health zealot I knew.

My athletic abilities came from being born to a family who valued sports and had the means to provide me skiing and skating lessons. My healthy habits were also learned and self taught, and often include chocolate on a daily basis (which in my mind negated all the other healthy habits I had). And I am nerd in that I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, but I don’t necessarily go so far as to read anime, comics, or really play video games.

But mostly I always thought; I’m not enough of a nerd/an athlete/a healthy person  to really fit myself into the boxes. And this means someone will call me out on it (such as at nerd night) if I do call myself a nerd, or athlete or whatever, eventually someone who epitomizes the box (the stereotypes) of these will call me out on it; well you’re not a real nerd or athlete or whatever. This is of course perfectionist thinking at it’s finest; I’m not good enough to be the stereotype, so I can’t actually be part of the box, to use to describe myself.

But on the flip side it bothered me when my friends put me into those boxes, as though they are stationary things, as though I just showed up on this planet and fit into the boxes of being an athlete or being healthy. And it all comes down to me being more athletic or more health conscious than they consider themselves.

Maybe I should just accept the compliment. Or maybe I should not worry about it. But I’m not sure I will be able to stop feeling uncomfortable when someone stamps a label on me as a compliment, nor will I ever fully enjoy self-imposed labels either. After all does it really matter if I’m a nerd, an athlete, or someone who is health conscious? Do these definitions become the be-all end-all?

I really think that while these labels do come from my actions, they aren’t necessarily what should be important in life; after all they reduce me a couple characteristics that don’t allow much wiggle room. Even self-labeling is really about how others see you or how you want others to see you. I kinda just like being me, no boxes, no perfectly-fitting-into-the-stereotype. Just me, and my random collection of interests.

What have you experienced with labels or boxes? Self-imposed (or restricted) or otherwise?

I’ve been making lots of bread lately. There is nothing as fantastic as homemade bread. Fresh from the oven, slathered in butter (or peanut butter, both are delicious choices).

I originally based my recipe on this one. The bread from Foodess’ recipe looks sort of like the photo below when sliced:

The recipe always made a hell-lotta dough, and I’m only one gal so I started simply making smaller batches. I know baking is an exact science, but for some reason, I just don’t listen to the rules. I did use similar ratios of water:flour, but I also just add flour until it gets the dough to the right consistency.

Here is what I’ve been eating recently though:

Whole Wheat & Flax Bread

Ingredients
1 tbsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 cups lukewarm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups white flour
0.5 cups ground flax seeds

Directions
1. Place yeast, salt and water in a large bowl. Add flour, and with a whisk mix together. Continue to add flour until all is mixed. As the dough becomes tougher, switch to spatula, then your hands (sort of kneading) so that all the flour is mixed in.
2. Place dough in a bowl (I oil the bowl + dough a bit so it doesn’t stick), allow to rise for 2+ hours (Mine probably sat for 3.5 or so). Once doubled in size, punch down, then allow to rise again (can be placed overnight in fridge if you like as well, it is this overnight rise that I believe really leads to the more “artisan” type loaf).
3. After the second rise, divide in half. Shape both halves into loaves and allow to rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400F about 20minutes before you want to bake the bread. Place a small baking pan in the oven at this time. When you put the loaves into the oven, pour water into this baking pan, the steam helps make awesome crust. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Before you cut into a fresh loaf, wait a good 15-20minutes! I’ve had many a crushed and misshapen loaf of bread due to impatience. So wait a little while; it will still be warm and melt that butter perfectly, don’t worry.

And voila! Delicious homemade bread!

Embarrassing because I’m a dietitian, and really should know better about some things, you know? It started because I’d been feeling pretty tired and run down for quite some time. A part of it has likely been due to being burnt out, but still I wanted to eliminate any other possibilities.

So I went to the doctor and asked for some blood tests. We chatted, I said I was the dietitian in town, and when I told her what I was thinking might be up she asked me, “So if I need to send you to a nutritionist, who would I send you to?” (She was joking, I think)

But about a week later, the results were back, and indeed as I suspected my iron was low. I’m not anaemic, but I am on my way, the iron storage molecules, or the ferritin as it’s called was low.

I’ve been a vegetarian for going on 10 years now. And I’ve also always been very active, lots of running, that sort of thing. That combo (and being a woman) often leads to low iron, if not anaemia. And while I watch what I eat, I was paying more attention to balanced macronutrients rather than getting iron-rich foods.

So what did I do? I’m supplementing for now, but I’m also increasing my intake of iron rich foods; beans, legumes, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. I’m also watching my intake of Calcium foods (bye-bye cheese!).

And this prompted a remake of my roasted vegetable soup!

The change? Instead of coconut milk, I used beans, along with the red pepper and tomatoes for Vitamin C powerhouse (vitamin C is iron’s best friend when it comes to absorption!).

Red Pepper, Tomato & Bean Soup

Ingredients
4 Red peppers
4 ripe tomatoes
4-5 cloves garlic
Olive oil, salt and pepper
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth

Directions
1. Slice tomatoes, peppers in half, drizzle with olive oil and roast in 400F oven for 30-40minutes. Roast the garlic as well, covering the cloves in tinfoil, and removing closer to the 20-30minutes mark.
(at this point you can allow to cool and store in the fridge until you want to make the soup, or make it all at once…)

2. Place half of everything (vegetables, garlic, beans, and broth) in a blender. Puree until smooth, and transfer to a pot. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

3. Bring to a boil (just barely, you don’t want that burnt tomato taste), then lower heat and allow to simmer for 15-20minutes.

4. Serve!

Notes: This soup definitely has a different texture, not as creamy. It is very hearty and filling though.
Variations: I actually wanted to try it with the squash, not the tomatoes, but there wasn’t any left at my grocery store here! Both Red peppers and Tomatoes are strong in vitamin C, so you could use one or the other and replace the other vegetable with something like squash, or sweet potato for a very hearty and filling soup.

Anyway, with that tidbit, I’d like to talk about my March Goals. I talked about at the beginning of the year not creating goals, but instead setting an intention (which seemed to be the cool thing to do, and really I’m not very good at being cool, never have been).

And mostly I’ve been okay goal-free for the past couple months (and even the fall before that). But as I’ve settled into working, and living in the “real world” I’ve started to itch for some goals.

They’re pretty simple, and they are as follows:

1. Mindful March: I read about a really interesting project on this blog. She kept a journal for 100 Days, recording eating, workouts, other important life aspects, and her moods on those days. Seeing if there was a trend. I’d like to do the same, I’m starting with March, but maybe it will go further, who knows?

2. Cardio: My workouts for the past 2-3 months have been hitting the gym for some weight lifting. As March is here, along with some awesome sunny weather, I can feel an itch to get out and run/bike/go fast. Where I live is a lot of small towns all about 50 kilometers apart, a long term goal of mine is to bike to all the respective communities by the end of the summer. Obviously this means I need to get into some serious cardio fitness. So my goal is to get out on my bike 3x per week, in the morning before work (yay Spring Forward). This week I’ve simply started getting up earlier, and next week with the sunrise being an hour earlier, I’ll get out on my bike Mon/Wed/Fri.

So those are my two goals. I’m definitely 90% confident on goal #1, but closer to 70% on goal two. This is mainly because I haven’t really had the discipline in the last couple years to follow through on cardio workouts (no idea why), but I’m hopeful I can make it happen now.

If a small Blizzard is so delicious, a big one would be even better.
If exercising for an hour a day is good, exercising two hours every days is even better.
If the recipe calls for a couple teaspoons of spices, a couple tablespoons will be even better.

Of course, whenever I acted on these ideas (which in my head may not have been as clearly stated as they are here) there would be unforeseen consequences.

Of course the idea that more is more is not new, and it logically makes sense; increase the portion of your favourite food, increase your satisfaction. Want to get leaner, stronger and fitter faster? Exercise more! Want a recipe to be really amazing? Add more of the flavour! It is simply the next logical step.

A medium sized blizzard would not lead to increased satisfaction but rather an increased stomach ache.

Exercising for 2 hours did not lead to greater gains in strength, and in fact was probably more detrimental to strength and fitness then it was to increasing them.

More spices did not in fact create a more delicious meal, but rather unbalanced all the flavour and created some interesting concoctions (to say the least).

One of the things I’m really working on is changing the more is more mentality. It’s closely related to it’s friend the all or nothing mentality. I find in my journey the more is more has taken different forms; from more in terms of comfort food, to more in terms of more deprivation or more punishment. At different points I have also confronted the more is more mentality in different areas; first in quantities of food eaten (as a teenager) then in cooking (leave the spices along, or adjust slightly!) and most recently with exercise.

I love exercise, but what I’ve realized is sometimes rest is really important. And this pas year, with school ended, a new job starting, and finally entering the time of “adulthood” I’ve been more moderate with exercise then ever before. I’ve often taken as much as two days off a week (GASP!). This is new for me, I pride myself on my athletic behaviour, so there are moments that test me. The idea of simply allowing myself to have a complete rest day is tough some days.

But all those little niggling fears (you’ll gain weight if you don’t, you’ll lose strength) haven’t really come to pass. I feel rested, and I have energy for work and learning, (guess not having all my muscles using up those glycogen stores means more for brain right?) and it’s been great.

Has anyone else experimented with less is more?

I made this soup earlier this week when I had some friends over for dinner. Originally my plan was lasagne, but after talking with another friend over the weekend (and she mentioned how she’s been making this roasted vegetable soup) I changed my mind.

So on my way home I stopped at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. Honestly it was a bit of a whim, but I threw it all together, and what do you know, it turned out amazing. Creamy (I did use coconut milk), flavourful, delicious but simple

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Squash Soup

Ingredients
4 Red Bell Peppers
1 Medium sized squash
4-5 cloves of garlic (<—you could totally use an entire bulb, go for it!)
1-2 tbsp Olive oil
1 can coconut milk
2 cup vegetable broth
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare the red pepper, squash, and garlic for roasting. De-seed the pepper, and squash, chop them into reasonable sizes. If using cloves and not an entire bulb of garlic, peel. You can cover in olive oil in a bowl for an even coating, or simply go chef style and sprinkle some on once the veggies are on the baking sheet.

2. Roast the veggies until they are tender. Probably 20 minutes or so. This step can also be done the night before you make the soup.

3. Place about half the veggies, half the can of coconut milk and half the broth in a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into a large pot on medium-high heat.
4. Repeat step 3 with other half of ingredients.
5. Heat soup for 10-15minutes until it is hot and fragrant.
6. Serve with fresh bread. This soup is also great a few days later, so bring leftovers to work and eat it in front of your jealous coworkers.