It's baaaack........ (and I finally join the modern era)

After a wonderful year mostly free of the horrible plantar fasciitis that plagued me for 3 years, it is back. It isn't terrible but I am feeling some definite twinges (or niggles as my friends over at Marathon Talk would say). While niggles is fun to say, it isn't so fun to say.

It is my own fault, I've been lax with my calf and foot stretching and I've spent a lot of the summer barefoot or in flip-flops. I do not want this to turn back into the debilitating pain I experienced before, so I am immediately taking action to get ahead of it. I am not slowing down on my running, because I have to be pretty much dead to do that, but I am spending a lot of time with an ice pack on my foot.


My flip-flops are lying in a neglected pile in my closet while I wear my lovely arch supporting Birkenstocks.




And perhaps worse of all, I am back to sleeping in my lovely boot. Not so much fun when it is a million degrees out, it makes my foot hot and itchy. Also, I tend to roll over in the night and kick myself hard in the other shin. So now my shins hurt too. 

On a more positive note, I finally, finally joined twitter. I don't know what took me so long. I currently have a whopping 0 followers. Who wants to be my first follower?

https://twitter.com/KierstenDawn


I also finally got on the black bean brownie train. Again, I'm a good five years behind the trend, but better late than never. My intention at ourdoor yoga last night was joy. I certainly felt joyful watching the water, feeling the grass, and swaying in the cool breeze as I practiced at Fort Williams and decided the best way to continue the joy when I got home was by eating brownies for dinner.

I used the Dark Chocolate and Black Bean Brownies recipe from Eat Good 4 Life as inspiration, but halved it and made further modifications to healthify it. Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:
Yields 10-12 servings

1/2 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup tablespoon unrefined sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 egg
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place parchment paper in a small baking pan.
 .
Place all the ingredients except chocolate chips and walnuts in a food processor or blender and pulse thoroughly until smooth and well combined.
.
Pour batter in the baking dish. Top with nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for 20ish minutes or until the top is dry and edges begin to pull away from the baking dish.

 I ate these immediately after they came out of the oven. They have a slightly different texture than normal brownies, they are soft and fudgy, but without the super chewy edges (probably because they are so low in fat), but were delicious. I made a substantial dent in the pan. Joy indeed.