Greek Yogurt Madness

So after my great run yesterday, I have been striking out majorly on the fitness front. My Mom came down yesterday afternoon and I tried to take us to a yoga class. The class was called relaxation yoga, which sounded nice. However it turned out to be basically lying on the floor for an hour. Which is great for some people, but not my cup of tea. I know I should work more on being able to quiet my mind and be still, but I don't do well with still. The only way I can quiet my mind and stop the constant barrage of thoughts is through movement. Strike one. Then this morning, I tried the kickboxing and strength classes at my gym. Kickboxing was okay, but the instructor just didn't seem that into it. It's hard to have fun and get excited when the instructor seems bored. Unfortunately she taught the strength class and was even less inspired in that. It was so slowly paced and we never did enough reps for me to feel it. Strike 2. Strike 3 for the day was not fitness related. It was the DMV. Enough said. To get myself back into a better mood I decided to do some cooking when I got home. I had been to BJ's, which always means buying things in a larger quantity than I will ever need. This is a problem with things that expire, like greek yogurt. Luckily, I had my hand greek yogurt recipe booklet that the Stonyfield Yogurt people were handing out at the Life is Good Festival. Cooking with yogurt is a great way to lower the fat and increase the protein in your food. The first thing I made was this: Fall Vegetable CasseroleThis is a great way to use up any extra fall veggies you may have lying around. I used brussels sprouts, carrots, eggplant, and onions. I used way too many veggies so it wasn't quite cheesy enough for my liking. But what sauce there was, was rich and garlicky. YUM-O. And for dessert: Spiced Apple Cakehttp://www.stonyfield.com/recipes/spiced-apple-cake SOOOOOO Good! I've eaten half of it already by myself (in my defense I halved the recipe). I made it even healthier by switching half the oil for apple butter. The apple butter also made it a great dark color.

Happy 1 Week Anniversary House!

I can't believe I have already been in my house for a week. Last Sunday I remember waking up feeling slightly disoriented. I wasn't used to the sounds of my new neighborhood or the way the light came in my windows. Today though, I woke up feeling right at home. In just a week, I have settled back in. Yesterday morning I went to the kickboxing class at my new gym, Lifestyle fitness in Scarborough. It was hardcore- so obviously I loved it. I had planned on staying for the Zumba toning class afterward, but I just wasn't feeling it. The sun was calling me. Just because I could, I headed down to Pine Point beach and went for a wonderful, but windy, walk on the beach. The wind was really whipping- the surf was huge and the sand was flying all over the place. But the sun felt great on my face, and there were plenty of other intrepid Mainers out there with me. I LOVE being able to see the ocean multiple times every day. After lunch I headed over to Breezy's to watch the world championships. What a treat to watch gymnastics with someone who knows as much as I do about it. And who also sits in a split while watching! Then for dinner, I caught up with one of my friends from my Ghana trip at a cute little cafe, Verbena, right down the road from my house! I had a great salad with butternut squash, cranberries, amd sunflower seeds. I am trying to do a long run of at least 12-13 miles once a month to keep myself in shape just in case a race comes up. It is so much easier to stay in shape than to get back in shape. I was thinking about where to run as I fell asleep last night and a great route came to me. I ran over the Casco Bay bridge which is pretty exciting because you are so high up and have a great view of the city skyline and Casco Bay while the wind howls around you. Then I ran down Commercial street which is right on the waterfront. You can see all the ferries gearing up for the day, and today there was a HUGE cruise ship docked as well. Then I hopped onto the Harbor Walk trail, the East End Trail, and ended up running around the Bay Back trail before heading back home. How amazing to have so many trails that run right along the water. It was another windy, windy day but I hardly noticed because I was too busy looking at the views. 12 miles absolutely flew by! Now I am settling in with pumpkin pecan pancakes and some coffee to watch some more gymnastics. Happy weekend!

TurboFire, and Punk Rope, and Yoga... Oh my!

Now that my house is looking more like a house and less like a disaster zone, I'm making an effort to get out, explore the community, and make new friends. This is the first time I've ever lived alone, and given my hermit tendencies, I could quickly become a recluse. Last night I joined the Southern Maine Fit Club for some turbo fire. We had a big room with a giant screen and followed along with a turbo fire DVD. It wasn't the hardest workout ever, but it was fun and got me off the couch (where I had been enjoying too much biscoff spread all afternoon). Even better was that afterward I invited everyone to join Breezy and I at Jimmy the Greek's for $5 martinis and free manicures! Unfortunately we got there too late for free manicures, but I enjoyed my Gossip martini and conversation with new friends! This morning I ventured out in the rain for Punk Rope at the Portland Y. Punk Rope is a jump rope based interval class. They used to have it at the Y in Framingham, and I love it! I was a little frustrated at the class today because every time we got up to a hard work level, we stopped. I like to get my butt kicked, and I didn't get that. Oh well! Since I still had plenty of energy, I used a groupon I had gotten to go to a yoga class at Breathing Room Yoga. The studio is less than a mile from my new house, and super cute. They have a little sitting area with tea and comfy chairs, and then the open area in the back for the practice. It is an old building, with a great pounded tin ceiling with a star design. It was fun to look during class. It wasn't the most challenging class I've ever been to, but it was a warm, relaxing way to spend an hour on a dreary day and helped to get out the remaining kinks from moving. And fitting with the theme of wonderful things for rainy days, I will share this recipe for Pumpkin Oatmeal from the New York Times that I have been totally loving this week. Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Adapted from Olives NY TOTAL TIME 50 minutes Ingredients * 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice * 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon * 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger * 1/4 cup packed brown sugar * 1 cup canned pumpkin puree * 4 1/2 cups low-fat milk or water * 1 1/2 cups steel-cut oats * 3/4 teaspoon salt * Warm apple sauce, optional * Chopped fresh apple, optional * Apple cider syrup, optional Preparation 1. In a large saucepan over low heat, toast allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, stirring occasionally until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, then add pumpkin and stir to combine. Add milk or water, raise heat and bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in oats, and simmer over medium heat until tender but not mushy, about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in salt. 2. Serve with applesauce, apple and syrup if desired.

Officially a Maniac again

Hello, I am finally emerging from a very long weekend of moving. I took the red eye home last Wednesday night, packed like a maniac Thursday and Friday, loaded the truck in Framingham Saturday morning (with only the help of my Dad and Brother, since none of my other helpers showed), unloaded in Portland Saturday afternoon and then have been unpacking ever since. Well not exactly non-stop, I did take some time out to enjoy the amazing Indian summer we were having. Sunday I did a bike ride out to Portland Head Light, Two Lights State Park, and Crescent Beach. Getting used to the Maine hills again is going to be a challenge! Monday I did a wonderful run along the Maine Greenbelt out to Bug Light and then met my friend Breezy for a sunset walk at Kettle Cove. I just LOVE how accessible everything is- the beach, the city, my old friends. I really feel at home!

Holy Waffle Yumminess

I go a little stir crazy sitting in the office all day, so I like to get out for lunch. Today, I organized an outing to Bruxie, a waffle sandwich shop a co-worker recommended. It is down by Orange Circle, which is a cute, old fashioned downtown area in Orange. The restaurant is an adorable little hut with outdoor seating (luckily the rain had stopped by the time we got there.) The staff was super helpful and friendly, and we had our food in no time! I had the wild mushroom, goat cheese, arugula, and sun dried tomatoes. It was great. The waffle was thin and crispy with a light cornmeal texture. The goat cheese melted into the squares of the waffle, tangy and sour against the sweet waffle. I gobbled it up in about 3 minutes. Most of my co-workers went with the Bruxie special- the Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffle.

And I of course, could not pass up the sweet waffles. We got one Nutella,sweet cream, and bananas waffle and then one Liege Waffle with Caramelized Pearl Sugar and belgium chocolate dipping sauce. Both were heaven on a waffle.

Next time I want to try the grilled cheese with tomato and avacado and then the S'more waffle for dessert.

New Orleans Day 3

Sunday I was looking forward to sleeping in, since I was out waaay past my normal bed time Saturday night. But when 7:30 am rolled around I was wide awake. I laid in bed for awhile, just because I could, but that didn’t last long because I was super thirsty. After downing a good liter of water, I headed out on a run. I’d spent some time with the map the day before and scoped out a good route. I decided to basically run the square perimeter of the French quarter. Each of the 4 streets had a very different character. Canal street had a big city feel with high rise offices and hotel. North Rampart was leaning towards seedy and run down. Esplanade was residential with gorgeous houses and a canopy of moss covered oak trees. Then N. Peters was people clogged and touristy. The sun was bright, the wind was cool, and it felt so good to run off the excess of the night before. My garmin had trouble finding a signal, and I was too impatient to wait, so I ran just by time, which made it even more relaxing. On my run I passed a Lousiana State Museum, the Presbytere, that had an exhibition on Katrina that I really wanted to see. So after a quick shower, I headed straight there to make sure I had time to see it. Holy moly. What a powerful exhibit. I was in tears a few times. They had a lot of personal stories, either on video, or narrated by the real people, so it really came alive. They had a room with huge movie screens and powerful fans showing footage of the storm. It made you feel like you were right there in the wildness of the worst of the storm. But then they also had the stories of all the regular people who acted so heroically to save their friends and neighbors, and how the city worked so hard to rebuild itself so quickly. It was truly a story of hope and resilience. I could have stayed forever, but I was absolutely starving, and the airport shuttle was picking me up in an hour. So, I made a quick stop for the one thing left on my list- a po’ boy. I got a huge oyster and shrimp po’ boy with sweet potato fries and an ice coffee. Heavenly.

And now I’m at the airport, trying to resist one last order of bignets because the whole terminal smells like fried yummyness.

New Orleans Day 2

Saturday morning I woke up feeling much more rested than the day before and headed outside for a run. I had seen a path along the river while at dinner the night before that looked promising. It was a great spot for running- there was a strong breeze, the sun was incredible rising over the river, and there were lots of other runners. The only draw backs were that it was only 1.5 miles long and it was brick. I had to go back and forth quite a few times and the bricks were unforgiving on the body. But, getting outside was totally worth it. I started the day in a great mood. During the morning meetings, our practice finished early. So we decided the absinthe bar would be a good activity for 11 am.

Oof. I like the process of pouring it, but I did not like the taste. They light a sugar cube on fire over the absinthe and then drop water in over the burned sugar, which makes the absinthe foam and get cloudy.

After eating a good lunch to soak up my absinthe,I headed out for a walk through the French quarter. I went into the voodoo museum and just enjoyed wandering aimlessly and admiring the architecture. New Orleans is a city where you truly feel like you are in a different place. Then, I got to meet up with my friend Kyle and Molly and their new baby. The just moved to Lousiana from Maine and have been too busy unpacking and taking care of the new baby to explore the city at all, so we had a great time walking around. There were musicians and artists listing the streets and a festive spirit in the air. After an hour of walking we stopped at café Bignet, because no visit is complete without bignets and café au late. Nothing hot and crispy and covered in sugar can ever be bad. Good thing we split an order, because I would have too easily polished off the whole basket.

After they left I glammed myself up for cocktails and dinner. We had cocktail hour in an atrium in the middle of the hotel. All the noise and debauchery of Bourbon street was completely gone and it was like being in the French country side. After the formal dinner (so, so good), we all changed into comfier clothes and then hit up Bourbon street. I was determined not to be a lame bum 2 nights in a row. At night, the street is just insanity. It’s loud and bright and smelly. People are shouting all around you and different music blasts from every door way. The people watching is fantastic. We went to a bar with a flaming fountain in the middle, where I drank a giant and huge hurricane (I had to try at least one!). The night got pretty hazy from that point out, but it involved a mechanical bull, a dance club, and pizza at some point. I can say I gave Bourbon street all I had.