Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October 11, 2009

Easy Vegetable Orzo

Looking for a comforting healthy meal for those cold evening nights? How about an easy recipe to look forward to after your evening workout? How about a quick meal that you can feel great about when serving it to your family? Nutrition facts of Orzo: 1/3 cup: 210 calories Total Fat: 1g Total Carb: 41g Dietary Fiber: 2g Sugars: 2g Protein: 6g What is Orzo? Orzo is an Italian word meaning "barley". Orzo is commonly mistaken for rice, when in fact it is a rice-shaped pasta made of hard wheat semolina (purified middling of durum wheat used in making pasta). Orzo, which is very small compared to regular pasta, is found in soups, pilafs and casseroles and is also common in vegetarian dishes. Orzo is very popular in Greece and can be found in many Mediterranean dishes. This is Karel's recipe so I give all credit to him. He makes this meal in the microwave but since I don't know how much water he uses, I will give you stove-top directions to save you from burning your orzo. E

State RR and Fixed gear bikes

Sunday was the last official race of Karel's 2009 road bike season. Karel had decided that the US 100K classic in Sept was the last race-race of the year but with Ocala being less than 2 hours away from us, Karel and Jeff decided to race the road bikes, just one last time, until 2010. I was designated "water girl" for the road race so I was looking forward to my duties of passing bottles to the Jeff and Karel at the feed zone (skipping ahead, I was flawless in my 12 water bottle hand-offs on Sunday). Aside from an occasion IM-specific workout in the summer, I'll skip any Sat or Sun workout to watch Karel race. I just love traveling to races, watching him on his bike, the cycling environment and of course, taking pictures. Campy was spending the day with bman and with Laura (bman's mommy) doing her first 14-15 mile run to gear up for the Jacksonville marathon in Dec. (which I am super happy about coaching her) I wanted to be sure that I wore out Campy before I drop

Almond Tilapia, Sweet Sunflower Seed Couscous and Red Beans

I've got something for everyone in this meal. For the vegetarian, the red beans complement the Couscous very nicely. For the fitness enthusiast/athlete, you have a great source of protein with two very healthy sides. For the individual seeking weight loss/maintenance, you should feel super satisfied for every bite of this meal. Nutrition facts for Tilapia: 3 oz serving Calories- 82 Total Fat - 1.45g Total Carbohydrate - 0g Protein - 17.08 According to an article on Mayoclinic.com , titled "Catfish and Tilapia: Healthy or harmful" (by Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.), Tilapia is a great source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Furthermore, eating 3 ounces of fish, twice a week, can be beneficial for reducing blood pressure, risk for cancer and inflammation. There is a lot of controversy regarding the ratio of long-chain omega 6 fatty acids (134 mg in Tilapia) to long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Considering that Tilapia is one of

Fruit and Nut muffins

Here's my recipe, you pick what fruit and nuts you want to use. Enjoy! 1 cup chopped/sliced fruit - I used strawberries and peaches 1/2 cup chopped nuts and/or dried fruit - I used bulk trail mix from Whole Foods 1 tbsp flax seeds 1/2 banana (mashed) 3 ounces low fat yogurt - I used strawberry 1/4 cup skim milk 1 tbsp honey or agave nectar 1 tsp ginger 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon 1 egg 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract 1/8 cup soy flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup extra raisin, Raisin Bran cereal 2 tbsp chopped dark chocolate Water (in 1/8 cup servings) 1) Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees 2) In small bowl, mix together egg, milk, vanilla, honey and yogurt. 3) In large bowl, mix together cereal, flour (soy and whole wheat), cinnamon, ginger, flax seeds and banana until everything is well mixed. 4) In large bowl, add wet mix and stir. 5) Slowly add water (1/8 cup at a time) until you can easily stir through mixture and batter barely drips off the spoon. 6) Fold in chocolate and your choice of nuts and

Trek Breast Cancer Awareness Ride

What a great weekend. After a fun group ride at 7:15am on Sat morning, followed by an unplanned 15 mile Time Trial to get me back to the Trek Store by 9:45am, I joined Karel, Jeff and many others for the first ever national Trek Breast Cancer Awareness ride. Karel and I were really worried about the turnout but for the inaugural ride we were pleasantly pleased with the number of people supporting breast cancer. Trek had a bunch of goodies (helmet, light, etc.) for a raffle and Trek gear (pink socks, t-shirt, water bottle) for each of the riders. The best part about the Trek ride is that all the money ($25 per person) for the ride goes directly to breast cancer. The Trek Corporation really went above and beyond to give Jeff all of the great swag to give the riders, for Free. The 20 mile ride was fun and I met a lot of nice people. I enjoyed seeing Karel on his new fixed gear bike (which he just built on Fri and early sat morning) and I LOVED his bright pink handle bar tape. I must say t