Posts Tagged by spinach
Orange Carrot Juice
| January 28, 2014 |
So I finally broke down and bought a juicer. I love my Vitamix but some times you just want a juice. There are definitely pros and cons on both sides of the juicing-blending spectrum. Since I bought my juicer, I really can’t say which one I like better.
Blending vs. Juicing
When you juice, most of the fiber is stripped from the fruit. However, with the lack of fiber, fresh juice requires minimal digestion giving the digestive system a break. The concentrated form of nutrients can be more quickly absorbed in the body. That being said, that also means the natural sugars from the fruit and veggies will also be absorbed quicker and can cause a spike in blood sugar levels.
Blending only breaks down the fruit you put in so all the fiber is left in there for you to drink. It’s still in a liquid form so it still delivers nutrients faster than eating the whole fruits would be, and without significantly spiking blood sugar levels due to the high fiber content. However, if you’re comparing how much fruit and veggies yielded one cup of your drink, juicing uses more fruits and veggies, packing in more nutrients. And when blending things like carrots, it is very unlikely you will get a juice consistency without watering it down.
Having now been juicing for a week (supplemental to solid foods), I do think despite the fact that juice is not rich in fiber like smoothies are, it does not mean it won’t “clean you out.” Haha! So really, it’s personal preference and up to you to do your research. There really isn’t and answer to which is better for you because our bodies all take what we eat differently. But I CAN tell you I am kinda addicted to my juicer now. It’s super fun! I already have some more juice recipes planned for you all 🙂
Orange Carrot Juice
Macros: Fat 1g, Carb 56g, Protein 4g
- 2 oranges (peeled)
- 4 large carrots
- 1 apple (cored)
- 1 cup fresh spinach (or one large handful)
Follow your juicer’s instructions and juice those babies! Feel free to try different apples and figure out which is your favorite. I personally went the cheap route and bought a bag of whatever was on sale. Recipe should give you 2 servings as a snack or one serving if you’re having it as a meal. (Macros were calculated on the whole recipe, not by servings.)
And if you’re new to juicing, my friend Catherine from Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth wrote a great post called “Juicing for Dummies.” It covers everything from shopping for your fruits and veggies to cleaning your juicier.
Note: Some say it’s ok to juice whole apples because the seeds don’t have enough cyanide to be harmful. I decided why even eat ANY cyanide at all when it only takes a few seconds to core it. But if you core it you might not get as much juice because you’re wasting some of the apple. It’s up to you.
My Carbo Loading Recipe and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon
| April 7, 2013 |
There are so many different ways and techniques people use their diet to boost their running performance. Having not really thought about a special diet for the Disneyland Half back in September, for RunDisney’s Tinker Bell Half Marathon I wanted to be more prepared. (If you read my post about the Disney Half, you know I wasn’t prepared in any way, shape, or form).
Besides preparing for the run by running, because we all know that’s a must, I was doing my regular healthy low-carb diet with very minimal cheat meals. The month of, I didn’t cheat at all (with the exception of a celebratory glass of champagne for my work’s 25th anniversary).
Here’s where the diet change starts to come in… Like I mentioned, I follow a low-carb diet. I rarely eat breads and pastas and when I do have carbs, it’s usually some quinoa or oatmeal, and this usually only happens once a week. The week leading up to the run, I added carbs into my daily diet routine. I would have a piece of whole wheat bread for breakfast with some almond butter and a banana or a sandwich for lunch.
The night before my run, I had pasta. YUM! A lot of people say you should carbo-load the night before. There’s even a Pasta in the Park party at Disneyland the night before for an additional fee. For me personally, the acidity in traditional marinara doesn’t sit well with any cardio sessions, so I made a pesto!
Note that it’s nut free for all my nutty EpiPen people out there (some of my best friends included). Not to mention that I discovered pine nuts are way out of my budget. Yikes! Sunflower seeds just seemed so much more practical.
{Nut Free} Spinach Basil Pesto
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Directions
Put the basil, 2 cups fresh spinach, garlic cloves and half of the extra virgin olive oil in a food processor. Allow the processor to run until the pesto reaches a thick sauce-like consistency.  I had to do half the spinach first, then added the other half due to the size of my food processor. Add extra olive oil if needed.
Add your pesto to your pasta or pack for later use. This also tastes great on sandwiches, used as a salad dressing, or even baked on chicken.
Be sure that if you don’t use all of it, you store it with a layer of olive oil on top. Air is pesto’s worst enemy. Think wilted salad, only it’s your pesto that now has a funky wilted flavor. You can store it in a jar but I didn’t do anything fancy – just my tupperware. See how I put about a quarter inch layer of olive oil on top? The next time you use it you can just mix in the olive oil you topped it off with.
Pre-race dieting can really affect your run. The best thing to do is look at your diet. Increase your carb intake based on your current intake. Don’t eat a ton of pasta because another runner said that’s what they do. Eating more than your body is ready to handle can put your digestive system in a funk.
Another thing to look out for is to watch your fiber intake. I generally eat a TON of fruits and veggies loaded with fiber. Pre-race, loading up on fiber can be just as bad as eating too much pasta … maybe worse! Registered Dietitian Tara Gidus recommends you “cut back on those foods three days before a major race.” This doesn’t mean you cut everything out those three days – just reduce the amount of fiber based on your regular daily intake. For me, I eat about 2 cups of veggies a meal so I chose veggies with less fiber and cut it to one cup a meal those 3 days.
The final and biggest mistake new runners make is trying something new. That’s why I recommend you base your fiber and carb intake off your current diet and I don’t just straight out tell you how much you should have. New diets, new products, even new running shorts should all have a trial period before the big day. Don’t decide the morning of that you want to try some new protein shake made for runners. It’s the unwritten law – stick to what you know.
My run itself went great!!! My goal was to keep running or jogging the whole time, no stopping. Last time I didn’t train and wasn’t ready at all, so when walked for a bit I couldn’t get back up and running. That was not going to happen this time. I also made sure I had good shoes, my KTTape and everything else I mentioned in my last RunDisney blog post. When I was running, I just kept telling myself “mind over matter” and thought about how I just spent around $200 for this race so I better not disappoint myself. HA! I shed 30 minutes off my last time and finished with 3:03:26. I call that a win!
PS – Seeing that it was the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, I thought I’d be original and dress like Tiger Lily. You like? (and you can barely tell but that IS a feather in my hair)
UPDATE(4/9): Just found out that the runner wearing the Fireside Girl costume next to me has a blog too! It’s a small world! I shared my post on one of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Runner’s Facebook groups and Patty from Margaritas, Miles & The Mouse commented that it was her.
St. Patty’s Pancakes
| March 12, 2013 |
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my photo a while back of my fatal attempt at making paleo pancakes. Once I tried to make the “just add water” Bisquick pancakes, let’s just say they were inedible. Every time I tried to make pancakes on my own, I failed miserably. But I really wanted to make green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day so I volunteered the time of my handy dandy boyfriend, let’s call him the Pancake King for now, to help me out with this recipe.
My first attempt was just like any other. My pancakes would never end up on someone’s breakfast plate. The Pancake King told me I had two big problems: 1. my batter was too liquidy 2. my flame was too high. So I modified the recipe and lowered my flame and voila! The magic happened. It’s amazing what a little guidance can do!
Spinach Banana Pancakes for St. Patty’s Day
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 overripe bananas
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
Directions
Add the oats to a food processor or high speed blender until the oats are finely chopped – borderline powder. Then add the banana and spinach to the food processor until the banana and spinach have blended evenly into each other and there are no more chunks of anything. Then add all the liquid ingredients and blend. Next, all the dry ingredients. You can easily do this with a stand mixer as well. However, the oats, banana and spinach need a blender or food processor to get the right texture and I prefer to only get one appliance messy. My food processor did the job just fine.
Then use your choice of oil, butter, or non-stick cooking spray to coat your pan. Bring flame to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, pour the batter in the center to make your desired pancake size.
Here’s where the Pancake King comes back in. I had no idea when to flip a normal pancake let alone a green one. A little tip on the flipping green pancakes, you can’t judge it by the golden edges because the green doesn’t really change color the way a normal pancake would. It’s best to watch for bubbles. When you see bubbles form on the top, flip!
If you don’t allow them to cook all the way through, they will be mushy. This was the other hard part to judge. I did it by taste testing the first one. Then I knew for sure the right timing for the right consistency.
This batch made about a dozen pancakes for me. It’s very easy to cut the recipe ingredients in half if you only want to cook enough for 2. You can top it with whatever floats your boat. Photographed, I topped it with fat-free whip cream and sprinkles. The Pancake King chose to top it with peanut butter. The options are endless.
