My mom keeps me on track. Today I woke up to an e.mail from my dear mother:

“wow – 11 days without posting – is that a record?”

My BFF also observed my pause in posting as she wrote on my Facebook wall Wednesday:

“you haven’t blogged in days? what’s up!?”

Blogging isn’t fitting into my life these days. Though, I always fit in time for good food.

an attempt at granola bars…

recipe inspiration a la The Spoonful of Life 

• 1 3/4 c. rolled oats
• 3/4 c. puffed brown rice
• 1/3 c. walnuts, chopped
• 1/3 c. almonds, chopped
• 1/3 c. pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 c. dried apricots, chopped
• 1/3 c. dates, chopped
• 2 T chia seeds
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. almond butter
• 1/4 c. brown rice syrup
• 1/4 c. honey

1.  Combine dry ingredients.
2.  Combine wet ingredients and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir to combine.
3.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until everything is incorporated.
4.  Stir in the dried fruit.
5.  Pour the mixture into an 8×8 inch baking dish and press down firmly.
6.  Cut into whatever size bars your heart desires – enjoy!

The bars were a bit crumbly – perfect for topping creamy Greek yogurt or a cold bowl of cereal with fresh fruit and almond milk.

* * *

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

- Buddha

The green light has yet to turn yellow or red. I may just as well be the Energizer Bunny. There are still no stop signs in sight. In other words, I apologize for keeping y’all hanging… after all, free coconut water is serious business. So, without further adieu, the four lucky random winners are:

Comment #48: Amanda

Comment #30: Elise

Comment #66: Courtney

Comment #3: Chelsey

Please e.mail me your mailing address, so O.N.E. can send your case of coconut water ASAP!

Despite my lack of blogging, you can bet that I’ve still been eating, and that I’ve still been running. But, more importantly, I’ve been smiling a lot more… making the most out of every moment. I have done a lot of thinking and self-reflection recently about the grander scale of life, and am happy to report that I’ve been acting on those aspirations! Carpe diem.

Running

The other day I scared the crap outta myself when I finally [1 week before race day] decided to check the course map of the 13.1 miles I’ll be running. Let’s just say my anxiety rose 3 fold – hello, Death Hill at mile 6. Although, I feel my training has made me a stronger runner/athlete, I haven’t been trainin’ no hills. It is a bit too late to do anything about it now either, as it’s taper time. I’ll do what I can do – my best!

Training continued at the WREC through Friday.

Five Mile Friday

• 1 mi. indoor track run @ 8:40
• strength training – abs, arms & legs
• 1 mi. indoor track run @ 8:50
• 3 mi. treadmill run @ 24:00 – yay!

Today, I ran around downtown – outside! – after strolling the farmers’ market. I should have planned the timing of my run better because it the sunshine was toasty this afternoon. I called it quits after a mere 22 minutes, but it was a pleasurable, autumn run nonetheless. I don’t wear my hardcore outfit everyday ;)

Food

This week sometime [can’t remember when] I made the best OIAJ to date.

• 1 c. water

• 1/3 c. steel cut oats

• ½ T flax Almond butter from the jar

• 1 T pecans

• 1 tsp. apricot jam

• ½ fresh peach

• cinnamon

FYI: I bought another jar of Trader’s Joe’s Almond Butter w. Flax today – exciting!

You know what else I bought at TJ’s today? Butternut squash ravioli – they’re new! These aren’t just any squash ravioli – oh no. They’re filled with amaretti cookies and apricot kernels – I couldn’t help but think of my idol, Giada!

Simple Saturday Supper: Butternut Squash Ravioli + drizzle of organic olive olive, fresh arugula, lavender chevre & fresh black pepper

I’m going to go… I’ve gotta get back to living my healthy life as a college student. After all, there will never be another today.

Until my life’s traffic slows up again…

Healthy Hill

Three cheers for Cookie Friday!

Three cheers for finishing my 3rd week!

Three cheers for running 3 speedy miles!

I’ve been itching to make this recipe since it made an appearance at In Praise of Leftovers. After all, they include three of my favorite things: 1) apricots, 2) dark chocolate, and 3) espresso. I finally had an excuse – and the time! – to bake a batch today. After my final class for the week, I made a quick 3-minute stop at the store to buy a bag of $3 choco chips. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, so I was tempted to take an afternoon siesta, but boy am I glad I decided to turn on the oven and make these babies instead. The recipe was so simple; I had bakery-worthy cookies and washed dishes in <30 minutes.

As Tina would say, “holy yummm!”.

Apricot Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 c. all-purpose flour + 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 T instant espresso powder
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled*
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla
• 2 c. chocolate chips
• 1 c. coarsely chopped dried apricots

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, sugars, salt, baking powder, and espresso powder.

Add egg, egg yolk, melted butter, and vanilla – stir once or twice, then add chocolate chips and dried apricots.

Refrigerate dough for 10-20 minutes as you clean up the kitchen.

Place balls of cookie dough [small or large – you chose!] onto cookie sheets.

Bake @ 350* for 12-14 minutes.

*Note: I reduced the amount of butter from the original recipe from 2 cups to less than 1 1/2 cups. Though, when combining the wet ingredients with the dry, I decided the dough needed a bit more moisture, so I added 2 T of canola oil – perfect! [You could just as easily add more buttah.]

Make these please please please… and then eat three!

* * *

So, like I said, I decided to forgo my nap and instead, I drank a 24oz. Ball jar of green tea and ate a warm, homemade cookie. Caffeine + glucose and I was ready to run into the weekend! My roommate and I headed to The Resort for some exercise around 5:00pm – what exciting Friday night lives we have, huh? I wasn’t intending to have a great workout [my legs were throbbing last night], but my body surprised me.

Unplanned Speed Workout:

• Mile 1: 9:00
• Strength Training:
  • 3 planks @ 1 min.
  • random arm exercises + squats
• Mile 2: 8:30
• Mile 3: 7:30!

If all this speed and strength training doesn’t pay off, I’m going to be quite disappointed. Do you think I should be worrying about neglecting my long runs!?

Gotta get back to my exciting [wink wink] Friday night.

xo Hill

I’ll leave you with three:

1) Three things that made you happy today…

1) Braided Hair 2) Cute Boys 3) Sunshine

2) Three favorite cookie ingredients…

1) Chocolate – duh! 2) Oats – yes please! 3) NUTS

3) Three things you’re looking forward to…

1) Pumpkins 2) The Holidays 3) Running Half Marathon #3

There were a couple recipe requests for the muffins I made for my family brunch over Labor Day Weekend…

The original recipe is from Muffins: Sweet & Savory Comfort Food, which I featured in my third ever blog post. Is it safe to say my photography has improved… at least a little bit?

These muffins were very moist, thanks to the buttermilk. The recipe did not call for peaches, but what can I say… summer = peach obsession!

Peach Berry Buttermilk Muffins

• 1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 c. oats,  rolled or quick
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 T vanilla
• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 ripe peach, pealed and chopped
• 1 c. blueberries – raspberries sound yummy too!

Not your traditional muffin method:

In a large bowl, cream brown sugar and butter. Add egg and beat well. Stir in oats, buttermilk and vanilla.

In another large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Add butter mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in peaches and blueberries.

Plop batter into lined muffin cups – sprinkle with raw sugar if desired – and bake @ 400* for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 12-18 muffins.

There you have it, another easy peasy recipe. They are not the most-healthful muffins ever made, but they certainly have their nutritional assets.

How would you “healthify” this recipe?

TGIF! Take it easy…

Hillary

Hey Guys! I hope you had a really wonderful holiday [for those that celebrated]. I wasn’t one of them today. I actually spent Easter all alone studying chemistry, but don’t fear…I was not without good eats! I slept in today by accident…and I mean really slept in – 10:00am! However, it happened to be the perfect time to make myself an Easter a scrumptious Sunday brunch.

    Aren’t they purdy?

It’s just a simple pancake recipe, folks. There was nothing tricky about ‘em:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1 egg
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

It’s all about the accessories: 0% Greek, organic strawberries, lemon zest and agave-honey syrup – holy yum!

Immediately after eating my stack of flapjacks, I headed back into the kitchen and whipped up another recipe. It’s a twist on my family’s favorite tabouli recipe, but I used quinoa instead of bulgar.

I didn’t use exact measurements [the plus of cooking vs. baking], but here’s basically what went down:

1. Cook 1 cup organic quinoa in 2 cups water – simmer covered for ~15 minutes.
2. Fluff with a fork and let cool. Add 2 T olive oil, juice of 1 lemon and a few cloves of minced garlic.
3. Pile in 1 can organic, rinsed garbanzo beans, ~1 cup ea. chopped cucumber, tomatoes and fresh parsley. Crumble in ~1/3 cup light feta and sprinkle generously with fresh black pepper.

Quinoa seems to be all the rage in blog world at the moment, so I decided to open up this awesome book of mine and see what I could find out….

Quinoa

“An ancient grainlike product that has recently been “rediscovered in this country, quinoa is not a true grain, but it looks like one and has similar uses. It is related to leafy vegetables such as Swiss chard and spinach.”

“Quinoa’s key nutritional distinguishing factor is its high level of lysine, an amino acid necessary for the synthesis of protein, making it one of the best sources of plant protein.”

Garbanzo Beans [because I eat a lot of these, too]

“One of nature’s perfect foods, these versatile legumes, with a firm yet creamy texture and a delicate nutlike flavor, are highly nourishing. They are rich in protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, folate, iron, and zinc.”

They are “…no slouches when it comes to iron content, with 1/2 cup providing 30% of your daily iron requirement. The body’s absorption of the form on iron found in garbanzo beans can be enhanced by consuming them with a dietary source of vitamin C.”

***

With lunch – a bowl of cold quinoa salad – I had a glass of Tejava. This is such a score at Trader Joe’s -  just $1.19 for an entire liter!

Naturally after lunch I “needed” something sweet: enter a P.Nut Buttah Treat.

Don’t Miss the Caboose

After another phone chat with technical support, I am almost to the point of revealing Nutrition Nut on the Run Version 2.0! This will be my LAST post at the current site. Don’t worry, you don’t have to change a thing. You will still find me eatin’ it up @ www.nutritionnutontherun.com.

Here’s to a great week ahead. I’ll fill ya in on what I’m up to when I don’t have to cram for chem!

XO,

Hillary

Hello hello!

Hope you had a lovely Saturday. I really shouldn’t complain, but why does tomorrow have to be Sunday already? I see a cram sesh in my future =[

I woke up a little later than I had planned – 8:30am on the nose – but I suppose that’s not too terrible for a Saturday morning. Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal + an English muffin with raspberry jam for some pre-spinning fuel.

I was surprised when a different spin instructor walked into the studio today, but a great surprise it was. She taught the most challenging and FUN spin class this morning…plus the music was actually good [my style] for once! My roomie and I left with numb legs =]

After an hour at the gym, I did my weekly grocery shopping at TJ’s [I saved my trip for today since I am not of fan of running errands in the rain]. I was excited to see organic strawberries on the cheap – yay for the beginning of berry season!

I munched on a plate of raw veggies, a couple Wasa crackers and homemade hummus, showered and then headed to school. Again, I can’t complain since I had a mid-week “weekend”….but a 2-hour O.Chem lecture does not make Hillary a happy student. Baking to the rescue!

When I got home I threw together one of Tina’s speedy recipes: Peanut Buttery Bars. Side Note: I love that this girl whips up baked goods in the middle of the week. She is the queen of quick & healthy treats! You can literally count the minutes on your fingers that these take to make – so simple.

With only five ingredients, a 6-year-old could make these. In fact, they look like they were made by a first grader.

 P.Nut Buttah Bars

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 egg

chocolate chips [optional, but recommended!]

Combine all ingredients until smooth. Spread batter into a prepared pan and bake at 350* for ~15 minutes. In my case, I used a muffin pan with my favorite papers. I think this jeopardized their presentation, but I still got 12 chewy, nutty, chocolaty treats.

***

There wasn’t anything special about my dinner tonight, but it hit the spot: vegetarian comfort food.

Baked Beans + Tofu Dogs

Broccolini sautéed in Olive Oil & Garlic

Alrighty, I must close my laptop and open my book now. I hope ya’ll enjoy some time with family and friends tomorrow. Wish I could say the same. Instead, I’ll be relieving my stress with the box of Spring See’s chocolates someone sent me in the mail – thanks G.ma & G.pa!

Until we meet again,

Hillary

I think someone needs to splash some cold water in my face, and say, “Hello, Hillary…you do have a blog, ya know!” Sorry. I certainly have not been maintaining my blogging efforts the past few days. What can I say, the Nutrition Nut has been on the run. I feel as though I spend way too much of my time connected to the World Wide Web, and it is so refreshing to put away my camera, ignore the Internet, and live a life of normalcy – not capturing every move I make – like I did a mere five months ago.

I had a lovely and busy day yesterday away from the web. I slept in [I don't have class 'til 12:30pm on Thursdays], made a creamy bowl of banana oats, and enjoyed having the house to myself for the morning. Sunshine was seeping through my windows, I had Grooveshark Popular playing, and before I knew it, I was shaking and twisting all around my room. Heck, I probably got a better workout than any 30-minute exercise DVD could give me ; )

After an afternoon of classes, I jetted over to the gym to squeeze in a workout before having to get ready to see Colbie! My roommate snatched the last bike for the 5:00pm spin class, so I was left to pedal alone.

• 45-minute spin [16.2 mi.] — a little slow?
• 1.5-mile run — I was cruising!

We rushed home to  scarf down a few bites of food and pretty up before heading back to campus for the concert. Although a small and casual concert, Colbie Caillat was 100% uh-mazing!

Isn’t she just gorgeous?

She sang all my favorite songs flawlessly. Her tour stopped in my hometown today, so my mom and her girlfriends are going to the show tonight. Speaking of home, I am really ready to go home for a week. One week from today, and that’s where I’ll be. Let the countdown to Spring Break begin!

Finally…today: I had a repeat of Tuesday’s delicious oat combo for breakfast before sitting through my final two lectures for the week.

Surprise surprise I went the gym this afternoon — it’s becoming my 2nd home, no? Every Friday I tell myself I am going to go to yoga, but then talk myself out of it. Well, today I made it happen! My body is a tad sore from this week’s previous workouts, so I figured I could use an hour of quality stretching and strengthening. I don’t know why I don’t talk myself into going to yoga more often. I left completely at peace; it was a blissful hour of exercise and wonderful way to end the week.

***

I ate a quick lunch before heading out to run errands, and consequently it missed the camera’s eye. My grocery bag was extra light today since I like to leave my fridge clean and empty upon leaving town.

I did buy a bag of my favorite chips and dug into them while my dinner was taking a turn in the oven.

Love these!

Tonight’s meal featured the last quarter of my free butternut squash. I told my professor that the squash was used to its full potential : )

Butternut Squash + Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Real Butter

Organic Baby Spinach, Red Onion, Pepitas & Sweet ‘n’ Tangy Balsamic

Since dinner was so healthy and all, I thought a little Friday treat was in order. Insert Starbucks ice cream and gooey Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chippers – mmm! I don’t know what’s with me and boxed food lately – bad bad bad – but it was rather nice to be able to enjoy warm cookies right after dinner without making havoc in the kitchen.

You know I couldn’t resist a miniature Starbucks carton of ice cream. There’s just no way : )

Alright, friends…now that you have a rough outline of my life since Wednesday, I’m going to go catch up on what ya’ll have been up to.

Namaste,

~ Hillary

]]> http://www.nutritionnutontherun.com/2010/03/05/let-the-countdown-begin/feed/ 15 http://www.nutritionnutontherun.com/2010/03/02/no-pain-no-gain/ http://www.nutritionnutontherun.com/2010/03/02/no-pain-no-gain/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:44:58 +0000 Hillary http://nutritionnutontherun.com/?p=2038

Hi Ya’ll!

Woo…it’s already 8:30pm and I’m just now finishing up my dinner and beginning to blog [it's quite the process]. I must make it quick tonight though, as I have to study for my 1 exam & 2 quizzes that I have tomorrow [surprise surprise].

Breakfast, oh Breakfast…if only you knew how much I dearly love you.

A reader suggested I try mixing my regular rolled oats and oat bran, so that’s exactly what I did. Oh, and props to me for trying new combinations and going outside of my [food] box lately.

In the mix:

- 1 cup water

- 1/3 cup rolled oats

- 1/3 cup oat bran

- 1/2 T ground flax

- cinnamon

Toppings:

- 1/2 d’anjou pear

- 1 T walnuts

- drizzle of agave

- big splash of 1% milk

***

I was dreading today’s 3-hour organic chem lab – as we had our first lab exam + 2 labs to finish – but it wasn’t as horrific as I was anticipating, and I came out alive the full 3-hours later. I ate a late lunch after class, including half of a succulent orange and leftover mac & cheese. FYI, Annie’s + Avocado = A-mazing!

Then there was some time wasted before I headed to the gym to get my March move on! I had a fabulous workout:

- 40-minute spin [15.0 mi.]

- 20-minute treadmill run [10 minutes @ 6.0mph (incline 2.0), 6 minutes @ 6.6mph, 4 minutes @ 6.8mph]

- 2 x 20 lat pulldown @ 40 lbs.

- 20 side dips each side @ 10 lbs.

- 2 x 10 bicep curl lunges each leg @ 20 lbs.

- 2 x 10 squats @ 20 lbs.

- 2 x 10 “weights-to-chin” @ 20 lbs.

- 2 x 10 “toe-touches” @ 20 lbs.

I can’t believe I didn’t look at the treadmill to see how far I’d run - my guess is around 2.5 miles. I definitely pushed myself tonight, especially with the faster treadmill speed. I know I am strong, but rarely push myself to my maximum potential. They only way to get stronger is by exerting more effort. No pain, no gain!

Dinner: steamed TJ’s Vegetable Gyoza + broccolini with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil & seseame seeds.

You think a few potstickers are going to do it for me after burning all those calories? You’ve got to be kidding. Next was some 0% Greek & Humboldt Honey Granola. I think I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner : )

I’m outta here…

~ Hillary

Question: If you are a blogger and also a college student, as I am, how do you manage your time between studying and keeping up with the blog world? Where and how do you find the discipline to keep yourself away from the screen?

Hello, how goes it? I got up nice and early this morning and have been crossing things off my to-do list right and left.

First thing first…breakfast! Today’s inspiration came from Miss Caitlin. She is sort of famous for her pumpkin yogurt, and even though it’s no longer “pumpkin season”, she still enjoys her orange yogurt bowls on a regular basis. I love pumpkin, so yesterday while on my grocery quest, I bought a huge 30 oz. can of pumpkin. I was really excited adding another item to my breakfast possibilities list, but was so disappointed when I did not like it [icky texture]. I maybe ate half of what is pictured, and then resorted to a piece of toast. Dang it! Now I’ve got a life-supply of canned pumpkin that I need to figure out what to do with. Ideas?

1/3 cup Pumpkin, 1/3 cup 0%  Plain Greek, 1/3 cup Humboldt Honey Granola + a few raisins & drizzle of agave

Whole Wheat Toast with Real Butter, Cinnamon & Sugar

…sometimes you just need the real deal.

Next on my list: SPIN! I went to my usual 10:00am class at The Resort and left an hour later after a rockin’ ride. I think that makes three hard rides for the week – yippee!

After running a couple errands, I refueled with a Green Monster. Oh, how I missed these. It’s been far too long.

In the mix:

1 banana

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 T ground flax

1 cup fresh spinach

Ice

…polished off with of hunk of 73% dark chocolate, of course!

I am hoping the addition of the oats to my smoothie will make it stick to my ribs a little longer than normal, so I can keep moving on down my Saturday “chore” list.

What are ya’ll up to today? Anyone have a kick-butt workout to share?

Peace Out,

~ Hillary

***

Your Questions Answered

What’s your workout schedule like? Do you plan it out or just do whatever you feel like doing that particular day?

My workout schedule is fairly random. It changes depending on whether or not I am at school [where I have a "free" gym], or at home where I do not belong to a gym, but have friends to run with/make me run a million miles =] I currently exercise an average of 5 days per week. I would probably prefer 6, but my school schedule makes that difficult. With the luxurious recreation center on campus [a.k.a. The Resort], I am able to switch up my workouts…as there are numerous types of cardio machines and fun classes, such as Zumba. The majority of my gym workouts usually include some sort of strength training as well. While at home, my workouts consist of running and DanceFit classes [run 3-4 days a week & dance 3 days].

Well, friends…another glorious day has come and gone. Here’s what I was up to on this stellar Wednesday:

chem exam

geography

exercise + lunch

nutrition quiz

shower + dinner

blog!

I checked off everything =]

It’s such a relief to have my 1st O. Chem exam behind me. Besides waking up late and almost missing the bus/missing my exam, it wasn’t a total nightmare. After class #2, I was able to come home for the afternoon since my regular 2:00pm wasn’t meeting. I was thrilled for many reasons: 1) It was absolutely gorgeous outside – 70* status, 2) I was feeling well enough to exercise, and 3) I wasn’t stuck at school from 9:00-5:00! So…I dropped my books, slipped on my shorts and headed out into the blue skies. I hadn’t exercised at all since last Tuesday (when I did an Allie-inspired 60-minute elliptical workout); my body was craving physical activity. I ran for 35 minutes at a comfortable heart rate of 155. My legs were thankful =]

***

For lunch, I refueled with light ‘n’ cheery eats to go along with the bright weather outside:

I enjoyed this sunny photo shoot.

1 Piece of Whole Wheat Toast + Hummus, Sliced Cucumber, Red Onion & Baby Lettuces

2% Greek + Kiwi and Blueberries

***

Before heading back to school for my final class, I made myself an iced latte. As tempting as it was to stop at Starbucks, I’m sticking to the challenge…plus, I’ve got Starbucks at home anyway.

Iced Coffee + Skim Milk + Agave — mmm!

I ate half of a granola bar, too. It was a Tropical Treat alright — so yummy, Mom! This one wins =]

***

I made breakfast for dinner tonight with my leftover roasted taters and a couple of scrambled eggs. Seldom do I eat eggs (as a dish), but top ‘em with avocado, salsa and chevre, and I can work with it. Anyway…since dessert is 100x better than dinner, let us fast forward…

Celebratory [chemistry exam #1 is over] baking was in order. Chocolate Chippers, anyone?

I made a mini batch by halving the recipe on the back of the Guittard chocolate chip bag:

1 cup + 2 T whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup real butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup Guittard chocolate chips

1…2…3 chocolate chippers + a jam jar of skim milk = a perfect way to end this wonderful Wednesday.

Good night!