Monthly Archives: August 2011

Keeping Myself From Getting Bored on the Treadmill

Posted on August 31, 2011 by inmytummy| 18 Comments

I had a stiff neck all day yesterday. Either I slept funny or it was from lifting on Monday, but either way my neck was really bothering me. Nevertheless, I went to the gym after work anyway. I figured if running was really painful, I’d just stop but I wouldn’t know until I tried.

Remember how I was so excited about the new branch of my gym? Well, the newness wore off, I guess, and I’ve been going back to the old branch. I go to the gym at about 5:45 and the only thing on tv is news. Much to Jason’s chagrin, I don’t really watch the local news. I prefer to get my news online. Although, if I am watching, I’ll watch his channel. So, if I’m not really into what’s on tv, there’s really no point in going to the gym with the personal tvs. More than just that though, the older gym has become considerably less crowded. I’m at the point where I’m running more than the 20 minute time limit that you are allotted when people are waiting, so it’s a huge perk not to have anyone waiting.

I ended up feeling totally fine while I ran. Better than fine, even. It was one of those runs where it felt easy. I did 4 miles. I did the first two at 5.8mph and the second two at 6.0mph. Jason’s been running too. We’re doing a 5K together next weekend and he’s been doing the Couch to 5K plan. He’s at the point where he’s running roughly 25 minutes straight and has been asking me how I do it without getting bored.

Here’s what I do and it’s sort of weird. Every song, I’ll look at my ipod and see how long that song is and I’ll figure out what time it will be when the song is over. So if I’m at 11 minutes and I see the next song is 4 minutes long, I tell myself that when this song is over, I’ll already be at 15 minutes and so on and so forth. I have no idea why this helps me but it somehow makes me feel like I’m kind of ahead of myself. I also sometimes will switch up the speed when a new song comes on, but not always.

I actually have a What I Ate Wednesday post photographed, but I’ll have to post that tonight because I’m getting short on time.

If you’re a treadmill runner, how do you keep yourself from getting bored?

→ 18 Comments

Posted in Running

Cleansing Food

Posted on August 30, 2011 by inmytummy| 19 Comments

After a very indulgent weekend of food and wine, I felt pretty bloated and gross. So I went to the farmer’s market and bought a bunch of green fruits and vegetables. I actually didn’t realize that nearly everything I bought was green until I got home.

#alttext#

Green apples, broccoli, lettuce, zucchini, kale, avocados, spinach that you can’t see and limes. I think my body was subconsciously telling me something, that it needed cleansing food. I also got some red grapes, but they didn’t go with the green theme.

I know that some people rely on greasy food to combat a hangover, but I honestly find myself craving healthy food, especially vegetables when I’ve had too much to drink the night before. When I used to go out a lot, I would often get a Whole Foods salad the next morning while all my friends were getting Chik Fil-A or Waffle House. I never said I was normal. It works for me.

I wanted to get some of those chia muffins while I was at the market, but they were out. Guess I shouldn’t go on Sunday nights. Next time.

I did, however, get the ingredients to make veggie burgers and corn for tonight. I originally thought about grilling them, but by the time we got home from the gym and showered and everything, it was already 8 so we just baked the veggie burgers and corn. I used Mama Pea’s veggie burger recipe and followed it to the T.

#alttext#

With the burgers, we had a side of corn. I coated the corn with 1/2 tbsp melted Earth Balance, lime juice, chili powder and salt, wrapped them up in foil and baked them for 20 minutes. This was an easy and satisfying weeknight meal.

Long weekend this weekend! We’re actually going to Las Vegas. I’ve never been. Any recommendations?

→ 19 Comments

Posted in Drinking, Farmer's Market, Vegetarian

Too Many Corks

Posted on August 28, 2011 by inmytummy| 13 Comments

The alternative title to this post should be “In which I am reminded why I don’t go to festivals with free wine.”

Backing up.

At about 9pm on Friday night, I decided to join Laura in running the Run for the Park 5K the next morning. I’d done this race previously, two years ago, and remembered it to be a decent race. I got there around 7:15 and registered and found Laura.

The race was a little hillier than I remembered. As usual, I went out too fast and got tired after the first mile. There was a big hill in the middle which was difficult but the last part of the race had a nice downhill. I ended up finishing in 30:45. I’m okay with that. It’s not my best effort but it’s certainly not my worst either. I’m usually satisfied if I can do a race in less than a 10 minute mile and this was 9:55.

After the race, I went home to shower, took a short nap and headed back to Grant Park to go to the Corks & Forks festival. Corks & Forks is tasting event from several different Atlanta chefs and part of the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. Ten different restaurants were participating. Because I don’t eat beef or chicken, I didn’t know how much of the food I would be able to sample.

#alttext#

Fortunately, a lot of the restaurants had fish. I sampled:

• tuna tartar from BLT Steak
• tuna and red snapper ceviche from Graveyard Tavern
• watermelon and tomato gazpacho from Murphy’s
• some sort of beet salad from Market
• seafood mousse from Legal Seafoods
• some sort of punch from Rosebud
• shrimp and grits from Wahoo
• key lime pie from Seasons 52

My favorite was the tuna tartar.

#alttext#

And there was wine.

#alttext#

I think part of the problem was that since they were tastings, I wasn’t sure how much I was drinking and drank way more than I normally would. Fortunately, my friends live walking distance from the festival, so I went to their house afterwards and promptly fell asleep on the couch.

Needless to say, I kind of feel like ass right now.

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Atlanta, Races

Food for Thought

Posted on August 26, 2011 by inmytummy| 10 Comments

I bought an heirloom tomato recently. I knew that I wanted to use it before it went bad and the first thing that I thought of was caprese salad. I had a tomato and I had basil. What I was missing was mozzarella. I thought about stopping to get some but then I thought I’d be inventive and use tofu instead. I mean, it looks like mozzarella, right?

So I had this plan. I was going to marinate the tofu in a balsamic dressing and I’d make this wonderful vegan caprese salad and it would take the blog world by storm. Only there was a problem. I didn’t have any balsamic vinegar. So I used red wine instead. And then I decided that I wanted to make it a sandwich, but I didn’t have any bread, so I used naan.

#alttext#

Umm, yeah, this wasn’t exactly the OMG this is so great meal I was looking for. It was too dry, the flavors didn’t really meld and I ended up putting a bunch of hummus on it. It’s not worth posting the recipe.

It got me to thinking though. Why do I always feel like in order to have a popular blog, I need to be a good cook? Yes, I read a lot of food blogs, but the blogs that I enjoy the most aren’t really the ones full of recipes. They’re the ones that are full of stories and pretty pictures and life. And maybe a recipe here and there. Trying to come up with a recipe isn’t me. I mean, there is the rare occasion (I can never spell that – I had to try four times) when I’ll throw together something that’s really good, but more often than not, I either follow someone else’s recipe or I make something that’s just sort of eh.

But that’s okay. It suddenly hit me that I don’t have to come up with great recipes for this blog to be successful. I’ll leave that up to the real cooks. For me, I’ll just stick with stories and pretty pictures and life.

→ 10 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

The Good and the Bad – Steamfresh Review

Posted on August 26, 2011 by inmytummy| 12 Comments

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program, I received four Birds Eye Steamfresh not yet released, frozen vegetable sides. About a week ago, I tried the creamed spinach.

#alttext#

I love creamed spinach so it was no surprise that I really enjoyed this. I know that weird blob of cream in the middle is distracting, but if you ignore that, it was tasty and something that I’d definitely buy again.

#alttext#

On Tuesday night, I wanted to make salmon for dinner. I had borrowed a coworker’s Real Simple cookbook and the curry salmon recipe caught my eye. Instead of serving the fish on rice, however, I decided to try out a bag of Steamfresh Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans.

#alttext#

Now, I knew going into this that potatoes in creamy sauce is not my favorite thing but I was optimistic. However, when I took them out of the microwave and got a whiff, I knew that I wasn’t going to like them. The salmon, however, was delicious (and Jason liked the potatoes and green beans).

#alttext#

I’m not a stranger to frozen veggies. I almost always have a bag of mixed peppers and onions and another bag of broccoli in my freezer that I like to use for my taco salads that I have on a weekly basis. I also often buy the Green Giant Steam in the Bag Green Beans with Almonds and eat them at work. From what I’ve read, frozen veggies have as many nutrients as fresh, maybe even more since they are packaged at their peak. When I don’t like frozen stuff, it’s usually because I don’t like the sauce masking the taste of the vegetable, which was the case with the potatoes and green beans. However, the spinach was still good.

By the way, did you know that frozen food was invented by Clarence Birdseye? Really. I did a report on it in third grade!

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Product Review

Writer’s Block

Posted on August 25, 2011 by inmytummy| 13 Comments

I’m having a major case of writers block here. I’ve started and erased a few paragraphs countless times. So when I saw this little survey on Janetha’s blog, I figured I would give it a whirl and maybe I’d become unblocked Wait, that makes me sound constipated, doesn’t it? Moving on.

1. What are you really good at? What are you really bad at?

This is sort of hard for me to answer because I don’t feel like I’m really good at anything. I know that I’m decent at a lot of things, but really good? Not sure about that. But we’ll go with a few things that I think I’m better than decent at:

• Directions/not getting lost. I kind of have a GPS in my head. No joke. It only works in Atlanta though and only when I’m in the car. If I’m walking, I have no idea where I’m going.

• I like to think I’m good at writing and photography. However, leading a post by saying that I cannot think of a single thing to write about kind of refutes that claim, huh?

• Emailing and corresponding in general. I’m really good at that. Or I have an internet addiction.

Now, what am I really bad at? Singing. I am not a good singer. I don’t even understand what tone deaf means but I’m pretty sure it applies to me. Unfortunately, for all involved, I have been known to sing karaoke when the mood strikes (and the alcohol flows). Here’s a pointer: if you’re a bad singer, don’t attempt to sing Eternal Flame by the Bangles. Trust me on that one.

2. Have you ever been in a car accident? What happened?

Knock on wood, no. Well, not exactly. I’ve hit some things with my car, but never another car. Or let me rephrase that, never another car that was moving. The back of my car is all dented in though. It’s actually a really funny story but it’s too hard to explain. Let’s just say my car got stuck and we had to chop down a tree to get it unstuck (a small tree) and then, months later, my car got stuck on the tree trunk. Yes, the state of Georgia still allows me to drive.

3. Why did you attend your college?

I went to the University of Vermont. Honestly, I went because I wanted to get out of Maryland, I thought it was pretty and I liked the hippie/party school atmosphere.

4. Describe your morning routine today.

My mornings are pretty boring. Alarm goes off at 6:51, I press snooze until 7. Take shower, get dressed, take Murphy out front to pee (he’s a diva and has to go on a leashed walk to pee. He won’t just go in the backyard.), make breakfast, play on the internet while I eat, leave the house at 8:10 and go to work. Not very interesting.

5. Have you ever snooped through someone else’s things? Did you find anything interesting?

Maybe when I was a kid, but not when I was an adult. I’m kind of a goody-goody like that.

6. What do you think happens when you die?

I don’t know. I tend to think that nothing happens; that you’re just sort of sleeping forever. It is scary to think about but I guess it’s like when you fall asleep, you don’t know you are asleep. So when you die, you won’t know you’re dead. Of course, I hope that it’s something else, but that’s what I tend to believe.

7. Are you superstitious?

No but my Grandma seriously is. We’re having a 90th birthday party for her and her birthday is on November 14th. She doesn’t want to have the party that weekend because it’s the 13th and that number is unlucky. Some of her superstitions have been passed on to my mother, although I don’t know that she actually believes them. One fairly embarrassing one is that if you put on a shirt inside-out, you can’t change it. I have no idea where this came from or why it would make any logical sense to anyone, but I’ve seen my mom walk around with an inside-out t-shirt. Although, I’m thinking that if she was going to work, she might abandon the superstition. At least, I hope so.

8. Do people think you are younger or older than you actually are?

How old do you think I am? If you don’t know, don’t cheat and look at my about me page. Just guess.

9. How did your parents’ relationship influence you?

My parents got divorced when I was three. I have no memory of them being married. However, this didn’t give me a jaded view of relationships. It just was what it was. Obviously, I wanted married parents, but I didn’t really think that love is a sham and that I would never get married or anything like that. I wonder if they’d gotten divorced when I was older if I’d feel differently.

10. What were the three happiest moments of your life?

1. My wedding day.
2. The day we got Murphy.
3. This isn’t a moment, but I look back at the semester that I spent in London with great fondness.

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Hard Tacos

Posted on August 23, 2011 by inmytummy| 17 Comments

Whenever we have taco night, it’s typically soft tacos. I guess my mentality from many years ago that soft taco shells are healthier has stuck around. However, when you look at the nutritional information, two soft taco shells pretty much have the same amount of calories as two hard taco shells. Yes, the hard shells have a bit more fat, but I think it’s worth it just for something different, right?

#alttext#

Hard Shelled Vegetarian Tacos
Serves 3

1/2 package soy crumbles, frozen
1.5-2 cups assorted veggies, sliced (i used a pre-cut Trader Joe’s mix)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash of hot sauce
1/2 tbsp olive oil
6 hard taco shells

1. Preheat the oil in large pan. Saute veggies until they are soft.
2. Add soy meat and let thaw.
3. When soy meat is no longer frozen, add salsa, hot sauce and spices.
4. Cook until heated through – about 5 minutes – and spoon into shells.

I served this with some beans and olives that are hidden behind the tacos in the picture. It was my only good shot, so you’ll just have to imagine the beans. You can do it!

And that’s all I’ve got. Going to watch a movie.

Your turn – hard or soft tacos?

→ 17 Comments

Posted in Recipe, Vegetarian

Sunday Runday Funday

Posted on August 21, 2011 by inmytummy| 19 Comments

When my alarm went off at 7am this morning, I actually thought I had to go to work. It took me a minute to realize that I had to run 7 miles instead. I’m not sure which was a worse thought! I drank some coffee and had a slice of bread with some almond butter and made it out of the house by quarter til 8.

#alttext#

If you read my 6-mile post last Sunday, you’ll see that my times were much faster today. I attribute this to a bunch of things. (Laps 1 and 4 included some walking.)

1. I put some new music on my ipod. I got a new ipod maybe a year or so ago and for some reason, never put more than 200 songs on it. With all the running I do, I quickly got sick of those 200 songs and found myself constantly skipping songs. I went to my old computer, one that I barely use but houses a ton of my music, and put a bunch of old favorites back on my ipod.

2. I liked the route better. My route last week was an out and back along a boring, main road. My route this week was a loop that went through a neighborhood and was a prettier run.

3. I ate a GU halfway through. I normally will fuel (GU is my fuel of choice – only the chocolate or the chocolate mint flavor though.) if I do 7 miles or more. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t, but I think it might have.

4. I pushed myself a little bit. While last week’s run was all about running comfortably, today I decided to run a little bit faster but at a pace that I could still sustain for 7 miles. Sure, by the end, I was tired, but I didn’t feel any more tired than when I was running 12 minute miles like I did last weekend.

After showering and doing some things around the house, I met my friend Jaime, her friend Ann Marie and Ann Marie’s friend (who’s name I forgot) at Eclipse di Sol which is now called Cafe 640, but I still like to call it Eclipse di Sol. I didn’t take any pictures because I don’t really know Ann Marie and I’d never met her friend and don’t feel comfortable taking food pictures in front of people that I don’t know. I had a veggie omelette sans cheese with a side of breakfast potatoes. I’m not normally a big breakfast fan, I prefer lunch, but there is something about eating a big, filling breakfast after a long run that’s really satisfying.

After we ate, we walked over to King of Pops. I know I’ve talked about this before, but KOP is this popsicle stand that’s all over the city on different street corners and at all the festivals and farmers markets. At first I think it was one or two people, but now there are lots of them all around. I had a flavor that I hadn’t had before – Sweet Potato!

#alttext#

I know it sounds weird, but it was so good. It tasted like sweet potato pie and had pieces of nuts and marshmallows in it. Sweet potatoes with marshallow topping is one of my favorite Thanksgiving sides. After I spilled half my popsicle on myself, picked up some groceries at Publix and drove home, a nap was in order. I let myself sleep for an hour and a half. I don’t know how some people run before work. I was wiped by 4pm.

→ 19 Comments

Posted in Atlanta, Atlanta Restaurants, Running

Summer Arts and Crafts Festival

Posted on August 21, 2011 by inmytummy| 12 Comments

Jason and I attempted to go see The Help last night at 6:30. The plan was to see the movie and have dinner afterward. The plan was quickly changed when we got to the theater and found that it was sold out. Who goes to a 6:30pm movie on a Friday night? Apparently a lot of people. So instead of seeing the movie, we went to East Atlanta and had dinner at the Midway.

#alttext#

I had a veggie burger and some wine, neither of which I felt like taking a picture of, but both of which were tasty. We stayed there for a while and then walked over to The Glenwood, where we played a game of skeeball, played some songs on the jukebox and called it a night. There might have been a delivery pizza involved when we got home, you’ll never know.

Needless to say, I was a little slow this morning, despite getting nine hours of sleep. I got my act together around noon and went to the gym for a little elliptical sweat session. Sweating out those wine toxins really did help. After the gym, I drove to meet my friend Emily at the Piedmont Park Summer Arts and Crafts Festival.

#alttext#

This was similar to other Atlanta festivals that I’ve been to except that it seemed to be a lot more local artists, which was nice. It was also not as crowded as some more popular festivals, which was also nice. We wandered around for about an hour or so looking at the various art that people were selling.

#alttext#

Would you be scared if I had that giant chicken in my yard? Don’t worry, I didn’t buy it. I did, however, buy a new collar for Murphy. He’s had the same collar for 2.5 years and has been on me to get him a new one. I wanted to buy him one with skulls to show that he’s badass, but ended up getting him a benign blue and brown plaid one instead.

#alttext#

After the festival, I stopped at Trader Joe’s since it’s right next to the park and left with something interesting: chocolate flavored coconut water.

#alttext#

I asked the cashier if she’d ever tried it because I couldn’t imagine what it would taste like. She said that she had and it was reminiscent of the milk that’s leftover after you eat a bowl of chocolate cereal. Intrigued, I went home to try it and she was exactly right. That is totally what it tasted like. Intriguing indeed.

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Atlanta

Mind Over Matter

Posted on August 19, 2011 by inmytummy| 14 Comments

I planned to go to the gym after work and around 3pm, I started trying to rationalize why I shouldn’t go. My leg had been oddly sore all day, sort of at the top of the quad near my hip. I’m assuming it’s somehow related to what made my neck sore, moving those two big couches on Tuesday. My co-workers were laughing at me because I kept doing this odd stretch to try to loosen it up.

I told myself to just go. My leg didn’t really hurt, it was just sore. I didn’t have an injury. It just felt sore. If it hurt when I got on the treadmill, I would get off, but I wouldn’t know until I tried, right? So, I went to the new gym and set out to do some speedwork. My schedule had me doing 6 x 400 which means 400 meters (.25 mile) at a sprint and then 400 meters of recovery, six times. When I do speedwork, sometimes I walk for the recovery lap and sometimes I do a slow job. Today I decided to walk.

Interestingly enough, my leg didn’t seem to bother me while I was running; it only felt sore when I walked. It wasn’t my best run, but I managed to get through it. Sometimes it really is a case of mind over matter. I often try to bargain with myself or rationalize why I don’t need to run. I ran the day before, I did a heavy leg workout, I’m tired. But usually it’s much more of a mental thing than a physical thing and once I start to run, I feel fine.

However, I’m taking a rest day tomorrow. Moving couches is tough work. Murphy thinks so too.

#alttext#