Food, Travel, Fitness, & Meditation Blog
A broad category that should encompass all of the content on the site.
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Sweet Potato Noodles with Cashew Cream Sauce (Vegan)
I can’t explain the vegan kick lately, but let’s roll with it, it’s good for us. (Unless “paleo” is the real good for us, but no one can answer this question for me… ) I digress. Let’s talk about these sweet potatoes noodles and my first foray into SPIRALIZING!! Yeah, I’m pretty much late to all trends, so this isn’t shocking. I’ve been watching people spiralize their veggies on Pinterest for months now, drooling over the late summer zucchini noodles and squash pappardelle. I hadn’t bothered to put any spiralized veggies on my short list to cook though because 1) I don’t own a spiralizer, 2) I didn’t feel like…
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Running with Raynaud’s
Picture this. It’s 37 degrees out, full sun, no wind. I emerge from my house for a run wearing my full winter ensemble which includes long pants, two long-sleeved shirts, and a multi-layer windbreaker/jacket with the hood zipped tightly around my face over top of my hat. The finishing touch is a set of mittens that would make it seem to the innocent bystander as if I might be on my way to summit Everest. The other night, I arrived at running club in weather just like this, slightly warmer than average for the middle of winter in Ohio, especially after dark. As we stood around waiting to begin (standing…
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Unplanned Rest Days
I blame winter. I like to say that if I lived somewhere else – either somewhere warmer, or somewhere with more daylight hours, I wouldn’t suffer this temptation. I have no way of knowing whether that’s true since I’ve only ever lived in Ohio, but I’m aware that it’s a sorry excuse. I’m talking about the temptation to skip my workout and take an unplanned rest day. You know that little devil on your shoulder. The one who doesn’t show up until around 2:15 p.m. when he just pops his head in and leads with some seemingly benign comment like, “How you feeling? Has this been a long day, or…
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Greek Salad (Vegan)
This past weekend was one of those weekends when I kind of accidentally booked all the nooks and crannies of my calendar. It was all great awesine super fun stuff – we took a cooking class, shared a lunch out with the inlaws, a Valentine’s dinner with my brother and sister-in-law, got in quality workouts like a first-time intro to Jiu Jitsu class and a long run, worked on the new business, and celebrated my cousin’s 30th birthday. You gotta admit that’s a lot of stuff for two measly days off, especially for a homebody like myself who fantasizes about days with no commitments. Nonetheless, it was all worth the…
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The Weekend Long Run: The Beginning
I was in the fifth grade, and as is the case with most fifth graders, I had very few responsibilities eating up my free time. So after school, I tagged along with my dad to track practice. I knew that my dad was a runner, and I knew that he coached the 7th and 8th graders, but that was about the extent of my awareness of track and field. I quickly learned that track season in Ohio begins at a time of year when the best adjective to describe the great outdoors is “dreary,” and that this would not be used as an excuse to stay inside. The evenings were, more often…
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Shrimp Creole with Cauliflower Rice
We are in the midst of one of those trendy 30-day no sugar challenges. We’re not doing anything fancy, just avoiding foods with added sugars (any refined sugar, as well as honey, maple syrup, agave, etc.). Don’t feel too bad for me. I’ve already eaten my body weight in raisins this month, and we still have another few days. We were relieved to realize that we didn’t have to make too many dramatic changes. Admittedly, we were already trying to be cautious about high sugar foods, but this challenge made us think even harder, and it kept me from rewarding myself every night with a spoonful of ice cream…
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The Weekend Long Run: Mindfulness on the Run
I asked in a previous post, (or maybe I just thought it to myself), whether running itself was the same as meditation. I suppose it depends a lot on how you do it. It may not necessarily be meditation, but if you think about it, running should always be done mindfully. In fact, distracted running could be seriously dangerous in a plethora of ways from the mild and hilarious to the breathtakingly sobering. For example, a misstep at dusk over a crack in the sidewalk could lay you out on your face. I’ll never forget the first time this happened to me. I was a freshman in college, and I had just…
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Bobby Flay’s Banana Bread
Mmmm….. I promise I do make other foods besides bread, but I’ll be damned if bread isn’t at the top of my favorites list. Every bread from toasted pita chips to chewy bagels, whole grain toast, muffins, potato rolls, King’s Hawaiian, garlic bread, ciabatta, croissants, crackers, pizza crust, and, of course, one of the world’s most beloved breads, the banana bread.
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Goat Cheese and Pimiento Dip
It’s almost time to start planning out your list of dips and spreads for the Superbowl! If we’re being honest, zero percent of my being is interested in the Superbowl or professional football in general. I grew up in a home of Browns fans, and now I live with a nice man who tells me that we’re Lions fans. So, historically, I haven’t had a lot to celebrate in the NFL. Nonetheless, I do enjoy reasons to eat. I can promise you that if I’m awake for any portion of the game, it will be only the first few moments, so I’m going to do the majority of my eating…
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My Monotasking Manifesto: 6 Ways I’m Stepping Up My Game This Year
Have you heard the buzz about monotasking yet? If you haven’t, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. We, the strivers for productivity, are no longer expected to multitask! That’s right, “multitasking” is so out, and “monotasking” is in. Smart people are telling us that if we really want to be more productive, the key isn’t trying to do more things at once. The key is giving one thing your full focus, doing it once, doing it right, and then moving on to the next thing. And this year, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to embrace monotasking. I first heard the term “monotasking” in Mindful Magazine. Monotasking is basically a…
