faux'ghetti!

I have always loved pasta. I like to blame my (very small percentage of) Italian heritage, but it's really because it's so gosh darn delicious and comforting. And as a runner, it's so easy just to say that you're carbo-loading... when you really just love pasta. But times are a-changin'. As I'm trying to stay away from refined flours, I need to find a healthier but just as fulfilling option.

Enter the spaghetti squash. It may be a vegetable, but once you dress it up, you won't care that it's not real pasta!

Mushroom and Asparagus Faux'ghetti Marinara with Mahi Mahi

First, get your fo'ghetti ready. Open up your squash lengthwise, remove the seeds, and place face down on a baking sheet. Bake at 400F for about 20-30 minutes, until the squash is soft to the touch.

Now, time for your fish. I normally buy frozen fish from Trader Joe's, because it's normally less expensive and still good quality (i.e. wild-caught). Easy to defrost too-- I just let it rest in a bowl of warm water.

 Next, prepare yo veggies. I love onion. I do not love cutting onion. I know there are no mushrooms on my cutting board, but they were precut and waiting in a bowl, I promise.

It's probably time to cook the fish as well. I tend to cook our fish in our toaster oven because it's simple. Cook at 375F for about 15 or so minutes, until the fish is white and flaky and hot in the middle.

Your squash should be ready by now. Take out of the oven, and then flip both sides over to let it cool.

While your squash is cooling, cook your veggies. (I am a bad blogger and did not capture any pics of my veggies cooking) Heat the onion in a saute pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. Once the onion is soft and translucent, add the mushrooms and asparagus. Let cook for about 5-10 minutes. Once almost done, add the marinara sauce. I really like the Trader Joe's organic kind... doesn't have much added to it, including sugar! Finally, take each side of your squash, and using a fork, rake the insides of your squash. It should come out looking like spaghetti!

Put it all on a plate, and you've got yourself a more nutritional (and delicious) spaghetti dinner!

Stay hungry, my friends :)

it's the most wonderful time of the year

Introductory side-note (is there such a thing as an "introductory side-note"? I think I just made it up. That's okay, right?)-- I just realized I worked close to an 11 hour day today. ELEVEN hours either sitting in a conference room or sitting at my desk. Desk. Conference room. Desk. Conference Room. Desk. Was it a nice day? Did it rain? I do not know. Desk. Conference room. Desk. Just kidding. I know people have it worse. But I have to admit I am looking forward to a glass of red wine (or two) with dinner. Especially considering I won't be back in the office (no desk! no conference room!) for another TWELVE days. Partying like it's 2013 starts at 3pm tomorrow. Deck the Hall-el-ujah. I think I just combined my holidays and pop culture references. Oh well.

BACK TO REGULAR PROGRAMMING. Earlier this week... I received THIS:

And then today, in the mail, I got THIS:

Bah humbug, I guess this means I really do need to start training for the 2013 Boston Marathon. 

I know the start of this blog has been completely food-related. That's because I love not only eating food but cooking it as well. But it's about time I start talking about some other things I love, like running, J-Hay, and the little ones. Let's start with running...

The Boston Marathon is very near and dear to my heart. The experience, year in, year out, compares to NO other marathon I've done. It definitely helps that it is one of the most well-known races not only in the country but the world and attracts a ridiculously fast and talented field, from the elites to the sub-elites to the not-elites. It is the only marathon (except for the Olympic Trials and Olympics) for which you must qualify (unless of course you run for a charity) and even IF you qualify, there is no guarantee you will actually make it in. Before they changed the registration rules this year, if you didn't register within the first, I don't know, six hours, your chance to make it in was slim-to-none. THIS is part of the reason why Boston has so much mystique. With its qualifying standards just out of reach for some, it becomes this major, life-dedicating goal: Boston or Bust. 

And then for people like myself, running from the prepubescent years through the awful teenage years into the young adult and then young professional life stages, instead of Boston being your goal, you just want to run fast. You don't hear a lot about breaking personal bests on the Boston course (not only because the majority run foolishly, taking it way too fast in the first thirteen miles... and yes, that has been me, but also because marathon training in the New England weather is a BEAR), but it becomes the goal for which to strive. That has been my goal for each Boston that I've run... and I've never achieved it. Boston, you're killin' me smalls.

But really, I absolutely adore Boston. The reasons are simple:

A) The expo is huge. There are so many giveaways! And you can never buy JUST ONE "The Boston Marathon" swag. I'm a sucker for cute stuffed things... 

B) The athletes village is kickin'. You've never seen SO MANY people from so many different nations in one place at one time. Well, unless you're a member of the UN, fine. 

C) The course is chock-full and overflowing with spectators: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, Boston... not an open inch of sidewalk in sight. You've got families, loved ones, drunk college students, co-eds looking for kisses, and on those super hot days (ahem ahem 2012) you've got firemen with hoses and sprinklers too. 

D) BEST YET: it has it's own holiday. Okay fine, it was really created to celebrate the Minutemen who saved the darn country from going back to the British reign (i.e. Patriots Day)... but around here, it's Marathon Monday. And it is the day, nay it's the weekend, that not only the entire city of Boston, but it's surrounding cities and towns, comes together and just LOVES each other. It is STUPENDOUS. I get SO EXCITED for newcomers' first Marathon Monday. 

Okay, okay, you get it... the Boston Marathon is a WONDERFUL thing. I realized I just spent an entire post piling praise on top praise onto a marathon. And some people may find that weird. And that I probably should have been discussing my planned marathon training and how I will make this the BEST BOSTON EVER... oops. That will come. Take this as Boston Marathon 101: Introduction to the BEST race EVER. 

And with that... stay dreaming, my friends :) 

best breakfast around

DONE. Done, done, done, done. My semester is alllll done. Well, kind of. I still have to go to my last class tomorrow night, but its respective final paper has been completed and submitted. Oh well, minor technicality.

In honor of the end of semester, I would like to present to you something just as lovely, amazing, and fulfilling... Blueberry. Oat. Protein. PANCAKES.

Blueberry Oat Protein Pancakes

• 3/4 cup roughly ground rolled oats
• 1 1/2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 2 tbsp flaxseed meal
• 2 mashed bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• heaping serving of blueberries

First, add your whole rolled oats into a food processor, and grind well. You want almost like a chunky flour. Then, mash your bananas in a bowl, and add your remaining ingredients, including the ground oats. 

Now, heat a skillet on the stove and grease with your preferred oil. I keep it simple and use spray olive oil. Put about a tablespoon of batter onto each quadrant of your skillet.

Flip 'cakes after about a couple of minutes, or until you start seeing bubbles. Take 'cakes off skillet after another minute or two once flipped.

Now... the best part... EAT! I like to add blueberries on the side for good measure.

 mmmm nom nom nom yum yum yum :)


Stay hungry, my friends!

turkey meat-za-balls

Even though J-Hay swears that any food is good food by his standards, I just had to wait until my turkey meat-za-balls passed the taste test with the man himself.

Two salads later... my meat-za-balls are all gone! (whenever I say 'meatballs' to myself, I seem to always say it with an Italian accent... don't question me, just accept it!)

KT's Turkey Meat-za-balls

• 1/2 lb (lean) ground turkey
• 1/2 to 1 cup shredded broccoli stems
• 1/2 to 1 cup shredded mushrooms
• 1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Shred your broccoli stems and mushrooms. Since I've only got a mini Cuisinart food prep thing, that's what I use. But hey, it works. Then, to a bowl, add your veggies, your ground turkey, seasonings, and then maple syrup. You want the meat sticking together, but not too sticky. Mix all ingredients very well. Then, roll into small balls, and place onto baking sheet. Cook in oven at 350F for about 15-20 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of photographic evidence... I have a propensity for poor picture-taking skills :/ I'll try to be better about my picture-taking skills in the future!


stay hungry, my friends :)

as easy as 1, 2, 3

Sometimes I get caught up trying to make dinner this big, fancy affair. There are so many different recipes that I want to try and so little time. But then there are nights like tonight... after a week that dragged, I was not looking to make anything fancy. So I took what was available to me, and made dinner as easy as 1-2-3!





Ingredient #1: Brussel sprouts! My father picked up two packages for me during his weekly shopping trip... yummm.










Ingredient #2: Sweet potatoes! I adore these little guys.









Ingredient #3: Wild Alaskan Cod! I had the leftover piece from dinner last night and then I took out another piece from the freezer. I was determined to re-do the almond meal crust but this time make it DELICIOUS.






Step 1: Prepare your sweet potatoes! First, preheat your oven to 400 F. Then, scrub, dry, and then remove ends. Slice potatoes width-wise.

Place your slices into a bowl, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and your seasonings to taste (I used salt, pepper, and thyme). Shake the bowl, covering all slices well with your olive oil and seasonings. Then, place slices either on a baking sheet or in a loaf pan. I chose a loaf pan, like below:

Finally, bake your sweet potatoes for 20-25 minutes.

Step 2: Get your brussel sprouts ready. Chop each sprout into half. Then, heat your saute pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder... or whichever seasonings you prefer. Once heated, add your brussel sprouts.

Cover the brussel sprouts and let them cook. Make sure to check on them and stir occasionally! No one wants unevenly cooked veggies.

Step 3: Just the cod left. Get out two small bowls, and add almond meal to one, and crack (and scramble) an egg into the other. Pat-dry the fish, and then bread each by placing the piece into the egg and then into the almond meal. Then, place each piece into a heated saute pan and let cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Step 4... there is no step four!

           You're all done! Look at that healthy, EASY, delicious meal you made!

Stay hungry, my friends :)

my night in an instant

Do you ever have those nights where you can never just sit and relax? Yep, tonight was definitely one of those nights. Not that I'm really complaining... due to an unfortunate circumstance, my Wednesday class was cancelled, which meant I had a surprising free night!

But it wasn't really a free night... I still had a bit left to write for my paper...

And then of course there was dinner... it was a LEG day in the gym and after a short run once I got home, I was hungry!

I tried to make dinner simple for myself since I knew I had my paper to finish. Before my run, I took out frozen (wild) Alaskan Cod fillets (from Trader Joe's) and thawed the package in a bowl of warm water. Then, after my run, I left the fish to dry on a paper towel, and then baked in our toaster oven at 375 F for about 15-20 minutes. What you see on that piece of fish is an almond-meal crust... but it left something to be desired. The veggies on the side is a sweet potato, zucchini, and mushroom bake... leftovers from my Sunday prep night for the week.

After eating, I worked on my paper, sent it off for peer-editing, and then began work on MORE FOOD. 

Early in the week, usually during my normal prep night, I cook chicken breasts for J-Hay's salad lunches. We ran out today, so I needed some meat for the remaining two days. Enter leftover ground turkey. Idea sparked. 

                                           TURKEY MEATBALLS. 

I didn't have my official taste tester to try out my recipe (J-Hay was out with friends at a man's man's meat-fest... aka dinner at Fogo de Chao)... so the posting of the recipe will need to wait until tomorrow after it gets the seal of approval.

While the meatballs were baking, I set to work on chocolate truffles. It was a BIG day at work-- we finally reached a major milestone-- and so I want to bring in celebratory truffles for my project team tomorrow. I don't have any finished products to show you (the chocolate has to chill at least four hours) so I'll be up in the kitchen early to work on these bad boys.

Lastly, I prepped for tomorrow. 

I started with breakfast... nothing like overnight oats! Then, the last item on my to-do list was make lunches... salad with cod for me, salad with turkey meatballs for the man. 

Finally, I can relax a little bit... well just until tomorrow!

Stay hungry, my friends :)

no time for breakfast? think again!

We all have those days, weeks, months, maybe even years that seem to only give us headaches. If we're not moving from one event to another, or working on an assignment until we must start another, we're entertaining family, talking friends through crises, or taking our four-legged family members to the vet. I know I deal with this on an almost daily basis-- working full-time, graduate school part-time, running, lifting... whew. Sometimes I don't know what day it is! When it gets crazy, there never seems to be enough time to eat the most important meal of the day: breakfast. But have no fear, KT is here to bring you an easy and quick breakfast that'll leave you enough time in the day to knock off your to-do list.

Overnight Oats (thanks to this girl for the inspiration)

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (Trader Joe's has a nice big bag for not a lot)
• 1 tablespoon nut butter of your choice
• 1/2 - 1 cup almond milk (depending on your preference for texture, milk-y vs. pudding-y, and make sure to get the unsweetend flavor, we don't need no stinkin' sugar)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (you can try flaxseed oil, I just don't know how much!)
• 1 scoop protein powder (your choice on flavor! We love Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard because it has whey protein isolates.)

Combine all ingredients in a tupperware, mix very, very well, and then refrigerate overnight. In the morning, mix well again, and add your desired toppings... my favorites include a mix of blueberries and strawberries with vanilla ice cream protein powder, or banana with caramel toffee fudge protein powder. Muy delicioso!

Welp, back to the Patriots game... and oh yeah, there's that pesky draft paper to write.

Jen, this one is for you... hope you enjoy!

Stay hungry, my friends.

treats fit for the holidays

'Tis the holiday season... which means holiday parties, shopping, and overall joy to the world. It also means a lot of cooking and baking. Last night, I had my first party of the season, a ladies-only Yankee Swap organized by my aunt and attended by family and friends.

I started thinking about the goodies I could make to bring without requiring a special trip to the store. I had almond meal. I had almond butter. I also had cocoa powder, baking chocolate, 60% dark chocolate chips, marshmallows, and graham crackers. Hmm... I could make this work.

So, a couple of words about the ingredients... my IDEAL dessert is one free of anything processed and/or refined. But I understand this isn't the preference for everyone, and experimenting with ingredients can be tricky and lead to things not-so-edible. So I was careful when choosing substitutions, I definitely did not want to bring yucky treats to a holiday party! Major party foul.

First up: adaptation of Chocolate Covered Katie's Secret Peanut Butter Cookies. I absolutely love her recipes-- she takes the mystery out of healthy baking!

Almond Butter Cookies
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- just less than 1/4 cup of maple syrup
- 2 tbsp apple sauce
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp almond meal
- healthy heaping of chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate chips)

First, mix your dry ingredients (I know, not very hard as there are only three). Then, add all wet ingredients, and mix well. Let dough chill for at least an hour if you prefer soft cookies (who doesn't?!). Once the dough has chilled, add your chocolate chips. Place teaspoon-sized balls onto parchment-covered baking sheets, and bake for 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Right out of the oven, these cookies looked oh-so-good... I wanted to try one SO badly, but I definitely didn't make enough batter for too many taste tests! (After filling up my first cookie sheet, I had enough cookie batter for two big cookies... Two big cookies for the man, that is!)

Next up: brownies. I love homemade brownies. They are oh-so-gooey and full of delicious chocolate flavor. And I really, really, really loved this recipe. But I didn't love some of the ingredients, mainly the ones for the brownies. And I had to keep the graham cracker crust and marshmallow topping... I mean, come on, that's what makes it a s'more. But we could do better for the brownie middle. Chocolate Covered Katie proved once again to be the source for healthy alternatives for baking. Together, again with some adaptations, they created a ooey-gooey masterpiece.

Black Bean S'Mores Brownies
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 5-6 tbsp flaxseed meal
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking power
- healthy heaping chocolate chips

- about 1.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs
- 2-4 tbsp melted butter

- marshmallows

Once your black beans are rinsed and dry, pulse in a food processor. If needed, use a potato masher to create a smoother texture. Then, add the remaining ingredients to your black beans. Mix very, very well. You want as smooth as a texture as possible. Nobody wants a whole black bean in their brownie bite. Oh wait, I might. 

Once your brownie batter is mixed, start to prepare your baking dish. Melt the butter on the bottom of an 8x8 pan, spreading evenly. Now, put the graham cracker crumbs in dish, and spread evenly while pressing down, creating a sturdy crust. Next, pour brownie batter into dish. Spread evenly. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Remove brownies once they are almost complete, and raise the oven temperature to about 425 degrees F. Place marshmallows onto top of brownie, and make sure to cover the entire top. Put back in the oven. Do not leave your brownie for too long-- I would keep checking every minute or so. Remove your brownies once the top of the marshmallows begin to brown. Let your brownies cool, for at least one hour.

While it may be the season to be jolly, it can also be the season to be healthy. Try some healthy alternatives in your baked goods over the holidays... maple syrup and honey instead of sugar, coconut oil instead of butter, apple sauce in place of eggs, just to name a few. A taste test will definitely prove there are no differences in deliciousness!

allow me to introduce myself

I think it's a good time to meet the fam...

To start, there is me, KT, and the man in my life,
J-Hay... we like to have fun, goof around some, and stay active.








And we share our lives with two adorable kitties. First, there is Salem, AKA Bubba Moose. He's a very mysterious guy... as I've only had him for the past three years (and we guess he is close to ten years old), his life story is quite unknown and there's no way to tell if the stories I've been told are true. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Salem is a huge lover, and only wants to be around people 24/7.

Finally, we have Reese, AKA the Reesinator. J-Hay first adopted Reese when he was just a very tiny kitten, and he's grown into a lean, mean, loving machine. He loves to start play-fights with his brother, and doesn't understand why Salem just sleeps and eats all day long.

Well, that's us in a nutshell. I've got a ton of cooking experiments lined up to tell you about it, so hold tight!

only the beginning

I have to be honest-- I have no idea how to start this first post. I don't want to bore you with a lengthy historical background, but maybe it's best to start with a quick rundown of this blog. This blog, for the majority, will cover three things:

 

1) Being active through long distance running, gym workouts, and other activities

2) Whole food eating (no more processed or refined foods!)

3) My mission to reform food policy and improve access to healthy food (through this blog and hopefully other avenues to be named later)

 

In future posts, I'll provide more history about myself, my life, and my collaborators, but for now, I wanted to keep it short and sweet. So let's go find some good eats and get cooking and moving!