Banana Bread (healthified)

When I got home home from the gym last night I immediately started putting dinner together. I marinated 2 chicken breasts (each cut in half to make 4 thin breasts) in a balsamic, lemon and basil marinade. My plan was to make chicken and steamed broccoli...until I opened the veggie drawer and saw kale. Then I decided on baked chicken, steamed broccoli and steamed kale. Just as I was putting the chicken in the oven Doug asked if I was making a starch. He's trying to put on some weight and asked that I add that into the mix. This was the perfect opportunity for me to try my new Quinoa pasta! I made the baby shells in a big pot and steamed the broccoli and kale over top of it. Once everything was done I decided it'd be easiest to dice up the chicken and toss it, along with the veggies, with the pasta and some pesto sauce. Mmm Mmmm Mmmm. It was delicious! I'm glad my eyes were bigger than my stomach because I have leftovers for lunch this week!

While I was waiting for the chicken to bake I read through some recipes I'd been saving in my email. A recipe for Pumpkin Banana Loaf with Chickpeas from the Peanut Butter Fingers blog I subscribe to peaked my interest and I decided to give it a try. I modified her recipe a little bit (I used Stevia instead of sugar, agave nectar instead of honey and egg whites instead of egg) and it turned out wonderfully.  In retrospect I could have added nuts or cranberries to the mix for some added texture and flavor. I'll have to remember that next time.

The loaf came out super moist and very flavorful. You can't even tell it's a "healthified" version! Below is the recipe I used. The original can be found on the Peanut Butter Fingers Blog.

Pumpkin Banana Loaf with (Undetectable) Chickpeas

• Makes 1 loaf
• Cook time: 65 – 75 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup stevia
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2) butter, softened
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin 
• 1 large banana, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chickpeas and agave nectar in a food processor and pulse until relatively smooth. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine whole wheat flour, white flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
4. Mix stevia and butter with a mixer until combined. Add egg whites slowly. Add vanilla extract.
5. Add chickpea mixture, pumpkin and banana to stevia mixture.
6. Slowly add flour mixture to stevia mixture until batter is combined.
7. Slowly pour batter into a loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray and bake for approximately 65 – 75 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool before slicing.

All in all I think the bread was a success. I enjoyed a slice with a cup of coffee this morning while getting some work done from home. It was nice to have something different in the morning (I'm used to my Tone It Up Slim Down Scramble).

After working a bit from the laptop my alarm went off on my phone reminding me of a 9am conference call. I quickly grabbed my food for the day, and decided to make a smoothie for the road (the little slice of bread wasn't cutting it for this girl after a morning run).

I read an article this morning about the importance and berries and how they can help memory and cognition, so naturally I had to put berries in my smoothie. In to the blender went:

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
Vanilla Almond Milk
Blueberries
Spinach
Ground Flax Seed
4 ice cubes


I can't really give measurements for what goes in my smoothies because I always just eyeball it. For some reason I'm always able o make the exact right amount, even without measuring. Yay me!

You may be thinking I'm a total freak for adding spinach but it adds in extra nutrients and you can't taste it at all! My smoothie was a deep blueish green. Weird looking but very tasty.

Today is a big day for the Stewarts: today is Doug's 30th birthday!!!!!

Yup, I'm married to an old man! LOL. In all actuality he is as playful and youthful as ever in probably in the best shape of his life. I'll update with birthday festivities later tonight or tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!

Shenanigans

I'm proud to say that in just a few weeks I'll be the matron of honor for one of my oldest friends, Shayna Samero (soon-to-be Shayna Numbers). Shayna and I have been friends since were were about 5 or 6 years old. Sam, Jen and I happily planned her bridal shower and bachelorette, mostly via email, and it surprisingly went off without a hitch! Below are some photos documenting Shayna's day before "the big day."

The cake and cake pop party favors by Sara's Homemade Sweets

A zebra striped cake for the girl obsessed with animal prints

Quite the turn-out

A mostly healthy spread

Jennifer and I

Shayna with the only boy allowed at the party

Bridal Shower Purse Game

Me and my sisters <3

Bridesmaids!

Bride and her maids!

PRESENTS!

Everything about the day was a success. I was nervous planning everything form so far away and with women I had never met. But Sam and Jen turned out to be totally reliable, not to mention a ton of fun. Everyone had a wonderful time at the shower.

After cleaning up it was time to prepare for the Bachelorette party. We headed back to my Dads to freshen up. It wasn't long before our designated driver showed up (my bff Ryan agreed to drive us around in exchange for some quality time) and we were on our way to Philly. We decided to take Shayna to a popular bowling alley in center city Philadelphia called Lucky Strikes.

Ryan and I

Before heading to the city

Bowling was fun but, quite honestly, I suck and it was overpriced. We played for an hour then walked to Good Dog, an incredible little pub I've visited once or twice and have always had a good time in. We were fortunate enough to meet a rugby team who happily supplied us with drinks all night. Cheers mates!

It was slightly after midnight when our bride-to-be started showing signs of intoxication and we decided to head back to the suburbs. I think we all made it into bed by 2am feeling very satisfied with the evening. Unfortunately I was having so much fun that I didn't snap a single photo.

The next morning I enjoyed breakfast with everyone at my dads, including bloody mary's, before catching my flight back to SC. It may have been a quick one but this PA trip was action packed!

Change of Scenery

People have a lot of questions when they find out I'm a "distance runner." My distances right now cap at 14 miles and there are A LOT of people out there putting in WAY more miles than me. Still, that type of mileage can be intimidating to beginner runners or people who have never tried to run at all. The usual questions I get regard fatigue, injury, soreness and stretching, but I think the most common questions are more along the lines of, "don't you get bored," "how do you convince yourself to keep going," and "don't you get tired?"

Yes, you can get bored and yes you can get tired. But if you've trained to tackle 13 miles your body will do it. End of story. It's the mental game you then need to play. You're mind needs to be prepared to keep on going, not your legs.

Since I began training I've figured out what techniques work best for me. If I'm running with my group distance is never a problem. We usually run at a pace that we can have a conversation comfortably, which means we're talking to each other the whole time. During races it's a bit more difficult. We're usually running at a quicker pace and are almost never together. This is when I have upbeat music to help keep my pace and repeat mantras to myself when I get tired. Some of my favorites mantras are:

-Just one more mile (even if there's several)
-You can do it
-You've trained for this
-Push harder

I also focus on my breathing and maintaining a comfortable pace, adjusting it whenever I feel necessary. But my favorite thing to keep myself occupied during a race is pick out a person ahead of me that I'd like to pass. I'll take my time, maybe pick up my pace a tad, and slowly pass them. Then I pick the next person. This seems to be the best way for me to get through half marathons.

Recently we've been registering for races in areas we don't usually run, for the excitement and the change of scenery. A few months a go we did a 10k on Tybee Island in GA. Claire and I actually ran this entire race together and I FINALLY got some good race photos!

Pre-Race Team Photo

Finally an action shot where I don't look like I'm dying!

A few weeks after that a group of us went down to Tampa for the Gasparilla half marathon. The Expo was pretty big and we had a lot of fun. I even had the opportunity to get my body fat and BMI measured. They did the measurement by having me stand on a machine that weighed and measure me, while gripping handles for a few seconds. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I was pretty pleased with the result.

Height: 5'8" 

(I really think I'm 5'9"...maybe I wasn't standing up straight)

Weight: 138 

Ideal Weight for me is 125.3 to 164.9

BMI: 21

Ideal BMI for me is 19 to 25

Body Fat %: 22%

Ideal Body Fat for me is 19% to 25.4%

Body Fat Mass: 31 lb

Ideal Body Fat Mass for me: 26.4 to 35.5

I was happy to find that I'm within the healthy range for all categories (though I'd prefer to be on the lower end of each of those ranges...)

After we all got measured we headed out to the water front for some R&R.

CJ with the Lego Man I found in Chris' van

Chris, Colin, John and CJ

Me and Mary

When the sun started to go down we got settled in the hotel and enjoyed a pre-race pasta dinner at a local favorite, Luigi's. We hit the sack early because our half marathon started at 6:30am.

We woke up at 4:30 am to the beginning of a storm. The wind was whipping and as we pulled into the parking garage it started to pour. Luckily the rain let up just minutes before our race began.

Chris and his bed head before the run

The run was beautiful and scenic, however, and it kept my mind occupied. For the first few miles I was completely focused on moving up in the pack. I accidentally started in the wrong heat with runners who would finish in over two hours. weaving in and out of people for a few miles made for an interesting run.

My goal was to finish under 1 hour 50 minutes and unfortunately I didn't quite hit my goal. I finished in 1 hour 51 minutes. I'm blaming it on the people dodging... But I did walk away with a bad-ass skull and cross bones metal :)

We also ran the local shamrock run last weekend, which was followed by the appropriate St. Patrick's day beverage: Guinness.

You'll notice some different faces in the above photo. Stephanie joined us, after taking a few months off of running due to some knee pain. Doug made it out and brought along our friend Pat. I finished the 5k in 23 min, 48 seconds.


My next "interesting" race is the LoziLu Women'sa Mud Run in Jacksonville, FL next month. We decided on a team name of the Bluffton Beer Runners. What can I say? We like beer!!

So the trick is to try different routes, try different races, challenge yourself, trick yourself at times and keep it interesting! Start slow and build your mileage. Anyone can be a runner. You just need to try :) And find an awesome group, it really helps!

The Zebra Striped Whale

This post is a few weeks late, but I suppose it's "better late than never!" Two weeks ago I packed my bags and flew up to Philly, arriving late on a Friday night. I was excited about the trip, seeing family and friends for the weekend, but a little bummed Id b leaving Doug back in SC. But traveling alone meant I was definitely flying (I'd never attempt the 12 hour drive alone), and flying translates into less time traveling and more times with loved ones!

My Dad picked me up from the airport around 10pm. My dad is the type of dad that's completely reliable, always on time (unless of course you spring it on him last minute that you need to be picked up in New Jersey, which is what I did to him when I came up for Thanksgiving), and willing to drop whatever to help our his girls. He's been blessed with THREE daughters, with me being the middle (and favorite) daughter. LOL.

Catching up with his was awesome considering we don't get to talk on the phone very much with our busy schedules. I laid low Friday night and spent the night at my Dads so I could wake up early to start my busy Saturday in Bucks County, PA.

First on the agenda was breakfast at a little place in Newtown, PA called Jake's. I met my mom and grandmother there around 9 and my sister joined us about 40 minutes later when we were wrapping up our meals (we all ordered a version of their heart healthy egg white omelets).Unfortunately I didn't nap a picture of me with the family :( I really need to get better at getting me in pictures with other people and not just food!

After our WAY too short visit, my sister and I headed to one of my favorite places in Newtown for coffee or sweet treats: The Zebra Striped Whale. This eatery/coffee shop is located in the heart of Newtown's quaint downtown area. I adore this part of town because I grew up there and despite the changing of some businesses it still looks virtually unchanged.

We met our friend Ashley and her son Connor to do some MUCH needed catching up. I haven't seen Ashley and her son since my wedding shower in July of 2010! We were all very impressed with the decadent spread at ZSW. Over sized cookies, elaborate candies, an extensive ice cream topping selection and delicious coffee drinks are just a few of the things the Zebra Striped Whale offers. Their eclectic decor featuring local artists makes this mom and pop even more appealing to the Newtown native. We cozied up in the back of the shop, enjoying our Nutella lattes and gigantic peanut butter cup cookie. YUM!

Notice the tongue...

I couldn't hang for too long because later that afternoon I was hosting a bridal shower and bachelorette party for one of my oldest girlfriends. My sister Melissa went to run some last minute shower errands while I rushed to the clubhouse to start setting up. Despite the short time frame I felt like the morning allowed me to spend time with loved ones and soak up some of my hometown ambiance.