what i ate wednesday: issue 5

Figure 1. What I ate Tuesday, October 11.   

A) Breakfast. My *first ever* overnight oats in a jar. In the mix: a nearly empty peanut butter jar + rolled oats + plain Greek yogurt + original almond milk + 1/2 mashed banana + chia seeds. Topped with a drizzle of agave nectar in the morning;   

B) Lunch. Amy's Butternut Squash soup and a cinnamon raisin bran muffin;

C) Afternoon Snack. A Gala apple and a handful of almonds;  

D) Dinner. Toasted whole wheat bread covered in leftover pot roast and steamed broccoli.

Figure 2. Today's eating highlight. Dessert. Two mini Reese's peanut butter cups from the Halloween pumpkin. 

my less serious day: roasted

Lately, my cravings for roasted vegetables are so strong that I think somehow they must be getting laced with drugs while baking in the oven. Now, I think it's about time to get roasting...

Wearing.

Skirt and cardigan: LOFT; top: unknown (old); belt: Banana outlet; necklace: gift from Mom; shoes: Tsubo

Doing. 

My Monday morning started with a 30-minute run at working pace with L. I took two 10-minutes walks during the day and attended a 60-minute Body Pump class after work.

Eating.

Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi GoLean Original cereal mixed with Post Great Grains Crunchy Pecans cereal, half of a sliced banana, and almond milk.

My lunchbox contained a Lean Cuisine and a sliced Golden Delicious apple with peanut butter.

Dinner was baked lemon herb peppercorn chicken (Mrs. Dash marinade), toasted pine nut couscous (Near East), and roasted Brussels sprouts. Dessert was a Fiber One Chocolate Peanut Butter brownie.

weekend review: Momma's girl

 Figure 1. In preparation: Mom's pot roast.

Figure 2. Saturday night's dinner: Mom's pot roast, dinner rolls, and steamed broccoli. 

Mom's Pot Roast

There is absolutely nothing like re-creating one of your favorite childhood recipes. Can someone say homesick?

2 1/2 pounds chuck roast

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 c water

5 whole onions, chopped (I could only fit in 3)

5 carrots, cut in chucks (I used 6)

3-6 potatoes (depending on size, I used 4 small red potatoes), chopped

mushrooms (I used 3/4 package of baby bella)

8 oz tomato sauce (I also added a bit of extra water along with the sauce)

Trim excess fat from meat; sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper. Brown in oil in a Dutch oven. When brown, add water and simmer for 1 hour. After 1 hour, cut meat in fourths. Simmer for 1 additional hour or until tender. Arrange vegetables around meat (which you should cut in smaller chunks); pour in tomato sauce. Cover and simmer 1 hour (mine took about 2 hours because my pot was small).

Figure 3. Sunday night's dinner: shrimp fettuccine Alfredo (which, I made before) and roasted red pepper asparagus.

For the roasted asparagus: bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes after tossing lightly in olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes.

the sock experiment: discussion and conclusions

The time has come to bring the sock experiment to a close. Small sample size or not, for me it took just three test pairs to determine whether running socks were worth spending my hard earned cash. I know you are excited, so let's get to it.

Figure 1. Summary of evaluated sock types. A) Smartwool PhD Ultra Light Mini; B) Balego Enduro; and C) Old Navy Mesh Athletic Socks.

Discussion. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if purchasing special running socks was worth the added cost when compared to inexpensive cotton athletic socks. I found that although more specialized running socks performed slightly better as compared to simple cotton socks, this small difference in performance did not justify the large difference in price.

*Ranking system.

Although Balega Enduro socks performed optimally in terms of overall feel, maintaining an appropriate foot temperature, providing good foot cushioning, moisture control, and prevention of blustering/rubbing, their $10 price tag placed them just under the first place Old Navy Mesh Athletic Socks. In my opinion, the Old Navy cotton socks performed sufficiently well and the price was right. Smartwool PhD Ultra Light Mini were priced the highest and, unfortunately, performed the poorest out of the three tested pairs (Table 1). So there you have it folks, cotton socks win the prize.

Sensitivity Analysis. The original ranking system emphasized price over all other variables.

Overall feel (1-5): 25%
Feet temperature (cool, normal, hot): 6.25%
Cushion (poor, average, good): 6.25%
Moisture (poor, average, good): 6.25%
Blistering (none, moderate, a lot): 6.25%
Price: 50% 

I performed a sensitivity analysis to determine what would happen if variables were weighted differently. I re-calculated ranks using two different weighting schemas. Schema A evenly weighted overall feel and price and schema B evenly weighted all variables. 

Weighting Schema A
Overall feel (1-5): 25%
Feet temperature (cool, normal, hot): 12.5%
Cushion (poor, average, good): 12.5%
Moisture (poor, average, good): 12.5%
Blistering (none, moderate, a lot): 12.5%
Price: 25% 

Weighting Schema B
Overall feel (1-5): 16.7%
Feet temperature (cool, normal, hot): 16.7%
Cushion (poor, average, good): 16.7%
Moisture (poor, average, good): 16.7%
Blistering (none, moderate, a lot): 16.7%
Price: 16.7%

I found that in both weighting Schemas A and B, when price was de-emphasized (although never emphasized less than the other variables), Balega Enduro socks were ranked the highest, followed by Old Navy cotton socks (Table 2). This means that your priorities directly influence whether or not you should take the specialty running sock plunge.

Figure 2. My old socks, which inspired this experiment, and are now in the trash.

Conclusions. In summary, I found that for me, simple, cotton, athletic socks are simply good enough. And, thanks to this experiment I have several hole-free pairs to see me through many runs to come.

my less serious day: the blues

Today's outfit unintentionally corresponded with my mood: gloomy and unmotivated. Tomorrow? What colors mean happy and productive? Because I'm wearing that.

Wearing.

 Dress: Susana Monaco; cardigan: LOFT; scarf: Gap; shoes: Jessica Simpson via TJ Maxx.

Doing.  

This morning started with a 35-minute stationary bike ride (ramp interval) followed by a short walk with L. I also took two more 10-minute walks during the day today. After work, I did a 20-minute stationary bike ride before taking a 60-minute Body Pump class. Today was the new release party and it was so much fun!

Eating.

Breakfast was a mix of Kashi GoLean Original and Post Great Grains Crunchy Pecan cereals, sliced banana, and almond milk. 

Lunch started with a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich accompanied by a Golden Delicious apple with cinnamon.

I wanted to eat more, so I also had a bowl of Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond granola with almond milk. In the afternoon, I had a banana (un-pictured) for snack.

All I wanted for dinner was roasted vegetables (eggplant and broccoli), but I also threw in a Morningstar Chicken Patty for protein. 

Dessert was pumpkin pie yogurt! Greek yogurt, canned pumpkin, cinnamon, a sprinkle of Trader Joe's Country Pumpkin Spice granola, and honey.

what i ate wednesday: issue 4

Figure 1. What I ate Tuesday, October 4.  

A) Breakfast. A bowl of Post Great Grains Crunchy Pecans cereal (to be reviewed next week in my cereal experiment series [description; current standings]), 1/2 sliced banana, and almond milk;  

B) Lunch & Afternoon Snack. A spinach salad with tomato, celery, carrot, broccoli, slivered almonds, goat cheese, and hummus, a cinnamon raisin bran muffin, and a to-go Fage 2% Greek yogurt with honey. Also, (un-pictured) I was gifted (and ate) two dried Turkish apricots and one blueberry-chocolate-covered espresso bean;  

C) Dinner (Part 1). Spinach salad with tomato, onion, and topped with leftover collard greens with leftover collard green liquid as dressing (FYI - this was fantastic);
 
D) Dessert. Chocolate pudding and almond butter.

Figure 2. Today's eating highlight. Dinner (Part 2). An Amanda-style pumpkin-hummus tortilla pizza.

weekend review: get comfortable

Figure 1. Pepperoni, onion, and olive pizza.

Figure 2. Saturday night's comfy pizza dinner: pepperoni, onion, and olive pizza with a spinach salad.

Figure 3. In preparation: collard greens.

 Figure 4. Sunday night's dinner, a classic Southern comfort combination: Mom's turkey meatloaf (served with gobs of un-pictured ketchup), collard greens, and a baked sweet potato with cinnamon and spray butter.

Mom's Turkey Meatloaf

In my opinion, the perfect meatloaf.

1/2 cup salsa

1 1/2 pounds ground skinless turkey breast

3/4 cups oats

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 egg white

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine turkey, oats, onion, basil, garlic powder, pepper, and egg white; mix well. Add 1/2 cup salsa and mix well. Spoon mixture into un-greased 8 x 4 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until well browned and firm. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with ketchup.

Collard Greens 

I didn't grow up with this Southern staple, but M did. This recipe is from M's sister-in-law C. It is a bit vague, but I just went with it and they tasted perfect. I am a collard convert for sure. At the end of cooking, I added a handful of golden raisins for extra sweetness.

Halve and thinly slice 1 onion. Saute in olive oil. Remove stems and chop collards.

After about 3 minutes (collards will start to wilt/braise), add about 1/8 inch veggie or chicken stock, 2 T Dale's seasoning, 2T apple cider vinegar, and 2T brown sugar.

Turn to low, stir well and put lid partially on pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes, adding stock when it gets too dry.