First off, lets talk Deviled Eggs and how much I suck at making them. Seriously, I boiled 6 eggs, but only 2 ended up in decent enough condition after peeling, cutting, and de-yolking... AND to add insult to injury, my wife didn't like them. FAIL. (I thought they were alright in my own defense) Rather than using mayo and mustard in the egg filling, I used a little bit of plain yogurt, chipotle pepper, salt, chilli sauce, and cayenne. They were dubbed "Bland" so I'll have to go back to the drawing board. Plus, I could apparently use the practice making these anyways - I'd like at least a 60% success rate. (I ate all the defect eggs with my meal. ahhahaha)
The soup accomanying the eggs, however, was quite amazing. So that will be the focus of the rest of this section. I had intended to make a yam soup recipe provided from a friend (which includes ginger and lime) but when it came time to cook that wasn't what I wanted and Iended up with another recipe all together. I love the combination of sweet and smoky flavours with just a hint of spicy kick - so that's where I started and finished with this lovely soup.
Vegetable base:
1 - medium small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chopped.
1 - small onion chopped finely
2 tbsp butter for frying
1/2 tsp of chille flakes
1 1/2 tsp of mild, sweet curry powder
1 tsp of ancho chlle powder
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock
Fry the onion and butternut squash in the oil until nice and browned. Add the spices. Continue to fry and brown some more (don't burn, thats too much). Add the vegetable base + coconut milk and let simmer for 20-30 minutes until its all mooshy. SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER! (Or blend it using a hand mixer, or potato masher... w/e works for you)
Serve warm.
It's pretty simple, and it has a nice blend of flavours I think. My secondary intention before I got here was to roast the butternut squash on the BBQ, but I didn't have time b/c I was late leaving work. C'est la vie. I'll make this again.
Blog Post Part Deux: Bad at keeping my own rules but good at having fun.
I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week...
I lied.
I ran a second time this week. In my vibrams. Through the river valley. I'll be sore. I'm not sorry.
Edmonton's river valley has two kinds of trails. One set is well groomed and maintained by the City of Edmonton for general multi use purposes. The second set is the unofficial trails which have jutting roots, fallen logs, steep drops, sharp ascents, jumps - they're not necessarily well maintained, but they're used. Oh they're used. I made sure of that (as, I am sure, have many members of the city's biking community). :D
Aside from the tricky ascent down onto the regular pathways when I was finished (It was a slick, wet, icy mess) the trails were a riot. I didn't take a watch with me, but I do know the trail distances reasonably well, and it was about 4.5-5 km of running in total (That's pretty close what the main route would have been, I was up and down a little more). It wasn't a particularly fast pace as I didn't want to overdo it as much this time. I rounded off the workout at the end with a couple sets to fatigue of "box" jumps(truck box - approx 34" to from landing to grade), push ups, planks, and some inclined pullups (feet on ground, body angled to a low bar type - still working on that base of mine)
The plus sides:
-The trail was an effing riot. I didn't go on the bike trails very often when running down in the river valley because they can be dangerous to long distance goals if not approached carefully (You go slower, takes longer to cover as much ground, roots + logs = added risk to injury...etc). I'm not worried about time/distance too much so it was a good change.
-The trail made me focus on my feet more. It was a bit like a footwork drill - different strides to avoid tripping on roots, longer strides when it opened up, lots of bends, there was some icy sections, a couple logs to balance across, some hills, and a couple jumps.
-Mud + toes = awesome
-I won't be AS sore this time.
The 'down' sides:
- My calves will still be sore - that appears to be the location of greatest impact of barefoot running for me. That being said, I'll be much less sore and more functional than after the last one.
- Hills appear to be much MUCH harder barefoot style than before. I don't know if there is any actual merit to that statement, but some of the smaller hills kicked my ass and took my money, and a couple of the bigger ones... There are some pretty huge potential gains here for me. I always liked hills as part of a running program, but I never got worked over like this. (I don't know if this is an up or down, but it definately was harder and will contribute to sore tomorrow)
- The ice was pretty treacherous - it may have been in my old runners, but it didn't feel quite as wild a ride when you slipped... This is a non issue in a couple more weeks I think.
For a post workout snack/supper I made myself what I've dubbed Primal Pudding - 1 banana, 2-3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, a 2-3 tbsp of unsweetened coconut, 2-3 tbsp almond butter and about 1-2 tbsp chocolate chips, tossed in the microwave for 1:20 on HIGH. Mash it all together and enjoy. I was going to post a picture, but it looks nasty. It's sure tasty and quite substantial.
Have a good one!
Pat
1/2 tsp of chille flakes
1 1/2 tsp of mild, sweet curry powder
1 tsp of ancho chlle powder
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock
Fry the onion and butternut squash in the oil until nice and browned. Add the spices. Continue to fry and brown some more (don't burn, thats too much). Add the vegetable base + coconut milk and let simmer for 20-30 minutes until its all mooshy. SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER! (Or blend it using a hand mixer, or potato masher... w/e works for you)
Serve warm.
It's pretty simple, and it has a nice blend of flavours I think. My secondary intention before I got here was to roast the butternut squash on the BBQ, but I didn't have time b/c I was late leaving work. C'est la vie. I'll make this again.
Blog Post Part Deux: Bad at keeping my own rules but good at having fun.
I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week. I said I was only going to run once a week...
I lied.
I ran a second time this week. In my vibrams. Through the river valley. I'll be sore. I'm not sorry.
Edmonton's river valley has two kinds of trails. One set is well groomed and maintained by the City of Edmonton for general multi use purposes. The second set is the unofficial trails which have jutting roots, fallen logs, steep drops, sharp ascents, jumps - they're not necessarily well maintained, but they're used. Oh they're used. I made sure of that (as, I am sure, have many members of the city's biking community). :D
Aside from the tricky ascent down onto the regular pathways when I was finished (It was a slick, wet, icy mess) the trails were a riot. I didn't take a watch with me, but I do know the trail distances reasonably well, and it was about 4.5-5 km of running in total (That's pretty close what the main route would have been, I was up and down a little more). It wasn't a particularly fast pace as I didn't want to overdo it as much this time. I rounded off the workout at the end with a couple sets to fatigue of "box" jumps(truck box - approx 34" to from landing to grade), push ups, planks, and some inclined pullups (feet on ground, body angled to a low bar type - still working on that base of mine)
The plus sides:
-The trail was an effing riot. I didn't go on the bike trails very often when running down in the river valley because they can be dangerous to long distance goals if not approached carefully (You go slower, takes longer to cover as much ground, roots + logs = added risk to injury...etc). I'm not worried about time/distance too much so it was a good change.
-The trail made me focus on my feet more. It was a bit like a footwork drill - different strides to avoid tripping on roots, longer strides when it opened up, lots of bends, there was some icy sections, a couple logs to balance across, some hills, and a couple jumps.
-Mud + toes = awesome
-I won't be AS sore this time.
The 'down' sides:
- My calves will still be sore - that appears to be the location of greatest impact of barefoot running for me. That being said, I'll be much less sore and more functional than after the last one.
- Hills appear to be much MUCH harder barefoot style than before. I don't know if there is any actual merit to that statement, but some of the smaller hills kicked my ass and took my money, and a couple of the bigger ones... There are some pretty huge potential gains here for me. I always liked hills as part of a running program, but I never got worked over like this. (I don't know if this is an up or down, but it definately was harder and will contribute to sore tomorrow)
- The ice was pretty treacherous - it may have been in my old runners, but it didn't feel quite as wild a ride when you slipped... This is a non issue in a couple more weeks I think.
For a post workout snack/supper I made myself what I've dubbed Primal Pudding - 1 banana, 2-3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, a 2-3 tbsp of unsweetened coconut, 2-3 tbsp almond butter and about 1-2 tbsp chocolate chips, tossed in the microwave for 1:20 on HIGH. Mash it all together and enjoy. I was going to post a picture, but it looks nasty. It's sure tasty and quite substantial.
Have a good one!
Pat
I just finished typing a comment and got pushed again...there must be a better way to set your comment settings!
ReplyDeleteThe trails kick but, this time of year they are tough because they are slippery. The hills are hard because there are no breaks in trail running! I have learned to go all out on the downhill and then coast uphill - that's how ultramarathoners conserve energy in the trails.
McNally school has some great trails...we should meet some day for some fun on the trails!
Pat,
ReplyDeleteI don't seem to have a problem with boiled eggs and peeling them.. maybe I am born to peel eggs. But here is what I do.
Boil water
Place eggs in water
Turn the stove top off completley let eggs stand in the boiling water for 23 minutes
Rinse eggs in cold water for 1 minute
Tap the egg at the bottom with a spoon so it gets a little smooshed like..
Carefully peel like a ninja.
Then cut the egg lenghtwise in stealth mode and pop out that big bad yellow yolk.
BAM you got yourself a delicate warrior egg white waiting to be tainted by sin!
Hope that helps.
S
Karl - Agreed to meet up some day.
ReplyDeleteSara - it wasnt so much the difficulty peeling the eggs, it was just I was so bad at getting the actual yolks out. I'll give em a whilrly dervish again maybe late next week and see how that goes.