Adventure Eating

Before so many of my sorority sisters left this fine city, we had a monthly gathering to try ethnic foods. It's been a few years, but I recall wonderful Indian food. And I remember that Marianna's idea of African fare was Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles. Or she just wanted an excuse to have chicken and waffles. I'm OK with it.

Watching tonight's episode of The Layover, I realized I missed these culinary adventures.

So let's roll it back out: The Atlanta Adventure Eating Club
The Rules. The restaurant must be:

1. Sketch - Whether it's weird food or a weird neighborhood, it's gotta make you a little uncomfortable.
2. Untried - If we been before, we aint going again.
3. Cheap - Aint no fine dining in adventure eating.
4. Known Locally - Everybody loves a local hotspot.

Yes, that spells SUCK. The restaurants have got to be SUCK.
So here is a starting list. Some of these are per Anthony's recommendation, and some spring from my own insatiable curiosity. Let's get freaky:

• HD1 - (Poncey Highlands) Hotdogs like you've never had them. Come hungry. You're gunna wanna try two.
• Thompson Brothers BBQ - (Smyrna) Conveniently close hole in the wall.
• Heirloom Market BBQ - (NW Perimeter) Supposedly among the best in Atlanta, and has some elements of fusion BBQ. Yessss.
• Fox Bros BBQ - (East Atlanta) Let's just put together a BBQ Tour de Atlanta.
• Crawfish Seafood Shack - (Buford Hwy) I have always eschewed shellfish, because I hated it as a child. But I recently tried shrimp again and was OK with it. I've never had crawfish. So let's do this.
• The Colonnade Restaurant - (Cheshire Bridge) True southern fare.
• Sabores Del Plata - (Buford Hwy) Uruguayan meat, meat, and more meat. I am so curious.
• Nicola's Restaurant - (Druid Hills) Lebanese. Bring me baklava!
• McKinnon's Louisiane - (Buckhead) Maybe breaking rule #2, but how can we not take Katie to this place?
• Desta Ethiopian Kitchen -(NE Atlanta) No chicken & waffles.
• JCT Kitchen - (Westside) Southern-inspired bistro food. Apparently the truffle parmesan fries are a must-eat item of Atlanta. Slow cooked rabbit, anyone?
• Woo Nam Jeong Stone Bowl House - (Buford Hwy) Korean, famous for their bimimbap. Put some squid on it.
• The Local Three - (West Buckhead) Pushing the limits of Rule #2, but apparently this is the hidden gem of Northwest Atlanta. And it's 5 minutes from my home. Stephanie, this could be your foodie Shangri-La.
• Nick's Food To Go - (Downtown) Greek corner counter on MLK Drive. If that's not an adventure, I don't know what is. Daylight required.

Things I want to try. If you know of a fantastic place to find these things, speak up:

• I've never had Peking Duck. Let's have a Peking Duck. A good one. I'd pay up for a good one.
• Best dumplings around.
• Traditional regional Chinese food. I know it's out there. Birdy mystery meats and 7 year broths and whatnot. Serve it up. I'll try it.
• Eastern European. I feel like these are a people who cook like southerners, in that they have historically made the best of what they had. But I have no idea where the Poles are hiding in Atlanta. And I'm not referring to stripper poles - everybody knows where they are (Cheshire Bridge).

Let's add to these lists. Speak up!

My First 15k - Hot Chocolate 15k Atlanta

I didn't run fast, but I did finish and didn't walk. I even finished in the front half of the pack. Hey, I didn't really train (I did just two 8-mile runs as preparation) and really slacked over the holidays. This was actually the longest run I've ever done. So all around, I'm pretty satisfied with my results.
Most importantly, my friends and I had a fabulous time! It was a really well organized race, even with 20,000 runners. And we got hot chocolate and fondue at the end!
I've got my eye on the Savannah Rock & Roll Half Marathon next fall. Maybe I'll even train for that one.

So here are my results:

Me, Isaac, Liza, and Amy at the finish:

Hot Chocolate 15k!

So for years I've had hamstring pain. I always figured I had an old strain, but oddly enough, the only time I  felt it was when I ran. About 2 miles in, I'd get a burning pain with each stride. If I tried to run through it, I'd be crippled for days. Sometimes it was awful. Sometimes it would ease up for months and I could run a little. Mostly it was frustrating.
So what did I do? Well, I stopped running. It was a blessing in disguise. I got into spinning, and then taught spin. I enjoyed weight-lifting, did p90X, and even taught boot camp and body tone classes. I discovered I loved kickboxing. I got a road bike, and got obsessed with said road bike.

Well, then some of my cycling friends signed up to do a 15k. I hated that I couldn't do it. It drove me nuts watching their facebook posts about their training runs. So I decided to see a sports medicine specialist. I have great insurance, so why not?
In retrospect, it's so obvious I didn't have a hamstring injury. I wouldn't be able to do any of my fave activities with a hamstring strain. Turns out I have a compressed disc, which can cause pain radiating down your leg. Lucky me. I can't believe I've had this for over 5 years. But it's an easy, albeit long-term, kind of fix.

With some physical therapy sessions and daily at-home exercises, I've gotten myself up to 8.4 miles. And that was a hard 8.4 miles. Like, dodging cars and running through ditches because there's no sidewalk for 8.4 miles. So I think I'm golden for 9 miles at a chatty jog.

Soo...drumroll...this weekend is my big debut:

Bring it!

It's a New Year

Bow howdy, it's been a while. And it's a been quite a year for this girl. Let me count the ways I am loving my life:

•   In March, I began working for a fantastic healthcare consulting firm. I knew I would like this job. I didn't know I would love it. It is challenging, but enjoyable. Always rewarding. I learn something new every day, but I get to use the skills I worked so hard (and I mean, painfully hard) to acquire at Georgia Tech. I travel, I move around, I interact with a variety of people. Basically, I am rarely sitting still, which is great for a fidget like me. Best of all, I feel useful and appreciated. I think that's a rare thing in this day and age.
• I bought a new road bike (aka "Sparky") and have thus opened an exciting new chapter of fitness adventures. I've made wonderful cycling friends. These people get me. They understand my burning need to get on my bike and ride up that big, steep hill. They even appreciate my commentary on the way up ("Slay the mountain, bitches!"). I have wanted a road bike for years, but I really underestimated the physicial, social and mental rewards.
• I've gone on some really special trips:

• Steph and I stumbled around Chicago for St. Patty's Day (admittedly, that city parties at a way higher level than we do). 
• I pulled together a Singles Ladies Weekend in the mountains of Asheville, where we hiked, ate like queens, and lounged in front of roaring fires.
• Cycling HBIC Liza arranged a lovely stay at a B&B on the shores of Lake Rabun, where we cycled the rollings hills and lake shorelines of North Georgia. It was gorgeous.
• My Oregon family and I stayed a week in beautiful warm Key Largo, where the temperature consistently clocked in between 75-85. I kept eating too much. They kept checking the Oregon weather ("Hey Kel, it's 3 degrees back home right now.")
• Dragon*Con. I think that counts as a "trip".

 

 

So I'm on a plane at 30,000 feet, contemplating how my favorite skinny jeans don't fit anymore.  Now, don't get me wrong, I know I'm not overweight. But it's so upsetting when your clothes from a year ago are just beyond your waist's reach.

My gain has certainly not been for lack of exercise. Last weekend I completed my first century. A century is just a fancy name for a 100-mile race, and I had a great time! The first 50 miles were some of the best miles I have ever had on my bike - my legs were strong, I had plenty of energy, and it was an absolutely beautiful morning! Miles 60-75 were a different story. I, uh, had a little incident involving yelling at my team mate and scaring some horses in the pasture. But hey, I rallied and finished strong! And the best part? I won this cool cycling gym bag in the raffle! It even has special pockets for your water bottle, shoes, and helmet. What a great day!

So I've been cycling on the weekends and hitting the hotel gym during the week. I haven't been a slouch either. I do sprint intervals and a lot of weight-lifting. Even my "recovery" workouts are challenging. I admit that I've slacked on my back/abs workouts, but only because everything else has been upped.

So what is it? Hmmm. Could it be the airport food? The all-too-easy access to cookies and pudding at the hospital cafeteria? Or maybe the total lack of edible healthy options on the road? God help me, I can't stand any more salad bar. What does that leave me? Dubious crusted fish or dry, flavorless chicken breast. Oh, joy! Surprise surprise: I end up eating crappy food, and no amount of exercise can truly undo it.

So in the spirit of lists, here are a few targets I can use to get back on track:

• No more cookies. I know, it's very sad. Cookies are my life blood. My comfort blanket. My fountain of youth (and fatness, as it were). But the hospital only has these mondo-sized cookies. And while having one mid-day normal-size cookie isn't going to destroy my waistline, those godzilla cookies will.
• Cook dinner. I am now staying at an extended stay hotel during the week, which means I have a kitchen at my disposal. Mostly I haven't used it. It's not as convenient as it sounds - every week I have to buy new spices, new olive oil, salad dressing, etc etc. But if I can make at least a few healthy, easy-to-prepare meals in my room, I can cut a lot of calories. I'll have to make meal-planning a part of my Sunday night packing ritual.
• Work out. When I work out, I work out hard. But sometimes it's a struggle to make myself get there. I travel, I work, I save healthcare, and sometimes, I just want to go back to the hotel and go to bed. So the problem is not my workout, but in my motivation. I'll need a workout schedule. So add that to the packing ritual.
• Go to bed earlier. I'm just so dang tired all the time. I need to rip myself away from Pinterest at 10:30pm and just go to bed. It'll help me make better food decisions and exercise the next day.

My Bike!

Meet Sparky, my 2011 Felt Z6 with his new Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset. Sparky and I first met back at the end of May. I probably should have introduced him before now, but we've been so busy getting to know one another. Better late than never!

Sparky is a good-looking fellow with his snazzy paint job. And just look at those orange tires! His carbon frame makes him pretty light, and replacing his wheels shaved off another whole pound. Although he's no ultra-fast race bike, we hold our own on the road (well, we try). This bike will definitely be all I'll need for a good, long while!

Gluten-free Power Food

Those who know me have noticed that I've gotten kinda into cycling (more on that another time). One thing I've noticed is that heavy, gluten-based energy bars don't always go over well. Sometimes I'll be ready for a caloric boost, but that tasty Cliff bar will sit in my stomach like a brick. And then I'll bonk anyway. That's a bad feeling.

So I decided to have a gluten-free ride. I made these really tasty rice cakes from The Feed Zone. They were a big hit with my fellow cyclists! They're tasty, the rice gives you a quick shot of carbs, and all the protein sticks with you for a long time. Don't be confused by the weird ingredients - in this case, too much of a good things really is wonderful!

CASHEW AND BACON RICE CAKES - I found Calrose rice at Walmart, of all places. However, you can substitute any medium-grain or sushi rice. A rice cooker will work best, but I just made it in a saucepan since I don't have one of those (yet). Wrap these little suckers in foil (like a present) and stuff them in your jersey pocket for a mid-ride snack. I haven't tried freezing them yet, but I think they'd thaw ok.

- 2 C uncooked Calrose rice or medium-grain "sticky" rice

- 3 C water

- 8 oz. bacon

- 3 eggs

- 1/2 cashews, raw or roasted (avoid heavily salted)

- 1/4 C nut butter

- 1/2 C raisins 

1. Cook the rice and water.

2. Meanwhile, fry the bacon until moderately crisp. Remove from pan and pat with paper towels. Crumble the bacon.

3. Gently wipe the suate pan to remove any burned bits, but leave enough goodness for the eggs. Softly scramble the eggs in the bacon fat.

4. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, bacon, scrambled eggs, cashews, nut butter, and raisins. Mix well. Press into an 8" or 9" square brownie pan to about 1 1/2" thickness.

5. Let cool thoroughly in fridge. Cut into 12-15 bars. Wrap in foil.

On a side note, I had a blast making these. Cooking, drinking cider, and watching the opening ceremonies...now that's a good night.