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.

Two-a-Days Done

Whew! What a week! Wednesday and Thursday were pretty sore days, but I seem to be bouncing back faster.  Here's a summary of what I've done this week:

Monday:
✓ 5:30pm - Kickboxing class
✓ 6:30pm - Indoor Cycling class

Tuesday:
✓ 12:00pm - Gravity strength training class
✓ 10:00pm - Yoga video

Wednesday:
✓ 2:00pm - 15 min stairmaster, legs & back strength training
✓ 6:00pm - Back to Abs class

Thursday:
✓ 12:00pm - 30 min stairmaster, arms & shoulders strength training
    Jog(weather permitting) or Cardio X video

Friday:
✓ 12:00pm - Kickboxing class



Yeah, yeah, so I didn't complete my cardio session on Thursday. I ate dinner and spent the night at my Mom's house, since I'm leaving for 4 weeks for Chicago and New Haven. I think that's a legit excuse.

Adventures in Brisket

I was recently inspired  to give brisket a try (see Katie's brisket recipe on Trail Mix). I've always wanted to  attempt it, but red meat isn't my specialty. For one, if you mess up a steak, it's an expensive screw-up. And secondly, people feel so dang strongly about their read meat. Luckily, brisket is both inexpensive and can only be made edible one way - by long, slow cooking. You pretty much can't fail if you give it its due process. However, it's traditionally done best in a smoker or BBQ. I have neither. America's Test Kitchen to the rescue! They recently published a slow cooker brisket recipe in their "Cook's County - Best Country Recipes" issue. FTW!

I called up Ben and Stephanie and told them to show up at 6:30pm. I got up at 6:30am to get the brisket going.  I honestly couldn't improve upon Katie's idea to eat them in tacos, so I mixed up a batch of my favorite Salsa Cruda, shredded some cheese and lettuce (and some fingers, unfortunately), and made some homemade tortillas. Yes, home made. And yes, Ben drank his margarita out of a pretty glass with an umbrella, because he's man enough to pull it off!

BBQ BEEF BRISKET - Setting the brisket on an overturned loaf pan or ramekins prevents it from braising in its own juices, so you get a BBQ texture rather than a pot roast. You'll also find that the juices get sucked up into the interior of the loaf pan, so don't be mystified if there are no juices collecting in the bottom of the slow cooker. That's a good thing! Try not to let the brisket touch the sides of the slow cooker insert too much. Those areas will char a little bit from the contact. I little bit was nice, but too much will make it tough and yucky. One more thing on buying brisket - you can buy a whole brisket, but it'll be kinda huge. A whole brisket can be cut down into the point cut, which tends to be a little fattier and tastier, and the flat cut, which is leaner. I bought a 3lb point cut, and then coerced the butcher to cut off 1lb from a flat cut. *flutter eyelashes*

For spice rub and brisket:

- 1/2 C dark brown sugar

- 2 Tb minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (see photo)

- 1 Tb cumin

- 1 Tb paprika

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp pepper

- 1 (4-5 lb) brisket roast, fat trimmed to 1/4" thick, surface scored lightly

For sauce:

- vegetable oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 2 Tb tomato paste

- 1 Tb chili powder

- 1 Tb minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce 

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1/2 C water

- 1/4 C ketchup

- 1 Tb cider vinegar

- 1/4 tsp liquid smoke

- salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine spice rub spices in a small bowl, and massage it into the brisket. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. I cheated and did 30 min.

2. Heat oil in a skillet. Cook onion until softened, ~5 min. Mix in tomato paste and cook until starting to brown, ~1 min. Stir in chili powder, the 1Tb chipotle chiles, and garlic, and cook until fragrant, ~30 sec.

3. Mound onion mixture in your slow cooker so that you can cover it with your loaf pan or ramekins. Then place your ramekins/loaf pan over the mound(s). I used 3 ramekins, so I made three little mounds and placed the ramekins upside-down over them. Place brisket on top of ramekins/loaf pan, fatty side up. Add water to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

4. Transfer brisket to a baking dish, cover with foil or lid, and let rest for 30 min.

5. Meanwhile, remove ramekins/loaf pan from slow cooker (juice will fall out, so be careful!). Pour juices into a bowl or very large measuring cup. Let sit and skim off fat. You need 2 C of defatted juice, so supplement with water if you're short. 

6. Slice brisket against the grain. Pour 1 C of juices over the top.

7. Whisk ketchup, vinegar, and liquid smoke into remaining 1 C of juices. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with brisket. 

FLOUR TORTILLAS - Homemade tortillas are so easy, and definitely worth the little bit of extra work! You can also make the dough ahead of time, then roll them out and cook to order. To save time, cook one tortilla as you roll out another.

- 2 3/4 C all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 tsp salt

- 6 Tb vegetable shortening, cut into pieces

- 3/4 C + 2 Tb warm water, at ~110 degrees F

- vegetable oil

1. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Rub shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until combined. Knead briefly on a flat surface to form a smooth, cohesive ball. 

2. Roll into 2 1/2 Tb balls, about 1 1/2 to 2" in diameter. Makes about 12-16 dough balls. Transfer dough balls to a plate, cover with plastic, and refrigerate 30 min to 3 days.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the balls out very thinly to 6-8" rounds. They should almost be translucent.

4. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet until just smoking. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel so the skillet has a thin, even coat. I keep an oily paper towel next to the skillet, so I can re-wipe the skillet frequently.

5. Lay 1 dough round in skillet. Cook until surface begins to bubble, ~1-2 min. Flip and cook until browned and puffy, ~1-2 min.

6. Transfer to a plate or baking dish. Cover with kitchen towel or foil to keep warm.

GTS

Two-a-days seemed like such a good idea, but my legs say otherwise. Today I went to Judy's "Gravity Interval" class. This class uses the Gravity Training System, or GTS, which is basically a sliding bench on an inclined platform with various attachments. To work your legs, you can lay back on the bench and do squats up the incline. You can also do these crazy lunge exercises, but those just stress me out. You can work your abs, obliques chest, back, biceps, triceps, and shoulders by attaching pulleys or adjusting some bars, and you literally pull the platform (with you on it) up the incline. It's a fantastic full-body toning session, especially if you set the incline higher to challenge yourself.

Judy upped the ante by having us hop off our machines for cardio intervals. For example, we'd do 30 seconds of jumping jacks and 30 seconds of burpees, followed by 20 seconds of each, and then 10. Then...back to the GTS.
Needless to say, it was a tough workout. However, it was a nice change of pace from the normal weights routine! If your gym offers a GTS class, I recommend you give it a try!




Here's how the week has gone so far:
Monday:
✓ 5:30pm - Kickboxing class
✓ 6:30pm - Indoor Cycling class

Tuesday:
✓ 12:00pm - Gravity strength training class
✓ 10:00pm - Yoga video