Another Summer salad

I'm excited that I've found so many healthy recipes lately in very unlikely places. Randy our trainer today was talking about being healthy. His philosophy is exercise, eat simple food and drink water.
I have to mention one more benefit of higher intensity workouts. My resting heart rate has dropped almost 20 points. So my heart is getting more rest in the down time, so I recover quicker from any workout. I've mentioned before that every workout is fun even though it's high intensity but he is also working the entire body in each workout.
Anyway you're here for the salad recipe.

Mediterranean Garbanzo Salad
5 cherry or grape tomatoes halved
1 small zucchini or yellow squash chopped
1/2 can of garbanzos drained and rinsed
4 olives halved
1 TBS chopped parsley
1TBS olive oil
1TBS lemon juice.
2 or 3 lettuce leaves chopped.
Toss and either eat as a salad or use as a pita stuffing.

Beat the heat

I read an article the other day that said to eat Thai food when it was hot to get your sweat reflex going. Much as I love Thai food I have a hard time eating it when it's hot.

The other school of thought is to eat cooling foods: cucumbers, watermelon anything light on the stomach. One of my favorite salads is from The Pioneer Woman web site. If you want to see the photos and step by step instructions. Go to http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ and search for :Asian Noodle Salad.


Asian Noodle Salad
Ingredients
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 package Linguine Noodles, Cooked, Rinsed, And Cooled
½ heads Sliced Napa Cabbage, Or More To Taste
½ heads Sliced Purple Cabbage, Or More To Taste
½ bags Baby Spinach, Or More To Taste
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
1 whole Orange Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced
1 bag Bean Sprouts (also Called Mung Bean Sprouts)
Chopped Cilantro, Up To 1 Bunch, To Taste
3 whole Scallions, Sliced
3 whole Cucumbers Peeled And Sliced
1 can (about 10 Oz.) Whole Cashews, Lightly Toasted In Skillet
_____
FOR THE DRESSING:
1 whole Lime, Juiced
8 Tablespoons Olive Oil
8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons (up To 3 Tablespoons) Sesame Oil
⅓ cups Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger Chopped
2 cloves Garlic Chopped
2 whole Hot Peppers Or Jalapenos, Chopped
Chopped Cilantro
Preparation Instructions
Mix salad ingredients together. Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on a platter.
Note: dressing keeps for up to three days before serving, without cilantro.


Also if you go to the www.pioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/ you can find a nice selection of vegan and vegetarian recipes. Just look under the special dietary needs section.

P90X is for wimps

Just a little update on my personal group training. We're in week 3 and I've lost 5 lbs. This training has been just the thing to get my body out of it's rut.

I mentioned before there is an element of fun to each of the exercises. Also we haven't done the same workout twice.

Today we paired up, one person put a stretchy band around their hips and ran the length of the waterfront while their partner held them back. Try this with your kids.
Then we did the same thing backwards, then with weights.
Next get in plank position and start walking backwards kids would love this one too.

It's just fun. If anyone wants to learn more about the exercises and try them let me know and we can get a group together.

Tom and I did P90X last year and I felt good but it's nothing to this training.

I am so thankful to work for a company that promotes a healthy lifestyle. They understand how beneficial exercise is for stress relief , productivity as well as the monetary benefits for the company.

It's a huge contrast to my last company that offered first time cancer insurance. It was so difficult to sit in the open enrollment meetings while they talked about how wonderful this benefit was. "When you get cancer you immediately will receive a check for $1000 and you can do anything you want with it". HUH?

God is so good.

I've found some really great summer recipes and I'll start posting them for you.

Have a safe and blessed holiday.

IT training

I've have the privilege to take part in Group Personal Training this summer. The session will be 12 weeks long and week 1 was a doozie.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that the body gets comfortable with your routine and you don't reap the benefits of all of your hard work.

This is definitely the case with me. We've been running and running and I've felt that my fitness level has been going down instead of up. That was proven during the first week of our group class.

We are using the IT method but at a much higher intensity. None of the moves are complicated.
Here is a run down of our session:
- 1/2 mile warm up run, grab weights and head out to the water front.
- Form 2 lines and 2 at a time run the length of the dock holding your weight with both hand chest high.

Now as I'm running holding my weight I'm think. HUUUUMMM I just lost this same amount of weight so running would be easier.....something is not right.

-Sprint back, oh that is funny.

-Run the length of dock still holding the weight but then squat down and walk backwards, back to the start.

-Walking lunges holding the weight straight above your head.

-Squats with a jump and shuffle to the side, still holding that weight. In fact when you jump you lift the weight above your head.

-Go to a small incline. Keep your weights you don't want to miss out of this bit of fun. Again form 2 lines, then 2 at a time race to the top of hill then run easy down hill.

-Grab some water and then do 20 burpies???? OK we called them squat thrusts in school. Oh why did I drink that water.

You get the idea.

I alternated between feeling sorry for my team mates being stuck with me ( min of 20 years older and much heavier) and thinking they should be grateful to have the extra time to recover between activities.

It was tough but it was also fun. The activities are varied and playful.

But remember when I said don't be to hard on yourself? And to look at the big picture? There is a silver lining.

This week we did fit testing. 1/2 mile timed run followed by as many push ups as you can in a minute and the same for sit ups, burpies, lunges, squats and then planks to exhaustion. I was quite happy to find that with the exception of burpies my numbers were very close to my team mates. My weight is down and I can tell a difference in how my clothes fit.

So don't be afraid to push yourself but make it fun. If you can't do it then find someone that can push you. It's well worth it. I can't wait to see the improvement at the end of the session.

Working cook books

As promised I'll be bringing you my favorite working cookbooks. This will take several posts. One of the features a really serious cookbook should have, in my opinion, is a spiral binding. I hate trying to hold the book open and read it at the same time. I mean how many times have you spilled something on a page because you've had to set something on the book to hold it open? It's always something sticky. OH maybe that's just me. Anyway I 'm getting off topic.

My top pick for a working cook book is: Vegan Homestyle by Kay Hansen. This is the Betty Crocker of vegan cooking. The book is true to it's title and is home style cooking at it's best.

Everything I've tried in this book has been a delight. It's a little book ( all the easier to put it in your purse and carry around for some light reading) but packed full of recipes . There is a very yummy gluten recipe and then on the next page is the follow up, "what to do with gluten". I've been asked that question every time I mention making it.

Most of the recipes can be made from ingredients you already have in your pantry and are quick to prepare. So if you need some guilt free comfort food this is the book for you.

Beautiful Cookbooks

To me cookbooks have 2 basic categories. Working cookbooks and beautiful cookbooks.
I have both types in my collection and like I've mentioned before I will sit and read a cookbook like other people read novels. So here are a few favorites.





Vegan Fusion, Artful Vegan and The Conscious Cook all fall under the beautiful cookbook category.

These are the cookbooks that you would be proud to display on your coffee table. They're full of wonderful photo's. The Artful Vegan and The Conscious Cook have the perfect recipes for those special dinners when you have time to enjoy the preparation and the calories to spend. Vegan Fusion leans a little more to raw and are much simpler to prepare. All three have delicious recipes.

Next a selection of working cookbooks.

This is a moment made for worshipping

Just got back from a great run. Even though it was hot, humid, pretty darn slow, I ran with a light heart and an attitude of praise. Praise for a strong body, the desire to run and enjoy it, for the sun, the cooling breezes, the smiles on the faces of the other runners .

I like to listen to music while I run and my favorite is Run and Worship. It's a CD that I picked up at the ABC. I'm not trying to advertise here I just really like this CD. There is also a one for walking but I haven't picked it up yet.

The lyrics make me want to lift my arms in praise, how can you resist with lyrics like; this is a moment made for worshipping, this is a moment I'm alive or hallelujah God is near, there is no like my God.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. :-)