Wednesday Food Fest: looks like bleep to me!

Posted on 29 August, 2012 by Renée

One of the things I really have wanted to do lately was try out a new recipe, dare I even say it, once a week. I should already tell you I’m one of those cooks – you can give me a few ingredients and I can probably whip up something tasty but don’t actually ask me to read AND follow a recipe.

Even so I spend tons of money and time with cookbooks, websites, blogs and pinterest thinking “that looks great! I should make that!” and yet I just don’t follow through.

Since I made a bit of a change in February even hubs has does his best to take a recipe and carefully trim down the oil or amount of meat so that it still fits into the daily plan. He’s switched to coconut oil instead of olive and even eats cauliflower instead of rice or gluten-free pasta. So basically hubs has made more of an effort than I have to make new things and try different recipes!

I bring you to my blog title now…

Whilst in New Mexico I picked up several different nutritional bars, most GF and Vegan, some only gluten-free. I’ve never tried Lärabars or Raw Revolution but I’m way impressed. I mentioned it a few times on Twitter and my friend Tammy pointed out that I COULD MAKE MY OWN!! She sent mea few links and I decided it was time to make the effort.

I got my recipe here

As far as ingredients go, it’s really quite simple. The main ingredient is dried fruit, namely dates. I don’t generally eat dates (they remind me of cockroaches!!!) but I bought a package at my health food store, a giant bag of almonds and some Fair-trade cocoa powder – the other ingredient, shredded coconut, I already had at home. Four ingredients, how hard could it be?

Well. First of all I failed to read the package before I put the dates in the food processor. After a few minutes it actually smelled like it was burning and the little Cuisinart was shaking like crazy. I emptied the contents in a larger bowl (this included the almonds) and added my coconut and two tablespoons of cocoa powder. I was mixing with my hands so I thought I would try to stir it with a spatula… well, that wasn’t the best idea… not only did I break my spatula, the top bit flew off with a bunch of cocoa powder along with it. It was a wonderful comedy of errors and I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. Hubs heard a lot of commotion and came in to find me laughing with tears streaming down my face and mess EVERYWHERE.

And the dates… what I failed to read was that they still had the pits in them. No wonder the poor Cuisinart was struggling to grind! I literally had to go through and pull ALL the stones out of my mixture before I could make the bars. So far the end result has not revealed any forgotten pits.

So, how did they turn out?

What a Lärabar looks like:

What mine look like:

Like poop!
(I contemplated putting one in the toilet today at work. Yes, I’m a 12 year old boy)

They taste GREAT though I can tell you that!!

Have you ever tried to make your own type of nutrition bar?

FMM:Friend Makin’ Monday:: Tech Edition

Posted on 27 August, 2012 by Renée

This should be fun. I am not very technical AT ALL!

As you know Every Monday My Girl Kenlie posts a FMM – this is meant to interact with other bloggers, link up and get to know each other a bit better.

If you’ve previously taken part you know the rules. If you don’t know how it works, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog and then add your link the comments section here or at Kenlie’s Blog so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links as well so everyone has the opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM blog post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Tech Questions

1. PC or Mac? Well, Hmmm. I’m pretty much a PC person. I don’t have an iPhone (I have an android), though I do have two iPods and now that hubs “had” to buy a new iPad (for his app development stuff) I now have an iPad. To be honest I still haven’t tried even 10% of it’s capabilities. If I needed a Mac for creativity I would probably use a Mac, but right now I don’t need it.

2. When did you get your first computer? 1997 or 1998. I was working for Iomega and we got a deal through work for some ridiculous amount of money (as in very cheap).

3. Do you use cable, DSL or something else? We use cable. I’m sure of that. *Wonders if she should ask Hubs*

4. When choosing a laptop, do you think it’s more important to choose the fastest one, or the lightest one? Because I schlep my laptop around a lot for work (and have a major commute) I would probably go for weight vs. speed. But really new laptops these days are pretty quick no?

5. What kind of cell phone do you own? Do you like it? I have a Sony Xperia. It’s ok. I had a Blackberry (or several I should say) for years and really prefer the keyboard but I decided to make the effort for touch screen. Honestly I just want to type and I have trouble sometimes with touch.

6. How do you carry your laptop when you travel? my laptop fits in my backpack side compartment and if I travel with it on a plane for example, I would definitely have it under the chair in front of me. Daily though it’s in the same backpack. I bought a backpack that would hold food, drink, a book and my laptop for sure!

7. How many e-mails do you send on an average day? I email a lot for work. Which is why it’s really tough to email at home or via facebook for example! I am so bad with that!

8. Do you ever blog using your iPad or similar tablet? I did try it last week. I was pretty happy that it was possible.

9. What do you use more often – a desktop or a laptop? I have a laptop at home and one at work.

10. As a blogger, are there other gadgets that you need to get the job done? I use my phone camera for many photos and my iPod touch was meant to be used for video but I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions on your blog! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday, friends!

Phew! I made it!

Posted on 26 August, 2012 by Renée

It was a ROUGH week, at least from a work perspective.

It’s busy, people are still on vacation, it’s end of the month, it’s almost end of the year… there’s just a LOT going on.

I wanted more than anything to run twice and go to the gym once this week and I DID IT. So happy about this. I could tell you that it wasn’t exactly how I would have wanted or expected it to be, but actually I’m even starting to “not care” if it’s brilliant run or not, you know what I mean? It’s more like, “Did you plan it?” Yes. “Did you do it?” Yes. Good, that’s what matters.

So Tuesday as you know we ran in Sonsbeek Park. My new thing is to warm up with stairs:

This area of the park is called Steile Tuin which literally means “Steep Garden”. We did not run up all of these stairs, just counted up to twenty and then back down again, over and over until 10 minutes had passed.

The few times we have been at Sonsbeek we just do a walking warm up which unfortunately lands us on an uphill climb once the 5ish minutes have passed that we determined for the warm up. I don’t know about you, but I find directly running uphill to start kind of hard…

Hubs had a pain in his leg (he struggles a lot with pain various parts of his body and this weekend we got him new shoes so we are hoping that may at least make his problems less) and it was just too much after 3KM. So he stopped and I went an additional 3KM.

On Wednesday I went to the gym! YES, I WENT TO THE GYM! I haven’t been since the end of June. Seriously. I skipped July of course because I was away, but wow has it been challenging to get there in August! First I was sick and then I was just exhausted and busy at work and my head wasn’t in the right place. But I went and it felt good! Of course I am still feeling my legs and butt from those squats I did… I guess that means that it’s working right?

I also did planks (2 to be exact) at the gym – I remember my trainer “cheering” me on, that I could make 45 seconds, one minute, etc. I felt like I couldn’t but I did. So now I did them just with his voice in my head and it worked. I know these are really good for your core so I want to do them daily. Well, at least one.

On Thursday I planned with a colleague to go for a run after work. So that’s the thing – make an appointment with someone, you are not likely to cancel (making an appointment with yourself is much easier to cancel, though I don’t see why it should be!). So, 16:15 rolled around, we got changed and headed out.

This wasn’t the greatest run of my life but it didn’t matter- I’d had a REALLY stressful day and just going outside really, really helped. The temperature was PERFECT, we were in the woods, we got a little lost – hahaha! – but I had a bit of a cramp in my side (not a stitch, no idea what it was) so I had to keep stopping to just walk for a bit. We are going to run next week together too. I don’t have a lot of running partners, and I don’t mind so much to run alone, but it’s nice to have this with someone who understands mentally the need to get out and let go.

Highlight of the Week:

NOT paleo, mind you…

Hahaha! I can’t tell you how much I needed that after the week I had! We had a couple of beers at our favourite Greek restaurant and for the first time in my life took some of my dinner home because I just couldn’t finish and I didn’t want to explode by eating it all. It’s kind of tough to find places in NL that will give you a doggy bag, but Rhodos does so guess what I had for breakfast Saturday morning? Yeah, Paleo-style baby!!

Yesterday we also did some health and fitness shopping; Hubs got a new pair of running shoes (asics – after analysis and trying several different pairs), I bought a new/better pair of bike shorts (a sort of two in one so I don’t look so much like a twat – yes I said that!), some biking gloves (lost the other pair) and now I’m pretty much ready to go to Cornwall for the Cycletta Event at the Festival of Sport. I also bought some ingredients to make my own Larabars; if I’m lucky/make the time I should still be able to do that today and let you guys know how it goes.

Oh and rest assured, I finally got a new running sports bra. No more twin floppies and old lady boobs photos shall be taken of me until the NEXT time I need a new sports bra!

How was your week? Were you able to do the things you planned for yourself? Did you learn anything about yourself?

Wednesday Food Fest

Posted on 22 August, 2012 by Renée

As I’m trying to bring more life to the blog I thought I would try to have at least one regular post per week. I have a pretty busy life and I know I’m not alone; we are all trying our best to eat well and be healthy AND come up with new ideas for meals at the same time. I keep finding recipes I want to try (and don’t ) and while my food is pretty much the same week after week I do try to change things up from time to time.

I really love leftovers since I changed up my diet a few months ago. I also love taking a bit of “gravy” or even fat and juice from the previous evening meal and then use it on something else. For example, Monday night the hubs made roasted chicken and potatoes for dinner and it was absolutely divine. There was quite a bit of gravy left over so I took three frozen chicken breasts (at 100g each) and basically marinated them in the juice all night. The chicken I buy in a box of 5 as I find it extremely handy to have and it’s the exact portion I want.

Tuesday morning I took the chicken and put it in the roasting pan, chopped up two half bell peppers and some sweet potato, added some sea salt and 1tbsp of olive oil and threw it in the oven. While that was busy I then steamed some broccoli and prepped the rest of my food for the day (including what I make for hubs daily). Here is the result:

I can’t tell you just how satisfying it is to have a meal like this at lunch time. I have very long days and on a day like Tuesday – I went running directly after I arrived at my home station – this meal gets me pretty much through the entire afternoon. Now I also have two other pieces of chicken to use this week, maybe in a salad or for breakfast. Whatever floats the boat at the time :)

What are your favorite meals for during your work week?
Do you plan ahead?
Use leftovers to create a new meal?
Do you get up early each morning or cook huge batches of food in the weekend?

I told you it was hot and sticky?

Posted on 21 August, 2012 by Renée

Oh my. I went running today after work. I thought I would die. Breathing is tough in this sort of humidity. I wonder how others get through it.

Not only am I as red as a ripe italian tomato, I also noticed I need a new sports bra (again — damnit why haven’t I arranged this since the Rotterdam Ladies Run when I noticed it the first time?)

You see I am not always looking perfect on photos!

Extremely Hot and Incredibly Sticky

Posted on 19 August, 2012 by Renée

That is what the weather has been like here lately.

Don’t get me wrong, I just came back from Phoenix and Albuquerque… it’s HOT. Here it’s humid. That means stickiness.

I love it when it’s sunny and warm and I deal with the humidity the best I can. After all, we don’t have consistent summers here, you have to take the good with the bad. Today we were waiting to break the all-time high record of 38 that happened in something like 2004. I don’t reckon that happened and to be honest I haven’t checked the latest temperatures as I’m writing this.

It’s been hot and sticky all week and moreover last week was almost the same (we’ve just progressed to hotter and stickier). I was ill my first couple of weeks being back in the Netherlands, last week it was Hubs’ turn to be sick. That meant that I rode my bike again to the station and home this week a few times, since I didn’t want to take the bus (it was dry and warm, why not bike? :) ). But look at this – it’s a lot of biking lately!

Especially if you consider that my main sport is running:

Anyway, the biking thing… so not only did I do my train station commute, last Sunday we did around 47KM around the Achterhoek we also took advantage of the weather to cycle to my good friend M’s house for a BBQ yesterday and today we went out once again to the Hoge Veluwe, to get a few KM’s under our belts, nearly 55KM to be exact.

The BBQ yesterday was HOT HOT HOT and there were a few cocktails to be had. Eating didn’t go well, I would say mostly because there was zero appetite (but never fear I was able to get sausages in my belly – my favourite BBQ food -and a few other things :) ) drinking went too well and to be quite honest last night I wasn’t sure there would be a bike ride at all today. Luckily no real problems so we headed out just after 1pm to cycle to the Hoge Veluwe. I have mentioned it a few times now, but again, I would like to say, anyone who thinks the Netherlands is flat, I invite you to come to Gelderland, where there are plenty of hills!

We did stop around midway point for the obligatory witte bier and had a pancake (a dutch pancake and no not gluten-free, sometimes I have to make exceptions) with ice cream and warm cherries. You probably think “Beer and pancakes?” Yes, totally doable ;)

The nicest part of cycling around is seeing things you wouldn’t normally see, or finding a cute restaurant or bed & breakfast to put on the list to try “next time”. Plus it was pretty quiet out, so it’s just good old fashioned sunshine, fresh air, exercise and hanging with your best friend.

Back to running though –
I had one run this week. Just one. I meant to go to the gym at least once and run twice but it wasn’t meant to be this week. Hubs’ picked me up on Tuesday after work as I arrived at the train station and I ran home. I knew it would be about 5KM, but it was going to be hilly. I know the road well; it’s the same road we drive every day to and from the station. But I was determined to do it. As you (may or may not) know, I’m doing the Zevenheuvelenloop (7 Hills) in November and I’d like to be a tad bit prepared for it by doing some hill work. It was again, hot and sticky – and it was hard. I started off by running up and down the steps at the train station (not the main entrance) for 10 minutes, then I just went for it. I had already decided I was going to RUN the whole way no matter how slow. And I did :)

I would very much like to increase my running again over the next couple of weeks, because of course the Arnhem Bridge to Bridge is on the 9th of September! I will shoot for twice again and once to the gym, but I do secretly hope that it will cool down a bit. Or rather, that the humidity level will at least go down!

What did you do this week to be active? What have you got coming up? Do you like it hot or would you rather not sweat the second you step out of the door?

FMM: Friend Makin’ Monday:: Groceries

Posted on 13 August, 2012 by Renée

Here it is again! Friend Makin’ Monday!

As you know Every Monday My Girl Kenlie posts a FMM – this is meant to interact with other bloggers, link up and get to know each other a bit better. I have only participated once, that was back in May… and now it’s time to participate again :)

In the Kitchen

1. How often do you cook at home? To be honest, Hubs does the cooking most days. I may cook one or two days a week. I do however always prepare a fruit and yoghurt snack and a little salad for the hubs every workday so that’s kind of reciprocating, right?

2. Do you eat more fresh produce, frozen or canned produce? Like Kenlie, I eat fresh produce. I also don’t remember having a lot of fresh stuff growing up so I didn’t realize how much I loved so many different fruits and vegetables. I do use canned corn when I’m in the mood to have it with a bit of tuna. I also sometimes use canned mushrooms when I’m in a hurry to make a quick omelet breakfast (for example).

3. What are a few unusual staples that can always be found in your kitchen? Kenlie also answered this “You can almost always find pickles in my fridge. Is that unusual?” I also always have pickles but not sure that’s unusual. In fact I can’t think of much that’s unusual. Sometimes I buy Kefir, maybe that’s as exotic as it gets.

4. Look in your fridge, then tell us about the healthiest thing in there. Spinach. Oh and Avocados. And Bulgarian Yoghurt :)

5. Now share the most unhealthy thing in it. Mayonnaise. And maybe the amazing amount of cheese in there (Hubs is Dutch, he needs his cheese).

6. Do you eat leftovers? Yes. In fact, since my pseudo-paleo change I am really happy we have leftovers. I always have a lunch or a breakfast for the next day.

7. Do you use coupons at the supermarket? Nope. We don’t really have them here.

8. How often do you try new recipes? Not often enough – though I keep buying books and pinning recipes on pinterest. I just don’t have a lot of time.

9. Do you make grocery lists? Do you stick to them? Yep. Hubs does the shopping a lot on his own so I have to make a list. Not on the list = Not in the cart.

10. If you could buy one food item that would magically be calorie-free, which item would you choose? Nutella!!

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. I would love it if you would participate on your blog or just answer in the comments! Happy Monday!!

Vacation Part II – Eat, drink, stay Healthy!

Posted on 6 August, 2012 by Renée

OK we all know what it’s like…

we go on vacation

especially “back home”

and there is SO MUCH good stuff to eat! Especially in New Mexico!

I mean COME ON!! “Red or Green?”

Let’s not forget all the places I wanted to go:
Blake’s Lotaburger (green chile cheeseburgers)
Dairy Queen (chili cheese dogs)
Sonic (Sonic burger #4, cheese tots, and a large cherry lime)
Krispy Kreme (do I need to say more?)
Any dodgy looking taco house
Any dodgy looking BBQ house

the list goes on!

The reality is, all that stuff above, that made me fat. At least that sent me on my WAY to being fat. That was the time of slight gluttony, of throwing caution to the wind, of eating now and caring later. Honestly, I wanted that stuff. I really did.

And I did have some of that stuff. But I had the chili dog, no bun and a kiddie blizzard. I had a cheeseburger with a GF bun, I had the tacos, no sides. And then I did this stuff:

and then I did a LOT of this:

Other than that I also down to Starbucks to meet my brother (a mile down and back up the hill) – no big deal right, but it was 100 degrees F and my entire family was like “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!? TAKE THE CAR!” and another day whilst in Scottsdale (110 degrees F) we walked 1.5 mile down to the breakfast place and back. No biggie, gotta earn those Huevos Rancheros!

So my friends, indulge. Have fun. Enjoy! But be responsible. And make sure you have some ice cream too :)

Vacation – Part I

Posted on 5 August, 2012 by Renée

Wow. How does one actually update after being away from the blog more than a month and part of that (3 weeks) being vacation?

I’ve thought all week about what to post but I’m still a little lost. So how about we just start at the beginning?

We actually left on the 9th of July to fly to Phoenix via London. We had quite a long layover in London and since I’m still on my gluten-free experiment, prior to leaving the Netherlands I went to a crunchy shop to buy some stuff to snack on that would keep me on the straight and narrow. One thing I didn’t want to do was use vacation as an excuse to eat whatever came into view, so I was fully prepared in case I became hungry. This actually really worked well so I’m glad I thought about it and planned ahead.

After a long day of travelling, we arrived in Phoenix, waited in the godawful queue to get through customs (this is something I don’t get; I have a US passport, my family are Dutch, but we all come in together. Why do we have to all wait in the NON-US line? Last year in Atlanta I was told to bring my family with me. Different rules everywhere. Make up your mind people!), picked up our rental car and drove the 2 miles down the road to our hotel. Within about 3 minutes of checking in, we dug out our swimsuits and jumped in the pool. It was HOT in Phoenix, about 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

I won’t recap the whole vacation, I promise :)

We took a couple of days to drive to Albuquerque, going immediately the next day to the Grand Canyon. My second visit. Still Amazing!

We also went to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Dessert. I’ve never been there before, even though I’m from the area. I guess that’s always the way things go. It was nice to just drive, stop when we needed, get an ice cream, listen to Sirius radio all 80′s hits :) Very relaxed. I felt a sense of real relief and joy when we saw the “WELCOME TO NEW MEXICO” Sign; finally I was HOME! About an hour before we got to Albuquerque, it started to rain. Trust me though, the rain in NM is wonderful! It’s cold and it’s huge drops and it comes down completely out of the blue and makes everything smell and feel clean. I miss that so much. Even the kids said they really loved the rain. So different from what we have in NL.

So we arrived at my dad and stepmom’s place and basically we stayed there for two weeks :) We did also see my mom and stepdad, my brother, his wife and my nephew, but it was easiest to stay at dad’s in Albuquerque; more room and the use of the car, plus my grandmother is now in a care facility there and my dad brings her over every Tuesday and Thursday so I was able to spend time with her as well. I was able to see also two of my best friends from school, Tammy and her husband Brian and Shaun and Shaun’s husband Tony (who were even at our wedding in 2009 :) ).

I loved that I could go to the Sunflower Market (like a Trader Joe’s I guess) and buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and gluten-free products to keep me on my program. While we did go out for breakfasts (easy to get something NOT pancake related) a few lunches and some dinners I just stayed away from wheat as much as possible. I ate well. I even over indulged at times (hey, life is short), I had beer (not Paleo, I know!), margaritas, wine, ice cream, other deserts and you know what – THE WORLD DIDN’T END!

We went back to Phoenix during our last week, on a Tuesday, but it was really sad to go. Even my little guy started crying when he said goodbye to my stepmom. The kids did so well speaking English. My stepson helped my dad with all kinds of things and my dad taught him some things about photography. Luckily in Phoenix we were right next to the Fashion Square Mall (ok, technically Scottsdale), but I was also able to see an old school friend of mine again. It was HOT HOT HOT in Phoenix, but we dealt with it by hanging out at the pool. Tough life, eh?

The trip back was LONG but we managed. Everything went smoothly until of course we were back in NL and we couldn’t get directly home by train, there was construction and we had to take a bus partially. At 11pm no one was really interested in doing that, but yeah, what are you going to do?

Jet lag has been hard to get over. Then I got sick and I NEVER get sick, so that was really annoying (I’m still a little bit chesty, I don’t know what it is). I took Wednesday and Thursday off sick because I had fever as well as this chesty/cough thing going on. Friday I had no more fever so it was time to go back. Still trying to get into the swing of things again.

It was great being home. Things change in life and we are going to definitely start talking about and planning on eventually going back. My parents are getting older and I don’t want to be too far away anymore. Of course it’s all early stages and the kids need to be a bit older before we go, but it just goes to show you that you NEVER know how life is going to turn out – you just have to be willing to LIVE life and be OPEN to changes or opportunities.

{run} {laugh} {eat pie}

amazing what changes when you start to run

Monthly Archives: August 2012