Asian Sprouted Quinoa Salad

1 c of sprouted quinoa (see previous post)

1 red pepper finely diced

1 c. cabbage finely sliced

2 grated carrots

1/4 finely chopped green onions

 asian dressing (see below)

1/4 cup of toasted sliced almonds

Toss all ingredients, except almonds, together. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve, top with almonds. 

This made 2 lunch servings for me.

Asian Dressing

2 T. rice wine vinegar

2 T. sesame oil

2 T. honey

2 T. tamari or low sodium soy sauce

Mix/whisk together. 

I use a small plastic container with screw lid and shake until combined.

This dressing is quite versatile, used on salads, recipe above, marinades, etc.

Sprouting Quinoa

I had never sprouted any grains before and then I came across a recipe that called for sprouted quinoa. So I figured, why not! It was super easy and worked better than I ever thought it would, end result: yummy quinoa sprouts. So here's the directions:

Soak 2/3 cup quinoa in distilled water for 40min at room temp in glass cookware. Rinse then cover again in distilled water, cover dish leaving small opening for air and cover completely with dish towel set aside at room temperature for 8-10 hrs. Repeat 1-2 times to desire length of sprout. Shorter sprouts last longer in refrigerator. For that reason I only did it twice. I then stored quinoa in refrigerator. Not by planning but by timing I let them sit in the refrigerator for 2 more days before using them in a recipe and the quinoa continued to sprout. I used them for a Asian Sprout Recipe I had found and it was delicious. The sprouts had a nutty taste, not anything like the grassy taste of the typical sprouts one may think of that are commonly seen in grocery stores/restaurants.

Sprouts after 2 days in refrigerator.

Coconut Pancakes

1 c whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 c water

1/4 c light organic coconut milk
 (you can add more water or coconut milk for thinner pancakes) 

1/2 t cinnamon

3 T evaporated cane juice (or sugar)

2 t baking powder

1/2 c unsweetened coconut flakes

1 banana

maple syrup

peanut butter (opt)

Mix all ingredients together, except banana, syrup and peanut butter.
Heat skillet to med. 

Make pancakes to desired size.

I made 2 large pancakes from this recipe.

Top with banana, extra coconut flakes, maple syrup

and peanut butter (opt)

For a single serving I cut everything in half, except I use a whole banana. I like using peanut butter too because it adds protein and really makes this a well round meal. One pancake with toppings fills me up. This is super fast and easy to mix up and make 5-10mins.

Week in Review (3/19-3/25)

Miles: 40
Runs: 5
Yoga: 1 (yeah, finally made it back last night)

Overall I'm happy with this past week. Running is right on track and I feel like I'm falling back into a routine with my new schedule.

Goals for next week: to continue to build weekly running volume and maintain 5 runs/week. More yoga (even 2 classes is better than one) Focus on getting adequate rest. My resting heartrate was elevated Sunday morning and I had a difficult time keeping it within targeted zone on Sundays run, I took the rest of the day to relax and not do anything too physical. I also was able to get about 10hrs sleep last night. My resting heartrate this morning was down within 2 bpm of my normal. So I really want to focus on 8 hrs of quality sleep at night. As well as back off immediately if resting heartrate is elevated to prevent exhaustion, injury, and overtraining.

Gifts

Anyone notice a theme here? PURPLE

I was given a generous gift of some visa gift cards from my previous employees. I thought there's not a better way to spend it then go on a little shopping spree at my favorite endurance store Pulse Endurance Sports. And look at all the goodies I walked out with! Thanks everyone! Your gift is being put into good use with my training efforts.

I have to give a quick plug for my new Inov8 Road X 238s. LOVE THEM!!!!. First time I wore them I felt like I was running in slippers. They are the female road version of Inov8s intro to minimalist footware, with a 9mm heel to toe differential. My trail shoes Saucony Progrid Peregrine have a 4mm heel to toe differential, so I had no issues quickly adapting to my new Inov8s!

Birthday Present!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another gift!!! My birthday was in February and look what I got from my family. I've been using it for about 3 weeks now and love it. I have never trained with a Garmin or heart rate monitor, so it is also entertaining for me to play with it on my runs. I've used it on all my runs since I've gotten it. I've been so busy with work I haven't even been able to download any of my data yet, so I'm sure there's much more fun stuff to see when I do that.

Treadmill Tuesday (3/20)

Back on the treadmill...so I did 7 miles total, 60min at 12% incline. I've been trying a little experiment with my training...(more about that later) but today was a slow day on the treadmill. I've been training by heart rate so today my 12% incline was putting me at an average between 2.9-3.1 mph. I TOLD YOU IT WAS SLOW. The rest was running slower then usual too, between 10:30-11:00 min mile. I don't like slow. That's me being impatient. But lets be realistic, I'm not a fast runner, just average, so why not change things up a little. It just scares me to go slow...with a 100 miles in front of me...I'm afraid I'm going to run out of time. :)

Week in Review (3/12-3/18)

Nothing noteworthy here, work and the weekend rain got the best of me. Guess we'll call this a recovery week.

Runs: 3

Miles: 16 (ewwwwwwwwwww, horrible I know)

Yoga: 0

Goals for the week, back at it: lets shoot for 40 miles some yoga classes and 5 runs.