Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
I recently tried two new recipes for healthy snacks and I wanted to share them. One of the things I especially like about making my own healthy snacks is that I can customize the size. I cut the bars into different sizes, so dependent upon how hungry I am, I choose accordingly. As far as the energy bites go, I could have one for a small snack or a few prior to my workout. I received the “thumbs up” on both these recipes from Tony, so we both think these are keepers!
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars from Iowa Girl Eats
Photo and Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats
I followed this recipe with only one modification. The price of the dried cherries was crazy high, so I substituted dried cranberries (Craisins).
Photo and Recipe from Lil’ Luna
I followed this recipe and DID use the “optional” mini chocolate chips…in my opinion, this ingredient is NOT optional! I will also say that this is my first time using milled flaxseed. It seems like a neat little ingredient that contains a nutritional punch. Flaxseed contains fiber as well as Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s. I also learned that there are benefits to athletes and sports training, especially those involved in endurance sports. Here is an excerpt from healthyflax.com with the complete explanation:
How does flax benefit athletes and sports training?
Omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic, ALA, an essential fatty acid found in flax, improves the metabolism of fats which is especially helpful with endurance sports, such as marathons. When a runner “hits the wall” and their glycogen stores are used up, the body begins burning fats. In this case, efficient burning of fats makes a difference in performance. ALA improves response time. Electrical impulses move from the brain to muscles across cell membranes which, as indicated earlier, are rich in ALA when consumed in the diet. Omega-3 fatty acids, such as ALA, are the most efficient fatty acids in allowing these electrical impulses to move from cell to cell. Thus, response time is improved. ALA aids in muscle repair at the cellular level. Omega-3 fatty acids present on the cell membrane significantly affect the speed and quality of tissue repair.
From reading all these benefits, it sounds like I need to explore more ways to incorporate flaxseed into my diet!
I encourage you to try both these recipes. If you do, be sure to let me know your thoughts!
We know that triathlon includes the three legs of swimming, biking and running. However, the fourth leg of triathlon is truly nutrition. The nutrition of what you have on race morning and during the race is key, but also important is what you eat during training. You use training time to figure out which nutrition works while you are out on a long bike or run and it will take a bit of time to “dial in” this piece to know what my plan will be on race day. I know what has worked for me on half Ironmans, and I can use this as a starting point, but my nutrition plan for Lake Placid will involve so much more. I will continue to post over the next several months as I try new things for drinking and eating to figure out my plan for race day.
Early on my focus will include what I eat during the day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. As my training hours slowly escalate and will often include two training sessions a day, what I eat becomes even more important and will contribute to successful training days. Over the past number of years as I have become fitter and healthier, I began experimenting more in the kitchen. I enjoy reading various food blogs and browsing Pinterest to get ideas and new recipes to try. I like to cook and try new recipes and if they are healthy AND taste great, it is a bonus! Here are some recipes that I made this week…
On Sunday night, I made this Cashew Chicken recipe from How Sweet It Is. I doubled the recipe and we had the leftovers Monday night. Tony and I enjoyed this dish (we served ours over brown rice) and I will definitely make it again!
Photo from How Sweet It Is food blog.
During the week, I planned ahead for lunches and made this Vegetarian Quinoa Chili recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod. Tony was not excited about the idea of this dish since he is not a fan of quinoa. However, I made it anyway and he has already had it for two lunches! His comment was that it had lots of flavor and I agree! I will be making this dish again as well. (If you are not familiar with quinoa, don’t be afraid to give it a try! It is a grain and it adds a little texture to this dish. Quinoa is a good source of protein and fiber and is considered to be easy to digest.)
Photo from Two Peas & Their Pod food blog.
Since Friday was Valentine’s Day, Tony and I made a special dinner to enjoy. We had steak (Tony’s favorite), baked coconut shrimp, roasted potatoes and asparagus.
I had made the Coconut Shrimp recipe one time before and I thought it would be a nice compliment to our special dinner. The recipe is from Skinny Taste food blog. (Note: I also made the sauce included in the recipe, but used orange marmalade.)
I encourage you to try one of the recipes I have included. Since cooking is a big part of my “Tri Inspired Life”, I will continue to share tasty recipes that you may enjoy as well!
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