Where's the Beach?

Do you have that one kitchen appliance that you never seem to use? The one you either bought or asked for as a gift certain it'd make your life easier? For me it was a slow cooker. We had an old one given as a gift that pretty much had two temperatures settings: hot and hotter. So for Christmas a few years back, I asked for a fancy upgrade. One that had timers and various temperature settings. It even locks the lid into place, how's that for fancy? I tried using it a few times for some soups or chili. Each time I either overcooked the vegetables until they were basically mush, or it was so undercooked I ended up transferring to a regular pot and finishing the meal on the stove. Not exactly simplifying life. One of my problems is that I can't seem to follow a recipe. I pin them, write them out, email them to myself, print them even. But when it comes to following them step-by-step, I don't. I decide to add my own spin on things. Sometimes it works out really well, ...

I tend to make a lot of veggie burgers. For one thing, homemade veggie burgers are a lot cheaper. Also, you know exactly what's going into them. Plus, you can flavor them however you prefer. I think once you have a general technique down, you can really play around with so many different flavor combinations. One flavor that I've been enjoying is a smokiness from chipotle peppers combined with chickpeas. For this recipe, I use tempeh to boost the protein, but it could easily be omitted, just use a second can of chickpeas. Chipotle Chickpea Tempeh Burgers Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1 package tempeh 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (depending on heat preference) 2 tbsp tomato paste Liquid smoke, to taste 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (may need more if too thick) 1 roasted red bell pepper To taste: salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, ground red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (note: it's ok to be heavy handed with spices other than...

Happy Friday! Dare I ask who's ready for the weekend? This week has felt longer than usual and I know that is in a large part due to some rogue dogs causing mayhem at night. But, it's Friday so let's have some fun! Here are my Move.Eat.Live. moments from the week. Move I had some pretty good training runs this week. Tuesday I got in 6 400s then knocked out my leg workout at lunch. Hello tired legs. I got in my upper body splits on Monday and Thursday but will admit that I am being negligent of chest workouts. Wednesday I took it slower and easier as recovery and also because I knew Thursday would entail a speedier run with my crazy running buddy. We enjoyed 8-miles meandering through the 'hood s witching up from our usual route. Eat Because we enjoyed the Tempeh "Fish" Tacos from last week so much, I made them again this week. I have a feeling they'll appear on the menu quite frequently. I didn't have any cherries to make the Cherry S...

Fish tacos seem to be all the rage. Being that I don't eat meat, I have never experienced a fish taco. I will admit that I always like how fresh the tacos look with vibrant purple cabbage, tomatoes and greens. I have wanted to attempt to replicate a fish taco. I have tried with tofu, and that wasn't bad, but I wasn't totally sold. I decided to give it another shot and try using tempeh, mostly because I didn't have any tofu pressed and ready to go. I have seen blog posts over the years for recipes using dulse and kelp powder or flakes as a way to impart more of seafood-ish type of flavoring. Dulse and kelp are types of seaweeds and are known to be rich in nutrients and minerals as well as being flavorful. So I decided to just play around with some flavors and see what happened. As you'll see in the recipe, I don't have specific measurements. It was mostly done by taste and the liquid amounts were measure visually just making sure I had enough marinade for t...

Do you have a comfort dish that takes you bake to your childhood? For me, a creamy potato soup reminds me of my mom. She would always make it for me when I was sick. And I was sick often with asthma, well, the medications tended to almost make me more sick than the actual asthma. Mom's was very thick, almost like extra creamy, super thin mashed potatoes. I remember pretending that it was Malt O-Meal. I was a little obsessed with the commercials, but we never had Malt O-Meal. It was often one of the very few things I could keep on my stomach. The asthma medication always made me very nauseated. So for me, it was a true comfort dish. Jason has memories of a potato soup that his mother made for him as well. For ages he's been wanting to make potato soup. I just haven't been able to hop on board a bowl of potatoes though. But I finally gave up the fight and let him make his soup. This is a vegan version using tempeh bacon. To get another level of smoky flavor, he used...

I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but it certainly got cold here fast. Last week I was still running in shorts. By the weekend, it was all about the layers. On top of it being cold, we had gray skies and rain/freezing rain/sleet to contend with. Not exactly an ideal way to kick of the week. That kind of weather absolutely screams, no it demands soup for dinner. I had several veggies on hand that needed to be used up pretty quickly. So I came up with a Tempeh Vegetable Soup . The great thing is that it's souper (teehee) simple to put together, and you can use up any veggies you have on hand. I also like that it's high in protein thanks to the tempeh. Of course, you could use beans, tofu, TVP or meat if you're not vegetarian or vegan. Tempeh Vegetable Soup Ingredients: 1/2 yellow onion, diced 2 tbsp minced garlice 3-4 carrots (depending on size), diced 1 cup no salt vegetable broth 4 cups water 1 not-beef bouillon cube 1 can no salt added...

I don't know about you, but when it's hot out, I tend to crave more watery fruit like pineapple. We've also been grilling most days, especially while we were painting the kitchen cabinets. Since I just happened to have a pineapple on hand, I decided to come up with a way to grill it. At first I had thought about sandwiches, but I ended up going with a quinoa salad instead using tempeh and veggies. I wanted to try to infuse more of the pineapple flavor in the tempeh while it poached, so I also made a puree of the pineapple. Grilled Pineapple Tempeh Quinoa Salad Ingredients: 1 pineapple 1 package tempeh - cut in half then lengthwise for 4 pieces 1 not-beef bouillon cube 2 cups water (or broth and minus the bouillon) 2 tbsp minced garlic 1-2 jalapenos, seeded if you prefer less heat Small nub of fresh ginger 2 bell peppers (I used green and yellow) 1 large zucchini, cut into thick strips 1/2 cup quinoa (I used red) 2 cups water Directions: Turn on your grill...

I haven't done a Tasty Tuesday in a while, but I have made a few new recipes actually. I'll admit to not always taking pictures though. Well, I have taken some pictures with my phone to share on instagram, but it really looks like a sloppy mess, though it tasted fantastic. Maybe I should do a roundup of sloppy, ugly, messy but amazingly tasty recipes? This one isn't ugly, it might be a little messy, but it was really tasty. Even better, not only is it Tasty Tuesday , but it works for Taco Tuesday as well. I have finally figured out the art of cooking tempeh - poach it. I use a lot of garlic with no-salt vegetable stock to poach the tempeh. I can then add in seasonings of my choosing and later bake it or grill it. This time, I decided to try poaching crumbled tempeh for tacos. I love cumin and chili powder. They are both very earthy, smoky, rich flavors, but they aren't hot spicy, just flavor spicy. If that makes sense. Lime & Cumin Tempeh Tacos Ingredients...

Green and White Chili Monday night I made my White Tempeh Chili. Since it's technically more green I suppose I'll stop calling it white, how about Green and White Tempeh Chili ? I also made more of Sarena's chickpea oat flatbread with green chile and jalapeno peppers (sorry for the terrible pictures) Green & White Tempeh Chili Ingredients: 1/2 white onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 2 poblano peppers, diced 2-3 jalapenos, minced 2 tbsp minced garlic 1 package tempeh, crumbled 32 oz low-sodium vegetable stock  2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained To taste: salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, red pepper, cilantro Directions: In large sauce pot, saute onions, peppers, jalapenos, tempeh, and garlic until begins to soften. Add in the stock, beans, and spices. Let simmer for about 45 minutes or longer to allow the liquid to cook down and chili to thicken. I promise it tastes way better than it looks! Running Time Change & Fast Sti...

Italian Style & Morning Run Last night I decided to make more of Sarena's Chickpea Oat Flatbread . I've been thinking about it ever since the first time I tried it. I also want to try making it spicy to go with chilli. YUM. This time I added in sundried tomatoes, fresh oregano and basil. I also added in garlic powder. An Italian spin to go with an Italian inspired dinner. I made a red sauce and tried something new - crumbled in tempeh to make it a "meat" sauce. I served it over spaghetti squash with a side of the flatbread.   This morning I managed to tear myself out of bed to meet up with "A" for a run. I have been so fatigued since my San Diego trip. Part of me really wanted to put it off until lunch, but I knew that it was going to be really warm and I'd just end up complaining about how hot it was. Also, I knew I'd be happier with myself for getting the run done. Plus, it's hard to turn down 45 - 60 minutes of nice conversat...

Morning Run This morning the alarm seemed to go off far far too early. The seasons are changing and it's dark until about 6:15-6:20 when the light is just starting to show itself. You know, that period when the sun isn't exactly up, but the stars aren't out. The streetlights are just starting to shut off. So, that means that I didn't see light until about mile 5 of my 6 mile run. That's a lot of running in the dark. Thankfully, my streets are mostly well lit. I love my blinking light. Kind of wish I had 2. And of course there's the mace. So, armed and ready to go, I "picked up" my running buddy around mile 2 and we took off to get in a few miles together. The air was simply oppressive. That's really all you can say. It was so warm and humid that we actually weren't sweating buckets. I mean, we were soaked, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't streaming down our faces. Too hot to sweat? Perhaps. I enjoyed the run, mostly because I ha...

Long Weekend  I hope everyone enjoyed a nice long holiday weekend. I decided to take a break from blogging over the 3-day weekend too. Kind of a nice break. Definitely means spending more time just enjoying right? We didn't have any major plans, no parties or cookouts. That was a-ok with me actually. I just wanted to relax, enjoy, and relax some more. I did get lots of laundry done and a few chores, but other than that...pretty darn lazy. I got in some pretty good runs despite the insane heat. We're getting August heat in September. So indexes are reaching the 100's again and the humidity? Let's just say gills would be nice. Saturday I stuck to a short run, 3.5 miles then got in a really good weight session for shoulders, back, chest. My chest is still sore. Jason and I ran a lot of errands Saturday then had a late lunch out. The skies weren't exactly clear, so no pool time. Sunday I got in 7 miles, part of it with my running buddy. We had such a fun run to...

Anniversary Dinner I just wanted to start by thanking everyone for your kind words, comments, and anniversary wishes for our 12-year wedding anniversary yesterday. We hadn't planned on doing anything super special. It's hard to plan that way on a Monday. We had talked about lunch, but then ended up deciding on a last-minute nice dinner at a restaurant downtown called Lulav . We've gone there many times over the years for anniversary dinners. They have changed up their menu quite a bit, however, and there are some options that I miss, particularly one specific salad. They do have a fantastic house salad with a lemoncello vinaigrette. Jason ordered their wild mushroom appetizer. He ended up getting a paella for dinner and I went with their only vegetarian option, rotini with squash and wild mushrooms. I did request a red sauce over the creamy butter wine sauce that it was supposed to have come with. No dessert. We were stuffed. I suppose the wine we had counts as a tr...

Rainy Run & Cross-Training  We didn't really have much going on this weekend. No complaints about that really. I woke up Saturday morning ready to run. The weather, however, was not in my favor. It was storming. I kept watching the radar like an obsessed fool trying to figure out when it'd pass. Finally, around 9:45 the storms were gone and the rain had mostly turned into light sprinkles. I asked Jason if he wanted to go with me. He balked at the idea. Whined that it was raining. But in the end, he headed out with me. The sprinkles turned into a light rain, but it felt amazing. Very refreshing I must say. My plan was 6 miles and I told him we could loop near the house so he could drop off sooner. He didn't of course. I think the rain added some pep in my step. We had some really great splits (mile 3 was 8:38, mile for was 8:38). Mile 5 was a little slower (I think it was 8:50) and that was a part of the run where we had to run in some grass and hop over some miss...

Running & Lifting  I don't know if it was the heat or what, I but I slept terribly last night. I just tossed and turned all night. And of course I wake up at 4:30 and then finally doze off fairly soundly to be rudely woken up by Jason's alarm for his morning master's swim class. My alarm was set for about 5 minutes later, because I had planned on getting up to go for a 3.5-4 mile run. I almost always wake up when he gets up anyway. This morning I came incredibly close to saying forget the run, sleep is more important. Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep for an hour. So, I was up and out the door by 5:30. Again, our "low" was something like 84 degrees with the heat index. And this morning there was not even a breeze to help out. My first mile was pretty slow. I was totally ok with that. I was still waking up and questioning my sanity anyway. Mile 2 felt a little better but my legs started feeling so heavy. I couldn't figure o...

Two on Tuesday  This morning started off way too early. I slept fairly well until around 2am then I was tossing and turning a bit, but refusing to look at the time. The alarm was set for just after 5 so we could get up and get in a run. The plan was 6 miles (or that was my plan anyway). I had hoped the temps would be a lot cooler after a recent front moved through. They were, sort of. It was still around 74 degrees but the humidity was 90% and the dew point in the upper 80's. In other words, it was soupy out. I felt pretty good for the first mile, of course we were taking it slower. But I could feel the humidity start to affect my breathing. While I don't get exercise-induced asthma, I have severe asthma that has always affected my exercise. Usually, Singulair keeps me on track unless I have some major allergy issues OR extreme humidity. Singulair can't fix humidity. Somehow I did manage do pull out fairly good times for miles 2 and 3, but definitely started slowing ...

Morning 5-Miler  This morning we got up a little after 5 am to get in our 5-mile run. Apparently cooling off from yesterday meant 80 degrees. At least the sun wasn't up and there was actually a strong wind that normally would have ticked me off. We started out on our normal route, and my legs felt really heavy initially. The first mile was a slow one. We sort of sped up for mile 2, but then mile 3 was slower again, However, it did include a lot of right and left sharp turns that really slow you down. And, we took a slightly different route thinking this new sidewalk was finished. Let's just say there was some off-roading.  The last mile was definitely a tough one physically vs mentally. I really felt like we were pushing so hard - it was up hill, down one hill, then up up up and more up before finally heading down. I half expected the speed to be something like an 8:30 pace because that's how it felt. But it was actually an 8:57. Not bad mind you, but holy cow...

Back & Shoulders Today was a gym day for me. I think it's not so much the lifting that I'm bored with so much as my warm up and the scenery. Lately the music has been blasting so that listening to my own iPod is futile. It's hot as hell and fans are scarce. And the weight area has been more crowded. I guess that's because there are virtually no classes so people are either on the cardio equipment or in the weight area. I am growing to loathe the elliptical for warm ups too. The only good thing is that I can read a magazine while I'm on there. Or, maybe I'm just becoming an old grump....I mean, I'm really lucky that the door to the gym is still open right now. So I should change my attitude huh? Source: favim.com via Nour on Pinterest Anyway, today was back and shoulders. I decided to not do any dropsets this week, so back to regularly scheduled programming - meaning 3 supersets done with 8 reps, 3 times. SS#1 Assisted chinups Arnold p...

Morning Run This morning started off super early. Jason and I opted for another morning run. A front has been pushing through so it was "only" 67 degrees when we started the run at 5:30 am. In other words, it felt really chilly at the start. No complaints though. Since it was dark, we stuck with our usual route. It's fairly well lit by streetlights, and we know pretty much every bump,  dip, hole, or pebble in the road at this point. Sometimes that's ok to run the same route though. It was a fairly uneventful run. That's not saying it was bad of course, just quiet, calm. We didn't do much talking at the beginning. I think we were mostly waking up to be honest. That's the beauty of a morning run though - waking up, getting moving, and enjoying the fresh air. Usually I just jump out of bed and get ready as quickly as possible and am out the door to work within 30 minutes. So easing into the morning is something not typical for me. We ended up with a ...