Will Run For Chocolate Banana Coffee Bites

I will not eat the entire batch.  I repeat, I will not....

I've been trying to convince Farmer that marathons are made out of donuts (homemade coconut creme donuts in particular). She however, assures me that marathons are made out of dahl.  She also thinks that 10K runs are made out of Kraft Dinner.  So, you can't really trust her.

Somewhere in between donuts and dahl are chocolate banana coffee bites.  They're made with dates, dark chocolate and chickpeas.  If this doesn't sound delicious to you that's okay.  I didn't really want to share anyway.

Sunday's run called for chocolate.  It was HORRIBLE! 20K of sleet, water squishing between my toes, trucks that refused to share the road, two loops, puddles and more puddles.  Naturally, the rain stopped not long after I got home.

I decided that chocolate banana coffee bites and coffee would make everything better.  That and picking up my feet.  And, a bag of frozen peas.

Chocolate Banana Coffee Bites

(serves 12)

Adapted from this Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Pie recipe.

ingredients

1 19oz can chickpeas rinsed and drained

1 C pitted dates + 1/2 C water

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 C mashed ripe banana

1/3 C unsweetened soy milk (or milk of choice)

1 tsp instant coffee

1 T vanilla bean paste or extract

1 T + 1 1/2 tsp melted coconut oil

1/2 C oat flour (1/2 C rolled oats ground in blender or coffee grinder)

1/4 tsp salt

1 T Camino cocoa

1/4 C cocoa nibs

1/4 C Camino dark chocolate chips

In a medium sauce pan combine dates & water.  Simmer & stir until you're left with a thick paste.  In your high speed blender combine date paste, mashed banana, soy milk, instant coffee, vanilla bean paste, melted coconut oil and chickpeas.  Blend until smooth (no bean bits allowed!).  In a small bowl combine oat flour, baking soda & powder, salt, & cocoa.   Pour bean mixture into a large bowl and then add oat flour mixture.  Lastly, add cocoa nibs and chocolate chips.  Stir until combined.  Test batter to make sure that it isn't poisonous.  Repeat until you are satisfied.

Divide evenly amongst 12 silicone baking cups.  Bake for 30-35 minutes depending on how gooey you want your bites to be.

Enjoy after a long run.  Or a not so long run.  And/or on a rest day.  

smooth

Bean goodness + chocolate.

Better than cookie dough batter.

Why yes I will, thanks.

Will Run For Waldorf Couscous Salad

waldorf couscous salad

Spring was here.  There was sunshine, blue skies and geese.  This morning however, there was sleet & geese with sweaters and toques.  On the upside they were too busy wondering where spring had gone to hiss and honk as I ran past.  Geese are scary.

Speaking of things that are scary. Farmer's running outfit was a little scary this morning.  She apparently didn't get the memo that says "cotton kills" or don't wear white in the rain or don't wear your winter running tights in April.

Our conversation went like this:

T: J.R ran 11K on her treadmill this morning.  Crazy.

* I'm convinced that it takes twice as long to run any distance on the treadmill.

Farmer: I ran outside.  In cotton. I'm hardcore!  (There might have been a boo yah!  with a fist pump in there somewhere as well)

T:  Or stupid.

Maybe the Easter Bunny should have brought Farmer a running jacket instead of camino chocolate.  And maybe I shouldn't rough Farmer up so much.

Maybe I'll make it up to her with waldorf couscous salad.

Waldorf Couscous Salad

(4-6 servings)

1 C wholewheat couscous

1 1/2 C unsweetened apple juice (divided)

*1 C greek yogurt (dairy or non-dairy) + 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 

1/4 C dried cranberries

1 C green grapes halved 

1/2 C toasted pecans

1/2 C celery sliced (optional)

Bring 1 cup of apple juice to a boil.  Add 1 cup of wholewheat couscous.  Remove from element and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine 1/2 C apple juice, 1C greek yogurt, & 2 tsp vanilla bean paste.  Stir until well combined.  Add couscous, cranberries, grapes, pecans and celery to yogurt mixture.

* vanilla greek yogurt can be used in place of greek yogurt + vanilla bean paste.  It will be much sweeter unless you can find a vanilla yogurt without heaps of added sugar (good luck!).

Will Run For Lazy Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

very lazy cabbage rolls

I think that running fever has struck!  That or spring fever. 

 Some people danced when their run was done.

The run is over dance party!

Others pulled out the frozen peas (and then fought with the beasts who were convinced that the peas were for them).

Others wrote dear diary entries.

Dear Diary,

So I got home from work and decided that I should just do it and run outdoors - never mind the treadmill, I'm in training damn it!  It was a little cool, so I dug out a pair of leggings from my drawer, threw on a sweatshirt and away I went.  Remembering the wise words of my running sensei, this trek would be 80% mental so I prepared my mind to retain valuable lessons from this, my maiden run.

This is what I learned today:

It really sucks when you land smack dab in the middle of a puddle and get a huge soaker and you're not even out of the driveway.

It's not a good idea to initially take off sprinting down the street like your chasing Usain Bolt for his title, one tends to get winded quickly this way and wants to turn around and go home to eat cake.

It's okay to forget your water bottle because the vomit swirling in the back of your throat keeps your mouth moist.

You really shouldn't wear a pair a cotton leggings intended to be worn with cute stiletto boots as cotton does not hold it's shape when soaked with sweat and it's damn hard to run with your crotch around your knees.

It takes me 28 minutes even to sprint, then run, then walk, then trip, then hobble, then walk, then jog, then crawl to my daughter's house, who is now my favorite child because she drove me home!

So I did it.....80% mental eh? I now know that is a double entendre because despite what I've learned,  I realize I must be mental because I love every minute of it and am doing it again tomorrow !!!

Love,

Soggy in Stilettos 

Some made friends with their bottle of Advil.

Others went cross country skiing.

And finally the girl with the peas enjoyed a lazy afternoon with some equally lazy vegetarian cabbage rolls.

Lazy Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

*1 recipe tomato basil sauce (see below) + 1/2 C water

1 T olive oil

5 cups shredded cabbage (your food processor is your friend) 

2 cups mixed grains cooked(I used spelt berries & bulgar wheat)

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Saute cabbage for approximately 5 minutes or until it is almost tender. 

 At this point you have two choices:

You can place 2 cups of sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 rectangular glass or ceramic baking dish, evenly spread mixed grains over tomato sauce, evenly spread cabbage over mixed grains.  Top with remaining sauce.  

the less lazy layered version

If that all seems like too much and you aren't so concerned about how it will look simply combine all ingredients in a large bowl and pour into baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Tomato Basil Sauce

ingredients

1 T olive oil, earth balance, or butter

2 medium cooking onions (2 C) diced

2 cloves local garlic finely chopped

2 large cans diced tomatoes with spices1 can water

3/4 dried red lentils (do not substitute with green)

1/2 C fresh basil roughly chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

Over medium heat warm olive oil.  Add onions stirring occasionally until onions are soft (5 min).  Add garlic and saute for approximately 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and water.  Add dried red lentils.  Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Using a hand held blender puree until desired consistency is reached. Add fresh basil and dried oregano  and allow to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. 

*Alternatively add 3/4 C red lentils + 1/2 C water to a commercial sauce and simmer for 30 minutes before adding to vegetarian cabbage rolls.  You will need approximately 6 cups of sauce in total.

Will Run For T-Shirt

race swag

I'll run for a t-shirt.  I'll even swim, bike and then run for a t-shirt.  

I'll swim, bike and run for bagels and oranges

I'll even swim, bike and run for apples

note to self: there is no second chance if you pass up the donuts.

Lots of people will swim, bike, and run for donuts.

St. Joseph Coffee Roasters I love you!

Or even better they'll swim, bike, and run for coffee & donuts

It's interesting how chunks of fruit & pieces of bread become so much more exciting when you've survived lakeweed ( a.k.a seaweed), peddled your bike up hill for 10K and then death gripped your handle bars as you barrelled down hill for another 10K and ran 5K for good measure (and that's the sprint distance).

I recently decided to step WAY outside of my comfort zone and compete in the St. Joseph Triathlon.  It seems that I'm afraid of fish, snakes, weeds, drowning, road rash, flat tires, and the list goes on.  There were many nightmares about showing up for the triathlon without a shirt, not being able to get to the water, being late, etc.  My goal was survival to finish the race smiling (up until the race began I  wasn't entirely convinced that I wasn't going to drown or be run over by my own bike).

It turns out that I had TONNES of fun!  Surprisingly the swim was my favourite part.  I kept thinking as I was swimming "this is so awesome", "Oh, my goodness this is so awesome", "I love this" (I'm sure that's what everyone else was thinking).   I was even able to laugh my way through the seaweed that was plastered to my goggles at one point.

See the person in the lead?  That's not me.

My goal for the bike portion of the event was to just get through it without falling off or getting a flat tire.  It seemed the first 10K of the race was up hill.  At one point I was even convinced that there had to be something wrong with the bike because I was moving so slowly (nope, turns out it was just another hill).  There were a few sketchy corners and a little bit of wobbling but the bike ride wasn't as awful as I had imagined (did I mention that the only person that I biked faster than was approximately 25 years older than me?).

Finally, there was the run.  I have never been so happy to run. 

I look forward to my next finish line.   Ottawa here I come!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for oatmeal cookies, bananas and chocolate soy milk.