I Ran My First 5K!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've never been able to run before in my life. This June I learned how to run using the ChiRunning technique, which has been life changing for me. The technique makes running easier, prevents injuries, and has taught me how to mentally focus.

Back in June I signed up for Run Around the Square (RATS), a fun 5K race in Regent Square on August 27. I've trained for the race by running 3.1 miles or slightly more two days a week on the flat river trail near where I live on the Northside and one day a week doing the actual RATS course, which starts out in the Regent Square residential streets and then goes into Frick Park. Without trying to increase my pace, I've gone from an 11-minute mile to a 10-minute mile because my ChiRunning form has improved. And while the RATS course takes me longer because some of it is uphill, I did the course four times before the race so felt confident and ready.

Still! I've never been in a race before, and I had no idea what running with 1,500 people would be like. ChiRunning relies so much on mental focus, and I was extremely anxious that I wouldn't be able to focus with so many other people and distractions. When I met my sister, who was running the race with me, yesterday morning we were both so nervous we felt like we were going to be sick. But, we managed to smile at the start line.What a fun experience it was! I couldn't focus like I usually do on my runs, but I had no problem running it because of the energy and festive vibe. Throughout the entire route, people came out to play music for the runners. There were bands, a young girl playing a violin, a man playing a saxophone, and another man playing a bagpipe. And all along the course were the cheerleaders--people who came out to clap for us and encourage us, to tell us how much of the hill we had left and that cold beer was waiting for us at the finish line. I especially loved the fast runners who came back onto the trail after they'd finished to high-five us and tell us how close we were to the finish line. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us--it really, really helped me! I also really appreciated my husband getting up very early to be there with me, putting up with my anxiety-induced pre-race craziness, and taking pictures.

In addition to water stations, there was a beer and champagne station at mile 1. At the end there was cold beer as promised as well as fruit, Italian ice, hot dogs, cookies, and pretzels, with a happy and energetic crowd of more than 1,500 enjoying it all in Frick Park, where the finish line was.

My time was 32:48, which is a 10:35 pace. So, it's not my best run, but an improvement for me over past runs. I ran as part of a big mob the entire run, so it was hard to go my regular pace consistently. My goals were not to walk and not to finish last, and I met both goals. On the uphill parts in Frick Park, about half the people were walking. It was very tempting to join them, but I didn't. Once I got through the uphill section and started on the downhill part, I was able to pick up my pace.

Here is my sister and me, all smiles coming out of the first section of Frick Park.
We got separated going into the next section of Frick Park, and because that part was uphill, I couldn't wait for her without walking, which I didn't want to do. So I finished by myself. Here I am sprinting to the finish line.What a great feeling to cross that finish line! We got flowers and water as soon as we crossed.And we also had beer, which is crazy for both of us. I don't drink beer at all, let alone at 10 in the morning.But after achieving a huge personal accomplishment and participating in such a fun, supportive, fantastic event, the beer hit the spot.

The Secret to Urban Gardening: Big Pots!

This summer I've spent less time cooking and more time eating whatever I've picked up at the farmers' markets. I think peanut butter & jelly on homemade wheat toast with sliced tomatoes, steamed kale, and watermelon for dessert is a completely respectable meal (that sounds better than, "I'm a little lazy in the summer").

We've also been eating from the veggie plants we're growing this year--one of my food budgeting goals. Every year I've tried to grow veggie plants, they've failed. Our last tomato plant looked ill the whole summer and spit out three tomatoes at the end of the year. We have a concrete patio for a yard, so I have to rely on potted plants, and I suspect my pots have been too small.

My husband's coworker gave us three plants this year (thanks, Matt!). We planted them in our biggest pots, which I usually use for ornamental grasses on the deck. I was a little sad to give up my grasses, but the pots were the solution!

This is our Fourth of July plant. The tomatoes are bigger than cherry tomatoes but still small and consistently delicious. It keeps growing and growing and has about five ripe tomatoes a day with about 20 more ripening. It became a super-performer only after I watered it with compost from the worm bin I keep in my kitchen, where I put fruit and veggie scraps.
This is our hot pepper plant. It also has a ton of peppers all the time. I've used them in salsa, and my husband grills or sautes them and puts them on burgers or hot dogs (he isn't veg).
Our third plant is some type of black tomato. A third of it got devoured by a tomato worm early in the season, and it hasn't been the same since. It's only just produced two tomatoes...but they are amazing!
It's nice to come home from work, walk outside, and pick these for dinner.
I also bought a basil plant from Trader Joe's. Basil is pretty reliable and has done well for me in previous years; it didn't disappoint this year. This basil is extremely fragrant and smells so sweet, I want to eat the leaves right off the stem. Unfortunately, the lettuce salad plants I got from Whole Foods did awful. They didn't last beyond my first plucking. I never replanted them into a bigger pot, so I guess that's why. (That's Rasputin, my formal feral kitty who plays catch with toy mice and hairbands and is a big, constantly attention-starved baby.)

A Trio of Yum Yum Sandwiches

I have no idea why the author of Vegan Yum Yum would take down her website, stop posting on Twitter, and otherwise disappear from the vegan community. It's a shame, because her recipes are great! Last week I made three sandwiches from the book.

The first was the Pan-Seared Tomato and Rosemary Artichoke Sandwich.It was extremely messy but amazingly delicious. The messiness comes from a balsamic reduction (heat 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar on medium for about 5 minutes, until it reduces by half and becomes sweet and a little thick) drizzled over the sandwich. Sliced artichokes sauteed in olive oil with rosemary, pan-seared tomato slices, baby spinach, and some basil complete this sandwich. I very rarely eat white bread, so having this on white baguette bread was a huge treat for me. Two huge thumbs up for this sandwich!

The second was the Picnic Sandwich (sorry for the bad photo).The first step is making the spread, which is a puree of nuts (recipe called for pine nuts; I used walnuts) and sundried tomatoes in olive oil. Spread that on both sides of the sandwich, then top with zucchini slices sauteed with Italian herbs. Add baby spinach, and you've got another really awesome sandwich. She calls it a picnic sandwich because it can be wrapped up in plastic and sit for a few hours in a backpack and still taste good. This sandwich also gets two big thumbs up (the white baguette bread was awesome again).

The third was the Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwich.I first made a marinade from miso, lemon juice, sugar, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke, brushed it on the tofu, and baked the slices for about 20 minutes.Next I made the Cashew Miso Mayo from Appetite for Reduction, which is a simple puree of cashews, miso, water, and apple cider vinegar. I spread the mayo on wheat bread, added the tofu slices, and topped it with baby spinach. This sandwich was just okay. I didn't love the tofu, and I usually always love tofu. And I think there were conflicting miso tastes between the tofu marinade and the mayo.

I'll definitely make the first two again. Until then, Lauren (Vegan Yum Yum author), please come back!

Lots & Lots of Steamed Kale

A week ago at the farmers' market near my house on the Northside, I bought three heads of kale for $5. The woman had to give me a large trash bag to hold the giant heads. Once home, I had to clean out the fridge to fit all the kale.

When my husband got home and wondered why we had a trash bag taking up the whole fridge, I told him I'd just bought kale. He peered into the full bag and said, "There's no way you can eat all that before it goes bad." The challenge was on!

For the past week I've eaten kale for every lunch and dinner. Mostly I've simply steamed it and made sauces or gravies to go with it. There are a bunch of great gravies in the new Happy Herbivore cookbook that's coming out that I was lucky enough to recipe test for. So I've been making Miso Gravy (my favorite), Chickpea Gravy, and Mushroom Gravy, ladling it over the kale, and topping it with baked tofu or seitan and some brown rice or quinoa. I know gravy doesn't scream "summer," but hey, these simple meals are delicious, easy, and cost next to nothing.

I also bought the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook and made a few great recipes with kale. The first was Tahini Lemon Rice and Beans with Kale and Seitan. For this recipe, I made seitan for the first time. Seitan is, basically, dough balls made from vital wheat gluten and boiled in veg broth. I know, it doesn't sound very good. But it is!
The first time I made it I used the Appetite for Reduction recipe, which has wheat gluten, veg broth, soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic. It was so good, I couldn't help eating it right out of the pot.The Tahini Lemon Rice & Beans was absolutely amazing. It may be one of my all-time favorite recipes. The sauce is lemony without being overpowering, and the tahini makes it rich and buttery. Black beans, rice, kale, and seitan all taste delicious with the sauce.
I also made Lime Peanut Noodles with Seitan, Kale, and Carrots from Vegan Yum Yum. This too was amazing. The lime juice gives the peanut sauce a little something different. For this recipe, I made seitan from Veganomicon. It was good, but I didn't like it as much.Today I'm going back to the farmers' market. Though I ate kale out the wazoo, I still have some left, so I'll try to refrain from buying a bunch more, but I'm not making any promises. I love kale too much!

Pad Thai Salad

Who said salads have to be boring? The Pad Thai Salad from Appetite for Reduction I made this week was a really different, spicy salad. The salad itself has romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, red onion, carrot, and peanuts. The Peanut Lime Dragon Dressing that goes with it is made from a puree of peanuts, lime juice, shallots, agave nectar, and hot sauce.

I really liked it. The book recommends beefing it up by adding some red thai tofu (another recipe from the book), so I'll add tofu next time. But just by itself, it was great. Here's the recipe.

Veganomicon Lentil Salad

This Lentil Salad from Veganomicon is easy to make, light, and refreshing--perfect for summer. It's delicious served over salad greens; the tarragon gives it a unique flavor. Add some brown rice or quinoa, and it's a complete meal. Lentil Salad (from Veganomicon)
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 or 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked lentils (I used brown)
• 1 small red onion, chopped very finely (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 small tomato, seeded and diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 radishes, grated (I didn't use these)
• 1 small carrot, grated
• several pinches of freshly ground black pepper

Dressing

• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemnon)
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions

1. Bring the broth, thyme, bay leaves, garlic cloves, tarragon, and salt to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the lentils and bring again to a low boil. Cover the pot with the lid tilted, allowing a little room for steam to escape. Let cook for 20 to 25 minutes. The lentils should be soft enough to eat but still firm enough to not lose their shape.
2. While the lentils cook, stir together the dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. Drain the lentils in a mesh colander. Let cool, giving the colander a few shakes every couple of minutes so they drain and cool faster. Once the lentils are lukewarm (about 15 minutes), remove the bay leaves, chunks of garlic, and thyme. Add the lentils to the dressing along with the onions, tomato, radishes, and carrots, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover, and chill for at least half an hour.
4. When chilled, serve over lettuce with oil and vinegar on the side.

Project Food Budget: Lessons Learned

For the past 25 weeks, I participated in Emily’s Project: Food Budget, where I and other participants tried to make and stick to weekly food budgets. It was a great experience! Before I started this project, I often bought ingredients for a single recipe, used half, and forgot about the rest. I would also go grocery shopping and buy things willy-nilly, and sometimes produce would rot before I could get to it. What a waste. I went from an average of $150 a week to about $85 a week. These are the biggest lessons I learned.

• Plan weekly meals that use the same ingredients. Isn’t it sad when you throw away a $4 package of limp, brown thyme that you used for only a single meal? Or cook up some brown rice for one recipe and remember it’s there a week later after it went bad? That used to happen to me a lot. Now I plan meals that use the same ingredients so that nothing goes to waste.
• Make only one or two ingredient-intensive meals a week. If you’re like me, when you get a new cookbook, you flag 100 recipes to make and immediately buy groceries to make 10 of them. But who has time to make 10 new recipes in a week? I’ve learned to taper my enthusiasm and make only a few new big meals a week. The rest of the time I rely on quick and easy meals that use few ingredients, like a bowl of brown rice, steamed greens and veggies, beans or tofu, and a gravy or dressing. Salads and tofu scrambles are my other fallback quick meals.
• Shop at ethnic stores. I now rarely buy herbs and spices at the grocery store. They’re so much cheaper at Indian groceries! Likewise, Asian ingredients are always much cheaper at Asian markets. I bought a 10-pound bag of brown basmati rice at an Indian grocery in week 7 for $14.99. I cook rice nearly every week and still have most of the bag left.
• Stock up on pantry staples on sale. There are many staples I use every week, like whole wheat flour, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and nutritional yeast. If they have a long shelf life and are on sale, it pays to stock up. I am on bottle two of three bottles of organic tahini I bought back in February that was nearly half off.
• Make food from scratch. I now bake my own bread every week, cook my own beans, and make my own vegetable stock, dressings, gravies and sauces, vegan cheeses, etc. I try to avoid packaged foods and only buy them if making my own is a crazy amount of work (two packaged foods I still buy are soymilk and pasta). Not only does homemade food taste better than store-bought items, but it’s healthier because I control the ingredients, and it saves money. Here I show that I save more than $16 by baking my own bread.
• Buy from bulk bins. It’s much cheaper to buy nuts, seeds, dried beans, and nutritional yeast from bulk bins. You can buy only what you need for a recipe.
• Shop around. I used to only go to Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh’s biggest grocery chain. Their sale items are great, but their produce and other items are expensive when not on sale. So I tend to shop at GE only for sale items. Trader Joe’s has the best prices for olive oil (1 quart for $5.99), oat bran ($2.89 for a huge bag), organic maple syrup (12 ounces for, I think, $5.99), lemons and limes ($.39 each), vegan chocolate chips, cocoa powder, frozen organic strawberries, garlic, and bananas. Pittsburgh has a very small Trader Joe’s, so they don’t have a huge selection and I can’t do all my grocery shopping there. Whole Foods’ own line of items is mostly inexpensive, and they have a good selection of locally grown produce. But I don’t shop there often…I was there recently, but that was the only time in about a year. That time, I bought a bag of oranges, and ¾ of them rotted in a few days (I didn’t keep the receipt so didn’t return them), and the organic peaches I bought there also immediately went bad. I haven’t been back. And the East End Food Co-op has mostly astronomical prices. Of course, now that summer is here, I’m shopping at farmer’s markets a lot. It’s more expensive, but for me it’s worth it to buy locally grown, organic produce.

I posted some additional lessons learned here and here.

I’m grateful to Emily for inviting others on this journey with her. I will use what I learned to eat healthy, delicious, vegan meals on a budget. Thanks, Emily!