red as a beet

The theme of today's post is the color red. I made two Weight Watchers recipes, both quite red, and a barley recipe from my new favorite foodie blogger (Oh She Glows). Plus, see below for more red surprises.

Dessert first, as always. (This isn't how I eat, by the way. Well, not most of the time. It's just that I prefer this course!) Mahogany velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, WW style. I was very intrigued by this recipe because the red didn't come from red food coloring as in traditional red velvet cakes, but from beets!



I love the idea of using a natural colorant and adding some nutritional value at the same time.



Don't think for a minute that I was fooled into thinking that these are healthy, though.




Two disappointments: the cupcakes weren't very red (perhaps why the name is "mahogany" and not "red") and the cream cheese frosting wasn't very good. Fat-free cream cheese = no good.




Christmas cupcake liners were all I had. Must add to shopping list.





I never eat beets. I believe this is the fault of one of my school cafeterias - probably a school in France. Those suckers are really bitter - no wonder I didn't like them as a kid. Not sure I like them as an adult yet. Except in red velvet cupcakes, that is. ;-)



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The other Weight Watchers recipe was skillet chicken paprika. I wish I could share the recipe, but that is probably against copyright rules. Therefore, I'll just give you the ingredients: chicken, paprika, flour, onion, garlic, red pepper, olive oil, sour cream (I used Greek yogurt instead), and a can of diced tomatoes.



You cook the chicken and set aside. Then soften the onion and red pepper.



Then you add the flour and paprika. It quickly becomes a gorgeous red mixture that is very fragrant.




The final result is delicious. Yum!



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Another recipe I made this week (twice!) is Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto from Oh She Glows. Have I mentioned that I love her blog? She makes vegan so easy, delicious, and attainable!

First you add the barley, oil, oregano, and basil.



Then you add the rest of the ingredients, including miso and nutritional yeast - two new ingredients for me, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.



It's super easy and really tasty. I can't wait to eat this for lunch this week!



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My American breakfast this morning. Yum. Added some strong mustard to the eggs and it was spectacular. Hey...red strawberries!



Very similar to a lunch the other day. Nothing red here, sorry! Actually, there is paprika in the omelet, but you can't really see it.



And a delicious red drink. Mango rum, mango vodka, grenadine, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice, with a splash of Sprite.



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Speaking of red, my camera (which is red for those of you who haven't seen it) is still being fixed!! I'm lost without a camera. Thank goodness I have an iPhone!

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On the running front, so far so good. I completed the first week of training and all went well. I have done the first workout of the second week and I am proud to say that I was able to run every time I was supposed to. One uphill run was quite a struggle, but I made it and recovered. I'm on my way to 5K!! :-) Stay tuned!

New sneakers!


Very sweaty!


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The highlight of the week has to be winning the PSSC Spring 2011 Volleyball Championship. YEAH!! (Red shirts!)



I wish you a great week!

if everyone jumped off a bridge...

...would you?

Perhaps comparing running to jumping off a bridge isn't the best comparison, but it's kind of relevant in this instance. Allow me to explain.

As I have mentioned before, I have been reading a lot of food blogs in the last 9 months. I'm learning a lot about healthy eating and alternative ingredients. I have also noticed that a lot of the bloggers are runners. At first I thought, puh, I will learn nutrition lessons and try recipes from these bloggers, but no way will I get into running. I don't run. Been there, done that, didn't like it (in high school). That was my attitude for 8 months. Then in the last month I started thinking that running would be really convenient because all you really need are sneakers. You can do it anywhere, anytime during daylight, and by yourself. Realizing this, I decided that I wanted to become a runner. AKA, jump off a bridge. After all, everyone else is doing it!!

Great, but now what!? Oh crap, I actually have to go outside and RUN!?! What was I thinking?! I can't just run! It's too hot! My sneakers are too old! I'll get tired! I don't have time! It's going to be hard! These thoughts and many more ran through my head. I decided to get a little help and found a Couch-to-5K program that sounded perfect for me. Yes, I'm active with yoga and volleyball, but when it comes to running, I might as well be a couch potato. I just didn't know where to start. This program seemed reasonable and I liked that the first workout involved only short bursts of 1-minute jogs. I thought, I can do this!



And then a week passed and I still hadn't done it. Each day was a different excuse, mostly the same ones I already listed above. Friday I finally came very close until I realized that I would need something to time these intervals and that the most likely candidate was my iPhone. I did not want to run with my iPhone in hand and looked up running watches online. And before I knew it, it was 8 PM and the sun would set soon, and, and, and... Running didn't happen.

Saturday involved the beach and sunbathing and some discussion with a friend about wanting to be a runner. We came to the conclusion that signing up for a 5K might be the best way to get motivated. And then on Sunday, something miraculous happened: I ran!! I decided that I was allowing myself too many excuses. If I really wanted to do this, then I had to do it, running watch or not. I got up, put on some workout clothes, ate cereal, studied the 1st workout plan, and got to work on stretching. After 10 minutes of stretching and only doing one rotation of the stretches instead of two (I was only mentally prepared for 25 workout minutes, I couldn't be adding another 20 with the stretches!!), I walked out the door. Only to realize that I had nowhere to put my keys. Disaster and potential roadblock averted: I grabbed my (much less bulky) spare keys and tied them to my shoelaces. I had my iPhone in hand, the music blasting, and the stopwatch function on the screen.

And I was off! I followed the plan, but wasn't able to run every planned jog. I got tired much faster than I expected so I walked the last 8 minutes. I am so proud of myself for having finally gotten out there and tried it. It was tough, but it felt good. I was indeed hot, it was indeed hard, I was indeed tired, but it was worth it. And not just the physical part, which does feel good, but I'm even prouder of finally breaking through my mental games that were preventing me from making the first step out the door. I still have a while to go - this program is 9 weeks long - but at least I have started it now. I'm not even looking at the weeks ahead. I am going to do this at my own pace, and only move to the next workout once I feel like I can.



I did a little research about running and found a useful article titled Running 101. I'll be trying to follow some of the tips they gave.

At this point, I'm not sure that I am ready to sign up for a 5K. I have one in mind in October that I might like to try, but I am not ready to commit. All I can commit to right now, is taking it one day at a time, and listening to my body, without listening to the excuses. If I manage to run 3 times this week, I will get myself a new pair of running sneakers. It's going to be tough because it's a very busy week, but that's life.

I'm standing on the edge of the bridge now. Will I jump?