recipes | Gracefulfitness

Category Archives: recipes

March 30, 2011 · 7:05 pm

Biking is Hard!

Are you familiar with the term principle of specificity?

This principle basically states that just because I can easily walk 100 miles in a 31 days doesn’t mean that I don’t huff and puff and grunt as soon as I get on my bike. Seriously, why is biking so hard?! Charlottesville’s notorious rolling landscape doesn’t help matters. I’ve never been very good with gears, using them appropriately would probably help me out a little. 😉

While the principle of specificity states that to improve in an activity or skill you must do that activity or skill there is definitely a cross-over effect.

I guess all that yoga and kettlebell training is paying off because I was happily surprised to find myself completing 15 full push ups with ease this morning (you know, behind my desk at the clinic).

Push ups have always been challenging for me and I’ve never gotten passed 20 full ones before my form gives in. So what’s the take-home here? Train to play but know that every activity you do contributes to your overall (graceful) fitness. Like walking!

I’m still 7.2 miles short with a day and a half to go! I gotta get walking! We drove to work today due to time restrictions and other logistics so an after-dinner-walk is in order.

As you probably have gathered, I love cooking, developing recipes, gardening, grocery shopping, and pretty much everything revolving around food. What you may not know is that there are very few things that I cook that I am really, truly proud to share. This isn’t because most of what I eat is bad, it’s just…simple. I love to dine on giant bowls of steamed veggies sprinkled with cayenne pepper and aminos. And yes, I kind of rate a meal based on it’s fiber content. 😉 Even when my food is not simple it isn’t nearly as rich or sweet or salty or fatty as the many peoples palates are used too.

I just received an invitation (via e-mail) to be part of a recipe exchange. My first thought was “OH how fun, this is right up my alley!”, followed up quickly with “I have NO CLUE what to share!”. The guidelines are to send along a recipe that is “quick, easy, and without rare ingredients”. Hmmmm, are lentil sprouts (my latest kick) “rare”?

I’m at a loss! 😦

This shouldn’t be so hard for someone who cooks 3+ times a day!

I’ll see you later, I’ve got some recipe sorting to do.

7 Comments

Filed under cooking, food, goals, recipes

Tagged as goals

March 17, 2011 · 2:30 pm

Kiss Me…

…I’ve got some Irish in me!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Leave it to the Irish to turn a holy day into a day associated with BEER! Not that I’m complaining, I am planning on enjoying a Guinness float in honor of my Irish Pappy.

If there are any Irish readers out there, how is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in Ireland? Is it more about the church service and less about the green booze?

March 17th is a special day in my family because it’s my mother-in-laws birthday! Happy birthday Shay!

I made her a birthday cake but since she lives 3 hours away we had to eat it all ourselves. 😉

This flour-less, low-fat chocolate torte was an experiment that turned out really well.

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 nugget panela dissolved* in 1/4 cup water OR 3 tablespoons brown sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup cocoa (non alkalized is much higher in antioxidants)
3 eggs
pinch of salt
~1/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate

Whisk all ingredients except the baking chocolate together in a bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler and quickly whisk into the other ingredients. Taste for sweetness. This is meant to be a rich, semi-sweet torte but if you prefer it a little sweeter you can add another tablespoon of brown sugar/panela dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water.

Butter and cocoa your baking dish. I used an 8 inch pan but I would have preferred it a little thicker so next time I will double the recipe or use a smaller dish. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. Take out of the oven when it still looks a little undercooked. Since this torte is low-fat is will dry out if cooked too long.

I glazed the top with a Cabernet Sauvignon jam that I melted in the microwave. Raspberry would be great too. If you wanted to go full-on decedent a chocolate-coconut icing like the one I made for Halloween would be pretty amazing.

*Panela

These morsels of unrefined cane sugar are my go-to for all of my sugar needs lately (Kefir Spritzer, Kombucha, the occasional sugar-sweetened dessert). They can be found at any Latin American specialty store for a few bucks a bag. Panela dissolves quickly in hot or cold water and tastes similar to brown sugar but unlike brown sugar is unrefined. Most brown sugar is just refined white sugar with processed molasses added back in. The processing of both the sugar and the molasses stripes out the nutrients and you are left with empty, nutritionally-void calories. Panela is minimally processed and the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals remain.

It’s a gorgeous day and along with a little yoga and a quick kettlebell workout, my exercise will come in the form of yard work and walking dates with girl friends. Love Spring. Enjoy!