Whole Foods, how I love thee

I went to Whole Foods for lunch today and spent $5 at the salad bar.  Best $5 I've spent on a lunch in quite some time, I must say.  I got some salmon pasta salad, fresh mozzerella, a zuccini medley, and assorted fruit. 

People bitch left and right about how eating healthy is so expensive and not convenient.  I beg to differ.  Seriously, $5 and I picked up my food from the salad bar in like 5 minutes.

And speaking of eating healthy, last night I saw a preview for Forks Over Knives.  What a compelling film trailer, for serious.  I want to see this movie so bad.  It looks so good!  Basically, the premise is that two out of every 3 Americans are overweight because we are eating primarily animal-based and processed foods.  Other cultures are eating plant-based foods and are living longer and better lives.  This is no surprise and certainly not rocket-science, yet somehow the trailer still comes across as very compelling.  I'll definitely be seeing this movie.

http://www.forksoverknives.com/

See pic of my lunch from today, mmmmm!  That is all.

marathon training dinner - take 2

Tonight was my turn to cook again for these weekly marathon training dinners.  I cooked honey crusted chipotle salmon, broccoli and zuccini and a fruit salad.  I marinated the vegetables in sesame ginger sauce, olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper.  It turned out really good.

As I'm getting into this cooking thing, I'm coming to a realization that *I really enjoy cooking* - like, a lot.  I'm enjoying it so much that I may look into taking cooking classes after this ridick marathon training is over.  It's a lot of fun to look for recipes and try to experiment with flavors.  Also, it's a nice feeling to take some ingredients and make something that is damn tasty.  At first, I was quite apprehensive as I'm not one who normally cooks.  My mind is shifting and now I'm discovering that I really, really love it.

Also, I really want to poach eggs and try to make a spinach salad similar to the one I had at Paggi House recently.  That shiz was outrageously good.

I'm also discovering that:
 (1) Gluten free does not = tastes like shit
 (2) No butter used in a dish does not = why bother even eating it/what's the point
 (3) Olive oil is a necessity
 (4) I can cook, wheeeeeee!

Marfa vittles

This weekend I went with a group of 5 friends to Marfa, Texas.  I'd never been so I has no idea what to expect.  Marfa is super-rural and I didn't have very high expectations for fine cuisine.  We ended up eating a really nice dinner on Friday night at Maiya's.  Pretty fancy, fo sho.  Great food and wine, super small and intimate, a little pricey though.  I had a tomato mozzerella caprese salad and a ribeye with gorgonzola butter.  So damn good.  I basically completely threw out my food restrictions out the window this weekend.  So worth it.  That ribeye, omg.  Thinking about that heavenly slab of meat has just inspired me to write a haiku:

Ribeye steak, butter.
Bread and wine and steak, hell yes.
Eating pants are on!

http://maiyasrestaurant.com/menu.html

The rest of the time, we took turns cooking meals.  This system worked out really well. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and eggs hatched from my friends' chickens.  See pics below.

I cooked dinner, tra la la

During this marathon training, me and two very good friends of mine are taking turns cooking healthy dinners.  I've noticed that a lot of this marathon training is very much mental for me.  Yes, the actual running is difficult but I'm noticing that what is even more difficult are the voices in my head that constantly try to tell me "You are too slow, 26.2 miles is ridick, everyone is faster than you, have I mentioned that you are too f'ing slow, it's really hot right now, slow slow slow, blah blah and blah."

These dinners are really important to me personally because (1) It encourages me to eat healthy/whole/organic/local foods, (2) It encourages structure and accountability and (3) I just enjoy being around like-minded people who understand how f'ing hard this whole process is.  It makes me feel like I'm not doing this crazy endeavor alone. I look forward to the dinners for many reasons.

But I digress.

So, last night was my responsibility to cook dinner.  I did some research on recipes and found one via the Whole Foods website.  The name of the recipe:

Roasted Salmon and Broccoli with Lemony Whole Wheat Linguine

Here is a link to the recipe:  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2406   

I made a few slight modifications to the recipe.  Instead of just broccoli, I added zuccini and celery.  I added parsley.  I eliminated the asiago cheese and instead seasoned with a little extra sesame ginger marinade, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Also, I used gluten-free pasta.  At first, I was skeptical about the gluten-free pasta.  It ended up tasting really good.  The taste was very spot on and the texture was really good.  From now on, I plan to only cook myself gluten-free pasta. 

The result: it was straight up awesome.  Seriously.  Frankly, I would totally have ordered that shiz at a restaurant, I'm just saying. I definitely will cook this meal again.

I paired it with a loaf of rosemary bread and a fruit salad of strawberries, cantaloupe and blueberries.  Delish!  See pics below.

Maybe after this ridick marathon training is over, I'll take some cooking classes.  That is all.  :)

paggi house

Oh dear sweet baby jesus h.  Paggi House.  I'm in love, I really am. Uchiko has always been my one and my only but now I'm questioning everything.   

We ate on the outdoor patio.  The glimmering lights were a really nice touch.  Trees galore, beautiful people left and right.  The ambiance was really romantic.  The service was impeccable, outstanding.  The music was awesome.  And, the food.  OMFG, the food...We ordered a salad, the scallops, the beef tenderloin and halibut.  That salad was by far the best salad I've had in my entire life.  There was a warm poached egg atop various microgreens and candied pecans.  So damn good.  The scallops were beyond scrumptious.  The tenderloin was melt-in-your-mouth amazing. And all local ingredients!

The only thing that sucked was the valet parking was full and it was a nightmare getting parking.  Also, it was really expensive.  So this is definitely a place to go for a date but that's about it.  I want to try their happy hour, maybe it's a little more reasonably priced.

Also, House Wine is literally across the street.  It's the perfect place to go afterwards to get your wine on.  Just saying.

Two thumbs up!

I'm f'ing starving.

It's been so long since I've updated this blog.  Things have been ridick busy as of late.

Quick recap of wtf's been going on in my world as of late:

* I had half marathon training

*I ran two half marathon within 3 weeks of each other.

*I got strep throat and was sick for a week.

* I ran a crazy 12 person 200-mile group relay from Gonzalez Tx to Houston Tx.

*Immediately after that group relay, I flew to AZ for a business trip.

 *SXSW week which was awesome and crazy exhausting.

*I had two friends from out of town staying with me right after each other.

*Also, I've been working 6 day workweeks for the last 4 weeks in a row.

Add to that training for a full marathon and...I'm spent, physically and emotionally.  I'm exhausted, I'm hungry all the time, and I feel like I am on an emotional roller-coaster as of late.  It's probably because I'M STARVING.  All I eat as of late are fruits, vegetables, balance bars, turkey, and more fruit and vegetables.  I miss cheese.  I miss butter.  I miss Torchy's Tacos.  I really miss iced turbos from Jo's.  I do get one cheat day a week so yay for that.  I'll be going to Paggi House this weekend and I plan to eat some damn delicious vittles.  Mmmmhmm.

Before I started this marathon training program, here are some delicious vittles I ate.  Oh, the memories....