triathletes and recovery food

I am a triathlete.

OK, here's the fine print on that statement.  The triathalon was at the local YMCA and some of our competitors were old enough to be great-grandparents.  My great-grandparent.  Also, I did not do the swim portion of the triathalon and I got lost during the 5k run and ended up crossing the finish line from the wrong direction.  


That being said, in my mind, I am a triathlete.  Here's the details, in pictures.

1/4 mile swim.

5 mile bike.

5k (+1/3 mile to find the finish line) run

This is something my oldest mini has been begging me to do with him.  And even though I felt like barfing for my 36-minute portion of the race and the only part I actually enjoyed was watching him swim, I have been talked into doing it again.  He's kind of hard to say no to.

Speaking of my oldest mini, I took him to the pediatrician last week for a physical.  She expressed some concern because my oldest mini had fallen off his growth curve.  He has always been in the 50%ile for height and weight.  He dropped slightly off his height curve, this didn't surprise me, as he has spinal deformities that are progressively worsening, so as he grows, he doesn't grow straight.  Over time, we would expect him to fall off his vertical height growth curve.  However, he really dropped off his weight curve, from the 50%ile to the 30%ile.  Of course, the over-paranoid mother that I am, I initially started doubting my decision to change our eating habit as drastically has we have this year.  But, logically, I couldn't accept that he would be better off eating processed food and weighing a bit more than following the diet we eat now.  I decided to try not to worry about it.  Then, the other day, my oldest mini told me he wanted to make lunch for himself.  As he sat down with a heaping plate of food, I realized this.....if we all ate like him, we'd all be in the 30%ile!  And ever since then, my mind has been at ease.

For the sake of honesty, I did make one huge concession.  My oldest mini has swim team practice every night from 6-7:30.  That is 90 minutes of swimming laps, which is a huge calorie burner!  Unfortunately, he has no appetite after practice, so I have decided to let him drink one of these each night.  Over the last few years I have read that chocolate milk is the ideal post-workout recovery drink and my oldest mini is thrilled with that!

Another post recovery food that I enjoy is Larabars.  I have never actually bought a Larabar, but I have had plenty of them as freebies given to me.  Larabars are tasty and are actually made of real ingredients.  For instance, the peanut butter cookie Larabar has peanuts, dates, and salt.  So, actually, Larabars are an acceptable convenience food item for the McGhee family.  The downside to Larabars is that they are really expensive....like, I'm talking nearly $2 a bar. So, I set myself a goal to find a way to make my own Larabars.    What I discovered is that making my own is fast, easy, and delish!!!

Larabars

• 1 cupe packed dates
• 1 cup peanuts
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1-2 pinches of salt

1.  Add dates to a food processor and run it until the dates become sticky and well-chopped.

2.  Add peanuts to the food processor.  Run in bursts until the peanuts are chopped to the desired consistency.

3.  Add chocolate to the processor and run in bursts.
4.  Add salt to the processor and run another burst or two.

5.  Put the mixture in a glass pan and press down.  Let it chill for a bit before eating.  Go for a run while bars are chilling.  Recover with your bars.  And perhaps some chocolate milk.

Here is what dates look like before.....

...and after.....

With Peanuts, chocolate, and salt added.

Pressed into a pan.  Ready to chill.  

I urge you to try these!!!!  If you're cutting calories, fat, carbs....leave out the chocolate chips.  For a few dollars, I made about 8-10 Larabars, which would cost me about $20.  Score!

Kid Friendly dinner

I took my first spinning class this morning, so, in my mind, that makes me a biker.  And, clearly, now that I am a biker, I have a need for a high-quality protein bar to sustain me through my biking.  I remembered having found this recipe a few days ago, so as soon as I got feeling back in my legs....I hit the kitchen. 

3/4 cup dry quinoa, or about 2 cups cooked

1/2 cup dates, pitted

3 tablespoons agave nectar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup protein powder

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup stir-ins like dry fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, or chocolate chips.

1.  Rinse the dry quinoa in cold water, then let sit in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring 1 cup of water to boil. Drain the quinoa and add to the boiling water. Cover, and reduce heat to simmer for about 12 minutes. Let cool enough to handle.
2.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooked quinoa, dates, agave nectar, vegetable oil, flaxseed, almond extract, and salt. Process until relatively smooth (the quinoa is so small it stays slightly lumpy).
3.  In a small bowl, stir together the protein powder, flour, and stir-ins. Fold this dry mixture into wet mixture with a spatula. The dough is very thick, like cookie dough, so use the spatula to press into prepared pan evenly.
4.  Bake for about 22-25 minutes, until firm. Let cool, then slice into a dozen bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

I just want to point out that these are called chocolate quinoa bars, yet there is only a minuscule amount of optional chocolate in the recipe.  Here's my chocolate quinoa bars.  Um, yeah.  Something went wrong.  Very wrong.  These puppies have no flavor...like zip, zilch, nada.  Now, I am digging the ingredients....flaxseed, quinoa, agave nectar.  So, I am reworking this recipe and tweaking it for next time.  The bars I made aren't inedible.  They are just missing flavor.  Which makes me think the mini McGhees will love them.

WAIT!!!  It just dawned on me.  Do you think that 1/2 cup of stir-ins means 1/2 a cup of each?  I think it does.  oops, I only put in 1/2 cup total of the stir-ins.  That could explain the missing flavor. 

So, stay tuned.  Not giving up on a homemade protein bar.

Last week's pasta sauce was so delish, I had to make another batch.  Here's a recap of the recipe.

• one onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 3 cans plum tomatoes
• basil
• salt and pepper
• sugar, 1 tsp

1. Remove tomatoes from cans (keep the juice) and cut into chunks.
2. In a pan, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
3. Add red wine, and let cook for a few minutes. Some of the liquid will evaporate. This is okay, just don't let it all.
4. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Stir.
5. Simmer 30 minutes.
6. If you don't like your sauce chunky, remove the large chunks of tomatoes and puree in a food processor.
7. Simmer on very low heat until ready to serve.

This time I got all crazy and added in a handful of chopped spinach.  Tonight we had the pasta sauce with this meatball recipe. 

1 lb ground beef

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup carrot bits (you can grind them in a food processor, grate then dice them, or mince them)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon salt

Crushed red pepper, to taste

1. Mix together ground beef and all other ingredients. You can use your hands, or if you have someone that owes you a favor...you can use their hands.
2. Generously grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
3. Roll the beef mixture into meatballs the size of golf balls. Place them in rows onto the greased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 9 – 11 minutes or until brown all the way through.

**sidenote**  I had some leftover bread from an breadmachine failure extra loaf in the pantry.  I let the bread dry out and then if I had a food processor, I would have used it to make breadcrumbs.  However, since I do not have a food processor, I put the bread in a bag and beat the hell out of it with a spoon. 

Since Mr. McGhee wasn't home for dinner tonight and I, as the biker in the house, am exhausted from the waist down, I kept dinner real simple.  Meatballs with sauce, apple slices, edamame, and strawberries.  It was a perfectly pleasant, kid-friendly dinner, complete with listening to the kids argue over who loves edamame the most. 

And dessert was sliced mango with dark chocolate, by request.  Love my little food nerds.