Hollis Fast 5k

Last night I ran the Hollis Fast 5k with Gina, Callie and Dan. Its called "fast" because the course drops 224 feet from start to finish - definitely more enjoyable than some of the super hilly races I've ran in the past! Yesterday's weather was all over the place. The morning started out a little cool and overcast, but by noon it was over 95 degrees outside and extremely humid. I'd heard reports of possible thunderstorms that evening/night, but didn't see any signs of them as I drove from Boston to Hollis, New Hampshire for the race. Pat called to inform me that the sky was black and it was pouring rain, and practically begged calmly advised me not to run.

Then Gina called to say that there was lightening everywhere she looked. Still nothing where I was.

A few minutes later, this started.

I looked at the thermometer in my car - it had dropped from 95 degrees to 70 in the past hour. Then the lightening started. I saw what Gina was talking about - it was the type of lightening that looks like its connected to the ground and the sky - it seemed like it was surrounding the highway. Beautiful night for a run!

By the time I got to Gina's house the rain had mostly passed, and we only saw lightening a handful of times on the drive to the race. They pushed back the start of the race by 15 minutes ("to be sure that the storm has passed") and then we were off. Though advertised as a downhill course (and there were a few noticeable declines) the race felt mostly flat. And even though it was 68 degrees at the start of the race, it was extremely muggy and felt like it was over 90 degrees.

There was a little banquet at the end with pretzels, apples, yogurt and TONS of cookies (most of which were homemade, which was cool). I loved running through Hollis - its the town next to Nashua, but feels like its way out in the country. The roads are very open, houses are spread far apart, and farms sprinkle the neighborhoods. I told Pat if we end up living in New Hampshire I'd want to live here!

I didn't have any pockets for my camera or phone, so this is the only shot I got.

I finished the 5k in 24:24, so a pace of 7:53. I'm not sure what my fastest 5k is, but its not really one of my best races. I tend to prefer distance, since I can steadily run for a longer period of time better than I can sprint. It would be helpful to warm up before shorter races, but I'm usually too lazy to do that!

On a different note, I'd like to apologize for my lack of posts recently. I'd been on a pretty good streak of posting several times throughout the week (weekends are my vacation from computers) but lately I haven't been keeping up. Spring and summer is a busy time - between the high school and college graduations (and parties), bridal and baby showers, bachelorette parties, and weddings, its hard to fit in a full-time job, let alone other activities (like sunbathing, which I am in desperate need of!). I love blogging and following other people's blogs, but its a hobby, not my job. So as much as I'd like to be blogging more, I've been cooking and baking less, and have had less time to write about cooking, baking, running and other random things I like to tell you about. So please bare with me, I'll try to be better about posting more frequently, in between the weddings, showers, and hopefully some trips to the beach!

I've deviated from my usual oatmeal breakfast recently, and the past two mornings I've made myself a"to-go omelette" which have been a delicious change of pace! 

Heat a small skillet on medium. Cover skillet with cooking spray and add 3 egg whites. Once the whites have just started to cook (under a minute) add some thinly chopped bell pepper. 

Top with a couple handfuls of baby spinach, and cover the skillet. Allow eggs to finish cooking and spinach to wilt (3-5 minutes).

Fold in half, remove from pan, and stuff inside half of a pita pocket (or put on a piece of toast). My mom bought me these pitas from a local Armenian grocer and they're super soft and fresh.

To-Go Omelette!

These are perfect to bring with me as I run out the door in the morning!

And I even brought a side dish, tucked neatly into my cup holder.

Frozen watermelon!

My sister was telling me the other day about freezing her cantaloupe, so I tried freezing cantaloupe and watermelon. I love frozen fruit in the summer, my previous favorites have been frozen mango and frozen bananas. In my opinion, the frozen watermelon was better than the cantaloupe (but both are good) - the fruit is watery, so it is very similar to an Italian ice. So refreshing!

Salad Fever

Guess what? The sun finally came out! After over a week of non-stop rain and temps in the 40s, its finally starting to act a little like spring. When its cold and rainy all I crave is hot meals (usually covered in some kind of cheese)...and when its hot I constantly want salads. After a hot and humid run last night the only thing I wanted was a big salad.

Organic baby spinach, orange wedges, red bell peppers, boiled beets (hot, I don't really care for them cold), goat cheese, and toasted walnuts, drizzled with some balsamic vinaigrette. Toasting walnuts is easy, just bake them for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees - it really brings out the flavor a lot more.

With my salad I had some tofu. And some popcorn. Yes, I'm random.

I woke up to another warm day today, and after running and going to the gym I wanted another salad. I had salad for breakfast a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it. I guess I didn't stick with it because it takes a lot longer to prepare a salad in the morning than a quick bowl of oatmeal or a smoothie. Since I work from home on Wednesdays, I had time to make myself a big breakfast salad. 

Organic baby spinach, red bell peppers, and avocado. I squeezed some fresh lemon on top, sprinkled with cayenne pepper for a kick, and topped with some scrambled egg whites. I had a bowl of mango on the side and a glass of skim milk for extra protein.

Some of my friends have told me its weird that I like salad for breakfast. I would have said the same thing, too. Give it a try and then let me know if you still think its weird! It is very satisfying to fill up on something other than carbs (and this is coming from the carb queen) and it gives me more energy throughout the day.

Its been one week since I started my 30 day challenge (to run at least one mile per day). Here's how I've done so far:

Day 1 - 3 mile run; Bikram yoga class

Day 2 - 3 mile run; Bikram yoga class

Day 3 - 2.25 mile run

Day 4 - 3 mile run

Day 5 - 1 mile run

Day 6 - 1 mile run

Day 7 - 5 mile run; abs and legs strength training

Day 8 (today) - 2.6 mile run, back and bis strength training

As you can see, a few of those days I only ran the minimum 1 mile. Those were super busy days that I normally would not have done anything. My excuse would always be that I didn't have time, or that doing something as short as just one mile wouldn't make any difference. Since following this challenge, I've found a way to squeeze in a mile even in my busiest days, whether waking up a little early to get it done or quickly doing it when I got home late at night. Those mornings that I forced myself out of bed at 5am to fit in a quick mile were some of the best mornings - I love working out early in the day because it gives me such a boost of energy. If I didn't have to leave before 6am for work, I'd definitely do all of my work outs in the morning. 

I printed out a free calendar template I found online and have been marking down my mileage. Its a good way to keep track of what I've done and motivate myself to keep going. Even better is that I've heard from a few of my friends who are doing the challenge, too! I'm glad that other people are participating, and I think talking to each other about it helps keep us on track. If you can't run the miles, choose something else. My friend Chrissy has several injuries left over from college basketball, so running can be uncomfortable for her, but she's decided to do the challenge by biking and other forms of cross training! 

In terms of my other challenge, the 100 push ups challenge, that was a little bit later in getting off the ground. I actually just started it this morning. I did the initial test to see how many push ups I could do (to see where my training should begin) and I did 12. Not on my knees, either! I contemplated first doing this challenge with knee push ups and then doing it with standard push ups, but decided to try the real deal. I'm sure I'll be regretting this in a few days.

Anyone else want to join us in the 30 day challenge?

What are your favorite foods of summer?

Mine are salads and tons of fresh fruit. Oh and ice cream, that's pretty important, too!

Changing Things Up

This week I've changed things up a bit. Instead of oatmeal for breakfast every day and salad for lunch or dinner, I decided that a switch was in order. So every day this week I've had salad for breakfast! I know it sounds strange, but I've done this before, and it is really a great start to the day. I was originally inspired to do this when listening to the audio book of Born to Run on my way to Charlottesville. One of the chapters talked a lot about nutrition, and the author was advised to eat a large salad for breakfast. He wrote, "because a monster salad is loaded with nutrient-rich carbs and low in fat, I could stuff myself and not feel hungry-or queasy- when it came time to work out. Plus, greens are packed with water, so they're great for rehydrating after a night's sleep."

This morning's salad was made with organic baby spinach, 1/2 red bell pepper, organic broccoli slaw,  organic baby carrots, 1/3 baked sweet potato, several strawberries, and some hard boiled egg whites.

After eating it I felt so much more awake and full of energy. They say that you're supposed to "eat the rainbow" so this was certainly a good way to start off my day! I've been doing the breakfast salads for three days so far and they are surprisingly more satisfying that a big bowl of oatmeal. I've just had one embarrassing encounter since I started - yesterday morning I had my half-eaten salad on my desk when someone from another department in the hospital came to my office for a meeting  (at 9am). He looked over and said "are you eating a salad?!" so I explained that I'm changing it up a bit. Then my office mate poked her head over the file cabinet and said "I thought I saw you eating salad yesterday morning!" Both of them were not convinced when I explained how good it was, but the man I was meeting with did say that he might "change it up" and have steak and potatoes for breakfast the next day. Not exactly my point, but that's okay.

I was really bad on Sunday and didn't foam roll or ice bath after the half marathon. In fact, I barely stretched. Sometimes I just get caught up in the excitement after a race and forgot! I was a little sore on Monday, but not too bad. I wanted to go to Bikram, but then looked at my bank account and realized that my rent for May had just come out and I have 3 bridal showers in the next 2 weeks, and Mother's Day coming up this weekend. So I think I'll need to wait until next week to cough up the money for Bikram. I also might have blacked out for a few minutes on my way home from work on Monday and when I came to there was a lovely shopping bag with two new pairs of shoes in it sitting beside me. Whoops. So yeah, no Bikram for me this week! Do you like my new shoes? I got some closed toe flats for work (we can only wear closed toe shoes which I think is so sad) and some new strappy wedges:

p.s. Pat doesn't know about these new shoes. We'll just keep it our little secret! I don't know how bad he'll feel for me when I say that my bank account is near empty if I've just gone shoe shopping. But trust me - one pair was on sale and I had a coupon so I got an amazing deal!

So without Bikram, Monday became a rest day for me.

On Tuesday I went to the gym and biked for a quick 35 minutes. My right knee was bothering me so I iced it a few times throughout the day.

On Wednesday I made a little more of an effort. Still no running (I like to stay away from running for at least a few days after a long race) but I did get in some more cardio and finally got back to some weights:

• 22 minutes of hills on stationary bike

• back and biceps weight training (I started with 2 sets of 15 reps of everything since its been a few weeks)

• 22 minutes on elliptical

• went through my abs circuit twice (6 different exercises in the circuit)

• 22 minutes of hill walking on treadmill

*20 minutes + 2 minutes cool down of each = 22 minutes (and my favorite number)

I have some exciting news! Well exciting for me, and I guess anyone who lives near a Great Harvest Bread Company (because maybe this will inspire you to purchase some of your own). A Great Harvest was just opened in Nashua, which I was very excited about. I'd sampled the Cinnamon Chip bread after the Charlottesville Half Marathon and have been thinking about it ever since. Today I finally got into the Nashua branch to buy myself a loaf of Cinnamon Chip bread... and they were out! Except for the three loaves I spotted on their bread shelves, but those were reserved. "Really? Are you sure?" I pleaded. The owner, Jeremy, said that two of the loaves were being picked up tonight, but the third was being picked up tomorrow morning. He said that he wasn't planning on making a batch of Cinnamon Chip bread tomorrow, but that he would so that I could have this last loaf of bread. I couldn't believe my luck!

When I got home I saw this on Facebook. I love these guys already!

I've been telling Pat about this bread, so I know he'll be excited to finally try it (and to shut me up) and Kathryn is flying up tomorrow so I can share some with her!

I did make the mistake of having a slice...and then another...

This bread is moist, chewy, light, perfectly cinnamony (yes that is a word) - its bread that requires no butter because it just perfect on its own. I may even go so far as to say that its the most dangerous bread I've ever had. Saving some for Pat and Kathryn is going to require amazing amounts of willpower. I hope I can do it.

What's your favorite breakfast food?

What takes priority when you're low on cash? New shoes or some other treat?
*Mom before you get mad - I've already paid all of my student loans and credit card bills this month and I promise that I got really good deals on both pairs of shoes! :)

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Its been a while since I've made chicken. Not sure why, I just haven't made it in a while. I came across this recipe in the April issue of Cooking Light and it looked like the perfect meal that could be prepared quickly but would satisfy my craving for a hearty, home-cooked dinner.

Instead of using mint and parsley like the recipe calls for, I used spinach, since there's always a surplus of spinach in my fridge. I served the chicken with a side of sauteed asparagus and some quinoa from Trader Joe's (this was actually my first experience with quinoa, I'm a little late on the quinoa train, and I loved it!).

Asparagus

This is a favorite summer recipe for the grill (but works just as well when sauteed). Wash and trim asparagus (its actually easier to just snap off the ends of the stalks with your fingers instead of trimming with a knife) and place in a large Ziploc bag or a bowl. Add the following for your marinade:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• red pepper flakes
• garlic powder (or minced garlic)
• salt and pepper

The amounts you use are up to you - I like this with a kick, so I added a lot of red pepper flakes.

Put the asparagus in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or up to a few hours) to absorb the flavors. When ready to cook, heat a skillet over medium heat and add asparagus (no need to use extra oil in the skillet since there's already some in the marinade). Saute for 5-10 minutes, until it reaches the tenderness you prefer.

Quinoa

This is the Trader Joe's quinoa I bought - comes frozen in a bag and has sweet potatoes and zucchini in it. You can heat on stove or in microwave. I was going to doctor it up a bit by adding some dried cranberries and spices, but decided not to. This was really good just as is, and would also be good if you added extra vegetables or spices.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Preheat your broiler to 450 degrees.

Mix panko, spinach, and pepper in a bowl, mashing with fork to combine.

Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each breast to form a pocket.

Stuff as much filling as you can into each pocket, then close with a toothpick. Sprinkle chicken with salt.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil to pan. Add chicken to pan and cook for about two minutes (on one side) until browned.  

Move chicken to an oven pan or cookie sheet, brown side down. Broil for 10-15 minutes or until done.

Recipe

Serves 3-4.

Adapted from Cooking Light.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1-2 handfuls baby spinach, chopped into small pieces
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 4 (6 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts (I only made 3, but the stuffing makes enough for about 5-6 pieces of chicken)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• lemon wedges (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat your broiler to 450 degrees.
2. Mix panko, spinach, and pepper in a bowl, mashing with fork to combine.
3. Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each breast to form a pocket.
4. Stuff as much filling as you can into each pocket, then close with a toothpick. Sprinkle chicken with salt.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil to pan. Add chicken to pan and cook for about two minutes (on one side) until browned.
6. Move chicken to an oven pan or cookie sheet, brown side down. Broil for 10-15 minutes or until done. Squeeze fresh lemon on top to serve (if desired).

This whole meal was really delicious. I have a new found love for quinoa, and guess who else does as well? Pat! I didn't tell him how good it was for him until after he tasted it, I didn't want that to taint his judgment (I think in his mind he assumes healthy grains=cardboard taste). The chicken was really good - very moist. I love goat cheese and the combination of goat cheese and spinach (with  a squeeze of lemon) was great, although the flavor didn't really jump out at you. I had considered adding other spices to the filling but didn't because of the marinade I used for the asparagus (I didn't want it to be flavor overload). If I made this chicken again with subtler vegetables, I'd trying adding some/all of the following to the chicken stuffing: roasted garlic, red pepper flakes, artichoke hearts, rosemary and thyme, caramelized onions. I'm sure there's lots of great things that could go in these! Pat was very happy for a home cooked meal (that didn't involve tofu) and I really enjoyed it, too.

Sweets and Sweats

Let's start out with the sweats, shall we? On Friday I told you all about my first two Bikram classes. I loved them and couldn't wait to do more. I made it home in time on Friday afternoon to hit the 4:30pm class, but this one didn't go quite as well. I thought that since I saw so many people wearing just little shorts and sports bras that I should try that, too (instead of capri spandex and a t-shirt or tank top) so that's what I did. I wore a pair of running shorts and a sports bra. This was bad for a couple reasons. First of all, running shorts aren't really ideal for hot yoga. The material isn't stretchy and isn't absorbent - it just got wet and clung to me. Halfway through class I started getting nervous that I would lean too far into a pose and my shorts would split, revealing my super classy pink tie-dye undies from Vicki's. Luckily that didn't happen, but the fear of flashing an entire room of strangers kind of ruined the peaceful mindset I was looking for. The second problem was that with so little clothing, my sweat had nowhere to go but to run down my body and drip even more (instead of being mostly soaked up by my capris and t-shirt). Everything was slippery and I actually felt hotter with less clothing on. On top of that, all I had was a water bottle full of warm water because I didn't have time to fill it with ice before class. This combination of things did not add up to the best experience ever. Shorts and sports bras might work for some people, but I quickly found out that I prefer spandex and shirts. 

After class I made myself a big salad to curb my hunger until Pat came home (incidentally, dinner ended up being a second round of salads). I find that after class I'm craving fresh fruits and veggies more than anything else.

Very green and orange salad!

My salad was a bed of organic baby spinach, some organic baby carrots, avocado, and a segmented orange. After segmenting the orange, I squeezed the "skeleton" (not sure what the stuff that's left over after the pieces have been cut out is called) to have fresh orange juice as my dressing, then dusted it with some ground pepper and sea salt. Delicious!

I didn't do another Bikram class on Saturday because I had my last "long" run before the half marathon next Saturday. It wasn't really very long, I just ran 8 miles because I'm tapering down this week. I wasn't terribly happy with how the run went. The first couple miles felt good, but then I slowed down and my legs felt tight and heavy as lead. I'm thinking that this is because I did three days in a row of Bikram and my body isn't used to the extreme stretching or poses. I finished my 8 miles with an average pace of 9:00 minute miles. Not the pace I'm hoping for at the race next weekend, so we'll see how this week goes. I'm going to do a couple short runs (2-4 miles each) throughout the week and rest on Friday.

The rest of Saturday was spent running a bunch of errands with Pat. I brought my car to the shop to have some last minute check ups done before my road trip to Charlottesville on Wednesday. We bought a new GPS, since Pat's was stolen. I borrowed a couple audio books from the library to listen to on my trip. We did all of the grocery shopping, went out for ice cream cones, and even fit in a couple episodes of Mad Men. On Saturday night we met up with some friends to go bowling. I hadn't been bowling in forever - it was a lot of fun!

On Sunday morning I went to my fourth Bikram class. The alarm went off at 6:45 and I surprised myself by easily rolling out of bed and heading out the door. Class went from 7:30-9:00 and was the best yet. I was wearing the right clothes, had a big bottle of ice water, and enjoyed a pomegranate popsicle on the way home.

The Bikram studio in Nashua has a freezer full of many different flavors of Edy's Fruit Bars which is such a great way to end class. When I got home I made myself some breakfast:

Egg whites with spinach on whole wheat toast (with some melted light Swiss cheese on half), drizzled with Sriracha hot sauce, and a side of cantaloupe.

I've heard from some friends and some blog friends that they're afraid to try Bikram. I was really nervous about going and waited until I had a friend to go with because I was convinced that I'd find a way to embarrass myself the first class. I've only been four times at this point, so I'm still quite a beginner, but I urge anyone who's interested to give it a try (even if you don't have a friend to go with you!). All of the instructors have been really welcoming and put absolutely no pressure on you to do anything aside sit there and breath. I thought I'd be too hot, class was too long, and I'd look stupid next to everyone else. You actually get used to the heat (once you've found the clothes that work for you), class goes by pretty quickly, and you'll see that there are people of every level in the room with you, so it isn't at all intimidating.  I'm so glad I finally went!

Bikram? 

Speaking of lots of baking...I made about 175 cookies, 25 cupcakes, and platters of cheese, crackers and grapes for the get together on Sunday night. I didn't remember to take any pictures of the cookies, aside from this delicious picture of one of the doughs:

Cookie dough with butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips

I made two types of cookies (although basically the same idea): chocolate chip and butterscotch/white chocolate chip. I used the Chewy Chocolate Chip recipe from a few months ago - I wanted to try a new recipe but Pat insisted that I make these (they're his favorite).

I cheated for the cupcakes. Rather than baking from scratch I tried Paula Deen's mix for white cake. I was surprised that it didn't call for a few sticks of butter, and even more surprised when I saw that just 2 tablespoons of oil was needed and she suggested egg whites instead of full eggs. For the frosting I used a can of store-bought vanilla, and jazzed it up with some color and added sugar to make my favorite CRUNCHY SUGAR frosting! Yum! All you need is:

Sugar In The Raw, Frosting, Food Coloring

I learned this from my friend Krissy. All you do is add Sugar In The Raw to frosting and it creates a crunchy, sugary frosting that makes ordinary cupcakes a lot more fun.

This looked more violet than blue in person. Just cover your cupcakes in frosting, and if you want, add some sprinkles on top.

These are delicious!

I wish I'd taken pictures of the full display of cupcakes and cookies, but it was barely set up before dozens of hands began reaching in for the goods.

Its very cold and rainy outside now, and I'm trying to convince myself to get outside for a 4 mile run. Doesn't sound too tempting at all.

What are your favorite kind of cupcakes?

My favorites are carrot cake, coconut, and white cake with crunchy sugar frosting!

Let the Training Begin!

So yesterday I told you about my goals for the Bad to the Bone Charlottesville Half Marathon and found a new training plan to follow. After work I went straight to the gym (after sitting in traffic for two hours when I seriously thought I might pee my pants skirt from the 16 cups of water I'd drank) and got started. And no, I didn't pee my skirt. I made it to the gym just in the nick of time, thank you.

Tuesday Night Training

Easy Run (on treadmill at 1% incline)

2 miles at 9:13 pace (6.5 mph)

Strength Training

Back and Biceps

Post Work-Out Snack

Whole wheat toast with hard-boiled egg whites and avocado slices, sprinkled with fresh ground pepper.

Comments

-Though it was an "easy run" it was hard for me to stay at the 9:13 pace for 2 miles. Usually when I run on the treadmill I'll start at an easy pace and increase the speed every 2 minutes/quarter mile. It was tough to resist the urge to go faster.

-This snack was so good - the whole wheat toast provided carbs, the egg whites gave me protein (approximately 3.5 grams of protein per egg white) and the avocado is creamy deliciousness! Add avocado to anything and it will be great!

Wednesday Morning Training

Tempo Run (on treadmill at 1% incline)

1 mile warm-up (increasing from 5.5 - 6.5 mph)

4 miles at 7:53 pace (7.6 mph)

1 mile cool-down (decreasing from 6.5 - 5.5 mph)

Strength Training

Shoulders and Legs

Post Work-Out Snack

Protein Smoothie

 

Smoothie Ingredients: 1 cup skim milk, 3/4 frozen banana, handful organic frozen strawberries, large handful (about 1 cup) organic baby spinach, and 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder.

Smoothie Stats:

Calories: 290

Fat: 2 grams

Protein: 28 grams

Vitamin A: over 40% daily requirement

Vitamin C: 75% daily requirement

Calcium: over 50% daily requirement

Vitamin D: 25% daily requirement

Comments

-I was a little bit nervous going into this tempo run - it may not seem fast to a lot of you, but I'd never maintained a 7:53 pace on the treadmill for 4 miles and I wasn't sure I could do it. Last night I went to bed at 10:15 and got up this morning at 6:00 (which is really sleeping in for me!) so I felt refreshed and full of energy when I got up. I went to the gym and hit the treadmill - the first mile at the 7:53 pace was a little tough, but I found that it got better as I went. I'm so happy that I believed in myself enough to try - a couple months ago I think I would have just assumed I couldn't do it and would have ran it at a slower pace. I do kind of think that its cheating to do this on the treadmill because maintaining this pace outside on your own is harder - I'm hoping that most of my training will be able to move outside next week once its lighter later in the day and hopefully warmer, too!

-This smoothie was so good! It really filled me up and made me feel great after my hard workout. And for those of you who are skeptical about the spinach - you seriously can't taste it! This tasted like a vanilla-strawberry-banana shake!

Food Matters

Last night after work I went to the gym to bike for 45 minutes. The Hyannis Half Marathon is this Sunday, so I'm officially tapering now (rested Monday and Tuesday, 5 mile run on Wednesday, 45 minute bike ride on Thursday, and either an easy jog or walk today). I don't know why but I still have a lot of soreness in my legs and I have barely done anything this week!

For dinner I tried something new - fish tacos. I decided to make them because I realized that I had all of the ingredients, and it would be quick and healthful. I used another Joseph's tortilla and stuffed it with baby spinach, avocado, trout (simmered for a few minutes in water in a skillet over medium heat) and spicy salsa. 

On the side I had an orange and some lentils. Trader Joe's carries cooked lentils that are so delicious - I like them hot and cold, either on their own or thrown into a salad.

How beautiful is that?! Since we're all friends here, I need to be honest with you. I realized that I'm not a fan of fish tacos. I'm not sure why, because I like all of the ingredients separately, but it just wasn't very appealing to me.  I gave it a chance and had a few bites, but it just wasn't working out, so I disassembled my wrap and ate the fish and salsa on its own and had a spinach and avocado wrap (which was very good).

At the recommendation of Callie, I borrowed the movie Food Matters from the library.

Its a really interesting documentary that discusses the great impact food has on us and our well-being (you are what you eat) and talks about a variety of different studies about the effects of vitamin supplements on general health and on treating disease. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in eating clean and improving their health (without the use of prescription medications). Lately I've been overwhelmed by the amount of prescribed drugs that "heal" all of these conditions (Food Matters refers to it as "a pill for every ill") and I do believe that eating right, exercising and getting the right supplements will strengthen your immune system and give you the ability to fight off sickness without a trip to the pharmacy.

Some interesting points of discussion from the movie:

• The ideal diet consists of mostly plant-based, organic, and raw foods.
• Heating food causes it to act as a toxin in our body; every meal we eat should be at least 51% raw.
• To flush toxins out of your body you should drink 1-2 liters of water first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything else.
• High levels of Niacin have been proven to treat depression.
• High levels of Vitamin C (given through IV) have been shown to arrest and reverse cancers and other diseases.
• Less than 1% of medical doctors have training in nutrition, and 26% of patients leave hospitals more malnourished then when they were admitted.

This really got me thinking and makes me want to learn more about the research behind their claims. For more information about this movie and related health resources, visit their website.