Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Balsamic Cherry Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (6 oz each)
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup dry fruity red wine (such as pinot noir)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp cherry jam
• 1/2 lb fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 2 tbsp chopped, lightly toasted pistachios

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper and place, top-side down, in pan.

2. Sear chicken without moving in pan until deeply browned and cooked almost halfway through, 10 minutes. Flip chicken and transfer to oven; bake until just cooked through, an additional 10 minutes.

3. Remove chicken from the oven and transfer to a plate, draining all but 1 tablespoon of the pan drippings. Add shallots, remaining salt and pepper, and cardamom to pan and cook on the stove over medium heat, stirring, until shallots are translucent, about 3 minutes.

4. Add wine, stock, vinegar, and jam; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

5. Stir cherries into sauce and return chicken to pan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. To serve, spoon equal amounts of sauce over each piece of chicken and sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon pistachios.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS. Per serving: 410 cal, 13 g fat (2.5g sat), 32g carbs, 530 mg sodium, 2 g fiber, 38 g protein

Link to the original recipe -->  http://recipes.rodale.com/Recipe/pan-seared-chicken-thighs-with-balsamic-cherry-sauce.aspx

My Garden

Ever since purchasing a house last June (2010) I knew I was going to start a garden.  I remember growing up and always helping my mawmaw sow, water, weed, and harvest.  Of course, harvesting was my favorite part because that always meant a fresh meal.  My favorites included cucumbers soaked in vinegar and salt and pepper, fresh boiled mustard or turnip greens, pan fried eggplant or squash, and the list goes on.  So after getting an itch in my green thumb I immediately began researching; this lead me to pick up the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.

Square Foot Gardening piqued my interest because it touted simple, organized, and clean lines.  So taking a few suggestions from the book and tweeking them to meet my hearts desire, I began with this...

I constructed my square foot garden out of 2"x10" because I wanted a slightly deeper bed than recommended and also I wanted a beefier construction.  Where I did not stray was on the "Mel's Mix" despite how difficult it was to find vermiculite (which wasn't cheep and came in small 1 cubic foot bags).

Since my plan was to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, I constructed a trellis as the book dictated and it worked out well, well, almost...

I initially used the recommended trellis netting.  I had to replace the netting two times because it became brittle and could be wiped away just like you would a spider's nest.  So I made a slight adjustment and used some green temporary fencing, as such...

This had definitely worked much better than the netting.  I attached it to the frame using zip ties.  Easy peasy!

I still struggle with squirrels but I've decided against throwing the bird netting back over.  It was a pain in the rear to mow around and removing it and re-anchoring the netting once a week stinks.  So I've tried deterring the pests with a garden owl, which apparently does not work.  But so far I am having okay luck and have a few peppers starting to grow, finally.

A lot of the vegetables I planted at the beginning of summer never produced, but I have yet to pull them up and it appears that they might finally do something now that the heat has subsided.  Eggplant is looking promising, the carrots (what's left of them after the squirrels have uprooted most) are taking off, and finally the cauliflower has come to life.

Hopefully in another month or two I will get to talk about picking the first vegetables out of my garden! 

Replenishing the Supplements and Giving Some New Ones a Try

I've been hearing good things about Jack3d, a pre-workout powder, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I popped in to a GNC to see if they carried the stuff and lo and behold....and I actually made it in on Gold Card week!

Apparently this stuff is one of their best sellers so it's kept under lock-and-key with only one of each flavor on display and the rest hidden behind the counter.  Interesting.  Anyway, while there I decided to pick up some more protein powder since I threw away a bunch of out-of-date stuff.

I'm going with a new brand of protein powder, AP Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60.  I was talked into this one because I was looking for a BCAA supplement and all that was offered came in powder form.  Since there's only so many shakes I can mentally handle in one day, I decided to pick up a protein powder containing a full spectrum BCAA formulation.  The second reason I chose this particular powder was because they didn't carry the brand I was previously using, SEI MAX Protein, which I believe also touted a generous BCAA profile.  And thirdly, another "old" powder that I was using, Syntha-6, also contained BCAAs but in unknown quantities.  Another benefit of the AMP product being touted is the lack of fillers and unnecessary additives that are found in some of the other products.

I'm certain I won't be able to tell a difference between any of these three different protein powders since it's been over 4 years since I've been serious about working out.  Most of my gains, or in this case losses, will be contributed primarily to the fact that I'm going to be consistent in hitting the weights.

Now, all I need to do is execute my plan of going to the gym regularly and not missing a workout, which will only be two a week since I cannot workout legs until the foreseeable future......and I must avoid the calling of the pool on a weight day.

Sometimes Things Just Click

I typically don't have a game plan when I go for a swim.  I usually shoot for 20 laps (2 lengths of the pool per lap), or close to since I usually lose count.  Today was just another day, a lunch time swim.  But it turned out to be a little bit more...


I don't know what clicked but it seemed like I just all of a sudden learned how to glide through the water after each stroke, found my "bouy", and sunk into a nice smoothe rhythm.  I was feeling the water well with my hand/arm and getting really good propulsion every stroke that it was effortless to maintain momentum and avoid sinking the hips and legs.  I guess I was just feeling it today.


As I counted away at the laps I settled on completing the usual 20.  After 20 laps and realizing only 15 minutes had elapsed, I decided to go for 30.  Then I thought "a half-ironman is approximately 33 laps, let me go for 35".  Once I hit 35, I decided "heck, I can do 40, easily".  And so I did.  At the conclusion I was just barely breathing a little more labored but not completely sucking wind which is good because I never really feel spent after a swim.  It felt really good to swim with some minute amount of good technique.  Now let's just hope I can pick right back up where I left off.

Getting Back On the Right Track

So I've always been "motivated" [insert sarcasm] to lose all this weight that I've gained over the past 4 years which is creeping up on 25 pounds.  I've been wanting to lose it and saying that I am going to lose it, but in all honesty, I haven't even tried and still eat fairly terribly at times.


I came across some advice in the latest edition of USA Triathlon's e-newsletter and I'm thinking about making it my new mantra.  "Think of the foods in your diet as performance enhancing or performance limiting."


About 6 years ago I was in the best shape of my life.  Yes, I worked out like a maniac; if I had 1 hour to spare between school and work I was in the gym.  The endorphins were so great and always present that if I missed one day of working out I would mope around and be slightly depressed and extremely tired, therefore I was even more motivation to continue hitting the weights hard.  But I didn't start making monstrous gains until I cleaned up my diet.  I never knew that after eating clean for so long that I would no longer crave junk food or anything unhealthy, in fact, I would feel miserable (not mentally but physically) after eating just one french fry.


So I've been teetering around with planning out my meals and sticking to good, clean, nutritious foods over the past few months but now I'm finally going to keep myself honest.  I've begun to take all of my supplements regularly (thanks to a handy dandy iPhone APP!! of course): glucosamine (primarily due to my knee injury), a multivitamin (which I'm terrible at taking consistently), and Udo's Oil (3-6-9 EFAs).

Putting Together a Half-Ironman Training Plan

Alright, so I'm too cheap to purchase a customized training plan so I'm reading through my copy of 'The Triathlete's Training Bible' and utilizing it's suggestions for half-ironman training.  So far I've got the skeleton down but haven't decided on how to break down each day's workouts.  I'm going to be ambitious and attempt to hit the high side of the recommended training hours, partly because I usually complete about 1/3 of the recommended training (like running once a week in preparation for a marathon ;P) and also because I really need to lose about 25 pounds and what better way than to do lots of endurance exercising?

The Ironman 70.3 Texas (Galveston) is on April 1st, 2012 therefore this schedule will start the week of October 22, 2011.  Since I'm not exactly certain when the doctor will clear me to take up running again (worst case some time in February) so I'd imagine instead of running I'll substitute those workouts with the elliptical.  This will also give me the advantage of focusing heavily on swimming for the first few months.  Swimming is by far my weakest segment since I let the open water get to me mentally.

If I can accomplish the below hourly recommendation and can survive the swim portion of the race I'll venture on to training for a full ironman.

Ironman 70.3 Texas

PERIOD	WEEK	HOURS	SAT	SUN	MON	TUES	WED	THURS	FRI
Prep	All	12:00	3:00	2:00	2:00	1:30	1:30	1:00	1:00
Base 1	1	14:00	4:00	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:30	1:00	1:00
	2	16:30	4:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:00
	3	18:30	4:30	3:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:00
	4	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45
Base 2	1	14:30	4:00	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:30	1:30	1:00
	2	17:30	4:30	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:00
	3	19:30	4:30	3:30	3:00	3:00	2:30	2:00	1:00
	4	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45
Base 3	1	15:30	4:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:30	1:00
	2	18:30	4:30	3:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:00
	3	20:30	5:00	3:30	3:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	1:00
	4	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45
Build 1	1	17:30	4:30	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:00
	2	17:30	4:30	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:00
	3	17:30	4:30	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:00
	4	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45
Build 2	1	16:30	4:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:00
	2	16:30	4:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:00
	3	16:30	4:00	3:00	2:30	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:00
	4	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45
Peak	1	14:30	4:00	2:30	2:00	2:00	1:30	1:30	1:00
	2	11:30	3:00	2:00	1:30	1:30	1:30	1:00	1:00
Race	All	10:00	2:30	2:00	1:30	1:15	1:00	1:00	0:45

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

Here's a healthy and easy slow cooker recipe that I'm currently in love with.  My boyfriend has made this before but this was the first time for me to make this dish.  It was extremely simple and exactly my kind of cooking.  The most time consuming part to this recipe is dicing the onion, which I did with one of those nifty onion dicer thingy-ma-bobs.


Usually I get tired of having chicken more than a few meals in a row, but I've been eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days now.  Love it!  I make a simple sandwich with this.  Any other ideas to jazz it up but still keep it healthy?


Link to the original recipe source

INGREDIENTS

• 1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
• 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced

PREPARATION

1. Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.
2. Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.
3. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.

NUTRITION

Per serving: 184 calories; 8 g fat ( 2 g sat , 3 g mono ); 68 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 20 g protein; 1 g fiber; 257 mg sodium; 303 mg potassium.