Soup and Sushi on a Hot Day

I started this blog post trying to write this romantic story about my trip to an Asian market here in Cleveland, and how I spent over an hour walking around, studying exotic jars, cans, packages, etc... While that story is true, this dinner was actually inspired by something far less ethereal.

My husband's birthday was recently (He writes the Seen Getting Lean posts), and we tried to go out to dinner. Usually we've been doing a good job of picking restaurants that have decent food, and making good choices about what to eat. If it's a "cheat meal", we make darned sure it's worth it.

Well, through lack of planning, a few little crises at home, and letting ourselves get way too hungry, we ended up eating just flat out really badly. Fried shrimp, french fries, foods in cream sauces, foods with butter... I haven't consciously had cream or butter in almost four months, too. It wasn't even especially good food, we just crashed.

That night, and well into the next day, I felt terrible. Sluggish, crabby, tired, hungover. That dinner was an in-my-face reminder of how I felt a lot of the time when I ate that way.

That's the backstory. Bad meal. Felt like crap. Moved on to this....

I made some quick stock with dried mushrooms and sauteed carrots, onions, garlic, and bok choy. The soup is simply that stock, a few noodles, more bok choy, carrots, and diced tofu. Oh and a bit of white miso added at the end. I heard if you boil it, you lose the nutritional benefits of miso, and this meal was all about trying to be healthy!

The sushi may not be the fanciest around, but it was definitely fresh and good. Grilled salmon, a little vegan mayo with some Sriracha sauce, and a few veggies.

Cheaper, fresher, and definitely more nutritious than the meal that inspired it. I appreciate that we fell a little off the wagon once, and saw that for what it was - one meal. One reminder that eating green is fun, AND makes me feel good!

Seen Getting Lean: Increasing Running Time

Today's Seen Getting Lean question comes to us from Lisa. She asks: "How do I relax my hamstrings and strengthen my hip flexors to get a better run time?"

Tom says:

Let's start with the hip flexors. Most multi-joint lower body exercises (eg. squats and lunges) will work the hip flexors, as long as you get deep enough into the exercise. Deep enough means getting the top of the thigh parallel to the floor.

If you want exercises that specifically target the hip flexor muscles, there are several, although they are typically thought of as ab exercises.

Any leg raise variation, jack knives on a swiss ball, or roman chair sit ups involve the hip flexors immensely. Add resistance to increase strength.

As far as the hamstrings are concerned, any static stretch involving the hamstrings, or yoga will help in this area. However, be careful of static stretching right before a run. It's never a good idea to relax a muscle prior to asking it to perform repeated contractions. Mobility work before exercise is a much better way to go.

Try some dynamic stretching - that means the hip flexors as well as the hamstrings. The hip flexors can inhibit hamstring movement. Try this experiment to see what I mean:

Attempt to touch your toes while standing without bending your knees, and mark where your fingers land. Now, stretch your hip flexors and try to touch your toes while standing again. You will probably get another couple of inches closer to your feet.

I hope this helps.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Rhubarb Cake

I'll confess - I never thought of eating rhubarb without a ton of sugar, and without strawberries. Oh, and while I'm fessing up, I've never tasted raw rhubarb. But, our CSA package included beautiful fresh rhubarb, and I wanted something sweet, so I spent some quality time searching recipes and came up with this sweet, simple, moist cake that would work any time - as a sub for coffee cake at breakfast, as dessert, as a treat when you just want a treat!

This is very close to the original recipe which is here, on C'est La Vegan. All I did was make a few tweaks based on what I had on hand, and personal taste.

This cake stayed nice and moist uncovered for a couple of days. Beyond that, I can't say because it was all gone by then. Yes, it is THAT good! Sweet, tart, cakey goodness! Here is the recipe with my changes:

Rhubarb Cake

1 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce/canola oil (this means, take a half-cup measuring cup and fill it with mostly applesauce and a little canola oil)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
2 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced rhubarb (about 6 stalks, depending on their size)

For topping

Some brown sugar (or use whatever sugar you have)
a little Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the vinegar into the soy yogurt and set aside (this will turn into something like sour cream).  Measure the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Cream together the applesauce/oil and sugar.  It's not going to look like when you cream butter and sugar, just make sure it mixes up really well.  Mix the egg replacer with the warm water, and add this along with the vanilla extract to the creamed mixture.  Mix well, scraping down the sides as needed.  

Add in the soy yogurt mixture.

Add the flour mixture, and mix just until combined.  If you’re using an electric or stand mixer, fold the rhubarb in by hand.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 11-inch pan. Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on top.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the pan around, and bake for 20 more minutes.  Bake til a cake tester comes out clean. 

Cool before you cut, if you can wait!

Seen Getting Lean: Common Mistakes Part 3 - Cardio Intensity

Today, on Seen Getting Lean! We've been getting answers to the question "What are the common mistakes people make when they are getting started working out?" So far we learned that we need to incorporate strength training, and we learned how to figure out the right weight to use. We wrap up this question today talking about cardio. Be warned, there is a bit of math involved, but you can do it! Here we go...

Part 3 - Performing cardio at too low an intensity.

You need intensity to get any benefit out of cardio exercise. If you can read, text, or chat while doing cardio, you are wasting your time. Walking your dog is not cardio. Yes, you're burning calories. You're also burning calories when you eat, sleep, watch tv, or shower. Still not doing cardio. You need to be at 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate.

Ok! What is my max heart rate? Ideally, 220 beats per minute minus your age. However, as different people of the same age have different fitness levels, we need a more individualized number.

Enter the Karvonen Method of finding your target heart rate range. Start with 220 minus your age. From this number, subtract your resting heart rate. Then, multiply by 50% or 85%. Finally, add your resting heart rate back in.

As an example, let's say "Joe" is 45 years old and has a resting heart rate (rhr) of 65 bpm. The formula would look like this:

220 - 45 = 175
175 - 65 (rhr)  = 110
110 x .5 (50%) = 55
55 + 65 (rhr) = 120

110 x .85 (85%) = 93.5
93.5 + 65 (rhr) = 158.5 (round up to 159)

So Joe's heart rate range is 120 to 159 bpm. This is where his heart rate should be while he is doing his cardio exercise.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Savory Rice Griddle Cakes with Basil and Pistachios

Oh my, I need a shorter name for this recipe! But I'm so psyched about it, I'm more into eating it and telling you about it than I am coming up with a snappy name - for now. I do love a clever name.

I woke up this morning craving waffles, big time. But then, as I started looking at what I had on hand, I veered way off the waffle course. Happily off course though, because these are delicious.

The main part of this dish is rice. I had a pot of leftover cooked rice. It's a short grained brown rice, so it's fairly sticky to start with. When I originally cooked it, I lightly seasoned it with a little garlic powder and turmeric. This recipe comes together fast, too. Bonus on a work day.

I can already think of variations I want to try.

• No nuts
• Different nuts, seeds - walnuts, pumpkin seeds
• Different herbs, spices - sage, ginger
• No oil

I ate these for breakfast, but I can see them working at any meal.

Here's my initial recipe for these savory, warm, fresh, and a little crunchy griddle cakes!

1 1/2 cups cooked Rice (I suspect short grained sticky rice is best)
1 TB Nutritional Yeast
1 TB chopped fresh Basil
2 TBS chopped roasted salted Pistachios
Egg Replacement - 2 eggs worth (I think a one egg portion would work)
1 tsp. Canola oil

Heat up a skillet (cast iron, if you have it), oil very lightly.

Mix all the ingredients together. Drop a mixing spoon full of rice onto the hot griddle, flatten it a little with a spatula or fork. You can also shape into patties of about 2 TBS of rice each. They would look less freeform.

Patience. Let these get brown and crispy on one side before you flip them. I am not patient and flipped these too often. It got messy and probably took longer then it needed to.

If you try this and come up with any tweaks that you like, let me know. I'd love to hear about them!

Simple Watermelon and Herbs

When I was a little girl and we had watermelon, my mom would put me in my blue flowered bathing suit, sit me in a kiddie pool in the back yard, and let me make as big a mess as I felt like. I'd flick the hard black seeds at the ants that would want to share, juice would get everywhere. My hands, arms, feet, legs, all of me would get sticky in the hot Summer sun. No swallowing the seeds though, I did NOT want a watermelon growing inside my tummy. Watermelon, seriously, everywhere! And it all ended with mom "making" me run through the hose to wash off.

My love of simple, as nature intended, watermelon carries on to this day. Tonight, we are enjoying easy chunks of cool watermelon, sprinkled with fresh mint and cilantro from the garden, and finished off with a few squeezes of lime and just a shake or two of salt flakes. That's it. Just let the melon be the melon.

Seen Getting Lean: Common Mistakes Part 2

Last week, Tom (my NSCA certified Personal Trainer husband) started answering the question "What common mistakes do people make when starting an exercise program?" by telling us how important it is to include strength training. This week, he digs more into the question by talking about how much weight to use. So now.... here's Tom!

Part 2 - Choosing an improper amount of weight to do an exercise.

Most people go too light (although too heavy is equally as bad). You have to fatigue the muscle in order to get any benefit. You also want good form. So, you need a weight that will allow you to perform within a certain repetition range. Fatigue is when your form breaks down or you simply can't do any more reps.

An example would be if my goal in fitness was weight loss and and toning. I want to fatigue within 15-20 reps (this would be endurance). If I pick up three pound dumbbells and do 15 bicep curls but could perform 10 more with good form, I haven't challenged my muscles. I have wasted my time. I would be much better off grabbing 15 or 20 pound dumbbells and doing the same exercise to fatigue.

Let's say with those heavier dumbbells, I manage 17 or 18 reps before I just can't do any more. That is the proper weight for that exercise and goal.

Hopefully that clears up the question about how much weight to use. Next week, Part 3: Cardio Intensity.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Puffy Pancakes, Pretty Juice

I had a lot to do Saturday - clean the house, hike, finish up a new song I've been working on, and later, shake my groove thing at a 60's Soul night. That kind of agenda called for a pumped up breakfast!

Late last year, I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. While I never planned on doing a juice fast, it did inspire me to buy a juicer. Like a lot of people, I used it a lot at first.  I made a pact with myself and used it every single day for over a month. Then, I quit. Now though, I'm at a "happy medium". When the mood strikes me, I make delicious juice creations for Tom and myself.

Today's creation included apple, carrot, red pepper, a beautiful lime, and mango. After it was all mixed together, I stirred in some fresh grated ginger and sort of muddled in some fresh mint from the garden. I usually go heavier on the vegetables than fruit, but I was all about energy for the day!

When I don't make some kind of crazy hash for weekend breakfasts, I'm usually giving a new vegan pancake recipe a whirl. Some of them have been flat out duds ("flat as a pancake"? I get it now!), some have been very good, but this one? This one is by far my favorite. It's based on the Puffy Pillow Pancake recipe on The Post Punk Kitchen, but I made a couple of tweaks. Here's a link to the original: Puffy Pillow Pancakes 

Here is the recipe with my tweaks:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon ground flax meal
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (because I didn't have canola)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarse chopped walnuts (optional but awesome)


Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Measure the milk into a small bowl. Add vinegar and ground flax seeds, and use a fork to vigorously mix the ingredients until foamy. (Honestly, I didn't read the directions all the way through and put all the wet ingredients together for this step. It all came out fine.)

Pour the liquid mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Add the water, canola oil and vanilla and mix until a thick, lumpy batter forms. Like any pancake batter, don't over mix!

Chemistry time! Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. A chemical reaction will happen thanks to the vinegar that will make the batter bubbly and fluffy. Don't rush! Preheat your pan while you wait.

Lightly coat the pan in oil. Do not use too much, and don't cook too many at one time, they need room to breathe. Add about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. If you want to use walnuts, sprinkle a few on top of the raw cake at this time. Cook for about 4 minutes, until they puff up. Flip the pancakes, adding a new coat of oil to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Pancake should end up about half an inch to an inch thick, and golden brown.