Pecan Crusted Chicken....YUM!

For some reason I was craving Pecan Crusted Chicken. I have never had Pecan Crusted Chicken before, only Pecan Crusted Fish. The hankering was literally killing me!

Fortunately I had A)Chicken B)Pecans C)Panko Breadcrumbs and D) Eggs. DING DING DING! Winner winner CHICKEN dinner!

I followed one of Emeril's recipes found HERE. (I didn't do the mustard dipping sauce)

I was literally drooling as I was saute`ing the chicken.


And then got ready to clean this plate


Aaaaahhhhhhh, now that was GOOD!

REALLY good recipe, squeaky wheel and a swim

I combined two recipes together into a burrito that tastes just oh-so good! The first part is that spicy quinoa recipe mixed with a sweet potato veggie medley. Somehow quinoa and sweet potato go perfectly together and it mellows out the spice.

So make these two recipes first:

Vegetarian Grain and Bean Mix
(im going to chop this recipe in half next time I make it, it makes a LOT)
Grain Mix:
1/2 c Israeli couscous
1/4 c Orzo (green or red)
1/2 c Quinoa

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Bean Mix:
1 can black beans
1 4oz can chopped green chili

Use a 2:1 ratio for the liquid:grains. 2.5 cups in this case Add water (or vegetable stock for more flavor), spice mix, and grains to a pot and cook till all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Add the beans and green chili and stir. Viola!!!

Sweet potato veggie medley:
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1" cubes
1 small red bell pepper, diced large
1 small red bell pepper, diced large
1 med zuccini, diced large
1 small onion, sliced
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried thyme powder
salt and pepper

combine veggies in a bowl and season with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. bake @ 375 for 45 mins or until sweet potato is soft

to combine the entire recipe together, i take 1/3 cup of quina mix and 1/3 cup of veggies, place in a large burrito shell, then cover with 1 oz shredded cheddar and 2 Tbsp of salsa. Wrap and nuke for 20 seconds. So yummy and it filled me for practically 5 hours.

Then for today's workouts:
Meant to do 60+ mins on the trainer this morning, but after the first 10 I couldn't take the squeaking of the wheel. I had on noise canceling headphones and I could still hear the squeak. I apologize to my neighbors if I woke you!

Turns out the rear tire's tread was completely flat and worn out, resulting in a near 90 degree ridge on either side of the tire. So I swapped out the front and rear tires and problem solved. *Note to self* replace front tire before going outside. After the time spent changing tires, I was able to get in another 20 mins before I was out of time.

Then I did a lunch time swim. No speed, just volume. Nothing too special.
1000 WU
3 x 500
50 CD
2550 total.

I was actually sore before the swim due to supporting myself while using the foam roller this past weekend. Who knew that its a pain machine AND an upper body workout all in one! ;)p

a running start to the new year, my cockpit setup, and do you like spicy?

I hit the ground running (literally) this year by putting in a short 3 miler to finish in 27 mins on the dot. It was 33 degrees outside....that temp actually feels warm now!

While watching hours of Ironman World Championships on the Universal Sports channel I got motivated to install my Speedfil hydration system onto the P2:

I tested it out on the trainer and I don't have to move my head to drink, only my left arm and hand. The tube clips in easily between my PowerTap computer and the aero bars. In my opinion, this beats Profile Design's aero drink and tube mounted and rear mounted water bottles. With my XLAB bento box, I think my setup is complete and will keep me in the aero position for the entire bike portion of a race. If anything, I will add a Gu flask mount.

Finally, here is a recipe a guy from work gave me. It sure is filling, and its SPICY!

Vegetarian Grain and Bean Mix

Grain Mix:
1/2 c Israeli couscous
1/4 c Orzo (green or red)
1/2 c Quinoa

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Bean Mix:
1 can black beans
1 4oz can chopped green chili

Use a 2:1 ratio for the liquid:grains. 2.5 cups in this case Add water (or vegetable stock for more flavor), spice mix, and grains to a pot and cook till all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Add the beans and green chili and stir. Viola!!!

I'm thinking of adding some salsa, shredded cheddar and sauteed bell peppers and onion and sticking it all inside a tortilla. Yum!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Gu!!!

I feel like a mad scientist right now. I have discovered the recipe to peanut butter chocolate Gu!

....not that it was really all that hard to figure out ;)

The recipe is really simple:
1 Gu packet
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp water

And the good thing is that it all mixes together, consistently (ala water addition). I was a little worried since Gu will NOT freeze solid that it is made up of a bunch of unnatural non-freezing type stuff. Trust me, I tried to see if I could make a chocolate Gu-pop. FAIL!

Here was my process:

Add Gu

Add peanut butter a tsp @ a time. Came out to 3 tsp = 1 Tbsp

Mixed: came out REALLY thick due to peanut butter addition

Added 1/4 tsp of water to bring it back to original Gu consistency (you can add more for desired thickness). I may add more to make it more liquidy for Gu flask.

Taste tested and APPROVED! :)D

So it tasted great! Nutrition wise, this will add 95 more calories, 3g of protein, 8.5g of fat and even more wonderful flavor. I'll be using this in a Gu flask.

This reminds me of my homemade uncrustable's PB&J method.

easy stir fried rice

My mom gave me this recipe and its really quick and easy to make. It lasts me a few days and provides some ample energy and a ton of flavor.

This is how I prepare it:

1 cup basmati rice
1 tbsp butter
2 cups water
4 sprigs of raw asparagus, minced
5 baby carrots, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sprigs of green onion/scallion, minced
olive oil
sesame oil
soy sauce

- boil the 2 cups of water with the butter and once boiling, add 1 cup basmati rice. cook till done.
- in a sautee pan, heat enough olive oil to sautee the minced asparagus and carrots. cook for about 5 mins
- then add the minced garlic and green onion/scallions, cook for 1 - 2 mins
- add a swirl of sesame oil to lubricate the pan so that the rice does not stick
- add the rice and mix with all ingredients in pan. add a bit more sesame oil if it sticks too much. a little sticking is OK.
- finally add a few splashes of soy sauce. add enough for desired taste

if you are quick, you can make this in 20 mins. you could even fry up an egg, chop it and mix it in @ the end. You could also add some fresh minced ginger in with the garlic and green onion/scallion.

I eat the rice with gingered chicken and the rest of the asparagus, baked. I'd say its fairly healthy? Regardless, it sure is TASTY!
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And on the UNHEALTHY, but yet tasty front, I brewed up another 5 gallons of beer. Its a belgian blonde:

It will be ready to drink in 6 weeks!

hommus!

Finally my taste buds are accepting hommus! I have been really enjoying Cedar's Vegetable Hommus. I dip baby carrots into it. A really filling snack for me is about 24 baby carrots and 4 tablespoons of the hommus. Only comes out to be 200 measly calories!

Also, that tabbouleh knockoff that I made last nite is REALLY filling as well. I had some more for lunch today and I couldn't finish off my bowl.

I knocked off 5 more easy miles this morning. Held a super slow 9:36 average and just cruised. Felt good and I totally could have kept going for another 5. I am liking this easy running thing :)

yet another 18 miler, and a yummy greek-ish dinner

I hit up the same old same old 18 miler @ lunch. A bit colder today @ 53 degrees, but sunny and not a cloud in the sky = PERFECT RIDING WEATHER!

And I went a bit more adventurous for dinner tonight. I made a shrimp and feta tabbouleh knockoff. Instead of using bulger I used couscous instead, cuz you can cook it in about 5 mins. I boiled the shrimp. Here is the recipe. Warning: it has an explosion of flavor! (and its healthy :) )

5 mile lunch time run and yummy sandwich

Another gorgeous day in fall paradise. Fall is really making up for lost time. I did 5 miles @ lunch today (my longest run since Timberman, I believe) and finished up that gigantic .5 mile hill. Been awhile since I have gone up that thing in running shoes. A good run. I hurt @ the beginning but the legs opened up around mile 3.

But I made a yummy sandwich for lunch today:
Grilled chicken and roasted red pepper on a kaiser roll with balsamic vinegar and mixed spring greens, with provolone cheese

So you grill the chicken with salt and pepper. I have stove top grill pan that makes those nice grill marks.

Roast the red pepper in the oven under the broiler. Once out of the oven, toss the pepper into a container where it can steam. This allows the skin to come right off. Slice into thin strips.

Sprinkle an appropriate amount of balsamic vinegar on one side of the roll, or mix it in with the mixed spring greens.

Assemble and enjoy! If you are making it for immediate eating, you can melt the cheese on the chicken.

Homemade Uncrustables

So my Pampered Chef Cut N Seal finally arrived today. I didn't waste any time and bought bread on the way home from work.

After some experimentation I figured out a workable recipe that also matched EXACTLY the caloric amount of the store bought brand: 210 calories. It came out to be:

2 slices of white Wonder Bread (28 grams per slice, but you end up with 13 grams per slice after its cut)
1 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp Jelly

I found that the unmixed PB & J makes it hard to assemble (i.e. the peanut butter slides off of the jelly, etc)

So I mixed it into a paste, which makes it a much more "workable" material.

Plopped the resulting 2 Tbsp's of material into the very center of the bread

Sandwiched it (don't spread the material out when you sandwich it)

Press down REALLY hard, and turn the lever

When you pull off the Cut N Seal, it should look like this:

And voila!

The first time I had a successful sandwich (below on the right), the top wasn't packed down and it was "loose" which I fear would break apart easily on a ride. It should look like on the left:

So I cut out a piece of carboard to go inside the Cut N Seal to add as some extra "packing".

Empy interior of Cut N Seal

Carboard inside Cut N Seal

4 sucessfull attempts, one mishap. The added cardboard worked perfectly!

Leftovers!

Thinking about making bread pudding with the leftover crusts. I used some Pepperidge Farms white bread as well....it worked, but I wish the bread was a bit bigger. Otherwise, as long as the slice of bread is larger than 3.5" squared, you can use a whole wheat or whatever you want. Im going with white bread cuz it digests easier for me while out riding, which is the purpose of these things.

I plopped each into its own ziplock bag and stuck em in the freezer. I'll find out tomorrow how well they froze.

We taste tested one, and honestly its the same taste and texture as the store bought brand.

Mission accomplished!!!

yummy (and cold) breakfast dessert

Got out for a slow and easy 3 miler this morning. Good run. But what was waiting for me @ home was a simple yet tasty (and cold!) breakfast dessert.

Last night I took a spotted banana, cut it up into coins, and froze em in a ziplock bag. I dont really like the taste of a banana when the skin becomes spotted, but freezing one @ that state changes the taste to simply yummy!

Plus, a frozen banana lasts for quite a while.

Caution: might cause brain freeze!

my favorite post workout meal

I eat one of these about 3-5x per week after a hard workout. I never get burned out on em. It has a pretty good ratio of carbs/fat/protein and it tastes YUMMY! its around 500 calories for the burrito.

Jon's Breakfast Burrito

3 eggs
1 large flour tortilla
1 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp salsa
Glass of OJ.

- scramble the eggs with fresh ground pepper.....that is, beat the ever living $h!t out of the eggs till they are the consistency of water, helps cook em perfectly.
- nuke the tortilla for 20 seconds to soften it (helps you fold it without it cracking)
- add cooked eggs to middle of tortilla and cover with shredded cheese and salsa
- wrap by folding in thirds (like a letter), then finish ends off like wrapping a present. There should be no openings.
- nuke for another 20 seconds to melt everything together
- enjoy!