¡Viva España! and ICR fail

Another soccer match, another afternoon at St. Stephen's Green! I am thrilled that my Spanish boys pulled through in the end. Did you see that header that Puyol put in the back of the net? Incredible! He just may be my favorite hairy Spanish soccer player of all time. :) 

I will be so sad if he decides to retire!
[image source]

After my disappointing lunch at the pub yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands today. I ran 5 miles this morning (no SI pain, hooray!), then came home and whipped up my very first Green Monster!

Leafy green goodness in my new Copco To-Go Cup!

I put 1 cup spinach, 1/2 banana, and 3/4 cup soy milk in the blender and let it spin around for a minute. Then I tossed in some ice and let it go to town a little longer. Finally, I stirred in about 1T of chia seeds. I was dubious at first but, as usual, was proved totally wrong. Who knew spinach could be so sweet? I'm a convert!

I then packed a peach and a huge green salad into my bag. Is it weird that I snuck food into a pub? Whatever. While everyone else was clogging their arteries with fried fish and chips (although it did smell delicious...), I was perfectly happy with my fruits and veggies.

After celebrating Spain's victory, the hubs and I headed home and then decided to walk downtown for some iced coffee. That's where the "ICR fail" part of my title comes in. There are two coffee shops downtown, a Starbucks and an independent coffee roaster (see, ICR?). We try to frequent the ICR as often as possible, but I have to admit their coffee is just not all that good. I usually bite my tongue and order something as simple as possible, but today just put me over the edge.

I ordered an iced soy latte. When I got it off the bar, I noticed that there were some grounds floating at the top, but I didn't pay much notice to them. I stuck a straw in the lid and headed out into the beautiful sunlight with the husband. It wasn't until we were 2 blocks away that I finally took my first sip of coffee.

Blech! Horrible! The soy tasted like it had gone bad (is that even possible?) and the espresso tasted burned. I took a look at my cup and there were grounds covering the bottom! It was basically undrinkable. That's it, ICR! I have tried to be a good patron of independent establishments, but you have forced me to Starbucks! I didn't want to go back and be a pain, so I just threw it away and shared Brian's frosted chai (which was delicious).

Brian says this is a problem that I have - I hate inconveniencing people. I would rather just throw my coffee away and vow never to go to that coffee shop again than go back and cause a scene. Maybe this is true, I don't know. I just didn't really want to deal with it today.

What about you guys? Do you send food back if it's not what you expected?
I mean, I have no problem sending something back in a restaurant, but for a $3 cup of coffee... I don't know. It almost feels like more trouble than it's worth. Thoughts?

Kitchen Explosion!

What a day!

We started this morning with an oatmeal pancake for Brian (he cannot stop raving about these) and some yogurt and fruit salad for me. It was a rest day for me, so I rested and read lots of your blogs! So many exciting things going on in the food and fitness world - you all inspire me! The morning went by quickly though, and we raced out of the house to pick up my father-in-law at the airport and headed to Mountain View to watch the Holland/Uruguay match.

I have to say, I didn't really want either team to win. Pair that with a totally packed Irish pub and mediocre food, and I was just feeling kind of meh when I finally made it back home (Don't get me wrong, watching a soccer match in a pub full of cheering, crying, table-banging fans is serious entertainment, I am just more excited about the Spain/Germany match tomorrow).

¡Viva España!
[image source]
 

So, as I usually do when feeling a bit meh, I headed into the kitchen to see what kind of trouble I could get into. Have you ever had one of those days when you are in the kitchen making one thing and then you think, Oh! I can make that other thing! and then that reminds you of another thing and before you know it you have like 15 different recipes going at once? Yeah, that was me this afternoon.

It started innocently enough, with Hawaiian popsicles. Once my molds were full though, I had a little bit of the puree leftover and thought, This would go really well with that mango sorbet recipe, so I started peeling and pureeing mangos. Once the ice cream maker was whirring away, I thought, I guess I should start making dinner!

Whew! Here's a more organized approach to my kitchen madness, with some pictures and recipes thrown in for good measure!

Hawaiian Popscicles
adapted from Catherine McCord

Ingredients
1 can (13.5oz) lite Coconut Milk
2 cups fresh pineapple (or 1 14oz can drained)
1 banana
Shredded coconut
Agave nectar, to taste

Method
1. Pour ingredients into a blender/food processor and puree.
2. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.
3. Imagine you are on a tropical island.

You can get super cute silicone popsicle molds all over the place (like these or these or these or these) but I got my popsicle molds in the $1 bin at Michael's last summer and they work just fine for me.

Run them under warm water for about 30 seconds before you try to extract them. Yum!

Like I said, I had about 3/4 cup of coconut milk/pineapple puree left and I thought, Mango sorbet! So, here ya go:

Mango Sorbet
adapted from Our Best Bites

Ingredients
3-4 mangoes
2T lime juice
1/3 cup agave nectar
More shredded cocount (maybe 1/3 cup? I didn't measure)
leftover Hawaiian Popsicle puree (or not! This is totally delicious with just mango and lime juice or with pineapple chunks)

Method
1. Pour ingredients into a blender/food processor and puree.
2. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze per manufacturer's instructions.
3. Imagine you are still on that tropical island. Can't you feel the warm breeze?

This is seriously my absolute favorite thing to make with my ice cream maker. I have to hide it from my husband. Then, when he finds it, he hides it from me. Keeps the marriage fresh, folks.

As I was concocting these frozen delicacies, it occurred to me that maybe I should get some actual dinner going. When I made Emily's vegan black bean burgers last week, I froze half of the recipe. The patties had been defrosting all day, so I popped them in the oven for about 30 minutes to heat through while I chopped up some sweet potatoes.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries
adapted from Our Best Bites

Ingredients
1lb sweet potatoes, cut into 1/4" matchsticks
2T extra virgin olive oil
1/2t cumin
1/2t oregano
1t salt
1t parsley
1/8t black pepper

Method
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss potatoes, olive oil, and seasoning in a small bowl until potatoes are completely coated.
3. Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer so that pieces are not touching each other. Place pan in oven and cook for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to gently flip fries and return to oven. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until fries are starting to lightly brown and crisp.
4. Remove pan from oven and cool 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

 

I thought these were just OK, but Brian thought they were great. Our oven cooks a bit hot, so I think they were a little overcooked, but the flavors were really nice so I will definitely be doing these again (that pic is from before they went in the oven).

I dirtied pretty much every dish in the kitchen, but Brian was a trooper and cleaned everything up for me! I sometimes feel bad when he does the dishes, but he always reminds me, You cook every night! I might as well help with the dishes! He is very meticulous.

Hahaha! 

Yep, he's a keeper!

Do you and your partner have a cooking/cleaning agreement?

In our house, whoever cooks get out of cleaning duty (this is me about 95% of the time). If we cook together, we both clean together. And about maybe about 50% of the time, I either do a lot of cleaning as I go, or I help clean up anyway (especially if I made a super-huge mess)!

Firecracker Wedding

Hello friends! Hope you had a lovely 4th of July and (if you aren't on summer vacation like me!) hopefully a nice day off today as well!

My spin workout yesterday was a huge success! Recently (while I have been pounding the pavement outdoors, apparently), our apartment complex has completely revamped our workout room, complete with four Star Trac Spinner V-bikes!

I was introduced to spinning during my senior year of college but really fell in love with it when I started graduate school, spinning 3-4 times a week. I would student teach from 8-11 in Sacramento every morning, drive back to Davis for a spin class at noon and then have to be in class by 3. It was awesome. I lost weight, toned up, and learned a lot of self-discipline. When I moved away from Davis, I was most sad to leave my gym and spin instructors behind!

If you have access to stationary bikes (or any gym equipment, really), I recommend checking out the iTrain system. I was a member for awhile in graduate school and have a small collection of their workout tracks. Their iCycle tracks are really excellent, in my opinion, and I don't have to join a gym to get an authentic, instructor-yelling-in-your-ear, spinning workout in! I think I am going to start incorporating these into my training schedule on cross-training days (which I usually translate to DAY OFF!).

After my workout, I enjoyed a massive wrap with some veggies that were languishing away in my fridge:

[whole wheat tortilla, hummus, pesto, mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives]

As well as a few pieces of chocolate (and the New York Times Book Review):

Then, it was wedding time! My mom took this cute picture of me and my two favorite guys (my dad and my husband!) during cocktail hour:

The wedding was GORGEOUS. It took place at the Mission at Santa Clara and was pretty much breathtaking. I also may have had a few glasses of wine and forgot to take any pictures of, um, anything. Oh well!

Can you believe I have known Lindsay since I was in first grade?! My brother and I carpooled with Lindsay and her brother Scott every day of elementary school and junior high school. It was an honor and a pleasure to see her walk down the aisle! Congratulations, Lindsay and Frank!

[image source - Lili Durkin Photography]