Sweet Tooth Saturday - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Triple Chip Cookies

For some reason, I’ve been feeling nostalgic for my college dining hall lately. I know it probably sounds weird to say that, but we actually had pretty decent food at Macalester, and I especially loved having a huge selection of desserts from which to chose at every meal.  There was one dessert that Cesar and I both loved, so last weekend, I decided I would make it for him.  I had already started creaming butter and sugar together when I discovered that I was missing a key component. I was lazy & stubborn and refused to make a trip to the store or take any more butter out of the fridge, so I started combing through my bookmarked recipes to find something else that required the exact same amount of butter and sugar I already had in the mixer.  These cookies from Pinch of Yum were the first things I stumbled upon, and since peanut butter and chocolate is the single best flavor combination ever, I decided they were a good choice.

I made a couple of very minor modifications to the original recipe; I used three kinds of baking chips, added some peanut butter extract, and I refrigerated the dough for a few hours prior to baking.  I usually chill my cookie dough because I like a thicker cookie, and I also think it lets the oats soak up a bit of moisture.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Triple Chip Cookies
Minimally adapted from Pinch of Yum’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peanut butter extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s Mini Milk Chocolate baking chips

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until smooth. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, peanut butter extract, and egg and mix until well blended. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the bowl of the mixer and mix until just moistened. By hand, stir in the oats and baking chips until evenly distributed.
2. Refrigerate the dough for at least three hours; if you have extraordinary patience, even longer is better.
3. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mat.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. If you bake the cookies too long, they won’t remain soft.
6. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cesar liked these cookies, but he didn’t love them.  He preferred the bites with mini Hershey’s chips to the the dark chocolate chips because the Hershey’s chips remained solid while the dark chocolate chips were melted.  He also said they could have had more peanut butter; however, keep in mind this is a guy who regularly does battle with family sized jars of peanut butter with a spoon as his only weapon and wins.  Even with all of these recommendations for improvement, I did notice that six cookies were missing from the cooling rack before I managed to get them put away.  Me thinks someone fancies himself quite the food critic.  But I guess that’s what I pay him for, right??

The Perfect Storm

So far, this week has been the best workout week I've had in a while.  It definitely helped having Monday off for Labor Day.  I was able to get in an open water swim, do all of my bike rides on my bike outside, and I've gotten in all of my weight training for this week.  It's ironic that this week turned out so well considering I was having such a hard time figuring out what I was going to do.  In the end, I moved a few workouts around and here are the results:

Monday: 40 mile bike ride - 1 hr 54 min; open water swim - 20 min
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: AM -- full body strength training incl. abs- 45 min; 30 min speed work on treadmill, 30 min hill work on treadmill
PM -- 7 * 12 50s (84 laps), 30 sec between each set - 1 hr 14 min  --- this is my longest continuous swim workout .... EVER
Thursday: AM -- 20.2 mile bike speed work - 1 hr 1 min 30 sec (ave speed - 19.7 -- fastest average speed for this workout that I've been doing for about 1.5 months now); 4 mile brick run - 29:36 -- 7:23 min/mi pace.  Fastest 4 mile brick run after the 20 mile speed work.
PM -- full body strength training incl. abs - 1.5 hrs.  I kind of messed this up because I was only supposed to do 2 sets of about 10 different exercises and I for whatever reason I did 4 sets of about half of them before I realized I was doing too many. 
    * The strength program that I'm following right now is Mark Allen's 12 Best Strength Exercises.  I'm currently in phase 3.  I'll be making 4 changes.  1) on day 1, I'll be doing pull ups instead of lat pull downs; 2) on day 1, I'll be adding reverse flies; 3) on day 2, I'll be adding back extensions, and 4) I'll add some form of sit-ups to day 1 and 2.
  
I missed my tempo run tonight because I spent too much time on weights due to my mistake.  I'm going to do it in the morning and swim tomorrow night, though.  If everything works out, the only workout I'll miss this week is tomorrow's bike ride.  If I can wake up early enough tomorrow, I can get in a little before my run.  I won't be upset if I miss it all together, though.  I do have a century ride to look forward to on Saturday with an 8 mile brick run after and a 22 mile run on Sunday.  I don't think missing a 50 min easy bike ride will make or break my training.   

It's a pleasant surprise when unforeseen changes in plans turn out for the better.  The changes from this week gave me a chance to get the rest I needed to push harder and get over the plateaus that were beginning to make me dread too many of my workouts.  My enthusiasm for training has been revived and I think the next few weeks will be much better.     
 

CrossFit Craziness with a Side of Salad

I never got around to getting my measurements taken earlier this week, and since I really want to have quantifiable results from Shortcut to Size, I decided to put off starting Phase 2 until next Monday and mix it up in the gym until then.  My sister Mindy is a bit of a CrossFit fanatic, and on Monday, she posted about a WOD that kicked her butt. A lot of the workouts she does include moves that I’m not entirely familiar with, so I tend to shy away from trying them, but this one looked simple enough, so I decided to give it a whirl. 

This is what should have happened:

5 rounds
22 KB swings (53 lbs)
22 box jumps (20″)
400m run
22 burpees
22 wall balls (14 lbs)

And this is what actually happened:

3.5 rounds
22 KB swings (35 lbs)
22 box jumps (20″)
400m run
22 burpees
22 wall balls (12 lbs)

I got to the gym thinking I would attempt the workout as prescribed. Then I picked up a 45 lb kettlebell and realized there was no way that was happening.  53 lbs?? Seriously??  I also discovered that my gym doesn’t have a 14 lb medicine ball, so I was left with a choice of 12 lbs or 20 lbs. 12 lbs, thankyourverymuch!  My boxing trainer showed up after I ran my fourth 400m, so I had to cut the workout short. I could lie and say I was sad about that, but I wasn’t. Let me tell you, this workout is no walk in the park. I was a sweaty mess, my heart rate was elevated the entire time, and my quads and shoulders were burning like no one’s business. I’m planning on doing it again next week and actually finishing to see how long it takes me.



In other news, I’ve been eating spinach like it’s my job lately. So many bloggers have started talking about how fall is just around the corner, but it still feels like the middle of summer here in Tampa. With the hot weather, I’ve been enjoying refreshing spinach and fruit salads quite regularly. Yesterday’s combination was particularly yummy.  I added raspberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, blueberries, some shredded chicken from a chicken I roasted in my crockpot over the weekend, Trader Joe’s Sesame Honey Cashews and topped it with a simple Lime Poppy Seed Dressing that I made up on the fly.
 

Lime Poppy Seed Dressing

• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 tbsp honey (I used an awesome Lime Blossom Honey that I found at HomeGoods)
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 tsp Ideal Brown Sweetener
• 1 packet of Truvia

I like my salad dressing quite sweet, in case that wasn’t obvious from looking at the ingredient list.

And to wrap up with something completely random, this is amazing.

Tricks for Surviving Long Training Runs

I may sound like a broken record here, but training for a marathon in Florida during the summer is slightly less than ideal.  It’s hot and it’s humid, and it usually takes less than a quarter of a mile before I am literally dripping with sweat.  And that’s at 5:30 AM.  It’s only downhill from there once the sun comes out. But since nothing can take the place of braving the elements and pounding the pavement when it comes to preparing for 26.2, we suck it up and get out there week after week. I’m certainly not an authority on the subject, but after training during a couple of Florida summers, I’ve come up with a few tips and tricks that help me push through and finish.

1. Run with a friend. I can’t tell you how many mornings I would have skipped out on a run or done 15 miles when I had planned to do 20 if I didn’t have Maria there to motivate me.  And on days when it’s so miserable I can’t even begin to find motivation even with a friend, it helps to know someone is there suffering right along with me.
2. Fuel and hydrate appropriately, both prior to and during the run.  Figure out what works for YOU and stick to it.  I always drink extra water the day before a long run, and I have a Powerade Zero after dinner.  If you’re running in the heat, make sure to carry water.  Speaking from experience, there’s nothing that will make you hate a run like becoming dehydrated will. I usually have a decent sized bowl of Kashi Go Lean & puffed kamut with berries and flax milk about an hour before I start running, and I always carry one more Gu gel in my belt than I think I am going to need.  
3. Treat yourself to some new music. While there are certain songs that show up on nearly every one of my running playlists, I like to mix it up with some new songs each weekend. I usually spend a few minutes Saturday night poking around on this site; it allows you to search by genre, tempo, or decade.  New music always makes me happy.
4. Adjust your pace according to the heat. There are varying estimates on how temperature affects pace; according to Jeff Galloway, an 8 min/mil pace in 50 degree weather will slow to a 9:35 min/mile pace in 80 degrees (source).  Jack Daniels’ slightly less extreme estimates indicate that race pace will suffer by 15 seconds per mile.  Make sure to listen to your body; the goal of the long run is not to break any speed records but rather to build endurance and get your legs used to moving for hours at a time.  That goal can still be accomplished at slower paces. 
5. Don’t obsess over your Garmin. I try to only look at mine when the mile notification goes off. I have found that looking at my watch every tenth of a mile only makes the run seem longer.
6. Break the run up into small segments rather than looking at the whole run.  Tampa is home one of the most scenic, runner friendly routes that you will find anywhere.  There are nearly five miles of uninterrupted sidewalk right next to the bay, the sidewalk is painted with quarter mile markers, and there are a number of water stops along the road. Since we run Bayshore nearly every weekend, I have developed a set of mini goals that I use to keep my feet moving.  When I am struggling, it’s much easier to tell myself to get to the water stop that is 2 miles away rather than trying to think about running 16 more miles to the finish.
7. Reward yourself when it’s over. You deserve a little treat after running double digits.  Maybe the reward is a massage or a pedicure.  Or, if you’re like me, the best possible reward is a delicious breakfast.  Most Sunday mornings, you will find Maria and me at one of two places – Daily Eats or First Watch.  Both restaurants have large menus with both healthy and decadent options, and digging into a hearty meal after getting up early and running for hours is one of my favorite moments of every weekend.
8. When all else fails, remember how you felt when you finished your last race. The feeling of pride and accomplishment of crossing the finish line after 26.2 hard fought miles is like nothing else I have ever experienced. When I focus on the memories of those moments, I remember why I’m out there in the first place, and I know that the discomfort I am feeling is worth it if it means I get to experience that feeling again.

Keepin' On... and On...

Training went well this week.  No news is good news in this case.  I only missed Friday's workouts, a 45 min swim and a 30 min run.  The roughest point in the training was at mile 4 of an 8 mile brick run that followed the 80 mile bike ride on Saturday.  I felt great up to about mile 3.  I was even doing a little side-to-side bouncing dance while I was running which I'm sure people who could see me were getting a good laugh from.  That energy was short lived as the sun and humidity did as they usually do and zapped my energy.  Sunday was run-bike-run with Sarah.  We were going to run 13 miles outside and 6 inside.  But, we felt good enough to finish another mile outside, saving us from having to do it later.

Completed workouts for 8/27 - 9/3:
Tues Swim
Tues Bike
Wed Bike (speedwork)
Wed Run (brick)
Thurs Run (speedwork)
Fri Swim (this was actually Thursday's planned swim)
Sat Long Ride
Sat Run (brick)
Sun Run #1 (part 1 of "sandwich")
Sun Bike (part 2 of "sandwich")
Sun Run #2 (part 3 of "sandwich")

I changed my training around a little for this week (9/3 - 9/9) so that I could go out today to Sand Key to meet up with the New Tampa Tri Club for a much needed open water swim.  I met up with Tamara and Fred (from my new biking group) before the swim for a 40 mile bike ride.  The bike ride was quick with very little traffic, but bumpy.  The swim was good, roughly .5 miles (quarter mile down and back).  I felt a few jelly fish which kind of freaked me out and I ultimately wimped out on doing a second lap.  The salt water was also starting to burn a little on the parts of my skin that had gotten chafed. 

It was nice to talk to some of the other people and find out that they were having as much trouble finding time to fit in all the training that I was.  It seems to be a common theme. 

On the bright side there are 29 weeks down, 7 to go 'til the main event.  In the meantime, there's Highlander III that's in 3 weeks and then Augusta HIM is the week after that.  Like Sarah, I'm anxious to get the racing on.  As it gets closer to the big race I am thinking a lot more about what nutrition I want to have and what clothes I want to wear for the swim, bike, and run.  There are of course other things that I should think about but don't.  So, whenever I come across an article titled something like "Being prepared for race day" or "How not to screw up your race by doing this or not doing that" (you know something along those lines), I have to take a look at the article.  Last week I came across 7 Race-Day Gear Blunders to Avoid.  All of the points are duely noted.  But, for me the one that stuck out the most was 'keeping your wetsuit dry'.  This calls to me because of what I explained in a recent post.  Not getting enough practice wearing the wetsuit and then jumping into super cold water is no bueno.  I will definitely be making a point to wear my wetsuit in a couple of practice swims coming up because Augusta is a wetsuit race as is Beach 2 Battleship.

Aside from getting in a couple of swims with my wetsuit... sidetracking for a sec.  It's probably going to look funny to people when they see me in a wetsuit right now.  It's Florida and right now I sweat walking from my door to the car.  Anyway, back on track.  Here's my scheduled workouts for this week:

Monday - 40 mile bike, 30 min swim
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - 1:25 bike, 1:15 run
Thursday - 1:00 swim, 1:10 run (tempo)
Friday - :45 swim, :50 bike
Saturday - 100 mile bike, 8 mile run
Sunday - 23 mile run (down hill after this!), :30 bike cool down   

Holiday Weekends Rule & Shortcut to Size – Phase 1 Reflections

Wow, what a great weekend! 
Saturday night was date night at Renzo’s – this Tropical Mango Salad was amazing, as usual.

Sunday morning I met up with Maria to accompany her on her brick workout.  It was my first 20 mile run since before the Fargo Marathon; we did the first 14 miles outside on Bayshore and Davis Island, went into the gym and biked for 30 minutes before hopping on the treadmill to finish the last 6.  Despite the fact that I haven’t run that far since May, I was confident in my ability to cover the distance, although I wasn’t sure how quick it would be. I was pleasantly surprised when we maintained an 8:10 pace outside and finished the 6 treadmill miles under 8 min/mile. I’m really getting antsy for race season to start so that I can get a better feel of where I am in terms of being marathon ready. After stuffing my face with oatmeal and egg whites at brunch, cookies were made.

These two looked on longingly.  Their cuteness was rewarded with a few peanut butter chips; who could resist those sweet faces??
And today was the best day of all….I spent a few relaxing hours at Pass-a-Grille Beach with the husband.

And then ate my favorite fish, grouper, at Sea Critters Cafe. It was so yummy.  There was not a single speck of fish left on that plate when I was done.

Returning to real life tomorrow morning is going to be rough.  And speaking of real life, let’s talk about how I’ve spent my last four weeks in the gym.
Last Thursday marked my completion of Phase 1 of Bodybuilding.com’s Shortcut to Size strength training program. For a complete description of the program, go here.  In a nutshell, the plan consists of three phases, each of which is made up of four one-week microcycles. Week one starts with low weight and high reps; each week the weight increases and the reps decrease, with week four being very heavy weight for very few reps.  Additionally, the last set of every exercise is followed by a rest-pause set for weeks 1 & 2 or a drop set for weeks 3 & 4.  The program also includes a nutrition plan, but I chose to ignore that portion and stick to my regular eats.
Things I Loved:

1. All body parts are hit in four days of training.
2. Nearly all of the exercises are relatively standard weight training exercises, so I didn’t need to constantly refer to my phone in the middle of my workout to figure out what I should be doing.
3. The variation in some of the exercises as well as decrease in the rep ranges kept the workouts from feeling stale.
4. The challenge of increasing the weight I was lifting each week kept me motivated to push hard.
5. I had a love/hate relationship with repping to failure on the last set of every exercise.  It was definitely not pleasant in the moment, but it kept my heart rate more elevated than my normal strength training, and it made me hurt in that “I totally killed it at the gym today” kind of way that I love.

Things I Didn’t Love:

1. Weeks 1 and 2 are very time consuming. It takes a substantial block of time to complete 15 reps of 3 – 4 sets + a rest-pause set of 9 different exercises.  When I added on the running that I needed to get in, I was sometimes spending over 2 hours in the gym.
2. Other than some of the abs exercises, I haven’t done a single body weight exercise in a month.  I never thought I’d say this, but I miss doing good old pushups and pullups!

Results:
Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to take measurements before I started Phase 1, so I can’t give specific details about my progress in that regard.  I am going to take my measurements before starting on Phase 2 tomorrow so that I will be able to more carefully measure my progress. In terms of strength, however, I achieved new PRs on virtually all of the exercises in the plan.  It will be interesting to compare how the weights I am able to lift during Week 1 of Phase 2 compare to what I started with on Phase 1.
Overall, I have been a huge fan of the program.  I like having a purpose for each of my strength training sessions, and I felt like this was a well-rounded plan that hit my entire body. It’s also a hugely challenging program; I left the gym after every session feeling wiped out, and sometimes my muscles would hurt for 3 days after a workout.  It’s definitely created with the goal of putting on muscle (hence its name!), so if you’re only looking to maintain what you’ve already got, this is not the plan for you.

Sweet Tooth Saturday – Pasta Frola

Cesar’s family is from Argentina.  His parents were both born and raised there, and while he and his siblings were all born in the U.S., they lived in Argentina for much of his childhood.  One of the biggest perks of marrying him, aside from gaining a second family whom I adore, has been the discovery of Argentinean food.  While there are definitely aspects of their cuisine that I question (is it really necessary to devote an entire aisle of the grocery store to various flavors of mayonnaise??)), there are so many things to love.  Milanesa, chimichurri, empanandas, flan, and dulce de leche are all things that have become favorites of mine, but I think my ultimate foodie find has to be dulce de membrillo.  Dulce de membrillo, or quince paste, is sweet and just a tiny bit tart, and it can be used in desserts or served with cheese and bread. 
Pasta frola is a traditional Argentinean dessert.  It consists of a shortbread-like crust, a layer of dulce de membrillo, and finally another layer of crust. Cesar’s mom makes a delicious version, but since I didn’t want mine to be in direct competition with the pasta frola she makes so well, I went in search of a new recipe.  When I came across a recipe on From Argentina with Love that uses another one of my favorite foods, almond flour, I suspected I had found a winner.  I wasn’t wrong; the crust is rich and tender and tastes almost exactly like the butter cookies that are so common at Christmas.

Pasta Frola
Very minimally adapted from this recipe
Shortbread Crust
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk

Quince Filling
About 12 oz of quince paste**
About 1/4 of water
1/2 tbsp of lemon juice

Shortbread Crust Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and beat for one minute more.
On low speed, add the flour mixture in all at once and beat until combined. Divide the dough in half. Press the first half of the dough into an even layer into a 9-inch tart ring or springform pan. Press the edges up about 3/4 of an inch. Roll out the other half on a lightly floured baking sheet lined with parchment paper, into a 13-inch round. Place both in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling Instructions
Heat the quince paste in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, and whisk. The goal is to make the paste a spreadable jelly-like consistency without making it watery. It may be necessary to heat for an additional 20 seconds to fully incorporate the water into the paste. Stir until incorporated. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the pasta frola.

Assembly Instructions
Spread the quince paste evenly on the chilled dough in the tart ring. Using a fluted pastry wheel or a knife, cut the chilled round of dough into strips about 1-inch wide. The dough will puff up a bit in the oven, so you don’t want to make the strips too wide or place them too close together (like I did on mine). Arrange the strips across the round tart in a lattice pattern. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 40 minutes; the crust should be a nice golden brown. Let cool completely before removing the tart ring and cutting.

**Dulce de membrillo can be hard to find.  If you live in Tampa, La Loma Market at 3224 N Armenia Ave carries it as well as a number of other imported Argentinean goods.  And if you’re a fan of Argentinean cuisine, be sure to check out Renzo’s on Kennedy Boulevard.  It’s one of our favorites!