Edamame Hummus

We're some serious hummus connoisseurs over here. Well, maybe not connoisseurs -- I wouldn't say we're snobby about it, or anything. I guess we're more like serious hummus consumers. We eat a lot of the stuff. I make at least one batch per week, sometimes more, and I feel a little guilty if I fall down on the job and don't have any in the fridge.

I've experimented with several variations on traditional hummus, which is made with chickpeas (garbanzo beans). I've done roasted red pepper hummus, black bean hummus...even peanut butter hummus (thumbs down). But none have stacked up to the original, until now. Edamame hummus was so good it could compete for the title as #1 hummus in the house.

The only reason the chickpea version might edge out the edamame is because chickpeas are cheaper (of course, I love the cheaper option) and faster, because you have to cook the edamame for a few minutes.

But this is a great "treat" hummus, and it even looks green and ghoulish in honor of Halloween today!

Here's the recipe (shout out to my Mom who told me about it!):

Ingredients:
1.5 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
(note: adjust seasonings as desired -- I added a little more cumin, plus some Tabasco and my customary 1 dollop of plain yogurt for creaminess)

Directions
1. Place edamame in pot and cover with salted water. Place over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer, and cook till tender; about 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Workout of the Day
Les Mills PUMP: Pump & Shred

Y'all, Zach is still training for the upcoming Dallas marathon, and I am just so thankful that I got out of the running business in time for the weather to turn cooler! I am a fair weather exerciser...heck, I am a fair weather HUMAN, and do not operate well in temperatures below...uhhh, let's say 76. That's a pretty optimal temperature, in my book. He's doing really well, though, and completed 20 miles last Saturday. Looking forward to cheering him on at the race on December 7!

Clean Cleaning

When it comes to my two most dominant personality traits -- 1) frugality and 2) a desire to be fit, healthy, and as "natural" as possible* -- it's hard to say which trait is stronger.

So when I find tips and tricks that serve both masters, I'm a pretty happy camper.

The other day while perusing Pinterest (it's grown on me in the past year -- I don't check it daily, but a few times a week I scroll through and repin some things that interest me...and sometimes I actually FIX the recipes I pin. Novel!), I saw a pin about Natural Cleaning Tips and Products. It linked to this blog telling about "Eight Ways to Ease into a Natural Home."

Katie outlines some facts about cleaning products, including the one that there is no Federal regulation for cleaning products and that bleach, when mixed with other cleaning agents, releases a poisonous gas. (And which "other" cleaning agents are they, I always wonder? That's had me scared straight for years--I never mix bleach with anything.)

So I was pretty interested in learning all those little tidbits, but then Katie says she's going to show us some  natural products that work just as well and...it will be cheaper too! Smack me sideways...you had me at "cheaper."

I'll let you read Katie's blog for the whole story, but here's the gist:

For pretty much any kind of clean up you need, you can turn to one of four products that you probably already have in your house:

• White vinegar
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Baking soda
• Rubbing alcohol

(And I'll add two of my own that I've used in the past: lemon juice and salt -- they make an excellent scrubbing agent.)

For counters and floors you've got your vinegar and water mixture (4 TB vinegar to 3 cups of water). For mirrors and windows you've got your hydrogen peroxide:

Look at that! I love how you just stick the spray nozzle straight onto the peroxide bottle. I went to The Walmarts this weekend and picked up two empty spray bottles (98 cents each) and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (52 cents). I stuck the sprayer in the peroxide bottle (apparently it's important to keep peroxide in the dark bottle), and cleaned the yuckiest of yucky mirrors -- the sweat-stained one in our gym. It worked great! 

Like she mentions in the blog, I'm going to have to wean myself from my view that bleach smell = clean. But if I can get things reasonably sparkly with those few easy "ingredients," I'm happy to comply with Katie's wish that we would "Get rid of the toxic stuff."

Try it and let me know how it works at your house!

* I have to admit that my desire for non-toxic things abruptly fell by the wayside the minute I had an ant problem in my kitchen, at which point I wanted to lay down a chemical storm the likes of which those ants had never seen. I didn't end up unleashing it full force, but it seems to be enough to have stopped the problem for now. I wonder if ants hate vinegar?

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Pure Cardio

Love this one! It's brutal, but it's over quickly.

Why Tony Horton is Still the Man

While I may have broadened my horizons and moved on to some new workouts, Tony Horton is still the man. And Facebook posts like this show why:

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Do You Believe In The Truth?

The truth is that thing that is happening to you right now, not that enhanced fantasy version you use to protect your vulnerabilities. People can't move forward in life because they hold too tightly to the past. We also get lost in concepts and beliefs that might have worked for our parents and friends but don't apply to us anymore; which can make it confusing when it comes to making decisions to improve our lives.

If you look closely at my first 30 to 35 years on earth you would have bet big bucks on a inept outcome. Bad student, bad athlete, no discipline, poor confidence, lousy work ethic, speech impediment, low self esteem and the biggest procrastinator on earth. What changed?

I began accepting reality. I stopped lying to myself and the people around me. I searched for second and third opinions. I stopped hanging around people with bad attitudes and no ambition. I stopped using the word "party" as a verb and grew up. I signed up for seminars and yoga retreats and saved up for ski camps, so that I could meet people who were curious, outside of my circle and who were kicking ass.

My persona to the world as a young man was just big talk and hyperbole because I didn't have the guts to get in the game and step up to the plate. It was a safe and easy way to exist but it made me sick. I slowly began to force myself to do things that scared the hell out of me. Every single experience built my confidence and improved my life, so I kept going no matter how many times I fell flat on my face.

If you want to believe in the truth then you need to follow some simple life altering steps. Exercise 5 to 6 days a week for the rest of your life. Eat whole foods more often than not, for the rest of your life. Allow your mind, body and spirit to heal with patience, curiosity and plenty of rock solid sleep. Figure out what you love and put as much time and energy as you can, into that. Then share what you've learned with people who ask for your help.


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Workout of the Day
Les Mills Pump Extreme

I survived a half marathon!

We survived!

Or maybe it should be "I" survived, as the matter of survival was more questionable for me than it was for Zach. He considered the half marathon on Sunday a training run, while I put it all on the table as possibly the furthest and fastest I will ever run.

Our goal was to finish in under two hours, and the sub-goal was to be done with seven miles by the time we'd been running for an hour. We met the sub-goal, which made the ultimate goal more attainable. Zach finished 13.3 miles in 1 hour and 51 minutes (according to his Nike Plus app), while I finished in 1 hour 53 minutes. I was extremely happy with my run.

I've mentioned that we had an unorthodox training plan for this half marathon. While most people train for a run by...running, we chose a plan that minimized running and instead focused on cross training. I believe that our plan reduced 1) my boredom with running and 2) the chances that my knees, feet, ankles (or all three) would experience some kind of repetitive motion injury.

We used a combination of Les Mills Pump for muscular endurance and strength training, Insanity for interval cardiovascular work, P90X yoga for flexibility, and two days a week of running. Here's the schedule:

Monday: Pump Extreme
Tuesday: Insanity workout (we went through the eight cardio workouts in order, skipping the recovery week DVDs)
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: Tempo run of 4-5 miles (one mile warm up, two to three miles at faster than half-marathon pace, one mile cool down)
Friday: Pump Revolution
Saturday or Sunday: Long runs of 8-13 miles (added a mile each week)

I could not have been happier with how that training plan prepared me for the half-marathon. I felt strong cardiovascularly throughout the entire race. My knees started giving me trouble in mile 10, but I think that was due to the amount of running downhill I had done throughout the race.

Zach and I kept up a good 8:20-8:40 per mile pace until mile 10 where I "slowed down" (according to my husband...and, OK, according to me), and he took off ahead. But by that time I was mentally prepared to push to the finish and was able to cruise to the end with relatively few problems...except for those two killer hills at the very end!

Zach is moving on to bigger and better races over the next few months, and I'm moving on to the sidelines to cheer him on. If there's one thing I learned in this training process is that I love my convenient, relatively short, intense, at-home workouts that have me done by 6am. I'm ready to hop on board with the new programs Beachbody has coming up like Asylum 2 (available Oct. 11!) and Les Mills Combat (available for pre-order now at SmellsLikeFitness.com)!

So, an English major walks into an Anatomy class...

Should I pursue my personal trainer certification?

PROS:
- Greater confidence in my knowledge level
- I'm interested in learning more about the mechanics of training
- Others will have greater confidence in my knowledge
- Possibility of training out of our home
- Possibility of earning other certifications
- I have the time to pursue it now that kids are in school

CONS:
- It's gonna take a lot of time to study
- It costs a few hundred dollars to do it.
- The test is probably kinda hard

People, it's my personal belief that time, money, and a "hard test" are invalid reasons not to pursue something that will make you better, more knowledgeable, and more marketable. So a couple weeks ago I pulled the trigger on becoming an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.

Ever since then I've been awash in pictures like these:

And dreaming about terms such as iliotibial band, flexion, extension, appendicular skeleton and on and on.

As an English major who shunned science classes like the black plague, am I a little nervous about all this anatomy and physiology? Yes. Am I enjoying this new adventure? Yes.

I've got about 12 weeks to master this material...20 if I get scared and want to stretch it out a bit. But the plan is to take the test at the end of the year and have my personal training certification to start 2013.

If you need me between then and now, I'll be studying the difference between fibrous, cartilaginous, and synovial joints. Wish me luck!

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Workout of the Day

P90X Core Syergistics

T minus 6 days till the Tyler Half Marathon!

The friends who we are staying with the night before kindly offered to fix chicken fried deer steak the night before the race. I politely declined saying that I was concerned about the welfare of the course should I run it mere hours after eating chicken fried venison. Maybe after the race when I'm nice and close to a bathroom...