>New Hampsha

>Well I made it safe to New Hampshire. The beauty of New England never ceases to amaze me. The foliage is gorgeous and the weather has been fantastic. I’m in heaven.

I made yesterday my rest day of the week because my body asked was begging for it. I slept a glorious 12 hours, made a fort in the living room and watched Shrek with my niece, then cooked my family a pretty tasty gluten-free meal. My [soon-to-be] sister-in-law is newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease so I was challenged when I wanted to make Italian considering 1) She has Celiac and 2) I’m allergic to parmesan and ricotta cheese.

I made a tomato sauce with ground turkey and veggies topped over gluten-free pasta and spaghetti squash. The appetizer was definitely the winner though! I made polenta for the first time!

This was an incredibly easy dish and everyone raved about it.

In a small bowl, combine:

1:1 mixture of gluten-free flour (I used brown rice) and gluten-free bread crumbs

1T dried basil

1T dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder

Pinch sea salt & black pepper

In a second bowl, lightly beat two eggs (or use egg whites)

One by one, dip each polenta slice in eggs then coat in bredding mixture

Next pan sear until browned in a little EVOO

Bake 5 mins at 425F

Top with marinara sauce ❤

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This afternoon I thought it was a good time to try out some gluten-free Pho the nice people at Happy Pho sent me.

Noodle Ingredients: 100% brown rice flour, water, organic green tea, sea salt. 

I didn’t use the seasoning and instead cooked the noodles in organic chicken broth with cilantro, carrots, mushrooms, tofu, dash lime juice and red chili peppers. It was heavenly! Note: The noodles cook fast so cook them separately after the veggies/tofu/broth are done then combine. It was a simple and very satisfying dish!

Feeling fueled and hydrated..

I ran 17-miles for my training long run. I set out to do 18 but just could not make it. I hadn’t fueled well the day before and I could definitely tell. For the next few long runs I need to remind myself to fuel as if I was running a race. But all in all, I feel GOOD 🙂

———

Well I’m off to bed. I’m taking an early morning (8am is very early for me hehe) Bikram yoga class then going apple and pumpkin picking with my sister-in-law and niece!

Have a great weekend,

Lauren

Questions:

What are you doing this weekend? Any fall-inspired activities?

For those of you training for a race, how is your training going?



>Need you now

>Hiiii,

How was your weekend? I was phone-less since I left my charger at my friend Ally’s from our sleepova on Thursday. Great time, but I totally feel stranded without it. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I recently joined the Crackberry world??? But alas, it’s back safe in my arms.

Soooo a little rewind…Who watched the State of the Union Thursday night?? You can imagine here in DC it’s a big deal. Most bars had viewing parties and drink specials! Nuts! I went over Ally’s house for a viewing party. It was a lot of fun. Check out the game we played:

Aaaaaaand, I won! We drank lots of good wine (Shriaz for me) and had some delish brownie dessert.

Friday night I stayed in and lounged because 1) I was beyond exhausted from the week and 2) I had to be up super early to set up an experiment/run a 10-miler. Buuuuut, I woke to 6 inches of snow so scienceland was postponed and the race was cancelled. You may be thinking that 6 inches is nothing (and I agree; I’m from NH) but DC literally shuts down when it snows. So you can bet I spent the rest of the snowed-in day watching movies and having ice cream. Aaaah.

Today was pretty wonderful. Quick lab trip to set up some experiments, then kicked my butt spinning, followed by some much needed Bikram Yoga. I love Bikram. My muscles/joints instantly feel better and I love the serious detoxing. Every try it??

I returned home to make some sweet potato fries and enjoy this gem I found in Whole Foods today:

I visited Cline Vineyards in Sonoma two summers ago, and after tasting it instantly began my love affair with members of the Shriaz/Syrah family.

The roomie made some Au Natural gluten-free brownies (Trader Joe’s brand; with added dark chocolate chunks and PB drizzled topping) to accompany our night of Bill & Gulianna (love them!), The Grammys, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Perfecto way to end the week, eh?

Oh, and he came too:

Well, I’m off to bed to wake up early and run a (hopefully) 7-miler. I leave you with some Lady Antebellum. I absolutely love this song, it reminds me of the manfriend, because long-distance is wonderful! ha

Night ❤