[Blog Update from Running Ambassador Sarah Monte]
I love to cook and I love to eat! In this post I am going to focus on good foods and good recipes rather than dieting and weight gain struggles. Not to say that I don’t participate in the two aforementioned topics, but I would rather share my love of food!
I enjoy spending the better part of a weekend afternoon planning and preparing a meal. I cook larger meals on the weekends, portion them out and freeze them for quick mid-week meals. It’s so much easier to heat up a main dish and add a simple veggie or grain than having to come up with a whole meal from scratch.
I try to buy all our meat and produce locally, so usually we have a random assortment of ingredients which makes for fun creative cooking. I have some wonderful cookbooks that I reference frequently, but with the vast amount of information on the internet it is also fun to simply plug in the ingredients you have and see what recipes pop up. The more you cook, the more you learn about substitutions and what ingredients you can add or subtract based on your particular pantry and palate.
I think if you are buying good ingredients, preparing them in a healthy way, and eating in moderation, you are off to a really good start.
I have started making my own yogurt in an Instant Pot which is fabulous! The yogurt is so delicious and you can decide how much, if any, sweeteners and extras to add. It’s also very cost effective. If you make it for the first time I recommend this recipe: https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/instant-pot-yogurt-for-newbies/
I had to include my favorite soup recipe: http://hostthetoast.com/thai-coconut-curry-butternut-squash-soup/. I like to serve this with a grilled cheese sandwich!
Pre-run I eat very lightly, usually just a banana or maybe a half bagel with peanut butter. I make smoothies every day and will drink them pre or post run with frozen bananas, berries and protein power. Post run dinner is a different story! I love to indulge a bit after a particularly long or hard run. A nice hearty meal with a glass of wine is a great reward for a job well done.
Cheers!