Thanksgiving Food

Everybody has to choose his or her own path on Thanksgiving. Will it be gorging to one's delight on traditionally rich and fattening Thanksgiving dishes? Will it be a road of strict, Ghandi-like asceticism, eschewing all but the most healthy, lowfat offerings?

I am pretty much planning on the middle road between the two extremes, concentrating on turkey (lots), salad, and roasted sweet potatoes. I can easily pass on the mashed potatoes and gravy, and I can resist the dressing (even though it's my special recipe, "Northwest Dressing" with lashings of oysters, filberts, and apple). But I'm having pie, for sure. My secretary is kindly making me her delectable marionberry pie (and yes, I do plan to share with others) and my sister is bringing a couple other pies (so that will protect "my" pie from being completely devoured, leaving a piece or two for a treat or breakfast the next day).

Here are a couple of recipes for easy Thanksgiving side dishes that are low in calories and pretty good for you. The jello dish* does have Splenda for sweetening, so it's not pure, but it is yummy and even people who aren't trying to be sugar-free will enjoy it. It's good for diabetics, too. I started making it many years ago when my grandmother was alive, and adopted it myself when I decided to change my eating habits.

Raspberry Applesauce Jello
One large or two small packages sugar-free raspberry jello**
2 cups boiling water
2 cups frozen raspberries (without added sugar)
2 cups unsweetened applesauce

Topping:
Light & Fit vanilla yoghurt, or plain yoghurt sweetened with a little Splenda and vanilla

Dissolve jello in water. Add raspberries and stir until thawed. Add applesauce and mix well. Pour into glass baking dish and refrigerate until set. Top with vanilla yoghurt, if desired. (This can also be made in a jello mold if desired, but in that case, omit the topping.)


This sweet potato dish is very simple. I've made it a lot. I've also tinkered with it by adding spices such as cumin, cayenne pepper, even cinnamon to the diced sweet potatoes, or omitting the rosemary. Here I'm leaving it simple, just as the recipe is written. It's from Stop the Clock Cooking by Cheryl Forsberg. Obviously the quantities can be adjusted as you desire.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary
1½ pounds sweet potatoes
1½ tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil spray. Position a rack in the lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Scrub sweet potatoes well. Rinse and dry completely. Cut into ¾ inch dice. Cut out eyes and blemishes but do not peel.

Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. (Alternatively, it may be easier to toss with the olive oil in a bowl first, or often I just spray generously with olive oil spray instead the liquid oil.) Sprinkle with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat and place baking sheet in oven. Bake about 30 minutes, until golden outside and tender inside. (I am taking the recipe's word for it on the time here. I just bake until they are browned to my liking.) Turn potatoes once during baking.

A 2/3 cup serving has 102 calories and all kinds of good-for-you stuff. (Have a whole cup for only 153 calories!)

I also like to make a big green salad. This year I'm thinking of making this spinach salad instead. By coincidence, it is also a Cheryl Forsberg recipe. I like the dried cherries (and other stuff). Instead of the complicated dressing, though, I am going to make a vinaigrette*** using a cherry balsamic vinegar. I may saute some sweet onion to add to the salad, though, to keep that element in the recipe.

You may have heard on NPR (or the Iron Chef) that lobster was one of the foods served at the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving. If you can swing it (great for you East Coasters), steamed or boiled lobster would make a great add-on to a healthy Thanksgiving feast. Each ounce of plain lobster has only 29 calories, 6.2 grams of protein, and virtually no fat. Of course, just keep in mind that each tablespoon of melted butter adds 100 calories and beaucoup fat! I've never had lobster for Thanksgiving but I would love to make it a tradition.

But whatever you decide to eat for Thanksgiving, please be thankful that you have the ability to put good food on the table, and the good health to enjoy it. I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving and fine fellowship with your loved ones.****

*I'm not a huge fan of jello, per se, but the applesauce and raspberries give this a great texture that totally makes up for the jiggliness of typical jello.

**You could also use another flavor of red jello, and might want to tinker with the frozen fruit, trying perhaps strawberries or cherries instead.

***Balsamic Vinaigrette: Whisk together one tablespoon dijon mustard and four tablespoons balsamic vinegar (preferably cherry balsamic vinegar for this recipe). While whisking, slowly drizzle in four tablespoons of olive oil. Whisk until emulsified.

****Hopefully without too many family fights. I've been on one end, and the sidelines, of many a Thanksgiving battle!

TIck tock tick tock (time is passing)

Two weeks from today will be the day after the Las Vegas Half Marathon.

Yikes! How did that happen? When I realized last week how close I was getting, I decided it was time to sketch out a training schedule for the remaining time before the run. It had been probably two or three weeks since I'd done a run longer than ten miles, thanks to a 10K one weekend and an out-of-town trip another weekend. I figured there was still time to squeeze in two longish runs without over-exhausting myself before the race.

So here's the plan. (We'll see how well I stick to it.) (Just for running. I still have yoga and core classes, and cardio-machine workouts on the schedule.)

Sunday, 11/23 — long run (12+miles)
Monday, 11/24 — regular easy run (6 miles)
Wednesday, 11/26 — regular run with speed work (6 miles)
Friday, 11/28 — long run (12+ miles) (seems like a good day for it, since it's a day off from work and the day after Thanksgiving)
Sunday, 11/30 — easy run (6 miles)
Monday, 12/1 — regular easy run (5-6 miles)
Wednesday, 12/3 — regular run possibly with speed work (5-6 miles)

I debated whether I should reduce my mileage on Monday or Wednesday of next week and I decided that probably wouldn't be necessary (unless of course it is to allow myself to get to work on time), as I'm taking Thursday, Friday and Saturday off from running to really allow my legs and the rest of my body to recover and rest prior to the race. I don't want another situation where my compulsion to burn calories and accumulate mileage causes me to burn myself out in advance of the race.

In anticipation of running yesterday, I mapped out a long loop around Marysville to get in twelve or thirteen miles. Based on my route, it looked like I would have to do some extra blocks (or miles) to get in the full distance. But thanks to a mistake on my part, I ended up with the full thirteen (while planning on twelve) without having to add anything extra. In fact, I took advantage of a shortcut just to finish at a reasonable time and not go too much over thirteen.*

Running in Marysville is kind of like a trip down memory lane, since I grew up and went to school there. I started out near the church I attended with my family throughout my childhood and high school, then ran north on State Street (the main drag) and past the high school. Then all the way north on 67th (a pretty busy main road), crossing back and forth frequently to try to run on sidewalks (as opposed to a shoulderless white line) whenever possible. I missed my intended turn off 67th and ended up following 71st until the road finally ran into Sunnyside at Soper Hill Road, where I followed Sunnyside back into town.

I was running a pretty respectable 10:30 pace for most of the run, with notable exceptions at a couple of long, steep hills. When I turned onto Sunnyside I was already at nine miles. I was a little concerned about how much further I had left to go to return to my starting point... but reasoned that I could always call for a ride if I hit twelve miles and still had a long way to go.

And then I was at twelve miles, and although I wasn't quite sure exactly where I was, I knew I wasn't back at my starting point. But luckily for me, I was actually at a fortuitous point, not far from the north entry to Jennings Park, and in my pocket I had a map that showed a nature trail through Jennings Park that ended near Grove Street (very close to my destination).

The cut through Jennings and the remaining blocks took me to 13.06 miles, a very respectable distance (just don't ask me how long it took to run this "half marathon"). And despite my delays on the hills and trying to figure out where I was, I finished with plenty of time to spare.

The time I needed was to shower and dress and get all prettied up** for a trip to the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. I had tickets to see the symphony perform Tchaikovsy's Romeo and Juliet Overture and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (as well as a very impressive Sibelius work after the intermission). The brilliant pianist performing the Rachmaninoff piece was a tall, young, skinny guy who I couldn't help thinking of as "that child." But if a child (which he really wasn't), he was certainly a prodigy, as his playing was beautiful.

Although not performed by the Seattle Symphony, here are tastes of these very delicious musical works.

Romeo and Juliet Overture


Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini



*It's not that I would have minded the extra distance. But I had to allow enough time to get myself ready to go to the symphony in the afternoon, and a couple of extra miles would have been a major problem.

**Black velvet dress. I could have been in the symphony myself!

Priorities

When I was in England last year I was fascinated by this road sign I came across. I wrote a post about the concept of priorities, as they related to travel plans and, a little bit, life in general.*

Evaluating and balancing priorities in life is an ongoing challenge. I don't have children, so that particular non-negotiable priority is not an issue for me. That means that pretty much everything else in my life is up for grabs as to order, and weight, of priorities.

The major priorities in my life these days are work, family, my personal life,** my friends, my home life (e.g. cooking, cleaning, gardening, bills, etc.), and of course, running, exercise, and diet. I try to balance my priorities so that I give sufficient time and energy to each area, without devoting so much of my attention to any one particular area that I neglect the others.

I think that for many people—me included at many times in my life—the diet and exercise piece often falls victim to the others, which can seem more demanding, more crucial, and have live people attached to them drawing on your attention and time. Of course, neglecting a healthy diet and exercise doesn't make your life better; in fact it can make your life worse on many levels.

The first few years when I was losing weight and really starting to exercise and run, I probably put the diet and exercise priority at the top of my list, because in many ways it was the most important part of my life at that time. I was still able to devote sufficient attention to work, family and friends so as not to damage those relationships, but they definitely came second to my healthy lifestyle agenda.***

This was actually a good thing to do for a while, because it helped me to develop the discipline (and habit) not to let family and work demands detract from working out and eating well. Skip the Y to go out for drinks with friends? No thanks. A birthday party on a Saturday afternoon? After working out, and choose the grilled chicken over hot dogs, and accept only a small piece of cake. Ballet tickets on a Sunday? Get up extra early to run first. Hanging out at work late into the evening? No, just get my work done quickly and head to the Y.

As time has passed, I have let myself become more flexible, and hopefully have allowed the diet and exercise to form a more balanced relationship with my other priorities. I still decline to skip a workout for a casual meet-up with friends, but I will if a friend needs to meet for dinner to work through a difficult issue. Sometimes I do have to skip the Y and stay late at work, to do taxes and reports, or prepare for a big trial, but I do this as needed, not routinely. And I admit, while 90% of the time I adhere to the eating plan which has worked well over the last four years, I am a little (lot) more likely to succumb to a cookie or treat on occasion.**** But while I know I'll eat pie on Thanksgiving, I also know that the rest of my dinner will be turkey, salad, and roasted sweet potatoes (and maybe just a bite of dressing).

As far as the personal life part of it all, I admit it's really tempting to skip going to the Y or running in order to spend more time with the object of said personal life, but so far I have managed to keep those priorities in balance as well. It helps that he really admires my dedication to running and yoga and so forth, and I know he wouldn't ask me to give them up. In exchange, I might on occasion move a run to another day or make some other kind of accommodation to make the schedule work for both of us. And so far, it does. Work.

The one thing that I am still not good at, but am really working towards these days, is putting the home and garden part of my life back in the full priority department. Between working and the time I spend running or at the Y, and spending time with my friends, family, and object of my personal life, there's not a lot of time left for housekeeping, prompt bill paying (oops), or garden work. I'm afraid I was much better at those things when I was overweight and sedentary!

However, I have made some big strides in this area. My downstairs is picture perfect, and ready for Christmas decoration.***** My upstairs is still a work in progress. (Stacks of books, shoes, and way too many clothes—it's a challenge!) This last summer in the garden I planted a lot of patio containers, and I had some helpers with yard upkeep and maintenance. Next year I plan to work more on landscaping and borders.

So, have my priorities changed over the last few years? The things that are important to me remain the same. The weight of my priorities, however, continues to fluctuate. Some needs are more urgent at times, requiring other interests to take a back seat. Then, I hope, the balance will shift back and I can put more energy into the things I've neglected. My goal, always, is to balance out my priorities so that I never end up abandoning the things that are important to me. That way I can maintain the happy, balanced life that I seem to have been blessed with.

*You should read it, I'm a really good travel writer. And modest too.

**And considering that I now have a personal life for the first time in a while, I'm not about to be neglecting it!

***I admit freely that I seriously neglected the home care aspect of my life.

****And full disclosure, my sister just stopped by with a huckleberry pie—apparently it was the last day of the season that they would be available at Metropolitan Market—and I accepted a big piece, which I will eat a bit later with a big blob of light ice cream. A couple of years ago, the "diet priority" me would have probably sent her away. Now, I said "thank you" and "yum!" It's all about balance. No wait, priorities. Okay, balancing priorities.

*****In fact, thanks to my laxness last year, the Christmas decorating is already halfway done! But not the tree. Thank God. That might have been the final straw.

Looking towards year's end

With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away (dear God) and Christmas following only four weeks after (dear, dear God), we are quickly approaching the end of this year, and with it, the results of my annual mileage goal.

I did a little math last night and happily, I am well on track to accomplishing my goal of 1500 miles, without requiring any Herculean efforts at the end of the year. My current total is just a hair over 1380 (thanks to last week's 32 miles), which leaves only 120 miles to complete my planned objective. There are six full weeks (plus a handful of days) left in the year, which requires only 20 miles per week to meet goal. Easy peasy, I hope. That even allows for some slacking around the holidays,* if necessary—or unavoidable—as my typical week has been over 30 miles throughout this year.

I did some additional math and figured that it would be quite impossible, and just too much work, to revise my goal to some other, higher, round number. So 1500 it is. I'll almost certainly be over, but after all, I don't want to raise the stakes so high that I can't leave something to shoot for next year.

2009. Now there's a concept. It's already looking to be a good year. Let's hope expectations bear out. 2008's done pretty well for me so far.

*Although goodness knows, the holidays are the last time of year when I should be slacking on exercise!

And speaking of the holidays....

I have yet to accomplish my "lose 10 pounds by Las Vegas" scheme. Which also means that I weigh almost 10 pounds more than I did this time last year (and let's hope it's still "almost"). Which means that I don't have the luxury of gaining a few pounds over the holidays. I know I'm not alone in this predicament. Still, it's an irritation.

So for now, in the ten days remaining until Thanksgiving I'm trying to be extra vigilant about staying on track. (With a small blip for the Book Club cookie party on Friday. But I'm trying to make cookies, not eat them, for that.) Okay, I'll admit to a cookie and the last piece of apple pie* in the office this morning. But now all that crap is gone and I will just ignore the other crap.

Maybe five pounds by Las Vegas?


*Eaten in chunks. By hand. Over several trips out and back to the kitchen.

Running east

I spent the weekend on the Eastern side of the mountains, and although we were only about 180 miles from home—a 3½ hour drive—it was like another world. Over here we are all green and shiny. Evergreen trees and mossy lawns and wet streets and puddles. Eastern Washington is gold and grey and beigey tan. At least this time of year, after the hot summer has burned away all the springtime greens. Golden wheatfields (all shorn at this time of year), great craggy rocks and silver brush, and, if you can imagine, tumbleweed!

My friend has a little cabin on an acre between Waterville and Ephrata. It's powered by solar energy, so our radio and reading lights were completely environmentally friendly. We also used a small propane heater to warm the cabin, which, although less "green," was invaluable as the evening got pretty chilly. The cabin was pretty toasty by the time we went to sleep, which was good because it was a cold night. The heater was off during the night, of course, and by early morning the indoor temperature was probably in the 40's, and the outside was 28.

So that certainly made the prospect of crawling out of a cozy sleeping bag to go running somewhat less than appealing! Although by the time I seriously considered it, around 8:00, the relit heater had warmed the indoors quite nicely. Which made the chilly outside even less tempting.

But I was determined to get a Sunday run in. I ran about 10½ miles on Friday, anticipating that a long run on Sunday would be impractical. For one thing, I didn't want to leave my friend sitting around waiting while I took an extended run. The hour or so it would take to go five or six miles was plenty to expect of him.

So I pulled on running clothes (I had brought long pants anticipating the colder weather) and stepped out onto the porch. Yep, 28 degrees. Nice.

He said, "so you'll be at least 45 minutes?" Uh... yeah... "at least an hour!" I responded. Then, thinking twice, I added an extra 15 minutes, not wanting to raise any alarms in case I was unusually—make that typically—slow. Plus there would be an inevitable potty stop at the clubhouse (real plumbing, hurrah!).

The roads were packed gravel, and I felt pretty sluggish as I headed out. The cold air felt harsh on my lungs, and I think perhaps the elevation added to my labored breathing. While my home turf is only slightly above sea level, we were at least above 1500 feet, maybe more. Add the incline that I started up, and we're talking slooow, baby.

We had measured out above a mile and a half from the cabin to the clubhouse, and initially I thought I would just have to do a double loop, to get my miles without wandering off into uncharted territory. But at the clubhouse I just kept on running on the main gravel road, figuring I would turn around when I got to the highway or 2.5 miles, whichever came first.

I think I was pretty close to the highway when I did turn back, at 2.6 miles, to retrace my steps. I hadn't realized I was climbing gradually on this part of the road, but I certainly noticed the decline on my return, as I picked up the pace to make like Deena Kastor (Deena Kastor in traction, that is).

After the blessed bathroom stop, I continued my return to the cabin. I was a little more nervous here, because I had to make a couple of turns along the way. Although I knew the names of the roads, I was paranoid about missing them and heading off into the wild. I figured if I got to 5.5 miles without finding my road, I would know I'd missed it. But luckily, at 5 miles I spotted the first turn, with the second shortly thereafter. As I neared the cabin and 5.6 miles approached, I decided I couldn't stop without finishing the whole six miles. I still had ten minutes of leeway before I used up my allotted time and raised a "missing" alarm. Four tenths of a mile in ten minutes? I thought I could handle it.

So I just kept running past the cabin for another two tenths, and turned back to finish at 6.01, five minutes before "deadline." By that time either the air had warmed a bit or I had become accustomed to it, because my lungs had stopped burning. Actually that probably happened about two miles in.

Needless to say, the cabin has no indoor shower facilities, but on the other hand, I was hardly sweating in the cold weather, so I quickly changed clothes, made myself some instant oatmeal for breakfast, and we packed up to head out. We had a three to four hour trip home, not including any stops we might want to make along the way.

The first of which was just down the road from the cabin, to view some of the dramatic surrounding scenery.



Then we headed back towards home. In Waterville, we detoured off the main road to check out Badger Mountain Ski Hill. Right now there's not a lick of snow on the ground, but assuming a decent winter snowfall, this small ski area will open in January for skiing (three rope tows). With the roads clear right now, we were able to drive right up to the top and look down the main run into the Waterville farmland area below.




Our final stop on the east side of the mountains was in Cashmere, at the delightful Anjou Bakery, for a bite of lunch (quiche) and a treat (cherry pie for him, which was reportedly scrumptious; and a shortbread brownie for me, which was, yes, a layer of brownie on a layer of shortbread).

Actually that was not quite the last stop. That was at Safeway in Leavenworth, for a fill-up of gas (with an amazing phenomenon, a 20-cent reduction off the posted price, for a net cost of $2.06 per gallon), and for me, a quick trip into that coffee shop inside the store that I apparently mention a lot by name in this blog.

And then we were over the pass, going right by Stevens Pass Ski Area (where we intend to spend a lot of time this winter), and zooming westward toward home, work, and another week.

Like a drowned rat

This morning was the first time this fall that it's been really, really raining when I went out. Oh there's been drizzle and mist and sputtering sporadic showers, but steady rainfall? Not until today.

By the time I got home my clothes were soaked through, and I don't think I was even sweating. I'm pretty sure if I'd stepped on the scale fully dressed I would have added five pounds in wet clothing! At one point I know the rain was dripping off my hat. My gloves, when I stopped at Starbucks, were so soaked that I could literally wring the water out of them. Halfway along I took off my glasses and put them in my pocket, because between the rain on the outside and steam on the inside, I couldn't see a thing. My spectacle-free myopically impaired vision was much better.*

Needless to say, my feet were squishing in my shoes by the time I stepped in the first puddle. After that, it didn't really matter any more!

And at some point I dropped the cap on my water bottle and instead of stopping to recover it, I figured, what's the point? It's not like the splashing from the bottle could get me any more wet that I already was. So I ran on with an open bottle and, you know, I don't think it splashed me at all!

Despite the bad weather I had managed to get up half an hour early, which allowed me to add on an extra mile** and still get to work a little early. Since I was early, I stopped at Starbuck's and walked the last half mile home. My average pace (before the walking portion) was 10:09, which included 3¾ miles at a sub-10 minute pace. The other miles (which alternated with the faster miles) were above 10 minutes. (Obviously.)

And despite the bad weather, I still felt great when I was done!


*I am seriously considering getting contacts just for the purpose of running in the rain. Maybe for skiing too.

**For a total of 7.23 miles, the last half mile walking.