Week 2: Building the Routine…and the Beginning of Fundraising
Plus a Flavorful, Easy Vegan Meal for a Busy Weeknight (and a special surprise)!
This week I was back to “business as usual” with the end of my training class last week. So I was back in the office and required to fit all of my exercise in during my lunch breaks (still too hot to run outside in the evenings in Houston for me…plus we got a lot of much needed rain this week).So, my challenge for the week was to get into a regular training routine with my normal work schedule (7am-5pm M-F). I’m used to making the most of my lunchtime by working out, but now I need to strike the balance between my running and yoga workouts to make sure I not only get the cardio I need, but also the breathing/stretching benefits that I’ve been experiencing with my yoga.
Here’s how my week broke down…
Training Update:
Saturday – 3 mi Memorial Park Loop Run (pictured above at approx. 2nd mile)
Sunday – rest (way too humid to run in the morning 
)
Monday – 20 min easy run + 1 hr yoga (lunchtime)
Tuesday – ~1 hr climbing (evening)
Wednesday – 20 min easy run + ~30 min yoga (lunchtime)
Thursday – 20 min easy run (afternoon as I had a lunchtime talk to attend)
Friday – rest (well, sort of…more on that later!)
My first fundraising update!
Fundraising is going very well!
I started off by placing a “tip jar” in my cube at work for people to throw loose change into (mostly pennies, but every bit helps). Then on Wednesday, I brought in my popular homemade granola bars and sent out an email to all of my friends and co-workers informing them I was selling them in my cube for a suggested donation of $0.50/each. I started out with my 18 bar batch in the morning, and within an hour of sending the email, I had sold out with just over $15 raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!
Then on Thursday I brought in some extra Honey Zucchini Bread (recipe still in refinement) with a suggested donation of $1.00. I started off with 6 slices and made $9.00 on that batch! Not bad for using my hobby to help generate fundraising support…
In my bake sale email, I also asked for support from my friends and co-workers in the form of larger donations. I’m so gracious for the support I’ve received from my co-workers! Within 3 days of sending out the email, I now have $525 in my fundraising account (not including money made from the bake sale), well towards my personal fundraising goal of $3000 (especially with my company match program)!
Next week my goal is to sell a few more batches of granola bars, possibly banana bread as well! Also, I hope to finalize the plans for my blog incentive program. So, hang tight, I’ll hopefully have time to work out the details this week (depending what life has to deal us)!
Nutrition Update + Recipe:
Nutritionally we are doing well as well. We had to go out for dinner one night this week, as we had plans to meet someone at 6pm and didn’t have time to prepare anything beforehand (mmm….Ziggy’s Chickpea Burgers…need to formally review that one sometime, they’re excellent!).
Wednesday night, I was thinking about trying something different, out of our comfort zone…
I love portabella mushrooms, but haven’t experimented with them much, as Mark isn’t the hugest fan of mushrooms (though he is warming up to them…). I decided it would be interesting to give them a try this week, so I searched for recipes through FoodGawker and TasteSpotting.
Problem with portabella recipes is that they always seem to be the same type of recipes, either grilled as burgers or stuffed with various cheeses and goodies of the sorts.
However, in this search, I found something that looked very interesting on FoodGawker from The Culinary Sherpas. In this recipe, they created a Moroccan-inspired lentil dish and added spice coated and grilled portabella caps.
This turned out to be a recipe with a lot of potential! I loved it, but we need to make a few small modifications to make it a bit milder on the cumin…
Here’s how we did it this time though (modifications in red):
Moroccan-inspired Lentils with Portabella (adapted from: Culinary Sherpas):
- 1 cup dry lentils (used Goya Green Lentils)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp cumin (reducing to 2 tbsp next time)
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (use good stuff, really makes this dish shine)
- 2 extra large portabella caps (or 4 large ones, use your judgment)
We used the same method outlined at Culinary Sherpas, so please check them out and give them some support!
This recipe had a bit too much cumin for our tastes (well for Mark’s at least, I was o.k. with it but could do with less). But, it was very filling and nutritious!
Nutrition (makes 4 servings):
- 180 cal
- 10 g fat (olive oil)
- 22 g carbs
- 10 g fiber (wow…)
- 11 g protein
Excellent macronutrient ratio! Equal protein, fat, and fiber! Can’t really beat that…
Our Big Surprise!
Now for the big surprise of the week…
Our little family got bigger this week! Friday (today) we became the proud parents of a rescue dog, Sasha!
Isn’t she a beauty? Sasha is the perfect dog for us. She is likely mostly greyhound mixed with some kind of terrier and probably a splattering of some other stuff, but greyhound and terrier components are most pronounced in her. She is a 1.5 years old, so she is clearly out of the “puppy” stage and is very well trained and behaved. Actually, she was the dog of the woman who helps run the rescue’s father, who unfortunately passed away last October. So, we know a lot about her health history (except her very early puppy-life) and she has been very well trained and taken care of (i.e. no outstanding trust issues).
She was pretty shy at first, fear urinating a few times on our floor (sorry if that’s too much information…). However, after a little time in the crate while we ran errands, we came home to her excited to go on her first walk with us!
We walked for ~1/2 a mile with her at a fairly brisk pace. She is great a heeling and even knows all of the basic commands (sit, lay down, stay, heel, leave it). After that walk, she was pooped and went back into her crate for about an hour nap…
After awakening from her nap, she was ready and raring to go again, looking for affection all the time…It took no time at all for her to loosen up and start opening her heart to us!
I was a bit worried to get the wrong dog, but so far, so good!
She is a beautiful dog and is going to be a good fit for our lifestyle! Now if we can just understand what her bathroom schedule is…
