I had every intention of taking Monday off, the day after my first half marathon.  It was a reward to myself. It turned out to be a 3/4 day off.

It was suppose to be a day I slept in. That didn’t happen. When Ted got up, he didn’t take Shane downstairs with him.  For some reason, only known to Shane, it’s ok that Ted stays in bed when I get up but I am NOT allowed to stay in bed if Ted gets up.  Shane whines and whines and nuzzles me with his nose.  At 5 AM I gave in, got up and we went for a 4.67 mile walk. 

That left foot (the ball of my foot) was achy as we approached home.  It seems to be an on-off kind of a bruise pain. 

I made some Tasty Hemp Banana Muffins (below) then took the bike out for a spin. That’s when I ended up at work for a few hours.

It was 10 miles there and 10 miles back. 20 mile bike ride-yaho0!. The ride to work wasn’t bad at all.  The ride FROM work was tough.  The wind was strong and blowing me either back or sideways. Twice it almost felt like it would knock me off.   It took me 43 minutes to ride to work and about an hour to get home. 

This weeks work out plan was changed due to foot pain.  As for soreness, I’m not sore at all from my run.   That’s good and bad:  Good being that I’m in good condition.  Bad being that maybe I didn’t push myself hard enough yesterday.  I really have to learn to be patient with myself, after all it was my FIRST half.   The next one, May 23rd will be better AND it’s local.  Yes, I’m already signed up for round two (as per suggested by my Triathlete coach).  There IS a masochistic side to me.

My foot felt better today during our walk.  It’s a little achy but definitely on the mend.

What are your workout plans?

Tasty Hemp-Banana Muffins – Makes 12 large muffins

• 1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Hulled Hemp Seed (you could substitute flaxseed meal)
• 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (uncooked) (you could substitute oats or bran cereal)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (*you need the high moisture of brown sugar in the recipe)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1 cup sliced almonds (optional)
• 6 oz Greek Yogurt (honey flavored if possible or with fruit)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 mashed over ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick baking spray.

Mix all your dry ingredients together from the wheat flour to the almonds (if using).

In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients from the yogurt to the bananas.

Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and just mix until it’s all moistened. 

Fill muffin tins and bake 25 minutes.  Make sure the knife comes out clean but don’t over cook.

Note that the fat in these muffins isn’t coming from any oil or butter but comes from your hulled hemp seed, sliced almonds, and eggs.  The other fat replacement or rather ingredient that adds tenderness is the bananas.   The brown sugar is important because it adds moisture to the muffins.

Have you ever tried Hemp seed?  Do you prefer hemp seed or flax seed?

Some exciting news:

1.  TERRY GOT A TATTOO!  Look at this beauty:

It was inevitable as soon as he bought his motorcycle. Is Ted’s son Teddy next?  

2.  SUSAN GOT A KITTEN!  Her name is Gracie…that’s Gracie Scialdone:

It doesn’t get much cuter than that, does it. How adorable.

A Pancake story

Don’t you love chit – chatting with fellow bloggers?  It can be about anything.  Food and running are obviously two of my favorites.  This post has to do with a conversation about pancakes and egg substitutes for Vegan diets. 

One of my latest favorite blogs to visit is Ilax Studio.  My blogging friend is Kim and she maintains a Vegan diet.  I asked her about pancake or waffle recipes and if she knew of any really good ones that didn’t use eggs. Kim referred me to this site: VegWeb.com  PERFECT!  Now, what about that egg replacer.  I was told that a good substitute for egg replacer is 1 TBS milled flax seed plus 3 TBS warm water.  This recipe went on my list as a “must try”. 

• Makes about 12 small pancakes or 8 larger ones.
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg replacer *This is where I messed up.  I THOUGHT I had the flax seed substitute mentioned above. Turned out I had HULLED HEMP SEED.  Well, lets give it a try.  I used 1 TBS Bob’s Red Mill Hulled Hemp seed + 3 TBS Warm water  **See below for information on Hemp seed or see my link on EXAMINER
• 1 cup soymilk (I used non-fat vanilla flavor)
• 2 TBS canola oil

Directions:

Mix wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Mix dry ingredients in a larger bowl.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth.

Drop onto a medium preheated NON-STICK pan.

Flip over when each pancake begins to bubble on top. 

Serve with vegan buttery spread and maple syrup.

*By the way, this is a most interesting reference link: In Search of Vegan Food.  It lists standard kitchen ingredients where you just might find animal products. Who knew?!!!

These pancakes were light and delicious.  I could taste so much vanilla flavor – probably because I used Vanilla Non Fat Soy milk.  I couldn’t stop nibbling and that was WITHOUT butter or syrup.

Go ahead.  Give them a try. You will never know the difference.  Ah-Hem….Ted didn’t.  And, don’t tell him. He won’t like the idea of “soy” milk.

**Hulled Hemp Seed:  This information is taken off the package of “Bob’s Red Mill Hulled Hemp Seed”.   For more information and a comparison between Hemp Seed and Flax Seed, see my link on EXAMINER.

Excellent protein source. All Essential Amino Acids.  High in Omega-3 & Omega-6.  A pleasant nut flavor and creamy texture. Gluten Free. 2 TBS = 90 calories.  Total fat is 6 grams.  Saturated = 1 g. Polyunsat. = 8 g. Monounsaturated = 2 g.  Trans fat = 0. Omega-3 = 882 mg.  Carbs. = 3 g. Sugars = 0.  Protein = 5 g. Iron = 6%.