Rock Climbing Fuel

Rock climbing has quickly become my new favorite activity. I dabbled in it for a time during high school, but viewed it more as a fun activity rather than something I strived to be good at. About two month ago, however, my interest in it was reborn and has been alive and well ever since.

It all started during a trip to OKC back in April. There are some old silos in downtown (yes, I know, shocking, there are silos in OK) that have been turned into an indoor rock climbing gym. For years (pretty much the whole time I was in school there) I wanted to give them a try but never could find anyone to accompany me.

Then one day a miracle happened, TF wanted to go climbing! I was estatic. We went the next time I was in town and were instantly hooked. It's really amazing how much better I've gotten in just a couple months (and I don't even get to go nearly as often as I'd like). I think, similar to yoga, my long limbs and natural flexibility make it something I take to naturally. This is something I'm thankful for because my upper body strength remains minimal at best despite my increased use of weights at the gym. Anyway, we loved climbing so much we even bought our own gear....and much to TF's dismay, matching shoes :)

Shoe twins

Inside one of the silos

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was in OKC yet again and TF and I made sure to plan multiple trips to the rock climbing gym into our itinerary. Before one such trip, we decided to make some pasta with a homemade sauce to help fuel us for our hours of climbing that lay ahead. The sauce we made is a standby favorite of ours. We've made several variations over the years, usually as part of our pre-race dinner before our half-marathons and it never fails to delight the tastebuds. We don't usually eat cheese pre-race, but for this version we decided to pick up some smoked gouda (a shared favorite for us) during our trip to Whole Foods (where we also shopped along side one of the Thunder players [Nick Collison])...highlight of my trip :)

Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Marinara

Ingredients

• 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes (we usually get the garlic and onion or basil one)
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 3-4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Olive oil (2-3 tbsp)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 package whole wheat pasta

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in skillet, added onion and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes (they'll continue to cook once combined with the tomatoes)
2. Combine tomatoes in large pot (we typically use a wok, but any large pot will work) and bring to a boil
3. Add onion and garlic to tomatoes, plus salt and pepper
4. Reduce heat slightly and continue to boil on medium-high for 30-45 minutes (or until reduced to desired consistency). We prefer a chunckier sauce, but the longer it cooks the more reduced the tomatoes will become, so it's just about preference
5. While sauce is reducing, cook pasta according to package directions
6. Once pasta and sauce are done, plate and serve!

Burger Time

One of the few things I enjoy about the summer season is grilling out. Although I don't own a grill of my own, I am fortunate enough to have friends (and family) that both own grills and enjoy using them. I gave up red meat four years ago this summer and since then, grill season has required a little creativity on my part.

Determined not to spend another grill season at the mercy of frozen veggie patties, I've spend the past couple of months trying my hand at various bean burger recipes. Unfortunately, my efforts have not been as successful as I would like. While the burgers (profiled here and here) have always been good in flavor, they have held together terribly during the cooking process.

As is becoming the norm of late, this was my only weekend in the District for the month and I was determined to make the most of my cooking opportunities. A month or so back, I acquired a can of black eyed peas at market with the intention of trying Alicia's burger recipe with them. Between my lack of time and previous failings in the burger department, I had yet to get around to doing so and decided Sunday was the perfect time to go for it. I was a little nervous as I'd been stalking this recipe FOREVER and was afriad of it not turning out the way it did for Alicia. She used to bring the leftover patties to lunch and I would just about drool over how good it looked. I could only hope my own patties would look as good.

Because I don't like to eat any food straight (ie: with no accompaniment...yes, another weird food issue of mine) and didn't really want to deal with getting buns, I began scanning the interweb to find a good side item for my burger patties. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs for zucchini fries. I was instantly sold as I'd acquired some fresh zuchinni at the farmers market that moring and had yet to decide what to do with it. Summer perfection.

Black Eyed Pea Burger
Adapted from Alicia

Ingredients

Burgers
Yields 4 burger patties

• 1 15 oz can black eyed peas (rinsed and drained) 
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups homemade bread crumbs (recipe below)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in pan.  Add onion and garlic, and cook covered on medium for about 5-7 minutes or until onions are soft
2. Add the cumin and thyme. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the beans and salt/pepper to taste, then cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes
3. Transfer the bean mixture to a food processor and pulse until smooth
4. Transfer the bean mixture to a medium bowl and mix in egg and bread crumbs. Form into four patties
5. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in pan.  Place the patties in the pan and cook on each side until golden brown
6. Top and serve as desired

Homemade Bread Crumbs
Yields about 4 cups

• 5 1/2 slices of 15 grain bread (this is just what I had on hand and needed to use up)

Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Lay out bread on baking sheet
3. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until dried out
4. Tear bread into large pieces and process until desired texture

*Extra bread crumbs can be saved in a ziplock bag in the freezer for future use

Baked Zucchini Fries

Original found here

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into skinny sticks
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I used some of the ones made above)
• 2 T grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• Pinch of dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°
2. In a small bowl, beat egg
3. Put the bread crumbs, basil, oregano, garlic powder and cheese on a plate and mix well
4. Dip the zucchini sticks in the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture, make sure all sides get coated well. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet
5. Bake at 425° for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy. Serve warm

Pecans Meet Bananas

How did I spend 27 years hating pecans?! They are my new favorite thing. In the span of one weekend I went from pecan hater to pecan obsessor. Seriously. Yet another reason I want it to be fall, stat.

The pecan entered my life during my weekend in Cleveland about a month ago. Lizzy (one of my oldest friends and hostess extrodenarie for the weekend) and I were watching an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and it was all about pecans. At first I was none too thrilled with the theme, but by the end, as they were closing with a segment on butter pecan ice cream, I suddenly found myself craving the delectable nut! Fortunately for me, Lizzy took me to a delightful ice cream parlor/candy shop up the street from her abode that and I got to put my craving to rest. I got some delightful pecan clusters (for later) and my first ever scoop of butter pecan ice cream. SO GOOD! It was love at first bite. I'm currently obsessed with getting my hands on butter pecan every time the opportunity presents itself. It's my new favorite summer game.

Cleveland: About to try butter pecan for the first time

Heaven in a cup

Richmond: the butter pecan tasting continued with Sister

When I'm not hunting down pecans blended with ice cream, I'm working to encorporate them into my baking. Unfortunately, since time has gotten away from me of late (and I'm constantly finding myself at BWI...seriously, it's like my second home) I haven't had much time to bake for fun. Luckily, one perk of having to be shuttled to and from the airport is that I can use the opportunity to pay my papa in baked goods. As I prepared to head to OKC for Memorial Day, I decided it was time to try my hand at a banana pecan bread. Hello yumminess.

Banana Pecan Bread

Adapted from this walnut version

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F 
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan
3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing

First baking with pecans = success!