Amaranth to the Rescue (well not really but I learned a lot anyway)

It is still technically summer in Western PA (even though everyone is gearing up to head back to school!) and with summer not only comes a surplus of sweet corn but a surplus of zuccinni. This is another what in the world do I do with all of this ____________ (insert vegetable here) recipes that came to the rescue. My CSA has been loading me up with zucchini. And I like some zucchini in a salad or to munch on raw but I could not possibly eat all of this zucchini by myself (because of course my daughter licks it and tells me its yucky.)

I decided to cook up some fun zucchini boats to try and trick my 2 year old with the novelty of what we are eating and to free up some space on my fridge. (It totally didn't work. She still licked the zucchini and told me it was yucky. At least I tried.)

I found this really awesome looking quinoa stuffed zucchini recipe and was psyched to make it. I get really excited about plant based protein and quinoa is a great one to have on hand. Most of the recipes I found at first called for some sort of meat stuffing. Yay plants! Until I looked in my freezer (yes I keep my opened grains in the freezer for freshness) and I had zero quinoa and it was the 11th hour. A trip to the store was not happening.

So I got creative. Quinoa is technically a seed and I had some amaranth from my field trip to Bob's Red Mill (best. day. ever.) which is also technically a seed. Sounded good to me and I started to cook it up. Well as it turns out it wasn't the best substitute I ever made. It tasted good but the texture was off. (And I added turmeric so that is why it is yellow - Yay for anti-inflammatory foods. I can use all the help I can get in that department!)

The amaranth cooked up kind of runny and it stayed really small. It doesn't fluff up when it cooks like rice or quinoa. I do think it would make an awesome (and protein packed) sub for oatmeal in the morning -- with a little cinnamon and some blueberries. (Yum!) But it was not the best choice as a sub for a stuffing in my zucchini boats. It kind of oozed out every where. It tasted really good it was just goopy looking (and kind of freaked me out.) So while I will never make that sub again I am excited to try it in other things especially after looking into what amaranth is all about.

Here are some things I learned about amaranth (thanks to http://wholegrainscouncil.org for the lesson!)

• It is a complete protein (Yay!) and for those of us who don't eat meat or would like to cut back on our meat consumption this is a great thing. A protein is considered complete when it contains all 9 essential amino acids that our bodies don't create. In this case amaranth contains lysine -- an amino acid that is typically missing in most grains. 

• It is also good for your heart and studies have shown it to be a cholesterol lowering whole grain (for more information and links to these studies please visit http://wholegrainscouncil.org)

• And it's gluten free -- and with all they hype around gluten right now that seems to always be a plus. 

• It also has a ton of magnesium and iron

I also read that it can be popped, like corn. How cool is that -- I am super excited to try that out and see if it can satisfy when my crunchy munchy cravings hit. Or to throw on top of salads. Or soup.

So if you have a chance pick up some amaranth and try it. Leave any recipes in the comments below. I would love to know what you think and am always on the lookout for killer recipes (that may get my kid to eat something other than fruit and cheese-- but it could be worse.) I used Bob's Red Mill brand as I (indirectly) mentioned above. Because I am obsessed with Bob's Red Mill (it may be my very favorite place in the Pacific Northwest second only to Cannon Beach -- but seriously the corn grits may have been life changing. Not kidding.) 

Why July was a total bust (and I am so ready to embrace August)

I am so over July.

It was a month of changes (but not where I wanted them) and plateaus. I am super happy to be back in my favorite city (Yay Pittsburgh!) but not dealing with a crabby toddler who suddenly has an opinion about where she wants to be (which is currently anywhere but here.)


In addition to bi-annual cross country trek, I started spending my mornings with crabby teenage girls. I was expecting girls who were eager to work and excited to be there and instead I am getting grumbling, dragging feet and even whining. We spent four days (and three nights) together at cheer camp and there were ups and downs (and some tears) and I thought we made headway on the effort and "your coaches can't care for you" front. But, it seems, we are back to square one when it comes to said effort and dedication. And then I feel like a hypocrite lecturing them about effort and dedication (for the millionth time) when I have let my own effort and dedication slide this month. Big time.

Sure, I can blame it on moving or being away at cheer camp or having my schedule completely turned on it's head -- going from only having to worry about B, getting my workout in and what to cook for dinner. I can blame it on the fact that I have started Month 2 of TurboFire and Month 2 for me is always hard, no matter the program (and how much I loved it the first month.) It is that point where you no longer have the excitement from starting a new program and doing something different, but you also don't have the Month 3 the end is in sight mentality either. I struggle in the middle to get over the hump.  It doesn't help that I am bit of an anal perfectionist either. If I miss a day (or three) on the  schedule and didn't follow it the "right way" I try to repeat the week to do it correctly. So not only do I lose steam in Month 2, but I end up repeating weeks and make it way longer than it should be.

In addition to my failure at TurboFire this month,  I have been trying to add in the C25K training on top of it. The weather, humidity and my asthma has not been kind in that regard. One of the things I am worst at in the world is running so I need to conquer that (before I get too old.) An item that is on my bucket list is running a race (even if it is a measly 5K.) I am terrified of doing one, having struggled to run a single mile my entire life. I can kick box, dance, and out Zumba a lot of people but running is something I am not built for -- and I want to change that or at least prove I can conquer it. My Aunt has fantasies about all of us girls going to Disney to participate in the Princess Half Marathon (and while the idea of running in a tutu sounds like so much more fun than just running) I have no idea how I will be able to huff and puff my way through 13.1 miles (even if I am covered in glitter and fairy dust.) But I have come to the realization that I need to have big and scary dreams to accomplish anything. If what I want to do is way out of reach (and strikes terror in me) then I am more likely to get my a$$ in gear.

So enough whining about my lack of accomplishing anything this month and looking forward. What am I going to do about it? First I dug out all the old jeans I have held onto over the years. (And I used to work retail and hoard jeans--so it's a lot.) After surveying the 25 + pairs of jeans that DON'T FIT I decided to do something slightly dramatic (in my mind anyway.) I posted a picture and put it on the internet. I also decided to do a Skinny Jeans/Drop a Jean Size challenge during the months of August and September. (Read about that here.) By motivating others, I motivate myself and hold myself accountable. (Kind of selfish - yes - but selfish in the way volunteering is selfish. We volunteer to help others and because it makes us feel good. And everything is inherently selfish according to my husband so there's that.)

So I am looking forward instead of focusing on where I misstepped this month. Focusing on what I can do now to fix it instead of saying "Well, I suck. So I might as well eat a pound of chocolate tonight while I still suck and start again tomorrow...or Monday because starting over on Mondays is way better. Much neater on the calendar. Or maybe just next month. Yes! I will have a whole month that is clean and healthy. How great is that. Now hand over that popcorn so I can watch some TV." So changing this mentality is kind of big which if I do say so myself is an improvement. (Maybe July wasn't so bad after all....)