Curry and Eggs–Egg Salad inspired by my mom

SO apparently egg salad is pretty popular. My last recipe for Avocado Egg Salad has been a massive hit with my readers. I’ve decided that since I am obviously an egg-spert when it comes to eggs especially the organic kind (did you know that our family farm is Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs?) that I should try my hand at whipping up some more new egg salad creations. My latest recipe inspiration is from when I was little. When my parents had friends over when I was little she would often make curried egg salad as an hors d’oeuvres to be served on crackers to the guests. I loved sampling the creamy egg curry and crunching crackers as did their guests. This curried egg salad  with granny smith apples is loaded with flavor with a blend of curry, mustard, sea salt and some pepper. The egg salad has a fresh and bright taste from the organic pea shoots that accompany this sandwich as well as the tart granny smith apples that add a perfect crunch.

Enjoy!

And a little side-note . . . Happy International Women’s Day! Make it an inspired one. Go out and accomplish your dreams!

Rosie the Riveter

Upcoming Races:

Winter Wild at Whaleback Mountain

Winter Wild Championship at Bretton Woods Ski Resort

Eastern States 20 Miler (In preparation for my first Boston Marathon!)

The BOSTON MARATHON!!!!!!!! 

Fresh Friday Recipe

Fresh Friday Recipe: Shrimp Crêpes with Wilted Baby Kale

Last night I went to prepare dinner for my kids. My daughter put in a special request. Pancakes for dinner. I decided this would be a good plan and went to the cupboard to get my pancake making supplies. When I got to my cabinet I was hit with a sudden inspiration. I saw the bag of William-Sonoma Crêpe mix that my husband had gotten for me for Christmas along with a beautiful new crêpe pan. It was beckoning to me. I decided rather than plain pancakes we’d have crêpes for dinner.

I decided on sweet crêpes for the kids, cinnamon sugar with sliced strawberries with scrambled Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs on the side.  My daughter loved them and devoured them along with her eggs. My son who is two was not as convinced and became preoccupied with the sticky fingers he had acquired from tasting the cinnamon sugar buttery goodness and decided he did not want to eat them.

My palate was craving something more savory. After finding the perfect ingredients in my refrigerator I knew what I would make. I wanted to make a shrimp crêpe inspired by shrimp tacos. The end result was incredible. The perfect blend of sweet from the sweet cream crêpes combined with cumin pan-cooked shrimp with lime and Cholula Chili Lime Hot Sauce. The dish was made perfect with the addition of wilted Olivia’s Organics baby kale and some Cabot Sour cream. WOW!

Ingredients for Shrimp Crêpes with Wilted Baby Kale

• 2/3 cup William-Sonoma Sweet Cream Crêpe Mix (My next project in the kitchen is to learn how to make crêpe batter from scratch.)
• 2/3 cup Water
• 2 Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs
• Melted Unsalted Cabot Coop Butter to grease the crêpe pan
• 1 lb peeled and devined shrimp
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• Lime Juice
• Cholula Chili Lime Hot Sauce (Use as much as you like . . . I like mine spicy!)
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• Olivia’s Organics Cooking Greens–Baby Kale
• Cabot Coop Sour Cream

Directions:

Prepare the Sweet Cream Crêpe Mix using water and 2 Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs. Blend until smooth. Cook crêpes using your crêpe pan (this takes practice!). Cover with foil and set aside.

Peel shrimp and season using 1/2 teaspoon cumin, salt and pepper to taste, freshly squeezed lime juice. Also add Cholula Hot Sauce with lime (add as much as you can handle. I like it spicy!!!!)

Meanwhile, boil water for your baby kale. When water reaches boiling add greens and cook until desired tenderness.

In a frying pan cook shrimp for approximately 2 minutes per side or until cooked through and pink. Don’t cook for too long as they will dry out quickly.

After all of your ingredients have been prepared separately lay out your crêpe and add shrimp. Top with wilted baby kale, Cabot Sour Cream. If desired you can add additional hot sauce and lime juice. Carefully fold your crêpe and ENJOY!

Robert Frost

I feel like such a delinquent blogger with my posts lately. Once the weather turned cold my kids (ages 4 and 2) have been sick non-stop. It has been almost 5 weeks now of illness with only a few days of reprieve here and there. Plus they never seem to be sick at the same time. They are tag-teaming. Once one is healthy the other one immediately has a fever or cough that appears. I try to get them outside as much as possible to get some fresh air but since they both attend pre-school it is nearly impossible to avoid the germs. All of this illness has meant a lot of nights of interrupted sleep and many trips to see the doctor. My energy level has been cut in half and I have humongous dark circles and of course that has meant I have had to take some time-outs from blogging.  My biggest challenge right now is to get my kids healthy and happy!!!

At the Doctor Again

How do you keep your little kids healthy when the seasons change?

When I am not tending to my kids or working I have made it a point to squeeze in my workouts because this time of year has me feeling blue anyways. The only cure for me with the seasonal blues is to exercise and get outside to absorb some Vitamin D and the most necessary ingredient for curing the winter blues is to enjoy a fun run with your best running friends.

And Go!

On Saturday my awesome friend and running buddy Joanna decided to arrange a fun trail “race” right where she lives. She mapped out a 4 mile-ish course on the trails so we wouldn’t get lost and tested out the run prior to our meet-up with her husband. When I arrived at Joanna’s on Saturday morning I was greeted by a sea of day-glo orange. Being that it is hunting season right now you can never be too careful when heading into the woods. The energy of the group was high and the group of women that I run with were super motivated as usual. Joanna took us on a quick short loop preview of the course to ensure that we knew which way to go. Running in the woods on trail at this time of year can be extra challenging with slippery brown leaves everywhere camouflaging roots and rocks.  Extra fancy footwork is needed to keep your balance.

We started our “race” and took off at varying paces.  A perfect day to be in the woods and a “race” with no pressure to get in a little bit of speed was what we all needed. When we arrived at the ened of the course we were all smiling, sweating, and had a great rosy glow, the kind you get from a hard workout in the cold. This “race” was such a great idea to help keep us motivated and help to keep my spirits up during the “blah” months of November. To add to the fun I brought some “prizes” too (I was going to bring a chicken for my friend Joanna but didn’t catch one in time!).  At the finish I gave out Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs to our “race director” Joanna and  for everyone else some Ignite Naturals Reload Energy Gel and coupons for organic eggs. I would highly recommend planning an “event” like this with your running friends.

Trail “Racing” Fun

Strong Women

Do you have a favorite trail race or trail run?

Related Posts: 

Trail Running this Weekend? Yes, Please!

The 12 Commandments of Training

It’s getting cold out there . . .

I have some exciting news . . . and no I am not pregnant. I have decided to go back to school for nutrition to become a Certified Health Coach. I will be starting the program to become a Health Coach starting this January. My training will be through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Health Coach Training

Nutrition plays a key role in our everyday health and wellness. As an athlete we must think of  nutrition as one of the integral part of our success during training as well as on race day.  I am someone who has an extremely fast metabolism so I need to guarantee that the calories and nutrients that I choose to put into my body will help me to sustain for long periods of exercise. If I am not careful I can end up having a terrible workout or race when my body quickly burns through what I have eaten.  I have always wanted to learn more about nutrition for my own personal health and wellness. My interest in nutrition and food also plays an important role for my family. We own an organic egg farm so food issues are an integral part of our daily life. I want to nourish my children with the most wholesome food possible to ensure that grow up to be strong in mind, body, and spirit.

Get to know your farmer and where your food comes from. Here are our organic hens in their winter garden.

I am excited about sharing my knowledge of nutrition and to help guide people as they work towards improving their own health and wellness.

I started this blog last November as a way to get myself back on track with running and to establish some new goals for myself. This blog has taken me on a personal journey and has helped me to gain some more clarity as to my own health and wellness goals as well as potential career goals.

I can’t wait to begin this new learning adventure! I hope you will join me . . .

Have you heard of October #Unprocessed?

From Andrew Wilder at Eating Rules

October #Unprocessed is a challenge for the month of October from Andrew Wilder’s blog Eating Rules. This foodie challenge intrigued me right away being the wife of an organic egg farmer as well as someone concerned about clean eating and an athlete. I want to know what I am putting into my body to fuel myself throughout the day and on training runs and in races and I especially want to know what I am feeding my kids. If nothing else taking this challenge will have you thinking about your eating habits and reflecting upon the choices that you make at the grocery store as well as recipes that you choose to try.

It is week two of the challenge and after a lot of thought about what we eat in our family I find that we do pretty well as a whole. We tend to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains at our house as well as lean proteins. Of course we also eat a lot of Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs too!

Organic eggs are a staple in our kitchen.

I have found that it is the most difficult to go #unprocessed at lunch with the kids and sometimes at snack time.  My kids (ages 2 and 4) both love to eat sandwiches and love ham and turkey cold cuts. We try to by Applegate Farms organic deli meats whenever possible because they contain no nitrates and do not have any artificial flavorings as well as being antibiotic free.

Here is a sample of what I might include in a school lunch:

1. Tofu (amazingly my kids still love plain tofu!)
2. Cabot Cheese
3. Cherry Tomatoes (Sungold Tomatoes when in season)
4. Homeade muffins
5. Stonyfield Yogurt  (This is on my list of things I want to try to make from scratch. I already have a yogurt maker at home I just need to learn how to use it)
6. sliced cucumbers
7. blueberries, strawberries, apple slices etc.
8. Noodles
9. Sliced chicken
10. Sandwiches (Any suggestions for other types of #unprocessed sandwiches?-Thankfully my kids like egg salad)

 What #unprocessed foods do you include in your kids school lunches? I’d love some new ideas?

Snacks can be hard to when you are on the go. I try to keep a container of cut up fruit in the kitchen (strawberries, melon, pineapple, apple slices etc.) that I can quickly grab and put in our snack containers. During the summer we love fresh sun gold tomatoes from the garden, pea pods, green beans, fresh carrots, and green peppers. My kids love dipping their fruits and vegetables while they are snacking. I am working on being better at making my own dips and also use nut butters for things such as apple slices. Dried and freeze dried fruits are also popular. My kids also love homemade Popsicles and yogurt frozen like a Popsicle.

Snack-time is one area of eating that hope to improve upon and will be trying out some new snacks with my kids as the challenge continues.

The next new snack recipe I would like to try making is:

• Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls from fellow FitFluential Ambassador Melanie Flinn at Nutritious Eats

What are some of your favorite #Unprocessed foods that you have on hand for your kids? Do you have any snack recipe recommendations for October #Unprocessed? I need some new inspiration!

Related Articles:

October #Unprocessed Start Here

Raising Kids to Appreciate Unprocessed Food in a Character-Filled World

“October Unprocessed:” My Interview With Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules

Defining “Unprocessed” 

Perfect Fuel Chocolate

This August I was lucky enough to have an entry at the 40th Running of the Falmouth Road Race.  I spent the race weekend in Falmouth working at the race expo at the Athletes for a Fit Planet booth in support of A Fit Planet, our family farm Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs, and another Fit Planet Green Partner Perfect Fuel Chocolate.  We spent two days supporting the efforts of Athletes for a Fit Planet to make the race a “green event.” We worked hard to encourage all runners to take part in the Athletes for a Fit Planet Eco-pledge.

Green Partners with Athletes for a Fit Planet

Healthy Fuel Chocolate is a new company started by Nicolas Warren, a triathlete who is passionate about food and how it affects sports performance.  His partner on “Team Cocoa” is Director of Operations, Miles Masci who worked with cocoa farmers in Ecuador during his time in the Peace Corps prior to joining up with Nicolas.

Nicolas and Miles both have a great passion and energy for what they are doing (Perhaps its due to consuming too much ginseng chocolate? haha!).

According to the package this is a “pure and delicious snack for a healthy active lifestyle.”

The chocolate that they are currently marketing comes in a super cool pouch that is actually made out of rice and is reusable.  The chocolate is organic dark chocolate made out of raw cacao with 500 mg American Ginseng to provide you with a natural energy boost and natural endurance.  A serving size is one piece (14g) of chocolate which contains 80 calories and 6 g of fat. The raw cacao contains omega 3′s and omega 6′s as well as the antioxidant flavanol.  The American ginseng in the chocolate helps with circulation, endurance and can have a calming effect.

Pre-race energy boost

After meeting Nicolas and Miles I of course had to try their Perfect Fuel Chocolate. On race day at the Falmouth Road Race (a 7 miler) it was raining buckets but I was excited to run with the 13,000 or so runners. I got to the starting area and spent some time quietly sitting and taking it all in and then had my Perfect Fuel Chocolate before heading out for my warm-up run.  The chocolate has an intense rich flavor that you will love especially if you love dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate can taste bitter to some people but it is definitely my favorite.  I headed out for my warm-up run and then hit the starting line.

7 miles along the coast

My energy at the starting line was high, the excitement of the race, a great warm-up run and some awesome pre-race fuel! It was hot and humid on the course so I had to stop at every hydration station along the course and was wishing that I had some more Perfect Fuel at about mile five. It is amazing how much the heat can drain you. Overall I was psyched with my run crossing the finish line in 54:29 for 7 miles.

Perfect Fuel-”I am a chocolate athlete”

Nicolas and Miles are working towards expanding their product line to include more flavors  and have launched a campaign to raise money through crowd source funding on Indiegogo.  They would like to bring you healthy chocolate inspired by todays athletes. The new flavors would be Organic Coffee, Organic Chia and Sea Salt.  I hope they are able to raise the funds that they need because those flavors sound amazing and also provide some great health benefits for athletes.

Please be sure to check out Perfect Fuel Chocolate for long lasting endurance!

Heart of Vermont Productions

Did you know that my family farm, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs,  has teamed up with Athletes for a Fit Planet as one of their Green Partners to help reduce the environmental footprint on race day? This summer we have been actively participating in the greening of several different athletic events-The Peachtree Road Race (Atlanta, GA), The Beach to Beacon 10K (Cape Elizabeth, ME), The Falmouth Road Race (Falmouth, MA), The USA Triathlon National Championship (Burlington, VT) and the VT 100 on 100 Relay (Stowe, VT-Ludlow-VT) and in September we will be at Reach the Beach NH (Franconia, NH to Hampton Beach NH).

Bruce Raynor, the Chief Green Officer of Athletes for a Fit Planet works with race directors as a consultant to develop a plan for creating more sustainable race events. A Fit Planet helps events to become “Green Certified” which includes taking the Pledge of Sustainability. A Fit Planet is working on this initiative with the Active Network and the Council for Responsible Sport  Part of that plan includes providing recycling, composting, and garbage removal options for race day. Also, A Fit Planet has worked with companies such as Water Monster which provides the no waste-option for hydration of

Be Green~RECYCLE

athletes on race day. The Water Monster System is a bulk water system for use with refillable re-usable water bottles to eliminate the need for plastic water bottles on race day.  This system was in place at the Vermont 100 on 10 Relay last weekend.  With the Water Monsters placed at recycling stations along the course there was a significant reduction in the amount of recycling and waste on race day.

Thirsty Runners love Water Monster

If you are an eco-conscious athlete, please take the Athletes For a Fit Planet Eco-Pledge. By taking the pledge you are promising to take action by supporting eco-friendly race events as well as to stay committed to recycling and other earth friendly practices during your daily life. We wholeheartedly support keeping our bodies fit as well as our planet.

Related Articles:

Athletes for a Fit Planet and Council for Responsible Sport Announce Partnership

100 on 100

VT Edition: 100 on 100 Relay (VPR)

Nature Runner

The next couple of weeks are going to be full of amazing racing fun! I am ready to get out there and rock the marathon on Friday. On Friday I will be racing 24 Hours Around the Lake. I am approaching this race differently and have hardly been thinking about race day. I am treating this race as though it is one of my spontaneous race entries where I decide to run the day before the race. Oftentimes it is the spur of the moment races where I perform the best because I am mostly focused on enjoying the experience and have a secondary goal of getting out there and running my heart out. I plan to do the same on Friday and soak in the adventure of running a marathon at night!

After the race on Friday my race calendar is jam packed! I will be joining our friends from Athletes for a Fit Planet 

Greening the planet one event at a time.

and our family farm Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs

at the Race Expo for the Beach to Beacon 10K  and The Falmouth Road Race. I am egg-cited to talk with all of the runners about our family farm as well as to talk about our work with Athletes for a Fit Planet to help with Sustainability Initiatives at athletic events. In addition to working at the expos I will be joining the racers on the starting line. At the B2B 10K I am hoping to P.R.  While at the Falmouth Road Race I am looking forward to experiencing “America’s Family Race” on Cape Cod, running the historic 7 mile course in the fresh ocean air.

Happy chickens lay better eggs.

I am also racing my favorite race this August, The Vermont 100 on 100 Relay.  I will be joined by two other amazing women runners to make up our Ultra Team of Pete and Gerry’s Organic Chicks to race 100 miles on Vermont’s Scenic Route 100.

What races will you be racing in the next couple of weeks? I’d love to have you share your race stories!

Heart of Vermont Relay

Organic Runner Mom vs. Loon Mountain

Tomorrow is the Acidotic Racing Loon Mountain Race. I am ready! I am ready to face this mountain running challenge. Earlier this week my energy was completely off and running felt like I was dragging around a couple of lead weights. Plus with all of the humidity my lungs felt tight and slightly suffocated by the humid pollen filled air. Thankfully my energy has shifted and I am ready to go for it and give everything tomorrow morning.

Loon Mountain Race

The plan for the race tomorrow is to run for me. To run because I love it. To challenge the mountain. To challenge my body and to challenge my mental strength.  I want to reach the summit of the north peak of Loon via “Upper Walking Boss” and to have an empty tank. That’s what it’s about right?  Putting it all on the line! (plus as an added bonus again I might be able to win the best prize for any racer . . .our very own Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs)

Extreme Protein-Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs

Be sure to check back soon for the race report. This is the women’s qualifier for the US Mountain Running Team so there will be some amazing runners out on the course tomorrow. It will be awe-inspiring!

Promise