Brussels sprouts, apple and pomegranate salad

Picture from Smitten Kitchen

I was in charge of providing the "vegetable" dish at our Thanksgiving day meal. I recently came across a beautiful picture on a friend's social media page with the recipe titled "Brussels sprouts, apple and pomegranate salad." I quickly bookmarked the recipe as I knew it would be a nutritious and flavorful dish, providing a pop of color to the Thanksgiving day table.

While the dish was well-received, I failed in snapping a picture of my final dish. So that is why I have the picture from the actual recipe featured above. Well, I did capture this picture of Campy at the head of the table where you can also see my dish.

I hope you enjoy my modification to the dish (for the actual recipe, click on this Smitten Kitchen link.). To help save time, I recommend to purchase your Brussels Sprouts already chopped and to buy a container of pomegrante seeds. This dish took me a while to make but it was worth it. But next time around, I'd consider going with a few short-cuts. :-)

Ingredients

• 1/2 large red onion, diced small
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups brussels sprouts (shredded)
• 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (a large one)
• 1 large Honeycrisp apple (chopped)
• Juice of a lemon
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Make the pickled onions: Combine red onion, wine vinegar, lemon zest and salt in a small bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. 
2. Combine brussels sprouts, pomegranta seeds and apple together in a large bowl. Toss with the pickling liquid. 
3. Combin lemon, honey and olive oil in a small bowl (or mason jar), give a shake and pour on salad (to your liking) when ready to eat/serve. 
4. Enjoy!

Purple yam, quinoa and Brussels Sprouts bowl

It's been a busy week for us with the launch of our new Trimarni coffee blends, and well as everything else that we have on our daily plate - coaching, nutrition consults, RETUL bike fits and training.

Alongside the time that I give to my business (which feels like non-stop, all day, 7-days a week), I make sure to schedule in time for sleep, cooking and eating and exercise. I don't feel it's selfish to take care of my health and to make sure I give myself "me time."

For anyone who is super busy (who isn't??), time management is key. Every person has their own "style" of time management and for me, I need a written to-do list alongside my Google calendar for consultations, private and group training camps and article deadlines. Karel uses his phone calendar. Because there will never be enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished, it's important to make the most of the time that you have.

If you are struggling to take care of your health and/or making time for yourself, don't underestimate the power of small chunks of time to accomplish something important.

I created the most delicious creation for dinner last night and the best part is that you can easily prep the items ahead of time to make it super easy to combine together for a beautifully looking, great-tasting dish. With the help of the microwave and stove top, I got a lot done in a short amount of time and only had to use two pans/pots. I also find it really helpful to prep food before working out as it's easier to make healthy food choices and when you aren't exhausted and hungry, you spend more time enjoying the meal prepping process.

I hope you enjoy my latest creation!

Purple yam, quinoa and Brussels Sprouts bowl 

Ingredients: 

• Purple yam or Sweet potato (cubed)
• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 6 ounce Brussels Sprouts (shredded) - I bought a 12 ounce bag of shredded Brussels Sprouts
• 1 package tempeh (cubed) or your choice protein
• Olive oil (at least 2 tbsp)
• Salt

Directions

1. Prepare quinoa according to package. 
2. In a large skillet with ~1 tbsp olive oil, sautee Brussels Sprouts until lightly brown. Season with salt to taste. Toss to prevent burning. 
3. Cook sweet potato in microwave until soft. Remove peel and cut into cubes. 
4. Pour Brussels Sprouts onto a plate and in the same skillet, cook cubed tempeh in ~1/2 - 1 tbsp olive oil. Season with salt to taste (optional pepper/cayenne). Toss to prevent burning and add extra oil as needed. 
5. Combine all ingredients in a bowl to your serving liking (presentation counts and extra points for taking a picture of your beautiful creation) and top/drizzle with your choice cheese, sauce or dressing. For an extra crunch, top with cashews. 
6. Now stop your busy day, enjoy your beautiful dish and savor every bite! 

2016 Thanksgiving recap

With family, friends and food, I can't complain.

Our 2016 Thanksgiving was a great success and we hope you had a lovely holiday.

It's hard to believe that we are just days away from December which means that time is flying.
It's very common to count down days and rush the week but let's remember to always make the most out of every day. Life moves quickly!
Can you believe it's almost 2017????



We started off our Thanksgiving morning in downtown Greenville. We had a few Trimarnis racing the Trees Greenville 8K, including Karel and thousands of other runners. I just love seeing our Main street packed with active minded individuals and I just love how our community supports physical activity.
I passed on the race for no reason other than I didn't want to trash my legs with a hard, short effort as I am trying to be as consistent as possible with my running in this foundation phase. There will be plenty of hard efforts to come in the next few months.

So, I let speedy legs Karel battle it out with the young runners for 8 kilometers on a rolling hill course. 

Clearly, Karel is not slowing down with age but instead, he's getting faster! 

Great work Lukas an Thomas!



Any my hard working training partner Meredith. 

It wouldn't be like me to just sit on the sidelines and watch so I ran a few miles with Meredith and then waited for Karel to finish. With our warm-up and cool down, we ended up with around 9 miles, which was a great start to the day.

We returned home around 11am and enjoyed a late breakfast (eggs with leafy greens, cheese and tomatoes and 2 slices of fresh bread topped with butter and jam) and then got to cooking.

Karel made his Czech inspired purple cabbage dish  and I prepared a new recipe (which is very unlike me to actually follow a recipe!) which was actually very delish.

For anyone who has yet to appreciate the taste of raw Brussels Sprouts, I think you will enjoy this recipe.

Lemonly Brussels Sprouts Recipe HERE

After we prepared our dishes, my cousin Orin and I (and Campy) walked over to my mom's house (1 mile away) to hang out for a bit before our Thanksgiving feast was served around 4:30pm. Karel was so exhausted from his 29 minute effort that he had to rest for a little bit before joining the fam (apparently he was not feeling 20-ish years old like his competition after the race)

Our good friends/neighbors Joey and Tim joined us for dinner and it was a fantastic feast, filled with so much yummy food.
Yay for carbs (Karel and I are big fans!)

Campy was a great help in the kitchen as he kept the floor extra clean whenever anyone "accidentally" dropped something  on the floor.

Karel's plate included a little of everything (even sweet potatoes, which he usually doesn't like but Joey made an extra sweet dish with brown sugar pecan crumbles on top - what's not to love about that???).

With this being my 23rd Thanksgiving as a Vegetarian, I change up my Thanksgiving protein every now and then. I avoid the Tofurky and any factory made proteins and instead, just stick to real food options. This year, I did cottage cheese topped with cranberries - pretty good!

(I'm grateful to my family for always making stuffing out of the bird for me to enjoy, in addition to stuffing for the meat eaters).

We continued the tradition of Campy having his own Tday plate, filled with Turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and a few pieces of bread from the stuffing.

This is a lot of food for my 12-lb furry child!

So good that Campy napped with a happy tummy all evening.

And for dessert, Pumpkin and Rhubarb pie from a local bakery in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (my aunt brought them for us to yum over).

-----------------------

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is behind you, you still have the rest of the holiday season to tempt you with delicious and yummy food that is hard to resist.

A quick fix of skipping meals, avoiding carbohydrates, extreme exercise to burn calories, not eating fat, replacing meals with caffeinated energy drinks, taking weight loss pills/supplements or any other method to quickly regain control over your diet to offset overeating WILL NOT WORK!

Remember, results take time. Much more time than a few days of extreme changes.

But guess what?
You can still reach your body composition/weight goals and enjoy the holiday eats and treats! 

When your eating strategies are extreme, it will affect your overall quality of life, relationships with others, your energy/performance and/or your health. 

Stop the cycle of restricting and dieting after overeating.
Be ok with the occasional indulgences and oversized portions.

If you want to lose weight or change your body composition, you need to allow for weeks, if not months, to allow for slow, steady and sustainable change so that health is not compromised and so that you can be consistent with your training.
A few days of "off" eating won't affect your long term goals.
Consider what you do between those occasional days, as that is what helps you move closer to your health and performance goals. 

Need help to keep a healthy relationship with food and the body over the holiday season?
Let's work together.
Trimarni nutrition services

Shredded Brussels sprouts wrap with cashews, edamame and onions

The start of building a great relationship with food is to eat a variety of food. The more you restrict your diet, whether intentional or unintentional, the greater chance you will lose an appetite for food and perhaps even a general dislike for eating.

Expanding your palate by introducing your taste buds to a variety of real food textures, tastes and combinations will foster a great relationship with food (not to mention a mega boost in health and energy) but to start, you must stop the rigid rules about food and to improve the way you view, speak and feel about food.

While I have not yet learned to appreciate the taste of raw Brussels Sprouts, I won myself over with my dinner creation last night as I could not stop yumming with every bite.

As I was randomly constructing this creation, I had no idea what this dish would taste like when it became a final product.

But that's what I love about cooking - new food combinations that will excite my taste buds.

That is what I also love about eating - I give myself ongoing opportunities to nourish and fuel my body but also to make my tummy happy. 

This dish would make for a perfect lunch or dinner meal.

I made sure to give you ingredient quantities that would allow for leftovers as this also makes for a tasty and healthy side dish to any meal.

This dish is vegetarian but you could easily make the following swaps.....

-Vegan - use a vegan based spread

-Gluten free - use a GF wrap/pita or use a different starch option (ex. wild rice or quinoa)

-Meat lovers - add an animal protein like shrimp, bacon or chopped steak

Enjoy!

Shredded Brussels sprout wrap with cashews, edamame and onions

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 bag (6 ounces) or 4 cups shredded Brussels sprouts 
• 1 small white onion (thinly sliced - first cut in half and then slice)
• 1 cup edamame (without the pods)
• 1/8 cup chopped cashews 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• Sour cream + a dash of Italian herbs (or your choice of creamy spread or dressing - I suggest something tangy/sour to compliment the Brussels sprouts)
• Wrap (or pita) of your choice

DIRECTIONS

1. In large non stick skillet, on low to medium heat, sauté onions and Brussels sprouts in olive oil (enough to lightly coat the mixture and prevent sticking) until golden brown (about 8-10 minutes). Lightly toss every few minutes to keep from burning.

2. Add room temperature edamame and toss for 2-3 additional minutes but on low heat (I suggest to warm frozen edamame in microwave for 45-90 seconds until soft). 

3. Turn off heat and add chopped cashews and salt/pepper to taste. Give it all a few tosses to evenly combine. 

4. Spread a layer (to your liking) of your dip/dressing/sauce on your wrap (or inside a pita).

5. Place a few spoonfuls of your veggie mixture in the middle of the wrap. 

6. Fold the outsides (right and left) of the wrap into the middle and then take the front of your wrap (closet to you) and start rolling away from you, while keeping the outside edges (right and left) tucked inside. 

7. Enjoy your delicious wrap and don't forget to yum!