Rested Knees and Dough Kneading

Thursday was a rest day for me and with the evening wide open without a run, I decided to make bread. Inspired by Sagan's post, I thought it was time to face my fears of yeast, kneading, and dough rising. My first attempt last night resulted to rock hard bread due to my carelessness in reading oven settings. :P I was determined though so I found another recipe for kids so that even a first timer like me wouldn't go wrong. List of ingredients was short: flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and water. I actually had fun kneading and bashing the dough. While the dough rested, I was too excited to focus on my book and couldn't wait to see how my first risen dough would turn out. After two hours, I became a believer. I saw it with my own eyes - Dough does rise. Haha. A revelation for a quick bread lover that I am. :P Less than 30 minutes after, I had freshly baked babies.

{Fresh Plaids}

I have a couple questions for the more seasoned baker readers. Kindly fill me in on these things. Thanks! :D
- If a recipe calls to let the dough rest for 2 hours, would it make a difference if I let it rest for an extra couple hours? Will it still be okay to let the dough rest overnight?
- At what point does one add the spices, herbs, nuts, etc. to the dough? How about toppings? I added the sesame seeds just before baking but they didn't stick to the bread very well.

{Sesame Spill}

While this may only be the lazy version of Sarah's breakfast challenge, eating bread that I personally made from scratch put a smile on my breakfast face. Being the balanced person that I'd like to think I am, I had one slice with fig jam and another with whole grain mustard and avocado this morning. One sweet, the other tangy.

Weekend is just around the corner! I've got a long run, a barbeque party, and grocery shopping to look forward to. What do you have in store for the weekend?

Staycation Highlights

{Yuriko Sensei's rare smile was a surprise when I saw this pic.}

Wearing yukata (summer kimono) at amusement/theme parks is normal practice during summer. It was a fun experience when we spent Friday evening in the park to watch fireworks and just hang out. While we had to follow school rules, it sure was a lot more relaxed since we were on staycation. Food was still delicious and I enjoyed helping out at the kitchen. As always, miso soup, tea, and pickled veggies were always served with our meals. Love Love Love Japanese homecooking. :D

The school principal treated us to lunch at an eat-all-you-can yakiniku place. Check out my eats. I started with sushi, asparagus, pineapple, pasta salad, brocolli, and peaches.

{Salad and Sushi}

While the principal grilled beef, I used my grill space for satsuma imo (sweet potatoes), kabocha, and squid steak. I think I amused him when I also threw in some of the peaches and pineapple in the grill. :P

{Lower Half of the Grill: Kabocha, SweetPs, Squid Steak, PApple, Peaches}

Second tray. Grapefruit, orange, onion, and more kabocha. A scoop each of chocolate and matcha ice cream. There were tons of flavors to choose from but I had my heart on these two flavas from the very start. :D A bowl of cold udon on shiso flavored sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. Last saucer contains a takoyaki, slice of omelette, and nimono (stewed carrots, renkon, and daikon).

{MORE Kabocha, Fruits, Choc&Matcha Ice Cream, Udon, Takoyaki, Omu, Nimono}

We chose half of the pastry selection for sharing. Here are my six bites of sweet heaven: plain cheesecake, strawberry cc, mango cc, chocolate cake, angel cake, and strawberry shortcake. PLUS, edamame! :D

{Cake and Edamame}

Do you think I overindulged? Personally, I think I handled this buffet well. I skipped the fried rice, curries, fried potatoes, fried chicken, yakisoba, spaghetti, salad dressings, and a lot of the high calorie items. While everybody else grilled meat, I was very much satisfied and comfortable grilling my kabocha and onions. My fave pick for this buffet was the chilled asparagus. The last buffet I went to, my fave was wakame salad in ponzu sauce. Haha. :D It must be the heat.

How do you handle buffets? Do you choose your fave dishes or do you like getting a bite of everything? If I had it my way, I wouldn't go to an eat-all-you-can restaurant. For me, the amount of available food choices is just not normal. One needs to exert more restraint compared to when one simply orders what s/he wants from a menu.

Half-Day Eats and Half Marathon Training Question

Since I am currently living alone, I get to eat whatever I want. It is a double edged sword for sure. Nobody's stopping me when I feel like ice cream and chocolates for breakfast. While I have my moments and make less healthy food decisions at times, I'm thankful that I love fruits and vegetables so that it's easy for me to get my fill of 10 various veggies in a day. Yes, I do make a fruits and veggie count and panic a bit when the number drops to 5 veg/2 fruits. :P Do you live alone? If not, do the people you live with share your healthy eating habits?

{Breakfast: Egg, mizuna, shaved carrots, green pepper in gim/Korean nori}

I loved how the warm egg made the nori melty yummy. Blogging snack was a slice of banana bread, frozen banana slices, and frozen grapes. This time, I added kinako (soy bean flour) to the mix for some protein action and topped with black sesame seeds. Wiki says that: "About one-third of the sesame crop imported by the United States from Mexico is purchased by McDonald's for their sesame seed buns (The Nut Factory 1999)". That's a lotta buns! Protein in a sweet slice of bread, winner methinks.

{Snack: A Slice of Kinako Banana Bread}

Check out my watermelon August calendar at the background, love the color contrast. :D I had plans of trying to make Thai Green Curry but the heat is killing me so that will have to wait another day. :s Instead, I deciced to recycle left over carrots, green pepper, and mizuna to make a salad. With thinly sliced cucumber and gluten free rice penne; it made for a quick cool lunch. Haha, lazy me. There's still a big container of that in the fridge so I can have it whenever the tummy grumbles.

{Lunch: Rice Penne with Veg + Raw Tofu}

That was refreshing. I'm gonna have another serving of that later with some slices of avocado for the healthy fats! Whew! I'm only half-way through my eats for the day. I am truly amazed at bloggers who post all their eats every single day! You guys are awesome.

Running Question: Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Plan is 12 weeks but I have 16 weeks to go (not including this week) before the race, how should I go about that? I plan on repeating 4 weeks (ex: W1, W2, W5, W6) depending on how each training week goes. Any suggestions? Super thanks!

Weekend Wii + Wee Bit of Sleep

I'm suffering from the Manic Monday Syndrome right now. I can't wait for the workday to end so I could nap, try a new eggplant dish, and go for an evening walk, then SLEEP. My weekend in bullets:

. Found some great produce Saturday morning.
. Made new friends and bonded over Wii, faith, books, and good conversation. This might become a Saturday Evening Socials kind of thing. They even created my own Mii! :P
. Nibbled on freshly baked brownies and okra tempura at said socials. Would love to try making the tempura with my okra but the heat is killing me.
. Ruined my optimal sleep streak by Wii-ing way past midnight. It was my first time playing it. I'm so behind, I know. :s Although it was fun, I'd still prefer real exercise any day of the week. You a Wii fan?
. Slept over at Rea's but couldn't really fall asleep. Hate it when that happens. Before I knew it, the sun was up and we had to go out for the scheduled run.
. Completed the entire lake loop on Sunday morning. Even if Rea opted to bike instead, I still pushed for a run.
. Learned about how a friend's eating habits are significantly different from mine. It's not a matter of who's right or wrong. As I don't like being judged for what I eat, I accept that what works for me doesn't necessarily work for others.
. Biked around to parts of the city I've never been to. Spent the rest of Sunday at the mall where I drank good coffee and snacked endlessly. Checked out running gear and bought some fun and soon to be tested snackies. :P
. Got rained on my ride back home but it did not bother me. It was a refreshing break from the heat.

That's it. It was a fun Wiikend and my only regret is not sleeping early last night. Now, I certainly feel like crashing. Must not underestimate the power of rest again!

{Hope this relaxing image helps me last the day. :P}

Here's to a great weekend! Unlike me, I hope you balanced all the fun with enough rest in preparation for the new week.

Running Thoughts

What thoughts go through your mind when running? I started the week right by going on a Monday evening run. It was a great one and I found myself thinking about different things. The miles just fly by when I am lost in thoughts such as:

-Family & Friends. Since I currently live away from home, it's but natural that I miss them pips. Running gives me time to reflect on happy times with them and these thoughts add an extra bounce to my step. When I go back home, I hope to have them as running buddies. :D

-Books. I haven't read a book in looong time that my brain has gotten so rusty. Rea and I talked about reading last Saturday and how I wanted to pick up something interesting. What better material than Michael Pollan, right? So today I'm starting with "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" and then read "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" next. Have you read these books?

{Reads}

-Food. Thinking about my post run fuel motivates me to go faster. Ha! Running also allows me to have a mental inventory of my fridge, to have a preview of the next day's meals, and to think of ways I can recreate other bloggers' yummy recipes. :P

-Travel. There are a bunch of places I'd like to visit in the coming weeks. The miles just go by so quickly whenever I'm fantasizing about trips. Planning trips is just so much fun. Look at this gorgeous deer that I saw on my trip to Todaiji in Nara last year:

{Fierce}

-Form. Of course, I also think about running related things. I make sure to check on my form: noticing if I feel tightness in my shoulders, focusing on my breathing, and shaking out tension when needed. RunnersWorld says here that efficient endurance running requires just a slight knee lift, a quick leg turnover, and a short stride. I'll pay attention to my stride length in my next run. How's your running form?

-Fellow Walkers/Runners. Whenever I meet other runners, I'd make up stories in my mind about why they run. Each one has a different reason for running and I amuse myself silly with "their stories". Also, I mentally cheer for everyone I meet. Something like: "Run, girl, run!" or "Good job! You can do it!". :D Weird much?

How about you? What fun/weird/happy stuff do you think of to distract yourself from running?

You are beautiful. Smile!

Today could not have been more beautiful.

I had healthy delicious meals. Udon, mizuna, sprouts, tofu, with loads of sesame seeds for breakfast. Sweet potato (with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon) and fish for lunch. Avocado, banana, yogurt, and raisins on a soy milk bread roll for dinner. Dark chocolate and mixed nuts for snack. At the grocery, I got kabocha and over a dozen bananas! Even if I knew I still had 6 more in the freezer, I always feel like I need to buy more when I see them. Tell me this also happens to you. :P What single fruit/veg/food do you always NEED to have in your pantry? The evening was hot and humid but I managed to knock off my long run for the week. I missed my marker so my scheduled 4.5 miler ended up being a 5 miler. Ooops!

All of those things mentioned above made my day lovely. But today was not only about ME. What made my day more special was that I was (hopefully) able to make someone else smile. I was on an operation to spread positive body image by posting random notes in public places today. I decided on cutting pictures from an old magazine because recycling always ups the coolness factor of anything, right? :P

{"You are beautiful. Smile!" in Nihongo.}

The first one was posted at the washroom of the grocery I went to today. I was afraid it would be taken down immediately since Japanese toilets are always kept clean and spotless. When I went back later in the afternoon (and bought additional bananas!), the post was still there! :P Hopefully, the note made a Wednesday shopper's day brighter.

{Pretty Pictures; Beautiful Message}

At this book store/arcade I went to, a bunch of grade school girls would always drop by and hang around after school. They would usually buy water/tea/fruit juice from the vendo while they chat and laugh. When they grab a drink from the vendo, I hope the post makes them smile.

{A drink: 120 Yen. A smile: Priceless.}

If you were to write and post a note for yourself, what would it say? What would your message to other women be?

Monday: Start Your Week Right!

My weekend was great and based on what I read the past couple hours, you guys had amazing weekends as well! I ran 3 miles on Saturday morning and spent the rest of the day cleaning, baking, napping, and reading blogs (but of course! :P). In the evening, I biked to some friends' place and brought the banana carrot bread I made earlier. We had fun eats like yakisoba, spaghetti, and vanilla ice cream. I tend to make less healthy decisions food-wise during the weekends that I actually welcome Mondays because it makes me go back to my normal eating mode. Yay for Mondays, right? :P Here's my usual rice-veg-fish lunch.

{Soy Sauce Bunny}

Wanting to start the week on a healthy note, I woke up early for a 40 minute walk knowing that an evening run is not happening tonight due to rains. :s Hopefully, I'll be able to run 3 or 4 days (3 miles) and another day for this week's 'long' run (4.5 miles). Avoiding injury is my top priority so I'm heeding your tips and insights on my last post. If somehow my body is not feeling a scheduled run, I won't push it. I'll just walk it or do stretches (I love stretching!). Interval training (as suggested by burpandslurp) sounds great so I'll also incorporate that in one of my runs this week.

Seeing adorable dogs during my walks/runs always makes me smile. This particular doggie was so used to the camera obeying his "mom's" directions to seat, look at the camera, and SMILE! :D

{Cuteness!}

Aside from the health benefits you get from exercising outdoors, what other things make you smile during your walk/hike/run? Do you also adore dogs or are you afraid they may come too near and might bite you? I am usually focused on my run and would admire a dog from a safe distance. When I'm walking though, they are always a delight! :D