6/30/10

I am continuously amazed at where cooking ideas, recipes and just plain epiphanies are manifested. I constantly read and talk to long distance endurance athletes and triathletes that tell of some of their best ideas and thoughts coming together while on the long haul. This is something that I can definitely attest to. It is almost something that I look forward to, the long ride or run brilliant realization. With the waning moments of many of the longer workouts usually bringing my mind heavily onto the topic of food, it is only natural that I just start concocting different food pairings and recipes in my head. Today was a great example of this. I had a good 50 mile ride in the AM and found myself thinking of just this, food. I was still fixed on the post race food from this weekends race. I had potatoes and eggs on my mind. With both on hand, I needed a fun way to 'jazz' it up. The result was a sweet potato scramble in tomato sauce with yogurt. After a good workout there is not much desire for a long cooking process, so I nuked my sweet spud in the microwave for 5 minutes and finished cooking it in a skillet. Just enough to get a little crispness on the outside of the cut up pieces. Once the crispiness sets onto the potatoes, I add the 3/4 cup of egg whites or about 3 eggs. When the eggs are just setting, add a couple of slices of cheese singles or a good handful of shredded cheese. Let the cheese melt and give everything a good toss and now comes the real flavor star of the dish. A 1/2 cup to a cup of spaghetti sauce, depending on how runny one likes it. Bring it all to a slight bubble, a couple more tosses and spins with a spoon and wing, bam, boom, we now have a killer little scramble of a dish! I like to top it off with a little plain yogurt, as well, but it is plenty flavorful without it. The result is a creamy and filling delight, as well as giving the machine all the fuel it needs after a good effort. It is a beautiful meal on the eyes, too. I sit and eat my meal and can't help but smile. Yeah I biked really well this morning, but I am almost as proud of the creation on the plate in front of me. There is something incredible about a great ride or workout, but there is something equally pleasing about the immaculate epiphany that comes from it and the resulting concoction that sits in front of me.

6/26/2010

What an absolutely incredible day paddling, grinding gears and gliding on the roads at the Loveland Lake to Lake triathlon. Such an incredible event with some of the most unbelievable landscapes I have ever seen on a bike course for a race! I had mentioned that this was going to be my first race of the season, that being said, I was really happy with how I did. Not wanting to go to far into detail, I left it all out on the course and pulled out the 27th best 10K run time out of the 715 participants. It being race day, my kitchen was not really in the picture for my meals. However, the post race grub was so stellar that I have decided to detail it as the culinary segment of today's post. The spread was immaculate and succulent in all aspects to a hunger ravaged triathlete after the race. It was essentially a huge burrito assembly line. The start had absolutely perfect flour tortillas, which were the perfect chewy base for the following accompaniments. What followed this was a dream of eggs, hasbrowns, beans, rice, ground beef, monetary jack cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and salsa. I salivate as I type this and was obscenely excited as I glided down the chain. My burrito was overflowing with eggs, beans, hash browns, tomatoes, cheese and salsa. The stars you ask? The eggs were fluffy with the right amount of runniness to moisten up the burrito, while the potatoes had that beautiful crisp outside with the moist starchy goodness on the inside, perfect for sopping up that aforementioned egg runniness. The pinto beans were the big surprise. They were full of flavor, yet did not seem to be overly seasoned. The tomatoes, cheese and salsa were all wonderful additions to the dish and made for the perfect post race chow fest. My burrito ended up being more of a giant taco as it was impossible to actually close up the tortilla with the amount of fillings. Never the less, it tasted exactly as it would have wrapped up. And that taste was an unbelievable array of goodness!

6/24/2010

Well my friends, foodies and triathletes, let us begin this culinary and tri-tastic journey. Today marks the day before, the day before my first race of the season. I know, I know, quite late to be starting up, but I have a been doing a little weekend theatrical exploration at the Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver over the past 2 months, which has kept me from the first races of the season. Never the less, I start here and this will be an interesting race because, among other reasons, I am really using this as training. No taper, no day off before hand, no real race prep. I am just going to treat it as a day of training and I am guessing with a little more inherent intensity than a standard long day. It will be the Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon. Pretty excited, if for no other reason, just to be out amongst everyone. So today I kept to my plan and trained as usual. A little 8.5 mile fartlek run in the morning followed by a 40 minute swim. In the PM I did an easy 55 min recovery spin on the bike, making sure to keep my heart rate nice and under control, which was not too difficult after the pretty intense run this morning. The meal of discussion for the day was dinner. About a week ago I had enjoyed a nice meal at a local Thai place where the Pad Thai was simply on point. Pad Thai is a great noodle dish with a nicely balanced sweet and sour sauce. It uses wide rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, and crushed peanuts as a topping. I like to throw in either shrimp or chicken. If feeling really saucy then do both, which was the plan for the evening! I made the sauce simple with just soy sauce, cane sugar and balsamic vinegar(had no white). I really could not have been happier with it. The sweet hits first and then mellows out to a slight sour with a dash of heat as it moves down the pallet, which reminds me that crushed red pepper is a nice addition to your likeness. My biggest disappointment is that I did not have my camera handy to snap a shot. I PROMISE not to disappoint in this area again because I'm sure you know we eat just as much with our eyes, as our taste and smell. Well until next time my friends......go run/swim/bike or eat something!!!

My World. Training and Eating.

I am triathlete, here me roar. I could also say, I am chef smell my food. I am 25 years old now and although I have to make money, it is a bit funny that my two passions and arguably my two strongest talents are things that I have to pay for. My life is a day in day out love affair with a mistress that is triathlon training. From this I have only increased my lifelong love for food. Already a foodie, Triathlon has brought food to an even more important place in my day. It is not only nourishment, love and desire, but it is now...fuel. This new label does not degrade my daily meals, but only enhances their importance and my training leaves me constantly roaring through the kitchen for that perfect feast. Because during training, many meals turn into just that, a feast. My hope is for this blog to cover two things. Triathlon and Cooking, and lend a possible glimpse into what I have secretly become...this being the pre-eminent triathlete chef known to the multi-sport world!! Well....maybe not, but hey that shouldn't stop the swimming, biking, running and cooking!