the weekend. in food.

pretty big weekend in food around here. 

why, you ask? wellll.... I had my first big [trail] race of the year! (more on that to come) 

I had to make sure my body was fueled properly before hand, and gorged appropriately afterward.

 I've gotten a lot of questions in the past about what I eat pre-run, so I thought I'd share everything.....hold on tight, pretty exciting stuff here.

*I load up on protein (eggs, beans, lean meats Monday-Wednesday of a race week, and then cut back Thurs and Fri....I've just found that is what works best for me*

Friday, day before race:

Breakfast: Raw Oatmeal w/ strawberries, bananas, and almonds.

Lunch: Giant salad with 2 parts greens, 1 part awesome rosemary garlic bread, (toasted and cubed), radishes, 1/2 avocado, red onion and a simple honey mustard dressing (olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon, honey, s&p)

Snacks: banana + almond butter, odwalla bar, gatorade

Dinner: pasta w/ marinara, LOTS more bread:), simple salad

lots and lots and lots of water all day

Morning of race (about 2 hours before): whole wheat toast w/ peanut butter and honey. Banana. OJ.

Hour before: Gatorade. Water. A few Sport Beans.

During run: water. gatorade. 2 GUs. Water.

Post run. Water. water. water. water. gatorade.

Let my stomach settle and then have whole wheat toast w/ extra avocado and salt. 

 Super chocolatey milk (in my opinion, the BEST recovery drink you can have:) 

Apple + peanut butter.

Dinner at Lone Star Taqueria for the beeeeeeest fish tacos + rice and beans + coke w/lime.

Sunday was a pretty typical day--whatever we can hurry and eat as we rush out to church (pb toast), our traditional after church snack of cheese and crackers, and and early dinner of soup, salad, and bread.

This soup is called "whatever I got, goes in to the pot." oh! she can rhyme!

I basically dig through the fridge and dump any veggies I have into some chicken stock, let it simmer for a few hours, and VWALLA! soup! perfect for all this crazy rain that is never, ever, ending.

garlic +onion +carrots+celery+sweet potato+green beans+diced tomatoes+collard greens+cannellini beans+chicken stock+oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves=soup.

And then of course.....dessert. I needed something super rich, and extra indulgent.

I saw this recipe for brownies with peanut butter frosting on Ashley's blog and knew I had to have them.

Because I am in love with browned butter, I opted to brown the butter in this recipe.

If you like to brown butter too, I encourage you to play around with it a bit. I've learned I like to lightly brown it for use in pasta or veggie dishes, or in vanilla-y breads or cupcakes (like these). But I like to brown it a bit more when adding it to chocolate dishes--I think it makes the chocolate flavor more intense.

Browned Butter Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting

recipe adapted from Not without Salt

10 TBS butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour
2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 325°

To brown butter:

Heat pan on medium heat.

Cut butter in to pieces and melt in pan.

Stir continuously. Butter will foam up.

After foam subsides, small brown flecks will start to appear in bottom of pan.

Continue stirring, until butter has reached a nice brown color, and nutty aroma.

When you want to lick the spoon, you know it's ready.

Turn the heat all the way down.

Add sugar to browned butter and stir until well combined.

taste this. it is insane.

Add the cocoa and stir until well combined.

Remove from heat and let it cool down a bit (not cold, not hot, just warm:)

Add the vanilla.

Add the eggs, one at a time.

Continue to stir--the mixture will be thick and shiny.

Add flour and salt and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into a 10" tart pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (You can also bake them in an 8x8 and bake for a few minutes more)

Peanut Butter Frosting

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) softened butter

¾ cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt 

Cream the butter and the peanut butter until combined. Slowly stir in the powdered sugar until completely incorporated. Spread over cooled brownies.

happy eating!