Gluten Free Crock Pot Chili and Pilates & More with Elina

Last week I met up with the NH Bloggers & Tweeters group for the monthly Blog & Tweet event, but not before having a bowl of my husband's delicious wheat-free crock pot chili.

He has masterfully created a yummy chili recipe that simmers in the crock pot for about 5 hours:

2 pounds browned hamburg
2 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 can green chiles
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 can dark red kidney beans

I add crackers to my chili and like Glutino gluten free original crackers the best.

The October Blog & Tweet event was a Pilates Fitness Class at Pilates & More with Elina in Manchester. Pilates is a conditioning routine meant to help build flexibility and strength. It's a great cross training option for runners.

Pilates & More with Elina is located in the old mills buildings of downtown Manchester. Parking was free and easy, but finding my way to the studio inside the building was just the start of the adventure.

The studio, which opened in September, was a cozy space with hard wood floors that easily accommodated our group of seven.

Elina, who has 19 years fitness experience, greeted us right away and after filling out some paperwork, she led us to the Pilates mats we would be using for the class.

The 45 minute Beginner's Mat class was a mix of beginner Pilates moves put together as a sequential series and a lot of giggling. That's what happens when you put a group of girls together!

Photo credit to Janine

Some of the Pilates exercises involved a good stretch at the end, which felt awesome after Elina pushed us to do more repetitions. Even though we were not moving around a lot, I could feel my muscles tiring from the repetition or holding of positions. I wish I had remembered to wear my Polar Heart Rate monitor because I would love to know how many calories I burned in this class!

In addition to the Beginner's Mat class, Elina explained to the group at the end of the session that she also offers several other classes:

Cardilates - low impact cardio and Pilates with music
Bandilates - Pilates with resistance bands
Rehabilitation - Focus on range of motion and stretching

Pilates & More with Elina offers a range of pricing options from $15 drop in rates to packages and private sessions.

I've done Pilates before and had forgotten what a great workout it is. It was a nice change from the high energy workouts that I've become accustomed to doing. Thanks again to Allie and Janine for organizing our monthly Blog & Tweet events.

And special thanks to Elina for hosting our crazy Blog & Tweet NH group!

me, Amber, Sarah, Allie, Kathy, Karlene, Elina, and Janine

Have you ever done Pilates? What do you think?

WIAW: What's Cookin'?

After frying my legs in my last half marathon, I have been giving them a chance to refresh. With no races looming on my calendar, I am totally not enjoying the pressure-free break from running, and mixing up my strength training with some daily challenges.

Trying to stay positive, I am spending more time in the kitchen cookin' up some new recipes, along with some favorites. All follow our new wheat-free diet and some are packed with protein to make great post-workout snacks.

Here's a sample of dinner, lunch, and snacks:

Also, I was sent some new protein and I've been having fun trying it out. The review should be up next week and will include recipes!

Don't forget to check out other great eats at Jen's WIAW link up!


What have you got cookin' lately?

WIAW - Wheat Free ZOOMA Road Trip

Last weekend was my first BIG wheat-free road test as I headed to Cape Cod for some ZOOMA fun. Unsure of how I would do finding G-free restaurant/menu options, I packed some snacks in a cooler for the trip: rice cakes, PB&J, cheese, GF crackers, grapes, and yogurt. So for WIAW, I'm giving you a peek at my eats from the weekend!


When we arrived in Falmouth, I whipped out my trusty iPhone and opened the handy dandy YELP app. Using the search feature, I found three restaurants listed under GF menu options. After reading the reviews and checking the websites, we choose Stone L'Oven because it boasted delicious GF pizza. This very late lunch also became dinner.

After fulfilling my ambassador duties and serving up Personal Best medals at the post-race expo, we headed to Woods Hole for lunch and a little sight-seeing. After using the YELP app again to locate G-free restaurant options, we settled on Fishmonger Cafe after reading the menu posted on the door. mr.C and I shared a delicious serving of GF Rice & Beans: black bean chili, brown rice, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and fresh corn tortilla chips served with salsa and sour cream. Blogger blunder, I forgot to get a picture, but here's one of our post-lunch wild berry fruit smoothie made fresh at Woods Hole Market.

On Friday night when we skipped dinner but joined fellow ZOOMA ambassadors briefly after the Mocktail Party, I noticed that Red's (the resort restaurant) offered GF items on their menu. So for dinner on Saturday we ordered some take out on our way back to the room after watching the sunset on the beach. We both chose the GF veggie burger meal with fries. The GF bun was so huge I had to cut it in half. Despite my terrible photo, the veggie burger tasted homemade and included a spicy kick.

With so much success finding GF restaurants using the YELP app, we did it again on Sunday. This time we hit the jackpot with Idgy's - a 100% Gluten Free restaurant! It was so nice to be able to order ANYTHING off the menu. I selected the chicken panini quesadilla and mr.C chose blueberry pancakes and eggs.

We were so happy with our meals that we picked up some GF chocolate chip cookies to go. All I can say is, we should have bought more!

There were actually more cookies in the baggie, but I ate some before taking the pic!

For breakfast both Saturday and Sunday, I raided the mini kitchen and had PB&J rice cakes, some yogurt, and coffee. I've never been a BIG fan of the large restaurant-style breakfast, so this worked perfect for me.

Most of the food we ordered was made in restaurants that also made meals containing gluten. While we are not allergic, we knew the possibility of cross-contamination existed and all of our servers made a point to also tell us. We were comfortable with the small chance, although I recognize that some people may not be.

I'm feeling really good about my first time eating on the road and staying true to wheat-free diet. It was easier than I though it would be thanks to YELP and restaurants offering GF menu options.

How successful is your diet on road trips ?

WIAW: Weekend Plans

I've been cooking up some ideas on how to spend my ZOOMA Cape Cod weekend even though I'm injured and won't be running. You can check out some great ways to still have fun on race day in my post on the ZOOMA Blog and find out what I'll be up to this weekend!

Weekends are also fun for cooking up some treats around my house. Last weekend we had a big batch of Greek Flaxseed Protein Pancakes for breakfast.

Then for dinner, we skipped the usual meal options and went straight for the football appetizer favorite: Buffalo Chicken Dip.

The recipe is so easy:

We watched football and munched all afternoon!

Find more ideas to cook up your weekend plans at the WIAW link up!

WIAW: Greek Flaxseed Protein Pancakes

One thing I am learning on my wheat-free journey is that you don't have to give up your favorite foods altogether. With wheat-free options and substituting ingredients, I can still prepare many of our family's favorites. Pancakes are one of those favorites.

After an exhaustive internet search, I found a wheat-free/GF recipe that looked good and sounded good - by that I mean it didn't sound complicated. So I gave it a whirl. The first thing I noticed after mixing all the ingredients together was that the batter was much thicker than regular pancake mix. Looking at it, I was worried that I had done something wrong.

Dropping spoonfuls into the pan didn't make me feel any better because the batter did not spread out like I was expecting (based on regular pancake recipes) and again, I worried that I had made a mistake in my preparations.

However, just like when I have made regular pancakes in the past, a little patience mixed with a few flipping attempts and I finally realized that the batter was fine and the pancakes turned out delicious.

This recipe is for one serving or four medium pancakes, but can easily be doubled.

The original recipe can be found here. I made a few changes based on what I had available, and used the Designer Whey Sustained Energy Protein that I received from my FitFluential campaign.

Don't forget to see what's cookin' at the WIAW link party with Jenn.

WIAW: Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bites

So far on my wheat free journey, my favorite new food is quinoa. It is so easy to make and very filling. After making my first batch of quinoa bites, I couldn't wait to try more.

Since school starts today, I thought it would be perfect to share another recipe that I think will make a great back to school lunch.

On Sunday, I made a whole batch and sorted the bites into small containers so I can grab them and go in the morning.

Don't forget to check out all the great recipes at Jenn's link up today!

WIAW: Quinoa Pizza Bites

Today, instead of talking about running adventures, I'm sharing my recent food adventure!

At the beginning of the month, mr. C and I went WHEAT FREE! I downloaded a copy of the book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health and cleaned out the cabinets. We are doing this as an experiment. Neither one of us have a medical issue or health concern. We just want to see if we will really feel better by eliminating all wheat/gluten from our diets.

While tossing all of the food that had wheat in it, I was shocked to see how many bread products we were using at each meal. I was tossing out English muffins, bread, tortillas, buns, and pasta. Then I moved on to reading labels and tossing sauces, soups, cereal, and chips.

Soon, I was thinking, What are we going to eat? My meals have been so programmed to include some sort of wheat product, that I worried we would be starving!

I was wrong.

Over the past four weeks, I have been learning a lot about food and trying some new recipes. In my last WIAW post, I shared some of the smoothie recipes I've been making. Recently, I tried quinoa for the first time.

Lack of planning on my part forced me to modify the recipe I found online because I didn't have the exact ingredients, but I don't think it interfered with the end result at all.

When I make this again, I will definitely use mozzarella cheese and fresh basil as the original recipe lists and a little more pepperoni.

Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe?

You can also find tons of great recipes at Jenn's WIAW link up!