fennel | Healthful Mind Body and Soul

Rainy Day Cool Down

July 15, 2013 by Celeste @The Whole Serving 4 Comments

Sunday was a rainy day cool down, instead of high 90’s or 100 degree temperatures it was in the low 70’s, how great is that!

The cooler temperature made me nostalgic for a cold weather meal, so out came my crock pot, and into it I put…

Fire roasted tomato sauce, I blended the dates with some of the sauce before adding the sauce to the pot, this is optional, I just like the flavor it gives, it balances out the acid in the tomatoes.

Red onions, fennel and red peppers were sauteed just until they started to soften. I added the sauteed mix to the crock pot along with a can of rinsed black beans, fresh tomatoes, and sweet corn.

The first time I tried fennel, it was raw in a salad and I didn’t like it. Fennel is definitely one of those foods for some a taste has to be acquired. I have found that cooked fennel has a different taste and I like much better.

Everything went into the crock pot and a few hours later, it was time to enjoy!

Just before serving I stirred in some chopped spinach.

It was Marvelous.

The second bowl was topped with a little cheese.

I purchased some lusciously sweet fresh figs this past weekend and was eager to use them.

Some of the health benefits of figs are that they are a good source of potassium and minerals that help to control blood pressure. They are high in fiber, contains calcium and has trace amounts of manganese. However, figs contains oxalate, a naturally occurring substance foun in plants, animals and humans. When oxalates become too concentrated in the body, they crystallize and can cause kidney or gallbladder stones.

I sprinkled washed and cut figs with organic coconut sugar and cinnamon and roasted them in a 375 degree oven for about fifteen minutes, they were served on top of some creamy greek yogurt, drizzled with honey, next time I will drizzle with a honey balsamic glaze.

Be Marvelous in your Monday and start the week off right with good food and positive thoughts. Check out Katie at Healthy Diva Eats for more MIMM.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Do you like fennel?

Hoe do you like figs, fresh of cooked?

Thunder and lighting allowed me to sleep in Saturday morning, and dark clouds and heat later in the day forced me to do my miles at the gym.

I haven’t run on a treadmill in over a year and I didn’t enjoy my run at all. Three minutes into my run I was super hot and dripping in sweat. With no wind resistance and the oxygen consumption per pace on a treadmill being lower than when running overground, why was this so hard?

I found the following quote on Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development for Smart People Forum.

“Reporting in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, researchers evaluated
the kinematics and biomechanics of treadmill running and determined that running
on a treadmill increases the muscular demands made on hip flexors and knee
extensors. The authors concluded that treadmill running might improve sprint
times due to the extra effort of those key muscles. Other studies have shown
that the treadmill requires a higher stride frequency because the treadmill
pushes the rear leg forward and the advancing leg must plant more quickly. As a
result, a faster cadence and shorter stride produces more steps per mile and the
cardiovascular demands of running may be higher on a treadmill than outdoors at
the same pace.”