Veggie Cooking: Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

Don't let Bertie's expression fool you, he was also impressed by the final product! (11/11/17)

Attempting to maintain a less cruel diet, I haven't eaten meat, fish or chicken since July 1. While I have also tried to reduce/eliminate products harvested from animals, by replacing animal milk with Almond for example, a satisfactory replacement for some favorites has thus far eluded me. By far the two animal-product-based meals I most miss eating are ice cream and chicken wings. With the ice cream absence addressed by a delicious banana-almond milk-peanut butter smoothie, the chicken wing "loss" is one that often aches at my gut, especially on Sundays.

After recently enjoying some baked cauliflower buffalo wings at a local vegetarian eatery, I sought to duplicate the epicurean experience at home. Fortunately an easy to prepare recipe for Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings online at Gimmedelicious.com was quickly found, and after carrying it around on my cell phone for a month, my tummy prompted me to action. On this wintry November afternoon, Bertie, our English Springer Spaniel puppy, and I set about making our first batch.

I am an unremarkable cook, choosing rather a clichéd path of learned helplessness when it comes to the kitchen. Even with this culinary handicap, I found this recipe remarkably easy to prepare, in addition to being incredibly rewarding. That the sauce consisted of two favorite ingredients (butter and Red Hot) was a bonus.

A key ingredient: classic Frank's Red Hot! (11/11/17)

Baked once in batter for 20 minutes. (11/11/17)

At this point Bertie had other plans. (11/11/17)

Twenty more minutes after being drizzled with buttery Frank's. (11/11/17)

Plated and ready to SLAY! (11/11/17)

The final product proved an excellent gustatory eexperience. Though too spicy for milady, my stepson and I quickly gobbled down the order of "wings" with a side of dressing. The crispiness of the twice-baked flowerets was solid and the overall flavor VERY reminiscent of the far less fowl-friendly original on which it is based. I am excited to have discovered, and actually tried, a recipe from GimmeeDelicious and look forward to attempting another cauliflower recipe, the Sticky Honey Sriracha Cauliflower “Wings” in the very near future!

Run: 4.8 miles in ≈42:27 min @ 6:40 am

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 72°F, 87% Humidity, Wind: SW @ 8 mph; feels like 72°F.
Pace: ≈8:53 min/mile
Course: To University Avenue, a right on Winton, a right on Hillside through Cobbs Hill and home.

Three days removed from the extraction of three wisdom teeth (at 41 years of age, apparently not a good thing) and following a four day heat wave, this morning hardly seems like the absolute best day to go for a run, but it is early enough (6:40 am) and I'm recovered enough (still look I just got punched in the right side of the face) for me feel as though I can give it the old college try.

As my pace (≈8:53 min/mile) would seem to indicate, though it was not necessarily too early in the day, it may have been too early in my recovery primarily, I think, because I had such little gas in the tank. Over the past few days (and even now, I have been unable to chew food and haven't had much of an appetite, so my caloric intake has been severely reduced to a maximum of about 1200 calories a day (all coming in the soft forms of sorbet, ice cream, apple sauce, and microwave mac-and-cheese).

I would surmise that the tired legs I was experiencing was due in part to this calorie deficit, but I was glad to have completed the truncated course I had prepared for myself. I must say, though, that I am getting tired of always seeming to run between 4.5-4.9 miles--I'm hoping that tomorrow I can put together a strong-ish long-slow-distance (lsd) run of between 6-7 miles.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

What Now, Achy, Shaky Heart?

My training over the past few weeks has been a little sporadic, due primarily to lingering concerns following my hospital stay a few weeks ago. Immediately following my release from the Emergency Room, I (sort of) resumed training, but in the past few days have found the discomfort in my chest and arm to be too much to just look past while running.

In the days (week?) of training which lead up to (as well as directly following) my hospital stay, I found that running and exercise did not exacerbate the discomfort and that, in fact, the activity served to move my attention beyond the troublesome "ache."

I'm really not trying to be melodramatic, but rather trying to articulate for you (and me) why my activity level has tapered off of late. Especially as this current malaise represent a change in my common training pattern... Normally, with Spring Break next week, I would be re-asserting my commitment to a training plan due top the freed up time.

This break though will have a slightly different emphasis as I'm hoping to first see my primary care physician for my second post-emergency room follow-up and (as my symptoms have neither dissipated nor improved) seek a referral to a specialist... just whom and for exactly what is to yet be determined.

I would really like to get a more meaningful diagnosis than the vague (and frustrating) "virus" though so that I can continue to move forward...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

A Very Special ER

Two days ago, I noted to my class the piece of knowledge of that the average life expectancy of an adult male living in the Republic of Central Africa is 39 years old, and then noted that I was 39.

The next day, I was having a tight "pain" on the left side of my chest and radiating down my left arm to the fingertips, and generally not feeling well, so I called my primary care physician. The doctor then relayed to the nurse with whom I was speaking not to drive, but to have someone take me to the emergency room of a local hospital asap. While I thought the doctor was being something of an alarmist in making this request, I drove home where my wife met me to take me the rest of the way to the hospital.

Upon reaching the emergency room entrance (and with a Mercy Flight helicopter buzzing away overhead), I was immediately guided into a wheelchair and whisked on my way to admissions. I felt a little guilty as I was clearly younger and stronger than the older gentleman who pushed me along, but he was only to be the first of a number people for whom I felt bad they needed to wheel me around or otherwise care for me.

My wife and I felt as though we had won the "Emergency Room Patient Lottery" given the wonderful service I received and the efficient manner in which they moved me through a series of blood tests, x-rays, and a myriad of "scans." Unfortunately I did need to stay the night, as we had arrived too late to have a stress test, and the doctors did not want me to leave without one, so into the observation area I went for the night...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

A Very Special ER Episode, Part 1

Two days ago, I shared with my class the random piece of knowledge of how the life expectancy of the average male living in the Republic of Central Africa is 39 years old, and that I was also 39. The next day, I was having a tight "pain" on the left side of my chest and radiating down my left arm to the fingertips, and generally not feeling well, so I called my primary care physician. The doctor then relayed to the nurse with whom I was speaking not to drive, but to have someone take me to the emergency room of a local hospital asap. While I thought the doctor was being something of an alarmist in making this request, I drove home where my wife met me to take me the rest of the way to the hospital.

Upon reaching the emergency room entrance (and with a Mercy Flight helicopter buzzing away overhead), I was immediately guided into a wheelchair and whisked on my way to admissions. I felt a little guilty as I was clearly younger and stronger than the older gentleman who pushed me along, but he was only to be the first of a number people for whom I felt bad they needed to wheel me around or otherwise care for me.

My wife and I felt as though we had won the "Emergency Room Patient Lottery" given the wonderful service I received and the efficient manner in which they moved me through a series of blood tests, x-rays, and a myriad of "scans." Unfortunately I did need to stay the night, as we had arrived too late to have a stress test, and the doctors did not want me to leave without one, so into the observation area I went for the night...

Revving Up to Winding Down

Run 1: 6.2 miles in approximately :47:15 min. @ 9:30 a.m.
Pace: 7:37 min./per mile avg.

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 42°F, 79% Humidity, Wind: W @ 9 mph; feels like 37°F
Course: One go round of the Four Times Equals Twenty Four course (loop, mixed flat & hills, roads & sidewalks) on USATF Map It!

I nearly did not go for a run today, but after seeing my daughter's picture in the paper (on-line) and reflecting on all the success all three kids have had these last few days, I felt somehow obligated. My ankles have been a little achier than usual these past few days, a condition I attributed in part to the wildly oscillating temperatures and weather we have been experiencing, but with only two wees remaining until my race I don't want to risk any injuries which could sideline me.

A fellow recreational runner recently shared some advice with me: "it's better under train by 20% than over train by 1%." Good advice. I have been working pretty hard for early thirteen weeks to successfully prepare to finish a 32 mile trail to run and I don't want blow this opportunity to meet my goal. While I certainly won't win, I think I can meet my goal of finishing in 6 hours or less as long as I stay healthy.

Today's run went well, the weather was wonderfully cool, and it gave me much time to think and continue to prepare mentally for the "big run."

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Run: 8.2 miles in 1:03:39 min. @ 3:00 p.m.

Pace: 7:46 min./per mile avg.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 57°F, 62% Humidity, Wind: from NE @ 9; feels like 57°F
Course: A run through the east side of the city, passing through both Highland and Cobbs Hill Parks.

Following up on yesterday's post, I did end up taking a "sick day" today and made an appointment to see the doctor about my eyes. I took some Benadryl last night and as a result had a difficult time waking up, so it's just as well that I stayed home. At least now I'm getting some sleep, though medicinally induced.

My first thoughts upon calling into work was that perhaps I could use the day off, combined with some pleasant weather, to squeeze my long run (20+ miles) in, but as the morning wore on that idea faded. When I did get to the doctor's and explained my symptoms (itchy, watery, stinging eyes), he determined that I didn't display enough to warrant a trip to an allergist, which was "cool" with me. He did, however, prescribe an anti-histamine to help alleviate the problem. Unfortunately there was some sort of snafu with my insurance which meant I would have to either bay the total cost or wait for some sort of approval. I chose to wait, went home and took more Benadryl, then went to sleep.

After waking up, I went on a lethargic run, one during which I stopped at a supermarket along the way, something I've never had to do before. I sure was glad that I had planned a route which went through "civilization." During the run, my eyes once again teared and burned and I noticed that it was significantly more painful while I was in the sunlight.

Hopefully when I do get the presciption filled at the pharmacy in a few days it will help further allevaite the dsicomfort without making me feel s-o-o-o drowsy...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Toxicology of an Undisciplined Mind

Run 1: 6.4 miles in :49:20 min. @ 4:10 a.m.

Pace: 7:43 min./per mile avg.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 65°F
Course: An odd patchwork of neighborhood streets on a course that was cut short...

Two Frescas ©, two McDonald’s © Dollar Menu Double Cheeseburgers, homemade chocolate cake with sweet white frosting, lasagna, two bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios cereal…

Looking back at what I stuffed in my gullet yesterday afternoon and evening, it is little wonder that I woke up this morning with a tummy ache and, even worse, that roughly five-and-a-half miles into a scheduled eight-mile run, I needed to make a beeline for my house… FAST!

I was very unmindful of what I ingested yesterday, and my body is making me pay for it by providing my form with an uneasiness that is uncomfortable, to say the least. Truthfully, over the last few days, I have been very neglectful of my body, raising the level of internal toxicity by eating too much of the "bad things" (even immoral things) and too little of those foods that I cognitively recognize as being vital to the physical, mental and spiritual "healthy" lifestyle into which I am aspiring...

Everyone has a bad day, and I'll chalk the last few up to that, while recommitting myself to a more valued diet... and better runs!

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Running for My Life

This morning I met my mother at the local hospital to wait with her while my father was having a medical procedure.

It was an "out patient" procedure, not surgery, we we were reminded, which would help to determine whether or not he would need to have a kidney removed. He had been diagnosed with some new polyps that could be cancerous. My father, and mother for that matter, are really not very healthy folks, and this was (is) just one of many reasons we had found ourselves in the familiar surroundings of the pre-op... heart attacks, angiograms, angioplasties, stents, spinal fusions, hip replacements, and so on.

As we awaited the arrival of the operating physician (I really think he was playing golf--he was wearing the appropriate attire when he did arrive, and had yet to "scrub in"), the anaesthesiologist was trying to allay my parents concerns over the delay by having a playful conversation with them. My participation was limited to nods and smiles. At least until the conversation turned to my t-shirt.

"So do you run?" he asked me. My wardrobe consists mostly of the t-shirts I receive for registering at runs and races. Often they are conversation starters.

"Yes," I replied, trying to judge where this line of conversation could go.

"If you look at us," my father, ever the optimist, jumped in, "you can see he's running for his life!" My father then nodded to the roughly twelve inches of paperwork which comprised 'most of' his medical file that the doctor had pulled earlier when first considering the sleepy-time possibilities available to my father in anticipation of the procedure. (The spinal-epidural with a sedative chaser was chosen despite my his previous spinal fusion surgeries...)

My father then giggled about the size of the pile of papers, "Imagine that," he said, "that's not even all of it!"

While my parents and the doctor continued to joke (nervously) about the entire topic, I just stood there, uncomfortably smiling.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!