Travel wrap up

Two things I’m not going to talk about: 

1. The heat 
2. Obamacare

If you want to read about those, go … anywhere else.

Today, I will wrap up my travel summary and I feel like I had another topic, but to be honest, my crossfit workout was extra tough today and I’m already feeling kind of fried (at 9:05 am).

• Day two of corporate travel (day 5 of travel overall) – Dinner at Maggiano’s. They were very accommodating to my dairy-free, gluten-free needs. Yay, Maggiano’s. I honestly thought Italian restaurants were a thing of my past, but gluten-free pasta and some good marinara are in order sometimes! I also had a glass of red wine. It was lovely and I had no ill effects from the first alcohol I’ve had in over three months!
• Day three of corporate travel – I did a pseudo-crossfit workout (from Women’s Health magazine) in my hotel room then followed it up with 30 minutes in the pool in the morning. Lunch was another salad and some crackers and hummus. Dinner was a veggie burger with extra veggies and wedge fries at Fuddruckers in the airport. I could probably go online and find out what was in the veggie burger, but I think I’ll stay in blissful ignorance.
• I’ve been home now for over 24-hours. I actually got to sleep in my own bed two nights in. a. row. Tonight I’ll be elsewhere again. Last night I did not feel like fixing dinner after a long day at work and a hard 1.5 hour workout in the gym (not outside because of the you-know-what). So I drug the family to Kroger. I got stuff off the olive bar and some brown rice; they had fried chicken. I love my rice bowls, but they are usually of a more Mexican or Asian variety. Last night was Mediterranean. For lunch I’ve got leftovers. I’ll post a “recipe” at the end of this blog.
• I think I have identified the source of the digestive problems I was having. Sugar. Since I didn’t take my blender with me, I was having Bear Naked granola with vanilla almond milk for breakfast along with fruit. I don’t think my body was doing well on the extra sugar. I realized I hadn’t been eating meat, gluten, eggs, dairy, etc, but I had increased my sugar intake. Now that I’m back home, I switched back to shakeology with original almond milk for breakfast and I’m fine again.
• In the next month (28 days until I leave for Yellowstone), I have some homework to do. I need better travel foods – with less sugar! Plus I’ll be going camping, hiking and backpacking so I’ll need good options that can be carried with me. I’m going to try to make my own energy bars this weekend and try out a recipe for roasted chickpeas that I’ve heard great things about.
• Tomorrow – another race will be crossed off my bucket list. Tomorrow is Mudathlon. I’m approaching it like another Crossfit workout. Tough, but I can do it and it’ll be over before I realize it! I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to wear though…

Mediterranean Rice Bowl

1 serving of Minute Rice Ready –to-Serve brown rice (or brown & wild rice)

1 roasted red pepper (I love the olive bar at grocery stores)

1 artichoke heart

2-3 sundried tomatoes

1 clove garlic – roasted is awesome, but it doesn’t have to be

½  tsp olive oil (if your sundried tomatoes are in oil, you can just use a little of that)

1/3 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

Throw red pepper, artichoke, tomatoes, garlic and oil in a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times  until everything is chopped up. You want the veggies in small pieces but not smooth like a spread.  **Update: On second thought, it's probably best if you carefully place them in the blender rather than throw. That could cause a mess.**

Mix rice, veggies and garbanzo beans together in a bowl. Heat in microwave for 90 seconds. 

Some feta cheese or even parmesan would be good on this as well if you eat cheese. Which I do not.

I will be having my rice mixture over romaine lettuce today. I can’t wait for lunch.