I’ve been drinking a ton of chai lately!

Actually, let me rephrase that for you.

I’ve been spending a lot of money on chai lattes lately!

My acupuncturist tells me I need to include more “warming” spices in my diet like cinnamon and ginger. I took that as an excuse to treat myself to chai lattes every day at Peet’s. Then, yesterday when I was in my black stretchy pants and too lazy to drive the mile and a half when a craving hit, I decided to take matters in my own hands.

(...)
Read the rest of homemade chai lattes (303 words)

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Post tags: drinks, tea

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I really, really love my job. It might not be for everyone, but I can’t even imagine a better way to spend an afternoon than making Lavender Chai Panna Cotta. Really, I just can’t.

First, combine a half cup milk with a cup of cream in a medium sized pot.

Add one tablespoon of culinary grade lavender (make sure it’s culinary grade though—you don’t want stuff that’s been sprayed with icky pesticides!),

the contents of one chai teabag

and two tablespoons sugar. Stir GENTLY but try to keep the sugar on the bottom of the pot. This prevents the milk from scalding.

Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat to medium/low.

Right when little bubbles appear around the sides, give it a stir and take it off the heat. By this time the sugar should have dissolved. Now, add a half tsp of vanilla paste or a full tsp of vanilla extract.

I HIGHLY recommend vanilla paste. It makes all the difference in the world in final products. One teaspoon of vanilla paste equals one full vanilla bean, so you know it’s legit.

After you have stirred in the vanilla, add a teaspoon and a half of powdered gelatine.

And stir again. Now here’s the hardest part of the entire recipe.

You must strain! Technically you should use either cheesecloth or a chinois, but make due with what you have. A few lavender buds won’t kill ya.

Pour the mixture into panna cotta molds, or in this case, little tea cups. I thought tea cups would be cute considering tea is a main ingredient!

Stick the panna cottas in the fridge and let chill for a few hours, or preferably overnight. This is a great make-ahead recipe!

Lavender Chai Panna Cottas

Serves 2-4

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup reduced fat milk or whole milk (do NOT use skim milk. They won’t turn out right!)

2 T sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

1 T culinary grade lavender

1 Tazo Chai teabag, opened

1.5 tsps powdered gelatine

Heat the cream, milk, sugar, lavender and tea in a medium sized pot over low heat. Right when little bubbles start to form around the sides of the pot, take it off the heat and add the gelatine and vanilla. Stir well and strain through a chinois or small holed strainer.

Carefully pour mixture into tiny bowls, tea cups or panna cotta molds and let chill in the fridge for about four hours or overnight.

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2010. | Permalink | 64 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: General, Tazo Tea Cook-Off, tea

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hey hey!

How’s your Monday going? Mine is flying by and I still need to get a bunch of stuff done before my shift at the yoga studio this afternoon (I work 4-8).

Most importantly, I set a new PR this morning!!!! woot woot 2 miles in 16 minutes flat. I never pace an 8 minute mile anymore but speedwork is important and I want to keep getting stronger and stronger. I was totally pushing myself though this morning and listened to a new playlist just called “speed” haha (I just figured out how to do screenshots and currently obsessed)

And then an Oikos ’cause I was still hangry!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 59 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cardio, Exercise, Lunch, musings, Snack, tea

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Hi!

I had a pretty productive afternoon and even got time to roam around Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite Sunday afternoon activities. I enjoyed a lovely nonfat Awake Tea Latte while getting some writing done—

Pumpkin Spice Lattes are only two days away!!!!!!! Its not Fall until you enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte, so don’t you think for a second I won’t be at Starbucks early on Tuesday morning to get mine! In the meantime, Awake Tea Lattes are a nice treat.

I love Sundays, don’t you? I just feel like going off on a tangent for a second here to gush about this day of the week. This evening around 5:30 I poured myself a nice glass of Murphy-Goode Liar’s Dice zinfandel and chatted on the phone for an hour with an old friend. Love that.

Anyways, I made a classic Jenna meal for dinner:

I pressed and then rubbed some tofu with a mix of canola oil (out of sesame oil!), rice wine vinegar, tamari, cayenne, sea salt, garlic powder and pure maple syrup. Then, I baked the thin slices at 400 for 15 minutes on each side. They turned out perfect as usual….golden brown, spicy and delightfully chewy. I haven’t been eating enough tofu lately…I need to start!

On the side I threw together some Mediterranean quinoa! This was very easy and delicious. I cooked quinoa with water and a pinch of sea salt and then when it was done and fluffy, I stirred in some feta, diced tomatoes (drained), oregano and calamata olive slices. It.was.so.good. Seriously…the hit of the meal—my dad loved it!

Green beans on the side!

Oh, and a coconut milk ice cream sandwich for dessert

My mood has pulled a total 180 throughout the course of the day. I mean, obviously I’m bummed I can’t run for a few days but I’m also so thankful that I CAN run to begin with. I’m running this race in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and whenever I’m feeling down about my training and injuries, I just think of the real reason why I’m doing this and it puts it all into perspective. A lot of chemo patients would kill for the chance for an early morning run, whether its 2 miles or 8 miles. Some days are challenging but I know it will all work out in the end.

Finishing up a couple more looming freelance deadlines then reading more of James.

G’nite! Got a special post in the morning for y’all!!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 48 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, Dinner, musings, Snack, starbucks, tea

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Happy Monday!

The California countdown is now fully in swing…..I can’t believe I leave on Saturday!!!! Ahh! I enjoyed hearing about all your ideas for Wine 101 this week. Tune in later for Lesson One and in the meantime, your “homework” is to read my latest article on True/Slant about the health benefits of red wine.

I’ve got a very busy week ahead of me, as I prepare for my final interview out in Sonoma. I LOVE traveling, but getting everything together can be stressful. I’ve been known to prepare for days and then when I reach my destination realize I’ve forgotten something small but essential, such as my glasses. Don’t ya hate that?! The guest room looks like a hurricane hit it right now as I have been spreading out all my outfits everywhere. Also, don’t think I have mentioned it yet, but I will be documenting my trip on video! The good ol’ FlipCam will be coming with me so I can turn my experience into a movie for you guys. Pretty exciting, no?!

This morning I made a big yogurt bowl for breakkie:

Hot news! If you haven’t jumped over to the Healthy Living Summit website in awhile you need to right now! We just added a new “question and answer” sections where you can post us questions and us Summit committee members will answer you!

Still to come—-Wine 101 + a sweet new giveaway!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Breakfast, tea

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Still foggy? You betcha.

Now I rarely have days like today where I just can’t seem to snap out of it! For the most part I like to think I have tons of energy and am on my A-game, but every once in a blue moon my body gently reminds me to quit going 90 miles an hour and take care of it! The post-power yoga soreness is definitely a factor as well as the awful stormy weather we are having. Regardless, I decided today will a 100% total rest day. The LAST thing I need is to get sick just in time for my trip next weekend! I’d rather lay low now and be 100%.

My mom actually gave me the best advice of the day when she came over this afternoon and I told her how I felt and she said (in a very mom voice), “Jennifer, if you feel that tired, lay down and rest! Your body is screaming at you and trying to get the point across!” Moms are always right.

This morning while running “errands” (cough cough totally DONE shopping now) I grabbed a tall soy Awake tea latte. Tasted dandy but didn’t wake this slug up!

And then for lunch, I met the lovely Anne at one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall joints, Cafe Hey!

This is the “T’Ank” sandwich (??) and consists of a whole wheat wrap stuffed with avocado, veggies, hummus, pepperjack cheese and yellow mustard….all pressed on the grill so its nice, hot and gooey. Can you get any better?! I think not.

My mom came to the apartment so I could give her a fashion show for my interview clothes and now I’m just being a total lazy bum sitting on the couch while it pours outside. Still need to do some writing though. Homemade pizza is tentatively on the menu for tonight. The tentative part is whether I want to venture out in the storm to get the pizza sauce I forgot to buy the other day. Boo.

What do you do when you just feel exhausted and want to rest?

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 67 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: friends, Lunch, lunch out, starbucks, tea

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Madison farmer’s market was AMAZING!!!!! I have so many pictures to share but let me back up a bit first. This morning I snacked on half of this yummy bar from the UK before hitting the gym—

It was delicious! Very soft and chewy!

I dragged Ryan to the gym and we had a great 40 minute workout! Waking up early and exercising is a great way to start a vacation

I started out with 5 minutes walking on a steep incline on the treadmill to warm up then did walking pushups, tricep dips, bicep curls, lat raises, chest press and crunches on the stability ball finished off by 10 more minutes walking on the treadmill while Ryan finished up. Afterwards I felt energized and ready to hit the market!

We were both SHOCKED at how large the market was! Definitely the largest I’ve ever seen in my life….I was like a little kid in a candy store! We made an initial loop around (took about 30 minutes) and stopped at this all natural bakery stand to get scones!

I got a cranberry orange and Ryan got a blueberry. Until today he didn’t even know what a scone was!

Note to self: recreate these at home ASAP!!

While we nibbled on our scones we walked and walked—probably for another hour or so. Here are some pictures from the morning!

Of course I dumped hot sauce all over it and ate it with tons of ketchup. It was seriously the BEST omelet that I have EVER had!! Check out all the fluffy, farm fresh feta in the middle!

To drink: fair trade rooibos caramel tea!

I love brunch!!!!

After eating we did ANOTHER loop at the market and finally made some purchases. Ryan bought me this bracelet that I totally fell in love with at a little stand—

Its a bracelet made from a vintage map of Italy! The girl who made it said she found all these all old maps in her grandparent’s basement so she started to make jewelry out of them. How cool is that??! I LOVE it!

We also bought some cheese……obviously

And that’s it. Of course we sampled a ton (I tried cheese curd for the first time! Sqeaky!!) but there’s only so much you can take on a plane home. I was so sad leaving all those gorgeous veggies though….the kale was calling my name!

I did get a cow cookie though for a treat later!

I just couldn’t say no. lol

I’m about to hop in the shower here in a second and get ready for the wedding. The weather is CHILLY and cloudy!!! Not good…hopefully it will clear up in the next hour. The ceremony is at 1:30 then the reception is at 4:00 at The Madison Club followed by dinner. Poor Ryan has to wake up at 4 am tomorrow morning to catch his 6:30 flight!

Have a wonderful day!

ps: Whoever is meeting tomorrow morning for a 3 mile run can you shoot me a quick email this afternoon to confirm? We are going to meet at 7:30 right outside the Hilton entrance. Yay!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 47 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Breakfast, Exercise, Farmer's Markets, musings, Snack, tea, Travel, traveling

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I’m blogging from 35,000 feet in the air!

As I type, we are currently on route to Cincinatti and from there Milwaukee. I’m sandwiched in between my parents and since Ryan was sort of “late” in getting his flight, he actually lucked out and got a non-stop flight. This morning the alarm went off at 6 and we waited until all three alarms were dinging that we set. I felt like my eyes were glued shut! There wasn’t much time but I still managed to get something substantial in my tummy before heading out the door.

a banana with raw almond butter and unsweetened almond milk with chocolate Amazing Meal. I have to admit, I think all Amazing Grass products are best when mixed in a smoothie or at least sweetened vanilla almond milk, but this wasn’t too bad. It tasted like unsweetened chocolate milk and I instantly had a surge of energy. However I didn’t get to finish it in time and had to leave the rest in the car because we were at the airport without a second to spare. Once at the airport, I waited in the ridiculously long Starbucks line to get a double Awake tea. Booyah!

Now I have to say, I think I’m a pretty good traveler. I like to plan ahead and always bring a plethora of snacks because you never know what could happen! I brought two baggies for this trip:

We’ve got SuperFood, teas, almonds and bars. I love bringing teas, especially on airplanes because all you have to do is ask for a cup of hot water. Much better than getting a soda during beverage service, I’d say!

When we got to Cinci to change plans I was quite hungry—Starbucks oatmeal was perfect!

My dad got a chocolate banana vivanno and I tasted it—–woah, it was SO good! I wish they could make it with soymilk though rather than 2% milk. Starbucks, you should really market a vegan vivanno!

I was a much happier camper once I had eaten…..I was seriously starting to feel FAINT!

Wisconsin winters a bit too harsh for me but summers are absolutely gorgeous. Here are in my grandparent’s back yard. The weather was so nice!

After lunch we drove the 90 miles over to Madison (my grandparents are headed over in the morning). I shut my eyes for a brief second….

Then dove into a Greens bar! Its going to be a long night—gotta keep my energy up!

Just now got into the hotel and we both are POOPED. I’m sort of mad, too, that I had to pay $30 for internet. All hotel rooms should come with that included, no?! Ryan has totally crashed on the bed but I’m about to get him up to either go take a walk or exercise before dinner at 6:00.

We are going here for the rehearsal dinner tonight—I hear good things! Being the history buff I am, I am just excited that it is 150 years old!

Last time I was in Wisconsin it was SNOWING!! It was also the very first time I blogged!

Stay tuned for Madison Part II

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 51 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Breakfast, musings, starbucks, tea, traveling

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Hi!

I have had zero energy all day. So unlike me! Tomorrow I shall make a Green Monster in the morning and see how I feel…..I’m blaming it all on my large, hot bowl of oats this morning when it was 95 degrees outside.

This afternoon I finished all the cookies and because I was so proud of myself for not stuffing my face with dough, I ate one warm out of the oven

SO GOOD! I made these with chunky peanut butter, dried cranberries and milk chocolate chips instead of almond butter, raisins and dark chocolate and I loved the new combo to mix things up!

Right after the last batch was coming out of the oven, I headed to Starbucks to meet Sarah. I brought her a cookie and she paid for my drink! I had an unsweetened iced passion tea—

LOVE Tazo Passion tea. Its amazing hot or cold!

I came home, packaged up all the cookies and then went to the gym to walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill while watching Oprah. She makes the time fly and my orthotics are getting more broken in and comfortable with every day that passes.

I didn’t want to eat so early when I got home, even though I knew Ryan had a meeting and wouldn’t be home. So….I busted out my new crackers!

I’ve seen these on a bunch of blogs and then when Greenwise had them on sale for buy one get one free, I knew I had to try ‘em. The ingredient list is awesome!

I munched on a few and loved them! They are very, very light and crunchy and would go really well with hummus me thinks. I love anything and everything caraway so these were perfect for me!

Not long after, I started dinner. On the menu tonight was a whole wheat pasta bowl with tofu and spinach!

I used:

• 2 ounces whole wheat penne
• 1 tsp-ish extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup organic fire roasted tomatoes
• drizzle balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 serrano chili (!)
• 1 clove garlic, grated on microplane
• 1/2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 serving tomato basil baked tofu
• a big bunch of spinach
• parmesan to top

Basically I just sauteed the zucc + tofu pieces + garlic and chili in the olive oil for a few minutes then added the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Let it cook for about three-four minutes then tossed the hot pasta with it. Served the whole thing over a bed of spinach and really liked the “hot/cold combo”. I wasn’t sure serving pasta over raw spinach would work but it worked very well…..I just combined my salad and my entree into one! When Ryan gets home later he will be eating leftover Fleming’s mac & cheese and fish from last night. Lucky man!

I’m just so TIRED but I still have work to do so I didn’t want to have a glass of red wine because I knew it would put me right to sleep! Instead, I picked the first time from my new tea box!!

Ange raves about Stash tea but I’ve never tried it before! I picked the decaf creme caramel because it seemed like a good “desserty” drink. I was right—-very, very yummy!

I’ve grown to appreciate coffee and tea without any added sweetener but its been a long road. I get a bunch of emails asking how I can enjoy my beverages “black” and the answer is that you slowly have to wean yourself into it. Sort of like plain yogurt…you know?

When I was 18 I went with my mom out to Miravel Life in Balance Spa in Arizona and attended a tea lecture there. The woman giving the lecture said that tea was NEVER meant to have sweetener in it. You are pretty much ruining the tea’s natural taste when you douse your mug with sugar, splenda, stevia or agave. The beauty of tea is that each type has such a different taste and one should learn to appreciate it in its “naked” state.

Of course when I was 18 I sort of said “yeah right” and continued to dump packets of equal (GASP) and splenda into my hot drinks. It was only a few years ago that I slowly started to wean myself off the artificial sweeteners and add real sugar into my tea. Then, I started reducing the amount of real sugar in my tea until I didn’t need it at all anymore. The same goes with coffee only I hardly drink coffee at all anymore. Coffee + splenda = major migraine waiting to happen.

For instance, now, as I sip on this creme caramel tea I am able to pick up on the soft caramel notes along with the rich tannins of the black tea. Tannins are those things that are in red wine also—-the stuff that makes your mouth sort of “pucker” after you drink it. To reduce the amount of tannins in your tea, remove the tea bag after about three minutes. Since I was a little girl, I’ve always had a strange taste for black tea. I used to order it whenever my family went out to breakfast when I was as young as seven years old! I think it made me feel dignified or something. Anyways, its just one of those things—some people like it, some people don’t. If black tea isn’t your thang, try an herbal infusion instead. My favorites include chamomile, peppermint or raspberry. Celestial Seasonings makes a wonderful vanilla chamomile tea that I love!

And what goes perfectly with tea might you ask??

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 66 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cardio, dessert, Dinner, Exercise, musings, Snack, tea

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Hey!

I had the best workout this morning at the gym. Don’t you love it when you just KNOW that your diet is the key player in how much boundless energy you have?! No coffee, nothing. I fuel on whole foods!

I did:

• 20 minutes on the elliptical, level 2 resistance (doc doesn’t want me to use much resistance yet because of my shins!)
• 15 minutes of a combo of water jogging with WEIGHTS and swimming laps freestyle

It was a great workout and I love switching it up with the water jogging and laps. You never want to just do the same old thing every single day at the gym because your body gets used to it—to maximize your burn you should constantly switch it up and try new things, such as water jogging with weights. Holy goodness, using these weights was HARD!

A few people have asked about which set I got from AquaJogger.com and the answer is the complete women’s fitness set. This set contains the belt, the weights, the little shoes (which I haven’t worn yet. lol) and a workout dvd. These weights aren’t the usual weights you would find in your gym’s weight room, obviously, but instead they work with the resistance of the water to really work your muscles. I set the timer on my watch and only after 3 MINUTES I felt an extreme burn!!!! Crazy, but true. For the time that I was in the pool today I had to alternate between using the weights and just using my arms when I jogged. It was too hard!

After my workout I noshed on a honey graham z-bar to refuel—

And then met my mom for lunch at BT, the trendy Vietnamese restaurant across the street that surprisingly has a VERY affordable and posh lunch menu. Mostly everything is under $10!

I had my absolute favorite thing on the menu, the pan fried tofu noodle bowl!

This is to die for!!! Vietnamese food is one of my favorite cuisines and I never can get enough of the noodle bowls, bursting with peanuts, bean sprouts, basil and chilies. The tofu was cooked to perfection as well…lightly fried but not greasy in the least bit.

To drink, I enjoyed my other favorite treat, a limeade!

After we said our goodbyes I went off to run some, what I thought would be quick, errands and then head home to get to work. Unfortunately I ended up getting quite frustrated because they were doing road work and I just sat in traffic for what felt like hours! Don’t you hate that?! When I finally got to the mall, for errands number one, I treated myself to Teavana because I love it so.

I got the concoction that was featured in the window—a mix of two teas for a subtly spicy and energizing brew.

Oh Teavana, how I adore thee. My bank account unfortunately does not. I saw this amazing promotion that they were doing called “The Teavana Tea Club”, which is where you pay something like $120 and then Teavana sends you two 2-ounce tea samples every month of the year to try. How cool is that?! If you are an avid tea drinker (ahem, Angela!), this is a lovely idea. I desperately wanted to sign up but it’ll have to wait until the budget allows, unfortunately. A great idea though!

I just got home and I am trying to work as quick as possible since I have an appointment to pick up my ORTHOTICS (!) at 4:30 and then am meeting Anne at 7:00 for a glass of wine!

Be sure to check out Angela’s Shop 4 A Cause on June 11 (my birthday!). I am baking a batch of delicious Super Charge Me Cookies to go up in the auction.

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 55 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cardio, Exercise, Lunch, lunch out, Snack, tea

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