by Sam Tackeff | Oct 5, 2012 | Challenge, Restaurants
Yesterday was free burrito day at Boloco. I didn’t partake, but I thought that I’d share this photo for folks who I went to college with. This is the line at the brand spankin’ new Boloco in the ‘ville. Yes, that’s right. There is now a burrito shop in the town of Wellesley, mere paces from the gates of the college. These kids have it so easy.
The other reason I thought I’d mention this, is in the wake of the scum-tweeter at KitchenAid mocking Obama’s dead grandmother, I remembered this (slightly less embarrassing) social media scuffle involving Boloco’s CEO, and a disgruntled employee making stupid comments on Twitter. The CEO read her tweet, fired her on Twitter, regretted his decision immediately, and then turns the situation around. I actually thought it was an interesting case for brand managers. (Read more on BostInno.)
But enough about that. After yesterday’s breakthrough at the gym, I was excited to go back to complete more handstand-pushups and help our team rack up points. I was also excited about this workout:
WOD (Workout of the day): “Survivor”
4 Rounds for time:
400m Run
500m Row
I was supposed to do a running workout anyway to prep for next week’s race, so because this was cardio-intensive, I went ahead and went to the gym two days in a row to participate in this round of fun. There were a lot of folks in class, so I actually did my rows first, and finished with runs. I tried to pace myself so that my rounds were pretty consistent. My splits were 2:22 (row), 3:26 (run), 2:46 (row), 3:17 (run), 2:51 (row), 3:22 (run), 2:32 (row), 3:17 (run). I finished in 23:57. A little slower than I would have liked – my splits included the transitions, and I always seem to have trouble getting in and out of the erg.
And after that monstrosity? I banged out 150 HSPU’s. Boo-YAH. (Sorry.)
* * *
In the afternoon, my mom came to meet me for lunch! We were supposed to pick up new phones today, but we were thwarted by the fact that it seems that no Sprint 16GB iPhone 5’s exist in the world. But we had planned the date in advance, so she ended up meeting me anyway.
We headed over to Legal C-Bar for lunch, because I was yet again craving seafood, and Legal is known to have a gluten-free menu and they are super accommodating. After checking out the menu, I opted for a version of what I usually get – the crab salad sandwich. They serve it without the bun, and with a side of your choice (broccoli!). While the crab was quite fresh, and the broccoli steamed well, my one gripe was how little food this was. If I can’t have the bun, wouldn’t you at least give a bigger portion of broccoli?
Realizing quickly that I would be starving if I only ate this for lunch, I opted to order a half dozen oysters. Three blue points, and three from Duxbury. Jewels of the sea!
After lunch, we headed over to the huge Whole Foods to pick up a pint of raspberries, which I then devoured. I also introduced my mom to LÄRABARs. We left with two Zyliss julienne peelers, and a Bialetti ceramic pan for my mom, who has heard me raving about mine.
After properly fueling ourselves, we determined that the best thing to do next would be to stop into Williams Sonoma for coffee samples. I started with a Nespresso ristretto from the Nespresso Pixie Espresso Machine. I usually go for this every time I walk into a kitchen store.
And then we went over to check out the new Starbucks Verismo. I had my doubts. My mom had a latte, which she conceded was quite good, and I had a cup of plain coffee. Also surprisingly decent.
After caffeinating, we made a stop at City Sports where I rewarded myself with a new foam roller, and a jump rope to practice my (non-existent) double-unders. I have a funny feeling that these are going to be part of the gym challenge in the coming weeks. Eek.
In the evening, I came home to make dinner: a rack of lamb, and roasted sweet potatoes. My mom and I both picked up these racks of lamb from the refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s. Unlike the frozen racks they have, these are from New Zealand, and don’t come with seasoning. You also don’t have to plan in advance like you do with the frozen ones… I seasoned it with Nom Nom Paleo’s Magic Mushroom Powder from her iPad app, and some rosemary.
The sweet potatoes were tossed in coconut oil, salt and pepper, and went in the oven at 425 for about 35 minutes. (I put them in before I put the lamb in, and then left them in for a few extra minutes as the lamb sat out resting.)
I started my dinner with some Trader Joe’s gazpacho to get in some extra vegetables.
And here’s the rest of my plate – a few lamb chops, sweet potato coins, and a chopped red bell pepper.
After dinner we vegged out watching DVR’d episodes of NB80’s. Think VH1’s I love the 80’s, but all about basketball. Highly recommended.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 14, 2012 | Challenge, Seafood
This morning I woke up groggily, not understanding why the whole house smelled like chicken. And then I went to make my coffee, and remembered that the chicken stock was still in the slow-cooker bubbling away. Jewish penicillin! Except, I don’t have a cold, and I want to keep it that way.
I set to work making my coffee, and then immediately after I finished, I realized that it was trash day, and I had an entire room full of cardboard that I had made a resolution to get rid of – the first official step in “making my house more of a home”. And get rid of it I did. A metric ton of cardboard was broken down with a knife and my brute strength, and stuffed in three large recycle bins. By the time I finished, the coffee was forgotten, as was breakfast, but I was rewarded with this beautiful clean room. Wonderful!
Well, I skipped breakfast. It’s something I have to work on. It was a “rest day”, which means that I wasn’t fueling for a workout, but it also means that I’m lazy when it comes to taking care of myself. It’s so much easier to do good when you are focused on good choices.
Lunch, however was a different story. My mom gave me the first of her eight ball zucchinis from the garden. It’s a hybrid zucchini squash – tastes like a zucchini with the firmer texture of a squash.
I doused it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted it in a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes.
And then I put together a simple salad – zucchini, some of the roasted chicken in the fridge, parsley, mint, lemon juice and olive oil. I took it outside to eat on the porch.
In the late afternoon, I polished off an apple from Applecrest, and headed out for a walk.
Because it was a “rest day”, I decided to listen to a podcast and take a short walk around Fresh Pond. It’s one of my favorite places to escape to, because it is full of people at all times of day, you see dogs everywhere, and yet the paths are large enough that you don’t have to dodge people. You do however, have to dodge the wet dogs coming out of the pond. Today I learned my lesson and was totally soaked from an overly-excited sopping wet corgi.
After my walk, I headed over to Formaggio Kitchen for a late snack, hoping that I’d find something despite the fact that I can’t gorge on cheese or honey or anzac biscuit samples. When I realized that I couldn’t have my favorite fennel sausage because it had both milk products and sugar in it, I decided to splurge on something that I’ve been eying for months: Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee.
Honestly? It just wasn’t that great. I mean, it was good, for sure. But, for half the price, Formaggio brews pretty excellent George Howell iced coffee, and I’ve realized that it can’t be beat. Sorry Stumptown, I wanted to love it…
In another failed moment, I went next door to the Fishmonger to see if I could pick up some seafood for my dinner. I noticed that the board said that shelled lobster was $8.50 a pound, a moderately good deal (although Market Basket sells whole lobsters for $3.99 if you can deal with the crowds) but was informed that it was actually $50 per pound. Yes, in this bountiful season, they were attempting to sell the stuff for a good $47 dollars more than market value. Sometimes I don’t understand this world.
After this escapade and all that disappointment, I was feeling a little hungry, so I devoured two small hard boiled eggs.
Instead of lobster, I decided to splurge on crab for dinner to make myself feel better. Devon had a work dinner catered by Barbara Lynch, so this was another day of fending for myself. Actually, I’ve been trying to get the stuff for the past week, but every time I head to the store, it’s sold out. I finally found some, and grabbed it.
Dinner was dead simple fresh crab salad. I peeled a cucumber, chopped up an avocado, some colorful tomatoes. I made a dressing of one part Red Boat fish sauce to one part lime juice, with a pinch of chile. I dressed the salad with half of the dressing, and dressed the crab in a separate bowl with the other half. To guild the lily, I added just a few spoonfuls of coconut milk to my crab, and then served it on the bed of veg. Here it is!
A bright crab salad
serves 1
6 oz. fresh wild crab
1 medium cucumber
1 avocado
2-3 ripe colorful tomatoes
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs. fish sauce
pinch of chile flakes
a splash of full-fat coconut milk
Start by making your dressing. Juice a lime, and add an equal amount of fish sauce (about 1 Tbs.). Add a pinch of chili flakes and whisk or shake up in a small jar.
Then prepare your vegetables. Peel and chop your cucumber and put in a bowl. Take an avocado, cut it in half, and score the flesh into cubes before spooning it out into the cucumbers. Then, chop up your tomatoes into wedges. Take half of the dressing, and dress the vegetables, and arrange on your dinner plate.
Then prepare your crab. In a small bowl, pour the remaining dressing on the crab. Add a generous splash of coconut milk (a tablespoon or two), mix gently to combine. Pile your crab onto your vegetables, and tuck in.
