Power Granola Recipe for Adults and Adventurous Kids

This recipe has everything good I could cram into it. you may think of more things. Sometimes more is better! But there are many variations possible here, depending on your taste.

3 Cups Rolled Oats (or any mix of rolled/flaked grains: Rice, Wheat, Rye, Barley)

¼ cup Honey (if honey is viscous, heat it in the oven first) and/or Maple Syrup

3-4 TBSP Olive Oil (you can substitute other oils as well)

TBSP Sesame Oil

TBSP Vanilla Extract

TSP Almond Extract

Any combination of the following: chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, chopped hazelnuts, (total amount of nuts: about 1 cup, I like nuts!), pumpkin seeds (I put in about 4 TBSP), sesame seeds (I like these, I put in 3 TBSP), sunflower seeds (2 TBSP), several dashes of cinnamon powder, a couple of dashes of cardamon powder, 1-2 dashes of nutmeg and/or allspice. Salt is optional, as are coconut flakes.

Mix wet ingredients in a big bowl first, then add dry ingredients, mixing to cover the dry ingredients so that the flakes are lightly covered but not doused (you may need to add a bit more oil or honey/syrup if it’s not sweet enough for your, or flakes if it’s too moist, just experiment! Then add seeds, nuts, etc.

Spread out a thin layer of the mix on parchment paper on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan and roast for 8-10 minutes at 300F (or 150C) -- a slow roast is better than a fast burn. Use a silicone or wooden flat edge spatula to turn the mix in the pan, roast several more minutes (5-10) until golden – don’t over-bake. Over-baked granola is no fun to eat!

After roasting, the following may be added to the mix: chia seeds, flax flakes, goji berries.

Allow mixture to cool before storing in an airtight container, preferably made of glass. Keep in refridgerator for up to two weeks. If you and your family eat it every day, it will go fast. Otherwise, you can cut the recipe in half. I like to bake in quantities so I don’t have to do it again right away!

Extra Credit: Granola for Kids Who Don’t Like Nuts or Seeds

EVOO, Sesame Oil, Mix of Rolled Oats and/or other rolled grains

Honey, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup or any combination of these three ingredients
1-2 TBLSP Olive Oil, Dash of Sesame Oil

Dash of Cinnamon

Bring on the Cream Pumpkin Soup

For cold and rainy fall days, try this delicious calorie-bomb of a soup!

2 kg chopped pumpkin chunks which is about one and a half de-seeded small pumpkins (If it’s the small potimarron you can leave the skin on! Yes! It adds beaucoup de flavor.)

20-30 cl heavy cream

Handful of Chopped Shallots, Garlic, Fresh Ginger

Lots of EVOO

Add several gernerous sprinklings of Fleur de Sel (I’m using Sel de Guerande) on the unroasted pumpkin chunks in a large baking pan.

Roast pumpkin chunks at 175C or 350F for 20 minutes, stir, add chopped ginger, shallots, garlic, roast another 20 minutes, roast again if needed for several more minutes until pumpkin pieces are soft.

Blend roasted goodies in blender, adding optional flax flakes for your Omegas!

Pour in half the cream, adding a bit of water to dilute if you don’t like your spoon to be able to stand up in your soup.

Transfer to a pot and cook a few minutes on medium heat, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom. 

Add EVOO if needed.

I also added basil leaves for garnish and a bit of creamy vinaigrette sauce to make it look fancy.

 Bon Appetit!

“Le Best of” Top10 Funniest French Car Model Names (that sound like the Seven Dwarves)

Living in France again now, my husband and I are reminded of this funny car name phenomenon. Take time to read each of these slowly and enjoy the images they evoke as you mentally graft these images to a car.

10. Lodgy

9. Clio

8. Jumper (a medium-sized utility van, also known as Boxer)

7. Berlingo (also called Partner)

6. Dokker

5. Nemo (also known as Bipper. Bipper? Really?)

4. Yaris (related to Dr. Seuss’ Lorax and Yottle)

3. Jumpy (also known as Expert or Scudo, it’s a compact car, the smaller cousin of Jumper)

2. Kangoo (A personal favorite name of ours. Also known as Express or Kubistar)

And our number one Funniest French Car Model Name is:

1. Twingo (Two steps from a Twinkie, what self-respecting car owner would…?)

Well, anyway, all in good fun!

PS- My plumber, an Irishman converted to Frencholicism, just drove up in his large utility van called Trafic. (Yes, that's spelled with one "f.") He says it’s the best-selling utility van in Europe. And, he says, at least it’s got a masculine name.

@Bordeaux Kitchen - The "Goat and Egg" Salad

Salad of the Day: "The Goat and Egg" 

Like the salad from my last blog entry, this one's again a mix of baby greens (red chard, spinach, mâche – this, mind you, is store-bought, prepackaged, as I don’t really have room in the small fridge for all three greens in large quantities!), walnuts, flaxseed flakes, roasted sesame seeds, sel de Guérande. 

Organic/Bio Ingredients in "The Goat and Egg": Vine-ripened tomatoes, chunks of fresh goat cheese, two hard boiled eggs, freshly ground pepper, chia seeds (yes, the same you use to grow a chia pet!), and for the dressing: simply organic EVOO (extra virgin, cold expeller pressed olive oil!) 

Bon Appetit! 

Follow me on Twitter @BordeauxKitchen

@BordeauxKitchen -- Salad of the Day

Now that I live in Bordeaux, it's time to start learning, eating, sharing (and sipping a bit of wine now and then!)

I will begin to share some of daily life, tidbits learned about Bordeaux and life in general. Today it's just  a typical salad I made for myself today (there was no one else to share it with!) to demonstrate how easy it is to make a better salad than many restaurants, even in France!

At the store, I buy what looks good (everything!) At home, I have a "no wastage" policy, so I "use up" what I have in the fridge. I try to purchase organic (or "bio" as they say in Europe) products, which actually makes shopping in a large grocery store much easier; it narrows down the choices considerably, even in France. Luckily, the local hypermarché has a couple of "bio" aisles. I like to mix, so that comes in handy, when there are lots of ingredients to mix with!

Salad of the Day "Le Mixe Freshe" 

A mix of baby greens (red chard, spinach, mâche), walnuts, vine-ripened tomatoes, pieces of red and green bell pepper, chopped olives, sel de Guérande (fleur de sel or large grained salt -- so yummy on the tongue!)
Organic/Bio Ingredients in "Le Mixe Freshe:" Chives, chunks of Comté cheese, two hard boiled eggs ( still warm!), freshly ground pepper, and for the dressing, simply bio EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

Bon Appetit!

Gear Up! Links and Thinks

Part of the fun (and the expense!) with sports is the gear. No matter the sport, there is the gear.

Let’s start with the basics: the Asics! Those are my favorite athletic shoes, but I’ve also used Saucony and the occasional Nike Cross Trainers (okay, that’s what they wre called 20 years ago). For walking around the house, I use Reebok Runtone (not Walktone, or whatever it’s called. Why walk when you can run?) I have wide feet, so Asics, Saucony and the Runtones fit the foot. They are supple, yet have support, and offer great cusioning for my achy joints and spine. 

As for socks, I like the colors and stripes of Addidas ankle socks, but Hanes cotton “foot” the bill just fine. They’re cheap and white. What more do you need? The cool thing I’ve discovered since pulling my calf muscle (wouldn’t you pull yours, too, at the age of 41, while running around with a bunch of preschoolers in Tae Kwon Do class?): Compression socks! Some say they work, some say they work because you think they work, but no matter, they do give support (and who over 40 couldn’t use a little support now and then?) There are several great brands: I’ve tried the German company CEP Women’s Running Compression Socks, the CW-X Compression Support Socks, and it’s footless brother, the CW-X Compression Calf Sleeve, which is great if you need to train in bare feet, i.e. Tae Kwon Do! I recommend wearing compression socks with long workout pants. Serious athleto-nerds, though, don’t care if they look goofy in knee socks and shorts. Just ask my pal Mateo, an Ironman, who originally lent me his CW-Xs to try. I told him he was very kind to lend me his socks, he told me I was very brave to use his socks.

In a true sign of love, Mateo bought his wife, Deanna, the FitBit, a device that can track your steps and calories burned and even tracks your sleep. Luckily, she likes and uses it! There is now an armband version called Flex, and both devices synch to your computer or cell phone and keep track of everything for you to keep you motivated and on top of your habits and activity levels.

A former high school field hockey and lacrosse teammate of mine who is now a coach to professional and Olympic athletes, including triathletes, Siri Lindley, with her company Team Sirius, uses the Halo Trainer, a device that grips onto a stability ball for stability and core strength building. She also uses TRX, a functional training device that helps you use your own body weight also to build strength, mobility and core strength.

And no triathlete can call her/himself a triathlete if (s)he does not consume GU! My fave is Vanilla Bean Gu Energy Gel (it’s like eating gooey caramel laced with caffeine). Siri uses Gu’s Chomps Energy Chews, new to me, a crunchy version of Gu’s amino acid and electrolyte-filled gels. Something else new I’ve discovered but haven’t tried yet are electrolyte tablets. GU has them and there’s another company called Nuun which has created electrolyte enhanced drinking tabs.

For the past couple of years, I had thought the most badass workout pants were the Lucy “Perfect Core” pants (which help you keep your core and its surrounding flabbage tucked in), but I have just purchased and tested Lucy’s “Perfect Booty,” and these are uplifting, shall we say! So now both are my favorites:   Decent athletic pants are also produced by Athleta, but after the “perfects” of Lucy, there’s no going back for me. Lululemon thinks it’s the top of the line in pants and acts like it, but I’m not so sure. However, I do use exclusively Lululemon sports bras these days. They are soft, flexible, fitted, fantastically formed and durable! Mine have withstood multiple washings in the yellow, gritty hard Moscow water system and they’re still rockin’! The other Lululemon item I adore is the “Forme Jacket.” Just as it’s name, it’s form-fitted, sleek and practical, sporting holes in the sleeves for your thumbs to keep the hands warm and the sleeves from riding up your arms (I just saw today that Gap has copied this feature and the look of this jacket in their GapFit line. Couldn’t think up your own style, huh? But actually, I do like GapFit's fitted shorts. I use them for coverage when my shorter skirts decide to have their Marilyn Monroe moments. Anyway, older models of Lululemon’s Forme Jacket also sported a hair elastic on the zipper just in case. Nice touch, bring it back!

My fave Pilates class? YouTube! Actually, it’s eFit30 Pilates from Down Under which you can view on YouTube! Yes! 30-minute workouts for free, and no commute! You can’t beat it.  My favorite instructor is Angela, who instructs out of Perth, Australia. She is experienced and totally ripped, and explains each movement and inhale/exhale in a clear, simple way. Their own website is http://www.efit30.com.au/ Beneath that baby blubber layer is that washboard stomach, I swear!

Heard of P90x? Me too, but I have never tried it. Supposedly it’s for the already fit to get fitter, takes 90 days and you can do it at home. It uses a mix of cardio, strength training, plyometrics (jump training), yoga, and stretching (according to Wikipedia). So you try it and tell me what it’s like! I’ll get to it eventually, I hope!

Last but not least, I would like to add that my gripes and groans about personal flab, injuries and shortcomings are there to keep things humorous and fun with a touch of self-effacement to counter any boasting about physical fitness (who, me?). Staying healthy is one of my goals in life, after past brushes with serious ill health and injuries. If one falls sick, it’s imperative to keep the dream alive of becoming fit once again. Check out Melanie Bowen’s blog entries on the importance of maintaining fitness through illness, in particular cancer. We always think of fitness for healthy people, but what about those undergoing chemo therapy or other potentially weakening and depressing therapies and illnesses? The answer is that fitness is for them, too! 

Again, keeping track of your workouts will motivate you to KEEP working out. Even though I only write mine down in pencil on paper, tracking my workouts has really helped motivate me, someone who can make up any excuse in the world in order to not have to go for a jog. I’m better about jogging now, though, than I was in my 20s, when I was super lazy. Now I’m old and achy and know it will just get worse if I sit on my Hintern.

Two more websites for reference:

American Council on Exercise: www.acefitenss.org

American College of Sports Medicine: www.acsm.org

This concludes the Decadethlon Series (for now!) At the very latest, I’ll check back in a decade to add my stats from another decade of workouts (I hope I’m so lucky!) Watch for my next MomVoyage blog entries on Food, Nutrition, Cooking and Travel! Hopefully these will be accompanied by photographs. So stay tuned and keep moving!

PS-I am just adding a few more links:
For some intense, short Abs workouts try efit30's 15-minute Abs Workout by a peppy Australian named Jess. For Body Sculpting Cardio workouts, look for efit30's dynamic duo, Tony and Fiona and their Total Body Workout series! Hello, sore muscles!
Another great pair of trainers, a married couple who have created their own website are Kelli and Daniel from FitnessBlender.com. Check out their large selection of free videos for Abs & Obliques (10 minutes!), HIIT Cardio & Abs (60 minutes of rigorous body weight work on day one and 24 hours of sore muscles on day two!), Natural Brazilian Buttock Lift, it's all there! (HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.) All you need to do is turn on that Internet and get moving - right at home! This is great for Moms like me who are "stuck" in the house most of the day!

Decadethlon – Lesssons Learned: Underperforming vs. Overtraining, The Ultimate Orange Crush, and How Chocolate, Fashion Magazines and TV Contribute to a Healthy Workout Schedule

So what are some of the lessons learned from over a decade of tracking workouts?

Underperforming (ie- relaxing on the couch, napping, breathing deeply with your eyes closed dreaming about your next piece of chocolate or other vice) is actually healthy. Instead of depriving oneself of these things, reward yourself with rest, you work hard, so rest hard and with resolve. Relaxing without guilt is something I will probably never learn, but I do try.

Overtraining (ie- genus gymus ratus) can get you killed, or at least injured. Let me tell you a little story called “The Ultimate Orange Crush.” This past fall I was working intensely toward my Orange Belt in Tae Kwon Do as well as performing three routines (including one with a stick!) at a tournament in front of 250 people, judges and the whole nine yards. I did nothing but practice for this, kicking punching, twirling my stick and basically looking like a Mom Gone Mad on the playground with my wooden stick. I should have MIXED IT UP, like gone swimming, run on the treadmill, sat on the bike, taken naps instead of done the dishes and walking around the house in a sleep-deprived stupor. No, no, I just had my eye on the Orange prize. My arms were more toned than ever, I won bronze, silver and gold (gold for the stick routine!) and earned my Orange Belt. But my intensity brought on foot tendonitis, an old college injury back to haunt me. I had to stop walking. Walking! My injury was kept rife thanks to the holiday season and hours on my feet in the kitchen. I had to miss this year’s Triathlon. I was crushed. I still am. The tendonitis nags me. I still can’t wear heels, run or even use the bike. No yoga, even. (Luckily, some light pilates is okay.) Moral of the story: Mix it up. Mixing it up keeps you balanced and interested, like anything else in life. There is a fine line between chaos and civilization. Similarly, there is an ever-diminishing line as one ages between benefitting from an activity and doing harm to yourself. I will probably never really follow the Everything in Moderation rule, but I do try.

Working out is Hard Work! Getting to the gym or doing a workout is not always, in fact usually, is not easy to do. And in order to remain healthy in general, epsecially when you live in an urban environment, you have to eat well, sleep well, balance the rest of your life like work and family and the annoying admin that adulthood brings on, and overall be totally organized and emotionally stable. So basically, it’s impossible. But I’m not (always) a pessimist. You have to convince yourself it’s fun, and there are several strategies to achieve this:

Adding Chocolate, Fashion Magazines and TV to your Routine can greatly enhance your performance. How? By making it fun! Simple. Read your book, flip through fashion mags on the treadmill, get your TV or iPad fix on the recline-a-bike, absolutely listen to music that pumps up your jam. You’ll have fun and feel good after the workout. Double good! Then eat that piece (or in my case, pieces) of chocolate.

Eat! A friend of mine said, “It’s all about the calories,” and she may be right. Still, I’d recommend eating a balance (there’s that B word again) of protein, carbs and fat balanced diet (my favorite being almonds and chocolate), drinking liquids and “exersizing almost daily,” to quote my doctor. Don’t be afraid of food, but know what the right food is for you. And enjoy it! Food is truly a joy of life, and seems to take a lifetime to understand how much of it and what kinds one needs, but that’s part of the fun. You can get really technical with Body Mass Indices, etc. Lots of resources online can help with this. Or you can just make sure you balance every meal: protein for your muscles, fat to feel satiated and carbs because who doesn’t love carbs?!

Remember: Just Track it! Have I improved over a decade plus of working out? Well, maybe a little, but the point is more perhaps that I am working out at all, and keeping track of the workouts is helping me continue to do them. So, log your workouts! It’s satisfying to review the log, while you munch on that chocolate bar (with almonds, always!) Remember you need to convince yourself it’s fun. Set yourself goals. My goal is to keep the number of workouts to 20 days per month (or higher, but that’s getting over-zealous of me again), whatever those might consist of.

And do try some soccer, Tae Kwon Do, or ballet, something new you didn’t think you were good at or could even do. You might just find a new addiction, and some new friends along the way.

Now if I could only find a way to log my kids’ time spent on the iPad (new app idea?)…..

While this concludes the Decadethlon series, I thought I’d add another blog entry next time on Gear, because that makes it fun, too: a new pair of sneakers, some fun tracking gadget, or tummy-hugging yoga pants. And music, of course! So watch for those Links and Thinks in the next episode.

Decadethlon – IronMom: The Next Five Years

In 2008, once I realized I was pregnant, I had to drop the soccer, but I still kept my workouts in the 20-30% range average of days worked out. In August I managed to work out eight out of the 23 days prior to my second c-section and was even equipped with Japanese birthing and newborn diapering terminology prior to entering the first-rate Sanno hospital in Tokyo. September saw zero workouts and just as few hours of sleep. On the bright side, however, for the first time since college, I accomplished hours upon hours of night reading and read the biggest books I’ve ever read in my life. Motherhood had made me literate again. 95 out of 366 days worked out, or 26%. Best month, January at 45%. Worst month, September 0% (an all-time low.)

2009 was neither a particularly productive nor lazy year, at an average annual rate of 35% days worked out. It was, however, an emotional one, as we left our beloved Tokyo for a move to Moscow via the US for six weeks of homeless home leave with two children, two cats, two car seats, 8 suitcases and 6 carry on bags. While nursing an infant at the same time as raising a toddler might on the surface sound like an anti-fitness-inducing formula, it is actually the act of moving house that robs one of one’s fitness routine or even the interest to maintain one. Early on, it was back to the no-impact yoga, pilates and swimming. By November my monthly workouts increased a bit to 40% as we settled into our new life in Moscow, for a second round of winters.

Despite a continuing breastfeeding schedule throughout 2010, with the help of an overly-dominating Russian nanny, I was still able to maintain a fairly high workout rate, averaging 54%, or 196 out of 365 days. Motherhood had made me more efficient with my time.

In 2011, I participated in my first Ironman Triathlon in Moscow. (Okay, let’s qualify this: It was all indoors and conducted over two weeks’ time. But I still finished, got my medal and learned to love the stationary recumbant bike!) This became my second best year, with a 62% average over the year of days worked out, or 228 days out of 366, and I was still nursing for the first four or five months of it. Taking up Tae Kwon Do with preschoolers also helped add to the workout numbers, as did joining an adult Tae Kwon Do class and earning my yellow belt, which had served as an incentive to make it to class. The shared pain of taking a Tae Kwon Do class together creates a kind of fitness-hood among fellow suffering classmates. (See my TKD blog entry on this below entitled “The No-Belt Prize for Piece.”)

In 2012, I embarked on my second indoor, two-week Ironman Triathlon and finished despite daily doubts even up to the last day of it and having a cold in the middle. Facial biopsy, followed by facial surgery, followed by a staggering three-week flu kept me from the gym during the first third of the year, as did some summer travel. In the fall, however, I began working towards my orange belt in Tae Kwon Do and preparing for a TKD exhibition tournament. In the end, I managed to have an annual average workout rate of 63%, tying with 2004 for the best year in numbers of workouts! (May, a travel month, at the low end at 35% and November, TKD preparation month, at the high end at a whopping 87%, but not without a high price: foot tendonitis from overtraining! )

And now, the graphs (you'll need a microscope)...

More next time in the Conclusion (finally!!) of Decadethlon – Lessons Learned (ie. Underperforming vs. Overtraining, The Ultimate Orange Crush, and How Chocolate, Fashion Magazines and TV Contribute to a Healthy Workout Schedule)

Decadethlon – What Goes Down Must Come Up

Preface: As I said before, I’m a pencil-and-paper kind of person, still, and, for me, figuring out how to import excel charts into the blogosphere and make them look right is like sculpting ice with a feather. Will work on this. Maybe a better feather?

After an all-time annual low in numbers of workouts in 2002, my track record, so to speak, improved by 2004 to workout rate of about two out of three days. In fact, to date, it has been my “most fit year” in number of days worked out, despite a move from Paris back to Washington, DC, and bunion surgery to both feet (that’s what commuting in dress shoes in the Paris metro will do to you!) Thanks to the foot surgery, I discovered the magic of pilates: you can be flat on your back and still get a workout in! I let the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong (obviously pre-drug admission) inspire me during the weeks after my surgery. With still sore feet, I moved with my husband to Moscow in September. US Embassy Moscow had a more extensive gym, indoor pool and indoor basketball court. Indoor is the key word here, as it seems most of the year it’s winter in Moscow. I made use of the indoor facilities and agreed (only once or twice) to run with my husband outside during good weather. Days Worked Out: 231 out of 366 (a leap year) or 63%. Best month: September, 29 out of 30 days, or a whopping 97%! And that only 6 weeks after bunion surgery. (When you can’t walk, then watching and mimicking pilates videos is pretty much all you can do besides eat all day, anyway.) Thank you, Pilates! Worst months: May and December, tying the score at 14 out of 31 days, or 45%. Not so bad.

The year 2005 saw 217 out of 365 days of workouts, my third best year in terms of days worked out, despite the fact that I spent most of that year pregnant.  Conclusion: Pregnancy is good for staying fit! I also worked, a lot. I billed myself out as a photographer, shooting portraits and events and hit the elliptical machine, good for no-impact workouts. A “Yoga for Pregnancy” video was my new best friend. I had my husband film me – the 45 extra pounds of protruding belly, double chin, and all - on the elliptical machine the December night before my scheduled c-section, so there’s proof! I was more in fear of the IV going into my hand than the c-section into my abdomen. The last few exhausting days of that year were spent learning how to nurse a wonderful, wrinkly, squawking chicken-legged newborn. Days Worked Out: 217 out of 365, or 59%. Best month: July, 26 out of 31 days, or 59%. Worst month: December. 6 out of 31 days, or 19%.

2006 was another once-in-three-or-four-days years. I even recorded five and seven workouts for the months of January and February, respectively, despite healing from the fresh c-section slice and going on virtually no sleep, while also entertaining loads of visiting friends and relatives who wanted to see the baby. At six weeks old our newborn flew with us to wintery Moscow, where we returned to a freezing apartment, all three of us wearing ski caps indoors.  Unbelievably, neither the nights of little sleep nor the whistling Moscow winds kept me from dragging myself to the gym every few days, in between breastfeedings and naps. Instead, a workout meant a bit of freedom and independence for me, both rare commodities for mothers with newborns. In the summer, we moved back to Washington, DC to take a 6-week fast-track Japanese course in preparation for our impending move to Tokyo. Now I juggled nursing with Japanese flash cards. My “45% days worked out” in July dropped to the 20% range for the rest of the year as we moved to Tokyo with our 8 month old and got used to our surroundings in this exotic and exciting East Asian city. Days Worked Out: 116 out of 365, or 32%. Best month: December, 18 out of 31 days, or 58%. Worst month: January, 5 out of 31 days, or 16%.

The year 2007 in Tokyo I recorded an annual average of 47% of days worked out (171 out of 365 days), which translates to about an average year for the decade, not great, not bad. I finished up nursing after the first half of the year, took up soccer in the summer and became resonably fit for a glorious but brief six months before becoming pregnant again. Best month: September. 19 out of 30 days, or 63%. Worst month: August, 9 out of 31 days, or 29%.

Next up: The Year’s Five-Second Stretch, no, I mean The Second Five-Year Stretch, and the decade’s table (if I can figure out how to do it!)