And it’s marathon Monday again. As Christmas is edging closer, the runs are getting colder.
I’d like to say longer, but I seem to have developed a adductor twinge that won’t go away. Research suggests it’s a strength issue and needs extra work. I knew things were wrong when it kicked in a little after 6km, instead of the 10km point like last week.
In other news, I’ve been gathering handy tips weight maintenance over Christmas and hope to report on some of those soon.
I’ve also been trying out Dr Zak’s protein bread and the protein pasta over the last couple of weeks as an alternative to ordinary pasta and bread.
The idea is pretty simple – both the bread and the pasta have added protein, which is great because it helps with recovery, fills you up, and helps you build healthy muscle tissue. You don’t lose the carbohydrate completely, which is good too, you’re always going to need some in your diet somewhere.
The bread is quite dense and takes a little getting used to.
It really does fill you up. A slice of the bread and some spread of some sort (cheese spread, mushroom pate, whatever suits you) and I don’t need anything til lunch time. And that’s after a morning workout.
The pasta is also very filling. At 50g of protein for 100g of pasta, you’d expect it to be, but even I was surprised when I struggled with an 80g serving (my normal serving of ordinary pasta). I’ve had to bring it down to around 50-60g of dry pasta, depending on what I’m eating with it.
What I’ve found works best with the pasta, given it’s high protein content, is a vegetable based sauce – adding flavour, but without contributing extra protein or carbohydrate in any great amount and of course, as they are veggies, you can eat as many as you like as part of a balanced diet. You can even get away with a touch of cheese over the top. So, to demonstrate how I’ve been eating it, I’ve put together a version of my roast vegetable recipe for you.
The roasted veggies can be leftovers from a previous meal or made on the day. In this case the vegetables are peppers, courgette and onion, but can be whatever you have available and there’s plenty of flexibility in flavour – feel free to add more garlic, or more chilli, or reduce them. It’s all to taste.
Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients
300g roasted vegetables (increase or decrease as you prefer)
400g chopped tomatoes (can or a carton are perfect)
5 sundried tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
10 olives (or to taste)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (or to taste)
Seasoning to taste.
Serves 2
1. Start your pasta cooking. This sauce takes no time, so it’s worth getting the pasta ready.
2. In a pan on a medium heat (I used my trusty frying pan) put your roasted vegetables, olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and chilli. If your roasted veg doesn’t have any oil on it, then you may need a touch in the pan to help with cooking.
3. Warm everything through and once your garlic is started to turn golden, pop in the chopped tomatoes.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce the amount of liquid in the pan – to do this simply keep it cooking on quite a high simmer until the amount of liquid reduces. You don’t want it completely dry, just a little less liquid.
5. Check the seasoning and add salt, pepper or even a touch more chilli if it needs it.
6. By this time your pasta should be done, so drain it, and toss it in the pan to coat it in the sauce.
Serve, as it is, with a touch of grated Parmesan, or as we prefer, a bit of crumbled Feta.
So there you go. Simple, tasty and good for you and, it even uses up leftovers. Let me know what you think!