Epicurious Runner

Running, Eating, & A Giveaway!

I’ve had a great weekend!

First up, I ran 6 miles late Saturday morning and it was fantastic! I was only planning on running 3 or 4, but decided to keep going since I was feeling wonderful. I finished 6 miles in 56 minutes.

Derek and I had a fun little date on Saturday where we ventured all the way over to Astor Bake Shop to try their incredible veggie burger. It was our first time there and it totally lived up to our expectations. The veggie burger was nothing short of incredible and the place was very cute and quiet, I definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the area.

Derek got the veggie burger and I got the soft boiled egg and salmon sandwich and this Sea Salt Lemonade.

And of course, we finished off with some delicious apple pie that was made with shredded apple slices. AMAZING.

From there, we headed over to the old beer garden in Astoria, drank a few beers and headed back to our apartment before setting off to hang out with our friend who was in from England. I didn’t get to bed until 1:30am and slept in until 10:30, which felt amazing. I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, so it was nice to have a solid 9 hours of sleep.

I then ventured out for a run with Kristin that was supposed to be 8 miles and ended up turning into a 9.25 mile run! Yep, it was another great run where I felt super strong and I definitely could’ve kept running. My pre-marathon training is starting to be where it’s supposed to be and I am happy to have run 19 miles this week. It seems low and it is, but for only running 3 times this week, it’s pretty good.

I received a box of Shower Pill wipes probably a month or two ago and I have been going through them quickly! They are pretty awesome and I admit, I definitely don’t shower after working out as much as I should. I know, I know, but I kind of hate taking 2 showers in one day, especially if I’m not going out anywhere after.

Anyway, these wipes area life saver and they are very convenient when you workout after work and don’t feel like (or can’t) shower before going out somewhere else. They are nice and thick and big enough to cover your whole body. They don’t leave you sticky and I WOULD NOT compare them to baby wipes because of this fact.

I know it’s not much time, but until June 22nd, you can receive 10% off on a box from Amazon by entering the code “RAGNARCH” at the checkout.

If you don’t feel like buying a box, you’re in luck because they are offering up a free box to giveaway to one of you lucky readers!

If you would like to win a box of Shower Pill wipes, all you have to do is follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook and let me know in the comments what you did.

Good luck, I hope you win so you don’t smell bad!

Carne Asada Chicken Pitas

Purchased from Trader Joe’s. Middle Eastern Flatbread that I always want to buy, but never do! And ready made Carne Asada chicken breasts.

I debated with myself for a few minutes on whether or not I should heat this in the microwave or use the oven. Considering it was like 87 degrees out, the microwave won! In a short 4 minutes, the chicken was heated and ready to be served!

Brooklyn Half Marathon: Food Edition

One of the main reasons I love to run so much is the simple fact that I can eat more without gaining weight. It’s hard not to over-do it though when you want to reward yourself for running and enduring a long distance race.

I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon this past Saturday and it was a fantastic race and quite the epic day of eating. The race ended in Coney Island, which gave my fiance and I an awesome excuse to take advantage of the food available in that area. I’ve never been to Coney Island before and I’m sure I won’t be going back too soon, it’s quite a trek from Queens.

After the race was over and when the hunger was starting to set in, we decide to grab some of our first ever Nathan’s hot dogs. The famous Nathan’s hot dogs are supposed to be amazing, so as a food, of course I had to give them a shot. They were a little pricey of course; $3.49 a pop, but what can you expect being in a place like Coney Island.

Derek and I got 3 hot dogs, we each ate one and then shared the last one. We also ordered a medium lemonade, which was surprisingly large! The hot dogs were pretty amazing and worth the hype, at least for what a hot dog can be. We topped all 3 with mustard and I scarfed mine down pretty fast. The lemonade was also pretty tasty, a little sweet, but definitely refreshing. It was a beautiful day outside!

After leaving Coney Island, we had a little time to kill before our next venture, we drove back to Prospect Park to drop our friend Adriana off at her car. From there we headed to a place called Brennan and Carr, which is specifically located in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

We arrived at around 11:30 and we were able to park the car in their tiny parking lot, which was nice! We went in to find a very country-esque looking bar/restaurant. Sitting inside, you never would’ve guessed that NYC was right outside. The place was split up into 2 sides, one side was the ‘bar’ area with the kitchen and then there was a little restaurant side, which had about 8 tables. It was pleasantly quiet inside. We sat down and almost immediately ordered our food.

We came here because we had seen this place featured on Man v. Food and the roast beef sandwiches looked AMAZING. We each ordered a Double Dipped Roast Beef Sandwich, a diet Coke and we split a side of fries. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back out, the food was already there (love when that happens)!

A Double Dipped sandwich means that each side of the bread is dipped in Au Jus. You can get a single dip, a double dip or a KFJ, which is a Knife and Fork Job, where they pour Au Jus all over the sandwich and you basically have to eat it for a fork and knife.

The sandwich definitely lived up to our expectations. The flavor of the Au Jus and the texture and flavor of the beef was perfect. Next time, I will be ready for the KFJ! It was delicious and extremely satisfying. The fries were good too, they were cooked perfectly and served up nice and hot.

Brennan & Carr
3432 Nostrand Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11229

Only Recreating The BEST Sandwich Ever!

*Repost from February 17, 2011  as part of the Denny’s and/or Foodbuzz BACONALIA challenge and is an entry for a chance to win.

I have been waiting a year and a half to eat this sandwich again! Remember this bagel sandwich? I haven’t stopped thinking about it since that trip to NYC. I had a really stressful morning and all I could think about was how I wanted to eat some really delicious food. I hit up Whole Foods at lunch and bought all of the necessary ingredients to recreate one of the best sandwiches of my life!

Nutropolitan Museum of Art

I had the most amazing 9 mile run on Saturday! It was a HUGE reminder to me of why I love to run. The weather was fantastic, the music was flowing and my body felt wonderful. I could’ve kept going for at least another mile or two. I finished up in about 1 hr and 26 min.

I’ve been on an amazing streak with working out and going to the gym. I worked out 6 days last week and ran 15 miles. I ran 3 1/2 miles today and I have a 10 mile run planned for early Friday morning. It feels great to be back to this routine and I’m already addicted. I’ve been eating relatively well and I think I’ve already shed a couple pounds. March is turning out to be a pretty good month exercise wise.

After my run, Derek, Megan and I headed into Manhattan to check out the Nutropolitan Museum of Art, put on by Peanut Butter & Co. It was a free peanut butter gallery held all weekend long and I couldn’t wait to check it out. We were severely disappointed though once we arrived. We got there around 4 o’clock and they were closing down the room that had all of the actual fun stuff in it. It was very small overall, but for them to close down the room 2 hours early was super disappointing. It had the actual peanut butter art station where you could create your own art and there was supposed to be a farmer there doing a presentation of sorts. We looked at a few pictures of various peanut butter creations and left. We did however receive our coupon for a free jar of peanut butter! That was the only thing that made the trek worth it.

Here are some of the pictures we observed.

Carb Overload

I have been eating carbs recently like I am about to run a marathon this weekend! I don’t know what’s happening, but it has not been intentional that’s for sure. When we run out of fruits, vegetables and yogurt, all that’s left is carbs.

Last night I had pasta for dinner with two pieces of garlic toast and then today alone I had;

• Breakfast – Granola with milk and a piece of toast
• Lunch – Leftover pasta
• Snack – Peanut butter toast
• Dinner – Egg Sandwich

Seriously I need to stop eating so much bread! 6 pieces of bread in 24 hours, aah!

Since I am sure this weekend will be filled with even more, I am going to make a strong effort to fill up on lots of fruits and veggies for the next three days.

Even tonight, after realizing my crazy carbohydrates binge, all I could come up with for dinner was an egg white sandwich. I made some egg whites with feta cheese and lots of tiger sauce in between two pieces of toast, it was delicious!

Last week I did absolutely nothing when it came to exercise, but I am trying very hard to make up for it this week. I just finished a 30 minute DVD segment and it felt great! It kicked my butt unfortunately, but it makes me want to work harder. My legs feel like jello now.

Tomorrow I plan on doing a 3 mile run in the morning and then an intense ab session tomorrow after work. If you are wondering how I am doing on my push ups, don’t ask. I’m not doing terrible, but I haven’t given up. I still have time!

Do you eat a lot of carbs usually?

I Feel Improvement!

I did not sleep well last night AT ALL! I woke up at like 4:30 with a stomach ache and I could not get back to sleep til like 6. I ended up sleeping later than I wanted to because I needed to catch up on the missed hour. I quickly got out of bed and brought my car to the shop for an oil change. I must admit though it was a nice walk home after I dropped the car off. It was a nice morning and it woke me up some.

I’ve been working on my new blog because I finally have my own domain name. It’s not quite ready yet, but things are coming along smoothly. I am excited about it.

I definitely needed a coffee today! Especially before I started writing.

I wrote three articles today for IRLF and Health Kicker and I was extra proud of those specific ones for some reason. I just thought they were some of the best articles I’ve written. I eventually got out for a run around 3 pm. I had a dreadful tempo run scheduled for today.

Scheduled was 2 miles easy, followed by 3 miles at short tempo pace (8:30), then 1 mile easy. I must say I had a surprisingly good run today. I feel improvement.
Here are my stats:

• Distance: 6 Miles
• Duration: 56:52
• Pace: 9:28
• Calories Burned: 609

Mile 1: 10:05

Mile 2: 10:11

Mile 3: 8:53

Mile 4: 8:40

Mile 5: 8:50

Mile 6: 10:11

I felt pretty strong by the time I finished Mile 5, two weeks ago when I did this same run, I was dying by mile 4.5. I am also very happy that the tempo miles were all under 9 minutes. I honestly believe that mile 3 and mile 5 were longer because of how many stop lights I had to stop at. I felt right on target today.  : )

I ate this when I got home. Some Bear Naked granola and some Chobani greek yogurt.

For dinner I made the most amazing egg sandwich ever! I don’t know why it was so good, but I did not want it to end. I could’ve eaten 3 of them!

A Ray’s bagel with butter and 1 egg with muenster cheese, mmmmm!

Double Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oats

I am starving right now! I am waiting for my rice to cook on the stove before I can eat. I am having leftovers. A piece of Chipotle Pepper chicken with Cheddar and Broccoli rice.

I CLEANED ALL DAY TODAY! Seriously, I cleaned the whole apartment and it was quite satisfying actually. I also wrote my three articles, got in a great workout, applied for another job, and had time to play some Beatles rockband! It was so much fun and I did pretty well considering I haven’t played in quite some time.

This morning I made Double Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oats. They were delicious, but I couldn’t finish it! I couldn’t believe it. I always finish my oatmeal, but today it was just too much and I left a little bit in the bowl. Oh well.

My oatmeal contained:

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• Ground Cloves
• 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• a splash of vanilla
• spoonful of Teddy PB
• 1/3 of a Pumpkin Scone crumbled on top

I’ve been satisfying my sandwich craving the last two days and today I had this. A turkey and muenster cheese grilled sandwich with an apple and a pickle. So good!

Ahh, sorry for the blurry picture! Okay, time to go eat now!