Hello one last time racers! Christina and Stephanie are back with a Health blog from Eastern Europe. (: During our stay we were located in Latvia for 2 months.
As we have stated before, this blog is intended for those who are relatively healthy and would like some advice on staying healthy throughout the race. An important note is that we have spent the past 6 months in Asia, 3 months in Africa, and 2 months in Eastern Europe..
Christina and I with Cauliflower crust pizza…see recipe below 🙂
Well there is good news folks! Europe is pretty amazing in the food department…well that is if you are able to cook for yourself. Some wise man at launch once said…"Any month you can cook for yourself, is a blessing." At the time I didn't get it, but now I so get it!
Fun finds: Oat milk, hazelnut milk, almond milk, sushi!, hummus, whole grain bread (with nuts inside!), frozen fruits (for smoothies), squash, buckwheat (cook like rice, but a much better grain!), cous cous, hazelnuts, pears, raw honey, and grape seed oil.
Restaurants: olive oil trading company (Yum Yum), muffins and more, coffee inn, (only place I could find soy lattes or anything similar to Starbucks lattes!), Wok to Wok, Grocery store in mall with H&M (sushi, hummus, granola, etc)
My fish at Olive Oil Trading Company in Riga, Latvia
My Breakfast Muffins at Muffins & More in Riga, Latvia
Exercise: Christina and I were able to run a half marathon in our second month in Europe, so we spent most of our time training for that (if you need any pointers on training, please contact us!). Our teammates were also encouraged to run a 5K the same day! (they used the couch to 5K program). There were many beautiful places to run and much space to do insanity. On top of all of that, we were blessed and had a small gym in the basement of our ministry site…God provides!!!!
My team after they finished the Half Marathon and 5K in Riga! So proud of them!
Since it has been easier to find good food in Eastern Europe, we thought it would be fun to share some easy recipes from our month. So here they are:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza:
1 head of cauliflower
2 eggs
Garlic Salt to taste
4 cloves of garlic minced
Olive oil (for greasing pan)
Veggies to your liking
*Preheat pan to 350
*Grate the Cauliflower with a cheese grater into a bowl and mix in eggs and 2 gloves garlic
*Oil the pan and spread out the cauliflower mix onto the pan in a pizza-like shape
*Bake the mixture for 20 minutes or until it is browning
*Take it out of the oven and put a spatula under it loosening it from the pan (it may stick!)
*Add a small amount of olive oil, your favorite veggies, and garlic salt to the top
*Cook for an additional 10 minutes
Stuffed peppers:
1 zucchini
4 red peppers halved
2 cups cous cous/buckwheat/rice
olives
1/2 cup cashews
1 can tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic minced
Italian seasoning
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
*Half the 4 peppers and take out the seeds. Put the peppers face up on a pan.
*Cook the rice/cous cous/buckwheat (whichever you prefer is ok).
*Combine the rest of the ingredients in a pot and cook for about 10 minutes on Medium.
*Put the filling in the peppers and cook until the rice is browning on top. (20 minutes or so)
Guacamole:
4 avocados
2 tomatoes diced
1 small purple onion chopped fine
rock salt to taste
*Mash the avocados
*Add the rest of the ingredients and enjoy either on tacos, or fajitas, or chips!
Granola:
1 TBS of any type of oil
2 bananas mashed
1 bag medium sized bag of rolled oats
Cinnamon
*Mix these first ingredients together (these are your base)
*You can now add just about anything you would like!
Hazelnuts, Peanuts, Almonds, Coconut, Dried Apricots, Raisons, Goji Berries, Honey, Maple Syrup, Apples, Carrots, Dried Cranberries, etc.
*Spread out the ingredients on pan and cook on 350 for 10-20 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like it!
Veggies over Cous Cous:
This is also a very easy recipe!
*Cook the cous cous according to directions (put cous cous in a pot, fill the pot with water just covering the cous cous, boil until fluffy)
*Cook fresh garlic and oil in a pan until hot
*Find any veggies (zucchini, broccoli, olives, eggplant, carrots, tomatos, mushrooms until slightly tender…
*Mix together and Enjoy!
Cookies:
1 and ¼ cup rolled oats
½ cup Peanut Butter
½ cup sugar or brown sugar
1 TBS oil (any type)
½ bar of chocolate broken up
*add more PB if not sticky
*Roll the cookies into balls and place on a pan
*Bake on 350 for 15-20 minutes
Butternut Squash:
*Cut the squash in half and take out the seeds. Rub oil on the orange inside.
*Cook in microwave for 15 minutes or in the oven on 350 for 30 minutes.
*Cut up and mix with pumpkin seeds (or other nut) and cinnamon
Eggs, Whole grain/nut toast, and Veggies
Smoothies! (Strawberries, Blueberries, Spinach, 1 Banana, and Almond Milk)
Salad with Spinach, Olives, Carrots, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Mushrooms, Cashews, and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.
Cooked Veggies with Buckwheat: Buckwheat is a new grain we found in Europe! It is just like cous cous but with more nutrition! You cook it the same way you cook rice. Put over veggies and with some Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing and Enjoy!
We don't mess around when it comes to food 😉 Popcorn and Lentil Soup! Yummy!
Well that is all for health blogs! Feel free to contact me for any additional information at [email protected]! Thank you so much for following our health blogs….Happy Healthy Racing 😀
XOXO Stephanie and Christina
