Reflections...

It's been a busy month...

Wait...no...it's been a busy YEAR.

A year full of awesomeness the likes of which I never could have imagined on Jan. 1, 2012.

But here I am...September 29, 2012...and so much has happened.

I rarely take time to look back, but now I wanted to reflect a bit.  I've covered most of it in my blog so I won't bore you...but quick synopsis...

Figuring out issues with amazing little boy, finally following up on years of health issues and starting to tackle them, attempted an ultramarathon, deployed husband came home, baby girl started kindergarten, little boy started 3rd grade, hubby got a well deserved selection to chief petty officer, hubby went through 6 weeks of h*ll to be a Chief, started a food blog to track my successes and failures in my gluten free/ mostly vegan cooking life, and I was selected to the U.S. Navy Reserve Nurse Corps and commissioned as an Ensign.

I may have missed a few milestones...but those ones stood out for me.

And if you missed that last one...yes, it's true...I've gone and done it.  I'm in the Navy now! 

 

It's something I've always dreamed of doing...and I was further inspired by this song and video (yes I know it's for the National Guard but it's very applicable...



And when you are married to a man who loves the Navy almost as much as he loves his country it's easy to be inspired to do great things...

It will be a while before I start...but the very long process has finally been completed (minus some more paperwork...duh)...and I'll be off to bootcamp fork and knife school before I know it!

Tomorrow is the last tri of the season...Mission Bay.  It was my very first triathlon 5 years ago and as I toe the line float in the freezing cold water sans wetsuit to save some precious seconds...I'll remember how far I've come....

From the 24 year old girl who had no clue what she was doing...barely making it through her first tri...making so many mistakes...consuming mass quantities of calories in a short sprint race...barely jogging through the run...dying on the bike...feeling awful about herself...

To now...confident young woman who knows this sport and knows her body better then she ever has...knows her nutrition like the back of her hand...loves the run...flys through the bike faster then she ever imagined she'd be able to (still not as fast as the awesome women she races...but fast enough to be proud)...racing for a place in the top five...or even top 10...or really just faster then the last time...cause that's really all that matters...steady progress forward.

Relentess forward motion.

Learning from past mistakes.

Forgiving errors.

 

Planning for bumps in the road (proverbial ones or literal ones!).

 

Enjoying every, single, blessed moment....

 

Being grateful that she has the ability every day to go out and do it...to swim...to bike...to run...

 

And now...the ability to serve...

Serve her patients...and serve her country.

It's as American as gluten free/vegan apple pie (cheezy, I know)...or possibly as American as a hamburger on the grill...wait I don't eat hamburgers...what's a girl to do? 

Make one that fits the bill!  Most of the store bought ones are loaded with wheat and therefore off the table for me...and some others I've tasted taste like...well...grass...fresh cut grass...hmmmm...

So I made one instead...infused with a bit of Thai flavor (maybe I'll be heading to Thailand with the USNS Mercy or Comfort...who knows).  This burger kicks some serious boo-tay...not that I'm biased. 

Thai Veggie Burgers

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients (8 patties)

• 1 C quinoa (I used red but any kind will do)
• 2 C water
• 2 cubes vegan "chicken" bouillon
• 2 C cooked lentils
• 3 gloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 C soy tempeh, crumbled
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp curry
• 1 tbsp tamari (or other gluten free soy sauce alternative such as Bragg's)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (needed to help bind the patties...trust me, they fall apart without it!)

Instructions

Cook quinoa, water, and bouillon in a rice cooker or according to package directions on stovetop (though a rice cooker is like $10 and soooo worth it!). Meanwhile combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, mashing as you go. Once quinoa is cooked mix into bowl with all ingredients. Mix and form into patties. Place in pre greased pan and cook 2-3 minutes per side until slightly browned. Remove from pan and serve regular style or over a bed of veggies if you are so inclined...both taste great!

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Enjoy your day...enjoy your weekend...

Enjoy life...cause it's short...and precious.

Until next post...

XOXO

 

Jackie

Playing Catch Up

Soooooo....you may have noticed it's been a while...like 4 months worth of a while.  But to be fair, I've been a bit busy.  Let's see...hubby came home from deployment (yay!), raced 3 sprint tris, hubby made Chief (double yay!), kids have been on summer break, went on a mini vacation...ummm...that may be about it.  So needlss to say I've been neglectful.  But all of these happenings in my life were awesome!!  Here are a few pics to prove it.

Homecoming USS Carl Vinson 2012

The Long Road Home (or back to Petaluma, CA anyway)

I swam, biked, and ran my way into a 7th, 1st, and 5th place finish at my races!

Spent lots of QT with my two little hooligans

So there you go...my summer in review.  Not that it wasn't important, I just don't think I can truly capture it in words, so I'm not going to try.

I have also been spending loads of time cooking. 

You may remember I went mostly vegan a while back...and that severely limited my choices (or so I thought).  This choice forced me to open my culinary horizons and really get my hands dirty in the kitchen.  It also forced me to buy 2 cute new aprons.

It may also be contributing to my wino habit, but hey...such is life!  So anyway...where was I?  Oh yeah....food!  So I've been playing around with recipes...following awesome food blogs (see them all on the right!)...and now I feel like I'm ready to join the club.  You see, as a vegan/gluten free/endurance athlete, I have needs (shush your dirty minds).  I need calories!  I need my food to taste good!  I need it to be healthy and fuel me through long runs, rides, and swims.  I'm gearing up to do Oriflamme 50K again in April (told you I had a course to avenge) and I need food that will carry me through.  Last year I wasn't getting the calories I needed and subsequently dropped too much weight.  But I'm paying attention now...I know what I'm doing and I have the tools to bring me there (plus I'm uber inspired by this book). 

Here goes nothing!  I'm hungry and I'm ready to step up to the challenge...bring on the food!  I know there will be some duds along the way (this is where I'm grateful for my family of taste testers...and possibly my dogs if things go really wrong).  But I'm hoping that some really great meals, snacks, and such will come out of this too. 

I'm starting Monday with a full 3 day juice/smoothie cleanse (yeah, I'll be blogging about it)...then it's onto the real work.  Along the way I'm going to keep following my friends (aka amazing food bloggers), because they know what they are doing and are seriously cooking up some amazing eats!

So I raise a glass in toast to this adventure and whatever it may bring!  Cheers!