Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Battle Chicken!

It's been a while since a blog post I know. I've been working, working, working and soon the wedding season will be over only to begin doll making season! We picked up our last of the chicken CSA from The Wooly Pig and put the 11 chickens in the deep freezer for the winter. We don't intend to buy any meat this winter. We were telling our good friend Eric Leon, owner of Forbidden City Asian Bistro in MIddletown, CT about the chickens. Because they cost more than conventional chickens, he wanted to see if there was a difference in flavor and texture. He prepared two equally sized chickens ( one of them was our chicken ) and cooked them in a way that was traditional Malaysian and would not disguise the flavor. They were boiled, rapidly chilled and then air cooled. They were then chopped up and served with cucumber, rice and traditional sauces for dipping.

THE BATTLE:
 Here are both chickens. The one without the head is ours. Our chicken is a pasture raised, organic, non-GMO fed chicken. The opponent chicken is a cage free chicken.
 Chef is cutting up the chicken.

Eric invited two of his friends to join us. They did not know about the chicken battle. Here is what the dishes looked like prior to eating.

 They were identical in appearance. We ate our chicken first. The meat was sweet, tender, fresh tasting and juicy.  Everyone was enjoying it. The second chicken came out and everyone dug in but immediately noticed a difference in the flavor of the chicken. It was still tender and juicy but there was no sweetness.  There was a " chicken" flavor that was less appealing and I noticed that right away.  Everyone wanted more of chicken number 1. By the end of the dinner, restaurant employees were trying to rationalize the higher cost and figuring out how to get some for themselves.  

THE VERDICT: 

The organic, non-GMO, pasture raised chicken which was $3 more per lb. was victorious. Delicious. No comparison. Thank you Wooly Pig for your awesome chickens! They are worth every penny. 

There was indeed more to our wonderful meal.  Eric made us KangKong with Sambal and a curry dish. Many wines and Saki were had and we ended our meal with delicious sesame balls. 
 KangKong is a type of Asian water spinach.
 Delicious curry dish
Sesame balls 

A happy Eric enjoying our appreciation for his food. 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Three month running hiatus and now what?

I have struggled with right sided knee pain for a few months. Before that I was running 5K 3-4 times per week.  I wasn't running with any goal in mind, just for fun and fitness.  We live in a VERY hilly area and the hills are more like small mountains, which has always made running a challenge for me.  I became very used to the hills and so that made my running on flat ground a breeze, but with that came some knee strain and then it was all aggravated by an actual fall onto the knee which was not related to running at all. I was planning on running in the Cape Cod half marathon which took place a couple of weeks ago, but could not train for it.
For me, the biggest fear of not running is losing all the fitness I have gained over the last year. Remembering that I couldn't run to the mailbox initially and worked myself up to running four small distance races per week! So now the procrastination builds as I worry about how difficult that first run is going to be again. This only causes more time to go by and before you know it, it's three months and I've lost a good amount of muscle. During this time I also lost weight.  Some of it I'm sure is from the muscle loss but my diet has remained very healthy and wholesome and has not allowed me to put any weight back on.  Nutrition is always the most important thing in my mind, exercise is only secondary.  I've been able to maintain a certain level of fitness and health just through diet alone and this hiatus has helped me prove that.
So today I put on my running sneakers and heart monitor and headed out the door.  I warmed up longer than usual ( about 20 min) and then hit the road. I ran my usual run and all it's hills.  Here are the differences I noticed:

Three months ago:

5K on hilly terrain average time 22 minutes
Heart rate on flat areas 110 bpm
Heart rate on hills 145 bpm
(My aerobic threshold is 160 bpm)
No walking or resting
No pain, shin splints or side stitches

Today:

5K on hilly terrain average time 33 minutes
Heart rate on flat areas 130 bpm
Heart rate on hills 160 bpm at aerobic threshold
No resting, walked briefly up part of a large hill
No pain, no shin splints, no side stitch

A certain amount of fitness has been lost but I feel confident that I can slowly build back up to where I was.  That is not even really a goal for me, the true goal is to physically leave the house and move my body! I feel great post run and I am over the anxiety of how that first time back out is going to be. I will of course listen to my body and take it easy. Hopefully I'll be running a half in the spring and if not, I will still have the benefits of regular exercise.