Day 24: Recipes

I meant to blog this when I flew into Sydney but the Australian Death Ride took precedence. Bree sent a nice care package with me on my flight out to Sydney and I thought I would share this with y'all. It's so simple but I never thought of doing it, pack some tea packets with you, especially ones that have specific roles like detoxifying or energizing. Simply get some hot water from the steward(ess) and you're golden. You might want to look into Yogi tea brand. Bree is also experimenting with raw foods and she made me these tasty and raw carob balls and ginger balls. Here is the recipe:

Carob Balls:
Dates
Conconut shreds
Almonds
Carob chips
Flax seeds (optional)
Honey (to hold them if you need some glue)

Ginger Balls:
Dried ginger chunks
Walnuts
Cinnamon
Honey (again, only if you need some)
Pumpkin seeds (green ones)

Mix up the ingredients in a food processor until they reach the desired clumpiness and form into balls.
Next up is the Kona Coffee Carob Chip Macadamia Nut Cookie recipe. I just made these cookies for the Aussies and it went over quite well. I actually eat these in the morning instead of drinking coffee before I head out for my training. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups carob chips
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 whole Kona coffee beans
1 cup macadamia nut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
Cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth
Beat in the eggs one at a time
Stir in the vanilla
Add baking soda and sea salt
Put coffee beans and macadamia nut into a food processor and grind until desired consistency (you may want to do one at a time if you want nuts to be larger and coffee beans to be more smaller in size)
Stir in flour, cacao powder, grounded macadamia nut, carob chips and coffee beans
Drop by large spoonfuls onto lightly greased pan
Bake for aboout 10-12 minutes

On the training front, things are moving along nicely. I've been doing a lot of speedwork here in Sydney. Midweek is basically short speed sessions here in Sydney. The swimming is going to hell as there really is no formal masters group here and it's hard for me to get out to the pools that have group workouts. I was excited to do my long run on Wednesday because that meant exploring the city by foot. Well, I got a bit more than expected when I got lost and ended up running 20 miles, oops.
And finally, not sure what it is but it seems like Sydney has a bit of a flea problem. I've seen fleas on me while walking, while waiting in line at the grocery store, and while chilling at home. I'm thinking that the Aussies have developed a natural immunity to fleas that I have yet to develop. However, after 26+ flea bites in one week, the itchiness and severity of the bites seem to be diminishing so I too may be developing an immunity. My ankles are so ridden with bites that I'm sure people think I'm a meth addict. Wearing two socks seems to have alleviate the bite counts but doesn't do much for my cool factor. Current score: fleas, 28 bites; Kiet, 2 kills.