Adventures in #bootlife

Date: May 22, 2016

Author: astottler

Having a stress fracture at the end of my senior year of college stinks, but I decided to not let it affect my life! (Minus the whole no running/walking/most exercise thing but minor details…)

I’m trying to have SOME fun with it (as seen here). I’m thinking of it almost like Flat Stanley (did anyone else do that? For classes, one student would get him for a week and take him on adventures, taking photos of the adventures). So this week, where did boot go?

Thursday, I rounded up a big group and friends and went to Senior night, a night out for the seniors to get together.

Friday, we (the boot and I) went to a sorority mixer. Since #prevet, I suggested an animal theme and somehow that actually went through. Not complaining.

It was a fun night, spent with lots of friends!

Then, Saturday was the perfect day. It was so much fun. Despite a late night, I was up pretty early as per usual and decided to head to Crossfit, since the WOD was reasonably foot-modifiable. My workout ended up being 5 rounds, 2 min rest between rounds, of the following:

2 min assault bike

15 strict pul ups (I used a band for the strict, but worked in some no banded kipping. I can now string 5 kipping together, and pre-injury it was only 3!)

1 min assault bike

10 ring rows

10 strict press

It felt good to get moving, and I fell those pull ups now!

Since I sometimes call this a food and fitness blog, not just #bootlife and #stressfracture, here was my lunch:

GF avocado toast, leftover dill salmon (our chef makes the best salmon ever), greens with Italian dressing, and apple/beet/dijon salad.

Then, the main event! My friend somehow managed to convince his professor to let him use his beach house for the day/night! A group of us made the hourish drive, but with good conversation, it flew by!

This is the view from the window.

First stop was the beach! Luckily there was a nice path leading down to the beach. After a minor sand incident last week, this time I came prepared. I brought a drawstring (this is key) garbage bag to put over the boot to keep the sand out.

Worked like a charm! As a we were walking along the beach, a big wave came up to knee height, but my boot stayed dry!

Despite rain earlier in the day, the weather was perfect. The beach house even had a private beach! We also had no cell signal or Wifi, which was a strange yet refreshing experience.

We spent about 2 hours hanging out at the beach before heading inside to make dinner.

My main task was chopping up and sautéing the peppers and asparagus.

As well as pan-frying the chicken. I actually surprised myself by how much I actually am capable of cooking, and how much I actually know about things. Maybe it’s comparative! When cooking with 3 boys, sometimes you have to be the voice of reason.

For example, we bought some wine to go with dinner, and I pointed out we didn’t bring a corkscrew. They immediately thought we should just hit the top of the bottle off. I suggested we check the fully stocked kitchen for a corkscrew. Guess what? We found one! Haha!

For dinner, we had chicken (which I made with olive oil and garlic salt), gluten free spaghetti with marinara and the veggies I made, corn, and tortellini with pesto.

I seriously cannot get enough of this view.

It was honestly such an amazing day. I ended up driving back around sunset that night instead of staying because I had an early morning. These people have been my friends since freshman year, and I don’t see them nearly enough. It was the perfect senior spring day.

Sunday was another great day. My dorm did a wine tasting trip to Napa! The bus left at 9am, and we arrived at the first winery at 11.

Our first stop was V. Sattui. We had some time to walk around before our tour. They have a really nice deli, with delicious cheeses!

A winery tour in a boot was one of the more challenging things I’ve done, I have to admit.

Cat sighting!

Thankfully, we got to sit down for the tasting.

My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc. I am not a red wine girl, I have to admit.

After our tasting, we had lunch at the winery. I had a turkey sandwich on lettuce.

The highlight was dessert for sure though. It was creme brûlée, served cold. I’m not always a huge fan of creme brûlée, but this was delicious. It was a little eggier than a lot of creme brûlées, and seemed less fatty, which I liked a lot more! It also had strong vanilla bean flavor.

Stop #2 was Robert Mondavi, one of the big founding wineries in Napa.

I actually liked this tour a lot more. The tour guide was funny, and very informative. In addition, we got to see more of the process.

Our tasting took place in the barrel room!

And more beautiful Napa scenery:

These past few days have been amazing. it’s hard to go back to reality, especially with only 7 days left of class in my undergraduate career! I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I think part of that is the uncertainty of next year. But let’s not even touch that topic with a 10 foot pole!

What did you do this weekend?

Wine Tasting

Date: November 29, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

I hope everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! I just got back from Napa!

Friday in Napa was my first wine tasting experience! After a room service breakfast, we stopped at Ross for our annual shopping trip there. The Ross in Napa is by far superior to other Ross’s. For lunch we headed across the street to the Genova Delicatessen-if you’re ever in Napa I highly recommend stopping in! The egg salad is to die for. For my meal I had a hunk of Polenta plus some egg salad and veggie sides.

After lunch, we headed to Yountville to visit Domain Chandon, which makes sparkling wine (not technically champagne because it’s not made in Champagne, France).

We went on a tour that included a tasting. On the tour we got to see the big vats where the grapes are squeezed, and learn about the champagne process from grape to bottling.

Then, it was tasting time! We got to try 4 different varieties. I’m doing my best to learn some wine descriptor words so it was nice to have a side by side comparison!

My favorite was the etoile rosé.

My Black Friday shopping consisted of taking advantage of the 50% off champagne sale!

After tasting, we headed back to Napa to Oxbow market downtown. My favorite place, the arepa place, is not longer there, but I was excited to try the gluten free bakery! I and the avocado smash on gluten free sourdough and it was perfect.

For dessert, I tried lemon vanilla bean tea cake and chocolate cake. Both were good but not exceptional-the sourdough was definitely the star of the show.

On Saturday morning, I was up early to run the resort grounds in frigid temperatures. So worth it-the run is beautiful! It’s a nice fish mile loop around the property. After breakfast, my mom and I had some spa treatments. My 21st birthday present was wine tasting and spa treatments in Napa, and we finally made it out a little over 6 months later! I started with a massage, which was fantastic. You never realize how sore you actually are! Then I had my first ever facial. It was definitely a different experience, but my skin felt completely different afterwords. I definitely understand that people glow after a facial!

After our treatments, we drove to St. Helena for lunch.

We stop in St. Helena any time we come to Napa ( and we come every year for Thanksgiving). One of my favorite restaurants is the St. Helena Bistro for their avocado salad.

As an appetizer, we shared a grilled artichoke and had wine to go around because when in Napa!

My main course was clearly avocado salad. I added chicken this time for a little more protein. The salad is so simple but has the freshest flavors. It’s simply lettuce with fresh mozzarella, avocado, quality olive oil, and sea salt.

In St. Helena, we stopped in a pet store for adorable toys for my puppy (she likes really loud things and already loves her squaking rubber chicken) and into Olivier for olive oil and tapenade tasting (including their amazing lemon curds and caramel sauces!) One of the main St. Helena stops was Woodhouse Chocolates for amazing Belgian style chocolates. The flavors are so unique and fresh, and the mint tastes exactly like fresh mint leaves.

Then, it was time for wine tasting! We decided to stop into a winery in St. Helena that we’ve passed many times, distinctive because it has a giant sparkly rabbit structure in front.

The winery had a very modern style, and the fall views were beautiful.

Their specialties are red wine. I tend to prefer white wine, but I did my best to appreciate the high quality wine we were tasting! The first was a chardonnay, which was my favorite, but the next 4 were reds.

While I may not be a wine connoisseur just yet, I can appreciate that this was in a different universe from the last red wine I had, 2 Buck Chuck (which is quite offensive to the taste buds).

I could appreciate the $125 wine, but I don’t think I’m quite sophisticated enough yet to enjoy it as much as whites. I loved the big flawless glasses though!

We managed to time our trip perfectly and make it back to our room in time for the Stanford Notre Dame game. We ordered room service for dinner, and were on the edge of our seats the entire time. The game was intense, with a small lead being passed around. The end was epic-we lost our lead to a controversial touchdown in the last minute, and had the ball back with just 30 seconds to go. Stanford drove down the field and we made a long field goal to win it in the last seconds of the game! AHH! GO STANFORD!

To celebrate, we broke out the champagne bought the day prior. Cardinal (red) sparkly to celebrate the win!

On Sunday morning we returned home. It wasn’t quite back to reality yet-my mom and I attended a holiday shopping faire at a historic house that was totally decked out for the holidays.

The decorations were beautiful, and it was a great way to enjoy the house and get into the Christmas spirit!

We came home with a few items (most notable is a squirrel ornament) and lots of holiday cheer!

Dinner was at Whole Foods, where we picked out a tree. I highly highly recommend their trees. They stay fresh longer than any lot tree and are luscious and beautiful.

Our tree is going to be decorated a bit differently this year. We switched to mostly unbreakable ornaments when my fairly agile cats were young, but this year we’re going to go ornament-less because of a certain puppy who loves putting things in her mouth and carrying them around. I have visions of a knocked over tree as a result. The plan is to do lights and maybe wrap a big ribbon around. Possibly some big flowers. Any suggestions?

But now it’s back to reality. I’m at school and already sweating over the amount I have to do in the next 11 days before Christmas Break!

Have you ever been wine tasting? What’s your favorite type of wine?

Thanksgiving Week

Date: November 27, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! I’m currently in Napa. My parents are watching basketball-not really my thing. I’m all about baseball! But the Warriors are currently making history so that’s cool.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I’ve had a great week so far.

Tuesday I picked up my Turkey Trot bib!

I also went to home Crossfit, which is always fun! The WOD was a length chipper: 100 double unders, 50 deadlifts (95#), 50 burpees, 50 kb swings.

For dinner, we had a crockpot meal-chicken caccitore! Served over a bed of spinach.

I also made some persimmon bread. I used my classic banana bread recipe, but substituted 6 peeled and blended persimmons.

Wednesday was spent at a killer spin class, and then relaxing with my kitty. He’s a fan of my heated blanket!

For dinner, we made salad with persimmons and goat cheese, and then a spaghetti squash “macaroni” and cheese. Topped with lightly roasted tomatoes and basil.

My Thanksgiving began with a 10k Turkey Trot! This is my 3rd year doing the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. It’s the biggest in the world!

It was quite chilly-low 30s on the drive up. I came prepared.

A minute before the race started, I dropped my layers minus some ear warmers and gloves.

This race was fun! I tried to keep a pace that was challenging but not so uncomfortable that the race wouldn’t be fun. 2 days ago I realized I ran this race 2 minutes faster than I had been thinking. I remembered 1/3 of the way into the race was that was because my last 10k over the summer was at that slower pace! I realized this as I was cruising at a much faster pace than that haha.

30 seconds faster than last year-I’ll take it!

After the race, we had a snack and then cleaned up before heading up to Napa.

We met my grandpa and uncle there, and then it was time for the buffet!

The highlight, as always, was the butternut squash soup. It’s ridiculously creamy and tastes just like fall. My salad plate featured vegetarian sushi, beet salad which I added goat cheese to, and some cheeses with grapes and honey.

I didn’t catch a picture of my main plain but I has some turkey, mashed potatoes, a taste of sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and roasted carrots.

Dessert was exciting as always.

My dessert was the inside of white chocolate cranberry cheesecake, the inside of pumpkin pie, chocolate covered strawberries, and a little chocolate cup with raspberry mousse.

After the big meal, we gelled out in our hotel room watching The Good Wife.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

I Survived! (Napa Half)

Date: April 19, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys. Guess what? I survived my 5th half marathon!

I was really unsure how it would go given I missed a lot of training runs, and felt terrible last weekend. I got in all the long runs of training, but the volume of the shorter runs wasn’t really there…my only goal was to finish, to take it slow, and to actually enjoy the race. I feel like I end up not enjoying my halfs as much as I should because I take off like a bat out of hell and then am dying the whole way. So let’s back up.

Pre-race day eats. I tried to keep it moderate but didn’t do the best job. Breakfast of the world’s largest blackberries and gluten-free focaccia (which is amazing btw).

Lunch was a salad with sweet potato pop chips and gluten free cookie dough soy ice cream.

I had some other snacks in there too-gluten free banana bread I believe?

We drove up to Napa in the afternoon and were in St. Helena in time for dinner. Somehow I found a place that had a dish that fit my complicated restrictions.

Grilled asparagus and peach salad.

Chicken with potatoes, mushrooms, and arugula.

Woodhouse Chocolate. I decided trace amounts of dairy were fine since I’m feeling way better.

After an evening of working on Stats homework and baseball watching, I was ready to go when I woke up at 5:45! The race started at 8, and we stayed at a hotel a few minutes walk from the start, but I had to time my food in a specific way. I woke up not feeling that great but it passed pretty quickly.

Breakfast was banana, egg white oatmeal with craisins and a dab of sun butter.

Stretching, as per usual. Notice that blue thing I’m holding? I got a flip belt! I wanted to carry crackers during the race, so I shoved those in with a couple of goos and stomach medicine, just in case!

And then we were off!

I took it super slow at the start. Slower than I ever have before, and it was awesome. I was really able to enjoy the beautiful views of vineyards along the Silverado trail. Another bonus? No SF hills! Only a few minor ones that I was more than trained for. For the race, they closed off the entire road, but on the way home we drove the race route so here are a few shots of that.

This tree was the turnaround!

In terms of fueling, I took about 1/3 of my goo at mile 4.5 at an aid station. I accidentally grabbed gatorade instead of water, but I just went with it. It took a little while for that to settle in my stomach, so I did goo #2 a little differently. I started eating it super slowly at mile 8 (and got a much needed burst of energy!) and didn’t finish it until mile 12. I had to be super cautious that my stomach never got too empty because I knew I’d have stomach issues if that happened.

In terms of how I felt, the hardest miles were maybe 9-10? They were pretty flat, which was just a lot of the same motion. I actually felt better once we hit the hills! Overall though, this is by far the least painful race I’ve run. Around the last 4ish miles I started to think about finishing time and what I wanted, since I knew if I was feeling ok I could probably turn it up at the end. I ended up with some killer negative splits! My last mile was by far the fastest.

I think my official time was 2:15?

This is by far the least painful finish of a half I’ve had. So…that pacing thing? Yeah-something to work on!

After the race I had to refuel thoroughly and carefully. Such a big calorie deficit made me really nervous with my stomach. I had some crackers and a banana right away, and then a Luna bar. Back in the hotel, I had the freaking weirdest thing ever. Coconut oil cream cheese (weird) on a gluten free bagel with….a frozen hard boiled egg. Yuck. Got the job done though….but ew. The frozen egg was the weirdest thing.

Later, I had some polenta.

And I’ve basically been eating everything since then. So we’ll see how I feel tomorrow…

This cookie though…it’s basically free of everything-refined sugar, gluten, dairy, eggs. But SUPER delicious. My post-race hunger laughed at the “serves 2” on the label.

So. In summary. I survived my half and am in one piece. Yay!

WIAW-Latest Eats

Date: December 2, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Wednesday! We all know what that means! Thanks Jenn!

With 12 days of Christmas, I haven’t gotten to share some of the random things I’ve eaten in the past week or so! How tragic would that be?

Also-another exciting note-I entered the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in DC in the spring. I think the odds I get in are low but how amazing would that be??

Ok. Food. As promised.

Spinach and artichoke soup, from a Buzzfeed article of all things! Topped with parmesan.

Post-turkey trot, pre-Thanksgiving breakfast of mini frittatas and a crumpet.

A really freaking amazing salad in Napa. Avocado, fresh mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, and sea salt. Simple but perfect.

Baby fruit tart from Napa.

Chocolate sea salt caramel cupcake.

Trader Joe’s mushroom risotto with some spinach tossed in.

Carrot soup with cilantro.

Tupperware lunch of leftover broccoli and chicken. (Plus a sweet potato that was scarfed down earlier…)

Dining hall dinner. Roasted veggies and chicken, and a mini veggie pot pie. The highlight was the zucchini, which was roasted with garlic and cheese.

Back to my typical breakfast of yogurt+sunbutter+peaches.

Dining hall lunch on a rainy day-eggplant parmesan, veggies with Alfredo (not my favorite veggies served that day so you gotta do what you gotta do!) and polenta with sundried tomatoes.

And a bonus because how cute is he?

What is something that you haven’t had in a while?

For me it was the eggplant parm-I don’t think I’ve ever had it before!