POKEZ, pumpkin, & pancakes

in "other athletes that love food news"....
it looks like GZ over in boulder, co is getting down with some wok action...he's fast on the road AND in the kitchen! (maybe i'd be fast if i had kids to work as my little sous chef minions too! :) ...hmmm....james is little, he can pass as a kid, i need to put him to work.... actually not true since he probably cooks as much as me or we team cook which is most nights. anyway, back to the plan...

POKEZ

we usually go to el caribe tacos n juice at least once a weekend for fish tacos and salads...that place definitely deserves its own post in the next week or so....james would definitely classify it as epic.

but left all to my lonesome with j out of town, and far from el caribe, being downtown in my hood (james lives up in north county).....i had to pull out an old favorite for a good post 50-miler mexican meal since i finally wanted to eat after being sick...
POKEZ! POKEZ (pronounced poh-keeez and there is an accent over the E which i can't figure how to make with blogger) is kick ass mexican food made the right way in a little place downtown that looks like a dump...
i think some veg-o person owns it because there is no lard in the beans and everything on the menu can be ordered vegetarian, vegan, whole wheat, tofu, spinach, whatever.....
I went with a mahi mahi grilled fish taco and beans...here is about a third of what they gave me (had to save some for later..meaning like 30 mintues later)...



and waiting around while they cook up my food is not so bad. pokez is hipster heaven and there is plenty of ink and piercings to admire on the wait staff. i probably looked pretty cool in my sweet cycling getup. i especially like the skateboard/jukebox wall...


PUMPKIN
when james is not around, i also have a tendency to make odd dessert-ish foods in single servings. james is not so into dessert- he doesn't even like pie or cake. well, i am obsessed with pumpkin pie and love the easy things you can do with canned pumpkin. i also am down with the health benefits of pumpkin:
"Pumpkins are packed with beta carotene, an antioxidant with properties that can help improve immune function and reduce the risk for chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. A cup of cooked pumpkin has only 50 calories and nearly three grams of fiber, making it the perfect healthful addition to your meal"(from http://www.healthcastle.com)

so, i like to make mini pumpkin "pies" in little rammikens (love that word)
i use:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg white
sweetener (your pick-splenda, brown sugar, i like SF maple)
sprinkles of cinnamon
sprinkles of pumpkin pie spice (you can buy this and its a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, etc)
sprinkle of rolled oats
i mix this all up (save the oats) in the rammiken with my mini whisk, sprinkle on the oats and then microwave for 2 minutes...that's it. delicious, desserty and essentially you're eating vitamin packed vegatables + protein (egg white) for dessert....
looks kind of gross, huh? but is swear it is TFG (totally f-ing good).
i also like to put the same spices and 1/3 cup of the pumpkin into my usual oatmeal....pumpkin pie for breakfast, what's better?

PANKCAKES
xterra athlete emkruse sent this killer pancake recipe where you can get your oats and dairy at the same time...

Oat Pancakes:
Old-fashioned oats - 1 part
Low-fat cottage cheese - 1 part
Egg whites - 1 part
Sweetener - optional

He says, "Pop all of this in a strong blender and mix it up until it's smooth. Then you just cook it up like a pancake.You can get the ingredients in more or less the same size package at the store so it's real easy to measure. FYI, I like to add 8 packets of Splenda to a blender full just to sweeten it up a bit. This is a great new breakfast option in our house, thanks to our friends Jason and Sherrie. You can add blueberries or better, you can even make banana pancakes and pretend like it's the weekend."

so, emkruse, we're on it....on valentine's day, while james was on the trainer, i cooked us up a delicious brekkie thanks to you! i made egg-white omelettes and blueberry pancakes. i followed emkruse's recipe but subsituted fage total 0% greek yogurt (13 grams of protein in 6oz!) for the cottage cheese because that's what we had on hand.
these got a big thumbs up from both me and james and the blueberries were a nice addition...and damn it we ate it so fast we forgot to take a picture!


that's about it...James just bought a bunch of food-related books from amazon, so expect some future book reviews (or clif notes if you're lazy) and i did make him some (like 100) awesome granola bars for valentine's day...there were four flavors: "ride" (xtra delicious and carby), "recover" (extra protein, more carbs), "fiber bomb" (serious fiber here), and "everything balls"....but the pictures are on his camera. maybe i'll post the recipe but make him post the review....

later! keep eating....