Ibex Winter Warming Party & The Athlete's Plate

Well hello!  I have two exciting things to write about!  First, last night I checked out the Winter Warming event of Ibex Outdoor Apparel on Newbury Street.

After trying out the clothes last week, I was excited to see the store and meet the people behind the brand.  First I met Julie (@verdeJulie) who works at Ibex's PR Agency.  She got tons of people to the store- it was jam-packed!

The event was held at their store at 303 Newbury Street.  They had American Flatbread Pizza from a truck parked right outside. It was really cool that they were grilling their delicious pizza straight from a truck.  American Flatbread is in Vermont and Virginia and wow is it good.  

(photo credit- @BostonTweet)

They also had tons of seasonal beer, wine and Hot Apple Ciders with whiskey- can't beat that. They had delicious desserts from Eats Meets West Catering.

My favorite part of the night was meeting new people that I knew about in the twitter/blog world but had never met in person.  First I hung out with Kimmy who I DO know from work/twitter/blogging/running. She switched jobs and I don't get to see her nearly as often : ( I miss you Kimmy!

Kim introduced me to Rob Curtis from Boston Outdoor.  

I had a blast hanging out with them!  We talked about blogging, working out, work, commuting, suburbs vs city life and the Ibex gear (Rob is a huge fan- even sporting several pieces).We also met Tom from @BostonTweet (ya know the man behind everything in Boston!)

It was really fun event and I'm so happy to be part of it. Thanks for the invite Julie!

 

 At the end of the night I had the pleasure of meeting John Fernsel who is co-founder of Ibex. You can definitely tell how passionate he is about his brand and who can blame him?  Their products are truly one of a kind and if you are in the market for some new cold weather gear, please check Ibex out!

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Secondly, Jason over Life of an Aspiring Triathlete emailed me a few weeks ago about his Athletes Plate series he does on his blog.  I was certainly intrigued.  He wanted me to write a menu based on foods for athletes and be the guest chef on his blog.  I thought long and hard about what I wanted to create.  I wanted to get it fiberful, full of veggies, lots of protein and deliciousness.  I am a marathoner, but I have to be honest, I don't think too much about calories or consumption.  I just eat.  I've never counted calories and I never will. I love food.  I love cooking. I love eating.  I love trying to eat healthy but I don't measure things. So I wasn't sure, HOW healthy I had to make the Athlete's Plate.  And truthfully, I think my food is healthy but I don't know for sure, and I don't care to find out. 

My opinion on food is this: I try to eat locally.  I try to buy my vegetables and fruit from farmers markets.  When I can't do that, I look at where my fruit is from at the grocery store- I look to see if it's from Massachusetts.  And when that is unavailable, I try to keep it domestic.  I try to eat vegetarian as often as possible. I have not yet switched over to grass-fed or locally grown meat, but I'm sure as my budget increases, I will. So, I tried to create a menu that an athlete would benefit from. I came up with this (click the picture for the full menu and recipes- they are also on my Recipe Index!)

Breakfast: Baked Banana Oatmeal 

 AM Snack: Healthy Morning Muffins  

(now personally, I don't really snack, but if I did, I would have one of these or my favorites- Larabars)

Lunch: Salmon Stackers with Avocado Butter

PM Snack: Kale Chips 

 

(I am obsessed with Kale chips! I usually eat this as a side dish for dinner, but for todays purposes, its a PM Snack.  Truth be told, I crave Kale Chips.  I love love love them.

Good thing I love them, because check out the health benefits.

Kale absolutely rich and abundant in calcium, lutein, iron, and Vitamins A, C, and K. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Kale is rich in Vitamin C not to mention the much needed fiber so lacking in the daily diet of processed food eating Americans. The "Icing on the Kale" are the natural occurring all important phytochemicals sulforaphane and indoles which research suggests may protect against cancer. Let's not forget the all important antioxidant Vitamin E. Rest assured kale spares nothing in providing one with much needed nutrients and associated health benefits. (Source)

Dinner: Kale & Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

I tried to pick seasonal ingredients- I hope you enjoyed my menu.  Happy Friday! And check out my Athlete's Plate on Jason's blog!