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Anti-Inflammatory

We all long for an extra hour to just appear in our day.

Well guess what? I GOT ONE!

Rather than looking at a few days off of workouts to rest my leg as a deprivation, I’m looking at them as a gift . A gift of time.  Time to do the things that on normal nights I am too busy to do: read more than 10 minutes of my book at one time, take a bubble bath [Epsom salts!], play with Matt, SLEEP. I’m aiming for 9 hours of sleep for optimal healing this week!

What would you do with an extra hour in your day?

***

Did ya know today is National Garlic Day!? (So much to celebrate this week!)

In its honor I asked if the Garlic Gold products could be discounted – I got a yes!

Garlic Gold

The details if you want one:

Garlic Gold 4 Pack Sampler [= Herb + Sea Salt + Parmesan + Regular]

  • 20% OFF
  • Today + Tomorrow
  • Price: $16.80
  • Coupon Code: GarlicGold

I have a love/hate relationship with garlic. I love the taste, but I hate the aftertaste. I’m happy that these nuggets don’t have an after-taste! Only the delicious buttery during taste.

Did ya also know garlic is known to have anti-inflammatory properties?

Dinner tonight was centered around inflammation. Or the prevention of it! I decided in addition to sleep, I needed a super anti-inflammatory meal.

Sardines are one of the most nutritious foods I can think of, and their omega-3 content helps with inflammation. I picked these lightly smoked ones up from Trader Joe’s to try. They were pretty typical (=good!)

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We mixed them with some of Matt’s homemade tomato sauce (see here for a similar tomato sauce recipe)

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Plop them in and give them a whirl!

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It’s a little fishy – but just like anchovies in Caesar salad – it only adds to the richness

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In addition to sardines and garlic, herbs and olive oil are all workin’ on my injury tonight.

I cracked open the roasted Garlic Gold nuggets in olive oil and drizzled it all over a few pans of veggies to roast.

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Plus some of the herb-y Garlic Gold and sea salt

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Plus a pan of broccoli that roasted (this was all at 400* for ~ 30 minutes) until it was CRISPY

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–>

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We filled 2 bowls with roasted veggies and topped them with sauce

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And lastly, added a bit of fresh oregano from our garden – for the phytochemicals!

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Excellente!!

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I was able to ice my leg during lunchtime at work today (with ice from the fountain drink machine!). Luckily the back of the knee/leg is VERY convenient to ice! There’s a nice little nook self-created. (This is on contrast to the outer foot, which is a pain to ice. Speaking of my foot, guess who’s feeling awesome after her 10 mile run? The left foot. The right hamstring must be stealing all the inflammation!). Anyways, the ice at lunch helped a TON and I just did another round on the couch. Ice is SOO UNDERRATED!

Somebody else has happy feet :mrgreen:

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Matt was in dire need of some comfortable shoes to wear to the bakery everyday. I told him my Danskos had been life changing (they feel as comfortable as my Target fuzzy slipper moccasins now!) and he should try on a pair at the mall. He did, said they were “unlike any shoes he’d ever worn” and was convinced they might be life changing for his tired flour-covered feet too. So he hopped over to Clogs Central and used the coupon (=kerf) to get himself a pair – men’s in the color Hickory.

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They are definitely not the coolest shoes he’s ever owned, but when flour is flying and the bread is crusting, who cares! I’ll let you know what he thinks 🙂

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My goal to be in bed by 8PM was delayed by an episode of House Hunters and an extra long blog post. Gotta get my rest!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Love your positive attitude about the injury. And talk about being proactive with your dinner. With all the anti-inflammatories, you should be better in no time!

    Reply

  3. To be honest, if I had an extra hour in my day, I would spend it on myself. I don’t think I take enough time to do that, ever.
    I love how this post is anti inflammatory #2. Going to see what post was anti inflammatory the first 🙂

    Reply

  8. Yum, smoked sardines? I love sardines, and smoked oysters, but have never seen smoked sardines. I also think your approach to resting is great – definitely up the play time with Matt, I say!

    Reply

  9. That dinner looks delicious! Sadly, I too have been too chicken to try sardines! Is there any other food that you could compare them to, or do they have a flavor all of their own?
    An extra hour every day would be FANTASTIC! I would probably switch it up between reading, baking, getting some extra sleep, and spending some extra time with the hubby. 🙂

    Reply

  16. My husband just bought a pair of Dankos too! Took a day to try them on, and another day for me to talk me into it, but now he is sooo happy with them. They are by far the most comfortable shoes either one of us has ever had! He can wear sneakers to work but he chooses the ol’ clogs!

    Also, MUCHOS gracias for the garlic nugget coupon! Ive been seeing those little containers pop on blogs left and right and wanted to try them but was hesitant!

    Reply

  17. I just this week had an old lower back injury flare up and have had to take time off from working out. I feel like I have so much free time it is unbelievable. I am starting to really miss sweating out my stress everyday though 🙁

    I stopped by whole foods and picked up turmeric capsules for the anti inflammatory properties. I just started taking them today and my pain has seemed a little better

    Reply

  19. I’m loving the idea of turning your days off exercise into the gift of more time.

    Have you ever tried garlic ice cream? There is a restaurant in LA called the Stinking Rose that makes garlic ice cream.

    Reply

  20. you have such a great spin on the injury- no use dwelling on what you can’t change! great reminder of that. those sardines- ahhhh. i need to cover my eyes- they are creepy little fish.

    Reply

  22. don’t you wish it was socially appropriate to wear flip flops everywhere? Then again, I bet the hus couldn’t wear them baking bread… dilemmas, dilemmas:)

    Reply

  23. If I had an extra hour in my day, I would blog more and cook more. I love blogging but my daily two hour commute (total) just eats away at all my free time. You have such a positive outlook on resting your leg! I was a bit of a whiner when I had shin splints a month ago.

    Reply

  24. Sardines are awesome. I watched a good video about them on cookingupastory.com that was incredible. They were talking about how they feed pounds of sardines to farmed salmon just to produce a pound of salmon. Kind of weird and wasteful.

    Well good night, hope you heal up!

    Reply

  27. I took a rest day from exercising too (my butt bone hurts!!) but sadly I spent that hour in class. Soon enough, I’ll never have to mutter that 5 letter word again though. Weee!

    I hope you heal soon although maybe not so you can keep your extra hour to relax!

    Reply

  29. Love the anti-inflammatory diet ideas! I always try to eat anti-inflammatory foods when I feel the inflammation a-coming! My mouth gets dry and I get red itchy spots on my face! Gross, right? 😀

    Reply

  36. Your hubby will love the Danskos! I used to waitress and these were the only shoes that weren’t slippery on the tiled floor in the kitchen area and SO comfy even when I worked doubles from 10am-2am! They are perfect for the food world.

    Reply

  38. I’ve been trying to eat anti-inflammatory foods all day, too! I twisted my ankle when I was walking to our car after dinner! 🙁

    Here are the top anti-inflammatory foods I found via google searches:
    ginger
    garlic
    green tea
    turmeric
    blueberries
    cherries
    curciferous vegetables
    salads – dark green lettuce, spinach, tomatoes
    salmon
    grass fed beef and other animal foods
    olive oil
    kelp – also kombu, wakame, nori, arame
    papaya
    sweet potato

    Hope your leg feels better soon!

    Reply

  39. Hi Kath! I think rest days are so important!! When you are used to exercising daily its hard to take a day off, but much needed. I just love your blog and really look up to you. I’m training for a half marathon (coming up in 2 weeks) and it’s been so fun to read about your training strategies and nutrition. Although, I can’t believe how disciplined you are with your eating – you are amazing. After my long runs I am STARVING. I just read an article today that I thought might interest you. I know you are busy, but it seems like it would be right up your alley! Have a great night,
    Sally

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18exercise-t.html?sudsredirect=true

    Reply

  42. Good luck with the 8:00! That was my goal for finishing studying which promptly turned into 10:00. That garlic looks like a great way to add flavor without effort! looks awesome
    Katherine

    Reply

  47. Hey … random question that I thought you might have an answer (or a guess) to.

    Whenever I have a really hard workout, I weigh several more pounds the next day. Someone was trying to explain to me that it had something to do with glycogen depletion and not being able to restore my glycogen stores properly because of under eating (I am never hungry after long or difficult workouts).
    Does this make sense or do you know anything about this?

    Reply

    • I’m not an exercise expert, but I’m almost positive that the muscles retain water after a hard workout as they repair themselves.

      Reply

  49. Aloha Kath,
    apparentley I haven’t been following along closely enough for the past 6 months or so, but when I went to look up matt’s awesome wole wheat pizza crust recipe on brew and bake, the site was shut down! I’m so sad- that was my favorite baking reference site! Everything I made from there turned out awesome. his instructions were the best. Please tell me the site moved or that there is somewhere else to access his recipes. Since i’m commenting i will take the opportunity to tell you that I love your blog and you are a great inspiration to me to stay healthy! I love all the food ideas I get from you too.
    Mahalo,
    Jaime

    Reply

  50. As always, such a great attitude and fab nuggets of health info. Topping those roasted veggies with sardine/tomato sauce sounds like a must try. Hope you’re all better soon!

    Reply

  51. Garlic is my FAVOURITE flavour!! It’s amazing, it goes with everything, and I adore sardines and roasted veggies – i think you quite literally just made one of my dream meals 😛
    If I had anextra hour, I’d bake bake bake – it’s all I want to do!!

    Reply

  52. Ummm… if I had an extra hour, I’d study more- sounds strange, but that would be stress relieving in itself, because I constantly don’t have enough time to get it all covered.
    Btw, random trivia- did you know that if you take garlic tablets you should always tell your doctor, because they are really a quite potent anticoagulant agent- such that it can affect your clotting time, e.g. if one is having an operation, or is in an accident. I always tell my Mum to take a tablet before a long haul flight to prevent DVTs. I am such a nerd! I know you probably don’t want to go down the medicalised route- but have you considered taking an NSAID e.g. ibuprofen, even just a topical agent like Deep Heat?
    With work footwear, comfort comes way above fashion 😉

    Reply

  53. Hooray for garlic! It is easily one of my favorite herbs. I love the way it fills a kitchen with it’s pungent aroma, not too mention the numerous health benefits it provides.

    Also, brilliant usage of the sardines! I’m going to try that sauce over some whoe wheat pasta this week. Thank you for the idea!

    Best of luck with your injury recovery!

    Reply

  54. My brother-in-law is a chef, and swears by Danskos. I bet Matt will love them!

    I’m not really sure I’d know what to do with an extra hour in my day…!

    Reply

  55. I really like those shoes Matt bought! My husband is also a medical student with me, and I think he might need a pair of those! Thanks for the coupon! Have a wonderful day… and hope you keep feeling better and better! 😀

    Reply

  56. … one of my sister’s (ex) boyfriends made an excellent sauce with anchovies–but I think sardines would sub in well–

    –was olives, anchovies, garlic, green herbs (oregano, parsley, rosemary, etc), red pepper flakes and bread crumbs fried in olive oil… with sardines instead, and if you cut the bread crumbs with crumbled nuts (I’ve done it with walnuts and pecans)… would also be pretty good-for-you.

    Reply

  58. Kath,
    I’m so sorry to hear about your injury, but you have a wonderful attitude about it! I can think of a million ways I’d like to use an extra hour… make a photo album, get all the knots out of my chain necklaces, tackle my growing pile of crossword puzzles, read, or possibly best of all… nothing!

    I too am a big fan of sardines and promote their nutritional value when I receive looks of shock and horror from friends. They were a lifesaver when I lived abroad and needed a good source of protein on a very tight budget! Unfortunately, last week I ate a sardine sandwich for lunch before hosting an event I was very nervous about. Combined with black coffee and beer… let’s just say I saw my lunch again for the first time since age 11. I’m hoping the incident doesn’t put me off sardines too long 🙁

    Enjoy your extra found hour!

    Reply

  60. An extra hour in my day… the thing I would LIKE to do would be to get an extra hours sleep.
    But what I WOULD do, would be any of these things: 1. clean the house (detail work) 2. clean out my closets (way too many clothes) 3. go for a bike ride.

    Reply

  61. I am a new reader, but I love your blog!! And I have just started eating whole oatmeal (the old fashioned kind, not the packet kind), and I was searching for ways to sweeten it up, and so your oatmeal section has given me so much inspiration! Thank you, and I look forward to being a reader for as long as you’re posting!

    (And as a former runner, I’m sorry about the injury- I had tendonitis in my foot the last marathon training, and it STUNK!!)

    Reply

  62. Kath, I just tried to purchase the Garlic Gold 4 pack and it disallowed the coupon. Has anyone else had this problem? I don’t want to miss out on the discount!

    Reply

  65. Kath..I tried to use the coupon this morning as well and got an error message as well. I would love to try these as they sound awesome. Out of curiosity are there any calories in these? Thanks!

    Reply

  66. I think those shoes are quite handsome! I might have to let my husband in on the secret, he could use a new pair of extra comfy shoes!! 🙂

    Reply

  67. OK – i was looking for a recipe for kale chips – cause I saw them on The Today Show this week. I love your Blog – I have been running for the past 2 years and did the PF Chang’s Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in January, here in Phoenix. Love the anti-inflammatory menu. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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