Wednesday, August 13, 2014
13.1 MILES!!!
Happy Wednesday friends! Wow, it's been a crazy week!!! The weekend really can't get here fast enough!

Let's talk about mine and my man's training. Um, holy cow, it's been awhile since we've hit the half marathon mark in our miles! I admit, I was excited to hit that number this weekend. I know it makes me sound crazy that I look forward to hitting higher milage, but there is definitely a mental/physical victory that happens when I achieve these goals. I will say, running the longer miles is getting interesting. To break up the boredom, the same ol same ol, we are trying different routes. Um, it felt crazy parking at one of our favorite parks, running to our favorite greenway and then running back to the park where our car was parked. You can't give up at that point…you have to get back to your car somehow (that would be running). Though, the run to the greenway seemed fast to me (well, technically it was faster than I normally run which I think is due to running with cars instead of the peaceful woods), we didn't really plan out the return route well enough. It left us having to run 3 circles around the park and that park in particular is HARD with a lot of hills. We earned that 13.1!

We started the run in 98% humidity which is hard folks! It's like running under water! At about mile 10 the rain finally came it. It felt amazing! Thankfully it brought the humidity down to a cozy 85%. It's pretty crazy that 85% humidity is cozy, but I guess it's all relative at that point.

My fuel for this run was a pack of jelly belly running beans, a strawberry pedialyte (we run with the packets to add to our water bottles on our belts) and a lot of water! After the run I immediately ate my cup of pickles and drank the juice. Did you know that pickle juice is supposed to reduce cramping after an intense workout? Also, I have to admit, I crave pickles like crazy when I sweat like that and all those sweets during running end up gagging me. Tony brought a banana for me too, but I could NOT eat anything sweet. I need to come up with some savory running fuel…

So, the workout breakdown for last week...

Monday - upper body strength training/5 minute plank
Tuesday - ran 5 miles/taught bootcamp
Wednesday - upper body strength training/HIIT/yoga
Thursday - ran 6 miles (best run in a long time!!!)/taught bootcamp/HIIT
Friday - upper body strength training
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - ran 13.1!!!!

I see a here that it looks like I don't work legs at all anymore, but I do. Normally I have some body weight leg exercises going during my HIIT routines. I'm also working on my planks more these days. They are my favorite core moves and I need to get back at them more regularly.

This weekend will be a 15 miler for us. It will be our first time hitting 15! Running with a plan definitely changes things up for me. I have more of an understanding of how my clients feel too with following a plan as apposed to doing whatever whenever when it comes to working out. I will say that I'm feeling a lot stronger on my runs now. I'm not hurting at all like I used to which is weird, but also comforting. It's very interesting seeing how this all plays out...


posted by Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen @ 12:31 PM   163 comments
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Amazing Gluten and Dairy Free Fried Chicken and Doughnuts!

The way to my Southern men's hearts is definitely with a plate of fried chicken…but we'll get to that in a moment.

Hello friends! Long time no talk. To be honest, it's been crazy here for a few reasons. Travel for work and getting geared up for the kids to start school. Yesterday marked the first day of the boys being back at school! I can't believe we have an 11th grader and an 8th grader! Time has flown by! It's pretty amazing to see how much has changed over just the past 2 years…

me and the boys before school 2012

me and the boys before school 2014

Tony and the boys before school 2012

Tony and the boys before school 2014

Either I shrunk or the boys grew. Also, dang Tony has lost some weight! Also, we painted the house…which I love! Oh and apparently, you can't even get a smile from teenagers. It's all about the smirk. Must be the cool thing to do these days?

Anyway, the past week and a half has been spent with my men. I decided to treat them to some fried chicken for one of their last fun meals. Nothing gets these guys excited like fried chicken! Bob's Red Mill has a new 1 to 1 gluten free flour that you are supposed to be able to use in place of equal amounts of wheat flour. I tried the mix out a couple of weeks ago on a tester recipe for Bob's Red Mill and the guys liked it so much, they wanted me to try it with my fried chicken recipe. I used a mix of my original recipe and the Chick-fil-A clone I made before. They LOVED it! They were sooo happy! This flour is phenomenal! The flavor, texture and ease of use is perfect! 


Gluten Free Dairy Free Fried Chicken

4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup almond milk
2 eggs
Peanut oil

Heat enough oil to 350 degrees in an electric skillet or frier to cover the chicken pieces.

Cut the chicken breasts in half or strips.  I cut mine in half this time, but next time I am doing strips. Generously salt and pepper the chicken (I think this is a key component along with the double flouring).

Mix the eggs and almond milk in a bowl and set aside. Place the flour, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder in a separate bowl.

Dip the chicken in the flour, then dip it in the egg mixture and then back in the flour to evenly coat each piece. Place on a sheet pan while your oil comes to temperature and all the chicken is coated in flour.

Place chicken in the hot oil and cook until it reaches 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer (your best friend while cooking meat). Flipping halfway through. It took about 25 minutes for a half chicken breast. Place on a paper towel lined platter and allow to rest for 5 minutes.


Also, since the fryer was going, I went ahead and made doughnuts! The flour worked like a charm. I just substituted the two flours in the original recipe with the 1 to 1 flour. It was nice to not have to mix my flours. Funny thing about the doughnut recipe, when I looked it up, I realized I made these originally at the exact same time two years ago. They were some happy men that day. Now I've been told these all have to be on regular rotation in our meals…

I'm sharing these on Gluten Free Wednesday.

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posted by Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen @ 6:00 AM   22 comments

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Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen
Home: Atlanta, GA, United States
About Me: Lactose Challenged
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