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I love tamales. I don't get to eat them often but I do love them. I have been wanting to make tamales for years now but just never seemed to come around to it. This is the first time we will be hosting my family for Christmas so I decided I wanted to make tamales for our Christmas Eve dinner. I also wanted to make them healthier so I opted to use light olive oil instead of lard and chose lighter fillings. Since they are for Christmas Eve I wanted them to be festive. I made 2 flavors - (green) roasted verde chicken and (red) vegan red adobo bean and "cheese". I could not be any happier with how they turned out. I even made sure to make more the next day following my directions to make sure I had it down. I randomly decided to add another flavor ((green + red) vegan spinach, sun-dried tomato and "cheese", not added in recipes). They are perfect! My favorite are the bean ones but the chicken ones are a close second. My mom also sent me some spicy red sauce and green sauce from New Mexico that we will drizzle over the tamales when we eat them. I plan to serve them with a Mexican Charcuterie tray (tortilla chips, red and green bell peppers, and a few different dips). Don't be too intimidated to make these! Change up the fillings if you want something different but just make sure they aren't too wet. These tamales are moist and light, you definitely won't be missing the lard. Watch the videos and look at the pictures at the bottom to see how the dough should look, how to assemble and what the tamales will look like when you are done! Get ready for the best tamales ever!!!  Total Time: 3 hours (1 hour to cook the chicken and make the bean fillings, 40 minutes to make the dough and assemble the tamales, 1 hr 20 minutes to steam) Serves: 16 Tamales (Dough) Ingredients
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Roasted Verde Chicken Ingredients
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Vegan Red Adobo Beans and "Cheese" Ingredients
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Fieldstone Park/Fieldstone Softball Complex is located at 1377 Hillsboro Rd, Franklin, TN 37069 and is a large facility off of Hillsboro Rd that you can't miss! It consists of four softball fields, a concession stand, restrooms (and porta potty), water fountain, two picnic pavilions with grills and a playground.
To access the Fieldstone Farms walking path you have to leave the park and walk about 1/4 mile north on the sidewalk on Hillsboro before you get to an opening on the left side of the sidewalk with a rocky path that turns into a paved path through the neighborhood. The portion of the walking trail I mapped out provides a pretty straight 3 mile out and back route. I did it like this because I feel like if you are not familiar with the area, you might get lost in all of the different paths connecting to different areas of the neighborhood! Now, if you are like me and like discovering new things while running and don't mind getting a little lost - the paths weave in and out and around the neighborhood and even cross over (and under) Hillsboro Rd to Walgreens and also to Fieldstone Farms on the opposite side. If you look at a satellite view of the area you can somewhat see where all of these paths are and where they connect in the neighborhood and with the different neighborhood parks! You could go miles and miles discovering these paths! You can also run south on Hillsboro to Franklin Greenway Path (Bicentennial Park, Ruby F. Lynch Riverwalk Trail, Joel Cheek Park) + Judge Fulton Greer Park Path and get in a great long run! If you want to run even longer - take the Greenway and run through downtown Franklin to Pinkerton Park Path + Fort Granger Trail and back! Starting at the back left corner of Fieldstone Park you will run/walk through the parking lot to the front of the park, head north on the sidewalk on Hillsboro before taking a slight left onto the Fieldstone Farms path through the neighborhood. You will aim to stay by the main road - Fieldstone Pkwy - most of the time. When you first enter the path heading north you will come to a few tunnels. One tunnel takes you under Hillsboro the Walgreens and the other takes you under Fieldstone Pkwy. You will head west around Kinder Care before following the path continuing west down Fieldstone Pkwy. Most of the path is behind the houses and covered by trees. At one point by Lexington Pkwy you will make a left and then a quick right to travel up Glastonbury Dr (through the neighborhood sidewalk) before continuing up the path that is between two houses. The path then continues on past the houses and to Lynwood Park. Once you get to the end of the parking lot you can turn around and run/walk back to where you began. This is the most direct 3 mile route from the park and through the Fieldstone Farms paths. It has a 630 ft elevation gain and is a pretty, shaded path that you can explore for hours if you choose! Find more paths, trails and places to hike/run/walk in Williamson County, TN here!  I had been looking forward to this race from the moment I heard about it. The running group I am a part of (Franklin Road Runners) decided to create a team (Franklin Rock Runners) so I signed up quickly with them. I think there ended up being 18 people on our team. The appeal of this race for me was that it was in the Franklin, TN rock quarry - somewhere that I would never be able to run or access unless I did something like this, the fact that the course was on a softer/rocky surface (I just like that it is different than most other surfaces) and that there was a pretty extreme elevation gain so I knew it would be challenging and fun. I picked up my packet the night before the race and everything inside was so great! Since I was part of a team, our shirts had our team name on the back and we also got a $5 Starbucks gift card, there were also sunglasses, stickers, koozies, a towel, and a little thing that covers the camera on your phone or computer. I don't remember what I ate the night before the race but I am thinking it was something like sweet potatoes and salmon and cookies :) I went to bed early, had peanut butter banana oatmeal in the morning and then drove to the event! It was 28 degrees and pretty cold plus I had to park about 1/4 - 1/2 mile away in a field (which they had buses running to) so I chose to jog to the start instead as a warm-up. I met up with my group and took a picture and then lined up to begin! After the National Anthem, we were off! The course started off flat and then quickly went downhill. We ran by piles of rocks that had descriptions on them of what they were for (these rocks are for driveway construction, etc.) and there were also a few bands playing music on the course as well! There were also rock jokes and motivating words along the way :) When we got to the bottom of the hill after the first 1/2 mile, we turned around for a progressive uphill climb for the next 1 1/2 miles where some areas were definitely steeper than others but it was definitely uphill the whole way and it was tough. Then there was another downhill section for about a 1/4 mile where we then turned around again for an intense uphill climb again for a 1/4 miles and then we finally had about 1 mile left that was all downhill! I actually wasn't nervous for this race like I normally am before races - until the morning of, but it was the good pre-race jitters. I did not go into this race thinking that I was actually going to race hard - I just wanted to have fun. I think that was also helpful in not feeling nervous! But once I was out there I was feeling good and started to push it a bit. I did have trouble breathing from the cold weather and my asthma (thank goodness for Singulair) but I was able to maintain a good pace while still being able to breathe - always a good thing. It was my goal to run the whole thing instead of walking up the hills and I was able to do just that which made me feel proud! I did what I could on the uphill portions, I definitely wasn't fast but I was able to maintain a running movement (lol) and then flew down the hills when I could. I LOVED running on the downhill portions of this race. Normally on a trail run I go slow because I am scared of falling. This was so much different though. The ground was soft which while it did make it harder to run, like in sand, it also made for a nice, flat, cushy landing while running hard on the downhills that didn't shred my legs (only my calves were sore for a few days after). I was able to really push it that last downhill mile at a 7 min/mile pace and it was so fun! My friend was in the middle of his RAGNAR race (he ran twice the day/night before the race and had another run to go after this Quarry Crusher, hadn't had any sleep and was still kicking butt), so he was my motivation! I raced with him at the end so he definitely helped push me! The support staff along the course and at the end were also really upbeat and helped make this race so fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire race, I loved looking around at the beautiful/unique surroundings and tried to take it all in as I was running. I wish I could run there more often! After the finish I hung out with some of our team and listened to the fun music, talked, froze and waited on the results. I was so excited to find out I placed 1st in my age group, 5th female and 31st overall. Several other members of our team also placed! Everyone received a medal and those who placed won a really cool granite coaster! The bus driver took us back to our cars and then some of our team went to Panera Bread for breakfast and to celebrate! This race was intense and challenging but SO MUCH FUN! If you like pushing yourself to your limits in a unique setting and getting cool swag - I highly recommend you find a Quarry Crusher Run in your area! Start planning your workouts to incorporate leg strengthening exercises and cardio to help with the steep inclines and declines though! My Strava account said the elevation gain was around 800 ft (but everyone else's watches said around 700 ft or so). Either way, there was a lot of elevation gain/loss and it will definitely be more enjoyable if you are prepared :) Racing or walking, don't miss out if one of these events is in your area! I have been wanting to make a savory pumpkin recipe and decided on a pumpkin and sage pasta sauce with gnocchi. I also wanted to add some sort of "meatball" and ended up making these fabulous mushroom "meatballs" to go with the pasta. I absolutely loved this meal and can't wait to make it again! It was easy but looks fancy and tastes wonderful - yes, even though it is vegetarian ;) And as always, the recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free. Enjoy!  Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 Mushroom "Meatballs" Ingredients
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Pumpkin and Sage Gnocchi Ingredients
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If you like this recipe, download the Prepear app for more of my recipes (plus thousands of others), meal planning, grocery list creating AND grocery ordering from Walmart!  Every year for Josh's birthday since we have been married I have cooked him his dream birthday meal. We always eat pretty healthy so he thinks about what he normally doesn't get through the year and we go all out! So far we have done: pizza burgers, bacon mac & cheese grilled cheese, mac & cheese waffles with fried chicken, steak with bacon and a baked potato bar, steak with lobster mac & cheese and green beans and steak with a wedge salad and mac & cheese. There are also desserts with each year. Look below the recipes to see pictures from each year we have done this :) You also might be seeing a trend with the meals here - meat and mac & cheese. This year he decided on chicken fried steak (his favorite food from Texas) and of course mac & cheese. He also wanted Reese's Pieces Brownies which I made for him on his actual birthday. For the big meal I was also making food for my friend Staci's birthday too and she chose Brussels sprouts and a triple berry cobbler so I made those to go with it all! Josh said this was his favorite meal yet and Staci and Kevin both enjoyed the meal as well! They were all impressed with the fact that everything was gluten-free and said they couldn't even tell! I did make their mac & cheese with real cheese but for mine and for the recipe I am giving - I used a vegan cheese. IT WAS AMAZING! They even said they thought it tasted like real cheese. You HAVE to try these recipes, if you have to eat gluten-free or not, you won't be disappointed! Chicken Fried Steak + Gravy Total Time: 60 minutes Serves: 6 Ingredients
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Mac & Cheese Total Time: 15 minutes Serves: 6 Ingredients
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Brussels Sprouts Total Time: 45 minutes Serves: 6 Ingredients
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About MeI am a food loving, activity seeking health coach who resides in Franklin, TN with my husband and two sweet dogs (Lola & Penny). AllergiesI believe everyone should eat balanced and not cut food groups if you don't medically need to. All foods can fit in a healthy diet. Unfortunately, I have to avoid gluten and also limit myself with dairy, so my goal is to provide healthy, gluten-free/dairy-free recipes so EVERYONE can enjoy all foods, even if you do have to cut out certain food groups. My recipes are encouraged for everyone to eat, not just for those with sensitivities/allergies! Most of my recipes can be easily converted by using real dairy and whole-wheat in place of my allergy-free substitutes. SearchLooking for something specific? Everything can be found by category under the "Life" and "Recipes" sections on my website or you can search below. Archives
June 2021
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Elena McCown, LLC Health Coach in Franklin, TN