Super Easy Kale With Pecans Recipe

Serves 1-3 people. 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale or chard
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or pistachios
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Sea salt to taste

Start by mincing your garlic, just to make it a tiny bit healthier. Rinse your greens and place them all on a cutting board oriented in the same direction. If the leaves have very thick stems you may want to remove them. Personally I buy greens that are fresh and tender enough that I rarely bother removing stems.

Pile the greens on top of each other. Starting at the tip of the leaves, cut 1 inch strips until you have cut the entire bunch. If you are using Tuscan or red Russian kale, a lot less chopping is necessary because the leaves are thin and only need be cut in one direction. If your leaves are wide, cut them into 1-2 inch squares. It’s okay if your greens are still wet, the water will help them steam.

Using a pan with tall sides and a lid, add the nuts and turn it on medium heat. Lightly toast the nuts, stirring regularly with tongs. After 2-3 minutes, add olive oil to the pan and allow it to heat up. Add your chopped greens to the pan, sprinkle generously with sea salt and toss with tongs. Cover.

Stir the greens occasionally so they don’t burn, always replacing the lid after stirring. Continue cooking the greens as they wilt and turn dark green. If they start to burn lower the heat, add 1-2 tbsp of water and cover again to steam.

Kale is done cooking when it is dark green and the stems are tender. Unlike spinach, it is very difficult to over-cook kale because it retains its crispness very well.  Before turning off the heat, use tongs to clear a space in the center of the pan and add your minced garlic in a single layer. Allow the garlic to cook until it becomes fragrant, about 30 seconds, then mix it up with the kale and nuts. Add half cup of beans or lentils at this point if desired.

Continue to cook greens uncovered for another minute or two. Taste test a leaf for saltiness and adjust to taste (be careful if you are using chard, it is naturally salty and easy to over-season).

Serve immediately.

We love discovering innovative gear that makes our workouts that much better. There is no question that you should always have water by your side and keeping yourself hydrated just got a little cooler.  We’ve recently discovered the fliptop glass bottle from Lifefactory. Available in 16 or 24 oz. sized and a variety of cool colors, drinking water just got a little more exciting.

FitStar friend Eli Carlson shares her Boston experience…..

“It’s a happy day today!” Those were the words of the race announcer at the Boston Marathon, only 2 minutes before the gun went off. It was my first Boston and I was nervous. Yet, having told myself that running this race was my ‘prize,’ for qualifying, and that time was secondary, I let the woman’s words calm my nerves and generate a smile across my face as I ran over the starting line.

The run itself was magical.  I had cheered for runners at the Boston Marathon before, but as a runner, had never experienced the adrenaline rush you get from the “crowd tunnels” lining almost the entire course.  I almost always train and race with music but not for Boston–I knew it would be special and the entire race, I ran inspired, with a big smile on my face.

Not too long after crossing the line, I was four blocks away when I heard the bombs go off and saw the smoke.  Having been in Manhattan on 9/11, it shook me deeply but I remained as calm as I could, alongside being too tired to panic. After a chaotic three hours of getting back to my hotel, answering multiple texts and emails and getting on the phone with family and friends (grateful for landlines), I realized it was time to finally untie my double knotted shoes, get in the shower, order some food and then continue to watch the news.

I was heartbroken.

Heartbroken that a day that was so magical turned into a tragedy.

Heartbroken that people had died, and that one of them had been an 8 year old boy who was there to cheer on his parents. I just wanted to squeeze my two little boys so hard and it hurt to be far away from them.

Heartbroken that the world’s most famous and prestigious marathon will forever be scarred with some connotation to ‘the marathon where the bombs went off.’

Heartbroken for the people that were stopped during the race, who had trained hard and didn’t get to accomplish their dream of finishing it. As someone who ‘squeaked’ into the race by qualifying by 2 minutes, it was a dream of mine to finish this race and I would have been that much angrier having not crossed the line.

Heartbroken that there are such ugly and awful people in this world, capable of such horrid acts.

Despite all of this, I was moved by how well the city officials reacted and how incredible the volunteers and medical staff shifted into triage mode. I was moved by how runners helped one another and how we all communicated to ensure that most of us were ok. I was moved by my friend and former boss at Reebok (also a runner), who without even asking, picked me up at my hotel to bring me back to her family for a good meal and comforting.

The love and support of the running community has always been known. From the small acts of how we help each other get through training runs and races, to the enormous acts of supporting communities in times of tragedy, such as Hurricane Sandy or the awful attacks at the Boston Marathon finish line. Runner’s World contributor Roger Robinson wrote a moving piece that including the following:

Even without that special purpose, marathon running is a sport of goodwill. It’s the only sport in the world where if a competitor falls, the others around will pick him or her up. It’s the only sport in the world open to absolutely everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or any other division you can think of. It’s the only occasion when thousands of people assemble, often in a major city, for a reason that is totally peaceful, healthy and well-meaning. It’s the only sport in the world where no one ever boos anybody.

I am so proud to be part of this community of runners from all over the world and with different abilities. But when we run, we run as one and that will never change. One foot in front of the other, we will continue moving forward. And we will not stop running.

In February, Dave and Mike ran the Kaiser Half-Marathon, and I ran the 5k.

On April 21, FitStar is representing at two races! Mike, Dave, Scott and Chris will be running the Presidio 10K  and I will be running the Napa Valley Silverado Half-Marathon.

Come join us! We’ll be the folks with the FitStar shirts on.
- Kristine

We’re happy to announce our first product today — FitStar: Tony Gonzalez.   We’re still in development, but we’re excited about our progress and about helping people reach a higher level of fitness.

We’re going to be releasing further details on the product soon, but in the meantime we thought some of you might want to know a little more on how we got here.

We created FitStar with a simple goal — to inspire people to live healthier lives.

Simple in concept; complex in practice.

We started by asking ourselves, why?  Why has obesity become an epidemic?  Why is it so hard to start and stay on the path to better health?  Why, with all the amazing new technology out there dedicated to improving our health, haven’t people been able to harness it to reach their goals?

Clearly there’s no single answer, but a connection we drew early on is that there’s a relationship between the rise of our always-connected, media-saturated, mobile-enabled world and the increasing waistline of the nation.

It would be easy to make the case that video games, mobile devices, and social networks are making people fat.  But we’re not going to make that case — in fact, we think they’re incredible mediums that allow for connected, creative and immersive experiences that delight and move people – emotionally – on a massive scale.  There’s nothing like the feeling of challenge and achievement when leveling up in Angry Birds.  Or the dopamine hit when 50 friends on Facebook like the picture of your cat playfully attacking the vacuum cleaner.

We fundamentally believe that the dynamics and psychology that make for an awesome gaming, mobile or social experience can be harnessed to help move people physically.

We set out to build a platform that powers unique experiences incorporating these attributes within a fitness context.  Adding things like curriculum backed up by science, goal-setting, workouts that adapt and change with you, and integration with the growing number of health trackers, which by some measures will be worn by nearly 100 million of us in just a few years.

Finally, we determined that to make this a truly compelling experience, we needed to inspire people.  For our first FitStar, we couldn’t be more excited about working with Tony Gonzalez — someone who shares our vision and embodies a life of achievement, healthy living, and motivating others.

Put it all together, and you’ve got a taste of what FitStar is all about.

We’re just beginning this journey, but we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to help people reach their potential.

Mike Maser

CEO | FitStar