[The rest of this post was written by Andrea]
Jake and I have recently given up carbonated drinks (post coming soon on Jake's first three weeks without Diet Mountain Dew!). Because water is just too bland to drink all the time, these Hawaiian Punch Singles (from Family Dollar) have been a great alternative. We put two singles with one Emergen-C to get some extra electrolytes and vitamins in 32 oz bottles. My favorite is probably the Lemon Berry Squeeze.
Jake and I eat at least one 3.5 lb package a week of broccoli florets from Costco. They are so much better than those terrible broccoli cut packages that consist of mostly stems. Putting a little shredded cheese on top doesn't hurt either! We eat tons of steamed vegetables, for lunch and dinner everyday.
This ground turkey has also become quite a staple in our diets because it is super lean and we can get it for only $2.29 for 1.25 lbs at Costco. Tough to beat that. Ground beef tastes better, but with the right seasoning you can't even tell a difference between the two. When chicken breasts are on sale, we'll buy those and alternate between the chicken and ground turkey.
Speaking of the right seasoning, the Weber Gourmet Burger Seasoning is awesome. It can make pretty much anything taste good. Although we wouldn't recommend taking it on camping trips or else a bear might just try to eat all your food (see JMT Day 1).
We eat macaroni and cheese the night before every races. For some reason, the taste of whole wheat pasta doesn't taste right for mac and cheese to us. The Garden Delight noodles are still very healthy, with one serving of vegetables per 4 oz serving. In terms of cheese, it's hard to beat Velveeta.
Quakes are a great afternoon snack. I have been known to eat a bag of these in one sitting, but I don't feel too bad about it with only 420 calories per bag. I really like the cheddar flavor; not much a fan of the other kinds.
As runners, it's very important to make sure we are getting all of our vitamins. Jake and I both take women's vitamins (for the iron). I have to take an additional iron pill because I was borderline anemic last year. I can definitely tell a difference and would recommend all runners to consult with a doctor to make sure they have the proper iron levels.
There have been an abundance of studies showing that chocolate milk is an excellent recovery drink. We try to drink it within 30 minutes after hard workouts. Disregard the manager's special stickers - we're also cheap! :-)
Candy and ice cream are our vices. Running 70-140 miles a week justifies some treats, right? We have been known to have 10+ cartons of ice cream at a time (we eat ice cream every night). Kroger's Jammed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream has been our go-to for the last year and a half. [Note from Jake: Andrea took away all the candy a few days ago (bagged it up and hid it) so we can be fast and light for our target fall races! We're really trying to cut back in this category!]
If you have any new staples that we should try, we are open to suggestions!
[Update: See Training Staples Part II for more]
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