My incredibly easy go-to recipe for coconut oil fried homemade plantain chips that are Paleo, vegan, Whole30 compliant, kid friendly and seriously addicting!
It’s not even hot yet but I’m feeling the heat. I seem to be really sensitive to heat and humidity so when the temperature is 60 or above and humid (as it always is around here) I feel “slow” or sluggish, or just generally sloppy with my running.
I did meet all my goals for the running week and really can’t say I would’ve done anything differently. It’s just a feeling of being slow at this point. Is slow even a feeling? I think most runners would say yes! Here is the past week in running:
Monday: 6 miles hills, avg pace 8:32
Tues: Speed session track: 5x 800 6:45-7:00, 400 jogs, warmup and cooldown 1.3 miles each, 6.4 miles total
Wed: Easy run with a friend (so much fun!) 6.66 miles, avg pace 8:55
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Easy run, 6.9 miles avg pace 8:50
Sat: Long Run, 12 miles avg pace 8:52
Sun: Easy run, 4.1 miles avg pace 8:54
I’ve been doing 50 pushups in sets of 30 and 20 as well as planking 2:00 either before or after each run. I am also loving my heart rate monitor! During easy runs my HR is staying between 135 and 145 which is 70-75% of my max, pretty much right where I want to be. I plan to use it for a tempo run this week to check out those numbers. Nothing says running dork more than geeking out over HR numbers. So freaking fun.
I know I already mentioned feeling slow, but the past few days the humidity has been really high and I’m feeling almost like my legs are waterlogged and just heavy and sluggish. Not a great feeling when I want to be working on getting faster and I’m hoping it passes as I adjust to the weather.
This week my training schedule will look really similar to last week’s, except I’m going to slip in a tempo run in addition to a speed workout and decrease the long run to 10 miles. My “goal” 10k is 3 weeks away. Quotes used only because I don’t think my heart can ever truly feel that a 10k is a goal race. My heart gets set on marathons. It’s hard to change that!
A few days ago I had some green plantains and decided to make plantain chips for the first time. I normally cook the soft plantains and this was a crunchy, delicious surprise. They are really good with avocado or guac and you can also use them to make plantain nachos. I made them again the next day and threw them in my salad for some crunch and awesome flavor.
Easy Coconut Oil Fried Homemade Plantain Chips {Paleo & Vegan}
Go-To Homemade Plantain Chips
Ingredients
- 2 green to greenish yellow plantains
- 1/2 cup organic coconut oil light olive oil, or avocado oil (coconut is my go-to)
- fine grain sea salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat oil over med-hi heat.
- Peel plantains by cutting off the ends, scoring the sides and removing the peel
- Slice plantains VERY THIN (like chips)
- Place plantains in the hot oil in a single layer (fry in batches if they don't fit)
- Fry the plantain slices in the hot oil until crisp and just beginning to brown (don't wait until they're brown or they'll burn!)
- Remove plantains from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Let them cool.
- Dig in! Eat with avocado, salsa, or any dip, or even put them in your salad like I did! You can also experiment with different seasonings to sprinkle them with.
Does anyone else out there feel “slow” once in a while? Do you feel sluggish in high humidity? How do you deal?
Slow is DEFINITELY a feeling! haha
It is interesting, since my thyroid died, I don’t seem so bugged by the humidity … sure I prefer it like it is now (55 in the morning, 75 in the afternoon), but I used to WILT when it broke 80 or got humid.
As for dealing … well, I just deal 🙂
Oh – and I have yet to find it too hot and humid at 4AM 🙂 Worst is about 75 or so and high humidity, but with no sun it is very doable.
The sun is a big factor in how I feel too, which is why I stick to 5:30am in the summer. Even still the high humidity gets to me. I think if I ran at 4am I’d need to go to bed at 8pm, otherwise it would be worth a try in the summer 🙂 55 in the morning is perfect and I wish it would stay that way all summer!
I am not a cold weather person so I like it warm. 70 – 80 degrees is ideal. It’s hard for me to run in anything below 65. I feel slow in the cold weather. =)
THAT is interesting! We are all different I guess with what temps we feel comfortable in. Does that explain the guys I see at winter races in shorts and a singlet when it’s below 20degrees? Even I have limits with the cold!
I’ve never had plantain chips, although I did accidentally buy plantains instead of bananas once! Unfortunately, I ended up letting them go to waste. My legs have been feeling like lead, too. Time to start getting up early for my runs!
My kids used to call plantains “ew yucky bananas”. Trader joes and whole foods sell plantain chips but I like making them myself. They are a must try!
I def feel slow sometimes, even if my Garmin says otherwise. Then again, sometimes I feel fast and my Garmin tells me something different as well… hehe
I’m hearing the problem is the Garmin! 😀
Very true! I tend to feel fast in the winter and slow in the summer even if my paces are identical 🙂
Hi Michele, I willbe making the plantains, have been missing chops and guacamole and salsa.
Great! The kids really like these too, everyone wins 🙂
i always feel slow in the summer. always. but then the glorious fall comes and with that light air comes some fast legs! my fastest marathon was one in the fall after a brutal summer training. i believe that it made me faster…almost like working out at elevation. i’m pretty sure it’s all in my head, but that’s what it feels like to me 🙂 so…to push through i just try to imagine all the benefits i’m going to have once the heat/humidity/sun pass.
The summer to fall transition is awesome! There was one really hot summer where I was pushing the jogger almost all summer and then by fall, I was magically superhuman (in my mind anyway) so there is a nice cool breeze at the end of the hot tunnel for sure! It’s not all in our heads either, it’s easier to maintain any pace in cooler weather all else being equal. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
oh yes, i feel ya! it’s 90% humidity here!! Brutal sweat slug fest. haha
It’s amazing how much one person can sweat! Crazy sweaty tempo run this morning for me, glad I got it done.
I definitely feel so much slower in the humidity! I do feel like I adjust to it eventually (somewhat) so hopefully after a few weeks of the warmer weather it won’t feel AS hard. I also love checking out HR data! So fun!
Same for me, mid july I wind up sort of adjusting. Yay for being a fellow HR geek!
Thanks for sharing!! I’m making them now. I didn’t slice mine thin enough so no chips ? however still delicious. Next time I will slice thin
Enjoy!
So how are these stored after making them? I COULD eat all of them, because they are so yummy, but I want some for later! ? I ekrminated the salt and just cooked in coconut oil, still tasty! ?
Unfortunately I have’t found a way to store them that retains the texture! We typically just eat all of them – it’s hard to make enough for the whole family! My best bet might be to crisp them up in the oven just a bit on a low temp.