Monday, August 31, 2015

Vegan MoFo day 1


I will once again be blogging for the awesome Vegan Month of food for September.
Vegan MoFo allows us to share delicious, healthy foods with the world, and I'm excited you are here!

This year, the folks at Vegan MoFo have changed it up a bit, and every day we will be posting on a different topic. Today, the prompt is: Rise and shine! It's MoFo time! Tell us about your breakfast!

I generally have green smoothies for breakfast. My favorite combo is spinach, banana, and almond milk. But with summer, my fruit haul has been bountiful. I've been cutting and chopping fruits to freeze,  and enjoying some sweeter smoothies lately!

Today, I started with 4 ice cubes, and 1 cup of water. I recently have been reading Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink,  and one thing Ixve been thinking about as a result of that book is that I feel fuller in the morning when my smoothie is BIGGER. So I've been adding in extra ice and water. This not only tricks my brain, but also hydrates! Win!


Next up, I add protein powder. Now, vegans are absolutely able to get all the protein they need from a whole food diet, and not need supplements. But on days when I have a good run, I find a little protein powder helps. Lately, I've been really digging on this vanilla pea powder from Raw Green Organics.  I also added in some powdered wheat grass and orac. If I had raw spinach,  that would be better.


Frozen bananas are a must, and add a great creamy texture to a smoothie. I like to buy the discounted bananas and I store them In my fridge. 
*note: some people like to get crazy with bananas in their smoothies,  but that adds a lot of calories.  Unless you're an athlete who is mono-mealing, trust me, no more than one banana....


I cut up and froze cantaloupe for just this reason! 


Oh,  yum,  this one is very thick and creamy! 


The best start to my day! (Well,  after my 6 mile run,  that is! )


What did you have for breakfast? 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Plan Aug 31 - Sept 6

Monday
Run 4
Raw green smoothie
Peach caprese quesidilia (HH)
Citrus baked tofu (TVZ) with rice and broccolini

Tuesday
Rise and Shine! It’s MoFo time! Tell us about your breakfast.
Walk
BBT
Raw green smoothie
Citrus baked tofu
Biscuits & tempeh gravy (IM)

Wednesday
Recreate a meal from your childhood.
Run 4
Raw green smoothie
Biscuits & tempeh gravy
Vegan loaded baked potatoes (Z)

Thursday
Quick, easy and delicious.
BBT
Raw green smoothie
Vegan loaded baked potato
Protein shake (pre-make this on Wednesday)

Friday
Tell us about a weird food combo that you love.
Run 12
Pre-run breakfast of bananas & pb
Tofu sandwich (Z)
Sweet potato & black bean quesidilia  (HH/Z)

Saturday
Best sandwich ever.
Walk
BBT
Raw green smoothie
Sweet potato & black bean quesidilia
Buddha tempeh bowl (Z)

Sunday
Re-create a restaurant meal.
Walk
Raw green smoothie
Buddha tempeh bowl
Vegan Nachos  (Z)

Happy almost September!  This year, once again, I will be blogging daily for VEGAN MOFO! So expect to be bombarded with all sorts of awesomeness. But, more on that Tomorrow!

This week classes start. Usually we start right after Labor Day, but this year that falls too late. So, it will take a little adjusting getting back into the swing of normal life.

Food this week: I've been using a lot of the Happy Herbivore plan meals lately, but for September, I want to get back into mixing it up with recipes from my burgeoning cookbook collection and stuff I just make up. Since I will be welcoming MoFo readers, I'll try to be better about posting the origin of my recipies this month.

For instance, here's a meal I invented the other night. I call it Vegetable pasta

Ingredients:
8 oz pasta (I used spirals)
1 slightly cooked sweet potato, peeled and cubed (baked for 1 hour @ 350- softer, but not squishy)
1/2 onion, diced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 package crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 tomato, diced
Garlic powder, dill, and pink salt, to taste

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.
Sautee the onions in a light drizzle of olive oil. Add green peppers.
When onions start to get lighter, add mushrooms and sweet potato. Sautee for 3-5 minutes.
Add tomato, and seasonings.

In bowls, top pasta with veggies & serve.
Serves 4.

Simple.

Exercise this week: I am still training for distance running. I'd like to get to marathon distance by November, but right now, I'm focusing on my September race, the Air Force/ Navy half marathon. So I am back to running. A lot. I also am entering week two of a strength training program (BBT). It is pretty intense. The first workout I did was just for abs, and it hurt to laugh or sneeze for two full days afterward! I'm also still doing yoga every day. This month I'll be participating in a daily yoga challenge on Ig, if you want to follow there.

Reading this week: I am currently reading Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, and listening to The Amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay (one of my favorites!) by Michael Chabon, and The Holy by Daniel Quinn.

Guide to initials: After each recipe above, I've listed initials of where I got said recipe.  Every recipe I make is a variation of what is given. I've never been good at following rules. If I've taken a wide spin on a recipe,  I list both my initials & the source, meaning that the meal I make is so much of a variation I take ownership.
(Z)- me
(HH)- Happy Herbivore
(TVZ)-The vegan zombie
(IM)-Isa Moskowitz

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Plan August 17-23

Wednesday
Run 4 (I have missed running!)
Yoga
Green smoothie
Lunch with Cari
Monster salad

Thursday
BBT
Walk
Yoga
Green smoothie
Monster salad
Summer pasta salad

Friday
Run (hopefully 10, at least 6)
Yoga
Green smoothie
Summer pasta salad
Samosa lettuce wraps

Saturday
BBT
Yoga
Work @ house
Green smoothie
Samosa wraps
Mushroom & olive hummus pita 

Sunday
Yoga
Work @ house
Green smoothie
Mushroom & olive hummus pita

This has been a busy, busy summer. With all of my traveling, my writing and studies, and having my niece with me, I haven't run, cooked, or read as much as I've wanted. And now, the pre-semester stuff starts this week!
This past weekend, I traveled with my family to Minneapolis for my doctoral hooding ceremony. It was pretty groovy.  Starting Wednesday, I plan on getting back to my own food, resuming running, and starting a 16 week training program to build all-over body strength (BBT).

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Plan August 24-30

Monday
Run 4
BBT
Yoga
Raw green smoothie
Weekend leftovers
Fajita pizzas

Tuesday
Run 11
Yoga
Raw green smoothie
Fajita pizzas
BBQ pasta salad

Wednesday
BBT
Yoga
Evening meetings
Raw green smoothie
BBQ pasta salad
Dinner @ work

Thursday
Run 4
Yoga
Raw green smoothie
Veggie sandwich or vegan field trip
Moo shu tofu

Friday
Run 4
BBT
Yoga
Raw green smoothie
Moo shu tofu
Polenta & black beans

Saturday
Yoga
Faire
Raw green smoothie
Polenta & black beans

Sunday
Yoga
Raw green smoothie
Smoked corn chowder

This week I'll be super busy getting ready for the fall semester. I have to go to work almost every day. I'm hoping that I get mostly ready by Wednesday evening, I'd like to have a vegan field trip date with my friend, Tina, on Thursday. I've rearranged my long run day this week as I have a defense call with my committee on Friday so my dissertation can go into publication phase. Saturday, I'll start a moonlighting gig at the Md. Ren Faire. If you go, come buy a hat from me! I'll be at The Tall Toad most weekends!

I am on a 17 week drive to GET STRONG. I am determined to keep my winning ski race streak alive vs. my dad in CO this year! And I really want abs. So this week I start week 1 of bikini body training, where I will add strength training 3x per week to my running regimine.