half marathon & pre-race pasta

Last weekend I ran in my first half marathon. I didn’t know the race was even going on until about 3 days beforehand, and I made a spur of the moment decision to sign up. I wasn’t sure if I was ready or not, but I am quite happy with how I did. I might be crazy, but now I’m considering doing a full marathon at the end of October. Completing a full marathon was something I had originally anticipated doing in 2011. I figure I can start training for it (in conjunction with triathlon training of course!) and see how things progress.

Anyhoo, the night before the race I wanted to make sure I got in some healthy carbs. I know the old school notion of carb-loading is not a good idea (gorging yourself silly), but eating a healthy amount and increasing the percentage of carbs in your meal is generally recommended. I had an avocado that needed to be used up and I immediately thought of pasta della California from Veganomicon.

I changed up the recipe to accommodate what I had on-hand. I used brown rice spaghetti, and subbed spinach for the arugula and tomato for the broccoli. I also added quite a bit less veggie broth so it wouldn’t be so watery (based on some reviews I had read). I thought this was delicious and it hit the spot and fueled me up for the next morning.

For years avocados make me ill and so I avoided them like the plague. Just recently I tried eating some avocado sushi and lo and behold – no sickness! This makes me happy as they are so yummy. I keep thinking of all of the different recipes I’ve shunned over the years – now I want to go back and make them all!

Spicy Kasha-Veggie Salad

I’ve had a bag of kasha in my cupboard for quite some time now. I was never really sure what to do with it. Sure, I realize you can just cook it and serve it like rice, but I wanted to something more exciting with it. And so the bag sat there. Now faced with an international move, I was determined to finally put my kasha to good use. And so I decided to make Susan Voisin’s Spicy Kasha Vegetable Salad.

I made a few changes to Susan’s recipe. First off, I added more veggies. I believe there was radish, carrot, green onion, tomato, yellow bell pepper, and celery. Second, my grocery store was out of fresh parsley and mint, so I omitted those. Essentially my dressing was a combo of lemon juice and sriracha…yum!

A review of Gardein Herb Dijon Breasts

A couple of weeks ago I was out of town for a conference. I deliberately chose accommodations where I would have a kitchenette so that I could prepare my own food instead of being at the mercy of nearby restaurants. I figured this was healthier and I would be assured of good quality vegan food. The kitchenette had a fridge and a microwave, but no oven/stove. I went to the grocery store to stock up on fruit, veggies, hummus, and I was on the look out for things that I could microwave.

These Gardein cutlets have been out for awhile now, but generally speaking I am too cheap to buy them. I like to stick to my inexpensive legumes. But I figured they were microwavable and would be handy for my stay at the conference and so I picked up a pack of the herb dijon breasts, as I am a sucker for dijon.

The texture of the cutlet was great, very meat-like (from what I remember). However, I was NOT a fan of the sauce. It was overly sweet and just not very…good. This is the only Gardein product I’ve tried, so I’m not sure if this was a herb dijon fluke or what. It was edible, but the whole time I was eating it I was thinking that I could probably make a much better-tasting dijon sauce without much difficulty. I realize this isn’t very photogenic:

I know a lot of people really love these things, so I’m going to assume that the other flavours are better. And like I said, the cutlet itself was great, the sauce is what was the party-pooper. Overall though, I do feel these things are a bit over-priced and I probably won’t be buying them again anytime soon unless I come across a phenomenal sale.

Life Happens…

This past year has not been kind to this blog. I’ve been quite neglectful of it.
The last few months have been quite hectic. I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my dissertation and applying for jobs. That took up a LOT of time. I finally did get hired – down in California! Visa/immigration issues have been quite stressful…originally I was slotted to start work at the end of June. I just found out that I won’t actually be moving until October, due to visa issues. I will be starting work in July, although working remotely from here in Canada. It’s a bit of a disappointment that my California adventure will be delayed, but at least I get to skip winter I suppose!

I do intend to start this blog up again though. It’s been long overdue.