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!

30 Day Detox: days 14-17

Day 14
For breakfast I had a smoothie with protein powder, blueberries, banana, flax, and soy milk

I didn’t have any salad veggies on hand, so for lunch I had leftover chickpea-quinoa pilaf as well as broccoli florets dipped in some “honey” mustard vinaigrette I also had 2 nectarines.

For a snack I had blueberries and a peach. That night for dinner I kept on with the Veganomicon Cookbook Challenge and made cheater baked beans, tomatoes and spinach, as well as some bbq tofu. The beans were delicious, I love how they’re not sickeningly sweet like the canned variety. The spinach dish would have been way better if my spinach wasn’t so old and gross.

I also had 2 oranges for dessert.

Day 15
Before I headed to the gym I grabbed a banana. Once I got home I had a smoothie with protein powder, frozen peach/strawberry/blueberry/mango, soy milk, flax, and psyllium husk. I made this thing way too thick and had to eat it with a spoon.

Later on for a snack I had 2 dates.

For lunch I had the edamame and corn salad from Veganomicon. I cut the sesame oil in half but otherwise kept things the same. Not pictured, I served this over greens for my lunch. This salad is really good, and sooo filling due to the edamame. For dessert I made a banana “pudding” with banana and agave whirred up in the food processor.

For a snack that afternoon I had 2 oranges and some cherry tomatoes. For supper I had more of the edamame and corn salad, plus sushi made with quinoa instead of rice. This sushi had tofu, spinach, and carrot. It was alright. It’s no rice sushi, but it’s surprisingly good.

Later on for a snack I had some frozen mango whirred up in the food processor.

Day 16 – this day SUCKED diet-wise. I ended up getting caught off guard and didn’t have suitable meals lined up. I ended up eating gluten AND sugar. Ugh. I wasn’t too happy with myself. However, that evening I spent some time introspecting and realized what went wrong to get me off track and how I can deal with it in the future. So I’m concentrating on the positives.

Day 17

First thing in the morning I went for a 10 mile bike ride. When I got back I had a shake with protein powder, flax, frozen berries, soy milk, and psyllium husk. I made this extra thick so I could eat it out of a bowl like frozen yogurt.

Lunch was delicious. I had lemon pepper tofu from Vegan Brunch (no oil) on top of salad greens with back to basics balsamic vinaigrette from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. The vinaigrette is a bit sweet for me, but I usually find Dreena’s salad dressings too sweet. Next time I’ll lessen the amount of agave I use.

For a snack I had this really weird pickle that my husband (still not used to calling him that…) found in the grocery store:

Who am I to refuse a portly pickle? It was actually really good.

For supper I had some grilled tofu, zucchini, and corn on the cob. I usually don’t have tofu both for lunch and supper but I didn’t have anything else in the house to grill and I didn’t have time to run to the store. For dessert I had 2 oranges.

To recap the cookbook challenge, I ended up making 6 new recipes from Veganomicon and 2 repeats. This week is Vegan with a Vengeance. So far I’m loving the push to actually use my cookbooks instead of just staring at them.

30 Day Detox: days 12 and 13

Day 12

For breakfast I had a smoothie with protein powder, flax, mixed berries, banana, and soy milk. This one was such a pretty color. Later for a snack I had an orange.

For lunch I had a salad with greens, radish, beet, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, and “honey” mustard vinaigrette. I also had some leftover bbq black-eyed peas and some strawberries. Excuse the bad picture, horrible lighting.

Later on in the afternoon I had another orange and a peach. Keeping with the Cookbook Challenge, I made another recipe from Veganomicon: chickpea quinoa pilaf. This was alright. I found it a bit bland actually. I’d throw in a lot more herbs next time. Anyway, I had this with Italian tofu (also from Veganomicon, but one I’ve made several times before) as well as some sauteed kale. Later on I had some watermelon and strawberries.

Day 13

Before I went to the gym I had a banana. When I got home I had a smoothie with protein powder, flax, soy milk, frozen peach, strawberry, and blueberry, psyllium husk, and oats. I was still hungry so I had a bit of leftover pilaf.

For lunch I made the portobello salad with spicy mustard dressing from Veganomicon. Except my salad had a lot more veggies in it than recommended and I omitted the avocado as it has a tendency to make me ill. The dressing burned my sinuses. But I think that’s because of the weird spicy mustard we have in our fridge. It kind of tastes like it has horseradish in it, but it doesn’t. Weird. Anyway, the mushrooms were succulent and I could have eaten 10 of them. I also had a nectarine, watermelon, and some strawberries.

After lunch I ended up not feeling well and getting a bad headache (which I’m pretty sure was unrelated to food). So for supper I grabbed some raisins and a bowl of oatmeal as there was no way I was cooking. Later on I started to feel a bit better and was hungry again, so I had some more oatmeal and an orange.

30 Day Detox: days 10 and 11

Day 10

I forgot to take a picture of my morning smoothie, but it consisted of cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, and flax. Later for a snack I had a banana. For lunch I had leftover curried lentils, plus a salad with greens, beets, radish, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, and “honey” mustard dressing. I also had a peach for dessert.

Later in the afternoon I had an orange and some blueberries for a snack. For supper that night we decided to BBQ, which we haven’t done in such a long time. I had bbq tofu, corn on the cob, and some asparagus.

I also had watermelon for dessert. Later in the evening I had some air-popped popcorn..which probably wasn’t the best idea since I had corn for supper but oh well.

Day 11

Before I went to the gym I grabbed a banana. Once I got home I made a smoothie with frozen peach, strawberries and blueberries, as well as protein powder, flax, and soy milk.

For lunch I had a salad with greens, radish, onion, beet, chickpeas, broccoli, cauliflower, and more of that “honey” mustard vinaigrette. I also had 2 medjool dates for dessert.

Later on I was quite hungry, so for a snack I had an orange, a peach, and some blueberries.

Starting yesterday, the PPK is starting a Cookbook Challenge. The idea is each week we pick a cookbook and you try as many new recipes from that book as you want, with a minimum of 3 recipes each week. Basically it’s a way to get us to use our cookbooks. This week is Veganomicon. So for supper last night I made the BBQ Black-Eyed Pea Collard Rolls, only I didn’t have collards so I used chard. I also didn’t make the VCON bbq sauce but just used some of my own that I had in the fridge. Overall these were alright. Basically all I can taste is bbq sauce, which I love. But I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to make these again. To go with the rolls I also had brussel sprouts and some pattypan squash.

For dessert I had 2 nectarines. Later for a snack I had watermelon and strawberries.

Well the detox is more than a third over. I’ve noticed some improvements in my health. I think these are mostly from avoiding gluten. As much as I love wheaty carbs they’re probably not the best thing for me. I haven’t been missing sugar so far because I’ve been eating so much delicious fresh fruit. I’m still not sick of having salads every day so there’s another bonus. All in all so far this has been a pretty positive experience.

30 Day Detox: days 7-9

Day 7

Before I went to the gym I had a banana. When I got back I had a smoothie with protein powder, frozen peach, strawberries and blueberries, flax, oats, and soy milk. This was delicious.

For lunch I had some leftover sauteed green beans and mushrooms, as well as a salad with greens, radish, cucumber, zucchini, and tofu with green tahini dressing. For dessert I had cantaloupe. Later on I had an apple for a snack.

For dinner that night I made a lasagna using zucchini instead of noodles. This also had eggplant and tofu ricotta and mushroom marinara (with added spinach) from Veganomicon. I topped it off with the white cheese sauce recipe from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (using soy milk instead of water). It turned out pretty good, although the zucchini made everything a little watery. Later on for a snack I had a peach.

Day 8

First thing in the morning I went for a bike ride. When I got back I had protein powder mixed with soy milk, as well as a smoothie made with cantaloupe, pineapple, and flax. I accidentally made this one too watery. Later on for a snack I had a peach.

For lunch I had some leftover lasagna, as well as a salad with greens, cucumber, onion, and oil and vinegar. I also had an apple for dessert.

I was really hungry in the afternoon and ended up eating two peaches and a bowl of plain air-popped popcorn.

For supper I had some leftover chili.

For dessert I whirred up some frozen pineapple in my food processor. Voila, pineapple sorbet.

That evening I was really hungry again and ended up eating two peaches, more popcorn, and some raisins.

Day 9

For breakfast I made a smoothie with cantaloupe, pineapple, orange juice and flax.

For lunch I had a salad with spinach, mixed greens, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, chickpeas, and the “honey” mustard vinaigrette from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. For dessert I had a peach and some cherries. Later on in the afternoon I had an apple for a snack.

Around dinner time I didn’t have time to cook so I grabbed a banana and a few more cherries. I didn’t actually get to cook my dinner until waaaay later. By then I was so tired that I threw some random things in a pot to quickly make some curried lentils. Not a pretty picture I know, but I was exhausted and famished. I also had a peach for dessert.

apologies for abseenteeism…as well as more Vegan Brunch

Wow, I haven’t been posting much. Wedding insanity has taken over my life…18 more days. It seems every day we have a meeting with somebody about something wedding-related…at this point I am just looking for the planning to FINALLY be over and to just enjoy the day. We’re keeping it pretty low-key but it seems there are still 1001 decisions to be made that everyone wants your input on. *sigh*

I haven’t been cooking all that much, but here a few things that have made appearances in my kitchen. First up is the puttanesca scramble from Vegan Brunch. If you like olives and capers you will probably like this. The only negative thing I can say is that I accidentally bought unpitted kalamatas so those were a pain to chop up. Oh well.

Secondly, here are the cinnamon buns from Vegan Brunch. I made these with the understanding that they would be taken out of my home immediately. I have a wedding dress to fit into and I don’t need a dozen cinnamon buns hanging around! But I did sneak a bun before they were gone and they are heavenly! Really gooey, which I like. I’d probably put way more cinnamon in the filling next time, but that’s just me.

Finally, I revisited a classic…the snobby joe from Veganomicon:

Soup again?

Yes yes, I’ve been a neglectful blogger. Anyhoo, I haven’t cooked much of late, but here are some recipes that fit the Eat to Live program. First up, Vegan Dad’s cauliflower soup (thanks to Happy Herbivore for pointing out this recipe). I made it as the recipe states without the oil and salt and it was quite bland. I was pondering what magic ingredient to add when the bf suggested making a curry soup. Brilliant! Some curry powder, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes were added and the result was a spicy curry cauliflower soup with no salt or oil. Everyone is happy.

Next up, the chickpeas romesco from Veganomicon. I made this once again without the oil, and I also omitted the almonds. It was really good, I enjoyed the tanginess of the sauce….a lot. Since following Eat to Live I’ve been eating a lot of chickpeas. And I mean a lot. I love how versatile they are.

My camera really hates taking pictures of red things in artificial light. Oh well. As an aside, the Eat to Live program has been going great, it’s been just about two weeks. I feel great!

A belated Happy New Year!

Well, we made it back last Saturday…and returned to a foot of snow that had to be shoveled. Ugh. But the vacation was great. I hung out at my parents’ house for two weeks and pretty much did nothing. I ate, I slept, and watched TV. Basically I enjoyed doing nothing dissertation-related for the entire time. Nice.

I don’t have a lot of food pictures, but here are a few that I managed to take. First up, agave nectar cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. For the icing, I melted unsweetened chocolate and added some vanilla and agave and played around with it until it tasted good. Then I topped those with walnuts. My Dad has Type II diabetes so he was allowed one of these for dessert for Christmas. The cupcakes are incredibly moist…I couldn’t believe it. A bit pricey to make, with the agave nectar and all, but they are worth it for a splurge.

For Christmas dinner I also made the infamous smlove pie from Veganomicon. Oh..my..God….this is my idea of heaven. HEAVEN. I used a chocolate cookie crumb crust instead of a graham cracker one and all the chocolaty nutty goodness was so amazing.

New Years Day my Grandma came out with my aunt and uncle and cousins for her birthday dinner. I wanted to make her a birthday cake, so I made a vanilla cake (from VCTOTW again) with vanilla icing, and coated it in toasted coconut. I’m not a huge coconut fan, but she is, and hey, it was her birthday afterall. She seemed to like it. The icing wasn’t the best, but that was my own fault.

Now, after all of those pictures of sweet goodies, on to my goal for the coming months: my official wedding nutrition/exercise regime. I have gained a few pounds over the past few months. Not a lot, but enough that my pants are a wee bit tight and I just don’t feel comfortable in my clothes. That and my wedding is quickly (eek!) approaching…only 7 months to go, which is terrifying as I look at the huge to-do list. Anyway, my plan is pretty simple:

• Write down EVERYTHING I eat
• Unlimited raw veggies
• Limit intake of white flour, sugar, coffee, and alcohol
• Cardio 4x/week, strength training 3x/week, stretching 7x/week
• Stop boredom eating!!

So we will see how that goes. Wish me luck! I’m not looking to lose a whole lot of weight, ideally I would like to lose about 10-15 lbs as well as get into shape.

Beanball Sub

Yes I know, I’ve been slacking off on the posting. But that’s because I haven’t been cooking much, or anything interesting anyway. You’ll see what I’ve been up to in my next post.

Anyhoo, the other day for lunch I did make a beanball sub a la Veganomicon. I had some leftover beanballs in the freezer along with a homemade whole wheat hot dog bun, which turned out closer to a hoagie in size. I also had some frozen marinara. So there you go. My sub was a lot more plain than the one in Veganomicon, as it consisted only of a toasted bun, beanballs, and sauce. It was still delicious though. It is pictured in front of a mountain of sauteed kale:

Vegan MoFo: Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Sage Crumb Topping

We still have tons of pumpkin puree, so I decided to jump on the vegan blog bandwagon and try the pumpkin baked ziti from Veganomicon. Well, kind of, we didn’t have ziti so I used penne. I also used the tofu ricotta recipe instead of the cashew ricotta so the bf could eat it. Oh yes, and I left out the walnuts in the topping. Maybe it was my changes to the recipe, but we thought this was just “okay.” I’ve read a lot of raves about this recipe, so I think perhaps I just didn’t do that great of a job of making it nut-free. Excuse the bad picture, it was late, which implies bad lighting. Which I am sure I am going to have to deal with all winter. Boo.

Note: My Mom is here for the next few days staying with us, so I probably won’t be visiting your blogs as often as I normally do.