Uncooking On Memorial Day
I find it ironic that on the epitome of BBQing and Grilling is when I decide to have another one of my raw-kicks.
I started my morning with a run, which called for prefueling with chocolate. Lindt is obviously not a raw chocolate brand but still tasty, and even non-raw dark chocolate has a good amount of antioxidants. Chomp on 🙂
I only aimed for 9 miles but ended up doing 11 after I got way too in to my new playlist. I think I’ve listened to some songs by Adam Lambert and Sugarland 5+ times over the past few days. Whoops?
All I’ve been craving lately for lunch has been raw salads. We seriously don’t have enough raw veggies in this house to satisfy that! I used half an avocado squirted with lime juice as the “meat” here, and around it added raw corn, lemon garlic marinated olives, and onions caramelized in a little EVOO(obviously not raw but cooked onions taste 1000 times better than raw in my opinion). The result: delicious. This was like some backwards guacamole salad. Loved it!
It seems my sweet-tooth, which has been in and out recently is back. A Zevia twist tasted perfect mid-afternoon for a boost. Just like a diet Sierra Mist!
The piece d’ resistance of the afternoon was this Memorial Day sundae. I really want to make a maple walnut flavor ice cream! Along with soooo many others. But since there’s only so much room in our freezer, I took some of the ice cream I made with raw milk and covered it in NH maple taffy and freshly toasted walnuts. Yum! Except whole milk ice cream is just too icy as I’ve found out; you really need half and half to make something decently creamy(or coconut milk at a 2:1 ratio with water for a vegan half and half).
It turned out that I went from being the only one with plans for Memorial Day to being the only one home. How does that happen?! Not going to lie: I was a little upset. But instead I decided to make this a golden opportunity to try a new recipe I’ve been dying to make.
First I snacked on some Crazy Richards chunky pb straight for some energy and got the food processor out.
The recipe I wanted to (not) cook was raw taco meat, so I went straight over to Averie’s blog and found her super simple recipe. Here it is below; I followed it to a T except used her variation of swapping out the spices for predone(Trader Joe’s) taco seasoning.
Averie’s Raw Vegan Taco Nut “Meat”
1/2 C Raw Almonds
1/2 C Walnuts
1/3 C Sun Dried Tomatoes loosely packed (If using oil packed, may slightly reduce amount of olive oil added)
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder (or to taste)
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Powder (or to taste)
2 to 4 Tbsp Olive Oil (or hemp, flax, etc.)
Optional: 1 Tsp Salt (or to taste)
Wow! I’ve never had something so flavorful. And I will be making this again. It certainly wouldn’t suit if all you want is that beef-flavor or meat. But if you’re just looking for something fun and tasty, this totally works. I ate it along a gingerade kombucha and home fries made with white potato, sweet potato, red onion, olive oil, salt and pepper. Of course, really Averie would probably hate this dish because it has about a days worth of sodium in it(and I’m eating it with a salt shaker ready and standing by).
And now I’m watching Knocked Up on TV. I love the movie, but some things are just better done when you have the house to yourself 😉
Where do you go for new recipes? This is something I always get asked by people I cook for. Almost all my recipes come or were derived from blogs, FoodNetwork.com, or Allrecipes.com. Maybe this is a bias crowd to ask this question, but really I have to think this is what the internet is for!
When The Weather’s This Perfect
I’m so happy for the enthusiasm for my blogiversary. It was definitely fun looking over old posts and old photos; nothing makes you feel better than seeing a picture and thinking “I look so young and fresh here” until you realize it’s 3 1/2 years old 😉
After yesterday hit 91 degrees, and the night was riddled with thunderstorms and showers, the weather today was just perfect. There’s so much can do on a day like today!
I love it when it’s not too hot that chocolate melts. This was mint-flavored carob, but I’d assume it’d melt if it were too hot, too. There is nothing worse than opening up a chocolate bar only to find melted poo.
When it’s this nice out, part of me feels like I could keep going and going. The other part of me(aka, my knees) remembers all too well the 14 miles from yesterday, so there wasn’t much enthusiasm to go any further. Still, this was a dreamy run.
When the weather’s this perfect, grilling is the obvious option, but there are some things that just taste better in a seasoned pan.
I was craving Spanish potatoes and ground beef. This was so simple, too; just potatoes and onion cooked in olive oil with sea salt, paprika, and black pepper, and then grass-fed ground beef cooked through. A little basil just brightens up everything; it’s my favorite herb to add in the Summer.
I couldn’t wait for Sundae Friday this week; I just had to have fun in the kitchen. I used up the last of the vegan blondies and mixed them with snickerdoodle soy ice cream. It was missing something, though…
Rice whip, anyone?! All vegan; all delicious.
When the weather’s this perfect, I think my diet soda addiction kicks back in. Like I said here, even though I went 96 hours without stevia, I still adore it in moderation.Since the weather was so nice, I took a walk around the neighborhood, and made a delicious snack plate upon my return.
A random plate of raw onion, raw broccoli, and 2 slices vegan Hawaiian pizza. I was curious if leftover gluten-free, vegan pizza had that same magical quality as regular leftover pizza. It does.
For dinner, my mom went out with her girlfriends for the night. That used to mean “breakfast for dinner” for the boys, where the breakfast was poptarts. Thankfully, we’ve all grown up a little since then and can make real food.
When the weather’s this perfect, a Summer Salad is the way to go. This was just dressed spinach with homemade chickpeas, raisins, and Daiya. I think I’ve reached my fake-cheese limit for the day.
Do you take your leftover pizza hot or cold? I like to heat it back up and get it to the gooey cheese state.
What do you feel like doing in perfect weather? I’m 90% sure ice cream will be made tonight. I’m just debating between a very classy chocolate chip or a vegan white chocolate flavor…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 18 so far )What Would You Do?
My newest Friday night television obsession is the ABC show What Would You Do? The whole show is based on what used to be a 20/20 segment where they put real people in morally compromising situations with hidden cameras to tap their reaction. Since I’ve been watching 20/20 and this segment for 5-6 years, I was excited for this(You can go ahead and do the math; you’ll just find out I turned into a grandpa at a really young age). As much as I wanted to recommend this show, I didn’t have much to say about it. That was until I had a What Would You Do? moment in my own life.
At the gym, someone clearly left their Debit card and hadn’t noticed since they weren’t around the entire while I was there. I’ve seen lost personal property at the gym before and left it, but since this clearly had the person’s name on it I decided to take it and find them. When I tried to find a school email, they weren’t in the system; at this point, I thought I’d made a huge mistake and wanted to go throw it back on the gym floor and forget about it. Instead, I used one of my most prominent skills: Facebook stalking. I was able to track them down and message the person, who actually cancelled the card right away and said thank you but that I could tear it up. What would you have done in my situation? In their’s? I think we both did the best thing; I definitely would have been hesitant to take anything from the gym if I didn’t think finding the owner would be reasonably easy, so if it were a real gym I’d probably have turned it in to the front desk and went on my way(there’s no staff there; it’s just a single room of machines).
Butter Toffee Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Cherry Fage With Lemon Ginger Macaroon
For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal with Naturally Nutty Butter Toffee Peanut Butter; how is it that I haven’t eaten this peanut butter in weeks?! It may not be vegan, but it’s perfection. And on a cherry fage I crumbled my last lemon ginger macaroon from Emmy’s Organic. You know you’re a blogger when you forget that “real” macaroons have egg whites in them and aren’t raw. They also aren’t this yummy.
Microwave Vegan Chocolate Fudge
Right before leaving for the gym I remembered my fudge in the refrigerator. My runs are a lot better when I do some serious prefueling. Ironically, I thought eating chocolate before a run would just be crazy and cheap. But fudge? Now that’s a class act.
I ran 12 miles on the treadmill. In hindsight, I have to question how sane it is to run on an electric machine when there’s a huge thunderstorm outside. But the thought didn’t occur to me until mile 7 so I kept going. I also got to watch Ice Age and laugh out loud at the line “It’s hard to get fat on a vegan diet.” Someone hasn’t tried my fudge…
Black Beans And Daiya, Spanish Potatoes With Salsa
Black Beans And Daiya
Dr. Zevia
For lunch, I threw together a little Spanish fiesta with foods from the dining hall. I topped black beans with Daiya, which is still pure magic in case you’d thought I’d forgotten. On the side were some Spanish Potatoes and salsa, and a Dr. Zevia to wash it all down(OK, actually to empty the can so I don’t have to carry it out of the dorm).
Microwave Vegan Chocolate Fudge With Vanilla Peanut Butter
Dessert was more vegan chocolate fudge with a little vanilla peanut butter. I have a recipe for vegan peanut butter fudge in my mind! But obviously I don’t want to release it until I can make a test batch.
So Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Really, the fudge was just an apertif for the main course: So Delicious chocolate peanut butter swirl coconut milk ice cream. I’m going to cry in the time that I don’t have this between moving out of the dorm and settling in at home. It’s that good.
Citrus Kombucha
Righteously Raw Caramel Dark Chocolate Bar
After that I walked to CVS where I got the most perfect Mother’s day card and picked up a citrus kombucha and ate that as a snack with 1/2 a raw chocolate bar. I’ve had this 1/2 lying around for so long frankly because I haven’t cared for it; if you’re looking for raw chocolate, better to try Nibmor or Lulu’s or even make your own with my recipe. Speaking of recipes…
Maple Baked Tofu, Roasted Broccoli And Sweet Potato Chunks With Maple Syrup And Sea Salt
I cooked! OK, it wasn’t anything more than maple baked tofu with roasted broccoli and sweet potatoes. But it felt soooo good to get back in the kitchen and turn on the oven after more meals than I can count from the dining hall or Whole Foods or made of oatmeal. Don’t get me wrong–I love a good meal made for me here and there. But there’s nothing more grounding than making something yourself.
Do you feel like you need to cook or bake from time to time? Clearly, I do. Do you think it’s “hard to get fat” on a vegan diet like Sid the Sloth says? That’s how I used to think–that vegans were sticks who ate grass–, but after learning more and reading so many wonderful vegan blogs I know they can cook with the best of them and it’s still everything in moderation that’s key. I’ll point out everything here today besides the butter toffee peanut butter and Cherry Fage was vegan. And what would you do?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )Ravenous
I’m really happy that so many of you seem to love your fancy nut butters! Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of experimenting in the kitchen this weekend done(and a happy Friday to you, too!) And if you think you’ve seen a post like this recently, maybe it’s because me and Christy are on the same wavelength when it comes to being ravenous.
I kicked off my weekend the best way possible: Going to Whole Foods. Nothing is more relaxing than being at a grocery store even before the lunch crowd sets in. And I was tempted to buy anything and everything new I could find(like a new gelato Lauren introduced me to!). But in the spirit of Project Cleanout, I kept it nice and reserved.
Groceries
Groceries
That would be oatmeal and oatbran(running low), an organic sweet potato, canned goods, a candy bar(whoops. I had a coupon, though), prepared foods, and new kombucha that were on sale.
Lemon Ginger Honest Kombucha
I couldn’t help breaking into one of the kombuchas when I got hungry for lunch really early thinking I was just hungry from boredom. This flavor was good, but a little too sweet and lemony. I probably wouldn’t buy it again even on sale. And besides, I was hungry for food.
Cashew Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Roasted Cauliflower With Nutritional Yeast
Cashew Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower With Nutritional Yeast
The best thing about going to Whole Foods was getting a lunch so that I could just work on my final papers without thinking about lunch. Cashew chicken is definitely one of my favorite Asian foods, but the cashews here had no texture, and I’m pretty sure the gluten ingredient I didn’t think would bother my stomach did 
On the bright side, the cauliflower was so good. Please, Whole Foods, roast for me more often.
Sunspire Coconut Bar
That filled me up for all of 30 minutes when I busted into my Cookie Friday treat: a Sunspire dark chocolate coconut bar.
Sunspire Coconut Bar
I just love that companies are making more organic junk food! Wait… no, that’s what I meant to say. But…
Organic Cameo Apple
I was still hungry and decided to eat the last organic apple I had. Uhhh, I’m pretty sure this was turning into apple cider vinegar in front of my eyes. Does that look appetizing? Because it wasn’t(I still ate it).
If there’s anything that gets my hunger going it’s rest days and doing serious school work. Not only did I not run today, but I finished two rough drafts of papers I have to write(hold your applause). It felt great to get those partially out of the way, but before I knew it I was making myself a huge Sundae Friday sundae.
Elan's Vanilla Frozen Yogurt With Dark Chocolate Pieces
This had Elan’s vanilla frozen yogurt with 3 squares Endangered Species‘ organic smooth dark chocolate. Even though j’adore this chocolate, it was not bangin’ in this combo; the fact that the ice cream is so sweet over-accentuated the bitterness of the chocolate. Or maybe my taste buds were just off because I was more hungry than usual. Speaking of unusual:
Whole Foods Canned Tuna
Since chocolate and ice cream and candy bars weren’t working(Gosh, I couldn’t imagine why), I decided to go down the protein route and have a can of tuna before dinner. Proof that I am not a smart cookie: It took me about 3 minutes of shopping to realize this was the same tuna I’ve been eating all year, they’ve just changed the packaging of it. You like? I’m not a fan(because it confused me). Anyway, this actually worked to keep me full until dinner.
Yukon Gold Potato Covered In Vegetarian Chili, Broccoli With Seasoned Tofu
I would definitely be guilty of taking the lazy way out due to finals because I cooked 0% of this. I covered roasted yukon gold potatoes from the dining hall with the remnants of a can of 365 vegetarian chili. On the side was broccoli and seasoned tofu(both also from the dining hall) and a can of Zevia because I realized that’s going to be easier to move out of the dorm if it’s empty…
Poll: Would you hurt a fly? I’m talking literally here. I try to be very conscious of animals at all times. I’m appreciative when I eat meat, and even fish like canned tuna fish(I don’t really buy the pescitarian thought that they’re any less conscious than cows). But the one creature I feel no remorse for are flies. They just bug me(pun intended) in a way like nothing else, and I had an epic battle with one for 30 minutes. Evan 1; flies 0
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 15 so far )These Legs Were Made For Walking
That’s just what they do. One of these days the legs Are gonna walk all around you.
RISD Art Sale
First Baptist Meeting House
Downtown
I feel like I went everywhere today, and all by foot! So much for rest day? But it was fun! I did not expect the RISD art sale to be in swing again. There was so many amazing paintings and potteries, any of which I’d have been lucky to own. When I hit downtown, Providence couldn’t have reminded me of Boston any more, and for the first time. I’ve never really seen the city like this; all my time so far has been rainy or cold but today was perfect. Of course, the reason for my walking extravaganza was this:
Registering
I can’t believe the half-marathon is just tomorrow! The nerves are starting to set in, as this will be my first “real” half-marathon. The Race For The Border was fun, but it felt more like 250 people getting together in New Hampshire to run around a bit. This feels real. The best part of the walk back was knowing that I started lunch at 9:30 and it’d be waiting for me.
Vegan Cheesy BBQ Fries And Beans
I think I’ve hit vegan heaven.
Vegan Cheesy BBQ Fries And Beans
I’ve been really intrigued by Caitlin’s combination of sweet potatoes and BBQ beans. I also loved the combination of sweet potato fries and Daiya from last night so much I knew I wanted it again! Why not combine the two in a poutine-like fashion? This was divine. The flavor came through as some salty, sweet, and fatty bit of deliciousness with crisped potato fries, soft beans, and gooey Daiya. I’m going to need several more plates of this over the Summer.
Groceries
My options for the early afternoon were work or do chores. I’d rather do chores. I walked down to Eastside Market and my little Whole Foods to get some ice cream(majorly on sale), 3lb of organic sweet potatoes, beans(dinner), a bar(my “breakfast” tomorrow), and some chocolates(longly considered and purchased enthusiastically).
Organic Pink Lady Apple
I snacked on an organic apple for rehydrating from all the walking until I was ready for something more “desserty”.
Mint Chip And Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
This hit the spot. I used the last of my mint Sweet Scoops frozen yogurt with a good amount of Elan’s vanilla. Cost per scoop, this is hands down the best vanilla ice cream out there. It was only $3 for a quart on sale! It’s local to New England and the flavor is absolutely fantastic; it tastes like a fresh, frothy vanilla milkshake all the time. And, of course with me, the ingredient list is rather clean.
Oatmeal With Vanilla Peanut Butter
As big as my chocolate tooth is, my vanilla tooth is right there with it; I had a small bowl of oatmeal with some 365 peanut butter mixed with Madhava’s vanilla agave. Vanilla makes for the best everything: peanut butter, chocolate, cookies. God bless vanilla.
Root Beer Zevia
And a cool Zevia beverage after returning from the dining hall with some greens for dinner. I just hope in hindsight that the concentrated erythritol or stevia here doesn’t cause any running discomfort tomorrow morning.
Hemp Oil Dressed Greens, Chickpea Salad With Raisins And Daiya
Chickpea Salad With Raisins And Daiya
I’m really digging this Daiya. I don’t even like real mozzarella this much! I figured because it’s so flavorful it must be loaded with added sugars. Nope! There aren’t any! It puzzles me, but all I care is that it’s good. And there’s never enough room on the plate for my greens, so instead I just put them in a separate bowl after dressing with Foods Alive sweet and sassy; you can’t tell but that’s fully packed in.
OK, kiddos, since I won’t have time to post in the morning, here’s my game plan: I’m going to try to be asleep by 10:30 tonight to get hours and wake up at 6:30. After my morning routine, I’ll either be walking or getting a ride down to the starting line at 7, snack on my Amazing Grass chocolate peanut butter protein bar, and the race will start at 8. My goal is to do it in under 1:40, and my bib is 3761. Nervous? Yes. Excited? Yes. But I figure that’s all part of the recipe for success. As the best of them say, here goes nothing!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )200017 Things Making Me Smile
1. They now sell 18 Rabbits granola bars(reviewed here) in an on-campus cafe!
365 Peanut Butter
2. Finding a jar of 365 creamy peanut butter I was convinced I didn’t have amongst my array of nut-butters.
Pomegranate Chobani With Orange Dark Chocolate, Oatmeal With Vanilla Peanut Butter
3. Organic chocolate at every meal, this time courtesy of Newman’s Own Organics
Oatmeal With Vanilla Peanut Butter
4. All too much of my absolute favorite nut butter: 365 peanut butter with Madhava’s vanilla agave
April's Food Network Magazine
5. This months Food Network Magazine, about which I’ve said, and I quote, “This issue deserves to be framed.” Love it.
6. Getting a response from the Food Network editors for what I wrote in!! I wrote in about their lack of tofu recipes. The response wasn’t so much about that, but that they might use my comment in an upcoming issue and wanted to verify my name and hometown! I’d be so excited if I made it in 😀
Zevia Ginger Ale
7. Feeding my diet soda addiction, naturally.
8. Avocadoes! And that they’re on sale this for 98 cents along with other good deals.
Tuna Salad With Chili Lime Yumnuts, 1/2 An Avocado, Lime Nachos
9. Healthy salads, filled with tuna salad with chili lime Yumnuts, avocado with lemon juice, and lime Food Should Taste Good chips.
Lime Food Should Taste Good Nachos
10. Chips! OK, maybe this was an addiction better left forgotten.
11. 2 ancient historians referencing the Godfather in a candid, back and forth lecture on this, the day of their students’ class.
Purely Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Zig Zag
12. Chocolate and peanut butter in ice cream(or anything). It works every time! Unfortunately, this was the last of the pint, which shouldn’t have been the case except it looks like somebody felt it was OK for them to eat my ice cream last night 😦 Seriously, if it’s not yours, don’t take it! Ugh. At least that assisted in Project Cleanout?
13. Finding a dime in the bathroom. I should’ve cleaned it first.
14. Our last fire drill of the year coming when I had dinner baking in the oven. OK, I was actually panicking at the time and assumed I let something explode, but it definitely gave me a chuckle in hind sight 🙂
Raw Fruit & Nut Bar
15. My skills in [not] baking must be getting better because this bar of chopped dates, cherries, raw walnut butter, maple glazed almonds(non-raw) and agave nectar came out… well, it came out 🙂
Maple Baked Tofu, Roasted Broccoli, Raw Fruit & Nut Bar
16. Hot meals out of the oven, like my maple baked tofu. Traditionally, I might serve this with sweet potatoes. But tonight I thought I’d try changing it up since that dish just never satisfies me as good as it is.
200016. Today, we will have hit 200,000 page views, all thanks to you and your wonderful support 🙂 I think without growth and backing, I’d be afraid to “blog on”. But I feel the love and the momentum and can’t wait for 200,000 more.
200017. New Survivor and Grey’s Anatomy tonight! Get excited!
What has made you smile today?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 19 so far )Special
You might think someone who’s willing to post such a large portion of their life on the world wide web would live for attention. I don’t. In fact, in life I really hate being “special” in any way or getting extra attention at all. But some days that’s hard to avoid. Some days, you just stand out whether you’d like to or not.
Organic Red Delicious
Like this apple. It was probably the biggest piece of organic fruit I had ever seen. It held me over 2 and 1/2 hours. I love it when organic fruit is humongous; it gives me hope for organic farming.
Avery's 4th Birthday
We drove to New Hampshire for my cousins birthday party. It was at a local raquet club where the kids could swim in a pool. I conveniently forgot my bathing suit and went out to pick up the pizza with my father and grandfather. Of course, I didn’t want to be “special” but I couldn’t eat the pizza because of the crust. On the way back, we stopped at a natural food store where I found a salad bar.
Stir-Fried Greens, Pineapple, Organic Chicken
I was having a good vegan streak this weekend and wanted tofu, but chicken was what they had It was very tasty chicken, I must add. I also had some greens and pineapple, and ate off to the side trying not to seem “special”(though it was pretty obvious). I must add: pizza still smells really good even when you can’t/won’t eat it, and the one with pineapple and marinara sauce was tempting me.
Birthday Cake
Thank God for birthday cake, because I could have sworn he was turning 4! 8-| Obviously, I passed on this, but not on this…
Gluten-Free Vegan Midnight Chocolate Cupcake
The cupcakes I made were a hit, even though I really didn’t care for the frosting. Even my older cousin who doesn’t care for chocolate loved them. My aunt, in trying to describe them, gave them every “special” title in the book: vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, organic. I was surprised she didn’t add Jesus made them. They weren’t 100% organic, but they were all-natural.
Organic Baby Carrots And Orange Zevia
Coming home, I was really torn whether to try and go back to campus tonight or not. I was tired, not prepared, and overall a grouch, so that made the answer pretty simple after chewing on the last of some baby carrots and an orange Zevia. And since no one felt like cooking, it was out to dinner.
Coconut Curry Tofu And Veggies
I had such a coconut milk craving last night, you wouldn’t have believed it. We went to Big Fresh Cafe. After explaining why wheat noodles wouldn’t work for me in this dish, and that I’m just not a fan for rice, my plate was a big bowl of veggies, tofu, and coconut curry sauce. I’d rather get a big bowl of “special” ordered food I love than not eat 1/2 of it. And I loved this; I could have drank the sauce, but I didn’t. Come to think of it, that may not have been vegan if they used eggs or anchovy in the sauce. Regardless, I need to make curry more.
Endangered Species Deep Forest Mint
I bought this chocolate bar while at Whole Foods and started digging in with some mocha teeccino. It may be a project cleanout fail but it wouldn’t be much longer I could get a decent mint chocolate bar for $2.
And I finished up with the emotional roller coaster that is Brothers & Sisters and a bowl of oatmeal with almond butter, which photos my camera is withholding It’s probably just as well since I didn’t bother to photograph the 2 fingerfulls of almond butter and handful of almonds I had afterwards. I think I was on an almond kick, especially after baking these.
Today Was A Fairytale
I’ve had that Taylor Swift song stuc in my head for the longest time now. At least today it was pretty applicable! I was in such a bad mood this morning, but once the day got going things turned for the better. I even got to visit 3 of my favorite places 😀 Any guesses where those might be?
Oatmeal With Vanilla Peanut Butter
This mornings breakfast was not enough to make me happy; I followed up a big bowl of oatmeal with peanut btuter with a slightly smaller bowl of oats with peanut butter. At least I know what I like? The nut butter was 365 creamy mixed with Madhava’s vanilla agave; I swear this made it taste like Reese’s PB! Sooooo good.
Root Beer Zevia
As if the morning weren’t off enough, I decided to drink a root beer Zevia at 11am before running. Who am I?! I didn’t feel like running; but I didn’t feel like not running. At that, I went to the gym where I could take it easy on the treadmill watching Mr. Deeds.
8 Treadmill Miles In 69:54
I did 8 miles, and they didn’t go slow or fast; they just sort of “went” and I was tuned out, listening to my iPod. At some point, I had a grand idea on how to change the day around. After I finished running 8 miles in 69:54, I ran another 3.27 miles outside in around 27 minutes and ended at one of my favorite places.
Garden Grille Cafe
Love Garden Grille! Especially their brunch menu, which is only available on Sundays. Therefore, I’d have been a fool not to go. Also, my dad was driving down to Providence for the afternoon, and he was easy to persuade to eat here, too; we all just love their food!
Home Fries
Home Fries, Homemade Tofu Bacon, Peanut Butter
I also love how flexible they let me be ordering. My favorite thing by far of theirs is the home fries, which comes as a side to every dish. And while–to their credit–all their dishes sound really good, I’m a man of simple tastes; I’m plenty happy with just their home fries, so I ordered a side of them and a side of their homemade tofu bacon and asked for a little dish of peanut butter.
Hash With Peanut Butter
Holy yum! This is an amazing flavor combination with the rich flavors of peanut butter and hash fat. It’s an odd combination, but I get it every time. How many more do you think before I get a menu item named after me? The Evan Hash.
J.P. Licks
After that amazing lunch, we decided to do something a little more fun for the day. I’ve had a hankering for a J.P. Licks ice cream all week! J.P. Licks is a local ice creamery that prides itself in wholesome, quality ingredients and fun flavors. The closest one to Brown is in Dedham(not close at all), so I was happy for the ride.
Mint Chip Frozen Yogurt With Freshly Whipped Cream
Mint Chip Frozen Yogurt With Freshly Whipped Cream
This was so well worth the wait. I ordered a medium mint chip frozen yogurt with fresh whipped cream. I can pass up the canned stuff no problem, but if you tell me your cream is homespun, I need to take a taste 😀 The ice cream was so delicious! I love how J.P. Licks keeps the crap ingredients out: no fake green dye here. And lucky for us, in that same strip mall is New England’s largest Whole Foods! That’s my third favorite place from today.
Meat Counter
Can I tell you I was a little in heaven at this Whole Foods? They didn’t just have the 85/15 grass-fed beef I was looking for, they had 85/15 local beef(from Maine) and 85/15 bison! I’ve never had so many choices when getting ethical meat before. I stuck with the grass-fed, but the local meat was duly noted for the Summer grilling season.
KIND Nut Delight
When we stopped at Eastside Marketplace on the way back to get some cheaper groceries, I snacked on a KIND bar. The ice cream was delicious but that low-fat yogurt is like a drink so some nuts were a good change of pace.
Groceries
For the week, I grabbed
- Grass-Fed beef
- Chickpeas
- Tuna
- Organic Oatmeal
- 365 Peanut Butter
- Kombuchas
- Organic Coconut Milk
- Wildwood Veggie Burgers
- Tofu
- Divine Chocolate Bars
- Raspberry Goat Milk Yogurt
- Strawberries
- Tumeric
- Organic Sweet Potatoes
I love a good grocery shop to prepare me for the week! And between sales and coupons, we saved $15 easy on all of that.
Grass-Fed Burger With Ketchup
Strawberry Coconut Avocado Salad
This dinner was the perfect ending for today. The fresh meat made for an amazingly juicy, delicious burger. Instead of sweet potato fries, I wanted to get some greens in me for today. I made a salad with cut strawberries, avocado, and coconut milk. The flavor pairing was unreal here and it tasted just like I hoped it would. I just love the soft, rich avocado on salad.
Where’s one favorite place you wish you could be right now? I could definitely go for an after dinner dessert at J.P. Licks 😉 Or I’d love to watch Date Night at a little 3-screen movie theater in my hometown they tore down around 7 years ago.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 22 so far )The Foods I Crave
I’m a big fan of “eat what you crave”. I truly think cravings can be a way for your body to tell you something that you need. I also tend to crave really yummy things and might just use that as an excuse to eat them more often. Take your pick.
Grass-Fed Burger, Maple Tofu, Spinach With Sassy Hemp Oil Dressing
Today for lunch I craved a juicy piece of red meat. I do think I crave meat when my body wants proteins or specific vitamins at times but I would never assert that you need to eat meat or even dairy to get those. I think you can be completely adequately fueled and nourished whatever your diet may be so long as you pay a little more closer attention to what you might be missing. On the side I had some maple tofu, not really because I was craving it but it was Easter leftovers. I have craved tofu at times before; that’s always a fun and unexpected craving 😀
Cashew Almond Pranabar
I think my lunch needed more veggies because it wasn’t very filling Happily, I broke in to the cashew almond Pranabar I packed. Even if it wasn’t what I was craving, this was good!  I never would have guessed from the packaging it would be so chunky and nutty. I love that it’s mostly raw with living enzymes; and the nuts are chunky and delicious 🙂 I definitely can’t wait to try more Pranabar flavors; I might even start to crave them.
Strawberry Chobani
What I was craving was a strawberry Chobani. My friend, Alex, ate one in our 1pm class and for the next 3 hours I couldn’t get my mind of the smell of sweet strawberries and the Summer air *swoon*. This did not disappoint, but it was a little too tiny to really fill me up before dinner.
Dining-Hall Apple
If I ever do crave an apple, it’s a nice, fresh, crisp red delicious, and not this slightly bruised one that I had at hand. That being said, I go with what’s free and convenient. Did you know vegans can get all their Vitamin B12–something normally found in animal proteins–through the decay and bacteria on fruits and vegetables? I guess this was insurance if this burger didn’t have enough :-/…
Chickpea And Cheddar Salad With Maple Syrup And Maple Glazed Nuts
Chickpea And Cheddar Salad With Maple Syrup And Maple Glazed Nuts
And I absolutely crave chickpeas; I could eat them for every meal, and I know I’m not the only one. They’re like little nuggets of vegan joy. Besides those, I don’t normally crave cheese but I do enjoy it(and love the bloggers who do crave it) and Next Generation Dairy makes a fine raw cheddar cheese. I topped off the salad with some Tierra Farm‘s maple glazed nuts and sea salt. Fun fact: I’m convinced if I ever start craving canned tuna, it means my sodium level is low. I’m also sipping a root beer Zevia with dinner, for anyone who cares; it’s my first stevia sweetened beverage of the day and after no coffee or tea I was craving something other than water.
What are you craving right now? Personally, I could go for some coconut milk hearing  Heather talk about it so much lately. And I haven’t had my healthy ounce of dark chocolate yet today. Hmm… decisions, decisions. If you crave Greek yogurt, you’re in luck with this Oikos giveaway!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 21 so far )Naked Running And Eating Raw
Do you ever go running naked? No, not like that; get your mind out of the gutter 😉 I mean, do you go running with or without a Garmin? I love my 205 and usually won’t run without it. Today, however, I noticed it was low on batteries before I got going. Yikes! There was nothing I could do other than take it off and hit the road. I didn’t know really how far I was going at any time. All I know is when I was done I felt like this:
Dead Tired
And I had ran for 1:51. Wow! Time really got away for me. It wasn’t until after lunch that I was able to sit down and map my run, only to find that I ran 13.4 miles. That’s .2 miles more than my half-marathon last weekend and a new outside distance PR! No wonder I felt beat. The first thing I did was grab this from Hannafords:
O.N.E. Coconut Water
I had never had coconut water before. To be honest, it tasted a little like feet BUT I love the potassium content here. I don’t think I get much potassium, so this boost was welcomed, and I hope it really does help with recovery and hydration like I hear hyped up so much.
Grass-Fed Burger, Broccoli, Ketchup Fries
Grass-Fed 1/3 Pounder
You know what tastes really good after a long run? A burger on the grill–not going to lie there. This was 1/3 pound grass-fed beef(I figured I needed a little more for recovery), and while it was a little overcooked it was so juicy from the grilling. I can’t wait until Summer! On the side was steamed broccoli and Snikiddy Classic Ketchup Fries. These really tasted a little too sweet for me, even though it only had 2g of sugar. I thin the beauty of a french fry in ketchup is salty/sweet and there wasn’t enough salt here.
Ginger Root Beer Zevia
Gotta keep hydrating 😉 This time I had a ginger root beer Zevia. Don’t worry; between running and then I had also had at least 2 full water bottles. I just kept needing more!
Organic Fuji Apple
Aaaand it was feeling like a bottomless pit day by the time I grabbed this organic apple not much later. I love increasing mileage; the downside, however, is going through groceries like crazy. I won’t even begin to rant how cheap empty calories are but how expensive nutritious ones can be. Of course, there are also those empty calories that cost a lot, too…
So Delicious Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream
I would be lying if I said that my cookie dough cashew butter from this morning wasn’t inspired because I was willing to go straight into this ice cream at 9am. It was just as good at 4am, but I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for dinner. As part of continued birthday celebration, we drove in to Boston to eat at Grezzo’s raw vegan restaurant. I’ve eaten here twice before(here and here) but this was the first time my parents had eaten raw. Even though I had a burger at lunch, a raw one seemed just as good for dinner.
Grezzo Sliders
The Grezzo Sliders were 2 sunflower patties served on bleu cheese greens, pickled cucumbers, and avocado slices between tomato “buns”. This was tasty–not very filling or big but a nice “appetizer”. The chips(potato slices soaked in vinegar and dehydrated) were a lot better than their sweet potato chips. Even though this was my “entree”, I really thought of my dessert as the main course.
Brownie Sundae
Oh yes. Let me talk you through this one. That would be vanilla bean cashew milk gelato with cacao nibs on top of a raw brownie covered in a coconut oil chocolate fudge sauce and brazil nut shreds with a few macerated berries. It was tasty! I didn’t care for the nibs, but besides that the gelato was amazing; it tasted like true vanilla. There are 2 types of “ice cream”s I like: low/no-fat frozen yogurt, or vegan. Heavy dairy just doesn’t do it for me, so this was brilliant. The brownie was OK but really not much more than my raw vegan brownies.
All Gone
Done and done. This “impressed” my dad. Really? Did he know me? I’m a card carrying member of the clean plate club, and the sliders weren’t much. Besides, this was my “birthday dessert”, so I was willing to go all out here 😉 It was definitely a lot of sugar, though, because I was all too willing to “let my body move to the music” and vogue to the radio on the way home.
Synergy Trilogy
And now I’m sipping on a Trilogy kombucha. The perfect way to end this night? I think so. My meal has made me think I want to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. And I’m not talking about going to the salad bar more often; I mean the raw foods that take days to make but come out intensely flavorful like nut cheeses. I put this out there only because I feel like saying it on the blog will make me accountable to follow through. And really, who doesn’t love a good nut cheese 😉
If you’re looking for giveaways, here’s one giveaway for coconut oil and here another. There’s also one for an iHerb shopping spree and last(but so not least) a giveaway for raw chocolate.
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