Vegan Bucket List

Hi friends! How's your week going? It is windy and rainy and yucky outside here today... we've already had several tornadoes through the area (not the norm for central Florida) and I saw a picture of a semi blown onto a car... on the bridge I have to drive over to get home :/ not looking forward to that!

luckily, tomorrow is.... Friiiiiday! I'm super stoked. We're having our first *offiical* pool party of the year on Saturday, and my running buddy & I are changing things up this weekend and doing a long bike ride instead of a run! Our race (Iron Girl half!) is next weekend, so we're taking it *easy* (the other day, I asked my running buddy if she wanted to do Tabata intervals. I said, "you run so fast you want to die." she said, "when can we start?" I love that girl!)

Since I'm newly vegan, just for fun I thought I'd post the Vegan Bucket List from VegWeb! (okay, I am suffering technical difficulties and can't post it right now... but go check it out!) I've done #3, 10, 14, 15, 22- that's me, myth-buster :) especially regarding protein!, 23 - does training for a half marathon count? ;), 26, 29, 38, 39, 42- every chance I get, I give up the car!, 46, 49, 70 - my favorite comeback to "do you get enough protein?" is "do you get enough veggies?"). I have to admit, part of my desire to do this was I love lists! I am very type A, virgo-ish, perfectionistic... and a neurotic list maker! I love lists! and checking stuff off!
How about you? List maker or list hater?

How many things on the list have you done? Or what *vegan* thing or food would you like to try?

Newman's Own Recipe & Video

Hiya! Long time, no blog :/ I figure a quick update is better than nothing!

I've been a busy bee lately! I did finish my Gasparilla 15K at the end of February - time was 1:32 - I was happy to finish :) and I signed up for the Iron Girl 1/2 marathon April 10 along Clearwater beach. I love looking at the water & beach when I run - so relaxing!

Recently, the kind folks at Newman's Own sent me some products to try out, along with a flip (yay! so exciting). They did not pay me for my opinion or recipe, but did provide their products (3 jars of marinara sauces and 3 bottles of salad dressing) and a flip for me to make a recipe video. Seeing yourself on camera is so strange! I used iMovie to edit the footage and it was actually really fun. I think I'll be making some more recipe videos ;) unfortunately, I was in a rush for the deadline and did this sans makeup after a weekend at the beach, when I was both desperately in need of a shower and starving! and in one take... I love to see other blogger's videos and photos of their life - so I hope you enjoy!

xoxo

Dip it Good!

Hi friends! Hope your weekend is off to a good start! Last night, we just stayed in and relaxed with some of this:

so good! If any of you are familiar with the goat cheese (I think it's a manchego-style) with the reddish rind that's soaked in wine, this is the wine they use! It was nice and light, good for drinking alone :)

I also put this orange beast to good use:

Just for size reference, this is a standard size chef's knife:

It was a HUGE butternut! I was in the mood for something dippy but something new, so I made:

Butternut Squash - Garbanzo Dip (I could call it a 'hummus', but I guess that's not technical ;)

~2 cups butternut squash, roasted and cut in chunks

1 can heated garbanzo beans, liquid reserved

~2 tsp sesame oil

~1/4 - 1/2 tsp garam marsala (could also use curry powder)

~1/2 tsp cumin

sea salt (~1/2 - 1 tsp)

freshly ground black pepper

paprika, for topping

Roast squash in oven. I just sliced mine in half, scooped out the seeds, and put it on a baking sheet:

I did about 25 minutes at 425*. Meanwhile, heat garbanzo beans and can liquid in saucepan (this awesome trick & recipe inspiration from Gena!) When squash is softened, remove skin (you may have to wait for it to cool a bit) and cut into chunks. Add to food processor with seasonings, sesame oil and garbanzo beans. Slowly drizzle in garbanzo liquid until desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. I did not need to use all the can liquid as butternut squash is not a starchy as say, a potato. I love sesame oil because you can use such a small amount but add amazing flavor. This recipe made about 3 cups:

I added some to a collard leaf with red pepper, chopped tomato, sliced heart of palm and cilantro:

All rolled up:

So tasty! I love having a taste / snack right after I make something :) Just like the Food Network!

This morning, I was inspired by Angela's Lemon Scrub to make my own. We picked some glorious grapefruits from our tree yesterday (I just love saying that I picked fruit from my own tree :) so exciting!), so I decided to use that for my citrus. This recipe is super vague, but I don't think you could screw it up. Add zest of grapefruit,

plus juice of half grapefruit

to ~1/2 cup brown sugar:

Add ~1 Tbsp coconut oil:

Mine was pretty liquid-y, so I added some more sugar:

It poured out of the bag pretty fast! It was about a cup. All stirred up:

It smelled divine, and after I showered my skin was glowing and the bathroom had a lovely brown sugar-grapefruit scent. I loved that this recipe is totally edible, too! I probably wouldn't want to eat it, but it's nice to know that I could ;)

For dessert, I made Katie's Good Girl Fudge. Go check out her recipe!

so good! not too sweet, excellent texture straight from the fridge. I used homemade coconut butter (thanks to Heather!), but I found it didn't get super creamy like Artisana. I used the food processor for about 15 minutes.... still tasty, but a little gritty.

This morning, I did Gina's Week 3 of the Winter Shape Up, followed by 20 minutes of intervals on the stationary bike (still trying to take it easy on the food), then I took this smiling face

for a walk for about 30 minutes. I love it when puppies smile! So cute. When I got home, I made this delicious Green Monster:

It's my recent favorite recipe:

1 scoop Vanilla Sun Warrior protein

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tsp Sun Warrior greens

1 tsp spirulina

1/2 peeled cucumber

4 frozen strawberries

~1/3 cup frozen blueberries

~1/5 frozen banana

2 giant handfuls spinach

sprinkle stevia

~1/2 - 1 cup water

Mix it up in the Vita! Mmmmm....

I'm thinking of making a run out to Anthropologie, since I really need to clean out my closet (maybe I'm just being pro-active and buying more before I get rid of stuff? heehee), but the sky is turning blacker and blacker.... I hate driving in rain :/ especially during snowbird invasion season! Guess I better go see what's going on with the little one:

so mischievous! Have a great weekend friends!

Tick Tock, Slow Clock

Hi friends! How's your Friday? Have anything fun planned for the weekend? My day is draaaaging by :( Can't wait to start the weekend, perhaps with a lovely glass of vino :)

This morning, I did about 25 minutes of intervals on the recumbant bike, plus Legs of Fire and Abs-Tastic Exercise Challenge (I did mine laying on my back on the floor since I don’t have a pull-up bar or dip station – trust me, it still burns!) workouts from Bodyrock. (I did bike intervals instead of jump-rope – still trying to take it easy on the foot with jumping / impact). It was killerrrr! I had an amazing green smoothie (1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior, frozen blueberries & strawberries, small chunk of frozen nana, spinach, ½ cuke and some green powder (SW Supergreens & spirulina). The cuke is something sorta new for me – I’ve had it in smoothies before, but not very often. It was love! So refreshing and hydrating and perfect after a workout!

Last night, I watch this totally inspiring vlog from the beautiful Kris Carr on de-cluttering your life physically & mentally. De-cluttering is something I need to get much, much better at (my closet is a giant disaster right now). Life runs so much more smoothly when you’re organized! Plus if I get rid of some stuff, I’ll have a great excuse to shop it up!

Sorry about the lack of pics (and links), but I’m blogging in stealth mode ;)
What are you looking forward to doing this weekend? What was the best part of your week? Tell me all about it!