Green Tuesday!

First of all, I wan to say CONGRATULATIONS to Jenna for making the top 10 for the Murphy-Goode job!!!

So today was the ultimate GREEN Tuesday! I swear, almost everything I ate was green today! I started the day off with a GM to go!! It was made with spinach, cucumber, ice, banana, pineapple, whey powder, and a little bit of water.



Sorry... I also think it was the day of blurry pictures, too.

It was potluck day at work, so I made some weeeeee little 'Carlibars' to share.


Aren't they cute? I made them tiny because I wasn't sure how the office would react to them. I made oatmeal raisin, and chocolate coconut. I thought they were good! Anyway, I had a late morning snack of 1/2 an orange and AB and organic strawberry jelly on an Ezekiel tortilla. I was hoping this would hold me through lunch time, to avoid all of the 'goodies' at the potluck. No such luck... more on that in a minute.



The Ezekiel tortilla is really good!! Love me some sprouted goodness! Plus AB and jelly-- oh it's heaven! The only problem was that any time I took a bite, it squirted all over the place hahahaha!

So, on to the potluck. There weren't a lot of options that I was willing to 'indulge' in (if you will). I did have some melon, 2 tiny meatballs in marinara sauce, and a salad. Well, unfortunately, I ate some MSG (and knew it as soon as I did because I recognized the recipe of the salad from when I was younger... totally SCREAMING in my head), so I stopped eating and immediately took my lunch hour. I needed to do some damage control.

I got some kombucha tea (this flavor I hadn't had before... there was blue-green algae, spirulina, and other goodies in it!):



and a Green bar (since I didn't really eat lunch because of my brief freak-out moment):



This baby was good!!! LOTS AND LOTS of goodies in it- every green veggie you could imagine! Kinda expensive though- $2.45.

This combo kept me full until I got home! ...which was over 4 hours. That's a record for me! The kombucha kept me from feeling sick and horrible, though I did bloat up a wee bit. BUT I could still fit comfortably into my 'skinny pants', so all was well in the world I guess.

For dinner tonight I made a Trader Joe's chicken burger. Brenton had his like a normal burger (bun and all). I topped mine with, you guessed it, more greens!!



There really is a chicken burger under there! I also topped it with salsa, Franks Red Hot, 1/4 avocado, and some onion. YUM.

Happy green day! I love eating and drinking greens-- it makes me feel sooo good! Isn't it amazing what people DON'T KNOW that they're putting in their bodies? That's part of the reason that I don't like normal potlucks... there's so much hidden in foods that you don't know is there, unless YOU made it and are educated about what's good for you and what's not. Oh well- I'll keep trying to spread my knowledge. I don't think people loved the little carlibars that I made, but that's ok. They're not your traditional chemical-laden cookies that everyone that doesn't know any better is used to.

I'm off to do some monster resistance training. I'm aiming for soreness tomorrow!! Until next time- start getting the chemicals out of your foods. MSG is bad, people! BAD!

Namaste <3 :o)

Just Another Manic Monday...

Hi everyone. What a day!!! The Monday after a long weekend... boy o boy! Work was SUPER busy... my car battery died and had to be replaced- on my lunch hour... I had tons of dishes and cleaning at home... oye!! On a good note, I've the Golden Girls on since I got home (it's 9:15pm, and I turned them on at 5pm... that's almost 4 hours HAHAHA!) They always make things better. Here are the meals for the day...

Started the day off right with a GM and a few almonds---


This one had a big handful of spinach, cucumber, carrots, pineapple, banana, and protein powder. The cucumber was pretty strong, but it was still good!!

Had an Apple Pie Larabar for a snack... forgot to take a picture...

Lunch was whole wheat pasta salad with a TON of veggies, and a watered down version of guacamole for a 'sauce'. Also paired it with 1/2 an orange.



YUM!!! ...and then my car died... ok I'm over it. Anyway...

For dinner I made veggi sushi rolls, out of carrots, onion, cucumber, and avocado, wrapped in nori. It looks horrible, but tasted GREAT. I topped it with soy sauce and rice vinegar, and paired it with 1/2 a grapefruit, and a few bites of the 'Carlibars' I made for tomorrow's potluck (at work).







So, food wise it was a good day! I'm ready for a new day, though! Until next time, get over your Manic Monday's! Namaste.

5K Day- 4th of July!

Good evening all. I'm taking a break from getting ready for the week ahead... a 5 day week?! What AM I going to do?!

Well anyway, yesterday, I ran in a 5K. My goal was to run the whole thing... and run it in under 40 min (37 to be exact). I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I was not born a runner. I'm not built like a runner. Endurance is not my thing, and it never has been. I'm more of a bulky sprinter/weight lifter type person. I'm a FAST runner... but for a VERY short amount of time... and then I fizzle. That said...

In the morning, I started the day off with a piece of Ezekiel with AB and organic jelly, and water of course. I didn't want to have too heavy of a breakfast. Now unfortunately, we had to be out the door by 6:55am to get to the race site on time. YIKES! Too bad the night before we stayed up past 11:00pm... DOUBLE YIKES! But, overall, I felt pretty good, and not too tired. Yet.

We got to the race site, signed in, and pinned on my number. Number 2. Ok... weird.



My Superman pose- like I'm going to go save the day or something. So I was all rearin' to go. I had my heart rate monitor on, and my ipod was stocked with 38 min of Disney rides (haha... yeah I know.) Well, the first problem was, once the buzzer sounded to start the race, I couldn't figure out how to start my timer on my monitor! What are the odds... it wasn't until halfway through the race when I finally got it going. I was pushing the wrong buttons I guess. My Disney rides kept me company (for all of you Disers out there, I had Maelstrom, KS (the song part of the ride), EEA (the opening), RoC (whole thing), and LwtL (whole thing) ). I'm thinking next time though, songs might be a better idea just because it'll give me a beat to run to, and I'll better be able to keep track of time.

I started off the run at a slow-ish, but steady pace. I ran and ran (ok, jogged and jogged). I saw my brother in law pass me (after the turn around), then Brenton. I yelled to Brenton "I've run this whole time!!"... and then it hits. My legs did NOT want to run anymore. Yes folks, I had to stop and walk... but only for 20ish seconds to catch my breath. Then I ran again... and yet again had to walk a little bit. All in all, I ran more than I ever had before. Unfortunately, I finished at 40:26... not 37:00... but really, last year at the END of the year, I ran in the 39's, so this being my 3rd race of the year, 40:26 isn't that bad. And it's REALLY good for me. Here's me running and waving to my sister (who's taking the picture) at the end of the race:



Boy was I glad to see that finish line!!!!! Oh the heart rate monitor thing- once I figured out how to start it, I kept an eye on my heart rate... 183 most of the time!!! YiKeS!!! That's part of the reason that I had to slow down and walk a little bit. Considering my MAX is 195... not good.

The next race is sometime at the end of this month- The World Famous Pig Run at the Jazz and Ribs festival downtown. That's a toughie!!! It's at 7pm, and it's always HOT and kinda hilly-ish. Last year at that one the heat gave me and my sister a cramp.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to keep working on my endurance. Any advice would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Have a good start of the week! Namaste.

Raw Apple Pie!!

Happy July 3rd everybody!!!



OF COURSE I HAD TO PUT MICKEY AND MINNIE IN HERE SOMEWHERE!!

I am outside with my husband and his parents, enjoying a fire...



and reading Fitnessista's blog (HEHE!).



In celebration of this wonderful holiday weekend, I decided to make something as American as it comes... with a twist. Ani Phyo's RAW APPLE PIE. You can watch her make it on youtube: This is the best pie I've ever made!!! YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS, PEOPLE!!!

The ingredient list is simple (taken from Ani's book, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen):

Crust:
1/4 cup almonds (MY ADDITION TO THE RECIPE LIST)
2 cups almonds (yes, you need 2 different measurements of almonds)
1 t salt (I used sea salt)
2 cups pitted dates

Syrup:
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 orange, peeled and seeded
Splash of water, as needed (I used 1/4 cup)

Filling:
5 cups apples, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced, about 5 or 6 apples (I used 5)
1 cup raisins
2 T ground cinnamon

Directions (these are MY directions, paraphrased from Ani's book):
Finely chop 1/4 c almonds in a food processor, until powdery. Sprinkle in the bottom of a pie pan to coat (this keeps the crust from sticking)
Process the rest of the 'crust' ingredients to form a dough. Press the dough into pie pan, on top of almond powder.
Mix together 'syrup' ingredients in the food processor, and set aside. This should be a thick gel.
Mix the syrup with the 'filling' ingredients in a big bowl, until the apples are fully coated.
Pour this mixture into the pie crust, about 3/4 of the way up. You do have the option to fill the whole pie up just like that, but if you want a nice presentation, arrange the apple slices on the top of the pie in a fan shape.
Refrigerate overnight. Then... eat it. YUM! Here's my process, in pictures:



Here's my crust. See how I pinched the edges? Pretty!!! The almond powder spread around when I was pressing the crust into the pan.



Next, my filling. I poured this into a big mixing bowl, and mixed the apples and whatnot all together.



YUM. Then I poured all of that yummyness into the crust, and arranged the apples on the top.



Here's the finished product! I ate some of the leftover filling... and BOY O BOY IT'S YUMMY! This is going to be my staple dessert for 4th of July... Thanksgiving... Christmas... Yay raw foods!!!

Have a happy 3rd of July!! We'll be watching Red White and Boom soon on the TV! OH I forgot to tell you- we're running a 5K tomorrow... EARLY! We have to be about 40 min from home by 7:40am... ugh!!! Race starts at 8am. I'm going to TRY TO RUN THE WHOLE THING. Now when I say run, I mean jog... slowly. I want to be consistent and try to get my time down to 37 min. Last season my best time was 39 min... so trying to shave off 2 min. might be hard, but I'll be listening to my Disney World rides on my ipod, so it might keep me going! I'll let you know!!

Have a wonderful evening!! Enjoy the fireworks! Namaste.

Raw-ish, Vegetarian-ish week

Hi everybody!! Hope you're enjoying your short work week (I hope you HAVE a short work week!!). I've been busy with this and that... so it's taken me a while to share my recent yummy foodies with you!

Yesterday I had some yummy soaked oat groats for breakfast. I love these little guys! So chewy, so good! I don't think these little guys are considered raw per se, but they're raw-ish. I had them mixed with 1/2 of a nanner, some AB, cinnamon, and some frozen organic raspberries. YUM YUM!!



I'm normally starving 3 hours after breakfast... but after eating groats, I'm still rolling after 4! I munched on a Jocalat bar (aka Larabar). 90% raw (most Larabars are 100% raw from what I understand). I also had a couple of kiwi's.



Lovely late morning snack. After taking my lunch hour, and working some more, I had my raw pasta (aka peeled zucchini, chopped carrots, cherry tomatoes) topped with smooshed tomatoes and garlic. I forgot to take a picture of that... OOPS! It was too good I guess!

For dinner I made my lover-ly 'veggie sushi salad', made out of brown rice, roasted nori, avocado, and carrots.



I could eat nori every single day. I LOVE THAT STUFF!!!

I also made up a batch of my UBER YUMMY bean burgers to have later in the week (and for Brenton to have because he doesn't really like the sushi salad (the nori tastes like fish to him... and that's a no no).

Here are my super simple ingredients:



As you can see, just a couple pieces of whole wheat bread, carrots, onion, peppers, beans, and spices (and OF COURSE Tabasco sauce...). I love this meal!

First I chopped the bread (I used 2 pieces) in the food processor, and then added the veggies.




I chopped all of that up, and then added the beans (rinsed and drained) and spices.



Gave it all a good blending so it looked like bean dip (and it would have been good to just eat it how it was!!) I then threw it on the stove in a greased pan, and put it on a baking sheet to freeze for later.





All while watching my FAVORITE on tv...



Recognize that? I do!! Yes, I've ridden that one...



It's Samantha Brown's favorite Disney Rides... of COURSE I had that on tv!!

Tonight I made an organic red cabbage salad, topped with carrots, onion, tomatoes, and YUMMY CHICKEN CILANTRO WONTONS from TJ's. OMG so good!! I topped it all with a dressing I made out of soy sauce, olive oil, and pepper.



Check out the ingredient list on these wontons (clicky on the picture)!! Love it.



YUM. I paired it all with an orange, and it was a great meal!



Have a fantastic evening everybody! I'm off to do a little bit of Jillian (yeah... level 3 of the shred... o-m-g...). I'll be back either tomorrow or Friday. I'm very excited for Friday because I'm going to be making Ani Phyo's RAW APPLE PIE! I'm going to pair it with some raw banana 'frozen yogurt'... oh so excited! You don't get more American than apple pie and ice cream... even if it is raw!

Until next time, make some yummy, healthy food!! Namaste.

Birthday, Part 2

Good evening bloggies! I thought I would finish my birthday pictorial adventure!!

At work, my desk was covered in Disney stuff, and a friend of mine made baklava... very GOOD baklava!











Can you tell that I'm obsessed with Disney? HA!! Not enough proof? My husband made me a mixed tape (of sorts... ok a cd) of Disney rides, and the following t-shirt:



Yeah, that's a monorail... and yes, that's the 'Please stand clear of the doors' in Spanish spiel. LOVE IT!

Sorry- no food pictures today, except for the baklava. But lots of Disney pictures. And it was also fitting that we solidified our Disney dates for 2010-- October 2-9. WHOO HOO!! We're starting to plan!!

Have a wonderful night all! Namaste.

My Birthday, PART 1!!

Hi all! It's late, and I'm tired... so I'm going to just make this a pictorial dissertation of my birthday!!

The celebration started with dinner at mom and dad's house:



We had BBQ pork, slaw salad, and green beans. Quite yummy!! Here's my plate:



For dessert, instead of cake, my sister made RAW CHEEZECAKE WITH STRAWBERRIES. Oh so good!!!







Oh so good... and the leftovers were good too! This recipe came from Ani Phyo's book 'Ani's Raw Food Kitchen' that I got as a present. It was a big hit over dessert...



More to come!!!

The National Pastime!

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! WHAT A DAY! So busy....

This weekend, Brenton's work (DSW) had a family day at Huntington Park (Columbus' new baseball stadium), and it was a lot of fun!! Columbus' baseball team is called the Clippers, and they're the farm team for the Cleveland Indians (that's my TEAM!!), so I was excited to go check out the new place!!

Here we are, driving to the stadium. The Columbus skyline.



Inside the park:






See that logo? Yep, that's an Indian!! Which is why I sported my hat...



We're goofs!! Watching batting practice...


DSW hosted a buffet with typical ball park food. Now, I don't 'DO' buffets... or typical ball park food... so we left to get our own!! We didn't stay for the game because it wasn't supposed to start until 7, and it was 5pm... so we went to have some dinner and rented Monsters Inc. instead!! Good movie. Maybe next time we'll stay for a game!

Well I'm off to get ready for the next few days... we're going to the 311 show at the LC tomorrow, and won't get back home until LATE, so I'm getting ready for Thursday... on Tuesday. I'm such an over achiever!! No, I'm just a very well prepared person!! Have a lovely evening!! Until next time, Namaste.