A Long Week Ahead Of Us

This coming Sunday, God willing, my hubby will be running his first marathon in New York City. His mind set is 100% marathon, the last few days of training are in sight, and he gave me a few requests for this week's dinner menu: carbs, a lot of them. protein, a lot of it. extra loaves of bread, so I won't have to bake post-marathon, and some marathon cookies to snack on for the weekend.


2 oddly shaped homemade loaves of bread: check.

So, after demolishing the following amazing bowls/plates of food, I turned on all 4 burners on our stove, and pulled out the grains (and garbanzos!).


(clockwise from top left) quinoa, wheat berries, garbanzos & brown rice. all cooked in good ol' h2o with seasonings such as: bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and/or curry powder. yummy, man!

We're set, and it's going to save so much time during the week, I love it! Who wants to come home to raw rice and have to wait a good half hour to eat, anyway?

Ah, breakfast:

blend: 2 handfuls kale, 1 handful spinach, 1 cup rice milk, 1 banana, 4 frozen strawberries, 1 handful frozen blueberries, vanilla + unsweetened cocoa powder.

top with: wheat germ, raw sunflower seeds, chia seeds + black grapes.

Snack for Champions:

roasted almond butter, meet celery sticks + raisins.

A Vegan Pizza for Me:

homemade crust, tomato mushroom sauce, spinach, beets, radish, summer squash, broccoli, bell pepper, pineapple, serrano chili and italian seasoned tempeh.


with red pepper flakes to go, please :)

A day full of blessings and hubby time, good eats, beautiful worship at church, aaand now, 'tis time for sleep.

"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel
I preached to you, which you received and on
which you have taken your stand. By this gospel
you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed
in vain. For what I received I passed on to you
as of first importance: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, that
He was buried, that He was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures..."
1 Corinthians 15:1-4

A Beautiful 7 Miles in the Rain

Running in the rain is relaxing. Running in the rain is comforting.



Listening to worship music and singing to God in the rain, while running, is inspiring. Seeing my hubby run in the distance, at rapid speeds in the rain, the week before his first full marathon, is motivaing. A rainy lake was just the start of a lovely Saturday, and I was happy and ready for the rest of the day to fall into place.

Pre-Run Eats for me:

1 brown rice/quinoa cake + a half with almond butter, half a banana, raisins, cinnamon and raw sunflower seeds (with a few almonds and unpictured raisins!)

Pre-Run Eats for him:

Almond butter + strawberry jam (ingredients were goofy: strawberries, grape juice, and more berries) inside of half of a french bread loaf with a side of muesli/banana/rice milk inabowl. He loves this pre-run snack, and it's been doing his body good on long runs. We're thankful this combo works, he needed it!

Packed Snacks for Afterward:

Green (kale, beet greens, spinach, frozen fruit, rice milk, vanilla, dates, almonds, rolled oats, cocoa powder) monster in a tupper, muesli coconut almond raisin topping, Edu's almond butter sammie with fruit and banana oat cocoa cookies (if need be)

How'd it Go?

I ran knee-pain-free for 5 miles, then the right knee started to feel a little funny. My goal was seven miles, so I brought the pace down a tad and was able to finish in 1 hour 9 minutes and felt so content! I walked on my tippie toes for 1/4 miles for a stretch, then took part in a good, strong leg stretch, and walked my way to Starbucks (after grabbing our snacks) and ordered my usual: 2 venti ice waters and a spoon and took a lovely seat.

Hubby arrived about 20 minutes later and said he had a good run, pain-free, felt strong and is happy 'cause he feels ready for next week's New York Marathon! God willing :)

Next Stop: Sushi Land (in the comfort of our own home!)

Edu is hoping, as am I, that I can soon bring my sushi-making skills to perfection, and today was just another day of practicing in order to attempt this so-called "sushi" perfection! I'm nervous. But I'm excited. Let's see...

First, some Protein! We snacked on boat loads of unsalted peanuts,



he watched a little futbol mexicano and I did some internet reading (and sushi researching!) as we cooked up some pinto beans with homemade salsa to fill our bellies up.



We needed something in the form of fiber, protien + calories to push us through an hour or two of some fun-bonding-time in the dining room with 9 IKEA put-together-yo'-self inserts for our fab (but busy and loaded) shelving unit. The beans did their job :) And we have ourselves a beautiful newly-vamped IKEA friend in our living room.

Theeen... the sushi prep:

brown rice cooked in your simple h2o, then seasoned with sesame oil, red pepper flakes + salt. Left (uncovered) for about an hour so it'd turn sticky, like your classic sushi riiice, and it cooled off to perfection.


I diced up bell pepper, cucumber, avocado and my hubby got some cooked crab and organic tamari soy sauce aaand we bought roasted sesame seeds for the true sushi effect.



THEY WERE UNBELIEVABLE!




And definitely tasted even better with fancy chopsticks in hand.



Success! But some miso soup was missing or something, 'cause our insides were almost growling for more about an hour or so after our plates were emptied.


A mashed banana, cocoa powder, rice milk, muesli + rolled oats were the perfect hit for the sweet tooth and the mini-hunger. T'was divine with frozen blueberries, reminded me of chocolate ice cream (with banana of course!)

Just saw Terminator 2 for the first time - Loved it! How had I never seen these classics? I finally know where the worn out lines: hasta la vista, baby + come with me if you want to live, came from! I feel wise.

Goodnight!

Give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love,
and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies
the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 107:8-9

Dressed as a Mariachi

Another really, really good day! Except on this very special "Halloween Potluck" day, I ate what felt nothing less than 15 servings of fruit, and I just couldn't stop! I can easily turn down a Halloween-colored cake, mini chocolate brownies with ghost sprinkles, and even some good ol' fried chicken. But apples, fruit salad, and a veggie tray? My down fall, my friends. My self control goes out the window, and my tummy pays for it later. Tisk, tisk, I say.

First: I ate half a banana, some almonds + raisins, and headed to the gym for...


INSANITY! It's been 15 days since I did this first 50 min workout, since I've been switching it up between elliptical, treadmill, and going through the other Insanity Cardio workouts. This time I was prepared, mentally and (hopefully) physically, for some Shaun T beat downs. Here is a good run-down of the drill, and it's just as intense as it reads, I promise you. You break a mad sweat during the warm up itself, and the stretching before/after are mini workouts as well. It's a really awesome DVD, I'm a fan!

FUEL!

I really wanted me some green monster smoothie blend this morn', but we were out of kale and spinach, surprisingly enough. So I opted for night-before oats mixed with berries and rice milk and chia seeds and everything you can imagine. This morning I topped it with pomegranate, coconut, and almond butter. It was heavenly. Then I prepped for costume day...

...after photo documenting the goods

homemade granol bar of joy and fruits,


almond butter cinnamon sammie with homemade cinnamon raisin bread, with colorful veggies + black black black grapes (their pop-in-your-mouth abilities are matchless)

Packed Cookies (Complete with sign:)

I get a tad excited when I havre the opportunity to share new healthy treats with people, "d I feel like homemade signs are the way to go to show extra-lovin' and joy.

Almost 3 years ago, my hubby (then boyfriend) took his second trip up to the US from Mexico and brought me an authentic Mexican sombrero (per my pleed + requesting) and today I couldn't pass up the chance to share/wear it!!

The look was made complete with a handmade poncho given to me last year in Mexico when I told my mami-in-law how beautiful it was and she told me I could take it home. It still smells like Mexico and I felt like I was in my favorite country of all time as I wore it all day.


I also brought my mini-twin along for the ride, given to me from a rad friend (with its own matching sombrero! so fabuloso!)

Work went slowly... and during the potluck I ate way too much fruit (yes, there is such thing as too much of a good thing sometimes!) including: many apple slices, fruit salad with strawberries and pomegranate, more fruit, some butternut squash soup, more apple slices, more fruit, more of my cookies...

work is fun! I love working at a desk and greeting all the parents and their kids with "buenos diiiaaas!" It was nice seeing so many smiles as they noticed all of our costumes! Dress Up Included: a nurse practicioner as a Q-Tip, a nurse as a hippie, scooby doo character, a milk shake, one of our lady docs was a karate kid, we had a bumble bee, and a queen :) So fun!

Then I figured my insides had enough fruit, and were in need of some good ol' fashion vegetables and spelt pasta!

Spaghetti squash: baked, then thrown in a dry, non-stick pan and seasoned with italian seasoning and some pieces of ripped up kale. On the side was some purple cauliflower (tastes exactly like regular cauli, but it's more fun to eat!) seasoned with a dash o' salt. And Spelt Pasta! Which is much softer than pasta made with wheat, and it's oh-so-good. Love me some fun grocery store finds!

Then hubby and I cleaned the apartment spick n span, made my green monster oat smoothie for tomorrow's Green Lake run, and watched the last bit of Biggest Loser. And this sleepy face passed out right after 10pm, and called it a day.

Chocolate and Banana

This was a pretty fabulous day, full of more highlights than I can count.

1. Waking up at 5:00am and keeping my eyes shut for 4 extra minutes
2. Reading The China Study while tackling 5 miles on the elliptical
3. Feeling motivated and strong for 10 minutes of abs + weights
4. Eating a glorious green monster smoothie, with more kale than my heart could ever dream of, and more toppings than my taste buds could ever imagine
5. Eating a colorful bowl of veggies and garbanzos with avocado
6. Coming home to muesli in the mailbox and my hubby's marathon shirt!!! Or, the Adidas shirt he ordered from England that he'll wear for his very first marathon (IN ALMOST 1 WEEK!)
7. Eating spaghetti squash + purple cauliflower, burning it a little, but realizing the burnt effect added even more flavor than the italian seasoning did
8. Forgetting my grains, again, at least at dinner... and eating a mug of oats + cinnamon as a nighttime snackaroo
   
9. Making 30+ chocolate banana cookies for tomorrow's work party - and having the delight of telling everyone the cookies are sweetened only with ripe bananas + raisins! These babies taste insanely delicious!

and... proof:

Chocolate & Banana
Heavenly Cookies!


there were dozens of them...


they called my name from the recipe books...


and I got right down to it.

Please do:

• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds/flaxseeds/wheat germ (optional)
• 1 tbsp roasted almond butter
  
• 3 good ol' dashes of cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 dash salt

1. Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheet for 14 minutes on 350* until bottoms are golden brown and not burnt to the crisp :)

It's perfection, I promise.

thank you to: this lovely.

But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
for He has been good to me.
Psalm 13:5-6

The Day I Forgot Grains

This morning started off with some really good sleeping in since the day in the work week has finally come where I skip the gym and let the muscles do a little recovering. It's a joyous occasion, and I wait patiently for it every Wednesday and Sunday. Thank you, rest days!

"Today's Only Grains" Oatmeaaaal!

The Bowl: rice milk, rolled oats, cinnamon, raisins aaaand a topping of: coconut, wheat germ, chia seeds, flaxseed, pomegranate, cranberries, banana, almonds, mo' raisins and almond butter. caloric bomb? caloric delight in my tummy keeping me full from 7:10am to 11, easy. Thank you, oats!

Packed:

a snack or two, a lunch, and a few more snacks. Thank you, amazing 5pm granola bar, for holding me over through the eye doctor appointment 'till dinner.

Beauty:

spinach, garbanzos, bell pepper, tomato, green onion, avocado, and leftover black beans from Chipotle at work. Thank you, cold black beans, for existing in this bowl of heaven.

Little-bit-o Everything Dinner:

Half a sweet potato and 1 medium beet: diced 'em, season 'em, brown 'em in some olive oil. (cinnamon + paprika are sweet potato soul mates) (salt n peppah for the beet) with home cooked pinto beans (with serrano chili) and a rice wrap: almond butter, red pepper flakes, homemade salsa, red wine vinegar (a mr.sweet n sour sauce, if you will) with spinach, tempeh, carrot + bell pepper.


Each bite. Was. So. DELICIOUS! Thank you, most random dinner I have ever created, for tasting like chocolate ice cream (in a "ohmygosh I can't get enough of this stuff" type of way!).

ps: anybody realize I forgot grains today? well, no worries, I ate about 3 slices of good ol' bread throughout the day. thank you, random co-worker who brought a lime-flavored brown bread to work to share, it was fantastico.

Goodness Gracious.

I love sleeping. So so so much.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in
tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12

Unnecessary Nibbles

I believe I have been poisoned by a flu vaccine. Last night I got the grand opportunity of being given a shot, and I woke up this morning feeling a little more that just tired. My arms weighed 100 pounds each, my joints ached and shouted, my entire body wanted to shut down. Naturally, I ignored it and headed to the gym for this guy:


PURE CARDIOOO! for a difficult 40 mins

Okay, it was a really big challenge. I had to keep my eyes off the screen and on my reflection in the window in order to stay distracted and maintain hard-core fancy form. I struggled, sweat fell into my eyes numerous times, and I took extra water breaks. The flu vaccine poor-reaction didn't help much, either. But I felt amazing after the last stretch + water chug, and some arm/leg weights were reunited with their friends: triceps + hamstrings. Love me a good muscle burn!

Breakfast:

the 1st highlight of my day.


an additional highlight to the day.

blend: kale, beet greens, spinach, rice milk, banana, frozen berries, 2 dates, rolled oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla, flaxseed

top: wheat germ, unsweetened coconut, chia seeds, raisins, almonds


it's my favorite bowl in the whole wide world, and I wish I could eat it twice a day, every day. I could easily throw in a block of tofu and get a very well-rounded + balanced meal: protein, veg, fruit, whole grains. Where can you go wrong with that? DELICIOUS GEM!

Lunch + Snack + Snack + Snacks

almond butter + cinnamon sammie on homemade raisin bread, and that right there is a frozen granola bar ready to be perfectly defrosted and consumed around 5:15pm.

PROTEIN!

I realized my packed lunch was pretty low on a great invention: protein. So when I heard that lunch was being provided at work today, my heart was glad. What made it even more joyous? The Mexican theme and a whole plate of black beans with pico de gallo, guacamole, and beautiful greens! Insanely good, Chipotle Mexican Grill :)


Dinner:

This dinner was flawless, perfect, delicious, wholesome and very much worth the wait. Butternut squash, broccoli, purple cauliflower, brown rice and tofu. Seasoning included: red pepper flakes, chili pepper + paprika for the tofu ~ paprika, curry powder, salt n peppah for the butternut squash ~ and simple salt + peppah for the brocc/cauliflower. I'm telling you: this dish was perfect!



And theeeeen I decided to make lunch for the next few days for hubby and I, and make a few dinners ahead of time, and pack some other goodies. But that's not all I did. I also ate a little bit (of everything) on the way through the food to-do list. Why? Because I always have a slight sweet tooth every evening after dinner. But instead of sweets, I saw garbanzos, beans, more garbanzos, carrots, and other bites were in front of me.

So I nibbled, and nibbled some more, and munched and crunched and... here I find myself, sitting on the couch 1 hour later, with a full tummy, and a whole lot of fatigue brought on by way too much food that my insides didn't need and this lethargic feeling seems to be a little lesson. Well learned. And to think I could have enjoyed a sweet bowl of frozen fruit + rice milk, blended up with cocoa powder in a nice round bowl. If only, if only.

The most beautiful comfort:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1+2

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
He will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7+8