More of Summer Delights

Lasagna...mmmmm, and it's raw style! We had a good friend over for a couple days a week or two ago and guess what? She's a raw foodie friend! So when I heard that, I went gung-ho...I made all sorts of goodies! Including the above deliciousness. This was the recipe from Sarma's Raw Food Real World book (my favorite raw recipe book, btw...I'm itching to get her newest one...soon, soon). IT IS DIVINE! I tweaked a few little things...but it was out of this world. My Mom said she liked it better than the cooked lasagna. Yup. That good.

What else did I make? I made a raw corn chowder (Natalie Rose), chocolate macaroons, chocolate pudding, crispy cereal with almond milk (Sarma), marinated squash (from Carol Alt's book), big salads with olives and nuts, kale chips, and raw caramel apple dip (with apples, of course)! DIVINE.

It's amazing how tasty the simple foods are. How light, yet filling they are...like you could run a race or do jumping jacks as soon as you're done eating. Love it. Having our friend here, definitely rekindled a healthfood spark in me again.

A couple days ago I had some frozen strawberries (from our garden) and some of our kale. I just blended the two together with some stevia, raw almond milk, and ice. Simple, but good. Filling too. All organic goodness. And kale chips...., our crazy, amazing garden (we did it the square foot garden way this year and boy, is it worth it) has produced SOOO so so much kale...I've been trying to juice it and we've been making the chips, but we still have lots...and we've even give quite a bit away. Mom made some amazing cheesy kale chips yesterday. I'm still licking my lips.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my summer. Keep it real!

What I've Been Eating All Of This Glorious Summer

12.5

So yesterday, I did something crazy. For me, it's been a summer dream to run to the nearest provincial park we live by. So I did. All 12.5 miles...without stopping, even for water. (I just drank as I ran). And I had a good time too...2 hours and 15 minutes, despite the wind that was against me half the time. Yes.

Almost a half-marathon. There were definitely hard parts to the run...but overall, it was fun. Exhilirating. Dare I say it? I think I like running now. But just so ya'll know, it took me about a year of torturing myself to run long distance to like it. I thought after this half marathon that I just did, that I would be done running for a while. But I don't think so...it makes me want to run more.

After I finished off that run, I came home and drank THIS....

GREEN HYDRATION

- 1/2 scoop whey protein powder (15g. protein)

- 4 TB. raw hemp protein powder (6g. protein)

- 1/2 cup 1% milk (out of almond milk, sniff)

- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

- 1 tsp. maca

- 1 tsp. lucuma

- 1 tsp. coconut oil

- ice

- and then I stuffed the blender with organic spinach from our garden

I whirled it up and had half for breaky and half for my lunch. Perfect. But I didn't like the fact I had cow's milk in it. Despite that...it was great.

Here's another bonus recipe my sister and I made tonight for an evening munchie.

In the food processor, blend up:

-saskatoons (frozen)

-bananas (frozen)

-1 TB tahini

-milk

Once it's in a ice-cream format, then I topped it with organic, whole-grain cereal. Mmmmm...

So...I'm Alive. How nice.

I can't believe it's all over. I did it. So wonderful. It was a FREEZING day, like we saw snow driving up, and my body just shook involuntarily afterwards, BUT...it was a good run! One of my favorites. I ran the whole thing without stopping (well, once to tie my shoe and walked for a few seconds while I guzzled some water at an water stop). It took me 2:25 hours to run 13.1 miles.

Oh, that felt good.

Seriously, even though I think there were a few places I could've pushed myself faster, it was one of the best runs ever. I've never really considered myself as a person who enjoys long distance running. But I loved it. Makes me happy.

But I tell you, next time I do a run. Please make it warm. It was SOOO cold. It even started raining toward the end of the run. But hey, that's the one thing I love about running. If you can endure long distance, a little (or a LOT) of cold and wet can't shake you. :) Never mind, I guess it did shake me...but you get me.

Half Marathon....wow, it's soon

(me drinking chocolate almond milk....the best prep for a run, lol)

The weather is CRAZY here....raining, cold, grey, very wet (not like the above pic)...and the half marathon is in 3 days...

Apparently, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I will not freak out.

The last half marathon I did, was freezing too. Seriously, I did not break a sweat the whole run. It was raining, my hair got wet...the wind blew and it was COLD! I wore my jacket most of the time...I guess it's just a granted, that if I run a half marathon it'll be cold. And I live where normally, it would be very hot right now. Ha ha. Well, I think cooler than hotter is better for running anyway. As long as I don't die of hypothermia. If I do, you'll know why the blog won't be updated. :)

So I think I'm trained up. Hopefully. I've run 12 miles (furthest) and now I'm just chilling (literally) till Sunday, when the big day comes. I'm running with three of my strapping, strong brothers so if I die, at least I won't be alone. Haha....no, it'll be good. I think I'm prepared.

I'm not built like a runner. I'm 5' 11", medium frame, and personally....I dunno know....long distance running isn't fun for me. I just do it because I do. I enjoy 6-8 miles....but really no further. 3-5 miles is even better, lol.

And hey, while you're reading PLEASE check out the amazing DAILY RAW CAFE's incredible givewaway. My goodness! She's got some good stuff going on! And hurry, because all the giveaways end soon and you don't want to miss out!

I'll post after the half and tell you if I'm alive.

11 miles...YES!

(me and my amazing sister!!!)

Slowly, but surely I'm picking up the miles. Next week I'm hoping to do 12 miles and from there, I will slow down. I'm officially running a half marathon the end of this month, so I think I'll make that run my longest.

From there, where am I headed with running? I think I'll just do pretty much my daily runs from 3-6 miles, but more than that...I dunno know. I'm just not fond of long distance running at all. I'm not sure I'm even built like a runner. I love short distances, but yah...more than that is more torture, hahaha. But I'm excited about the half marathon, should be fun...at least AFTER the run, lol!

I think that especially after this race I want to focus on more strength training, weights, interval training...not just the endurance running thing. I'm a girl of variety...and I know I need more than cardio in my life, but after running for 2 hours (that's how long it took for 11 miles), you're done! ;0)

Oh, and hey...while you guys are reading my blog, you need to check out these two great giveaways:

1. Green Mommy is giving away Dr. Alkaitis Skin Food Travel Kit

2. HiHoRosie is giving away Cubeba Mint Cream and Borage Butter Eczema Cream

How do you guys balance your cardio and strength? What do you do for each?

10 MILES

Yessss! I am doing happy dances inside...after doing my 9-mile run a week ago, (which was torture!), I was super nervous about doing 10 yesterday, BUT it went really well! AND...I think I've stumbled on a little secret about myself.

I did this run in the evening...I'm a night person, always have been...and I had SO much more energy. I drank a little water during my run and ate half a Medjool date, but that was it. Another bonus, after a tiring, long run like that I slept like a baby right afterwards. From now on, I think I'll try to do my longer runs in the evening.

What about you? You guys morning, afternoon, or evening runners?

Oh, and hey...HiHoRosie has an amazing giveway which is ending SOON...for a bottle of Spirulina by Healthforce, so go on over there and enter yourself in!

It's a Coming...

I'm pretty sure I'm the worst blogger ever. Yup.

Moving on...I DID 8 MILES THIS WEEK! Yay! It took me an hour and a half of solid running. This time, instead of the dates, I drank a natural electrolyte powdered drink from Jamieson. Though it took foreeevvveerrrrr, and I had maybe 5-10 minutes of cramps, and my hip hurt the last 3 miles or so, it was one of my runs where I just had ENERGY for it. You know, sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don't. Sometimes even a quick 3 mile run just is a DRAG, simply because I have no energy and it's the worst run ever. Do you runners ever have those days? Today wasn't bad either. I just hopped out of the shower after 20 minutes of high-interval training and then a 4 mile run...I had a good workout with both. But I sure do love those days where you feel you can do anything because you have so much ENERGY inside of you!

Thank you all for the comments on the last post and the great ideas ya'll had. I'm looking forward to trying them. The coconut water seemed to be a running theme, and I need to do that more often. Claire, for one, had a great idea....here's her comment.

"For a mid-workout snack I find nothing better than 3 or 4 medjool dates, mixed with some pumpkin seeds or almonds and a touch of sea salt. I bring this in a little bag when I go mountain biking. I eat it mid ride (I go about 30 miles on my normal track) and it keeps me going strong!!"

I'm going to have to do that next run!

Now since I'm absolutely starved from all the exercise I need to EAT before I start chewing on my arm! :0) I'm off to eat a big, green salad with olive oil. Mmmmmm....

7 Miles

Yes, yes, yes! This is the longest I've run this year...and I'm so happy (and a little tired, lol). Because these next few days will be very busy and I'll be mostly away from home, I won't be able to do any runs for a while too...so I'm glad I got an extra good workout in.

Once it hit past the 6 mile point, that's when I start thinking of extra nutrition I need for running. During a 3-5 mile run, I don't need any water during or any form of sports snack...it doesn't take too long and I just drink up before and after...but once I'm past 7 miles...then I have to be a bit more prepared.

Right now, I'm reading Brendan Braizer's "Thrive" book (head on over to Rawdorable's site and check out her last two posts about Brendan Braizer and his books/recipes) and I'm really looking forward to trying some of his sports gels/bars...but today, since I don't have it all figured out yet...I just grabbed a couple Medjool dates and had one at the 5 mile mark and then one at the 6.

I've kind of fallen away from my green smoothies and been doing more protein/fruit based smoothies, so I'm trying to get back into it. This week I've committed to one every day. I fueled up after with a green smoothie for lunch. Here it is:

7 MILER SMOOTHIE

1/2 cup orange juice

1 peeled orange (with white pith)

1 cup or more of parsley

1/4 avocado

1/2 banana

4 ice cubes

BLEND. BLEND. and BLEND. I ate it with a 1/4 of an avocado with herb salt. An all green lunch...but I may go and get something else because I burned a lot of calories (like 828!) so I can afford to have something else, lol.

For those who workout, what's your favorite recipe/mid-workout snack or hydration drink?

Cinnamon Strageties

The other day we were out of cinnamon and my sister was making cinnamon buns...and as everyone knows, you can't make cinnamon buns without cinnamon. What to do? The rolls were already finished, save the spice.

I thought, cinnamon comes from...cinnamon sticks. Of course, so if we have the sticks...

Turns out, we did. So I broke them into as tiny pieces as my fingers could manage and stuck them in the coffee grinder. It worked...and I ground and ground until I got the powder as fine as I could.

Plus, I like the thought of freshly ground cinnamon...sounds fresher, doesn't it?

Next time you're out of the powder...maybe give this a try! Hint: Next time you make a banana shake add some freshly ground cinnamon...it's an amazing shake!

Cleanse Day 2 + 3

Wow, it's almost over...I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. The computer was being used so I didn't have a chance at it.

My juicy cleanse definitely had it's tougher points, but I'm glad I stuck it out. I know I'll feel better for it. Right now I might feel on the weaker side, but tomorrow I won't, BECAUSE tomorrow I eat, lol!

Tonight I had the most amazing juice ever! Seriously, it tasted like grape pop. It was seriously the most delicious juice ever. So I'll share it with you.

MOST DELICIOUS JUICE EVER!

2 apples

small knob of ginger (keep it smaller)

1 cup red grapes

1/2 lemon

Juice it up! I added 1 TB. of white and black chia seeds because today I wanted to introduce a soft fibre into my diet, to help my body prepare for tomorrow. I did that for every "meal" I had. It was a beautiful juice that reminded me of cotton candy. Totally try it!

Another juice I really enjoyed during this fast, was a delightful concoction of grapefruit, orange, and lemon! Yup, that's it. Just squeeze 1 whole grapefruit and 1 orange, and then half of a lemon! Absolutely perfect for the morning. It looks like sunshine. I added raw, organic blue-green algae to mine for some added minerals, vitamins, and nutrients. Grapefruit and lemon especially, are know for their amazing detoxifying benefits. Some people even swear grapefruit will reduce cellulite. :)

Even if you aren't doing a cleanse, you can do a super easy, "mini" cleanse by swapping your daily breakfast with a fresh, raw juice. It's incredibly healing and cleansing after a good long night's sleep. Anyone can juice!

Mini Cleanse

I'm doing a mini cleanse! So I'm reading a book we recently purchased and after reading a few chapters of that, I was even more inspired to clean my body and give a break for a bit. So I'm doing half a juice fast and half a master cleanse. I'll do this for 3 days. Then I'll taper off for 2 days....and so goes it. SO far, going good. It sure makes you appreciate food more too...and not take it so for granted.

SO today I had:
5 "lemonades" (master cleanse recipe)
6 waters
2 organic, homegrown peppermint tea
1 electrolyte vitamin C supplement in water (after my workout)
1 carrot/celery/apple/ginger fresh juice
1 freshly squeezed grapefruit juice with superfood powder

FITNESS:
ran 5 miles (tomorrow I'm going to take it more easy... a little hard without food, lol)

a DVD workout

I think my favorite "recipe" of the day was the grapefruit juice I had at dinner. If any of you are familiar with raw food guru Sarma, this is one of her favorite recipes I got from her book. Simply mix freshly squeezed grapefruit juice with your raw, organic blue-green algae and guzzle away. I added a packet of Truvia to it, so it wouldn't be so sour. Mind you, it doesn't look pretty, BUT it tastes fantastic. You could do this with any green superfood powder if you don't have the algae powder.

Although I half-way enjoy these types of fasts, in an odd sort of way...I'm already looking forward to something that I can actually chew. Till tomorrow...

Running Update

Hey guys...I got news...I've mostly been keeping this to my little self, but here it is...

I'M DOING ANOTHER HALF MARATHON this spring! Woot! I'm excited, but I'm nervous. I may call myself a runner and I do run a lot, but really I'm pretty sure I'm not built for it...and I actually don't even like it all that much, lol. But I love how it makes me feel and how strong it makes me.

Today I ran the longest AND the fastest I've run probably since my last half...6.5 miles! I did it in 68 minutes, and that includes my 1 min. and 30 seconds warmup and beginning of cooldown! (I know, I need to cooldown better, lol) That's pretty much half the marathon right there. I have quite a few weeks left to train for it too, so I'm stoked.

I'm reading Brendan Brazier's book "Thrive" right now and it's super inspiring. I love how he has a super healthy lifestyle, food and fitness wise. The whole book is just fantastic and I completely recommend it to EVERYONE who has the least bit of interest in fitness (hey! You never know, maybe you can win them over to a more healthy lifestyle with it!)

I'm using quite a lot of my Nutiva Hemp Raw Protein powder lately, as well as my organic, raw maca powder, local bee pollen, and blue-green algea. For the most part, I've had a lot of energy training for this half, except for a couple runs. So I guess this stuff is working. I'm hoping to bump up my greens consumption and have more protein, muscle building foods in this next while. If you're a runner, comment below and let me know what helps you in your running lifestyle!

Btw, my Merry Hempster's vegan lip balm is all gone and it sure lasted me a while. While I loved that stuff, I'm using Burt's Bees a friend gave me right now and I LOVE that just as much!

Pass on the Carrots

Never thought you'd hear me say that, did you? But don't worry...I don't mean for good. I just mean CHANGE IT UP. Recently, what we've been doing is putting jicama or turnip on our veggie trays. We cut it into long, peeled strips and dunk away in the dip. I like them good and plain.

Seriously though, I just love raw jicama (hica-a-ma) and turnip. It sounds a little strange, I know. The first time I saw raw a turnip on a crudites platter, I thought that it was extremely odd, but then I tried it. So just for a bit, replace the carrot sticks and celery...you might be pleasantly surprised.

Treats for Valentines

Happy Valentine's Everybody! Since tomorrow is the big day I'm just re-posting a special post I did a year or two ago...with loads of delicious recipes and pictures to drool over. Hope you enjoy and can make a recipe or two for yourselves tomorrow! Perfect for two!

These are raw chocolate Turtles (you can see the caramel peeking through on the first one) and around it are "Chocolate Carmel Bites". I originally found a caramel dipping sauce at Gone Raw by Mish. I tweaked it a bit and made it into just plain caramel.

Caramel
about 4 TB of tahina
about 4-6 medjool dates (depending on how sweet you like it, but this will make it thicker too)
a wee bit of vanilla
and a few tablespoons of maple syrup until the consistency you desire...but you want it thick, like a dough almost)
Mix it up in the food processor.

Dipping Chocolate
about 3-4 BIG heaping tablespoons of melted coconut butter
a few TB. of organic cocoa powder (you can use carob or cacao, if you have it on hand)
equal parts of agave nectar and maple syrup
You want this to be a bit thicker, not a sauce, but just a nice, smooth dipping chocolate. Because coconut oil is such a stable cooking fat you can melt it by warming it over the stove on the lowest setting. It's still raw. ;0)

RAW TURTLES
Make little balls of the caramel and slide a pecan in the middle of it. Flatten it a little and with a fork, dip it into the chocolate mixture. Put on wax paper. Do this with all of them and then put them in the freezer to harder.

Caramel Bites (above)
With the caramel mixture make little balls and with your finger make a deep dent in the middle. Fill with liquid chocolate. Freeze till hard.
Caramel Chocolate Bites
Do the same as above, but just mix in some carob/cacao/cocoa powder in the caramel.
These are nice little nibbles when you need that little "sweet" during the day.
Caramel Almond Smacks (the picture below, left) Just make flat, thin circles in the palm of your hand with the caramel. Place on wax paper. With a spoon drop on some chocolate and garnish with an almond.

And now for my favorite of ALL! Oh, these are to die for! (drumroll, please!)

Dark Truffle Fudge (the heart above)
4-5 TB. of melted coconut butter
enough organic cocoa till it's a very thick fudge consistency
equal parts of pure maple syrup and agave nectar to sweetness
And then...thin it out with Coconut Milk for a creamy, milk-ness. It should thicken more when it's been in the fridge or freezer for a while. Place in a small square container and when more firm, score or slice into little fudge bars.

Oh, I could go on and on about the fudge. And I've tried lots of different fudges, or at least some, and I liked it, but this TOPS it! The ingredients may seem simple, but this really just melts in your mouth. It's so creamy and silky smooth (one fudge I can think of, seemed a bit granular, you know). If you're crazy about dark chocolate like me, this if for you! My mind spins when I think of all the incredible things you can do with it. Make balls and cover with a different type of glazing chocolate sauce or use as a layer in a sweet pie...sigh.

As you can see, I topped one or two of them with raw cacao nibs. It's funny, in the picture to the left you can see me (or at least my lips) taking the picture in the reflection. I was drooling over the chocolate, lol! I shaped the fudge into hearts and put a little bit of caramel into the middle of it.

Valentine's Day is a fun family tradition here. We always have a family banquet together, wear red or pink (it's a rule!), and decorate the kitchen table. My Mom always writes out a Valentine for each of us on a red or pink heart and leaves it on our plate, along with a whole pile of chocolate treats for us. This is always special, because she always writes out character qualities that she sees in each of us and tells us how much she loves us. I always save those hearts, they are definitely a dear treasure!

Raw Protein Smoothies

Lately I've really been digging my hemp protein powder from Nutiva. I have two flavors, chocolate and berry, but I mostly use my berry kind. I've been doing a lot of running and DVD workouts lately...I also try to do a situp-program whenever possible (I've already managed to make it up to 91 situps...almost 100!) Even though it's the heart of winter where I live, after a good workout a cold, smoothie is what I crave! I ran 5 miles today, the first time in a long time, so that felt really good. I'm making it my goal to train without stopping, just to slow down my pace when I need it...so I was speeding along. FELT SO GOOD! I love it when you just feel in the GROVE for running. Before that I did 20 minutes of interval training and I'm pretty sure housework counts as part of your fitness outtake. ;0)

Here's a couple smoothies that I've been loving lately! I even posted the nutritional info along with it...I personally find it very helpful and fun to track my protein and fibre intake...I don't care too much about carbs, fat, or sugar (as long as it's generally on the healthy side, lol), but I like to know I'm taking in enough of the other two.

SMOOTHIE #1.

1/2 cup blueberries, frozen

1 banana

4 TB. raw hemp protein powder (I used berry flavour, but it really doesn't matter)

1 TB. flaxseed

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup raw almond milk

Blend and top with bee pollen for extra energy.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Calories: 358

Total fat: 6.9g (mind you, this is the HEALTHY fats we NEED!)

Carbs: 71.8g

Fibre: 16.7 (which is really good for a shake!!!)

Sugars: 43.4g

Protein: 11.8g

SMOOTHIE #2.

1/4 cup apple juice

1 TB. coconut oil (I used Efa Gold brand)

1/3 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 banana

4 TB. hemp protein powder

1 TB. flaxseed

1/4 cup almond milk

BLEND and top with sparkly, blue manna flakes for extra super food power...or drink as is. :0)

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Calories: 392

Fat: 19.5g

Carb: 50.5

Fibre: 13g

Sugars: 28.1g

Protein: 8.3

This is our winter wonderland and our beautiful house our family built ourselves...

Lip Care

One of my pet peeves is dry, flaky lips...I just hate the feel of it...plus, it doesn't look too nice...especially after you add some lip color. Completely an unpolished look. Anyway, pet peeves aside...it's something I barely ever deal with, even with the extra dryness of winter where I live.



Here's my secrets:



1. I read once, ages ago, that models use this trick all the time. They brush their lips with a wet toothbrush to exfoliate them. It's good not only for sloughing off any dry skin, but for boosting circulation as well. Not only that, it because of the stimulation it makes your lips just a tad bit bigger...(grin)



I do that every evening and always have very smooth lips.



If doing that with a toothbrush doesn't appeal to you...just mix a little sugar with olive oil and rub it on your lips...




2. I'm a lip balm/gloss addict...one of my little loves and always has been. I'm constantly smearing on lip balms...and I have them for every occasion. Lip balm with SPF for outside, tinted, natural very day wear, lip glosses with shea butter balm... intense balms for bedtime rehydration. No dry lips for me!



Here's one of my favorite, favorite lip balms...this is the one I put on, every night, before bed. It's just so rich and hydrating, that even in the morning, I feel like there's still some on my lips.



It's by the Merry Hempsters, a vegan body care company. I have the orange one (love orange!) and totally recommend it, especially if you're into vegan, all natural companies and bodycare.