Showing posts with label 10 miler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 10 miler. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Vegan "Fannie May trinidad truffle" candies

Like it's not bad enough that my poor laptop has bitten the dust... I've been relying on Mike's laptop all week but he was using it most of today for work. As many of you are similarly addicted to email/blogs/twitter etc, you can imagine how tough this was!
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Soooo that's my excuse for not posting til so late. Listen to me.... I'm acting as if you guys have nothing better to do than reading my blog ;)
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I was a bit nervous for this morning's long run since the temps were projected to be almost 100 for the high today. Luckily, at the beginning of our run it actually felt a bit cool and breezy, but it quickly turned very humid!
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It was raining off and on during most of the 10 miles, but it wasn't a downpour so that was good. However, I've always found that running more than a few miles in the rain = sore feet, which happened again today. Do the soles of your feet get sore when running in the rain? Fortunately, other than this it was a pretty good run. Not a fabulous, effortless run like the 13 miler last week, but it could have been a lot worse. It definitely never got into the 90s during the run so that was a relief!
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I tried some new Gu flavors during the run... the camera ate the pix (AGAIN), but I tried a strawberry banana (caffeine-free) and a triple berry, which had caffeine. I liked them both, especially the strawberry banana! I swear I could eat those things like dessert :)
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Once I got home, I replenished my lost electrolyes by chugging this...
I loved this flavor! Later, lunch involved food processor fun. I blended:
-1/3 c. water
- 1/4 c. lemon juice
- 1/2 c. cashews/macademia nuts
- 2 1/2 T. dried chives
- 1 T. dried rosemary
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
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I drizzled this over a salad of tomatoes and cuke...
It may not look appetizing, but Mike and I found that it tasted eerily similar to Ranch dressing! I loved this recipe.
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Being (as usual) in the mood to bake, I set out to make another "experiment". The other day I walked by a huge sign in a downtown storefront window advertising for Fannie May trinidads... you know, the truffles with the nutty, whiteish coating? I have had the urge to "recreate" these ever since.... but of course, raw and vegan!
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Truffle Recipe:
- 20 dates, chopped
- 1 c. cashews, chopped
Blend with.....
- 2 c. cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 c. agave nectar or maple syrup
- 1 T. coconut oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- pinch salt
Recipe for the "icing":
- 1 1/2 c. dried unsweetened coconut
- 6 T. coconut oil
- 6 T. agave nectar
- 1 1/2 c. cashews, ground
- 8 T. water
- pinch salt
Directions for assembly:
1. Prepare truffles, and put into the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill and harden so that they are easier to roll into balls.
2. Use melon ball scooper (or something similarly sized) to scoop - using your hands will get too messy and you won't be able to roll the balls properly (TWSS).
3. Lay the balls onto wax or tin foil and freeze in layers.
4. Meanwhile, make the icing/coating/whatever you want to call it. Dip the balls into the mixture and then freeze again
These turned out awesome. Next time I make them I just need to figure out how to make them prettier - the icing layer is a bit "goopy" from the coconut - I may thin it out a bit or just blend it.
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Speaking of blenders, after getting the new blender blade in the mail from Cuisinart and having Mike successfully installing it, my blender worked for about 5 minutes... before starting to smoke like a chimney!!! Ok Cuisart, I'm pretty sure I told your customer service rep that a replacement blade was not gonna cut it, but maybe now you will believe me that I just need a new blender already!!
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Dinner was fun tonight too, even though it officially used up every single veggie I have left, minus the cukes I'm saving for tomorrow's juice. (*Tear*, *sniffle*). Here's the recipe I came up with:
Summer Lentil Salad
- Prepare lentils (I used one bag's worth of red lentils)
- Chill in fridge until completely cooled
- Chop 2 tomatoes
- Chop 1/2 onion
- Chop 1 c. cilantro
- Make dressing from 1/2 c. walnut oil, 1/c c. lemon juice, S, P, and garlic to taste
I really loved this too! I'm so jealous of people who get to cook all day for a living......*sigh*.... a girl can dream!
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On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to let all you animal lovers out there know that the small, furry animal that ran into our condo the other night was a neighbor's miniature hamster and luckily it was returned to its owner :)
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Gratitude Journal:
1. I completed my 10 miler in the high heat!
2. Had fun cooking today
3. My mom ordered me two VEGAN cookbooks.... yay!!! She told me to check my mailbox for a box from Amazon.com, and the first thing I thought of was that I hoped they were vegan cookbooks - I have a few vegetarian cookbooks but none for vegans. She knows me so well.... what a great mom! Thanks Mom you're the best!!! :-) I'll be talking more about these cookbooks later in the week.
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Have a great Saturday night everyone!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Day 4 without a camera: Mike's Day

This is a random picture I found on Google Images - it's not of my particular running group - but it IS of my CARA running group and was taken in the same park that I ran by this morning!


This morning was a 10-miler. I have to say, last night I was super excited to run today - I think because last week's 9-miler was awesome! I went to bed super early... around 10..... but was so giddy about the run that I didn't fall asleep until almost 1am! This did not bode well for waking up at 5:15, but oh well!

It was a decent run, overall! I hate to complain - it wasn't super hot and I wasn't really sore at all, but it was super humid and, being a heavy-sweater (unfortunately for my running buddies), I was pretty uncomfortable during most of the run. I hate nothing worse than the feeling of being coated in what feels like an inch of sweat! Luckily it wasn't literally that bad :) but it felt like it. Either way, it was great to complete the run, and it will be nice to have a "cut back" week next week when our long run is only 7 miles!
Two minor but annoying issues that I had with today's run:

1) After running, my hair gets SERIOUSLY TANGLED. We are talking it took me well over 30 minutes of pre- and during-shower combing and conditioning to get the knots out, and even then I lost an enormous amount of hair. Does this happen to anyone else, and if so, what do you do about it??? It's only bad during super long runs when I sweat a ton. I plan to cut my hair this week so maybe that will help slightly....

2) Backtrack to my first 1/2 marathon back in 2006 - around mile 10 I got stung by a bee! Poor me! Or not.... turns out what I thought felt (and looke like) a bit sting was actually just CHAFING that only showed up on one leg and not the other. Damn my thighs... you are a pain in the ass on a daily basis, but while running you elevate your annoyance factor to a whole new level!

Today I had the same thing!! Same right thigh, same rash-type thing (sorry for the TMI, guys!) Now this is much more aggravating than the tangles since this is something that truly starts to be quite sore, and I would love to stop this from occurring during the marathon. Aside from losing inches in my thighs (easier said than done!) and using Body Glide (a stick of vaseline type stuff that is in a deodorant style stick) - do you have any other advice for this PRESSING issue? no pun intended... ;)

For breakfast I enjoyed a Green Monster -- Don't worry, I didn't eat your mascot, Red Sox fans! Mine was of the smoothie variety and was packed full of iron, protein, and loads of nutrients.... yum!
I should also mention that I snacked on some dates during and after my run. I used to love Jelly Belly sports beans when I trained for marathons in the past, but I really don't want to be eating that raw sugar, HFCS crap if I can avoid it. I'm hoping to go to Whole Foods this week to see if they have any more natural alternatives - any ideas, runners?

Today was "Mike's Day"!! Let me explain. When I was in grad school getting my Masters in Social Work, while learning about family/couples therapy, I heard about how some therapists will recommend "wife day" and "husband day" to get the couple to focus more on the needs of their spouse.

I think that this idea is not just good for couples "in crisis" but is also simply a good thing to do on occasion - well, just to have fun! So I ran the idea by Mike, and he liked it. I let him have his day first - aren't I just the sweetest ;) - so while I had my Green Monster, I made him some whole wheat waffles.

Then we walked to the neighborhood park to play some whiffleball!For lunch I made an avocado salad. I was SO excited that my avocados were finally ripe!! (Putting them in a brown paper bag with a couple apples definitely works, but it takes about 2 days). Since I am camera-less until Monday, here is another Google Images pic. Because it was "Mike Day", much of the afternoon looked like this....
.... and this was me


Just kidding!!! :)
We basically had a lazy day that involved drinking - at Mike's request - which would have been better if it was my choice (wine), but we drank beer, per Mike's Day. I am proud to say that I had THREE..... which is about two more than I have had in a row before lol. One was a Bud Light lime, the others I am not embarrassed to admit that I added a lime.... and stevia to! Hey, it helped! ;)
I later made a small batch of almond paste-type cookies, which are similar to a Greek cookie that we often eat, but are vegan, and raw! We ate the dough raw - we could, since it didn't contain any dairy products. Oddly enough this filled me up for almost the entire day (or was that a result of the beer?)
Mike's "Day" was pretty low-key, cuz he wanted it that way.... "Val's Day" next week will be a bit more exciting, if I say so myself :) The most thrilling part of today was when I baked up a batch of chocolate peanut butter cookies with choc-PB filling... they looked slightly like these, but were chocPB inside instead of straight PB!All I wanted for dinner was a 1/2 avocado, which was fab. I suppose it's possible I will keep muching later on though since it's only a bit past 9pm now and I feel like I haven't eaten enough calories today to make up for burning about 1000 during my run earlier.... We are finishing up Mike's Day by watching Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay... haha, can you tell it was his choice of movie? ;)
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Last night I forgot to mention that my dessert was comprised of an entire Newman's Own Organics dark chocolate bar, which was great! I would have preferred a higher concentration of cocoa (this was only 56%) but I definitely enjoyed it nonetheless!

Good stuff:
Check out Whit's Getting Fit's first giveaway, an amalgam of awesome stuff you will for sure want to win!

Travel Eat Love is also having a giveaway - this blog girl is giving away a sweet cookbook!

Last but not least, An Apple a Day is having a giveaway for anti-oxidant rich jam
Phew!! Ok I'm done for today. I'm pretty psyched to have the camera back Monday, I know you guys are sick of my Google Images pix.... I am kinda having fun with it though :) Please don't forget to check out my Holey Donuts Giveaway, which will be running through Wednesday! Happy Saturday night everyone!