Giveaway winner, Kale chips and The Proposal

I am excited to finally announce the winner of my first giveaway of Holey Donuts! Keep reading to find out who is the lucky recipient! ;)

Breakfast was some juice made from Cornelius, my prized Breville. Today I used a couple celery stalks and an apple. Yum! Very refreshing.

An hour later when I got more hungry, I made a blackberry banana soft serve, a la Gena-style. It was delicious, but I found the addition of blackberries harder to mix - or maybe I am just beating up my poor mini food processor and it's tiring out?

I was super pumped to go to spinning class today! It was an awesome workout and I'm so pleased to report that I now look forward to going to spinning, whereas I used to loathe it! I also did some crunches while at the gym.

Back at home, I finally got around to making one of the blogworld trendy treats - kale chips! Basically I washed and dried two small bunches of kale, sprinkled it with a bit of EVOO and some garlic salt, and baked it at 350 for about 10 minutes. I finished off the whole pan-full in one sitting! :)

In recent years I have realized that I actually enjoy going to movies solo on occasion, so that is exactly what I did today. I would usually rather go with friends or with Mike, but sometimes I like having a day to myself. I brought some chocolate Amazing Meal with me "to-go style"! The view of the theatre (and Navy Pier in the far background) taken from my walk there.

The movie: it was really cute! I wasn't thrilled with Sandra Bullock's character but, as I suspected, Ryan Reynolds made the movie ;) I could watch him all day.... *sigh*. Also I wasn't the only one by myself, there was another girl and actually two men watching it by themselves, too! Seems I found the new trend in movie-going?

I had a super late lunch (around 4pm) of salad with homemade dressing, carrots, and avocados. Delish!

Some green tea "with purple antioxidants", whatever that means, sipped on my balcony. That's Soldier Field on the far left behind the tall builing, and you can also see a strip of Lake Michigan!

Mike sweetly accompanied me on my 3 miler today. It was a bit hot out, but overall we had a good run. We haven't run together in a while and it made it a lot more fun to have his company :) Back home I snacked on some watermelon....

... while making Mike's dinner. I made him a stirfry with tofu, shrimp, cabbage, bok choy, and carrots. I used some tofu noodles that I had recently heard about somewhere (they are only 40 calories so I wanted to give them a try) - but Mike wasn't crazy about them.

I kept some of the veggies raw, and made myself a different dish comprised of cabbage, bok choy, carrots, and a sauce made from walnuts, lemon juice, and capers. It was very creamy and "cheese-like", and not only did I love it, but I know it was a success because Mike kept asking for more and more bites while I was eating it ;)

This was my first time making bok choy and I really liked it. I would definitely cook with it again!

Dessert was.... get ready to be shocked........ Lindt chocolate! Surprise, surprise. My stash is getting low so if anyone wants to send me some new vegan dark chocolate to try I would be quite happy to sample it ;) Also Mike ate a milk chocolate Newman's Own Organics bars that they sent us, which he said was very good. So good that he ate the whole bar! :)

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And finally, for the moment you've all been waiting for... the Holey Donuts giveaway is Healthy Ashley! Congrats, Ashley! :)

So apparently I was lazy yesterday

I feel like a bad blogger for not posting about yesterday, when it was actually yesterday - and I also neglected to do a Marathon Monday posting - but I will blame the fact that it took quite a while to get my fundraising link up and running.

If you didn't read my earlier post, don't forget to check out the left sidebar on my blog's homepage if you would like to donate to my marathon charity organizaiton, Ceasefire!

I always say I'll be quick and then I continue to ramble on, haha. So this time I will actually try to be brief, but who knows what will happen:

* raspberries for first part of breakfast (not pictured, I had not gotten my camera back yet)
* went to Jewel for groceries
* made FABULOUS raw, vegan Almond Joy cookie dough comprised of 3 c. almond meal, 6 T cocoa powder, 7 or 8 T. agave nectar, a splash of almond extract and a pinch of salt. Throw into Kitchenaid mixer, and voila. This mess of fabulousness contains to butter, white sugar, transfats, or dairy products, but somehow manages to taste like heaven. Try it!!!! (Oh, and instead of making a GM like I planned, the second half of my breakfast was comprised of many, many nibbles of this dough)
* Spinning class - awesome - crunches, and arms
* Went to Whole Foods for more shopping... LOVE that place and badly miss my employee discount from when I worked there during college!
* Green Monster - tried to use 1/2 almond milk, 1/2 water, and the quality definitely suffered with the addition of water - needs more AM for flavah!
* got my haircut, see pix below... this was at the very end of the night so it wasn't lookin its best, but it's a Gwyneth Paltrow long bob-type style

* Got my camera back, woohoo!

* Fantastic avocado salad for lunch (forgot to take pix of this, I'm already out of the mindset of photographing my meals and have to remind myself to take pix of everything again)

* Lindt choc squares for snack - thanks to Joy Beck for the Lindty candy bar!!

* Here are some pix of the awesome Nu Naturals products that the company sent to me! So far everything I've tried has been top-notch* While Mike and his dad were at the Green Day concert, my MIL and Yaya came over to our condo to hang out for the night. We walked to the lakefront and I could not resisit the hydrangeas (my favorite)

These weren't bad either :)

Burnham Harbor

* Dinner was a second avocado salad - I made one for my MIL as well who I think was pleasantly surprised that she liked it, since it was vegetarian AND vegan AND raw AND healthy!

* Decaf green tea

* A couple more Lindt squares

* Banana soft serve with some cocoa/Almond butter sauce

* STILL hungry (or at least had a sweet tooth), and snacked on some more of my Almond Joy cookies... I did not want to risk ruining them by baking them, so I'm going to eat them as is - the joy of making cookies w/o eggs!

I also wanted to mention Sarah's recent posting, and I am stealing a snippet that I found especially interesting. You can read more about the article here, but one part that stuck out to me was the paragraph that said that:

“certain refined food consumption behaviors meet the criteria for substance use disorders, not unlike tobacco and alcohol” and “the key to overcoming food addictions is to get the addictive foods out of the diet and replace them with foods that are not addicting. Scientific evidence very strongly suggests that foods that are the most addicting and harmful to our health are refined sugars and processed carbohydrates and other processed foods.”

It basically suggests that eating a more raw diet is a more realistic, healthy alternative to the SAD (Standard American Diet) for those who suffer from anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorders. Even for those who do not fit neatly into one of those categories, I feel that most women have had a disordered relationship with food at some point in their lives, and I think this article offers an interesting insight into what will help and what just hurts women in these situations. Thanks for bringing the article to my attention, Sarah!

I also wanted to thank Kathy and Jon for being the first to make a donation to Ceasefire Chicago! I apologize if others have donated and I haven't gotten word of it yet - I'm not sure how often Ceasefire will notify me when donations are made, I just happened to talk to K and J and found out about their donation that way. Thanks for making a difference!!

Day 5 without a camera: The Big Fat Greek Kids Birthday Party

Hi everyone! Today was a beautiful day in Chicago! I slept in a bit which was fabulous - it's surprising how little sleep I've been getting this summer. During the working school year I always plan to get a good 8+ hours a night, but once summer rolled around I started slacking in this area, and it has been great to catch up the last couple of days.

I quickly ate a banana while checking my email, made Mike a Green Monster per his request, and then went to the gym for spinning class.

I haven't been to spinning in weeks, and part of me was dreading it - spinning always kicks my butt in a major way! It's always amazing that I can run an easy 10 miles, but will huff and puff my way through an hour-long spin class. However, though it started a bit tough, today's class was great! I felt as if I had an abundance of energy that sustained me through the class, which was noticeably different from the last few times I attended spinning. I can tell that "cleaning up" my diet is definitely helping my workouts!

Then I snacked on another huge, avocado salad, this time made with avocado, carrots, homemade dressing, spinach, and turnip greens. This was my first time buying turnip greens (I got them by accident!) and they worked out ok. They were a bit tougher than spinach, but not as thick as kale. I probably would prefer spinach for its milder flavor, but it's nice to switch things up to get the benefits from different nutrients!

Mike and I hit the road, and our first stop was Sports Authority where I stocked up on Body Glide, and Mike got a new pair of roller blades. This is great news as it means that we can resume going for our run/rollerblade excursions along the lake together! :)

The rest of our day was spent at a Greek fam birthday party for two siblings. Our godson was turning one years old, and his brother turned six. Like all good Greek parties, this one lasted well into the night and involved large quantities of alcohol, about 56 different types of desserts (no galaktabutiko, to Mike's chagrine), and of course,

The wet t-shirt contest!! What, you don't do this at your family parties?!?! And all this time I thought this was normal....

Yes, my adult husband was the unofficial winner of the wet t-shirt contest that he apparently entered into with his toddler-aged cousins. It basically involved a lot of young children trying to attack my husband with water balloons and squirt guns. Clearly, college Greek systems across America stole the wet t-shirt idea from Mike's Greek fam - the nerve. "Hey IU, I want my wet t-shirt contest back!"

Aside from watching my poor husband get pummelled by small children, the other highlight of the night was that my fabulous Greek (and Italian :) ) in-laws told me that they bought me a JUICER!!!! Not just any juicer, but the head honcho of all juicers, the Breville!!!

I haven't seen this marvelous piece of machinery yet, but my understanding is that it is the Brevile Fountain Plus. I was soooo excited to hear about this and I would like to give a shout-out to Yaya, John and Dora!!

The party was stocked with an enormous amount of delicious-looking food, but I stuck to the basics - tons of veggies with guacamole, a HUGE plate of Greek salad, and some fresh watermelon. I also snacked on an Amazing Meal bar and some awesome samples of yummy-flavored walnuts and almonds that I received in the mail this week - once I have my camera back I will write more about the company that sent these.

When Mike and I got home tonight it was late but I of course was still hungry for something to snack on, so I made my version of a Raw Almond Joy.

So simple - In a food processor (although you could probably mix this easily by hand), add 1/2 c. almond meal, 2 T. cocoa powder, 2 1/2 T. agave nectar, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla.

Blend, and this becomes just like a melted, gooey Almond Joy. I was too impatient and dug in immediately, but I would imagine that you could easily make these into cookies - either by baking them "traditional" style, or dehydrating them to make them more "raw-acceptable". Since I don't have a dehydrator, I'm going to start experimenting with using my oven on a low temp and leaving the door cracked - have any of you tried this before?

Tomorrow I don't know what I am more excited about - getting my hair cut, or getting my camera back!! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend :-) and don't forget to enter my Holey Donuts giveaway!

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!

Reunited with the gym again

I woke up today feeling the effects of last night! I don't think it was the riesling so much as the fact that I ate a fair amount of food after midnight. My body doesn't like this very much.... does anyone's? It's always so nice to snack when you get home from a fun night (especially when drinking is involved!) but it never feels good the next day. The food was good, really good, but it also did not fit into my "high raw" plan at all!

For breakfast, I had a Green Monster with the usual. I'm really starting to love Amazing Grass wheatgrass! I know for a fact that it tastes awful by itself, but mixed with some other good stuff it really adds a nice, fresh taste to my GM. I headed to the gym for what felt like the first time in ages!! I have been gone so much to Vegas and visiting my grandparents that I probably haven't gone more than once or twice in the past couple of weeks, which is not like me!

I attended my first Muscle Max class this morning. I really liked it! My arms will probably be killing me tomorrow, but I love that feeling! I have been trying to squeeze in some cardio here and there even when I am away from the gym, but it's much harder (for me) to make time for strength training when I am away from the gym, so it felt so good to get back into this. I also did 15 minutes on the reclining bike.

After cleaning around the condo (getting ready for the big party tomorrow!), I finally got my act together to walk to Borders. I love where we live, but one thing that is missing is a CLOSE Barnes & Noble or Borders. When we lived in the Gold Coast I had a B & N about 5 minutes away, and now our closest bookstore is at least a 35 minute walk. I don't mind the walk so much, but there is so much more preparation into the excursion this way... packing stuff to eat so I can save money and not succumb to the yummy-looking treats in the Borders cafe, etc.

I packed a Sun Warrior protein drink Green Monster! This is my first time trying this, and I thought it was pretty good! I mixed it with almond milk, spinach, and some wheatgrass. It was my first time taking a GM in my fancy schmancy Amazing Grass drink carrier, and I was hoping that it wouldn't spill in my bag on the walk there!


I also brought 3 ears worth of fresh corn off the cob. Supposedly, fresh corn is not considered a starch (like cooked corn is), so you can eat endless amounts of it, according to the raw peeps out there. I usually add copious amounts of I Can't Believe it's not Butter spray and lots of salt and pepper to my corn, but 1) I'm trying to give up that processed garbage, and 2) it didn't even need any seasonings since it was sooo sweet and delicous. It tasted a bit like corn crossed with sugar snap peas, interestingly enough.

I went to the Chicago public lib first and then headed to Borders, where clearly I grabbed about every "raw" book I could get my hands on! Don't worry I didn't read all of these, but I wish I could have :) My FAVORITE thing to do when I have the time is to go to a bookstore and to spend alllllll day there reading books. Perfection!!

As excited as I was about my delicous corn that I brought with me for lunch, once I started eating it my stomach was rumbling..... I think I forgot that reading about food was bound to make me starving!! The corn tasted really good but did not do a good job of filling me up. The GM was good though, and was filling enough for a short while. Unfortunately, my hunger kept building and I had to leave the store early just because I could hardly wait to go home to eat something!! I had planned to walk home, but I was so darn hungry that I got on the bus, thinking it would get me there faster. Wrong-o! It was soo crowded with the Taste crowd and the upcoming holiday that I surely could have walked home faster.

Hummus was calling my name, and though I don't think it is "technically" raw, it is still healthy in my eyes, and I realized I haven't had hummus in a long, long time. Well, I MISSED THIS STUFF. WOW, is hummus good or what?!?! I threw some Whole Food's spinach hummus on top of some spinach, cuke, and tomato. The hummus didn't spread well so I put some more into my mini food processor with some lemon, garlic, and salt, and put more onto my salad. It was awesome and I definitely went back for more spoonfulls of the hummus!

I snacked on more than a few of my fab cookies from last night with some of this "fudge" from Whole Foods - not raw, but good stats nonetheless: it's fat free, is low-cal, and is sweetened with fruit, like pineapple juice! It was VERY good alongside the cookies.

For dinner I didn't have much of an appetite oddly enough, so I just had an avocado with some lemon juice and salt. I loveeeeeeeeeeee doing this, and it was simple yet delicious. Later that night I indulged my sweet tooth by having some dates dipped in chocolate PB.... until I realized that peanuts are considered to be off-limits foods while going raw, due to the heavy processing that they go through.... I think? I'm still learning :) To cover up my indiscretion, I had a couple of my vegan cookies, and called it a night!

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So, MarathonVal, why are you trying to "go raw"?

First of all, the reason why I am searching for ways to change my diet is because I frequently feel discomfort from my food choices. Although I feel better as a vegetarian than I ever did eating meat, I still frequently find myself feeling nauseous after eating certain foods. Now, I don't just mean after having 10 choc chip cookies, I mean like after a normal bowl of pasta, for example, that wouldn't bother most people.

The last few years I have gotten weird stomach cramps and pains after eating, particularly during times when I have to stand on my feet or walk around after eating. At my wedding last October, this even happened to me!! I feel terrible thinking about it now, but I shouldn't, because I know that it wasn't anything that I did wrong. Basically, I ate a normal meal at dinner and had only had about a 1/2 glass of wine so far, but my stomach became sooooo pained that I had to leave the reception for quite a while to unzip the dress because my stomach became so bloated and uncomfortable. (It's worse during events where I am wearing a dress or tight pants, because these particular foods make my stomach expand more than usual, which becomes painful if I am wearing tight clothing. It's happened at numerous weddings and other events like this).

So, I know a lot of people will think I'm nuts for trying to undergo any kind of "diet", especially something that sounds so extreme like the word "raw", but that is my main reason. Despite testing negative to food allergy tests, I still feel confident that there is something in my diet that causes me the discomfort. If I can find that food, eliminate it, and feel better, why would I not want to do this?

I found the raw plan to be so appealing because it just makes sense and resonates with me - it involves eating foods that are unprocessed and kept in their natural state, the way our bodies are meant to digest them.

There are many different ways to interpret "raw", and everyone does things a bit differently. Basically, people that eat "raw" believe that cooking foods over 118 degrees kills valuable food enzymes that our bodies need for digestion and to sustain other body functions.

There is also a lot of info out there about food combining, which is pretty complicated, and I won't bore you with the details since most of my readers I'm sure will not be undertaking a raw lifestyle anytime soon. Basically you just take care to eat certain foods together and certain foods apart so that you optimize digestion - if you combine foods that are both hard to digest, your body will send its energy to the food's digestion and you will then feel sluggish, tired, and moody.

Eating raw does NOT just mean raw veggies... I can also eat nut butters, desserts (I made a great cookie dessert yesterday!!), bread, cheese, pizza, ice cream, etc. I was suprised to find out what a varied diet you can have from eating raw!

For more information, please visit Gena's blog at www.choosingraw.com. She has been doing this for a long time, and is also a raw food counselor that can help you get started on this journey, if you so choose.

I have a ton of questions about this myself, which is why I'm trying to continue to do research and to learn more about it. If you have any tips for me, I would appreciate it, or if you have any questions, ask and I will do my best to find the answer. I am not going to attempt to be 100% raw, but am striving for "high raw", which is when you eat most of your meals this way, at least up until dinner. For example, the peanut butter that I snacked on this evening was NOT ok by strict raw standards, but I am going to cut myself some slack because I ate mostly raw food during the rest of the day.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried this with success! Also, would anyone be interested in going on this raw journey with me? I'd love to start a raw "support group"! :)

Long posting, coming up!

Hi friends! I promised I would get back on track once I was back in Chicago, but things have been so busy!! I started this blog once my job working in a school was out for the summer, and I am wondering how in the world I will find the time to blog regularly once I am working again!! Any advice, from any of you expert bloggers out there?

So, going back to YESTERDAY:
I woke up not very hungry, so I checked my email for a bit and then headed out for a run first thing. I had planned to run yesterday instead of today because the weather was super cool - highs in the 60s - which I LOVE! It was rainy for most of my 4 miler, which made it really enjoyable. In fact, I was sad when the rained stopped toward the tail end of the run.

Once I got back I STILL wasn't quite hungry, but eventually I had a bowl of blueberries - I had this bowl x2.Also, here is a picture of some Naturally More samples the company sent me: last night I dipped into the almond butter, which was great! However, Elise just notified me that except for the stuff that is specifically labeled as "raw", these, and most other nut butters, are NOT raw. But, I have them in the house, so I will probably eat them until they are gone! Hubby doesn't eat a lot of PB.

While staying with my grandpa in Indiana the past few days, I stumbled onto this guy - a mini, pint-sized version of a food processor. My gpa said I could take it since they have never used it - I was psyched because I was just about to spring for a full sized one, but they are so pricey!! Even though canned beans are not entirely "raw", to me they are still healthy and better than some crap I could eat instead, and again, they are something my husband won't eat so I wanted to use them up.

I threw the can of chickpeas (or were they garbanzo beans? does anyone know what the diff is?) into the mini FP with a little bit of lemon juice, some water, some garlic, and some salt. It was soooooo delicious and creamy!! I know technically if it doesn't have tahini in it than I don't it's called hummus, so I don't know what you want to call this concoction, but it was a great salad topping!

For dessert I made a GM with half soy milk, half almond milk, spinach, a shot of Amazing Grass wheatgrass, and a shot of Amazing Grass chocolate amazing meal. Yummy!

The plan for Wednesday night was for me and Mike to go to the Taste of Chicago. Now, oddly enough, even after living within an hour of Chicago for most of my life (and now living IN Chicago), I have never been to the Taste! Most people think it's miserable anyway - hot temps, crowds of people, the cops usually end up breaking up fights, etc. However, I had wanted to go at least once - especially since I hear they have a lot of fun new veggie options these days that I wanted to try! We also live pretty close to Grant Park so I figured it would be a fun night.

However, after getting a call from my friend Sarah, we made a last-minte change in plans. We were invited to go on a yacht ride on Lake Michigan to see the Navy Pier fireworks!!!! I was so excited to be asked (after getting over my initial discomfort with the whole boat idea - last time I was on a boat I got seasick!) - that I ran to the kitchen to whip up some treats to take on the boat.

The amazing, delectible cookie dough that I made was SO FABULOUS that I ate every last drop. Hmmmmm, so much for that plan to take some with me... so I went to the store to stock up on more ingredients, came back and made another big batch! Here's the recipe:

Yummy Yacht Balls:

3 c. coconut (unsweetened if you can find it) + 1/4 c. for dipping later

3 c. dates

3 c. walnuts

8 T. agave nectar

3 T. almond butter or other nut butter

dash of vanilla

pinch of salt

cinnamon to taste

Grind up the walnuts in food processor or nut grinder. Throw all ingredients into Kitchenaid mixer (or FP if you have a good one) until mixed. You can add more agave nectar or peanut butter if the flavor needs enhancing, or if it would help thin out the texture.

Now, I'm sure these would be awesome baked, but since they are egg-free and don't have to be baked (and I wanted to keep some sembance of raw-ness), I made them into balls and rolled them in remaining coconut. Store in freezer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please make these, your stomach will thank you!! ;)

Later for dinner I wanted to experiment with making pesto in my new mini. I threw in ALL of the basil off our little plant, some EVOO and lemon juice, garlic, and salt. This did nothing - I think I needed to have more ingredients for it to start to blend it properly. So, I threw in a ton of spinach and some water, and this ended up working ok. I also added some pine nuts for texture and flavor.

I tried to be cool (as a cucumber?) and make cucumber "pasta" by shaving it a la Gena-style (using a veg peeler since I don't have a fancy spiralizer), but the slices were too thin. It was decent.....

Luckily I had eaten about a dozen Yummy Yacht Balls prior to dinner so this filled me up.

Here are some pix from the beautiful yacht!!

Mike and I - I would have loved to get some pictures of the whole group (Sarah, Travis, Travis's cousin Andrew, and Andrew's girlfriend Gina), but the flash on my camera is broken so once it got dark there was no more picture taking for me.

The fireworks on Navy Pier!!! They were stunning!!

I snacked on a few of my YYB (which are healthy and vegan, in my opinion) on the yacht as well as went through a bottle of Riesling. I love Riesling! Nice and crisp for a night on the boat :)

Mike and I were completely stuffed by the time we got home around midnight. But.... I saw a package had come for me.

Ahh!!! I was SOOO excited to receive this enormous package from Newman's Own Organics!! Honestly, this picture doesn't do it justice, there is a TON of stuff here. Also, here is some info about the new Newman's Own Organics product line, that the company sent me:

"When Nell Newman and business partner Peter Meehan started Newman’s Own®
Organics: The Second Generation® in 1993, they were sure there was a market for organic snack foods, but they couldn’t have anticipated just how fast the demand for their products would grow. What started with pretzels and grew to include other snack foods has now expanded to many other organic items: coffee, tea, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, organic dried fruit, and pet food. The partners anticipate adding a number of new items each year in all these areas.
Nell approached her father in 1992 about the possibility of an organic division. He offered to cover one year’s expenses for Nell and Peter to determine the feasibility of an organic product line under the Newman name. The one stipulation was that, once established, they would return the seed money, so that it could be added to his charity money. They not only managed to do this within a short period of time, but also became an independent company in late 2000. This had been the goal from the beginning. They were, though, committed to following the philanthropic role of Paul Newman and bringing out products that he was proud to have his name associated with.

Newman’s Own® Organics' products meet all the requirements of the USDA’s National Organic Program. Ingredients have been grown on farms that have not used artificial fertilizers or pesticides for three years or more. The farms and processors have also met the USDA’s organic standards. The products are sold nationwide in a number of mainstream supermarkets and in a large number of stores featuring natural and health foods. The pet foods are sold in specialty pet stores as well as many of the other outlets.
The Newman’s Own® Organics Guide to the Good Life: Simple Measures that Benefit You and the Place You Live (Villard) written by Nell with Joseph D’Agnese was published in spring, 2003. It is filled with practical advice for improving the quality of one’s life and the environment without drastically altering one’s life. Packed with facts, anecdotes, humor, and a heavy dose of sanity, it is organized around the way people actually live, allowing readers to easily identify what areas of change are viable for them.
The sale of Newman’s Own Organics products generates money for the Newman’s Own Foundation to give away. Since 1982 Paul Newman and the Newman’s Own Foundation have donated more than $250 million dollars to educational and charitable organizations worldwide."

The truth is that I would never have eaten anything after I got home if I had not had that nice wine buzz going - I wasn't really hungry at all - but Mike and I were giddy with excitement about our new goodies!! So, we split these:

I LOVE white cheddar flavored anything, and this did not disappoint!!! I kept going on my own and had these:

They were good too, but left a super BBQ-y taste in my mouth which left me wanting something sweet. Instead of reaching for a healthy but delicous YYB, I reached for this....

I dipped these in some soy milk. Sooooo good!!! So far I'm extremely impressed with all of the Newman's Own Organic food products. I can't wait to try more of them! :)