17 kinds of produce in the HOUSE

Hi everyone!

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I hope you all had a fun Friday!

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I spent today hosting Day 1 of a 2-day garage sale with my MIL and grandmother-in-law. We had the garage sale at Mike's aunt's house, so let's just say there was enough Greek going around today to fill the Acropolis! Not too lucrative though........ today's earnings was a measly $75 :-/

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After an early 5am start to the day, I groggily fixed myself a juice. And... YUM!!! I was surprised to find that this gave me quite a boost of energy, at least for a little while. That morning I snacked on tons of fruit - a peach, some blueberries, and some blackberries.

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I also ate a banana bread flavored Larabar, which was just ok - "B" ok. I think I am comparing everything to the delicious cashew cookie flavor and that is a high bar to meet!

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Here's the pretty view through the trees above me that I wanted to capture.... not a view I get to see much in the city!

I see some of these in Chicago, but I still found them to be photo-worthy :)
Lunch was fresh from the garden!! I was served up some spinach with lemon and EVOO and some roasted peppers, while the Greeks feasted on - what else? - lamb ;) The peppers were really good, and it was my first time having purple peppers. These were sooooooo delicious.

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Have you ever seen or tried a purple pepper?!!? Somehow the flavor is out of this world!! It has a lot more of an intense flavor than regular peppers and is a bit sweet and kind of meaty tasting. I loved it and am now fixated on where to find these but I have never seen them at the grocery store! Does anyone in Chicago know where I can find these guys?!?!

I left the garage sale for a bit to go to the grocery store since going to the suburban grocery stores are like taking a trip back to the 1950s! As in, I got 7 bags of food and 17 kinds of produce (plus other stuff) - for only $85.00!!!

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I am psyched about all of the goodies I stocked up on!! Aside from some of the usual stuff, these are some things I am excited to use (most that I have never bought before):

- Yuca

- Daikon

- Beets

- Young coconut

- Rutabaga

- Ginger (surprisingly I've never bought fresh ginger since it's usually so expensive and since I have about 4 half-used jars of the dried stuff!)

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I am really looking forward to make some exciting dishes with these items!! Any ideas? What are your favorite ways to prepare these items?

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Later, the MIL and I basically attacked the mulberry trees like a lion on its prey. Have you ever had fresh mulberries?? I've never seen these at the store, but my dad used to grow these at our old house and eating them reminds me of my childhood! We literally were groping at these berries for about 20 minutes until all of the ripe ones were eaten. Sooo good, except for the telltale blue hands (and feet) - that stuff doesn't come off easily!

After a tiring 2 hour drive home, dinner part 1 was comprised of leftover coleslaw.

And tons of dates, snacked on while I type this! This is the plan for dinner part 2.....

I'm sure you are all sick of leftovers, so it will be nice once I start cookin all of those newfangled, weird veggies I bought today ;)

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Tomorrow is a 13 miler - yikes!!! That's like running a half marathon, yet I am approaching it as a regular old training run which is kind of funny. Then, it's back to the garage sale - let's hope I have better luck tomorrow!

Gratitude Journal:

1. Was able to wake up today without coffee.... thank goodness for Cornelius the rockstar juicer ;)

2. Despite not making a lot of moolah it was nice to sit outside in the sun today with Mike's fam

3. I know this is dorky to say but I could NOT be happier about all of the cheap but great produce I bought today!!!

4. Today ended up being an "off" exercise day since I had to get up so early, but while I missed the exercise it was a nice break and I know it will give my body the rest it needs for its 13 miler tomorrow

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The next time I talk to you guys it will be AUGUST..... crazy!!!!

Big Fat Greek Rooftop party

Last night we got home too late for me to post, since I had an early wake-up call today, so here is what happened yesterday after I posted last:

Lunch was very early, around 10:00 or 10:30 I think. I was craving veggies... my tastebuds are DEFINITELY warped these days, I've always loved veggies but I've never wanted them instead of sweet stuff until now.

Leftover guac with 2 huge carrot sticks. A square of the real deal - 100% cocoa - I got this idea from Heather but wasn't sure if I was bad ass enough to eat it with NO added sugar. Surprisingly it was pretty good! It is still very creamy and melts in your mouth like chocolate, but because it is bitter I wasn't tempted to eat the whole bar in one sitting - I actually was able to stop at just one square - so this will do my wallet good!

Mike was lucky enough to score us seats at our first rooftop event to watch the Cubs game! All of the rooftops look awesome but we were definitely at one of the biggest ones. This event (sponsored by a company Mike does business with) had multiple well-stocked open bars and had food, as well, plus they threw in a goody bag per person complete with binoculars, which is kinda cool since we live in a high-rise and now we can spy on our neighbors ;) ...just kidding... maybe...

I started off by having a cabernet sauvignon and a water.

Great view of the skyline - that's supposed to be Harry Carrey's face on the back of that rooftop

Robyn (who's originally from Detroit), eating her first Chicago-style hotdog!

While the rest of the crew enjoyed their carnivorous eats, I will happy to have a plate of kosher spears..... seriously, I was! I'd take a good pickle over meat any day :)

With Mike, his brother Anthony, and Anthony's girlfriend, Robyn

Some chardonnay - not so good, so my third (and final glass of the day) was some more cab.

They actually did have veggie burgers - if you want to call them that...... although the cooks claimed they were Gardenburgers, instead of coming in burger form they were frozen together into one huge glob that looked like a frozen turkey! So, it took 15 minutes to get one "burger" and really it was just a chopped up mess.

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I had about 3 of these bowlfuls since there wasn't much in them, plus mustard, pickles, and raw onion on top.

Mike and I

We went to the company's "after party" at Rockit Bar for a bit to schmooze with the clients before heading back to Robyn's place where I had a bananaand some strawberries

and this entire bagfull, minus the 2 or 3 that Mike had. Hey, I love me some dates! This, my friends, is why someone needs to send me about 20 bags of bulk dates because I go through these like water....Although I was ready to go home since I knew I had a long run this morning, we stopped by the Hellenic Professionals Society (for young Greek professionals in Chicago) since Mike's a member and they had a big roof-top outing.

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Unfortunately, though we had great weather for the rooftop Cubs game, by this time at night it had started raining and Mike and I looked like two wet rats in this photo...

I was still kind of hungry by the time we got home - I didn't feel like I had eaten that much that day and I think my body needed some more carbs before the upcoming long run - so I grabbed a new flavor of Larabar.

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Even though it's called "cocoa mole", for some reason I thought that was a cutesy name for a chocolate bar... it didn't even occur to me that it was spicy, aka, spicy mole sauce!!

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It contained chili powder which gave it an interesting kick. It wasn't terrible, but the chocolate flavor was bit disappointing so I would probably give it a B-.

I'll post again soon, but first I wanted to catch up with yesterday. Have a great Saturday everyone! :)

Day 1 without a camera

This is what I may need come Christmas-time if mine doesn't get fixed: I think I left off my talking about my yummy raw, vegan soup from lunch! I had the entire batch of soup, which was about three small bowls-worth, over the course of a couple hours while I did stuff around the house - and read blogs, of course :)

Then I wanted something sweet, so I tried my first Larabar. I tried the "Pecan Pie" flavor. I knew these were "raw-friendly" so I grabbed a couple the last time I was at the store, but, contrary to what I always do, for some reason I didn't look at the ingredients while in the store. Suprisingly, the only ingredients were pecans, dates, and almonds! Wow, talk about a simple snack. It was really good :) even though I probably could have made a similar bar myself for cheaper......... but I guess it's the type of thing that is nice to have around since they travel well.

I had a couple pieces of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread later that afternoon with a few smears of Earth Balance. What a great combo!! For those of you who haven't tried Ezekiel bread, is is made mostly from sprouted wheat and barley, and contains NO flour. It is considered to be raw, and thus can be combined with other "starch" foods. I loved it with the buttery Earth Balance on top! Two squares of Lindt dark chocolates followed up this treat - what a perfect mid-afternoon snack :)

Dinner was comprised of a super light and refreshing salad - grape tomatoes, lots of cilantro, some fresh oregano from Yaya's garden, carrots, and a dressing made from lemon juice, PureVia, and a bit of salt. It was very good, but not filling enough, so I decided to make My First Nut Cheese!!!

Today I was in the neighborhood of Trader Joe's, so I bought multiple bags of raw nuts since that is the cheapest place to get them. I threw about 1/2 cup of cashews into my mini FP, some water, lemon juice, and salt, and lo and behond, "nut cheese" was the result!!

This stuff is GOOD. It is so good that I specifically remember thinking to myself that "if I could eat this good all the time, eating raw would be soooo enjoyable!" I used this as a dip for some carrot sticks.

I snacked on many, many dates, some of them dipped in some raw almond butter (just purchsed from TJ). I have to say, I am really proud of myself for eating "high-raw" today - and interestingly enough, despite having a full, satisfying amount of food all day, I have had no stomach pains, which is part of the reason I'm doing this. That's a great sign, right :) However, I hate to say it, but being slightly perfectionistic and neurotic, I'm worried that eating an abundance of rich, caloric foods like guac, nut butters, and dates will mean that I may pack on the pounds. Supposedly, if you follow a raw diet you never have to weigh food or count calories, which is very appealing to me.

I would love to hear from those of you who have tried this with success (or not)! Was/is this a concern of yours? Any advice for me and other readers about this?