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Posts Tagged Vegetarian

The Lean, Light and LARGE Smoothie

Mar 16

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Happy Friday FitFeat Friends!

It’s amazing how good one can feel after a few consecutive nights of really great sleep!  Today’s workout was fabulous.

  • Dynamic warmup for 5 minutes + some rotator cuff exercises
  • Deep smith squats (I mean DEEP.  Hamstrings touching calves)
  • Overhead shoulder presses
  • DB rows with horizontal grip
  • Curtsy lunges with weight vest
  • Back extensions on the ball
  • Ball crunches
  • Biceps with the band
  • Triceps with the band
  • Angled pushups on smith machine with varying hand placements

And later today, when the weather is supposed to be mid-70s I get to do a little socialcizing at my favorite hilly loop with a good friend for some catch up time.  It’s going to be a great day!

After weights this morning, I made a super post-workout smoothie.


This thing was massive!  32 ounces.  It didn’t even fit into my large cup!  It was like the Big Gulp of smoothies!

So I wondered – if my smoothie is THIS big and this filling, what kind of calories are we talking here?  Just out of curiosity I decided to enter it into a calorie calculator to check.  In addition to 10 ounces of water and a couple of ice cubes, here are the ingredients and the calorie info (if it is hard to read, click on the image to see it full-size):

Only 216 calories and a very solid balance of protein and carbs.  I don’t mind that the fat is low, because I get plenty of healthy fats in my lunches and dinners by way of avocado, egg yolks, olive oil and more.

Look at all the goodies packed into this smoothie: Ginger is included for its anti-inflammatory properties, not mention helpful for digestion and it is a warming ingredient.  Lemon for a boost of alkalinity.  Mixed berries (black, blue and strawberries) rich in antioxidants.  Frozen organic spinach because no meal is complete without some leafy greens!  Cucumber (also anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich) for healthy connective tissue and cleansing water content.  Celery – hello fiber!

If you are looking for a calorie controlled breakfast option that you can eat on the run, this one’s for you!

Have a fabulous Friday friends!  And a safe and fun St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

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Dressed Up Like Tabouleh

Mar 15

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

I LOVE tabouleh (or tabouli if that’s how you prefer to spell it). :D I love it made using couscous as the base or quinoa as the base or bulgur or chickpeas… you name it.  So it occurred to me that I should just put the flavors I love from tabouleh into a salad dressing and then I can just drizzle it over EVERYTHING (read: leafy greens).


Tabouleh Salad Dressing:

As written this will yield just under 1/2 cup.  Add more or less of any of these ingredients to adjust to your own taste. I like the tang of lemon so it’s in equal parts with the olive oil.

  • 1 cup parsley tops
  • 1/3 cup mint leaves (from about 4 small sprigs)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or other favorite cold-pressed oil, like hemp)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 small lemons depending on their size and juiciness)
  • 1/2 clove of garlic, minced or pressed (if you like garlic, go for the whole clove!)
  • sea salt and pepper to taste – start with 1/4 tsp of each and adjust as you like

Place all ingredients into a small blender or Magic Bullet and blend until smooth.  Store in a glass jar.  I use it fairly quickly anyway, but I’d say definitely try to use it up within 3-5 days.

The advantages to this dressing are that you can use a good amount on your salad if you so desire.  Plus you are basically adding more greens to your greens!  It doesn’t get much healthier than that!



I added it to salads and drizzled it into wraps.  I love it with greens, chopped red onion, chopped tomato, cucumber and avocado.

To add some extra Middle Eastern flair, heat a Falafel Sunshine Burger to crumble over a salad or into your wrap.



Super fast, very easy and extremely GREEN!

– Shari B. =)

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Recipes to Inspire: Volume 3

Feb 7

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes to Inspire | 4 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to do another installment of the Recipes to Inspire series, in case you are going to be cooking for your Valentine.  Here are some of the recipes I’ve seen around the interwebs ;) that have caught my eye.

Red Curry Salmon Chowder

Besides the fact that this just LOOKS delicious, what I am really drawn to in this recipe is all the healthy fats.  Smack in the middle of winter means drier skin and hair, at least where I live.  My hands especially have been really dry, so I’ve been boosting my intake of the good fats to try to alleviate that without always needing lotion.  This recipe is chock full of healthy fats:  coconut oil, coconut milk and salmon.  The ginger and spicy pepper will make it a warming dish as well, perfect for dinner on a cold mid-February evening.

Nothing to tweak on this one – it’s written by one of my instructors and she’s a healthy eating maestro!

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

I adore crab cakes (or really any type of fish cake!).  It’s something I especially enjoy when dining out because I like to compare them from one restaurant to the next (even though I know when I eat them out I’m getting a few days’ worth of fat intake!).  I think the twist of adding jalapeño to them is interesting and original.

Shari Tweaks:  While I do have panko in my pantry, I usually sub my own bread crumbs that I make with the leftover heels from my sprouted grain loaves.  For pan frying, I’ll use coconut oil rather than the canola oil listed in the recipe.  As far as the slaw/salsa part of the recipe, I think I’d look for something a little different than what is shown because if I read this correctly the slaw is undressed?  I think this Southwestern Corn Slaw looks fun and light!

“Poor Man’s” Shrimp Cocktail (but no fish!)

How fun is this one?  It’s from the recent issue of Bon Appetit.  It’s not really shrimp.  It’s cauliflower!  Boiled in Old Bay.  I must try this.  I have some friends coming over for dinner in a few days – this might be a fun and easy appetizer.

Not really any tweaks to make to the recipe because everything is pretty straightforward.

Philly Cheese Steak (in your crock pot!)

So now that I’ve shared a bunch of ‘fishy’ recipes, I figured I better include one that MY Valentine would appreciate and eat, since he doesn’t like fish.   He loves Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches though and the fact that this one is for the crock pot is ideal, because I have a personal chef job that day and the LAST thing I want to do when I get home from cooking all day is cook some more!  :D   This way I can have something at the ready with just a few minutes of prep when I walk in the door.

Shari Tweaks:  Since I’m not much for meat myself, I’ll add a few large sliced portobello mushrooms to the crockpot over to one side to be the ‘steak’ portion for my sandwich.  And I’ll probably pick up a whole wheat demi-baguette to use in place of the roll, and hollow it out a bit for serving.

***

Any big plans for Valentine’s Day?  If you are cooking, what’s on the menu?

***

For fun:  I love the idea from last week’s “Parks and Recreation” episode of getting all your gal pals together on February 13th for “Galentine’s Day“.  If you could use a chuckle, check out this slideshow of Leslie Knope’s “Tips for Creating Your Own Galentine’s Day“

See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

Previous Recipes to Inspire Posts:

Volume 1

Volume 2

 

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Blackstrap & Mirin Caramelized Onions

Oct 4

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Good morning friends!

I have been in an onion mood lately – not sure why.  I made a batch of dehydrated onions right before I went on vacation and ate them like a snack when we got back.  Then I decided to make a batch of caramelized onions to have in the fridge to reheat and add to different dishes.  I’m sure this drives Cory nuts, as he is definitely not an onion fan.  Not only did the house smell like them but so did I!  :)

I thinly sliced one onion (since it’s just me that will eat them).

I preheated my skillet over medium heat and then added a bit of ghee to my pan.  In this instance I prefer ghee because it maintains its ‘silkiness’ in the bottom of the pan for the duration of the cooking, since these will be in there for a while.

While they were cooking away on the stovetop, and just turning to their golden brown phase, I add in about a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses for flavor (and a health boost of minerals and iron).  I let my onions go for about 30 minutes (longer if they are thicker sliced).

This time though, I decided to deglaze the pan with a few splashes MIRIN (a sweet Japanese rice wine).  Deglazing is when you add a liquid (sometimes stock, water, or something acidic like a vinegar or citrus juice) to the pan and scrape up all of the brown caramelization in the bottom – that’s where your flavor is.

The mirin added so much flavor and worked really well with the blackstrap.  I wanted to just eat these onions straight out of the pan!

But I restrained myself and used half of them for a cup of onion soup using some overnight crock pot mineral broth I’d pulled from the freezer the night before, and served it with some sprouted grain bread sprinkled with some goat gouda and toasted.

This turned out to be a really fun and delicious lunch.

Better go refill the breath mints in my purse! ;)

What food have you been craving lately?

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Walk for Farm Animals

Sep 21

Posted by Shari B. in Food Rants | 1 Comment

Hi friends!

I found out about this event completely by chance from a retweet on Twitter recently and since I got excited about it, I wanted to help spread the word.  Let me preface this post by stating that I don’t ‘officially’ fall under the categories of fully vegan or completely vegetarian.  I’m not trying to convince people not to eat meat.  (I will admit I love to see people avoid factory farmed products and minimize their consumption of animal products in general.)  Regardless of “diet labels”, and whether or not you eat meat, one thing is certain.  Factory farmed animals really do live HORRENDOUS lives.  As an animal lover and a compassionate being on this planet, it breaks my heart when I see and hear these accounts.

You may already be familiar with Farm Sanctuary.  (If not, you can read more about the organization HERE.)  I’ve seen Gene Bauer in a few food-related documentaries and I admire what he’s doing.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

We started out by visiting farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document conditions, and we found animals literally left for dead. Hilda, a sheep found on a pile of dead animals behind Lancaster Stockyards, was the first animal to be rescued by Farm Sanctuary. She lived with us for more than a decade, and died of old age.

Through the years, we have rescued thousands of animals, and educated millions of people about their plight. People are shocked to learn about the intolerable conditions that are commonplace on today’s industrialized farms.

That’s why “Walk for Farm Animals” appealed to me.  And I was excited to see that there is one in Denver!  It looks like there are a bunch of them all over the country AND early registration is only $15.  If you are at all interested in participating, here is a link to their website to search for locations.  They also have a “Sleep In for Farm Animals” option.

I think I may have a walking buddy or two (more if I count my pups, since DOGS are welcome!).  If you’re in Colorado and think you’ll be attending, let me know!  And if this is something you believe in, pass on this post to help get more people walking for this cause.

– Shari B. =)

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Autumn Vegetable Ragu with Pumpkin, Fennel and Sage

Sep 14

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 3 Comments

Hi there friends!

Is it just me or does it feel like today should be FRIDAY not WEDNESDAY?  The weather here is dreary and a little on the chilly side (high of 58 today).  My internal solar battery is running low already today.  I feel like I need a nap or some caffeine.  One or the other.

Hope you guys aren’t getting too sick of me, what with all this daily posting again during the ‘challenge‘ days!  It’ll be over in a couple of days and then I will be back in ‘travel mode’ again so you’ll get a breather!  ;)

So yesterday’s exercise was an EARLY hilly interval running session with some extra-intense intervals on a steep long hill tacked on at the end.  I was feeling pretty beat when it was done.  I’ve been running on an empty stomach again because I noticed I felt less sluggish.  However on this particular day, I wish I’d had something prior because I could have used the extra oomph!

My post-workout meal was a smoothie made with kale, cucumber, frozen pineapple, mint, pepitas and some raw plant protein powder.

Some other highlights of the day included leftover fajita veggies for lunch, this time in a “Southwest” tortilla that I picked up at Whole Foods.

Times two, because it was delicious.  The red, yellow and orange peppers were so sweet and flavorful on their own, the only ‘condiment’ I added was smear of garlic that I’d roasted when I made the veggies.  No need for standard fajita fare here (meaning cheese or sour cream) – it would just detract from the natural flavors of the good stuff!

And a wonderful treat that I split up throughout the day into 2 servings.  A bubbly!!  Mmmmm kombucha!

I was looking forward to cooking dinner because I recently found some tomatoes packaged in an aseptic box rather than in a can!

Love the ingredients list:

Nothing but tomatoes!

I made kind of a pumpkin-infused vegetable ragu.  I’ll call it Autumn Ragu with Pumpkin, Sage & Fennel.  In last month’s Good Housekeeping, there was a recipe for Linguine with Carrot Turkey Ragu that sparked the idea.  But I totally revamped it and did my own thing.  Here’s my take on it:  I sauteed some onion, carrot and fennel, then added fresh garlic, a little cinnamon and some rubbed sage (dried).  I deglazed the pot with red wine then added the tomatoes and a cup of pureed pumpkin.  I let it all simmer for about an hour and then I added some Eden (BPA free) lentils, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some fresh basil. The idea with the lentils was to provide texture (and a little protein) that a meat normally would have.

I spiralized some carrot and zucchini into ribbons to serve along with spaghetti noodles (you can add them to the pasta water with the noodles for the last minute of cooking to take the cold edge off the spiralized veggies).  Whenever I use pasta, I almost always try to cut it down by at least half using some sort of vegetable (like these ribbons, or spaghetti squash or kelp/tofu noodles).

And dinner was served!  (There I go doing something with some Italian influence again.  It looks like a marinara based meat sauce, but taste-wise  you get the pumpkin and fennel undertones with a hint of the cinnamon).

This was another meatless dinner that Cory and I were able to enjoy together.  His review was that the sauce was very “meaty” for not having any meat in it and that the only thing missing was “garlic bread on the side”.   :D

Late evening I had a little Teecino with almond milk and a bit of dry cereal.

So today’s question (which maybe someday should be a whole post topic and discussion):  do you find that you actually USE cookbooks or recipes?  I don’t write out the meals I make “recipe style” very often here, because my hope is that something I make will just spark your creativity with whatever you happen to have in your own kitchen at the time.  I love to READ cookbooks (and I own a bunch of them too) but truth be told I just don’t use them very often.  I have also read through the recipes on a zillion blogs, but have probably only tried a handful over the course of 3-1/2 years of blog reading.  Usually I’ll try a recipe from a cookbook checked out from the library or I’ll adapt one from an online source, like Epicurious.com.

Have a fabulous Friday friends!  (Ha, just kidding:  make that Wednesday!)

– Shari B. =)

 

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Grill Fajitas

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi friends!

Well we’re in the remaining days of the *3 weeks of cleaner eating* challenge.  How have you been doing?  Overall I’ve done well during the weekdays, but still have allowed some sneaky refined foods into my weekend eats.

Yesterday’s breakfast was 2 pieces of sprouted grain toast with almond butter, miso and drizzle of honey.  I had a “carb strong” meal because I was going on a cleaning frenzy the first half of the day so I needed some energy.  (I’m even SORE today from the cleaning if you can believe it!)  I moved around furniture to do some deep cleaning, did some hand scrubbing on hardwood floors then polished with the BONA mop, vacuumed our main level, our upstairs and our basement, cleaned all the mirrors in my training studio, pulled a ton of weeds in our front yard landscaping, ran the trimmer and the lawnmower in the front yard, etc. etc. etc.  I was beat!  And at the end of it I decided I miss having a 700 sq ft apartment.  The cleaning process was so much quicker!  :D

It was about 3 1/2 hours in all.  And you can bet I counted it as my exercise for the day!

Late morning I had a scoop of greens powder mixed in water:

For lunch I made some egg salad with two hard boiled eggs, chopped celery, Vegenaise and mustard, pepper and Hungarian sweet paprika.

I ate it along with a handful of baked pita chips.

Mid-afternoon I had half of a coconut cream pie Larabar and then got busy getting dinner prepped so that it could marinate for a few hours.

I was planning some fajitas on the grill, so I mixed up some lime juice, grapeseed oil, cumin, coriander, chipotle powder, a pinch of cayenne, black pepper, ground garlic and some Alderwood smoked sea salt:

It was veggies for me and chicken for Cory.  I used half of that crazy large zucchini, along with some onion, and a trio of sweet bell peppers.

I ate my ‘fajita’ without a tortilla since I was having a side of rice.

I’ve been using my cast iron pan on the grill here and there, along with my dutch oven.  It’s such a nice way to use high heat outside and not overheat the whole kitchen.  But I definitely need more practice out there, because I’m so used to being able to really control the heat on my stovetop.  It’s not quite as easy on the grill.  But it turned out OK and we had a nice little dinner and a LOT of leftovers!

Are you a GRILL MASTER?  Do you prefer using your grill to your stovetop or oven?  What’s your favorite grilled food (or just ‘cooked outdoors’ food)?  I know Cindy has been doing a lot of outdoor cooking this year (check out her solar oven!) so I bet she has some tips to share!

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Weekend of Weddings

Sep 2

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hi friends!

Are you excited it’s Friday?  I love long holiday weekends.  They feel like little vacations. We have so much planned for the weekend in addition to that hike I mentioned yesterday.  We’ll be going to the wedding of my good friends Beth and Jason (very excited about that!), hopefully dropping in on the Taste of Colorado to try some interesting eats, and I’m sure we’ll see a movie at some point because that’s just how we roll.  There’s another wedding happening this weekend as well – my cousin Carrie is getting married in California.  Unfortunately I don’t get to go to that one, but I’m thinking I should probably eat TWO pieces of wedding cake at Beth’s reception, in order to honor Carrie’s, right?   ;)

Congrats to BOTH sets of the soon-to-be newlyweds!

I’m excited for all of you!

***

Let’s talk about yesterday!

Thursday’s workout was an intense run at my favorite hilly spot.  Hike up the first steep big hill, then run fast on the downhills and “sprint” intervals on the uphills.  I put “sprint” in quotations because it’s an attempt to sprint for sure, but when going uphill you feel like one of those cartoon characters whose feet are moving so fast they are all a blur, but the rest of the body’s not moving at all.  :D

It was a gorgeous morning for it – getting outside for a run as the sun comes up is always a great way to start the day, even if I do grumble a little while I’m getting ready to go.  ;)

Before I left for the run I had my half-caff coffee and a little serving of Mom’s Best Naturals Toasty O’s for some fuel.

When I got back I felt the need for some GREEN but not of the smoothie variety because I just wasn’t too hungry.  This would my lazy version of a green smoothie – dried greens powder mixed with water:

Morning snack was cucumber cups filled with hummus and topped with leftover tempeh strips:

When lunchtime rolled around, I took a peek in the fridge and realized I had a lot of Italian-ish items (shocker right?  :)   Somehow I always have Italian goods…. they are my FAVORITE!):

So I made a little sauté of mushrooms, zucchini and shallots in balsamic, then tossed in cannellini beans and arugula toward the end.

I also made some whole wheat penne pasta which was tossed with pesto.  The veggies were served alongside and then topped off with a few flakes of raw goat cheese and a chopped heirloom tomato from my garden:

It was a TINY tomato…

But it was sweet and succulent, almost like you could taste all the nurturing that’s gone into the plant over the summer.

I’m glad it was good, because so far it’s been the only one we’ve gotten out of the garden this year.

After lunch I was craving a little chocolate, so I mixed up some almond butter, protein powder, carob powder and agave, pressed it together into a ball shape then tossed it around in hemp seeds.

I’m guessing the are somewhat similar to Gina’s protein balls, but I didn’t measure anything so I have no clue if they taste the same or not.

It was a delicious little bite and shut down the “craving monster”.

In the afternoon I had a few slices of raw goat cheese along with some unpictured Mary’s Gone Crackers flax crackers.

By dinnertime, I was feeling a little how Riley looked… which is to say TUCKERED OUT:

For dinner I made some brown rice with some shallot gravy (made with minced shallots, olive oil, spelt flour and vegetable stock) to serve with the last of the meatless loaf from earlier in the week.  But I just couldn’t bring myself to eat ANY MORE of that loaf.  As much as I loved it, I’d eaten it too many times this week.  So I just had a few ramekins of the rice and gravy while Cory cleaned up the loaf.

Then later a protein shake and piece of toasted Ezekial.

Mmmm it was a yummy day!

I hit up Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocer’s today to gather some goods to make a fun dinner tonight in honor of Labor Day weekend.  I’m crossing my fingers it turns out.  I’m trying a product I’ve never worked with before so I have no idea what to expect!  But I’ll share the results with you tomorrow!

Have a beautiful evening and a LOVELY start to your Labor Day weekend!  See ya tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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Another Fun Use for Coconut Oil

Sep 1

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Hi friends!  It’s Thursday!  Wahoo, that means a new episode of Jersey Shore tonight!  :D   I readily admit to turning my brain to mush each week during JS and Bachelor Pad 2.  There’s something to be said about watching people behaving badly on TV that just makes you realize you are pretty darn normal.

So here is a random tidbit I came across the other day:  did you know you can use extra virgin COCONUT OIL as an underarm DEODORANT???  WHAT??  (Is there anything coconut oil CAN’T do?)  I have been on the lookout for something to replace my good ol’ Secret solid.  Yes it works great, but regular antiperspirant/deodorants really are just chock full of toxins.  I’ve known this but it’s been the one thing I haven’t yet fully embraced for replacement.  I’d heard great things about WELEDA deodorants from one of my instructors last year, and in doing some reading on it again this week I ran across some bulletin boards where people had good luck with coconut oil.  Well… I have it in the house so rather then drop $10 on the WELEDA, I’ll try this first.  I already keep some in my bathroom to use as a moisturizer.

I mean it does make sense, since coconut oil has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Obviously you’ll still SWEAT because there’s nothing in it to prevent that.  But sweating is good for you because it releases toxins through the skin.

So after my shower, I rubbed on the coconut oil until it had absorbed.  And at the end of the day, there was no odor!  I did sweat a little here and there when I was toasty, but no “pit smell” at all!  (Poor Cory even [begrudgingly] put up with me saying, “smell my pits – do I stink to you??” in the evening.  If only I had a camera handy for the look on his face… the things that man endures being married to me!)

Going forward, when I’m out in public wearing something that I don’t want to sweat in, like a nice blouse, I’ll still stick with conventional for now, but on days when I’m not dressed up you can bet I’ll be rocking the coconut oil!  Pretty cool!

Have you tried this?  Do you have any alternative deodorant brands you recommend?

***

On to the food recap: after my killer leg workout yesterday and my delicious post-workout green smoothie, my mid-morning snack consisted of toasted Ezekial with a hearty schmear of blueberry goat cheese.  We found the cheese on a recent Costco outing (they have a GREAT cheese selection for those of you looking for organics, for raw, for goat cheese, for sheep cheese – tons of cheese!).  And it did not disappoint – so so good!  While it will stain everything in sight (teeth, lips, fingers, white shirts!), it’s quite worth it!

For lunch I needed to cook up some tempeh that’s been sitting in the fridge.  So I sautéed some onion slices in one pan, sprinkled with Hungarian sweet paprika.  I sautéed sliced mushrooms in another pan with some Spanish Hot Smoked paprika and smoked sea salt, and then cooked the tempeh in the sides of both pans.

I used romaine leaves as little “taco shells” and stuffed them with the goods, the drizzled with a touch of ranch dressing, to “cool off” the heat of the rest of the meal.

It was pretty darn good!

My afternoon snack was a mini homemade Mocha Frap, blending ice, chocolate egg protein powder, almond milk, a small squeeze of chocolate syrup and a few shakes of decaf VIA.  Totally hit the spot on the 98 degree day!

Dinner was late and eaten in a bit of a rush… but I still tried to savor each bite.  Two eggs, scrambled with some arugula and fresh garlic then rolled into a whole grain tortilla.  Quick and yummy!

Fortunately I can slow down a bit today and eat more GREENS because my work week is done for the most part, so I’m kind of unofficially in “Labor Day Weekend” mode!

Any big plans for the weekend?  I really (really really) want to get out for a hike!  It’s been WAY too long!

If you need a movie recommendation for the weekend, definitely check out The Help. Cory and I saw it last weekend and we both thought it was FABULOUS!  Fellas, it’s not a chick flick.  It’s worth seeing no matter your gender.  Heartbreaking and heartwarming all in one.  I read the book a few years ago when it first came out, but this time the movie even succeeded in surpassing the awesomeness of the book.

Have a GREAT day blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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The Big 4-0-0

Aug 30

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Hi blog buds!  So excited that a lot of you are on board for the 3 weeks of clean eating challenge! Thank you for sharing your workouts and food, love reading what you guys are doing!

Today is another FitFeat milestone and that is the 400th post!  Interestingly enough, if you do a 4 exercise ladder workout this week you’ll be doing 400 reps!  (koinkydink!)

I’ll be planning the leg ladder for later this morning. I’m a little freaked out at how sore my legs will be tomorrow, if the soreness in my chest/back is any indication.

Recap of yesterday’s eats:

Lunch was a Smoky Mushroom Salad from my newly purchased Speed Vegan cookbook (using two of my all-time favorites on my spice wall:  smoky paprika and smoked sea salt).

Along with a plate of spiralized zucchini and arugula topped with a vegan meatsauce:

The ‘meat sauce’ was some leftover spicy tomato and peach sauce I’d made for dinner last weekend and I added leftover crumbled Walnut & Black Soybean meatless meatloaf that I’d made Sunday for lunch:

Both of my lunch dishes were mighty spicy so I needed just a bite of something to cool my palate a bit.  A little of this goat cheese with blueberries did the trick:

In the afternoon I had a piece of Miso Almond Butter Toast:

With a side of Teeccino and almond milk:

Teeccino rocks!  I’ve had it off and on for about 15 years now but it works great in a Keurig machine, so that I can just make single cups.  If you’ve never heard of it, look into it.  It’s herbal “coffee”.  It tastes somewhat like coffee but without the caffeine and acidity.  Maybe someday I’ll switch to all Teeccino and give up my coffee habit.  But not yet.  ;)

Here are the ingredients in this bag of Teeccino:

For dinner I had leftover meatless meatloaf again, this time as an open-faced sandwich and a side salad:

This meatless loaf is incredibly filling.  You use crushed walnuts and black soybeans as the base, along with some sauteed veggies and a lot of spices.  I found this recipe in a book I borrowed from the library called “New Vegetarian“.  I was worried that it wouldn’t hold together well like a regular meatloaf and I was right.  So when I try it again, I’ll add some egg to it (or maybe a flax / chia ‘egg’ mix) to see if it binds better.  It’s not pretty but it sure tastes good!

After dinner Cory and I took a walk – it was perfect weather so I had to get out in it for a bit since I’d been inside all day long.  I can’t believe how short the days are getting already.

OK, friends – I better get downstairs for today’s workout!  Challengers:  If you want to be accountable, post here with your food and/or exercise if you’d like to!

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday!

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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