I'm back!

I wrote the last post in August right before we left for our trip to San Diego. After a fun and tiring two week trip, we came home and packed our house and moved down the street! We were very excited to buy our home, yet the timing was crazy! The kids were starting school and we were still exhausted from our trip. We closed escrow on August 31st and moved in. I am happy to say that tonight we unpacked the last of the boxes that we have had planned and are ready to get our lives moving again!
It was hard to not get to cook for a few weeks. Having meals brought it from friends and neighbors was a huge blessing, but we have truly gotten out of our grove!
It was nice this week to cook again in my new kitchen.
I thought I would celebrate this post with a fun and unusual side dish.

Cauliflower Rice

Directions:
On your cutting board, cut one head of cauliflower up into large chunks. You then want to put half the batch in your food processor and pulse until the cauliflower resembles rice grains. When it is to that point, dump out the blended mixture and pour on a baking sheet. Pulse the second half the same way and add to the baking sheet.
I then drizzled olive oil, lightly over the top.
I finished with freshly cracked pepper, sea salt, onion, and garlic powder.

Bake at 400, stirring every 5 minutes until the edges start to brown. Enjoy with stir-fry, or veggies, or just by itself. We actually had it with free range, organic, BBQ chicken, something we haven't had in a LONG time and fresh green beans! The kids didn't even ask what it was...they just ate it. I thought it looked like couscous!

Have a fabulous Day!

Awesome Dinner

I had a few of my nephews over for dinner Sunday night and we had an awesome dinner.

I made:

zucchini soup

roasted vegetables

green salad with strawberries and pomegranate dressing

vegan peach cobbler with raw coconut butter lime sauce

Here are the recipes:

Roasted Vegetables:

Cut up the veggies of your choice in good sized chunks. We used red potatoes, onion from our garden, carrots, sweet potatoes and yams. Once everything is cut, just toss the veggies in a few tablespoons of coconut oil, a few cloves or garlic,

sea salt and fresh cracked pepper...that's it! I thoug

ht I was eating candy...the coconut oil was amazing. I WILL NOT roast any veggies in any other oil except coconut. It really brings out the flavors. I glared at David as he doused his in BBQ sauce...oh well...some people never learn ;).

Green Salad with Pomegranate Dressing:

This salad was romaine, spinach, and mixed greens. I added sliced strawberries, sliced naval oranges, 1/2 bunch green onions, pecans, and a little feta cheese. The dressing is from my friend Cody... we all LOVED it. Thanks girl!

Cody's Pomegranate Dressing:

In a small jar, add:

1 C. POM juice

3 T. balsamic vinegar

3 T. honey

3 T. oli

ve oil

zest of one orange

sea salt and pepper to taste

Shake up and refrig

erate until ready t

o use! YUMMY!

Vegan Peach Cobbler with Coconut Butter Lime Sauce:

In the bottom of a 13x9 pan, or equivalent (mine was a big oval dish), layer fresh (or frozen) peeled, sliced peaches. I use

d white peaches...such a great, unique flavor.

Then, in a separate bowl add:

1/2 C. co

conut oil

1/2 C. agave

3/4 C to 1 C. raw cane juice crystals (or sugar if you don't have raw sugar)

1 C. white wheat whole-wheat flour

1 C. oats

2 t. bakin

g powder

1 C. almond milk

1 T. vanilla

2 T. cinnamon

Ok..so I lost the recipe I wrote down the other night, so I am hoping these are the right amounts. The topping, once mixed together ta

stes soo good raw with a spoon. Once I was finally able to stop eating the batter, I spooned it over the peaches.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until bubbly on the edges and only slightly doughy in the middle.

Serve with this awesome sauce on top:

Raw Coconut Butter Sauce:

In your blender, add:

4 oz. coconut butter

juice

of two small limes

2 small peaches,

peeled and pitted

2-4 T. agave.

Blend until smooth and refrigerate until ready to eat. Next time, I will try this with strawberries instead of peaches. I think I will go eat some right now with a banana, since the cobbler is long gone :(.

You can find the recipe HERE on the Artisana Foods website. This is the brand of coconut butter I buy and the other recipes on their web page

look yummy too!

Rice and Beans, Italian Style

This recipe was inspiried from a recipe by Bush's Beans that I found HERE.

This is the picture from Bush's Website...my dish had a lot more color ;)

Here is what I did to make it taste even better (I was feeding extra people, and this really made a lot). Feel free to cut it in half if you want:

Ingredients:

olive oil for sauteing

1 small onion, diced onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. salt

3 C. brown rice

6 cups water, or vegetable broth or half and half

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 Cans white beans, drained and rinsed well

2 Cans Italian style diced tomatoes

1-2 T. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a big pot, saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Add salt and once onion is translucent, add rice and stir for a few minutes.

2. Add water, cover pot and bring to a boil

3. Once boiling, reduce heat so rice will continue cooking at a high simmer

4. After ten minutes of cooking, add in zucchini and yellow squash, beans, tomatoes, and Italian seasoning.

5. Once rice is pretty much done, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

6. My kids like Parmesan cheese on theirs and we added extra salt and pepper. Much more flavor the second day. Serve with a BIG green salad with lots of veggies!

Amazing Summer Quinoa Salad

Picture is from HERE (but this is what my salad looked like!)

I wanted to make a new quinoa salad...and found this amazing recipe HERE! I doubled the ingredients for the salad and tripled the dressing recipe. Again, no picture..so I found one that looked just like it. I love it, because it is sweet and savory at the same time. We accompanied this with grilled veggies and shrimp and a big green salad. I like this recipe because you toast the quinoa first before cooking it...adds more depth to the seed.. Enjoy!
(Tastes even better the next day):


Ingredients:

1/2 C. quinoa
1 C. water
1/4 C. orange juice
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. rice vinegar
2 t. toasted sesame oil
1 t. minced fresh ginger
1/4 t. salt
dash of Cayenne pepper
1 small mango, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 C. black beans
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Toast quinoa in a small dry saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it crackles and becomes fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a fine strainer and rinse well. Put quinoa in pot with water and bring to a boil then simmer with lid until quinoa is tender and water is gone.
2. In the mean time, whisk orange juice (i made fresh o.j.), cilantro, vinegar, oil, ginger, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Add mango, pepper, beans and green onions; toss to coat.
3. When the quinoa is finished cooking, add to the mango mixture and toss to combine!

Wheat-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I checked out this awesome cookbook from the library : VEGANOMICON! It is full of amazing recipes, and this is one of our family favorites so far. I made these while we had movie night last night with the kids and my nephew and new niece. The entire batch was gone before I could even take a picture (so I had to borrow one)... Enjoy!!

(picture from: http://www.smittenkitchen.com/)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 C. oat flour (oats ground finely in a blender will do just fine..I added a little more flour to make the dough less sticky)
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. natural sugar
1/3 C. canola oil (I will try coconut oil next)
1 T. ground flax seeds
1/4 C. soy milk
1 t. vanilla
3/4 C. good quality chocolate chips


Directions:

Sift together the oat flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a bowl, whisk together flax seeds and soy milk. Add the brown and white sugars and stir, add the vanilla. Whisk about 1 minute

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and fold in chocolate chips.

NOTE: I ADDED IN THE OIL LAST AND WORKED IT IN AND IT MADE A THICKER DOUGH WHICH LED TO COOKIES NOT SO FLAT..SO IF YOU WANT TO TRY THAT. ADD THE OIL NOW AT THE END!

Drop batter by the tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before you transfer to a cooling rack!

WARNING: These are really yummy!

Boise Half Ironman!

We made it to Boise!

The Boise Guest House were we stayed with our friends, Cody and Trevor!

Checking my bike in the day before the race...it's kind of the deer in the headlights kind of look!

Cody and I with matching compression socks, iron man sweatshirts and tri outfits...

David and I on race day hiking up to the reservoir for the swim. David brought his pump to check all our bikes before the race! He was my awesome support crew!

Tri Group: Me, Cody, Greg (our coach) and Allan
My group just after the swim started!

Hello Blogging World! The last six weeks I have been super busy and just really trying to enjoy life with my kids while they are on summer break. We have had many visitors coming through Utah and have enjoyed having friends and family stay at our house. On June 11th, I finished my first official triathalon race, the Boise 70.3 Ironman event! It was absolutely amazing and exhilerating. David and I left our sweet children at home and went to Idaho with our friends, Cody and Trevor. We met Greg, our triathalon coach there in Idaho. The hardest part for sure was the swim. The water just tapped out at 53 degrees! My was that cold. It took me just over 50 minutes to complete the 1.2 mile swim...a long time, but I really tried to pace myself to save energy for the rest of the race. The 56 mile bike ride felt great and took me about 3 hours and 8 minutes to complete. The bike ride ends in downtown Boise, where the run starts. It is a 13.1 mile run around Boise's downtown district and river trail. The streets were lined with people cheering you on. I couldn't help but get caught up in the emotions! The run took me just over 2 hours because of a pulled muscle in my right foot (don't wear shoes that are only three weeks old on race day).. Coming across the finish line was so amazing and I couldn't help but cheer and cry at the same time! I did it and I can't wait to do it again.

Right after the swim when my body was frozen from the 53 degree water!

Just finishing the bike!

Ready for the 13.1 mile run

Just after the race...so amazed I did it!

Cody and I getting our official ironman picture taken

David and I...he was proud of me...It was an amazing moment to share with my best friend!

In honor of finishing this amazing experience, I wanted to share one of my most favorite recipe, which has proved to be perfect training and racing fuel:

If the Tarahumara tribe can run 50 to 100 miles for run and fuel on pinole (masa harina corn flour) and chia seeds..I thought I would give it a try.

I found the perfect recipe to start using:

Vegan Pinole-Chia Waffles

from: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/

Ingredients:

3/4 C. medium to finely ground pinole (look for masa harina)

1/4 C. chia seeds

1/4 C. oats, ground

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1/2 C.applesauce

1 C. hemp milk (sometimes I use coconut)

1 T. coconut oil

1 T. maple syrup

1 T. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat Waffle Iron

2. Stir together corneal, chia, ground oats, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce, milk, oil, maple syrup and vanilla.

3. Stir wet ingredients into dry to make a smooth batter. Sometimes I add more milk.

4. Spray waffle iron with non-stick spray and pour batter into hot waffle iron.

5. Cook according to directions of your waffle maker.

I have taken these waffles on long bike rides, and fueled with these the whole time I was on the bike during the half-iron man. I also use them before long runs. They are awesome and I was so thankful to never "bonk" on my ride...or my run!

EXPLORE THE POWER OF CHIA SEEDS!!

Food Lately!

Me and my triathlon coach, Greg after my first 50 mile bike ride..took us 3 hours!

For those of you that don't know, I am in the middle of training for a half-iron man race which will take place on June, 11th in Boise, Idaho. This will involve a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run. I train at least 1 hour a day, usually more and sometimes doing two workouts in a day. It has been interesting trying to fit everything in, but has also been very rewarding. The only problem is what I am eating. I feel like it has taken me a really long time to figure out what my body needs, nutrition wise, why I am training this hard. I support what Dr. Furhman says and still try to live a Nutritarian lifestyle, but have had to make some adjustments to fit my needs.

Me with my new racing shoes I am trying to break in before the race in two weeks!

I know that I need to eat in between meals, especially when I am burning 3500-4000 calories in a day. I know this, because of my exerspy arm band. You can learn more about this awesome tool by contacting my trainer Cody HERE!

So, I thought I would share with you what is working for me right now..it is still a work in progress, and based on what is going on that day, I do change things up..but for now, this is a pretty general food schedule for me:

Breakfast: Raw Oats (David and I make up a batch of this every few weeks). It is a recipe from Raw Melissa, but you can really add whatever you want. We add:

10 C. oats

1 C. coconut

1 C. chopped pecans

1 C. chopped dried cherries

1 C. sunflower seeds

1 C. pumpkin seeds.

Mix all together and put in a cool cookie jar. I leave it on my counter. David takes this to work every day. Scoop out what you want (I use 1/2 C.) and top with almond milk. Let sit for 10 minutes and enjoy with a packet of stevia and fresh blueberries! This is great when you are in a hurry, need something chewy and sweet (stevia is VERY sweet).

Morning Snack: Protein Shake made from Life's Basics Plant Protein Powder. With 25 grams of protein from pea, brown rice, hemp, and chia seeds, I feel this is the perfect addition on days when I am working out really hard.

Favorite Shake:

1 scoop Life's Basics Chocolate plant protein powder

1 small banana

2 C. spinach

1 medium zucchini

1 scoop cacao powder

1 T. natural peanut butter

You can get this protein powder at your local health food store, but it is cheaper on websites like amazon. The green protein powder is also awesome! Has soo many vitamins.

Lunch:

Giant salad with at least 1 pound of veggies, beans and cashew ranch dressing. Just like the one I wrote about HERE!

Afternoon snack:
a take a little carrot juice (really cuts the vinegar flavor out) and mix in 1 T. of apple cider vinegar and 2 t. Vitamineral greens. You can read about them here!
If I need another shake, I will make a green smoothie using Life Source plant protein powder.Dinner is what ever I make (can't turn off the stupid underlining thing..sorry)...usually a balance with a plant based protein, like beans and or quinoa and lots of veggies!