Meatless Monday: Jurek Style

While on a brief trip to our cabin a couple weeks ago, I finally got further into ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek‘s recent book, Eat And Run, in which he touts his vegan diet as the key to his success in winning and setting records in countless ultra-marathons- and we’re talking 50 and 100 milers here! Having grown up in the mid-west and raised on the typical meat-fish-eggs-based type of diet, Jurek explains his hesitation and then steady transition to a no-meat-no-dairy lifestyle while accomplishing amazing running feats.

Given that I of course want to improve my (albeit novice) running as well as overcome the digestive issues that seem to almost always arise for me during races, I figured I would give it a try and incorporate a few of Jurek’s recipes into my everyday diet. While I can’t really imagine going vegan 100% of the time, I can tell that my body certainly functions better eating this way- I feel lighter, I sleep better, and my digestion issues have vanished.
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Meatfull Monday (with apologies to my vegetarian friends)

Home Sweet Home

… and we’re back, sports fans!  After six long weeks in the mountains with nothing but dial-up Internet to keep me entertained, I am more than ecstatic to be back home!

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great vacation, a little too great as stepping on the scale the other day forced me to recognize the results of my hedonistic ways.  10 pounds of extra fun, to be exact.  ARGH.

So today, I want to share a handful of the recipes that got me to that place of ample happiness- add happy hour cocktails every day for 40 days plus a metric ton of red wine every evening, and you can earn 10 extra pounds of happiness too! Continue reading

Meatless Monday: Lazy Style

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend celebrating Cinco de Mayo!  I sure did… a little too much fun that I sorely paid for at the Divas Half Marathon yesterday. (recap coming tomorrow) but, that’s okay- it’s Monday and I’m starting fresh and meat-free.

The weather is GORGEOUS in the Bay Area right now, beautiful but pretty warm by 9am leaving my motivation to cook very low.  So, after my grocery shopping this morning, I stopped by my local Noah’s Bagels to pick up a quick breakfast- they have a new line of Bagel Thin Eggwhite Sandwiches (under 350 calories and 15g of fat).  I opted for a asparagus, mushroom and swiss sandwich on a honey whole wheat bagel and paired it with a side a fruit- a perfect way to start the day!

Just as easy to re-create at home but today I’m lazy and not too proud to admit it!

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Meatless Monday All Week Long

With just a little less than 6 weeks to go until my second marathon, I am determined to get my body running like a fine tuned machine and am eating vegetarian this entire week while paying close attention that my intake of protein, iron and zinc remains adequate.  (Well, I’m really shooting for just Monday through Friday as Saturday is a 16 mile run so I’m certain I’ll require a big fat bacon cheeseburger after that!)

For breakfast most mornings, I plan to keep it very simple- getting myself fed post-run while wrangling the kids out the door and to school on time is a challenge so the simpler, the better!  I also find that I yearn for protein after an early morning run and found the best delivery of that to be in a delicious and filling smoothie.  Easy enough to throw all ingredients in the blender (with a little help from my cute little sous chefs), hit Liquefy, pour into a glass and go!

Laura’s Easy Flax Berry Smoothies

1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 cup low fat milk
1 cup frozen berries of your choice (if using fresh berries, add 1 cup ice as well)
1 over-ripe banana
1 tablespoon flax oil

Put first 4 ingredients in blender.  Blend.  Stir in flax oil.  Put smoothie in cup and GO!  Doesn’t get simpler than that!
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Culinary Nirvana. Defined.

This blog is not at all about restaurant reviews but I just have to share my birthday dinner experience last Wednesday at one of the most acclaimed restaurants here in California, The French Laundry.  So if you are a foodie, get a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and get comfortable as this will be my longest post since the marathon recap.  If you’re not a foodie, read this and you will be!

kneeling in gravel in the freezing cold and taking pictures of signs, that's how i roll

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