Happy Thanksgiving: A Gluten Free Vegan Feast

I have never been a big fan of meat and never really cared about eating the turkey at Thanksgiving but I did enjoy a good gravy on my mashed potatoes and stuffing. It took some trial and error but I have finally perfected my creamy mushroom gravy. It’s thick like turkey gravy and is full of flavor from the mushrooms, garlic and thyme. And of course, its vegan and gluten free!

I have always seen no reason to skip out on meals or traditions just because I was vegetarian or vegan or even now, after eliminating gluten. I simply saw it as a challenge to create new recipes that were similar or even better than the dairy, gluten and meat laden fare. Gravy was a challenge in that it starts with flour and butter; two things that don’t really show up in my diet. A simple switch is to use to corn starch to thicken the gravy and to use vegan butter in place of dairy butter. There are lots of different vegan butters out there now but two that I like are Earth Balance and Pure Blends: Avocado Oil Plant Based Butter. I used the Pure Blends in this recipe. However, if you aren’t vegan you could definitely use dairy butter in this recipe.

Getting the sign of approval from preschoolers and a husband, who is neither vegan or gluten free, is pretty awesome. I think my daughter would have been just happy with a bowl of gravy and skipped the rest of the meal. I think that is a definite win in my book. It’s super simple to make and has only ten ingredients, most of which, you probably have on hand in your pantry or fridge. I can’t wait to see others make it and see what they think. I, for one, am in love with this stuff. I’d make more right now if I had another can of coconut milk, which is definitely going to be a new pantry staple.

Creamy Mushroom Gravy (vegan and gluten free)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (you could use regular butter if you aren’t vegan)
- 2.5 oz chopped onion
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms ( I used one 6.5 oz can drained)
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup coconut milk
- pinch thyme
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 tbsp corn starch

Directions:
Melt on tbsp vegan butter in a small sauce pan and add the chopped onion and garlic. Once the onions begin to turn translucent add the mushrooms. Sauté for a few minutes and begin adding the broth. Once simmering add the coconut milk (mostly the liquid part as the thick white part was used in making the pumpkin pie). Keep at a low simmer and add the thyme, nutritional yeast and dry mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to let simmer for 10- 20 minutes. I just let it simmer on low as I was preparing the rest of the food. When you are ready to serve use a whisk and and slowly add the cornstarch one tablespoon and a time. Taking the time to fully incorporate the starch before adding more. Sauce will begin to thicken quickly. Once all the corn starch is well blended in go ahead and remove from heat. Pour into a serving bowl and enjoy.

Nutritional Information, Per 6 servings:
Calories: 94
Total Fat: 6.8g
Total Carbohydrates: 5.7g
Protein: 1.6g

Medal Monday: It’s a thing and it’s fun.

As we get older we often don’t participate in competitions or performances where we get to feel proud of an accomplishment. I think that maybe that is why I really enjoy running races. It’s a great way to not only see how all your hard work pays off but also to be able to get a small momento where you can say I did this and it was fun. I think it’s really neat how people have made “Medal Monday” a thing on Instagram. I love reading about how other runners felt about their races. Sometimes things go really well and they get a personal record (PR) and that so much fun to read. Other times injuries, weather and what not can cause a race to not go as planned  and those are equally good to read for learning to understand and adapt to difference conditions and circumstances. There will be races that don’t go well and that’s ok.  I’ve had races that fall in to both categories this year and both have been great learning experiences.

My half-marathon in June was a huge accomplishment for myself that I first ran that far as the furthest I had run in training was ten miles. But it was also very telling of how injury and weather can really throw a curve ball in a race’s outcome. The race began early on the Katy Trail outside of St. Charles, MO. In the early part of the morning the heat was tolerable and bearable in the shade of the trees on the trail. However, after the first six miles we turned off the Katy Trail onto the Hamburg Trail and it the sun and unbearable heat as the temperatures rose into the high 80s. The last 6.2 miles were a true test as I was hot, tired and feeling the effects of fewer days of training due to my recent calf injury. The heat and my loss of fitness resulted in a much slower time than I originally anticipated and I think that was a bit difficult to deal with at the time. Looking back I can see now that my time was just  a number and I ran the best race I could at that moment.

My most recent race that I ran with my husband was also a great learning experience but for different reasons. This time the race went in our favor and it doesn’t hurt that it was an automatic PR as we had never raced a 10k before. We had sun, no wind, fairly cool temperatures ( 65 degrees to start evening out to around 70-75 degrees by the end) and mostly flat course. In other words, the odds were in our favor. We were both a bit nervous as we had completed almost all our training with the jogging strollers each of us pushing a 30 pound pre-schooler. We knew it would be easier to run without the strollers but it was hard to gauge exactly what pace that would ultimately be. We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to maintain a fairly steady pace of 8:40/mi for the first five miles and then pick it up a bit on the last mile. Unfortunately, the race we ran, started the 10k and the 5k at the same time so that when we were finishing the 10k the 5k still had participants finishing and it created a bit of a clog up on the trail to the finish line. Despite this we finished in 53:10 and 53:12, respectively. We realized after the race that although, we knew we had run a good race that we might  have been able to pick the pace up a bit sooner than we did. We have our next 10k in two weeks and we are hoping to be able to beat our previous time as we know now that we can go out a bit faster in order to bring our overall time down. Though, I have to say what I enjoyed most about this race and Medal Monday was that I got to do it with my husband. It’s a true joy to be able to share my love of running with him. So on that note here are a few words from him:


     “Couch to 10k in 40 Days
It’s interesting sometimes, the crazy ideas that one gets planted in their head. This idea, some might say it was a planted like a seed, hit me like a bullet out of a gun. Randomly, seemingly out of the blue, I received a not so subtle hint that my wife was interested in signing up for a 10k race in St. Charles, MO on September 30th of this year. So, that is where a moment of what could only be described as pure insanity, I signed us both up! Somehere between not running for almost a year, eating too many Cheetos, and drinking way too much beer. My brain decided it was a brilliant idea to get my Cheeto dusted self-up and attempt to run a 10k in just 40 days. I can honestly say without the knowledge and sometimes loving shove of my wife this would have been an impossible task. The training was intense and felt a lot like long distance self-induced torture. At the end of it all, the hard work and dedication (mostly my wife, Sarah, kicking me off the couch) we successfully finished our first 10k together in 53 minutes  and we will be running another 10k race on the 21st of this month. We have opened a new chapter in our book and it’s going to be exciting, tune in for more to come ;).

Alexander Nelson
Loving Husband”

Thanks for reading and we hope you stay tuned for more on our racing adventures.

Keeping up with the Jone’s of IG

I’ve been seeing an influx of posts on instagram lately of women who feel they need to take a break from all aspects of social media. Whether that break may be a weekend to unplug or a choice to stay off social media all together. I can’t say I blame them as our world has changed so much with the onslaught of different media outlets where we can post about everything we could/can imagine. So the question becomes, where do we draw the line? How much interaction online is appropriate? How much is too much? Should we separate ourselves completely from social media and live a life unplugged? Or should we simply create a separation where social media doesn’t become our whole life? And why has this even become a question?

With all these questions where do we begin to find the answers? Is it merely, for fun, is it solely for work or is it a combination of the two. However, I have to wonder, does the type of presence even matter when feelings come into the mix? I think once feelings become involved the amount of time or followers matters less and less. Someone with one follower or 100,000 followers can be hurt by unkind words, feel pressure to do more, or try to keep appearances a certain way. There have been multiple posts that appear about Instagram vs. Reality. If you haven’t see them, it is usually a side by side picture collage showing a retouched glam photo vs. an unfiltered and unposed version of ourselves.  Too often it seems people feel pressured that their photos must be of a certain image or quality to be appreciated because that’s how other people are posting.

It depends on how we look at the situation. If we look at Instagram the way a company looks at their ads we can understand the need and desire for good quality photos depicting whatever that company is trying to sell. We wouldn’t expect a company selling backpacks to post a picture of a worn out knapsack in poorly lit background or an overall fuzzy image. So why are we getting upset when others are simply doing the same. If we take five selfies and one has better quality wouldn’t that likely be the image that we choose to post? This is what we do when choosing photos taken by studio why has it become a problem when it is online and available for anyone to view?

I feel the problem begins with the constant availability to these photos. It’s like a glamour magazine reel going 24/7. It’s not that the images themselves are inherently wrong it’s more that there is just so much of it and it is always there. You can’t leave the magazine on the rack and walk away. This magazine has been invited into our homes and sometimes right into our beds. It’s no wonder that people are beginning to feel an overwhelming pressure to compete and to keep up with others. When it is all around us all the time it’s hard not to become involved. How do you shut something out that you invited in?

That need to compete appears when your photo choice becomes less about how this is a fantastic photo of myself and becomes more about how you don’t look like someone else.  It becomes this photo doesn’t look like hers. How does she do that? I can’t look like that, so my photo isn’t all that good. Maybe I shouldn’t post it. Do I have any photos that look like her? How can I look like her? Why don’t I look like her? When did our photos stop becoming about us and start becoming about them? How do we take back our photos?

You can only be the best version of you. You cannot be the best version of someone else. How do we keep ourselves from being sucked into the unyielding vortex of  comparison? We have to stop because when we compare ourselves to others we will always find a way that we don’t measure up. Ever overhear a conversation amongst women discussing their bodies and each one has something bad to say about themselves but something good to say about their friends standing there with them. Why is it so easy to see the good in others but so hard to see it in ourselves? The grass is always greener on the other side mentality is not healthy. Someone else is always going to have something better or newer or fancier. If we accept this as a fact and not as a question, I think it can become easier to separate ourselves from the need to compare.

I like to view myself as a fish in the ocean. That I am just one of many. I figure that because there are so many other fish in the ocean that there are probably a lot of fish that think like I do but probably a lot that don’t. There might be some that look like me but many will not. Some might be brighter or flashier or prettier. But that doesn’t make me any less of the fish that I am. My children, picked out a book from the library that we read this week, called “The Blobfish Book.”  Olien (2016) describes many interesting creatures that live in the deep parts of the ocean in her book.  One of the creatures she writes about is the blobfish that “was once voted the world’s ugliest animal.” Upon hearing this information the blobfish character becomes increasingly upset as he feels he isn’t as good as the other sea creatures. His fellow characters make him feel better by reminding him of the good qualities he possesses rather than focusing on how he isn’t like them. When we reframe our focus back to being how we can only be the best me it is easier to avoid comparison. We wouldn’t tell the blobfish to be a different fish, we wouldn’t tell our children to be any different than they are, so why do we tell ourselves to be someone different. Why do think that our photo, our post needs to look like someone else’s. If the blobfish can only look like the blobfish then can’t we only look like ourselves. I realize that it is a juvenile analogy but I think that’s why it works. Sometimes what we learned in kindergarten really matters. Do your best. And be kind. No one ever told you to go and do someone else’s best because that doesn’t make sense. You need to do your best. You can only be your best you. You are not meant to be anyone else.

To all the women out there feeling pressured to keep up appearances and to measure up: I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you feel that you have to do that. I’m sorry that what once was a fun way to share snippets of your life has become a chore and draining experience. I’m sorry because it shouldn’t have to be that way. We should do better. We can do better. We need to offer encouragement rather than snarky comments. We need to say nothing when we don’t have anything nice to say. We need to be better versions of ourselves so that others do the same. Not to compare but to spread compassion and kindness. We need to remember the blobfish and how his friends rallied with him rather than against him. So that when we need that social media break it is so we can go out to have an adventure instead of using it as way to retreat from social pressure. We need to lessen that pressure because in a ocean full of so many fish it becomes impossible to measure up. Choose to be unapologetically you. Don’t measure. Don’t compare. Just be you.

Thanks for reading!

*References
Olien, J. (2016). The Blobfish Book. New York: HarperCollins.

Faith, Food and Fitness

My husband decided this week to set me up with an opportunity to be uncomfortable. Now at first glance that seems like not such a nice thing to do but he had incredibly good intentions. You see our former pastor is working on a podcast series and my husband thought it would be a good idea to volunteer me to help him. See good intentions. The problems is that I have to talk about myself. Yuck. You might think that because I have a blog and a social media presence that talking about myself comes easy. Think again. Now, if I was in the other seat and got to listen to someone else talk about their life and how certain topics pertained to them, I’d be far less uncomfortable. I think it is the fact that one must become vulnerable when talking about one’s own life because by doing so it is letting the outside in.

With writing you have chance to look over what you are saying and correct and edit before anyone else has a chance to see it or comment on it. When you are speaking to someone whatever you say is heard by the other person as soon as it comes out of your mouth. Perhaps I should employ one of those old techniques of picturing people in their underwear...Yeah, I’d rather not. Not sure how that would actually help anyone any way. So back to my husband and trying to help me. See he knows how much I hate to talk on the phone or in public etc., as I always make him do it for me. He is truly trying to help me overcome or at least learn to adapt to being in situations where I have to speak out and be in a more uncomfortable situation. Its hard to become better at something if you never do it.

If I were to relate this to my running its pretty straight-forward. How does one become better at running or learn to run faster? Simple: run more and run faster. Funny how when you break it down to it’s core it is indeed very simple. To run better one must run more. To learn to speak in public one must speak in public. It goes both ways. Too bad I don’t love speaking in public or about myself the same way I love running. It’s a lot easier when you love the subject. It makes the work far more enjoyable. For example, in training, tempo runs are a great way to build endurance and speed. This type of run is designed so that you push yourself to the point of being uncomfortable. It is often called being “comfortably uncomfortable.” You put yourself in the position to endure.

It is with this enduring that we learn and grow. Not just in our running but also in our life. Without life’s struggles we would never change. And with change comes so many new possibilities. As the first guest on Rev. Jay Grave’s new podcast I was able to discuss my feelings on faith, food and fitness within the scope of this past week’s sermon on Rev. 21. How we must balance our daily struggles along with our hope for the future. Please take a few minutes to listen here. This week I chose to learn to grow despite being uncomfortable. I hope you will do the same.

Thanks for reading!

Pumpkin Spice and Running Fuel

 

Currently hiding out in the house during the day due to a heat advisory in full effect. We’ve only been able to head outdoors at night when the sun has started to go down and the temperature drops below 96 degrees. In an attempt to keep both myself and the children from going stir crazy we have been coming up with indoor activities. They put together huge floor puzzles in the garage where they have a bit more space to run about and I worked on a new recipe during their nap time. I have been
wanting to try to make granola for awhile as I know store bought cereals can be loaded with added sugar. I also might be willing fall to arrive as  the first flavor combos that came to mind were pumpkin and gingerbread spice. I’m definitely ready for sweaters, pumpkins and cocoa.

I’m still working on the second installment of my macronutrient focus series as the role of fat has taken a lot more research than I initially anticipated. As part of that research I have been reading Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky’s new book, “Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.” This has come in handy as my husband and I are both training for a 10k at the end of September. Although, they do not focus specifically on tracking macros in their newly released cookbook, they do focus on healthy, whole-food, nutrient rich foods to fuel a runner. As always, when reading a cookbook I am inspired to start creating. I came across a few delicious sounding granola recipes and I knew it was time to try and make my own. I had recently made a batch of pumpkin pie spice, which I thought would go great for flavoring the granola and it is one my kids love.

If you want to follow along on our training journey I will be updating the blog at least once a week but my IG @StrengthinStrides is updated daily. My husband is my first runner and test subject for the training plan I wrote as he hasn’t been running with me for several months and is currently working to build back his running base. Although, this training plan is a bit shorter than I would usually do I think that he will do great. I shortened our training plan by a couple weeks as this race fits perfectly into our schedule as it falls right at the beginning of his vacation and gives us a great practice race before our goal race on my birthday. I’m really excited to see how our hard work will pay off. In the meantime we will be focusing on fueling our bodies with nourishing food, which brings me back to the granola.

One thing I love about making anything homemade is that I know exactly what ingredients are in the food that I am eating and giving to my kids. Cereal is one thing that both my kids could eat at anytime of day and finding ones that are vegan, not loaded with sugar and other additives can prove both time consuming and costly. Why we have to pay so much more for fewer ingredients doesn’t exactly make sense but it tends to be the case. Today’s recipe calls for very few ingredients and most that you probably already have on hand in your pantry. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can make your own with 4 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cloves and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Either will work.

PUMPKIN SPICE GRANOLA
Printable Recipe

Prep Time: 5 min Bake Time: 40 min Level: Easy Yields: 20 servings 

Macros: 110 cal per 1/4 cup serving 12.6g carbs, 6.2g fat and 2g protein

3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick oats will work)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/3 cup mild molasses 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Mix oatmeal, pumpkin pie spice, chopped nuts in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine coconut oil, molasses and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients until all the oats are thoroughly coated. Grease a large glass plan spread the the granola evenly across the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Lightly stir the granola and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before storing.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this granola as much as I do!

Baking and Baseball

My kids met a new friend last weekend and have been asking when they can play with him again all week. They don’t quite understand that not everyone stays at home the way we do and can pretty much play outside whenever we want. We are learning about how we have to make plans and be patient. Not easy. I still struggle with this as an adult. Hopefully, we will be able to set up a play date next week. Until then, mom to the rescue with fun distractions.

Baking and baseball are two loves in this house and a great way to stay busy. Not just for me, but also for my kids. They have been so excited learning how to hit the ball off the tee and trying to figure out how to catch with their gloves. We have a bit of work to go with the gloves as their hands aren’t quite big enough to be able to grip them all the way. We have a blast anyway. Reminds me of the summer nights I spent at my grandparents’ house in Minnesota. We would stay up late because the sun was still out and play baseball. My grandma was a huge fan of baseball and the Twins. My dad and I are big Cardinals’ fans. And now my kids love it as well. It’s fun to see the joy of something passed down. I suppose it was fitting then, that today I went through my grandma’s recipe box again for some inspiration.

I had originally planned on posting the pumpkin chocolate chunk muffins I made earlier this week but  even the mufffins tasted amazing the texture wasn’t quite right. Thank you to all my followers that voted for this flavor of muffin. It’s by far one of my favorites and I will be sharing it as soon as I retest the recipe. Anyway, not to disappoint those that were waiting for an awesome muffin recipe. I made a version of the second choice you all voted for. Peanut Butter.

My best taste testers are my kiddos and I can always tell if they really like something I make if I see them trying to go for seconds right away. Today the muffins were barely even cool before my daughter was gobbling one up and asking for more. I love being able to make healthy treats where I don’t have to think twice about whether or not she can have seconds.

When I asked my son last week about what kind of muffins he wanted he told me with a very serious face. Peanut butter and jelly. Not surprising when his favorite food for the last year has been a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Especially, when Papa makes it. Papa is a bit more liberal with his application of the peanut butter and jelly than mommy. I didn’t have any fresh or frozen strawberries on had to try out baking the “jelly” right into the muffins so I figured the next best thing was to add the jam after the muffins had baked. These totally remind me of  a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Perfect afternoon snack. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!


Peanut Butter Muffins
Printable Recipe
Prep time: 10 min Bake time: 15 min  Yields: 15 Level: Easy

Nutrition and Macros: 127 calories per muffin, 14.9g carbs, 4.6g fat and 6.8g protein

Ingredients:-

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp egg replacer

3/4 cup plant milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl mix the flour, vital wheat gluten, baking powder and salt. In a second small bowl mix the egg replacer with water and let set. Next in a large bowl smash two very ripe bananas. This should give you enough for 1/2 cup. Store any extra. You can freeze it and use for another recipe. To the banana add the peanut butter, vanilla and egg substitute. Once mixed add the milk and dry ingredients. The batter will be very sticky. You can add an extra tablespoon of water or plant milk if necessary. Spoon out the batter with a ice cream scoop (about 3 Tbsp) into an already greased muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until tops begin to browm and toothpick comes out clean.

Thanks for reading.

Macros: A Runner’s Approach to Carbohydrates

Part 1: A Runner’s Approach to Carbohydrates

IIFYM, flexible dieting, intermittent fasting and intuitive eating are just a few of the terms regarding food tracking and meal planning that you have probably seen everywhere on social media. It can be overwhelming and confusing if you aren’t sure what any of these terms actually mean. I know. That was me about two years ago. I first became curious about what macros were when I started watching YouTube videos about fitness competitions. I still plan on competing sometime in the near future. I mean, I have a suit already, I might as well use it, right? Anyway, while I was watching these videos, the athletes kept mentioning how they were “hitting their macros” and following a “flexible dieting” approach. But what does that mean? I, being the curious one, went straight to google and typed in “macros.” A bunch of sites popped up right away. But the basic explanation was that macros was short for macronutrients simply known as carbohydrates, protein and fat. On any nutrition label you can find these three macronutrients listed telling you the content of that particular item. So now what?

Carbohydrates are our main fuel and energy source. These are what fill us up and keep us going. As an athlete carbs are extremely important. Carbs fill our glycogen stores and this is what we use to power us through exercise. For example, I as a runner, need to make sure I get in plenty of carbs so I have the energy to run. I also run long distance which makes it even more important. If you run long distances you may have heard of the term “hitting the wall.” This is usually in reference to a marathon (or further) but it doesn’t have to actually be that distance as it is really more of a time related issue. Calories burned versus time expended. In a marathon the wall is usually around mile18-20. At around mile 18 the body has used up all of it’s glycogen stores, which is a fancy way of saying you have run out of fuel to keep your body moving forward (any other Fancy Nancy fans out there). This is also usually around 2ish hour mark. Ever notice how elite marathoners finish in just over 2 hours? I think they might be on to something. At this point in exercising if you don’t take in more carbs for your body to convert into energy you will inevitably bonk. I haven’t run a full marathon yet, but I did complete my first half marathon this past June. I didn’t reach the point of really hitting the wall but I did definitely notice at around mile 11 that I felt like I was barely moving. Looking back I know I should have taken a gel or a goo around mile 6 so that I would have had increased energy to complete my race. I had unfortunately forgotten my gel’s in my running bag that morning. Rookie mistake. I did drink sips of Gatorade at the water stops so that helped but wasn’t quite enough. Gel is a carn and bread is a carb...what else is a carb?

The answer: lots of things. In general, carbs are grains, veggies, fruit and sugar. At first, this was very confusing for me. I had heard of diets where people limit carbohydrates such a bread and rice but are people really limiting fruits and veggies too? In a short word, yes. That may seem drastic but it depends on what you mean by limiting, for how long and what is the end goal. For example, athletes in fitness competitions will limit carbohydrates in their diet in order to lean out for a show. This is done for a very short period of time for a very specific goal. It is not long term and is not sustainable. A distance runner would not find this approach efficient in preparation for a race because although, it may be preferred to have a leaner ideal race weight this is not to be achieved in the same way. In a fitness competition  athletes may restrict their overall carbohydrate consumption. A runner trying to lose a few pounds off their race weight would likely find it more efficient to limit overly processed carbohydrates such as white bread and sugary cereal rather than lowering their overall carbohydrate intake by any large amount. How do carbohydrates make up our diet and what will work for a runner?

A common macro nutrient split is 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 30% protein. For example if you were to eat 2,000 calories a day this would equal out to 199 grams of carbohydrates, 67 grams of fat and 150 grams of protein. However, a runner would likely have more carbohydrates especially many plant based runners. Therefore, a non-vegan runner might have more of a 60-20-20 ratio and a vegan runner could even be at an 80-10-10 split. I personally find that an 80-10-10 split of my macronutrients is far too carb heavy for my current activity level. I can only go based on my current fitness regime which is between 5-7 workouts a week ranging from strength-training, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), and shorter distance runs averaging around 2-5 miles. I typically run between 2-4 days and have 5 strength/HIIT sessions. I think because I focus a lot on cross-training for a majority of my workouts rather than a high mileage running week that I perform better with a higher fat and protein ratio for my daily intake. Of course this could change with adding in more mileage and less strength sessions. I will have to take it as I go. I think that is partly why I find macro calculations so interesting as it is not only individual to the person but also individual to what goals the person currently has.

It is a delicate balance, especially if you are not at a maintenance level (goal weight) and are instead trying to lose weight. At a maintenance level you are merely trying to maintain your current weight and your macros would be at a constant until something in either your fitness or health changes. However, if you are in a cutting phase with specific weight loss goals, you are not only manipulating your macros to achieve fat loss but to effectively complete your workouts. As a runner, although I am actively trying to lose weight, I would be doing myself a disservice if I were to extremely limit my overall carbohydrates as well my caloric intake to attain fat loss. As I would not be able to effectively or efficiently complete long runs if my body is in too much of a caloric deficit, especially a carbohydrate deficit. Yes, I am aware of people who choose to follow a ketogenic diet, however, in my personal opinion I dont find this diet sustainable for myself as a vegan because I get my protein from carbohydrate sources such as beans, peas or grains. Therefore, what do I do as a vegan runner, who strength trains with a weight loss goal that follows macros (keeps track of the amount of grams per macronutrient I consume per day)? I personally keep my carnohydrates as the biggest portion of my macronutrient split. I have found that 45-50 percent of my daily intake should be carbohydrates for my body to perform at its best. This way I can still efficiently train and work towards my weight loss goal in order reach my ideal race weight for the upcoming fall racing season.

Stay tuned for Part 2 Healthy Fat Sources for a Runner

*Disclaimer- This is my personal opinion of how macronutrients work for me. This does not mean this will work for you.

Mix and Match Blueberry Muffins

If you read my last post you know that I am currently obsessed with muffins. I think I’m really wishing that cooler weather will show up quickly with all the baking I’m doing. Too bad it’s still in the upper 90s. Oh well, as you can see that doesn’t stop me from cranking up the heat with the oven blasting as I create new muffin recipes.
Today I decided to look through my Grandma’s recipe box that I have on loan from my Mom. I’m having a lot of fun looking through all her recipes. Some are hers, others from family members and still more that she added from newspaper clippings. It brings back memories from a simpler time and reminds me of when I got to bake with her when I was little. I still remember the time we made cookies for April Fool’s Day and poor Grandpa got a mouthful of cookie and Tobassco Sauce. Eeek! Today’s recipe is definitely not as spicy but not super sweet either. I really like to keep the amount of sugar I add to baked goods to a minimum not only for health reasons but also because I really like to let the sweetness of the fruit itself shine through.

I have been wanting to use coconut flour in a muffin recipe for awhile as I really enjoy the naturally sweet taste and I like to experiment with the macros (macro nutrients: protein, carbs and fat) of a recipe. However, I’ve been wary to try it as it’s harder to get the right ratio when baking with coconut flour. I haven’t always had success in getting the flour to bind properly.
I decided today though to try something new. At first I was just playing around with numbers as I wanted to get a lower carb and higher protein muffin. As I mentioned in my last recipe for Banana Oat Nut Protein Muffins, using vital wheat gluten in substitution for some of the flour in a recipe is a great way to add protein without affecting the taste. As I tested different ratios of flour I realized that by adding a larger portion of vital wheat gluten I would probably be able to add in the coconut flour without having a binding issue as vital wheat gluten is very sticky. So the Mix and Match Blueberry Muffin was born as the recipe really is a mix and match game with the three different types of flour that I used. I also thought it would be quite fitting as you could easily swap out the blueberries for another fruit or also add in nuts.

MIX AND MATCH BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Prep Time: 10 mins Bake Time: 18 min Yeilds:17
Nutrition: 98kcal Macros: 12.9c 2.4f 5.7p
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp egg replacer
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate small bowl mix the 2 Tbsp egg replacer with 4 Tbsp water. This will vary depending on what kind of egg replacer you use. For reference, I used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. In a large bowl combine the vegan butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the thickened egg replacer, dry ingredients and milk and mix until it forms a batter. It will be thick. Fold in the blueberries. Once all your ingredients are combined grease a cupcake pan or use cupcake liners. Add one ice cream scoop of batter (around 3 Tbsp) to each cup. It should just fill the cup as these muffins won’t rise a lot. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Banana Oat Nut Protein Muffins

I absolutely love baking and changing recipes to make them my own. As a vegan I have to switch up recipes whenever I bake as I don’t use eggs or butter, which are in a lot of baked goods. Recently, I have been playing around with substitutions for using less oil/fat and less sugar. I’ve had a few baking disasters where the recipe totally doesn’t work but that just makes me more determined to find a way to make the recipe work the next time. We have been really loving muffins lately. The kids think they are a treat and mommy is happy because they are actually healthy.

Today we made another version of banana muffins. Banana and pumpkin so far seem to be the fan favorite in our house. I wanted to add some more protein and less sugar to our previous recipe and test out using vegan butter where I had previously used canola oil. I didn’t want to use protein powder to add the extra protein as that can sometimes change the flavor to an already altered recipe quite a bit. I chose to instead swap out half a cup of all-purpose flour for one half cup of vital wheat gluten. I also threw in two ounces of walnuts for some healthy fat and a little more protein.

These muffins are super easy to make and can you can be done and waiting for the muffins to cool in less than 45 minutes! First you will need some very ripe bananas. Grab a large bowl and smash the bananas and add the applesauce. You will then add the brown sugar, vanilla and vegan butter (you could use melted butter if you eat dairy or canola oil).

Once mixed you can move on to your dry ingredients. In a small bowl mix the flour, vital wheat gluten and oats. Next add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually, add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Once mixed add the chopped walnuts (you could replace with any type of nut you prefer).

BANANA OAT NUT PROTEIN MUFFINS
Printable Recipe
Macros: 173 calories 26.8 carbs 4.2 fat 7.1 protein

 Ingredients
13.5 oz raw banana
6 tsp (1/8 cup) brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp vegan butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup Quick Oats (I use Quaker)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 oz chopped walnuts

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin pan if you aren’t using liners. I use an olive oil spray. You could also use vegan butter. Once greased add a heaping ice cream scoop of batter to each muffin tin. Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Recipe yields 12 large muffins.

Hope you enjoy! Please share comments and photos when you try them!

Ninja Sauce

Recipe: Fajita Veggies with Enchilada Sauce and Guacamole

I have to say I really like the name my daughter came up with for the enchilada sauce I made for dinner tonight. I was recording her on my phone about helping me cook and when asked what kind of sauce we were making she said matter a factly, “Ninja Sauce,” (or later ninjalado). Works for me.

I have been making a variation of this meal for the past month or two at least once a week as it is a meal I don’t have to cajole my children into eating. I figure it must be a hit as they both gobble it up. Tonight I decided to switch it up a bit and make fresh guacamole and enchilada sauce.

Guacamole:

 *4-6 small ripe avocados ( 3-4 larger ones)

 * Garlic Powder (about 1/2 to 1 tsp to taste)

 * Salt (1/4 tsp)

 * Cilantro (1 tsp chopped leaves)

 * Lime (1/2 of 1 large lime squeezed)

 *Tomatoes ( 8-10 grape tomatoes chopped into small pieces)

 * Onion (1/2 small onion any variety, I used yellow)

Directions:

Start by washing the avocados before cutting them. I find it easiest to take avocado and lay it on its side and use a medium knife to slice it in half. I then use the knife to hit into the pit and take the pit out. You could also take the pit out with a spoon if you do not feel comfortable using a knife. I know there are a terrible number of memes and posts about the dreaded “avocado hand.” Once the pit is out you can simply take a spoon and scoop out all the avocado leaving the skin behind. I then use a fork to roughly smash the avocado. As soon as you are done smashing the avocado you will want to add the lime. I squeezed one half of a large lime not only for taste but also to preserve as much green color as possible. Finely chop the onion, cilantro and tomatoes to add to the avocado, Lastly, add the garlic and salt to taste. I prefer more garlic and less salt, personally.

Enchilada Sauce:

 *1 14-15 oz Can Puréed Tomatoes (this will make a thicker sauce if you prefer a thinner sauce I would use a can of unsalted tomato sauce).

 * 3 cloves of garlic

 * 1/2 medium to large onion (any variety though I used a purple one)

 * 1 Red Bell Pepper (I only used about 3/4 of mine as it was quite large)

 * 1 Jalapeño (I used half of a medium sized one but this is completely up to taste as it would also             

    work without it)

 * 1/2 tsp Cumin 

 * 1/2 tsp Oregano

 * 1/2 tsp Parsley

 *1/4 tsp Salt ( I prefer to get unsalted tomatoes but if you buy the ones with salt you may want to use      

    less)

 * 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (Black pepper  or chili powder could be used if you prefer a milder taste)

Directions:

First you will want to begin chopping up your veggies to sauté them for the sauce. You don’t have to worry too much about the size as you will be putting them into the food processor once they cool. Sauté the red pepper, onion, garlic and jalapeño just until soft and set aside to cool. Once room temp you can add the veggies to the food processor (a blender would also work). Once blended add the tomatoes for a quick pulse. Add all of this plus the spices to a small sauce pot and bring to a boil and let simmer on low for 10-20 minutes. I served ours with hard shell corn tortillas, fajita veggies and retried beans. This whole meal is vegan and absolutely delicious! Enjoy!

Half-Marathon here I come

I’m running my first half-marathon this weekend and to say I’m nervous would be an extreme understatement. I haven’t slept well this whole week and my mind keeps going over and over how the race might go. My goal when I first decided to run a half-marathon was to finish (obviously) and second, to break two hours. Breaking two hours at my first race is a bit ambitious but wasn’t out of reach based on my last 5k time (25:24) and training runs (8 plus miles at a 9:30 average). It seemed  reachable until this past month, as I mentioned in my previous post, when my training runs kind of went all over the place the month of May. Everything went great going into my 5k the first week of April. Approaching the end of April, I was still optimistic but looking back I logged a few too many miles, next to zero strength training sessions and not enough true rest days. For some reason I felt I needed to change up my training plan to match more closely with plans for other runners. Problem being I’m not other runners and I should’ve thought about how my training went great for my 5k and would’ve continued to translate well to the upcoming half-marathon with focusing on increasing my long runs. Frustrating that I couldn’t have given myself this advice in April. Hindsight always works like that. Current race day goals are to first and foremost finish the race. According to the race website, I have 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race which should be plenty of time even with modifying my goal race pace. Running a sub-two-hour half is very unlikely at this race for a few reasons: one, I have had a few off weeks, two, I didn’t log as many long runs as I anticipated, three, I’m coming off an injury, and four, it’s going to be hot and humid. I sound a quite pessimistic here but simply trying to be realistic with my current fitness level. I think at this point my best plan is to use this race as a training race to get a feel for this distance and to have more racing experience. I already have some fall half-marathons picked out where I can expect cooler temperatures and a lot more training time to get prepared in order to meet my sub-two-hour goal.

My taper this week is going well but it is a bit different than my other tapers because of the time I have taken off to heal and try and get over these shin splints. In the past my tapers have felt like a big break and I’m just itching to run faster on my runs. However, now I have simply been taking it easy in fear of creating another injury or bringing back my previous one. Instead of wanting to run faster I’m afraid to push it at all. How this will affect race day will be determined. I biked one day and I did two easy stroller miles along with some short 30 minute leg workouts. The rest of the week I plan on just stretching and keeping my legs loose with a possible short shake out run on Friday.

This weekend’s race is an out of town race so I have to make sure I have everything packed that I might possibly need for race day. I’m currently checking things off my list as I write this so I will be including my packing list in this post (see below). I definitely don’t want to forget anything as going out to buy something last minute is not only costly but could be difficult depending on what I could possibly forget. And if you follow the advice of nothing new on race day the dilemma of having to buy something becomes even more difficult.

Finding my stride

I’ve attempted to start this blog a few times but never really found my stride so to speak until now. I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted it to take and to be honest I was just trying to figure how to be a new mom of one baby while pregnant with number two. Writing definitely took a back burner to everyday life as did many of my previous hobbies and interests. My babies are toddlers now and we are at the fun age of starting to learn numbers and letters and they way things work. They love to help mommy with everything which has given me a great opportunity to get back into some of my former hobbies as it is something we can share and learn about together. Writing is just one of the things I used to do for myself but as a new mom I didn’t make it a priority. The other two main interests I didn’t bring back into my everyday activities until after my children were born were running and cooking. Looking back I find this interesting as running and cooking/nutrition are two of my biggest interests and something we do as a family everyday now. Perhaps this is a sign about making writing a priority again.

Anyway, let me me reintroduce myself as I haven’t blogged in what seems like forever (I think its been 3 years). As I mentioned above, I’m a SAHM of two toddlers. I love to cook and try new recipes, run, lift weights, read and travel. I have tried a few different types of diets and exercise programs but coming back to running and a plant-based lifestyle has made me my happiest and healthiest. Stick with what works, right? I’m currently training for a half-marathon (my first) and eating and cooking a plant-based (vegan) diet.  I was a vegetarian for over 15 years and I grew up running with my dad (he’s a running coach) so going vegan and starting distance running again wasn’t a far leap but I am so glad I took this step.  It’s been a win for everyone as my husband has lost 30 pounds, my kids get to share a love of running with their mom and papa and overall we are happier and healthier. Not going to argue with that.

I have my first half-marathon this Sunday so I will definitely be doing a recap blog about that next week. I am super nervous about it as it’s my first, I’ve never run that far ( my training runs have only been 10 miles) and this past month my training has been all over the place consisting of mostly biking and home workouts because I have been struggling with shin splints. Rookie mistake? Maybe? But with everything there is a learning curve as our bodies all react and operate a little differently. Some runners are able to stay injury free with little to no cross-training but that has not been the case for myself. However, I really had no way knowing becasue as an adult I have always included cross-training with my running until now. I had been consistently cross-training with weights and strength exercises up until my last 5k in April when I took a break from it and started to concentrate solely on my running as I wanted to up my mileage and get in more long runs in preparation for my race this weekend. Well, that definitely backfired as I started to get symptoms of overtraining after only a couple weeks without my strength exercises but having not dealt with an injury like this or trained for a distance beyond a 5k I didn’t pick up on the signs until I was sidelined for a week and then another. Yes, you read that right. So frustrating. I took a week off and biked and started to feel better so I decided to try running the following week with a modified plan of only three days a week running and two biking which in theory is and will be a good plan but it was too much too soon and again I ignored the symptoms of my shin splints shrugging it off as just DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Wrong move. Ended up having another off week where I attempted to run three days in a row to only make it a mile and end up walking. At this point I probably should’ve started biking to keep up my base endurance after the first failed run but instead I let my anger and frustration get the best of me. I instead attempted and failed to run three times in a row before I decided to take another break and start some home workouts focusing on leg circuits to build calf and shin strength in order to avoid worsening my shin splints and build the strength to get rid of them. So now a month later I have two weeks of no running with some biking and  leg workouts and two weeks of running but no runs longer than 8 miles. How this will translate on race day will be nothing short of interesting. Running and training is a bit like a puzzle as you have to try different ways until you figure out what fits. For myself that picture includes cross-training (biking, leg circuits, HIIT workouts, weight-lifting) and my of course my beloved running. 

More on my taper and race preparation tomorrow.