What's Cookin?

Hi loves!! Last night, Mike and I whipped ourselves up a vegan dinner at his apartment. On the menu: tempeh Bolognese sauce, black bean pasta, salad and crusty bread.

I picked up this black bean pasta at a health food store in Cape Cod when I was there a few weeks ago.

Stellar ingredients, and packed with protein to boot!

While the pasta cooked, I made a simple tempeh sauce by crumbling a tempeh cake in a skillet with olive oil to brown, then adding a jar of Whole Foods 365 vegetable pasta sauce.

Side salads for veg. Can you guess which one is mine?

My plate, with a slice of freshly baked bread Mike picked up from an Italian market. Two more slices were had…when can I ever say no to carbs?

The pasta was great, considering the nutritional stats! It wasn’t quite as tasty as fresh spaghetti at an Italian restaurant, but the addition of the sauce really jazzed it up. Plus, this dish packed a ton of protein!

For dessert, Mike and I shared a mini chocolate mousse cake he got from an Italian pastry market.

If that doesn’t scream heaven, then I don’t know what does J We also had a few squares of Vosges Black Pearl dark chocolate that escaped the camera.

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Yesterday’s afternoon snack was another frozen shot glass of Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter:

A few spoonfuls of Barney Butter somehow made their way into my mouth as well. It was calling to me!

And this morning’s breakfast was a bowl of spelt flakes, SmartBran, blackberries and almond milk:

Breakfast on bed!

And I’m off! I’ve got a busy day planned!

What’s your favorite pasta shape? I know they say they all taste the same, but certain shapes are definitely better than others J

What’s your favorite kind of pastry? See above for mine!

Dippin'

Whew! I did my first speedwork run ever this morning, and it felt great.

It’s a scorcher here today, and I didn’t want to deal with the stop-and-go of city running, so I headed to the gym for a treadmill session. I followed my training plan and did:

·     0.25 miles at 6 mph (warmup)

·     0.25 miles at 8 mph

·     0.25 miles at 6.5 mph

·     0.25 miles at 8 mph

·     0.25 miles at 6.5 mph

·     0.25 miles at 8 mph

·     0.25 miles at 6.5 mph

·     0.25 miles at 8 mph

·     0.25 miles at 6.5 mph

·     0.25 miles at 8.5 mph (almost sprinting)

·     0.25 miles at 6 mph (cooldown)

Overall, I completed 2.75 miles in 23:31, then followed it up with a good deal of stretching and a few reps on the leg extension. Dr. Dad reminded me how important it is to build up my quad strength to prevent reinjuring my knee!

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In honor of September and the start of fall I ate hot oatmeal for my pre-workout breakfast.

1/2 cup oats, 1 cup almond milk, sliced banana, Barney Butter and blueberries

I always cook the nut butter into the oats…makes the whole bowl slightly nutty!

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Lunch was full of veggies! I had a tomato and hummus sammie on Ezekiel bread:

Cucumber slices and baby carrots with more hummus and mustard for dippin':

And a sliced apple and a juicy peach.

Plus two ginger chews J

Hope you’re having a great hump day!

Other runners: do you incorporate speedwork into your training? I didn’t do any speed training before my last half marathon, so I’m excited to see whether my time improves as a result of it.

What’s your favorite veggie dip?

Dinner at Blossom

Last night, I met one of my best friends Jillian for dinner at Blossom, a vegan restaurant in Chelsea.

I’d been there once before with Marina in May and had a great experience, so I was excited to try it again!

We decided to start by sharing the raw sweet potato rolls.

Stuffed with shredded coconut, jicama, carrot, red and yellow peppers, scallions, and avocado, with an almond ginger dipping sauce.

It was a great choice for an appetizer- light, fresh and flavorful!

For my entrée, I selected the phyllo roulade.

French lentils and root vegetables baked in a phyllo crust, served over a carrot-cream sauce. Caramelized onions and swiss chard complement.

This had a slight curry taste to it, which made it an instant hit with me. The swiss chard was actually my favorite part, though!

Jillian got the lasagna, which she loved. She couldn’t believe how good the tapioca cheese was!

A vegan taste of a classic:  stuffed with tapioca cheese, ground seitan, and roasted eggplant, over marinara and sautéed broccoli rabe.

Though I was already full from my meal, I couldn’t pass up dessert !

Chocolate ganache.

Oh my goodness. This tasted like an ooey-gooey cross between chocolate frostin and fudge. To live for.

It was served with a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream, which I barely touched. Why would I want to, when I had all that chocolate?!

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Yesterday’s afternoon snack was also quite newsworthy:

Gracie has been popularizing frozen nut butter lately, but when I went to make some yesterday, I realized I didn’t have any saran wrap.

Enter: the nut butter shot glass.

Filled with a few spoonfuls of Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter, this felt pretty darn decadent, if you ask me J

Well loves, I’m off to the gym. Happy hump day!