Well, my favorite time of the year is finally here!!
SUMMER!! I realize it's not officially summer yet, but come on, I live in L.A., where we have two seasons; warm and warmer. From a young age I always loved eating my fruits and veggies, but I love them now more than ever. I pretty much love every fruit nature has to offer us, but I especially love summer fruits. All the fruits I love most- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, pineapples, pluots, watermelon and cherries.....OH CHERRIES!!!!.....they all make for a magical summer of eating.
I always seem to lose weight the months of May-August, without really trying, and I really think that it's because of all the fruit I eat. In the winter months, I opt for heavier snacks such as hummus and pita, a veggie sammy, or leftovers from the last nights dinner. Once it starts to heat up and all this amazing fruit is out, that is what I pick up instead. The best thing about it is that you can't really gain weight by eating too much fruit (or veg), so go ahead and have a half of a watermelon for dessert if you feel like stuffing your face! There's no guilt (I mean who ever laid in bed and thought "Oh, why did I eat that much watermelon. There goes my diet!"), and your ass will thank you later! Before I proceed with my Strawberry Bread recipe I wanted to tell you some of the amazing benefits of strawberries.
TOP TEN REASONS TO EAT MORE STRAWBERRIES!!
* Excellent source of Vitamin C (1 Cup = 100% of your daily dose!)
* Strawberries are loaded with Antioxidants, which may help prevent cataracts.
* Strawberries are a cancer fighting fruit
* Help keep wrinkles at bay (put down the Botox needle and eat your berries)
* Fight bad cholesterol
* Due to the Antioxidants and Phytochemicals, strawberries help reduce the inflammation in joints
* With 134mg of potassium per serving (1/2 C), they can help regulate your blood pressure
* Contains 2g of fiber per serving (1/2 C); and we all know what happens if you lack fiber....
* Aid in weight management/loss, you can eat 1 1/2 C for only 100 calories!!
Eat up, people, it's clear that strawberries are more than just a beautiful and tasty treat! I love them so much, and have a constant supply of them at our place until they are out of season and the price starts to rise. They are pretty cheap now (even Organic, which is what I recommend buying), so no excuses!
Now, on to the bread recipe........this recipe is adapted from a recipe I found in Taste of Home like 10 years ago. I've veganized and healthified it, so no need to feel guilty eating a slice for breakfast or dessert.....just don't eat half the loaf!
STRAWBERRY COCONUT BREAD
(makes 2 loaves)
* 3 C whole wheat flour
* 2 C organic vegan sugar (for those not in the know, regular, refined, sugar is NOT vegan-friendly in that it contains animal bone char. VOMIT)
* 3 tsp cinnamon
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 1/4 C vegetable oil
* Egg Replacer for 4 eggs (I use Bob's Red Mill Brand; 1 TBS replacer + 3 TBS water = 1 egg)
*1 1/4 pound fresh Organic strawberries, diced large
* 3/4 C unsweetened Organic shredded coconut
* Sprinkling of coconut and vegan brown sugar, to top
- Preheat oven to 350
- Grease (I used cooking spray) and flour 2 loaf pans
- Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl (Kitchen Aid if you have it)
- Add oil, egg replacer and mix on low-med to incorporate ingredients
- Fold in strawberries and coconut BY HAND, otherwise your precious berries will get crushed!
- Divide batter evenly between the 2 loaf pans and top with a sprinkling of coconut and brown sugar
- Bake for 1 hour, or until tops are browned and toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
- Keep in loaf pan, but move to cooling rack to cool.
- Wait until completely cooled to remove from pan.
- ENJOY!!
As always, I love to hear any feedback on my recipes/blog. What's YOUR favorite way to eat strawberries?
I hope everyone has a beautiful day. Get out there and stock up on some strawberries!
XO
~H
Where Have "REUBEN" All My Life!
I'm SO excited to finally be sharing one of my recipes with you! As a carnivore, one of my favorite sandwiches to eat was a reuben (on white or wheat bread; I HATE rye). As a vegan, I've been lucky enough to find a few spots in L.A. that have killer reubens on the menu. I don't really eat out a lot, but find myself craving reubens often. I've seen a few recipes for them that looked decent, but just never got around to making one. Well....today, that changed! I did a huge shop at Sprouts yesterday, and got everything I needed to make my attempt on the reuben sandwich. I researched many recipes and have come up with my version and I must say, it's EXACTLY what I've been looking for! Vegan or not, you can't deny the yumminess of this bad boy! Drop your misconceptions of what vegan food tastes like, and give it a try. Even though it's not the healthiest thing you could eat, it's WAY better for you than the grease, dairy and meat filled sandwich you are used to eating. You don't need "cheat days" when you follow a plant-based, cruelty-free lifestyle. You can eat this sammy guilt-free! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
THE REUBEN, "HOLLY STYLE"
(Makes 2 monster or 3 big sandwiches)
The Marinade:
*1 can of beets (NOT pickled)
*1/2 C white, distilled, vinegar
*1 TBS vegan sugar
*1 TBS organic yellow mustard
*1 tsp dried, or fresh dill
*1 tsp granulated garlic
*1/2 tsp ground allspice
*1 tsp (or more to taste) of freshly ground black pepper
*1 bay leaf
The Filling:
*1 package of plain tempeh (I used West End 5-grain)
*I package of organic sauerkraut (I haven't been ambitious enough to make my own yet, but I'm workin' on it)
*Daiya Mozzerella
*4-6 slices of Sourdough bread
*1 1/2 TBS vegan butter (I use Earth Balance-the olive oil kind)
*Thousand Island Dressing/Sauce (recipe follows)
*1 TBS olive oil, for frying tempeh
Appliances Needed:
*Saute pan
*Panini press (or you can use a pan, and place a smaller pan on top to "press" the sandwich)
PREP:
~Place all the ingredients for the marinade into a medium size container and stir together until mustard and sugar are well incorporated.
~Slice tempeh. I cut the block in half, then each half into slices. You can cut it differently if you want.
~Place tempeh slices into the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
TO MAKE THE SAMMY:
~Remove tempeh from marinade, and shake off any excess liquid.
~Heat the TBS olive oil in the saute pan over medium heat.
~Place tempeh slices in pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until a bit browned
~While the tempeh is cooking, preheat panini press
~Butter the outsides of the sourdough and get all sandwich components ready to go
~Once tempeh is ready and panini press is heated, you are good to go to construct the sammy!
~I did mine in this order:
*bottom slice of sourdough
*Thousand Island dressing (generous amount)
*tempeh
*a small layer of Daiya mozzerella
*sauerkraut (I used a good amount)
*another small layer of Daiya mozzerella
*top slice of sourdough
~The sandwich will look huge, but will compact in the press
~Place into panini press, and cook until
beautifully toasted and cheeze is melted
~Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make the other sammys.
~DIG IN AND ENJOY!!!!!
"THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING"
(This makes just enough for the sandwiches. Feel free to double and get creative with it's uses!)
*1/2 C Vegan Mayo ( Let's be honest people, Veganaise is the ONLY way to go)
*1/4C organic (no crap added) ketchup
*1 TBS organic yellow mustard
*1 tsp horseradish
*1-2 dill pickles (I used Bubbies-THE BEST pickles out there), chopped finely
~Mix all ingredients together.
~You are ready to rock n' roll
Get ready to have your MIND BLOWN by the vegan goodness!! I hope after eating this sandwich you will be left asking the same question I did "Where have reuben all my life?!?"
(Clearly, I'm a dork. Totally OK with that)
New to veganism? Any questions on where to find your ingredients or what these ingredients are, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to help in any way!
Looking forward to your feedback!
When I started training for my first Half Marathon (under the tutelage of Team To End AIDS; AIDS Project Los Angeles. http://www.apla.org/)
it never occurred to me that it would be my mind, not my body, that would be my biggest obstacle during my training and on race day. As it turns out, my mental strength was/is way weaker than I ever knew it to be or, until now, cared to admit out loud. When one who doesn't run hears "Half Marathon", they immediately think (at least I did) "my body could never run 13.1 miles!". Well, newsflash, it CAN....if your brain doesn't get in the way, that is! I'm not saying that the physical challenges (fatigue, muscle cramping, etc) won't try to break you down, because trust me, they will. What I'm saying is that our bodies can endure way more than we think possible, and once we push past "the walls", you will find you CAN go on, and endure.
Mentally though, it's a bit more difficult than just pushing past the pain. Imagine running, and having every part of your body screaming at you to stop, then add to that the "Dark Voice" (what I call the part of my brain that tries to bring me down). It's saying, on an unforgiving endless loop, "You're so tired, you should really stop", "Go ahead and walk for a bit, it's OK", "You still have 3 miles left, there's no way you'll make it", "Feel that cramping in you calves, yeah, it's not going away" and my personal favorite "There's no way you can do this, you should just quit". On any long run over 8 miles, I felt as if I was just having a mental fight with myself. Sometimes I won, sometimes I didn't. When you run, you are alone with your thoughts, your fears, your doubt. I run alone, so I don't have anyone there pushing me forward, giving me words of encouragement. My "Happy Voice" is loud, strong and very present when I'm feeling great, however, as soon as any sign of weakness comes my "Dark Voice" swoops in and knocks out "Happy Voice".
As I began to train, and run, more and more Half Marathons, I started to ask myself "Why do you torture yourself? Can't you just enjoy the run?". Well, I do have many runs that I enjoy, and when I finish them I feel elated, accomplished, strong and honestly, invincible. Unfortunately, most of those runs are 7 miles or shorter. I began to wonder how I could transfer my "runner's high" to my long runs. I tried many different things, and found slight improvement, but nothing that could conquer the "Dark Voice". I'm VERY proud to say that no matter how difficult (and trust me, I've had some shitty, shitty and really painful race days) I finished all 8 of my Half Marathons I trained for. I'm not happy with some of my finish times, but I didn't quit. I endured.
After my last race, the OC Half Marathon, May of '12, I felt a bit burnt out. I did a few short runs afterwards, but just wasn't feeling it. I decided to take a little break to "regroup", and let my body recover. It was at this time, that I began to practice yoga 4-5 times a week, as opposed to 1-2 times a week. This would turn out to be a decision that would change my mind, body and soul and in turn, the way I ran.
I was aware of the physical changes that my disciplined practice brought me but until just recently, when I began training for my 9th Half Marathon, did I realize the MENTAL transformation that stemmed from my practice. The first couple weeks of my training were rough, physically. I was in great shape, but due to not running for about 9 months my body was like "What the hell are you doing to me?!?!?". As I immersed myself into my training, and began to climb in my mileage, I could feel myself physically getting stronger every single run. At first, I thought it was just because the mileage was fairly low, however, as I began to have my LSD (long slow distance) runs, I felt like a different runner. I was actually enjoying myself, keeping exact with my 6:1 interval (which I had problems with during all my other training runs/races), and cheering myself on silently in my head! I'm not saying my runs have been pain-free, but never did I think about slowing down or walking outside of my minute walk interval. I don't know that I'm physically stronger now, but I know that I am mentally stronger.
In yoga, I primarily practice Vinyasa Flow (Iyengar based), you are asked to be at one with yourself. To calm the mind and be PRESENT in the moment. If you are struggling, recognize it, be OK with it, breathe through it, and come out stronger. You are not in a competition; not with others, not with yourself. If you are there, on the mat, practicing, you have accomplished something. I now realize now that these ideals have become part of me, and while running, instead of thinking of how many miles I have left, I was thinking of how many I have run so far. I took every 6:1 interval as a small accomplishment and thought, "Well, I can do that again", instead of thinking "I have to do that 13 more times before I am done, ugh". I used to be glued to my watch, tracking my pace like a crazy person, and if I was off by any amount I would berate myself about how slow I was. I honestly have let that go. I am slow, but the percent of people in the world who have run a Half Marathon is around 5%, and I am honored and PROUD to be part of that group of individuals! I may be slow (my PR on a race is 2:36:01), but I have FINISHED 8 Halfs, and I am ready to conquer my 9th in a few short weeks! How many people can say that?
In closing, yoga has done more for me than I can write in one entry. I thought it would help my running by lengthening out the muscle groups that tend to shorten for runners, and help with my recovery during training, but I never thought it would help with my self-doubt, confidence and my defeatist attitude. Once again yoga, you have blown my mind with your healing powers. I can't guarantee that this upcoming race will be my best but what I can guarantee is that it will be my most enjoyable (pain and all) and I will end with my head held high, no matter the outcome. It's the journey that counts, not the destination......
I'd love to hear YOUR experiences as a runner. Does any of this resonate with you? Any tricks/tips that work for you?
Remember to step back, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!
NAMASTE
Hi everyone!
First of all, thank you for visiting my blog! I've been creating this for quite some time, and am so happy to be writing my first post. I hope to inspire, as well as draw inspiration from all of you, so PLEASE write your feedback so we can get some discussions going. I am a teacher of many things, but LOVE being a student. I love learning from others, so bring it on!
This blog will cover many things, so I know there will be something interesting for all of you. In addition to dance, yoga, running and fitness, I have a deep passion for cooking and baking (Ummmmm, and eating!!!) I will be sharing my nutrition tips, recipes and yummy places to go and get your grub on!
I will be following up shortly with my first entry, which I'm working on now "How yoga has changed the way I run". I would love to see some followers, so if you know anyone who would be interested in my blog, send it on to them. It would be much appreciated!
Thanks for taking the time to read my words. I hope your day is beautiful, and filled with the things you love most.
Remember to step back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride.
