healthy laps

I started my morning off with a smoothie that I basically just threw together because I was so hungry!

I added the following:

• 5 ice cubes
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 tbsp hemp protein powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp cacao powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• squirt of agave

This basically tasted like a Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie!  I couldn’t taste the hemp powder or the blueberries, but they were in there to give me an extra boost of protein and antioxidants!  It was delicious.

I love smoothies, but I find that for breakfast they only hold me over for a few hours.  I think that my body craves food more in the morning…I am never as hungry at night.  Plus, I workout in the mornings which definitely makes me hungrier.  I guess that is a good thing since it gets my metabolism going!

Check out this article about Superfoods for women from Health.com!  Their top ten list contains the following:

• Wild Alaskan Salmon
• Wild Blueberries
• Oats
• Broccoli
• Walnuts
• Avocados
• Red Beans
• Greek Yogurt
• Olive Oil
• Dark Chocolate!!!

Other winners were almonds, beef, green tea, kefir, lentils, low-fat milk, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, raisins, soybeans, spinach, sweet potatoes, tart cherries and tomatoes.

It is amazing to me how many of those superfoods I get into my diet!  Yay me. 🙂  And, I’m sure that plenty of other women eat a lot of those foods as well.  I make a great dish with quinoa, pumpkin seeds, spinach, tomatoes and golden raisins!  I guess i’ll have to make that again soon, since it is packed with superfoods!

Before leaving for work this morning I toasted up 2 slices of Millet toast and brought some raw almond butter just in case.  And what do you know?  I was hungry around 10:30!  I ate about 1.5 slices with my almond butter and that kept my hunger off until almost 2, where I ate some leftover Spicy Thai Salad from last night – still delicious!

Avocados do not keep well after they have been opened up, but I stored my leftover dressing in a jar with a slice of lemon which definitely kept it from browning too much.  The top layer did brown, but I just scooped it off!  Mmmm…I love avocados. 🙂

Back up for a second to talk about Trader Joes Raw Almond Butter.  It is amazing!  For some reason, it tastes better to me than anything else I have tried – and trust me, I have tried many nut butters!  I get the chunky version and there are huge chunks of almonds in it!!!

Mid-afternoon I snacked on an Attune Chocolate Bar.  The nice people at Attune sent me some of their chocolate bars to try.  I am going to review the bars in more depth later after I try the other 2 I have because the idea behind the bar intrigues me.

From the Attune website:

“Attune® is the powerhouse probiotic bar that tastes absolutely amazing. And it helps you feel amazing. That means a digestive system that works like it should. And an immune system that puts up a good defense. Get Alive Inside™ with just one Attune bar every day.”

I tried the Chocolate Crisp bar, which tasted good.  Kind of like a Nestle Crunch bar.

I did not absolutely love it, but it was a nice treat with only 90 calories.  Apparently the bars contain more probiotics than yogurt, which ultimately will keep your digestive system in track.  More to come once I try the other bars!

Tonight was an easy 5 mile run!  Between my run and dinner, I sipped on a coconut water to replenish and hold me over for dinner.

For dinner, I whipped up a fancy cashew “pizza cheese” to eat with our lettuce wraps.  I am loving the ChoosingRaw.com recipes that Gena has, so this week is a variety from their, including the pizza cheese.

Cashew Ricotta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Basil (aka Italian Pizza Cheese!)

from ChoosingRaw.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews, soaked for two hours or more
• Juice of one lemon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white miso (optional) – I did not use this
• 4 sundried tomatoes, chopped – I used golden sundried tomatoes
• ¼ cup basil

Directions:

1. Throw nuts in a food processor and process till ground well.
2. Add salt, lemon juice, miso if using.
3. Scrape sides of bowl and run processor again, this time drizzling some water in. Keep doing this until the cheese reaches the consistency you like (similar to ricotta).
4. Add tomatoes and basil and pulse until they are well combined into the cheese.
5. Serve as you like!

I followed Gena’s directions exactly, and my “cheese” came out looking just like hers does!  Fluffy and creamy with a consistency similar to ricotta.

Nut spreads, cheese and pate’s are really big in the raw food world because it gives some flavor to your dish.  Some people do not love the texture, but personally I love them!  I do not love meat, so sauces and spreads (such as hummus, guacamole, and nut cheeses) kind of act like my meat, if you know what I mean?!

I spread my Cashew pizza cheese in cabbage tacos and topped them with shredded carrots and slices of tomatoes.  They were delicious!

I love the raw idea, but I am still craving some cooked foods!  But, like everyone says, start out slow with any kind of diet change.  If you try to change everything at once, you will just end up failing!  Small steps towards a healthy lifestyle are definitely the way to go.  It took me a few years to really get into the healthy, all-natural way of eating.  But, now that I am here, I would never even dream of going back!  The candy and cookies and chips that I ate all the time in college are not even appealing to me anymore.  I am healthier and happier than I have ever been before!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes, Running Laps | Tagged: almond butter, chocolate, Coconut Water, Eating Laps, nuts, raw, Recipes, Running Laps, smoothie, superfoods |