Damn it's good to be Vegan

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to the LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival. Obviously any festival involving booze is going to be a good time, but this was so inventive and exciting!! Let me sum up the highlights for you all -

Cutest little tasting glass

Buffalo Ranch Fires - buffalo sauce and vegan ranch over curly fries!

Not going to lie - this was pretty gross - chicken sandwich, mac and cheese and jumbalaya

Fireman's brew - nothing cooler than dressing up as Firefighters!

These things seriously taste like coffee

Jailhouse Tacos. Oh my amazing!

It's just frittos with vegan chili, vegan cheese, guac and jalapenos!

As you may or may not know these are 2 of my favorite things

The Mowgli's

Great Beer, Great Food and best of all I fell in love with The Mowgli's. They are such a fun and exciting band to see live. I really think they will go far in the music scene. GO SEE THEM! Yes, I did eat my face off (I didn't even picture the dessert we had - Vegan Boston Cream Donut, yum!), and drank even more, but my excuse is that this morning was my 11 mile run, and hell I needed the energy.

Signing off from Vegan heaven.

Post Workout Recovery

A few months ago I decided to take on a new challenge and do something I NEVER thought I would do. Now here I am months later, training for a half marathon.

Last weekend I hit my 9 mile marker and it was a doozy. To be fair, I've never been properly trained in running, and unfortunately I've never done my research on how to prepare for long distance running. I know the usual easy stuff -

- One long run, 2-3 short runs per week
- Carbo load the night before a big run
- Run on the balls of your feet

Stupid little details I've picked up over the years. NO ONE, and I repeat NO ONE has told me if I'm not doing any of those things, plus a good 10 additional rules, I could potentially be knocked out cold for a day recovering.

Since last weekend I started doing my research. Of course the planner that I am, I'm only a month out from my race and somehow have to find a routine that works for me.... go figure (*cough open to suggestions and tips cough*).

One of my good friends just ran in the LA marathon and this was what she sent me last night as a follow up to our conversation about recovery -

"For straight electrolyte replacement with minimal calories (5-8), I like Nuun. It comes in tablets, and you can just drop it in a water bottle. This is also great for hangovers.

For a low-sugar alternative to Gatorade, I like Heed or Gu20.

For serious long runs, anything more than an hour and a half, I like Accelerade which is a powder that you can mix with water. It has protein, which helps with the recovery process while you're running. AccelGel is similar, and comes in a gel form.

I know other people who like shot rocks and other candy-like solids. These all have to be consumed with a fair amount of water to get the full benefit.

If you want to experiment with different products, your best bet is to go to REI. If you buy 12 or more of the individually packaged items, you get 20% off all of them. You can also return what you don't use. After you figure out what you like, then you can buy in bulk and it's considerably cheaper."

God I have amazing friends with such great advice...and a lot of free time to share apparently. I like how she mentioned how Nuun could help you with hangovers, she knows me so well! So, apparently now I have to go try out a few electrolyte replacements and do my research to make sure they are vegan this week. She also let me know that the number one rule is you aren't suppose to do anything different during the race than you would do on your normal long runs - ok so.... I think that means I have to stop drinking?

Stay tuned as I try new electrolyte replacements and see which routine works best for me (and who knows, maybe you too!)

Mimicking a Favorite

Have you ever tried to mimic that one dish that you think about on a regular basis from your favorite restaurant? I recently put together my favorite elements from a tofu dish I always order at a restaurant down the street. It has all of my favorite elements, and it's a great hearty dish to cook for just yourself, or for loved ones.

Ingredients -

Firm Tofu
Brown Rice
Black Beans (canned are great since you don't have to soak and cook them first)
Tomato Sauce
Broccoli
Swiss Chard
Zucchini

The easiest way to do this is to just make a large batch of brown rice, that you can use with basically any dish (and is a great source of carbs for a workout) to use that as your base. I typically sauté the zucchini and steam the broccoli and swiss chard, and then once they are close to done I put them all in the same pan and I add in the cubed firm tofu. Cook the tofu until the edges are slightly brown and then add in the rinsed can of black beans. I personally make my own pasta sauce, but jarred sauce works just as well. Then comes the fun layering part! Rice first, beans and veggies second with the tofu and top it all off with the pasta sauce. Weird combination you may think, but boy is it a delight! I've tried many different veggie combo's too, broccolini, carrots (if that's what you're into), etc. and everything has been great so far - and you can layer it or cook it all together as seen below. Whatever floats your boat man.

If you finish the veggies off in the sauce it really flavors the tofu - so vibrant!

Layered Version with Broccolini and Zucchini

I could eat this any day of the week - and typically when I make a batch I do eat it 3-4 times during the week. So enjoy vegan friends - I'll cheers to that.