Raw Food Success!

It took a lot of prep work, but I must say my Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce was AMAZING!  First I got my ingredients ready (I modified a little, so here is what I used):

• 2 Cucumbers
• 2 Zucchini 
• Red Cabbage (about 3-4 leaves)
• 2 carrots
• Bean Sprouts
• 1 Avocado
• Scallions
• Cilantro

First I washed my veggies, then I got to work. I used my Pampered Chef Spiral and Slice to make the cucumber and zucchini into "noodles". Next I went to work on the red cabbage, to be honest, this was my first time working with cabbage.  I tried to cut the leaves, but they really looked pathetic so I turned to my food processor and added on the grating blade, this method appeared to be a failure at first, but then I noticed that it wasn't liquifying it as it appeared at first, but was actually making smaller grated pieces.  I grated 3-4 leaves and then put them on top of the "noodles".  Next I grated a couple of carrots, grabbed a handful of cilantro, diced some green onion, and threw some bean sprouts on top for this pretty arrangement:

I was prepping this for the next night, so I simply put it in my pampered chef glass Leakproof glass container 

Now onto the Peanut Sauce.  After chopping all of the veggies, my kitchen was a mess, and I was tired, so I decided that I would use regular peanut butter this time.  For the Peanut sauce I also gathered my ingredients:

• 1 cup (raw) Peanut Butter
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 inch or so of fresh Ginger
• Lemon juice
• 3 TBSP Raw Honey
• 2 TBSP Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup EVOO (olive oil)
• Water
• Cayenne pepper

I simply combined all of the ingredients in the food processor besides the water and cayenne pepper and blended until smooth.  Add in water until you reach a desired consistency (1/2 cup-1/3 cup). Then I added a little cayenne pepper, I probably added a little more than I wanted, and it made it somewhat spicy, but still really good when I tried it. This made about 2 cups of sauce.  I transferred it to my 3 cup prep bowl and put it in the refrigerator for tonight.

Tonight was the moment of truth, a couple of friends whom I had promised I'd have over after I got back from vacation came over for dinner.  I transferred the veggies into a bigger bowl and mixed them up. I opted to leave the peanut sauce on the side so everyone could choose how much dressing they wanted.  From the first bite the Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce was a slam dunk.  With this recipe it tasted just like any warm Pad Thai I've ever eaten, even though it was completely raw.  The cilantro added a nice fresh taste, and even though I'm not a huge cucumber fan I didn't notice the difference between them and the zucchini.  For how easy the peanut sauce was to make I think I'd make it again and just go with a fewer variety of vegetables depending on time constraints.  I'd give this recipe a 5/5 without blinking an eye.

After we ate most of it!

 Recipe adapted from Raw Food Recipes by Abby Richards

Raw Smoothies

I can't say that I love the smoothie I made tonight, but I don't hate it either. Similar to any recipe I tend to loosely follow recipes. Well, it didn't work out in my best interest tonight. The recipe book that I have is for 2-4 servings typically but I make my smoothies in a single cup blender, see the problem here? The recipe called for half a lemon, so I threw in half a lemon because I had it in my fridge, but then I didn't add as much of the other fruits and veggies called for (apple, celery and spinach); holy lemon! I'm definitely taking notes to include less lemon than suggested, try it and add more! Apart from all of the lemon I taste right now this smoothie seems like a great summertime drink.

And on a completely different topic, Elizabeth, Rob and I tried a little TRX this morning. Wow, what a workout, I was shaking before I left the athletic club! I wish that they offered free classes so I could do them!

New Year, New Me?

Greetings friends! Here we are January 27th, how many of you have kept your New Year's resolutions? And how many of you like me decided New Year's resolutions weren't really for them? This year I decided that I would pick a project around the house to get done every week, such as go through that junk drawer, or clean out the closet. So far, so good, until I was on vacation last week, so now it's time to get back in it. Which brings me to my point; on vacation last week in Punta Cana the food differences were astounding. Literally from eating too many carbs and delicious fruit for a week buffet overstuffed style I decided it was time for a food change when I got home. Before I left I had downloaded some free books off of Kindle, and was intrigued by a Raw eating recipe book I had downloaded.

I read through the books beginning chapters and skimmed some recipes and decided I could try this raw stuff a few days (meals) a week. So I thought perhaps you would like to share in my new adventure. First up was a veggie breakfast scramble. It was pretty easy with my food processor in hand. I blended sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, and almonds until they were flour like, then added some cumin, chili powder and almond milk. Then I simply stirred in a tomato and scallion, and I was done! It was a relatively painless process, and the scramble didn't turn out too bad, although I think I'd omit the sunflower seeds next time.

My next project was with my mom's dehydrator, it didn't have any instructions, so I'm winging it. I put some blueberries and apple slices to get started. After work the apples were ready and will be a delicious snack; the blueberries are still dehydrating and on their way into blueberry vinaigrette dressing!

Project 3 after work tonight was a delicious smoothie. I blended a banana, half an apple, cocoa powder, spinach, and almond milk. So far, so good. I'm hoping to keep prepping some raw meals and share them with you guys. Have you ever cooked raw? Any suggestions for this newby?

Road ID

Road ID - Because you never know.  No one plans to have an accident while out running, biking, or whatever it is you like to do.  How many times have you been driving along and see another driver distracted, whether on their phone, yelling at their children, or just plain not paying attention?  Road ID is having a holiday sale until November 24th with 10-60% off.  I personally have 2 interactive ID's myself; one sport, and one slim wrist.  The sport was my 1st, and I still love it, but needed a new band, so I just ordered one for less than $4.  I chose interactive because my information may change, and a lot more information can be obtained quickly.

What to do with those race bibs?!

My bib collection a few months ago

I've been pondering this question for about a year, and the number of race bibs I collect keeps growing (which by no means is bad!).  24 race bibs just sitting in my office.  My favorite idea would be to transfer the bibs onto fabric and incorporate them into a quilt, but alas 24 bibs is a lot, but probably only a fraction of a quilt!  So until I have enough bibs for my quilt here are a couple of ideas I liked:

Do it yourself bib coasters

Wine Bottle Stoppers

Racer Wall Frames

DIY Wall Plaques

Bibs hanging from a hook 

I also stumbled across a photo book that had a copy of the bibs with race photos that was pretty neat!  It was probably made on a site similar to Shutterfly.  I do also love these Mile 22 bags, but at $175 I think I will have to pass! I did see a DIY version of it, but I wasn't impressed.

Do you have any creative ways to display your bibs?!

Run 10 Feed 10 Route

Alright friends, I have the Run 10 Feed 10 fun run route planned!  6.18 miles (you can keep running downhill to get that .02 in)  We will be running from Bail's Watering Hole, Sunday, September 29th at 10am.  Please bring your own hydration.  If you are not much of a runner please feel free to stop by, if you walk 10 steps and help us raise money for FEED we all win.  This is a fun run, and if you wish to get Women's Health swag you may register at https://register.bazumedia.com/reg/form?eventID=3619 or go to www.run10feed10.com



http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/293353417

Can't make it but would like to help out? You can donate at http://www.crowdrise.com/wisconsinrun10feed10/fundraiser/actionherokaylaschaa

Thank you all for your help!!

Color Me Rad 5 k

I had so much fun volunteering at Color Me Rad this weekend! Color Me Rad is a 5k color run/walk where colored corn starch in powder or liquid form is thrown onto you at "color stations" along the course (typically every kilometer).

Friday night I made my way up to Madison to hang out with a friend, but then 6:30 in the morning came entirely too soon. Luckily I was pretty close to the Alliant Energy Center and was able to make it there by 7. Once parked I engaged in some light conversation with some other volunteers as we made our way to Willow Island. Once checked in we started to blow up beach balls for the event, and did some various tasks.  They started to split us up into our areas, but there wasn't anyone else there for "start line ropers" so I joined in with color station 1.

We walked down to our station and started our set-up of a plastic tarp, flags, and 25 pound boxes of powder color. We were set up fairly quickly and had some time to kill; so we started chatting amongst ourselves. I chatted with Brooke and Tierney; whom didn't have other friends at our station. There were also a pair of younger girls, a group of 3 friends, a mother/daughter pair, and our station set-up guy at the station.

After an hour of waiting it was finally event time. Shortly after 9 am the first wave of runners started to come through.  We had been told that there were about 8,000 runners, so be sure not to throw huge fist fulls out.  We were also told that there were going to be runners whom thought it was their goal to beat everyone, which there were, and it was pretty funny to see them run through.

Because we were the first color station we were busy! The crowd hadn't had a chance to spread out much yet, so when we got the waves of people we were grabbing color and throwing it on people as fast as we could! 10 minutes or so later the wave was through, and we had a few minutes to regroup and open more boxes of color. Even though we were practically covered in purple after our first wave we felt the need to throw more purple onto each other, and get our set up guy, as he looked too clean.

The waves kept coming from 9-10:15, and we continued to throw color and started to sweat causing our purple to split into blue and pink streaks on our faces. I looked pretty scary by the time all participants came through! After everyone had come through we started our clean-up and I headed out. I hadn't planned really well for throwing color, so I didn't have much in my car to contain the mess. I sat on a reusable bag, and scrubbed my face with antibacterial wipes, yet I still looked pretty silly! I even ventured to the mall to help my friend pick out glasses before she laughed at me and gave me her apartment keys to shower. 2 days later I still have a pink scalp, but it was definitely worth it.  I had the best time volunteering!