Raw Balls, and Core Balls, and Ball Balls

My strength training has improved, and I have increased sit ups and jumping jacks, and stretching. I was a little concerned about doing jumping jacks when I first began this training plan. I was afraid it would jar my back, so naturally I took it easy, so when I started I just waved my arms back and forth. Nobody waved back. I have now incorporated the jump part and yesterday I reached 75  jumping jacks during interval training with weights and core ball. I think nobody waves back because I workout alone. I really should use the mirror. I am up to 100 sit ups too. Now I can eat sitting up too.

I am back to running five miles pretty regularly. I tag on the additional three mile walk and the most I did last week was five miles with a three and half mile walk. I know I have improved my speed, not from timing my run but by picking up my speed on the straight away at the track. I feel pretty good about that.



Workouts help alleviate depression. As much as I try to visualize positive outcomes and improved body image, I still get funky thoughts. Yesterday while using the core ball, I pictured Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movie, "A Shot in the Dark". You know the one   where Inspector Clouseau investigates a nudist colony.

Sure, Peter Sellers was in great shape from swimming, and I have the same glasses,  but why would I visualize Inspector Clouseau during a core ball workout? I have no idea.

My friend Darcy is doing the Insanity workout. She usually whips up a kale smoothie with some Vega Powder in it after her insane workout. Darcy gave me some powder to try out, I mean um Vega Plain Protein to try out and I also bought a small pack of the chai flavored Vega to sample. I found that I had less cramping and felt stronger after a workout and I really like it in a vanilla strawberry smoothie. Vega is kind of costly and for the first time in a  long while I am busted so it's not in my spending plan, unless Vega comes in Ramen flavor.

I also made some raw Vega Power Balls which are great for breakfast or even Halloween.

 

Vega Power Balls

3 T coconut creme whipped first

1.5 T coconut oil softened

1 C raw walnuts

1/4 C your favorite flavor Vega Protein or vegan protein powder

1.5 C dates

3/4 C unsweetened shredded coconut

 

Whip very, very cold coconut creme (milk) into a whipped creme. Add the creme, dates, coconut oil and Vega to food processor.

Process until mixture is well combined and creme and oil are fully blended.

Add in the coconut and blend until consistency is doughy and can form into balls.

Blend in the walnuts. 

Using a small scoop, scoop the dough and roll into balls. You can refrigerate, freeze or chow down on these room temperature.

 

 

And speaking of room temperature, it's getting chilly out here. Oh come on just share these balls with your favorite nudist or athlete.

 

 

Tip for today:

I am a pretty slow runner. Lots of times I find that other runners pass me on the track. Normally I could let this upset me, but lately I have realized a lot of the people who pass me stop running after a mile or two and I run more for endurance.

Tip: Don't compare your insides to someone else's outsides. We each have our own path.

What's your commitment for today?

 

Dessert in the Raw

If I ate as many dried fruits and nuts and seeds as I would like to it would be in the pounds and I would be one hefty vegan. That's not to say I don't partake in a rolled coconut date once in a while. When my body craves dried papaya, or dates, or figs, or roasted pumpkin seeds I give in and give moderation a whirl. I'm not particularly fond of moderation, myself. Doing everything in moderation is extremist and once in a while I'd like to gorge myself on nut butters.
On the way home from LA  last week, we bought some dried pineapple rings.They looked like pineapple. They smelled like pineapple. They tasted like a pizza box. We soaked them in OJ which kind of killed the dried fruit thing they had going, but at least the rings were edible, and we upped the "C". 

I love me some raw food. Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley still rocks my boat. Their raw Caesar salad made with nut Parmesan and raw croutons is delicious and fresh and their cashew coconut  almond shakes are tasty and not too sweet. The cocoa nib truffles although delicious are the size of a thumbnail and one would have to trade in their solar powered car to buy a satisfying amount. Last time we were at Gratitude their service sucked. I think we waited an hour for my salad and none of the wait staff ventured near our table to tell us what was up. What the hell takes so long, anyway? Everything is served at room temp. Maybe the dehydration machine was on the blink.


I could never be a raw foodist or nudist foodist all the time. I like high temperatures and blackened broccoli and hot coffee and baked goods that are well uh baked. Those dehydrators piss me off too. I get too thirsty as it is. Still I had to give making raw food a shot. I will definitely make this again.

Me and Mo made these raw brownies on the one sweltering day we had recently. Look how the Rice Dream ice cream is melting.

In The Raw Brownie Adapted From http://therawtarian.com/

1 C walnuts

1 C dates

5 T cocoa powder

4 T shredded unsweetened coconut

2 T agave nectar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Place walnuts in food processor and process until the walnuts become small and crumbly.

2. Add dates and process again until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the mixture turns a dark chocolaty brown. Stop processing before it gets too buttery. (There should still be air between the small bits so that you will be able to press them down into your brownie pan.)

4. Dump the mixture into a brownie dish or 8 by 11 cake pan and press down firmly using your clean hands.

5. Refrigerate for an hour or more. You do not have to refrigerate it, but it's much easier to slice when chilled.

Remember summer is coming , and it'll be hot so you'll want to eat these brownies in the raw, I mean... Oh you know what I mean.

Want Some More Candy?

We didn' t grow up with much candy in our house. Our 92 year old baby sitter Mrs. Weinerman used to bring Heidels and me goody bags filled with Blow Pops and Bazooka and Tootsie Rolls. Stuff my mom never bribed us with. I was 8 years old when I told my mom that Mrs. Weinerman fell asleep on the job. Mrs. Weinerman often passed out during the Lawrence Welk Musical Hour. Who wouldn't? I actually have two pretty hip friends who have fond memories of watching that nightmarish show with their grandparents. We had no grandparents and Mrs. Weinerman was as good as dead. God knows what Heidels and I did while Mrs. Weinerman snored through the Lennon sisters. I think we waved bubble wands around Mrs. Weinerman so she would dream of Lawrence Welk. Anyway when Mrs. Weinerman finally really did die in her sleep candy became history for me and Heids. RIP candy, I mean Mrs. Weinerman.

Now for the most part, as a vegan I know what I can and cannot eat. I figured milk chocolate is out of the question. I boned up on candies a few years ago and read Candy Freak, an awesome book by Steve Almond. Smarty pants, here also knows that caramel is derived from milk. Late last week I whipped up my own vegan version and not particularly healthy version of that substance. Still it makes pretty awesome brownie topping and candy.
I did not know until last week why turtle candy was called turtle candy. I rightly assumed that no turtle was harmed in this confection. Bet you can't guess why they are called turtles.

Yes, my friend they are called turtles due to an uncanny resemblance to a turtle. Had I known that pre-refrigeration, I would have added an extra foot or something to the turtle on the bottom right. These are made with walnuts, but I've also made them with pecans and they work with both. They looked so good I mistakenly bit into the side of the plate.

Recipe
1 batch of vegan caramel (click on link)
1 C pecans or walnuts
1 C vegan chocolate chips

Line tray with parchment. Divide nuts into 4 batches. Make vegan caramel. Set aside. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Cover nuts with with about 1.5 T of chocolate. Top with same amount of caramel and then top with chocolate again. Freeze for about an hour. Partake.

If you've been around the vegan block I'm sure you already know that Oreos and TJ's JoJos are indeed vegan. But get this. Shock of all shocks. I was reading the deservedly much  touted Melisser Elliot's
the Vegan Girl's Guide to Life last night
 (the book I was supposed to receive from the publisher last October...harrumph)
and found out that Noah's Bagels adds a little somethin-somethin to their bagels called duck feathers. Say No to Noah's! I would eat a Noah's bagel with hummus about twice a year if that. Now I gotta wonder what Noah's puts in their hummus-pate?  Disgusted enough? Melisser says, stay away from those Planter's Peanuts too. They are laden with gelatin. Happy trails.

Marshmallows Pillow Talk

I have had numerous posts where I've chastised outdoorsy mountain people for roasting globby white stuff on a stick. I am an activist about this stuff! I mean business here. I feel so vehemently about this that I've even been a lone protester outside little nine year old Hannah's sleepover.

"I know you're in there Hannah!"
"I can smell the S'mores from out here on your corner".
"You and Brownie troupe 522 are killers"! KILLERS. Do you hear me? Those marshmallows are tragic!
A megaphone works wonders here.
KILLERS!
It worked until I had to pay my $5.00 fine for disturbing the peace. What's 5 bucks when you got a mission?
Marshmallows are unseemly. They are deceptive little buggers. Marshmallows seem so cuddly and soft and pillowy and chemical-ee. And they shmush so nice. And when they're drenched with chocolate and, and see, you see how those marshmallows draw you in. Damn candy crack. It's not right. But I don't need to tell you again what they're really made of.

A couple of weeks ago I had a hankering for the kind kind of marshmallow but my local health places were not cooperating. I was about to order some from several suppliers online and everybody was out of stock. Larry's the man. He happened to be picking up some ingredients at WF and lucky for us WF just started carrying Dandies there the day before. Yay!

Remember how the marshmallows of yore tasted like powdery yuk? A Dandies marshmallow has none of that powdery junk on it and is delicious. It might be a little smaller than the old- timey mallows but it's not a marshmallow midget. In addition to gobbling these from the bag, my buddy Mo and I whipped up some bark.

Mallow Bark

We had this on hand:

1 12 oz bag vegan chocolate chips

12 Dandies

1 Cup walnut pieces

1 Cup crushed Jojo's

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt chocolate chips in double boiler. When completely melted, stir in remainder of ingredients. Pour onto prepared cookie sheet. Level it out with a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula. Freeze for about an hour. Break into pieces and eat as much as you can and if you can't sleep read the rest of my blogs. 

This bark would rock with dried cherries and roasted almonds but alas we did not have any.

And that's enough pillow talk for tonight.

MoFo 11 Once Upon a Time Muffin

Once upon time there were two sleepy people who lived in a tiny little hamlet that didn't serve ham. This tiny little hamlet was named Veganville.The two sleepy people worked day and night to bring all kinds of vegan treats to neighboring cafes. On the second day of MoFo in the year of 2010 a giant who loved dogs and coffee ordered all kinds of Veganville treats, so many treats that the two sleepy people and their cats worked all day and night just to supply the giant.The people in the Land of Giants were very happy until on the 11th day of MoFo the mean muffin lady, the one with the Giant hormonal muffins came back from vacation, and the Giants from the Land of Giants remembered what they had forgotten. They remembered that the mean muffin lady's muffins were Jumbo- Jumbos and just the perfect size for Giants and their dogs. Who cared if the mean muffin lady's muffins were made with salmonella laden eggs. These babies were big unlike Veganville's muffins which in the Land of the Giants were considered 5'11" muffins or just under 6 feet. So the two sleepy people decided to do what they usually do when presented with a problem. They pronounced it Veganville nap day and took to their bed.

The 5'11" Cranberry Orange Walnut Muffin
3 C flour
1/2 T baking soda
1/2 T baking powder
2 T energee
1 T pumpkin Spice
1 C organic sugar

1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C Rice milk
1/2 C Orange Juice
2 C dried orange cranberries (or plain dried cranberry if you can't locate)
1 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 6 jumbo muffin cups with cup cake liners (or 12 standard)
Whisk dry ingredients in bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Add dry to wet.
Bake 20 - 22 minutes. Cool on racks.
This is a perfect muffin after a snooze.

MoFo Is it only Day 2 Pesto Pizza

Is it still day two of MoFo? Is it only day 2 of MoFo? I know, I know that MoFo day two is over in most of the time zones but I still got 50 minutes to get this in before the clock chimes day three on the west coast. I'm not ready to jump the MoFo vegan ship just yet. No, no there's no Zooey Deschanel here (traitor!).

I have a basket of excuses for getting here late but I'd rather not use them up this early in the game. That would be like turning in all your fake doctors notes and forging all your mommy's excuse letters in the first week of school. I'm a little craftier than that.
Anyway if you are new to Veganville you probably don't know that prior to becoming a Vegan I was a Vegetarian for several decades, many of those without dairy. Phlegm is not nice.

I've been a Vegan for over 5 years, but as a newbie Vegetarian in N.Y. many years ago I did lots of pizza, peanut butter, salads and knishes and Morningstar products.
Today there are so many more vegan products available. If you think it, you shall have it.
Pizza did you think pizza?

Pizza of My Mind

1 corn pie crust (I like Vicolo organic pie crust)
1/4 C vegan pesto (recipe below)
4 Roma Tomatoes sliced thinly
2 Cups white mushrooms sliced
1 C Daiya Mozzarella
1 T nutritional yeast (nooch)
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
sea salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make Pesto.
Pesto
1/4 C walnuts
1.5 C packed basil leaves
1 clove garlic smashed and chopped
a pinch of sea salt
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1/8 C nutritional yeast
1 tsp lemon


Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor and blend quickly. Process again and add olive oil in a steady stream. Scrape down the sides. Add nooch, lemon juice and pulse. It should be like a paste.
Spoon onto crust. Spread pesto evenly.
Spray a fry pan and heat. Layer pan with sliced tomatoes. Heat slightly. Then layer tomatoes on to pesto crust.
Saute mushrooms about two minutes in same pan. (You can leave all this fry panning out if you like, I just think it's tastier than just putting the tomatoes and mushrooms directly on the pie).

Layer with shrooms. Sprinkle with Daiya cheese, nooch, 1 tsp of olive oil and oregano. Bake for 12 minutes til hot and bubbly.

Presto Pesto Pie

I'll see you tomorrow. Let me know if you whip any Veganville recipes up. I'd love to hear from you. I hope my dog doesn't eat tomorrow's MoFo homework.