My First (and maybe last) Bike Race

6 / 22 / 176 / 18 / 17

I did it! 25 miles on a bike. What kind of crazy person does this? The kind of girl who realizes she is turning the big 3-5 this year and better do something BIG beforehand (much like the first and decidedly LAST full marathon I ran just before my 30th). This is me before, look how cute and innocent I look all ready to tackle this race. HA!

Ok, so most of the race was actually along the ocean which was incredibly beautiful and very motivating.

Here’s a picture about halfway through where I thought to myself that it actually wasn’t that bad and totally do-able.

Annnnd then I met the 1200 foot elevation. All within a span of 5 miles. Yup. I somehow only managed to stop once most of the way up to have a gulp of water, tell myself to suck it up and get to the top of the hill. And that I did.

What did I learn from this experience??? Training does not only involve racing the distance of the race. You should experience similar elevation changes during your training rides so you are not surprised and wanting to ride off the mountain just to see flat road again. Also, learning how to use the bike rack a friend lends you shouldn’t wait until the night before the race to put it on the car only to have it fall apart and leave you in tears wondering how you will transport your bike to your race (taking the front wheel off worked *phew*). Race with a friend. When you are along on the big hills, you will lose your motivation and feel like giving up. Having someone there to do it with you will keep you going.

Starting to question my sanity as I have signed up for a sprint triathlon in October. Annnd I have to start training next week. Damn. 😂 😂 😂

This picture was taken after. Right before I collapsed on the ground…

Chocolate Coconut Bars

6 / 20 / 176 / 18 / 17

Today is a day for celebrating life and being fiercely badass. Today is a day to appreciate health and wellbeing. Today is a day to enjoy being CANCER FREE for 12 years! So why not kick back with a fun treat?! Heck yea!

There is was this super cool Health Food store in Waterloo, Ontario Canada that I used to like going to. They made these incredibly delicious bars that had a puffed rice bottom and chocolate middle with coconut on top. I loved those freakin’ bars. I had been meaning to recreate them for quite some time. I just recently learned the store closed. Nooooooooo!! So I made my own. They aren’t quite the same, but they are really good and a fun snack. Totally helps that mid-afternoon slump at work 😉

I bet the kiddos would love ’em too.

Chocolate Coconut Bars (makes 16 squares)

Bottom Layer
1. 5 cups of puffed rice (I used plain, sometimes it’s hard to track down)
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of brown rice syrup
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of almond butter
Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper. Melt the almond butter and brown rice syrup on low heat in a pan on the stove. Once it has melted and has a very smooth texture, remove from heat, add the puffed rice and quickly stir it all together. Use those muscles, it starts to set fast! Once it is well combined, pour it into the prepared baking dish and firmly press it down so it is even. Allow to cool while you make the chocolate layer.

Chocolate Layer
1 cup + 2 tbsp of chocolate chips
2 heaping tbsp of coconut butter
1/4 cup of large flake, plain unsweetened coconut
Melt the chocolate chips and coconut butter in a small pan on low heat on your stove. Stir until melted and the texture becomes very smooth. Pour this mixture on top of the puffed rice layer. Sprinkle the coconut flakes on top and gently press in. Freeze the baking dish for 20 minutes, then remove from the freezer and cut into bars or squares. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Curry

6 / 15 / 176 / 7 / 17

Bursting with coconut, curry goodness, this savoury meal will keep you satisfied long after you’ve taken your last delicious bite.

So it doesn’t seem so long ago that I posted a sweet potato recipe. Like… last Thursday??? I find I use them at least once a week though. They help stave off my potato chip cravings. Kind of.

And I’m excited to share this meal with you because it’s another quick, easy meal for weekday lunches. It does have to sit in a crockpot for several hours, but aside from that, prep is easy peasy!

Crockpot Curry (makes 4 good-sized lunches)
2 small sweet potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes
1 14oz can of light coconut milk
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger **if you are not used to ginger, use .5-1 tsp (or 1/4 tsp dried)

Combine everything in a your crockpot, set to medium heat and cook for 4 hours. Stir every 30-60 minutes.

That’s it!

I’ll be honest, I got this idea from a blog I used to follow, however it appears the blog is no longer active. I thought I would at least give EC credit though =)

What are your easy weekday lunches?

Triathlon Survival Kit

6 / 12 / 176 / 7 / 17

So my super awesome friend Lisa ran her first (and apparently NOT last) triathlon recently. Lisa and I moved to Northern California from the exact same town, just a couple of years apart. And we grew up basically around the corner from each other (at least, around the corner in Canadian speak – within a 30-minute drive is totally around the corner). But we didn’t meet until we both lived here. Small world.

She’s my running buddy.

She talks me into doing crazy things like running hills for fun. She tried talking me into the triathlon, but I wasn’t so sure about it.

I thought it sounded really hard. So I signed up for a sprint triathlon instead. It’s this fall, so I imagine you will hear me talking about it and the training I have already started doing for it.

It was nice having her go first, so I could get an idea of what to expect.
Thanks Lisa haha 😉

I thought to help her prepare mentally for it, I’d make her a cute basket. She’s always doing cute things for me, so I wanted to do something in return.

So I bought some of her favourite things (popcorn & chocolate – a girl after my own heart) and threw in some of my favs that I knew would help her recover like coconut water, gel shots/packs & protein bars. And the cutest wings for her shoes because I knew she’d FLY.

I also included a cute note to help motivate her.

She definitely inspired me to break out of my comfort zone and try something different. So in order to prepare for my sprint triathlon in the fall, I’m currently training for a 25 mile bike race. It’s actually this coming weekend. Wish me luck =)

Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes

6 / 8 / 176 / 5 / 17

I have been trying my hand at making quick meals in the aftermath of a days work, workout, driving the pooch to daycare and trying to keep up on housework. Gah. It really is never ending. And I will be honest, these loaded spuds are not super quick. However, they are easy and you can do most of the prep work while the potatoes bake. My kinda meal. I’m not sure I’d make these during the week, but they made a perfect Sunday meal with a nice salad.

Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes

2 medium sweet potatoes, washed, scrubbed and sliced in half, lengthwise
Bake potatoes at 350 until a fork is easily inserted (about 45-50 minutes).

Tempeh Bacon
1 8oz package of tempeh, crumbled
2 tbsp of soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 tsp of maple syrup
a few dashes of liquid smoke
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix up. Allow it to marinate for 20 minutes. Heat a wok on the stove on medium heat and cook the tempeh crumbles for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Nacho Cheeze
1 cup of cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
1 small bell pepper (red or orange)
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, chili powder, dried cumin, dried coriander and paprika
salt & pepper to taste
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend it up until creamy. I had to add a bit of water to get it to blend better (and I was low on patience haha ;p)

Guacamole
1 large, ripe avocado, pitted and scooped from the flesh
the juice of a lime
salt & pepper to taste
Combine everything in a bowl and mash the avocado with a fork. Stir to combine.

Once the potatoes are done, add the prepared tempeh bacon, nacho cheeze & guacamole.

I also added some fresh cilantro and a sprinkle of paprika to garnish.

We thought we’d have leftovers… we were wrong 😉

Pictures that make you feel like a million bucks

6 / 5 / 176 / 5 / 17

Image Courtesy of Monica Dawn Photography

Have you ever hard professional pictures taken? I think some of you may have as you have GORGEOUS headshots for your blog… whereas I just randomly find whatever half decent picture is lying around and crop accordingly. Heh.

We didn’t even get a professional photographer for our wedding… the woes of two broke students. So imagine my surprise when I entered a wellness challenge in the fall to discover one of the many amazing discounts I could take advantage of was a photography session with the AH-MAZING Monica Dawn.

Check these bad boys out:

Image Courtesy of Monica Dawn Photography

Aren’t they completely stunning?!

We actually set a date to take the pictures back in the fall. But between illnesses on our part and so. much. rain. we had to reschedule a few times. Finally we decided to just wait for the spring and I’m so glad we did as these turned out far better than my wildest expectations. The lighting is perfect, and seeing all of the greenery and flowers as our backdrop makes the pictures bright and beautiful.

Image Courtesy of Monica Dawn Photography

She really captured our happiness and love for one another. And don’t get me wrong, I love the somewhat random, candid photos we have around the apartment of us over the years, but hanging these up is definitely more grown up. I LOVE them.

Was it cheap? Hell no. Was it reasonably priced for the service and professionalism we got? You bet! She worked with our schedule and even included Sunny in some of the pictures as I expressed how important she is to me as part of our family. And getting Sunny to pay attention and look happy on command is no easy feat.

Image Courtesy of Monica Dawn Photography

My favourite part? After having the pictures done, she finished processing them quickly and efficiently and sent me a link to her website for our own online photo album. I was then able to pick the ones I liked and order the sizes I wanted. She has loads of options from hard cover books to canvas wraps, even mini wallets.

I highly recommend getting professional pictures done, if you are in the Northern California Bay Area or Central Valley, you should definitely reach out to Monica Dawn. I’m so glad we did.

Chocolate Dipped Date Balls

6 / 2 / 175 / 29 / 17

I have to admit that going from not working at all to full time has been an adjustment. It’s a rather long day. I don’t drink coffee, working at a coffee shop through university permanently put me off the stuff, I’ve never even tried it, yet the smell of it turns my stomach. Chocolate on the other hand, is the perfect way to find a little pick me up during the afternoon lull.

Chocolate Dipped Date Balls (makes 12-20 snack balls)

1/3 cup of nuts (I used a mix of almonds and walnuts)
1/3 cup of hemp seeds
1/3 cup of gluten free oats
1/4 cup of almond butter (or nut butter of your choice)
3/4 cup of dates (about 10-12)
2 tsp of maple syrup

1/2 cup of dairy free chocolate chips

Add the nuts, hemp seeds and oats to your food processor and grind until they break down into a crumble. Add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips and process until it sticks together into a dough-like consistency. You may need to add a few splashes of water to get the right texture. Take a teaspoon, scoop up the mixture and roll into small balls.

Melt the chocolate chips on low heat on the stove. Once the chips are completely melted, allow the mixture to cool a bit. Then dip your balls in. You can roll them in the chocolate completely, or just dip them halfway like I did.

They are a super tasty little treat. I like to pack a couple each day to munch on when that afternoon slump hits.

Enjoy!

Santa Cruz Adventuring

5 / 30 / 175 / 29 / 17

My weekend was good mix of fun and productivity. It certainly didn’t leave time for relaxing, but I can’t say I’d change a thing. I don’t know about you, but I’m loving spring and loving every minute of the impending summer =D

Since I had an extra day I figured I’d get in a few volunteer shifts. Three in a 24-hour period to be exact. Figured I was due to catch up since starting my job I only have time for one or two a week now. So Sunny and I headed to visit a friend of ours in hospice care.

We also took the opportunity to visit our friend who is a war veteran and let him know how much we appreciate everything he did. I also subbed a dance class at the YMCA as some instructors went away for the weekend, and I figured I may as well get my dance on with a good group of people.

We had some friends for dinner Saturday and I made an EPIC meal. However, it was not very photogenic so it won’t be on the blog. I also met a good friend for lunch to catch up. And Sunday afternoon, we headed to Santa Cruz! It’s my favourite place ever I think (well, within driving distance at least).

We’ve been there so many times, but we tend to always go on the same walks, so we checked out some different areas this time.

Walking near water just makes me feel lighter and happier.

We worked up a good appetite! And there’s a great pizza place several blocks from the ocean that has some vegan & gluten options.

Omnomnom.

How was your weekend?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

5 / 25 / 175 / 23 / 17

I hesitate to call this pie. Or cheesecake. Maybe we can just settle on delicious awesomeness???

I made this for Terry’s birthday that passed a few weeks ago. I couldn’t decide what to make and then practically skipped home from the market as I had found some FRESH RHUBARB!

It’s one of his favourite things ever. And we hardy see it fresh at the market in California. When we lived in Canada, we saw it far more regularly in the spring in summer. I’m much more of a chocolate person, but he adores rhubarb. I like it too, especially in a dessert like this, topped with homemade coconut whipped cream.

I even brought the leftovers to my co-workers as they were intrigued by this strange sounding raw dessert thing. They thought it was pretty good. Vegan dessert for the win!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Crust
1 cup of pecans
1 cup of almonds
1.5 cups of dates, pitted
a splash of water

Filling
1.5 cups of cashews
1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup of fresh or frozen rhubarb
the juice of a large lemon
1/4 cup of maple syrup (less if your rhubarb is less tart than mine)
a splash of almond milk

Start by soaking your cashews for 4-8 hours. Lightly grease a 6-inch spring form pan with coconut oil (or line a pie plate with parchment paper). Add the almonds and pecans into your food processor and process until they break down into crumbs. Then add your dates and process. Only add a splash of water if the mixture is dry. It should stick together easily, but shouldn’t be wet. Transfer the crust mixture to your prepared pan/plate and press in firmly. It is quite a bit of crust, so you should have enough to press into the sides.

For the filling, drain your cashews and add them the your blender with all of the other ingredients and slowly and carefully blend until it’s smooth and creamy. Add a bit of almond milk to help the process along, ensuring you keep it thick, but smooth – you don’t want it watery. Pour the filling onto the crust and cover with plastic wrap or foil and allow to set at least 8 hours. Remove from freezer about 15-20 minutes before enjoying.

Robin’s Birthday and the 13 mile hike

5 / 22 / 175 / 21 / 17

This past week we celebrated Robin’s (vegandollhouse) Birthday. There is a new vegan catering/meal delivery service in our area called Veganation and damn if their food isn’t ah-mazing. You will probably see a separate post with a review in the future. After having a bit of a stressful week, it was so nice to just hang with my girls and relax (and let someone else do the cooking!).

Happy Birthday Robin!

Look at this super cute sprinkle bow she got as a gift from Ashley (The Vegan Adventure). She also got some pretty cooking salts and I got her a unicorn bike bell to match her unicorn hair and style.

These girls crack me up.

And over the weekend I went for a hike with my friend Di. Shortly after moving here and I realized how awesome hiking is, I heard of a hike called Mount Diablo. It’s been a goal of mine ever since as it’s a very challenging hike. I didn’t want to do it alone as I tend to get lost easily (I once made a 2-hour hike into a 4-hour one after somehow getting off the trail). So Di suggested we tackle it together. We’re both crazy – let’s just get that out of the way.

It was by far the hardest hike I have ever done! It was 13 miles with an elevation of 3,800 feet. It also happened to be 90 degrees the day we picked, but neither of us had any free days in sight, so we trudged on anyway. It took us seven hours with the heat, we considered turning around a few times, but persevered and were rewarded with an incredible view.

And we saw wildflowers all along the way.

Stopping for our picnic lunch was nice. Food never tasted SO GOOD!

I couldn’t move when I got home haha. I wasn’t particularly sore the next day fortunately.

It was totally worth it.