This week

Some soaking action: Red lentils, sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, almonds. Why? Soaking and/or sprouting legumes, beans, and seeds breaks down their natural enzyme inhibitors making their nutrients more accesible i.e. easier for your body to digest and absorb! 6 hrs-overnight is best for most!

This week ...

- felt like so much! I guess there wasn't anymore to it than usual but for some reason I was particularly aware of how much running around and rushing I do. I came home each day feeling very, very drained. I tend to regularly feel like there isn't enough time to do everything I want to do but I think the problem is that I over plan and over commit, try to do a lot in an inadequate amount of time and am often not very wise about how I use that time--the "want to do" things frequently win out over the "should do" things which sets me up for a time-strapped, stress-filled situation later on. And then alot of the time what I think are the "should do" things aren't even really the "need to do" things. I don't know how to fix this yet.

-I drafted about three non-food related blog posts but didn't have time to edit them and make them "postable."

-I got a cold. And it made me realize that it's been a while, nearly a year (maybe longer) in fact, since I've had a legit cold. I think I can attribute this recent one to the 8.5 mile run-walk I did last Saturday. Did you know that viruses are pretty much always lurking on/around/inside your body, inactive until something (like spontaneously adding 6 miles to your regular running distance) weakens your system and gives them the chance to make their move?! The cold was very short lived. I had a day and a half of a mild scratchy throat, a morning of having minimal energy and coughing up icky phlegm and then I was back to normal. I was very proud of my immune system. The  last time I remember having a sore throat and cough was in late october/ november 2010. The cough lasted for 4-5 months (into the first couple months of 2011), my body just couldn't kick it. I definitely think that my over 100% increase in veggie and fruit intake over the past months has helped my body become a better virus-fighting machine!

-I read Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life -it was a great, informative read and I will definitely own the book one day soon. I also started reading The Body Ecology Diet. It is freaking me out. I will tell you more about why later.

-I spent alot of time in the kitchen whipping up yummy gluten free fare. I absolutely LOVE cooking and preparing food but there was definitely a night this week where I started to feel the beginnings of what I  call "food burnout." On that night I was in the kitchen, looking at all the pots on the stove, the dirty dishes in the sink, the food specks on the floor, and the random ingredients on the counters and kitchen table, and I wanted to just throw down my spatula, march from the kitchen to my bedroom and get right into my bed. I held it together long enough to finish cooking though...and got up the next morning with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement over the foods I planned to prepare that day. I'm addicted.

I ate pretty well. Lots of fruits, lots of veggies, no refined sugar (except for a chocolate chip cookie), no gluten (except for that chocolate chip cookie and 2 ritz crackers). I think, however, that I have a banana problem. I ate about three of them a day. Makes me glad they're so cheap. But still, I think I might be overdoing it. Anywhoo here is some of what I made!

Stir fry!

I get a little kick out of putting my green smoothies in this glass.

"Vegan Protein Pancakes" Completely gluten free! -I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs.

I found the recipe for this after googling "gluten free flatbread." It was better than anything I'd hoped for. Seriously. The main ingredient? Soaked grains. oh yes.

The makings of another bean-based dessert.

Say hello to the "Bean-based Blondie" I halved this recipe, ommitted the chocolate chips and used oil instead of apple sauce (b/c i didn't have apple sauce ::sniffle::). Unlike my last bean dessert this one had oats in it so I definitely liked the texture more. This one also had slightly more of a bean taste (i think maybe b/c of the lack of apple sauce) but it wasn't a problem at all, I actually preferred the flavor of the blondie to the brownie, slightly bean-like and all!

I tried a pizza recipe from the Thrive (book I mentioned earlier) diet. Not like any pizza i've had before--the crust is made from kidney beans, cooked brown rice, and spices. Overall it was different but so flavorful! Will definitely make it (or another variation) again and again!

Okay that is all, I must sleep now!