Happy Superbowl Sunday! And wow, this week flew by! Miko jumped out of bed so fast when I called him for a walk yesterday that he dragged his blanket across the room. Then pouted at me when we got back to fix it so he could snuggle under it again.
I survived a trip to Costco earlier this week which is real accomplishment since our local Costco is the busiest in the region and getting worse. Like our local Trader Joe’s, I will only go on weeknights now because weekends are too insane. Still worth it for great prices on organic vegan items and produce, they even carry organic almond milk, organic tofu, and organic medjool dates now.
Yes, that’s a huge box of fresh organic ginger in there too, a total impulse purchase. I’ve been slowly increasing the amount of ginger in the smoothies I make for hubby and I every morning and hubby is getting used to it. And you will be seeing a lot of ginger recipes in the near future!
Yesterday we stopped by Grocery Outlet after the gym and found tons of ripe organic bananas marked down for quick sale.
Between that and the Costco trip, our freezer is at capacity for frozen bananas which is great for smoothies for the rest of this month!
Last weekend we had a local vegan group meetup at Garden to Grill in midtown Sacramento, about 40+ local vegans getting together to eat and chat which are my favorite types of meetups, great to meet like minded vegans, share ideas, etc. I got the Tostada Bowl with black beans, rice, and a kicky avocado sauce.
I was tempted on the vegan burger and fries since it was after an 8.4 mile run that morning, but I decided on this instead and it was filling and tasty. And I chatted with a variety of vegans, some very strict on the no-oil diet and some viewing that as impossible. I’m somewhere between.
After I walked over to Fleet Feet Sacramento because it was time for new running shoes. Currently Brooks Glycerin 13 are my jam, I ran my last few races in them and have been really happy. But my old black pair has about 300 miles on them, time for a new pair for long training runs. Thankfully Runkeeper makes it so much easier to track mileage on running shoes now and even added support for tracking on multiple pairs of shoes at a time.
I took the opportunity to try on other brands of shoes at Fleet Feet to see if there’s a better option to switch to, but ended up with another pair of Glycerin 13s.
We also went to our favorite local sushi restaurant for an awesome plate of custom vegan rolls.
Hubby and I got two veggie rolls each to share, I was impressed they even offered oil free steamed veggie rolls when I requested vegan rolls.
Another plus is the huge bowl of pickled ginger they served us, guess they know I’m a fan of it!
And I stopped by Whole Foods for lunch one day last week for a huge salad with sesame ginger dressing.
I’ve also been working through a package of fresh organic beets by adding chunks to breakfast smoothies and look at the beautiful color beet adds to smoothies!
The beet flavor and texture blends wonderfully with citrus, ginger, and frozen banana in smoothies.
There has been salads this week too, there are always salads! This one has simple sriracha hummus dressing, radish sprouts, cultured veggies, and hemp seeds.
And simple stir fries like this curry chickpea potato oil free stir fry after a busy work day and trip to the gym.
Oil free tamari tempeh stir fry using up a package of frozen veggies.
Tofu, carrot, onion, and red pepper oil free stir fry with a spicy tomato sauce.
And marinara stir fry with potatoes and broccoli.
Whew, it’s been a good week and I’m getting ready for a pre-game 9.5 mile training run this morning. But first the list!
Here’s a 24-minute no-equipment total body workout that I’m tempted to do in my cube at work.
Stacy made a positive health transformation on a plant-based diet.
Aine Carlin has great advice on ditching dairy and a new vegan book.
Scott Jurek talks about maintaining a vegan diet on the Appalachian Trail.
Can fruits and veggies help reverse skin sun damage?
And prevent Alzheimer’s disease?
Centenarians give entertaining advice to living past 100 including being positive, plant-based diet, drinking, and balancing splurges.
I am excited about Wendy’s Black Bean burger and hope to see it locally soon!
This is an older article that has been making it’s way around social media lately in response to “super vegans” attacking non-vegan companies offering vegan products, such as Ben & Jerry’s and Wendy’s, and vegans who support this. I support Ben & Jerry’s and Wendy’s, I think it’s a positive sign of the times. What if their vegan products become more popular than non-vegan offerings? We should show a demand when a large company looks to shift to more compassionate, healthy, and eco-friendly options.
But vegan does not always mean healthy with a growing number of vegan junk foods showing up on the market. Jasmin Singer talks openly about being a junk food vegan in her new book.
Here’s a refresher on vitamin B12.
I might need to break out the deep fryer to try this splurge vegan recipe one weekend!
Ugh. Grocery shopping is getting me down! I agree, timing is everything. You get knocked over and all I wanted was some red peppers, chips and melons. Bleh. Ok and nuts cause I’m an addict. And that beet smoothie looks scrumptious. I have never considered putting beets in a smoothie before, maybe you can do some recipes for us? I grow beets and have never found a great way to use them.
Agreed, shopping on the weekends in this area can be draining, especially at Costco! Sure, I will post some recipes. Beets are a challenge, such a nutrient powerhouse that can be tricky. I love blending them with plant based protein powder, kale, carrots, frozen bananas, some sort of citrus fruit, and a chunk of raw ginger with pumpkin pie seasoning or cinnamon in smoothies – yum!
I’ve been a Brooks girl for years (Ravenna). Recently tried out a pair of NB, and while they are OK, I think I’ll be going back!
So jealous of your strong meet up community! And I love the list!
That’s how I felt about the other brands I tried on – just okay compared to the Brooks.
Thanks, you should start a local vegan meetup group for your area. So fun hanging with other local vegans.
I’m always so jealous of your sushi when I see it! You’ve inspired me to try to make some sushi tonight.
You’re so good with choosing healthy foods. If I went for an 8 mile run, I bet I would have got the fries lol.
I’m such a fan of vegan sushi now, most places should be able to make custom rolls.
Thanks and it was tempting, lol! Salty chips tasted good during the game yesterday after my long run. :-)
Miko is so darn cute. How many times have I said that? :)
Love Costco, but like you, I’ll only shop on weekdays. Shopping on weekends make me crazy.
LOL! That Centenarians article cracked me up. So many funny reasons for living past 100.
So true, I’m usually pretty patient around crowds, but not lately!
I thought that was a great article too! :-)
My own sneakers are in need of replacement, so it’s great to have your recommendation. I don’t run, but I do walk all over town since I don’t have a car, and those Glycerin 13s sure do look like a cushy ride!
The Glycerin’s are great for walking too, I actually lived in them for a lot of the hikes and traveling for our Alaska trip.
I loooove all of the links this week! such a great variety and can’t wait to read about the sun damage…i really do believe you can ‘eat your sunscreen!’
looking forward to some ginger dressings :)
Thanks and me too, a nutrient rich diet can heal a lot of health problems!
Yes on ginger and thinking about trying to pickle it too!
I am thinking about signing up with costco. Not sure if it would be worth it yet. I just laughed at your comment that costco and trader joes are so busy cuz my boss seems to think trader joes is expensive. Like she will constantly try and prove me wrong. If was so expensive why is it so popular? And no joke she compares it to whole foods. I find food at trader joes that is cheaper than mainstream supermarkets! I just don’t go often because they don’t have everything I want, and I don’t like their produce section. Too many small packages.
I’ve heard that before about Trader Joe’s from others, but most of the items I buy are so much cheaper there than Whole Foods and even other supermarkets such as tempeh, cereal, etc. I think the smaller store and lack of inventory throws a lot of people off, they just assume it’s more pricey because it’s mostly their brands I guess.