I DID IT!

I ran a half marathon on July 27, 2008. I couldn't have done it without Kate, my running partner (pictured). We were both hurtin' big time by mile ten (her knees, my back) but we persevered and crossed the finish line together.

Vegan fuel before the race: spelt toast, almond butter, raspberry jam, a banana.

Vegan fuel after the race: raisin bagel, orange juice, chocolate bar, hash browns, grapefruit juice, tofu/pesto/sundried tomato scramble, spelt toast with raspberry jam.

Also, I slept 13 hours the night after the race. I did the math because I'm really smart that way, and it works out to one hour of sleep per mile run.

There's no picture of me that I like, so here's one of Kate after she collapsed by the finish line.

The Gathering 2008

The Gathering: a bunch of vegans from all over the country -- and Canada! -- gathered for food and camping and general merriment this past weekend. I don't have any pictures of ME, but here are some other pictures I took, and a video of just how serious the business of being vegan is. I mean, we don't mess around. Ever.

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

I helped Claire with assembly of these cupcakes. They are delicious! Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Lasagna and Raspberry/Chocolate Blondies

Two of my favorite things I've made in the past few months. The lasagna recipe is from Veganomicon, and I probably made it a couple months ago and am just posting about it now. It's a spinach and cashew ricotta sauce, with homemade marinara sauce. It took the better part of a day to make the different ingredients, assemble, and bake, but it was so worth it. We all liked it and I'll definitely make it again. The Raspberry Chocolate Blondies are from Vegan With a Vengeance, and they were dangerously good. I'm not sure I should make these again, because the recipe makes an entire 9x13" pan, and I couldn't stop eating them.

Another laptop lunch

I packed my second laptop lunch for work yesterday, and it was perfect for munching because I had a few minutes here and there to eat, but no actual lunch break. Clockwise from top left: raspberries & blueberries, walnut/mushroom pate (recipe in Veganomicon), flax crackers, olives, carrot, celery and cucumber.

I had made the walnut/mushroom dip for the first time the night before, for book club. I'm the only vegan in book club, and everyone liked it except for a lone mushroom-hater, who didn't try it. There's still some leftover dip, which I'm going to use as a sandwich spread. Yum!

Laptop Lunch

Inspired by the beautiful lunches on this woman's blog, I immediately purchased my own Laptop Lunchbox, which arrived today. I had a lot of fun packing my lunch for tomorrow: Rice noodles with carrots and peas in curry sauce (leftovers from tonight's dinner), cucumber and red pepper slices, grapefruit sections, homemade trail mix (I mixed up a tablespoon each of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, goji berries) and sesame dressing for the raw veggies. I love the built in portion control of this kit, as that is not one of my strong suits. Without all these compartments to fill, I'd typically just pack one big plastic container of leftover noodles for work tomorrow, and call it good. This is so much healthier, and it was fun adding bits and bobs of different things in my fridge and pantry to fill up all the colorful little containers. I'm going to pack some lunches for Nigel and Claire too, and if they like it I'll buy them their very own laptop lunchboxes.

Many thanks to veganhomemade for her inspiration, and please pardon my shameless imitation! It's truly meant as sincere flattery.

Caesar Salad from my veggie patch

File this recipe under "Veganomicon recipes I can't believe I haven't tried until now." My family deemed it too garlicky, so I will use one clove in the dressing next time instead of two. This was the first time I've ever made homemade croutons, and we were fighting over every last one of them. So yum!

It felt great to harvest a big head of romaine lettuce from our veggie patch for dinner tonight. Also, I rode my bike to and from work today, and Claire and I rode our bikes to New Season's to get the salad ingredients I didn't have on hand (capers, blanched almonds.) This is all part of my crush on Ed Begley, Jr. I want make him proud!