Updates 5.1.2010

Hello world!  It's been awhile.  'Member me?  Well, lots has been going on since I last blogged.  Hell, I can't even remember where I left off?!

Culinary.  Food, ahhh, my favorite subject.  Although you guys have been missing food here on my blog, I have NOT been missing it in real life!  I have eaten well the past couple months.  As for baking, my most favorite goodie as of lately has been those damn awesome chocolate chips cookies!  We eat the hell out of 'em, and my waist line can speak for that!  Hands down, this is the best cookie recipe, vegan or not, on the planet.  They rock.

I also made some vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting.  Holy cow...AWESOME!  Now, I'll be the first to admit there are two things that almost always come better out of a box than by hand...brownies and cake (just the cake; not the frosting).  Seriously, it's real hard to F-up a box cake, and they always turn out moist and tender.  But, I have found the best ever chocolate cake recipe ever, and it just so happens to be vegan AND the easiest damn cake recipe I've ever made.  It's ridiculous.  Non-vegan Mom approved, and everything.  I'll post the recipe for that soon.

As for the rest of my culinary concerned life, I still remain almost all vegan at my house, and eat meat when it has been prepared for me at someone's house.  Honestly, still don't miss the meat terribly.  Don't get me wrong, it is good, but the cravings are nearly as strong as they are for...DAIRY!  Yes, dairy.  Not so much on milk, but cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, and ice cream...yes, please!!!  I've been keeping some cheeses at the house, and my main "cheater food" is pizza, so I am guilty of eating on some cheese.  I'm sorry, but I just love chevre, and brie, and  manchengo, and cream cheese, and the list goes on.  Sorry vegans, there's just no substitute for that stuff.  I did, however, find some unpasteurized raw chevre style goat cheese at the Farm to Market the other day, and I was so jazzed about finding it!  I've been waiting to try some raw dairy forever, but you really have to have a relationship with a local dairy to have access to it.  It was awesome.  Sorry guys, I just can't give up my red wine and cheese.

I'm still juicing daily, and I don't forsee that habit leaving my lifestyle anytime soon.  I love juicing.  No matter what your food lifestyle is, everyone should juice.  I'm obsessed with juicing.  It's the best thing you can do for your body daily...as well as exercise.

Running.  Yep, still running.  I can't believe it's almost been a year since my first attempts at running.  Granted, I'm not in aa good of running shape as I was back in October, but I still run about 3-4 times a week.  A group of us are running the "Beach to Bay" relay marathon here in a couple weeks, and I'm very excited about it.  Each runner's leg is a little over 4 miles, so I'm not worried about meeting that goal.

In regards to running and food, I am consciously consuming more protein as I have noticed a definite correlation before the two.  When my diet was primarily raw for a while, my running did not suffer majorly from the lack of protein, but when I started moving over to a primarily cooked vegan diet, I did notice I was becoming very weak.  So, I order some raw vegan sprouted rice protein powder, and that has been working out fine.  I shake some up with some water and almond milk after a run, and all is good.  It's some really high-quality stuff, and is an easy protein on our digestive systems.  You can read more about it here.  FYI, I recommend buying the "natural" flavor version, as the other two contain stevia, which can be an od flavor.  Also, if you go with a neutral flavor, you can make it any flavor you want depending on what you mix with it.

Love:  Steven and I have been dating a year!  Can you believe it?!  Cinco de Mayo marks our one year anniversary...how goofy is that?!  On the fifth of each month, we try to make a date night and go treat ourselves to a nice meal.  We call these days our "Cincos," and this one coming up marks our 12th!  It does not seems like a year.  I love you, Steve-o!

Garden:  My container garden is rocking!  I have spinach, romaine, parsley, and tomatoes going right now, and I am proud to say everything is looking great....except for the spinach.  The spinach is just not "flourishing," ya know.  First, caterpillars attacked it, and now that the caterpillars have ceased it's like it just don't want to grow anymore.  Not cool.  So far, I've been all organic on my veggie garden, and hope to stay that way.   I'm wanting to start composting, but I really want to buy one of those compost bins that rotates, and whatnot.  Lord knows with all the juice I drink I have a ton of great compost material, and I know my veggies would like some of that goodness, as well!  I swear, I go out there and visit my veggies morning, noon, and night like they're going to run off, or something!  Ha!  I love watching them grow :-)

Well, I'll leave with that, for now.  I've also had some little trips I've been on, and my work has taken a big spin, but I'd have to write a novel to fit all that in...and who really cares about work, right?! 'Till next time....  -CC Bloom

Whatcha been smokin', Jill?

Hemp!

(Hemp Seed can be bought at Whole Foods, Central Market, and many other natural food stores.  The picture above is the exact brand hemp seed I bought at CentralMarket)

Protein, protein, protein...it's Ms. Jill's favorite word!  Jill is one of my e-friends I met at Runner's World's online community "The Loop."  As you can imagine, runners love their protein, and it's going to be hard to convince one they don't need as much as traditionally believed.  Who knows, maybe I'm wrong, or maybe they're wrong?  All that matters is...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  Well, you know, take that with a grain of salt in regards to some ideas ;-)  On my run this morning, I noticed my legs muscles were weak.  I started thinking about protein, and if my lack of having as much protein in my diet as of recently was the explanation for this.  Honestly, I don't think it is; I think it's a result of "taking it easiER" the past two weeks by only running flat ground and for short distance due to a hip flexor strain.  My hip flexor is better, so I'm incorporating hills back in my running.  Obviously, my legs muscles atrophied a tad from the lack of hill strength training, so they're feeling a little weak.  Who knows, maybe it's the diet, and maybe it's not.  As of right now, I'm adhering to this perspective on "protein" here .

The point being...lately when I think of the role protein plays in my diet as an active person, I immediately think of Jill since she's been following both my new running and new raw food lives.  Jill hearts protein!  She's been such a sport about about trying out the green smoothies, but noted she's been putting protein powders in them.  So, after my run this morning, I decided to make a post-run "raw" vegan hemp protein shake with Jill in mind.

Hemp seed/nut is an amazing little food.  It is one of the few plant complete proteins, and is dang tasty, too!  What about soy?  Well, soy has a bad reputation for possibly causing thyroid problems, breast cancer, early dementia, and for being a high mucus producer.  As always, you will find a flip side to most every argument, so until they decide hemp's going to kill us, too, I'm gonna to eat it.  Unfortunately, hemp can not be legally grown in the US, but can be imported from certain countries like Cananda.  Now, I'm not sure about this, but I think imported hemp seed must be "treated" before entering the U.S....even though some raw food sites state they have "raw" hemp seed, or "raw" hemp powder, I'm not sure how accurate that affirmation is.  I'll do some more researching on that.  Anyway, here's a tasty post-workout EASY vegan (maybe could be raw?) hemp protein shake just for you, Jill!

 Chocolate Hemp Shake

• 2 Tbs. shelled hemp seed (11g protein, Jill!)
• 1 tsp. dried, shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional, but good)
• 1 cup cold water
• 4 dried dates (you can use Agave, honey, or whatever sweetener you have on hand)
  
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder (raw cacao powder, if you have it)

Procedure:  Throw it all in the blender, and go for it!  Blend on slow, working your way up to the highest setting, and blend for about a minute until all hemp seed and dates are totally combined, creamy, and like milk (fyi, blending hemp seed with water is how you make hemp milk).  At this point, you could add a banana, if you like.  If choosing to add the coconut, you will need to blend on high for little bit longer so those shreds become no more.  Hemp seeds will blend completely with no need for straining, as they are very small and soft.  If you'd like, you could use a little less water, and throw a few ice cubes in the mix.  You can also soak your dates before hand for easier blending, as well).

Hemp is very nutty tasting.  It's also great sprinkled on salads, cereals, and sauteed veggies.  Enjoy! 

There ya go, Jill!  11 grams of complete protein all in a small 1 cup serving.

Running Raw???

As I previously stated, I have taken up running. Running?! Claire?! Yes, that's right. Don't think your eye's have deceived you. That's me you saw around 7:30am on the streets, and that's me you heard say "I can't eat Mexican tonight, and have to be in bed early tonight for me 'long run' in the morning" on a Friday night. So, here's the deal...can raw foodist be heavily active, too? I mean, I don't want to be an aspiring raw foodist conflicting to be an aspiring runner, as well. Athletes have heard over and over "you need to get your protein, etc." As you probably figure, I immediately went to the computer and found many active raw foodist our there! The most fascinating has been Tim VanOrden. He's not only a raw foodist, but a "Fruitarian," AND a professional runner. Do what?! That means he does not eat nuts, seeds, or grains as other raw foodists do, which means he takes in no protein whatsoever. Only fruit and vegetables for this guy. Sooooo, how does this professional runner get protein? Well, he doesn't....but in a way, he does...supposedly. Check out his very interesting video about his opinion on protein and amino acids. Also, here's another link pertaining to vegan protein. Vegan bodybuilders?! Had no idea they existed...