Hey there…

Hi friends! Did you miss me?! Sorry for the unexplained absence, but I’m back now (kinda). Blogging was beginning to be too much with school but I’m about to graduate (one more week!) and I’ll be done with school for a while until I transfer somewhere. So I’ll have lots of free time to spend on blogging.

It’s been a while and I know what going on with all of you (I never stopped blog stalking  reading), so let me catch you up…

I turned 20!

I got a kitten. Her name is Wheels.

She is more like a puppy then a kitten, which is why I love her so much!

I’ve been running.

I’ve gotten faster. (Still not where I want to be, but I’ll get there!)

I’ve been enjoying life.

I’ve had a great summer with my friends.

I’ve fallen a few times, but I’ve gotten back up. (Metaphorically and Literally) 

I’ve been enjoy yummy food.

WAIT WHAAT! This is a not so vegan meal right there.

Because guess what? The little college vegan, is no longer vegan.

Guess I should do some explaining on this one.

A few months ago I made the decision to no longer be vegan, or vegetarian, or  label my diet under
any one thing. Why? because I was tired of feeling limited. Yes, veganism helped me to love food again,
and for that I am eternally grateful, but after time it just felt like I was restricting myself again. Does this mean
I’m a raging carnivore? No. I still eat a very plant based diet, but animal products make a daily appearance (Mostly eggs, and fish). For now I am happy and content, so I hope you will be for me too!

What does this mean for Little College Vegan?

Sadly, this is the end for this little blog. Don’t worry though, because I’ve started a new one!
(don’t think you can get rid of me that fast, ha)

Here is the link to my new blog:

A happy balance.

(There may or may not be an awesome giveaway awaiting you there 😉 )

Where I’ll still be the same old goober Hannah…

I just eat a little differently now 🙂

Megan from The Oatmeal Diaries!

Hey there pretty ladies!

I’m still busy working away with finals and such. These next few days will be the craziest yet, but a week from today (at 6 pm.) after my portfolio review I will finally be able to breathe again. My finals after that shouldn’t be too difficult and I can get back to regular blogging!

For my next guest post I have Megan from The Oatmeal Diaries. Hands down on of my favorite blogs ever. When I stumbled across her blog, the first thing I saw was “Hi, my name is Megan and I’m addicted to oatmeal.” I knew right then and there I was gonna love this girl! I was right, I absolutely do! We have pretty much the exact same taste in foods, and I love reading about her outback adventures (she’s currently studying abroad in Australia), and her new journey with intuitive eating.

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Hey everyone! My name is Megan and I blog over at The Oatmeal Diaries. I was so excited when Hannah asked me to guest post for her, and I knew exactly what I wanted to write about: oatmeal! Go figure, right? I’ve gotten some questions recently about my method for making oats, so I wanted to share it with you all. Hope you enjoy!

-First, start off with your base. I typically use half a cup of either oatmeal or oat bran.

-Next, I like to add lots of cinnamon along with a pinch of sea salt. Depending on how my sweet tooth is feeling, I might add some Stevia as well.

-Then it’s time for mix-ins. I like to use berries, pumpkin, or banana. Sometimes I also like to add flaxseeds, chia seeds, cocoa powder, or flavor extracts (maple is my fave!).

-For the liquid, I find that using half water and half milk makes for perfectly creamy oatmeal.

-After cooking the oats, sometimes I’ll mix in protein powder. I know some people aren’t a fan of protein powder, but I like the taste and I find that using even half a scoop keeps me full for way longer. My favorite kind is this vanilla pea protein:

-Then it’s time for the fun part: toppings! Lately I’ve been loving the combo of goji berries + coconut + sunflower seeds. And of course, nut butters are a must.

-The final and most important step: devour!

Happy oatmeal eating! 🙂

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Thank you Megan for the guest post, seriously, I. Loved. It.  Now I want some oaties for lunch. I didn’t have em’ for breakfast (whatt? I know weird right? This whole finals thing does freaky things to my eating patterns), but there is never a wrong time of the day to eat oatmeal, am I right?

Time to get back to a full day of work, then for a reward tonight I’m making pretzels! If it’s one thing I miss since I haven’t been able to eat gluten is a big soft pretzel! Yum.

What are your favorite oat toppings?
Hmm….Nut butter (durr), banana, strawberries, bloobs, chocolate….I could really go on forever.

What kinda oat person are you? (overnight oats, warm oats, oat bran, steel cut oats, irish oats…etc.) I’m an overnight oats kinda girl in the morning, but if I’m having them for a different meal, I like em’ hot. Then of course I’m using my gf rolled oats. I’ve yet to find gf oat bran. I could make it, but I’m lazy.

Best oats you have had lately: Last night I had oaties for dinner. Oats+Sweet Potato+Banana+Big spoonful DCD=perfection. Seriously, it was so good.

Do you like pretzels? I love them! Especially if they are homemade:)

 

Guest Post: Molly Runs Fresh

Hey guys!
Glad you all liked my spoon! (Wanna know a secret? It’s actually a tablespoon measurer and the whole set is different types of keys. You can get em’ at anthropologie!) This week has been NUTZZZ. I am insanely busy with school and work (and have made some big life decisions lately, which I’m both excited and nervous to share with you….but that can wait until a real post!)

Lucky me, I have some lovely bloggers who are going to take up some space on my blog while I’m busy slaving over finals! To start off is one of my fav. lil’ bloggers, Molly from Molly Runs Fresh. She gorgeous, a runner, and cooks up some pretty amazing eats! Whats not to love?
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Hey guys! How are you? It’s Molly here from MollyRunsFresh and I am so excited to be writing a guest post for Hannah. I love reading her blog and drooling over her delicious eats. As it says in her bio, this girl is a college health and fitness nut, who also just happens to be vegan. That’s staying on top of your body’s wellness, if you ask me!

As this is my first guest post, I thought it would be wise to not focus on a set topic, and just have fun and let you guys get to know me and experiences with nutrition, exercising, and life in general! All right? Lets get it rollin’:

As I said above, my name is Molly and I just recently graduated high school.

Background Check:I grew up in a town with a population of about 13,000 and I swear, 99.9% of the town’s population are the nicest people ever.  I have a 26-year-old brother and 21-year-old sister, making me

the baby of the family. When I was younger, I really felt left out because my brother and sister were buds and I was the baby, but now I see that there are real perks about being the last kid left in the house!

Fitness: Now that I think back to my kindergarten year of elementary school, it is a wonder how I ever got into sports. Sure I was a tomboy who loved to play kickball, catch snakes, and go fishing, but I was also very focused on school and a book lover by the age of 5. In first grade, my best friend told me she was joining a Rec soccer team, so I decided to register with her. I played soccer every fall until fifth grade, when I took up softball and basketball. I was 10-years-old and already loved the feeling of being active on a team year round.

Me and my friend back in my baller years.

When I was in elementary school, my older brother was a cross country and track runner for our town’s high school. My parents used to pull me out of class to go to his cross country meets and I fell in love with the sport before I even knew how to run. My 6^th grade year, I was the first person to sign up for the intramural cross country team so I could be just like my big brother. And so my love with running began!

This is me at one of my first little AAU cross country meets!

 

I continued to run throughout middle school, both for my school’s team as well as through AAU.  My parents never pushed me to train when I didn’t want to, and I think that is what helped me grow as a runner and individual. I feel so sorry for little kids whose parents force them into competitive running when they aren’t even seven years old yet. I have seen my fair share of parents trying to live through their children and cross country meets. Running should be enjoyable and thrilling, not a chore or punishment!

I recently just wrapped up my career as a high school runner and am taking a break before I start with my summer running program. I like to do road races to switch up my training a bit, and might just try my first triathlon in June!

Nutrition: Growing up, I was just like any American kid with working parents. I went to school, had sports practice, and was starving by 6 o’clock. Quick solution? A cheeseburger from Mcdonalds, Frito Chilli Pie from Sonic, or Blizzard from Dairy Queen. I was one of those super energetic kids that could get away with eating straight-up junk because I was always running around with friends. I probably got in 2 miles of sprints ever night just playing Night Tag with my friend and her neighbors! However in high school, I was thrust into a lot harder competition in sports than I was used to. Since I love running so much, I didn’t mind running more mileage to improve my endurance.

However, my sophomore year, I came down with mononucleosis. I had probably been running undiagnosed for a few weeks, so by the time I was diagnosed, I only had to take a week or two off before my symptoms started to reside. I remember my heart sinking when I found out that I had Mono and thinking “there goes my sophomore cross country season”. With rest and focusing more on the quality of foods I ate, my recovery went speedily, and I could run again. From then on, my interest in nutrition has only increased.

Eating whole foods helped give me energy to improve the quality of my training

I do not label myself as vegetarian, vegan, herbivore, etc., Despite the fact that I do not eat red meat, I still enjoy fish and chicken on occasion! When I first transitioned in to healthier eating, I will admit that I had not done my research on how to fuel properly! I reached for the obvious things that are considered healthy, like fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, salad, and turkey sandwiches. My stomach that was used to being satisfied on junk food in small amounts, was now being satisfied on healthier foods in the same small amounts. It didn’t matter how much I ate, the food choices I thought were “healthy”, were not providing enough energy to maintain my muscle mass.  I was tired, frustrated, and questioning what I was doing wrong.  After several months of lots of research and reading, I discovered so many more health foods like quinoa, nut butters, beans, and lean meat that provided my body with much more energy to fuel my active lifestyle.

I have the blog world to thank for most of my education on health and nutrition! I love reading blogs and reading people’s stories of how they became “foodies” and are living active lives. It even sparked my interest in cooking and baking.

Here are some of my favorite recipes I have created:

Oats ‘n’ Chocolate Protein Bars (AKA: “Moo Bars”)
 Vegan Spaghetti with Lentil Sauce
 Perfect Protein Pizzerts
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

And many more on My Recipes Page!

I hope you guys enjoyed my guest post on LittleCollegeVegan’s blog while she is busy, busy, busy, running, working, and studying. Oh yah, and is she not a stud for training for her first half marathon? This girl’s got it goin’ on! Thank you so much for reading and if you have any questions or just want to chat about running, life, nutrition, anything and errthing, just hit me up at mollyrunsfresh@wordpress.com or visit la blog http://mollyrunsfresh.wordpress.com Bye guys!

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See? Isn’t she amazing? All of her eats are making me hungry! Plus she might be doing a triathlon, *insert mass amounts of jealousy here*

I hope you guys enjoyed Molly’s post as much as I did…I’m off to work on more of my projects! Just an fyi, I’m trying to read as many blogs as possible, but I don’t really have time to comment on them! Just know I love you all and I think you are amazing!

 

My life is amazing.

Hey guys!

How is your Memorial Day going? Mine has been freaking amazing, but before I get to that let me tell you about my weekend!

Saturday, I woke up bright and early for work. I started off with the 30 day shred, which is quickly starting to become a part of my morning routine! I love rolling out of bed and doing it….it sets me on the right foot for the rest of the day! Work was great. It was a very long day so when I got home I took a nap, did some homework, then got ready to go out for my best friend J’s going away par-tayyy.

Some pictures from the night (using the lovely hipstamatic app!)

J- Double Fisting

Meeee
Me trying to get my phone back from J. I think it’s kinda a cool picture in a creepy way, haha.
The video game that I KILLED all the boys at. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I just kept pressing random buttons.
End of the night…..It was actually only 12, but I wanted to go home and go to bed.

It was a great night with friends, and J decided that my new nickname was gonna be baby dinosaur because I eat so many veggies. I think he was thinking of little foot (what up Land Before Time!)

Sunday was another early morning that started off with the shred, then work, then another photo shoot. I had so much fun styling this project and can’t wait to see the prints!

Some eats from the weekend:
PB&J Oats with strawberries strait from heaven. Seriously they were SO good!
Best snacktion ever.
Quinoa, steamed kale, baked tofu, black eyed peas, raisins, hummus, & balsamic. Epic meal fa sho.

Obviously I ate more then that but those are what I remember to snap some pictures of!

Now onto my Monday!

First up for reasons today was awesome: My g-ma is gonna hook it up with a trip to NEW YORK to look at schools. I wanna transfer to FIT so badly! We’re shooting for the end of the month because that is when my summer break is! (By summer break, I mean 2 1/2 weeks off. Not. long. at. all.)

Second: I PR’D ON MY 5k!
Look at that! Almost 3 whole minutes faster then the race I ran  about a month and a half ago. Seriously, I was so proud of myself I almost cried. One of my goals for June is a sub 25:00 5k. I can do it!

Third Reason: J gave me a surf board!
He rides mostly short board, and I prefer a hybrid. I haven’t had money to go out and buy a board so he gave me his hybrid! It’s well loved, but rides great. Ah, I can’t wait until this craziness is ova, and I get to go riding. 🙂

The only sucky part about today, is J leaves tonight. Meh. Stupid South America. He will be returning at the end of July with postcards from everywhere he visits (I told him everywhere….even the rainforest, haha) , sand from all the beaches he goes to (I want to start a sand collection), and real colombian coffee! The surprise gift was supposed to be the coffee, but right before he left I told him to bring me back some, and he said he was planning on surprising me with it anyways. Guess I get a new surprise gift….muhahahah.

Now I’m off to go do some bikram yoga and reflect on my awesome life. I’m joining Megan with her yoga challenge. I wont be doing bikram every day, but I’m going to try to fit in some form of yoga daily!

I’m excited for some guest posts coming up from some pretty awesome bloggers who are helping me out while my life is a little insane! Wanna join in on the fun? E-mail me: Thelittlecollegevegan@gmail.com. It can be about anything….except maybe how to make the perfect cheese burger, haha.

 

How was your weekend/holiday? Great! Thanks to my daddy, uncle joe, uncle john, and my Papa Martin for all having served our country in past wars 🙂 Proud of you all.

Are you good at video games? Usually no, but I shred at guitar hero. Seriously. If only I could make money doing that for a living.

Have you ever gotten teary after a PR or a really good workout? Make me feel normal:)

What was the best thing you at this weekend? Those strawberries!

 

My new obsession.

Hello Lovebugs!

I’m sorry my blog has been boring lately. Last week when I said I thought things would slow down, turns out they haven’t! They’ve sped up, and it doesn’t look like there is a chance of them slowing down within the next few weeks. Since my camera has been acting funky, I wasn’t able to take many pictures this week. That is until I got my IPHONE! Which I am already obsessed with. (Do you have words with friends, let’s play!)

I remember reading about Megan’s grade school inspired lunch and today my lunch and snacks reminded me of something I would have had then too!

Brown Rice Wrap, PB&J, and Bananas
Larabar, Fruit Wrap, mandarins, cherry tomatoes, and carrots.
Yumm.
Vegan/Gluten Free Polenta with some super spicy salsa!
Desserts resembled my oats…without the oats! Bloobs, strawberries, a few chocolate chips, peanut butter, cinnamon, and almond milk.

I prepping myself for an insane next couple of weeks so please forgive me if my posting is sporadic! If anyone would like to do a guest post for me I would love you for a million years!

 

What did you like to eat in grade school?

What is your favorite dessert?

Do you play words with friends? Or scrabble, haha.

Interested in doing a guest post? Email me, thelittlecollegevegan@gmail.com

We are so lucky.

Happy Monday!
(Anyone notice the new changes? How do you like em?)

I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. I love Mondays, and today was no exception!

I got home from work last night and was SO tired. It was around 11:30, so instead of waking up at my normal 5:45 I set the alarm for 8:15. It was so worth it! I think I’ve finally caught up on all that sleep I lost!

Breakfast was the usual then I frittered for a while until it was time for my run with Linds.
While frittering I enjoyed multiple cups of this stuff…..
I used to HATE green tea, but now I actually really enjoy it. I honestly dont even know how many cups of this I drank today, haha.
Agreed!

Then it was time for my first training run for the SF Half! It was an easy 5k run, and the weather was PERFECT! It was sunny and warm out but the breeze from the ocean provided just enough of a chill factor so I didn’t overheat.

We finished in 28:51 with and average pace of 9:18. We were talking the whole time and it was so much fun! When we hit the 3 mile mark I was shocked at how fast time had gone by!

Honestly I probably could have picked up the pace a little, but it’s my friends first time ever running a race so we took it a little easy. That time is really close to my  PR for a 5k, and it felt so easy! I’m getting better, yayyyyyy!

I tried to be sneaky a few times and pick up the pace, at one point she was like “heyyy are we running faster?” (Heh-heh….yes?) It was so much fun!

Seriously I can’t get over how beautiful today was. Linds made and great point during our run, the weather was perfect, we were running by the ocean, and she goes “we are so lucky”. I agreed, not everyone gets to run by such a beautiful place (or at all!), and sometimes I take advantage of that!

After my run I wasn’t ravenous (which was weird because it was 1 and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast), so I decided to make something that would take a little longer then 5 minutes to make. It took around 10, haha.
Fiesta Salad!
It’s a sad salad though, not enough veggies! I need to buy more.
Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Black-Eyed-Peas, Avocado, Hummus, Salsa, Nooch, Grilled GF Tempeh, and some crunchy taco chips!
I made the chips by taking half a food for life brown rice tortilla, cutting it up, and putting some evoo (whatup, rachel ray), and sticking them in the broiler for 8 minutes until they were golden. So good!

My afternoon was filled with more frittering, homework, and blogging. Some also snackage as well. I had a bunch of baby carrots as well as more chips!
I had the other half of the tortilla with some salsa (with added cayenne pepper. I love my spicy.) In my opinion salsa>chips. I love salsa and could probably eat it out of the jar with a spoon. I wasn’t really a fan of this one though, I prefer chunky.

Now I’m off to take a bikram class, because I’ve got nothing better to do and I know if I do I’ll sleep like a baby tonight!

How was your Monday?

Do like salsa?

How many hours of sleep do you get?

Circuit Training and Cookies

I’m so happy it’s Sunday! I love the start of a new week. Especially after the one I just had.  I’m looking forward to yet another busy one, but this time one that involves working out and sleeping!

Last night was spent relaxing. By relaxing I mean cleaning my apartment (which was neglected for the whole week), attempting to put my shower curtain back on (I still haven’t gotten it right, but whatever….it works still, kinda), and doing a dance workout DVD (Hey, still gotta shake my booty even if I cant go out), trying to fix my stupid blackberry (need. iphone. now.), working on copious amounts of homework (4 more weeks, 4 more weeks…until I get 2 weeks for summa, yippee!), and planning out my workouts and homework around my school and work schedule. Apparently I need to add “learn how to relax” to my to-do list.

(Since I’m a visual person, I made a HUGE schedule for my week. Chichaayeah.)

I ended up going to bed at around 11, then tried to wake up at 5:30 so I could make it to Bikram. I wanted to eat and give my food at least an hr before I went to ensure that I wouldn’t share my breakfast with my yoga mat. At around 6:30 I could hardly keep my eyes open, so instead of going to yoga, I went back to sleep for an hr and a half. I felt so much better! It was already pretty late, and since it takes me 30 minutes each way to get to yoga, I opted to do an at home workout instead.

Usually, I’m not a fan of at home workouts if it’s not with a DVD. Just because I feel like I don’t push myself as hard. This time was different! I put together all my favorite strength training moves and made one super awesome circuit training plan!

You’ll need a timer (I used my itouch), a mat, and some hand weights (I used 5lbs).

Circuit 1:
Jumping Jacks 1 minute
High Knees 30 sec
Jumping Jacks 1 minute
High Knees 30 sec

Rest 30sec

Circuit 2:
Sumo Squats w/ Press 1 minute
Standing Row (in squat position) 30 sec
Sumo Squats 1/ Press 1 minute
Standing Row (in squat position) 30 sec

Rest 30 sec

Circuit 3:
Biceps Curls (keep right leg held up at 90*) 1 minute
Triceps Dips  30 sec
Biceps Curls (keep left leg held up at 90*) 1 minute
Triceps Dips  30 sec

Rest 30 sec

Toe Touches (with weight) 1 minute
Plank 30 sec
Toe Touches (with weight) 1 minute
Plank 30 sec

Rest 30 sec

Dead lift w/ upwards row 1 minute
Squatting froggie jumps (I honestly don’t know what these are really called but it’s a squat jump where you click your heels….I like my name though) 30 sec
Dead lift w/ upwards row 1 minute
Squatting froggie jumps 30 sec

Repeat 1 more time (2 if you’re feeling feisty)  then finish with the first circuit! It should take just under 35 minutes.

I started to get shaky in some of the intervals! I was so surprised I was dripping sweat at the end of it. My mantra for this workout was “You get what you give”, if I wanted to sweat, I had to work for it! You should do it to and tell me if it really is hard, or if for some reason my apartment is unusually hot today and I’m a just a weakling, haha.

After that awesome workout I hopped in the shower (with my janky curtains), and then decided it was time to bake some cookies!

I promised a friend a while back that I would bake her some yummy healthy cookies, and finally today I had time. Instead of using my own creative genius, I used Chocolate Covered Katie’s!
I baked up some of her “Not Guilty” Chocolate Chip Cookies
Only changes I made were using Brown Rice Flour, and 2tbsp. Coconut Milk.
These were SO good.
 If they weren’t for a special purpose, I would eat them all.

Speaking of CCK, I’m gonna have these featured on her blog!
Vegan Gluten-Free Cake Pops!

Wanna be featured on CCK too? Check out this post to find out more.

Now I’m off to enjoy a HUGE salad, and then work until 11. Gotta love all store meetings!

What were your weekend workouts?

Do you like to circuit train? 

How do you relax? 

Cookies or Cake?

Finally!

Phew, what a week! Sorry for the lack of postage……3 overnights at work, 2 events, 1 race, and an intense amount of homework has made this week the craziest I’ve had in a while! I’ve probably slept about 14 hrs all together in 5 days. Not enough to be able to workout. Although, I did make it to one bikram class which was lovely. No runs, but tomorrow I plan on getting one in before my early class!

After I get one last project done the craziness will be over, and I’ll be able to get some sort of schedule again. I feel like I’ve been really off since spring break, so I’m taking this chance to slip into a new routine, that will hopefully make me more like myself again. As much as I would like to think I love spontaneity, I’m a routine girl. I just function so much better that way. This past month or 2 I’ve been trying to kinda be more “go-with-the-flow”, and it hasn’t been working out to my advantage. Back to structure I go!

I haven’t really been taking picture of my eats lately, because it’s all kinda just been my usual favs. I did however make sure to take some for WIAW. Once again, I’m tardy for thee par-tay, but here you go……

(if you wanna check other bloggers WIAW, click here.)

 OIAJ
Yumm.
Salad Beast (Old photo, but it looked the same!)
My first try with savory oats…..honestly, I didn’t like em’ that much
Apple pie larabar, which I microwaved….do it, you can thank me later.

I also ate an apple and a banana w/ pb at work. Yum Yum Yum.

Now time for some exciting news…..
I’ve decided to run the SF half-marathon!

Yayy! Whats even better is my co-worker and I decided were gonna train together for it! I’ve never had a running buddy before so I’m pretty excited. We start training on Monday!

Well that’s all for now, I’ve still got one more project to get through before I can sleep! Hope you all had a lovely week, and be expecting a new recipe tomorrow to make up for my absence:)

Are you a routine person, or do you like to go-with-the-flow?

Tell me something exciting that you did this week!

Do you like running with other or would you rather fly solo?  

Rainy Day Cookies

Well my Monday started off pretty interesting. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that interesting but I did wake up in pain. My foot was killing me, and I felt like I had chugged a bottle of tequila before bed. I was definitely staving and dehydrated. At the event, there was literally nothing I could eat. I had a banana and a larabar in my purse which I ate but it was hardly enough to sustain me after a race (or anytime, actually). There was however one thing I could eat. Martini Olives. The bar tender liked me, so he filled up an entire martini glass full (Excuse me sir? Can a have a martini, hold the liquid, and heavy on the olives.) and I stored them under my check in table. By the time I was home I was literally so tired I only had enough energy to wash my face, brush my teeth, and crawl into bed. I was planning on letting myself sleep in, but I woke up at 7:30. What the heck man, can’t a girl sleep in?

Since today is a rest day, my Monday was filled with laying around, working on my portfolio, enjoying the sound of the rain, watching movies, and baking cookies.

Lunch was random, I wanted a GM (is it weird I crave them when it’s cold out?), but I also wanted some snacky stuff too, so I had
My usual GM combo
Along with Toast & PB, Dried Fruit, and Cherry Tomatoes

Told ya it was random, haha. Dinner was a salad beast….I was cravin’ them veggies.
Aren’t salads just so pretty? I love all the colors.
In this one:
>>Kale, Romaine, Spinach, Tomatoes, Carrots (I’m still hoping they will give me some color), Raisins, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Hummus, Nooch, Salsa, & Balsamic.

I wanted some cookies, after reading  Megan’s post today. Problem was, I couldn’t think of what kind of cookie I wanted. So I basically threw everything that sounded good in a bowl. Results?
Rainy Day Cookies
3 Tbsp. Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1/2 Tbsp Peanut Flour
1 Scoop Protein Powder
2 Tbsp. GF Oats
1 Tbsp. Chia Seeds
1 Tbsp. Pre-Melted Butter
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Banana
Chocolate Chips
Raisins
Cinniamon
Unsweetened Almond Milk (as needed)

Mash up banana and set aside. Mix together all dry ingredients, then add butter and banana. Mix, then add almond milk until dough constancy is achieved. Roll into balls and gently smash into cookie shape on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes at 350*.
Verdict? These weren’t the best cookies of all time, but they were still pretty darn good (and they have protein!). I think focusing on one or two flavors always ends up tasting better because the ingredients don’t have to fight for your taste buds, but hey, sometimes a girl has to chop off all her hair and make cookies with a little bit of everything.

and I happen to know that these taste amazing topped with peanut butter
but seriously, what doesn’t?

How was your Monday?

What are your favorite random lunch combos?

How do you like spending rainy days?  

Bay to Breakersssssssss

What a weekend. Actually yesterday I didn’t do much, but today I ran across San Francisco:) It was the 100th annul Bay to Breakers, and it was my first year actually running it. (Last year there was very little running involved….college kids turn it into one huge party.) It was still so much fun though! The costumes were so funny! My favorite was the group that dressed as the royal wedding party, except all the guys were girls, and the girls were guys, it was hilarious. I also saw more naked people then I have ever seen in my entire life, haha. (Not even kidding about that last part). I finished slower then I wanted, but I was running the whole time. I felt awesome, except my foot did not. Once I got to mile 5 it was killing me but I refused to stop and walk, I could slow jog, but no walking. You don’t run 5 miles of a race only to quit with 2.5 miles left. I pushed through and felt fine for a little then we had to walk 3 miles to get to the bus. That sucked!

Honestly right now I could go for a long nap, but I can’t because I’m working an event in a little bit. Why did I agree to work on the night of Bay to Breakers? Because I’ve been dying to work with this event producer and couldn’t say no. Tonight will be a good nights sleep thats for sure!

Onto some pictures….starting with some of my pre-race day eats.
Lunch was a salad beast. Twas amazing.
I also had some toast. Burnt toast. Whoopsie Daisy.
Dessert for lunch was a Banana+PB. There really is no attractive way to photograph this snack. But hey, if your that good you don’t need to be pretty.
I also snacked on some Just Mango throughout the day. I managed not to finish the entire pack. Shocked? Me too.
Other snackage included a Protein Oat Cake topped w/ PB+Cinnamon
 Dinner was Quinoa+Hummus+Balsamic+Raisins….haven’t had this in a while and I missed it!
 Dessert fail quickly turned into a dessert win, when my cookie fell apart. So I crumbled it more, added banana, then poured on some almond milk. Amazeeballs.

Breakfast this morning was my usual bowl of oats. Since I had about 1 hr and a half to let it digest, I don’t think a big breakfast effected my running. Then again, I’ve never tried anything else before a long run so I don’t know if there are better possibilities out there.
Finished the race in 1:17:40. I wanted to finish in under 1:15:00, but next year! I’m definitely going to start working on some speed work to get a faster pace for my next race (hey that rhymes!)
I wasn’t feeling hungry at all after my race but had some coconut milk and hummus just to get something in my stomach. Not together but within 5 minutes of each other, haha.
Swag was awesome. I got so much good stuff! Larabars, coconut water, coconut milk, fuze, hummus….then a lot of stuff I couldn’t have, cheese, chocolate milk, crackers, chips, sports drinks I could prob have but chose not to. I gave all the stuff I didn’t want to some bum. I think I made his day.
Yayyyy! Finishers Medal!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend (and pray I can walk tomorrow!)

What did you do this weekend?

Any tips on working on my speed?

What is your favorite pre-race meal?

What are your favorite eats the day before a race?