Vegan MoFo 19: MacGyver Smoothie

As I was approaching my office building this morning, it occurred to me that I had no idea what I would blog about for MoFo today.  Then, as I was climbing the stairs to my floor, I realized with a panic that I had forgotten to pack my pre-run smoothie.  Last night, I made a double batch, so I'd have one for last night's speedwork run and another for my noon "easy" run today.  But when I packed up my lunch for today, I failed to pack my smoothie.  ::sob::

We have a little newsstand/convenience store in my building, so I devised a plan for a replacement smoothie.  I keep soymilk in our shared office fridge, and we have a blender in our kitchen.  So I thought I'd buy a banana and also a trail mix so I could mine some dates for the smoothie.  Then, a terrible thought as I approached the store:  it's Friday!  More often than not, they are out of bananas come Friday.  And sure enough:  As I entered the store, I saw there were no bananas.  My next thought was that maybe I could find a replacement ingredient that would allow me to MacGyver a smoothie.

The shelves and the drink case were not promising.  But then I thought of the frozen-dessert case.  FrozFruit!  Some flavors are vegan and some are not, so I hoped for the best and had a look.  Luckily, there were strawberry FrozFruits.  I checked the ingredients to be extra sure, and while it passed the "vegan" test, unfortunately it did contain HFCS.  But the only other possible option was strawberry Italian ice--and that didn't even contain any strawberry or other actual fruit.  So I decided to go with the less-than-optimal FrozFruit.  Next, I picked up a tropical trail mix. Not only did it have dates, but it also had dried, shredded coconut--a partial replacement to my usual coconut oil.

So I mined some dates, coconut flakes, a few pineapple pieces, and sunflower seeds from the trail mix.  I put them in a container and soaked them in my usual mix of soymilk and water (.5 cup of each).  I tucked that away in the fridge and allowed the FrozFruit to thaw for a little over an hour and then stashed it in the fridge to avoid total liquefication.

Smoothie-making time arrived about 2.5 hours later.  I assembled the ingredients in the blender, mixed them up, then added my usual four ice cubes and ground them in, as well.

The smoothie ended up tasting pretty good, though sweeter than what I'm used to.  I did find that I was getting a bit of an odd aftertaste/repeating-on-me effect for maybe 15 minutes after having the smoothie, but that didn't last, fortunately.  And my run went well, too.

That was more drama than I'd prefer to have surrounding my pre-run fuel, but the upside is that my smoothie for Sunday's long run is already made.  Plus, I had something to blog about today.  :)

Vegan MoFo Day 11: Smoothie Fail

Since I'm off from work today, I was able to run whenver I felt like it--which today turned out to be around three this afternoon.  I couldn't make my usual pre-run smoothie because we're out of bananas.  We have several mangoes, though, so I thought subbing mango for banana in my smoothie would be a good use.
You know when you peel a mango, and it's got that beautiful shade of orange, along with a silky texture and sweet smell that tells you you're about to have one of the best foods in the world?  Well, this mango turned out to be almost the exact opposite of that.  I don't know if I'm just no good at judging mango ripeness from the "give" of its skin or whether this was just destined to be a disappointing mango, but it was a stringy, pastel yellow with little flavor.  Boo.

But I was not to be daunted.  I followed the same basic recipe I usually do, but used 1 cup sliced mango instead of the banana, then increased the number of dates from 3 to 4 and the amount of agave from .5 T to 1 T, hoping to compensate for the blandness of the mango.  It didn't work.  It just tasted kind of--like nothing.  I was originally planning to include of picture of it here, but it looked so pale and sad, I thought it would depress people.  ;)

In any event, my run was not disappointing, so all was not lost.  And if I can't get ahold of a banana for tomorrow's run, I'll use some of the frozen mixed berries I have in the freezer.

Edit:  I forgot to mention that I also left the carob out from the smoothie, as I figured it wouldn't be compatible with the mango.

Vegan MoFo Day 8: Food as Fuel

Something rattling in my head right now is the idea of viewing food as fuel.  It's something that's inevitably come out of my training for distance runs/races, and I'm contemplating the difference in mindset from dieting/weight loss/calorie burn.  Thinking of food as fuel leads me to consider what purpose different foods serve and how my body actually uses them.  On the other hand, I'm still interested in dropping a bit of weight--a combination of "vanity" and "performance" motives.  Objectively, I'm already slim--my usual clothing sizes are 4/6, depending on the cut.  The "vanity" angle has me thinking my upper thighs still have something to give up.  My butt could be slightly smaller, etc.  The "performance" angle is simply that for each pound lost, I can at least theoretically shave two seconds off of each mile (at least as long as I don't drop into underweight, at which point losing more weight leads to weakness and slowness). Two seconds per mile per pound might not sound like a lot, but losing ten pounds = an almost nine-minute faster marathon time.

Sometimes when I'm creating my pre-run, during-run, and recovery drinks/foods, I have a nagging voice in the back of my mind wondering if I'm blowing through all of the calories I'm burning.  Because I want it all:  improved performance AND slimmer thighs.

Contemplating the fuel vs. calorie perspective, it occurs to me that when I focus on the "fuel" model, that can reinforce making the best, most nutritious choices throughout my day.  The balance I want to strike is, of course, to make nutritious choices that are also delicious and satisfying.  This is not to say I'd want to banish treats such as vegan cupcakes and cookies from my life, but that's not going to be my mainstay (not that it typically is, anyway).  There are times when I'm so focused on the nutrition AND calorie angles that part of my mind rebels and it's like BREAK GLASS! ADMINISTER VEGAN CHOCOLATE!  I think the trick is to satisfy the need for treats in a judicious way so I don't feel the need to rebel.  All of which reminds me that my veganning is always a work in progress.

Vegan MoFo Day 7: Brief Update on Accidental Experimental Gu

So, with my 15K today, I test drove the home-made Gu I accidentally made yesterday (instead of the intended Brendan Brazieresque Direct Fuel Bites).  I'd say they were semi-successful.  The makeshift Gu flutes I'd fashioned out of foil didn't work too badly, though I didn't completely avoid finger goop.

As my sports drink, I did the "basic" sports drink Brazier recommends if you're short on time--two parts juice to one part water, with salt to taste.  I wasn't so much short on time as feeling somewhat lazy.  (Only somewhat--I did do my smoothie and the aforementioned Gu.)  For my juice, I used organic grape juice, only because we happened to have some in the house.

I finished in just over 1:24.  I was a bit disappointed, because I was hoping for closer to 1:22.  However, it was, for me, a course PR as well as a distance PR, so I'm not despondent.  :)

Fortunately, I didn't have any "pain" issues during the race.  My IT band, which occasionally likes to flare up, completely behaved itself today.  Energy wise, I didn't do badly, but I wish I'd had more "kick" in my legs at the very end.  I can't help thinking I need to tweak my fuelling.  Meanwhile, I've generated a training schedule to prepare me for another 15K, five weeks from today.

Vegan MoFo Day 6: Failed Fuel Bites = Experimental Gu?

I've got a 15K race early tomorrow morning, so I'm getting my drinks and fuel ready today. I've made my smoothie and was attempting to make my slightly modified version of Brendan Brazier's Direct Fuel Bites. His recipe goes like this:

5 dates
2 T coconut oil
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
Sea salt to taste

You combine these in a food processor and then cut them into little rectangles that you can eat before and during exercise.  The dates and coconut oil both provide quick energy.

In practice, I find that if I use those proportions of date to coconut oil, the coconut oil creates a kind of mayonnaisey texture.  I usually do six dates to 1 T coconut oil.  I also leave out the zest because I'm too lazy to deal with zest!

This time, working from memory, I goofed and did 2 T of coconut oil to 6 dates.  Once I realized this, I added another six dates.  But then I also accidentally did more lemon juice than I was supposed to--2 T.  And I kept blending, hoping to get the consistency I usually do--which is kind of like caramel.  This time, no matter how much I blended, I got something frothier.  The consistency kind of reminds me of Gu (which I had for the first time during my first marathon last month!).  So I'm going to try a little experiment.  I'll try using this mixture as Gu.  Instead of trying to cut this into squares, I'll make some little Gu flutes out of foil and see how that goes.  Here's what the mixture looks like:

Catch-Up: Alyza, Forks Over Knives, Vegan MoFo

I am almost two months late posting about this, but the producers of the Rising Star movie ended their Alyza Challenge early because the results were so overwhelming:  Alyza will be a vegan!

The fam and I attended the Forks Over Knives screening that was held at the Albany Vegetarian Network's Expo on October 2.  The film is very powerful and I hope it is widely seen when it is in general release, starting March 11, 2011.  Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Ann Crile Esselstyn, featured in the film, were speakers at the Expo and also were present at the screening.  I would have liked to have stayed for the Q & A at the end, but there are limits to a seven-year-old's patience, so we really had to book out of there once the film ended.

Finally, I've signed up to participate in Vegan MoFo 2010.

What Is VeganMoFo?

It’s that time of year again! Time to wear down your stove and your keyboard. Time to mow people down with your shopping cart. Time to answer the age old question: do lemon and chocolate taste good together? It’s time for VeganMoFo, the Vegan Month Of Food.

VeganMoFo was originally created on the Post Punk Kitchen, as an homage to NaNoWriMo. Because we do want to write novels, but sometimes cooking gets in the way. So why not combine them!

The idea is to write as much as you can all month, about vegan food. The blog entries can be about anything food related – your love of tongs, your top secret tofu pressing techniques, the first time your mom cooked vegan for you, vegan options in Timbuktu – you get the idea, right? If not, browse around on some of our round-ups and you’ll catch on fast!

There aren’t strict guidelines for how often to write, but the idea is to shoot for every weekday, or about 20 times in the month. If you’d like inspiration or would just like to whine about how hard it is, check out the MoFo forum on the PPK message boards.

As the world catches on that vegan food really is the best choice for animals (suck it, humane meat!), the planet (bite me, melting ice caps!) and people (piss off, heart disease!) let’s show them what vegan eating is all about.

To take part, simply sign up with our convenient form right here!

Happy MoFoing!

I've been very lax/lazy about posting entries here, so I am planning to use Vegan MoFo as an inspiration to boost my frequency. I'll aim for at LEAST one post/weekday--weekends, too, if I'm really feeling inspired.

By coincidence, my husband is planning a host of food experiments, inspired by having read Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Mainly, he is interested in cutting way back on fats.... Olive oil went right down the drain yesterday.  Personally, I've not been big on adding oils to what I eat anyway, though I haven't been too worried about whole foods that contain fats:  i.e., nuts, olives, and avocadoes.  My big exception is coconut oil, which I use for a very targeted purpose:  fueling my runs.  I include it in my pre-run smoothies and in my sports drinks, gels, and direct fuel bites.  According to Brendan Brazier, coconut oil, though a saturated fat, metabolizes quite differently from other fats--namely, the liver immediately uses it for energy during exercise.

Also, I know Ginny Messina came out with quite a different take on olive oil recently--I will have to show this to the hubs and see what he thinks.

Averie's Vega Shake-and-Go Give-away

Because I love Brendan Brazier so much, I can't resist posting an entry about this give-away at the Love Veggies and Yoga blog.  I already love Brazier's Thrive recipes and would love to try these instant smoothies.  Thanks for doing this, Averie.  :)

I love you, Brendan Brazier!

I haven't tried that many of Brendan Brazier's recipes yet, but I have been making and using his recipes for energy pudding, recovery pudding, direct fuel bites, sports drinks, and recovery drinks.  The puddings have bananas as their base, so of course I'm sold.  The drinks I've been using are the lemon-lime (though I've skipped the lime only because I didn't have any).  The fuel bites are made from dates, coconut oil, and a little bit of lemon juice and salt.  They are mostly geared for what Brazier calls "Level I" activities--those that last an hour or less.

Why do I love Brendan Brazier?  Because I really notice a difference in my performance and recovery.  I can go faster for longer and I bounce back--most notably from my long runs--faster than I ever have before. So lots of <3 <3 <3 to you, Brendan!