Fabulous Vegan Recipes

I haven't said wow and wanted to jump on the phone with someone about a smoothie in a while. This is that time. I just made and taste tested this epic sweet potato smoothie and it was so satisfying and nutritious and delicious that I can't wait to pass this on. You know who this smoothie is great for? Kids who don't like to eat their veggies. You can get an entire sweet potato and some healing spices into them before they even leave for school. This is also the perfect smoothie for YOU who craves sugar but wants to eat healthy. Yum yum, my tummy is full.

I love trying new plant-based milks even though I usually buy West Soy unsweetened soy milk. I go for milks that have the least amount of ingredients and are organic. West Soy unsweetened plain soy milk is organic soybeans and water. Beautiful. If I don't buy milk, I make it myself, either almond or oat milk. Yesterday I bought oat milk and it is DELICIOUS!

Just a quick post about my newsletter and a hi how are you! My newsletter that I have put off since 2014 (!) is up and running. I'm building my email list and planning out what to include in my future newsletters. When you sign up, you will get brand new recipes delivered to your inbox, meditation tips, running and fitness tips and updates on what I'm up to. I'm so excited to make this newsletter something personal delivered right to you. First brand new recipe? Butternut squash smoothie!

When I do compilation posts, it's always a wonderful trip down memory lane. I love to see how my photography improved or how different I lay out my posts. I also love to see how my cooking has changed and what foods I was obsessed with two years ago. I love to see how I've grown and I start planning ways to improve my blog even more.

I've done research and I've read plenty of articles about the healing powers of fruit, veggies and some spices. I just finished an article this morning on how easy it is to incorporate lemon juice, turmeric and ginger in your everyday diet. I also just did an 18 mile training run yesterday and taught restorative yoga on Saturday so my whole life is about recovery right now.

Pea protein is the new ingredient that is added to protein powder and smoothies, I'm just realizing. Am I late to the game? I feel like I always overlook peas as being boring or something I used to be made to eat as a kid but they are actually pretty awesome. I bought frozen peas yesterday at Whole Foods so I could make a smoothie today and I wasn't disappointed. To make the sweetest smoothie with bananas, make sure you use super ripe, speckled bananas, as ripe as you can possibly buy. The riper the banana, the sweeter the ice cream.

Let me start out by saying that I'm not a doctor or a registered dietitian so I cannot cure your sprains, strains, muscle soreness etc with anything I say on this blog. I can only speak from my own experience about how foods effect me so please ask a nutritionist if you need clinical facts about food. It always seems to come down to the same foods when you're having a problem like muscle cramps, feeling down, detoxing, feeling too tired: berries, cinnamon, nuts and seeds. These foods have antioxidant properties and help reduce inflammation. So, whatever issue you are having, you may already be eating the ingredients that are in this smoothie. Just eat healthy, whole foods and you will probably end up feeling your best!

I don't drink coffee often because 1) it's expensive and I always want a latte and 2) I'm sensitive to caffeine. But I do get cravings for it sometime because, with sweetened milk, it can be pretty tasty and I love the comfort and yumminess that comes with it. I have a new coffee shop across from my apartment so now it's that much easier to want coffee and lately I've given into my cravings.

This long Memorial Day weekend has been just lovely, spending time with friends and eating good vegan food. It's super hot in the city so running was a challenge today but I did it and followed it with an awesome strength workout. So while I savor this long weekend and reflect on just how lucky I am and how beautiful this life is, I want to share a few more things I'm loving lately!! Oh and be on the lookout for my next recipe, cauliflower mac and cheese. Oh yeah!

I've been hitting the keys lately writing and blogging (I'm working on a fiction novel) and enjoying life in the big city. First off as you can see, I renamed my blog and I'm LOVING it! Fabulous Fit Food just didn't sit well with me, I found myself disliking it alot and the last couple weeks I have thought about what I want to rename this blog. I can't believe how many ideas I had and how many of my ideas were already taken by bloggers, Youtubers and health and wellness coaches. It got kind of frustrating so finally I just stopped thinking about it so much. I went home for my niece's 1st bday and just let go of the blog a little bit.

This smoothie was pretty freakin ridiculously delish. It was loaded with PB&J flavor and was just a dream to eat. The story behind this smoothie centers around having made way too much strawberry chia jam and not knowing what to do with it besides freeze it. I wanted to make peanut butter and jelly cups and I messed up bad so I turned the mess into a smoothie. My smoothie base is always super ripe bananas and lately my bananas have almost turned to mush because they are so ripe. Very ripe bananas give you an amazing smoothie/ice cream base. So, don't be afraid to buy ripe bananas or wait for them to ripen and freeze them. NEVER throw out a bruised/black banana, are you kidding??? Ice cream central!

I'm writing this post now at 1pm on Saturday partly because I'm procrastinating when it comes to doing my long run today (6 miles) and partly because it's the weekend, I have no pressing engagements this afternoon and I can actually take the time to write this! I woke up later today because I went to bed super late but I was productive as soon as I opened my eyes. I donated three big bags of clothes and one big bag of shoes to the farmers market reusable clothing collection. I donated clothes, towels and shoes. It feels great to unload everything and to clean up my apartment. I live in a tiny apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan but damn, I have a lot of shit! Also at the farmers market, I dropped off my compost and bought organic spinach and come organic carrots. Do you collect your food scraps for compost? You should!

It's that time of year again! The hectic running around, the overindulging, the lack of sleep, the fun, family get togethers; a time when we need to remember to reconnect with ourselves. It's easy to mindlessly eat or forego exercise during this time so having a plan is the best way to go this holiday season. I'm writing this now after years of gaining weight during the holiday season, feeling horrible about myself then working to lose the weight.

It's supposed to be hot again in NYC starting today but that is not why I made this; I just wanted chocolate! And just because you have chocolate doesn't mean you can't have your greens. I love adding spinach to a creamy, chocolatey smoothie, it's never been easier to get in your greens. 

The best part about living in NYC is having access to juice and smoothie bars any time you want. I always find a smoothie that I want to make at home and it usually involves a nut butter and chocolate. I love going to Juice Generation and getting the Joyful Almond smoothie or Peanut Butter Blast smoothie. I decided to try to replicate the Joyful Almond smoothie...it didn't turn out exactly tasting the same as the one at JG but it was a delicious chocolaty filled mason jar and there is nothing wrong with that! This is another one of those smoothies that is a dessert and tastes like you will need to run 10 miles to burn it off but it is made of whole foods, perfectly portioned.

I just came back to the city after being home for a week visiting my family and friends in the burbs and I feel rejuvenated! I spent time with my little niece, drove around the burbs, hung out with my friends and enjoyed central air conditioning! The first thing I did when I got back to the city was hit the farmers market in Union Square to get a ton of veggies and fruit so I could start up my fully raw rest of the summer. I've always wanted to go fully raw for a few reasons: the health benefits, the weather and having a ton of in season fruit available to me, weight loss and to see how my body would feel eating completely raw, fresh foods. It's day 1 of being completely raw and I feel great.

Apricots are in season now and I just bought a whole bunch at Trader Joe's. I love munching on them as is but this morning I made a smoothie; sometimes recipes just pop into my head and this one did just that last night. It came to me when I came back from a night out with my BFF, it was a real NYC evening, we walked from the West Village all the way uptown, through the beautiful, lit up streets of this magnificent city. 

Smoothies, fruit, that's all I want lately. It's too hot to cook and I'm so uninspired; I was thinking of making a raw dessert but I need to go shopping and I just don't feel like it. I went to the farmers market this morning, which was rather empty, surprisingly, and I got two quarts of strawberries after walking around all the tables like three times. Only one farm had organic strawberries and they wanted $7 for a little pint so I got 2 quarts for $5 each of minimally sprayed strawberries. The farmer explained the pesticide is not sprayed directly on the berries, instead they spray the roots. You just can't get away from this shit; it's killing the bee population but yet we still use pesticides. I'm sure organic farming is alot more difficult than conventional farming but if you have to cover your mouth when spraying pesticide on food, why would it be ok to eat??!! This is why I hit up Whole Foods during their organic berry sales; I want to buy local

I'm pretty much obsessed with smoothies lately because the weather is alot warmer and they are grab and go and I love them! I'm trying to add more berries into my smoothies instead of bananas; I've been eating way too many bananas so I'm trying to avoid them for a few weeks. It hasn't been hard, it has actually helped me to branch out and eat fruits that I don't normally go for like apples and oranges. And now that berries are in season, I'm all about them!

I had the pleasure recently of reviewing some amazing products from Organic Gemini, a company that makes delicious food and drinks from Tigernuts, root veggies that are sweet and fibrous. The company sent me different flavors of their horchata drinks, cold pressed drinks that are similar to milk but come in various flavors. I urge you to try all of them but my favorite was the coffee flavored drink! Head over to organicgemini.com to learn more about tigernuts and to hear the story of how Miriam and George founded the company in 2013.