Fabulous Vegan Recipes

I made these bites for an art run that was being led by my friend Marnie who is the founder of Runstreet. She brings people together and leads them in a relaxing run around NYC while the group looks at street art. She asked me to make these treats for her Christmas art run and I was so happy to do it. I whipped these treats up when I messed up making another recipe. These turned out so great. I'll be making these treats again when I team up with Marnie for a New Years Day art run and yoga class so if you are in NYC on Jan 1st, join us !

My running career began in 2013 when I ran my first Broad Street run. It was 10 miles and my very first run beyond a 5K. This weekend I'm attempting to PR at the Bronx 10 Mile. Do I feel super prepared? Nope. But I did run 9.8 miles last week and I survived. I've also worked on my speed the past few months and this week I'm staying hydrated and healthy. Even if you don't feel super prepared, you can still be prepared enough for your race. Get it?

I think it's pretty obvious that I love chocolate bites. They are wonderful when you want to make something sweet and you don't have alot of time and you want something that will render leftovers. I was home over the weekend and I brought back some food including raisins. I can't say I tend to snack on raisins so I used them for this recipe. Also, I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT PROTEIN POWDER! I came home to a brand new container and I'm pretty psyched.

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!

I am 20 days away from completing my first marathon and my plan for the next few weeks is to eat clean and try to stay within a moderate calorie range. I probably won't lose weight but I want to at least try. I downloaded My Fitness Pal and I have tracked my food for 13 days straight now. It's going well and I made a ton of food yesterday. Whenever I'm good though, as in, sticking to healthy meals and portion control, I always want a raw dessert. Last week I was obsessed with these and now I just made these bites. These are GOOOOOOD!

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 wanted to make muffins to change up my breakfast routine and to have a quick, healthy pre-run meal to grab and go. I don't eat much before a run so one of these muffins with a little bit of peanut butter fueled my long run yesterday. I haven't yet figured out what makes my long runs so good and what makes a run so so bad! My nutrition doesn't always stay the same, I eat different foods before a run and different calorie amounts but I'm realizing maybe less is more for a long run. A small healthy breakfast with protein, fat and carbs seems to work. And of course a ton of water, especially on these hot, humid days.

Running takes alot of effort and planning in order to keep your body healthy and strong. There are so many aspects of running to think about but no one is more important than the other. Running requires healthy muscles, bones, clean nutrition and a healthy state of mind: confident, positive and strong. To be the best runner you can be is to think about all of the ways it will take for you to feel your best. It's also important to remember that not every runner looks the same; it matters how you feel.

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!

  New York City is an amazing city to live in when you are a runner. The number of places you can run and the amazing views you see when you run are innumerable. This city is amazing. When I moved here two years ago I quickly tried to find my running tribe. I typically like to run by myself but at times I love running with a group. I first met Marnie when my yoga studio hosted one of her art runs. I ran with her group, met people, had a great workout and most of all, HAD SO MUCH FUN! Marnie took us through the streets of the city, showed us street art, we took fun pics and we ran back to my studio.

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 hear so much noise in the vegan community about what to eat, how much to eat, how often one should eat, what exercises to do, how much macronutrients should be in your food etc etc. It's so overwhelming and confusing and it makes me tired. Instagram is a huge source of food information and recipes but usually from people like you and me who are posting what is working or not working for them. I see so many skinny, fit vegans eating tremendous amounts of food and not gaining weight. I see raw vegans, raw til 4 vegans, junk food vegans, it's just so much to take in. And I'm left with questions like: is all that fruit really good for weight loss? Is coconut just as bad as meat due to the saturated fat? Should I be eating so much rice? Do portions really not matter? Is it really WHAT you eat versus HOW MUCH you eat? And if you're one of those vegans who needs or wants to lose weight, where do we fit in with all of this? I went to a dietitian before I moved here two ye

I'm still on a high from my half marathon on Saturday! I finished 13.1 miles in 2 and a half hours and I just couldn't be prouder of myself. I felt energized, confident, inspired, I had a killer playlist with nothing but trance music and I just fed off the crowd of runners and the very supportive spectators. It poured for about a half hour during the run but I just kept going, hoping my iPod wouldn't get damaged. My earbuds went kaput though; the right one lost sound as I began the last portion of the run so I only had music coming into my left ear. It was better than nothing and I got to hear the crowd. I used my music to time myself too so I was hoping the other earbud would not crap out. What a run! This was my first NYC long run; so much time and energy went into my training, not to mention worrying and even though I said this would be my last long run, I'm already thinking about a run in the fall. So, what did I eat before I ran, what did I do, how much did I r