Get Natured

Running fuel: Protein-rich tofu salad sandwiches

I have been doing a lot of running lately! I am running about four times a week and gradually ramping up the milage because I am training for a half marathon (13.1 miles) that I will run in October. Along with more miles, I am also increasing the amount of protein that I am eating to support the extra work that my muscles are doing.

Today I ran six miles then had a smoothie made with dates, raw cacao, bananas, raw protein powder, spinach, chia seeds, ice, and water to recover and refuel. By lunchtime, though, I was super hungry again and I was craving a savory and hearty sandwich. I came up with this tofu salad and it met this craving perfectly!

These sandwiches are simple and oh so good! I don't use a lot of tofu and I actually hesitate to call these "tofu salad" sandwiches because tofu is such a stereotypical vegetarian food and it sometimes scares people away. Don't be scared- these are yummy!

Tofu Salad Sandwiches
Serves about 2

1/2 block firm tofu (not silken), cut into very small squares
Olive oil
Seasoning of choice*
1-2 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2-3 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (I love grapeseed oil Vegenaise)
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped

Heat about 2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and saute until it is golden brown. Add the seasonings of choice*, saute for another minute or two. Reduce heat to low and add the nutritional yeast and tamari or soy sauce. Cook for about a minute or until soy sauce has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a small bowl, combine celery, green onion, vegan mayonnaise, and cooled tofu. Serve on toasted bread with a few leaves of lettuce and any other desired toppings.

*Seasoning of choice: I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. You could also use Spike, Herbamare, Mrs. Dash, or your own combo of seasonings. (The Trader Joe's mix contains: onion, black pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, marjoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander, garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato granules, lemon juice powder, oil of lemon, citric acid).

For more of my thoughts on fueling for exercise, see my post on My Layered Approach to Fueling for Exercise!

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, by Allison

Inspiring healthy habits and snacking smart

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, by Allison

Dinner

Pasta and veggies to go and a bear encounter!

Hello! I have been off the grid, so to speak, for a little while on a family camping trip. We went up to Lake Tahoe for a few days to enjoy cooler temps and fresh air. It is always so much work to prepare for a camping trip (and so much laundry when we get home), but it is always worth it.

Blue sky and wispy clouds:

Camping wouldn't be as fun if it was clean:

I love sleeping in a tent under the stars and waking up to the hushed voices and breakfast smells of a campground. Fellow campers are always so friendly- it is as if we have some unspoken bond because we are all "the kind of people who go camping". We can refer to things like "camp soap" or "deet" or a "rain fly" amongst ourselves knowing that there is no need for explanation.

Holed up:

Our tent has a view of the sky:

Thursday night, we had quite an adventure! Sometime around 3am, we were awoken by the sound of a cooler being tossed around and bear locker doors being rattled. We listened for a little while before my husband looked out the tent window. He turned on his flashlight and scanned the area in the direction of the ruckus until, just one campsite over, he saw a GIANT black bear! The bear's eyes were glowing in the flashlight beam and he did not appear to enjoy the bright light in his face. We quickly shut the light off and looked at each other with wide eyes that silently said, "holy crap!" We sat for a moment before my son, not knowing that there was a humungous bear outside, woke up and said, "I have to go potty." Really? Now? Really?!

We waited until the bear lumbered off into the trees and it quieted down outside to take our bathroom trip. But, a little while later, the bear was back! He found something in another site and was making a bunch of noise again. One by one, the people around us began waking up and emerging from their tents to see what was going on. They whispered and pointed flashlights saying, "see him, over there?"

I know I'm crazy, but I LOVED seeing this big ol' bear! I so wish I had a picture of him! I also love the solidarity that this sort of encounter draws out. People who have never spoken before are suddenly sharing stories and flashlights and time.

A full moon rising behind the trees:

Fortunately our food was stored safely away from the bear in our bear locker! Our camping menu was similar to last year. I also brought along some homemade soft pretzels and a container of Hickory-Smoked Cheddar-Style We Can't Say It's Cheese Spread, my quick and easy granola bars, instant oatmeal with Justin's Nut Butter packets, and a couple more things from my picnic food recipe round up.

Camping snacks:

My favorite meal on this trip was pasta with veggies and "meatballs" (I used Nate's Meatless Meatballs but Trader Joe's carries them under their label too). This is a meal that is easy to prepare and travels well. I plan to prep a bunch of veggies and freeze them in freezer bags for a quick at-home version of this that I can pull out on busy nights.

Pasta and Veggies To Go
Serves about 4

1 small eggplant, chopped
1 medium zucchini or other summer squash, chopped
6-8 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4-6 cups of raw spinach
1/2 a large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jar of marinara or other red sauce
1 package of whole wheat penne pasta
Sea salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning, to taste
1 package vegetarian "meatballs"
Olive oil

Place all of the chopped veggies in a zip top bag with the spinach at the bottom (i.e. put the spinach in first). You can add the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the bag as well or bring those along to season the veggies while you are cooking.
To prepare this meal, boil water and cook the pasta per the package directions. In a large skillet, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and add the bag of veggies. If you're feeling fancy, you can add everything but the spinach and add the spinach later once the harder veggies have cooked a bit. If not, it will still turn out fine! Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning while cooking. Once the veggies have softened and are cooked through, add 1/2 to 1 whole jar of marinara and as many "meatballs" as you would like. Bring to a simmer and cook for another minute or two. Leftovers can be stored in the zip top bag that the veggies were in but, please, use the bear locker if you're camping! ;-)

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, by Allison

Muffins

Peach muffins with chia and hemp seeds

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, by Allison

Lunch

Picnic food recipe roundup

I realize that it has been a little while since I posted a recipe. It isn't that I'm holding out on you guys! It is simply that I'm in somewhat of an uninspired patch with food at the moment. I'm spending my mental cycles on clearing out my chattery brain by means of nature hikes and yoga instead of daydreaming about cookie dough and sun-dried tomatoes (separately, of course). I've been eating simply, getting take-out, and still working on using up what I have in the pantry when I can.

That being said, though, some thoughts of take-along foods have been swirling around in my head because I have been day-tripping and picnic-ing as often as possible lately. We brought a picnic lunch along for our Big Tree hike and, just today, I packed yet another for a day trip to Donner Lake in Truckee, CA.

Usually a picnic for us includes a rather uninspired combo of PB&J sandwiches, sliced apples, cookies, and snack bars. I am totally crushing on the idea of picnic foods in jars, though, and that has me thinking about some more exciting portable foods. Here are some of my favorite ideas (not all of these are vegan, however they can be vegan-ized):

Sliced apples or pears with nut butter dips (using variations of this recipe from OSG)
Apple chips (here or here)
Nut or seed butter protein balls (here or here)
Homemade fruit rolls, here
A "vegan-ized" sandwich, here
Dreena Burton's Super-Charge Me! cookies, here or my breakfast cookies (a breakfast picnic, by the way, sounds like fun!), here
Homemade soft pretzels (this recipe looks like a good start- I would make a few tweaks) with vegan cheese sauce (something like this or this or this)
Homemade potato chips with avocado ranch dip, here
Homemade crackers (here or here) with my roasted red pepper dip, here
Anything baked in a jar: pie, cobbler, oatmeal...
Gilled sweet potato salad (minus the feta), here
Any kind of grain salad would be good too- like this or this or this or this
Any of these high protein salads from OSG

*Book recommendation: Speaking of the great outdoors and packing food along for a hike, I just finished reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I loved this book. LOVED it! Bill Bryson is absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious and this book is now one of my all-time favorites!

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, by Allison

Nature

Yoga, mosquitos, and big trees

I have been mixing things up in my workout routine lately. Instead of dragging myself to the gym to begrudgingly hammer out miles on the treadmill, I have been running outside and going to a yoga class at a studio. Last weekend I attended an outdoor full moon yoga class and, despite its being in a strip mall, the feeling was one of connection and in-the-momentness. I especially loved the moment when the full moon popped out from behind the studio building and the instructor said, "the moon has decided to join us!" I am all about connecting body and mind; breath and movement; yoga and nature. These yoga classes feed my needs for stretching and strength training but also nurture my spirit. My mind always feels just a little quieter after a class and that is exactly what I need right now.

I just finished reading Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer and I really enjoyed it. The book is a memoir and I could really relate to many of the author's struggles and experiences. In a class that she was taking, the instructor likened meditation to the tracking of wild animals in the forest. He said that, "If you're still enough [in meditation], the wild mind, the mind that isn't preoccupied with oughts and shoulds and the minutiae of life, will approach you and make itself known." How perfect is that metaphor?

A couple of weekends ago we went for a hike in a placed called Placer Big Trees Grove. It was a hassle to get there (long and windy drive) and there were big hungry mosquitos attacking us a the end of our hike. It was completely worth all of that, though. Sometimes I just need to be outside in the woods. I'll risk the mosquitos and the bears and the mountain lions to gain a little sanity. Without this kind of recess, life just might eat me itself.

Photos of Placer Big Trees Grove

Lots of BIG trees (as you might have guessed from the name of the place!):