Adventures in a Weekend

Good morning, afternoon, or evening! Happy Monday! We are officially on the last leg of the Thanksgiving countdown… and where the Hell did time go, anyway? Wasn’t it just the beginning of 2010??

This weekend was filled with all things Lori. I exercised, I ate, I met a vegan-athlete-celebrity, I made food, I hung out with a new and great friend, I ate… you know, all the great things weekends should be filled with.

Let’s start with some some good eats. I have been slowly going back to eating less meat, because in all honesty, I feel way better when I’m not stuffing myself with heavy meals of animal products. Since I’m lifting and working out pretty hard, I’m still trying for an increase of protein but with blended greens (green smoothies), hemp protein, beans, legumes, and spirulina (which, if you are not aware, are great sources of protein).

Veggie Loaded Sweet Potato Lasagna with "cheesey" pistachio topping

This vegan lasagna recipe was an adaptation of the Engine 2 Diet’s Sweet Potato Lasagna. I, however, left out the tofu, made my own pasta sauce, threw in some nutritional yeast, and used Kamut spiral pasta instead of whole wheat lasagna noodles. I also used ground pistachios, nutritional yeast, and tamari for the topping, instead of cashews.

Good recipe, but I would definitely throw in some extra spices for a little added flavor. As Laury recommended, it does taste better the day after. Next time, I’m doing a combination recipe using Mama Pea’s Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna.

Next on the blog agenda is the celebrity meet and greet.

One of the local Whole Foods in my area hosts some great meetup.com groups, all having to do with whole food nutrition and healthy eating. Amy, the program director, is amazing, and knows her shit nutritional info. Anyway, this weekend’s meetup was a short seminar by my favorite vegan athlete, author, and vegan nutritional guru, Brendan Brazier.

Side note: Last year when I trained for my first marathon, I read this book cover to cover, about 50 times. It was my Bible. Great scientific information. This book would benefit anyone, from the athlete, to the always tired, to the busy mom, with lots of easy (alkalizing) recipes and tips.

Brendan gave a half hour talk about his past as an athlete, how he became interested in the nutrition side of fitness and exercise, his book and some key ideas in it, and his philosophy toward health and optimal performance and recovery. After he did a book signing, as we were given samples of various Vega products.

*Ahem* That's my name πŸ˜‰

I chatted with Brendan for a few minutes, asked him a few questions, and found out that we both ran our first marathon in the Royal Victoria Full Marathon in Victoria, B.C. πŸ™‚

Sadly, I was too chicken to ask for a picture of us, so all I have are the memories… and a signed book.

Then, weekend friend time came. I am lucky and blessed to have met a truly inspiring, energetic, driven, and healthy-food-lover: Anne. She’s pretty cool. We have hung out a few times, talking over Cafe Gratitude delicious eats, sipped green juices, talked fitness, and this weekend we hit the gym for a kettlebell ladder workout. Anne, my back is soooooo sore- thank you! She is an awesome personal trainer, yogi, and new business owner. We may or may not have made some raw, vegan chocolate almond butter macarons… mmmmmm.

Oh, and lastly, the best part of waking up is coffee in your cup are scones fresh from the oven. To clarify, these scones hot from the oven. Made from Twin Cakes Bakery dry scone mix, and sprinkled with tons of cinnamon.

The naked scone
Dressed with Tahini
And some date syrup
Cinnamon Scones with tahini and date syrup drizzle

Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

What’s on your plate for Thanksgiving? Traveling to see family, friends? Are you making the food, helping with the meal? Is there some recipe you are famous for?

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