Au Naturel.

There is no way I can go back. I used to buy into all of it. I took my Dunkin Donuts coffee with 3 equal and 5 ice cubes. I spent millions (ok maybe not millions) of dollars on deodorants and shampoos and lotions and face washes (when I was younger I, no joke, remember using a minimum of three different face washes each morning, trying to get rid of the dreaded acne). I bought the latest running shoes every couple of months. I was all about the low-fat, no-fat. But then something changed. I don’t know when. And I don’t know how. It just started to gradually happen. I started reading more about vegan and raw diets/lifestyles.  One book lead to another book which lead to a blog or an article or back to a book. Talking to people. Which lead to more books or blogs or articles. Until the other day, on my run, wearing my Vibrams, I realized how far into I was and that I would never go back.

The change wasn’t instantaneous, but the further into this lifestyle I get, the more I know this is where I’m supposed to be. I now use baking soda to wash my hair. Coconut oil infused with essential oils for my deodorant. I will never wear another pair of conventional running shoes. I will never put Splenda or any other type of fake sweetener in anything I consume. Real, whole foods are better than processed crap any day. Slowly but surely I am phasing things out of my life. B thinks I’m crazy. I joke and call myself a hippie. But who doesn’t want to live a more sustainable life? When did we lose that? My next project is to learn how to garden. I can’t grow a thing and have killed many plants, but I just know that’s my next step in this journey. Maybe I’ll start with some herbs.

Until then, I will continue to shop for my organic produce. And we were at Whole Foods the other day. Early, before all the crazies came out. And they had just put out some raw asparagus salad. We tried it and it was delicious. So I picked up three bunches of asparagus spears (what else was I supposed to do?), and came home and made the salad. So, here it is.

Copycat Whole Foods Asparagus Salad

One bunch of asparagus

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper

Directions:

Cut asparagus into two-inch long pieces. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Can be eaten right away, but if you let it marinate for two hours or so, it gives all the flavors a chance to sink in and it is delicious!

F

Roasted Garlic

Our summer came a little late this year. We had an amazing June, July, and first half of August. But the humidity is out now and the air is thick. It makes for very inconsistent running. Because I can’t always pick and choose the days and times I run, I have to just suck it up and run. When its this hot out, I do have to take some precautions and plan accordingly. Here are my tips for running in the heat:

1. Choose routes with the most shade

2. Wear sunscreen and a visor

3. Keep runs to about 30 minutes. If running longer, make sure you take a water bottle with you

4. Have a cold water bottle ready for when you’re finished

When its this hot, I also don’t like turning on the oven. I do, however, make an exception when I run out of my roasted garlic. I make this stuff in batches because I’m not a fan of my fingers smelling like garlic anytime I want to add some flavor to my meals. Plus, I don’t have the time to go through all that chopping and mincing every time I cook. I first came across this recipe from Rachel Ray. I was working and B was watching some Rachel Ray. She was making Roasted Garlic Chicken. I roasted the garlic and he made the chicken, but I ended up loving the roasted garlic recipe and I only have to make it once every couple of months!

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

As many garlic heads as you’d like

olive oil

salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. Cut off the tops of your heads of garlic

3. Wrap each head  in a square of aluminium foil and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Salt if desired.

4. Place all of the garlic “pockets” in a pan or directly in the oven.

5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Enjoy the smells!

6. When garlic is tender, take out of oven and let cool. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin.

7. Use a fork to mash the garlic into a paste.

8. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use when needed!

 

 

I love adding this to my sauteed veggies or into pasta sauces. It is also delicious just spread on some bread and drizzled with olive oil and warmed in the oven…

Enjoy!

F

Blue Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

As I’ve mentioned before, the love of my life & I are members of our local CSA. Sometimes we’ll receive 10 ears of corn, and other times we’ll receive 20 heirloom tomatoes.

Well, this was one of those tomato times.

They were sitting on our counter in a brown paper bag trying to ripen and I was wondering what to do with them. I’ve always had this ‘romantic’ idea of cutting the top off of peppers or tomatoes and stuffing them with something.

Tonight was the night.

We had the cheese thanks to Costco, as well the bread crumbs and other spices.

Just to make sure I wasn’t completely off of my rocker, I borrowed heavily from Grill Grrrl to make them.

From experience I know my dear loves garlic and onions, so after scooping out the tomato ‘meat’ i threw in a layer of garlic & onion at the bottom of the tomato, then added blue cheese/gorgonzola, bread crumbs & basil to ‘taste’.

Since I have more basil than I know what to do with after baking for 20/30 min I added fresh basil diced to the top of these before serving.

INGREDIENTS
4 Tomatoes
1/4 cup blue cheese/gorgonzola
1/8 bread crumbs
1/8 garlic
1/6 diced onions
basil to taste