Vegan Cookbook!

New Books I'm Loving!

Do you watch Ellen?  I'm such a big fan of hers, it's kind of ridiculous.  Love her show, love her, love her attitude, etc, etc, etc.  And I love that I can watch her show with my 9-year-old son who also is a crazy fan of hers.  We never miss it.  I get him from the bus at 2:55 and we get home just in time for Ellen.  Anyway, because I'm such a fan/believer/cult member, I'd pretty much buy anything she told me to.  Which is why, last week, I picked up Vegan Cooking for Carnivores.  The author, Roberto Martin, is Ellen and Portia's personal chef and has made appearances on Ellen's show several times (hit up YouTube if you haven't seen him).  I love this book because it's very beginner-vegan friendly.  It is also great for someone like me who is the only veg in the house.  I can easily pass a lot of this stuff off to my family and friends and not have them turn their noses at me. 

Hellllooooo Beautiful!

My favorite recipe so far is the Asian Chopped Salad.  How beautiful is that salad??  And this is probably the first time in my life where I've made something that ended up looking as beautiful as the photo.  It was so good.  I ate it for lunch and with dinner for 3 days straight.  Yum!  Next up, I'm going to try the mac and cheese.  Should be interesting because I am not a fan of any of the vegan cheeses.  I've tried a bunch and decided that it's easier to just omit cheese all together. 

Another book I picked up last week is The Athlete's Book of Home Remedies.  It is written by Dr. Jordan D. Metzl who is a marathoner and Ironman so he clearly understands both athlete's pain and their urgent desire to get back to their sport.  The book is broken up into different sections of the body, ie: Feet, Ankles & Lower Legs; Knees; Hamstrings, Hips, Glutes & Groin, etc.  Then within each section, different symptoms are given a two page summery of 'what's going on in there?', how to fix it and how to prevent it.  It is written in very easy to understand language, quick and to the point.  I personally have dug deep into the hamstrings, hips, glutes and groin section because of hip/glut pain that I just can't seem to get rid of.  Unfortunately my pain is not gone yet and I have a trail half marathon on Sunday...panic time!  My husband used it to better understand what is going on with his shoulder/chest problems from baseball and this weekend, when he sprained his ankle playing baseball with the kids, I tossed it at him as he iced it on the couch!  I highly recommend this one!

October 11, 2008??

Registration is now open for the 2008 Baltimore Running Festival. The race date is October 11th. They have a full and half marathon and I'm thinking about registering for the 1/2. Why not, right? It's 5 months after the Marine Corps Half and I'm thinking that after I do that one, I'm going to be itching to do another (given my obsessive personality!) so this one in Baltimore just may be the perfect thing!