Vegan Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

This recipe I found on Google+, specifically from the website Carrie on Vegan so check it out. I made them last night. They were super delicious and very, very easy. The tomato sauce was so good. I plan to make it again to put on pasta.

Vegan Portobello Mushroom Pizza

SAUCE:

1/2 red onion (or one small one), chopped

3 garlic gloves, minced

2 cups unsalted tomato sauce

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

10-15 fresh basil leaves

(I used 1 tsp. dry leaves)

1 tsp. dried oregano

PIZZA:

4 portobello mushrooms with stems removed

pizza sauce

nutritional yeast

Place the onion in a pan with some oil and cook until soft. Add some water so it doesn't burn. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in nutritional yeast, basil and oregano. Fill mushrooms with sauce and place in a 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 Celsius) preheated oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the mushrooms start to shrink.

So good and a nice alternative to pizza. On the website it says this is enough for 4 people but I think you'd still be hungry. My husband and I ate them all and also had a side dish.

Wish List: Food Items

I know, this is supposed to be another yummy recipe for you all to try and enjoy. But honestly, for the past couple of weeks I haven't made anything remotely interesting. Just a lot of salad, pasta, couscous, crock pot stuff and smoothies. Things that I love but have already shared.

Even though I haven't made anything new it hasn't come from a lack of want, it comes from a lack of time. There are TONS of ingredients and recipes that I really want to try. 

My husband and I were gifted 3 vegan cookbooks this Christmas. So I feel like I have all the tools, yet things still don't get made.

It's been about 3 months since we started the vegan challenge and it's time to get a little more adventurous.

This week I have a list of things I've been thinking about trying. Hopefully, in the coming weeks (and months), I can scratch some of this stuff off the list!

So here goes:

• "Live" Brownies -- I just subscribed to an interesting youtuber who has been vegan for more than 12 years. In 2011 she took a live (or raw) food challenge and it completely intrigued me. While I will NOT be joining her in this endeavor, there are some recipes I'd like to try. Here's the video that inspired me to read up on it if you're interested.

• Kale -- I've heard it's similar to collard greens but have never used it. I'd also like to make kale chips.
• Raw cocoa powder -- This is one of the ingredients needed to make the "live"(or raw) brownies.
• Almond milk -- I want to try to make my own. I don't have a food processor though so this recipe will have to wait until I get one.
• Vegan cheese sauce -- This is another recipe for the food processor. I have a blender, which only really works for mixing liquids and smoothies and such.
• Dressings -- My vegan cookbook has TONS of different recipes for dressings. We always use the same one in our salads (olive oil and vinegar). So I want to branch out and experiment with some new flavors.
• Brown rice flour -- A tasty sounding vegan gravy is used with this flour. Apparently, it lumps a lot less than whole wheat flour making it a breeze to use. I'm sure it has other uses as well.
• Tofu mayonnaise -- I don't even care for mayo but my husband does so I'd try it for his sake.
• Polenta -- There are so many things you can make with this stuff, including pizza, which I miss!
• Desserts -- We need more of these! 

I know these ingredients are haphazardly thrown together but they were the things that caught my eyes as I skimmed my cookbook. I'm hoping this list will push me to get it together! So stay tuned for more recipes.

Half-Marathon Recap

The race is over! I finished uninjured and happy! Even though I went in knowing I wasn't trying to acheive a PR...my mind wasn't completely convinced. So afterwards, at home, looking at the race results, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment. It was just a tinge.

However, I ran the race in 1 HOUR AND 39 MINUTES. I RANKED 10TH IN MY CATEGORY. For some reason there were no total ranking results.

THIS WAS A CHALLENGING COURSE.

 It was super hilly. I mean, it was nothing but hills! I mean I have to incorporate some type of hill work into my training now! It's interesting, but it wasn't my legs that were burning. It was my lungs! I'm so happy I'll be starting Fartlek again.

My pace was 7.33, which I'm completely content with. At 6.1 miles I was at 46 minutes and at 10 miles I was at 1 hour and 18 minutes. I put effort into this race. My first marathon was completely flat. I held back because I just wanted to finish. I didn't hold much back this time around. It felt good though. I'm already thinking about a shorter race to run in December.

The only annoying part was that there was no one waiting for me at the finish line! I really gave it my all at the finish and sprinted. I expected my family to be there...but they were confused and were standing at a different finish line. To their credit it was a confusing event. 

There was a 10K, the half marathon, full marathon, marathon relay, and a kid's race. All running at the same time. I was confused a bit while running because they kept yelling out instructions and I was trying to focus.

Oh well, it couldn't be perfect, could it?

Race Preparation

It was so cold and dark! I got up at 430 am. I expected my phone to automatically update Daylight Savings, but it didn't. No, I don't have a smartphone. Why? Well, planned obsolescence. But I digress.

Anyway,

• I woke up
• Checked my ipod
• Checked Chema's ipod touch
• Turned on the computer
• Woke up my mother and asked her
• Turned on the TV...

I just wanted to make sure it was 330 am. It was. So I manually put the time back on my phone and stayed in bed (wide awake) until 4 am. At that time I got up and ate breakfast, put in my contacts, got dressed, then warmed up and stretched.

Chema, my younger brother, and older sister, came to see me run. My mom couldn't come unfortunately because of her injury. 

So in this first picture you can see how dark it is at 6am.

This is the start and finish line for the half and full marathon.

Here's where we could check our race results. However, when I crossed the finish line I was more concerned with finding my support team.

There I am! I was so excited. Even though this was a smaller race the energy was great.

Now you can really see how cold it is! I had on 2 layers and another one in the car for the finish! I was too incredibly happy that I had those gloves.

Cheesing with my sister.

And here I am cheesing with the teenager.

This is me right before the start. At this point there were only 10 minutes before the race!

More people getting ready for the race.

Not a huge showing but it was decent.

Not sure why the bird was there but he was scaring the little kids.

The spectators! Actuallly, there weren't very many people supporting the runners. They pretty much stayed at the start and finish lines. But I was more focused on those hills anyway!

Five minutes before the race!

Almost three minutes before the race!

There I go! If my face is any indication (the little of it you can see) I was in paradise!

They had those cool little foil wrappers at the end that I've always wanted to drape around me. I felt so professional! However, they don't keep you warm...at all. The food offered was bananas, bagels, pizza, and beer. Since I'm vegan I gave the pizza to my brother and gobbled a banana and 1/4 of a bagel.

A few hours later I had another snack then lentils with potatoes for lunch.

Thoughts

I had such a great time. I really do recommend races. It is so uplifting. It's a big accomplishment. Like I said, I'm already planning my next race.

The only negatives were that no one was at the finish line to snap a photo. Also I had a wardrobe mishap. My cool new running pants chafed. They have zippers at the ankles and they cut me on my right ankle. 

Luckily, I didn't even notice until we were driving back home. I guess I was on too much of a high. So yea, I either need to wear longer socks or get some different pants.

Something silly: I mentioned before how I felt a tinge of disappointment for not running faster. So, to make me feel better Chema "googled" the women who finished ahead of me. For some reason it made me feel better knowing these women are professional runners. All of them had run the race more than once and were on running teams. I patted myself on the back for a job well done.

Other than that, I have no complaints. My second half marathon is over and I can't wait to run another. 

I will definitely focus on running a PR! (After my marathon of course)

Weekly Recipe: Whole Wheat Pizza

Whole Wheat Pizza

1 or 2 Whole wheat pizza bases

Tomato sauce

1/4 tsp of the following spices (or to taste):

Pepper

Oregano

Thyme

Cayenne pepper

Garlic powder

Some of my favorite toppings:

Cheese

Onion

Red/green pepper

Mushrooms

Peas

Zucchini

Tomato

Corn

Beans (any kind)

Tuna fish

Broccoli

Put the tomato sauce, followed by the spices on the tomato sauce then add any toppings you like! I tend to put the onion on the sauce, then the cheese, and finally the rest of the toppings. Mostly because I like the flavor of the onion but I don't like to chomp down on a piece. The picture above of the pizza bases are individual servings. I usually eat one of those with some salad and some fruit for dessert. Or share one for a lighter meal. The possibilities are endless! The pizza above only has cheese, onion and red pepper on it because that was the mood I was in. 

Enjoy! Leave comments if you try it (or have tried it)!