Greetings, Tribe!
I continue to read about people trying to keep everything as close to normal during this crazy time of quarantine, but I’m finding that impossible. As a result, I’m exploring the kitchen. Trying new recipes and tweaking old ones.

First, was Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Nice Cream. Super easy: in your blender toss frozen bananas (I recommend that they’re sliced and not whole when you blend them), peanut butter, a little almond milk and chocolate chips. Once blended, freeze again for an hour or two. Super tasty, and if you’re impatient the chiseling away at the big blob of “ice cream” burns all of the calories you eat as you eat!!

Then there were chickpea nuggets. Also super easy and delicious!!! After hydrating/cooking my dried chickpeas, I mushed them up in my food processor. Just like making cookies, I made balls out of the mush, rolled them in bread crumbs and spices, flattened them on a cookie sheet and baked. After cooking, I dipped in corn syrup-free ketchup and was in heaven. By far my favorite meat-alternative recipe to date!

A bit easier, I made a shrimp and veggie pasta with a white wine sauce. Fresh, light and quick to make.

Vegan Mac and cheese was next. We only had spaghetti noodles, so already we were starting with a handicap. I used sweet potatoes, a little oil and nutritional yeast. It was then that I noticed the recipe requested cashews. We don’t have cashews. Gah! Maybe we won’t notice….yeah. We noticed. the dish wasn’t bad, but not great. Use cashews!

All of my cooking is currently based off of what we have in our pantry and fridge. And what we have in our kitchen is based off of what people left in the grocery (not much).
I found some frozen tuna steaks, so I seared them (My first time. They were a little burnt, but no one seemed to notice. Shhhh) and sliced them atop frozen veggies that I stir fried (not my first choice), rice and topped with a homemade sesame sauce.
I’ll share some more of my cooking adventures in future posts. Running wise? Still keeping up my mileage. My coach has lessened the intensity of my workouts recently, to help keep my immune system strong. While all Spring races are currently cancelled or postponed, I’m using this time to build a strong foundation for what I hope is Fall racing season.
Happy Trails, Friends!