I like to throw this little mixture together and roll them into the perfect pre and post run/workout bite! Dates are a great natural sugar for an energy boost during a run and the nuts and dates provide a good amount of carbohydrates for endurance.

Hey friends! So as you might know I am currently training for my 3rd half marathon. And while this certainly does not qualify me as an expert on the sport, I have definitely experienced a lot of ups and downs and I’ve learned A LOT during my training for these three big races. In addition to running 13.1 miles almost 3 times, I’ve been running for over 20 years.

Hey there! Let me tell you ‘bout my best friend…(you sang that didn’t you?!) I’m only slightly dramatizing my love for this cruciferous veggie—CAULIFLOWER. As I said in an instagram post a week or so ago, I have loved Cauliflower loooooong before it was cool to love cauliflower. Even before Buffalo Cauliflower Bites were a thing, I was eating cauliflower raw—that’s how much I love it! In fact, whenever my family had gatherings growing up my mom always brought a big vegetable tray full of different veggies and a big tub of ranch from Meijer (any midwestern Meijer fans in the house?!). I’m pretty sure my mom still has this veggie tray and it’s an off-white, super 90’s kitchen tray that gives me all the nostalgia. Anyway, nobody ever ate the cauliflower florets and I could never understand it but I also didn’t complain too much because that meant I got to eat them all! And I assure you I had no problem doing just that.

GIVE ME ALL THE CARBS AND NONE OF THE CRUELTY, PLEASE! Now listen my main motivations for following a whole-foods-plant-based diet are for my health. However I do care very much about our planet and all of it’s inhabitants so now that I have eaten this way for a while I really cannot disconnect the animal from the plate, if you know what I mean. I know that not everybody feels this way and that’s okay. I am not here to vilify other people’s choices or feelings. I am here to make delicious plant based foods that fill us up and make our bodies feel good! So with all of that said, one of my husband’s previous go-to dishes was shredded pork anything. Tacos, on top of burgers, or just a big ole plate of BBQ.

These two recipes will bring ANY taco recipe to the next level. I promise you. They would be perfect for a dinner or potluck where you are accommodating meat-eaters and herbivores alike, or just for your average Taco Tuesday!

Sometimes I just HAVE to have something sweet. Like I will rummage through my fridge and my pantry desperate for SOMETHING that will suffice my craving. And the funny thing is that I’m not even a big sweets person! I have way more of a “salty-tooth” (is that a thing?!). I CANNOT have potato chips in my house. I will 100% eat them in 2 days, tops. I have no control. But for some reason it is way easier for me to have a couple bites of dark chocolate and be completely content. Except when I become ravenous and will destroy all in my path to eat some friggin cookie dough or SOMETHING. You with me?!

Hummus is one of the foods that, prior to ditching animal products, I never tried. And to be quite honest I was kind of grossed out by it because the idea of eating any type of bean was disgusting. I’m so embarrassed to admit that now! Especially considering that at any point in time I’ve got at least 4 cans of chickpeas in my pantry, a couple cans of black beans, and hummus is in my fridge at all times. Oh how things change! I’ve mentioned before that when I decided to eat more plant based foods, I sort of had to grow up and start eating more veggies, grains, legumes, and nuts. Because my diet previous to this was reeeaallly lacking all of those categories. SO enter things like hummus!

What a title, right?! Friends, I’m currently listening to a podcast with Dr. Will Bulsiewics (@theguthealthmd/Dr. B) and Nimai Delgado (Body Builder and vegan diet advocate). I’ve been wanting to listen to this one for a while because I’ve had my fair share of gut health issues. As a child I suffered from pretty severe ear infections, like a lot of children do. The typical treatment for ear infections is antibiotics. We know now-20 years later-that antibiotics wreak havoc on our guts

As we know, sugar is in EVERYTHING. So I’m very slowly taking steps to get rid of it all together. Thankfully I’ve found some ways to suffice my sugar cravings with natural sweeteners like DATES! Dates are perfect little fiber-filled sweet fruits that look a little gross but taste delicious. They can be used in so much to replace sugar. I throw them in smoothies, top them with some nut butter and seat salt for an after dinner treat, and make them into a “paste” to replace in recipes that call for pure maple syrup.