5 Awesome Foods of the Week

Here are a few of the raw and/or delicious things I have consumed and made this week to keep you inspired in your own health journeys:

1) Can't... Stop... Eating... Collard Wraps

(image source)

They're so good I always end up eating them before I remember to take a picture. I've usually been filling mine with carrot, beets, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, and my sun-dried tomato/sunflower seed/almond "meat" (a variation of this old recipe). In fact, I may go make some more when I'm done writing this.

I mentioned a little while back that one of my goals this winter was stay way more raw than I did last year. I know that a big part of that is finding the foods that make me feel raw and nourished when it starts to go below zero. Last year, I got too lazy to try, got cold, and just had whatever would take that feeling away (among other excuses, I tell myself that it was also my first winter in Ottawa, so I was adapting...). I know that a lot of people say that cold climates weren't designed for raw foodies, but I'm sure there's a way of eating seasonally and raw that will defy that! 

2) My First Attempt at a Raw Tiramisu

This was one of my two creations for my weekly raw catering. I based it largely on Cafe Gratitude's Tiramisu recipe in their I am Grateful recipe book. Of course I added my own flair here and there based on ingredient availability and desire to make it a little less complex, but I thought it ended up pretty convincing!

3) Raw Carrot Cake Take 2

My raw birthday carrot cake was so amazing I had to make this my second catering order this week. Thanks again Amanda for giving me ideas for awesomeness... I used the same ingredients I listed last time, except for the maple syrup. To keep it 100% raw and vegan for my job, I stuck with raw agave nectar (which I don't wholly endorse).

4) Cauliflower Jerusalem Artichoke "Stew"

My one cooked recipe of the week was based off of a fantastic dish I recently had at the Table. I can't remember what it was called, but all I know is that it was delicious, had cauliflower, jerusalem artichokes, and coconut milk in it, and that I had to try to make it at home. My version also had tomatoes, a mix of soy milk and coconut milk, a little bit of curry powder, onions, raw honey, sea salt. It was soooo good. I love the subtle flavour of jerusalem artichokes and it goes so well with cauliflower! To add some green to the meal, I paired it with a lovely massaged kale salad.

5) And... My Marathon Training Plan

Oops, so I ran out of food things to write about... I could have featured my other creation of the week which another first attempt: a very successful veggie pate, but being me, I neither took pictures nor wrote a recipe. Instead, I'll let you know that my 1/2 marathon training plan is still moving a long slowly but surely. I've obviously done my share of 10K+ type long runs, but because I kind of fell off the training wagon over the spring/summer, I'm just going through the whole 18 weeks to allow my body to get back into the whole running thing.

As I mentioned before, I'm following a plan I saw on Tone it Up's blog back in September (and I think they got it from Self Magazine). I really started to take it more seriously this week (I'm on week 3) as I've been a little off when it comes to gym time recently. On the upside, I've been dancing a lot recently which has been fantastic, and have made the commitment as of this week to really just start doing both!

That's it for this week! Hope you're having a lovely and still marginally warm weekend! (Don't forget to turn your clocks tomorrow :)