protein fudge brownie

I wrote this recipe forApril because we both run, both care deeply about nutrition and sometimes want our proteins without a huge amount of nut fats. These make great healthy kids snacks.

This is a great high protein snack for after a workout or if you just need something to keep you going for a couple of hours. I have eaten some pretty strange tasting protein bars in my time- some look great and taste like wax or have a weird after taste. I think it is because of all the ingredients that aren’t food- they are additives or vitamins and minerals isolated from food. That just seems so wrong to me. I like food, actually I love food. Real food, not food-like substances.  Try this out and see if it works for you.

Recipe:

50g pea protein powder

25g hemp flour or protein (flour will be grittier)

4 tablespoons tahini (there is the fat source)

Either ½ teaspoon Stevia (zero carbs) or 2 tablespoons agave/honey (better flavour but has carbs)

Flavour with

1 tablespoon raw cacao

¼ tsp ground ginger (anti inflammatory)

¼ tsp ground cinnamon (anti oxidant)

¼ tsp mixed spice

4 drops vanilla essence

A little bit of water to mix

Optional- ½ cup dried berries like cranberries or currents if you don’t mind the carbs. They need to be small pieces as the brownie will crumble if they are too large. You could always soak and puree them, the brownie will just be slightly denser.

Mix well together in a large bowl. Once it seems to be all mixed through start adding a little bit of water at a time until you are mixing something that resembles cookie dough- it will be in a few big lumps that when you press together forms a dough.

Line a small container with clingfilm (right up the sides and leave some spare) and put the dough in the container. Put the extra cling film over the top of the mix and press down to compress the dough into the shape of the container. Place in fridge.

When it is cold cut into 4 bars. Store in the fridge.

This doesnt have a massive amount of calories if you use stevia. There is some healthy fat from the tahini and plenty of bioavailable protein. You could add rice protein and have a perfect mix of aminos.

I find this brownie delicious and because it is so high in protein if I have it sometime after my green smoothie in the morning I get through to lunchtime without needing any morning tea.

If I’ve come in from a 28km run and had my quick carb hit then this is my 20 minutes later recovery bar.

I have heard so many different recovery programs for endurance running so this may not be yours but it works beautifully for me.

Please leave your comments on how well this recipe worked for you and if you improve it then I’d love to hear from you.

Running

This morning I got up at 4.30 am to beat the heat and by 5am I was on the road for my weekend long run.

I dont eat before I run but I do use sports gels along the way.  As I intended to be on the road for about 3 hours I took 3 gels to provide simple carbohydrates to feed my muscles.

I was going t0 run 28km but about half way through my run I decided to take it up to at least 30km, if not a little more. It is hard work for me running that kind of distance and all of my injuries bug me along the way but I relax into it, enjoy the music and then my own thoughts entertain me for the majority of the way.  I tell people I run to think and when they remark the distance is pure craziness I just tell them I’ve got a lot to think about.

So I was out on the road for 3hours and 12 minutes and I ran 32.6km.  I was pretty happy with that.

When I got back I had my usual magnesium drink Endura to replace electrolytes and then I followed the Thrive diet book and made myself a drink that had simple carbs, no fat and 1:4 protein ratio.

A punnet of strawberries, a spoonful of agave, a spoonful of raw cacao and spirulina, 2 spoonfuls of Protein powder and water. Blend and enjoy!

The difference between doing this and my usual everything in it concoction was enormous. I felt instantly better and I was able to digest it effortlessly.

Still following the book an hour later I had another smoothie with more protein in it, dates, spinach, cucumber, and carob.  This one was more like a meal and and again had a much better effect  on my energy levels.

I had to bike to the gym for my feldenkrais class and a soak in the hot pool so I took dried fruit with me and a couple of tahini balls.

For someone of my size a run like I did uses an extra 1800 calories on top of the 1200 I need in a day but you often dont feel hungry so have to pay special attention to getting the nutrition in.

Dinner was salad- I was craving the water content of greens, a piece of essene bread with olive oil and brewers yeast and a handful of pumpkin seeds.

I loved the essene bread but will go easy on it as I havent really eaten wheat or rye much in ages so need to test it on my body slowly.

I was in bed and out like a light by 9.45 -big day

Thriving

Hey another Saturday- that means resting, pottering in the kitchen, buying food and supplies, cleaning the house and soaking nuts and sprouts etc.

It also means carbo loading for a big run tomorrow.

I have just read Brendan Braziers “Thrive” vegan athletes diet book and although a lot of the stuff in it is what I either already did before going vegan or now do, there are a whole lot of distinctions that I think will make a huge difference to my performance and recovery.

I have great recovery.  My trainer and I often think I wont be able to move the next day and yet I end up barely stiff so I must be doing something right.

I have always believed that the ‘food pyramid’ was completely off- honestly, grains at the bottom? I havent really eaten bread in 18 months and have been so much healthier for it.  Ditto pasta which I view as wall paper paste, cake, rice and most of what passes for staple food.

The bottom of my food pyramid has been cruciferous vegetables for quite some time.  My perfect breakfast was steamed Brussel sprouts and balsamic vinegar… I know, weird but so yummy.

Anything the rest of the family put on rice or pasta I put on fresh baby spinach or cabbage.  My other fav meal was omelettes and veges on a bed of greens.

So my new animal product free diet involves substituting seeds and nuts for meat, eggs and cheese- no problem really.

Brendan’s book has some great recipes that involve soaked nuts and seeds and has lots of information on acidity and alkalinity which is very important in terms of recovery and performance.   It has specific recipes for post workout drinks and explains the science behind the ratios.  It even has recipes for sports gels so must get myself a gel pouch to carry some in.

I think I might have even got M to come over to the ‘dark’ side.  He rides for several hours at a go and at his top speed most of the time. I made him scrambled eggs on essene bread and a green smoothie (chocolate and spirulina and spinach) for lunch and his dinner was home made wheat free flat breads with falafels and various salady fillings.

I had left over pizza and salad with avocado. I am going to eat a lot of tahini balls later on with a nice cup of rooibos tea.

I also spent some time boosting the muesli that the rest of the family eats with puffed amaranth, dates, LSA, and dried fruit. Haha, they will never notice… damn it they will eat healthy food.

Wish me luck for tomorrow I run 28km… slowly but still, it’s a long way. It always freaks me out before I do it and then when I get back it seems like the most normal thing in the world.  Each week I run 1 km more than the last… I am running the NY marathon in November so should be in great shape by then.  Next week I will be starting a 10 week training program to step up my running speed so I have speed and distance- yeah baby, I want it all.

see ya

4 weeks Woot!!

The 4 week mark!

I know one day this will seem a minor milestone but often you have to do something for a month to really know that you are doing it and I feel that raw is pretty integrated into my life now.

Today was 43 degrees C and I was lucky enough not to have to go anywhere or do anything.

I did get up at 5 am to run 14km because thats the kind of thing you have to do when you are a long distance runner- mid week runs of 12+ km. This weekends run should be 28km and hopefully the heatwave will be over by then.

Running in the dark and the perfect stillness of the morning gives you the impression you own the world- there it all is and not a soul to have to share it with… the silvery sea, the glowing moon and then all too soon the sun is up and the world stirs itself from sleep to go about its day.

I run to meditate, to commune, to be… I love it

Today was too hot to eat so we all picked at frozen fruit and salad all day… I often feel a bit weird if I dont have at least one proper meal, like I could pick all day and not be satisfied. I think I am just bored with the heat and cant really do much about it.

I am looking forward to a less restrictive diet in 2 weeks when I allow myself a bit of cooked food- mushrooms in particular as raw they just dont do it for me.

I have sprouted some wheat but am not sure if it is hard or soft so what to do with it? Rejuvalac or essene crackers? I really dont know- time to google I think.

See ya

25

Sunday, run, bike, swim, feldenkrais, fall in a heap…

I got up reasonably early and was out on the road for my long run by 6.30 am.

I love how empty the streets are and how I have the place to myself until I reach the sea.

Soon the one or two joggers and bikers turns into pelotons and groups and I m surrounded by other crazy people who think sweating early on a Sunday is a good idea. There is a certain camaraderie between us, we all pretty much gave up our wild Saturday nights in favor of carb loading and sleep so we could do our best out on the road today.

I personally ran about 27km which being a long slow run took me about 2 and a half hours.

I then spent a good 2 hours soaking my legs and icing my knees while drinking recovery drinks and smoothies before some quick house work and then off on my bike to the gym to do feldenkrais and then a swim.

The swim was lovely and I sat in the salt water hot pool and the sauna for a while.

The homeward journey should have been after a refuel but I neglected to bring any snacks with me so ended up having to do it starving… up hills… on a single speed bike … in a head wind- this head wind seems to follow me regardless of which direction I go, I guess thats the bonus of riding along by the sea.

So now I am scrounging for something to eat- left over soup, maybe. Salad, possibly. Need nuts and sundried toms while I think. Wish my amino acid drink said where they get all those amino acids and protein from. They dont even say what the herbs are… just “contains herbs” – good on you Musashi, I like a bit more info than that.

I think I am just going to fall in a heap now and perhaps put a glass of red wine to good use before passing out in a coma around 9pm.

bye

Day 18

At 6am I went for a huge 26km run as I usually do on a Sunday. I was a bit short on energy so had my sports gel early on at the 50 minute mark and was fine from then on. I ran with the Elwood Triathlon athletes for a while as they had taken over my normal running path and I was impressed that not only do they run they swim (in the sea with the jellyfish) and they bike (while wet).
They deal with less than ideal circumstances for each leg of their race and seem to have a good time with it. I was entertaining the idea of doing a triathlon which would mean much more bike riding in my training and learning to swim in a relaxed and deliberate way rather than my messing around in water, tiring myself out quickly and not getting anywhere fast stroke.
Honestly, the only thing standing between me and swimming practice is vanity, it ruins my hair Time to get a swim cap and as I am so fond of saying to myself “suck it up princess” and get on with it.
I also did a feldenkrais class and a weights work out which has my forearms feeling like they dont totally belong to me… they are not completely under my control.
Today was an eat everything in sight day as I have about 1200 extra calories to ingest because of the run.
I had smoothies with loads of fruit, rocket salad, berries, nuts, seeds, avocado soup, chocolate date brownie, warm chocolate almond milk oh and the fermented nut cheese with miso is lovely.

The day ended with a Gin and Tonic and in bed by 9.30. Great day!

it just keeps getting yummier

Today I played in the kitchen and made the tahini balls again but this time I left out the linseed (want to see if it is the bad guy in the gassy tummy problem) soaked the dates for an hour and used nuts left over from making a nut milk- hazel nuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds.
The nut milk was lovely and quite sweet and I am wondering if my Kefir could live off it. It nearly died when I used a malt free soy because it converts sugars in ‘milk’ into drinking yogurt. I think there was just not enough sugar. I guess it would like coconut milk. Must look it up on the interwebs.
I have almost cut out all of the honey in the tahini balls so that I can eventually make a vegan version so the recipe looked like this

Tahini balls 2
half cup tahini unhulled
1 dessert spoon honey
1 pinch Stevia
half cup nut meal (from making nut milk)
half cup of dessicated coconut
half cup soaked dates
half cup goji berries and prunes mixed

Whack it all in the food processor until it is blended.
roll into balls and roll in coconut.
stick them in the fridge and refuse to share with anyone who hasnt gone raw.

I found a new use for my sunflower seed spread.
spread thickly over nori seaweed
fill with cucumber, carrot, spring onion and whatever other veges you like.
Roll up and cut like sushi.
Eat with tamari and wasabi- look smug at how clever you are.
Thats all for today.
I am getting up at 5.30 tomorrow to run 24km so eating a lot of tahini balls tonight to carb load.
see ya

Nearly a week…

Hey this makes 6 days of lovely raw vegan food and it has been a steep learning curve.
I ran today, about 12km into work from my house and it was a pretty lackluster affair I have to admit. Not significantly slower but I would not have had it in me to go any faster if my life depended on it.
Since I missed my smoothie I had tahini balls as a recovery snack/breakfast and interestingly enough no tummy upsets so it is a smoothie ingredient. This is almost scientific… sadly there is no control me to test out my theories on.
My main suspects are the protein or the soy Kefir as I have never really had soy before and it may well disagree with me.
I had a delightful salad with a little ‘cheeze’ in it (I have mixed chives into it and it is truely divine!)
In the afternoon I had plain soy kefir to drink and after that my stomach wasnt bad but it wasnt good either… I was going to experiment with no soy and having pea protein powder tomorrow and maybe I will find out if it is one or both that isnt agreeable. They had also run out of the organic soy at the supermarket so I bought a fresh non gm one- there goes the science experiment, too many variables now.
Dinner was the most gorgeous ’sandwiches’- flat pieces of red pepper with ‘chive cheeze’, sundried tomatoes and cucumber with a tahini and lemon dressing.
I impressed myself!
Tomorrow will mark the first week of my compassionate year and I hope to go on well past the one year mark. Once you tread this path I suspect you can never go back.
Very exciting

Running Girl

This morning I got up at 6am and ran 24km in the sun by the sea. Life is good!
Before I left I had a Mona Vie gel which is probably not raw but does contain 19 fruits including acai so I use it to assist with oxidative stress caused by strenuous exercise.
I cant eat before I run… ever, because it gives me a horrible feeling in my stomach.
I set off with a caffeine/carb sports gel stuffed into my bra for the 1 hour mark which is when your muscles pretty much run out of fuel.
To be honest I was a bit worried that I wasnt fueled up enough to go the distance but it was a really great run!
I go slow and notice my gait, mess with tiny changes in pressure, landing, arm swing… I do Feldenkrais and it teaches you to be mindful of your body. I had a archilles injury before I set off that has been bugging me for a month. I played with relaxing my feet as I ran and somewhere around the 18km mark it came right and has been pain free since. Yeah!
When I got back (2hrs 15min) I had some endura for magnesium and then while I sat with my feet in a bucket of cold water I had my morning smoothie.
I had LSA, kefir, mango and apricots from the garden. It was very nice and filled me up for hours. Lunch was a picnic at the beach with the Family- I had a pretty basic salad and avocado. By evening I wasnt really hungry so have been drinking herbal tea.
All and all very pleased with the running and clearly the tahini balls did the trick carb wise.
Tomorrow I need to go and buy supplies and start making some more adventurous dinners, no more soup.
Also something I eat is disagreeing with my stomach so I cut out most nuts today except the seeds in LSA. Still felt bloaty so may take fruit out tomorrow and use cacao to flavor my drink and then if that doesnt work take out the L then the S then the A
I guess every body deals with food differently and it is nice to play around to see what suits mine.

Tomorrow the Cheeze will be ready (it smells sweet and fermenty)
See ya tomorrow sweeties