Category: Running, Biking, Swimming, Gym, or Activity

Peanut Butter Energy Bites — sooooo good!

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St. George is hosting the World Ironman Championship this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited! This city is BUZZING with enthusiasm for the athletes competing. They come from all over the world and we couldn’t be more proud to host. I have four friends that are participating, so I made each of them a goodie bag that included these scrumptious energy bites. When I did the IM, I loved having these on the bike portion because they are real food and they didn’t make my stomach upset. I wish all of the athletes GOOD LUCK!!

These are good for a quick snack, quick to make and made from wholesome, delicious ingredients.

Peanut Butter Energy Bites

1 C. Natural Peanut Butter

1 C. Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 C. Honey or Maple Syrup

1/4 C. Flax Seed

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 C. Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

1 C. Coconut (I like Trader Joe’s unsweetened shredded), toasted (I’ll give instructions)

For the Coconut:

Take a large skillet and add coconut. Put heat on medium, stir it, and watch closely. It won’t take long until the coconut starts to brown a bit. When it gets to this point, watch very carefully because it can burn quickly. Continue to stir and turn down heat until it browns nicely and then remove from pan to cool. MAKE SURE COCONUT IS COOLED COMPLETELY BEFORE ADDING TO THE REMAINING MIXTURE.

I like my coconut a little bit more fine so I put it in my food processor and give it a couple of pulses until it looks like this:

Next, add all of the above ingredients together except the coconut. I like to wash my hands and mix it with a wooden spoon.

When coconut is completely cool, add to mixture with your hands. Go ahead, don’t be afraid, just grab it and squish it. Haha. It’s great!! And a great way to take out any frustrations you have in the day lol.

Please let me know if you make these and how they turn out for you! I love hearing from my readers. You’re all the best!

XOXO

Peg

Instant Pot Beets

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I don’t know about you, but I LOVE fresh beets! I have tried every which way to cook them but the best and most efficient way is in the instant pot!! They are oh so good, but the only downside of beets is that they make your mouth purple haha. Put some salt and pepper on them and they are delicious!

Instant Pot Beets

2 or 3 bunches of beets ends cut and cut into even chunks. I quarter mine for the large beets and half them for the smaller ones (save those beet greens for smoothies)

1 ” of water and then the steamer basket in the instant pot

Prepare beets and add water and steamer basket to the instant pot.

Set instant pot on the steam setting for 14 minutes and let the steam release naturally. This takes a good 15-20 min.

Remove beets, let cool for about 10 min and peel them.

Eat and enjoy!

Hearty Lunch Salad Ideas

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One of the things that I love to have for lunch is a hearty salad. It just makes my body feel good when I nourish it with some good veggies for lunch. You can get creative with your own salad to use up leftovers you have in the refrigerator. I want to share just a few of my favorite combinations today.

Mexican Salad

Ingredients:

  • Spring mix
  • Baked sweet potato, cut into chunks
  • Black beans or pinto beans
  • Avocado
  • Salsa
  • Brown Rice

Layer ingredients in a bowl and enjoy. This is one of my favorite combinations. If you have a little cashew cream, that is a delicious addition as well. Just drizzle it on the top. No need to add dressing to this salad. It’s delicious with all of these wholesome salad toppings.

Mediterranean Salad

Ingredients:

  • Spring mix
  • Artichoke hearts
  • Avocado
  • Slivered almonds
  • Garbanzo beans
  • Lupini beans

These are the Lupini beans that I like to use and they are delicious for snacking too. They are very flavorful and again, no need for dressing. They flavors together are delicious. I would love your feedback if you try these salads. Please tag me @itsapegslife.com if you instagram a recipe made from my blog. Enjoy 🙂

1-Hour to Delish Vegan Roll Recipe

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I was inspired to make these rolls after making a trip to my favorite bakery to buy rolls (Great Harvest) and they were out. Of course, it was because of the CoronaVirus and everyone panicking to buy bread. Their bread and rolls were sold out by 11 a.m. that day. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!! All was not lost, however, thanks to my mama teaching me her mean bread making skills. We always had homemade rolls every Saturday. Ohhh how I love the smell of homemade bread. It brings back so many fond memories for me.

As most of you know, we try hard not to eat any oil, so I made this recipe as oil free as I could possibly could (minus the non-stick cooking spray that I sprayed in the pan to keep the rolls from sticking). I hope you love them as much as we did.

1-Hour to Delish Vegan Roll Recipe

  • 1 c. Almond Milk
  • 1/2 c. Water
  • 1/4 c. Honey (I know, I know honey isn’t vegan) or Agave
  • 1 T. Active-Dry Yeast
  • 3.5-4 c. All purpose Flour
  • 1 tea. Salt
  1. Prep your oven and baking dish.  Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray, and set aside.
  2. Warm the liquid ingredients.  In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, stir together the water, milk and honey/agave.  Microwave the mixture for 1 minute, and give it a stir.  Continue microwaving the mixture in 15 second intervals, until it is very warm to the touch but not hot or boiling (anywhere between 95°F-115°F), and the butter is completely melted.  The temperature of the water is important here, because if it’s too hot (120°F or more), it will kill the yeast.  If it’s too cool, the yeast will not activate.  Just think — a little bit warmer than your body temperature.
  3. Add yeast.  Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer.  Then sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, and give it a quick stir with a fork to combine.  Wait for five minutes, or until the yeast is foamy.
  4. Add dry ingredients.  Then add in 3.5 cups of flour (not all of the flour) and the salt.
  5. Mix.  Using the dough-hook, mix on medium-low speed until the dry ingredients are combined.  If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch.  (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.)  Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes.  Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.
  6. Let the dough rise.  Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes in a warm place.
  7. Form the rolls.  Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in a pan sprayed with nonstick spray (9×13-inch baking dish).  Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel, and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.
  8. Bake.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.
  9. Remove the rolls from the oven.
  10. Serve warm.  And enjoy!

NOTES

*I buy my yeast in bulk.  But if you’re buying the packets, note that 1 packet contains 2.25 teaspoons yeast.  So this will call for a little more than 1 packet.

Vegan Huevos Rancheros–Another Favorite!!

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If you are looking for an amazing breakfast, look no further. This is one of my creations that is so full of flavor and whole food plant-based goodness that it will knock your socks off. It definitely scored a 5/5 with my family. Enjoy.

Vegan Huevos Rancheros

This is such a delicious breakfast. Full of flavor and protein and simple goodness.

Source: Peg

Cuisine: Mexican

Main Ingredient: Tofu Eggs

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Total Time: 30 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • For the Tofu Eggs:
  • 1 16 ounce extra firm tofu (must be EXTRA FIRM)
  • 2 1/2 T. Nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 tea. Tumeric
  • 1 tea. Garlic powder
  • 1/2 tea. Onion powder
  • 2 tea. Soy Sauce
  • 2 T. Unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • Black salt to taste–A must!!!!
  • Salt and Pepper

  • Remaining Ingredients:
  • 2 large sweet potatoes Optional (Cooked 4-5 minutes in the microwave)
  • 1 can refried beans black beans, or pinto beans, warmed (We like both refried beans (no oil) and pinto beans)
  • Brown rice (I like the quick cook kind from Costco)
  • 1 can sweet corn warmed
  • Pico (I love Harmon’s jalepeno fresh salsa, if you live in Utah)
  • Cashew Cream (homemade, recipe below)
  • 1 avocado sliced in thin slices
  • Corn Tortillas warmed on the griddle just before serving

Directions

  1. For the tofu:
  2. Crumble up the tofu with your fingers and put in frying pan. Turn heat to medium high and warm up tofu–about 7 minutes
  3. Mix nutritional yeast, turmeric, onion salt, garlic salt, black salt and regular salt and pepper together sprinkle on warmed tofu and mix into the tofu throughly.
  4. Mix soy sauce and unsweetened non-dairy milk together and pour on tofu mix. Continue heating for a few minutes and serve immediately.
  5. Prepare remaining ingredients as instructed.
  6. Serve order:
  7. corn tortilla
  8. beans — refried first and then pinto
  9. brown rice
  10. sweet potato
  11. tofu eggs
  12. corn
  13. avocado
  14. pico
  15. (cashew cream would be yummy drizzled on this as well)

Cashew Cream

1 C. Cashews

1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Just enough water to cover the cashews. Blend in high speed blender until well blended. If you don’t have a high speed blender, boil the cashews for 20 minutes, drain off the water and proceed with recipe.

Peg’s Three Bean Soup

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This time of year makes me crave some good soup! The other night I came home from work and started throwing some deliciousness in a pot thinking that it wouldn’t be all that great, BUT it was so so good! Enjoy!


Sauté together:

1 yellow onion

1/2 jalapeño

3 garlic cloves

1 teas. cumin

1/2 teas. chili powder

Salt and pepper

A little vegetable broth for sautéing.

After the onion is translucent, add the following:

1 large 25 oz can pinto beans

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans

1 15 oz can black beans

4 c vegetable broth

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can of sweet corn or you can use frozen corn as well

Simmer for approxima 30 -40 min and serve with Costco uncooked Tortillas, cooked of course :), avocado, vegan sour cream, and fresh green onion on top.  You may want to add more cumin and salt and pepper as well to taste.

Enjoy!!

How’s the Whole Food Plant Based Diet Going and What Is It? 

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Okay folks, many of you are asking me how the whole food plant based lifestyle is going, so let me tell you–IT’S GOING AWESOME, even while we were on vacation to New York City for the NY Marathon, we had a great time seeking out restaurants that fit our new lifestyle. It was like looking for a treasure every day and so fun! I’ll write more about that in another post. When I say whole food plant based diet, I mean lots of veggies, whole grains, beans and legumes, a little fruit and nuts, so we don’t have any dairy, meat or eggs.  The next question people usually ask is…… “What do you eat?” or say to me “I could never do that!” haha Well, let me tell you, that YOU CAN DO IT!!!  I like to focus on what I can eat and less on what i can’t eat and then pretty soon, a whole new world opens up to you and it’s AWESOME and you will notice a difference in how you feel!!

The learning curve…… and I’m still learning. I have to openly admit, I’m not to the point where I can just make up a recipe and roll with it YET. With the mainstream way of eating, I could totally make things up as I went and my meal would come out delish, but with this new vegan diet with no oil, I have had some pretty awesome failures lol. Are failures awesome? Seems a little ridiculous. 😂 I don’t want to get into that part of it because I am a food blogger and suppose to know what the heck I’m doing. 😂  It’s been awesome though and I love learning new ways of cooking so this is fun. Some observations I have discovered when cooking and since adapting to this new way of eating.

1.  When using an Instant Pot for beans and lentils, use the lesser number for cooking time after soaking them over night instead of the greater. You know the instructions that the Instant Pot comes with? It instructs us to cook beans for 20-25 min. I tend to go with the 25 number, but I’m learning to go with the 20 number. I’m not a fan of soggy beans I’ve learned. Ha.

2.  Your tastebuds do change. I don’t want to say this one in a negative way at all. It’s a great thing and believe me, I love good food! Eating my favorite calorie laden chocolate chip oatmeal cookies nearly blows my head off now haha. I never thought I would say that😜.

3.  I’ve man some pretty bomb vegan recipes, like the AMAZING CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE. I adapted from the cookbook, “Isa Does It.”  I’ve shared that in a recent post. Seriously, it’s so incredible that you would not know that it had no oil nor would you know that it was vegan.

4. When sautéing veggies in a pan with no oil…. put the veggies in the pan on med high and cook them until they brown a bit. (be attentive here and don’t get distracted, which is my problem) Now add a tad bit of vegetable broth, like you would add some oil–not too much but just enough :), put the lid on for a few min, stir, and cook until the desired doneness.  When roasting, put veggies on parchment paper and salt and pepper. Mix up about 1/4 c vegetable broth (I like using the “Better than Vegetable Broth”) and drizzle it on the veggies. Rub them with it a bit to get it all over. Bake in hot oven at 425 degrees for about 10 min and stir. Put back in and cook another 7-10 min. They are so good!

How Does My Body Feel?

New York Marathon
St. George Marathon
Senior Games
78 Mile Bike Race

I seriously feel SO GREAT! I’ve been doing a lot of different endurance events within the last month, most recently the ​New York Marathon, St. George Marathon, a 78 mile bike race with my daughter, and two biking events in the Huntsman World Senior Games. My recovery from each event has been so much quicker than previous years of just running St. George Marathon . My muscles seem to be more healthy, faster recovery time and stronger with the Plant Based diet. Three days after completing the St. George marathon, I did the World Senior Games hill climb event, where I was timed climbing up 886 feet for 3 miles. I was worried about my legs still being tired from the marathon but they felt GREAT! The following day I did a 12 mile time trial and felt GREAT pushing it and 10 days after this event, I did a 75 mile road bike race with my daughter and felt GREAT! Enough said about all of my crazy addiction with endurance, but this new way of eating works. It’s fueling my body with the nutrients it needs to recover and with no injuries (knock on wood😜). 

About eating animals…….

I have to say, I have a new outlook on meat these days. Why do we eat some animals and not others? Isn’t it weird to think about? Why do we eat chicken and not cats or why do we eat cows and not horses? It’s crazy when you don’t eat meat, the way your mind switches gears. To me, man was meant to eat grains, plants and lentils and beans. It’s so easy to do and our body loves it!

There are a million recipes for eating vegan and cookbooks. Here are a couple of my favs.  We are doing no oil so I look up substitutions for different recipes because it is a different substitution if your roasting veggies than if your baking something. It’s so easy to figure out substitutions with Pinterest on our side 🙂 and with the resources we have online.  This way of eating doesn’t limit you, it’s just a different way of adjusting eating. By not consuming meat, you’re freeing your body of the inflammation meat causes and lowering your cholesterol, among many other benefits such as weight loss. You feel the difference in the first week of going Plant Based. I feel less bloated and I feel very satiated and I’m losing about 1/2 lb a week. My DH however, is losing more like 2 lbs a week and looks amazing! If you have any questions or comments, please email me at itsapegslife@gmail.com and I’m happy to share more about I with you. Until then, happy Plant Based Eating :).

Check out these videos that talk about eating plant based:

Netflix:  Forks Over Knives, What The Health

YouTube:  Plant-strong & healthy living: Rip Esselstyn at TEDxFremontwww.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkEYcmCCCk&t=38s,

Power Foods for the Brain | Neal Barnard | TEDxBismarck at www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ONFix_e4k&t=796s

Just key in Plant Based Whole Food Diet in the search bar on youtube and you’ll find a ton of info about it.  You’ll be amazed at what nourishing your body with good whole food will do for your overall health and well being.

 

FRIEND FRIDAY GUEST—MY SISTER, EVON SEELY!!

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Today my guest is one of my sisters (I have 3 AWESOME ones 🙂 , Evon Seely!! Evon is the oldest sister in our family of 6 children. I apologize for getting a little personal here but I LOVE MY FAMILY! #sorrynotsorry😜

The Rose Family :).  First pic is of our brother, Bruce, who was killed by a drunk driver at the young age of 24. It was heartbreaking for our family. I was just 8 years of age at that time and he left behind a wife and baby girl. My other brother, Larry, was on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the time and Evon was due with her firstborn.  The second pic is an older pic—me (enormously pregnant with our 4th child), Evon, Larry, Janis, Joanne (front) our dear dad and mom. 

Evon lives about 6 miles from me. She has always been there for me through hard times and good times. One of the memories that touches my heart was when my husband was going to chemo and my 5 children were young, she would drop everything and watch my sweet little darlings so I could be with my DH when he was so terribly sick. She is just that kind of person to everyone. I’m so grateful to have her in my life and so grateful for family. As Princess Diana said, “Family is the most important thing in the world.” And with that, I bring you my sister, Evon!❤️ Isn’t her family so beautiful!!

I am excited to contribute to Peg’s blog. When I was a teenager, I was driving my mom over to Panguitch quite frequently. At last, she asked me if I knew why we were going there so much. I told her no. She then told me that we were going to have a baby. I was so elated and excited! I told her that was great news as I had been praying for a little sister. Mom was about 41 years old at that time and wasn’t overly excited about the event. Peg is the baby of our family and has been adored and loved by her parents and all five of her older siblings. We have wonderful memories of her as she was growing up. She was such a blessing to our family. In fact, our Dad didn’t want “that dentist” to steal away his little Peg! Nevertheless, Peg and Dane did get married and Mom and Dad grew to love him very much too!
When Peg and Dane had children, we were so excited about them! We have many fun and special memories of them. Particularly, I remember the fun the kids had on Princess (the horse) and the day she ran away with Brianne and Nat; then Brance telling me he didn’t know I could run so fast! I love the photo of Brianne, Nat, McKelle and Brance on Princess. When they were little they also liked to run in circles on the blue living room rug. Hilarious! We enjoyed having the kids at our Santa Clara house jumping on the trampoline with their cousins. It was so cute when Caden became confused because his siblings called me aunt and our grandchildren called me grandma, so his name for me was “Aunt Grandma”. I loved tending the children when Peg and Dane went to dental conventions. We would have the grandest times! We have so many precious memories! We dearly love Peg and Dane and their delightful family!

Now, about the recipes . . . Most of my life I have suffered with stomach troubles. Finally, in 2014 I had a colonoscopy-endoscopy and found out that I had celiac disease and some of the complications that are caused by that disease. After learning more about it, I had to give up some of my favorite treats and thought I would never be able to enjoy licorice, breads, cinnamon rolls, etc. After trying some of the expensive (tasteless) commercial treats I decided that I needed to learn how to bake some of them myself. I purchased the book, Gluten-Free Family Favorites by Kelli and Peter Bronski. I liked their Artisan flour mix because it had more grains in it than some of the other mixes and the recipes had less fats. 

Artisan Flour Mix: 

1 1/4 c. brown rice flour

 ¾ c. sorghum flour

 2/3 c. cornstarch

 1/3 c. tapioca flour or tapioca starch 

1 teaspoon xanthan gum. 

Combine all ingredients and whisk well to mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the pantry or 6 months in the refrigerator.

One of my favorite recipes to make with it is Banana Mini Muffins. 



Banana Mini Muffins

3 medium-size ripe bananas

 1 egg

 ½ c. honey

 ¼ c. applesauce

 1 teaspoon GF pure vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients: 

 1 ½ cups Artisan GF Flour Blend

 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

 1 ½ teaspoons GF baking powder

 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

 ¼ teaspoon salt

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. (I like them spicy, so I add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and sometimes a few nuts on the top.)

 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the cups of a 24-cup mini muffin tin with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Place paper liners in the greased muffin cups, if desired.

2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl until mostly smooth with a few large lumps. Mix in the egg, honey, applesauce and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, whisking to mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix at low speed just until combined, 5 – 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix at high speed for about 5 seconds, until the batter is thoroughly mixed.

4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. A cookie scoop works very well to transfer the batter. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the muffins spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean. The muffins should be slightly golden brown on top. Let muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove and serve.

Me talking again :)— YUM!!!!! Thanks for sharing with us today, Evon! Love you!

Vegetarian Open Faced Sandwich 

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Have you noticed that I’ve been posting a lot of vegetarian recipes lately? My DH and I decided that we need to cut down on our meat consumption and it’s been so great!! Our daughter, Brianne, who did a guest post for me, is a dietician and she has been trying to convince me for years to not eat so much meat and guess what?? I listened–FINALLY!  It’s like I’m the teenager and have grown into adulthood haha. More about this subject in a later post, but today I want to share a quick lunch idea or dinner, whichever you prefer. Honestly, it takes 5 minutes to prepare if you have boiled eggs on hand, but if you don’t, it takes 15 minutes and it’s full of a lot of goodness and very filling. 

Peg’s Open Face Egg/Avocado Sandwich 


Ingredients: 

2 boiled eggs, peeled and cut up into cubes

1/2 avocado, ripe, peeled and cut up into cubes

A bunch of cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters 

One leaf of lettuce (optional, if you want to put this directly on the bread underneath all the goods, or you can make a lettuce wrap too)

Salt and pepper 

1 slice toasted Dave’s Killer Bread (I like the Good Seed kind)

Mix together boiled eggs, avocado and cherry tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.  Then place on toasted bread or in a lettuce wrap. Easy and yummy!