No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map Meals, Days 5-7

I'm eating the first week of a two-week meal plan from the No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap 3.0 this week. My marathon is April 27, but I started the 2-week "get ready for the race" plan a week early so I could take a week break in the middle while I'm vacationing in FLORIDA! We fly out to Ft. Lauderdale Sunday morning, so I wanted to check in and share the meals I had in days 5 and 6 (and breakfast on Day 7) before I start sharing delicious vacation meals!

Friday morning started with an apple-spinach-flax-banana smoothie, and morning snack was coconut oil-popped popcorn with sea salt (didn't take a pic, but you know what popcorn looks like). Lunch was leftover quinoa stir-fry from Thursday night (pic in my last post). Afternoon snack was, as always on this plan, a salad.

And dinner was Seared Tofu with Broccoli Over Brown Rice. This simple stir-fry was made with air-fried tofu, sauteed broccoli (plus a few brussels that I needed to use up before my trip), sesame seeds, and soy sauce. That's it. Served over brown rice.

I was supposed to run 13 miles on Saturday morning, but I woke up to a very rainy day and a very busy schedule with so much to do before I can leave town. So I did something I rarely ever do — I skipped a training run! I hate not checking the boxes on my training plan, but sometimes you know you just need a rest day. I'm in the taper period of training anyway, so I think it's okay. 

I had a mango-jalapeno smoothie, followed by an Apple with Peanut Butter while I cleaned my house. My parents are house-sitting so I wanted the place to be clean!

Lunch was leftover tofu and broccoli stir-fry, and my afternoon snack was another salad. Dinner was Black Beans & Brown Rice with salsa, avocado sauce, and green hot sauce. Oh, and I mixed some baby spinach in there! Beans and rice really hit the spot sometimes!

Sunday morning isn't here yet! But I'm supposed to have the Easy and Awesome Tofu Scramble, which is the same recipe from the No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple plan I did last fall. Here's a pic from a past plate of that. I'll be eating this bright and early (around 4 am!!) since we have a very early flight. I like to eat a big breakfast before flying since you never know how long it will be before you can find vegan food!

I hope to get a few blog posts done while we're there. But if you don't hear from me for a bit, it's cause I'm having too much fun to post!

No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map Meals, Days 3-4

I'm back with another recap of my meals on week one of the No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap 3.0 meal plan. It's a two-week plan, and I'm doing week one now (and saving week two for after I get back from vacation week after next). I figure focusing on whole foods before my vacation will make me feel great about pigging out while I'm lounging on the beach!

Wednesday morning (day 3) started with another Greens Fruit Flax Smoothie with apple, banana, spinach, and flax. Morning snack was Steamed Broccoli with Pine Nut Hummus and a side of fresh berries.

Lunch was leftover Lentil Potato Curry from the night before (pictured in my last post). And afternoon snack was another salad (I have a salad every afternoon on this plan) — this time with roasted brussels, lemon-thyme dressing, bell pepper, carrot, and romaine.

I had a cocktail and a glass of wine at Art Bar at Crosstown Arts (where I work) before heading home since we had a going-away party for a co-worker/friend.

Dinner was a yummy and filling bowl of Whole Wheat Pasta with Squash & Tomatoes. This is a simple dish with sauteed yellow squash, cherry tomato, a smidge of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Breakfast this morning was another Mango Jalapeno Smoothie (the smoothies alternate every day for a week, and then I'll get two different smoothie recipes for week two). Morning snack was Trail Mix with cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dried cherries. I bought all the stuff individually from the bulk bins at Sprouts and mixed together!

Lunch was beautiful! I decided to eat lunch in the cafe at Crosstown Arts instead of having leftover bowtie pasta because I wanted to try the Daily Veggie Plate special with a Mushroom-Eggplant Stuffed Zucchini Boat with Braised Cabbage, Vegan Ranch, & Sizzled Kale (like kale chips but deep-fried). Soooooo good.

Another salad (the same as yesterday's) for my snack! And then dinner was Quinoa Stir-fry with Cashews and Orange. Love this dish! It's made with frozen stir-fry veggies, mandarin orange slices, cashews, and quinoa. Simple and delicious.

After dinner, I had a little Ben & Jerry's vegan chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream because I had a craving. So not on the plan! But I've been eating so well this week that I'm sure I deserved it. :-)

No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map Meals, Days 1-2

So my next marathon — the Nashville Rock & Roll Marathon — is April 27! I'm using the No Meat Athlete marathon roadmap 3.0 training plan, and it includes a 2-week meal plan to try during the lead-up to the race. The race is 3 weeks away, but I'll be in sunny Florida next week! On vacay! So I'm doing week one of the meal plan this week to get my eating in line before I pig the heck out in Fort Lauderdale. And then I'll do week two of the meal plan when I return to Memphis.

I've followed this plan before, so some of these dishes may seem familiar, but it was several races ago. And that was from version 2.0, so this meal plan is just a little different. Lots of the same recipes though (also some of the same recipes from the No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple plan I did last fall). I'll recap Monday and Tuesday's meals tonight and save the rest for tomorrow.

Monday morning started with a Greens Fruit Flax Smoothie with apple, banana, flax, and spinach. I took a rest day from running/working out since I ran 20 miles on Sunday!

Morning snack was an Orange & Raw Almonds.

Lunch was Brown Rice with Bragg's, Lime, and Avocado. And sriracha for me! I loved this simple meal. I'd never think to just have rice and avocado and call it lunch, but why not?

Afternoon snack every day is a Giant Salad, but mine have been sort of mid-sized so far. This one has strawberries, red cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, spinach, and an oil-free lemon-thyme dressing. The creepy elephant is in our breakroom at work.

Dinner was Orzo with Citrus Veggies. I LOVE orzo pasta because it's like rice made from spaghetti! This cold pasta salad was tossed with avocado, cherry tomato, shallot, garlic, lime, and fresh orange juice.

On Tuesday, I decided to save my run for the afternoon. So I slept in and had a Mango Jalapeno Smoothie with mango, banana, walnuts, jalapeno, lime, and spinach. Love this spicy combo!

Morning snack was a Veggie Hummus Wrap. That sounded like a huge snack (my wraps are like 210 calories alone, before filling!), so I opted for a half-wrap. I used pine nut hummus, carrot, red cabbage, bell pepper, and spinach.

Lunch was leftover orzo pasta salad. Since I had an afternoon run planned, I had an extra snack of a Blueberry Muffin Larabar. I love Larabars for pre-run since they're made with quick-digesting dates.

I ran about 3.5 miles after work, and then I had some apple juice (for quick post-run carbs). Then, I snacked on my salad (similar to Monday's but with added cooked orzo since I had some leftover) while I cooked dinner. My dinner was really awesome — Potato Lentil Curry over Brown Rice! It was made with coconut milk and lots of spices. So good!

Tofu & Muffins & Juice & Burgers!

I met my friend Stephanie for lunch last Friday at Phuong Long, and I ordered the BEST THING ON THE MENU — Tofu Salt & Jalapeno. This is basically salt-and-pepper tofu, a traditional Vietnamese dish, but it's listed as "tofu salt & jalapeno" on the menu, so that's what we call it. It's crispy, breaded fried tofu with the yummiest salt and pepper seasoning, fried with lemongrass, onion, and jalapenos.

The lunch portion comes with a Veggie Spring Roll — my fave!

Last Wednesday, before my evening yoga class, I grabbed a Vegan Strawberry Muffin from the cafe at Crosstown Arts, as I was leaving work.

There's also a Juice Bar in Crosstown Concourse (the building that houses Crosstown Arts, where I work), so I grabbed a Fresh Greens Juice to drink with my muffin. This has cucumber, celery, lemon, kale, spinach, and parsley.

This past Saturday, I had my big 20-mile long run — the longest run in a marathon training plan — so I made sure to carb-load on Friday night with a big bowl of Bowtie Pasta with Chickpea Marinara, Roasted Brussels, and Cashew Cheese. Also some Garlic Bread with Cherry Tomato. Yay carbs!

That was perfect fuel for the next day! Paul and I had a great 20-mile run (his longest distance yet!). After we celebrated, with burgers and beers at Farm Burger in Crosstown Concourse. I had an Impossible Burger with pickles, mushrooms, jalapeno, tomato, red onion, lettuce, and grainy mustard. Fries and a Crosstown Brewing Co. Traffic IPA on the side. Damn, that burger hit the spot!

Bowls & Biscuits!

I stopped by the Cooper Young Farmers Market on Saturday morning and picked up a Blackeyed Pea Sausage Biscuit from the Lulu's booth! Added some berry jam when I got home and devoured it. Perfection.

The special for Thursday at the cafe at Crosstown Arts, where I work, was the Southern Bowl!! So you know I had to order that. This had grits, fried cabbage, fried green tomatoes, and pickled okra. This was amazing.

I met up with Pam and Megan to celebrate the New Moon last week. I made Just Cookies (birthday cake flavor!) and some IKEA veggie balls (no pics), and Pam had Vegan Mandarin Chicken with Roasted Pineapple and some Treeline Cashew Cheese and Crackers.

Here's a Savory Oat Bowl from a few days ago. I used the savory oat recipe in The No Meat Athlete Cookbook with spinach, carrot, salsa, nooch, and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Speaking of the NMA Cookbook, I had several of these Lifesaving Bowls from the book last week. It's a blueprint recipe, meaning you can mix and match ingredients. The base is quinoa with any raw veggies you want (for me, that was zoodles, carrot, bell pepper, and red cabbage). It's topped with kraut and nooch. For some versions, I also used hummus and toasted sesame seed as a topper. But for this one, I used avocado, salsa, and toasted sunflower seeds. This is a fun twist on salad!

Pizza Buns & Pita Pizzas (and Other Stuff I Ate)

Last Saturday, I stopped by the Lulu's booth at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market and picked up these two fine-looking treats. There's a Pizza Bialy stuffed with cashew cheese and marinara for a savory treat and a sweet Strawberry Banana Puff Pastry Turnover. Both were fantastic! Enjoyed the turnover right away and saved the bialy to enjoy after Sunday's long run.

Hey, by the way, Lulu's is expanding their farmers market reach. Starting this Saturday, they'll have a booth at the downtown Memphis Farmers Market, as well as their usual booth in Cooper-Young.

Speaking of pizza, here's a Pita Pizza I made for a quick dinner on Monday night. I topped a whole wheat pita with chickpea marinara (frozen leftovers from a meal a few weeks ago) and homemade cashew cheese, green olives, and bell pepper. Enjoyed with a side salad.

Hey, look! More oatmeal! This bowl has peanut butter, maple syrup, mashed banana (mixed into the oats for sweetness), sliced banana, and blueberries.

Last Friday night, I got off work at 5 pm and needed to be back there a little after 6 pm for our resident artist open studio night. So I scarfed down an Amy's Breakfast Burrito (stuffed with tofu scramble, black beans, and potatoes) that I've had in my freezer for just such an occasion.

Quick dinner on Saturday night! Treeline Herb-Garlic Cashew Cheese & Whole Wheat Triscuit Thins, Rose Wine, and Salad.

The Pink Boots Society, a national group advancing beer careers for women, has a local Memphis chapter, and they brewed this Hibiscus Saison at Crosstown Brewing Co. on International Women's Day. The beer was finally ready for release last Friday, and so I had to pop in and try it! Awesome drinking a beer created by and brewed soley by women. All the funds raised from the sales of this beer go back to Pink Boots.

Carla Lee's Nut Tacos

I've been seeing these Carla Lee's Nut Tacos — and other Carla Lee's vegan nut-based meats — in the freezer section at grocery stores forever. But they were a little too pricey for me (about $6.50 for a box with two servings at Kroger), so I've never bought them. Until last week when I caught them on clearance at Kroger for $3.30 a box!

Each box contains 8 mini tacos (4 per serving) — corn tortillas stuffed with a taco meat made from brown rice, sunflower seeds, cashews, carrot juice, and coconut aminos. I was excited to see they're made entirely of whole foods (which would explain the price)! I also love that 4 tacos is a serving because it's actually a substantial amount of food.

These can be cooked in the oven, in a skillet, or in the microwave. And though the package doesn't say it, I'm guessing the air fryer would work well too. But I had mine for dinner last night after a run, and I had plenty of time to crank up the oven. So I tried them that way.

You cook these for 8 minutes on one side, stuff with cheese, flip, and cook for another 4 minutes. I stuffed mine with some leftover homemade cashew cheese for an extra nutty taco! Once they were done cooking, I added salsa, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. And I served mine with Sprouts Farmers Market brand fat-free refried pinto beans.

Y'ALL. These were so good! Seriously the best frozen entree I've ever had. They're so good that they'd pass for homemade if you served them as apps at a party. The nut meat is well-seasoned and has the consistency of any homemade nut meat I've ever tried. The nuts and rice are ground together, so you don't get too much texture off any one ingredient. And the little corn tortillas get crunchy in the oven. Perfection.

Next time I see these offered at full price, I will not hesitate to pay for them. And there are other Carla Lee's nut products that I want to try now — nut burgers, nut balls, and though I've never seen them for sale around here, Nut Corndogs (!!!!!).