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 (!!!!!).

Vegan Brats! Philly Wraps! Curry Tofu Salad!

RP Tracks, a college bar by the University of Memphis, has always been super vegan-friendly (even way back when I first went vegan in 2004!). They are, after all, the home of world-famous BBQ Tofu Nachos. But they just expanded their vegan options to include a few new menu items, including the Brat Wrecker (a Beyond Brat with black bean chili & onions, served with amazing fries). We had last month's Memphis Vegan Drinks meet-up there, and of course, I ordered the brat! It's buried under all that chili. The bun is a little too large for the Beyond Brat, but I'll never really complain about extra bread.

They've also added vegan ranch (made locally at Imagine Vegan Cafe!) for their buffalo tofu. I ordered a side of ranch for my fries! And they've got a new Tofu Tuesday deal where they offer a lemongrass tofu dish. Haven't tried that yet but can't wait.

One day last week, I had lunch in the cafe at Crosstown Arts (where I work), and I'd tried to order the philly wrap. But they were out of seitan steak. So I went with the Curry Tofu Salad instead. Love this creamy tofu with almonds and grapes.

The next day, I still needed my philly fix though. So I ordered the Philly Steak & Cheese Wrap and — yay! — they had seitan! This vegan cheesy seitan wrap with sauteed peppers is SO GOOD. Chef Raymond makes his own seitan, and it's to die for.

Here's a quick breakfast of Whole Wheat Bagel with Garlic Hummus & Sriracha, plus fresh berries and clementines.

And finally, here's a great Lemon Tahini Pasta with Veggies that I made last week using the lemon-tahini sauce from the No Meat Athlete Sauce System blog post. I mixed the sauce with Explore Cuisine Red Rice Pasta and sauteed squash, zucchini, bell pepper, garlic, chickpeas, and baby spinach. Very good and super simple.

Papa Crunk's 65th Birthday

My dad, better known on here as Papa Crunk, turns 65 on Wednesday! But since I live an hour away, it made more sense for me to go home and celebrate this past weekend. Paul and I drove over to Jonesboro yesterday after a 10-mile training run.

When I asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday, he requested a half-gallon of Wild Turkey 101. He's experimenting with aging his own whiskey blends in a small barrel and needed this for his experiment. He's also been wanting some Pritchard's moonshine, so Paul picked him up a couple bottles in Nashville, where the distillery is.

If you've been reading Vegan Crunk for awhile, you know how badass my dad is. But in case you're new, I should just catch you up. My dad rides a Harley, drinks whiskey straight, and makes his own rules. He's also the most generous person you'll ever meet. He GETS my veganism and is always experimenting with new vegan recipes for me to try. Growing up, he was pretty much the best dad role model a girl could have. He taught me to think for myself and not worry what other people think.  Oh yea, and a couple years ago, he beat color cancer. I love my dad!

For dinner, he asked if we all go to the Ruby Tuesday. I LOVE the Ruby Tuesday salad bar, so that sounded great to me! I got a giant salad with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.

For dessert, he requested cupcakes that didn't have too much frosting. So I picked a recipe from Isa's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World that had no frosting — Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache.

These were more like muffins but very good! My dad loves peanut butter so I knew these would be a hit.

Happy birthday, Papa Crunk!