Vegan Sunshine Every Day At 5:00 A.M.

On Tuesday, being the first of the month, July 1, 2008, I decided that I would begin a new fitness program.  I heard you all just snicker.  Stop it. 

What overcame me, or better yet possessed me, and caused my mind, body and soul to believe that starting a fitness program in July in Utah was a fabulous idea I have no idea?  I must, obviously, still be suffering from Divorce Brain.  Which means that ideas that are absolutely and completely insane and ridiculous to the normal person sound perfectly sane and logical to me.  You know the same ideas that cause a person who is living happily by the beach in Santa Cruz to sell all of her belongings for a quarter and move herself and her dogs 1500 miles from that same beach where she has lived for twenty years and everyone knows her name into the freezing mountains of Utah where she knows absolutely no one and it snows every single day until July when it suddenly is 105 degrees every single day even at midnight.  Yeah, those kinds of ideas.  Brilliant!!

So, still suffering from Divorce Brain, I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning.  Yes, 5:00 a.m.  Not because I had to be at work.  Not because I had an appointment with a special hair dresser for a special photo shoot.  Not because I absolutely MUST see the sun rise.  Oh no.  Because, as I mentioned, I'm clearly not okay. 

The alarm went off.  Buddha opened one eye, gave me a look like, "You've got to be kidding me?", sighed heavily, actually rolled over and went back to sleep.  His sister, Stella, on the other hand, took the alarm as an opportunity to jump on my head.  Literally.  And then drop a very slimy tennis ball right on my face.  It's her way of saying "Good Morning!"  She then, because she can, licked me.  All over.  Oh yes, if the tongue bath of an over-enthusiastic labrador won't get you out of bed, nothing will.  Trust me.

Even though the thermometer outside was already registering 89 degrees (at 5:00 freaking a.m.!!) I decided that because I was in Utah and not in Santa Cruz I needed to actually put some clothes on for this little adventure.  I wanted to just walk out of the house naked.  You all know that I did.  But I figured that was surely going to get me entered into a fitness program of an entirely different nature and I had just paid my rent for this house and actually would like to keep occupying it for the month of July even if the painter hasn't showed up like he promised and I still have holes in the floors and paint chipping from the ceiling (that's for another blog post entirely!). 

I got dressed.  As I mentioned.  And I walked/ran/walked/huffed/walked/ran/jogged/threw tennis balls/swam/walked/jogged/huffed/puffed/sweat my boobs off/walked some more/jogged a few more steps for 12.6 miles.  Up hills.  Down hills.  I wore those puppies out.  Oh and the dogs, too. 

And then, because I clearly am not right in the head, after I got home, I went to yoga.  Because, well, I'm starting this fitness program.  I did mention that.  I realized that I haven't been doing enough yoga lately.  I need to do more.  It is what keeps me grounded.  Or at least one foot on the ground.  And helps me to control my seizures.  They're not so under control these days.  So it's back to a regular practice I go. 

I also have decided that I will eliminate ALL SUGAR from my diet.  Well, let me clarify.  Fruit has sugar and I'm not eliminating that.  What I mean is all added processed sugars.  I always try to do that, but I've gotten particularly bad about it lately.  Especially with the traveling I've been doing.  Wedding Cake!  Cookies!  Birthday celebrations!  It becomes one big Slip N Slide down the mountain until it's like all you're eating is SUGAR.

So, if you're still reading, you might be interested to know, that I'm on day 3 of this insanity.  This morning I didn't even need the alarm at 5:00 a.m. because Buddha and Stella woke me up at 4:50 a.m.  Stella jumped on my head.  Buddha gave me kisses.  It was still hot as Hades.  We still did our 12.6 miles.  I'm still going to yoga later today. 

For breakfast, I've made myself some tasty vegan organic goodness.  I'm actually going to share the recipe with all of you because in my effort to be healthier, I think you might want to be healthier, as well.  I literally threw this together with things in my house.  I will share that you really do want to use canned pineapple instead of fresh pineapple because the enzymes in fresh pineapple are going to mess up the cooking process.  Also, I used all organic ingredients, but you do not have to.  I'm just really picky about that.  And I live in Utah (I keep reminding all of you of that, I know) so my breads don't rise as much as yours might if you're baking at a lower altitude. 

I will share that some nuts added to this (like walnuts or pecans) might make it even more tasty.  I just didn't have any on hand.  Or some flax seed!  Seriously, use your imagination.  The best part is that the fruit and coconut give it enough sweetness that you don't miss the "sugar" at all. 

Vegan Pineapple Nectarine Coconut Morning Bread

1/2 cup organic soy yogurt
1/2 cup organic rice milk (or soy or almond milk)
4 tablespoons organic coconut flakes
1/4 cup organic canola oil
1/2 cup organic crushed pineapple, well drained (use canned only)
1/3 cup organic pineapple juice (from crushed pineapple)
1 chopped organic medium/large nectarine (you can leave the skin on)
1 tablespoon organic orange zest
1 1/3 cups organic oat flour or other pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit  and lightly grease two non-stick bread pans. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, and coconut.  Whisk in the canola oil. 
Squeeze the crushed pineapple to remove as much excess juice as possible and add to the bowl along with the reserved pineapple juice, nectarine, orange zest and thoroughly mix.  Gently mix in the grated ginger.  Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and then stir in only just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. 

Pour into the two bread pans, splitting the batter evenly.  This batter is chunky and it doesn't rise very much.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then remove from the bread pans to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

I'm going to be making more yummy things in my effort to be healthy this month. As I do, I'll share the recipes here with you. I'm trying to do this for 30 days. If I can do it for 30 days, perhaps it will become a habit. At least that's what I've been told. Time will tell.

Comments

[minnie the moocher]

oo this sounds so good. i love a coconut recipe. I think I would use some coconut flour in this too.
We've been making coconut flour pancakes around here lately. yum!

[ronfortoby]

Vegan things- yuk!.. 30 days of self torture. Get back on the plonk. (vino that is).
The food bit is OK but RUNNING - like putting one leg in front of the other and repeating.... your head is too close to retrograde mercury... (don't know that vegan and latter day saints go together - seems wrong somehow)!!!
Got all worn out reading it...

[bornfamous]

Wow, I never heard of coconut flour. I can hardly wait to try some. :)

[stephanie e.]

Despite being a result of Divorce Brain, I hope some of this intense activity is making you feel better and happier and more energetic! And that bread? Oh my god. That sounds and looks fantastic. I have to make some myself now.

[badkarma]

yay! keep it up.

and thanks for the recipe!