Vegan Super Wife

First of all I want to give a big "hello!" to all you folks who have stopped by from my P90X Exposed post that got a shout out on beachbody’s twitter and the beachbody and P90X facebook pages. Welcome!

I’ve been pretty busy since I last saw you earlier today. Lots of errands and general house work. Don’t forget Kenpo X! I had such an AMAZING Kenpo workout today! My energy levels were up the whole time and I was just rockin’! Two things I observed from my workout today that may be of use to others:

1. General Workout Observation: I perform SO much better when I’m properly fueled with nutritious fuel and plenty of water. If I’ve eaten less than stellar, not enough, too much, or am not properly hydrated, my body sure lets me know.
2. Kenpo-Specific Observation: When I’m doing P90X Kenpo X I found out today that I do it much more effectively (and as it’s intending to be done) when I do it in front of a mirror. We have a mirror on the opposite wall our tv is on, so I kept turning around and facing the mirror. Amazing! It makes total sense. When I was a flute performance major in college, I was always working and practicing in front of a mirror, to watch my body alignment and more.

I also realized today just how wonderful a sip of ice cold water tastes during a hot and sweaty workout. In that moment there is nothing better.

As soon as I was done working out I hit the kitchen to prepare a feast for my man’s birthday!

For our appetizer we enjoyed some Garlic-Rubbed Toasted Tomato Basil Crostini with a Cannellini, Tomato and Basil Bruschetta.

Any bread will work for this, but I fell in love with this local Tomato Basil bread from The Flour Pot Bakery. I love local and I love simple ingredients!

Slice the bread into the slices on a diagonal and brush each side with extra virgin olive oil and toast.

Meanwhile, make your bruschetta. It’s quite simple and truly the flavors are up to you! I diced two local plum tomatoes and added some chopped fresh basil, cannellini beans, juice from half a lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Once the crostini are toasted rub garlic over them – the warm crusty toast melts the garlic to create the most delicious crostini! Mmmm, garlic!

Et voila! You have a lovely appetizer to munch while dinner finishes. Speaking of which, it turned out quite fabulously!

Our side dish featured this sample of Raw Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil that Artisana sent me (full review to come later of all the products they sent).

I used about half a tablespoon of the coconut oil to sauté some broccoli with some dried ginger, garlic powder, kosher salt, red pepper flakes and unsweetened reduced-fat coconut shreds. It was such a delicious side, I fully think the coconut oil made it! Thanks, Artisana!

For my dinner I made tofu that I topped with some fresh mushrooms in red wine. I had my tofu and ’shrooms on top of some organic mixed greens.

Dinner!

What did the birthday man have for dinner? Well, let’s just say this little vegan went to the market and bought….

STEAK!

Yup. It was kind of amusing actually. I just stood there in the meat section of Ward’s kind of overwhelmed. One of the ladies from the meat department came out and I immediately pounced on her. "Help! I’m a vegan buying steak for my husband’s birthday tonight! What do I get?" She was quite helpful, and Ross enjoyed his steak.

I think I deserve an award for the best vegan wife to a non-vegan husband.

It doesn’t stop there though! Ross had mentioned ages ago that he wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday, and well, I’m pretty much Super Wife.

To make a baby ice cream cake you will need:

2 single-serving Ben and Jerry Ice Creams:

A baby springform pan:

Layer one flavor (they need to be soft and spreadable!).

Crumble two Oreos on top of the first layer, as well as a fudge type mixture. My mixture held 2 teaspoons PB2, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon raw agave and a drizzle of almond milk to make it the consistency I wanted – nice and fudgy!

Spread the other ice cream on top.

Then all you have to do is cover with saran warp and freeze! I’ll tell ya one thing – the time to assemble and freeze this cake is decreased dramatically when you’re making such a baby version!

Off to finish watching 2012 with the husband. What a dramatic movie (and I may mean more of a mellow-dramatic sense, we’re not talking good drama here).

Happy birthday again, my love, and may the celebration of your life continue forever!