Raw Zucchini "Pasta"

I have seen this idea of shaved zucchini substituting pasta for a while now, and I have been wanting to give it a try. I had found a couple recipes, but I ended up just concocting my own creation with what I had, and it turned out very delicious!

Ingredients:
2 Shredded Zucchinis
4 tsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1.5 tsp Basil
1 Diced Tomato
1/4 c. Chopped Red Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

First I combined all the ingredients except the zucchini into a bowl and stirred it until it become a sort of sauce. Then I took a vegetable peeler and peeled off the skin of both zucchinis. After throwing away the skin, I continued to use the peeler to create thin strips resembling pasta. I peeled until it got down to the core of the zucchini, and then I threw the rest away so that the strips wouldn't have lots of little seeds. Then I poured the olive oil mixture over the zucchini and stirred it all together!

Extremely simple. A light and refreshing summer meal.

I ran 3 miles today and it was in the mid 90's, making me never want to run again. Haha, too bad I'm training for a half marathon and I can't stop now!!

For the Love of Greens

I have been obsessed with spinach for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure one of my birthday wishes when I turned 13 was to have an entire plate of spinach for dinner. I'm not sure if I ever got that wish, but I sure satisfied my love for greens with last night's dinner.

Fresh beet greens, spinach, guacamole, and collards. I have never had a more delicious meal. All the greens and the avocado were from local farm stands in New Hampshire. This was seriously the best spinach I have ever had in my life.

All the greens were topped with vinegar and salt (my favorite) and then the guacamole was made with 1/2 an avocado, a dollop of salsa, salt, pepper, and lime juice. It's even better if it has chopped cilantro and red onion. 

What am I going to do when I go back to North Carolina and I don't have access to all this fresh deliciousness?? I need to start my own garden...

Walpole Farmer's Market

Yesterday Sarah and I took a quick visit to the Walpole Farmer's Market. It is so fun to buy vegetables straight from the farmers and not imported into some grocery store. Sarah had to basically drag me away from all the homemade cinnamon rolls, pizzas, doughnuts, and let's not forget the fresh cannoli stand.

I still have absolutely no idea how I resisted these... It took some crazy will power...

We ended up leaving with two huge bundles of golden beets, two bundles of kale, 3 small japanese marinated chicken breasts, and a jar of pickles.

For dinner I prepared the kale following this recipe, and we had it along with some raw carrots and seasoned ground turkey. Quite delish!

I was able to make it on a 3 mile run yesterday, but I literally was having the most unenjoyable time because of ALL the hills here. My poor calves are going to burst. Hopefully when I get home running will seem like a piece of cake. I guess we shall see...

New Hampshire

I finally made it to the part of summer I have been waiting for: my 3 week trip to New Hampshire!! I love New Hampshire so much because I get to see all my cousins and eat tons of fresh veggies from all the local farm stands. Not to mention the weather is much cooler, so I can finally begin training for the Ramblin' Rose Half Marathon, which is speedily approaching. I took this past month off from jogging because it was getting really boring for me and starting to feel like a chore, so instead I did HIIT training on the treadmill to stay in shape.

It is really interesting how you can feel "in shape" in some areas, but completely "out of shape" in other areas. For example, I can probably chest press, bicep curl, or squat the same weight that I could when I was training for volleyball back in high school, and I can do 20 minutes of interval sprints without dying. I guess I would consider that "in shape," but now that I am trying to start training for another half marathon it is so weird because I feel "out of shape" for long distance running. I also have NEVER felt comfortable doing workout routines that do light weights and tons of repetitions. I feel the burn, but I would much rather fail with heavy weights after 10 reps then do like 123984123 reps until I pass out. Not fun at all... I'd rather be "strong" then "toned."

Moving on...

After my cousin Sarah and I ran a few errands we stopped at Harlow Farmstand to pick up a few vegetables. We got fresh beets, beet greens, zucchini, and a box of raspberries. 

This picture was originally posted on my Instagram account. You can follow me at lalalaurenhub :)

For dinner last night I diced up the zucchini and we made Clean Eating Lemon Zucchini Chicken. We had this along with our beets and beet greens. I absolutely adore fresh vegetables. 

I recently saw this recipe on Pinterest for Protein Pancakes, so I made them for Sarah and I to have for lunch yesterday. They are loaded with protein and taste very delicious. We topped them with 2 tablespoons peanut butter.

By the way, I am obsessed with Pinterest. So please follow me here!!

Directions:

Just dump all the ingredients in a blender and blend until it starts to look like regular pancake batter. Then spray some cooking spray on a pan and cook over medium high heat, flipping when bubbles appear. Makes 2 six inch pancakes.

We finished the night off with a relaxing 2 mile walk...

I saw this little chipmunk on the way :)

Have a great Tuesday and Happy Fourth of July Eve!!