Tofurky Time

I think Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Yes, family time is great, but I love food. Comfort food, to be exact. The tofurky is already purchased and I'm reviewing the rest of the menu after I write this. This will be my first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian but since I'm trying this '30 Days of Vegan' for November thing, everything on the menu will coincide. So far, it's looking pretty friggin' delicious if I do say so myself. Trust me, there will be pictures shared after next weekend.




News flash: it's raining in Arizona!

Look at me, trying to be artsy from my office window. But yes, the rain is here. I find it entertaining because the news treats it as if it's a huge snowstorm in the midwest. They send anchors out to different parts of the state and keep asking what the conditions are where you're at. Yes, the rain here can create pretty hazardous situations. Flooding happens fairly quickly. The temperatures have dropped from 80s to 60s. I can't tell if I'm happy or sad but let's be honest, it's great for running.




Speaking of which, training is going well. We are officially 80 days away from the Mesa Marathon. I've been limited to running at the park because it's the only 'flat' part of town as hills still irritate my knee slightly. I don't know what's worse: treadmills or running the same loop for 5 miles.

I started breaking in my custom orthotics this week. They definitely give that extra support to my rather flat arches. Still have to train some anti-rotation issues and work on glute strengthening but Rome wasn't built in a day and luckily my (not always there) patience is doing well. I even won a contest at therapy and scored a new Hydroflak! Hurray!

Switching gears from feet to pedals, I spectated my first mountain bike race this past weekend. Cycling is definitely something I know I need to do more of, it's just the whole pushing myself to get out and do it thing. I have a decent mountain bike (Specialized) that hasn't seen any dirt. That needs to change.

Speaking of the holidays coming up, we're hosting, and that means cleaning time. I mean, I already clean every week because I'm OCD like that and have to always have a clean and organized environment but like extra EXTRA clean this time. While I've always used normal bleach-containing products and good 'ol fashioned Windex, it was time for a change. A change to something way more environmentally friendly and stuff I could use around the house without making my husband have an asthma attack from the fumes. I'm a big fan of listening to "How I Built This" on NPR. I've always seen Method items at Target but never really knew the back story until the creatures appeared on the show. It's nice to know that if I accidentally drank this stuff in my sleep, I wouldn't have to ring up poison control. I'm a big fan of all of it so far. I like the minty smell. The floor cleaner is the bomb! We even got the laundry detergent! Why the hell does normal laundry detergent have petroleum jelly in it? I've become an ingredient reading crazy person and not just for food. Yes, you will shell out a little bit more but trust me, it's worth it, not only for you but for your whole family.

There's honestly a bunch more stuff I want to write about but I'm going to save it for next time and jump to the part where I share a recipe! What's my biggest downfall in trying to be Vegan? Pizza! Yes, I know there are vegan options out there, but a good, brick oven cooked margarita pizza is my jam. I know there had to be other ways to try some other options at home since frozen pizza isn't my thing. Queue Sam from 'It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken', my favorite recipe website.

Holy matrimony, this was GOOD. Feast your eyes on a BBQ chickpea pizza, complete with red onion, some banana peppers, and vegan mozz cheese. The dough is even homemade because that's how we do it here. This was so simple to make and I was thoroughly surprised how good it tasted. I even dabbed each piece in some vegan ranch like your typical midwestern would. Highly recommend giving this one a try. I'll link the recipe here.




Alrighty, folks. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it. If you aren't, have a great week. Try to #OptOutside on Black Friday instead of bowing to the man. See you next time!