Sunshine Burgers Review-Sunshine Super Salad Recipe!

One of the big things I've been trying to work on in my diet is eating more protein. Protein keeps you full and satisfied while also helping to build muscle.  While I love grabbing protein shakes and bars as snacks, it's sometimes hard to think of creative meals that include more protein that also are not just egg whites and chicken breasts. That's why I was so excited to try Sunshine Burgers, a veggie burger that is certified organic, verified non-GMO,vegan and free of gluten,soy,corn,canola,peanuts,tree nuts,dairy or eggs.  I've had veggie burgers before, but they sometimes aren't quite as satisfying as the real deal so taste was key for me.   

Sunshine Burgers sent me a variety of flavors including Garden Herb, Black Bean South West, Loco Chipotle, Shiitake Mushroom, Falafel, and Breakfast Hemp & Sage. I have finally had a chance to try all the flavors, and I love them all! Each flavor is distinct from one another in taste with the use of different veggies, beans, and spices in each.  The Loco Chipotle is 50% larger than the Southwest and has an extra kick. Since I'm not a huge fan of spicy things I just had a bite of those, but my boyfriend loved them! 

My favorite flavors were the Shiitake Mushroom and Falafel.  The Shiitake Mushroom uses real Shiitake Mushrooms and had a really nice flavor, without being too dense.  I love falafel so liking that flavor was a no brainer, but I was worried that the burger would be really dry and bland. I was pleasantly surprised that the burger was still moist after reheating and packed with flavor!

I've just starting to get serious about my spring half marathon training again and have been feeling inspired by all of the amazing athletes in the Winter Olympics.  My goal is to stay strong and healthy while fueling my training properly so having a product like Sunshine Burgers that is packed with 7-12g of protein and 200-300 calories of whole vegan ingredients is important. 

Check out the ingredients and nutrition facts for the Shiitake Mushroom burger-it's always important that I can understand the list of ingredients!

Ingredients Organic cooked brown rice, organic ground raw sunflower seeds, organic carrots, organic cooked quinoa, organic cooked shiitake mushrooms, organic onion, organic garlic, sea salt. 

I mainly ate the burgers for lunch because it made meal prep super easy! Sunshine Burgers are fully cooked so I just had to reheat the burgers from the freezer on the stove top when I was packing my lunches (which I quickly reheated in the microwave at work all week!).  

heating up some Shiitake Mushroom burgers for lunches

  Last night I had to throw together a dinner that was nutritious and satisfying so the Sunshine Super Salad was born! I prepared a salad with many of my favorite ingredients (I'm looking at you, avocado) and super foods like goji berries and kale.  It was a great mix of sweet and savory ingredients. To top it off, I crumbled a Shiitake Mushroom Sunshine burger that I had thawed the night before in the fridge. It was the perfect addition to top off the salad!

Here's the basic recipe for my Sunshine Super Salad..remember the quantities and ingredients are flexible so substitute for what YOU have on hand and what makes YOU happy in salads!

Sunshine Super Salad

2 cups kale (I used a pre-washed mix from store)

2 cups baby spinach

1 Sunshine Burger (flavor of your choice, I used shiitake mushroom)

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small kiwi,peeled and diced

1/2 cup of baked butternut squash or sweet potato, cubed ( I used a mix of leftovers!)
1/4 medium avocado, diced

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup chopped almonds

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional-you can substitute your favorite dressing!)

Mix everything together in a big bowl and top with 1 crumbled Sunshine Burger. Enjoy!

You can find stores near you that carry Sunshine Burgers here! 

Disclosure: This post is a review for Sunshine Burger through my Sweat Pink ambassadorship. I was provided with 6 boxes of products from Sunshine Burger as part of the review but received no other compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Do you eat veggie burgers? What is your favorite salad ingredient?

Snowed In Sprints

In case you were unaware, I, along with everyone else on the East Coast, am over winter and counting down the days until Spring.  I love snow days if I don't have to go into work but other than that, these winter storms are just big, inconvenient messes. 

#sorrynotsorry

Last week I started the week out strong and then lost a lot of motivation by the end due to snowy weather. I'm full of excuses, I know. I was stuck inside my apartment where I was in my pajamas and had House of Cards Season 2 on Netflix to keep me occupied. Since I only made it out to Crossfit once and wasn't willing to risk slipping on some ice outside, I had to get a few more workouts than usual done on the treadmill. I even ran 8 miles on Friday for my long run as I watched Netflix. It's been a long time since I've run that far on a treadmill, for real. 

However I've mostly started incorporating more HIIT (high-intensity interval training) runs again on the treadmill because it is the most bang for your buck. It gets your heart rate up and makes your workout short and sweet. I came up with this treadmill interval workout that takes only 30 minutes, leaves you a sweaty mess, and keeps you from dying of boredom. 

Check it out and let me know what you think! All I know is I'm looking to the 55 degree weather on Saturday. 

Snow Day Ramblings

Well if you don't live in the eastern part of the country, there was a big snowstorm that rolled through here last night, and luckily winter has gifted me a snow day! I have some random ramblings for you about what's been going on this week.

What does a snow day mean? Sleeping in followed by pancakes for brunch of course :)

banana protein pancakes topped with peanut butter, syrup and blackberries!

Wednesday I got my booty out of bed to go meet up with the Baltimore November Project at 6:30 AM. I had been planning to go but after talking to Sarah about it, I was more motivated.  It was a chilly 19 degrees outside but a big group hug to start of the workout made it a little better. We did an Olympics-inspired workout with different color teams based on what color of the Olympic rings you were wearing. I was in black because honestly all my warmest clothes are black. We did a ladder workout which included a set of stairs up and down, running the loops around Federal Hill, 10 push ups and then 2 sets of stairs and so on, adding another set of stairs each time.

Me on the left in all black-photo taken from the November Project site

Besides the gorgeous sunrise and view of the city from the hill, I loved the energy everyone had so early in the morning. Even more importantly, I loved all the support and enthusiasm-I'll definitely be back.  At the end the newbies even got a sweet medal, haha.

Two nights ago I made this brussels sprouts caesar salad with my own spin on it. I only added about a quarter of the olive oil and double the greek yogurt the dressing recipe called for. I also didn't make the croutons due to lack of ciabatta bread. Instead I pan-roasted some little chicken thighs to put on top and also added some spinach in with the brussels sprouts. It was amazing, and I've been eating the leftover dressing on salads.  

Although my go-to at a coffee shop is americano, yesterday I sprung for the almond milk latte and it hit the spot. Also, I really love latte art. 

Guys, I have big news. I'm officially a real crazy runner lady. This afternoon I braved the snowy, slush roads of Baltimore to meet up with friends for a little snow day run. It was more slush than snow and was drizzly the whole time.  While cold and rain is unpleasant, I was having a great time, except for my wet feet. I never thought I'd be one of those people choosing a wet, wintry run over a treadmill, but now I am!

Not very attractive-looking, but very warm!

Have you been experiencing winter weather? What is your favorite thing to do on days off?

MIMM 2/10/2014: Note to Self

Well I'm pretty much the worst blogger ever. I had a pretty marvelous weekend but totally did not take any photos! So this is a little note to myself about this weekend. I'm going to keep it short and sweet since Mondays are my busiest days of the week from now until May. 

Note to Self:

Don't regret lazy Sundays ever, they are the best.
Do not feel guilty for staying in your pajamas half the day, sleeping in,cuddling, and having brunch.  I watched a movie in my pajamas and then later some Walking Dead and Girls, which I love.  A lazy Sunday with nothing to do is becoming more rare-these are the days I love! 

Froyo dates are awesome.
I got some froyo with Sarah on Friday in honor of National Frozen Yogurt day, and it had been way too long since I had gotten frozen yogurt. I still love ice cream and cold treats even in the winter! It was great to catch up with Sarah and inevitably talk about running and our quickly approaching spring races too.

Don't drink two big cups of coffee before heading out for a run. It will feel awful.
I had to go out on a solo long run this weekend to stick to my training plan (which forces me to do something and not hibernate all winter) and had a couple cups of coffee with coconut oil and some food beforehand. Well the temperature wasn't too bad but after about 2.5 miles my stomach was not feeling well. I had to stop a couple of times and even popped into a Starbucks to use the restroom. I made it through 6 miles outside and then finished the run with 2 more on the treadmill. I had tummy troubles all through the afternoon- so yeah, won't be doing that again. 

Meal prep is worth it. 
Spending 3 hours meal prepping and making dinner on Sunday afternoons is worth it. I'll be thanking myself later this week when I have so many grab and go snacks and meals and some for my boyfriend too. I am having Sunshine Burgers (review to follow!) with butternut squash mash and coconut oil roasted green beans for lunches. I also prepped some overnight oats, quinoa breakfast bars, hard boiled eggs, and protein cookies for the week.  This week is looking especially busy so it's one less thing I need to worry about!

Some people actually read this blog you post on the world wide interwebs.
This weekend I had a few people surprise me by saying they read my blog and/or support it.  Most of the time I post all these random things and don't expect many people to read it. It is nice to hear that people peruse it every now and then and sometimes even come here for running advice! 

Catching up with friends is great-do it more often. 
I spent most of Saturday afternoon hanging out with my friend who was selling her geeky themed crafts such as etched mugs and coasters (check out her Etsy store) at a coffeeshop/art space up the street from me. It was nice to catch up and talk not in the midst of an event or with lots of other people around.  Life gets really busy now and sometimes people miss out on just talking and catching up with each other, especially when it's easy to see updates and photos on social media. 

Grocery shopping Sunday afternoons is a bad idea. 
The only negative consequence to my lazy Sunday was being forced to hit the grocery store around 4 PM on a Sunday. I like to take my time grocery shopping, and it stresses me out when the store is crowded.  There were lots of people with carts and lots of things were slim pickings, like the bunches of broccoli on sale. Also the Justin's nut butter shelf was pretty wiped out, sadface.  I either need to go past 10 PM when it's dead, or try to get my butt out the door in the morning so that it's a more enjoyable experience. 

Did you have a great weekend? How do you get yourself ready for the week on Sundays?

Brooks Transcend Demo Party

If you haven't heard, Brooks Running launched a new shoe called the Transcend, and they think it's a big deal. They have been running a space-inspired ad campaign that included the first video magazine advertisement in Runner's World and an awesome page about it set up on their website here. They were also hosting a bunch of midnight launch parties across the country, and I was lucky enough to attend the one in Baltimore last Friday at the local downtown running store, Charm City Run . It was a demo run at 11 PM followed by a party and the officially launch of the shoes at midnight when they would officially be available for purchase  I only have run in Brooks shoes, partially because I love them and partially because I've won a handful of pairs through various contests and giveaways so I was super excited to demo their new shoe. I used the Brooks Ravennas for marathon training, but have since switched back to their Pure Project minimalist line, which I prefer for shorter distances.

I showed up at right before 11 PM on Friday night, and the store was decorated with streamers and some Brooks inflatable furniture.  I immediately went to get a pair of shoes to demo and got a women's pair in hot pink (see the colors here), which I LOVE, especially since I feel that Brooks shoes don't always come in the flashiest colors.

Photo from brooksrunning.com

The Brooks regional sales rep described the shoes as having unique pressure zones, lots of cushion, and guiderails in the shoes that act like bowling bumpers.  Pretty much if you need stability you can activate it, and if you are neutral you won't tap into the guiderails-pretty awesome, in my opinion. Just walking around the store in the shoes, I loved how comfortable they were. They felt lighter than the Ravennas and had a nice soft, bouncy cushion.

blurry shoe shot-see how bright they are?

After the Brooks reps talked the group went on a chilly 3.82 mile run along the Inner Harbor where you wrote down your predicted time beforehand and ran the route without a watch or anything. Whoever was closest to their predicted time won a pair of  new Transcends. Sadly it wasn't me-someone was within 10 seconds of their time, which is crazy close. I was about 3 minutes faster than I predicted because I tried to run a slower pace.

After the run there was yummy beer, sandwiches, and snacks all provided by Brooks along with lots of Brooks goodies to grab including freeze-dried ice cream (Neapolitan flavor!) to market the Transcends.  I even had a little coozie for my post-race beer :)

 At midnight when it was officially February 1st a guy bought the first pair of Transcends sold, at least in Maryland, but possibly the nation (depending on timing of course)!

my Brooks swag

Anyways I'm not sponsored by Brooks or anything ( I wish!) but just wanted to review this really fun and unique event for this shoe.  I only ran once in the shoes, which felt different from what I have been in running in so I can't judge too much, but I did really love the shoe's cushioning and way my foot felt when it hit the ground. I can't justify buying a new pair of shoes right now, but I'm definitely going to keep this in mind for when I need to pick up some new shoes for marathon training in the summer!

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Brooks, but is merely my observations about the running shoes and the event. As always, all opinions are my own.  

Have you ever been to a running shoe demo event? What is your favorite color running shoe?

WIAW-Great Eats Lately

One of my resolutions was to try one new recipe a month, and I've actually been surpassing that! I've saved up some photos of great meals I've made and have a little photo dump for you on this "What I Ate Wednesday". It's my first time participating in the link-up, but is a great way for me to share some snapshots of my yummy eats and get some of these photos off of my cell phone! 

Sauteed kale salad with dried cherries and goat cheese and topped with an egg and sliced steak prepared by my boyfriend. I love cooking, but I'm lucky that he can help out too :)

The first time I used my spiralizer I made zucchini noodles as a side to this crusted tilapia and avocado cream dish. I followed this recipe except I changed up the tilapia part a little bit, using almond meal instead of corn meal and adding garlic to the crust. 

A couple weeks ago I had some bites of takeout beef bulgogi and remembered how much I loved the delicious Korean dish.  I found this recipe from A Spicy Perspective which uses a wok for easier cooking and ingredients I happened to all have on hand. It was simple and satisfying so I definitely see it something to keep in my dinner rotation!

 PaleOMG's Almost 5 Ingredient Spaghetti Squash Pie was on the menu last week. I added some cheese to make it even more like pizza. Clearly I took a photo after I had dug into it and the leftovers did not make it through the next day. It's even boyfriend-approved-he said it was one of the best things I've made in a while!

My boyfriend whipped me up this super yummy dinner late one night last week, and it was heaven. It's basically sauteed kale and vegetables with a honey balsamic vinaigrette topped with a drippy egg. Perfection! 

Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I made this awesome pizza this weekend using a FlatOut wrap, organic tomato pasta sauce, spinach, and mozzarella slices. It hit the spot!

Chocolate avocado mousse topped with mini chocolate chips and a big dollop of peanut butter. I posted my recipe a while back here except I have been using a whole avocado and omitting the banana.  

I had a bunch of frozen corn to use up from my Friends and Farms CSA basket so I found this recipe in their newsletter for a corn and sweet potato chowder . I made some changes by halving the recipe and only pureeing half of the soup to leave some whole corn kernels and sweet potato chunks in it. I did not get as beautiful a color as the photos from the original recipe, but it tasted delicious!

What are some of your favorite meals lately? Any recipes you recommend?

In a funk...time to reset.

I'm not really sure where this post is going to go so hang in there with me. It was also hard to publish this because it's personal but something about writing it out helps.  I'm having one of those days where I dreaded getting out of bed. And I want to cry a little and have a pity party for myself. No, it's not that time of the month, ladies.  I have this personality where I am slightly self-destructive and focus on the unreasonable and ignore the reasonable logic for things.

I had a weekend that started off pretty well with a midnight Brooks launch party of their new shoe (more on that later) and a nice little run followed by a few beers. Then I woke up early for an unusually warm run with my friends. We did 10 miles but the second half of the run I was feeling discouraged. We were settling into a faster pace which we would usually run during our summer marathon training long runs, but I felt like I couldn't do it  that day and my legs were tight.  
Unreasonable thoughts: Why do you suck? You aren't going that fast, this should be fine for you. How are you going to run four half marathons in the spring? You should be running more and stop using the cold weather as an excuse. 
Reasonable logic: Maybe you feel like crap because you ran last night and didn't stretch well, then had a few beers and got 5 hours of sleep. If you start running more regularly your speed will come back.  

See what I mean? Then I had a nice Saturday afternoon running errands and stocking up on some food followed by a nap and friend's birthday get together.  I had been feeling good about my food choices and was going to limit my drinking because I knew I wanted to get up early and make a spin class and had to make some food for a Superbowl party.  It ended up being a strange night where I drank way too much, got home late, had a fuzzy morning, and slept through my spin class. On top of that I felt like I was getting hit with a cold and ended up missing the party because I was a sniffly, achy mess.  
Unreasonable thoughts: Why would you act that way and get a little out of control?  What kind of person are you? You know you really wanted to go to that spin class and have a productive Sunday.  You are a ginormous mess. 
Reasonable logic:  You didn't eat enough for dinner so drinking on top of that hit you harder.  Everybody makes mistakes, it's okay.  It's good you stayed in when you felt sick because you have another long week ahead of you.  

I've been trying to lose some weight I put on during the summer when I was marathon training. I hate trying to follow food plans or exercise plans and just want to live and not have those things become stressors instead of stress-relievers in my life.  I was looking at some photos last night from a friend's wedding right after the marathon and was surprised at how I felt. 
Unreasonable thoughts: Look how fat your arm looks, you need to lose some weight. Your face looks so bloated. 
Reasonable thoughts: I just ran a marathon a week before these photos were taken-I rock. My arms are bigger but there's some muscle under there too.  What about my smile and how happy I look? 

I have been wanting to try to get to the gym in the morning because of my evening class and I like having time to cook and relax after work so I can go to bed earlier. I find myself staring down midnight each night and aimlessly clicking on my computer or scrolling through Instagram on my phone in bed. 
Unreasonable: Why can't you just go to bed early and get up early like every one else? You must not be committed to your plans. No wonder why you are always tired and bloated. 
Reasonable: Stick to the plans you have and slowly get to bed earlier.  Focus on unplugging and having dinner prepared ahead of time.  It's okay. 

Overall I had higher hopes for last week, but I can't beat myself when I slip up. I need to love myself-nobody's perfect. I think that having a little breakdown can be okay. I can accomplish anything I want to do. I am in control.  I need to take a deep breathe and reset. 

So here's some small things I'm going to try to do this week: 

1. Go to bed a little bit earlier each night and unplug after dinner.  

2. Create a flexible training plan for my half marathons and print it out!

3. Try to get in AM workouts at least 3x this week.

4. Say one thing I like about myself in the mirror each day. 

5.Continue with some reflection and focusing on my goals each night before bed.  

6. Listen to this song more: 

Do you find yourself focusing on unreasonable thoughts? What do you do when you need to take a step back and reset?

Runner Spotlight #73

Hello all, I hope you had a great day and enjoyed the Super Bowl (unless you are a Broncos fan..). Just wanted to let you know that I was featured as the Runner Spotlight #73 on Mindy's blog Road Runner Girl today. I love her blog and all of the inspiring runner spotlights she posts so I am excited to be a part of it now! Go check out the post here. You can read about my race day routine, favorite race, and more!