Plantstrong weekend in the Alamo City: Part 2

I apologize about the delay in postings, but here's the second and final part of the post:

On Saturday morning, my aunt and I woke up bright and early to head into town for our 5K run/walk at 8am. I didn't want to have much a breakfast, but at the same time I didn't want to risk running on an empty stomach, so I grabbed a banana as we headed out the door. (The ultimate runner's fuel!)

I'm going to be flat-out honest: I'm not a runner whatsoever. I throw discus in track and field and swim competitively, but swimming endurance and running endurance are two seperate things. Yes, I had to run a 5K in 8th grade for a wellness class I was taking, but that was with over 9 weeks of training, but this time around I would be running another over 2 years later with zero training. Surprisingly, I only walked through the water break stops.

I clearly remember running the last 200 yards and seeing the time flashing before me. I told myself that I refused to finish in more than 30 minutes, so when I saw that the clock read 29:50 at the last 100 yards or less, I dashed down the hill past the finish and completed the race in 30 minutes flat. Speaking from a general standpoint, 30 minutes for a 5K isn't fast at all (roughly 10 min/mile) but keep in mind that I didn't train and I never run more than maybe a lap for warmups for track or less for swimming drylands. Even when I did train for 5K, it took me 33:30 to complete the race. PLANT STRONG,  FTW! :D (yes, that was totally necessary)

After we were done with our 5K, we drove to Twin Sisters Bakery to have a substansial breakfast. My aunt and I both went for the oatmeal; I ordered mine with apples and walnuts and my aunt had hers with raisins and walnuts. To wash it all down, I had a small glass of soymilk and plenty of ice-cold water.

The rest of our day consisted of lunch at Kona Grill (they even have a vegan menu now!) and shopping at the Shops at La Cantera well into the late afternoon. I ended up spending the majority of my spending money on some plantstrong "summer reading" books (Blissful Bites; Keep it Simple, Keep it Whole; The China Study; The Starch Solution and Neal Barnard's book for Reversing Diabetes [[which actually was my dad's father's day present but I ended up reading it before giving the book to him]]) and the remainder on some cute clothes from American Eagle and Forever 21. Once we returned home, we were more than ready for dinner and started to prepare  homemade veggie pizzas. (We used the whole wheat pizza dough recipe from happyherbivore.com) Additionally, I prepared a simple raw kale salad made with dinosaur kale, lemon juice, avocado and a bit of sea salt to go along with the pizza.

Everything came together beautifully and we each enjoyed our salad and pizza while we watched the San Antonio Spurs take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. (To be honest, I'm not a fan of basketball, whether it is college or professional, but felt it was necessary to support the "hometown" team) I also enjoyed a cup of Amande almond milk yogurt I had bought the night before at Whole Foods (picture was in the last post)

Sunday was slow-paced in comparison to the rest of the weekend, but I still enjoyed the quality time spent with my aunt. We woke up and went to a farmer's market down the street a little ways with her Australian Shepard, Chica and purchased more local/organic vegetables and fruits then we knew what to do with. Fortunately, we were able corporate most of the produce we had purchased into our dinner that evening, and whatever we were not able to use went home in my carry-on. (Fredericksburg peaches are HEAVEN ON EARTH. Forget Georgia peaches, Texas Hill Country is where it's at!)

Anyways....

To close off our weekend together, me and my aunt sat down and watched my Forks Over Knives DVD. I had seen the film at least 3 times already before sitting down and watching it with my aunt, but let's face it, it doesn't ever get old. By the time the movie had concluded, my aunt seemed convinced and had told me that she was interested in trying out a plantstrong diet. I was estatic that I had finally convinced someone in my family to eat more plants, since my parents have been quite hesistant.

It was great getting away from home to spend time with my aunt in the beautiful city of San Antonio. I can't wait to go back in the near future to continue our plant-strong adventures together! :)


Here's a picture of our plant-strong dinner creation (not all of my dinner is in the picture because I kept taking bites of a little bit of everything so we wouldnt' be late getting to the airport):

P.S. I promise I will do my best to post on a more regular basis (once a week or every 2 weeks at the minimum, if not more often) since I currently don't have to worry about completing SAT's for homework every week.

Plantstrong weekend in the Alamo City: Part 1

As a celebration to the conclusion of my sophomore year last week, I decided to pack up my bags and head off to San Antonio to visit my aunt before kicking off a summer filled with SAT classes, competitive swimming, choir camps and a trip to British Columbia and the Hawaiian Islands the following week. I had a morning flight, which meant that I still had to wake up on my school sleep schedule, but also that I would also get the most out of the day in San Antonio.


To kick off my arrival in the Alamo City, I learned to drive a stick-shift in a TINY Mazda sportscar. Being the daughter of a father who absolutely despies anything that carries a potential hazard with it, I wasn't sure what to expect at all, and quite frankly, I thought I was going to crash into someone or vice versa. I have a tendency to underestimate what I can actually accomplish, and within minutes, driving a stick seemed second-nature. However, I'm not planning on driving a manual on the freeway or any busy street for that matter. 


After my stick-shift lessons, we headed off to Green Restaurant (San Antonio's only 100% vegetarian restaurant) to enjoy lunch at my favorite veg spot in San Antonio with my cousin, Jordan, who was home from college for the weekend, his roomate, Trevor, and of course my aunt. I enjoyed their Raw Deal Wrap with a side of broccoli and fresh fruit (not pictured), while my aunt had their homemade veggie burger with a side of sweet potato fries.

After lunch, I headed back to my aunt's house with Jordan where we hung out with their dogs, Chica (a beautiful Austrailan Shepard) and Mason (a Goldendoodle puppy) until my aunt was finished up with work. This isn't the best picture of the two, but I couldn't resist taking a picture while they were messing around.

Later in the evening, my aunt and I headed to Whole Foods to do some shopping so we could make several different plant-strong muffin recipes and homemade whole-grain, lowfat veggie pizzas Saturday evening. I stumbled upon Amande, a non-dairy yogurt made from almond milk and sweetened only with fruit. I couldn't resist but pick up a couple of the different flavors to try over the weekend. (Pictured below is the blueberry flavor) ((As a side note, it was AMAZING, and even was nostalgic of  Blueberry Yoplait yogurt in a way.))

After our Whole Foods adventure, we met up with Jordan again to have a late-evening dinner at Tong's Thai where we each enjoyed the different sushi creations they had to offer at their sushi bar. I had a veggie roll, seaweed salad and a small bowl of miso soup, which was light, but quite satisfying.  My aunt and I didn't stay long since we needed to get back to house to be well-rested for our 5K run early the next morning, which I'll talk about in the next part of this blog post.

-Michelle :)