Joining the PETA Pack!

Today is my 2-week vegetarian anniversary :)  I feel pretty good and my tummy issues are all but gone!  I'm still having nightmares about cows and chickens though, so I'm thinking it's time to take it one step further by eliminating dairy and eggs now also.  

As some of you may know, I have recently lost my running mojo.  I did manage to get 2 runs in this week, but they weren't easy.  Well, I think I've found the inspiration I've been looking for! The PETA Pack! PETA has one of those 'Team in Training" groups that I can use. Although they don't have my Philly RnR HM on the list of races, I can "create" my own race! Personally, I much prefer to race that way - by myself ;)  Those crowded races cause me way too much anxiety (but yes, I am still going to do the Philly RnR - it's already paid for! And most likely the Las Vegas RnR as well!).  So anyways, once I have it all set up I will definitely post the information here. By the way, it is a fund-raising thingie, so any/all donations would benefit a great cause (PETA), and be udderly (get it?!) appreciated. But again, I will have more information once I get all signed up.

On another note, I made my first Vegan meal today, which included trying another new food!  Don't laugh, but I have never eaten a black bean before!  I have to admit it came out WAY better than I was expecting.

Southwestern Vegan Casserole
- 1 box organic whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 bag Boca crumbles (it really looks like ground beef!)
- 1 red onion (diced)
- 1 Tbsp EVOO
- 1 can (15oz) southwestern black beans
- approx 2 tsp cumin
- approx 1 tsp hot mexican chili powder
- 1 can (4oz) sliced black olives
- 1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
- 2 cups Super Salsa

Cook the pasta, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl. In a frying pan, heat the EVOO. Add onions and saute for a couple minutes. Add the Boca crumbles, cumin and chili powder, olives and green chilies. Add black beans (I pureed them first so they wouldn't look like beans, haha!). I let it all simmer together for about 15 minutes (until the Boca crumbles looked like cooked ground beef). Pour the "meat" mixture over the pasta and combine. Add the salsa and mix it all together. Dump into a 9x15 foil pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Voila!  It made 6 huge servings, but I probably could have made 8 because the calorie/carb counts are kinda high. Calories: 508, fat: 8, carbs: 87, protein: 31.

Tomorrow I may finally attempt the quinoa! Stay tuned...