Say hello to one of my favorite meals! I am a huge fan of Pinterest (click here to follow me) and last year I started working on a collection of vegan foods. I like experimenting in the kitchen and this recipe seemed like something worth trying, especially with my love for basil. This year, I have several basil plants growing in my garden so it seemed like a perfect time to cook this up again. It makes a lot, but that's okay because I recently started dating a man who is more than happy to try my cooking! (He loved this by the way!) The best thing about this recipe is that it is LOADED with spinach (hello IRON and other vitamins) but you really can't even taste it.  If you like basil, this is for you!

Here is a quick list of all the ingredients you will need to make magic happen. It is color coded by what you need for each section of cooking!

1/2 cup raw cashews 
6 cups loosely packed spinach leaves (6 oz.)
1 small bunch basil (0.75 oz.) thick stems removed
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1/2 lemon juiced
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

8 oz pasta (I recommend shells)
1/2 cup of left over pasta water

1/2 of an onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1-2 tsp of olive oil
​

Start by making the pesto first. You will need the first set of ingredients... That would be the ones above in RED.

Add the cashews to your food processor and pulse a few times until crumbled. I personally use my Ninja Blender because my food processor is too small for all the things that are about to get blended.

Add the spinach, basil, nondairy milk, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and continue to pulse, stopping to stir and scrape the sides if needed, until the spinach and basil are finely chopped.

Add more lemon juice to taste if desired, and set aside.

This particular time, I just poured it into mason jar and put in the fridge because we were planning to eat together the following evening.

Next, get your water boiling and pour in about 8 oz of pasta. I'm terrible at estimating 8 oz, so just use what you want... Using more isn't going to hurt anything. I like to use shells because it is able to hold onto the pesto! Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it (don't rinse!) and reserve a 1/2 cup of the water to use  at the end of this recipe.

While the water is boiling and the pasta is doing it's thing you will start working on your ingredients in blue. Heat up a teaspoon or so of olive oil. Chop up 1/2 of an onion (any kind you like) and drop it in the skillet and sprinkle it with salt. Stir it up occasionally until the onion is soft and starting to brown. Then, mince up a couple cloves of garlic (or be lazy like me and crush it through a garlic press. Click here to see the one I use!) Let that cook for about 60 seconds. 

Add the cooked pasta, reserved water, and pesto sauce and fold it all together. Reduce the heat and stir it up until the sauce starts to thicken. Serve it warm, but honestly, I will eat this stuff cold the next day! It holds together well for about 3 days in the refrigerator, but I seriously doubt it will even last that long because it is so darn delicious. 

If you have any questions about this recipe, please post in the comment section below! Cheers to good health!

***Disclaimer*** No animals were harmed in the making of this meal. It contains NO animal products what-so-ever! 

This year, one of my goals is eliminating dairy. Last year I found some really cool recipes to try, and I want to introduce you to one of my absolute favorites! 

 I have made it a couple times and have had several people try it and everyone likes it. The first person who tried it kept asking me what kind of cheese was in it, to which I just started talking about everything else that was in it (because there wasn't any cheese) and avoided spilling the secret. If I don't know what all is in something, I will avoid trying things. This dip is that kind of stuff that you just have to let people try it and then tell them later what is in it. Or in this case, what is NOT in it. As a side note, this dip gets better with age! On the first day, I personally can taste the cashews (maybe because I know they are in there) but the next day the dip is golden! The day after that? Even better. Click HERE for the recipe. ​No cholesterol, high in fiber, high in vitamins!! Win-win-win! Thank you Pinterest for this awesome find! 

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, it's not Christmas.. It's summer vacation! The time when all teachers yell, "Hey, Parents! TAG!!! YOU'RE IT!!!!!" Ahh, the feeling of relief as the students board the buses and take off down the road. Nothing can match the feeling of knowing you did everything you could for those kids and your mind and body hit that wall. Oh yeah, and now you have to pack up your whole classroom! This is why teachers need two months off. We need to recover from all the BS we put up with for ten months. So now it's time to start working on my TO-DO list for the summer.  

Allow me to backtrack for a moment... June 2-4

​Volunteering at this race is my favorite thing to do all year. I started by going to the Athlete Briefing before my volunteer shift so that I could answer all the questions athletes would be asking when they came by to pick up their packet. Yea, I'm THAT volunteer! Having done the race before, I know the stress that goes into that weekend and if I can help make someone's race experience one to remember, then I have done my job. The thing I enjoyed the most was talking athletes through the packet pickup line and then seeing them at the aid station on Sunday, and then some I even saw cross the finish line. After this experience, I thought about how cool it would be to work for Ironman. If I didn't have pets, I would seriously consider applying to work for Ironman. I sure could travel to some great places! Maybe one day I can be a professional volunteer.

1. Sign up for a marathon/50k for the summer. This will give my pre-training a purpose. Although, really, everything I'm doing even now is all pre-training for the 100k. Hard to believe the race is in 108 days! When I need motivation, I watch the video of myself crossing the finish line at Ironman Maryland and it brings tears to my eyes. I remind myself that I am worth it and that I am capable of the training that it takes. ​

2. Keep my blog updated. Good Grief, I have been a huge slacker in this area of life. I don't know why I keep forgetting to update things. The crazy thing is that my statistics for web traffic are still high even when I don't post for two months. This is motivation for exactly why I should be updating more often. You never know who's watching. ​My goal will be to update two days each week. Perhaps a little more frequently at first until I get everything caught up!

3. Become a morning person. Who am I kidding? I am a night runner. Mornings just are not for me. My friend Kristie and I are looking to plan some late night runs this summer in preparation for the 100k in October. This reminds me of our 4am bike rides in the middle of nowhere, being chased by barking dogs that we couldn't even see. I guess we may need to run with a phone in case something crazy happens. I can only imagine a driver seeing us running at 2am wondering what the hell is wrong with us. ​

4. Get a grip on nutrition. This is something I have been working on for the last two years. It started by eliminating meat from my diet. Then it turned to eliminating milk which I am proud to say that I have not drank a glass of milk in well over a year. I have trouble with saying no to whipped cream at Starbucks, but 90% of the time I tell them no thanks, which is always a miniature win in my head. The next step is turning down cream and flavored creamers in my coffee. I find this to be the most challenging thing right now. Also, cheese can be a challenge to turn down, especially since I love a good cheese quesadilla. Fortunately, my mentality is "solve your problem" so I pre-ordered Julie Piatt's book called This Cheese is Nuts which is a book on how to make vegan cheese. It arrived today and I am looking to start the cooking this week! I will be sure to post pictures of this process! Who knew you could make cheese with cashews as a base? (I did, but I'm just saying!!)

That seems like a good list to start with! As I mentioned before, my goal is to update twice a week for the summer. It's possible the first week or two will be three times a week until I am caught up with all my drafts. I can't wait to share what I have been doing, along with all the progress I have made as I crush this new set of goals!