Thrive - The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life

People adopt vegetarian or vegan diets for a wide number of reasons. For athlete Brendan Brazier, a plant based diet provided him with the competitive edge he was looking for as a professional Ironman athlete. After developing and applying what he termed the Thrive diet Brazier found that his post workout recovery time decreased and his energy level, strength-to-weight ratio and endurance shot up.

Thrive steps you through the components of Brazier's diet and the benefits of exercise and eating a clean, vegan diet. Though I expect few of us will find the time to exercise 30 - 40 hours per week, nor compete at his level, there's plenty of great information for anyone wanting to improve their day to day fitness and well being whether they are an athlete or not.

Included is a 12 week meal plan and a huge selection of recipes. I'm looking forward to trying the energy bars and smoothies. Should I somehow become an Ironman as a result of reading the book, I'll be sure to pass that along.

Snap Shot Postcard

Here's a cool app I tried out over the holidays called 'Snapshot Postcard.' The app lets you use the photos in your iPhone photo library to create a postcard for friends and family. Very quick, very handy. You take your picture, type in your message and address, and they do the stamping and sending. I shot a pic of the boys sledding out in the wilds of Illinois and sent it without even going in the house. Can't beat that. It's a free app, and your first postcard is free of charge.

Below is quick YouTube video someone recorded showing how to do it. 

Bing Travel

I haven't actually used Bing travel, part of Microsoft's Bing search engine, but I've had it recommended to me lately by some of my friends. Bing Travel searches for airfare and hotel reservations online and predicts the best time to purchase. It looks like this feature is only available for the US and Canada, but it's worth a look when doing your travel planning.

Winter Park, Colorado

I was catching up on my reading this morning and saw that Budget Travel magazine recommends  Winter Park as one of their 'Great Ski Deals.'

A few years ago my uncle talked me into heading to Winter Park for a ski trip with him and my cousin, Seth. I had never been on skies before, but it seemed like a great way of breaking up the monotony of the Midwestern winter. The two of us took Amtrak's California Zephyr overnight to Denver and then on up to Fraser the following morning. 

I wouldn't say I acquired any great skill on the slopes, but it was still a nice getaway. I didn't break my neck or my bank account. There were plenty of places to eat in Winter Park within walking distance from our hotel. And we even managed to catch a lift to some hot sulfur springs that were nearby.

Easy Minestrone

Tis the season to be on the go: Christmas parties, shopping, work, school activities. Last weekend I turned our kitchen into a bakery, cranking out one loaf of rye bread after another. But while time may be short, and your nerves near the breaking point, you can still make healthy and quick meals. Minestrone is a piece of cake, so to speak, and it's good for you too.

1 leek (or onion)
2 carrots chopped
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
4 oz whole green beans halved
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (14oz) tomatoes
6 cup of vegetable broth
Fresh basil if you have it
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 can of cannellini or kidney beans
1/3 cup of small pasta or maccaroni
Fresh Parmesan cheese, finely grated
garnish with parsley

In a large saucepan add oil and the vegetables, heating them until they sizzle. Cover, lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Don't let them burn though.

Add vegetable stock or water, tomatoes, herbs, and seasoning. Bring to a boil, replace the lid and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

Add the beans and the pasta and simmer for another 10 minutes. Check the seasoning. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley and serve.

Airfarewatchdog's top 10 tips to find low airfares

It'd be great if there was one way to get a great deal on airfare. Unfortunately that's just not the case. Like everything you have to take a little time and educate yourself. George Hobica had a some helpful tips on Airfarewatchdog.


Airfarewatchdog's top 10 tips to find low airfares - Airfarewatchdog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Gift Ideas for the Techie Traveler - Featured - Travel Gear Blog

It's that time of year again. Here are some great techie gifts for the travelers in your life from the TravelGear Blog.


Gift Ideas for the Techie Traveler - Featured - Travel Gear Blog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Vegan Yum Yum

Vegan Yum Yum has a huge cache of creative and beautifully shot vegan recipes. Lauren Ulm, of Vegan Yum Yum, has published a Vegan Yum Yum cookbook, and has an iPhone app that ties in with the recipes on her blog. There's an impressive array of ingredients and recipes for all occasions, as well as useful information that can help you go vegan. Looking through her site, I'm not sure she's still posting new material, but there's still an impressive amount of content.

Goulash

Thanks to Betty Crocker, most of us who grew up in the 1960's and 70's can remember having goulash at one time or another. It was a great comfort food. There a lot of ways to prepare it, but typically the ingredients are meat, onions, potatoes, carrots and paprika. Here is a vegetarian version of the classic Hungarian shepherd's soup. Serve it over rice, on it's own, or with a side of mashed potatoes.

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium parsnip, peeled and cubed
3/4 pound vegetarian chunks or burgers, cubed
1-2 tablespoons paprika
14-oz can of tomatoes and juice
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1 (2) teaspoons caraway seeds
2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock or water
2 medium potatoes, diced

sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup sour or soy cream (optional)
paprika or finely chopped parsley to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and parsnips. Heat until the vegetables begin to brown. Add the burger chunks, paprika, tomatoes, tomato puree, and caraway seeds. Heat for about 5-10 minutes. Add the water, or stock and the potatoes. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the sour or soy cream, heat through and server.

Notes from a Small Island

Arriving in England in the early 1970's, American travel writer Bill Bryson worked as a journalist and editor for a number of British newspapers. In 1994 he made the decision to bring his family back to America. But before doing so he decided to take a trip around the island he'd called home for so long.

I've read many of Bill Bryson's books over the years: 'A Walk in the Woods, In a Sunburned Country. I've always enjoyed his ability to mix humor with the scholarly, and his ability to cast himself as the everyman, Iowan that he once was.

In this homage to Britain, a place where he married and raised his kids, Bryson sounds as much like a Briton as an Iowan. Bryson travels by rail and on foot through the tiny towns and great cities of late 20th century Great Britain. He  reflects on the places he's been, and what's changed in Britain and himself as the years have passed. At times he's laugh out loud funny, at other times, borderline offensive, but nearly 20 years on, it's still one of the great travelogues, and one of my favorites. When my boys were babies and I'd grown tired of reading, 'Good Night Moon,' for the millionth time I would lay on their floor and read chapters aloud from it, laughing at Bryon's depictions of the people he met as he walked around the island that was once at the heart of the British Empire. When I went to England in 2007 I brought it along with me and wrote notes in the margins about what I saw in the Cotswolds.