I want my Gatorade Natural!!!

8 Nov

Have I told you???? That I am training for my 1st ever half marathon???

Well, since June I have been training for the Run Like Diva Half Marathon to be celebrated next Sunday, November 11 here in San Juan, PR. This is the second time this is taking place. My friend Tania was eager for me to join her this year because she was encouraging me since last year to make it.

It’s been a super great experience… I have met so many new friends – Annette, Maritza, Tere, Lilliam, Nadya, Alice, Zuleyka, Ada, Vanessa, Nancy, Mariano, Diana, IsaMari, Lisandra, Kimberly and Tania and Mili who now I have one more thing in common. We belong to the training group Island Divas coached by Chewy Candelario.

Since the beginning of the training, I was opposed to drinking anything filled with artificial colorants or ingredients. You know already how I feel about that. However, for a while when we started training I always felt like my body ached all over. I thought it was just my body getting used to this kind of training. Until one day, my friend Annette told me to drink a Gatorade. WHAT?!?!??! I don’t like these… “agua d’piringas”. But I caved in and had one…

To be honest ever since I started drinking Gatorade after my trainings, I started feeling like myself again. By body might have been sore, but did not feel like before. I guess all that science and technology do count for something when you’re becoming an athlete. So I have made an exception and started drinking Gatorade as a recovery drink after my workouts. And have chosen to avoid reading the label each and every time I put one bottle to my mouth.

But when I traveled to Florida recently and had to continue on my training there, I went to the supermarket to buy my trusted and usual foods that help me prepare and recover after my trainings. And much to my surprise I found out that Gatorade comes in a NATURAL version – without artificial ingredients and colorants. And the website tells you all about how the natural ingredients work just the same as the regular Gatorade formulation. And the Orange Citrus flavor is AMAZING!!!!!

But when you search any Puerto Rico zip code to find a store near us that carries it, the closest store is…. The Whole Foods in Alton Road in South Miami Beach!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Which tells me, my dear friends in Pepsi are not distributing this amazing product in Puerto Rico. YET!!!

This is my plea… PEPSICO people, please bring Gatorade Natural to Puerto Rico. We also have athletes which appreciate the recovery qualities of the original formulation but prefer to have a more natural formulation. Just as much as I want a Whole Foods in Puerto Rico, we also have local natural supermarkets and sport stores that would love to carry your product. GRACIAS!!!

And let’s GO DIVAS!!!!! If you live in Puerto Rico, we would love for you to join our cheering section along the route of the course. Just look for our Island Divas shirts throughout the route. I’ll be the one with the I ❤ NY cap on… OK???

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KarmaFree Cooking’s 5th Anniversary

7 Nov

OMG!!!! Can you believe it’s been 5 years since we started KarmaFree Cooking???

Time has gone by so fast and it’s amazing what we have done in this short amount of time. I am so thankful for all you who read my blog posts and comment on each one of them. Some of you are vegetarian;  most of you possibly are not.

But at least by reading what I share you’ll get a better appreciation of what being a vegetarian is and maybe, just maybe consider it in your near or distant future.   We are seen and read by people in…

USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia

India, Philippines, Mexico, Germany

Malaysia, Singapore, France

Puerto Rico and many, many others

If you look at the graphic, if the country is in ORANGE, someone over there has visited us in the past year.

Please… I would greatly appreciate if you would leave a comment or short message on this post telling us where you’re visiting from and what’s your favorite KarmaFree recipe. I want to give you a virtual HUG for supporting me and my blog.

In the meantime here are your most popular recipes of in the last year

Pasteles in Banana Leaves

Yuca with Cuban Mojo

Veggie Sancocho

Mami’s Tembleque

Fried White Sweet Potato

 

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KarmaFree Cooking is nominated for Best Food Blog by Blogs by Latinas

6 Nov

Today is election day and we should ALL exercise our right to vote.

Many people around the world do now enjoy this privilege and it’s the only way to get your voice heard.  If you do not vote, in my opinion, you do not have the right then to complain about the state of your city, state or country.  So regardless of your affiliation, get out and VOTE.

And now that we’re all in the voting mode I want to share some great news…  KarmaFree Cooking has been nominated as BEST FOOD BLOG by the Blogs by Latinas organization. 

I am one of three nominees and people should vote for the one who they believe is the best candidate.  I actually know “virtually” the other 2 candidates…  they’re nice, but if you’re here reading this, you’ll know how much nicer I am!!! 😉  And I have all you to thank, my fans and friends here and on FaceBook,  who nominated my blog for this award.

So here I am campaigning for your vote…  please click here and scroll down to find the Best Food Blog category and please select KarmaFree Cooking.  This would be one fo the best gifts you can ever give me as we approach our 5th anniversary tomorrow.

Vote ASAP as voting closes tomorrow…

Thanks a lot… and GRACIAS MIL!!!!!

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Veggie Bites of Wisdom #19

6 Nov

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Pumpkin Soup

5 Nov

This is the way my mom makes pumpkin soup… We make it locally with pumpkin, but then again, in Puerto Rico you just go to the store and buy PUMPKIN. But in the US, you can’t just go to the store and buy a piece of pumpkin… Below you’ll find a Puerto Rican pumpkin.

Photo Courtesy of the blog La Vida en Mi Patio – http://lavidaenmipatio.blogspot.com

In the US there are plenty varieties of pumpkin.  This was a challenge for us when my little nephew started eating vegetables because we were not able to find a pumpkin that was the same as the pumpkins we find in Puerto Rico. So we learned that the closest varieties are actually a KABOCHA squash or a butternut squash.

This is a Kabocha Squash
Photo Courtesy from the blog Apple Pie, Patis, Paté – http://www.applepiepatispate.com

So we have made this recipe using Puerto Rican pumpkin, Kabocha squash or butternut squash… it’s really more a method than a recipe. But you get my drift, no?  They do look similar on the outside, no???

 

PUMPKIN SOUP

2 lbs of Kabocha squash or Caribbean Calabaza– about 4 -5 cups, peeled
1 large onion, chopped in large chunks
½ large green pepper or 1 medium one, chopped in large chunks too
1 clove of garlic, peeled
2 -3 cups vegetable broth
Water, if needed
A large pinch of oregano
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil

I always do this eyeballing the ingredients… here is how I measure things for this recipe.

  1. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, add a little drizzle of olive oil and add the onions, peppers and garlic clove. Sautee a little bit to soften the vegetables.
  2. Add the pumpkin to the pot. Mix it all well. Add enough vegetable stock to almost cover the pumpkins. If the 2-3 cups of vegetable stock are not enough, add some water. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of oregano.
  3. Cover the pot and allow the mixture to boil. When it reaches a rolling boil, turn down to a medium low to simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes until the pumpkin is cooked thru and very soft.
  4. Check the seasoning. Add a bit more salt or pepper if you feel it needs it.
  5. With an immersion blender, puree the contents of the pot to create a pureed soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer the pumpkin and liquid CAREFULLY in batches to a blender to blend…

Garnish with a few toasted pumpkin seeds. This is completely optional…

My mom doesn’t even use the olive oil when she was making this for my nephew. She just dumps everything in the pot and cooks it all together, then she purees. So you could even make this without oil.

If the consistency is too thick for you, just add a little bit of more vegetable stock or even water. But then check for seasoning to make sure it still tastes delicious.

Let me know how you like this… OK??

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