I love this snack because zero cooking is involved. Plus, it's low-fat, low-sugar, low sodium, vegan, and practically free of almost every allergen you can think of. And jicama is MUCH better than eating celery sticks. Dear goodness, put away the those "diet food" celery sticks.
Admittedly, French fries are a weakness for me, but eating them after doing a 10-mile run when you are training for a half marathon is not one of the best things to do to your body.
Instead, one of my favorite ways to get a fries-like experience in a much healthier way is making Jicama fries simply by cutting jicama into fries-like shapes like shown in my beautiful bowl up above.
Over at Whole Foods in Oakland, in the produce section, I found boxes of pre-cut jicama sticks which makes life so much easier because I do not have any kitchen devices that make fries. I simply took these pre-cut jicama sticks and cut them down to a smaller size. I sprinkled on some garlic salt and a little paprika. I added fresh parsley for garnish.
This is my kind of cooking - cut and assembly.
In the pre-packaged hummus section, Whole Foods house brand has a garlic hummus flavor. To add some fun heat to the hummus, I added in 1/2 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce to the tub and swirled some around the top to give my hummus a more colorful look. You know how I always have to accessorize my foods somehow.
A natural sports drink
I avoid most commercial sports drinks because they are loaded with high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners and are colors that are not found in nature like fluorescent purple. In a sports drink, what you really need is the electrolytes.
One of the best sources of natural electrolytes is coconut water.
To make a natural sports drink, I add one part fresh veggie juice to three parts coconut water. Straight coconut water is fine but I like to add a little juice for some fun flavor. You can buy bottled stuff or juice your own. I typically use organic carrot juice because I love how it makes me feel. You can also use green juice or beet juice. I stick with the veggie juices because you also get the nutrients from these veggies.
So, these are a couple examples of the healthy plant-based things I eat and drink after a long run workout. What kind of snacks do you eat?
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market Northern California as part of my sponsorship running the Nike Women's Half Marathon 2013.
