Race Day and Creamy Cheese-less Pasta!

This past weekend was the Ottawa Capital Marathon. A very exciting time for the running community, as runners from all over the world come out for a weekend of races in our lovely city.

In our family the running trend began with our dad. He has been running since he was a little boy in Alberta. He ran track in high school, ran in the mountains, and continued running while raising six kids. Our dad has blazed the trial for us and hooked us all in one way or another into the running world.
Along with our mom and sister Elese, we took running clinics at the Running Room and then started teaching and Group Leading clinics. Running was contagious and thanks to our dad, we now all  love the running world. Even Leah who isn't a huge fan of running, loves handing out the medals and cheering loudly.

For the past ten years, our family has participated in this weekend event from volunteering to running. The positive energy of thousands of people coming out to run in our down town core is Out.Of.This.World. Young, old, families, Kenyans, running clinics, more Kenyans, Cheer squads, people crying, people laughing, hugs, high fives are just some of what goes on Race Weekend. Not to mention the joy. Pure joy! If you are a runner and interested, check out: Run Ottawa

Why do we run? SO WE CAN EAT! : )
haha that and for the healthy endorphins.





























Our favourite pre race dinner is pasta and we thought today we would share our favourite, high protein, cheese-less but so creamy pasta! Enjoy!

The Easy Run for it Pasta!





























Ingredients
(serves 6)

2 large Tomatoes
3 cups of your favourite Tomato Sauce. We love the White Linen Marina from Costco
2 cups of Cashews
4 tbs of Tomato Paste
1 cup of Water
3 Tbs of Olive Oil
6 Cloves of Garlic, minced.
1 tsp of Salt
1/4 Cup of Wine or Water (optional)
2 tsp Freshly Cracked Pepper
1 Handful of Basil
1lb of Spinach

Pasta of your choice: We love Kamut : )

How to make this delicious dish:

Step 1: Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to your own liking
Step 2: Core and chop tomatoes. Add it to your blender, don't worry about seeds skin. Throw it all in. Add cashews, tomato sauce, tomato paste and the cup of water. Blend until very smooth
Step 3: Add olive oil to a pan and sauté the garlic over medium high. Be careful not to burn! Once it is golden, add the blended sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 min, stirring often.
(If sauce is too thick, add wine or water to thin it out)
Step 4: In a medium sauce pan, steam the spinach until dark green. Add a bit of water.
Step 5: Mix the sauce into your prepared pasta and add the chopped basil, pepper and spinach. Enjoy!





























Enjoy!!