Food Inspiration: Recipes of the Day

Vegan Peanut Butter Granola via The Kind Life

Summer Vegetable Curry via 101 Cookbooks

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos
via Oh She Glows

Super Easy Vegan Ice Cream

Yes, this was breakfast a few days ago.  While I'm saving the fruit cobbler for a future post, today it is all about the Super Easy Vegan Ice Cream.

Ingredients:

• Banana (1 per person)

Directions:
Freeze banana.  Yes, the whole banana -- peel and all.  The taste will differ based on the stage of ripeness, so experiment.  When you are ready to make the ice cream, take out the frozen banana and let it thaw out a little.  Remove (and compost) the peel.  Blend the banana.  Enjoy!

(It is entirely possible that freezing a peeled banana is easier to handle.  I just prefer it this way.)

That's it.  Super simple.  But that doesn't have to be the end...

Possible additions:

• Shredded coconut
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Chocolate or carob powder
• Other frozen fruits

Goes great:

• By itself
• On pies, cobblers, cakes, granola, etc.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I found this simple and tasty recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread from Pickles and Honey.  I changed a couple of things based on what I had and I also used only half the sweetener.  It came out beautifully.  My last pumpkin bread was a bit and dense.  Not this time.

Here's what I look for in store bought chocolate (or carob) chips:

• absence of high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils
• grain sweetened or unsweetened (sugar isn't always vegetarian, more below)
• dairy-free (milk, casein, whey, etc)

I had no idea that sugar isn't always vegetarian.  Here is a list of companies that do and do not use bone char.

Recipe: The Liz Berry Smoothie

This is a thick, nutrient-rich smoothie inspired by one of my good friends...

Ingredients:

• Banana

• A few leaves of kale

• 1 handful of blueberries, cherries, or other berries (frozen is okay). Amounts vary (I usually measure by handfuls). 

Supplies:

• Blender (I recommend using a hand blender.  They are much easier to clean than a regular blender.)

• Cup

Directions:
Blend ingredients until smooth.  This is a thick smoothie for sure.  For a thinner smoothie, experiment with the ratios.

Nutrients:

• Bananas - potassium, dietary fiber, manganese, vitamin b6, vitamin c

• Kale - fiber, calcium, vitamin b6, magnesium, vitamin a, vitamin c, vitamin k, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, phosphorus

• Blueberries - dietary fiber, vitamin c, vitamin k, manganese

Resolution #2 Eat Healthier Right Now

Change is hard. Changing the way we eat isn't just about substituting one thing for another, portion control, and following a set of rules. If it was that simple, maintaining a healthy relationship with food wouldn't be one of the top 5 New Year's Resolutions year after year. Where we buy our food, how and where we eat our food, and the company we keep while we eat all factor into the choices we make.

Here are some articles, tips, and ideas to masticate in 2011

In 2008, Kino Macgregor (Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher) contributed an article to the Living Mysore Journal which lists 10 healthy eating tips from interesting factoids to knowing when to cleanse. Click to view article.

Where we opt to shop impacts what we choose to eat. Here are some health food stores in and around Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Learning how to cook differently and with new foods is much easier with a good cookbook. Books on food and cookbooks at the AYB blog.

A yogic diet is very specific. Guy Donahaye (Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher) discusses key points here and lists suggestions from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.


Tips on how to eat and feel healthier right now
Replace sugar with agave, brown rice syrup, or date syrup
Get in the habit of reading labels
Do not eat high fructose corn syrup/corn sugar
Do not eat partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
Replace butter with ghee or non-hydrogenated vegan butter
Replace cheese with tahini
Replace eggs in sweet baked goods with mashed banana (1 egg = 1 banana)
Do not eat refined grains
Only drink fresh juice
Drink water instead if soda
Have dark chocolate instead of light, keep it dairy-free
Steam veggies rather than fry
Avoid labels that say "natural flavors"
Buy fresh vegetables instead of frozen
Buy whole fruit and vegetables rather than pre-cut



Quick and Easy Veggie Bowl for One
Cook Together:
1 cup Rice or Quinoa
2 cups Water
2 inches Sweet Potato
1/2 cup Onion if desired
Handful of Kale or Broccoli
1 small Beet
1 small Carrot

Garnish:
1/2 Lemon
Splash Olive Oil
Pinch Sea Salt or Tamari
1/2 small Avocado
1 stalk Green Onion/spring onion/scallion
Sprinkle Sesame Seeds or Pepitas
1/2 sheet Nori

Add grain and water to pot, turn up the heat. Wash and chop up about half a small sweet potato and onion and add to pot with grains. When it comes to a boil, turn down, cover, and simmer until water is gone and grain is cooked. In the meantime, wash and chop some kale, toss in. Wash and shred the beet and carrot, toss in.

Once the grain is cooked, plate it. Squeeze half a lemon (or more if you really like lemon) over the food. Add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt or tamari. Add half of a small avocado, sliced. Add green onions, sliced. Sprinkle sesame seeds or pepitas on top. Tear up 1/2 a sheet of sushi nori and add. Mix it all up and enjoy!

Food Books

Macrobiotic









Modern Ayurveda











Classic Ayurveda




Food and Healing

{Food} Savory Breakfast

Carrot-Tahini Spread with Avocado and Toast

2 pieces of toast
2 grated carrots
6 tablespoons tahini
splash of wheat-free tamari sauce
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 of a ripe and ready avocado, sliced

Blend carrots, tahini, and lemon juice. If more runny than peanut butter, taste and add more carrots and/or tahini (depending on the flavor you like). If very thick and dry, add more lemon juice. Add a splash of wheat-free tamari. Taste. Test consistency (peanut-butter like).

Squeeze a little of the remaining lemon juice over the sliced avocado.

Serve carrot-tahini spread with avocado and toast. I like to pile it on my toast as I eat, but maybe you want to pre-stack the goods. It is up to you!

Enjoy!

I try to stay clear of prepared/processed foods, but for gluten-free bread I usually buy Food For Life Millet Bread.

Labor Day: Practicing while pregnant

A question:

Is there anyone out there who has information about practicing second series while pregnant? If you practiced here at the Shala or with an authorised/certified teacher, please send me your info. I have a friend who needs some support and has a few questions...

The blog:

Super-expensive dark chocolate, crackers, cookies, Rachel's "homemade peanut butter" disaster, domino's "mexican way" pizza.

Last night I ate myself into a food coma. It can be very easy sometimes to get caught up in things that don't really exist. We create problems because deep down, parts of us really enjoy some of the emotions that pain brings. I miss ___ terribly.

I've been thinking a lot about life and mine in particular and I don't want to discuss any of that here, but that probably explains why this post and some others have been sparse. Long-distance relationship depression is pretty common here. I saw three instances of teary eyes this morning alone.

Being here, daily life revolves around practice. Saturday we are resting our bodies for the week to come. Tomorrow, 5 am led class, 6:15 led second class. I "slept in", and have no real intentions to leave my house. But if the sun is aligned in the right way, I might go to the veggie stand to get more eggplant. I'm thinking of making tina's stuffed eggplants today. (I put the recipe on a past blog). I made a test batch 2 days ago. Some were good, some bad. Hopefully today it will just be good.

My arms are sore. I think I might be growing some muscles--imagine!

All I want to do is hang out around the house and watch movies. Why doesn't the video store deliver?

Discovery: Domino's now has a Gobi Manchurian pizza. I would never be this insane in New York.

Saraswati could be sitting on your tongue

Tina says that in Indian cooking, there is no tasting of the food to see if it is right like we do in western cooking. One reason for this is to avoid contaminating the food with your germs. The other reason is that you are supposed to be so completely present when you cook that everything will be just right. I hope you try to make the eggplant recipe from a couple of days ago. It is a bit strange not having exact measurements to work with, but you'll just have to let go and jump in. As Tina says with a laugh, "this is not a laboratory...it is a kitchen!"

At the cooking class on Thursday, Tina told us a story about Saraswati. (I should mention that I am not talking about Saraswati the 60 something year old yoga teacher at the Shala who assists Guruji. Here, many people are named after Gods and Goddesses. It would be as if there were a lot more people named "Jesus".) Saraswati lives in your throat by where your collarbones stick out. One time during the day, she will climb up your throat and sit on your tongue. You can never tell when she'll decide to sit there. But beware, when Saraswati sits on your tongue, whatever you say will come true. It is for this reason that you must be mindful of what you say throughout the day.

Today I'm off to read more Harry Potter. Later, we are going to the Mysore Palace to see the lights. Apparently it is very beautiful and they only do it on Sunday evenings.

If you've never picked up a copy of the Yoga Sutras, you ought to. I'm going to go get a new copy this week. There are many translations of this ancient text. My favorite is the one by Swami Satchitananda. However, many people have been recommending Light on Yoga Sutras by Iyengar. So, Since I already have the Satchi copy at home, I think I'll pick up the Iyengar copy while I'm here for a new perspective.

Today and tomorrow are moondays, depending on whose calendar you are following. We (a few of us students) decided it was on Monday, and so organized a little practice group this morning. It was really nice to get adjustments from each other, and I did my practice which felt so so so good! Primary can really be a bummer for me. All the forward bending and monotonous back and forth stuff makes me feel a bit drained. So it felt really good to do all those extra back bends and heart openers... Tuesday we will practice again.

PS-If you haven't read Elissa's blog yet, you should. She is way more candid that I and she has a completely different perspective. Also, its funny to read the stuff she writes about me! Check the sidebar under "mysore blogs" and click the link!

Yoga clothing and the 3 gunas

It has been 2 days since my last post, so I'll have to recap. Wednesday I practiced, read, ate, and went to chanting with Jayashree. Thursday I practiced, read, ate, and went to a cooking class with Tina. Life here is good!

Before chanting on Wednesday, I dropped Alex off at the hospital so she could get her nose pierced. (Everyone gets piercings done at the hospitals here. They also get a lot of dental work done as it is MUCH less expensive than in the states.) I couldn't stay with her as I had to meet Elena at the coconut stand (its always where people meet up, or the main landmark when it comes to giving directions), but apparently it was quite a show. We had spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon at the "Hotel Formerly Known As The Southern Star" (really, that's what the sign said) lying poolside and soaking up sun. I tried to read Harry Potter, but was quite distracted by the conversations around me and also the glare from the sun. The water was very very cold, but we had a lot of fun. It costs 200 for a day pass and they give you a towel. Its a pretty posh place. You can also get a monthly pass as well as nice looking salads, sandwiches, and french fries. When you spend a lot of time in the heat, your blood vessels dilate, and when you are cold, they constrict. The point? The nurse who did Alex's piercing was convinced she was an alcoholic because she bled so much! The piercing looks really nice though. Apparently you are supposed to get the left side pierced only. I tried asking several people about this, and I got something about it making you more fertile. Who knows?

I found out that at chanting we are actually practicing for a performance on Guruji's birthday. Someone mentioned that they weren't sure they wanted to do it because they heard that if we chanted incorrectly, he would someone was watching and would clap for me when I do something good. Instead, there is absolutely no recognition. In turn, my jump backs (I think) have gotten much better and everything feels a little deeper, a little stronger, and a little lighter. On Wednesday after At chanting, I found out that we are actually practicing for a performance we will give on Guruji'sdefinitely call us on it. (Guruji used to be a sanskrit scholar.) Jayashree explained that "Gurus are here to criticize us ... Even if he says 'you [Jayashree] have not done it properly' I will say 'thank you'". She continued, "if I say you are very good, you will not grow". This got me thinking about practice (although you could apply it to a lot of things) and how I've back tracked quite a bit in what I'm doing. Sometimes I wish someone was clapping for me every time I do something good, but in spite of this, I feel like my jump backs have gotten a lot lighter and my practice as a whole has gotten stronger and deeper. On Wednesday during back bends with Sharath he said "good". Its nice to know he probably meant it.

My Mysore time has been moved to 7am. Yesterday, I got there early, and still there were TONS of people waiting. Alex says its like that every Thursday. People are tired from the week and so are practicing a little slower. Well, there were people with 6:30 time slots still waiting to get in at 7:15. Its also really crowded for the birthday. It seems that a lot of people have come in for just a week and that still others are leaving right after the birthday. But maybe Alex is right about Thursdays. I felt really tired and heavy at first. I'm partially convinced that its just the pants I'm wearing. I'm sure I could argue that clothes can be tamasic because every time I saw my pant legs hanging about, I felt like I was just hanging about. These did, however, used to be called my favorite practice pants. But since I got the American Apparel leggings, I feel there is no comparison. The leggings are close fitting so you can see your bones, but also there is no extra fabric flapping about. I'm sure the fact that I'm hand washing the other doesn't help. i might see if Krishna tailor can shorten them a bit.

Back bends with Saraswati were a riot. I did 3 half way down and on the fourth went straight down to grab my ankles like I do with Sharath. But she was like "no no hands down walk in!" So I put my hands down to the floor and tried to walk in. I took my right hand to my right calf and was dangling there. She let go of my back with her arms so that she could help me grab my left calf with my left hand but without the support, I toppled over like a wheel onto my forearms and then she brought me back up to stand and "tried" to explain to me what she meant. I went back again, this time taking my hands to the floor. I walked my hands close to my heels then took my right hand to right calf. My other arm just hung there, she held me this time and reached for my left hand, instead, she grabbed my hair and gave it a tug (I think her had got a bit tangled). I yelped as she finally got my left hand and took it to my left calf. It was funny. Here is a video of Sharath doing drop backs. Enjoy!

At 1pm I had my cooking lesson at Tina's. It was like an interactive cooking show. She made Spinach dahl, stuffed eggplant, and chapathis. Here is how you make the eggplants. It is super super easy and SO SO good!

Super Tasty Stuffed Eggplants Tina Style
Get some fresh ginger and fresh garlic. It has to be organic. Put it in the blender and blend. You now have ginger garlic paste. This will keep in the fridge for 3 months! You might also be able to get this at the supermarket.

Now get yourself some eggplants. They have to be skinny and long. Preferably they are small (like only a couple of bites long), or you will chop them later. And obviously, they should also be organic.

Take a knife and slice open the eggplant lengthwise, but keep the stem on. Do this to all your eggplants.

Now take your fingers and glob some of that ginger garlic paste inside it and smoosh the 2 sides together. Its okay if the paste squishes out.

Heat some sunflower or safflower oil in a pan. NOT OLIVE OIL. This is Indian cooking!

Throw your eggplants in the pan. You want this to be medium to low heat. Cover them and everyone and a while toss the pan a bit so they get cooked all over. It is important that the heat is low and that it is covered as this will ensure that they get cooked all the way though, not just charred on the outside.

When you are able to squish into the eggplant easily with a spoon, they are ready. You can either serve them hot, or room temp. They are like super delicious and tasty roasted peppers Italian style. This is fast and you will love them!

This morning I was dreading the led class at 6:15. Headstand. When Elissa and I got there, I was tired and moody and a bit miffed that we had to wait outside because there were so many people. We could hear Sharath counting inside and it sounded like a hard class because he went more than 15 minutes over and they had what seemed like a 30 second Savasana. When those students started filling out, we started moving in. I claimed a pot front and center and hoped for the best. We seemed to be waiting a little longer than usual, and when I saw Saraswati escorting Guruji to the stage, we all could see why.

It was a nice surprise that Guruji taught the class not only because its Guruji, but also because he taught super fast and it made the struggle almost non-existent in headstand. I was actually quite funny. He was counting very quickly until he got to 7 and then he just stopped counting. I could hear him walking across the stage and I figured he had gone to help someone. I could see people starting to come down, but Sharath would say come back up. This went on for some time and then I came down and went back up and heard "eight!" Everyone laughed a bit. Elissa was practicing on the stage and she said that he actually had gone to the men's room! After uthpluthih, Sharath said "too easy!"

Many people are preparing to leave soon. Its strange to think that I will be here for some time still!