Wellness is an All Encompassing Subject

"Rather than make weight-loss your goal, make health your priority"

"Like any successful relationship in life, at the heart of your relationship with food is self-love."

-Donna Gates from this article

You have to work to find YOUR balance and happiness

 I do like to talk food.  Plants and Yoga make me a very happy person.  Of course, I have been through my struggles with wellness.  I say my struggles with wellness and not just with food because that is what it was/is.  A much larger, deeper part of my life than just what goes into my mouth.  I wanted to establish my view here, to you all, of health and wellness.  It is so much more than food and fitness.  It is a state of being.  Of being well. 

What does that mean to you?  When do you really feel well?  When you've slept enough, had good food, kept active?  And what else?  How about when you're not stressed, when you've taken time away from all the noise around you and paid some attention to your wants and needs, or when you've finally come to accept something about yourself or those around you.  Wellness is that feeling of peace, of being grounded, of a clear mind, and of a thriving body.

For me, the imbalances in my life manifested most in my relationship with food, but also, though less so, in other areas of my life (referring to the 2nd quotation).  This topic goes back to the quote I mentioned in my previous post, which summarizes to say that the choice of what you eat is a good indicator of how much you value yourself that day.  That may not be YOUR indicator of course.  It may be something completely different.  Pay attention to these signs and dig deep.  Trust your intuitions and find balance.

Wellness is:

• Peace of mind, so find yours intentionally
• Foundational joy, don't settle for less
• Self-respect and self-worth
• A feeling of liberation in life

What can you do to enhance or find your wellness?  You are worth it, so pursue it.

Eat Your Greens! - Winter Ways

As the weather turns, we tend to lean toward warm, heavy grains for sustenance.  And snuggley blankets.

Delilah knows the deal.  She's Roomy's dog, an adorable little princess of a Dachshund.  A BIG snuggler!  I love her, even her 3am going-out side.  I just had to put the pic up really.

Hehehe

She is a HUGE fan of Green Smoothies.  You wouldn't think it, being a dog and all, but she always gets the last bit from the blender and she goes crazy for it!  Makes me love her even more.  No, we don't let her at the blender, blade and all, we scrape it into her bowl.

 

 Not so green, I know, but Purple with Green intentions Smoothie is just as good.  It has been a strange 70+ degrees here in Chicago for the last couple of days (until today - 40's!), which put me in a smoothie mood of course.  I'm also a big fan of smoothies in the winter, but of a different variety.  This guy's got a frozen banana, bloobs (that's blueberries for you non trail folk), RAW Vanilla Chai Meal Powder, Goji berries, Chia, water, and, of course, frozen SPINACH for the Green Intention part.

Winter smoothies took me a while to get really happy with, but room temp was the key and a heavy base too.  Think cashew, hemp, cinnamon, apple, banana, vanilla.  Or think, spinach, banana, orange slices, ginger, cashew, date.  As little frozen as possible, unless you have a real sweet heating system in your place of residence.  Our land lord seems reluctant to turn on the heaters, and Roomy and I lean toward the less energy use side of things anyway = no space heaters in our apartment = we just snuggle with Delilah.

Kale is also a great green for winter.  It lasts a long time, massaging it with a ginger based dressing is great for circulation and warming you up even though you're eating a salad.  If you lean toward the "I MUST HAVE COOKED FOOD IN WINTER" side of things, then go for some dehydrated kale chips, or roasted cabbage.  Sauteed collards and mustard greens for that extra warming kick?  How about a mustard marinade for some tougher greens?

Keep the greens flowing/growing in the cold months.  I'll actually be talking about this during my Vegan Fall Feast Workshop coming up here in Chicago on Saturday Nov. 10th 4:30-6:30.  It'll be at the Yoga Studio I work at and will be a very tasty good time!

Keep it Green and Lovely!

Healthy & Fast Go Together!

Don't forget it!  Probably the most common reason I hear for not eating healthy or using whole foods, or eating vegan, is time.  I also believe every single healthy living blogger/professional has started a post similarly.  Cheers!

So, what IS the deal then?  I'll give you two happy examples here of my recent quick, no hassle, but tasty and healthy dishes.  First up is what I do when my veggies are going to go bad soon and I have lots of randoms.  I make SOUP!  Easy, simple.  This one was a Butternut Squash Ginger Soup.  I've been on a ginger kick recently, I tend to load up when the weather is changing, and felt like squash.  I DID buy the cutest butternut squash for the soup, but could have easily not added it in if I didn't want to get anything from the store since I had everything else hanging out in my fridge getting tired of small talk.

SOUP - This guy is not as photogenic as I had wanted it to be, but there are worse things to worry about like biking home in a big city and the taste. And this was tasty.

Ingredients:
1 lb peeled and cubed butternut squash
2 rough chopped large carrots (or one of those mammoth ones!)
1/2 rough chopped yellow onion
2 medium Red Bliss Potatoes, chopped
1/4 lb chopped cabbage
1 inch knob of peeled ginger, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350F
2. Toss the Butternut Squash with some oil, salt, pepper, and I used some Mesquite BBQ seasoning that my roomy has laying around
3. Spread squash cubes evenly on baking sheet and roast until tender (8-10minutes)
4. Get a pot of water, about 2 cups, boiling in the mean time. (Broth is better, but I didn't have any)
5. Throw in the carrots, onion, and potatoes
6. Allow to boil for about 5 minutes before adding the cabbage and ginger
7. Cook for another 2-3 minutes
8. Put in blender and blend until smooth!
9. Add seasonings to taste

I served mine with some roasted almonds, coconut oil, and Nutritional Yeast flakes

STIR-FRY - The 2nd dish I made recently is related to that random bike comment.  Roomy got into a bike car accident the day before yesterday.  The car was stronger than the biker unfortunately, but Roomy is OK just a bruised bone and stitches on her forehead.  So, that was no fun.  I stayed with her in the ER that night and took off of work yesterday to help her out.  I was in more of a state than she was (think crazy waves of emotions).

Dinner, therefore, was a low-energy affair with a forgotten picture.  Thus the Stir Fry.  Again, easy thing to throw together with whatever is lying around or on its last leg.

Source

1. Make Brown Rice or Rice Noodles (or other grain/zucchini noodles) 
2. Chop up a bunch of different veggies (LOTS)
3. Toss in a large HOT pan with some oil
4. Saute until done (cooked but not mushy)
5. Put veggies on rice/noodles/grain 
6. Pour sauce of choice on top (Soy sauce, honey, ginger, rice vinegar, lime juice, mango puree = just an idea)
7. Top with chopped nuts/seeds
8. Optional add-in of marinated tofu, Tempeh or even chickpeas or nuts

This can take just 10 minutes if you already had the grain/noodles made, maximum 20 minutes depending on your speed in the kitchen and the grain you choose.

 

My point with the vagueness of the Stir Fry is that it can be whatever you want it to be.  3 Components: Base (Grain or noodle), Veggies, & Sauce.  I usually recommend a topping like nuts or a protein source in the Stir Fry itself for satiety's sake.

 

Please, eat your veggies and stop telling me it is a time issue (said with a smile in my voice).  Much love and many, many hugs!  Stay grateful for being alive and well.  Keep yourselves healthy because you never know what will happen. Having a strong healthy body will protect you in more ways than you may initially think.

 

What I'm Loving Now

I spend my fair share of time checking you all out, and these are some things that I just LOVE!

1. First pick is Kris Carr's blog post from today:

The power of unconditional acceptance

It has some great messages in there.  My favorite being

When we accept ourselves exactly as we are, in exactly this moment, we shift from living for tomorrow to appreciating today. Acceptance heals. Rejection harms. Nurture and nourish yourself.

 2. Spaghetti Squash with Trader Joe's Basil Marinara and homemade vegan cashew "parm."  I did eat it 3 days in a row!

3. Fair Trade Month is October!  I didn't even know it until I visited Jenna's blog today.  She's having an AWESOME giveaway that ends tonight!  So get over there!  Lot's of Fair Trade goodies!

4.  Homemade Vegan Rolos via Angela over at Oh She Glows!  I can't stop looking at this picture!  And I will be making them before Fall finishes!

 

5. Scheduling my activities.  Easy right?  Common sense eh?  Well, I'm trying it out this week inspired by Katie's post about scheduling workouts onto your google/weekly calendar over at her blog Peace Love & Oats.  My big thing is that I schedule the classes that I teach and my work schedule at the studio, but I don't schedule the classes that I take or when to go to the gym, so that is my goal, to schedule and to follow!  The latter may be the bigger challenge hehehe!

6. Have I mentioned Main Street Vegan?  Love it!

7. My Monday noon Vinyasa class.  I've had a couple ladies coming to the class I teach on Mondays for the last couple of weeks and I am so happy to have them.  We absolutely rocked it out today despite the rainy weather.  Energy levels were up by the end and peace was resounding.  One of them is a new mom so, in our final meditation, I reminded them to take care of themselves first so that they can best take care of those they love.  You cannot make others happy if you are not happy yourself.

What are some hot spots you've been checking out these days?  Any particularly striking Fall recipes or inspirational postings?

Cheers & Hugs (lots and lots of hugs)!

 

Fitness Saves Lives

We all know that though.  My dear daddy recently sent me this article about it.  The article explains that after a lengthy research period, cardiorespiratory fitness is a bigger indicator of whether you, as a man, are going to get a heart attack.  It just goes to show that being active is as awesome as we all expected, actually even more so.  This means that you can't just feel content sitting around taking cholesterol lowering meds and eat well as a lazy person.  You gotta move!

So stop reading this right now and go do something active!

GO!

Mainstreet Vegan - A Review

"I've long said that I can judge the state of my psycho/spiritual fitness by how willing I am to wash lettuce.  I think this is all about self-esteem.  How much do we really, really believe we're worth today?....The more convinced you are that you deserve a splendid life, the more likely you are to eat top-notch food."

Victoria Moran, Main Street Vegan

I finished this book in about 1.5 days.  Granted, one of those days was a travel day, flying from San Francisco to Chicago.  You know how it is though.  If a book is tedious and not engaging you're just going to start to nod off during the flight, making it seem longer than it already feels.  On the other hand, if the book is awesome, you find yourself enraptured in the author's words and the flight was too short because you want the time to finish the book!  That's how I felt anyway, reading Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran.

I've read my fair share of diet books, lifestyle books, vegan books, and cookbooks. I am pretty picky about them.  I won't recommend something I think is mediocre.  I want to give someone the best when they ask for guidance.  This is one of those books that I would recommend without a second thought. 

The tone is so down to earth and understanding.  There is no "preachy" vibe about it and it carries you through the process of going (or thinking about going) vegan very smoothly.  She provides facts without dumping numbers and study after study on you, but she also provides philosophy and the gift of new ideas.  After each main section she treats us to a little story about her life and a recipe related to it.  All of the recipes are very user-friendly, simple and tasty.

When she does get into more of the details about the Vegan diet, she does so gently and eloquently.  Again, he writing style is very easy to follow and the ideas are good for wrapping your mind around if this isn't your normal way of thinking (us Vegans can be a bit quirky sometimes!).

One of the things I get really, how shall I say this, pissy about is when an author doesn't quite give all the facts about the validity of a claim.  My favorite example in most vegan diet books is Food Combining.  This is the idea that certain foods should be eaten alone, like fruits, and others can pair only with specific others, for optimal digestion due to differing digestion times.  There is really no scientific backing to this idea and if a diet book states it likes it's truth, I lose confidence in that author immediately. What else are they not informing the public about?  Most people who will read these books will believe what they read and not do further research.  Victoria Moran explains this subject perfectly.  She simply states that some people claim that it helps, but it doesn't have much science to back it up.  Simple and easy to understand while still being honest and informative.  Sometimes I think that authors worry that too many grey areas will discourage people, and that may be the case in the diet book world, but I feel like the author thinks I'm a capable thinking being who can take the truths and do what I will with them.

She has great messages throughout, guiding people on how to be good vegans (and really just good people).  Be good examples by showing the bounty of a vegan diet, the compassion of vegans, the deliciousness that is vegan food, and the acceptance that everyone needs to take their time bettering themselves.  Just like the quotation on the top implies, as people realize that they are worth everything and more, they will begin to naturally treat their bodies better.  If they choose to become knowledgeable about how to do that, they will often tend toward a plant-based diet and compassionate lifestyle.

So, go read it!  It's awesome on so many levels.

Why I Love/Hate Chicago

Pic from here

I found myself riding my bike to the studio today.  For any of you in Chicago, you know that this morning consisted of appropriately Fall temps and rain!  I was determined to be a tough cookie (I always think of my brother saying that phrase) and dressed half appropriately and got wet and cold.  I loved it!

Half appropriately means I didn't wear my rain pants.  I had the notion that my rain coat would be long enough and not move while I biked. Because that makes sense *shakes head*

On my way I had a few thoughts about why I, as a biker, both love and hate Chicago.  I know you're dying to hear.

Love:

1. Flat
2. Not much rain (this year)
3. Bike lanes

Hate:

1. Flat gets boring - I wanna see mountains!
2. Plenty of wind
3. Taxis in bike lanes

 I looked like a surprised cat after a bath when I walked in!  At least I made the morning desk shift smile upon entering.

Ever since my trail days, most specifically my 40-day backpacking trip to Alaska when I was 17, I have not minded being wet.  Knowing that I am privileged enough to have a dryer accessible, as well as plenty of warm dry clothes waiting for me makes me more than happy to get a little chilled and sloppy.  It's like gaining that care-free feeling back when you were a kid and really didn't care if you got ridiculously messy or jumped into a pond fully clothed.

Let's all remember and show gratitude toward the little things that make our lives so easy and comfortable.  Think about it related to your life.  What can you focus on be grateful for?  Can you find an area to get back that child-like nature?

Strawberry Ice Cream!

I recently read, I believe in the book in the background of this photo (will be discussing soon), that you can tell what you think you're worth each day by what you choose to eat.  How true is that?  I'll admit that I've not been eating to my worth recently.  You can feel your self respect dip and soon to follow is your food choice.  So I've given myself a little shake, a little dance, a little self love!  What resulted was a better dessert choice.

I diiiid!  I did last night in fact.  I put:

2 frozen bananas,
a cup or more of frozen strawberries
a 1/4 cup coconut milk

Into my blender and made ICE CREAM!  The funny thing, you might be thinking, especially those of you who have seen a recent facebook status about a lack of heating in my building, is that I'm eating ice cream at this time of year.  Let me tell you a story.

I rode my bike home as usual.  T'was brisk and silly.  I get home, walk up to my 3rd floor pad and what greets me upon opening the door?  Well, a blast of HOT air!  Not comfortably warm, but steamy 3rd floor radiator type of warm (hot).  So, ice cream came to mind.

This amount is good for two hefty servings!  Enjoy as is, or add a bit of vanilla, maybe top with some chocolate sauce?  Crumble a cookie on top?

You're worth great health, whole foods, and tasty treats!  Don't forget it.

The Bay Area Feeding

It is said that Burning Man is magical (Oh no hippie alert!), that humanity is pure and good there.  People follow their hearts and do what feels right, no matter what it is (seriously - no matter what).  And so Sam and I met a jolly wonderful man who I'll call Preston here.  He gifted us the experience of seeing each other again.

Sam, my boyfriend in case that wasn't obvious by now, moved out to Sacramento at the end of July bringing me back to familiar territory: the long distance relationship. Preston felt compelled to bring us together, being touched by our genuine love for each other (magical and poetic!). He used his miles to fly me out to San Francisco for this past weekend.  Sam doesn't often have 2 days off, let alone the three for Columbus Day, so this was our last opportunity to meet up until New Years.

And so the adventure:

Feeling spoiled and blessed by such a generous gift, I needed to be humbled (right?), so I slept at O'Hare Airport on Friday night.  It was actually because I had an early flight on Saturday and didn't feel like waking up at 3AM to take 1.5 hours of transport to get to the airport, but I was also humbled in the process!  Note: Security closes at some point in the evening before 11PM, which means you cannot go through.  I found a set of seats, slid my body under the arm rests (thank goodness they aren't attached to the bottom of the chair) and slept relatively well.  5:00AM rolls around and I go through security and pass out immediately on the flight.

Arrival is full of big smiles and warm embraces and the awareness that the airport traffic cop is staring at us, counting down to kick us out of the "no waiting" area.  Off we go!

Berkeley is where we decided to stay.  Using Airbnb, similar to couch surfing but you get a whole room and often the whole house for a low cost, we stayed comfortably in this awesome college city.  Right near anything we might need or want.

Image from here

Saturday consisted of a lot of not much.  The perfect break.  Lunch at Taste of the Himalayas (delicious Saag, Samosas the size of, well, the Himalayas, and delectable Garlic Naan).  Unfortunately I was way too out of it to think of bringing my camera.  This is not what we ate, but similar enough for visual demonstration.

Pumpkin Spiced Latte at Peet's Coffee & Tea (they have vegan ones here!)  I also like Peet's because they carry vegan cookies and muffins.  There is one nearby me in Chicago that I have yet to visit.

Image from here

With latte in hand, we visited the Bancroft Hotel, labeled the Greenest Hotel in Berkeley.  This is saying quite a bit since this whole area is very progressive and green in its ways. We met the Catering Director and discovered we had an awful lot in common, like loving food and food events!  Imagine that.  She gave me her card.

Back home we went.  Eddie Izzard found his way into the DVD player and many laughs followed.  Eventually dinner happened - leftover Indian - and an excursion to CREAM!

Image from here

A wonderful concept of freshly baking cookies and scooping ice cream between two!  I know, not entirely new, but great that it isn't frozen from a box that's been ready to eat for weeks or something.  No surprise here, they had vegan options.  I got the tuxedo cookies with Cherry Chocolate Chunk ice cream.  AMAZING and satisfying in only the way cookies and ice cream can be.

The next day, Sam treated me to Vegan Brunch at Herbivore - The Earthly Grill.  Really great taste again.

Image from here

I got the BLT (tempeh bacon) with salad instead of potatoes.

Image from here

He got the Savory Crepes (that's a basil sauce on top.  I know isn't much of a looker).  And we shared a piece of French Toast (The best Vegan French Toast I've ever had next to Julian's in Providence).  A very satisfying meal.  Leftovers saved us as we rushed to the airport the next morning.

We finally got to San Francisco on Saturday and had a great time at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.  It's a music festival as I'm sure you gathered.  I'm not a huge music festival person and I usually get bored, but I really enjoyed this one! Very chill vibe and great company with Sam's friend.

We found ourselves a couple beers in by the end and HUNGRY!  Luckily enough Underdog was right around the corner from the festival! 

Image from here

Vegan friendly hotdogs and sausages and even gluten free buns!  That's what I got!  Topped with sauerkraut and relish.  SO satisfying!

We were tempted to get another ice cream cookie sandwich, but were way too exhausted to much more than sleep.  I did, unfortunately have to leave relatively quickly in the morning, so not much to show for Sunday except that I finally got to see what Salt Lake City looks like from the air.  Kinda freaked me out to be honest (no offense of course).

The flight back let me read, almost entirely through, an awesome book.  The review is to come!  Great Vegan reading though!

Until the next adventure - Happy Trails & Eat Well!

EqualEyez Retreat at Ronora

I love last minute opportunities, don't you?  Like a last minute invitation to be head chef at some meals and be assistant chef at some other meals for a weekend retreat. In Michigan at Ronora.  I get really excited when I have the opportunity to leave the city!  And cook for people!  Double awesome this time.  And so, after creating a lunch and dessert recipe for one of the days, I got picked up by Andrea of Edible Alchemy and we headed out.

I had worked with Andrea before when she and her husband Dietrich set up the kitchen for Burning Man and asked me to lead a meal for our camp during that event.  And I've also worked with them at Edible Alchemy for a short period, when I was helping coordinate with the local farmers to get produce orders in for the CSA-like service they offer.  That was fun!  We got to go to the farmer's market and pick up huge amounts of fresh fruits and veggies.

"EqualEyez is a three day festival/campout/retreat envisioned for community members to cultivate and expand their leadership talents. We will bring you on a journey that will deepen your creative and influential intensity so that you may transport this back to your home and guide those around you towards ascension into their highest Self"

Pretty awesome purpose.

I was only able to participate from Friday to Saturday evening because I was teaching a yoga class 9:30 am on Sunday and had to work the desk Sunday evening.  Though brief, I had a wonderful time!

Andrea and I stopped by a couple of farms that Edible Alchemy works with regularly on the way to pick up some produce. It was great to see the farms instead of just the stand at the market.  

We may have raided the grapes that were left on the wines.  Some of the tastiest grapes I've ever had.  Thicker skins, but sweeter insides!

One of the recipes I created for the event was a raw lasagna, which called for a fair amount of zucchini.  Our luck was that the farms were out.  It wasn't zucchini season anymore?  While constructing alternatives to the raw zucchini noodles I had been relying on, we drove by a HUGE field of GIANT zucchinis!

Apparently these not so tender guys don't sell well so they were just going to be left to rot in the field.  It looked like they had just been cut down, so we grabbed as many as was feasible and lugged them back to our car.

Not before thanking the zucchini gods and the universe for manifesting these fruits!

They were seriously huge!

The first night Andrea hosted with taco night.  Lots of fresh veggies!

Then I led a big breakfast featuring the most amazing vegan gluten-free pancakes ever!  I can't take credit for the recipe.

This is our amazing clean-up crew!  Couldn't do it without them!

We immediately began lunch prep after breakfast.  The raw lasagna had to be made with lots of hands and lots of love!

We spiralized and julienne peeled the giant zucchinis with the wonderful volunteers.

Toped with raw vegan parm and ready for service!

All the chefs together (pardon quality of photo)!

The weekend was a success!

I hitched a ride home with Adam, the resident Raw Chef and overall awesome guy in the middle of the above photo.  I was sad to leave the amazing kitchen and the mini-vacation but would go back in a heart beat!