Favorite Recipes from Yoga Renewal 2014

roasted veggies with avocado

For the last few years I have offered a Yogic Renewal Retreat in my home studio. It's a small intimate group. We chant, do yoga, meditate, let go of the old year, eat and prepare for the upcoming year. Of course, what we eat is a big part of the program. So here are the recipes for those who are eager to replicate them.

Roasted Veggies- Choose any of your favorite veggies. Clean, peel, chop. Root veggies and those that need more time (potatoes, winter squashes, beets, etc), I put in a bowl with 3 T olive oil, 3 T balsamic vinegar, 5 or 6 chopped cloves of garlic, ground rosemary (I love freshly dried from my herb garden and I grind it with a pestle and mortar), salt and pepper. Toss root veggies and put in olive oiled 9 X 12 pan. Roast uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. In a container I put the rest of my veggies, red peppers, onions, mushrooms, eggplant. Toss in a similar mixture of olive oil, etc. Place in fridge. When the time goes off, I add these veggies for another 30-40 minutes.
Sometimes I eat this by itself with a sliced avocado as shown in pic above.

Polenta Dome adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates
4 c water 

bowl for polenta dome

2 t salt
1 T olive oil
2 c chopped onion
6 cloves chopped garlic
2 c cornmeal (I liked medium size)
1, 2 lb butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and shredded)
1 t ground sage
2 t ground fennel
.5 t ground black pepper
1 c grated romano cheese

Bring water and salt to boil. Slowly add, stirring constantly, cornmeal. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Be sure cornmeal is cooked and not grainy. You will need to keep an eye on this and sit regularly. Olive oil a rounded, bowl. See pic.

Heat olive oil and cook onion, garlic, and 1 t salt until browned. Add shredded squash and cook for 5 more minutes. Add water if it sticks. Stir veggies into cornmeal when the cornmeal is done. Add cheese. Scoop into prepared bowl, cover and let it cool. I place it in the fridge until just before heating to eat. I like that you can make this up to a day ahead of time.

Carefully place on a cooking tray or platter (oven safe). Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve with roasted vegetables. It's very attractive and very filling.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad
1 apple of your choice chopped
10-20 grapes cut into 4's
1 medium-sized shallot sliced thinnly
1 c roasted walnuts (350 degrees on cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes)
1/2 c goat cheese diced

Dressing:
3 T olive oil
6 T balsamic vinegar
1 T mustard
salt and pepper

Toss ingredients with dressing and serve.

Roasted Pears/Apples
1 pear or apple per person (sometimes I slice sweet potatoes too)
1 t ghee or butter (melt in pan before adding fruit)
Sprinkle with 1 t ground ginger, cinnamon and/or cardamom 

Walnut-Date Balls 
Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Looking for some clarity and guidance in planning your year, check out my Desire Mapping Workshops. The next one in SLC is January 17-18, 2015. My first virtual one begins on February 1st.

DIY Cleaning Products that WORK

DIY Cleaning Product Ingredients 

You might be wondering why a yogini is talking about Do-It-Yourself cleaning products. Well, I have found myself more and more unable to deal physically with all the unnatural chemicals in products--for my nourishment, my skin, my makeup (which I love), and for cleaning.

When I woke up looking like I'd been in a fight because my eyelids were so swollen, I knew I had to do something. Nothing had changed except that I had a new cleaning person with new-to-me products.

Bottom line is that I want to be mindful of what I put inside, outside and around my body and on the planet.

I began doing research through books, people and the internet. I thought my students and readers might like to hear about some of my findings. For those of you who live locally, I am doing a free presentation at REAL Foods Sugarhouse, in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, November 19th at 6:30 pm. You'll take home some ideas, recipes and easy-to-make holiday gifts that people will love and use.

Some of you already know that I spent many years as a Health and Science teacher dealing with all sorts of chemicals and experiments so making products and conducting experiments is right up my alley. I love trying out people's recipes and seeing what works and trying different things to make them more effective.

I decided to start with some of the more toxic cleaners.

Oven Cleaner

One of the easiest and lest toxic ways to clean the bottom of your oven is to use baking soda. Yep, that's it. Wipe down your oven with a wet sponge or rag (I an old t-shirt because it gets pretty dirty). Sprinkle baking soda, leaving a thick coat. Spray some more water to moisten all of the baking soda. Let sit for an hour or so. Wipe clean with warm water. You'll need to rinse your rag and change your water a few times. Depending on the severity of your oven, you may need to repeat. After my initial cleaning, I clean it monthly when I'm using my oven regularly and I only have to do it once. 

Toilet Cleaner

Believe it or not, my son Aaron makes these incredible bath bomb fizzies. People of all ages love them! It turns out that they are great toilet bowl cleaners as well. You know the toilet is a smaller body of water fairly close to the tub; let's see what happens kind of story that only kids can make happen.

For this recipe I suggest safety glasses and plastic gloves for protection as you are preparing it. 
Mix 2 c of baking soda with 2/3 c citric acid (we buy ours in bulk from the local Gygi Store). Using a spray bottle of plain water. Lightly spray the mixture and stir until it is the consistency of wet sand. Add essential oils of your choice. We like lemon and lavender mixed (15 drops of each). Press into candy mold or mini muffin dishes. Dry. In Utah this happens pretty quickly (4-8 hours). 

These are great for baths, toilet bowl cleaning and gifts. Store in an air tight container-zip lock baggie or a little glass jar.

For more simple, natural cleansers, stay tuned or stop by REAL Foods Sugarhouse next Wednesday, November 19th at 6:30 pm.  

I'd love to hear any of your ideas, recipes or success stories with natural cleansers.
#REALFoodsMarket #DIY

Yumminess: favorite winter recipes from Yogic Renewal Workshop

During this holiday season, I held a Yogic Renewal Workshop and promised my students that I would post my recipes. So all the recipes from the workshops are here. Enjoy! Feel free to share your favorite recipes as well because I am always looking for new cooking ideas. Thank you to all the chefs whose recipes I've shared.


Veggie Entrees

Tridoshic Dal
1 c split mung dal
8 c water
2 c summer squash (yellow crook and zucchini) cut into large cubes
1 c carrots chopped
1 c onion chopped
1 c celery chopped
1/8 t hing
2 T ghee (can be replaced w safflower or olive oil)
1 1/2 t tumeric
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t salt
1/2 T fresh minced ginger
1 1/4 t cumin seeds
1 t black mustard seeds
1 t fennel seeds
1 t fenugreek
2-3 hand fulls of spinach

1. Rinse dal. Wash and chop all veggies.
2. Heat ghee in large pot. Cook hing, tumeric and lemon juice for 30 seconds.  Add mung dal and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Add all veggies (except spinach) and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring.  Add water, ginger and rest of spices; bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for 60 minutes.  Add kale at end.
Serve with rice or quinoa.  Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or scallions.

Adapted from, The Ayurvedic Cookbook, by Amadea Morningstar

Pumpkin Saag
1 medium-sized cooking pumpkin
3 T olive oil
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 t garam masala (Eastern Indian spice)
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1/4 t cayenne
1 c water
1 inch ginger finely grated
3-4 handfuls of kale
juice of 1 lime

1. Split and seed pumpkin and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, face-down on cookie sheet, lightly coated with olive oil.  Let cool.  I cooked the day before and chilled in fridge. Peel away skin and chop into large chunks.
2. Heat large pot and oil.  Saute onions 5 minutes, add garlic for a minute.  Add pumpkin, spices and water until heated all the way through.  You may need to add more water.
3. Add lime and kale. Stir and continue heating on low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Let sit for a while before serving.
I serve with a grain-quinoa, brown or basmati rice.

Adapted from Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Brown Rice with Mushrooms

1 c short grain brown rice (can use various grains)
2 c water
1 T olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1/2 c largely chopped snow peas
1 1/2 c mixed sliced mushroom caps (shiitake, baby bells, porcini, etc)
2 T mirin
1/4 c chopped scallions
1 T Bragg's
1/2 c veg stock
fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Cook rice in 2 c water. Bring to boil uncovered. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
2. Saute garlic, ginger, pea pods and mushrooms in oil 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat, add mirin, cover and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Combine all ingredients in large pot.  Cook uncovered until all stock is absorbed.

Adapted from If the Buddha Came to Dinner, by Hale Sofia Schatz

Soups
Year round I love hot and yummy soups, but I especially love them when the weather turns cold. Nothing seems to warm me to my bones like soup. Some of my favorite recipes come from my very old and tattered, Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen. There are so many soups I like in that book and have made my own such as: the lentil soup, carrot soup, split pea, and the mushroom barley.  I will post soups in a separately because they deserve their own space.

Juice
I use this on days I need a boost and on days I'm giving my digestive tract a break.

1 cucumber
4-5 stalks celery
1 large handful of kale
small bunch of parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 inch slice of ginger peeled
1 apple cored
After putting through juicer, I squeeze in 1/2 lemon.
It's refreshing, boosts my energy and tastes amazingly good.
Adapted from, Green Tonic, in Super Cleanse, by Adina Niemerow

Desserts
My new quick easy and nutritious dessert comes from my friend Heidi O.
Date-nut balls
1/2 c walnuts, 1/2 c pitted dates with 1/2 t pumpkin spice combined in a food processor until still chunky.  Roll into balls and chill.

Sun Ball kind of Sweeties
1/2 c and 2 T toasted (lightly salted ok) sunflower seeds
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut (plus some extra to roll balls in)
1/4 c ghee or sunflower butter
3 T maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t cardamon

Grind sunflower seeds to a coarse meal in food processor.  Mix all ingredients in bowl.  Roll into 1 inch balls.  Roll in extra coconut.  Chill.

Adapted from, The Ayurvedic Cookbook, by Amadea Morningstar