Class was really great, but I was so excited to get home to make gluten-free tabbouleh from the Whole Food app I mentioned earlier! Probably one of my most favourite dishes ever - I made it with quinoa this time (gluten-free, unlike couscous!) as per the recipe. We didn't have any green onion so I just used extra cucumber and tomato, my two most favourite veggies and added a few chopped mint leaves in with the parsley. The recipe says red pepper flakes, but I added salt and pepper and a sprinkle of allspice to the dressing and ohh my yum ...
Okay maybe the photo isn't the best but when I said tabbouleh was maybe my favourite thing that was made so much more true with quinoa. And mint. I am so obsessed with this I made a massive bowl of it and have been eating bites of it randomly out of the fridge. And bringing it for lunch to my first day of work (about time...). It is so easy and anyone who is into any of these flavours or trying something new and delicious, make this! It took me no time and for me that's a large statement. And I'm still eating it two days later and it's just as delicious!! And the second best part? Jamie doesn't like it so I have it all to myself. Needless to say, Saturday was a good day. I even didn't mind reading physiology about the systems of the body and how they interact. I like being able to apply what I'm trying to learn, even if it's major overload and I don't care about the resting membrane potential; I care about how they move and how they feel when they stretch.
I did get to take a little walk to get i.d. photos taken for my new job (!!) as an enumerator for the 2011 Census. I am a government employee for the summer I suppose! Anyway, that went as well as a passport-style photo could go I guess! But I was excited to come home and make my Saturday night dinner - Kirsten's recipe for Garlic-Quinoa Pancakes from the cleanse (thank you!!)
Garlic Pancakes
Mix in a bowl:
1 cup quinoa flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs psyllium husk
1 cup water
1 clove chopped garlic
1 dash of pepper
1 shredded leaf of basil
Fry up pancakes on medium heat in a little olive oil or oil of choice,
flip when crispy. The quinoa flour made a much thicker, more dense batter than I was expecting. I probably could will make them a little thinner next time, smaller scoops!
May want to top it off with some spinach leaves, sliced tomato or
fresh veggies of your choice. A couple of the girls suggested salsa?? Definitely on the list next time! Here's how they turned out ...
... of course with some more tabbouleh on the side! I topped mine off with spinach and tomato - nice and simple, and soo delicious! I even sat at the table and didn't even read or watch anything. I just ate - and I never do that. I always have to be doing something else. It was so delicious just to look at what I had made and eat it all up - well, almost! Next time for myself I would probably halve that, and do two smaller, thinner and more crispy pancakes (or at least try) and maybe some homemade pico de gallo I am dying to make ... I need to finish all of the food in the fridge first!
Saturday night I went to bed at 10:30. It felt so fantastic! And I actually fell asleep almost right away. I couldn't say when the last time that happened was. And I slept straight through in time for day nineteen ...
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all of the dads out there, but most importantly my wonderful father! Thank you for always being there for me and supporting me so much through my entire life and on this journey as I work on finding and creating myself. The unwavering love and support I have from you and Mum is overwhelming, and I don't know where I would be without it! Love you xo.
Me, Conor and Dad at the Public Gardens Easter Weekend
Day nineteen was dreary, but not quite rainy which was nice. I finally tried my soy yogurt for breakfast - pretty delicious! A much different texture than regular dairy yogurt, almost thicker, with more of a tang to it - although that may have been the raspberry. I can't eat as much of it at a time, which is okay, because I do really enjoy it! I also finally tried the rice milk! It was on sale two for $4 so I had gotten regular and vanilla - I tried the regular first and it was ... different. I like it, it just may take me a while to get used to the rice-y aftertaste. Which I like, but I don't expect from my milk just yet. I'm anxious to try vanilla, but I also sometimes hate vanilla, so we shall see.
The sun was shining as I left class, but everywhere was completely soaked thanks to a brief but intense rainstorm - I always love the smell of post-rain pavement and wet grass, especially in the sunshine! I felt pretty invigorated as I headed home for some lunch before going back to the studio for the cleanse meeting! Also had a little FaceTime call with my family, as they passed me around the table during Father's Day brunch and showed me all of the scrumptious bacon and sausage and deliciousness that Mum had prepared (she graciously hid her glass from my view as she took sips of milk, unlike my father and brother who made sure I could see everything they were eating). Oh I miss my family!
Lunch was some more leftover tabbouleh - yummm! I made a huge container full so I could just eat it whenever I want!
Sunday afternoon was time for the 'reintroducing foods' cleanse meeting - which of course I'm not ready for yet, but I went anyway. It was great seeing everyone, especially sensing the excitement of nearing the end of the cleanse! It was a complete tease hearing about all of the things my fellow cleansers can start eating again, but I reminded myself that I got to eat those things while they were all in my position! I wish everyone luck and love as they return (or not return!) to regular eating habits!
Sunday evening I have been looking forward to for days; MYH was offering a trial yogassage class to get a sense of whether it should be something they offer on a regular basis. Yogassage is exactly what it sounds like - an hour of restorative postures guided by the lovely Venessa, while a massage therapist, the talented Kelly came around and massaged each of us as we sank into different postures. All I can say is ... WOW. What an incredibly relaxing experience. Poses were held longer, and were all very gentle and restorative. I felt like a Jell-O jiggler when it was finished. Soo relaxing and just a perfect way to start to wind down my day! I really hope MYH offers more of this soon!
Chatting with Emma at the yogassage about her favourite cleanse recipes and snacks inspired me to try this Tomato Basil Cream Pasta from Oh She Glows. I've been wanting to try it and Emma's rave review made me even more excited. I was worried about trying another pasta sauce in my Magic Bullet, until I remembered (thanks to my darling mother, as always) that our KitchenAid immersion blender comes with a food processor-type attachment. So I loaded up my sauce ingredients and started the blender. Now let me preface this by saying that the blade portion of the mixer had what appeared to be a plastic sheath covering it, which I assumed was just to add to the food-processing appeal of the blender. So I'm blending my sauce, and I start to notice white chunks emerging in my red sauce. Removing the chamber I notice that the plastic sheath has been completely shredded and incorporated into my sauce. Delicious! After a few futile attempts to pick it out, I had to start all over with my sauce. I am dreadful in the kitchen!! While I may be improving my knife skills with all of this chopping, my common sense skills seem to be dwindling a little. Needless to say, sauce attempt number two was much more successful, and I produced an absolutely mouthwatering pasta dish!
The creaminess that the cashews create in the sauce is amazing, and in my opinion tomato basil is one of the best flavour combinations there is! I was very pleased with myself, needless to say, even despite the blender fiasco!
Day twenty / seven dawned brilliantly sunny in Halifax, a welcome change from the weather as of late! It was also my first day at my new job with Statistics Canada! I packed my bag full of lunch (more tabbouleh! with fruit as a snack) and yoga necessities since I'd have to go straight to Yin from work. It was a great first day, and I'm really looking forward to getting going! After training I walked from training on the Dartmouth side of the MacDonald bridge up to Moksha, which was really nice. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of our fair city as I walked over the bridge and looked out over the harbour, the Bedford Basin and George's Island.
"The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait to empty your suffering before allowing yourself to be happy"
-Thich Nhat Hahn
-Thich Nhat Hahn
I have been looking forward to the 5:30 Yin class for a while, I haven't been able to get to one in a few weeks and my body was just crying out for the relaxation of that 90 minutes. I was pleased upon arriving at the studio to learn that Dina T was teaching (my first experience with the MYH co-owner as a teacher!). Entering the hot room that evening was a wonderful calm ambiance created by the dozens of tiny tealight candles lining the edges of the room. The class was absolutely spectacular; we did everything from Frog pose (an incredible hip-opener that I love to just sink down into), Lizard pose - which always stretches out my tight upper-inner thighs in a way that often makes me feel like I am going to snap in two. We did Happy Baby, one of my favourites of the yin series most definitely, an extra long hold of Pigeon, seated wide-legged forward bend and Cow-Face Pose, which is sort of the bane of my yoga practice right now. My legs just don't seem to want to bend that way. I manage to get my bottom leg in the right position, with my top leg crossed over but slightly elevated and off to the side. It definitely provides an intense stretch through the outer hips and thighs, but it was also a huge relief to come out of. I love how the poses are held for so long in Yin, but today felt extra intense coming out of most of the poses. My legs felt like I needed someone there to hold on to each foot and straighten me out. It was intense, but oh so good! By the end of class I felt so relaxed there is a definite possibility I dozed off during final Savasana. It was sublime, and I went into the rest of the evening feeling like I was floating on a cloud. Dina is amazing, and I can't wait until she's back at the studio on a regular basis!
Dinner was a quick and easy one tonight - I had a little bit of cranberry-almond quinoa left so I finished that off and had some rice chips with hummus. I used to not be a leftover person at all, but making large quantities of delicious food seems to be my modus operandi lately. It was quick and delicious! I had lots of work-homework and school-homework to do so it was a busy evening (and hence the recent non-existence of blog posts!
"Ability is what we are capable of doing.
Motivation determines what we do.
Attitude determines how well we do it."
-Lou Holtz
Motivation determines what we do.
Attitude determines how well we do it."
-Lou Holtz
Happy First Day of Summer! Day twenty-one / eight was another sunny day, off to day two of training! I had the last of my tabbouleh for lunch, and had full intentions of attending the 5:30 Level II class but training went longer than they expected so I wasn't able to get to it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to any class Tuesday, but I plan on doubling up Friday or Saturday to make up for it. Jamie and I had gone out to do some errands so dinner was a bit on the fly of french fries (oh so delicious!!) followed by a bowl of edamame and some soy nuts and cherries once I got home. Not really a good sit down dinner, but delicious nonetheless!
Day twenty two / nine dawned another sunny morning as I attempted to tackle some more studying! For lunch I had a refried quinoa garlic pancake with hummus (delicious combination!) and a side spinach salad. I am anxiously awaiting my weekly Jivamukti fix at 5:30 to get me out of my studying stupor. Which is clearly what I'm doing right now ...
I promise not to slack this much with my posts again! It really just creates more work for me and I struggle remembering details of my day ... sad, I know. But I will definitely be more diligent with posting every day!
I hope everyone had a spectacular first day of summer yesterday, and are enjoying life, wherever you may be today!
Namaste.
Thank you for sharing information about diet recipe to yoga. Its really informative.
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