Gratitude, and Lemon-Rosemary Water

I know Thanksgiving is done and fading into a distant memory already. I know that in our society, we tend to quickly forget our bountiful living in pursuit of the best deals for Christmas presents. 

But this year, I'm trying to pause, breathe, and enjoy the winter. No easy task, especially for me right now. I am no longer enjoying school, I am not pulling in much money and my job is on a time limit, and my immediate future is extremely unclear.

But then I remember all the information I have gathered through my years. All the Yoga Sutras, 4 Agreements, Ancient Toltec Philosophy, Law of attraction, positive thinking, everything comes flooding in until I'm drowning in Zen. And yet I am still nervous, anxious, and dissatisfied.

Then a few simple words from Dr. Usui come into my awareness, almost as if whispered into my ears that I am clutching in useless attempt to block out the outside world. (Dr. Usui founded modern day Reiki).

Just for today, I will not worry.

Just for today, I will not anger.

Just for today, I will be grateful.

I will earn my living honestly, and treat everyone with kindness.

(*Note: There are so many versions of Dr. Usui's words, I kind of just gathered what spoke to me. Google search for more!)

And no, the skies didn't open up and shower me with gold and rainbows. 

But I did start thinking of what I DO have. I have a bed to sleep in. I have healthy food to eat and the knowledge to feed my body well. I have a loving family. I am loved by an amazing man. I have a passion and a purpose and I am slowly but surely treading the path towards expanding it into my own business. I have an education and the opportunity for more education. I have my senses and my mind and my body and my breath. 

In short, I am extremely fortunate. 

Things aren't always stable, and things that we have may come and go and it may seem as if the world is ending sometimes. I can't offer solutions, all I can do on this day is urge my dear friends and family to stop and smell the candy canes and pumpkin spice this holiday season, give your loose change to the people standing outside stores ringing bells and telling you to have a happy holiday, and if you find yourself caught up in all the price tags and gaudy glitter garlands, take a moment for yourself and take a big giant breath and think of what you're grateful for.

And if, just for today, you want a break from Pumpkin Tea and Pumpkin coffee and pumpkin lattes and need something refreshing, try some lemon rosemary water. Just lemon, a sprig of rosemary, and filtered water. No recipe needed, just a few moments!

So much love from my heart to yours!

-Sharon Jeanette

Lemon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I love the idea "less is more", and it could not be more accurate in this super simple recipe. You could add a million more ingredients or slabs of butter to your sprouts, but it truly isn't necessary :)

Ingredients:
1 Stalk Brussels Sprouts
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (mine had thyme, basil, parsley, etc)
1/2 Lemon
4 Veggie Bacon strips (I used morningstar brand)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Grab your stalk! You could, of course, just buy them single but where's the fun in that?

Take them off the stalk, cut off the bottom of the sprouts and slice them in half. Rinse well!

Lay on a towel to dry and mix the Olive Oil, S&P, and spices up in a bowl. Once the Brussels are dry put them on a baking sheet and toss in the oil until they all have a thin coat.

Place in oven for 5 minutes! After 5 minutes, take them out and squeeze the lemon juice over the Brussels, and cut up some slices if you'd like to throw in the pan.

Put back in oven for 5 more minutes. In the meantime, crumble up the veggie bacon and cook until slightly crisp.

Take out Brussels and toss in the "bacon" bits. Put back in oven for 5 more minutes.

Super simple, delicious, seasonal. Nothing better :)

This recipe is perfect because it's cheap, seasonal, and full of veggies. I made a lot so I might put the leftovers into a pasta dish later. These would be so perfect for a potluck.

Yummmm :)

Enjoy friends! From my heart, to yours <3

Leek and Chickpea Soup

This is so simple and so yummy! Figures that I've been wanting to make it all week, with the nights getting chillier, and I go to make it tonight and it's 90 outside! But, the evening was still crisp enough to enjoy some soup :)

Ingredients:

1 Leek

1 can Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1 Carton Veggie broth

Some freshly chopped garlic

Olive Oil

Vegan butter spread, I used Earth Balance

Black pepper and a pinch of salt

Bread, for dipping!

Soooooooo easy. 

Chop up the white parts of the leek, put into a colander and rinse thoroughly, sometimes dirt gets stuck in between the layers. Dry on a paper towel. 

Warm the pot and melt some of the veg butter with some olive oil, no more than a tablespoon of each, and when melty through in the garlic and leeks

When they start smelling amaaaazing, throw in the chickpeas. Drain the water from the can first ;)

Mix until toasty!

Add Veggie broth and maybe a little water

Heat over medium flame, then cut up some bread, spread some butter on it, pour yourself a bowl and enjoy!

Much love, from my kitchen to yours!

Namaste!

-Sharon Jeanette :)

Tofu/veggie/thai curry with coconut brown rice

So I haven't been feeling great lately, between a toothache and no sleep and miscellaneous other problems. The weather has been nice though, finally there's a chill in the air and I brought out my boots :)

So, this blog seems more food than yoga based, maybe I'll make some changes, after this post. And then after a nap.

ANYWAY! I came home on my lunch today and made this super easy, amazing comfort food. Happy :)

I'll call this....Oh I don't know! Tofu/veggie/thai curry with coconut brown rice. Not super catchy, but at least you know what you signed up for!

Ingredients:
A block of Tofu, firm
Green peas, about 3/4 cup, I used frozen from TJ's
Any other veggies, I used some leftover bell pepper scraps
Olive oil and Garlic (duh)
Soy Sauce (just a splash)
Brown Rice
Coconut Cream
Any sauce you please, I used Thai Curry from TJ's (pictured below)

Start with the rice, I used half water and half coconut cream, so one cup of each and one cup of rice. Bring to boil then lower heat and simmer.

Then saute up some garlic and olive oil until it smells amazing. Add tofu and brown for about 5 minutes, then add chopped veggies and peas. Yum.

I added about a Tablespoon of soy sauce and about 1/3 a cup of this sauce:

 When the rice is done, spoon some veggies over and enjoy!

This is just what I needed today.

Take care everyone, I'm doing level 2 Reiki Training this weekend, expect to hear about that!

Love,
-Sharon

Baked Caprese Wontons

Okokok. So these aren't that healthy. Sue me! Well, actually, please don't, I'm broke ;P

Anyway these are super easy and cheap, so in that sense I am sticking to the original point of this blog.

Ingredients:
Wonton wrappers
Fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil (used mine from my patio!)
Marinara
Balsamic vinegar
1 egg

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

I truly love fresh mozzarella. This isn't my favorite kind, I usually love the ones that are floating in some kind of liquid, if I'm going to eat it raw. But I'm melting this so I went with this one, it was on sale. 

<3 basil

This was the start of my assembly line. I had everything lined up and forgot to take a picture! Anyway, put a tiny bit of mozzarella, chopped basil, a tiny bit of balsamic, and a tiny bit of marinara.

Add a little egg white to the edges then fold up. Place on baking sheet (with some EVOO so it doesn't stick), brush on a bit of EVOO on the top, and put in oven for aaaaaabouuuuut 7 minutes. But watch them, they burn easy! Also, I overstuffed a few so they exploded. I got the hang of it later. I'd say "oops", but the cheese that leaked out onto the baking sheet was quite delicious. Just saying :)

And then....

Oh my....

Yummy. 

K that's it folks. No wisdom, no yoga tonight. Just baked caprese wontons. Enjoy :)

Love,

Sharon

Fear....And Easy Peasy Pad Thai

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." -Marianne Williamson

This last summer was a complete summer of personal growth for me. But it never ends! We are never complete, and that is amazing because we have opportunities to learn and grow through our whole lives.

This week I learned an important lesson about fear. Not fear of heights or spiders, not the dangerous kind of fear or the life threatening kind, the deeper, internal kind of fear. The kind that causes us to lash out, become defensive, possessive, guarded. Luckily I learned the lesson by experiencing a different level of love.

It started with an argument with my significant other. You know them, we've all had them. One of those recurring arguments about something you think about often, something that worries you about the future. Then in the middle of the argument he stopped me, remembering something he had recently read.

Everything I was worrying about wasn't backed up by optimism and hope, I was speaking out of fear.

Fear that I will miss chances, that I will wait until it's too late, that I will miss out on something. And it was coming from both sides. At that moment we just wanted to laugh! It hit us like a ton of bricks, as the saying goes.

I've realized that is how most people make decisions, go through life. With fear. Fear of failure, fear of a broken heart, the list goes on and on.

Now, I don't have all the answers. But since this revelation, I have started to become extra sensitive to where my thoughts are coming from. Hope, or Fear? And if the latter, I try to turn it around immediately, to open myself to possibilities, to hope.

In yoga I take one pose at a time, never worrying about what the next one will be, carefully concentrating and moving with my breath. I can do that in life too, taking one life event at time, and yes, planning and hoping and looking forward to what lies ahead. And it's contagious! And thankfully, I'm lucky enough to be with someone who can help me stay hopeful, and vice versa. :)


Speaking of looking forward to things, here is the recipe! If you've skipped my ramblings just to get to the pictures, well, here they are :) Enjoy!
(here's my disclaimer, I found this recipe on another blog, and I made a few changes but not many. http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/ In my defense, she found it somewhere too! Hopefully if she ever comes across this, we can be friends haha)

Easy Peasy Pad Thai

Ingredients:

8 oz of rice noodles

Cilantro (a couple of handfuls)

Crushed peanuts (about 1/2 a cup, or more if you want)

2 TBS lime juice, plus some lime wedges for garnish

2 TBS brown sugar

3 TBS Soy Sauce (I prefer lower sodium)

Sriracha (as much as your heart desires! I used a couple of teaspoons)

Green Onions, or scallions as they are called

2 eggs

Garlic

Extra Virgin Olive oil

First things first, make the sauce. Combine soy sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar in a bowl and stir. Add sriracha if you're feeling spicy! Set aside.

Now chop up the scallions, the bottom whiter parts chopped and the top green parts left in strings. Also your garlic, cilantro (not pictured, though I can't imagine why?) and the peanuts.

Soak the noodles the way the package directs you, in hot water. In the meantime, saute up some garlic  and the white chopped onion parts in some EVOO.

Mmmmmm already smells amazing. Add eggs, scramble! When all fluffy, refrain from eating and set aside onto a plate.

Drain your noodles well and add them to the pan. Add sauce and the green tops of the onions.



Stir and then add in the scrambled eggs, break up slowly. Add crushed peanuts and garnish with cilantro.

See? EASY PEASY!

And super delicious. Sometimes I get that Pad Thai craving and this hit the spot.



"Enchiladas"

I put enchiladas in quotes because this recipe probably goes against most traditional recipes. But do not judge, friends! They were delicious :) And *gasp* healthy.....surprised? Nah, I knew you wouldn't be.
Ingredients (sorry all, you know I don't do exact amounts. Rachel Ray always says "eyeball it" and that's the best way to go in my opinion.)

- Red Enchilada sauce (just a can or bottle of whatever, I got mine from Whole Foods but whatever floats YOUR boat is great)

- 1 small Zuchinni (this one was from my parent's garden, I'm a lucky girl, I know)

- 1 small yellow squash (also homegrown!)

- 1 yellow bell pepper (farmer's market)

- 1 red bell pepper (same)

- 1/2 a red onion (or more if you want, but I don't love onions)

- Soyrizo (just adds that extra YUM)

- Garlic clove

- Whole wheat flour tortillas

- Cheese (I used monterey jack, pepper jack would have been amaaazing)

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, just to saute everything up

So I heated some EVOO, then threw in the onions and garlic. After they were soft I threw in the soyrizo and the rest of the veggies. Meal on it's own, really, but I wanted to get a bit fancier. ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT! Don't overcook these, I love love LOVE the way my mom's veggies are always still a little crunchy and not soggy. To me, soggy veggies might just be the worst thing ever. Honestly I think a lot of people get turned off by veggies because it's so common to have overcooked, flavorless or too salty veggies. Just, STOP! They are so much better when they still taste fresh. (There are exceptions, like soups of course, but in this case, don't overcook these)

I love these casserole dishes, from my mom, just cute and vintage-y. And they will last me forever. So I put in some sauce. Keep in mind I don't know if this is correct, I just wanted to avoid any extra oil if I could!

I got my whole wheat tortillas ready, sprinkle some cheese in there (skipped the frying stage for obvious reasons, too much oil and too much work. I still have burn marks from the last time I tried to fry tofu.)

Don't ask me why I took the pic that long ways. I was in a rush. Anyway, then throw in some sauce and some of the veggie mix.

These would make great tacos on their own, with some beans, lettuce and salsa. But we aren't done yet!

Awwww they are kinda cute! All nestled up. I thought I took a picture of them drenched in sauce and with more cheese on top but I guess I forgot. Just picture it in your head :) Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and OMGGGG cheesy veggie mess. Awesome. 

I drove these over to the boyfriends house, longest car ride ever! But worth the wait, even he said so :)

"F'ing great" -Alex 

There you have it, friends. OH! By the way, I'm a yoga teacher now, so expect some changes around these parts! 

Love and Yoga,

-Sharon Jeanette