Salad with spicy peanut dressing :)

So I just got back from vacation, and honestly, it's been a rough couple of days! This morning was better, but I still had some stuff lingering. At first I fought the faint lingering discomfort, trying to force myself into just feeling better. After all, logically I know I should be fine! Wasn't working. I went to yoga this morning and focused on letting that last bit of crap go. I focused on this to the point that I was still forcing it, and getting frustrated. Finally at some point, some triangle pose or chatarunga, I just let myself feel like crap. I felt that last bit of awful, sad, angry and resentful. Then on an updog, it was gone. I mean, I was working on these emotions for a couple of days at this point and I was ready to let them go. But to truly let them go, I had to let myself finish feeling them, without resisting. As soon as I allowed myself to feel that last bit of negativity, I REALLY felt it, and then it was gone. I finished the class in elation, and I think it was the best shavasana I've ever experienced!

My entire day changed for the better in that moment, and I came home after class and without any plans, went home and made this salad. I'm not good with creative names, so this is simply am unplanned salad with spicy peanut dressing :) I threw in whatever I had and after a large bowl, I am full but not weighed down. Moral of this story? I don't really know, everyone has different ways of feeling better, today mine was yoga, I just hope you all find yours <3

I chopped up a whole head of romaine lettuce

Some Spinach

Tomatos

 Cucumbers

Sweet white corn (like I said I just used whatever I had in the fridge)

Feel free to just throw together whatever veggies you have as well, if I had tofu or green onion those would have gone in too.

Now for the best part, the dressing! I just sauteed a bit of garlic in some extra virgin olive oil (just a little) and then threw in some natural creamy peanut butter to melt it a bit.

Then added about a tablespoon of soy sauce, and a couple tablespoons of water to thin it out. Keep the heat low here, you just want to melt it down. Since I wanted this to be spicy, I added Sriracha! Yummmm

It was a little thick, so I added a bit of olive oil (just a tiny bit) and some more water. That's it! the texture isn't super thin, so this is more of a dressing you glob on and then mix in. It's worth the effort, trust me!

Sooooooo good. This post was on a whim, so I didn't get specific with measurements, sorry folks! The dressing is so simple though, make it to your own taste of salty and spicy, you'll be fine :)

Wishing everyone a beautiful week!
Love,
Sharon

Easy Vegan Cilantro Lime Rice

So my dear friend Stephanie and I were texting the other day, about nothing in particular, when she told me something absurd! She was grabbing breakfast at a cafe or something, and saw two girls sharing a bowl of granola. ONE bowl of granola. Now, I like granola as much as the next hippy, but this was too much! Surely these girls were sharing their bowl as a post breakfast snack!
Let me back up one sec, Stephanie and I have hearty appetites. We are smaller girls, but one thing she and I share in common is our love of food, she's actually a better cook than I am. We go to breakfast any change we get, and we go all out! Eggs, hashbrowns, toast, coffee mmmmmmm (breakfast is my all time favorite meal of the day). And she correctly pointed out that if we were to ever share one bowl of granola, it would definitely be after we polished off our plate of eggs and hashbrowns.

Now I'm sounding far too judgmental. But don't judge me, granola isn't even as healthy as most people think, it's mostly sugar! 

Now that store was semi pointless, but today's simple recipe had one goal in mind. I'm broke, but I want to feel FULL! Being Veg, the beans and rice offer a complete protein, and I just love cilantro. Now that I'm done rambling, let's get to the food!

So I forgot to take pics of the ingredients but here's the list:
-2 cups brown rice
-1 can black beans
-1 tomato
-Juice of 2 limes
-Handful of cilantro
-1/2 handful of basil (I added this at the last minute. You don't have to, but it was delicious)

So make the rice using your rice cooker or stovetop (I prefer the latter) using a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Also you can use white rice, but I really recommend brown rice. It's much healthier!

In the meantime, chop up the tomatoes, the cilantro, and juice the lemons, open the can of beans, and don't overcook the rice.

Easy peasy! Drain the beans and throw in with the rice, along with the tomatoes and cilantro.

While I was mixing I saw this weird bean. Not gonna lie, I threw it out.

Ok back to the tomatoes

And this is when I added the basil, plus a bit of salt, pepper and some tapatillo. Yum.

Simple. Healthy. HEARTY. Also super versatile. If you're not vegan, add some cheese, put in a burrito, serve with eggs, whatever you want! I know you don't really need a recipe to make a dish like this, I just like to share my simple (not to mention CHEAP) dishes as well as the more intricate ones. :)

Stay safe, everyone!

I'm back! With veggie lettuce wraps :)

Oh no! It's been forever! Things got crazy with school, but a month long absence should not happen again :)

So without further delay, here are some veggie lettuce wraps, quite delish! And shhhh...but the whole recipe cost me about 6$!

I started with some extra firm tofu, sweet corn, lettuce, soy sauce, and just a touch of balsamic. I also added black pepper and ground flax (not pictured here). 

Get some olive oil good and hot and break up the tofu, it will start sizzling so be careful!

Keep breaking up the tofu while it gets good and brown.

Add the sweet, sweet corn..

Here's where I added the pepper/flax mixture, you can use just pepper, or chili powder, or anything you'd like, really. I'd hold off and the salt though, because the soy sauce has more than enough.

Cook it up a bit, but don't overcook, you don't want the corn to turn to mush.

Put on a lettuce leaf and chomp away!Mmmmmmm

And I have enough to feed at least 4 people (with average appetites...so maybe 2 if they eat like me). On 6$! I'm taking it to a vegetarian potluck, hopefully it gets good reviews :)

Some time in the future when I make these again, I may put some avocado slices on it, that would be perfection! But I'm on a budget now, so until next time!

Love,
Sharon
:)

Mindful Eating...and Udon soup with Green Tea Broth

Have you ever eaten something, only to come to the last bite with little to no recollection of what you just ate and/or the process of eating it? I know I have, and then I’m left unsatisfied and more likely to eat again, whether I’m still hungry or not. I'm always a full time student or worker with at least one, more realistically two, jobs and always rushing everything! A few years ago I came across the concept of Mindful Eating. It completely changed my relationship with food. In between the classes, finals, papers, and working hours, I found ways to work around it and start enjoying, and I mean REALLY enjoying, my meals. I did some research on the subject but for the most part it was trial and error with a busy schedule. Here are the key concepts of mindful eating put into 3 steps that are realistic and easy to remember.

1) Be Present while eating. Got a lot on your mind? We all do. Try not to zone out during meals, try to really BE there. Pay attention to your meal, the presentation of it, the smells, your environment. Notice how your food looks, the colors, we all know we eat with our eyes first!
2) Slow Down. Chew! Notice every bite and really concentrate on it, make sure you are chewing your food enough. This also helps with digestion. Notice the different tastes and textures of every bite, all the flavors that are present in this meal. I promise you, you will feel more satisfied, and more than likely you will eat less and be way less likely to reach for an unnecessary dessert later.
3) When possible (Ideally always), sit down to eat. No, not in front of the TV! When you sit down to eat, just eat. Even if you are eating with friends or family, make sure to take your time and really notice everything going on with your meal. Sometimes I have to eat while walking from class to work or vice versa. When this happens I just try to make sure that even though I'm walking, I eat slow and REALLY notice what I'm eating.
 

Seems simple enough, really, but from experience I know these can be difficult at times. Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely. Eating mindfully can turn the simplest meals into the best ones. Be easy with yourself, and patient, it will pay off :) 

Now for the recipe: Udon Soup with Green Tea Broth

I found this on Yahoo awhile back, it's super simple, grab some green tea (Loose or in bags), udon noodles, salt. I added tofu and green onions, but really, the sky is the limit with this recipe, add whatever you want! Maybe some tomatoes, scrambled eggs, cashews, onions, cucumbers, I could go on and on....

Boil some water, when it's boiling turn off the heat and steep your tea bags. I know there's a whole science to green tea, I had someone explain it to me once. The only thing I remember for SURE is to never make green tea in boiling water, hot but not boiling. Steep for 5-10 minutes. While it was steeping I cubed the tofu and chopped up the green onions. I LOVE green onions, which is weird because I really can't stand regular onions...hmm...

 When tea is ready, take out bags and put the flame back on, throw in some salt. I should have measured exactly buuuut I just used a palm-full, which I learned from Rachel Ray is about a tablespoon. The thing is, I think this varies with hand size. Just taste it to make sure it's not too salty, that's the safest bet ;) When boiling, put the noodles in. They don't take long to cook, but when you sense they are almost ready put the tofu in there. Stir. When all is said and done, use the onions to garnish the soup. 

Super simple. Delish. Healthy. Satisfying. 

 For me this was a meal, but it could definitely just be an appetizer or snack. That's all for now, I'll post again soon :)

"May the star that lies deep within light the way to your dreams" 

- Dodinsky 

Homemade Veggie burgers and Reiki Attunement

This weekend was pretty great, to say the least. I had the amazing opportunity to obtain Reiki Attunement and I am now a first degree Reiki practitioner. I'll explain more about what this means after the recipes. To make this shorter, I'll just say that Alex (my amazing boyfriend) and I headed down from Long Beach to Malibu and of course I thought, what better time to make something healthy and packable for lunch on Saturday :) Of course this needs to be somewhat easy, somewhat healthy, easy to make, filling, and able to please a meat-eater (at least this one, who luckily is easy to feed). So here goes!

Homemade Black Bean and Rice Veggie Burgers with Spicy Veganaise and Sweet Corn Salsa 

So for the patties, I looked around some recipes online and eventually just took what I liked from each and took out whatever I didn't have on hand. So I ended up with a can of black beans, about a cup of cooked brown rice, some taco seasoning, and a bit of onion (not a lot, as I've mentioned I don't really like onion, if you do you could always put more than I did) and garlic as well as an orange bell pepper. The orange ones were on sale, but you can use whatever color your heart desires.

Drain the beans REALLY well and set aside.

Start with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan

And start with the onions, then pepper, and then the garlic, careful not to burn anything. I know with most cooks this is not problem, but I'm still fairly new to this :)

 Not to point out the obvious, but this smelled soooooo yummy. So now you can add the beans and about a 2 tablespoons of the seasoning, just stir till everything is nice and warm and it smells so good you want to eat it right then and there. I made this around 8 am Friday morning and kept thinking how yummy it would be with an egg and tortilla (save that for another post haha)

 So what I did then was put it back in the bowl with the brown rice, and mashed it a bit with the fork, not too much, you still want some whole beans in there. A potato masher would have made this easier, but I'm still getting used to this cooking thing so a fork was alright. When the mixture cools down you can form the patties, I made 6. Then throw a bit more oil in the pan and just brown both sides. 

I needed to save these for later so I put them in a little tupperware with a layer of foil in between. You can use wax paper if you're fancy like that, I just didn't have any. These would freeze fine too, if you need to make them a few days ahead of time. Note: I don't think these would last very well on a grill, I made them stovetop and they were falling apart a little. 

Now for the salsa yummmm!

I didn't follow a recipe for this, I just threw in what looked good and taste tested, that's the way my mom does it and with salsa you just gotta do your own thing. I only used one jalepeno, only a bit of the corn, less onion than most people would use, a bit of cilantro, 2 tomatoes and the juice of one lime, as well as a shake of salt and pepper. Soooooo good. 

 Then I made some spicy veganaise, not following the latin theme here but it was pretty delish. Just some mayo or veganaise if you'd like and as much sriracha as you can take.

The trick was packing this all to go. That night I put the patties on ciabatta buns (they don't get soggy easy) and wrapped them in foil, put them in a lunchbag with the mayo and salsa and an avocado, made sure to bring a knife and we headed off! 

 So as we all know, life is imperfect and nothing is set in stone, so we were SO HUNGRY we completely forgot about the salsa and the avocado!! The spicy mayo went on there though, and they were pretty good :) 

 And I kept trying to get Alex to take a normal picture without the thumbs up, but hey, if he liked them enough to give them a thumbs up well then goshdarnit I should be flattered and post the thumbs up! 


Now for the Reiki part. What is Reiki? Reiki is a Japanese technique of healing by utilizing the universal life force energy that is transmitted through the hands of a Reiki practitioner onto the person. Alex introduced me to this, and I've had a few treatments before getting my attunement. The key is being open to it, miracles have happened using this method of healing. I like it because it doesn't only heal the symptoms of the illness, but treats the causes behind whatever the ailment in the mind as spirit as well as the body. I am not ready to practice on others just yet, but I feel wonderful. 

Being able to open myself to this energy was a gift and an honor I couldn't possibly put into words. I will keep everyone updated on my progress with this and let you all know when I'm ready to work on others. 

So until next time, friends, remember:  There is never a dull moment <3  

Human kindness.....and more kale

I'm so lucky. Sometimes in my day to day life, things happen that make me remember why my life is so incredibly rich. I'm having a loss for more words to explain it, so here is a delicious Kale and Apple smoothie. Super green and delicious, friends, and I made it again and threw in some blueberries. The blueberries turned it a brownish color, but it tasted pretty good. Anyway, it didn't taste like drinking kale :) Try it!

Grab some kale, take it off the tough stems, and a stalk of celery, a banana, a lemon, and some Apple Juice (I used Motts for Tots, which is really just watered down apple juice, I recommend watering down all your apple juice, especially if giving it to kids. It will have less sugar and taste basically the same!) And add about a tablespoon or 2 of the lemon juice, I used fresh but from the little yellow bottle is fine too. Oh and some ice.

 Blend

And then you have a delicious, healthy smoothie. Even I get tired of kale, this is a good way to sneak it in :) 

Now go forth, healthy happy being! I like to brings things to people I love, and that's exactly where my Kale smoothie ended up :)  

Stories

Have you ever seen the way kids walk? I noticed it again today while at the grocery store. Kids don't really walk, it's more of a spastic skipping while flailing their limbs about. If one hand is attached to an adult, they still manage to flail their other three little limbs about! It's pretty funny, and got me thinking about how kids just get SO EXCITED about everything! I mean, when was the last time you got so excited about something you literally spazzed out? Where in life do we lose that? I mean, I'm not saying that adults everywhere should be flailing about every time we get paid or anything, and as a society there are times we can act like kids (think, sports games or Vegas I suppose). Big, drunk kids. But there's definitely something that gets pushed down.


I think we get lost in the stories in our own heads. Don't tune out yet, hear me out! Think about it, there is reality, and there is OUR reality. Our reality is just the story we tell ourselves about the world around us. Yes, there are unavoidable truths (gravity, traffic signals), but most of our life experience is dictated by what we tell ourselves. I was listening to the voice in my head (my mind) today, as one negative thought led to another, and another, until I yelled "STOP!" (Yes,outloud, I was stuck in traffic on the 405).....And then I listened to the silence, immediately feeling better. There was no reason to be feeling crappy aside from what I WAS TELLING MYSELF. And I can control what I say to my own mind, my own body, and the people around me. It's my responsibility.


Needless to say, I turned my own evening around. I skipped (ok, ok I WALKED) through the market after that, noticing people, and picking up some stuff for my recipe tonight. Mac & Cheese, but with cauliflower and some other small twists. I've made Mac & Cheese so many times, some better than others, but this was the perfect mix of that kids comfort food and things I've learned to love as an adult, like cauliflower. Here goes!


First let's check out our lineup!

Whole Wheat Pasta (1 Box)
8 oz Cheese (I don't like only cheddar, I used cheddar-jack but you can use whatever cheese you like best)
1 cup Greek Yogurt, plain
A bit of butter (I used about a tablespoon)
1 cup skim milk
About a tablespoon of flour
Almost a whole head of Cauliflower (like how specific I am?)
2 Garlic cloves (I skipped out on onion, but if that's your thing by all means add some onion in the mix!)
1/4 cup parsley
A few handfuls of panko crumbs and parmesan to make it crunchy in the oven :)


So, throw some water in a big pot and boil it. Also preheat the oven to 350.

Chop up the Cauliflower and throw it in the pot with the pasta when the water starts to boil.

 

Chop the garlic (and onions if you wish) and parsley.

 
Melt the butter and saute the garlic and parsley in there (This is where it starts to smell AMAZING)

 
Little bit of flour, thicken it up..

Go ahead and throw in the Greek Yogurt and Milk annnnndddd..

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeze! Oooops got too excited there, let's go check on the pasta...

Mhmmmm....Ok time to mix the sauce in, it looks awesome enough to eat already, but wait! It will be worth it I promise, put it in a baking dish (or 2 if you're like me and always make more than necessary)

Mix the Panko and Parm (Parmesan, for those who didn't read my last post) and sprinkle on top. I threw in some black pepper too, because I put it on pretty much everything.

That's the before picture, here's after about 20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees:

Yummmmmmmmmmm

And I'm a happy happy girl. As you can see, I also added some red wine, because something inside me still says it's hearth healthy (Shhhhhhhhhhh).

So until we meet again, go find something that makes you truly happy and relish it, goodnight friends!