This recipe has become my favorite when I get the taste for indian food. We have no Indian restaurants nearby, but do have an awesome Indian grocery store. This recipe is really easy and is oh-so tasty! Serve over basmati rice and you've got a great meal that's healthy for you. I also add in whatever I feel like at the time - chicken, cauliflower, squash...
Indian Eggplant
2 1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 cups water
1 tblsp organic sugar or agave nectar
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
2 medium eggplants, cut into 2" cubes (if you add other ingredients like chicken, squash or cauliflower just reduce the eggplant)
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter or ghee
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
In a small bowl, combine the garam masala, coriander & turmeric. In a measuring cup stir together water, sugar and vinegar.
Heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet over med heat. Add the spices and cook, stirring until fragrant (about 1 min). Add eggplant and salt and stir to coat in spice mixture. Stir in vinegar mixture. Simmer covered without stirring for 10 minutes or until eggplant is just tender. Uncover and cook at rapid simmer without stirring to cook down the liquid - about 15 min. Remove skillet from heat and let it stand covered for 5 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with basmati rice.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Eating Healthy during the Holidays
Once again the cookies, cakes and candy are piling in from friends and family, and I must admit, I've been doing a little baking myself. Before you go into sugar overload, think.... That's right, just think about how it will make you feel after you eat it, what it will do to your hips, what it does to your internal systems and then after you've thought about it for a minute or two, and if you still want it, go ahead. I've found that if I truly think about what I'm putting into my body and how it makes me feel, I do a much better job of eating well. There's always going to be that family favorite chocolate cake (my Granny made the best Hershey's Chocolate Cake!) or that wonderful pecan pie that will be worth it, but if you try to eat just a little to satisfy that need, you'll feel better and be happier with yourself afterwards. I hope to post a few of my favorite healthy holiday recipes here soon, so stay tuned..
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Yoga for Weight Loss - Your New Year Resolution?
It's been an eventful year, though you wouldn't really know it by my posts here! Sorry! Today I was inspired to post because of an article I saw Dr. Weil post on his blog. His research has shown that a regular yoga practice helps promote weight loss. While the physical activity certainly has a lot to do with it, it is the mindfulness that you cultivate with your yoga practice that makes the biggest difference. I have observed this first hand in my own practice. Over tha last year of practicing yoga daily, and becoming certified to teach, I have become much more mindful of what I put into my body, and often am just not hungry anymore. I don't think about food constantly, and have just about stopped going to fast food restaurants altogether. I find it helpful to drink a glass of water or tea if I think I might be hungry to make sure it's really hunger and not just thirst. Most times, it's that I'm thirsty. As a result, I've lost over 25 lbs in the last year! People ask me what I've been doing, and I say "Yoga". "No way, you can't lose that much just by doing yoga!" they say. Oh yes you can! Yoga is a wonderful thing that spills over into other parts of your life. It is truly about bringing wellness to Body, Mind and Spirit!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A must see!
Ok, I know I've been negligent in my blog updates, but I've had a good excuse which I won't belabor here. But now I'm back in the swing of things and just had to make you aware of this movie thats out called Food Inc. Here's the link to the trailer.
I have gotten certified as a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant by the American Fitness Professionals Association and am now studying for the American Association of Nutrition Consultants certification which is much more involved. But what I'm learning is just exactly what is in this movie. Our soils are so depleted that if you eat your veggies like you are supposed to you may still not be getting all the nutrients you need. Further, if you are like most Americans and are eating processed foods, you are getting even less nutrient than if you eat your veggies. Folks, this is exactly why cancer rates are sky high and why so many degenerative diseases are cropping up across America!!
Use your good sense and your pocketbook to vote for an alternative - organic products!! You only get one body to live in, period! There is no do-over! Once the symptoms of degenerative disease show up is too late to start thinking about it. It takes each individual coming to realize this for his/herself, and I completely understand the "lack of time" and "organic costs more", but we must overcome those issues to be healthy. There's just no two ways about it.
I hope you'll check out the movie. I know I'll be there!
I have gotten certified as a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant by the American Fitness Professionals Association and am now studying for the American Association of Nutrition Consultants certification which is much more involved. But what I'm learning is just exactly what is in this movie. Our soils are so depleted that if you eat your veggies like you are supposed to you may still not be getting all the nutrients you need. Further, if you are like most Americans and are eating processed foods, you are getting even less nutrient than if you eat your veggies. Folks, this is exactly why cancer rates are sky high and why so many degenerative diseases are cropping up across America!!
Use your good sense and your pocketbook to vote for an alternative - organic products!! You only get one body to live in, period! There is no do-over! Once the symptoms of degenerative disease show up is too late to start thinking about it. It takes each individual coming to realize this for his/herself, and I completely understand the "lack of time" and "organic costs more", but we must overcome those issues to be healthy. There's just no two ways about it.
I hope you'll check out the movie. I know I'll be there!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Cultivating Gratitude - A Source for Inspiration
This morning I got an email from Yoga Thailand, the place I went last summer for a week of yoga on the island of Ko Samui. They have recently opened an new retreat center so I was browsing around their website to check it out. While I was there last summer, we got a preview of the new place while it was being built and it's pretty swanky! The photos on the website are very impressive and make me want to go back.
While I was browsing around, I ran across this article from one of the founders of Yoga Thailand, Paul Dallaghan, entitled "Gratitute is Key", and it reminded me of a guided imagery exercise I did a few years ago that focused on gratitude and had a profound impact on my thinking. Here is just a taste of what he writes. I'd highly recommend reading the whole thing.
"Do we see the thorns or the flowers? Is the glass half empty or half full? How we look at everything in life is indicative of what is going on in our system, energetically speaking. Try to observe your response and actions to all situations in your life. How negative or not are they? You can cultivate positivity right at the start of your day. The beginning of any activity is crucial and thus this day even more so. Genuinely feel it, make time for it, sit and offer thanks. Already energetically the positive current starts to flow and affects the rest of your day."
"If we have really acknowledged all we have and feel genuine appreciation we are directly in a position to feel the plight of others. In other words compassion will more naturally flow from us. To put yourself in another's shoes, to do unto others as you would want done to yourself is a key principle of life and inherent in all yoga. From a real place of gratitude your heart is opening to feel others, offer love to others and to help others. What more is there to life?"
Want to feel blessed? Cultivate gratitude. Want to relieve depression? Cultivate gratitude. Feeling sorry for yourself? Cultivate gratitude. Next time you find yourself in one of life's challenging situations, think of all of the things you are thankful for. You'll notice a difference in how you handle the situation.
Thank you!
While I was browsing around, I ran across this article from one of the founders of Yoga Thailand, Paul Dallaghan, entitled "Gratitute is Key", and it reminded me of a guided imagery exercise I did a few years ago that focused on gratitude and had a profound impact on my thinking. Here is just a taste of what he writes. I'd highly recommend reading the whole thing.
"Do we see the thorns or the flowers? Is the glass half empty or half full? How we look at everything in life is indicative of what is going on in our system, energetically speaking. Try to observe your response and actions to all situations in your life. How negative or not are they? You can cultivate positivity right at the start of your day. The beginning of any activity is crucial and thus this day even more so. Genuinely feel it, make time for it, sit and offer thanks. Already energetically the positive current starts to flow and affects the rest of your day."
"If we have really acknowledged all we have and feel genuine appreciation we are directly in a position to feel the plight of others. In other words compassion will more naturally flow from us. To put yourself in another's shoes, to do unto others as you would want done to yourself is a key principle of life and inherent in all yoga. From a real place of gratitude your heart is opening to feel others, offer love to others and to help others. What more is there to life?"
Want to feel blessed? Cultivate gratitude. Want to relieve depression? Cultivate gratitude. Feeling sorry for yourself? Cultivate gratitude. Next time you find yourself in one of life's challenging situations, think of all of the things you are thankful for. You'll notice a difference in how you handle the situation.
Thank you!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Becoming a Yoga Teacher
I'm back from Acapulco and Yoga Teacher's Training, and all I can say is "wow!" It was just a great experience and I'm so happy I went. Many thanks to my brother, George, who came to take over for me so that I could go.
Yoga Teacher's Training in the Integrative Yoga Therapy philosophy of Yoga was just exactly what I needed. No strict religion about a specific style, but a blend of many styles of Hatha Yoga, combined with a variety of other approaches to yoga. So much more than just Hatha Yoga, we learned about Kundalini yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Tantra Yoga, and Raja Yoga (aka, The Wheel of Yoga). These various yogas focus on specific parts of the mind, body and spirit. For example, Kundalini Yoga focuses on the energy body while Mantra Yoga is the yoga of sacred sound, and of course Hatha Yoga focuses on the physical body. I hadn't really expected to explore yoga this broadly, but am really glad we did. In learning about these different types of yoga, we learned about chakras or energy centers withing the body, Ayurveda and it's relation to yoga, and Pranayama or "channeling of the life force" among other things. While we were given "permission" to miss a day of class for whatever reason, none of us wanted to miss a word! Over the course of 2 1/2 weeks, we all had at least one day where we didn't feel too good, but none of us missed class.
And to top it all off, we had a great group of women together in one place. I enjoyed every one of them, all with different stories and circumstances, but with a lot of similarity too. We all got along well.
Now to complete my certification, I have to teach 4 classes and send in my class notes to my teachers. I enlisted the help of some of my Dad's friends, a group they call "The Mondays" because they have cocktails every Monday afternoon. I've developed a series called "Yoga for Balance & Mobility" which is yoga done in a chair. This group of 6-7 southern bred ladies, all of whom are over the age of 80 had asked me to teach them yoga when I returned, so we started today with Class #1. This class focused on Body Awareness, a foundational concept for yoga. The idea is to tune into what's going on in your body, learn to listen to it, and adjust accordingly. Sounds so basic, but many times we think our bodies will just keep on going whether we pay attention or not. But when I hear them say they have problems feeling their feet or finger tips, I know that they can benefit from improved body awareness and some proprioception retraining. They loved it and say they are looking forward to next week.
Class #2 will focus on breath awareness, another foundational concept. Class #3 will focus on balance, and Class #4 will focus on flexibility. Won't be long now before I'll be officially certified!
Yoga Teacher's Training in the Integrative Yoga Therapy philosophy of Yoga was just exactly what I needed. No strict religion about a specific style, but a blend of many styles of Hatha Yoga, combined with a variety of other approaches to yoga. So much more than just Hatha Yoga, we learned about Kundalini yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Tantra Yoga, and Raja Yoga (aka, The Wheel of Yoga). These various yogas focus on specific parts of the mind, body and spirit. For example, Kundalini Yoga focuses on the energy body while Mantra Yoga is the yoga of sacred sound, and of course Hatha Yoga focuses on the physical body. I hadn't really expected to explore yoga this broadly, but am really glad we did. In learning about these different types of yoga, we learned about chakras or energy centers withing the body, Ayurveda and it's relation to yoga, and Pranayama or "channeling of the life force" among other things. While we were given "permission" to miss a day of class for whatever reason, none of us wanted to miss a word! Over the course of 2 1/2 weeks, we all had at least one day where we didn't feel too good, but none of us missed class.
And to top it all off, we had a great group of women together in one place. I enjoyed every one of them, all with different stories and circumstances, but with a lot of similarity too. We all got along well.
Now to complete my certification, I have to teach 4 classes and send in my class notes to my teachers. I enlisted the help of some of my Dad's friends, a group they call "The Mondays" because they have cocktails every Monday afternoon. I've developed a series called "Yoga for Balance & Mobility" which is yoga done in a chair. This group of 6-7 southern bred ladies, all of whom are over the age of 80 had asked me to teach them yoga when I returned, so we started today with Class #1. This class focused on Body Awareness, a foundational concept for yoga. The idea is to tune into what's going on in your body, learn to listen to it, and adjust accordingly. Sounds so basic, but many times we think our bodies will just keep on going whether we pay attention or not. But when I hear them say they have problems feeling their feet or finger tips, I know that they can benefit from improved body awareness and some proprioception retraining. They loved it and say they are looking forward to next week.
Class #2 will focus on breath awareness, another foundational concept. Class #3 will focus on balance, and Class #4 will focus on flexibility. Won't be long now before I'll be officially certified!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Shrimp Stew - OMG Goodness!
One of my favorite magazines is Body & Soul. Every issue has great articles on nutrition, excercise and all around healthy living. In the latest issue, I found this recipe for Shrimp Stew and it's just about the best thing I've made in a long time. Now, in the article, they are saying how great shrimp are for you, and they are, but they don't give the nutrition info on this recipe which seems unusual. By my calculations, per serving it looks something like 350-400 calories, 10-13 g fat, 33 g protein, and 22 g carbs. That of course depends on what kind of sausage you use. I point out the sausage because that's where you'll find the most fat and sodium, and is where you'll have the most opportunity to make this a little bit healthier (every little bit helps, right!).
The recipe calls for italian chicken sausage, but I used chicken andouille sausage and it was excellent. You could use most any kind of sausage and it would be good, but you might want to opt for one with low sodium if you can find it because the real downside of this dish is the amount of sodium. I've looked at several chicken and turkey sausages on the market, and the ones I've found range from a low of 340 mg to a high of 1450 mg of sodium for the 2 links that are called for or 85 - 363 mg per serving, depending on link size and what's mixed in during the processing of it. The maximum recommended daily intake for adults is 2400 mg per day as shown on food labels, but a reduced sodium diet would be around 1500 mg per day. So you can see with the higher sodium sausages you could be getting a substantial portion of your daily allotment in this one dish. Be sure to look at the labels! If you are watching sodium and/or want to eliminate the sausage altogether you may want to substitute cubed chicken or turkey and add some more seasoning to give it that country stew flavor. You can easily make your own seasoning mix from fresh or dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, garlic, thyme, chili powder, various peppercorns and seeds like fennel, celery seed, etc.. Just experiment until you find what you like - my favorite way to cook.
With the potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic you've got a rich tasting, great stew! Put a salad with it and you've got an easy meal. With any luck you'll have some leftovers, and this is one of those things that gets better overnight.
All this talk of Shrimp Stew is making me want to head to the kitchen and start cooking a batch! Enjoy!
The recipe calls for italian chicken sausage, but I used chicken andouille sausage and it was excellent. You could use most any kind of sausage and it would be good, but you might want to opt for one with low sodium if you can find it because the real downside of this dish is the amount of sodium. I've looked at several chicken and turkey sausages on the market, and the ones I've found range from a low of 340 mg to a high of 1450 mg of sodium for the 2 links that are called for or 85 - 363 mg per serving, depending on link size and what's mixed in during the processing of it. The maximum recommended daily intake for adults is 2400 mg per day as shown on food labels, but a reduced sodium diet would be around 1500 mg per day. So you can see with the higher sodium sausages you could be getting a substantial portion of your daily allotment in this one dish. Be sure to look at the labels! If you are watching sodium and/or want to eliminate the sausage altogether you may want to substitute cubed chicken or turkey and add some more seasoning to give it that country stew flavor. You can easily make your own seasoning mix from fresh or dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, garlic, thyme, chili powder, various peppercorns and seeds like fennel, celery seed, etc.. Just experiment until you find what you like - my favorite way to cook.
With the potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic you've got a rich tasting, great stew! Put a salad with it and you've got an easy meal. With any luck you'll have some leftovers, and this is one of those things that gets better overnight.
All this talk of Shrimp Stew is making me want to head to the kitchen and start cooking a batch! Enjoy!
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