A Life Connected - Part 1

Vegan Brownies - Surprise Chocolate Brownies

They are in the oven as I type this...will know this evening whether they are any good! Stay tuned...

But here's the recipe, in case you are interested. By the way, I found this recipe in Yoga Magazine, Issue 88, page 66. They credit the booklet, Veggie Kids' Kitchen http://www.vegsoc.org/

Makes 12 at about 141 calories each. Calories for the whole pan are appx 1690.

Ingredients:
1 cup dates (organic)
2 oz whole wheat flour (organic)
2 tsp baking powder (I use the aluminum free kind!)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
8 tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance, I use the soy free kind)
1 very ripe banana, mashed (organic)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used fair trade)
Organic veggie oil for greasing the pan

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place the dates in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover...cook over med heat for 5 mins or until soft.
3. Once the dates have softened, drain off the hot water and let cool, then puree the dates (I used a hand blender)
4. In a small mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder, then set aside.
5. In a medium mixing bowl, using a fork, cream together the dates and butter.
6. Stir in the sifted flour mixture, then add the banana and vanilla.
7. Grease the baking dish lightly and evenly spread the mixture into it, smoothing the top with a spoon.
8. Bake for 20-25 mins or until the brownies start to come away from the sides of the dish.
9. Allow to cool in the pan, cut and serve.

Reviews to come! I hope they are delish!

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Results: I say "delicious! Light, chocolatey, and definitely brownie like. I mean, they don't taste like something out of a Betty Crocker box but they are really good. Not at all like I was afraid they'd taste...I thought vegan meant tasteless, cardboard...but these are rich and the dates make them chewy."

Week 7: The Yoga Sutras

I am working with the Yoga Sutras. Fascinating study...

I got the set from Amazon at a great price (much lower than what is advertised there now!) and have really enjoyed it so far.

Like Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali are bits of philosophy that are intended to make the student happier and more at peace. There are 196 yoga sutras and to really gain an understanding of them takes time and study. So when I found this home study course, I was elated.

Tomorrow begins my practice at World Peace Yoga. I am going to go ahead and begin working with the study group as well. Instead of paying the $9 fee for the study group, one can opt to bring a vegan dish. So, today, I'm going to make vegan brownies.

I also have a goal of practicing yoga on my own two other evenings per week (Tuesday and Thursday). For my birthday, my sister and BIL, gave me an iTunes gift card...so with that, I made two purchases...two Yin Yoga "albums" that I have already transferred to my trusty iPod. It is set up in my home gym, ready to go. (Hopefully, we'll be selling the elliptical today...someone's coming by to look at it at noon -- this will give me some space to practice yoga).

I have got to do something about the stress and anxiety in my life and feel that I can allieviate a lot of it through yoga and meditation. Something so easy and gentle and so good for us should not be a chore...it should be something that we run to. I think, for me, it has been a matter of priority. I have always approached yoga as something I should do and have made time for it like I've made time for myself...always at the bottom of the list.

In my heart I know that there is only one path to better health in my life and that is by making myself a top priority. I am doing myself no favor by giving everything I've got to everyone else. When do we begin self-care as if our lives depended on it? After we are felled by disease? After we are so far gone that all the yoga in the world won't save us?

ATHA...and now...readiness for yoga...

Week 7: 190.2 - 44.8 pounds to go

Ack. I gained. Bleh. This is so freaking tiresome.

But moving on...positive things: I survived two very, very stressful weeks. (I blame the stress hormone, cortisol, for the weight gain...I'm probably also retaining water...)

I have begun to work into my yoga practice on a more regular basis.

That's all I have today...it's been a really long week for me and I'm very tired. I've been working all day and night and not sleeping very well at all. I am hopeful that things will lighten up after the big meeting next week and that I will find some breathing room.

Pardon My Dust...

Just give me a day or two and I'll have it cleaned up around here. Just thought it might be time for a little change!

Week 6: Non Dairy Coffee Creamer?

I love my coffee and have 2-3 cups every morning. First thing I do is shuffle down the stairs into the kitchen and start my morning ritual of making coffee. Back in the day, I sweetened my coffee with fake sugar and poured gallons of vanilla fat free international foods coffee creamer in it. Then, a few years ago, I gave up fake sugar. It took a little while longer for me to make the switch from fake creamer to organic half and half.

Now I want to make a switch again...because, yesterday, I read something about milk that grossed me the hell out. Seriously. I don't know that I can ever drink milk again. I'm not going to tell you what I read because you may not want to give up milk. :D 

However, if you're interested, pick up a copy of The World Peace Diet and check out the section about the milk mustache. You'll see what I mean.



So this book...it arrived at my doorstep yesterday. I ordered it because I've decided to take a yoga class (World Peace Yoga) on Mondays (followed by The World Peace Diet Study Group). This goes back to my post, the other day, about finding balance. Instead of working ridiculous hours every day of the week, I'm going to, at least, take one night off and do something for myself. So the book arrived and I started flipping through it. One of the sections that caught my eye was the one about the milk mustache, I read it and...wow. So now I'm wary. The thing is I don't really want to be vegan. I thought I had already figured out how I felt about this after I read Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot I don't eat: pig, duck and veal. (And, as a side note - when you give up eating pork, you really see how much America loves their bacon...it's in EVERYTHING).

I am not really interested in giving up eating chicken, fish, and beef. Yes, I know I am a hypocrite. I know, I know, but I have justified this by saying I do what I can. I've made my choices and that's how I feel. I thought that I could read this book and go to this class and just be vegan one day of the week. Is that naive? I guess so. I mean, I didn't think that I'd read this book and be so grossed out that it would change my thinking. I just thought it would be all, "animals are awesome and we shouldn't be eating them because we are cruel bitches!"

I don't mind the milk thing so much because almond milk and rice milk can be great substitutes. I found a non-dairy coffee creamer last night that I have high hopes for.



BUT, I didn't consider the dairy products that are staples in my life...that I really love to eat...cheese and butter. How can I walk away from cheese? One of my all time favorite meals is bread and cheese. Oh yeah, I know there's vegan cheese but that stuff doesn't even come close to the artisan cheeses that make up the cheese plates I enjoy. (Not to mention, I don't want to switch everything I eat to soy. I don't believe that soy is good for the environment or women).

I guess I'll leave that dilemma for another day.

I will try to remain open to this study group but it's possible that I will chicken out and just take the yoga class!

Week 6: Finding Balance

I have felt out of balance since the beginning of the year. I have been giving everything I've got to my job and have found little leftover for me, my partner, or anything else.

It's about to get crazier. And, I gotta say, I'm sick of it. I like change as much as anyone. Truly, I would get bored if it was the same old, same old all the time but seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Nothing at my job is predictable. (Except for the morons who get on my nerves consistently...don't even get me started down that path. There's this one chick who barely knows MS Office, couldn't write herself out of a paper bag, who thinks she could do my job and frequently tells her superiors that she does. Grrrrl please. Be careful what you wish for!).

At any rate, I was having a conversation with my boss (a lovely lady who has really taken me under her wing and has worked to mentor me on this path) last week and one thing she talked to me about was balance. She said that I need to find more balance and not to work such crazy hours. Yeah, a lot of what I do, I do because I am driven. I feel that I have a lot to prove (especially when I've got stupid biznatches, like I mentioned above, constantly snapping at my heels). And with all the changes that are constantly thrown at me, I really have to be flawless all the time. And, that takes time. More than 8 hours a day, that's for sure.

So, in an effort to find so balance, I'm going to set some some boundaries for myself. From now on, Mondays at 5pm is quitting time. There's a yoga class I want to take on Monday nights and to get there in time, I need to leave the office at 5pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm leaving the office no later than 5:30, because there's another yoga class I want to take. And, no more waking up at 5:30 in the morning and starting to work (usually the first thing I do is make coffee and open MS Outlook and start answering emails and working on open projects). No, I need to fit in my treadmill workout at that time.

I don't mind working hard...I'm just tired of killing myself for a job where I make $20k less than the market average and where I can't count on anyone or anything. I need to start looking at the big picture of my career. I need to consider that there's more out there for me. I don't want to wake up on my 47th birthday still feeling stressed out all the time, still 50 pounds overweight, and still exhausted.

I want to look like (and be able to do) this when I'm 83:

Betty Calman, 83 year old yoga instructor