Fauxghetti

This beauty of this is that it's vegan, raw (if you leave out the artichoke hearts) and I'm sure you could add daikon or a dash of shoyu or something to swing it in a Macrobiotic direction.

But mostly, it's just fun, a Faux Spaghetti with a Faux Cheesy Sauce. For this Italian girl, who has almost entirely given up pasta, it's a little bit of magic. I'll definitely be doing this again!

This was my maiden voyage with the new julienne grater and it was super easy. I couldn't believe how simple it was!

To top my noodle dish, I just used stuff that I had on hand: mixed up some raw green peppers, red peppers and sliced avocado heart (not raw) with zucchinni noodles (raw). Sliced black olives would have worked too, or sundried tomatos.

I used a sauce I improvised with some guidance from the interwebz. Roughly: 3 tbsp tahini, 1 tsp miso, 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic chopped finely. All mixed up with water added to desired consistency.



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Hatha

I did a Hatha Yoga practice this morning for an hour. I followed the Gentle Hatha Yoga #3 sequence with Jackie, from YogaDownload.

I did not like this sequence at all. I'm not a fan of sequencing that focuses exclusively on one side for several postures, then switches to the other side. It leaves me feeling unbalanced. There was definitely not enough pose/counterpose in this class and more than once, I felt like I needed to add counterposes of my own, or just come into Downward Facing Dog for a spell.

Interestingly, I looked back on the 20 minute and 30 minute versions of this sequence, which I tried last year, and I didn't like those either. For the same reason!

The rest of the day was full of fun. A much beloved and excellent vegan restaurant is shutting its doors after this weekend. My vegan buddy G messaged me and we made last minute plans for a late lunch.

Nothing is funnier than two vegans despairing over a menu that has too many options. We're not used to options! I finally decided on a yam/eggplant sandwich with sage hummus. It was awesome. G got the scrambled Tempeh. We shared a pumpkin spice waffle with banana-coconut compote for dessert.

Then I headed off to a party for a friend visiting from Vancouver. It was the best possible Ashtangi social schedule: I was home by 7:30 at night. Ha, ha!

I took my weekly State-of-the-Backbend photo on Wednesday. My middle is pouffy from LH, but the backbend isn't bad. I'm still focusing on breathing. I walk my hands, but never past the 'edge' where I'm not able to breath deeply and freely.

One thing I struggle with in backbends is keeping my breath duration long. Once I get into a pattern of quick and shallow breathing, I'm almost never able to get back to a better quality breath. So I've been using a metronome to give myself a point of reference. 4 beats inhale, 4 beats exhale. I know right away if my in-breath become shallow and too fast. It's not a new idea, but it's been really valuable to me for keeping my breath even in Urdhva Dhanurasana.

I was looking at past backbend photos and, though the changes are subtle, it's coming along slowly and slowly is just fine with me.




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Astanga

Aunt Flo is fickle. She comes and goes. She was well on her way yesterday, but absent this morning. I guess she wandered off to do some sightseeing. I'm sure she'll be back. I wasn't sure what practice I should do, but I really felt like doing my Primary, so I did. I skipped the inversions (seems like a fair compromise) and had a good, sweaty practice.

I'm really, really glad I did my practice! I really needed it.

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Loo asked how I clean my clothing and mats. It's such a process! Given how much Astanga I do, hand-laundry feels like a hobby! I used to think that if I just threw my stuff in the bucket with some detergent right after practice, that would do the trick. Everything would dry and be sweet smelling for the next day.

Ha, ha! If only it were *that* easy! The sad truth is, clothing gets stinky from Astanga. All of those nasty toxins have to go somewhere so they take up resident in yoga clothes. I've experimented with various strategies over the past few years and I've found system that's full proof for me.

I'm sharing it here, but remember: your mileage may vary. What works for my stink might not work for your stink. For awhile, I tried Dr. Brommer's lavender soap to soak my stuff. The bacteria in my clothing *laughed* at Dr. Brommer. It didn't work for me at all.

So here's my secret formula:

I own two sets of practice clothes. Two yoga tops and two yoga shorts/capris. I tend to buy good quality because I'm hard on clothes. Lu is expensive but their clothing holds up well and that's important when you're wearing it and washing it literally every day.

My first line of defence is Tide with Febreze. Yeah, it smells like ass, but I've gotten used to it and it does a great job of cutting the odour. I use it for daily laundering as well as my weekly machine wash. Every day after practice, I dump my clothes in a bucket with detergent and soak them for a half-hour, thoroughly rinse and hang everything to dry in the bathroom.

My second line of defense is a weekly white vinegar rinse. This is *key* and particularly important for my yoga tops, as they get horribly stinky even with consistent washing. In a bucket with an inch of water and an equal amount of white vinegar, I thoroughly saturate the tops and let them soak for a half-hour. Next, I add water, detergent and throw the yoga pants in for a soak. After a half-hour, I rinse everything then put it in the machine wash with my regular load. I allow it all to air-dry afterward.

My Manduka gets a thorough scrubbing once a week, on Friday. In a spray bottle, I combine 1 part white vinegar to 2 part water, plus 20 drops of tea tree oil and 20 drops of lavendar. I spray the mat until it's wet and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I scrub it throughly with a wet towel and rinse it off in the tub. It takes about 24 hours to dry.

I have two Mysore rugs in regular rotation and use each one three times before washing it. Rug-washing days are Tuesday and Friday. I'm using the 'thick' rugs now because they don't bunch up on my mat. The thick rugs take *forever* to dry, so alternating between the two allows time for that. I soak the rug in the kitchen sink for a half-hour with detergent, rinse it in the tub, wring out as much water as possible, then air-dry.




Princess Fur gets a bath in the tub, every two weeks with baby shampoo (which smells sweet to my nose and probably horrific to hers). And she's brushed as often as I can corner her (read: not often enough). :-D

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Astanga

Have you noticed how the Internet has taken the mystery out of just about everything? I can still remember hunting down song lyrics as a teenager. In the early 90s, I recall spending hours at the library trying to track down the origin of a quote. In the pre-web-olden-days, if you needed to know something about moon phases, you had to track down a farmer's almanac.

Now, I just Google everything I want to know and the answers magically appear. As for moon phases...well, there's an app for that!

So for those of you who were wondering if the Moon Day is *really* on Saturday, even though most shalas have it scheduled for Friday: The app says that it's a New Moon as of 12:52 a.m. Saturday morning. But given that the change back to Standard Time happens on Saturday night, I think it's fair to say that this one is definitely 'on the cusp.'

I'll probably practice on Friday. If for no other reason, my LH is upcoming and I know I'll miss my practice during those days off.

Thanks for all the feedback on the Vegan Protein Debacle. Here's an update: Health Food Store #1 is ordering Seitan for me. If I like it, I may try preparing some homemade. Everyone keeps telling me how easy peasy it is.

I found Vega on sale (but shit, it's expensive!!!), bought the Vanilla Chai flavour. I don't have a good history with concentrated protein so this is an experiment.

My first Vega smoothie was just 'okay' but the second was mind-blowingly fabulous and found myself craving it. Nothing changed. I think it was just a case of my body recognising holy-smokes-there's-protein-in-this-stuff. I've been getting bizarre cravings for chocolatey 'energy bars' too. Again, I think my body is just craving the protein.

In addition, I did a thorough analysis of my overall diet and filled in a few gaps so I know I'm getting all the nutrition I need.

Practice this morning was good. The jump into Bhuja P was not happening today for some reason. I tried it twice and moved on.

I've changed my approach to Laghu Vajrasana after realising that I had reached a point where I can 'pigeon peck' endlessly. I've reintroduced the block and I'm now lowering to the block and holding for five breath cycles before coming up.

Sirsasana was dodgy the first two days of this week. My hands were slipping and I felt unstable. The past few days have been very good in the pose (hands are less sweaty maybe?).

It's been a Bad Transit Karma week with many delays and long waits. On Monday, I was 10 minutes late to a class. This almost never happens because I build time into my commute to account for possible delays.




This is what the platform looked like. Almost too crowded to move. People were not happy.

MOO!

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Astanga

I was on the way home from teaching my last class of the evening when I realised that I hadn't updated this blog.

Okay...

This day was a mix of lazy/busy, so I don't really have an excuse (except for the 'lazy'). I spent a lot of time on Twitter, picking the Cybershala's collective brain about soy-free, vegan protein sources. Protein sources that aren't beans (because I may be allergic to them *sigh*).

Yeah, it's tough to be me. I've spent the last two months trying to put a finger on this weird allergy/systemic reaction. It's thrown my entire diet into chaos, but I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

And at least I've established that I'm NOT gluten intolerant. *bigsighofrelief* Not that I'm going to go on a 'bread binge' any time soon, but it's nice to know that the occasional multi-grain-roll-with-almond-butter-schmeer is an option for me.

Today I discovered that I'm apparently the last vegan on the planet to properly appreciate Vega. I thought the stuff had soy in it, so I had been steering clear. It's also pricey, but I'm desperate. I'll investigate tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'd like to know how a city that serves dinner at all hours of the night and caters to every possible international cuisine could be so empty of something as simple as seitan. No one carries it! Not even the usual suspects, Health Food Store #1 and Health Food Store #2. I'll check #3 tomorrow, but seriously!?

Oh yeah, and my practice: It was okay. I felt tired and there was some MAJOR futzing happening right around Laghu Vajrasana. In yesterday's post, I think I was 'bad ladying' myself a little bit. It kinda worked. I did 6 Urdhva Dhanurasana and I worked hard in them.

Something interesting: During the workshops, D taught a shoulder alignment trick coming into UD. Today, I realised that I was doing something similar on my own long before the workshops, something that just 'felt right.' Making that identification helped me to understand D's approach better and it was a sweet moment. It was nice to have a 'backbending thing' make sense for a change!

Also, something that J helped me with (in Pasana) is carrying over into almost every pose I do including my backbending. It was a simple adjustment and instruction, so simple, it's difficult to convey. Basically, I need to relax and not tense up my shoulders when I'm trying to bind. When I can do this properly, the shoulder joint has more mobility and space and I'm able to reach deeper.

I'm not sure that really made sense, but I'll leave it be.




It's starting to get dark at night as I'm coming home from teaching my classes. I love living in the city! Magic :-)

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Astanga

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find a vintage Thanksgiving greeting with a *living* turkey on it, but Google and I are good friends.

Behold, the rugby playing turkey, proof that these birds are more fun alive than dead!



I'm enjoying a genuine day off today - no teaching at all for two days!

Yesterday, I took Princess Fur for a long walk in the Really Big Park. It was the perfect sunshiny autumn day and the park was busy with people and other dogs. We stayed for almost three hours, including a long interlude in the middle of the woods, staring up at the colourful leaves and brilliant blue sky.

Unfortunately, most of today was spent feeling somewhat under the weather. I'm not sure what's going on, but I've been sidelined with a headache and I was grateful for the opportunity to rest.

I practised in the morning and it was terrific. What a difference a week can make! I don't think my binds have ever been this deep. As I was finishing up my Intermediate poses, a headache struck. I went into bigtime futz mode, so my backbends were not great.

But I tried my best and I didn't skip anything. Dropbacks were good, stand-ups, not so much. I ended up dropping and standing from the cushion today. The prospect of crash-landing on the futon frame was too much for my silly brain to handle.

Ironically, the most interesting part of the whole practice was Urdhva Dhanurasana. I haven't tried to 'rock up' from the floor in awhile so I gave it a go. It feels totally different to me now! I'm coming right up onto my fingertips and staying there for a micropause and...I don't know. It just felt indescribably different. Less scary, or something.

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I decided to have my Thanksgiving supper today (in Canada, it's common to have the meal anytime during the holiday weekend). Back in my university days, I remember the grocery store selling a 'Thanksgiving-in-a-Box' for singles who wanted a holiday meal, but they were all meat-based.

Yesterday, I found the vegan version of Thanksgiving-in-a-Box!


So, of course, I had to buy it! It contained two Tofurkey breasts, ingredients for stuffing and a packet of instant vegan gravy.

I supplemented the meal with my favourite zucchini dish, brown rice, kale salad and my famous vegan version of 'American-style Candied Yams' (which have been a consistent surprise favourite at all of the 'Orphan's' Thanksgivings I've attended over the years). Dessert was vegan 'carrot cake' muffins.


It looks eerily authentic to my eyes. I haven't eaten 'real' meat in years, so I have no idea what it really tastes like.

The Tofurkey was 'okay' and I've had better stuffing. The best part of that deal was the plastic storage container included to hold the leftovers!

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Vinyasa

Today is the new moon, so I didn’t practice Astanga in the morning. When the alarm went off at 5:30, I turned it off, rolled over and went back to sleep.

I was having a fantastic dream that I was driving a luxury RV through a dessert. Don’t ask. It had nifty cup holders and a good sound system. There were tumbleweeds rolling past! And I was eating Smart Food, which technically I’m not supposed to eat because I’m a vegan.

At least, I’m trying very hard to be a vegan. The slippery slope just became a lot steeper.

It’s much easier to be a vegan if you can eat soy products. There are so many good vegan things to eat that are soy based, many of them excellent replacements for things that vegans can no longer eat (like milk and cheese).

Alas, I’m rediscovering that I can’t eat soy in some forms. I have bad reactions to it. It all came to a stunning conclusion this past weekend when I recognised the same symptoms from the last time I went through this. My bad reaction to soy isn’t a new thing; I knew it was a problem. I was in denial. I faced these same issues when I first became vegan years ago (and it was one of the reasons I gave up and went back to being a garden-variety vegetarian).

This morning, I biked to the store and returned the yummy vanilla soy milk, the soy yoghurt that I love so much and the soy creamer I was using in my chai.

And I replaced the soy milk with rice milk. I was curious to see if any significant improvements has been made in rice milk technology over the past ten years. Nope. It still tastes like sugary chalk-water. Next time I’ll get the almond milk (which is actually pretty good).

I also bought...*sigh*...organic dairy creamer.

I know, I know! But chai is one of the great joys of my life. I’m NOT going to give it up. And there doesn’t seem to be an easy alternative. So I’m a very bad vegan, but this time I’m not going to give up because of the slippery slope. I’ll do the best I can. For now, this is it. I’m going to do some cream research. If I have to buy it, maybe there’s a cruelty-free-super-organic alternative.

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I did a 45 minute practice today at the gym before teaching a class. I really love doing this! Today, I had the entire room to myself. I shut the doors and put some fun music on the stereo. I did the Suryas, the fundamental poses, then moved into some hip openers and light backbends.

I worked on Laghu for awhile, my new favourite pose. I love going up and down! :-) I’m still struggling a bit to find my ‘edge’, to keep it challenging without being impossible. If I cross that line into ‘impossible’ I just fall back into Supta Virasana and then I need to haul myself up with my arms. Laghu FAIL.

It bugs me a bit that I’m never sore in my quads after these marathon Laghu sessions. I feel like I should be *feeling* something, maybe I’m not working hard enough. The pose is gradually getting easier though, so I guess that’s progress.

I’ve switched up my strategy for working on ‘standing up’. I’m dropping back against a wall, as far down the wall as I can. Then, pushing against the wall with my hands, I push my hips forward so they’re over my feet and I stand up. Well, sometimes I stand up. Often, I fall back again and need to walk my hands up the wall a bit further. I’m trying to develop some muscle memory around the body mechanics and the positioning of the hips.

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Monday was my iPad-iversary. On Tuesday, I called Bell and cancelled my DSL Internet service. I’ve successfully transitioned to my iPad for email, scheduling, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds and blogging. I rarely use my laptop anymore. I take my iPad with me everywhere.

I love it! It’s been useful in ways I never imagined. For example, I used the GPS and maps function as a roadmap to get to Quebec and then to find my way around Montreal and Quebec City. The iPad trumps the ‘TomTom’ because it pinpoints your position on the map, a bit like Harry Potter and the ‘Marauder’s Map’. It’s a boon for insomnia: I can’t read in the dark with my Kindle, but the Kindle app on my iPad gives me that option. I also have a large collection of photos on my iPad. I’ve enjoyed showing these to friends. It’s reawakened my interest in iPhoto and my photo collections.

And one day, when I was sick to death of being stuck indoors on a beautiful afternoon, I took my iPad to the beach and for an entire afternoon, I used the beach as my office!

I’m totally sold on this idea :-D

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Vinyasa

Last night’s potluck was great! Travelling up to Shala North via public transit was half the fun. ;-) I packed the dessert-y things into plastic tubs, which fit into my large knapsack, along with the plates and serving spoons. I heated the stew at home, then sealed the pot lid with plastic wrap and wrapped the whole thing up in a towel, which I then carried in a canvas bag (it was still warm when I arrived).

I lugged all of this onto the subway, during rush hour, with one transfer! I know Ganesha was looking out for me, because I got a good seat on the northbound train! Thank you, Ganesha!

The food at this shindig was amazing! I ate and ate and ate and ate, then ate some more. There wasn’t a single untasty thing on that table. I’m glad I brought the vegan stew! At the time, it seemed like such a dull thing to bring to a party, but when I arrived, it was one of the few entrees and everyone enjoyed it.

(Before I forget - Does anyone know who brought the Vegan Carrot Cake? Can I get the recipe? Or find out where it was purchased? It was *amazing*)

But as amazing as the food was, the people made the party! I had a great time talking with everyone. After the unbearable heat of the past week, the coolish air on the balcony was the best thing ever and I basked in the breeze and the great conversation. What did we talk about? All sort of things, but I specifically remember a long and involved conversation about various injuries and openings. ;-) Talking about this practice is endlessly fascinating to me. This was definitely an Astanga party! ;-)

DR and S were there with their beautiful baby boy and it was an honour to meet him. He’s such a chill little dude! He’s a calm and happy baby and didn’t fuss at all as he was passed around the party from person to person, like a baby-bucket-brigade. S looks fantastic - she’s a serene and confident mom. DR is SO in love with his baby son - it was incredibly cute watching him with that baby!

It was dark when I finally headed home and that was a bit disorienting for me! For the past few months, I’ve been going to bed before dark. I felt like a rollicking party animal walking home from the subway at 10:30! *rowr*

As promised, here are the recipes for the treats I brought to Shala North Potluck:

Vegan Stew

Ingredients:

1 cup of tomato juice or vegetable juice

1 cup water

2 cans of Italian-style stewed tomatoes

1 can of chick peas

3 medium potatoes, unpeeled and cubed

1 large onion, chopped

1 each, green and red peppers, seeded and chopped

3 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips

2 tablespoons of chili powder

Additional Ingredients:

(Add during the last few minutes of cooking time)

1 package of frozen spinach (thawed)

2 tablespoons of chili powder

2 teaspoons of basil leaves

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

In a large pot or crock pot, combine all ingredients. A crock pot can be left overnight, or about 8 hours, on the ‘high’ heat setting. If cooking on the stovetop, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cover, allowing it to simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the additional spices and spinach during the last 10 minutes of cooking time.

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Raisin Muffins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup soy milk (unsweetened is best)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 medium ripe banana, mashed

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chopped almonds (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F (205 deg. C.). Grease 12 medium muffin cups.

2. Gradually stir the oil into the mashed banana, then add soy milk and mix thoroughly (it will be a bit lumpy)

3. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl, then stir in the wet mixture until just combined (don’t overmix!)

4. Fold in apples and raisins.

5. Divide batter equally among the muffin cups.

6. Bake until the tops begin to brown slightly, about 17 - 20 minutes.

7. Immediately remove from the pan, allow to cool.

Gluten-free Vegan Double Chocolate Brownies

These are so easy, it’s almost scandalous! They are moist and rich!

Ingredients:

Bob ‘Red Mill’ Gluten Free Brownie Mix

Egg Replacer, equivalent to 1 egg

3/4 cup of vegan margarine

1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips

Follow the directions on the bag. :-D I bake them for the full 25 minutes because they’re too gooey otherwise.

Vegan Double Chocolate Brownies

I follow this recipe to the letter. It’s never let me down! Vegan chocolate chips make them 100 times better!

Scrum-diddly-umptious Vegan Brownies

Vegan Blueberry Crumbles

I found this recipe on the amazing Vegan Thyme Blog. I’ve been dying to try these and they didn’t disappoint!

The ingredient list looks kind of overwhelming, but they’re super-fast to bake up:

Blueberry Crumb Bars

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Practice report, plus more food, more fun!:

This afternoon, I had the great privilege of attending Shala South’s 10th anniversary celebration. Though I’m not a regular part of the Shala South community, I’ve enjoyed the classes I’ve attended there and I have great respect for the skill of their teachers. It’s a great community! It was so much fun seeing familiar faces. Their warm welcome made me feel right at home.

The party started with a 2-hour long yoga class, led by various Shala South teachers. It was incredible moving to practice with 150 people as the different voices led us through the postures. I had a rich and satisfying practice. When DB took the microphone to lead us through the finishing poses, my whole body fell into ease. I just love her teaching! It was also fun to be led through some asana by my chanting/philosophy teacher. I can’t believe I’ve never been to one of her yoga classes! She’s really terrific!

The practice was followed by still more stunning vegan food (this has been an EPIC weekend for food!). I enjoyed hanging out with my blog-reader-turned-friend, S and meeting some new people too.

By far the best part of the evening was meeting M, a blog reader, who came over to introduce herself. She wasn’t sure she recognised me until...wait for it...I came into Urdhva Dhanurasana during the class and then she *knew* it was me! (all of those State-of-the-Backbend photos!!!) It was such a pleasure to just sit and chat, sharing thoughts about the practice and our experiences in various Mysore rooms around the city.

At one point it occurred to me that I wouldn’t be there, talking and sharing with these amazing women, if it wasn’t for this blog! I’m very grateful for technology and the Cybershala for helping me to build real-life community right here in my own city. My practice is enriched by these encounters.