Tofu, it's what's for Dinner

Actually Tofu itself is not my favorite food.  But I have become quite the fan of Pad Thai with Tofu.  My husband has always been a huge fan of Pad Thai, and I have made it for him in the past for special occasions and have always bought the sauce, well being Gluten Free that has posed an issue as most Pad Thai sauces adn recipes contain Soy or Tamari, which often contain wheat.

After much searching and a little bit of playing around I found the perfect fit for us, sweet, but spicy. We love the heat!

This recipe has been adapted from The Gluten Free Vegan (Thanks Christa).  

As a side note, I always go for Organic so it is not typed in the recipes as it is just understood, when you can, opt for Organic.

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 large Onion Chopped
6 Carrots Diced
2 cups of spinach chopped (or baby)
12 Oz extra firm Tofu Cubed
1/4 Cup GF Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's)
1/4 cup Braggs Aminos (or Wheat Free Tamari)
2 TBSP Agave nectar
1- 1 1/2 Tablespoons red curry paste (this is alot, and makes it pretty hot)
2 Tablespoons organic natural peanut butter
1 package washed and drained bean sprouts
10-12 ounces Rice noodles prepared according to directions
4 green onions, chopped
Juice of 1 lime

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and add onions and carrots. Saute until the onions become soft, about 4-5 minutes.  Add tofu and continue to cooks another 4-5 minutes.

 

Add vinegar, Aminos (tamari), agave nectar, red curry paste, peanut butter, spinach and sprouts to coat and heat through.

Pour tofu mixture over the noodles and garnish with green onions and lime juice.

And Enjoy!!!

Namaste,
Pam

Breakfast, my new favorite

In the winter I often make Oatmeal for my almost 4 year old almost every morning. It is a nutritious and wholesome breakfast that starts her day off right.  Growing up we didn't eat oatmeal, maybe its becasue we were too busy eating chocolate chip muffins from teh bakery at the food store or Sullivan's Donuts on Sunday morings to realizes it's deliciousness, but I didn't have oatmeal for the first time until college.

As a child I had huge texture issues with food and never would have eaten anything, that at the time I would have considered mush in a bowl.  The interesting thing is that now both of my parents eat oatmeal and actually enjoy it. (They came to this on their own I had nothing to do with it.)  Over the past year, being Gluten Free I have let go of Oatmeal as something I can't have anymore. Then about two months ago, a friend told me she was eating GF oatmeal that she bought at Trader Joe's and it was great.  I was skeptical.  The biggest barrier was that my oatmeal eating had all been done through Quaker and his sugar laden packets of oatmeal. 

Then about 3 weeks ago, I came home from teaching Yoga and was hungry and realized we had NO food in the house. I was in desperate need of going food shopping and we live 30 Minutes to the closest food store and it was snowing, not my idea of a good time. So I climbed into the pantry and began searching.  Now I make GF cupcakes and cookies and cook from scratch often so I have many kinds of flour and other essentials. I also happened to have gluten free Oatmeal, in mason jars in the pantry. I have no recollection what baking project I bought it for but it was there and it was ready for me.  So I decided to give it a try. 5 Minutes later, I had a warm bowl of deliciousness.

Gluten Free Banana Cinnamon Oatmeal
1/2 cup GF oatmeal
1 Cup water
1 banana
Cinnamon
A sweetener of sorts (maple syrup, organic brown sugar etc)
Nuts (optional)
Dried Fruit (optional)

Bring water to a boil, add oatmeal and stir often until cooked. Add sweetener, cinnamon and mash a banana into the pot, and mix. Let stand 1-2 minutes, top with nuts or whatever you like.

This is now my go to breakfast and I look forward to it everyday. So yummy. Enjoy!

Peace, love and Namaste.
Pam 

Gluten is the Devil...and so are Oreos

It pains me too that Oreo Cookies are so full of Chemical and Nasty stuff. Why oh why do they taste so good then?? Okay, so not good exactly, but like childhood. (Even though I'm pretty sure we never actually had them when I was a kid).

Last week my husband asked me to buy some Oreo's because he was having a craving. (And yes Oreo's are Vegan-ish.  i.e. There is no dairy, meat or egg, but the sugar could be processed with anything, but definitely not GF.)

So I gave in, Marley told me Oreo Cookies are her favorite and since I am not sure who told her about Oreo Cookies, since she has has maybe had them 2 times in her almost 4 years, I am guessing Jeffrey put her up to it.  Wouldn't you know they were on sale $2.50 a package. Kale is $2.99 a bunch, never on sale, so don't get me started.  I brought them home and Jeffrey and Marley began having a cookie or two after dinner 

On Thursday I decided, I wanted to have an Oreo, so I did, actually I have 3 or them.  That was all it took. I went to teach a class and about 20 Minutes into it (3 hours after eating the cookies) I was nauseous and thought I was going to puke.  Then the pain began, between my shoulder blades, up my spine, down to my low back and up into my head. Like someone had beat me or I had a major accident and had whiplash.

Oh the rare Occasion that I eat gluten, I can usually handle a little bit. A small piece of bread and few cracks, not the end of the world and in order for my back to be affected by the gluten consumption if usually takes a pretty good amount.

I was utterly shocked, 3 little, not so good, Oreo cookies and I have in so much pain I was considering a trick to the Chiropractor again. (which I don't usually need now that I'm GF).  SUgar and the crap in them also makes me cranky and I always feel run down and lethargic when I eat junk, especially cookies. After four days of yoga classes the discomfort has begun to ease, but I am still not back to normal. 

Good Lord, thanks but no thanks Nabisco, Oreos are Satan's Cookies and I will NOT be buying those again for anyone in my house. So I hope they enjoy them now.....

Stay Clear my friends, be healthy and Namaste. 

Nemo and....reboot: breakfast

Nemo came, hit the north east and left us with a few feet of snow and went on it's way.  Luckily for us in NH although we got 31" of snow dumped on us at my house, we didn't loose power, which is pretty much a miracle.  

After the snow started

Marley Jammed in the snow on the deck after some clearing had gone on.

Marley in the driveway once the snow stopped, she is 40" tall as a reference point. :)

We were able to go about our days and were totally back to normal by Sunday.  This was great, but it also means no more excuses. 

Since we returned from vacation my eating has been horrible, so here is the chain reaction.
Eating like crap, so no energy to do anything, no energy to cook and no energy to juice, just want to sleep. Not really but you get the picture.  Basically I went to the food store and bought Naked Juice because I was too lazy to juice myself, which means I am not getting what I need nutrient wise so I am tired. (really I don't feel like washing the juicer). Now by normal standards I am still in good shape, but by my usual diet not so much.

So here is the plan:
Back to juicing every morning and back to cooking.

Today's juice:

Carrot, Apple, Ginger

Spinach, Apple, Celery, Cucumber and Ginger

Other Breakfast options:

Gluten Free Oatmeal, cooked plain and add fruit, berries are especially yummy with it.

Fruit and Nuts

Eggs (if you eat them) and fruit/veggies

Plain Greek Yogurt (again Vegetarian not vegan) and fruit, especially good with frozen berries.

GF Toast with avocado and flax oil or natural Nut Butter. Sprouted grain bread, like Ezekiel bread is a good choice.

Smoothie, any kind you like and add some greens. I really like to add Coconut water to my smoothies, it gets me the hydration I need along with the magnesium and potassium and all the other yummy stuff.

Dinner, I like to mix it up sometimes and have beans and veggies for breakfast, or greens and legumes.  So if your feeling it have last nights left overs for breakfast.

Give it a try and see if a cleaner breakfast, free of added sugar will give you a new outlook on the day.

While your at it, try a little desk yoga, or just pop right out of your chair and rock a little down dog, or up dog, whatever your feeling. And watch out for some yoga videos soon to add to your practice.

Eat well, enjoy the day and Namaste.
XO Pam

Mexico, oh Mexico

Vacation started with a long line at Customs, and then a swift move through the agent and into the warm air of Cancun Mexico.  It was in the lows 80s when we arrived on 1/20/2013 and after a long day of travel we were there.

Marley asked me a questions about every building and tree on the side of the road until arriving at the resort. We were greeted with Chocolate chip cookies, bottles of water, punch for Marley and Champagne, which we declined after all that flying.  

The resort was amazing, Dreams Riviera Cancun Mexico, an all inclusive 5 star resort with staff that does EVERYTHING for you.

I spent my mornings teaching yoga (just until 9:45) then spent the rest of the day, swimming, walking on the beach and eating. Oh did we do a lot of eating. I was terrified to get on the scale when I got back, but such is life.

Marley had a blast, her favorite part other than being able to go from one pool to another all day was the swim up bar, AKA, the "juice bar", she had everything from frozen chocolate milk (a virgin Mud Slide) to frozen lemonade, to frozen strawberry banana drink and everything in between. By the end of the week she was walking by staff saying "Hola, Cono sta (Como esta)?" she wants to move to Mexico and cried when we left, I can't say I blame her, I kind of felt the same way.

We had some amazing food, and although I veered slightly (I mean how many days can I look at a chocolate croissant and not eat one?) The staff was really accommodating and had quite a few Gluten Free and Vegetarian Options.  Many things I ordered with no cheese, etc.  The Salad bar was amazing, hummus and guacamole at every lunch and dinner we attended as well as rice noodles and rice at every meal. We certainly did not go hungry at this resort.

The bad news is I left my phone behind, which is where most of my pictures are.  I have some on my phone and will upload them soon.  

This week back to juicing and more Vegan GF recipes.  More to come soon, first stop, the food store..... stay tuned!!

Peace, Love and Namaste!

Eggplant yumminess

Before going all juice this week I had some yummy meals last week, one being a "nightshade" dinner.  For our family Christmas with my side of the family my mom, trying to accommodate my vegan, Gluten Free family decided to make an eggplant dish that was sans cheese and gluten (the family was having Stuffed Shells and Roast Beef).

It went like this- and next time I make I promise to take more pictures, but I was so excited to get to the eating part I forgot - 

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant

2 Medium Zucchinis

1 cup baby bella Mushrooms (or whatever you like)

1 large colored Pepper

1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce or 3 cups of homemade

Dairy Free Cheese of your choice

Servings 4-6

1. Start with 1 large eggplant and 2 medium size zucchinis, slice them to about 1/2 inch thick and spread them out on a cookie/baking sheet with Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper, put in the oven on at least 400 degrees for 10 minute on each side.

2. once crisped some, place them in a baking dish and add Mushrooms and Sliced peppers (any color I used red) and cover with Tomato Sauce of some kind, it can be homemade of a jar of your favorite Spaghetti Sauce and cover with your favorite Dairy free Cheese (we used Daiya Mozzarella) and bake on 350 for about 30 minutes.

Just out of the Oven

Serve with dinner with a salad add a Pasta or bread if you feel the need but it is so wonderful without it. You might just make a believer out of your pasta loving friends!  This dinner is one of my new favorites and I have made it several time for different occasions and people seem to love it.

It smelled so good I started eating it before I had take pictures.  But here is what  it looks like on the inside.


Give is a try, you will be amazed.  Coming soon, Pad Thai to die for!
Until then....
Peace, Love and Yoga,
Namaste!

New Years new you.....or me?!

So the Juicing has been going well. I have found a great blog with juice recipes and am loving them, as is the whole family (www.healthycrush.com).  I have officially moved to Juice only for 5 days. I know, I could do longer but I want at least a week to reincorporate solids before going to a mostly cooked menu in Mexico.

So here are some of my favorites:
The Classic Green:
1 bunch Kale
1 cucumber
4 Stalks of Celery
2 Granny Smith Apples
1/2 Lemon (peeled)
a chunk of Ginger Root

This juice is amazing, I know sounds weird which is why I eased into it with a week of juice and food.  But I really like this and I feel AMAZING. No really. I drink 12-14 oz of green juice first thing in the morning and I am ready to go.  I can teach Yoga, I can see clients, I can play hide and seek with Marley, and not the kind where I hide under the blanket on the couch where I am sitting, the get up and find a good spot kind. It's fabulous!!

Some others I have tried:
Green Pineapple (from Healthycrush.com)
1 1/2 cups Fresh Pineapple (chopped)
4 stalks of Celery
1/2 bunch of kale
1 small piece of ginger

This juice is the Bomb!!! so fruity and delicious, made me feel like I was already in Cancun sipping a green juice on the beach. Hmmm, wonder if they have that there?

My husbands favorite so far is the Carrot Juice, which I have to say I am drinking as I am writing and it is pretty darn sweet.  Almost sweeter than the Pineapple.  But good enough to get me through my next few sessions.  Here is a version from healthcrush.com

Carrot Juice:
3 Carrots
2 apples 
1/2 lemon (peeled)
piece of ginger

All the ingredients I used are organic, doesn't make sense to detox from toxins with toxins. Just sayin'! 

I am super excited about further juicing experimenting and sharing with you, and I will also share the eggplant dinner from last week, so check back.

That my friends is how I am spending my new year, juicing and packing for our trip.

Peace, Love and Yoga
Namaste!