living your moksha- week one

Moksha Yoga is hosting a studio-wide 7 week challenge starting April 4th.

This week's pillar of focus is "Be Healthy", offering vegetarianism as a means to reduce your footprint on the planet as well as living healthier overall. I am a vegetarian (I tried veganism for a few months this year but was too stressed and busy to stick with it, maybe one day again!) but I don't preach it or expect everyone is willing or wants to go veg. A cool option is meatless mondays (with different websites and initiatives worldwide):

It’s not about going vegetarian. (Though that is a great choice.)

It’s about healthy, sustainable eating. It’s about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It’s about doing what we can to slow down global warming. And it starts with you.

This video shows the difference one day a week actually can make!



Even if you don't practice at a Moksha studio, I encourage you to check out the challenge and maybe even sign up for the weekly emails- the first one was so packed with information! Sign up and take your yoga off the mat here. next week: be accessible.

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

aux vivres

So, I've been spending (Canadian) thanksgiving weekend in Montreal catching up with friends. I dropped in on one of the lectures at the Montreal moksha YTT, to hear Frank Jude Boccio speak again- he was one of my faves in July.

After a great lecture with fresh, untired ears that I may not have experienced during my own training (thanks to sheer exhaustion), and a meditation session, I decided to recommit to (or, rather, START) a home meditation practice. I was so gung-ho to start a practice post-training, and it just never materialized. Starting Tuesday (post-holiday!) I am going to start with a mini-challenge, 5 minutes of meditation for one week. I know its a small challenge, but they say to break big goals into small, manageable chunks!

Post-lecture, two of my friends from training took me to Aux Vivres, a vegan restaurant on St. Laurent. The "B"LT was highly recommended, so I decided to heed their advice.

My mind was blown.

(photo borrowed from this blog, i forgot to take one before chowing down!)

The "bacon" is comprised of flavoured baked coconut, along with tomatoes, lettuce and an amazing "mayo" in a chapati wrap. I can honestly say it was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. I can't believe it was vegan! If i had an aux vivres cook, my journey to veganism would be so simple (more on that later). We followed up with "Gateax Fauxmage" (uncheesecake) but nothing could top the amazingness of that coconut bacon. I'm going to try to replicate it one day, I will let you know how it goes.

So, there you have it. If you ever visit Montreal, definitely check out Aux Vivres- even if you're a meat eater. And happy thanksgiving!

How many of you have a regular meditation practice?

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

Vegetarian Fiesta Stuffed Peppers

Today, I did a few things that shocked myself...
1) I made stuffed peppers
2) I made the recipe up by myself!

Sadly, my mom forgot to photograph the evidence (I prepared them at lunchtime to be cooked later, since I worked til 7pm tonight), but you'll just have to imagine how awesome they looked. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients
6 bell peppers, any colour.

Filling:
6 servings of cooked brown or basmati rice (was about 1.5 cups dry)
1 small onion, diced
1 cup/ small can corn kernels
1 handful of fresh green beans (or one small can), chopped into 1-inch sections
1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning (alternatively, make a homemade version)
1 tbsp olive oil
feta cheese, to taste (optional, omit for a vegan version)

To prepare the filling, heat olive oil in pan and sautee the onion, adding in the beans after a minute or so. When heated, add corn, cooked rice, and taco seasoning. Mix well. Remove from heat and stir in the feta cheese.

To prepare the peppers, cut off the tops and remove seeds and membrane from the insides. Lay on a baking sheet on their sides, and place in the oven on a broil setting. Watch carefully, rotating every few minutes until all sides are blistered. Remove from oven, and place in a closed paper (or plastic, if you must!) bag, and allow to steam for about 15 minutes. When cooled, the skin will easily peel off.

Fill the peppers with the mixture and stand upright in a deep baking dish. Bake for 20 mins on 350 degrees.

So, my very first all-by-myself "real" recipe (i.e., not pan-frying vegetables over pasta or salad and calling it my own!). And, it wasn't that scary!!

Hope you enjoy!

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

Vegan Carrot Spice Muffins

Yum! I baked this delicious treat today for a going-away potluck for one of the receptionists at my yoga studio, who sadly (albeit excitingly) going to school in the UK in a few weeks.

I slightly modified this recipe from the Fat Free Vegan cooking blog. Definitely going to be checking it from now on for new recipes!

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Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (or a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached flours)
1/4 cup natural sugar (i used sucanat)
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup almond (or other) plant milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 3)
1/4 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or use muffin liners. (I used silicone muffin pans.)

Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry and mix just long enough to combine. Add the carrots and raisins and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups–it will be very thick. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

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They are so delicious. I used a bit too much cloves, so that is a bit overpowering but they are great- not too sweet, and so yummy fresh out of the oven!


Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

acceptance, or not.

I'm just curious how many of you have a "fun" time dealing with people who don't accept your lifestyle choices- particularly vegetarianism, or diet choices based on eco-consciousness.

It's only been about 6 months since I stopped eating meat, and I feel like I'm constantly being questioned on why I make the choices that I do. The other night, someone put milk in my tea, and I had literally just decided to start making the switch to non-cows milk. I still drank it, but of course the question is asked, "well, why did you decide to stop drinking cow's milk?" When my lighthearted comment about soy beans not feeling pain like cows do wasn't good enough, I threw out the greenhouse gas debate. I was then told to "check my sources". No thanks, I'm not going to change my mind regardless of what you think. The thing is, I have multiple vegan/vegetarian friends. No one questions them, but I guess every time I take my diet one step furthur towards being animal or eco-friendly, I have to go through the process all over again!

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So, how many of you have to field irritating questions like this? How do you respond? I'd love some non-confrontational ways to brush off the topic! Should I just say I don't want to explain myself? Ask them why they eat meat? I'd love your input :)

Namaste, Callah

considering vegetarianism

Today, vegetarianism seems to be hitting me over the head.

Moksha yoga creates "Green Tips" videos every month. Watch the April 2010 video (on what else, Vegetarianism!).


Next, my yoga journal email subscription. I receive veg recipes weekly, but I'm not much of a cook so I use skim the article and delete. Today, I decided to peruse the website (I guess that video influenced me!) and found this awesome "Vegetarian Starter Kit" guide.

Currently, I'm pescatarian, which means I eat fish/seafood but no other kinds of meat. (Going on 6 months now!) I'm not too strict about it -I don't mind picking pepperoni off the pizza on the odd occasion - but I try not to be too wasteful about it. (And I definitely don't judge meat-eaters!)

Reading more about the subject, it does make me want to cut back a bit more on some certain things, like dairy (although I could never give up cheese!)  and scale back the fish/seafood to not more than 2-3 times per week.

I'm curious about other yogis, are you some sort of vegetarian? Do you feel it is (or isn't!) an integral part of "living yoga"?

Namaste,
Callah

P.S. I'd love it if any yogi/ni bloggers want to "exchange links" for my blogroll!