FOOD, LOVE AND THE SOUL

Living Bio in Switzerland

2011-08-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hey updates from my food life in Switzerland and how easy it is to be organic!!

http://barefeetlove.blogspot.com/2011/08/living-bio-in-switzerland.html

Cheers!

Kibo. Everything the natural way

2011-06-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Italian country side,vast expanses of natural beauty, gorgeous organic produce, lingering smell of olives and a gracious family of hosts.

This is Kibo a family run farm, they take immense pride in farming the natural way and are enthusiastic about sharing their lifestyle with guests. As a Guest you have a choice of spacious and tasteful Eco cottages. Also a numbe of activities you can indulge in during your stay.
Organic cooking classes using produce from the farm, yoga classes and also Art classes!

VILLA “ALTOPIANO S. BIAGIO”

FINALE DI POLLINA
This is the Grand Villa on their property so to speak. Its the Country residence of Baronessa Franco and her family, Villa “Altopiano S. Biagio” is a delightful two level house on a smooth green hill located in the north-western part of the Sicilian coast (very close to Finale di Pollina, small village near Cefalù), with beautiful view on the Tirreno sea and its Beaches. The private beach is accesible with your own key (400 mt. and just 5 minutes walking from the house).

When you take a Vacation be assured that it does leave its mark on the planet and the communities. As a Hospitality Student I am only too aware of the lack of care Hotels and other establishments give to the environment.KIBO is a perfect Italian Getaway that is earth friendly.

You could take a piece of Kibo back with you as they produce an award winning 100% organic Olive Oil on their farm.

I am also proud to say that I will be living and working with the family for awhile thsi year. The work they r doing is phenomenal. I believe its ventures like this that will one day ceate the changes we need.

So if you do goto Sicily you know where to stay.. And who knows we may run into each other!!!

4 Au natural Skin and Hair Tips

2010-12-25T00:50:00.001-08:00

Check out the post at Barefeet Love!

Happy Holidays :)

4 Au natural Skin and Hair Tips

2010-12-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

Check out the post at Barefeet Love!

Happy Holidays :)

Guest Blogger!

2010-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

Hi!! I know I hav moved and all but I just had to put this post up here for you guys. I paticipated in a Blog Swap over at 20 SOMETHING BLOGGERS. Got partnered with the wonderful Tricia Hein from Students who still have souls and New In the Blogosphere. This is here post..

What I've been putting off for way too long

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to study abroad. In fact, I think I first decided to when I was four and we had a Japanese exchange student living with us. Where I go isn't too important since I want to go everywhere. It always got put off for one reason or another, none of which were very good. First of all, there was the money, then the timing. Last summer I got close but missed the deadline because I wasn't sure if I would be able to afford. However, this summer, which feels like my last chance since I'll be graduating, it's happening.

Each summer my school offers a trip to London that includes a side trip to Paris. It's fairly expensive since the trip is a month long, but I have been saving my check change money and I have a job. Every time I go shopping, I just have to look at the item I'm considering buying and ask myself, "Is it more important than seeing Europe?" As for the time, I've decided to just make the trip a priority. If anything else happens this summer (which it will) I will just have to schedule it around the trip.

By this time next year, I will have been to two countries outside of North America. And after that, there will be more trips. As parting words, I'd just like to tell you, if there is anything that you have been putting off that you really want to do, you have to make it happen. Get support, look for ways to happen, and overcome any obstacles that get in the way. Because I really do believe that if you want something bad enough and it isn't happening, the only real problem is that you are not trying hard enough.

Growth and Moving...

2010-12-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

I have grown so much over the years. Thank you all so much for having been a part of it many of you inspiring me and helping me go on!! I feel like a new phase is starting and life awaits me now with different treasures and adventures. Well Life is what we make it to be anyways right.. In lieu of these recent developments....

This blogger has moved here>>> Barefeet Love

Hope to see you there.

Love and Happy Holidays :)

Pay attention to the Blues

2010-12-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

You know those days.. Fuzzy, gloomy, lethargic your surrounded by an air of inexplicable sadness and a heavy heart? Nothing really makes sense anymore and your every belief is threatened by doubt?

They are the Blues.. Our friend depression sneaking up on us.. You never know why or how but these days just settle in at times.. I have had quite a few of those over the years.. Before my diagnosis I was actually and I mean this perennially depressed! What do I got to be depressed about at 18 or 20? Crappy parents and a useless boyfriend was my excuse.

The diagnosis flipped it! I was suicidal after my break up. And this illness saved me!

Ever since no matter what happened even when I had reasons to be depressed, I wasn't this illness thought me to always look on the bright side.. To be thankful and present.

I have those days when everything catches up with me and just bogs me down.. I used to be very hard on myself when that happened..

Look at yourself.. Your such a mess!! Do you even know how lucky you are?

These days I have learnt to gentle with myself.. Give myself the space I need.. If I want to wallow then thats what I will do.. And thats the thing.. When you live with a chronic illness any chronic illness and when everyday is about survival, making the best of what you have, your medicines and routines, believing, making the best choices for yourself, being there for your family and friends, balancing everything, making sure your eating right that your treating your body right, hoping and praying that tomorrow will be just fine, having fun, readjusting the priorities and capabilities, readjusting your entire life, being productive, living your dreams and all the while wanting to live life to the best you can and do the best you can.

Through all of this if you have one bad day how bad can it be!! Whats wrong with that? Why should we be so hard on ourselves. It's ok. It's ok to feel unsafe and scared. It's ok to feel hopeless. It's ok to feel tired. It's ok to feel the crushing weight on your shoulders at times. Because the thing is you will be back on your feet soon. You will be STRONGER and you will be FINE.

I have learnt to take these days as indicators of change. When I have a rough day I listen to me I listen to the whispers in me. They usually point to something that needs my attention. Thats the beauty of it.. When your feeling blue just feel it.. It can teach you a lot.. Remain in a thankful place and observe whats going on in you.. If its change you need to make figure it out.If its your mind and body asking for rest.. Stretch out, watch a movie, sleep, do something fun!! Talk to friends and family if you need to. Do what you need and want to do.. You just SO deserve it.

For me these days it just means time for contemplation. To be in my shell. To get some new perspective. Rest if I need to rest. At the end of the day I am fine and better for it. It reminds you that your learning the tools everyday to navigate this wonderful thing called life!

The longer you take to acknowledge these days the more you accumulate and its going to come raining down. So it's ok. Be Blue. Mope around for a bit. Be sad. Cry.The important this is to feel it and let it go no tot ignore it and hold on to it.

Much love to all you beautiful people!!

Whats wrong Honey??

2010-11-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

In my last blog I write about things that I hate about myself.. Incredibly negative energy to put out.. But it made me realize a lot of things.. Unresolved issues that go back to way back when.. Since then I have just been stumbling upon blogs that are incredible and full of love.

If I get to do nothing in my life ever it's ok. But I need to find my love for me back. I need to. It is gnawing my insides out and making me completely chaotic and restless!! I wake up at odd hours unable to breathe.. Feeling suffocated. It's just literally squeezing me inside out.

These issues are of course long standing. But why are they coming at me in full force now?? I believe it's time. It's time to get it ALL out. I have dealt with and made peace with many things over the years and I think this ones my hardest one yet. It requires me to be brutally honest with myself. It has made me take action. Is ask myself Whats wrong Hon?? And listen to the answers. Really listen...

One of the things that I am focusing on now ( I only want to do one thing at a time) is my

Love & Nourish List

Meditation

Yoga or any physical exercise- Stretch and let the energies open and flow

Spending time with friends- For me that means communicating to them my needs and reaching out for help!! I have a problem reaching out to people for help...

Exploring and doing new things- Like go into town and find a new cheese shop or gourmet shop!!

Treat myself - In this case some proper winter wear ( its -6C now!!!)

Eat foods that I like and can afford

Reduce Starch intake

Remind myself at every opportunity that I am who I am and that is Enough as is.

It is only when we recognize that we are more than enough and act from a place of FULLNESS that long term contentment, happiness and peace will be ours. When you know you are already enough, you do not chase a person, place or thing to "fill you up" or "make you feel better". No, when you are WHOLE, you walk through life with a healthy sense of love and detachment from the comings and goings of life. You attract other people, circumstances and events that are WHOLE. When you are WHOLE, you are seeking to enter all relationships to GIVE instead of to GET (and you will find that you attract people who wish to GIVE to you instead of GETTING from you).
Mastin Kipp- The Daily Love

I subscribe to their newsletter and its AWESOME!!! Just the dose of Love you need everyday in you inbox. Click here

Muah muah

The Relentless Pursuit of Limitations

2010-11-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

Sounds like the name of a Summer Blockbuster. Doesn't it??
This would be the title of my life. In as many words.

Over the last 5 years after the diagnosis and my path towards spirituality I have heard many a Motivational Speaker, Spiritual Guru, New Age Gurus, Religious Gurus all expound this one basic thought

It is but your mind that limits your life and You. God/Higher Power intends a life for you without any such limits. This power that created us all intends for us the most joyous and abundant life one can imagine.

The Lack Mentality is in itself a Human Creation not one of God. We have over the years perpetuated and perfected this Mentality. It is borne out of Fear. And how I hate this emotion. I JUST SO HATE THIS DAMN WORD! Only because I have a strong bond with it. In some ways..

Every time we feel stuck some place in our life. What overcomes us first is anger followed by frustration then self recrimination or blame etc. I have been through all levels of anger and frustration and self recrimination a million times. Does it do you any good? So I am stuck now. A feeling that I want to runaway as far as I can and that I am stuck!! This brings on voluminous amounts of self hate. Why?? Because I am living my dream. I wanted to study in Switzerland I made it here against all kinds of crazy odds. I am supposed to be delirious with happiness!!

But truth be told I AM NOT HAPPY. I WANT TO RUN. But I WILL NOT.

I am wiser now than 18 or even 21 to want to run every time I feel uncomfortable or unhappy. There is a lesson in it I have realized and that lesson can only be learnt the hard way. For that you need patience. For if you run, I assure you it will catch up with you.

There are so many valuable lessons for me to be learnt here in Switzerland.. so many. But some part of my psyche is not ready for the change I am pursuing. Its holding on. It's holding on AND IT'S HOLDING ON REAL TIGHT. To the past and a reality from the past. Terrified that if I do let go my life will come crashing down.There is a voice in my head that says

No you cant do that. Dont do that. That is not You.

At this point all I have are vague notions of myself. I do not know yet Who I am! This whole journey of coming here to study is more about me growing and learning than about any education or job. If I don't know clearly who I am it is not possible that for me to have the clearest vision of what I want to do. Maybe this entity which is ourself is ever changing and evolving so you cannot put a label on yourself. Instead give ourselves space to grow. Be sure to allot extra space for mistakes.

My challenge now if for me to sift through the constant barrage of thoughts and identify this source. This source that instills fear in me for no apparent reason. I am quite sure it will be removed.. once found. Which could prove to be bit of a struggle.

Change will always be met with resistance. Remember?

If we persist we always emerge shining and glorious. That day can never arrive soon enough. As terrified as you are letting go of the old and emerging in the new will not bring your life crashing down. Even if it does it's only because you have probably been living in a ruin already. Some evolved minds that I am happy to be associated with recognize this pesky little nuisance and quite enjoy the process of emotional turmoil and mind sweat that goes into eliminating this nuisance. Although I admire/envy their talents. I do not aspire to be like them I am too much of a Dreamer and Escapist to want to do that.

This ordeal of letting fear-- in essence Me holding Myself back is just plain ironic. I have always rebelled against authority of any kind and hated when people tell me what to do. I like that I am that way but for some one like that holding myself back because a Voice is telling me what I can and cannot do is ironic. I choose not to use the word Ridiculous out of respect for myself :D

Maybe it's time to play the Rebel again?

p.s- I have noticed that I have stated some very clear character traits of myself! Which is not bad at all!!

Excuses excuses and self expression!

2010-11-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

You know how it is when your in school. Classes exams projects. deadlines!! parties... boys :P
Plain ol' laziness and lack of inspiration.

These are my excuses for being incognito. But I feel like I am being urged by external forces to blog. Self expression. School is without a doubt a wonderful time to grow up, create opinions, discovery of self and the world. Also a time for pure narcissim if you so choose it.

I turned 25 this weekend. And its like some one has turned on the light again in my head. Questions about ones identity, self, greater purpose and calling runs on everyones mind. I had been consumed with it these past few months and not in a good way. Most often if I am consumed with anything it's not in a good way. Things do takes its course and time throws up many unexpected and delicious answers! I believe in signs from the Universe for everything. During this struggle with self and questions on how best I can be my authentic self in any given situation I asked for guidance and got a lot of answers. One of my anwers...

Blog. Again.

Strange huh that the Universe would even bother itself about my blogs!!? Who am I to deny the wishes of the Divine Power.I heed its call and here I am.

For me personally I am unhappy if I am doing something that is not aligned to my true nature. I would think that this is the greatest cause of unhappiness in everyone. The 5 years of my life ever since my diagnosis have been crazy pure love madness. This knocking that I have got from the Universe I regard it as an act Love. I was knocked down again and again only to make me see Light. To see Love.

I am not claiming that it's my Divinr purpose to blog. But at this moment I do know that it's going to be a tool. A tool for pure self expression. With anything especially blogging it's an act of communication and sharing. So of course this is not ONLY about ME. It's about YOU as well.

This leg of my Journey is definitely my Journey back to Me. How wonderful to have you ALL on board :)
WELCOME and I hope you enjoy it :)

Love

Hey!!!

2010-09-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

Lol.. Ok I have been gone a long time from here!! Been doing things... Taking my time settling down. Moved( Oh how I miss home!!) to Switzerland. Mission- To study Hospitality. Of course life is never as simple as it may seem. Never huh.. Ya.. I am studying of course learning new stuff being "trained". It's all good. My spiritual growth and journey has definitely taken an awesome High speed Lane. New environment( not exaggeratting!) new people, new challenges.. Its fun!!!

First of all its cold here( I am from India and I lived on a beach for a good portion so yeah!) and people here eat alot of meat, butter, cream, milk etc. Which is not surprising considering their icon is a Cow.. How easy it to be vegan?? HMMMM.. Not impossible but right now posing a huge challenge to me.. With class schedules and my room which has no cooking facilitity except for a water boiler it's difficult..Butt vegetarian?? For sure yes! Do able. Trying to get to a room or building with a kitchen so I can feel normal again!! But whatever the case I think there's some dietary changed coming up and they may not all be Vegan.

As a person I am growing by leaps and bounds!! Oh my gosh I kid you not!! I am making peace and letting go more than ever before. I seek myself and my happiness more actively now!! I feel more grounded with what is going on and not adrift.. I make choices based on what I need and want. Peer pressure it seems can come even at 25!! This is the deal I have dome so much to come here and live the life of MY dreams. Not a collective dream full of insecurities and fears.No.

I am really happy and filled with wonder at the life I lead now. I wake cold and go to sleep feeling cold but there is just so much magic in between. I am of course obtuse and don't see it at times. Buts there always lingering around me. I just need to grasp it. Hold it.

Hopefully I have interesting things to blog about!! There is quite alot. Believe me :)

The pic on top is from Google Images.. I don,t have my camera .ARRRGHHH .Dont ask why!! Its just too stupid!!!
Cant wait to start taking my own!! Till then

Love love love

Be Unreasonable

2010-07-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

Try it. Just want life. The Life.

If you want to see a Rainbow everyday for the rest of your life wish it! Don't think of the how's and the why's. How many of the answers do we know anyway!

I have a ceaseless brain it just refuses to shut up at times. I need to intellectualize, think, reason, understand and all for what- to be more confused than I was before!

I have been de-thinking my brain. Letting go. Letting fantasy whimsy and wonder wash me away. As a child I believed trees talk and that there were goblins and fairies! That one day I will fly. I was absolutely certain. You couldn't change my mind if you wanted to!

We grow up and we are told be that and do this! Even to what think or say! How much of ourselves do we lose to social conditioning?

It's important to me that I find myself and be myself. That will be my biggest gift and honor.

The first thing you have to do is to expect the very best from life!! Everything your heart desires will be yours if only you let it be.

Know if what you want is what you really want and not a reflection of someone else!

Dream your desires and your hearts open.

I know this world is full of Love. SO full of Love. I want to be set free and lifted into it. I want healing for everyone. To bring joy to the people around me. I want the happiest and healthiest life beyond even my grandest dreams! And for lie to be one amazingly magical adventure!!

Laughter. Color. Love. Magic.

French Connection

2010-07-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last two months doing 2 things. Shopping and oops yes packing that comes after the shopping and catching up friends and family before I leave. Ok theres 3 things. It was the perfect time for me to hone my travel and good eating skills. I started kinda ok and now I think I am quite good at it!! My last and latest destination was Pondicherry (now known as Puducherry) which also happens to be my last home and then to Chennai were I studied.

Pondicherry was as opposed to the rest of India a French Colony instead of British. The French also happened to stay there longer than the British. There is a definite French influence here. From the food, language and culture to the city. Most streets still have French names,most people speak French along with their native language and a huge population of expatriates of not just the French.

These rusty doors house two amazing people. 1. An old school 85 year old Homeopath 2. An Energy Healer, both of whom I have been fortunate enough to have seen when I lived here.

The afore mentioned French Connection. On top is the same name in Tamil the local language.

The other major presence here is that of the spiritual guru Sri Aurobindo whose ashram and therefore the Ashramites form a large chunk of the population.

For tourists the main attraction here is the Mothers tomb inside.

French Connections aside this what Pondicherry is mostly about. India as India is.

These flowers( jasmine) are actually to be worn on your head. On a braid to be more speific. Not that I have enough hair for it, but they kinda give me headache as well :(

These are to be offered to God. The temple is right behind her actually and she threw some stems at me because she didn't want me to take her picture. Sorryyyy!

This is a Tarrot Parrot and I say this not for word rhyme but they actually can "predict" your future. You find them all over India and I have of course had the cute green bird take a crack at my future.

Almost all Indian homes have these outside the house. It is called Rangoli or Kolam. We believe it is auspicious and welcoming. You actually need a lot of artistic talent for these! ~~I actually can create some beautiful ones!!~~

Cotton Candy!!!

Ahhhh the Beach :)))))
This was modified and made this way after the Tsunami in 2004.

Gandhi at the beach.

My fav spot. Le cafe. The cafe on the beach.

A Kambucha and Nut cake. As opposed to my usual vegan sandwich. And my read.

Now that I have reached food just few pics of my best meals. Cannot put in everything in an already monumental post!

Yummmm Spicy Lemon Coriander Broth with Veggies
I wasn't happy with the stir fried veggies as you can see for obvious reasons. But it tasted good!

Who were my hangs?? These guys..

Awwwww!! Meet Shanti. I met her for the first time myself. New addition.

And her buddy with the butt is good ol' Gazzie.

Well ya I am sure you guessed they belong to my friends whom I stayed with. I didn't actually live in Pondicherry I lived on the outskirts in a Global Community called Auroville. I guess I will put up some pics from there in another post. Unbelievable that I lived there for 8 months and never took a single pic!! At least I took some now...

Wow!! 1 week left to go!!

Happy happy day :)

Towards Love & Light

2010-07-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

"I acknowlegde that I am part of this glorious Energy.An Energy that has the immense love and power to create this Universe. Realms beyond even my grandest imaginations.

I accept and let this Divine Power in to my life in all it's glory. Not just to heal but to guide and love me. I do not need proof or information to understand the origins and workings of this power. It's enough that I am loved and being held at each and every moment in my life.

Suffice that I am and therefore I am. I forego fear I forego anger. I walk hand and hand with my friend. He is God."

oLA!!

2010-07-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

(courtesy: google images- Switzerland)

Hey all you beautiful people :)

I seem to have this love hate relationship with blogging from the day I have started! I don't know why, I don't want to know why as well.. When I love it I shall blog :)

I have only 2 weeks left till I leave for school! 2 weeks!! That's all.. After that a new country a new everything.. This has been my dream for a while now.. It's a ture priviledge for me that I have this opportunity in my life right now.. If ever I need an example for prayers being answered then this is it.. I get to go to Switzerland and study at Les Roches!!

I have started reading up on the culutre and food of the country.. Courtesy Lonely Planet(book) and have seen that being vegan is very much possible! Not ceratin if I would be totally vegan though..

These few weeks( after my bouts with exhaustion) I tried to eat for health and nutritions sake and keep vegan/raw( that means not foring myself to eat something cos I have to) out of the picture and to my glee :P saw that I have developed good eating habits and need never force myself or discipline myself to eat a certain way! I am well on track to eating well and healthy! Yay!!

But I go there with a completely open mind to learn, explore and love every moment of it! Can you imagine all the change and wonder? Or a more beautiful place to do it all!?

I know I don't really come across as someone who wants to be classically tutored or trained in something. I do have a dangerously liberal and anti capitalistic mind. That's the challenge for me- not to see how I can fit in but what I can learn from this and then fit it in to my life and what I want to do. This really is an extra ordinary school and I was a teacher so I do believe in keeping an open mind and to have fun with what you learn.

That would be enough exposure to my contardictory nature I suppose and oops! I haven't mentioned one lil fact- I will be studying The Post Graduate Diploma in Interntional Hospitality Administration!

Wishing all of you for all of your dreams to come true as well :)

Love love

Exhausted....

2010-07-04T03:43:00.000-07:00

I am so exhausted. Drained out physically and mentally. The last week was nerve wracking to say the least for my family. We cannot be happier that things worked out well. But nevertheless, I am out. The recent craziness of travel, not so proper food, the no yoga days and just the whole experience of it has thrown me off. I am not enjoying my food it's become a bloody chore. I find myslef forcing myself to eat. Anything. Swimming upstream is hard. I son't want to fight no more.I am going to first find comfort and then see what needs to be done..

I am just in such a pessimistic funk now. I know I will snap out of it but I cannot help thinking that I leave for school in a months time how will I handle all of that??

I will need to goto class for 8 hours everyday, study etc. I will have to eat and rest well also. What If? You know...
I don't want to let myself down. A completlety new culture, food everything. I may make a few mistakes but Oh I don't know..

Everything happens for a reason right. What is this trying to tell me? I hope to find out soon.

What helps you through stress?

30 days. 30 NEW things!

2010-07-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Yay!!!!!! I did it!! Or rather WE did it!!!The lovely Denise over at CSL started a discussion that said " June the month to try one new out of the box thing everyday" and I thought great! how awesome I should do that. And we did!!!!! I am SO happy about this. Thank you Denise :) You are SO great! Much Love to you:)

This was not a pressure situation or anything like do do do. I could be anything read a new book, buy yourself flowers! DO anything.. It started out real simple and things just took its own course all the traveling, new places, people!!! Wow!!!!! What can I say I am just Super Grateful that I could even experience any of this! And I got to do it with a Super cool Lady :)

I am not going to make a list list per say with exact date and things. Just the things I did..

Read New Poetry- Sri Aurobindo's Savitri. It is apparently one of the longest poems in English!

Finally cleaned my room!! Pheww this is indeed a big achievement for me!
Bought new flowers for myself or rather for my spanking clean room:)
Made new good food . Actually quite a bit of new food making happened.
Ate natural Mango Ice cream! Yummmmm.
Slept out on the terrace and woke with the Dawn. This was SO special. I got to do it with my sister as well.

Sleeping arrangements Mosquito net and all!!! Waking with the Sun!

We also took a trip to this place

Nelliyambathy- a small tiny quaint little mountain village in Kerala.
Went to Mumbai( Bombay). New place, people.
Went to Bangalore as well!
Got a new Tattoo!

I made the time to take some pictures of things I have been wanting to but didn't make the time to.

And the Newest thing??? Had someone take pictures of me!! I mean like a photoshoot!! My friend a Fashion Design and Photography student bugged me to do some pics for his portfolio. Naturally I laughed. Then I thought hey!! Whtever not?? If he thinks I am good enough why am I thinking I am not good enough?? So I did that for him and it was fun. Don't have the final pictures yet. I hope they are not hideous!!!

In the midst of all this activity. I had some moments of absolute clarity and love. Felt soul deep the beauty and purity of life. If we can only believe in this colorful gorgeous gorgeous world unconditionally everything everything we ever want will come to us!!!

I am very very grateful for my life and me just as it is.

Vegetable Basmati Pulao with Seared Eggplant

2010-06-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

Vegetable Pulao

Ah the smell of Basmati. Smells like Culinary Wonderland.. And me Alice. My fantasies can be pretty up there as you can see :) I usually use only whole grains but I didn't have Brown Basmati. Pulao's are not difficult to make. They are aromatic,light and flavourful. With a Vegetable Pulao you can throw in pretty much an Vegeatble you fancy! Great way to eat your veggies as well.

Things you need:

1 Bay leaf
2 Cloves
2 Cardamoms
2 inch piece of Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
--------------------------------------------------
1/2 cup of Basmati Rice ( pre soak for 1/2 hour)
Mixed veggies of your choice. I have used 1/4 fresh peas, 1 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cup of chopped carrots. Add more if you want!!
1 Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Oil
1 cup of water
1 tsp Himalayan Salt

Heat up the oil. Add the Cumin seeds and other Aromatics( the first section of Ingredients)
Add the chopped Onions. Stir. Enjoy the gorgeous aromas enveloping your kitchen right about now. Add the veggies. Mix. Now in goes the rice. Pour in the water and salt. Stir well. Bring to boil, then simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Check to see if it's done and let the Rice sit for some 10 minutes and cool. Then fluff.

Optional- you can add some coriander as well, before or after cooking.

Seared Eggplants

I am obsessed with Eggplants. Obsessed. I want to eat them all the time! This one is easier than simple.

Cut the Eggplant in two diagonally. Now make slices. They shouldn't be too thin or too thick. Salt them and let them drain. Squeeze out the excess water. In a bowl or plate mix 1 tsp Turmeric, 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder, 1 tsp Chillie powder. Mix these together. Add the Eggplant slices to this and make sure they are well coated. Heat up 1 tsp oil in a pan and sear the Eggplant slices about 6 ins on each side. Make sure not to burn them and they should be soft and squishy when done.
Indian Rice or Roti meals always has vegetable sides. Always.

Optional- you van dredge them in Bread Crumbs as well.

This made for a very satisfying meal :)

Good Food and a Good Trip :)

2010-06-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

After Mumbai I headed to Bangalore now known as Bengaluru. Most cities have in the last two decades dropped their Colonial names and gone back to the original Indian ones ( I like that they have done that). I went to see friends this time and Oh what fun!! Of course I also had to make some head way on my never ending list of back to school stuff! Shopping.....

This is SO weird but I didn't take any pictures!! Any!! Not even of the place or the food!( Which was SO good btw) Good lord what was I doing there?? I was too busy having fun I guess..
Shopping was ok. I am not a big fan of it. Company was great!!! And nothing else matters.

I got rid of some crazy residual BS. It just got out. Friends can do that I suppose...

Oh here is the one pic that did get taken.. That's me being silly. Thats Kunks a.k.a Kunkey with me.

We did go out a lot! I have check with them to see if they have any pics I can use...

And I got Inked again!!

The word BE and a Heart- meaning Be Love. It's the purest emotion of all and from what I have read and feel has the highest Vibrational Frequency considering how the Universal Energy is of the very same. I believe so at least. All of us and everything was created in Love and we exist in Love. This is the place of being we are the happiest and harmonious at. So I want to try and stay connected to this Vibration. Try to share it with as many people as I can as well..
Lynn Walker always says" your a human being not a human doing". This is a reminder and a tribute to those words!
The first one you see on top is a Sanskrit Symbol of Prana. Vital Life and Breath.I got this one about 8 months ago.
I want this arm to be like a spiritual scrapbook of my life. I want to ~~mark~~ Ink my significant transitions.

These are my Souvenirs from this Tattoo. Randolf the Tattoo person/artist? who is really cute btw ;) packed it up for me. And see what I mean by I haven't been taking pictures? Ideally I would have taken one of the Studio which was basically a tiny little place, the Tattooer Randolf (cute) and the process of me getting tattooed and a couple of other people there!!And done a whole blog on it! Arrrghhh I missed all of it!!

Also saw a movie alone for the first time as well!! Weird I don't ever remember going for a movie alone!! Karate Kid. Loved it. Learnt fom it.
More yum food. Chats. Friends. End of Bengaluru. At least I managed to buy some formal wear for school.

Alright I get home right after a tedious 6 hr train journey. The first piece of news awaiting me is that my Ex just got engaged to the girl he left me for. We were high school sweet hearts and everyone thought we would get hitched you know how it is.. So my Mom tells me this and I say Ok. Really what else can I say? It was aeons ago anyways. Then the out pouring of grief started!!! My friends of course all said Oh your so much better than him. The others treated me like a bereaved widow!!! Oh poor you your sick and all. Still Single!! Tch Tch.

It was a bad relationship and a monumentally bad break up. Enough said. But I am not better than him or anyone. They are clearly better suited. Good Luck to them is all I want to say.
I just plan to do what I do and come August 2nd leave for school. The Gossip will take care of itself I guess..
Got some great insight with Lynn on that today!! More on that later:)

Be Love

Millet Meals

2010-06-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

We are predominantly a Rice eating culture. Our North Indian counterparts(that makes me South Indian) eat more wheat but Rice is our staple diet.. Rice in some or any shape and form!!

I wanted to ty substituting everyday Rice combos with some other whole grain... I like Millets. They are super super healthy. Indian farmers used to have this as a staple in the old days as rice was an extravaganza and hence meant only for Festivals and Occasions!! They did and still do eat other whole grains as well..

1. Millets with Black Bean Curry and Aubergines Okra Oven Crisps.

Cook 1 cup of Millets in 21/2 cups of water. You get fluffy Millets just like rice.

For the Bean Curry- You can pre soak 1 cup of Black eyed beans/Lobia.
Chop up 1 Onion, 2 Tomatoes and 4 cloves of Garlic. Saute the 1/2 tbsp oil. Add the chopped veggies and saute for few minutes. Add the 11/2 tsps of Chillie Powder,1/2 tsp of Turmeric, 1 tsp Cumin Powder(optional). Add the beans stir and pour in 21/2 cups of water. Add 1 tsp of Himalayan Salt and some chopped up Coriander. Let it cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add more water if necessary.

Aubergines and Okra Crispies( Oh these are SO delish!)
These are oven baked. Chop up the Aubergines not too thin or too thick( sorry those are the best instructions I can give!). With the Okra cut them off the ends.Cut the Okra in 2 lengthwise then split them down the middle. You will have for pieces from 1 Okra.
Get 1 tbsp Chick pea Flour to that add and mix 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp chillie powder. Add required amount of salt to this. Mix all of these together.
Now dust the Aubergines and Okra with this mixture. Make sure they are well coated.Oil your tray and place these on tray. Pre heat oven. Bake at 220c for 20 to 30 minutes. Depending on the Crisp level.
Serve Millets topped with Bean Curry. Serve these on the side.

2. Millet Khichdi

Soak Millets and Split Mung beans for 1/2 hour before cooking.
Chop up 1 Onion 2 Tomatoes. Split 3 green chillies. 2 cloves of Garlic. Heat up some neutral oil and add 1 small piece of cinnamon 2 pieces of cloves. Add the other ingredients saute. Add Millets and Mung. Add 21/2 cups of water. 1tsp Himalyan Salt. Add 3 if you want little mushy like I do :).

Khichdi is a house hold staple so like you can imaine everyone has their own way. Strangely enough we are not big on Khichdi here! This is not my moms version. It's actually my friends- who claims to be the worst cook on the planet( sorry Janu!! But there is some truth to that) but she makes the worlds best Khichdi. It's her survival meal so it has to be good!!! It is GOOOOD!!!
If you don't want use Millets just use Brown Rice. Which is the original version anyways.
This is really very healthy and Ayurvedic diets actually recommend Khichdi's as you get protein,carbs and other nutrients all in one bowl. Add veggies to this and your done.
This is a popular Breakfast dish here. Kedegree anyone. Yep inspired from this.

3. GF Millet and Spinach Pancakes

Soaked over night then blended the Millets and made a batter. Added spinach and green chillies and salt to it. Poured on hot griddle and made pancakes. Ate the with some hot veggie pickle ( indian type)

Mmmm millets milletsss :)

To Forgive or not to??

2010-06-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

Why should I? You should and you can.
You are a place of love not hatred and bitterness.
Hold on to good. Hold on to light. Hold on to light.

Best Buys

2010-06-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am not a big shopper. Nope not really my thing.. I like clothes and pretty things and fashion just as much as the next girl but hours of looking, trying ya da ya da- cannot do!! I usually don't need to as well.. I know what I like and so I buy it. Soon. No dallying. Saves time and energy..

I am happy with some of the things I got this time!! LOVE some.. Here are the best buys:)

This what it looks like when two girls go out in Mumbai shopping!! We managed to clean up and organize though..

In these bags were these things..

I haven't bought or worn anything that looks like a heel in the last 5 years!! But loved these.. Figured a girl needs black heels at some point in her life..

Bangels and bracelets are perhaps the only accessories I wear.. These were too colorful to resist.. Really really cheap!!!

Honestly this pic is making me look fat!! But I don't actually care.. Anyways that's a super cute one that I bought dirt dirt cheap couldn't believe my luck!

Lol that's a sequined dress! Sequins.. And the other one is lace.. I can tell you I don't have clothing in both these materials.. But that's not the reason I bought them.. You should wear them and you will understand.. These were Forever New dresses and s*** expensive.. 70% sale. Two magic words.

And this Yellow sweater.. What's so special?? The color.. My fav!!!

There is more shopping in my future.. Formal wear.. Ugh. Maybe I didn't or don't find any because I don't like them!! They were my primary purpose but all I found were some trousers and and ONE shirt!!! But I need them. Need need....

Trip to Mumbai

2010-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am so surprised I am putting up a post this so soon.. Just a few hours after I've been back!!OMG It was a Trip and then some!! Purpose was a Visa interview.. Extended stay for shopping.
Mumbai has Monsoon floods every year and Yep I was right on time for it.. Canceled flights, delayed flights, hours and hourssss of Traffic and even a missed flight!!! Over all super!! I liked it. I know by now you cannot control life so I took it all in.. What can you do?
Food wise it was ~~great~~ as in ~~healthy~~ ok blahh.. But I learnt a thing or two about traveling, speed and eating well in both. I am photo girl I surprised myself this time. No time for pics!! Whatever I have is from Rickshaws( the cheap mode of transportation maybe you'll know if I said Tuk Tuks) Heres my Mumbai for you..

View from our place( my cousins, who is a Pilot so she was never there!)

In the morning..

At night..

My fav spot.. No surprise there!! My only quiet time :)

Mumbai in motion and Rain..

From the taxi.. Love the Leopard seats!

On the other side of Mumbai..

I love that people enjoy this rain and not just look at it as the hazard it can be!

~~The food.. Well some.. Few..~~

This was breakfast the first day!! OMG. We arrived late the night before and didn't stock up!! I ate the Yes, Ramen Instant Noodles and my friend the Doughnuts she picked up at the airport...

This is what breakfast looked the next few days :)

Falafel for lunch.. Not the best I've had though...

Roti( bread) and Dal Makhani ( lentil curry) and Chicken Kabobs for my friend...

Realistic Mumbai..

Traffic!!!! Hours and hourssss... ZZZZZZ

The big buildings and the shacks.. Mumbai is home to the biggest slum in the world Dharavi.. Ya ya, Slumdog Millionaire fame.. I was mad I couldn't go there!! I've been to Slums but this one if I had made it would've put me in a whole another dimension.. My trip was specifically one sided. Shopping= Capitalism/Globalisation.Of course its not all what is.. All of India is a Paradox.

Oh and did I tell you I got my Visa??

Ahhhh MY bed.. Beckons. How I missed it!
Hit Publish.

Soup, Salad and More

2010-06-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

I definitely didn't slave over the stove to make and all of these in a day.. It's kinda like a re cap of pics that I took of food. I don't know you know I have been confused about my food lately!! Like how much raw, what raw vegan getting proper nutrition with all of this!!! UGHHHH

Took the fun out of my food for sure!! Of course I do all this is in an endeavor to nourish and heal my body without harm to other living creatures but I had completely lost sight. I need to listen to my body and eat what it needs!! If I am not feeling too raw then I don't eat raw. If I need soup I will drink soup. Its become mind over food.

Its a crazy funk. If you don't enjoy the food your eating it doesn't matter how nutritious it is for you. My solution to this was to cook up some of my ALL TIME favs... And let the food speak rather than my mind.

Lemon Coriander Veggie Soup.. Steaming hot!!

Basic salad in Cucumber dressing..

cucumber,almonds,flax seeds, salt, pepper and olive went in to this dressing. Whizzz.

Topped it on some Pita.. Did I say fave meal already??

Gluten free Pasta with Roasted Veggies

For the Roasted Veggies I threw in some Bell pepper, baby corns, tomatoes, onions, zucchini and loads of herbs, chilli flakes and pepper!! This pic doesn't do it any justice.. So Yum!!

Gluten free pasta in Roasted Garlic Sauce...

Roasted 1 head of garlic and mashed them with Olive oil salt, pepper and mixed with water saved from cooking the pasta. Add some chillie flakes and your all set..

These are super favs.. You know the food your mom makes and you grew up eating.. Serious comfort food

Rice, Sambhar( spicy lentil curry with radishes) and spicy potatoes..
Basically, the other food I ate are loads of brown rice or millets with dhaal( yellow lentils) with veggie sides.. Indian food at its simplest best I must say..

Getting out of my stupid funk at least :)
What am I saying!! I am incredibly grateful that I do have food to eat and enough options that I can choose, enough so that I am even being confused. I cannot think of anyone in a luckier position than me.

Eat well :)

RE Raise Yourself

2010-06-12T03:55:00.000-07:00

That's what it says. Re Raise yourself. Or rather Lynn said that. This would again be along the lines of Self Love. Lack of self love can have many sources just as it can have many repercussions as we grow older if we fail to address it. Addressing it simply means this- LOVE YOURSELF.

But How?? This was my question. When someone says Love Yourself I always went- huh how?? Translates as what me really??But I have dealt with it. Intellectually. Get over it. That was my mantra. I needed someone as wise as Lynn to tell me- well what about all that accumulated energy that resides in your body? Still.

This is where Re raising yourself came up.
Your issues with self love and inadequacy can come from anywhere. From your home(parents), relatives, schooling. Where ever.Regardless of the source learn to be your best most loving,caring parent and friend.

Nobody's childhood can be perfect. It doesn't have to be. Neglect, Criticisim, Punished?If you have been starved off love You can only be replenished by You. Let me just catch you up on what I am doing for these.

Acknowledge and Accept your needs.What is your body and soul asking for? Pay attention to it. If eating well is what it wants make some changes. Getting the creative juices going? Cool. Doesn't matter if you think your not good at it or people think you suck at it. Do it because You enjoy it. Encourage yourself. Give yourself the gift of freedom. You are boundless:)

When you have a chronic illness your body has extra needs. Heed it. If people who do not have don't understand it let them change, let them make the adjustments. You don't need to at the risk of ignoring your needs.

I am fat,ugly,bad hair,too skinny, love handles, big pores!!! Good Lord enough already.
Whatever size, shape or color you are. You are Perfect. Perfectly Delicious. When a flower or a bird or even a leaf can seem so perfect why can't we believe the Creator who made all of this Beauty made US just as perfect.

You will never be perfect enough if you keep trying to change yourself and be someone or something else! You are only meant to You. Be You to find that Perfection.

Pamper yourself. Whatever that means for you. Your a Big Shining Ball of Love. You can never ever be inadequate.

Re Think Re do Re RAISE.As children we absorb what our parents,teachers and others say about who we are. In turn this could be the way we think we are! If its good stuff you grow up with positivity. If it was negative you think your What they said you are. Your NOT.

This is of course a start. Imagine you are your best-est most coolest and loving parent be that you could be for yourself. It's actually empowering when you see how this love you give yourself changes not only the way you think about yourself., but also others.

You become a source of Love. We all do need to be the source of the love we seek.

This ALL a big deal to Me, My Happiness and therefore My Healing. I owe ME oodles of love.

For more reading on this head on over A lovely ladies blog. Going down Swinging and read these.

I LOVE YOU STINKY FACE :)
THANK YOU LYNN

One Avocado Three Ways

2010-06-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have been craving Avocado!!It's become my comfort food. Wonderful!! I used one Avocado for both recipes.. Since it was only me.. You can of course use as many as you need to make these..

Perfect LIL Snack!
Raw Crackers and Guacamole

I made these Raw Crackers from Sprouted Grains and they were good.. But not GOOD. I don't have a dehydrator so I made them in an oven with low settings. Honestly.. OMG!! What a waste of electricity. 3 hours!!! No way. These were not environmentally friendly to say the least.

Anyways the Guac had 1/2 an Avo, tomatoes, spritz of lemon juice and Himalyan Salt. This is my favourite version. Simple. Fresh. Fuss Free.
Top on a Raw or Vegan Cracker. Ohhhh Heavennnn

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

1 Banana
1/2 Avo
2 Mejdool dates
2 Tbsp Cacao or Cocoa Powder
2 Tsp Coconut Oil
2 Tsp Agave

Blend. Chill and serve. Or just lick of the blender like I do. Hey.. it's only me!!
This is Oh so much better than Mousse with Milk or Cream is it?? Whatever..
Choc Mousse= Happy Face :)

IN your FACE Avo!!

That's it. Everytime you cut open an Avo keep some scraps aside. Slather on face. Trust me our skin will thank you!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If your a Raw Being then you already know the value of Avocado in your diet.. This is Super Food for those with Digestive Issues and IBS etc.. Easy on the tummy and gut. High in Nutrient and Caloric content and have many other benefits. This is what I call a Value Meal.

For ALL the Avo Lovers and Cravers:)

To BE

2010-06-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

I    believe

I    love

I    feel

Tiny Little Pink Flowers

2010-06-09T02:40:00.000-07:00

If the same "element" that created this made US as well. We are just as PERFECT.

We are the Tiny Little Pink Flowers.

Guess what??

2010-06-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

We got a package. From our Naturopath. FULL of RAW FOOD!!! I am so excited about this you have no idea!!
This how it works I saw this Naturopath many months ago.. I have moved back home in the mean time and forgot about it. I remembered(eventually) made a call and got him to send it to me!! I eat healthy and all but felt like I need to step it up. You know.

If I need to go back to school- physical,mental,piritual they all need to be Thriving. Not Surviving or Living like I was.. I don't look at this like a Make over or anything but more like a natural progression of where my lifes been taking. I am more than happy to follow.

Lord I can talk!! So in THE PACKAGE I got all kinds of Sprouted Grains- you only need to soak them to revive them. He's given us instructions to mix about 6 kinds of sprouted grains. So every time we eat those mixed grains we are getting all kinds of crazy enzymes and live food goodness!!

How to and What to: Soak these grains for 10 minutes in water. Use the required amount water enough for the grains to suck up. Add any amount of fruits and veggies you want.
We got different grains for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Not all of these are Raw we got some Whole grains as well. Some Aloe Juice, Jams, Spice Mixes etc.. Bath powder, Hair wash Powders, Teeth Powders!! Oils for every part of your body and even a Enema Bottle!!

I keep saying We here because this was supposed to be food medicine for me and my condition. Only when it arrived it turned out to be for my Mom's( who had spoken to him over the phone about her issues after I had told her about him). I figured she needed them more right now maybe and that's why she got her's first. Shes been having trouble with digestion lately and mouth ulcers as a result!! This prescription of food is for that. She is willing to share as she feels like it would be easier for her if I were IN on it as well... Being the Resident health food gal and all.. Oh I am HAPPY or what!!

It might take awhile for me to actually figure out how or which grain is what( all the grains are in our native language Tamil) I don't know the English names of many he's sent and cannot tell you right now.. But as when I put up recipes I will be sure to provide the required info!!

Happy Raw Fooding I guess!!

Claim YOUR space

2010-06-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

This is my first post about my Sessions with Lynn. I have mentioned this in a previous post.I live in India a place where almost everyone on a Spiritual Journey or seeking answers come to. I lived in Auroville- a global spiritual community. A Community committed to the Earth's well-being and focused on anything related to Spiritual growth.I went to Quiet a healing centre full of wonderful people Enthusiastic about healing!! These have been a defining moments in my life.
Yet, when the time came for me to seek actual guidance it comes from a person who lives half way across the world!!! I am DAZZLED by the Universe's way of Love and Guidance.I am filled with Wonder.

But Why and What have we been talking about?? My issues with Self Love and where that comes from. Open ness is a necessity for this kind of Self Inspection. I was ready for it. I knew where I was going wrong. But Lynn has shone the light on it BRIGHT & CLEAR.

Session 1: Perfection

We are WHO we ARE. Born JUST PERFECT as we are!With our flaws and imperfections and all!
If you are someone who doesn't already believe in this Truth. You have your work cut out for you(like myself). If you are someone who believes and lives this way AWESOME- More power to you :)
I need to believe this to live.To reiterate this point over and over again my room is at the moment covered with Post Its. Yep, that my bath room mirror up there!! They say- To BE YOU is your purpose!! Perfection is NOW perfection is YOU. Val- YOU- e. You get the picture.

Session 2: Claim your space!
This is of course a continuation of the same Self Love series. BTW, You are not required to discover undying love for yourself in one session. To first get it ALL through your system and then to LIVE it is a life changing process. So Take your time. When it does happen it will be true, deep and forever.
These issues for me come from several sources, all accumulated through out my 25 years..
You need to sift, challenge, shift & be open.
Claim your space?? Huh??

I know this illness came for a reason. I have discovered in the past year that beginning to love myself and establish a bond and connection with myself could be THE reason. Now I am Sure!
Self hate and destructiveness NO MORE. Most of my issues come from the home. My parents home and from them. Not that they are the worst parents on the planet or anything but they have their own stuff. You know how it is. I am back here now and I start here.

I am very very chaotic, spacey and lost every time I am here!! I figured it's my way of not living here fully because I don't want to BE in this unwanted reality.Repressing. I have excelled at this skill let me tell you!!
At this point I exist to be non existent.
Some incidents have contributed and intellectually I have made peace with these incidents in my own way.But As Lynn says spiritually and emotionally releasing that energy from our body is what WILL facilitate your healing!! This could be the cog in my healing.

My chaos reflects in all aspects of my life. In saying" YES, I AM ALIVE!! I AM HERE PRESENT, AND FEELING ALL I CAN.BEING ALL I AM."
I am choosing to send the right message to my body and spirit so that it can heal. A message of love and gentle understanding.
I am not saying I can do it all in one night. LOL.. I will get there is my belief!
I started by Claiming MY Space in my home first. These are pics of my room people and YES, I am a SLOB.
Before!!

Phewww!!!





After.. TADA!!! :)

I needed Only 1/4 of the clothes I had and will be taking away some more!! What was I doing with all this junk I don't need or wear!!! It is ~~perfect~~ in need of some more organising.. But I WAS SO HAPPY...

So I went out annddd...
Bought some sunny flowers for my clean and spanky "new" room!!

That's just silly ol' me :) Trying to eat em' or exclaim in in exclamation??!! (I don't know)
I claimed some.. Looking forward to more....

Hope fully you got something from here as well... Love:)

Oh My Green-ness!!

2010-06-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Almost all of the food I ate had something Green in it!!! How wonderful and I didn't realize it till my Greenie at the end of the day!! I AM ONE HAPPY GREEN GIRL TODAY! Despite an almost disastrous weekend!!
Ya..My mom, sister and me and decided we could all do with some R&R. We took a weekend trip. It was good and all only I had food issues( I existed almost entirely on apples, and passion fruit for two days!!) and forgot to take my meds. Yep Left them at home!! My bad. And I paid for that mistake. Corticosteroids are one of my Primary meds and those of you who are on it, know what that does to and for you. Yes, so moving on.
I drank this up in the morning

Apple,spinach,carrots,cucumber and lemon juice

Pumpkin and Spinach two of my most HATED foods circa 2005. At the rate I eat these two now it's almost as if I am compelled to make up for all the lost time! I LOVE both of you now :)
I started out making a Roasted Pumpkin Salad and realized, NO, I don't want to eat that. So I took the Pumpkin and made this Roasted Pumpkin Spread or Dip.

Roast a cup of Cubed Pumpkin( I have used white use any you want) toss in some olive oil,sea salt and a pinch of both cumin and chillie powder. Roast at 180 for 30 minutes.

I put the seeds from the pumpkin as well. Never ever waste these little seeds of health!

Put the Roasted Pumpkin in a blender add some almonds to it, a splash of red wine vinegar and Olive Oil. Blend. Honestly, they turned out better than I thought it would it was GOOD!! YAY.
Spread on crackers or make a sandwich. Munch away :)

Passion Fruit( you see the black seeds in there?), Banana, Papaya, Spinach

I also ate Brown Rice with Sauteed Veggies and Spinach for lunch. Not Pic-Worthy though :(
Oopsie! The half way disastrous trip that I have mentioned earlier was saved only by these things you see below!! And an awesome trek.

ALL ORGANIC- Black Tea. Green Tea, White pepper, Vanilla beans!! Mango juice and ooh la la Strawberry Preserves!!

And that's A Jack Fruit. Well, half of the whole one we bought!

Well, I guess tomorrow has Strawberry Preserves written ALL over it!!!

Bye Happy People :)

Berry-licious Gazpacho and Fudge babies

2010-06-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't in all my life met someone who doesn't like Strawberries!!! This could easily be one of the most liked foods on this planet!!! It just so happens these "universally famous" berries are super packed with Phyto Nutrients, Vit C, Folic acid, Potassium, Manganese,Copper... Phewww thats just naming a few! Oh and the anti oxidants!!

There's Strawberr-ied everything. I happenend across this Strawberry Gazpacho from the Blue Kitchen that I just HAD to make!!

I gobbled this up with some toasted whole wheat baguettes that were slathered with "cheeze"... Honestly I should have made more!!! What you see in this pic is all I made!!! Note to self- When making yum food. MAKE MORE!

I am really curious about this term Fudge babies!!Which blessed soul came up with this?? It's cute and fun and delishush!! I have seen this on many blogs and thought ok now it's time I made some!!

Walnuts,dates,raw cacoa or cocoa powder, vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. Whizzz and make some babies!!! LOL

Craving chocolates??

Spiritual Identity

2010-06-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

This is SO personal. To me nothing can get more personal than this..

Religious Ignorance>;Devout Church Go-er!!!(I am Hindu who was put in a Catholic school at 7)> ATHEIST> Agnostic> Quasi Spiritualist> SPIRITUAL BEING.

The various stages on my Spiritual Journey from the age of 3( I can only remember as far back as that. Of course!!)
This could be your journey in any order or a completely different story or you maybe don't or haven't realized you are on one.
Religious Ignorance age 3 to 6, Devout Church Go er age 7 to 11 & Atheist 12 to 21.

I was an Atheist during the time of my Diagnosis and also during the time of my first Major Flare(Poly Neuritis,lost my left side). Something shifted in me during this time( apart from my badly damaged nerves that is)

I got home from the hospital and read every book I could on " Why God DOESN'T exist!!"
The result? Agnostism. I could not what so ever buy into any argument that there was simply NOTHING that exists. I didn't want proof of God or No God. I wanted. At that point I wanted because I felt it.

I was open. Finally gave myself the opportunity to form,create and live my own Inner Journey.
My family isn't big on Religion but they are big on Spirituality. By that I mean they all have their own preferences in their choice of Spiritual Gurus. I was coaxed and lured to these gatherings and visits with their individual Gurus. I felt Suffocated and Depressed. In the presence of these Enlightened Masters!!

I was being pressurized to take views that were not my own.Yet Again. I politely asked them not to coax me into anything of that nature. My parents as such do not follow any Guru. They are moderate in their Religious beliefs and a read books written by various Gurus not any one particular Guru. They I think keep their minds open while having their own ideas.

I remained Agnostic and slowly but surely transitioned into a Quasi Spiritualist. I didn't know or feel anything exactly but I knew there was this Unseen Force at work and maybe just maybe that force is what is described as God. I went about it my own way.

Then came the Biggie. A four month Hospital stay for another Flare. This time life threatening repeated episodes of internal bleeding from an unidentifiable source. The culprit was in fact my Liver and the Medical Terminology is Haemobilia. This SHOOK me up!!!

I experienced things at the Hospital that I couldn't and didn't want explanations for. I knew I was being held and will most definitely be taken into safe custody. I felt and believed with Blind Faith in this unidentifiable force that NOTHING will happen to me. My life's purpose has more to it and it's perhaps just begun!

Thus began my Journey to a Spiritual Being. I read, meditated talked to people who wouldn't try to force their opinions on me. Moved to Auroville. Things intensified. I grew. Physically,uj I started healing. I met some wonderfully loving people. There was no turning back.,

I have even progressed since then and take immense delight in my Growth as frustrating and mind boggling as it can be. I have now made a clear turn to the next level( how do I know all these levels?? Its just a personal growth level I don' think I need to know where I stand in Spirituality as a whole). Why have I upgraded?? Few weeks back I became friends the gorgeous Maria Mooney via CSL. Through her I got know Lynn Walker. Spiritual Healer/ Guide over all awesome being.

I have read and know some things in theory that I have as yet been unable to put into practice. This I see as my opportunity to learn new ways of thought and being and also to be guided and not coerced into the spritually more evolved person I want to be. A healing could also be a result!!( fingers crossed)

I would, as we progress our work together on moi write up on it.. We have already done one session. It promises to be fascinating and fabulous Journey!!

Thanks to Maria!! :)

P.S What do I mean by Spiritual Being?? Hold that thought :)

Split Yellow Lentils and Spinach Curry

2010-06-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

This a BIG Lunch Favourite around here and I can't think of an easier way to eat Spinach! The word Curry in itself seems to conjure up images of sweat, panic and chaos in your kitchen! I am not going to deny that.Yes, there are those master pieces that require to sweat some. This one? Blink and your done.. ( Err link more than a coupla times :P)

1 cup of split yellow lentils ( rinsed and pre soaked for at least 10 mins max 30 mins)
After you do that get the other things going...

1 onion chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes chopped
2 cups of chopped spinach
4 cloves of garlic crushed or chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp Himalayan Salt
1 tsp oil

Heat oil add the onion, garlic, tomato and saute. After it's softened a little drain add the soaked lentils add the Spinach( The reason we rinse and soak is to make the lentils easily digestible hence, discarding the water it is soaked in is better).
So add 2 cups of water, the chilli powder and salt. I made this in a pressure cooker so it took only 10 to 15 mins. If our cooking it in a Pot it would need atleast 45 mins. You can do the same and close the lid of the Pot and let it cook on low. The curry shouldn't be too thick so add extra ater if you need to.

Serve with some hot hot Rice or Eat as it is!!

Note: You can add any veggie you want to this!! Beans, carrots, pumpkin even!! We usually eat this with rice and a side of Veggies. I made some cabbage and carrots that were sauteed with mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies.

Happy Cooking :)

A Sunset in the Wind

2010-06-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

I like photography. I don't claim to be a Photographer or even know anything about it.. When you spend SO much time focussing on getting well usually EVERYTHING else takes a back seat.. It's a conscious effort to keep the creative juices flowing- you have to. Oh and I kind of tagged on with my friend and the ever so lovely Denise at CSL for- 30 new things to do everyday in June!!! How FANTASTIC is that!! Just what the Doctor ordered.. There are some pics I've been wanting to click but never made the effort to go out there before.. I have now :)

Et Moi taken by my sister...

For the love of food!!

2010-06-02T03:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Happy People!! So I ate... All of this and more... And got my Student Loan work nearly over and done with YAY!! That has really been a stressor for me these few days!! I mean I need money to go study. Pheww No Worries.. It's all looking good!! Errr whwn am I leaving.. In August.It's OK things will work itself out..

Through the weekend...
Greenies GALORE..

Did I tell you I made cheese?!! With Cashews and all!! See this recipe.. I made a Veggie Sandwich with it to start.. Yummmm and filling without the discomfort that comes with the usual cheese!!! And 100% more Delishush...

Veg Noodles!! I got this Recipe from a Tibetan friend who owns a Tibetan Restaurant.. I worked/helped there for a bit and ot some neat recipes!!

I would have just junked this with all the veggies I can.. BUT was cooking for a not So lil' sister as well.. Who picks out all the veggies she doesn't like( almost all) a la moi 5 years ago... Grrr...

I also ate this Greasy Gross Samosa on the way to my Grandmas farm!! Silly me I thought that was the healthiest Vegan option in the snack place we bought our to go food.. And sadly that was as healthy as it got!!! 1 bite was all that went down..

A whole wheat and Baked Spring Roll.. With the leftover Noodles.. And Home made Hot Sauce...

There's more where this came from but I think I've done enough for today...

SMILESSSS :)

Healing/Healthy Habits

2010-05-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Regardless of " dis- ease" or no dis- ease if your simply Health Conscious then you will have certain Habits that you will have in your routine that puts you in a space of calm and love or will in the longer run add to your over all health. Prior to a diagnosis I had none. Occasionally eating a "real" meal would probably have been it.

These days after some trial and error I have few that helps me and some I love doing!

1. Early Morning- Drinking A spoon of Olive Oil as soon as I wake up. Followed by 10 blanched Almonds( soaked overnight and then peeled). Oilve oil helps your Liver do it's job well and the Almonds are for Good fats.
2. After that I drink a Big Glass of Lemon Water and take my Supplements..

What's in there?? Flax oil, fish oil( anti- inflammatory) Spirulina(super food. over all health) Pro- Biotic(Gut Flora and Fauna :P) Amalaki, Ashwagandha, Triphala, Shatavari, Brahmi
As you can see most of them are Herbal Supplements. And I assure you I did not buy them randomly after the reading the labels( one would think so lookimg at this lot!) They were recommended to me by my Iridologist, Andrea the cutest and most charming one you would ever find! ( He is a man(I mean the name coulsd easily mean a woman). Prounce Italian like). There are days when I feel like I am over doing the supplement thing.. But wisely I have realised my Bod needs it.

3. LOVE JUICE: GREENIE'S . Need I say more? And also eat good whole, clean food.

4. Walking and Yoga- Freeeeeeing.. These open up my body energies like NO thing else.. I feel at peace and loved. Paying attention to your body movements is incredibly calming and even meditative! The Yoga I started and still do is very easy and light.. Usually with You Tube. This is one of my fav clips..

5. Meditate- Now this one took it's time coming. If I don't feel like it then I don't do it. But when I DO it's the BEST. I don't follow any specific kind of meditation I go with the flow and let my mood take me.

6. Healing Imagery- I have in the past seen the term's Visual Imagery and thought... Hmmmmmm?
What I do is sit in a quite place and relax. Then I close my eyes and IMAGINE a healing light entering and spreading through my body. The colour of the light depends on my day as well!! White, green. gold, yellow, psychedelic!! Go for it!!

7. Contemplation- This does not translate Yes, wallow in Self Pity! Personally I know and feel that this illness came to me for a reason. Through these 5 years a lot has been revealed and achieved but I know it's a process and Journey. I Respect and Love that. I follow my heart and soul. Try to. What do I contemplate?? Oh just stuff.. :P

8. Positivity and Love!!! Now this we ALL need!!! Surround yourself with positive people, think good thoughts, give and receive love!! If not for love why are we even here!!

9. Creative Expression- This is super important for me. My creative enegies need an outlet. I feel stuk and depressed other wise. It can be anything an "art" project, dancing!! blogging, photography, croaking songs.. Anything!! Get Creative...

10. Wow 10!! I didn't intentionally write 10. But here we are... So I will end on 10. S M I L E.

So what are your healing habits??

HUGSSSSSSSSSSS

Who Where How

2010-05-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

I asked myself these 3 questions today. I was just walking around doing stuff and I thought " Where am I?" Du-hh at home. No, it wasn't the geography or the location of the physical body. So where WAS I? I wrote this down..
I think I am doing great! Much better than I ever imagined. I did let things flow and take its own shape today without imposing the energy of my thoughts on it. Thank you for your guidance and love. I heart you.

Shortly after I felt compelled to answer these as well :

How am I?
At peace. Relative peace. With the edges of my mind buzzing as always with thoughts, ideas etc. I couldn't ask for more. I love this unplanned moment I am having with myself.

Who am I?
Indu. Silly. Me. Trying and learning to Be.

Personally, I got such a wealth of information from this. Most important of all to be non judgemental about myself. Most times we are our worst critic. Where was the critic today? Absent. I am more and more begining to practice the theory that we are as we are and just as special as we are. Theory and practice are different and I am so glad to have made it to the much more enviable side of Practice!! On most days at least..

I ate all of these delightful things today!

Gluten free pasta with garlic, herbs, mushrooms and spinach.

I realized I need good snack options the usual stuff just ain't kickin' it any more. This batch will last me a week..

My Gluten Free Herby Flax Crackers..

Almond Butter to go with it.. I made it.Now naturally after my complete disaster of a Black Tahini need less to say I was totally psyched out ( in th wrong way) But then I thought seriously what could possibly go that wrong? Almonds, salt and a spalsh of water. Who can't do that!!! Well I did and Here it is My Almond Butter.. Perfect goodness! YAY!

Ahhh You Lovely Delicious and Trusty Sammie friend.. Vegan Tomato Chutney Sandwich.. Eaten while LMAO to Dane Cook on You Tube.

Clearly a day of old fav's.. And pondering if I can describe any friend of mine with all of the adjectives I have used to describe my dear sandwich friend.. Hmmm.. Of course I can!!

Thank the Universe for them both!!

Love to you lovelies...

GRATITUDE

2010-05-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

My parents
My Home
THE Love!
Laughter
A Smile on my Mother's face
My Doctors( All of them!)
The Kind and gentle nurses who ever so wonderfully took care of me.
The twinkle in my sisters eyes!( shes the cutest)
The moments of bliss
Clarity
Money
Opportunities
My Bed!
Glittering shimmering E N E R G Y
Purity
My BODY
My " illness" ( Poly ateritis nodosa)
Beauty
MY Tree and all the other trees
Crazy Sexy Life
The Beautiful and Sensitive Souls there!
Sunshine!!! ( at 40C here!)
Breeze... Yummm
LOL
Colour
Wonder
Strange ness
Flowers, Fruits, Veggies and all things Nice
All the chickens, eggs, meat and things I have consumed ( Sorry)
Fellow Bloggers
Free Spirits
Authenticity
Romance! ( Good lord that's so down the list!! He He)
P E O P L E
Hurt
Loss
Tears
My Walks
Yoga
Shanti ( Peace)
Depth
Vastness
Clothes
Blankets ( I feel like there are going to be time in the not so log futue where I might be more than grateful for these!)

THE ENERGY THAT CONNECTS US ALL. THE LOVE THAT BINDS US ALL AND WITH THE UNIVERSE. THE UNENDING LOVE AND WISDOM OF THE UNIVERSE. IT'S GLORY. OUR GLORY.

OM & SMILES :)

To be continued......

I made Jam andddd a Wheel!!

2010-05-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Lol ok! I had no Eureka moment and invented a new type of wheel! What I made is this..

The Honest Health Monitor is what I call it.I mentioned it in my last post as well... Check this out for more info on that.

Do it right and I think it reveals a wealth on information on your health stat. How healthy are you exaclty and what and where do you stand on your goals for a more healthy. After this mapping it becomes easy for you to map out your goals.. Try it! Thanks to Erinn Selkis for "The Life Wheel" as ahe calls it.

Ahhhh my Jam. Mango Mango Jam. We had SO many ripe mangoes that we couldn't possibly eat them all.. I didn't want to cook these beauties but unfortunately a Raw jam doesn't stay good for too long. We are at the end of the Mango season so having a Mango Jam would make our mangoes last longer I guess!!

It was one Mangooey volcano in there. Bubbling and splattering my kitchen!!! I added nothing to it, Cooking it was enough punishment. I let it cook don and reduce that's it.

This is my version of a Veggie Burger Pattie. No seitan, tofu, beans or rice in it. Just veggies.

Divine!! Fits with my plan of eating fuller meals. Yeah. That's my goal. Eat more! Ya more food!!
It had potatoes, peas, cauliflower, beans, onions, chillie, cumin powder and rolled I in breadcrumbs and baked.

I do yoga, I've taken classes, bought and read books about it. But put me on my own and well I am not a consistent yoga girl.
I realized the reason was because I missed the class effect which I felt was my motivation. So I changed my motivation cos Yoga or any other thing for that matter is FOR YOU and ABOUT YOU. I got me some good videos from You Tube and got going. I've been hitting that mat for a week now and I would say that's pretty consistent. Wouldn't you? I am thinking to add Yoga to my posts as well. In future. Just about what I do and my progress and stuff.

For dinner...
One of my Top's. What's the white thing floating in the yellow thing?? Steamed Fermented Rice Batter a.k.a Idli. It's not as confusing and gross as it sounds!! LOL. I swear!! Accompanied by the BEST Split green lentil spicy curry a.k.a Sambhar. Now this recipe I shall post some day..

OM and LOVE - 2 Fav words!!!

Namaste, Vanakam

2010-05-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!
I haven't really been upto many things..Yep apparently not even blogging!! I just wanted to BE you know. Not care not share nothing. Some new spectrums have opened up though. Via Lynn Walker an amazing person/spiritual counsellor. I got to her through Maria Mooney.If my conversation first with her is any indication for things to come I can assure you that I am going to be on one heck of a journey!! To where?? To ME. At long last.

I am open and willing.

Food wise I had a lot going on I didn't really document any thing properly and what I did I have no clue when I ate them!!!
I did get started on my "I am off to Switzerland and therefore I need warm clothing" shopping.. Errr I have as of now picked up everything besides warm clothing. Hey whats the fun in shopping if all I have to buy are winter clothes!!
Let me also tell you that I have no clue what winter clothing is exactly.. Sweaters, jackets, gloves and the kind right??/ Most of what bought is casual wear.. This is my fav dress from the lot.. Taken at 12.p.m and it shows!! Not that I am well put together even otherwise.. Oh well...

I am from India and we don't have winters here. Winter is 23 degrees. And that's cold!!
Yeah, I know what your thinking.. Good luck to me in the freezing European Alps.. Anyways why would I choose to study at such a place when I obviously hate cold?? Especially when the same school has a branch on the eternally beautiful coasts of Spain.. I am a beach bunny. I live err used to live on one until recently.

Its the challenge. It's something I have never seen or experienced before. It so far and different from the way I have lived for all my 25yrs. And that's what I want in life- rich experiences.. By rich you know what I mean- not the money kind. Money wouldn't hurt either as I am taking a massive loan to awail myself of this Grand opportunity.

I am lovin' it I KNOW it's going to be awesome!! Can you imagine the expansion of consciousness and the fun experiences?? Not to mention the biting freezing cold that I keep visualizing!!
Ahhh white white heaven :)
LOL I have a very contradictory nature more often than not ;P

Down to the eatttsss....

Nothing. NOTHING can beat this! I am not one to use knives and spoons when not neccessary..I eat one everyday.. Blissssss

Roasted veggies galore my friends.. If I could I would eat them everyday!!!

Veggie sandwhich the simplest you can find. Tofu on the side. Only after I polished up my plate did I think Oh!! Why didn't I put the Tofu in the sandwich!!! Haha.. Made a good meal though.

Rice with green lentils and steamed veggies with spices.. Cumin and chillie powder to be exact.

What is this scary mass of goo monster???! Coal Tar?? Could be.. But that my dears is Tahini!! LOL.
I made ummm correction tried to make Tahini at home. Result.= FAILURE. Its Black Tahini and I added way too much salt in it!! Weird is what it turned out be. I will try with the usual sesame seeds again though!! As soon the taste of this one leaves my brain!

I have been trying to incorporate more healthy foods and habits although I do feel like I am fairly ok. I am not aiming for fairly ok I am aiming for GOOD!

In the process of daily life that can get over whelming for me at times but as it usually happens CSL came to my rescue. I swear I have this strange synchronocity there.. When in doubt ta da! There is an awesome post on there with all my answers and wonderful suggestions!! Written by some totally amazing people!!

This is one of course came to the rescue of my health planning. Written by the beautiful Erinn Selkis. Comprehensive and so easy!! Check it out..

Happy Livin'!!

Love

The COG & Sponteneity.

2010-05-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

Really what was I thinking?/ HAHA. Like I could actually i mean actually organize err sorry try to organize my life that way!! Seriously?? seriously!!

My essential nature is one of sponteneity!! I feel and therefore I do.. Even if it is something that is not good for me! And I don't freaking need a bloody transformation!! I need to love and accept me as I am. Key word need to. Yep I had self worth issues still do but not to a self destructive extent. The thing with chronic living is the second you get your diagnosis your perception of your life shifts!! It's been 5 years now so I have done some shifting,changing,shaping.loving and much more. I LOVE IT!! Do I have complete acceptance yet of myself and even of the disease?? Mmm maybe not.. But I love the path I am on. The discovery of the self and it's Dharma.

The cog in this machine is my lack of self love which of course stems from self acceptance. That is what I need. I did two sessions of Holo energetic with the awesome Marie Claire Barsotti. You will or rather the therapist will identify your core issue or rather the cog. The cog that blocking your energies. This cog obviously creates your thoughts=actions=life.

My cog?? ACCEPTANCE. No prizes for guessing that one. I have to work on that and everything else will flow. The Universe will flow. I have no plans. I have no "projects". I only have L O V E on my mind. This four letter word I believe will transform and create magic in my life. All the magic that I need and all that awaits me.

What was I thinking? Project?? I never seize to amaze myself with my own idiocy!! LOL.

Love is in the air. Feel it. Revel in it.

Update on my Switzerland status?? I am going. Of course!!

In pursuit of..... what??

2010-05-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

You know I have this habit of making everything look like a freaking crisis!! If I cannot goto Switzerland now it's not the end of the world. At this point in my life I know that when one door closes a window opens. To say the least. This right now is much more then just Oh! This is my dream screw life.. you know whatever.

I have in the last 24hrs seen that the reason this "obstacle" has come up is... If I am honest with my self and not let my mind rule my thoughts and get the inner self to even get a word in edgewise- The truth is I am not ready by me I mean my body. I went through some serious health stuff last year. Was hospitalized for 4 months with internal bleeding from an unknown source (turned out to be my liver) but that was exactly a year ago!!

I came out weighing 72 pounds with my body refusing food of any kind. Here I am year later. Lovin' Life!! So technically this should be my reward right I should be able to go right? I have a tendency to want to do things that are not always good for me I have paid the price for my choices and the universe has given me a knock on the head but always put me back on my path!! That's the order of the world.

My friend Tina at CSL reminded me that When we want something bad enough the universe finds a way to re arrange itself for us. That's true I have felt it. My question to myself is how much do I want this?? Is my body kinda sending messages that it would like more time and I am as usual ignoring it to be pursuit. Pursuit of what!!?? The fact that I have an almost identity connection with going to school has shocked me and I am not happy about this trust me!

I vowed to myself last year that I will never put anything or anyone else before my health and healing. I had a flare last year due to over working! Is it any surprise that I would unconsciously do that again or make a choice to? But I have choice here. I love want I am wanting to do. But I LOVE AND RESPECT MYSELF MORE. If my body needs to heal which means I need to heal more. I am willing to do it. With all my heart.

In fact consciously letting go of something I really want is going too open my horizons and bring new light. I feel that.

See?? I write like someone who knows exactly what she wants!! Well I don't and I am giving myself to another of mind blasting should I shouldn't I, why and the why not's before I decide. FOR SURE.

With all this going on I hardly focussed on the food. Taking pics of it that is. I didn't binge eat. YAY!! I binge drank! Water melon and grape fruit juice that is!! Ha ha . That's my good news . Stress doesn't make me unhealthy binge. ANYMORE!!! WOW...

Apart from juicing and drinking coconut water I ate some Brown Rice with Spinach . No pics :(. I did however manage to get this..

It's Masala Dosa. Translation fermented rice pancakes with potato filling. YUMMMM. I L O V E this. Perfect mood lifter.

You know maybe all this Transformation thing that I have been trying to accomplish triggered this change!! I am obviously putting that out there and following it! The Universe could be telling me Hey you want transformation? Here you go!! Deal with this..
Bottom line what do I want?? What and why am in pursuit?/

Stillness be mine friend. Please.

A TUB'O LOVE :)

Prophecies!!, Believe(ing)+ Figs Laced with "Cream" and Honey Walnuts

2010-05-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

I am BIG BELIEVER. I believe in Love and that it actually makes me, you and this sometimes brutal world we live in wonderful. I believe that a smile at or from a random stranger can make my day. I believe that my thoughts are my energy and my energy creates my life. I believe in my mother. I believe in nature. I believe in the Universe.

The question is where did I go wrong in my Believing to make this! happen... I am all but set to leave for my Hospitality Administration course in Switzerland this August. All but... But what!? A Visa which I shall get soon enough.. But for an Astrologer!! AN ASTROLOGER you ask.. Yep.

Here is the story. I want to go study. Mom skeptical due to health reasons. Too worried. In an attempt to pacify her I brilliantly thought I can show her glimpse(true or not) from my future so that she can be ok and have some peace of mind right.

What happened has completely screwed up mine!! "He" said don't go!! You WILL fall ill again if you do!! Leave later. Like really later. I have paid my 1st Semester fees!!
I have a chronic illness but what he means was a repet of the serious flares I have had in the past..

It's my dream and I BELIEVE I will be ok. I am following my dream after all and I am passionate and totally motivated to do it!! What more!! Ya Prophecies and more.. I am not a big believer in all this but what I do think you get signs in your life..

My question is- Is this is a sign?? For me not to go!!:( :(

My heads been exploding. Literally. But a few special people have made it better to the point where I can calm down. Rainbow from Crazy Sexy Life- true to her name this beutiful person brought back some light and gave some major perspective and thought food. GOD SEND.I am going to sleep over it. Tomorrow I shall know. I believe :)

I HAVE TO.
I got nothing in today. No progress on Project T or anything...

Food was the least of my priorities in the sense that I went for classic comforts foods. Healthy and Vegan mind you!!
Except for this maybe..
So I had some figs and I have been seeing all these recipes of figs with mascarpone and stuff.. I think I saw Nigella Lawson do something. Ok you can rest assured I HAVE NOT used vats of cream...What I had were some Figs and Silken Tofu. You do the math. Hey.. I have jazzed it up as well Lil' at least.

4 figs
50 grams Silken Tofu
5 to 6 walnuts
1 tbsp raw honey

Cut each fig in 4 parts and arrange on a plate. Put your Tofu in your blender and blend till "creamy". Lace your figs i:e spoon the "cream" on. I didn't want to roast my walnuts as that would get all the bad fats going, so I just crumbled them mixed them with the honey and spooned it on as well.

All of this takes about 5 mins.
I got back home after the "news" and made this to get my mind of it and stress makes me want to eat! All though apparently stress still wants to make me eat at least I am not shoving a packet of potato chips down my throat!!!

It tastes divine and isn't it a BEA UT!!?

Love- and praying/ hoping for a clear awesome day tomorrow :)
Hope mom's ok as well...
With all my heart...

Rice and beans- One pot wonders

2010-05-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

Comfort food at its healthiest best. Every one has their fav rice and beans recipe.. For me everything goes in one pot and just stews till its one big pot of delish-ness. I make it a little mushy as well cos I like that texture better than the dry ones. Its this texture and the flavours that make it comfort food for me!! And something so homey about using one big ass pot to cook up something right?? I don't do it as much as I would like to though
Usually red or black beans are used in this recipe and they are hard to digest, at last for me!! So i use black eyed peas instead.

1 cup of brown rice
1/2 cup black eyes peas

1 onion
2 tomatoes
3 green chillies
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sea salt/rock salt
Some chopped coriander
1/2 tbsp olive oil
21/2 to 3 cups of water

Chop up and saute the 1,2,3,4 ingredients first. Its one pot cooking don't really worry about size but it has to medium to small. I you dont want chunky anything.. There's enough going on.. Add the rice and beans.. I usually soak them together overnight or for 2 to 3 hours in the morning. With black eyed peas you needn't even soak so its ok.
Add all the spices, salt and herbs. Stir. Pour in the water. Bring it to a boil, reduce and let it cook. I us more water cos I want mushy mushy.. But even in general 21/2 would be sufficient.

Heap in to a bowl. Sit down eat and SMILE :)

Happy eating...

Tradition, Mother(ing) and Masala 'Fu Scramble Sock'd in Pita

2010-05-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Today is what you call an Ammavaasai here in Tamil Nadu. It's the New moon day that comes along every month. Only that is dedicated to our ancestors. We have a small Puja( prayer ritual) in which we give thanks. But the main ritual is the one of offering food. Food is always a big part o Hindu rituals and even temples. For this day it's tradition that we offer the same foods every month. It's A BIG spread. And all Vegan to boot!!! How cool is that?? In my family my grandma, and aunt and uncle are all vegetarian only my father is a meat eater but not a big one. This is of course my fathers side of the family- small in number as well. With my mothers side you had dared not even mention the word vegetarian!! It's your typical loud, rumbuctious meat eating bunch.

For this day this is what the spread looks like.. All the time, every time. Tradition.
Isn't beautiful??! And wonderfully eco and health frendy to eat on banana leaves?? Its the way our ancestors have eaten and still many do. I have always asked why we dont this way everyday I mean it's so convenient and great!! You save water, and your not using toxic washing liquids and its degradeable!!

On there is rice,Sambhar(lentil and pumpkin curry), Uppuparrupu(salty yellow split lentils),Rasam(tangy tomato broth), Keerai( greens), Avaraikkai( beans), Vaalakkaai(unripe plaintain), Pappad, Vadai(deep fried spicy split yellow lentils) Payasam( sweet porridge with nuts and things) and a fruit which is mango!

And it's not manners to waste once it's on there you to gotta eat everything!! Wipe it clean!!

It's been a lovely day as well.. I didn't see to any Clutter Bizznazz today but I did, mother myself. Ya, that's my message for the day.. I come from a dysfunctional family, therefore I do come with my own combinations of issues. Mom issues- I do have. Not as much as I used to but its there. I learnt that I need to mother myself. To give myself all the love,value and nurturing. To love and expect love. God knows my body needs love!! I follow my mind and expect my body to follow. Without complains. My body the dear little thing tries and tries hard to live up to my demanding and and incredibly punishing mind!!

I have slowed down and I am much better than before as my consciousness of the mind,body,spirit connection expands. I need more. It's all about uppin' it on Project T. I am learning to work in tandem with my body. To first set my pace according to the needs and capacities off my body for that day. Not push my body to do what my mind thinks it needs to do. Result I feel like I can accomplish more and with less stress= happy happy! Mind and body :)

Read- How to Be Your Own Mother and Nurture Yourself written by the amazing Tama. J. Kieves on Crazy Sexy Life

We had our frequent special guest visit us today. He is to me proof to me that a GOD does exist!!

I used to think if the same God made me as well, given that we all come from one force and are joined by the same force.. I must be pretty special as well. I am not saying I am beautiful. I mean this is not just beautiful this a nature at its SPECTAULAR best. But it was just self esteem exercise I used to do that's all. Not a vanity one.

I hopped back in my workout shoes after a few weeks. Felt so good!! I didn't have a jog in me today but I did walk up one sweet sweat!! Sweet sweat?? Ugh.. But this is it folks, this is all it takes to make me happy :)

Alright I finally made it here- to the MASALA 'FU SCRAMBLE SOCK'D IN PITA

I had a box of Silken Tofu that I got to make some vegan custard but then I came across this 'Fu Scramble recipe on tastes like yum. For a vegan I hardly eat any Tofu, once every 3 months maybe?? But after seeing that I had HAD to make this!! You would too lovelies. Believe me.

I didn't follow the exact same recipe but I used my Masala Omelette Recipe. Which I had in fact been missing..

1 box of Silken Tofu
1 Onion
2 Tomatoes
2 Green Chillies
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp olive oil
Mush up your Tofu and add the Turmeric and Cumin and let it sit whilst your getting the other stuff done.
Chop up your onions,tomatoes and green chiliies. Heat up your oil and saute them. Add you sitting tofu, add salt and stir till there is an amalgamation.
Sock your Pita with the Scramble and eat away.

Oh you wont believe the creaminess.. Mmmm.. Just ,melts away to delish-ness.. No egg I ever ate could stand up to it. Heap this on toast and it's breakfast.I didn't use the whole box of tofu only provided you the recipe for a whole. I am little girl with a little appetite people, so I got more Silken waiting.. So more 'Fu for me tomorrow as well..
It was a total indulgence and a chilled out meal as every meal should be.. I cranked out my latest Vogue and munched away..
I don't mix fruits with food. I give an hour in between, before or after. It's Food Combining for optimum digestion and maximum mileage for the food I eat. Which I need. And you need. Check out the Food Combining link on my page...

Pineapple, strawberries and raw honey followed shortly by a pumpkin seed cookie. YUM!

Going to call Lynn Walker, whom I mentioned in my previous post.
Excited+Anxious= Exciety??
Good Lord!! Bye now

Love

Embracing change, An end and A Thai inspired Lunch

2010-05-12T00:42:00.000-07:00

LOL that's a mouthful huh?? Well. I had another awesome day to be sure. Woke up with a heart full of gratitude but then was soon plagued with doubts about the massive student loan that is still pending. One that I desperatEly need!!! Why you ask?? I am going to study International Hospitality Administration in Switzerland at Les Roches this August. YAY. Ya yay and all it's been road block after another to even get to apply. I am in. Not to be pessiistic or whiny about this seriously super news but I don't think I will truly elieve it's happening to me till a day before departure. Seriously.

But for now I don't have a Passport, Visa and a Loan. Yet.

But the wait ended today for my passport!! Something that I should have got ages ago but for beaurocracy!! I am now the proud owner of an Indian Passport!! I could hardly contain myself as the postman took his time giving it. I couldn't wait I was literally vibrating and dancing with joy!!

This means I apply for my Visa soon for which I need to make a trip to Mumbai(Bombay), which I will do most galdly.

Day 3 of Project T had more Clutter Bizznazz of course!! I did books and book shelves. Now, I love books so this was just a nice quite time spent with my books!! And some fond memories.

You know my message for today came to me last night, just as I finished putting up yesterdays post. EMBRACE CHANGE!! I got this from the Crazy Sexy Life blog. What I learned in the Eye of the Storm written by Emme.I read the amazing story of Emme and was like this is perfect for me right now! For this week!! Like I said ever since I made THE decision the Universe has been sending me a amazing info and people my way!! It's only been 3 days!! It's all in perfect timing too!!

My Ego tells me OH What are you talking about/?!! Change schmange..You have embraced more than enough change! Any more embracing and you might as well lie down and wait for the friggin road roller!! Well that's just my tini lil' ego and its days at the roost are over. My soul said no I need to do more. So I am currently looking and searching in me. And that's what this journey is all about!! Just like everything else this too shall cometh to me...

I had to do a recipe post today.This is it. A Thai inspired COCONUT CURRIED VEGGIES WITH RICE NOODLES

Things you need:
Curry Paste- 3 cloves of garlic,2 greenchillies,1/2 inch ginger,1/2 cup onions,1/4 salt.
bash these up in your pestle and mortar or food processor. Your looking for rubble not a fine paste.
Rice Noodles( I am only cooking for one here so I used less than 1/4 of the packet)
1/2 to 1 cup of coconut milk
4 baby corns
1 carrot
1/2 tsp salt

This is a use all the veggies you got recipe. Umm, why have I used 2?? That's all I got people. Yep. But these baby corns have been sitting around for awhile now and its time they had their outing. Steam and pre cook the veggies esp ones like carrots, baby corns etc. If its other stir fryable ones then don't other to.

Boil up some water and soak the rice noodles. Let it be for 4 to 5 mins and drain. They cook later in the curry heat anyways.

There is no oil in this recipe because the coconut milk has more than enough. Add the curry paste to your wok and saute for 2 mins. Add the coconut milk and let the curry paste boil for awhile. The rawness of the curry paste needs to go. So let it cook and reduce. The veggies go in at this point. The veggies are precooked so it only takes coupla minutes. Add the rest of the salt. Add the noodles toss. Serve. I forgot to add the coriander on top!! Pls do so :). And don't forget a squeeze of fresh lemon juice either. Haaa.. the pic would've looked so gorge with the coriander! Don't you think??

Remember I said Thai inspired not Thai:)

Family, Clutter and a No Recipe Post.. Again.

2010-05-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Is it a wonderful day or what!!! My first day of week one of Project T didn't go too well. Way much less than expected.. The good news is that it was yesterday and today is a whole super duper brand new day!! We are expecting a whole load of family to come visiting. We are a huge family. MASSIVE to be exact. Although the entire gazillion isn't descending upon us a moderate chunk is making its way here. And let me tell you people my family is a voracious carnivorous bunch!!! Not so good for More Raw plan. There is all kinds of things being cooked up and none of them have so much as a vegetable in them.

My house is usually vegetable friendly home. Meat does get cooked but not everyday and not too much. Unless, we want to hear some very vocal views about the lack of good food today, we better meat it up. Meat it up we did. Keralan Coconut Chicken and Mutton Curry all served with rice. This is today's menu.

Not for me though. My fare totally stuck with my new goals. Not without temptation though! Not the meat though.

I am a Morning Greenie person. Today was an exception. An equally delicious exception.

I am weird this way. My coffee(soy milk) comes in the evening- usually. A Greenie is my morning pick up, but this does it for me in the evenings. But when it's toast for breakfast come on you gotta have your coffee.. So ya my toast with mango preserve accompanied my coffee. Umm, the label on the mango preserve jar read-straight from the Himalayan mountains fresh mangoes jammed in a jar!! Who wouldn't want mangoes especially fresh off the Himalyas!!! Now that's a big mountain to live up to!!
Disappointing. It was okay.. I've had better.

Oh and ya the cleaned out papaya skin lurking in the corner was finished an hour before my toast and things. Always eat fruits alone and well before and starches and things. The fruits get digested and absorbed better! Check out the Food Combining Link on my page..

After this I got down to some serious Clutter Biznazz.. The clearing of it like planned. I managed quite a bit and felt so good doing it!! It's only Day2 and I got all the Drawers and Desk space in my personal area a.k.a. bed room.. This is the site of a 'WTF did a freaking nuclear bomb explod in your room type clutter'.Oh the shame!! But hey,the energy in my room much better now!!

I lit up some Bergamot incense, got myself some of my fav Tulsi Ginger Herbal Tea( Organic India) and got on the WWW for today's inspiration and did I find it or what!!! First off, I went to Awaken to Spirit, this was suggested to me by my fellow CSL'er(Crazy Sexy Life), a spiritual being and overall amazing person- Maria Mooney from Going down swinging: A RSD Blog. She's remarkable and her journey is inspiring. She also has a load of spiritual and brain food on her blog. I got in touch with her, because I was impressed with her approach to illness and pain. Our philosophies are similar and wanted to tell her shes super.And She was sweet or what!She told me about Lynn Walker a Spiritual Counselor. Her's to be exact. I haven't spoken to Lynn yet, but after reading her blog I AM calling her. Tomorrow.

From Lynn's page I found Marsha Eger's. I was particularly inspired by a poem Those Limiting Beliefs. Please read it. I am on this path and the Universe is just blessing me with so much encouragement and constantly giving me tools and material to continue and persevere towards this goal. How can you possibly go wrong with the universe on your side?? I mean cmon!!

The family arrived. This is the thing with BIG families they can get on your nerves. God, Why did you create me and put me with a bunch of crazy people nerves.But hey they are family.. I love 'em ALL. For the fun times and the familial bonding!! So worth it!! Didn't think so in my teens of course! While they chowed on the meats I quietly made myself a bowl of this..

What is this? Rice in Tangy Tomato Broth called Rasam, it's a staple in South Indian homes. It's light and filling and totally slurpable!! I've topped it with some Green Lentils cooked with cumin and garlic. This happens to be lunch time fav with me. So far so good. BUT.....
Later on in the evening when we visited a pregnant cousin of mine I did have a full blown Chocolate explosion!! Chocolate Cupcakes and Choco Fudge Pudding to be exact. No, Not vegan. It was made by my 14year old wannabe chef nephew and how can I possibly say No!! I mean really what kinda monster would I be?? No, sorry I cant eat you yummy food Dear, I'm vegan.. I am a what!!!?? You get the jist. So I ate it. Enjoyed it. But didn't overdo it. Maybe it's a lame LAME excuse but hey, I enjoyed it so I'm not PO'd at myself.

Part of my journey is not to get too down on myself. I compensate. I got back and juiced for dinner- carrots,cucumber and an apple.

Drinking this while I blog and turning around tomorrows ideas in my head. Been reading Hungry Hungry Hippie and getting some really cool ideas for lunch and dinner!!

I seriously Heart my life y'all!! :)

Estimations & Goals.. Project T

2010-05-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

So my spinning and over thinking head's actually thrown up some ideas and a plan!! I am going to take it one week at a time..

Every week I set goals. Small and Simple goals. It makes everything less complicated and overwhelming. The word Transformation is!! This kinda lets me focus on one thing at a time and actually make some progress! To me that's a lasting way to do it. Otherwise I would just go over board and go crazzzyy!!

Lol. Ya so now on to for Week 1...
My Estimations:

1.Cleaner food. I eat pretty healthy and I am happy with it but it'S about upping it. So more RAW. I am excited about that. I am making a clear move, no half this half that. Of course I will be eating cooked vegan, but more raw it is. I don't really need to expound on the goodness of Raw.

2. Clutter. Ahhhhh. You have no clue. I am a SLOB!! With clothes. They are there every where all the time!! Stuffed, dumped, kicked under the bed- you name it.
I am in general pretty unorganized so that's the first to go. I need to be more together. Too chilled out now. Clearing space lets in a lot new energy anyways!!
I start work and school pretty soon and I gotta clean up my act!!!

There is a deadline here people!!

Goal:

Eat more raw.
Get rid of clutter and get organized.

References:

Raw Food Rehab- for the raw food info and support. Plus there is a great article on clutter amongst many nice articles posted my the creator Penni. Check it out!!

Just for the food and the nice posts I tried to narrow down from the many Super nice blogs I visit regularly. Right now I felt like The Hungry Hungry Hippie and Choosing Raw are good for me.Although both them have different styles and approaches to food, they have some really easy and yummy ideas and recipes!! Thanks to Gena and Elise.

Tools!
Refrences are great I can learn so much.I mean such amazing people write it up. I have in the past had trouble with translating that into practice. So I have to come up with my own efficient way(hopefully) to get these in my head and into my life because after all that's the goal.

I am going to start off with:
Affirmations and Intentions for each day.
Visualize what I want my day to be like
Meditate
Chakra Balance. Clutter does a lot to block your chakras!!! Who knew!!! Check out the link guys..

Nothing very complicated or overwhelming. So that's it.

So lets see in a week eh?? How much cleaner and better energy I have...

So excited!!

Love

A No recipe post

2010-05-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

I ate a lot of good food today!! And I still dont really have anything with a recipe I want to put up..
My minds been on over drive though. Project Transformation of course. I am completely psyched about it in an AWESOME way!!! For me its a mind thing.. I over think and then think some more. Ha Ha..

So my morning started with my Plaintain Power Shake . Then I kinda pottered around and did nothing. Little exhausted but that's the usual deal.

You know the saying "your thoughts become your actions and your actions become your life".

We all know about it. But then how many of us really think about it and use or follow it?? I don't that's for sure. I guess this is where manifesting comes in..This is something I'm planning to explore more in detail so I will probably put up a longer post.

What did my day in food look like? For lunch I had some brown rice with spinach and dhall curry with some beets on the side.

Oh ya the highlight of my day actually is this Pine apple soft serve I made!! OOOOHH so good! I got this from The Robertsons of Mumbai. I read their most recent post and guess what I had big ass pineapple sitting at home just for this looks like. So I froze them and blitzed them all the way to soft serve heaven! Check out their post I haven't done anything differently..

I just added some raw honey on top. You could bruise and chop up some mint leaves to mix with your honey. I wanted to do just that when I discovered the mint that I thought I have wasn't there.. Only to find it later!! Of course.. Mine doesn't look pretty like theirs!! But was YUM!

I went to a temple with my mom. I am very spiritual but not religious. These days there is a difference betwen the two. This is one of the temples I actually do visit. I like the calm vibrations here. I needed some with my head swimming non stop with.. You name it.

Felt wonderful, calm and focused after my visit there! YAY! So for dinner I made myself a super yum but simple coriander and mint chutney with veggies sandwich. You now I feel like I can put recipes of some of the posts here now.. Hmm.. Will do.Later.

I sign off now. Hating the word Think and loving that I am complex. See there is no making me happy!

Love

Project Transformation!!

2010-05-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's time. It is. IT IS...

Am I ready for it??? OH LORD I HOPE I AM.. It's been patiently waiting for me and putting up with all my crap and my stupid excuses and never faling to remind me that my bright and brilliant life awaits.. Waiting quietly for me.

In the 4 and whatever years that I have been diagnosed I have made a whole load of improvement from my seriously messed up former self. I have put a lot of time and effort into doing and being that. It is more important to me than anything else. I had wasted away 20 yrs of my life and I REFUSE to do that. So why would this be difficult for me as I already am on that path?? BECAUSEEUH!

Because. This requires so much Oh so much more out of me. It need s me to dig to the deepest levels and pull everything out. Soul deep. No holes barred.

I am ready. I need this I need this SO much , and so I need to be ready.
PHEWWWW

There it is.. Out in the open so that I can't take it back. I can't change my mind that's one the reasons I am putting it out there. I am on it. I am doing it..
WOOHOO!! YAY! It's just such a relief!! Such a relief to say it out loud and know that I am consciously making a choice at this very moment in my life to empower myself to be better and live better. And this is the love and soul part of the blog. I got it at last.. ;p

If your reading this and your at a place in your life where you want change, JOIN ME. Come on lets shake up our lives and let the light in!! It's Time to shine people :)

How am I going to do it?? Hmm.. I am reading stuff and putting together relevant info that I can use and follow in small steps. In short make a project out of it and keep a record of it. A public record.

It's not going to be easy, with all of the stuff that's going to come to the surface. Theres some stuff in there that I don't even want to think of acknowledging. But This Is It. I am in. For good.

In the following days and weeks I will keep updating. Not only updating but putting the tools I am using out there.

Good Luck to me :)

Vegan Tomato Chutney Sandwich

2010-05-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

If you like tomatoes you will LOVE this chutney. I've made sandwiches with this chutney but hey! this is after all chutney so you can use it in any combination you want!! I have used one of those press type sandwich maker as you can see. And I love eating this sandwich this way. Initially I started making them this way because of the cheese I used to add and every time I take a bite the cheese used to ooze out.. I don't eat cheese anymore but if you do feel free to add...

This also happens to be on my Top 5 Comfort Foods list.. Healthy for a comfort food I must say!

Chutney:
3 ripe tomatoes
1 red onion
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
3 to 4 green chillies
1 tsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp himalayan salt

Chop up all the veggies. Heat up the oil and add the onion, chillies and garlic. Saute till the onions are translucent. Now add the tomatoes and stir around. Add the salt and this will leach out the moisture from the tomatoes. Reduce heat and cook for another 10 minutes till everything is cooked down. It should not be too chunky at this point.

Toast your bread of choice with some olive oil. Spread the chutney. Eat away!!!

Gluten Free Herby Flax Crackers

2010-04-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

In retrospect my blog should have been named "I am sorry I dont bake" blog.
Without any exaggeration of any knid that's how bad I am. My lack of patience + the requirement of accuracy= Nope, can't bake.

Ok, ya you get it I am not a baker. So why would I want to make my own Crackers!! There is after all such a thing called a supermarket and I am not even gluten intolerant.

Here is the back story. I used to be gluten intolerant until a few months ago. I used to bake all my stuff then. By bake all my stuff I mean an occasional muffin here there but that's it. But.... These crackers where the only things I made regularly. A girl needs her yummy snackables no matter what right?
I am not gluten intolerant now so why would I still make them??
I like these crackers much much better than store bought ones and I still do like omit wheat at any given opportunity.

So, if you want to eat your wheat just add 1 cup of whole wheat flour as opposed to the gluten free one.

1 cup of All purpose Gluten Free flour( I use Red Mills)
1/ 4 flax meal
11/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds

See this is all it is! Why wouldn't I make them. Mix them and bind them all together with the required amount of water which would be less than 1/4 cup. The consistency should soft and firm not soggy or sticky.
So I have the dough right and the oven is all cranked up and going(220c), at this point I discover I have no parchment paper! OOPS.
I considered just oiling up a tray and spreading it out but can you imagine!! It would stick like there is no coming out and be just impossible to pry away.. Hmmm.. So I just oiled a glass lasagne dish and spread the dough. Sprinkled some sesame seeds on top and popped it in. For 20 mins. Hoping to hope I can scrape away at least a few bits to eat!!

I am sure for all you experienced bakers last minute emergencies are its no big deal but I was just really apprehensive. So when they came out looking like this and all I had to do was give it a gentle rattle and it sprung right up. No prying today :) YAY!! Can you imagine my delight??

You can cut them up or break them up ( I do ) and stash them in a air tight container. You can also put them in your freezer. This is a small batch I will eat them in a coupla days. If you want more just double the ingredients and make more!!

Brown rice with garlicky beans & beans

2010-04-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

If you have not yet started eating brown rice, let m tell you this. Its UNCOOL and do so NOW. Not because I say its "uncool" and that you should, but read up on all its various benefits as opposed to its more polished and prettier version ( beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and i think brown looks more beautiful!) tastes better for sure.. I have given you a link up there...

This recipe as you can see has two beans the dried ones that you have to soak overnight or pour out of a tin( entirely your choice) and the beautiful green,green ones. For the dried beans I have used Anazi beans as they are one my favs and they just look gorgeous!!! Its a versatile recipe so feel free to use your fav.

1 cup brown rice ( soaked for 1/2 hour)
1/2 cup anazi beans ( soaked overnight)
1 cup of cut green beans ( 1 inch in length)
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of mixed herbs( oregano, thyme etc)
1 tsp chillie flakes
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of salt

Cooking the rice:
This is clearly the most important and at times the difficult part. You steam it, pressure cook it, put it in a rice cooker.. It's up to you. I usually use the rice cooker.

We have used one cup of rice and so you will have to add two cups of water.
With brown rice, I always find that it needs a little bit more so I add about 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups of water.
After, all the water been absorbed let the rice sit for 10 to 15 mins. The rice is fully set by this time so you can fluff it easily without breaking them up.

Cooking the beans:
I put them in a pressure cooker, pour a cup of water, add some salt. Voila!! 8 to 10 mins that's all it takes.

Now you have your rice and the beans, the two protagonists of this dish ready to go. So chop the garlic finely in to bits saute them in the olive oil. Add the herbs and chillie flakes and stir around till the aromas hit you. That would take only a minute or two.Then add the green beans and saute for 5 mins till it becomes a gorgeous green and crunchy. Now put in the Big Daddy beans( he he ). Add a pinch of salt and stir through.

Top the rice with this goodness and lunch is served!!!

This is low in fat and sodium with a clean source of protein. Whatever kind of food it is that you eat this is good for you.

Tip;
Get the rice and beans going at the same time. They should take 15 mins altogether with the rice taking a little more time. You only need 5 mins to get the rest done. So you have a healthy solid meal in 20 mins.

Food Speak

2010-04-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

Healthy eating is not dull or boring.It just about arming yourself with the right knowledge and some kick ass recipes. To me right now eating healthy means just that- eating healthy. I cannot say I'm Vegetarian,Vegan, Raw, Fruitarian or whatever else is out there because I eat everything. I know what is good for me and what is not and I choose to eat what is good for me. I even eat things that are not so "good" for me once in a long while if I want to. Be kind to yourself when you do. It's ok. I don't have any extreme views or prejudices when it comes to food. Eat good food. Make sure that the matter you are putting in to your body is good for you. It has to be good for you. You cannot junk your body with potato chips and burgers and expect to be healthy or thin. It's just not enough if you like the food, your body and your stomach has to as well.

I never ate veggies, I never exercised, I never took care of myself. I am not saying that these are the reasons for my illness but they are I know a BIG contributing factor. Nature has some laws and they apply to us as well. Know where your foods coming from and what has been done or added to it. We want to make money,be successful, live and be happy with our families but what we don't realize is that we cannot do any of those if we are not healthy. None of it even matters if you are not healthy.

I learnt this the hard way as have many others. But why wait till rock bottom? Why? Why are we so obesesed and attracted to food that we know is not good for us. Ya, we live once and we ought to have fun but shouldn't we having and also be living well?? Isn't it better that way? After all, our body is home to our soul, a piece of beauty in this perfect infinite puzzle.

Do we hate ourselves so much that we are even capable of unconsciously sabotaging ourselves? To get to the bottom of that question and give some answers I need to look deep into myself. I have issues and they all go back to one root cause. Lack of self love. Why? How? These are the things for which we need to dig deep and and take an unflinching look. If we can. For years I never cared about my body or my life until I was forced. Forced to look, to love, to live, to feel. No more running away. I had to crash and burn not once but twice to get it. I don't know if I have it now or if I will ever have it. I can try and so I am trying and I will keep trying.

LET US BE THE SOURCE OF THE LOVE WE SEEK.

Aromatic Coconut Fish Curry

2010-04-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

Curry resides in my soul. I am fascinated by the inter play of flavours that happen to bring about one bowl of delicious ness. Once you understand the basics of a curry then it becomes a mix and match. It gets real fun then. I know curry has a bad rep for being thick and heavy and not too friendly with the waistline. I have had those curries and I m not a big fan of them. They almost always make me sick after. Home made curries are always different. They are if can say so more to the point.

So this one today started out as a Kerala Fish Curry and then navigated into the world of Thai Curries and I finally settled on an inspiration from both. I wanted a light fragrant and flavourful curry. To get started you need the Aromatic Curry paste:
For that you need:

7 small shallots or 1 small to medium onion
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch of ginger
4 green chillies
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp salt

This is the time to bring out your pestle and mortar. Oh how I love bashing about things in them. Its the best way to squeeze out the juicy juicy flavours. In case you don't have one use food processor. No, you don't need a smooth paste but you a need a grubby one.

This is how you want it to be.
Add the salt at the very last.

You will also need:
1/2 kg of any white fish. We use fish with the bones in curries as they ooze a lot of flavour into them. Eastern cultures hardly ever use stocks in their cooking because of this. We don't discard the bones.
1 cup of coconut milk.
1/2 cup of chopped tomato
1/4 tsp turmeric powder.
1/2 tsp salt.
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Heat the oil and add the curry paste to it. And Breathe just stand still and in hale all the wonderful aroma's that engulf your kitchen:) Then you need to fry the paste for about 7 minutes. Keep the paste moist but not watery so keep adding some water whenever you need to.

2. Add the tomatoes and the turmeric at this point.
Let this cook for another 5 minutes. Don't add any water the moisture of the tomatoes are enough. Give time for the flavours to integrate.

3.Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water to it an bring it up to boil.
Add the fish and cook for 15-20 minutes. Stir in the 1/2 tsp of salt.

Serve with rice and a few wedges of lemon. That's your Curry.

Simple Fried Baby Aubergines

2010-04-07T23:54:00.003-07:00

These are SO yum and so easy to make its a wonder I don't eat them everyday!!!

You need 4 baby aubergines, 1 heaped tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsps oil. If you have curry leaves just throw some in. I add curry leaves where ever I can as they are very good sources of Iron. As you can see they are not deep fried as they more 'sear- fried'. Meaning seared and then cooked on low heat till they are done.

If you don't have baby aubergines you can just as easily use eggplants. Just cut them to the size you want.

Heat the oil in a pan add the curry leaves if you are using them. In go the aubergines. Sear them well till it browns a bit. Then add the chilli powder and salt. Mix well and let them cook till they are soft and perfect.

Voila......!

Serve them as a side to some rice and dhal or curry.
You can try them with some Green Lentil Curry and rice.

Green Lentil Curry

2010-04-07T23:54:00.001-07:00

This is a fairly simple curry and a staple in most Indian homes. We like to make ours a little mushy i:e overcook them and even mash them a little. If your eating them with rice this is better but if your eating them with roti's then the normal protocol's apply. It gives value to your meal by being an amazing source of protein. It is not necessary that you you have to use the same green lentil's you can use any lentil you like or even chick pea's they all go well.

Things you need:

That's all the things you need!! Uhhh and 4 green chillies that i didn't put in there... So basically you need 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 7 cloves of garlic ( you reduce if you think it's a bit much), 4 green chillies, 2 tsps cumin seeds, 1 cup of green lentils, salt as much as you need. I use unprocessed sea salt or Himalayan Mineral salt and 2 tsps oil.

I highly recommend using a pressure cooker for this. Heat the oil. Add the chillies cumin onion and garlic and saute till the onions turn translucent. Add the tomatoes. Cook for 3 mins then add the lentils and the salt. Now if your over cooking them let it go for extra time if not it should be done in about 5 whistles on the cooker. In this case about 15!! Ya they were some stubborn lentils!

This is what it should like before you mash 'em:

After you mash 'em up.. Not too much though ok

You could eat these just as they are or with some rice or some veggie sides like my Simply Fried Eggplants.

My Wicked Banana Stem Cleanser Outter

2010-04-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

I made this for the first time from the stems we got from our own backyard. You could see more of that story in my post A DAY IN FOOD. It was just so fresh that I wanted to make best use of it natural enzymes and goodness and juicing was my only option.

In goes

1/4 cup of banana stem. Cut up in pieces
1 apple
7 florets of brocolli.

Juice.
These are super good for you as they have amazing anti oxidant properties and hence very good for your liver and kidney. If you can get banana stems make these. So worth it.

Sprouted mung beans and peanuts in chilli dressing

2010-04-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

I hate sprouts. HATE. Any kind of sprouts or any kind of salad for that matter. My goal to incorporate more raw foods kind of puts me in a position where I should be open to trying them in the least. So I am starting at the most basic level. So if you are anything like me and you want to make and eat more salads that are not dripping with mayonnaise and fat I would say this is a good start! Now I like salads made by others, ok I know that this is not exactly a good thing to say when I am posting a recipe with the expectation that other people might actually make them!! But this one so simple even I can make it and ENJOY it...

Moving on to a more flattering note this is a good salad not mention hassle free. Of course I would do hassle free. But then Sprouting can seem complicated to those who are new to it but once you get started its easy. It is also a pure Living Food so I don't need to tell you how good they are for you. Here is a good link for beginners on How to Sprout.

Salad things you need:
2 cups sprouted mung beans
1 cup sprouted peanuts
1 onion, finely chopped
Some chopped coriander (optional)

Dressing:
1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive or veg oil
Juice of half a lemon

Mix all the salad ingredients and dressing ingredients separately. Toss both together. The chilli is just hot enough with out over powering the salad and the lemon adds just the perfect amount of tang keeping the flavours clean. This is good cold or at room temperature.

Plantain Date Power Shake

2010-04-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

It's a filler up. Awesome energy booster. I use plantains instead of bananas where ever i can simply because it has more nutritional content than a banana. You can use a banana also.

1 Plantain or Banana
5 Mejdool Dates
100 ml Soy or Almond Milk

Blend.

Cheers :)!!

Fav Greenie

2010-04-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

OK the Greenie is not some eco friendly product that I regularly use, unless you want to take into account its extreme eco friendliness with your body and health. It of course goes around with other names such as Green Juice, Green Monster, Green Goo( goo?! really?). This is a topic of great discussion amongst health foodies. God Juice. Yes, people thats how good it actually is for you. People either hate it or love it but most people are just put off by it. I was! Until I said enough is enough and took the plunge... Never to return again. I started because I wanted to raw my diet a little more and Greenie's are the best way to do that. Trust me.

Breakfast is such a bore for me. Such a bore! I am always at a loss for ideas. I don't always want to eat the Idli's and Dosa's or Bread and everything else that goes with it. I usually settle for fruits and felt like it's never enough not just nutritionally but even as a stomach filler. With Green Juice I was really apprehensive because I didn't really come across any combination that I appealed to me until I came across this Green Smoothie which looked a lot like my usual Banana Smoothie.

That was an A HA moment. Like DUH stupid that's all it takes! Right there my consciousness had expanded..

Ahem... Right enough gab.

1 cup of freshly squeezed Orange Juice
1 cup of Pineapple(optional)
1 Banana
1 cup of Papaya
2 cups of Spinach

Just blend till smooth.
If the raw taste of Spinach Juice is what's bothering you, be not. Apart from the gorgeous colour it lends you can hardly taste the Spinach, you have all these wonderful fruits that not only act as a buffer but gives it amazing taste and unparalleled nutrition. I mean come on how can anything that looks so gorgeous and has so much of yummy goodness not be good!! It just logic.

Drink up! Cheers!

Star of the day.................. A Hero.

2010-04-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

You know today was by all means a thoughtful day. I am a volunteer now and I volunteer where ever and whenever I can as my main focus is my health. So today, I have volunteered to volunteer for this truly amazing man that all you should know about.

So this is my Hero.

Mr. N. Krishnan, from Madurai, India. He runs Akshaya Homes. What this extraordinary and inspiring man is doing is just unbelievable!!!!

Gives me faith makes me believe in the inherent goodness that lies dormant in the human kind.
He has the courage and the beauty to do what you and I only think we want to do or imagine doing. In short he feeds 400 homeless mentally ill people 3 meals a day!! He makes the food and personally Goes to them and gives them the food and sometimes even feeds them!!!! 4OO PEOPLE!! EVERYDAY... I mean just go check him otu guys. He's also currently being featured on CNN Heroes.
PLEASE PLEASE DO VISIT THIS LINK Akshaya Trust.

I write a blog featuring food and food is by all means an important part of my life. There are days when I have had to cook for 5 people and I throw tantrums!! Jeezzz!!

Just the thought that there are millions out there who cannot even eat one meal a day has always made feel bloody darned fortunate!! I mean come on I can actually choose! I have a choice of in what I want to eat and when and how!! If your reading this blog chances are So are you!! There are millions who don't as we know and mentally ill people who cannot even feed or fend for themselves in any way are of course totally neglected by their family and society. They don't even have a place in the lowest margins of our society. They are the invisible souls that grace the garbage dumps, ditches and sidewalks.
I can't compare myself to this paragon but I can try.

So I have volunteered to volunteer for him if he needs or accepts it. I really really really hope he does!! It would I already know would be hands down the best experience I WILL EVER have.

So he really is the star of the day.
Coming to the food that was good as well today. It was one glorious vegan feast. Well to me at least. So I'm an overall happy camper people.
So I'm Indian we eat rice nearly every other day right, and it serves as my only source of major carbs for the day. The curries and dhals and things that go with gets switched up and about now and then.

I made some super yum Green Lentil Curry. One of my fav.

I of course ate them with some brown rice and the veggie side that I made long with this was this really quick Simple Fried Aubergines. They just got the whole thing together and my plate so damn happy! I had also made some Potato and Cabbage Subji but I feel like I need to tweek it a little before I can put it up.

What did I learn today.. That I have no business complaining ever like EVER in my life again!!

A lot like nothing...

2010-04-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY!!!! YAY!!!

You know it actually doesn't really make any difference to me because like I said I'm on a sabbatical till the end of this month. But then I figured that I don't a need a reason to be celebratory i can just be right? So will I be doing anything that would make it a celebration?? Uhhh NO. I did nothing and reveled in the nothingness...

Basked and gloated in it to be exact.

Hugh Prather the awesome author of Notes to myself (one of the books I'm reading now) writes:
"Why do I judge myself by how much I have 'accomplished'?
When i get to where I can just enjoy lying on the rug picking up lint balls, I will no longer be too ambitious.
I'm holding this cat in my arms so it can sleep, and what more is there."

Truly enlightening and thought provoking material.

In my reality What more is there than a cat sleeping in my arms?? My previous self would have come up with so many answers to that one!! And none of them would have been agreeable.

Hey I too can hold the cat I too can pick up lint balls and be relaxed and happy too. BUT not for long. I still have ambition.I still have the burning desire in me to find and fulfill my potential and a sense that my life is just begining because I see this illness a blessing. A blessing that's led me to y true self and purpose. A rebirth.

But I also know better now than to judge myself and my self worth based on what I do, what I have or how much money I make. There is much more to life than just that. It's taken me a considerable amount of time, energy, patience and pain to get here. A lot of pain physical and emotional.

When you live with an illness any sort of chronic illness there are a lot of challenges in your everyday life. It can be anything from just getting out of bed, taking a shower, eating, walking, smiling, cooking or just about anything depending on your day, your body and your illness. But that doesn't mean you don't have good days. There are spectacular ones. Brilliant ones because everything seems that much more special that much clearer. Once you get over the 'I want to be normal ' phase and the acceptance seeps into your life it just becomes that much more lighter and easier.

As you can see acceptance has been let in. I have in the past worked myself sick wanting to be like all the other 20 somethings. I landed up in the hospital with internal bleeding, stayed there for 3 months because they couldn't identify the area of bleed. Excruciating pain. When I got out I weighed a measly 75 pounds and couldn't eat anything. And by anything I mean NOTHING!! My body just refused food!! It was purely functioning on medicines, all kinds of medicines.
So one would think that I would take time to rest and reflect. No siree not me the "I want girl".. I went to back to work in a months time!! All 75 pounds of my barely together and living self. STUPID.

I worked for 2 months I have no clue how I managed to do that!! Then I decided its time for me to take off. I couldn't I had pushed all my limits. I had maxed out. I took time off. I owe myself the best care and love I can give myself. First off teaching is not what I want or ever wanted to do. But it is one of the most amazing opportunities I have ever received in my life. Will ALWAYS be. I love it. But it's not my life's dream or purpose. What is you ask?? You will know.

The reason I'm taking this trip down memory lane is because its been exactly one year since i got out of the hospital. ONE YEAR.

I am so profoundly and deeply grateful for everything. Everything. I am grateful to have gone through it ALL.

Ya, so today I am basking and gloating in nothingness. Pure joy:)

So what does a day of nothing look like in my world??

My usual morning routine of a glass of lemon water and supplements. Then my Wicked Banana Stem Cleanser Outter. Super start I must say. Opened out my blog with the sole intention of ashing out some ideas in my head as like you know I want to do a better job here. And this is what I write about Nothing! Brilliant huh?? Love it.
I also visited some awesome blogs for recipes and inspiration 101 cookbooks and find your balance health. Kudos to those ladies. Once again.

At this point my brain starts protesting considering how I am supposed to be doing nothing. So I went and got myself some herbal tea to kick start it a little. My fav herbal teas com from Organic India. They have a nice and soothing collection and whats more they are Organic. I am drinking Tulsi tea (holy basil).

Tulsi has numerous healthful properties to recommend itself. You can read up on http://www.organicindia.com/tulsi-holy-basil.php

This pretty much what my day looked including my ugly feet. But I did manage to get some reading done on Notes to Myself. Yes, the book I have quoted from. And gobbled up some juicy juicy watermelon.

I did do my usual workout though. Which is a combo of many things and since this post looks like its going to be the longest post in the entire long history of blogging i shall desist.

I've said enough for a day!! Too much actually so... CIAO lovely people.

There is a time for nothing as well. Enjoy it while you can.

Raw a licious chutneys for the spicy soul

2010-04-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

One of the things i crave with raw food is spice!! For the propah Indian girl that i am i need it and i crave it. I did'nt really realize it was spice that i was craving. I do mostly fruit and veggie smoothies and soups. And i cannot do sweet or bland all the time!! I am not completely raw yet but i try to add raw where ever i can. Chutney is an everyday feature at home. Most of them are cooked. I've tried to raw some of them.

Raw coconut and chilli chutney/ mint coriander chutney:

1 cup dessicated coconut
1 green chilli
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch of ginger

Blend them all together. Of course you dont want lumps in your chutney or in your anything or anywhere else for that matter!! But texture is important here. It should be blended but not too smooth. You know??

For a variation you can coriander or mint o both together add 11/2 to 2 cups, if your doing so. And add another green chillie if you like heat.

Another Greenie but the spicy kind. We usually temper our chutneys but i prefer these as they are.

Serve with Dosa (Indian rice pancakes) or your fav bread. Pancakes and crepes would go well with these as well!

A DAY IN FOOD..

2010-04-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

From the time i started this blog a lot of things have changed uhhh well evolved.. The food definitely has. My blogging also has or will.. I will do the same put up recipes that i dig or write about things that i feel are important or basically things that bug me mind... The one change maybe would maybe be some kind of a daily recap so to speak.. Been reading a lot of other super blogs lately (mostly raw and vegan ones) choosing raw, vegan yum yum, hungry hungry hippie, 101 cookbooks phew and that's just naming a few. I really liked what these guys are doing. Every time i was on these sites i felt good and not only that i have learnt a lot of things. So ya bottomline that's a good blog. I cannot just put some thing in here and call it a blog much less a good one, at this point its barely a blog. I admire these people in the blog community out there for doing what they do especially the health blogs. You guys are the true heroes in the food blogs.

I am inspired and motivated to do better. So you know what that means- more elbow grease.

My agenda is simple as well. I'm not going to bore the hell out of you with a play by play of my entire day unless it's worth the write and definitely the food.

I had an awesome day today totally chilled out. Truth be told I am chilled out everyday as I am on a massive sabbatical to heal.. What that means will probably be blogged about at some point and time.

Kick started my day with my fav Greenie... ( YUMMMM) There was a point in my life where i would have totally cringed even at the thought and down right ridiculed any one who would even be mad enough to put that in their mouths!! ARE YOU CRAZY!!!??

Now i think people are crazy not to.. Anyways my fav Greenie. I proceeded to make lunch no hoopla there stir fried veggies and brown rice. The day got interesting after that as we started gathering the 'Loot' in our backyard. And what a 'Loot' it was!! We have a Banana and Drumstick tree amongst others but both of these trees decided to bless us with wonderful Green Green Goodness today.

Loot number 1 & 2: The Bananas and the Banana Stems. Ya the Stems as we had chop the tree. Apparently that's what should be so that the fresh off shoot can grow. Alas, the cycle of life. In comes the New out goes the Old.

Well, Loot number 3 is more exciting an entire tree full Drumsticks half of which we didn't even pick because we couldn't !!

Pure abundance from nature. And its truly appreciated. :)

I just wanted to jump in and use all of this immediately!! Can you imagine we can eat off this for weeks!!
Well the bananas have to ripen and my mother makes a fabulous Sambhar ( spicy lentil curry) with the drumsticks. So, I chose to stick to the banana stems. Which i wanted to juice to get the max from these super fresh ones. Ok now,I cannot even begin to enumerate the health a liciousness of this!!!

It's good for urinary disorders,. Magic for your liver and kidneys. Cleans your system out like you've never seen before!!

Therefore, With this golden juice I shall maketh my potion. Yes, my Wicked Banana Stem Cleanser Outter: ( weird name)
TA DA

So this is pre Yoga right i always try get something in an hour before any workout. I have my Wicked juice and for eats I settled for my classic Tahini and whole wheat crackers plate.

Oh ya, I threw in some broccoli for colour. There is broccoli in my juice but I have off late come to the conclusion that a girl can never have too much of broccoli. My Tahini is Organic and Raw from Nature's Gift made in Auroville, India. My crackers, err technically they are Whole Wheat Lavaches ( What is a Lavache?) from Nutrition Corner.

With all of this and Yoga you can imagine how energetic I really am now writing the blog. Super Turbo charged!!! Which is probably not so good as its nearing bed time, but who cares it feels good!!
Dinner was eaten as well Idli Moong dal Sambhar. I say Moong because Sambhar is usually made with Urad dal. Now fo the Idli's I know the recipe and I am yet make them. I buy the batter from my grocer and these are from my mom. I shall post the recipe after my endeavour.

This is pretty much it. Cool huh. Hmmm... Pretty pleased with myself i must say. Maybe i will post a Sambhar recipe some day.

Raw Choco Nut Ice Cream!!

2010-03-30T01:20:00.000-07:00

I come from the I EAT MY ICE CREAM BY THE GALLONS club.

I used to for the longest time just gorge on ice cream and then feel disgusting an disgusted with myself about it. Yes, emotional eater alert here. Now that my understanding of food and body has developed so has my relationship with the food I eat. Butter and cream are not my friends people. No indeed they are not. My lovely luscious little bananas come to the rescue. And I'm not spending hours cranking it out!! A little Whizzzz and I'm done.

FOR THE ICE CREAM:
3 big frozen bananas
5 soaked dried figs

Blend.

THE CHOCO NUT:
2 tbsps cocoa powder
1/ 2 cup of mixed nuts of your choice
4 dates

Blend. They make a powderey mixture. Top the ice cream as well as mix some in.. Totally delish and easy on the tummy and waist line. Gorge on.

Now I belong to the I'M A RAW ICE CREAMER AND PROUD OF IT club!!!

Cobwebs of the past..

2010-03-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Warning: I am writing with an unclear state of mind.

Past, Present, Future.

Our lives can in one sense be summed up with these three words. That's all the joy,agony,love,tears,anger,hopes and dreams and a gazillion million other things can be itemized accordingly. Our Lives at this moment and time is the life we are living. Yet why are so many of us preoccupied with the history of our lives and the unsure non existent future??? What prevents us from being the whole delicious little beings that we are at this moment in time? Even as i am writing the present is slowly but surely fading away to create a past and present and to the magic of a future!!

Nothing is constant. Only change is. We know that don't we.Those of who us who take pride in being in control of our lives have to submit to the capriciousness of life at some juncture in our lives. We just have to because we cannot beat life at its own game. The great big blue universe of love that we live in continues to amaze and humble me every single day. Oh there have been many many times when i have deliberately chosen to ignore its warnings and signs, times when i have not accepted its boundless love, times when i have cursed and fought with this force.

There can only be one reason for this. My life not going the way i want it to. Sure the way in which the universe is leading me is inherently better for me but NO!! Hey, who are you to tell me what to do and how to do it? I am smart and i can do it myself thank you very much!! Guess what i cannot i just cannot. I have to accept and bow down. Of course there is resistence but it fades as you realize your on the right path for yourself and your growth. The second you place your trust in this greater force you realize your not so anxious any more.. Life starts flowing in a new direction of course your problems don't vanish miraculously but you discover new the brilliant new love and light that awaits you at every corner. You will still have anger, frustration and everything else but it's just oh so much less. If alllow the love and light to come in, it will.

Why when you have the life that you love and want do you still spend time on the nagging past?? Umm.. Because I'm human my defensive self reiterates.. No matter what I do there are influences of my past. If not the direct memories themselves the effect of certain events play a role in who i am, how and why i do certain things.

My self worth and self esteem issues definitely stem from my past, any fear or anxiety that i might have regarding certain situations as well. Everyone has their demons from the past to slay.

But why when there are so many rich rewards for being centered in the present why do i go to my past?? You have the promise of attaining all that your heart desires. Well you may at least as that's a matter of the future.
No matter what you do will the cobwebs really clear?? Or should it clear?? Does it serve a purpose? Do they exist and haunt you fro a reason??

To push yourself further to over come, to be thankful for the distance you have come, to be grateful, TO BE MORE IN THE PRESENT?

Juice Fest

2010-03-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

After my rather lengthy discourse on balance i naturally decided to do more balancing things. Some of them i have always done some them i will add and so on.. I want to start by adding in more raw foods. In the form of juice. It's my favourite form of raw a licious nutrition.

I've always had tons of fruits and juice. I like to keep them real simple i dont really add extra ingredients in it. There are some basic cleansers, mixed fruit juice and heavy duty smoothies as well. All lip smackingly good.. umm may be not all.. The cleansers may not be so lip smack-able.. But enjoyy :)

I find that its important for me drink at least two juices in a day.. Every time i do I always feel like im bathing my body with pure liquid nourishment and that my organs are singing and dancing. HA HA HA. Yes. I do. And may be they do a little jig how would I or any one else know??

Lemon Cleanser:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
A small piece of ginger
1 tbsp raw honey

Grate the ginger and garlic together or mash it up together. Squeeze the juice of one lemon add the ginger garlic paste to it. Add honey and water. Stir. Drink. Watch it work its magic in a few hours!!

This cleanses your system and helps to maintain a balanced life. It also helps with digestive problems.
Drink it early morning after you wake up. You can drink it everyday but every other day will also be sufficient.

Amla cleanser:

Juice of 3 amlas ( big gooseberries)
1 tsp turmeric

De seed and cut the amla in to pieces. Put them in a blender and strain the juice. Add the turmeric to it. Amla is choc full of Vit C and Iron. Tumeric for its anti septic and cleansing properties.

This is also meant to be had in the morning. Watch your skin and hair glow like never before!!

My ABSOLUTE Banana Papaya Smoothie:

1 big Red Banana
1/2 cup Papaya
1 cup Almond Milk

Blend. Drink. Annnnnnddd yes lip smack!!!
I buy the red variety banana as they have more iron content in them.
Another version is to add Avocado or try any combo you want Bananas can take pretty much take any other fruit.

My Love Juice:

Now i would like to give clarify that this is not sexual stamina or potential enhancing drink. No Love Magic here. As much as i would to imagine it to be i have no idea if it would do anything at all for your libido. But health? Hell yeah!!
I call it the Love Juice because every time i drink it i just marvel at the goodness going in to me and yes all my happy dancing organs as well. How can you not love your body when your showering it with so much of liquid love?? So its Love your body Juice. Love your body it does.

1 Pomegranate
1 Apple
2 Oranges
1/4 cup Raisins

Put the first three ingredients in your juicer and juice it. Now place the juice in your blender add the raisins and whiz. Pour. Drink.

Now i don't necessarily think i need to embellish more about it's goodness or love quotient. It speaks for itself. This is a part of my breakfast routine almost everyday.

Note: You can soak the raisins over night if you prefer to. I don't always do it.

Where's the balance? PART I

2010-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Balance.

This magical almost ethereal and untouchable thing.. Makes you wonder if such a such a thing really does exist. Balance of the good and bad, work and home, family and friends, exercise and rest.. Oh, the list is endless. The seemigly unattainable key to a happy and harmonious life. UGH.

I only hate it because i have to work so damn much to achieve even a little. Maintaining it? Foget it!! That's a perennial battle.I am just so envious of people who seem to do everything so effortlessly. How they do it?? What is it that i'm not doing or doing wrong? The key word here is 'seem'. Maybe its not effortless who knows huh..

For me personally I'm genetically coded to be of either extremes.. No kidding guys. I'm a Vata body with a Kapha mind!!! Now if that is'nt enough to screw up the much wanted balance!!! For those of you who are not aware of what they are- They are Ayurvedic Dosha's. Vata, Pitta, Kapha. Our body is constituted by all three of them but we have 2 doshas that are dominant in our personality which is our Prakruti. Our very own only one in the universe unique DNA, our essence. Ayurveda says an imbalance of your doshas can cause illness. If your interested and want to know more about this you can check out whatsyourdoshababy.com

So basically Vata and Kapha are extreme opposites and to my eternal luck my Prakuti has Vata and Kapha. In terms of food that translates as i can either eat the fattiest junkiest shit on earth or i will eat the healthiest most pure foods on earth!! But what i will not do is eat both. I cant. I am not genetically programmed remember?? It's either that or this never been both.

Times a changing darlings.. I'm on a mission to balance. Unbalanced doshas can cause illness remember. And an illness i do have, a rare and incurable one to boot. At some point in my life I have been a 100% raw foodist, vegan, vegetarian, super carnivore. mono junkist you name it. I have thought that i can only be any one, so choose one. I chose only i kept changing from one choice to another.

Now that i have tried on all the labels available in the food world i have decided that none fit. Why should it?? Everything has a label and yes labels are useful. We need to be able to describe who we are. But labels are not will never be enough to describe our true selves we transcend all of that. We re not one in a million but we are ONE IN A UNIVERSE!!! How could we not be special?? There's only one of ME and YOU. Original piece. Our Prakruti is special and it's only ours not anyone else's.

So is the food we eat. It has to be personal. We have to get real down and dirty with it. It is a necessity. It what goes into your body, YOUR BODY the temple of your soul. It has to be good for our body but hey! "not everything we like is good for us and not everything that's good for us tastes good" you say??

Balance.

This as most of you know is not as easy or simple as it sounds. In this world that's getting increasingly developing an unhealthy obsession with food( mostly not the good ones) its extremely difficult. There are those people who live to eat and there those who eat to live. Where do i fall?? From being completely the former and then the latter i have decided to be both.

Balance.

I love food i love to eat and what i eat has to be good. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I no longer believe that what is good has to full of artery or colon cloggers or so pure that not one single toxin can get accumulated. Eating to feel well and good is my priority. I have gotten here from being an emotional eater. Food was my drug. It still only now its my drug to get better and get healthy. Since i have been there and done the extremes i have realized a more moderate approach is the way for me. A pish posh of it all. Raw, vegan, vegetarian and meat eater.

The question will be what,how,when and how much i eat .. Now i always have bizarre expectations of myself and guilt myself when i fail to on occasion to live up to my self imposed bizarre ness!!!
My only rule for this new food beginning
DO NOT GUILT THY SELF.

Yes!! Guilt has no place in food!! Enjoy it love it eat it!! Be it a massive choco fudge ice cream or a green smoothie. Do what you can do. Listen to your bodies needs. For me that's all it is right now. Guilty pleasures?? Don't have any just take the pleasure and dump the guilt.

I may have discovered where my balance lies but the magic for me lies in getting to it. Without stressing myself. It's OK if your not perfect doing it. Perfect SHMERFECT. The last few sentences are actually a reminder for me to not do so. Because i will.

Happy beginings :)

My fav blisssssfully peaceful things to do..

2010-02-23T23:24:00.000-08:00

I love the word blissss LOVE it. Especially since bliss found me only after my diagnosis. So what's my bliss???I do of course love the usual blissful things.. The walk on the beach, sunsets nd rises.. Hasn't it been said and done a million times already? Yes, and its one of the best ways for anybody to feel completely at peace and one with nature. Nothing can still your rioting and unruly thoughts and soothe an aching and tired body quiet like it.

So meditation?? Yes that's also been said and done and its tried and tested. Its various merits have been written about in detail by people more qualified and experienced than me. But lets face it not everyone can do it. As much as we would like to think of ourselves as spiritually mature individuals some times its just bloody darned difficult to sit in one place relax and think of nothing!!

I have struggled with it for years and after much perseverance i am mighty pleased to stay i did indeed reach this rather profound condition. It's been a year and i completely rely on it not just for my bliss but for my metal pick me up's. If you already practice it then you know what i am talking about. If your looking to get started all i can i say is don't pressure yourself and set your own pace. Ommmm away..

Reading a book. Need i say more?

Music. Get your i pod going.

I haven't really told you anything you haven't already done now have i?

My new fav thing to do is a : foot reflexology massage. Not only does it feel heavenly i feel like it opens my energies inside. Mkain me feel more energetic and lighter.
For those of you who have heard about it and not tried it i would recommend you look up a good therapist and book one appointment ASAP!!!
And to those of who dont know what it is- google it( i'm just too lazy to give an all out explanation here ;p )

Sit with a tree or flower. I love doing this. Just feel and connect with the energy, what you feel is pure uncorrupted beauuutiful energy. I 've also been told it looks crazy. So?? I am a little crazy. It free's me up.. Thats all that matters to me.

I felt like i had more blissful things to do when i started writing this but this is it...
Find your own bliss.. Take the time :)

aloo mutter curry

2010-02-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

I love potatoes and peas.
Individually, together as well as in any combination and permutation.
Peas have been my absolute favourite vegetable from my child hood. Stories are told in my family about this indefinable love of mine, that i was always found with a bowl of peas!! Cooked, uncooked or in any form available. Let me tell you that a bowl peas were not the only thing i was found with. I was by all means a prodigiously rotund child!! Food was my be all. From the age of 3. Nothing much has changed in all these years. Food still is a central part of my life, only my relationship with it has evolved for the better.
I care about what i put into my mouth. Fanatical about it. Although this development is fairly recent i love that it has happened. Food has become infinitely more interesting to me if that was even possible. So that's why this aloo mutter curry is a little different from the versions you might have tried before.
The soul of any curry is in its spices.

You need your....

Spice powder mix: 2 tsps cumin seeds, 3 to 4 dried red chillies,1/2 a quill of cinnamon, 2 cloves Dry roast and grind them. My choice would be to crush it in a pestle mortar so as to facilitate the best release of flavours.
* If this seems too tedious substitute with 11/2 tsps of garam masala and 1 tsp of curry powder.

2 potatoes peel and cut into fat chunks drizzle with oil. Throw in 5 cloves of garlic. Roast in the oven till crisp and cooked.
The reason i do this is for the crispyness. I oven roast them instead of deep frying them.

1 cup of raw shelled peas
1 onion sliced
2 tomatoes chopped
3 sprigs of fresh coriander
1 tbsp of oil
2 tsps of salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp lemon juice
200ml water

Heat the oil on your kadai/wok. Saute the onions till translucent. Mash up the roasted garlic and add to the onions. Let the flavours mingle. Add the tomatoes to the kadai. Add the spice mixture and turmeric with the salt. This is where the magic starts to happen. The salt and the spices permeate the tomatoes and leach all the moisture.. Add the lemon juice. It get dry as it cooks, add the peas and pour in the water. Let this cook till the peas are done.

Add the roasted potatoes at the end. Make sure they are well coated by the mixture. The curry should not be very watery.

* If you don't want to roast your potatoes add them along with the peas and let them cook.
Chop up the coriander and mix it in at the end.

These are best served with rotis, rice or puris.

PURI:

I have served them with puris this time. They are very simple fried rotis.

1 cup whole wheat or refined flour
1/2 tsp salt
water as required.
300ml oil for deep frying

Mix the flour and salt. Pour in the water slowly and mix. The right consistency for this dough is that it should not be too dry or too soggy. The trick is in the consistency. Divide this into 6 or 7 smaller balls of dough. Roll these out. Not too thick or thin. Drop them in the oil. They will puff up immediately. Flip to the other side. Remove when both sides are burnished gold.

FRIED EGG:

Another amazing accompaniment is the fried egg. Crack an egg into the oil. The yolk should be little runny. For me this is the icing on the cake. Egg completes puri and curry.
And makes a complete meal. You get the carbs,starch,veggies and protein.

It's been awhile...

2010-02-14T02:45:00.000-08:00

The beaches of Pondicherry

Obviously i haven't been blogging. I didn't want to. I started this and was consumed with doubts shortly thereafter. Do i need to put so much of myself out there?? Am i making sense?? Am i being true to myself??? Ugh....

Then i realized that this blog is about my journey. So what if that is full of self doubt, gibberish and ugh??? So i decided to get blogging again. That's when i realized i had forgotten one minor detail the name of my blog!! LOL. Forgotten it. After endless combination's between food nd soul and what not i realized i could just go to blogger.com. Ahem. Duh h!! And surprise surprise i have a follower!! Does that mean someone other than myself like a real peson has read what I've said when i didn't even remember the name of my blog!! OMG!! Hi Lisa.. I cant tell you how happy i am.

Ya so now that you know I'm a geek, lets see what else has been happening. What have i been up to?? Hm mm... Basically a lot... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh u have no idea how happy i am to even be saying that i have been up to a lot.. I would've been happy being up to just anything!! After years of thinking i was SHH TUCK.. I wasn't i just thought i was.

The 'alot' being.. I've moved out of home finally!!! Cheers to that.. To Auroville. It's a global community living experiment of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.. No i haven't joined the ashram, i don't now if i will though. I just live there.. So what do i do there?? Bask in my new found freedom for starters.. Ha Ha. And volunteer. Teaching of course. I still haven't gotten around to doing all of the things i want to do. Which is getting to learn Organic or natural farming and getting my foot into a restaurant or cafe waitressing,dish washer whatever doesn't matter. So why am i not? Yeah, health issues again. Somethings will never change. But persevere i shall.

Introspection, exploration, abstract I've had time for it all.. Auroville is according to popular belief is a place over run with pot heads and voyeuristic vagrants.. It's not. The aforementioned people do exist, and i feel like they contribute to the multicultural, experimental and spiritual fabric of the place. To me its a bubble. Full of exciting opportunities, interesting people and food to die for!!! Now there are people who think that the food there is too healthy. My question is you have a problem with the substance you put into your body being healthy??? Whats too healthy??

The bottom line is good food.

You cant expect less from a place whose inhabitants are food and health loving people from all over the world. A global community in the midst of Indian villages where you get Italian,Mexican,Japanese,Indian,Tibetan food. Sounds intriguing?? You will read more about it in my blogs to come.. Right now i cant think of a better place to call home.

Is this my way to harmony and bliss?? Is this to be my period of transition??
Do i really need to know all the answers?? NO.

I leave that to the eternally capable hands of the divine spirit.

My Feel good chicken broth

2009-10-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

Everyone. Absolutely everyone has their favourite chicken broth that speaks to their soul.. More often than not its their mothers recipe. Just the thought of it conjures up comforting memories.

Chicken soup really is for the soul in my opinion!! Just a mug of this can cure a bad mood and miraculously make you feel at peace with the world. This and a good cookbook makes a perfect evening for me. Apparently that really is all that takes to make this gluten free girl happy!!

This has a definite and distinct Indian flavour to it.

Get your pestle and mortar out (if you dont have one just bruise all the ingrdients). Add 3 tsps of cumin seeds,15 peppercorns and grind them just enough to open them and get the falvour. Then 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 an inch of ginger, about 10 small onions or 1 onion bash them up well. Add few sprigs of coriander and one tomato. Bash up.

Heat a tsp of oil in ur pot. Add all of the above ingredients into the pot and stir around. At this point perfect combination of the various spices and aromatics should get ur mouth watering. Add your 1/2 kg chicken soup bones. Pour 1 ltr of water. Salt to taste. Bring to boil then turn down to simmer. Let it soup up for 20 to 30 mins. Strain the broth transfer to your fav mug and enjoy.

If you it express use ur pressure cooker. Thats what i do when im in need of a quick fix.

Gluten-Free Bloggers | Gluten-Free Recipes | Karina's Kitchen

2009-10-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Gluten-Free Bloggers Gluten-Free Recipes Karina's Kitchen: "Karina's Kitchen"

Juicy scrambled chicken

2009-10-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

This used to be one of my all time favourites. As im currently vegetarian(yes! long story). Its just perfect as a snack and completely versatile. Great way to make use of leftover chicken, roasted or otherwise.

Make some of these to fill up sandwich or tortilla and your good to go. Or just serve them with bread as you can i have tried to do in the picture(gluten free for those from the gluten free fraternity). Im making these today for my 15yr old sister Elakya who loves them!! Its my mother's recipe and she calls them Ceylon( as in the old name for Sri Lanka)chicken. I dont know why and neither does she..

I've used the word scrambled because the chicken is scrambled. You will see why as you go on. Juicy because its just so flavoursome. How is that juicy? It is just is..

All you need is:

Chicken( cook chicken and shred or shred leftover chicken)- 2 cups
Onions- 2(thinly sliced and diced)
Tomatoes- 2 medium sized( chop them up)
Green Chillies- 3 to 4 (depending on your heat capacity and preference)
Coriandor/Cilantro- Few sprigs
Eggs- 2
Olive Oil- 2 tsps
Chicken stock(optional)-1/2 cup
Salt- to your taste

Get your pan out and heat the oil. Add the onions and green chillies(I add 4, i'm indian and my heat tolerance is pretty high) together. Saute for 4 to 5 mins till they almost golden. Throw in the tomatoes and coriander.

Saute for another 5 mins till the juices run out and its all mixed up well. Add the chicken and the stock. Let all the juices and flavours combine and bubble. Add salt to season. The mixture should neither be very wet nor very dry. At this point, break the eggs in and scramble the whole thing till the eggs are cooked. Again do not dry them out.

Can be used as a filling for a sandwich or tortilla.
Can be eaten by itself in a bowl.( I would recommend that)
Can be used to make a great pan fritatta.

For the fritatta:

Layer your pan with the filling. Whisk the eggs with milk and pour it in. Add salt and the cheese of your choice. This doesnt really need to be cooked in an oven. Cooks beautifully on the stove top.

GREETINGS!!

2009-09-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Until now its never occured to me that i could blog(no judgements please).. Mostly because ive never been a big fan of them..

I'm a teacher(currently on a sabbatical).. An unwilling one i might add due to various health issues.. Cannot let go of my kids and im being told im unhealthily attached to them!! Yeah, well so?? Anyways.. Reading blogs started with my frustrated foodie self looking for gluten free recipes.. I found some really great ones and i'm going to give a shout out to karinaskithchen.blogspot.com amongst many many others... I'm feeling inspired.. Like maybe i have something to say that might make sense.. To some people atleast.

By having a blog that says peace,love and food i've been feeling like i've bitten of more than i can chew.. Honestly, what do i know about any of them!!? I'm just a 24yr old(will be 25 soon if that makes any difference). I dont have that much of experience or wisdom.. Im not worldly enough. Im not even calm enough on most days to be talking about peace and by peace i dont mean- I WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD kind of peace.. Although there's nothing wrong with that.. Even that i think begins within ourselves.. How at peace are we?? With ourselves(our true shining selves that maybe hidden beneath those layers)and our lives. Is it all we want it to be? Are we truly and really happy??

Love... Lets not even go there. Unconditional universal love and the candelight and wine type love has been in my own cynical opinion a glorified concept.. One that can thoroughly and truly depress us, why you ask? well yes, what can be depressing about unconditional sparkling oh so beautiful love!!?? Nothing. Except that it doesnt exist and is just a way for bald-headed(mostly) spirirtual gurus and motivatinal experts to make a quick buck writing and talking about something that you cant really prove exists and even if it does, seems competely and totally unattainable to lesser minded individuals like myself.

So why exactly am i writing about those very things?? Beneath the afore- mentioned layers in a moment of (well a few to be exact) soul piercing clarity i have experienced and realized that they are attainable. This is my journey towards..... I dont have specific word for it - bliss,infinite joy,inner peace.. Call it what you want.

And food just happens to make the whole thing more fun and enjoyable. Coeliac or no coeliac or any of my other numerous allergies(all of which you will discover).. Most of the recipes will be gluten free. I say most because i do occasionally cook for the non coeliacs in my house.. Yes, those blessed souls who can eat whatever whenever, without sparing so much as a thought to various unpleasant consequences.

For all of my supposed blog hating i am excited to get this started....