Acts of Kindness

Today, I have constantly been the recipient of “acts of kindness.”   At first glance, I would normally go into my “I don’t deserve this” rant, but rather  appreciated how there was a kind person (even two) for every grumpy person I met.

I had a normal friday full of stuff to do as usual and one of them was to wait at the dealer for my oil change.  I’ve been putting off this task for a while now because I hate wasting an hour waiting there and I usually don’t have good experiences at auto dealers.  To my surprise, I received the best service today.  The service rep and the cashier were super nice and my car got done quicker than expected.  Hmmm..

Off to the farmer’s market… I usually get flustered at the market either trying to find parking, getting cut off in the line to pay for my purchase, or people pushing and shoving to get the best strawberries.  Upon arriving, this lady waved at me to signal that she was parked in front of me and she was leaving.   Wow!  That was a first.  Then, went to get some tomatoes from the same vendor I always go to and he gave me a handful of jalapenos and told me to “make a kickass salsa” tonight.   These guys are always nice and friendly, but what a gesture!  Finally finished my rounds at the market at the food vendors to get some lunch.  Bought some yummy spring rolls and the guy gave me extra of every ingredient.  My spring roll was about 3 inches in diameter and looked like a mega burrito.  I didn’t even ask for extra.

To top off my friday, a wonderful friend and yoga teacher, Jennifer, offered me her extra ticket to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s sold out event next tuesday!

How coincidental is that His Holiness will give a teaching entitled Eight Verses of Training the Mind: Awakening the Heart of Compassion.

Yikes! A real lesson of, “give what you want to receive” in action!  Can’t wait!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday’s Feast

There’s no other perfect way to end the week but with food!  Since friday is a farmer’s market day for me, I’m thinking friday’s feast is a perfect blog post today.

I am in love with eggplant this week.  Not only is the deep purple the new black this season, but eggplant warms my belly.  I got some Japanese variations today for making what I call eggplant caviar.

Very sweet!

The one and only eggplant I got from my garden

I’m not a recipe type person and when I do have a recipe, I hardly follow it.  So here it is:

First roast these beauties whole until soft.  Optional to peel the skin off.  Chop them up, mash them up.  Crush some garlic.  Heat some oil and add the garlic til brown.  Add the mashed eggplant.  Stir around for a bit.   While that’s infusing with garlic, wash and chop some cilantro and Thai basil:

Oh! I wish there was a smellablog cause the basil is so fragrant it's making my tummy growl

Add the chopped herbs, some salt to taste and stir until the herbs wilt a bit.  You then have this:

Eggplant caviar

How to eat this?  Like a dip.  In a salad boat.  With some crackers, cucumber coins, any veggie, pita bread with some cheese.  The possibilities are endless. I ate mine like this:

scrip scrap lunch

Topped my lunch off with these gooey sticky mochi squares:

it's brown rice with hemp seeds

Toast them and they look like this:

Drizzle with some raw honey... yum!

Who said it was officially fall?   Today is the missing end of summer.  90 degrees today and for the rest of the weekend calls for a watermelon, pineapple, and strawberry smoothie:

slurrrrrrrp!

Oh!  look at this purple manduka mat called the black magic… ohhhhhh how I wouldn’t love to sink my toes into this!

photo: manduka.com

Have a delicious weekend!!!

Bits of Summer

As summer comes to an end and I try to practice non-attachment, I can’t help but want to preserve the  hot summer days (or what it seems like lack of this summer).   I’ve been dehydrating a tons with all my farmer’s market deals to make up for the lack of hot summer nights… at least the tastes of summer can linger on for a bit longer.

A simple blend and mix of some of our favorite fruits were dehydrated into fruit leather/roll ups.  So far our favorite has been watermelon, apple, bananas, and berry mix.   Figs were great too… especially if you get a whole tray of them for $2 that yielded about 30 roll ups!

who knew watermelon could be dehydrated

puree it -- no sugar added

into the dehydrator they go... see you in the morning

best breakfast ever!

Today is a gloomy friday but farmer’s market was vibrating with lots of color as usual.  Remnants of summer fruits linger and fall crops are creeping in and new things to taste.  An interesting fruit I found today are jujubes.

jujube fruits

I don’t recall seeing these last year, but there were a mob of Chinese women picking through these and I got brave and asked them what they were.   Out of the mob, one woman (probably the only one who spoke english) told me they were sweet and taste like dates only they are fresh.   I didn’t know how to pick them so I grabbed these and put them in my bag.

Inside of a jujube

The are sweet.  They texture is dry, almost like biting into styrofoam but definitely much more tasty than the wax coated jujube gummy candy that the name may remind you of.  They are commonly called red dates or Chinese dates and are eaten fresh like you would an apple.  They can be candied, dried, and even made into tea and wine.  In Chinese and Korean medicine, they are used to alleviate stress and calm sore throats.  The sweet smelling leaves are often believed to make couples fall in love   All good reasons to buy more of these jujubes… plus it’s name is so cute!

Another veggie I am totally in love with this season is bittermelon and it’s leaves:

bittermelon leaves

bittermelon

Yes, it is bitter.  But it’s also sweet at the same time.  My mom always told me to balance my palate out.  Eating too many sweets is no good.  She told me bitter foods help fight disease and illness.  Good thing I listened to her because these little bitters are credited by the Okinawan’s long life expectancies in Japan.   I love to just sautee the melon in some coconut oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it or scramble them with eggs.

bittermelon leaves scrambled with eggs

And to top off the bits of summer today, we brought our own sunshine and had a picnic in the park:

salmon summer rolls for the kids

bittermelon summer rolls for me

these summer rolls scream sunshine

The first few crops of peanuts at the farmer’s market today helps make saying goodbye to summer less painful.  If you like peanuts, boiled fresh peanuts are yummy in the tummy!

fresh boiled peanuts

Life couldn’t be better!  Have a great weekend!

$40 A Week and Free Ultima

farmer's market finds

Move over Rachel Ray!  Look at what I bought for $40 at the farmer’s market.  A whole armful of fruits and veggies that will feed my family for a week:  6 bunches of lacinto kale, 4 ears of corn, 3 big bunches of grapes, eggplant, 10lbs of valencia oranges, 2 heads of lettuce, 5 lbs of cucumbers, nectarines, plums, sweet melons, bitter melon, and a whole box of strawberries.  This would normally cost me about $60-$70 but being that I am always running late everywhere I go, I got to the market 15 minutes before they closed and got a great bargain!  Woot!  Woot!  I knew my lack of time management was good for something

Now gotta start eating those strawberries.  All 9 baskets of them!  Some I will freeze for smoothies.  Speaking of… here’s a recipe I scrapped together after running around in the hot sun at farmer’s market:  strawberry, banana, pineapple, coconut butter, and orange flavored ultima.  Yum!!!  As you can see I’m still reminiscing about the tropics.

Ultima flavors: grape, lemonade, raspberry, orange

Putting the orange Ultima mix into the smoothie gave it the liquid I needed without the need to dump excess juice to mask the flavors of my fruit.  The folks at Ultima Replenisher recently sent me a box of free samples of their electrolyte sports drink mix.  I’m not a fan of sports drinks because of the way they leave a sticky *smack*smack* after taste in my mouth.   I first discovered Ultima when I went on my first teacher training bootcamp.  They advised us to bring an electrolyte drink… and for good reason because not only was the training challenging but trying to stay hydrated in the hot power yoga sessions were also a challenge.  Ultima keep me hydrated without the *smack*smack* and nauseous feeling because it has zero sugar and zero artificial ingredients.  The last thing I want to drink when I need to replenish is red #40 and blue #10, sodium, and fructose corn syrup.  There were 4 flavors that came in my free sample pack:  grape, raspberry, lemonade, and orange.  My favorite is orange.  I love to munch on some oranges after a sweaty yoga class because they are so refreshing and the Ultima mix was just as refreshing.   Other great things about Ultima:  they are non-GMO, vegan, no MSG, no caffeine, and only 10 calories per serving.  Another cool thing to do with the Ultima mix is to make ice cubes.  Great for the kids because they love ice chips!

Thanks Lauren for sending me these new flavors to try.

Now off to washing those veggies!

How to do Eka Pada Galavasana (Flying Pigeon/Crow Pose)

… at the friday farmer’s market, of course!

Step 1:  Find an isle.  Inconspicuously walk there to claim your space before there’s a mad rush of organic maniacs.

Step 2: Place your right ankle on your left knee, squat down, right knee to right elbow, right foot hooks to left arm, heart forward, palms flat.  Quietly begin to shift your torso forward and lift your left foot off the ground.

Step 3:  Focus!  The ground is hot.  Never mind if anyone is laughing at you.

Step 4: Lift.  Lift.  Lift.  and BREATHE.

Step 5:  Quietly and inconspicuously land your feet before your face hits that hot pavement.  Get up, wipe your hands, walk away, and sample the fresh blueberries.

Waiting and waiting and waiting for those pictures   Have a great weekend!

From being dusted by peep squeaks to Namaste

Are you faster than a kindergartener?  Apparently I’m not.  Was back in my shoes running my 30 min interval this morning.  I’m up to 5 min run, 3 min walk, 8 min run, 3 min walk, 5 min run interval.  This week has been nothing but resistance.  I dragged my legs around the track near Jazzy’s school and shortly after running several laps, two kindergarten classes crowded around the track.  I thought they were going to point and laugh at me LOL.  Then as I pass them, I hear the teacher say, “ready, set, go, 1 time around.”  Two little boys sprint past me and the rest of the class followed and passed me up.  What the !@#$ I was dusted by a bunch of peep squeaks.  So for the remainder of the run, I got lost in my thoughts about why my legs didn’t want to move and why I was struggling so much.  Did my allergy attack last week really bog me down this much?  I don’t know.  Maybe I’m just nervous as the 5K Bunny Fun Run is on April 3.  I keep telling myself it’s just for FUN and I’m not worried about how fast I finish.  The best part of the run is the post run nutrition.  (notice how I’m ignoring my own question here? I was exhausted by the time I got home and made a quick smoothie before heading out to Cupertino’s Friday Farmer’s market:

Banana, strawberry, blue and blackberries, coconut butter, coconut juice, peanut butter, and spirulina

The highlights for this weeks farmer’s market:

Mine! All mine! (hear evil laugh in the background)

Wait til I pair you up with some jalapenos and cilantro

Had to get my raw milk from this guy today cause Whole Foods stopped selling them as of March 13.   I was shocked and thought there was some food safety issue.  Turns out it’s all political and corporate heehaws.  This is what happens when bigwigs get involved. I hope they sort this out fast, cause I love my raw milk and sometimes run out before friday’s farmer’s market.

Yum! Raw Milk!

Niko's Favorite Veggies. Organic for $1.50 each

Lunch for Niko: summer rolls.

My lunch: the best gyro EVER

And of course next to the gyro booth is the kettle corn guy.  We resisted last week but the temptation was unstoppable this week:

Can you smell this?

I felt bad for the guy cause he burned his hand right before scooping our popcorn.  He was badly burned.. probably 2nd degree he says… the result of not using his gloves when he should’ve been.

The highlight of this friday’s market is meeting a woman through a simple word as Namaste.  She was wearing a Namaste shirt and I just had to converse with her because not only is it rare to see an Asian (in this area) know what Namaste is enough to wear it on her shirt, but it was an opportunity to connect. (OK I just stereotyped, but many find yoga just a workout — perhaps another blog another day).  Found out she was an energy healer.  Got her business card and of a course a photo:

We are ONE indeed!

Perhaps my intention next friday is to connect to another person at the market.  Connections is what makes us human.  Most of the time we are wrapped in our OWN world and forget about THE world and we could all be in that place of love, light, peace and truth a lot more often.

Of course another rare find today is my hubby with me on fridays.  It was definitely a special treat.  I think I embarassed him though cause I was taking too many pictures acting like a tourist.  He said, “stop it! they might think we’re health inspectors.” Ha! Ha! I give these vendors an A+ for fresh, friendly, and affordable!

Silly tourists

Achieving Balance Thru Food Yoga

Local yogini takes her yoga off the mat and into her kitchen.  “The common everyday fruits and veggies are often forced down our children’s throats and overlooked by the parents who claim their benefits but only get half a serving a day themselves,” says Wong.  She brings these farmer’s market finds to life and rebels against the  “no playing with your food” rule.  No cuts or peanut butter are involved in holding the sculptures up… just pure presence and calm and being one with the subject.  “It’s an opportunity to observe the breath while trying to find the balance.  I found myself holding my breath a lot just as some people hold their breath in tree pose.  We try too hard to bring balance to our practice and our lives when we hold the breath.  Amazing things happen and things begin to align when we allow prana, life force, to flow through us,” says Wong.

BWAHAHAHAHA   How’s that for a Yoga Journal article, eh?  Why not.  Yoga is everywhere.  I remember an article by YJ on “Rock Solid” Stone Yoga.

Truly amazing pieces of art.  Balance is everywhere among us whether living on nonliving.  It is how the universe operates.  But in the universe balance doesn’t imply stability, equilibrium, or equal distribution.  I’ve found in my life, balance is more like a pendulum, swinging either far right or far left from success to failures. Every so often, the pendulum swings in equanimity and I’m in harmony for that split second that is.  Same goes for  my practice.  Some days I land a beautiful headstand and other days it’s like “why would we stand on our heads, isn’t that what feet are for?”

What does balance mean to you and how do you achieve it?  At this point in my life, I should feel like I have a pretty balanced life.  Onlookers would perceive I have it all worked out as I balance my life as a yogini, yoga teacher, full time mom, and budding adventurer.  Let me tell you! It’s not all strawberries and cream.  One thing that I use as my guide to being balanced is staying flexible.  My balanced life is comprised of many facets including my health, family, financial, intellectual, social, work, spiritual, recreation, personal growth, romance and more.  I don’t necessarily spend time every day in each area in equal amounts, but in the long term, I give each special attention.  Right now high on my priority is balancing my health.  Since following the metabolic type diet principles, I’ve develop a whole new relationship to food and not just to see how high I can stack my strawberries.  I’m broadening my palate to new veggies that I may have never liked before and I admit, I do try to stuff them down my kids throats.  I noticed when I’m performing at my optimum health, my personal and work life soar.  The last week has definitely been a testament to this as I suffered from seasonal allergies so did my patience with people.  My yogic prinicples out the door!  Yelling and screaming at obnoxious kids, crazy drivers on the road and my poor husband who just always tries to help but sometimes get in the way.  Sorry hun.  I love you!  My food is definitely my medicine.  It heals me.  It nourishes me.  It gives me something to splurge on knowing that it does me good.  To Lacy, go ahead and buy those $8 eggs   (BTW, I get 18 organic large brown eggs at Cupertino for $5).

Kale - my favorite greens

I heart veggie juice: kale, cukes, carrots, tomatoes. And yes, that's dancer's pose etched into the glass from lululemon

Who say's happiness can't be bottled for next time when you need it.

Bruised ego? Nah! After a failure is achieved, success is inevitable

Friday Finds

Today is not short of fantastic finds from random conversations with the bank teller, cashier clerk at whole foods, and of course friday farmer’s market in cupertino.  It’s somewhat bothersome to learn that many people out there crave some good one-on-one conversation.  So many crave someone to just listen to them.  The bank teller today told me her entire life story after halfway through my transaction.  Poor thing was so excited to have this weekend off because the last time she had a weekend off was back in November.  Wow!  Workaholics!  I said nothing but listened and smiled.

Upon reaching the cashier at Whole Foods, there was no “hi, how are you?” but a wonderful surprise greeting of “what is one thing you are most joyous about?”  I was somewhat distracted by trying to unload the items in my basket to the counter and almost said “fine and you?”  Luckily I was saved by the sea vegetables and kim chee in my hand as I blurted out “my health and the opportunity to heal and get to a healthier state.”  LOL how many times do you automatically blurt out “fine and you?” when someone greets you?

Sunshine was just perfect for the farmer’s market this morning.  Did the ground hog really see his shadow?  I just can’t believe there will be 6 more weeks of winter.   These are just a teaser of what summer will bring.  Can’t wait!!!

exotic orchid

The best satsuma oranges of the season. I can eat 6 of these in one sitting!

Not quite like summer berries but still very juicy!

butternut squash soup makes winter worthwhile

honey bears of all flavors

These beauties look lovely right here as they would die if I brought them home with me.

pea leaves... yummy!

Lunch: veggie somosa with cilantro chutney, strawberries, apple, avocado salad roll with freshly juiced kale, cucumber, tomato, and apple juice