Baked Mac & Cheese

I spent my December in Phoenix Arizona helping my sister and her mom do some cooking!  My dear sister has been suffering from Lyme Disease for many years, and has finally found a place that can help treat her properly.  Part of the treatment is diet-based.  This is one recipe I came up with while I was there, and they loved it!

It is based on the guidelines for the diet, which is anti-inflammatory.  This means that their is no gluten, corn, peanuts, soy, low-sugar veggies (so no potatoes), no highly-processed foods, and no sweeteners.  Sounds like a bland life style?  Think again.  We came up with some delicious stuff.  Enjoy!

Baked Mac & Cheese

(Adapted from Angela Liddon’s recipe at Oh She Glows)

- 1 medium butternut squash

- 1 large onion

- 2 large carrots

- ¾ cup soaked cashews (soaked at last 3 hours)

- 3 Tbs coconut oil

- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast

- Sea salt & pepper to taste

- 1 box GF noodles of choice

- 3 slices GF bread

- 1 Tbs coconut oil

- Sea salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cut squash lengthwise in half and remove seeds.
3. Rub with small amount of coconut oil and place cut side down on baking sheet with edges (edges necessary incase liquid drips)
4. Place in oven until a fork enters meat easily, about 40 minutes
5. Alternative is to remove skin of squash (after de-seeding) cube, and steam
6. Steam chopped onion and carrots
7. Scoop squash out of skin if roasted.
8. Place squash, onion, carrot, cashews, nutritional yeast, & coconut oil into blender and puree until very smooth.  Season to taste. The sauce will thicken in the oven, so additional water may need to be added to reach your preferred consistency.  Adding 2 Tbs of Tapioca starch, more cashews, or even 2 Tbs ground flax seeds can help thicken it if it is not thick enough for your taste.
9. Make GF pasta according to box.  I love Quinoa pasta for this dish.  Make sure it is a bit undercooked because it will continue to cook in the oven
10. Place all ingredients into a casserole dish.
11. Pulse bread, 1 Tbs coconut oil, and sea salt in blender or processor and sprinkle evenly on top of dish
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown

I'm Back! (Again)

I've been away for awhile, but I've been doing some great stuff!  I got to spend 6 weeks of my summer at Camp Warren and had a truly lovely time!  The people are really one of a kind. 

Below is a letter I wrote my family, slightly edited for the blog. I couldn't say it better if I tried again, so here it is.

I was obviously not very able to communicate while I was there, but I thought I'd catch you all up and let you know how life was going at camp.  For reference, I went to Warren for over a decade as a camper and one year on staff when I was 17.  I took the next 7 years off traveling and doing all that crazy stuff that you've read about on my bog, and so returning was quite the experience.  It is very different being older and not having any of my old camp friends there.  It was hardest at the beginning, as with most things, but it was probably most uncomfortable because it is such a familiar place without feeling like home.  Feeling lonely and unknown at Warren has been a very new and, at times, difficult experience, but I have met some truly lovely people as one can only find at a place like Warren.

It was a great idea to come back, and, honestly, I think that all Warrenites should return when they are in their mid-twenties because it is a wonderful reminder of what one should focus on and how life can be lived joyfully.  It helped me anyway to rememebr that there was a time when me and all my friends had a whole bunch of hobbies that we were passionate about and actually really good at.  Now we seem to only be specializing in enhancing our productivity.

  

I'm also EXCEPTIONALLY glad that I'm back because it has been a great reminder of what a full and statisfying life is like without a relationship. I realized that since I started having a boyfriend, (1st bf was after Freshman year of college), I also never returned to Warren, but always had a guy in my life.  The two are not necessarily related, but I'm feeling like Warren teaches women their strength, value, and independance and that those things are not, in anyway, related to women's relationships with men.  This is obvious in theory, but it is one of those things that I feel begins to slip away as time goes on and you are not surrounded by a community that supports that.  Warren is an excellent reminder and a great resource for self-empowerment.

  

I can think of few things as fulfilling as being back at Warren.  Having the opportunity to help people grow in an amazing way and call that your job is often unheard of.  Again, I don't think I would have appreciated it as much if I hadn't taken the time off and been through what I've been through and returned many years later.  The perspective is completely different.  And the true and rare value of Warren is so clear now.  Something I, again, knew in theory, but did not truly understand.  I just keep thinking about how many people go to camp and think of it as a life-changing experience.  All most of us want is to change at least one person's life, to truly make a difference, a ripple in humanity, and practically by default, here we do.

  

I don't regret one decision I've made with my career choices or lack thereof because it has allowed me to come back to this amazing place and really make a difference in people's lives.

I couldn't be more fulfilled.

Just Kidding!

As with every single other challenge of fitness or health relation I've ever put myself in, it fell to the wayside quickly after starting.  I could blame the fact that the weather went back to the 40's and 50's soon after, or the continual lack of sleep in my life, or the color of my new toenail polish.  In the end, though, I just can't seem to stick to these challenges.  It makes me wonder how I ever did change a bunch of those bad habits of mine.  I still have some I'm working on, but I had a lot more back in the day.  How did I do it then?

It was a give and take sort of thing.  I do remember.  I had a lot of patience with myself, and I knew I would regress, move forward, fall back, move forward, etc, until my habit changed.  PErhaps that's what I need to go back to.  My open-minded patience with myself.  Focusing on a change, a general direction to guide my decisions, and make smaller changes to focus on.  Keep building up my foundations so that my big changes can happen eventually in a smooth, joyful fashion.

It wasn't a total loss though.  I might as well admit openly that I was also dealing with some old eating issues that were really trying to get me down, and instead of letting all that drama start again, I was able to simply get myself back on track in the few days I actually did do the challenge and realign my beliefs with my actions.  My awareness is back and I'm more conscious about my eating decisions, in a good way, not in an obsessive anxiety way.  For the most part I should say.

Another good thing, is that Harry joined a gym that let's him bring guests for free, so that has been a fun motivation for both of us to actually go work-out outside of running around carrying trays at work, which has done wonders for my arm and shoulder strength I must say!  Between biking to work, waitressing, teaching yoga, taking class occasionally, and the occasional random workout, I do have a more active lifestyle than the majority of Americans.  This was always my goal.  I wanted a lifestyle that would be active by nature.

I'm still vegan, just trying to focus on getting more raw veggies in during the day.  I did make a lovely vegan quiche yesterday!  Quite tasty!  I'll try to get a picture up here soon!  It's a lovely 80F in Chicago today.  A good day for a long walk to Lush.  Not too much sun, but enough spatterings of blue to make it pleasant.

Stay groovy

Official Start!

My first day of my little challenge went quite well. I had moments of weakness when all I wanted was a Frtiz's donut, which is vegan and Karyn's sells now right by my work. I refrained, though I did enjoy a delicious almond milk ice cream sandwich at the end of the day. I haven't had an ice cream sandwich in years probably. It was great! I did well. I'm proud and I feel great, which is the whole point!

I started my day with a very short run to the 7-Eleven to return a DVD to Redbox, working out AND running errands! Did a couple more blocks and headed home to pull out a quick at home workout. I felt invigorated and very sweaty! I don't know if you recall from last summer but there is no A/C in my apartment so this hotish humid day got the sweat rolling on the 3rd floor.

After a gloriously cool shower I sort of enjoyed a green smoothie. I kept it thick so I could top it with granola and eat it in a bowl. Texture was off unfortunately, still enjoyable though!

Painted my toes, ate some sprouted toast with "raw" almond butter, made a dressing out of some leftover salsa, chickpea miso, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and Orange juice and biked to the yoga studio.

Taught my yoga class and popped over to have lunch at my guy's work. A delicious salad. Mostly raw if not all raw. Had a relaxing afternoon, and decided to take Harry to Karyn's Raw for dinner. Let's just say he was not quite ready for that food experience. It was too early! Hahaha! His mind had some trouble wrapping around the whole idea and experience, especially the prices though.

 My evening ended as I taught my evening class, went home, and started the movie Ted! Such a weird funny movie! I'll hopefully be finishing it tonight! 

So far so good!

Eat, Move, Say Challenge

I've been in a bit of a rut for quite a few months now and I decided that my natural wave of motivation and rejuvenation isn't going to come by itself anytime soon this time. I therefore decided to take the initiative and be strong and aggressive (see picture!) to get myself where I want to be by holding myself accountable and making a plan that, I have told myself, I simply have to stick to until I leave for summer camp. I'm calling it my Eat, Move, Say Challenge.

It consists of 3 major categories, which I'm assuming you can guess are Eating, Moving/exercise, and saying/affirming. My plan is to eat 90% raw for the next 16 days, exercise in some way everyday, and say positive affirmations first thing in the morning and last thing before bed.

I need to get myself back to MYSELF and this is how I am going to actively change things up. I'll be holding myself accountable to all of you by blogging about it everyday. I'm sorry if this gets boring to you, but it's mostly for myself, and I need to do this.

The hardest years of your life are the first few years you decide to put an active effort into bettering yourself

Yesterday I taught the most challenging yoga class I have taught yet.  It wasn't the size, as I've taught large classes before, and it wasn't the most advanced class I've ever taught either.  It had someone who had never, ever done yoga before and was trying a heated class as his first attempt.  And there was a deaf gentleman in class, and people of ever skill level.  Trying to balance all of that on top of the guys talking consistently in the back and a very disappointing e-mail from my manager of that studio hanging over my head, let's just say it was hard to keep my focus on the moment.  Sometimes, my hardest moments as a teacher are really being present in class for my students, but I feel that I have cultivated that since I started teaching.  It has become much more about them than about me, so in that way I was happy with how the class went.

The guys talking in the back were the real test of my beliefs though.  Compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and teaching.  Those ideals I had to keep in mind the entire time so as not to feel disrespected as a teacher and take any of it personally.  And then there is the art of capturing their attention without reprimanding them.  AND keeping the rest of the class engaged and feel like I'm giving them the necessary attention.  Let's just say I did alright, but felt drained at the end of it all.  I felt like I had gone through a jungle, a hot wet jungle, and come out a different person.

It did make me remember how we can have certain ideals that are relatively easy to follow in general, but much harder to keep in mind in the moment when we have to act or decide quickly.  Which words do we choose to best communicate our point and who we are and what we believe?  You have 2 maybe 3 seconds to put the words together.  Live your beliefs.  Slow it down and then move forward. It's tough!  And my life is relatively easy!

People who have a lot more going on in terms of old personality habits and better goals and ideals for themselves have to juggle this kind of stuff every single day.  No wonder people are exhausted by the end of the day.  It isn't just work and projects, sometimes it is moving through your baggage and trying to be the best you.  I feel like the hardest years of your life are the first few years you decide to put an active effort into bettering yourself.

This is due simply to the fact that you have to stay constantly aware of yourself, your thought patterns, your reactions, etc. and how you want to direct and change them instead.  Creating new thought and reaction habits is as difficult as carving new pathways for a river to flow.  You are fighting against the easy route. And so it was yesterday.

I was fighting my natural desire to control and make things go my way.  I can be snarky, arrogant, and even cruel in the way I talk to people sometimes.  This is an old trait I can clearly see the roots of.  They run deep, think family habits deep, and changing them takes vigilance and passion.

Yesterday was one of the hardest classes I've taught thus far, but also one of the most thought provoking.  Thanks students for teaching the teacher!

Health and Food Demo!

Source

To follow up from the last post, as I have received some concerned questions about my silence since the follow-up with my Dr., I was told that all is well.  I should cut back on sweets and processed carbs, and reduce my nut intake.  The things I already knew I should do to help myself.  I was also told to be more active.  Again, something I am aware would benefit my life.  Summer naturally helps with the active part of things, but the sugar quitting/reduction is awfully hard for me.  I'm going to focus on eating whole foods when I crave dessert, so dates and fruit sweetened things instead of getting a brownie from Karyn's next to work!  They are gluten-free in their defense....

I'll also be focusing on adding more and more raw foods back into my life as I do when the weather warms up.  In honor of the weather change, I'm teaching another food demo/class on raw foods!  So for any of you who are curious about dabbling in raw foods or just adding some new techniques to your repertoire, then come check it out!

The Next Raw Food Workshop is SATURDAY MAY 18th 1:00-3:30PM at YOGA NOW.  You can sign up HERE by scrolling down to May 18th.

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