Starbucks Smarmucks: Make it Yourself.

When I was a child, I ate foods that were available to me by my busy, always working parents. Being of an entirely different generation they provided me with things like fried bologna sandwiches on white bread, canned soup, craft macaroni and cheese and fast food. I grew up eating these things because they were instant, cheap and I am not sure if my parents knew any different.

As a more independent adolescent I began to make my own food, and through the guidance of my oldest sister Jamie I learned to make stir fried vegetables, saffron rice and a variety of fresh dishes with fresh ingredients. As I grew into an adult I found my niche in making salads, fresh fruit smoothies, homemade soups and more healthy dishes that can still be made quickly. While they are not as cost effective as white bread and their shelf life shorter, this reassures me they are fresh and most likely organic. By eating this way I began to understand more about food and its effects on my body. Eating has become much more enjoyable.

I have always been aware of what i am putting into my body whether it was good or bad for me. I always knew a double cheeseburger from Mc Donalds would later turn into cellulite on my thighs, leaving me lethargic and craving more grease. I know that a fresh apple will provide my body with the proper nutrients and energy that it needs and deserves. I have always sought out new easy recipes that I can understand, and that serve my craving for a healthy lifestyle. Since I have started my yoga certification training I have been introduced to many such dishes. Some of which I have never even heard of the ingredients so preparing them becomes a learning experience. A couple of them I have already memorized because they are so easy to make and are absolutely delicious. The ingredients are natural and readily available locally, and the finished results are mouthwatering.

Here are two new recipes I enjoy. Sivananda Oatmeal Cookies, great for after a yoga class or as a light snack. I found the recipe from the sivananda website under proper diet/ vegetarian recipes at www.sivananda .org. The chai tea recipe I learned from Juliet, a resident at Chip Bee Garden near Holland Village where we have class two days a week. The tea is really quite phenomenal in the morning after meditation. Please try for yourself and enjoy.

Sivananda Oatmeal Cookies

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup ground almonds or hazelnuts

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp baking powder

Directions: mix wet ingredients separately. Mix and sift all dry ingredients (except nuts) into the wet ones. Now add ground nuts. Shape cookies 2-3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 15-20 min. Let cool 5 min. Serve with a cup of hot chai tea and enjoy.

Chai Tea

makes four servings

3 cups water

3 tbsp black tea (any brand)

3 tbsp fresh ginger

8 cardamon pods

2 tbsp cinnamon

2 cups milk

brown sugar to taste

Directions: In medium saucepan add water, ginger, cardamon and cinnamon. Bring to boil. In separate medium saucepan bring milk to light boil, immediately strain boiling water and spices into the milk and stir for one minute or two. Add sugar to your preference of sweetness. Serve and enjoy.

Try this at home: while enjoying a meal, snack or a cup of tea, do not do anything else. Do not read the newspaper, or talk on the phone with a friend, or stare at the TV or handphone. Try to really enjoy and be aware of what you are eating and drinking, its aroma, and taste. Notice how your perception can change.

Caring For Cambodia

Click pictures to enlarge
Cambodia

                                   
                                       

                                         

And our hearts were filled with joy.

"War is never good."

www.caringforcambodia.org

Sole Searching

Have you ever felt like you were walking on nails?

My feet have been moving constantly since I got here. I commend those people without a car. I have been walking city blocks between bus stops and up to the top of King Albert Park Hill daily. I trek the hot asphalt hill from the Thai Embassy on Orchard Rd to the American Club, for more of a work out and a coffee. I have been dancing down at Clark Quay to live Cuban music. Hiking the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and Macritchie Resevoir and strolling through the tree shaded park of Fort Canning. I have been getting lost among the bustling urban Singapore sidewalks crowded with anxious vendors and shoppers.

During Thaipusam festival, I even made the sacred journey barefoot from Sri Veeramakaliammam Temple in Little India, to Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on Tank Rd with the hindu devotees as they carried kavadis (offerings) as little as a jug of milk atop their head, to some as tormenting as walking on shoes made of nails, and/or piercing spears through their arms, foreheads, cheeks, tongues and backs.

The soles of my feet have been beaten by the street and then reconditioned, ready for anything, thanks to a few reflexology treatments at Holland Village. The first two weeks here in Singapore my skin became very soft from the humidity and I suffered through stinging blisters. Now calloused and used to the heat I am walking around like a local, venturing into chinatowns, buddhist temples and traditional hutongs (narrow alleys) where people selling local produce and Chinese New Year decoration hardly speak english and try their hardest to make a dollar. One Indian woman stooped as low to tell me that my ankles looked boring in order for me to buy a jingling anklet. Despite shallow selling tactics to boring ankled tourists, there is an evident respectable tight knit community that take care of each other and you can see and feel it when you are there.

Walking is good for the soul. Whether we are walking in nature, or the concrete jungle it gives us a chance to turn on our awareness and be an observer of the world around us. While we are walking we can also be mindfully idle, simply not thinking at all, in a moving meditation, advancing through space and time peacefully. Occasionally we bump into each other which reminds us we are not alone, and this gives us a chance to be apologetic and grateful for one another and the gift we have been given, life.

Some of my favorites

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my visit to the Singapore zoo and the botanical garden. Enjoy