Babycakes Muffins!
October 30, 2009
I have to admit that I love cookbooks! I even read them in bed, yes that’s right, then I dream of sugar plums (vegan of course) dancing in my head . When I noticed that Babycakes bakery in New York City had a cookbook, I headed to Amazon right away! And voila 2 days later the newest addition to my library arrived.
The cover of the cookbook reads “Vegan, (mostly) gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free recipes from New York’s most talked-about bakery.” One thing that has kept me from doing much baking lately is most vegan recipes simply replace milk with soy milk and eggs with flax-eggs, all the while leaving a cup or more of sugar, and white flour. I prefer to ditch the processed sugar when I can and I also try to eat a gluten-free diet as well, makes my tummy feel better – happy tummy, happy me! The two recipes below use agave nectar, a low-glycemic sweetener from the agave plant and spelt flour is used in place of wheat flour. Spelt is not 100% gluten-free, but many people with wheat sensitivities are able to digest it comfortably. Most of the recipes use coconut oil described in the book as “high in omega-3 fatty acids, and packed with lauric acid, stores in your body as energy and not fat, and supports the proper function of the thyroid, thus stimulating the metabolism.” You need to melt the oil before you use it, it’s solid below 67 degrees. For the recipes below used sunflower oil as I didn’t have enough coconut oil on hand. Good news is coconut oil and agave nectar are both available at the local Superstore, and all health food stores.
So… how did the muffins turn out? DELICIOUS! Moist, light-tasting and not too sweet. Double-tested my my hubby and they got the two thumbs up 
Enjoy!
Baby Cakes Bakery – Blueberry Muffins
http://www.babycakesnyc.com/
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups whole spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup coconut oil or sunflower oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup rice milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1tsp pure lemon extract (I used the finely grated rind of 1 organic lemon)
2/3 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)
1. Preheat the oven to 325. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the oil, agave, rice milk, lemon and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. Using a plastic spatula, gently fold in the blueberries just until evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
3. Pour 1/3 batter into each prepared cup, almost filling it. Bake the muffins on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tin180 degrees after 15 minutes. The finished product will bounce back when slightly pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean
4. Let the muffins stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Baby Cakes Bakery – Zucchini Muffins
http://www.babycakesnyc.com/
Ingredients
2 cups whole spelt flour
½ cup flax meal
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
½ cup coconut oil or sunflower oil
¾ cup agave nectar
¾ cup rice milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1. Preheat the oven to 325. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Add the oil, agave, rice milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. Using a plastic spatula, gently fold in the zucchini just until evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
3. Pour 1/3 batter into each prepared cup, almost filling it. Bake the muffins on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tin180 degrees after 15 minutes. The finished product will bounce back when slightly pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean
4. Let the muffins stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Fortifying Yoga Food
October 27, 2009
This time of year we hear quite a bit from our yoga students and runners about feeling tired, a bit grumpy, sluggish digestion- yikes what are we to do. Well a good suggestion is to take a mini-break. Hmm can’t take off work and fly to a spa for a few days – how about a 3 day mini Kicharee Cleanse!
Sylvie and I both love Kitcharee – also known as mung beans and rice. It’s a great winter food, it is cleansing and fortifying and can be used as a winter fast, it’s especially recommended for people over forty. Excellent for the kidneys, colon and digestive organs, it is also beneficial in cases of constipation, or when food is not being digested by the intestines. Mung beans are a very easily assimilated form of protein. Combined with rice and cooked until they have a soupy consistency, they are really a “predigested” food.
Sylvie has another Kicharee recipe on her website and some good information on fasting with mung beans and rice.
Here are some suggestions for your 3-day break, listen to our body and contact your doctor if you really are coming down with something and not just feeling ‘dull’.
You could start your morning with a digestive cleansing tea of: 5 cups boiled water and add 1 tbsp fresh ginger root, 1 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp dried licorice. Cover and reduce heat for 10- 15 minutes.
For breakfast enjoy fresh homemade vegetable juice – my favourite is:
Green Veggie Juice with Apples and Lemon
½ cucumber
1 stalk celery
4 kale leaves
½ head romaine lettuce
1 large green apple
½ lemon
Process through a vegetable juicer and add ½ cup pure water to dilute.
Or for more calories try our Post-Run Green Smoothie
For lunch and dinner have a big bowl of Kicharee. If you are hungry have fruit between meals.
Drink lots of water and herbal tea. Go to bed early, take daily walks or yoga and smile:)
A Kichadi (Kicharee)
From Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners by Amadea Morningstar (this link has another Kicharee recipe as well)
Wash well
½ cup brown basmati rice
½ cup sprouted mung beans (soak overnight and let drain in a colander, rinsing a few times per day, for 2 days)
Put in a medium pot with:
4 cups or more water
1 tsp – 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 bay leaf
Pinch of hing
¼ tsp cumin seeds
½ – 1 tsp coriander seeds
1 heaping tsp dried oregano leaves
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook. Or cook uncovered, adding more water as needed. While the beans and rice are cooking, wash and chop:
2 carrots, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
½ cup broccoli chopped
2 TBSP parsley chopped
1 clove garlic minced
Add the diced carrot immediately to the cooking mung and rice. Put the zucchini, broccoli, parsley and garlic in after the kichadi has cooked for half hour or so. When all the ingredients are tender and done, take the pot off the heat and add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or ghee. Salt to taste
The soupier this is the easier it is to digest
For a variation: Wash the basmati and sprouted mung beans as given. Put them in a saucepan with the water, hing, cumin, coriander, ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper and 1 tsp sunflower oil. Cook as before. For vegetables use sliced carrot, cubed sweet potato, parsnip and fresh peas. Skip the olive oil at the end. Salt to taste.
One Love
October 22, 2009
This week in our Powerful Woman Yoga Boot Camp classes we have been exploring the Yogic principle of Unity. The definition of Yoga can be descriped as ’yoke’ or ‘union’ -of mind and body and spirit and the Remembering that we are all united with the Divine and in fact each one of is is Divine – ahh so the big idea of Yoga - we are all ONE. Very deep and extremely simple!
Keeping it simple – how in our daily life do we take our Yoga off the mat, reminding ourselves of this unity, this oneness amoung us all? The first step, Yoga teaches us is Ahimsa – Loving Kindess. Through daily small and perhaps unsolicited acts of kindness we slowly come to relize that there is no seperation between living creature – humans, animals, birds, fish etc – We are One.
One thing I know I can do each day to practice Ahimsa is to eat a Vegan diet (see this blog post), I vote for the humane and loving treatment of animals with each bite I take. Ok for me that’s easy – wow what else. Ok I smiled at a grumpy customer in the store today, (yes grumpyness aimed at me) and aha, I did get a smile in the end! Hmm what else? We move through our days at such a rapid pace perhaps it’s beneficial to take the time each day to set an intention to practice, let’s say 4 acts of kindness, and at the end of the day record them, personally I think think this is the only way I will Remember. How about it, shall we start today, tomorrow? You record yours and I’ll record mine, we’ll check back later
Check out this inspirational video http://www.playingforchange.com/episodes/3/One_Love. From the award-winning documentary, “Playing For Change: Peace Through Music”, an incredible rendition of the legendary Bob Marley song “One Love” with Keb’ Mo’ and Manu Chao. This is the third video from the documentary and a follow up to the classic “Stand By Me” and the incredible “Don’t Worry.” Released in celebration of Bob Marley’s birthday on February 6th, this tribute to the legend is performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe.
Good Luck Sharon
October 13, 2009
One of our members, Sharon Chisolm, is taking part in the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia. Sharon is competing in Race Walking for team Canada in the 5000 and 10000 meter events! It was just a few years ago that Sharon attended a talk by the Bytown Walkers and learned about competing at the Games, and right then said to herself ”I am going to do that!” Hey look at her now!
Sharon we wish you the best of luck – you are an inspiration!
