Greetings and December Salutations!

I hope your holiday season is going so well and that you are able to find an inner peace in these sometimes raucous times.

I was recently interviewed by Lynn Thompson on Women’s Radio a web site with the mission

to provide sustainable communication models to women, minorities, and all stakeholders to speak-up and lead by example.

To hear the interview, click this link and leave a comment if you are so moved:
http://www.womensradio.com/episodes/Vital-Yoga-on-Purpose/7261.html

I’ve been in a baking mood and some of you have requested the recipes so the first is at the bottom of this post: Two-Tone Loaves which I served yesterday and two Sundays prior.

My baking mood is motivated by two impulses: One is to warm my kitchen with the scent of baking bread and the other is to honor one of the wonderful parts of my childhood.  It seems like we are all so good at knowing where are childhood was difficult and have plumbed the problems of our past (and clarity about our truth is important), and we are so much more than that.  So I wanted to honor some of the nourishing warmth of my past which included cooking with my mother and my grandmothers. I’ve also been wearing one of my grandmother’s outrageously gorgeous ring to remember her. Yoga teaches us that what we focus on gets bigger:  I’m thinking of more baking.

Two-Tone Loaves

4 cups unbleached flour
1/4 c sugar
3 teas salt
2 packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla soy milk yesterday)
1/4 c butter
1/4 c brown sugar (add hot water to make liquid)
1 1/2 – 2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 – 2 cups unbleached flour, set Oven to 350

In large mixer bowl combine 4 c flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast. In saucepan, heat milk and butter until milk is warm. Add to flour mixture.  Blend til moistened; beat 3 mins at medium speed.  Cover, let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size about 45 mins.  Stir down, place half in another large bowl.  By hand add brown sugar and whole wheat flour to half the yeast mixture to form a stiff dough.

Knead on well-floured surface until smooth and longer sticky about 3 minutes (this is the fun part!).  Set aside. By hand, add 1.5-2 cups of flour to remaining yeast mixture to form a stiff dough and knead until smooth and no longer sticky (more fun).  Divide each dough in half. Roll out each to a 12×6 in rectangle, place 1 dark rectangle on 1 light (or vice versa like yesterday’s). Roll up tightly, seal edges and ends, please seam-side down in well-greased cookie sheet.  Repeat with other two rectangles.

Cover, let rise in warm place until light and double in size,about 1 hour.  Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  cool. enjoy! (from Pillsbury’s Bake Off Breads Cook Book, 1968)

May your days be nourishing with food, memory and experience,

with love and blessings,
namaste,
Meta.

Happy Thanksgiving to you ALL!

This national holiday is a terrific opportunity to count our blessings, and seriously, the community of YogaNow, the students who come to class, the students who want to come to class, the students who read the blogs and live near and far, and our wonderful teachers, you are all my blessings and I thank you.  There is one class on Thanksgiving, 10 am with Robin.

I want to offer gratitude for more and start a list…perhaps you will start your own…

I am grateful for:

• This community of yogis at YogaNow who have become my family, and I know I’ve promised a blog with the recipes for the recent Sunday morning treats – Poppy seed Coffee Cake and Whole wheat/white bread – and that will come in a later post, I promise!
• The fourth (seriously, really?) award for Vital Yoga received Friday night as a Winner in the Health category from the New Mexico Book Award.
• The many many uses of old yoga mats (another blog soon to come, will be a vlog actually)- here’s an example:  My daughter in rainy Northern CA had a car window that wouldn’t close, yoga mat to the rescue, works like a charm:
• The sound of the chickens in the morning
• That amazing FULL moon this week
• Calvin Coolidge, believe it or not, because of his words that inspire me to keep on going:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

• The crazy funny stuff the web offers, like this site where people offer all kinds of services for $5http://www.fiverr.com/
• As well as wonderfully inspiring words from the great sages of our tradition as in this site from Eknath Easwaran: http://www.easwaran.org/page/220

May your holidays be nourishing, inside and out!  and don’t forget you can always do some Thanksgiving Yoga with your clan, this vlog from last tday:

With love and enormous hugs all around,

Meta.

Effort and Effortlessness: The Wild Geese

What a fabulous season! This Fall, the harvest has been incredible, especially with all the trouble some folks I have talked to had with actually getting any good vegtetables. It is actually very hard to take my plants up because they are still flowering and producing (so I haven’t!). With the recent crop of baby eggplant and chilis, I thought I would try an Indian vegetarian spread from Lord Krishna’s Cuisine. We have made this before with great success. It works well warm and chilled and keeps well in the fridge for sandwiches or a quick snack. The chilis can be omitted for the little ones and they will never know it is eggplant in there! May you enjoy a bountiful harvest and clean up! Hari Om Tat Sat.

Baigan Bharta (baked eggplant puree with seasoned yogurt) serves 4

1 medium eggplant (or 10 babies form the garden)                                                          

2 tbs ghee or oil (I usually cut this by 1/4 or more-you can add but you can’t take away!)

1-2 tsp chilis, minced

1/4 tsp asafetida (hing)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp salt (I always cut this in half or more)

2 tbs chopped coriander or parsley

2/3 c plain yogurt or sour cream (greek adds protein)

1 tsp garam masala (if you love the garam, add a little more)

1. Bake the eggplants at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on size. Oil the skin a bit before  putting on a lined pan and roasting.

2. Scoop out the pulp and discard eggplant skin. Coursely chop the pulp.

3. Heat ghee in large, nonstick pan over moderate heat. Add chilis, asafetida and cumin seeds and fry until cumin seeds darken. Add the eggplant, ground coriander and salt. Cook about 10 minutes, until mixture is dry and thick.

4. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature. The book says just to mix in the remaining ingredients and serve. I prefer a smoother texture, so I transfer the eggplant mixture to the Cuisinart with the fresh herb, yogurt and garam masala and whip unitl smooth.

We just had a beautful carrot harvest last weekend. Such a fabulous opportunity to dig in the dirt a bit with a very excited little one. There is nothing like growing your own life-sustaining food (often, these are the only vegetables that my son will eat wholeheartedly until they are gone). When you can actually make something out of these beauties for your family and friends, it makes it all the more special. The following is an easy, vegan carrot ginger soup that would suit one on a cooler fall day. Since we are heading for Fall faster than we think, I have also added a Vata reducing kitchari if you are prone to chilliness and dryness. Hope you enjoy! Hari Om Tat Sat.

Coconut Ginger Carrot Soup

1 lb. carrots, cut into chunks                                                                                        

1/2 chopped red onion

1-2 chopped hot peppers                                                                                             

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 qt veggie broth                                                                                                                   

2 cans light coconut milk

1/2 tsp pepper                                                                                                                      

1 tsp salt

2 tsp turmeric                                                                                                                        

1 2inch ginger nub, peeled and chopped

2 tsp curry powder (optional)                                                                                         

3 tbs ghee or olive oil

Put all of dry ingredients into big soup pot. cover with wet ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes. Let cool somewhat before pureeing in blender or food processor. Good frozen or reheated from fridge.

Vata Mung Dal Kitchari*

1 c basmati rice                                                                                                                         

1/2 c yellow split mung dal

3 tbs ghee                                                                                                                                     

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds                                                                                                                      

 2 pinches of asafoetida (hing)**

1/2 tsp turmeric                                                                                                                        

1/2 tsp salt

4 c water

Wash the rice and mung dal (soaking mung dal for a few hours before cooking it aids in digestion. If you have a hard time digesting beans, precook the dal with the 4 cups of water). Heat the ghee in a medium saucepan, add mustard and cumin seeds with hing. Stir until the seeds pop. Add rice, mung dal, turmeric and salt. stir until everything is incorporated. Add water and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Simmer, with lid ajar, for 20-25 minutes.

*The Ayurvedic Cookbook, Usha and Vasant Lad

**Asafoetida, or hing, can be found at Talin on the Bombay aisle or at the Istanbul Cafe on Constitution and Wyoming

Greetings and Salutations as the Seasons begin to Slide,

I’ve been thinking about the difference between batch and continuous operations lately.  It started when I was in a limited time frame for getting out the door to teach.  I was watching the clock in minutes to be sure I was on time and got the essentials done, like eating and putting on clothes, the basics.  And so in that 15 minute period I was aware of minutes.  And then, without  much forethought, I went to my computer to just “quickly” check emails. Okay it’s true I have more emails accounts than most people have fingers and that is another quirk of my life, but when I was done with a very peripheral check, six minutes had elapsed.  I mean,  I didn’t even respond to anything.  And six minutes of my 15 minutes were gone.  I was shocked at the time the task took.

And I thought to myself, Batch It, Hirschl.  Just do email once or twice a day, don’t do it as continuous flow.  This sort of thinking goes back to my days in manufacturing supervising, one of my many work incarnations.

When I was in the Brewing division of Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and making beer, it was most definitely a batch process, meaning the workers sat around a lot and checked temperatures and opened valves occasionally.  I supervised and also was required to be on the QA taste test panel to check that the beer was good before moving on.  This wasn’t exactly hard labor.

Contrast this to the bottling line where the bottles and cans go by continually as our ‘batched’ beer flows through pipes to the mechanized line.  Hey, there was no doubt which was a better job, besides the inherent fun in making beer (seriously foam might just overflow from fermenters right down into the streets of Miller Valley and then baby, the plant manager was in your face).

So now I’m seeing choices in email and other activities:  what can I group together and waste less time, and what do I do on a continual basis, like, well, how about:  taking a breath, pausing and smiling.

Speaking of choices, I had the occasion to drive through Texas recently, to attend a 50th wedding anniversary of my Aunt and Uncle, a celebratory event especially in these days of fragile marriages. Driving through Muleshow, Texas I noticed the MacDonald sign in the picture, which I’m sure is in Albuquerque too, but somehow when I travel I see differently. It recommended a new bacon cheese snack wrap.  When I went inside the store, I talked with the friendly clerk who let me know it is one of the new healthy snacks.  Well, I must have a different idea of healthy.

So my idea of healthy and worth recommendation:   I came home to harvest some eggplant and basil to make an Eggplant Parmesean meal, which in my humble opinion was scrumptious (if you want the recipe, please leave a comment and I’ll put it in my next blog).  This is the picture that made my eyes sparkle:  

FINALLY, don’t forget the GONG BATH this Sunday, August 29 at 7:30 pm.

Sending you big hugs, smiles and hopes for fresh yummy food, for anyone’s garden,

namaste,

Meta.

Greetings and A Full Moon is A Comin’,

This Tuesday August 24 is the next full moon.  The longer I’m in Albuquerque,  over 17 years now, and drinking in those full moons that rise about the Sandias with such glory, size and color, and the longer I’ve been doing yoga, the more I feel pulled to the cycles of the moon in the sky.  Since the last new moon, August 9th, I’ve had this feeling of building and shifting and creating new worlds, inner and outer, heading inexorably toward the fullness.  Perhaps you also can relate to the constant creative forces that you can use to shape your life and your world.

A dear friend sent me this link to a trainer (famous in the world of intense workouts) talking to the folks about why yoga is the bomb.  Here’s Tony Horton on yoga: Tony Horton on Yoga

I couldn’t agree more.

If you are enjoying yoga and attending yoga classes at YogaNow studio, please add let me know — add a response to this post if you can.  That would be great ! and please encourage others to experience the strength and healing of yoga, for all ages and levels.   www.YogaNow.org.

And don’t forget I still have 2000 copies of Vital Yoga — A Sourcebook for Teachers and Students — sitting in my living room.  I have heard that books make great holiday gifts.

Make sure sometime today to, take a breath, smile, and give yourself a hug.  Maybe enjoy some of those summer veggies!

Many blessings and with deep humility,
Meta.

Meta Chaya Hirschl      www.YogaNow.org        and       www.VitalYogaTheBook.com

My sweet husband gave me the gift of an Indian cooking night together in which he would make one dish and I would make the other, in both an effort to connect and to learn Indian cookery.  We have done this every Monday evening for the last four weeks and have been using Lord krishna’s cuisine: the art of vegetarian cooking by Yamuna devi. A visually beautiful book, it contains over 500 recipes from all over the Indian continent, many outrageously  simple, once you have the ingredients on hand (Bombay aisle, Talin international market on Louisiana is a good start). I thought I would share a recent meal recipe that is not only warming and tasty, but may be a good option for those of us who suffer from digestion complaints. While in india, my usually challenged digestion took a turn for the better. After trying to gag down the regular probiotics for the previous six months in the states, I found that eating lentils (dal) and well cooked vegetables and rice really turned my digestion health around, and in just a few short weeks. I actually had the opposite effect of most first time westerners to asia, so I thought there must be something to the cooking methodology and ingredients. I offer the following recipes as easy starts to exploring Indian cuisine while perhaps introducing the fabulous benefits of adding cooked legumes and rice to your dietary repertoire. Please enjoy!

Toasted coconut rice (nariyal-ki  chaval)

Cooking time: 30 minutes           serves: 4-5

1 C Basmati  rice                                                                              1  2/3-2 C water

¾ tsp salt                                                                                         1 ½ piece of cinnamon

6 whole cloves                                                                             3 tbs ghee or coconut oil

¼ C fresh coconut (we used regular baker’s coconut and it worked great!)

1 tsp cumin seeds                                                                          ½ tsp black mustard seeds

1. Bring water to a boil in heavy, nonstick pan. Stir in rice, salt, cinnamon and cloves.  When boiling resumes, reduce heat to very low and cover with tight fitting lid. Simmer without stirring for 20-25 minutes or until rice is light and fluffy.
2. Remove from heat and let rice sit covered for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat ghee in a small frying pan to moderate heat. Stir fry the coconut until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. Toss cumin seeds and black mustard seeds into pan and fry until seeds sputter and pop. Pour this into the rice along with 2/3 of the friend coconut. Remove cloves and cinnamon.
3. Spoon rice onto platter and garnish with remaining coconut for a side dish. For a one bowl meal, spoon into bottom of bowl and top with the following recipe for dal soup.

 

Simple mung dal soup (sada moong dal)

Cooking time: 1 ¼ hours or 25 minutes in pressure cooker         serves 4-6

2/3 c moong dal, without skins                                     6 ½ c water (5 ½ c in pressure cooker)

1 tsp turmeric                                                                         2 tsp ground coriander

1 ½ tsp minced fresh ginger                                           1 tsp seeded hot green chili (if desired)

1 ¼ tsp salt                                                                               2 tbs ghee or vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds                                                                  2 tbs coarsely chopped parsley

1. Sort and wash moong dal to assure there are not pebbles or foreign material.
2. Combine mung beans, water (I made our own veggie stock for more flavor), turmeric, coriander, ginger and green chili in heavy 3 qt. pan. Stir occasionally while bringing to a full boil.  Reduce heat to moderately low and cover to boil for 1 hour or until dal is soft (only 25 min. in pressure cooker). Remove from heat.
3. Add salt and beat with a wire wisk until dal is creamy smooth.
4. Heat ghee in saucepan over moderate to high heat. Add cumin seeds and fry until they turn brown. Pour into dal soup, cover immediately for 1-2 min. add minced parsley and serve.                                                           

       At the request of some of the YogaNow Teacher Training Apprentices, I wanted to extend the recipe for the seed balls we had on Friday night and the recipe that inspired it. These nuggets of goodness are easy to make, keep in the fridge and take on the go for quick energy and assimilation (great as a kid snack). One version is nutless, so it may be a good option for those of us with allergies. It can also be made vegan. The energy nugget recipe is from Cooking With The Dead: Recipes and Stories from Fans on the Road by Elizabeth Zipern – and, yes, we are talking about the Grateful Dead, but there are no elicit ingredients unless you decide to put them in yourself. Please enjoy….Namaste.

Energy Nuggets by Bhakta

4 parts peanut butter                                                                                     2 parts raisins

3 parts honey                                                                                                    1 part coconut

2 parts carob                                                                                                      1 part nuts optional

*additional ingredients may include: oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, Rice Krispies, crunchy millet, dried fruit and cinnamon – Bhakta makes a point of the love and care you put into them as an offering to the Divine. He enforces that this should be done with our every action.

*substitutions include: tahini or other nut butter, ginseng in replacement for carob or chocolate, molasses/maple syrup/brown rice syrup/barley malt in replacement for honey (vegan)

To form: put all ingredients into bowl or mixer and mix to a consistency that is easy to shape into one inch balls. You may have to add chocolate or carob last, so it doesn’t stick to the sides as you mix. Play with the amounts until you get just the right consistency according to your ingredients.

Seed Balls by Cypresse

One jar of organic sesame tahini                                                               handful of raisins

Handful of organic chocolate chips                                                           one cup of sunflower seeds

6 cups of organic maple sugar oatmeal                                                   1/8 cups honey

*these amounts are approximate, but it is hard to mess the idea up if you just mix everything you like together until they form balls. Refridgerate.

                I recently made a vat of Mung Dal Kitchari for Pitta reduction which I shared with a few people. It is very mild, pleasing and may be a helpful addition to the methods I overviewed a few blogs back for Pitta reduction. In addition, Hunter and I tried a great spinach recipe a few weeks ago, which may pair well with the kitchari and using the spinach in your garden(although not Pitta reducing!). Enjoy! Hari Om Tat Sat.

Mung Dal Kitchari (Pitta)*

1 c. yellow mung dal                                              1 c. basmati rice

1 ½ inch fresh ginger, minced                                    2 tbs. shredded coconut

1 small handful of cilantro, chopped                    ½ c. water

3 tbs. ghee                                                       ½ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp salt                                                         6 c. water

1. Wash the mung dal and rice two times. Soak mung dal for a few hours.
2. Put ginger, coconut, cilantro and the ½ c. water into blender and liquefy.
3. Heat ghee on medium in saucepan and add blended items, turmeric and salt. Stir well.
4. Mix in rice, mung dal and the 6 c. water (at this point, I put saucepan items in slow cooker, then added the mung dal and rice and cooked slow for 3 hours)
5. If in pan, bring to boil and boil uncovered for 5 min. cover, leaving lid ajar, and simmer for 25-30 minutes until water is absorbed and kitchari is tender.

 

Aloo Sak (seasoned spinach with julienne potatoes)**

Serves 6-8

4 medium potatoes, cooked until fork tender           ½ tsp. turmeric

½ tsp. garam masala                                             ½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp cayenne or paprika                               2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. sugar                                                       1 ½ tsp lemon juice

2 ½ tsp. water                                                   5  tbs. ghee

1 lb. fresh spinach (or 10 oz. defrosted package)                 1/3 lb. each fresh collard, mustard and kale

                                                                   greens (or defrosted 10 oz)

1 tsp. salt                                                         6-8 lemon or lime wedges

1. Peel potatoes and cut to course julienne (1/3 inch wide and 1 ½ inch long). Combine turmeric, garam masala, cumin, paprika, coriander, sweetener, lemon juice and water in small cup and mix well.
2. Heat ghee in large nonstick frying pan and add potatoes until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside
3. Reduce heat to low, add spice blend and fry until liquid has evaporated. Stir in greens, cover and cook for 10-15 min. you may need to add sprinkles of water during the cooking to assure non stick.
4. Add salt and stir well. Gently stir in potatoes and warm for 5 min. garnish with lemon or lime

 

*Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing, Usha and Vasant Lad

**Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Yamuna Devi