Nexus

It's Hot!

It has been a scorcher outside today. I went for a nice long walk on the trails this evening - something I do most evenings. While walking I saw a family out walking their very old dog. Old dogs always make me very sad but I love to see them being cared for by thier owners. Seeing the dog tonight made me remember an old dog I met in Italy last month ... we were visiting a vineyard and were accompanied by a couple of dogs throughout the tour. When we got back for the wine tasting, another dog emerged - he must have been the father of the brood. He really liked attention though and once I started petting him, he stuck pretty close. He walked us back to the car when we left - until he saw a lizard and then you could have sworn he was a young guy again. Here he is.

Asian Dressing

2 tbsp tamari or shoyu (I used Braggs' seasonings)

3 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp raw sesame oil (I used olive oil)

1-2 tbsp honey (I used 1 tbsp of maple syrup)

1 tsp grated ginger (I used more)

1 clove garlic minced (I left this out)

 

Mix altogether. Makes 1/2 cup

Lazy Sunday

It has been so gorgeous in this part of the world this weekend .... happily, I did not have anything planned today. For the first time in ages, I could just do whatever. I relaxed, went to the gym, did grocery shopping, cooked and went for a bike ride. I am not so happy with my weight at the moment ..... after losing a few pound earlier in the spring, I gained it all back and then some. No doubt a trip to Italy and a subsequent overwhelming urge to eat Italian food when I came back contributed. Not to mention a lot of ice cream last weekend and the summer fruit is now in full season. I've eaten tons - yes, I know fruit is good for you but it is also very high in sugar.

Anyhow .... my plan this week is to ramp up the cardio and eat lots of veggies and high protein food but fewer starches.  A bit less fruit as well - that means I won't be having a pound or two of cherries for dinner this week!

I got a ton of good food ready today to eat during the week - lots of veggies prepared a/o cooked. Beets, carrots, celery, fennel, cuke, red peppers, lettuce etc. The beets were made into a salad with asian dressing (yummy). I also made a tofu and quinoa salad with an asian dressing which is really good - way better than I thought. This is meant to be a high protein topper for green & veggie salad.

I will weigh myself on Friday and see .... with clean eating and exercize hopefully it will help. This is the time of year to do that type of diet at least.

Recipe for Asian dressing to follow - this one is a keeper.

Canadians VS Americans

I read this interesting article in MacLeans Magazine this weekend ... I subscribe to MacLeans and read it more or less cover to cover every week. I like the magazine a lot.

I took the magazine with me this weekend to the Yoga Retreat - not because of the article. But it was interesting because one of our friends - an American from Seattle - joined us for the weekend. It was interesting to get a discussion going about the article.

Weekend

I am back after a great weekend away ... the July long weekend at Saha Yoga has become a tradition for myself and a few of my friends. Saha is a yoga retreat that I have been going to for several years - this was my fourth July 1 weekend there. The July 1 weekend is a bit unusual in that it has become a friends and family weekend at Saha. We had a small but perfect group of - friends and family!

We had a wonderful weekend of eating lots of great food and touring Prince Edward County. We did the gourmet loop that is so well known in that area, including a - cheese shop, winery, cider shop, raw foods place, organic veg market, jam shop and finally a new goat cheese manufacturer. The goat cheese shop is a green building and operation that had just opened and were giving tours of the premises and operation.

One focus of the weekend was discussions on sustainable housing and intentional communities. We are interested in pursuing ideas for some type of development for ourselves when the time is right. We are just at the idea stage. There is so much to talk about and toss around in this area. Some folks are already doing this and I see it really growing.

Of course the topics of food and nuitrition were also widely talked about as well. We tried some raw food desserts which were unusual and delicious. We all love food and love exploring ideas about food. I acquired a new cookbook - "Enlightened Eating - Nourishment for the Body and Soul". I am sure I will be posting some recipes over the next while.

Oh yes - and a few of decided to get tattoos. I am in the process of designing mine now. Will post details and maybe even a photo once I've gotten further with that.

Clive

After taking many unsatisfactory snaps of Clive I finally discovered the trick to getting a good photo of him ... take it against a white background. He finally shows up!

Braised Asparagus

This is the absolute best way (IMHO) to cook asparagus ..... wash & cut of the tough ends. Next, get a pot (dutch oven is perfect) and add a few tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of water to the pot. I let it get fairly hot and then add the asparagus. Cover. Let is simmer until the asparagus is tender - I test it several times along the way. By then most of the water will have evaporated, leaving a nice olive oil based sauce. I add sea salt, some pepper and lemon and it is fantastic.

I find with asparagus it needs to be finished or it is too bland. This recipe originally came from a book on cooking vegetables the French way by Patricia Wells and was re-interpreted by Lucy Waverman. I've cooked it so many times I don't have the actual recipe any longer. The French really do have a knack for making vegetables special and lovely.

Giving Up Coffee

I've given up a few things over the years - meat (20 some odd years ago) and smoking (almost 12 years ago) and now it seems coffee. Well almost given up - I still drink the odd cup of coffee when I go out for dinner or drop into a nice cafe. These cups of coffee are usually special - comsumed in good company and usually very good quality. I always make sure to have cream in these cups to make them really rich and wonderful.

The funny thing with giving up coffee is it was not really intentional. I started out doing a naturpathic detox three months ago. Of course - no caffeine for the duration which was three weeks. At first, I found this really difficult. My substitute - which was only supposed to be for the first few days - was green tea. I had one cup of green tea per day - in the morning. The green tea I chose was blended with honey and ginger - really wonderful. So the three weeks passed ... on the first day I was allowed coffee again I didn't have one until the afternoon. I went to the Tim Horton's in the lobby of my office. I savoured and enjoyed that coffee. The next morning and every morning since then, I've continued to have my green tea. I walk past the Tim Horton's several times a day and don't bother.

All in all, I am happy that I have broken my dependence on coffee. It is nice not to feel compelled to have any particular type of substance. I felt that way when I quit smoking as well. I like enjoying a coffee when I really feel like it and not because of a habit or craving.

African Banjo

 Did you know that the banjo originated in Africa? That was news to me today when I listened to Jayme Stone being interviewed on CBC radio. The history of music is so fascinating - lucky for us that some people care deeply about the roots of music and devote their time to exploring and bringing this to us.

Check out this website for "Rock Paper Scissors"to learn more.  The website is actually a great resource for anyone who is interested in world music. I plan to explore in detail when time permits. There are music samples to listen to as well. It is well worth a look.

Catching Up

I wish I could be more disciplined about posting .... I posted the Quinoa Chile Recipe below because I *had* to make sure I didn't lose it. That one is a keeper.

So much news ..... I'm following (or trying to) very healthy eating lately. I did a detox cleanse a couple of months ago and saw a naturopathic doctor a few times. She got me started on testing for ph and trying to follow an acid/alkaline balancing diet. The more I learn about this, the more sense it makes. I find among my friends - a few have made dietary changes and without realizing it as such, they are following this type of diet - and with great results. I looked up the recipe for quinoa chili for one of my friends who is looking for recipes to support this type of regime. It is quite daunting at first as the list of 'no no' foods includes things contained in large quantities in a typical diet - grains, sugar and dairy. It does take a lot of organization to eat this way.

I've been obsessing about music lately ... have rediscovered The Beatles and Bob Dylan and play both of them constantly. This has been a bit expensive as well. I've always been familiar with the music of both of course - I grew up with both. Somewhere along the line, I went off The Beatles big time - actually I think it was the direction that Paul McCartney took - I found it so off putting that I stopped listening to The Beatles altogether. But now somehow, it all founds very fresh to me. Bob Dylan ... well I didn't really 'discover him' until recently. I marvel at thier brilliance now. Perhaps I had not really been ready for them until now. Which speaks volumes about their genius - really they were no more than kids when they wrote their early songs. How on earth did they write those lyrics that are so brilliant and perceptive?

I was downtown today and while driving home, happened to catch a show on CBC radio about healing drum music. They played the song 'Weighty Ghost' which was beautiful. The song is by a band from Halifax called Wintersleep. I found their My Space page and listened to a few of their songs. After which I bought a couple of the songs on iTunes.

I'm interested in healing music. I saw David Hickey in concert a couple of months ago - David plays Tibetan crystal bowls. It was quite amazing. The frequencies of the bowls align to the chakras - when he played the note that corresponds to the throat chakra, everyone starting coughing - he was clearing out that chakra. It helped that I attended the concert with several yoginis (one of whom is a nurse) to explain all of this to me - a novice. I love the idea of all of this and I do think there is a lot to it. A lot more than my analytical mind can take in and process.