Generally my soups take an hour or so to prepare, but this one is as instant as a healthy soup can be, making it ideal for when you need to eat right away, or just don’t have a lot of time to cook.

Veggie Miso Noodle Soup

Preparation time: about 12 minutes. Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

3 cups pure water

One serving of King Soba noodles (today I used the Pumpkin, Ginger and Rice noodles)

2 Packets of King Soba mighty Miso soup (Any flavour)

2 Carrots (Optional)

Broccoli (about one crown with stem, cut up)

Spinach or Chard leaves (about 1.5 cup chopped into big pieces)

Small piece of ginger, chopped finely (mine was about 1 inch round by 1/3 inch tall)

2/3 cup frozen corn

1 piece of Nori (seaweed) and some Wakami (optional)

Directions: Put the water in a pot and turn the element to high. While the water is warming, cut up your veggies in the order they appear in the ingredient list. When the water is almost boiling, break the soba noodles into thirds and add them to the water, stirring them around so they don’t stick. Then add the veggies in the order above, cutting one, adding it, and then moving to cut up the next.

By the time you’ve added the corn it’ll almost be ready. Once the noodles and all veggies are soft, turn the element off. Add the miso packets and seaweed (tear the nori into smaller pieces first – do this with dry hands over a dry surface. If you try to do it over the steaming pot it is much harder.) Stir and cover for 2 minutes.

I use these 2 minutes to wash my cutting board and knife, so there’s very little clean-up.

If you want to experiment with other ingredients, get creative. Green onions are excellent with the ginger for added immune support. I used to crack an egg or two into a similar soup when I was eating them for more protien, so you might try that and see how you like it. You could also add tofu if your body likes soy.

• If you have ideas or comments, please leave them below. Enjoy!

Shiitake mushrooms are considered one of the most important mushrooms in the East, and are used to boost the immune system and support healing for many conditions.

I get mine from Michael’s Mushrooms at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market, and they are so fresh and delicious!

For many people, the idea of a bunch of lettuce isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but there are ways to make salad absolutely scrumptious!

In fact, many (possibly most) of my meals at home are different variations of salad. Salad wrap, veggie sandwich, rice or quinoa salad, etc. It’s easy, it’s quick, and SO nutritious.

So here’s my latest creation:

Farmer’s Market Salad with Shiitake Mushrooms

Feeds 2-4 people. Approximately 15 minutes to prepare.

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 head fresh lettuce
• 1/2 fresh cucumber
• feel free to add tomato or other veggies if you’re inspired, but keep it simple
• Adzuki bean sprouts (or any other sprouts)
• Top with dulse flakes, nutritional yeast, fresh ground pepper, and a squeeze of lemon, and/or any fresh spices you have in your garden (thyme, basil, chives, etc.)

Shiitake Goodness Ingredients:

• 1 Yellow Onion
• 4 Cloves garlic (or use a handful of fresh garlic scapes if in season – these are the tops of the garlic)
• 1/4 lb Shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp each of the following for marinating:
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Tamari
  • Maple Syrup or the juice of 1/2 a fresh orange
• 1 tsp Coconut oil

Preparation:

Wash and chop up your mushrooms, then marinate in a small bowl with the olive oil, balsamic, tamari and Maple Syrup. Then, preheat a wok or pan to low-medium while you chop up the onion. Use the coconut oil to sauté the onion – coconut oil doesn’t go bad at high heat, so I do nearly all my cooking with this healthy oil. When you have put the onion in the pan, chop up your garlic or garlic scapes and then add those to the pan.

While your onion and garlic mixture is caramelizing, wash your lettuce and salad ingredients, and chop those up while stirring the mixture occasionally. When the onions have started to turn transparent and are getting a bit of the yellow caramelized goodness showing, add your shiitakes and their juicy marinade to the onions.

The mushrooms won’t need long to cook, maybe 5 minutes or so. Use this time to get the salad divied up into bowls, top with spices (if you have fresh spices in your garden like thyme or basil, add those too!)

When the mushroom mix is ready, pile it on top of the salad and serve immediately.

Remember to bless your food before you eat it, and take a moment to be grateful for all that allowed the food to come to your plate.

NOTE: If you live in Kamloops, go to the Farmer’s Market to get the freshest, most nutritious ingredients. Get your lettuce from Mendel and Paula – Mendel talks to his lettuce, and they grow happily with all the attention. AND, definitely get your mushrooms from Michael. He cultivates his own mushrooms, so they are FAR fresher than the store, plus he’s an excellent guy with lots of great information. If he doesn’t have shiitake, get portabello and substitute those for this recipe.

The Kamloops downtown Farmer’s Market runs Sat. from 8-12, and Weds from 8-2.

• If you have comments or suggestions for this recipe, please leave a comment below!

It’s funny because I wake up with a green smoothie every morning, I eat a salad nearly every day, and I don’t really drink anything other than water and herbal teas. But then I get around bread or cookies, and my discipline evaporates. Do you have this issue? It can’t just be me – leave a comment below and let me know what your food delights are so I feel like I’m in good company, eh?

Are bread and cookies terrible things that should be avoided at all costs? No, of course not. But is it really in my best interest to eat as much of them as I have over the last month? Well…

When it warms up a little, which won’t be long as I’m in New Orleans, I’ll go on a cleanse. I’ll move to raw food and green smoothies for a week or so, with maybe some quinoa or congee thrown in if it’s too cold, and then progress as my body allows. Until then I’ll try to make healthy choices within my cravings.

For instance, rather than getting an Italian loaf I can bring home a fresh baked five grain loaf of bread, still warm from the bakery.

And when I want cookies, I make my own so I know they have the best possible ingredients they can. Even though I love cookies, my body still has a pretty low tolerance for sugar, so I can eat more cookies with less repercussion if I make them not so sweet.

The following concoction is a big hit with my family. If you’re on a New Year’s vigilance, it may be a good idea to stop reading now, or put this in a folder for later.

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Be warned, you may not be able to stop eating these. At least they’re pretty healthy as far as cookies go.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat or gluten free flour (a pinch more depending on the moisture of the mix)
• 1 1/2 cups of Organic Rolled Oats
• ½ cup ground flax
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 2-3 Tbsp Cinnamon (depending on how much you like it)

Wet ingredients

• 1/3  cup brown sugar
• 2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 Tablespoon Molasses
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder plus 2 Tbsp water – or substitute 1 egg if you’re not vegan
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Extra Yum Factor

• 1/2 cup raisins (I add a bit more than this. you can also trade the raisins for dark chocolate – I get the darkest I can find as a bar at the store and cut it into little pieces.)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (I go heavy on this too, adding a bit more – cut them up first for easier handling. Can also use pecans.)

Preparation:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a big bowl.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mash bananas and mix all the wet ingredients together.
3. Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff. Add the raisins and walnuts (or chocolate or pecans if that’s what you’re using) and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn’t binding together very well, you may wish to add more banana.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
5. Grease a baking sheet with coconut oil (I just use my fingers to spread it)
6. Use a tablespoon and fork to shape cookies and place them onto your baking sheet.
7. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the bottom of the cookie turns golden. You can also freeze them. Enjoy!

This recipe is modified from LCheliak’s post on Whole Grain Gormet.

• What are your favorite foods that you try to approach with moderation? Leave a comment and share!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This just in: A great recipe from another yoga instructor in Kamloops, Lynn Roberts from Innergy.

In large bowl, mix together:

1 cup unsalted butter (I just melt the butter)

1 cup agave nectar OR 1/2 cup maple syrup

Add and beat to the above:

3 egg whites OR 2 whole eggs

1. 5 Tbsp. vanilla extract

In separate bowl, combine:

1.5 rolled oats (the slow cook kind)

1 cup flour (a gluten free or regular if you can eat gluten)

1 cup wheat germ (omit for gluten free)

1/3 cup flax

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sea salt

Add the above dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine.

To that, add:

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup dark chocolate cups

Mix well and drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

“You want me to drink kale?” This is what goes through some people’s mind the first time they’re introduced to green smoothies. You know the face children make when they don’t want to eat something? I’ve watched that look come across the faces of people before they try it.

But then they give it a shot, and lo and behold, it tastes good! Better yet, it FEELS great! Your body says, “Oh yeah, that’s what I want.”

Why is that? Well, green leafy veggies are one of the most healing foods nature provides. They lower the acidity in the body and help your system restore balance with that all powerful substance: chlorophyll.

Plus they’re loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and more.

Green Smoothie Healing

To me, drinking a green smoothie is part of my yoga practice because it is a kindness to my body. It gives me what I need to perform at my highest level – and not just physically. When your body is in a healthy state, your mental and emotional capacities are also more balanced as they are inseparable.

When you give your body this kind of nutrition, it supports the systems of your body to do their thing more efficiently and easily. I believe my immune system has been far stronger since I started drinking green smoothies last summer.

I mean, think about it; would your body prefer you start off the day with spinach, banana, kiwi, and blueberries rather of some processed cereal and milk or toast and jam?

You can have second breakfast if you want, so you don’t have to cut it out completely, but drinking a green smoothie first sets up a healthy day in a big way!

One of the reasons green smoothies are so healing is because they’re blended up. When you liquefy the greens, it gives them far more bioavailability because the cell walls are broken and your body doesn’t have to work nearly as hard to assimilate the nutrients.

GREEN SMOOTHIE TIP: These tasty smoothies are a lot more enjoyable, and the goodness in them is more easily assimilated when you use a top quality blender, such as a Vita Mix. The result is a smoother drink (no chewing bits of kale that didn’t get blended), plus you’ll find that having a powerful blender is so helpful in the kitchen that you’ll wonder how you did without it before!

I start out every day with a green smoothie. They’re tasty, satisfying and by far one of the best possible foods you can give your body!

This video is actually how I learned to make Green Smoothies:

Check this link for Green Smoothie Recipes and How To Make Green Smoothies.

• Do you drink green smoothies? If not, please share why. If so, what do you think about them and what is one of your favorite recipes?

Okay, I’ve got a new favorite.

This morning’s green smoothie developed from whatever I could find to put in the Vita Mix. Since I’m visiting my parents at the moment, and my dad brought home some kiwis, I thought I’d throw one in.

At some point this summer I ate my first kiwi with the skin on. I know, if you haven’t done it this seems very strange, but it doesn’t taste bad at all, and gives you more fiber and other goodness. So for my smoothie this morning all I did was cut the very tips of the kiwi off (the hard bits) and toss the rest in.

Kiwi is very low on the glycemic index (meaning it’s less likely to spike your blood sugar and insulin levels). It also is high in potassium and vitamin C, as well as other minerals and vitamins.

This green smoothie, like most, gives you an awesome source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, plus a decent amount of fiber and protein. According to my estimated calculations using nutritiondata.com, this smoothie delivers about 10g fiber and 6g protein. Plus all the chlorophyll from the spinach, which is super healing and has anti-inflammatory properties.

And the best part? It tastes amazing!

Recipe:

Water (1.5 cups)

Spinach (a few good sized handfuls)

1 whole kiwi

1 small banana

1/2 cup blueberries

Remember to blend the greens well before adding the fruit so you get the most nutritional benefit.

Enjoy!

• Let me know if you liked it or if you have variation ideas by commenting below.

But then you taste it. And very soon after that you FEEL it.

And lo and behold, it’s really good!

Green smoothies are one of the very best ways to get a whole lot of nutrients, anti-oxidants, and healing green leafy veggies into your system. When you do this, your body responds with energy and vitality. One of the reasons green smoothies are so excellent is because green leavy veggies that are blended are much easier for the body to assimilate. You would have to spend hours chewing greens to get the same benefit that you would from blended green smoothies.

Starting off, use 60% fruit to 40% greens, and play around with different combinations for variety and taste. The following recipes will get you going. There are lots of great green smoothie recipes out there, like ones from Victoria Boutenko, the mother of green smoothies. Find the ones you like best, and remember to switch your fruits and greens often – don’t keep drinking the same thing every day. Variety = Vitality.

Simple Soothies:

Remember to use 60% fruit, 40% greens when you start drinking smoothies so they taste great! Add pure water to get the consistency you want. Play around with the combinations and drink them SLOWLY.

• Strawberry, banana, spinach
• Pineapple, mango, kale
• Blueberries, banana, swiss chard
• Pineapple, strawberry, banana, chard, arugula
• Papaya, cilantro
• Mixed berries, banana, kale
• Peaches, butter lettuce

Have your own favorite smoothies?

Comment below with the recipes and inspire new blender creations!

Raw food isn’t just about salad, though you can get deliciously creative with salads and dressings. It’s important to have diversity and enjoy a wide variety of foods. This makes eating healthy and raw very satisfying.

There are a ton of raw recipe books out there, plus lots of raw foodie websites to explore. Another fun way to explore eating raw is to find people in your area who also eat raw food. Often you can attend a raw food potluck where you’ll find great ideas and get to taste different dishes to see what you like. Ask around your community health food store or vegetarian/vegan restaurants to see what you can find.

Let’s make this another raw resource. Add your favorite recipe below!

Even the action of choosing foods, preparing a meal, and eating can be done with awareness. Yoga is everywhere.

This section is for you to offer goodness to others, and pick up some ideas while you’re at it.

Please participate by adding a comment below with your favorite wholesome recipe.