Pumpkin in Effing Everything

Like pretty much everyone, I love fall. Mostly for the food and booze. Of the pumpkin persuasion, primarily. I've been putting pureeed pumpkin in everything I eat. EVERYTHING. It's such an easy add to sauces and as a spread and smoothies and--God, there's a lot of alliteration going on right now. 

Anyway, I've been enjoying this breakfast for the past couple weeks:

(This is where I'd insert a gorgeous, artful picture of this taty recipe that would make you want to lick your screen, if I were that sort of person. I'm not. Maybe someday.)

Spiced Pumpkin Apple Oatmeal Extravaganza
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 honeycrisp apple, cubed
1 banana, sliced
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract to taste

Cook the oatmeal, stir in pumpkin puree and spices, top with sliced banana and cubed apples. That's it. And all for 375 calories--hurrah!

It makes for a filling, completely delicious autumn breakfast. The recipe actually makes a pretty hearty breakfast--the pumpkin and apple add lots of fiber, so maybe cook up less oatmeal or add less pumpkin if you like your breakfast light. I like starting my day with a big breakfast, though, and this keeps me full for hours. I add a tablespoon of ground psyllium husk also, 'cause fiber is super.

Now, I'm usually ot a big baker; it takes precision and patience, two things that don't come naturally to me. However, one of my favorite recipes comes from Shutterbean, who comes up with amazing delicacies with food pictures I'm consistantly amazed at.




See what I'm saying? Courtesy of Shutterbean

  I tweaked her Baked Caramel Apple Donut recipe to make it "healthier." I also turned them into mini muffins instead of donuts, because I don't have a donut pan. Or a regular-sized muffin pan for that matter. Here's what I came up with:

Baked Apple Pumpkin Mini Muffins

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 medium apples, peeled & shredded
• 1 1/2 cup chewy caramel candies
• 1 tablespoon vanilla almond milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease up the muffin pan with coconut oil. Mix up dry ingredients in a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and agave nectar until smooth, then stir in vanilla and pumpkin puree.  Combine dry ingredients, then fold in the shredded apples. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans until about half full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out dry.

In a small, microwaveable bowl, combine the caramel and milk. Microwave for 1 minute at medium power. Stir, then repeat in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Without supervision, I will eat this entire caramel batch with a spoon.

Drizzle the remaining mixture over the muffins once they've cooled, or while they're still warm--whatever. Then enjoooy!

For a slightly healthier version, I've skipped the caramel completely and they're still delicious for a little snack or dessert.

My sister is coming in from school this weekend, and we're totally making these, sitting on the couch and watching terrible scary movies on Netflix. Yeah!

Yoga Hurts

My boyeee Ganesh is the remover of obstacles. I need him big time these days.

Reason One
My first yoga injury has been going on for months now: a bum right hammy. That is, I overstretched my hamstring right where it attaches to my ischial tuberosity (thanks, anatomy class!). Initially, I ignored it--I was going to get my ass into the deepest uttanasana possible, the ache deep in my upper thigh be damned. It only hurt when I did super intense forwards folds, so I considered the pain something to be worked through, pushed through. Of course, this led to even more ache and yuckiness, to the point where I not only felt it throughout class, but outside of class, too. 


Clearly, this was not something I could push through.


I've been taking it easy with my right side, but MAN, IT'S HARD. It's hard not being able to go into my deep forward folds without pain. It's hard not being able to put the crown of my head on the ground in prasarita padottanasana. It's hard getting frustrated in the middle of class because I can't do something I could a few painless months ago. My ego wants it so bad!

All that yoga talk about how destructive ego is really does have basis. It was ego that reasoned pushing through pain was better than listening to my body, and now it's ego that gets upset with me every time I recognize it's time to back off or not go to my edge. So I'm using this frustrating recovery period as practice being patient and compassionate to myself and my bum hammy, two things I've never been good at. Gotta start somewhere, though.


In other Yoga Hurts news, I have not had these many bruises since my roller derby days! They're all over my legs, arms and shoulders, and I think it has something to do with this:

B.K. in parsva bakasana (side crow)

That's what I've been trying to accomplish. Though I sometimes get some airtime, I usually end up like this face-planting kitten.

Still cute.

Reason Two:
I have so many plans, so many ideas, so much I want to get done that my skin itches with anticipation! Aadil Palkhivala was at Moksha a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to attend a talk on dharma he was giving. First of all, his energy is effing enchanting. He's calm, steady and powerful--a total embodiment of stira and sukha, stability and ease. He challenged us to write down ten things we're grateful for in the morning, and ten things we're grateful for at night for a month, promising our lives would be transformed.

Now, I only did it for 20, but I get it: by transforming yourself into someone who recognizes the gifts that surround you and how blessed you are, you make space for more gifts and blessings--they're attracted to you! Now that sounds ridiculous and self-helpy...but totally true.



Another cool gal who gets it, man:

"You can’t make magic unless your heart is full of love. Similarly, when you make space for beauty, your brain works better. Ideas flow thick & fast; genius, eureka moments become a regular occurrence; & that smile on your face makes you look ever so gorgeous!" Gala Darling

I feel like this is Ganesha's jam, you know? Like he's all about this mindset, because this is what will remove your obstacles.

Now for something completely different:

The Death's Head Hawkmoth is at the top. He is no friend to Miss A. Mellifera; he sneaks into hives and sips honey through his stout proboscis, the asshole.


Sometimes I feel like this paper girl:

 

Borgesian, no?

Here we go again.

David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org

Look at this little apis mellifera. She looks like she's up to trouble. Honey-making trouble.


True to form, something shiny has caught my eye and now I'm completely obsessed. This time, it's honeybees, and they are friggin' delightful. I can't seem to get my greedy little paws on enough reading material, pictures and recipes. Must. Live on. Bee farm.


Along with my fascination with bees has come an intense desire to acquire all different kinds of honey. It certainly doesn't help that I'm in the middle of The Honey Trail: In Pursuit of Liquid Gold and Vanishing Bees by Grace Pundyk, who travels to the world's honey-producing hubs and describes in luscious detail the rare honeys she comes across. She writes that Yemeni sidr honey is a mouthgasm. But this super rare, God-sent (according to the beekeepers) is an astounding $300 USD for one pound. Three hundo for a mouthgasm would make me feel like a trick that just got turned.


So begins my Google search for rare honeys using Pundyk's book as a guide. She explicitly states that there really is no regulation on honey when it comes to country of origin. What's being sold can be anything from mega-produced Chinese honey (the largest honey producer in the world) to crap imitation honey-derived sweetner. Obviously I'm a little wary of buying the exotic stuff online from could-be honey conmen. But man oh man, to get wildly different honeys next to each other and taste them side-by-side...dream come true.

Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey via Taylor's Market

Even the packaging is magnificent. I'd fork over the cash just for the can alone.


Eventually, my bee obsession is leading me toward the UK, just outside Cambridge, to be specific. A commercial beekeeper I found via HelpX will need someone to help out come Spring, and hopefully I can stay, learn and beekeep for a few months. I've been needing to get out of the city for a while, so I think this is just what I would need. There are also some beekeepers in New Zealand that need help starting November for the winter (lucky them and their opposite seasons!), but I need to finish my yoga certification before I go anywhere. Six more months!