The Indian Grocers

After yoga class I drove to the Indian grocers to replenish my stocks of Indian spices. I arrived home with a bag full of aromatic goodies. Wonderful jasmine and bergamot incense, sandal wood soap, ground cumin and coriander powders as well as whole cumin and coriander seeds and a bag full of curry leaves.
I brought them home and unpacked them, stopping to inhale every few minutes. It was lunch time and I was starving.
But what is a girl to do! Tuna salad ala Hellmans just would not cut it after all those lovely aromas! So this is what I made based on a recipe I found in an Indian cookbook.

1/2 8 0z can tomato and green chili (Mexican style)
2 Tbs Butter
3 Eggs
1/2 cup onions
1 clove minced Garlic
1/4 tsp Whole Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves

Drain the tomatoes in a colander and on paper towels. Don't be a fanatic about it.
Meanwhile melt the butter and cook then onions until they begin to turn golden brown.
While they are cooking beat your eggs with a little water and ground black pepper. Keep aside.
Add the cumin seeds and turmeric to the onion mixture in the frying pan, give them a stir and let them sizzle on med hi heat for a minute.
Turn down the heat and add the garlic.
Add your tomato/green chili mixture. Cook for one minute.
Add the eggs to the pan and scramble them.
Add fresh Coriander leaves.
Serves two

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

I know Mardis Gras if over and lent is upon us but if you observe this would be great for Fridays. Actually, it is great any day of the week whether you observe anything or not! How did I get this recipe, well Miss K sent a postcard to Miss D and it had this recipe for New Orleans BBQ Shrimp printed on the front. We had a "Girlz Only, No BoyZ allowed" Weekend and ate this until we were stuffed if I recall.

This dish had no relation to what most of us think of as BBQ but to die for. Lots of good fat. I have left the Chili sauce out with good results but you could add some sugar free ketchup if you want to substitute without the sugar. Herbs are dried not fresh. Stole the picture from Southern Living.

BBQ Shrimp

4-6 lbs shrimp (shells on)

3 sticks butter YES STICKS

1/2 cup olive oil

2 bay leaves crumbled

4 TBS fresh lemon juice

2TBS Worchestire sauce

4 cloves minced garlic

1TB Fresh minced parsley

2 tsp paprika

2tsp oregano

2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp hot pepper sauce

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup chili sauce

2 lemons sliced thin

Mix all ingredients except shrimp. Cook 10 minutes. Cool. Add shrimp marinate for at least 2-3 hours. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Organic Stuff

I'm starving and the oven is heating up and I'm thinking about food. I am an omnivorous yogi. An onmiyogi if you want to build a portmanteau. Eating meat as a yogi is a very controversial area, many people feel that it is impossible to call yourself a yogi and eat meat. If you kill an animal to eat it you immediately break the principle of yoga that engenders you to 'do no harm' ahimsâ. I won't argue with you. I only know I feel best when I live on meat and veggies, some fermented dairy and cheese.
Organic foods and local farms are choices I try and make more often lately. I was buying eggs at the local farmers market but the egg man stopped coming. I was bummed. I felt very self righteous buying eggs from happy chickens running around in the barnyard acting like chickens.
I've been considering if everything needs to be 'all natural' or if being "all natural' or organic automatically makes something good for you.
To help convince myself of that I have been making a list of "all natural" and organic things that I will NOT eat. I'm not done yet but I have made a start:
Snails
Poisonous Mushrooms
Grass from the Backyard
Tree Bark
Jelly Fish
Bugs
Rocks (high in minerals hard on the teeth)
Pond Algae

"Enough with the breathing already let's do more yoga!"

Throwing myself back into a yoga practice after a three year absence has been exciting. From a physical perspective I am surprised and relieved at how quickly my poor neglected body has responded to the asansas. My strength and flexibility are growing almost daily. I no longer feel the urge to go lie down in the middle of yoga class or worse, vomit. I can actually think about the postures aside from "ouch ouch ouch", "This can't be right" or the old stand by "When will this be over?" which is the equivalent of "Are we there yet?" I can honestly say I am enjoying the 'work'. Well, most of the time.
Balance is always an issue for me. I am careful in standing poses but if I'm close to the ground I go for it. Really, how far do I have to fall? That's why I bought that extra thick yoga mat, right?
Do you remember Weebles? They were a children's toy that got their start in the seventies with the advertising slogan "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down" Well, Weebles are one up on me. I fall over a fair bit. Here is what Wikipedia says about Weebles "Shaped like eggs with a weight at the fat, or bottom end, they wobble when pushed, but never fall completely over, hence the name." You would think that our similarity in shape and weight distribution would help me harness the same laws of physics but ....

This time around as part of my yoga practice I am also focusing on aspects of yoga outside of postures. The aspects of yoga practice that I have impatiently skipped over in the past. As in "Enough with the breathing already lets do more yoga!" "Chakra Smakra let's do a down dog!" For instance the idea of yoga as a liberation teaching and exploring the 'seven branches of yoga" are concepts I have heard but brushed aside before. Now I am ready to delve a little deeper.
My first goal is meditation. Now you have to understand I have the attention span of a crow. Oh look, a bright shiny thing. My foot itches. Is it lunch yet? "I'm sorry, where you talking to me? "Huh? What? Oh yes I do take this man to be......." So right now I am trying to use guided meditation/relaxations to help me focus and learn more techniques, along with going it on my own. I believe I am getting better. I don't fall asleep in the middle of the meditation session as often as I used to. I am better at focusing on nothing. I notice I can find my breath and calm my self a little better during stressful situations during the day. But I have a long long way to go.