Apple Challenge

I love apple picking. Mostly because I love to leave the orchards with a ridiculous little plastic bag (what's with that?!) packed to the gills with apples that I can never possibly finish before they all go bad.

I see it as a challenge! The apples are challenging me to eat them! And I do. In every possible variation.

Two simple ways to enjoy all those fall apples are in apple sauce and apple butter. These recipes are reeeeeeediculously easy and delicious. So easy, it makes you spell bad, yo. Also, there is no added sugar. Yay for those of us with broken pancreases!

Slower Cooker Apple Sauce and Apple Butter

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: slow-cooker sauce apples cinnamon fall

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Ingredients

• 5 lbs sweet and tart apples, leaving skins on - the natural pectin in the skin helps to thicken the sauce
• 1 - 2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, or to taste
• juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

For Apple Sauce:

1. Slice apples and add to slow cooker. Add lemon juice and spices.

2. Set to low heat for 4 hours. Stir occasionally if you can.

3. After 4 hours, remove from slow cooker and puree sauce to desired consistency. Enjoy!

For Apple Butter:

1. Follow the directions for the apple sauce, except puree until their are no lumps and mixture is smooth.

2. Add pureed apples back to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 1 hour without the cover on. Stir occasionally if you can.

3. You can cook longer if you're looking for a more caramel-y consistency, but you'll end up with less apple butter.

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Hi, I'm Bonnie and I'm a Diabetic.....

On the first day of yoga teacher training, we were paired off as an icebreaker to get to know one another. The person you were paired with was the one was going to introduce you to the rest of the group and then vice versa. Because of the odd number of students, we had three in our group. 

As we went around asking each other where we were from and what we did as our day jobs, I wondered if I should share that I am type 1 diabetic. Do I introduce myself as though I'm at an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting? Hi, I'm Bonnie and I'm a diabetic? Would a purpose be served in sharing this information? 

I am really of two minds about it. One mind feels like this is private information that a room full of strangers don't necessarily need to know. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed. Hell, I don't even mind questions, but no one else seems to announce any of their preexisting health conditions. Right? 

The other mind says that it could be useful information in this setting. It's a safety issue, really. Any person involved in the teaching and training of others in a physical way should be aware of these health conditions, what issues might come up in class, and why it's good to know. I will be telling all the instructors so they know why I walk away from my mat in the middle of a Sun Salutation to eat applesauce. Another reason to share is that I like being an advocate for diabetes awareness, especially type 1, since so few seem to have accurate information about it. 

As time ticked down on our ice-breaker in class, the decision needed to be made on whether or not to share. I decided against it. I figured it would all come out in time. After all, I wear my pump during class, keep honey packets by my mat, and frequently check my blood sugar. Some smartypants will put it together.   At some point, when I actually know all these people's names, it will be a no-brainer. 

Until then....hi, I'm Bonnie and I like yoga. 

Coffee or Tea

I am not a coffee drinker. Even though I really, really want to be a coffee drinker. I looooooovvvvveee coffee.

What I don't love about coffee are the accompanying crack shakes and immediate bathroom needs that frequently follow its ingestion. Have I shared too much? Coffee will make me jittery and jumpy for hours. In fact, it actually makes me feel like I'm hypoglycemic!

What makes this star-crossed love affair with coffee even more challenging is when it's all made PUMPKIN FLAVORED! You're just mean, Universe!

Have you missed all the pumpkin-flavored coffees everywhere? Are you in living under a rock? Because they're EVERYWHERE!
For ha-ha's, I invegistated whether there was any nutritional differences in regular coffee compared to my strongly desired pumpkin flavored varieties in feeble attempt to knock the cravings out of me.

Shockingly, there is quite a difference! A Dunkin' Donuts large pumpkin coffee has 210 calories compared to a regular coffee which only has 10! The Starbuck's Pumpkin Spiced Latte, even if it's made with fat-free milk, still has 7 grams of fat! What?!

Shockingly, this do not knock the cravings right out of me! What it did do was motivate me to create my own non-withdrawal symptom inducing, all-natural Pumpkin Spiced Latte.

Success!

Pumpkin Spiced Latte (with Coffee or Tea)

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: beverage pumpkin fall

6034147

 

Ingredients (2 servings or 1 large cup)

• 1 c brewed coffee or chai tea
• 3/4 c milk
• 2 tbsp canned pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash ground clove, optional
• OR you can add a tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
• sweetener of choice, to taste

Instructions

1. Brew your coffee or tea.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a microwave-safe measuring cup. Heat milk/pumpkin/spice mixture until it is very hot, about a minute and a half in the microwave

3. Pour coffee/tea mixture into a high speed blender. Blend on high until mixture is fully incorporated and frothy.

4. Top with pumpkin pie spice, if desired.

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Dirty Veggies, Part 11

I think I've gone a little buck wild on squash.

Right now, I have three acorn squash, 1 huge butternut squash, 1 patty pan squash (which I have no idea what to do with, thanks Mom!), and 1 spaghetti squash all sitting on my kitchen counter. It's just so hard when you walk around the farmer's market and see all these amazing (and cheap) squash there!

However, the real star of this week's farmer's market is this guy:

Meet Romesco. Or, as Jerry referred to him, Little Shop of Horrors. Feeeed meeeee, Seymour!

Romesco is an alien variation of cauliflower. When I saw this bad boy at the farmer's market for only $1.50/lb, I knew I had to get him. I have never made (or eaten) Romesco before, but I always wanted too. I'm not sure exactly what I am going to do with him, but I'm sure it'll be delicious.

This is the stuff I am talking about, people, when I talk about the farmer's market. Where else would I have been able to buy this guy if it wasn't for the market. I certainly haven't seen him in Stop and Shop. That's what makes the market so amazing. And why you should go do it.

Okay, okay, I'm stepping down off the soapbox.

Here's the weekly roundup:

7 onions (red and white) - $2.95

1 head of garlic - $1.25

1 bunch Swiss Chard - $2.00

1 bunch fresh sage - $1.75

3 lemons - $1

6 Bosc pears - $2.25

1 head of Romesco - $2.25

2 green peppers - $1

1 spaghetti squash - $2.25

Total: $16.70

To learn more about Dirty Veggie posts, read here and here.

Coping Mechanism

Urdvahastasana
Uttenasana
Urdvah Mukhasvasana
Adho Mukhasvasana

No, that's not Jackson walking across my laptop. Nor am I having a stroke. Those are actually words. In Sanskrit. If you think spelling them is hard, try saying them. To a roomful of people.

This is what the first weekend of Yoga Teacher Training held for me. While this first weekend was exciting, interesting, and energizing, it was also overwhelming and intimidating. On the third day of our training, we had to "teach" each other the poses of Sun Salutation A. If you have ever taken a yoga class before, this is a pretty common set of poses. Even my father knows Downward Dog. What is not so common is saying the Sanskrit names for each pose to a room of 20 people!

In preparation for my teaching debut on Sunday morning, I did what I normally do to calm my nerves and kill some time. I cooked my little heart out!

For me, cooking serves many purposes. Besides the obvious need for nourishment, cooking is a way of coping with something that may be stressful, of releasing energy, of procrastinating. Maybe you can tell from the photo below just how much "coping" I needed since I cooked enough food for a small army.

In case you can't read my chicken scratch, I made:

• Applesauce
• Beer Bread
• Spicy Broccoli + Red Lentil Dal
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Cookies
• Tomato Pepita Sauce
• Bean-stuffed Poblano Peppers

All before leaving for my training at 1 PM. In.Sane.

One of the dishes I made used my fresh farmer's market broccoli. Yay! This dish is spicy. If spice isn't your thang, feel free to adjust the spices to your liking.

Spicy Broccoli and Red Lentil Dal

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: entree vegetarian red lentils broccoli

6034618

Ingredients (4 servings)

• 1 c red lentils
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 c chopped fresh broccoli
• 2 1/2 c vegetable broth
• 2 c milk
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice + lemon wedges for garnish
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp tumeric
• paprika, to garnish

Instructions

1. Add oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add in the uncooked lentils, chopped sweet onion, cumin, and mustard seeds. Cook on low-medium heat for about 6-9 minutes until the mixture begins to sizzle.

3. While this mixture is cooking, roughly chop the florets. Place stems and florets into a food processor and process to desired consistency.

3. Add broccoli and veggie broth to saucepan. Stir well. Add salt.

4. Cover and cook this mixture on low for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. After about 20 minutes, add in milk, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, red pepper flakes, curry powder, and additional salt (to taste) if necessary.

6. Cook on low for another 10 minutes. Serve.

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Why Dirty Veggies?

It's been brought to my attention that maybe people don't really care what I buy at the farmer's market from week to week.

Here are the top 5 reasons why you should!

1. Because I love the farmer's market! And anything I love, you should love too. Because we're connected like that. Like soul mates. Like brothers from another mother. Like BFFs who will like totally love each other forever.

2. Because if you're truly into food, the farmer's market is your best source for the freshest veggies possible. Things from the farmer's market really do taste better. They're fresher. They're more flavorful. They're just good. It's the way food should taste when it's not loaded up on pesticides and shipped from half way across the world on a diesel-fueled truck.

3. Because it's important to support your local farmers. Large corporations are under-cutting and eliminating smaller local farmers at steadfast speed. By buying from your local farmer's market, you're helping to keep small family farms, that may have been operating for decades, in business!

4. Because it's better for you. The benefits don't just extend to your local farmers. Large corporate farms  are slowly poisoning our foods with pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified mutations, etc. Most of these farms are organic, but because of restrictive and expensive governmental processes to obtain an official label of "organic," many don't have the resources to go through the process. By ingesting less processed, pesticide-free food, you're improving your health without even trying.

5. Because you should be going to your local farmer's market too! The point of showing my weekly goods from the market is encourage you to get out to your local markets. It dispels the misconception that farmer's markets are overpriced. I can get the same things for the same price or even cheaper then what's available in the supermarket.

While I can appreciate that my grocery list may not be as exciting to some as it is to me, these posts aren't without purpose. And it would probably be more meaningful if you actually saw the outcomes of those grocery lists....meaning recipes. Which I will be conscious of posting so you know my veggies are decaying into a puddle at the bottom of my fridge.

And lastly, if you just not down with the Dirty Veggie posts, skip'em. I'll never know.

Now....without further ado, this week's roundup:
7 onions - $2
1 pint of fingerling potatoes - $3 - this week's splurge
3 NYS Bosc Pears - $2
1 head napa cabbage - $1
3 acorn squash - $2 - deal of the week
Total: $10 

To learn more about Dirty Veggie posts, read here. 

Namaste, Bitches.

I've done it. I'm taking the plunge.
No, I'm not engaged and I'm not pregnant.
I am even better then those things! I'm a yoga teacher. Yay!

Okay, okay, I'm not quite a yoga teacher yet. But I will be soon.

The plunge I am taking is into a 200-hour yoga teacher training with my favorite yoga studio, The Yoga Room in Astoria, starting this Friday.

I love yoga. I've been practicing for over 7 years now and I'm always amazed at what a difference yoga makes in my life. Besides the physical affects of feeling more fit, lean, and flexible, yoga also has an amazing impact on my mind as it reduces my anxiety, calms me down, and makes me more midnful.

Over the last few years, becoming a yoga teacher has become more and more appealing to me. I had just discussed what a life-changing experience it would be when my old yoga studio in Astoria sent out an e-mail annoucing its next 200-hour teacher training. I took it as a sign. Isn't that very yogi of me?

So I applied! With much anxiety. It's quite the commitment. It's two weekends a month on Friday evenings and all day on Saturday and Sundays for four months. In addition to the actual teacher training, I also need to practice at the studio at least three times a week. Eek!

As the days have ticked down to its actual start date, my anxiety has started to increase. Will I have the time? Will I be in shape enough? Will I be passing out every three hours from hypoglyemia?! Just kidding, Mom.

Now that it's finally here, I am really excited....and slightly overwhelmed. Here's to the next step in this crazy adventure.

Namaste, bitches.