Salad Day

This morning, I went to a Barkan Yoga class at the gym, and it was quite a challenge after my Iyengar class yesterday--my poor muscles! After I ran errands, went grocery shopping, and finally got back home, I knew I had to fortify myself immediately, so I made this beautiful salad.

First, I drained 3 ounces of extra firm tofu, then sauteed it with a little Bragg's. I added a red bell pepper, cut into strips, and a handful of sliced mushrooms. While those were cooking, I filled a bowl with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, 1/4 of a good avocado cut into cubes, and a little bit of olive oil vinaigrette. Tossed that, then topped with the warm tofu/veg mixture and a handful of crumbled chips. Yum. Now I'm full, fortified, and ready to clean the house.

Losers...but also Winners

The bet is over. Big shock--we lost. Again. But that's o.k. because we feel like we learned a lot, and we still spent way less money than we would have spent if we hadn't done this second annual experiment. We took the Martins out for dinner at La Reyna, a great little family owned Mexican restaurant. Everyone was happy. Then we went home and sort of watched the Super Bowl--mostly to see whether the commercials were worth the money they paid to be played in that time slot (some were relatively funny). That's about as sports-oriented as we get in this house.

I also went to the store on February 1st, but shopped so smartly that my $160 bought groceries worth well over $200. Coupons, sales, specials... I didn't buy things we didn't really need for the meals I planned for the week, and although I did indulge in a few splurges, they were still fairly sensible. Apparently, Nick spent some significant cash that day--way more than I did. Did we learn more than they did? Does that make us winners, in a way? Ben says we didn't lose. We came in second. That sounds good to me.

Yesterday I was craving BBQ tofu lollipops and fried potatoes, so I made them for my dinner, along with snow peas and bok choy sauteed in sesame oil and tamari. If I can eat like this and still be thrifty, I will be happy.

Low-Cost Mexican

February 1 nears as we contemplate what lessons from the month to take forward with us into the rest of the year. We want to continue to be frugal but not deprived. Some ideas:
-No shopping from any national chain stores.
-No buying any packaged food with artificial ingredients
-Limiting how often we go out to eat
-Absolutely no disposable shopping bags or purchased products with excessive/non-recyclable packaging

We are still discussing, but this is some of what we are considering. In the meantime, we knew we would contemplate better over some good food, so I rolled black beans and cheese into big soft whole wheat organic tortillas, then baked them covered in salsa, more cheese, and green onions (use FYH "cheese" or regular cheese, as your heart desires). Finished with a garnish of chopped cilantro. I also took leftover rice and fried it with real chile powder I got in New Mexico, fresh chopped tomatoes, more green onions, and more cilantro. While it isn't really Mexican, I added sesame oil, cider vinegar, and skillet-toasted sesame seeds to the leftover chopped cabbage. A bowl of grapes rounded out the meal. Delicioso!

Yoga Retreat with Marsha Nieland

This weekend, Marsha Nieland, who teaches Anusara Yoga at Fusion Studio in Cedar Rapids, came to Iowa City to do a workshop at Heartland Yoga, where my BFF Rachel Klapper teaches, and which is owned by my friend Betsy Rippentrop, Ph.D. Betsy and I just co-authored a book on the chakras together, which will be out soon (stay tuned). It was an amazing day of yoga classes--an intermediate class in the morning and a restorative class in the afternoon. Marsha is really an incredible teacher, and with Rachel and Betsy assisting, it was a soul-enriching day of yoga.



Above, this is Betsy Rippentrop, Marsha Nieland, Rachel Klapper, and me.

Meanwhile, our contest with the Martin family continues. We are still ahead, but I fear it won't be for long. I caved and bought expensive soy milk and tofu a few days ago...isn't that weird that I miss tofu? Anyway, Amy and I were talking about how unhealthy we tend to eat in order to eat cheap, and I've been gaining weight and feeling disgusting, so I decided that I would plan a week of truly healthy meals and actually buy the groceries required to eat them! I will do my best to shop smartly and not overspend, not buy more than we need, not buy the most expensive brands, etc. But I am not going to compromise on health anymore. No more junky food. Fresh, good, clean, nutritious food. If it means we lose the bet, so be it. It's not worth losing health and vitality!

Sunday dinner

I spent most of the day puttering around the kitchen, making the bread, roasting the vegetables for my vegetable stew, and generally getting ready for dinner. We still haven't gone back to the store. For dinner, I made a pot roast for the boys, the aforementioned homemade bread and roasted vegetable stew, peas, and mashed potatoes. This is how the bread and stew turned out:


It was a good, hearty Sunday dinner, with nary a suggestion that we are in frugality mode. However, Ben got so desperate re: lack of beer today that he is trying to strike a bargain with Nick, who brews his own: packages of ground venison and Newman's Own cookies in exchange for a case of home brew? They are currently in negotiations.

O.K., I really do think I will be forced to head to the store this evening--we need a few staples to get us through the next week. Cabbage, mushrooms, apples, milk for the kids, tomato sauce, and we are now completely out of dish soap, paper towels, and dog food. I wonder if dog food counts...

The Charm of Leftovers...and Poolish

Is my poolish rising?

It's amazing how often I buy food when I don't need to buy food. I realize that now. There are so many things hidden in the cracks and crannies of our cupboards and freezer that have been there for so long. I always buy the same things every week and never think to use up all this stuff. Now I'm forced to get creative. It's kind of fun. I'm enjoying anti-consumerism.

Of course, it's also a challenge, especially when you have to eat up all your leftovers instead of making something new every day. I'm also realizing how spoiled I am, when it comes to food. And how much money and food I waste! But not this month. Last night, we ate the same chili AGAIN, but this time, I toasted corn tortillas to make tostadas. I topped Ben's with cheese and mine with veg cheese (Follow Your Heart, I had an unopened block leftover from before our trip that I bought at the local grocery store, which just started carrying it because I asked them to). We topped that with leftover veg chili, leftover chopped lettuce, and some frozen Schwann's guacamole I had in the freezer. It's not like fresh guacamole, but it *suggests* fresh guacamole, which is good enough. It was pretty good, actually, so I shouldn't complain.

I don't know what we'll eat tonight, but I'm sure we can scrape something together. I have a box of broccoli soup mix which I won at a Christmas party in 2007, as part of a "gourmet food" basket. Maybe I'll whip that up and pour it over the rest of the leftover pasta. I still have veggie burgers in the freezer, too. Maybe I'll make veggie burger sub sandwiches...although I'm out of pickles. (That alone may get me to the grocery store.)

I also decided to make bread today, like Nick always does (our competitors). I'll serve it with the roast I plan to cook for the boys for Sunday dinner. (I'll have the mashed potatoes with chick pea gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance, and I'll make peas. And maybe cupcakes.) Anyway, I pulled out my bread baking book (Bread Alone, by Daniel Leader and Judith Blahnick). I am making their "learning recipe" for country hearth bread. I just started the poolish, which is fermenting. It's hard to find a warm place in this house, though--with all the snow blowing around outside, I realize how drafty it is in here. I'm wearing three sweaters.

I also went back to yoga this past week, and my body is sore, but in a good way. Exercise expenses don't count in our anti-poverty bet, so I can do yoga guilt-free.

Chili is Cheap

We still haven't gone back to the store and are holding at $30.29, which includes $3.00 parking ramp and $3.15 at Mr. Movies. Last night, we had chili made with onions, garlic, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, and a big can of chili beans, with chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. I made a "side" of ground beef for those who wanted to add it, and we cut up the rest of the lettuce. I had some corn tortillas in the refrigerator so I cut those into triangles and baked them in canola oil for homemade chips, and I made the last box of pasta. So, people could make what they wanted--chili-mac, or taco salad.

My sweet tooth yesterday led me to open one of the cans of Boy Scout popcorn we bought last month. I had forgotten all about it, but had intended to give it all away for gifts. Oh well. It was the kind doused in chocolate, so I should have known I wouldn't give it away. Maybe I'll forget to mention it to the kids.

I can't tell you how many times I've needed paper towels or napkins, which we don't have, and we are almost out of milk again, so I foresee a trip to the store tonight or tomorrow.

Today is a snow day so the kids are home. That means I'm having trouble getting a lot of work done--but not so much trouble blogging. I made a Scottish Bannock for breakfast with chocolate chips, modified from the current issue of Mother Earth News. You can find the recipe on my Vegan Serendipity blog. For lunch, I toasted a whole wheat pita and stuffed it with scrambled tofu (with mushrooms, onions, and peppers), yellow tomatoes, and baby greens. Let it snow.

The End of Insanity...and the Beginning of Chickpeas

Finally, my year of insanity is drawing to a close. I wrote four books between the beginning of the summer and now. Yes, four. It's all I've had time to do, between that and travel and yoga classes and finding something good to eat. All the work has kept me from thinking about other things, posting food pictures, writing about my Yoga Journal retreat, even going to yoga the last few weeks when it seemed everything was due at once.

Now, finally, I am done. To celebrate, I soaked (overnight) and then cooked for many hours (in the crockpot) a big bunch of chickpeas. I know, I'm totally out of control.

Maybe that's because I'm not exactly done and I was procrastinating? I still have to edit the page proofs on the Beagle book and add over 5,000 words because the manuscript came up short. I still have to do an extensive author review on the Chakra book, and also on the book about living with animal companions in the most eco-friendly way possible. I am finished with the book I wrote with Bethenny Frankel--all the way finished, and it should be out in a few months. As each book comes out, I'll make an announcement.

In the meantime, I am getting ready to go to Oaxaca, Mexico. Ben, the kids, me, and the Martin family, of the famous Anti-Consumerism wager last year--we got stomped, but we're going to give it another go this January, so stay tuned. Stay tuned also for more about what's to eat in Oaxaca.

Meanwhile, what's to eat in Iowa, with all those chickpeas waiting in the refrigerator so patiently? First,let me just say that it's true that if you cook dried, soaked chickpeas for a long time, they really are smoother and creamier than the canned kind, and since most of the "work" involves you doing something nice, like reading a travel book about Oaxaca, while the beans soak or simmer, it's hard to argue that canned is more convenient. When you soak and cook them yourselves, you don't have to fight with a can opener.

Out of my chickpea bounty, I made a big batch of homemade hummus, which was my dinner last night. I also made chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon cookbook, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. They are so good, I can't even describe it. And easy, too. I had one for lunch (pictured above): Chickpea cutlet on a sprouted grain bun with soy mayo, mustard, tomatoes, and a lot of pickles. Food is good.

Now, about that yoga practice...

Vegan cooking fun

Today I had a great Anusara yoga class, taught by my friend, Rachel Klapper. The theme was "holding to your convictions," which was perfect, and of course, she slipped lots of election talk into the class. We're all excited to camp out in front of the t.v. with pizza tonight and watch the results roll in. I printed out a map for the kids so they can add up the electoral college votes and color the states red or blue.

I've had a lot of fun making food this week, even though I haven't taken any photographs. Last night, I made nachos with corn chips, pinto bean dip, and Follow Your Heart vegan Monterey Jack "cheese," heated up then covered with a thick layer of fresh baby greens. The day before, I made brown rice with beans and all the vegetables I could find--onions, garlic, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, crimini mushrooms, green beans, green peas, black beans, white beans. Before that, I made a delicious vegetable curry with potatoes and eggplant. Now I'm going to have to spend the rest of the week eating up the leftovers.

My son, Emmett, has agreed to go veg for seven days, for seven dollars. I said that was a deal. We'll see if he's successful.

Next post, I hope to include food photos. Until then, please get out there and vote your conscience, whatever it tells you!

Now to go craft a delicious vegan pizza...

Namaste and bon appetit!

That's Enough.

I've been doing a lot of soul-searching and research. I've waffled about vegetarianism for awhile now, as the fight for gastronomic pleasure bucked up against the quest for peace. I knew factory farms were bad, but I also knew meat tasted good and I kept trying to separate them in my mind, even as I preached at others to acknolwedge the source of their food. Then, in a frustrated moment of indecision, I finally made myself read up on what really goes on, both on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. I've thought long and hard about it, and as a good yogi, I've decided I simply cannot justify eating another animal just because I think it tastes good. If I needed to do it to survive, sure. But I don't. I'm perfectly capable of living well and thriving without it. Plus, my skin looks better and I eat more nutritiously when I avoid it. I believe that in order to evolve to the next level and truly embrace the concept of ahimsa, I can no longer participate in the consumption of animals.

This blog is hereby vegan.

Getting Ready for Estes Park

I'm procrastinating. I have to finish a Newfoundland article today, and although I finally have all my interviews completed and notes compiled, I'm having trouble getting started because I'm not living in the moment. I am living in the future. To be more precise, I am preoccupied by my upcoming trip to the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park. I've never been to this huge yoga gathering before, and I can't wait!

I'm slightly worried about the effects of the high elevation, but other than that, I couldn't be more excited about spending a week in a cabin with 10 other great women, in the mountains, doing yoga. I'll be studying with Elise Miller, Kofi Busia, Alanna Kaivalya (for a chakra class), John Douillard (for an ayurveda class) and of course, since this is the first ever Anusara Grand Gathering, the Anusara clan: John Friend, Amy Ippoliti, Desiree Rumbaugh, etc. I envision a lot of interesting and challenging yoga cross-training, and some solid preparation for the chakra book I will write when I get home. I will be travelling and staying with my BFF, Rachel Klapper, who is also studying to be an Anusara yoga teacher.

In the meantime, I do have to finish this Newfoundland article, so I'd best get to it. But stay tuned for more on the Yoga Journal conference!

Baba ghanoush

Our CSA share has been full of eggplant lately, as well as corn, onions, tomatoes, and peppers...all the ingredients to make all my favorite foods! I've been making eggplant Parmesan, fresh corn salad with peppers and tomatoes, green salsa with the tomatillos and hot peppers from my own garden (which was sadly neglected this summer, but the tomatillos took over anyway), and of course, baba ghanoush.

This past weekend, I made the delicious baba ghanoush. I roasted three different kinds of eggplants in the oven: a classic purple, a lavender globe-shaped, and a long skinny Japanese. After roasting, the eggplants were very soft and shriveled. I let them cool then I peeled them and put all the flesh in the food processor along with 1/4 cup tahini, the juice of half a large lemon, 2 minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon of dried cumin, and about a half teaspoon of sea salt. Pulse, puree, and the result was amazing--creamy and tangy.

Today for lunch, I toasted a whole wheat pita, spread it with the baba ghanoush, topped that with slices of smoked Szechuan tofu, then topped that with fresh chopped tomatoes and baby spinach. Yum.

End of Summer, New Beginnings

At last, school has begun. The house is quiet during the day. I can actually work...and just finished the Beagle book I've been working on (it will be published early next year). I don't know how I got anything done at all during the summer, although I certainly did, finishing the Naturally Thin book I co-authored with celebrity natural foods chef Bethenny Frankel, star of The Real Housewives of New York City. Now I immediately have to start a book about living green with companion animals, and after that, I'll be co-authoring a book about the chakras with my BFF Rachel Klapper, a yoga teacher I've written about here before.

Obviously, whenever summer winds down and fall begins, my mind turns vigorously to the work at hand. Other things happen too, though. My quest for greater fitness in preparation for attending the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park, Colorado, in September, continues successfully. I've already dropped about 8 more pounds (on top of the 15-something that disappeared while writing Naturally Thin), and I've been working out regularly and sinking deeper and deeper into my yoga practice. I feel great, and extra bendy. The best part about it is that I haven't sacrificed a bit when it comes to enjoying delicious food. I've learned how to eat whatever I really want, add what I need for good workout fuel, then stop after I've had enough to make me happy. It's working.

Last night, we went out to dinner with our friends Nick and Amy Martin to the Motley Cow, a restaurant known for its liberal use of fresh local ingredients. I spotted the owner, chef David Weiseneck, in the kitchen so I knew the food would be delicious. Amy and I ordered the fettucine with lobster (obviously, lobster isn't local but couldn't resist the pasta). Ben had the Iowa pork with French beans, goat cheese, grilled pears, and a delicious ruby-red beet sauce. Nick had the lamb. Mine was great but I couldn't eat very much of it because it was so filling. Two bites of Ben's pork confirmed it was fantastic. Next time, we plan to try their less opulent menu items, such as the pizza or sandwiches.

Today, we have a blissful quiet weekend without the kids and I'm just wrapping up the proofreading and printing out of the Beagle book, watching the European Grand Prix (it's our thing we do), and enjoying a delicious savory lunch of homemade chili, flavored with just a bit of shredded pork loin and loaded with chili beans and fresh local zucchini, chard, corn, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and summer squash, topped with some fresh locally made tortilla chips, a little sprinkle of cheese, and big scoops of salsa verde and pico de gallo, handcrafted by Carmen at La Reyna, my favorite local Mexican restaurant. Who knew I could be eating like this and still losing so much weight?

I'm up to a full five minutes in sirsana now. Life is good. Namaste and bon appetit!

Locavore Status and Losing Weight

Our quest to eat local has been going well this summer. Pictured above: Locally baked sourdough bread from the farmer's market topped with local free-range eggs from a nearby farm, garlic chives from my CSA share, and green salsa, handmade by a small local Mexican restaurant. Not all ingredients came from Iowa, but it was all made by Iowans. One thing about Iowa: we produce a lot of food!

However, we did cheat a little bit. A few of our favorite things are produced in states that touch Iowa--like the goat milk I like from Heartland creamery, various delicious cheeses from Wisconsin, and the occasional neighboring-state fruit, condiment, etc., so we expanded our rules to include these. It's been easy to find meat, milk, and just about every vegetable we could want (except avocados). We've also harvested greens from the garden, and although it needs serious weeding, the tomatillos I tried this year have sailed above the weeds and are producing well. They look about ready. The weeds haven't been so kind to my peppers, so I need to get out there, but my work schedule has been intense and of course it's summer so when I'm not working, I tend to want to be lazy.

Meanwhile, my CSA pickup has been full of great veggies so I haven't been wanting. Fruit-wise, we've gotten peaches from Missouri, and we've cheated a little when the kids really wanted something like plums or apples that came from states not bordering Iowa. Because if the kids want fruit, want am I going to say? "No! Eat some Iowa bacon instead!"

On the yoga front, I will be heading to the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park towards the end of September and although I've been doing a lot of yoga, I'm still carrying some extra weight. I lost about 18 pounds while writing the Naturally Thin book with Bethenny Frankel, but I need to finish the job, so I've decided to drop 16 pounds by September 21. I think I can do it if I just cut back a little on the indulgences and step up the exercise. So that's my goal, starting today. My son, Emmett, who is 10 years old, is going to do this with me because he wants to drop some weight too. He's been having an overindulgent summer, as we all have, but he's not as active as his brother so it sticks to him the way it sticks to me. So together we are on a healthy eating and exercise quest, so we both feel better and have more energy. We can do it, Emmett!

This is Emmett, getting a good workout, mowing the lawn (with proper hydration, of course).

Of Floods, Flu, Fishponds, and Fireworks

Iowa City is finally drying out from the 500-year flood, we are all finally recovering from an unpleasant bout with the flu, we finally moved our fish inside because our fishpond was getting too hot...and today is already the end of a month that began with a lot of beautiful fireworks in the company of family and friends.

But enough with the F-words. As July winds down and we prepare for the hottest month of the year, and I put one book behind me and face three more books due in the next four months, I also realize I need to be posting more regularly here, to keep closer track of my yoga and food journeys. I'm busy, of course. Aren't we all? But that doesn't mean yoga and food aren't still important parts of my life. Today for lunch, I had sourdough toast with eggs, cippolini onions, portabella mushrooms, and spinach, all fresh from the farmer's market...and I didn't even take a picture! What was I thinking?

So my thought for today is: slow down.

When life gets busy, I know I not only neglect basic household chores, but I get used to racing thoughts. I'm always thinking about what's happening now, what's happening next, and what I can do about what just happened. I get so used to multi-tasking that while everything important gets done (mostly), nothing gets done all that well.

In the dog days of summer, why am I rushing? I have a lot of work to do today, sure, and for the next few months. (And probably for the next few years.) But that doesn't mean I can't slow down at least a little every day, look around, and appreciate what's going on around me.

Right now, I've got a lovely hot cup of coffee in front of me, two dogs under my desk watching me with love, and two kids downstairs behaving themselves. I can hear the summery sound of a lawnmower and cicadas singing outside. The kitchen smells fragrant from the eggs I made for lunch. I feel strong and sweaty after finally making it back to the gym today after being sick. Now, I'm settling down to work on my Beagle book. Later, I'll make dinner, then get in a good evening yoga practice.

Life is good. Today I'm going to enjoy it.

Yoga Cross-Training

The last two months have been incredibly busy, finishing a book with celebrity natural foods chef Bethenny Frankel, dealing with end of school and summer vacation with the kids (who make working at home very difficult because they are so bored), and generally transitioning from spring to summer. But as I've been dealing with all this, I've also confronted a new situation.

I've been studying Iyengar yoga with Nancy Footner at Friendship Yoga for a couple of years now, and I really love it. It has done amazing things for me, physically and mentally. It is a precise and disciplined form of yoga, something that is very balancing for me and my freestyle way of living.

But recently, my friend Rachel Klapper became certified as a yoga teacher and is now studying Anusara yoga. She is teaching a class at Heartland Yoga in Iowa City, and since she is my BFF, of course I am taking her class. I enjoy the emotional openness of Anusara and the different way this form describes alignment principles, in spirals and loops. Add to that the fact that my friend Amy Martin, a spinning teacher at The Core (a local gym), likes me to go with her to her friend Martha Gordon's class. Martha is very advanced in the Barkan Method of yoga, and does a modified (not very hot) version at the gym on Saturday mornings. This form is a real muscle work-out, something I need to work on because I tend to be hyper-flexible (Anusara would call it "organic") more than strong, and the Barkan routine is very strengthening in just the ways I require.

So here I am, studying two-and-a-half forms of yoga at the same time--similar but also very different forms. I wouldn't say I'm struggling with this, but just that I find it interesting because all these forms and teachers are so different, yet in many ways, so alike (it is all yoga, after all). I have to remember where I am when doing, say, adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog), because the cues from my three teachers are not the same. I'm thinking about what this means for my practice. I've always resisted labels and tried to stay out of the mainstream so in this way, I like this situation. I feel like I have a birds-eye view and can see more clearly, rather than becoming narrow and evangelical about any one form. On the other hand, will I really ever become well versed in yoga, if I never commit to a style? Or, will one style eventually come out on top and the others will fade off my radar? It's a question. I'm thinking of writing an article about it.

Meanwhile, I'll be taking both Iyengar and Anusara classes when I attend the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park this September (no Barkan available). Maybe that experience will help crystallize what this yoga cross-training really means for me and my practice.

Our Summer Locavore Challenge

The New Pioneer Co-op, our local natural foods grocery, has issued a challenge to its members, to eat mostly local during one week in August. Always one for taking these things too far, I thought it might be fun to do this in a bigger way. Ben and I discussed our options--eating within a certain mile-radius, eating food produced in Iowa, etc., and decided on the following terms:

1. The challenge will go from the first day of summer to the last day of summer.

2. We will only buy groceries made in Iowa during the challenge period. Food left over from before the challenge is fine to use, however. Waste not, want not.

3. When eating out (which we do a lot), we will only eat at local, independently owned restaurants. No chains. However, although we will lean towards those that use local food, we won't worry about asking the source of everything they make.

4. Food prepared by local businesses at the farmer's market or the co-op, that may or may not use local ingredients, is fine. For example, I can buy a loaf of bread made by a farmer's market vendor, without grilling them about the source of their flour.

5. We will not give up coffee (we're not THAT radical), but we will only buy coffee that is roasted locally.

This challenge will help us not only to eat less processed food, fresher food, and more seasonal food, but also will reduce our "carbon footprint" and keep our dollars in the state of Iowa during these economically challenging times.

Yesterday, I did a little reconnaissance at the Co-op, and discovered that even there, a lot of food isn't local. Helpfully, they label all food that is local. But I couldn't find a source of Iowa goat milk, tofu, or flour. I know these must exist, so I may need to get them directly from the producers. I did find Iowa chevre, milk, eggs, and lots of produce. It's going to be a real challenge, especially for the kids.

At the Farmer's Market yesterday, however, I found some gems--a local mushroom farmer, a local source for lamb (the lamb roast we had last night from her was fantastic), and a local coffee roaster.

Today, we headed up to Cedar Rapids to check out prices on drum sets because Angus, our 12 year old, is "graduating" from grade school in four days and we are helping him buy a new drum set. His is old and cheap and he's ready for something better. While there, we stopped by Cedar Ridge winery because the word is, they make not only wine but vodka and rum. Locally! (Because Ben is not going the whole summer without a vodka martini.) We tasted everything and the Clearheart liquors were amazing. The gin was spectacular, the vodka is sourced from 100% Iowa ingredients, the rum was rich and delicious. The limoncella and lamponcella were absolutely out of this world. Needless to say, we stocked up!

B.L.T. (sort of)

Last night, I balanced in Dancer's Pose longer than I ever had before. I went into a headstand (no wall) by lifting both feet up at the same time. I also ate a little bit of pork (along with chipotle red beans and brown rice, a big spinach salad, and a Stella Artois). I don't think there is a connection, necessarily, between my increasing yogic balance and strength, and the occasional consumption of animals. Maybe it even works against me, but I'm not so sure about that. In any case, the pork was from a local farm. I looked right at it and reminded myself that an animal died to provide me with the meal. It tasted very good. I was grateful.

But this morning, although I did have a little goat's milk (from neighboring Missouri's Heartland Creamery) in my coffee--I like my coffee gamey--the rest of my breakfast contained no animal products. I toasted a whole wheat English muffin and topped it with leftover tempeh bacon (I used the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe), fresh spinach, and a slice of tomato, with just a little soy mayo to hold it all together.

Mighty tasty.

Try this in coffee. Or make cajeta (goat milk caramel) with it, using Rick Bayless's recipe. That's great in coffee, too.

Ahimsa vs. Gastronomy

Today I took a yoga class from my friend Rachel, a certified yoga teacher now doing her advanced training in Anusara yoga, a heart-centered form of yoga founded by former senior Iyengar instructor John Friend. During savasana at the end of the class, Rachel read an excerpt about ahimsa from one of Pema Chodron's books.

If you practice yoga and follow the mindset, you probably already know that ahimsa is the practice of non-violence. Yogis often philosophize about the many ways in which ahimsa can be incorporated into modern life, not only in obvious ways like not physically or verbally harming others and actively supporting peace, but in less obvious ways like not harming oneself through negative self-talk.

And then, there is the matter of whether or not to eat meat.

This is the one I struggle with, as an avid cook, amateur food historian, and ethnic food fancier. In fact, Rachel and I love to cook together and often bemoan the fact that our favorite cuisines and cooking methods include animal products. I love vegetarian food and cook it often. I'm well versed in substitutions and the many ingenious ways vegetarian and vegan cooks have managed to replicate, sometimes with amazing accuracy, traditional animal-product dishes. I admire and often practice these techniques.

But they aren't authentic techniques. This isn't the way humans have designed food in their cultures over the centuries. And when the gastronome in me rears up against the part of me trying to practice ahimsa, I often feel conflicted.

I've already banned all factory-farmed meat from my house, where I live with three meat-eating males. That was easy. I buy local or sustainably harvested flesh. But it's still flesh. And sometimes I eat it.

I suppose I could decide that I can practice ahimsa in ways that work in my life, but isn't that hypocritical? Too convenient? It's not like I have to eat meat. But then, what about truly understanding the food culture of Mexico, for example? What about mastering the art of Cajun cooking? What about French food, for goddess' sake? And how do I separate my two great loves, yoga and food, from this philosophical scuffle?

So far, I haven't. I've just been able to stand back and watch the dust fly.

I don't have any answers yet, meaning I continue on uneasily eating, balancing on the wire between compassion and consumption. I suspect one day, I'll probably tip over and fall to one side, and maybe stay there. But for now, I'll keep teetering and trying to figure out which way my life will unwind as my years and my hungers ebb and flow.

Until then, I'll continue to work and cook through it. So stay tuned. Namaste. And bon appetit.