Mountain Rose Herbs. A herbs, health and harmony c

Sunday, February 23, 2014

What I eat in a day High Carb Vegan




Blog number 3 (I think) on What I eat in a day :)

Most of my food made it in the photos :)

Good morning Beautiful Yogis. The day here was bright and sunny. Sofie loves 15 minutes of sunbathing in the morning. She gets her vit D :) One other thing Sofie LOVES is kumquats (always cut and deseeded). I can't take a kumquat photo without her getting her little self ready to jack me out of my kumquat :)

My day started with Some Reishi "Coffee" Reishi Coffee Recipe Video HERE
BTW I have been getting a lot of questions in regards to knee pain. This recipe nourishes the kidneys which govern the knees in Chinese Medicine. Generally kidneys and knee pain is almost always related. So definitely check it out and if you can source the herbs indulge in its grounding, nourishing, earthy goodness.
I added cardamom and ginger to make it easy on the digestion. Rehmannia can be a bit heavy as its prepared traditionally in a reduction of wine and black bean juice. This is a deeply rebuilding herb that supports vitality and fertility, it can regulate the menstrual cycle and reduce inflammation.
Rehmannia, Reishi mushroom, astragalus, cardamom, ginger brew

After I left it simmering for a while I was ready to enjoy a few mugs.
Reishi coffee with hazelnut stevia and Dream Blends Hazelnut Cashew milk
The first brew is always bitter and intense and I have to add vegan milk to it. The subsequent brews are milder and I have them with no add ins.
I was working while drinking my reishi so an hour or two later I made some GREEN COFFEE as I was quitting black coffee.
Kumquats, Persimmons and Green Coffee with non dairy milk
Notice Sofie in the background. You couldn't script this if you tried to haha


FOR MY TAKE ON GREEN COFFEE, HOW TO QUIT COFFEE, HOW TO PREPARE IT AND THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEN COFFEE YOU CAN CLICK here

Later on I had some baby bananas.

I am not sure why I prefer them over regular bananas but the taste is pretty close. The baby bananas seem to have a lower water content and taste more like banana bread, banana dessert or something. Also they are less hybridized.
On some days I have 5 of them (we split with Sofie of course) on others 15. Depends what quantity makes me feel satiated for the moment.

A big baby banana - size reference (Yes!! She thinks she is getting sum lol) 
I worked on a L Handstand & Legs Routine for 20 minutes. This workout was very intense and a ton of fun for the advanced yogis. I am hoping to shoot it this week and upload it as soon as I can. Then I made some of the celery lime drink from my chaturanga challenge class, the link to the class is here. A few of you asked for the ingredients so I remembered to photograph them.  If you want to join the chaturanga challenge this is the link to the video. There is nothing more important for arm balances than mastering chaturanga dandasana perfectly.
Cilantro or parsley, celery, jalapeno, lemon, garlic(optional) and some savory and other dried spices.  Blend with water!


A few hours later I had some of this stevia sweetened sparkling water.
SPREE with vitamin B12
Followed by some more Kumquats
Kumquats
This is how much she loves kumquats! She is all business around them.

Oh but she wants them!
She actually knows to never grab anything from the table, trash or grocery bags! Phew! 
Dinner time. As usual I had raw and steamed/roasted veggies and dip. Salad and dressing.
I made the best salad dressing ever! This was an incredible combination of flavors. I combined tangerines, kumquats, wasabi, chipotle, sesame seeds, tofu, flax seed, ginger, pomegranate seeds and a few more ingredients to make something that tastes out of this world. Recipe here


Some veggies and dip

Pumkin tofu dip

As a rule adding mashed pumpkin, peanut butter, carrots, tofu and sesame seed to dips makes them amazing. This dip was made with pumpkin, tofu, chipotle, cinnamon and a few other ingredients.

Sauteed (no oil) carrots for dipping. Glazed in orange, pomegranate molases base.
Glazed carrots (orange juice, pomegranate molases glaze)

Tofu tomato carrot dip with sumac and raw brussel sprouts

I ended up eating around 1500 calories and around 15% of the calories from fat. Why I don't eat more calories? I have changed how I train in the past 4 years quite a bit. I think I mentioned in my BIO that I used to teach up to 20 classes a week. Most of which were power yoga classes lasting an hour and a half. So I know quite a bit about being very physically active. I am a person that needs balance in certain areas of my life. Yes, certain areas only. Knowledge is off limits. There! I allow myself to be on the extreme side. Overall I follow what I consider for me a middle path. So if I eat 3000 calories as promoted by many health gurus then I will have to exercise more which is not optimal for me. I prefer to exercise enough to be fit, strong, flexible and balanced and that's not that much exercise. :) 
Why I dont believe in low sugar, low carb diets - that's a future post. I have eaten the same way pretty much since the age of 15. Meaning mostly fruits and veggies with some other additions such as beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Superfoods to me are a fad. Herbs however are Natures Superfoods! As far as dry powdered superfoods most of them are not bad for you but extremely overprised and of average health promoting efficacy compared to the local varieties of FRESH veggies and fruit in your area. Herbs however are a truly powerful medicine. I turn to Nature when I need to heal. I love herbs more than I love yoga. Sorry Yoga you are still my second biggest love :P Yoga is a way to connect with the human soul. Herbs are a way to connect with the soul of Mother Nature. They are the expression of her genius. 
Time to walk the little monkey! 





6 comments:

  1. Please write more about herbs. I'm really interested but I don't know much. Thanks for everything.

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  2. The look in Sophie's eyes when you're holding the kumquat close to her nose is like.. "Zomg, zomg, I can almost taste it!!"

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  3. I grew up in a neighborhood in LA off Los Feliz Blvd...I enjoyed the walk pictures so much...It felt like old home week for a minute...Sophie kills me with those intense eye to food gazes...She is a serious contender for those kumquats...I saw that wasabi, tangerine dressing on the other blog page...a must try, I'd say!... love to you and Miss Sophie, goddess dog of produce!

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  4. I made the tangerine, wasabi, etc, dressing today...it has to be one of the best Asian dressings I have ever had! I use sesame seeds instead of tahini...is that right? The toasty flavor of a few unground seeds in the salad just floated my boat...I can see another batch in my near future...I didn't have tangerines so I used tangelos...Very yummy! Thanks for all of the shares. I saw your added ginger and cardamon in the reishi coffe...This is a definite breakfast for tomorrow. I have waited a while since my last reishi adventure as suggested...So, very excited about the new brew tomorrow. Maybe excited enough to brave the Balkan Challenge!!! Which, we all know, takes much courage! Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes Ali...Many have become a part of a very healthy, day to day, at the Miller house...PS, Sophie under the table, with kunquats in a bowl, over her head, gave me a good laugh (they must smell mighty good to her...she kind of looked like her being there was just a fortunate coincidence)...Ha! Have a great Thursday evening and WOW, or what?, on the weather today! xo, hugs and yums!...xoxo, L

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    1. oh I am so glad you tried it!!!! it was spectacular! the sesame seeds and the wasabe are such a great combination. ah the balkan workout. i would do it today as well. i am creating my new website and will put your testimony first. do you have any preference as to what name i should use?

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  5. Hi Ali. I'm not sure if you've spoken about this before but I was just wondering if you shared Susun Weeds viewpoint on essential oils, that they are harmful, drug like substances.

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Mountain Rose Herbs. A herbs, health and harmony c