An Elixor to Melt Stress and Help You Sleep Better

Whether you need a daytime calm infusion, or a nighttime sleep-ease this warm soothing drink is for you.

Most of the ingredients in this mixture of ayurvedic remedies can probaby be found in your kitchen already. Dates, almonds, and healthy oils are easy to find and great options to ease stress and anxiety year-round. However, in the winter months when cold temperatures and dry air bring vata energy even more out of balance, the impact of this beverge is needed even more. For added calming impact I have also added the herb Ashwagandha to this recipe.

This is where you may need to leave your house and pop out to your closest health food store. Ashwaganda is also known as Indian ginseng or winter cherry. It’s botanical name is withania somnifera. It has been used medicinally in Ayurveda for centuries. Recent studies indicate it can play a role in decreasing anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders. Much research is also currently being done on its’ antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, immune-enhancing, thyroid balancing, and many other effects (Braun & Cohen, Herbs & Natural Supplements, 2015).

This herb is known as an adaptogen, meaning that it supports our immune and neuroendocrine processes by adapting to the current needs of the body to promote balance! This ability to create a non-specific response depending on our unique requirements is one reason why it helps us decrease anxiety and cope with stress so effectively. It brings us “back to the middle” and at some point we all need little of that.

Adaptogenic Tea Ingredients:
1 tsp ashwagandha powder
1 date (or your favourite sweetener, honey, agave, etc to taste)
2-3 almonds (can skip if you are using nut milk)
1 c hot water (or warm almond/nut milk)
1 tbs of coconut oil/ghee or combination of both (optional, but adds creaminess and brain feeding oils)
¼ tsp vanilla
Pinch of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and sea salt (all optional)
*If I feel like a chocolate version I add 1 tbs of cocoa powder. You may need more sweetener.

Combine all ingredients at high speed in your vitamix or smaller blender.
Enjoy

Whip up this antioxidant rich tea that boasts a healthy dose of brain-fueling oils in less than five minutes to kick start your September. One sip at a time, this super-food combination will help to clear brain fog, get rid of food cravings, and your enhance overall well-being.

For some time now I have been wishing that I drank coffee so that I could check out all the bulletproof coffee hype. It only recently occurred to me that I could simply add some of the same healthy oils to my daily matcha to create my own brain blasting drink!

I was introduced to matcha while I was living in Japan, however during most of my years there I only drank steeped green tea. It was not until I was leaving Japan to backpack around India that my best friend’s momma discretely tucked a bag into my back pack during our final good-byes. She thought it would be easier to make on the road, and would allow me to keep drinking the green tea that we had spent so many wonderful hours sipping as we chatted. Many times over the past decade I have sent thanks from afar to Okasan for introducing me to my now favorite daily drink. I suspect her kind and generous spirit is rivaled only by her Olympic level tolerance for my bad Japanese grammar! Arigato Okasan!

Matcha (or powdered green tea) is not steeped so the whole leaf is consumed. Given its recent popularity in coffee shops, you would be forgiven for considering it to be a fad food, however this powdered tea dates back more than 1000 years in Japan. Around this time Buddhist monks began growing the tea leaves in the shade, resulting in a large increase in antioxidant levels. If you have ever wondered why the oldest person in the world is so frequently Japanese maybe this is why. They do drink loads of the stuff!

Traditionally matcha and oil would never be combined as they are in this recipe, however there is a method to the madness. We now know that healthy fats (in moderation) are integral to the brains health and ability to perform; in fact our brain is almost 60 percent fat! Despite this, low fat food continues to be heavily promoted in our society, often without regard for nutritional content. Adding healthy oils to our diet is one way to ensure that we give our bodies the essential nutrition that it needs.

One of the oils in this recipe is MCT or medium chain triglycerides. I will leave it to you to look up all the hype and studies on MCT. They have become such a health food buzz word because MCTs are processed in a different way by the body than other fats. They go directly from the gut to the liver and are made available as an immediate source of energy. This makes them less likely to be stored as fat (the basis for the recently popular ketogenic diet). MCTs are also turned into ketones. These substances are created when the liver breaks down fat. They can be used by the brain for energy instead of sugars. A common source of MCTs is coconut oil, however if you are not a fan of that flavor you can buy the flavorless MCT oil in any health food shop.

The second oil on this ingredient list is ghee, or clarified butter. Ghee is a source of important omega 3 fats as well as a number of different vitamins. It is also an ancient Indian Ayurvedic health food. Many dairy intolerant drinkers like that the lactose is removed in the clarifying process that converts butter into ghee. This oil has a high smoke point for cooking, and is used in a myriad of traditional Indian remedies such as  digestive and elimination aids, joint lubricants, skin and eye vitalizers, and much more. Click this link for my post on how to make your own ghee. It is so easy! If possible, choose grass-fed butter to make your ghee as it has increased levels of healthy oils.

Matcha, MCT and ghee are the three key ingredients of this boosting matcha recipe. I have added optional variations, but I personally just stick with the big three when I make my own. Use as a breakfast energizer, a fasting aid, or a grounding way to clear mind fog. If you have an interest in ayurveda (traditional Indian remedies), adding a moderate amount of healthy oil to your day may help you balance the over abundance of vata energy that comes with autumn. I find that a cup of this wipes out the crazy food cravings that I tend to get in late afternoons, also a high vata time of day.

Matcha Brain Booster Ingredients
1 teaspoon of matcha (or more if you like)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or MCT oil)
1 tablespoon of ghee (ideally made from grass fed butter)
1 cup hot water (or more)
*This basic recipe is my fave!

Optional ingredients
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup of coconut milk, almond milk, etc., or favorite dairy (You can replace the hot water with your choice of heated milk or dairy replacement)
Honey, agave, or  liquid sweetener of choice to taste.

Combine
An upright blender or a hand mixer results in the best texture. Throw in the ingredients and mix until creamy and frothy. If no mixer/blender is available, add hot water to the matcha in a wide mug (or matcha bowl) and whisk in the other ingredients. It won’t be as frothy and creamy but will still be tasty!

Enjoy!

Japanese Pumpkin to Calm the Moving Vata Energy of Autumn

My lifelong obsession with pumpkins spans back to my single digit years. I fantasized about growing one as tall as I was, like the pumpkin pictured next to the kid on the seed packet. I never did. I also never even thought about eating one. Maybe the shorter growing season in northern Newfoundland was to blame, but I never saw anyone actually grow a pumpkin. Most families in my little community had a garden to grow potatoes, carrots, cabbage, even some lettuce in the later years, but never pumpkin. In my early 20’s I moved to the west coast and found out that pumpkins, in addition to being carved on Halloween, were also food!

I never looked back. Life brought me to Japan for a few years where the autumn pumpkin dishes made me even more in love with pumpkin (or kabucha in Japanese), and then to India where pumpkin is not only beautifully incorporated into meals but used in Ayurveda as a healing food. The markets in both these countries sold only a green pumpkin variety that I eventually realized is a lot more like what we call butternut squash here. The flesh is not as wet as our orange pumpkins and seems to work better in my pumpkin recipes.

The recipe below was inspired by my most recent squash/pumpkin epiphany, that pasta doesn’t need to always be topped with tomato sauce. Indeed “pasta” doesn’t even necessarily need to be pasta with all the zucchini available to be spiralized at the market these days. Zucchini is probably my second favourite vegetable…or maybe third behind beets, argh…so hard to choose!

Adding squash/pumpkin to your diet will help create physical and mental balance as the seasons change. Fall brings an increase in vata energy, which ayurveda teaches can leave you feeling scattered and overwhelmed. Pumpkin soothes this by bringing a calming kapha element to your foods.  A tasty way to enhance your ability to navigate the high energy schedule of the season.

This recipe is especially easy to make if you have pumpkin pureed and frozen in your freezer already. The recipe portion is for one person because often I pull this together when I am home alone for a fast lunch. You can easily multiply it by however many people you are serving.

Squash Spaghetti

• 1 cup baked and pureed butternut squash/pumpkin* I have never used the can puree but that may work too.
• ½ onion chopped finely
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• One large zucchini (spiralizeded)
• Salt/ pepper
• Your favourite cooking oil

Instructions

Saute the chopped onion and garlic in oil in a frying pan. Add the squash puree and salt/pepper to taste. Mix in pan for 2-3 minutes. Put aside. Saute spiralized zucchini in oil/salt/pepper to taste until desired softness. Top zucchini with squash sauce. You could use pasta instead of zucchini. Or you could top pasta with the zucchini and the squash sauce.

*No pureed squash/pumpkin in your freezer? Just cut a whole squash in half, scoop out the seeds & pulp. Brush oil the edge. Place cut side down on parchment paper in tray. Cook on 350 for 1 hour (or until soft and easily punctured through with a fork). Remove from oven, let cool, scoop the meat away from the peel and puree.

I like to freeze the puree into 1/2 or 1 cup portions for smoothies or single portion dishes like this one!

Enjoy!

Since Easter is just around the corner, and I hear bunnies love carrots, I thought this might be a timely post. I have always loved snacking on carrots. Not so much in the civilized little stick format, but in more of a bugs bunny inspired, whole vegetable nibbling approach. I still do this regularly, but from time to time I deviate from raw, or simple steaming, to yummy carrot soup. I tried a bunch of different approaches before  finally finding the favourite that I am sharing here.

The best thing about this recipe, aside from its deliciousness, is that it is so easy to make. The first few recipes I tried had me messing up most of the dishes in my kitchen as I moved from step to step. This one just uses the soup pot and the blender and will leave you wondering why you haven’t been eating this Ayurvedic super health food more often.

Carrots have been used traditionally in Ayurveda for a whole range of ailments such as cancer, arthritis, high cholesterol, and digestive issues. Of course carrots are not the whole picture but when added to your diet they can play a role in promoting overall health and wellness, particularly in these areas. For those of you who know your doshas, carrots decrease vata and kapha imbalance and promote pitta.

And now for the recipe.

Ingredients

2 tbs ghee (or butter)

1 medium-Large onion,

1-2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 slices ginger, chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

5 cups chopped carrots (About 5 Large carrots)

6 cups water

2 blocks organic veg broth

Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions: Heat ghee/butter in soup pot on medium heat until it melts. Add onion and celery and cook 5 min or so until soft. Add garlic and parsley. Stir as you cook for 10-15 seconds. Add carrots and stir. Soften the broth cubes in a cup of hot water and then add this and 5 more cups of water. Simmer on med high till boiling. Reduce heat to to maintain an active simmer and cook for 25 minutes.

Pour into blender and puree until smooth. (Careful here! I ladle the soup into the blender until I get to the very end to avoid boiling hot splashes. Or you could wait till the soup cools a little). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a swirl of cream,or without if you don’t do dairy. I like it fine without the cream. Sprinkle on some parsley and serve.

You can make this in advance, refrigerate and serve the next day. It also freezes well.

If you are inspired to make ghee (clarified butter) check out this link to my blog post on how to make ghee. Once you have a bottle made you can use it for all kinds of cooking projects.

Enjoy!

This recipe is just in time for Summer hikes and nibble breaks as you pause to enjoy the iceberg views this year. Date balls are an easy-to-make, healthy, snack choice for a day on the trails. The sweetness of dates allows for the addition of many (even bitter) health boosting ingredients while still maintaining tastiness. You can play around with the recipe below and add whatever super foods you find in your cupboard. This is my 2017 fave. The cacao bits add a crunchy texture that I love!

Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts, almonds (or any other nut you love)
1 1/2 cup pitted dates (I only use medjool, but I hear you can soak/boil the others first)
4 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder
1/2tsp salt (Himalayan rock salt or sea salt is my favourite)
2 tbs cacao nibs
2 tbs chia
1 tbs ground flax
1 tbs hemp hearts
Almond flour, shredded coconut or cocoa powder (to roll finished balls in)

Instructions:
Mix ingredients in a food processor or high quality blender. Shape mixture into small balls. Roll the shaped balls into almond flour, shredded coconut, or cocoa powder. This will make the balls less sticky and easy to handle.

Once coated, pop them in the freezer to pull out last minute before heading out, or eat them right away!