Lessons from the Monk I Married

Showing posts with label healthy body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy body. Show all posts

Friday, January 25, 2013

365 Inspirations—25: Banana Bread (Grain and Sugar Free!)

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight."—M.F.K. Fisher

Since my husband and I decided to go Paleo, I can't seem to stop trying out new recipes in the kitchen. I've done this recipe many times, but it's so delicious! Who says you can't have bread for breakfast? Why not try a grain free, sugar free banana bread? Add a little butter on top and perfect!

As some of you may know, I also blogged for 365 days in 2010. That time I did lessons! It was quite different from the inspirations I'm doing this year. The year I did lessons was a big year for me and I learned quite a bit. That year of lessons is also going to become my second book. I'll let you know more about that when the project is underway.

I'm finding, once again, that it is quite a challenge to blog every single day, teach full-time, do yoga 3-4 times a week and begin working on a second book, but so far I'm still here. That is a good thing. The truth is, I'm always up for a challenge and writing inspirations on my blog every single day helps me keep focused on the good things in my life. There's always something I can find that I'm inspired by.

Healthy banana bread is one of them. And it's ready to come out of the oven RIGHT NOW. Wish you could smell it! It smells divine. Just a minute while I take it out.....

I just put it on the counter top and cut a slice out while it's still hot!


Mmmmm.. Super moist and you simply can't believe that there is no sugar or grains in this.

Here's the recipe:

Two very ripe large bananas
1/2 cup of honey
3 Tbs. of coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups almond flour
1 heaping tsp. of baking soda
handful of walnuts and raisins

Mix together the almond flour and baking soda and set aside. Mash the banana with a masher and add in honey, vanilla, eggs, and melted coconut oil (olive oil will do too). Mix this with a mixer. After that, slowly add in the dry ingredients with a mixer. Grease a bread pan and pour in. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until brown on top and firm.

Enjoy!

I also cooked a Crockpot of Italian sausage, sweet potato, lentil, onion and brussel sprout soup.


This was intuitive and completely on the fly. I did not use a recipe. Just saute everything in olive oil with a bit of cumin, a dash of Chinese five spice and a dash of cayenne. Add to beef broth in Crockpot. Cook lentils separately and rinse and add those to Crockpot too. Slow cook everything for about 4 hours.

Off to my classes at the college. Here's my question for today:

Have you ever tried doing an activity (besides the regular sleeping, eating, etc.) for 365 days? If you could choose one thing, what would it be?

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

365 Inspirations—One: Cirque Du Soleil Performers

"I never found anything that I would leave the circus to do...Like I never said, 'Oh, I want to be a veterinarian.'"—Alan J. Silva (Cirque du Soleil Performer)



My first inspiration for the new year has to be the Cirque du Soleil performers. Have you ever seen a Cirque du Soleil show? I saw my first show (The Beatles LOVE) on December 26, 2012 (my husband's 40th birthday) in Las Vegas.

I guess I didn't have many expectations. It's just a "refined"version of the circus, right? WRONG. These people train their entire lives and put on the most amazing and inspirational shows I have ever seen. The things the human body can do are unbelievable and they are only believable if you have the opportunity to watch a show.

I love the quote above because it shows that this performer has found his calling. He loves what he is doing and don't we all want to find that completely?

"When the audience [first] sees me, they never expect I will fly through the air," said Silva. Not just fly through the air, but fly through the air with only a few silk sheets holding him up!

Alan J. Silva was one of the many performers I saw that blew me away. He performed in the very provocative Cirque du Soleil show called Zumanity that plays at New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas. We also saw The Beatles LOVE show at the Mirage that was equally impressive.

After watching these two shows, my husband and I have decided that we'd like to return to Las Vegas in May for our 10th wedding anniversary. We'd really like to see "O" and "KA" next.

My husband is a yoga teacher at Yoon's Yoga Bliss in the Seattle area, so these performers really impressed him. I am a regular yoga student at Yoon's Yoga Bliss, but after seeing these performances, I'd like to practice yoga more (at least 2-3 times per week) and try an acrobatics class or an acro-yoga class at some point. I dream of flying through the air....

Keeping my body in good shape through regular exercise is one of my resolutions this year.  Seeing all the Cirque du Soleil performers perform really made me realize what an incredible gift our bodies are. We were given a body, we should treat it well!