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Summer Skincare is Getting Juicy

Summer is in full swing here in Colorado, and now the best time to start a regular juicing routine. The high altitude, hot sun and dry climate is a recipe for chronic dehydration. So drinking plenty of water and nourishing fluids is essential for maintaining good health.

Just like any superfood, fresh juice makes you feel absolutely incredible. The health benefits are phenomenal. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, juicing can help:

Promote weight loss
Boost your immune system
Increase your energy
Support your brain health

I like to make fresh juice for my Personal Yoga Retreats. It helps to increase flexibility, especially water-laden vegetables like celery and cucumber. I only use organic vegetables and let them come to room temperature beforehand.

One lesser known secret about skincare is that you have to feed the skin from the inside. So instead of spending lots of $$$ on skincare products to create that healthy “summer glow,” you could invest in a high quality juicer and drink the most beautiful veggies.

I used carrots, beets, sweet potato, celery and parsley, all of which are fantastic for the skin. This recipe is especially good for summer because the combination of carrot, beet and sweet potato helps to protect the skin from sun damage.

Here are a few health highlights of this elixir:

Slows the aging process
Maintains tissue growth
Helps to produce collagen (which prevents wrinkles)
Improves skin elasticity
Balances the electrolytes in the body
Reduces acne/blemishes
Detoxifies the blood and liver
Anti-inflammatory
Rich in vitamins and minerals

Fresh Juice for Summer Skincare

Serves 2

4 medium carrots

4 celery stalks

3 small sweet potatoes

2 small beets

Half of a bunch of parsley

Wash the vegetables thoroughly. Spray with a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture to disinfect. Rinse in cool water.
If the vegetables have been in refrigerated allow them to come to room temperature.
Cut the beets and sweet potatoes into pieces that are small enough to fit into your juicer.
Place a Pyrex measuring cup under the spout to catch the juice.
Turn the juicer on and juice the sweet potatoes and beets.
Add the parsley. Use the carrots to help “feed” the parsley into the juicer.
Last of all, add the celery. (See note.)
Turn the juicer off. The juice will continue run into the measuring cup.
When the flow of juice turns into occasional drips, remove the Pyrex and place a dish sponge underneath the spout to catch the drips.
Give the juice a quick stir.
Pour the juice through a fine mesh sieve into two glasses.

Serve and enjoy!

Note: Celery is fibrous and may stick to the blades which unbalances the juicer. So it’s very important to do this step at the end.

The clean up is the most work, but you’ll feel so good from drinking your fresh juice that it won’t really matter. And the pulp looks amazing! It reminds me of the Japanese vegetable cakes that are trending right now…

Juice pulp makes great compost!

If you enjoyed this article you might also like:

The Skinny on Skincare

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Home Rituals – Berry Walnut Muffin Bread

The warm weather has returned to the Western Slope of Colorado, which means that outdoor training season is officially here! I’ve made a commitment to working out in the mornings before it gets too hot. I usually eat a big mid-morning meal (breakfast like a king) so I’ve had to switch up my diet and lifestyle a bit.

The solution? Muffins! Hearty, wholesome and packed with good ingredients. These babies are a great mid-morning snack and carry me though until lunch. This week I played with a new recipe: berry walnut muffin bread (all the goodness of individual muffins in bread form).

So just to clear up a few things. The ingredients in this recipe might raise a red flag for some people and to those folks I say (with love in my heart…)

Don’t like wheat? Don’t eat it.

Don’t like sugar? Don’t eat it.

Don’t like dairy? Don’t eat it.

But to those of us who can enjoy these foods unabashedly I say mangia! Eat with the confidence that comes from choosing the most beautiful foods. Wheat, sugar and dairy are incredibly powerful foods so long as they haven’t been tampered with.

For this muffin bread recipe I used organic non-GMO flour, organic milk and butter. The butter was on sale, otherwise I’d have used any conventional rGBH-free variety. I also used organic frozen mixed berries and non-GMO sugar.

The media has been working overtime to demonize sugar (remember when they tried telling us that butter was bad for you?) Sugar is a superfood in its own right. Sugar is listed in the Materia Medica of Chinese Herbal Medicine as a Qi (energy) tonic. And sugar, wheat, milk and butter are all recommended foods in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

64. Wheat, rice, barley, shastik (a kind of rice), good corns, milk, ghee, sugar, butter, sugarcandy, honey, dried ginger, Parwal (a vegetable), the five vegetables, moong, pure water, these are very beneficial to those who practice Yoga.

So let’s get cooking! This berry walnut muffin bread is fantastic. It’s almost like eating cake for breakfast. The tang from the buttermilk compliments the sweetness of the berries. I made my own buttermilk by mixing whole milk with a little vinegar (lemon juice works too) and letting it sit for five minutes.

I didn’t want the bread to be soggy so I used raspberries, blueberries and blackberries (and cut up the blackberries into smaller pieces). And I always toast nuts before baking with them. Toasting kills off any molds and enhances the flavor of the nuts.

Berry Walnut Muffin Bread

1 Loaf

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of flour (1 cup whole wheat + 1 cup all purpose)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tbsp vinegar)

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan with butter or coconut oil.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl.
Place frozen mixed berries in a small bowl. Add 1-2 Tbsp of the flour mixture and toss to coat. Cover bowl and place in freezer.
In a medium-sized bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla.
Add flour mixture a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.
Fold in the berries and walnuts and pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Sprinkle 2 Tbsp sugar over the top of the batter.
Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or toasted with lots of butter!

*** High Altitude baking note: decrease the amount of baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp. ***

Thai Curry Soup

It’s great to be back on the Western Slope of Colorado. There is something extraordinary about this place. I felt it the first time I drove across the Utah-Colorado border. After exploring Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Utah for the past six months it’s wonderful to know that this is where I want to live. The synchronicity that led to moving to Grand Junction was nothing short of miraculous. And the work that has gone into getting to this point has been significant. Needless to say, I am very, very grateful to be here.

The weather is perfect for soup.

It’s starting to cool down a bit at night, so I’ve been making some small changes to my diet and lifestyle. Soup has been calling my name, so I made a big batch of homemade chicken stock. Last night I whipped up a pot of Thai curry soup. The warming spices and rich coconut milk melded with the slow-cooked meat and vegetables which made the house smell wonderful!

A bowl of good medicine.

This recipe is incredibly versatile, so feel free to play around with the ingredients. I used what I had on hand and made my own curry powder with a good-quality organic turmeric powder. Turmeric is a great addition to your medicine chest [a.k.a. pantry]. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola:

“It has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as well as Ayurvedic medicine.

Traditional medicinal uses include the treatment of liver disease, skin problems, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, sprained muscles, joint pains, and general wound healing.

Its benefits have since been well documented in the medical literature, and curcumin—one of the most well-studied bioactive ingredients in turmeric — has been found to promote health and protect against a wide array of health conditions.

It actually exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic activities, including anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity, as well as potent anti-cancer properties that have been intensely studied.”

The full list of health benefits is way too long to list here, so let’s get cooking! One of the ways to really amp up the flavor of any soup or stew is to add a sprinkling of Celtic sea salt in the final stage of cooking. Just be careful – this stuff is STRONG and a little goes a long way. I also add just a touch of sugar to balance the flavor of the curry. I like spicy food but I can get a little heavy handed and the sugar helps to round things out.

Thai Curry Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 red pepper, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1/3 yellow squash, chopped
2 mushrooms, rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup cooked dark chicken meat, sliced
1 rounded Tbsp curry powder
1 quart chicken stock
1/2 a can of full fat coconut milk
Handful of baby spinach
Kosher and Celtic salt

Start by warming the chicken stock in a small saucepan over low heat.
Place a large wok over medium heat. Add coconut oil, chopped onion, red pepper and carrot. Stir occasionally and cook for a few minutes.
Add chopped yellow squash and mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with Kosher salt.
Add minced garlic and sliced chicken meat. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then coat with curry powder. Stir mixture constantly (it will be dry) for another 1-2 minutes.
Add chicken stock, coconut milk and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer until carrots are tender (15-2o minutes). Add a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt and adjust seasonings as needed.
When ready to serve, add a generous handful of baby spinach and stir until the leaves are wilted. Ladle soup into two bowls.

Serve with hot white rice or cooked noodles.

If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like: Home Rituals – Tortilla Soup

Off-Grid Living

It’s pretty amazing to be in Arizona again. The first time I came here was twenty years ago as an apprentice for an artist in residency program. This time I’m fulfilling a dream of interning at an off-grid eco resort. I’ve been learning about organic gardening and assisting with the operations of a family-run bed and breakfast. In my free time I dive into my practice and absorb the life force of this extraordinary place.

Since landing here a little over a week ago, the effects of unplugging from the electromagnetic matrix have been remarkable. The most noticeable changes have been from being in a larger living space. After the experience of an Agenda 21 micro apartment it’s been wonderful to stretch out again.

I am not a fan of the tiny house movement.

Free range humans need space to thrive and create. While micro-apartments may offer an affordable housing solution, the health risks are significant. According to University of Texas psychology professor Samuel Gosling, an apartment has to fill psychological needs such as self-expression and relaxation, which might not be met in a cramped space.

The Mescal Canyon Retreat has been a welcome source of peace of mind. A crime wave was sweeping through Montrose, Colorado, the likes of which had never been seen by its thirty-year residents. After hearing reports of numerous break-ins, robberies and attempted abductions, it was time for a change of scenery.

It’s wonderful to decompress in an off-grid setting.

My brain has relaxed in the absence of cell phone towers, wi-fi and smart meter radiation. I find that I’m less inclined to go online or use technology. I see phosphenes more often, and the low levels of light pollution make it easier to observe the Milky Way.

My sleep schedule has changed. I rise with the sun and go to bed early. I shower and wash dishes with solar-heated water that’s free of chlorine, fluoride and bromine. Hummingbirds and swallowtail butterflies skim over the flowerbeds during my meditations. I eat fresh pomegranates from the orchard.

Furry friends.

Ayla and Moki keep watch over the property. Moki the Hound takes his job very seriously, and sometimes you’ll hear him chasing coyotes through the canyon. Ayla is a cheeky red fox in a dog’s body. She’s earned many nicknames, including Face, Furface, Foxface and Naughty Girl.

It’s been raining here (a much needed blessing for this area). Last weekend a downpour caused a flash flood through the canyon. For a few hours there was no way to cross the river or leave the resort. There’s nothing quite like being stranded to make you appreciate self-sustainability.

Being here has inspired me to offer Personal Yoga retreats for my clients. There’s nothing quite as wonderful as being able to dive in to one’s practice in a serene and natural setting. It’s an experience that I hope to share with as many people as possible. Let me know if you’re interested!