June 19th

7am
Took a lovely quiet walk around the land this morning and received some gifts from mother nature... loads of surinam cherries are red ripe and falling off the tree! They're juicy, delicious and loaded with healthy vitamin C.

7:35am
My lazy Sunday morning cup of french pressed locally grown coffee before practice. I enjoy it with some vanilla soymilk and coconut palm sugar.

12:46pm
A cute little organic plum. No, I don't think plums grow here on Kauai, but my partner brought home a few the other day. I can't recall the last time I had a plum (don't really like them) so I figure I'll have one for the sake of whatever vitamins they have... Crunch, slurp, pucker... Yep, I still don't really like them. Lucky for me, I live on a lush tropical island with an abundance of fresh, juicy fruits I love!!!

12:49pm
Super sweet and juicy jamaican lilikoi, my new favorite fruit! Awwwwww yeah :-)))))

12:54pm
Papayyyyaaaaaaaaaaa... (I can hear the Indian fruitwallas singing their offerings in my head) ...Pineapple, pineapple, papayyyyaaaaaaaaa! Awwww, papayas always make me miss Mysore.

1:11pm
Maca is an adaptogen; it helps the body adapt to stress and changes more easily and nourishes the endocrine system too.

1:23pm
Tropical smoothie heaven: fresh local organic papaya, pineapple, lilikoi (passion fruit), lime, surinam cherries, coconut meat, frozen banana and some raw organic maca powder, the only non-local ingredient. So beautiful!

1:40pm
Another gorgeous bowlful of compost... Is everyone so in love with their food scraps?!?

4:04pm
A little cold leftover pasta from last night with nutritional yeast.

Saturday June 18th

9:23am
My tulsi pomegranate green tea on a beautiful Saturday morning altar.

1pm
Fresh food from today's Hanalei Farmers Market: an organic arugula salad with lentil and bean sprouts, garden cucumbers, a little organic toasted sesame oil, nama shoyu and chia seeds.

1:20pm
One slice of last night's leftover pizza.

5:20pm
I snack on a bowl of organic kids' cereal with vanilla soymilk.








8:48pm
Pasta. (Yes, again!)

Today I've had some valuable revelations about how the average american eats and what they might consider healthy... wow! Just a reminder that a "healthy" diet is relative and there's so much great information to share that could benefit so many! Personally, I feel like I've been enjoying many days of culinary debauchery lately (well, my own vegan ashtangi version of it) and I'll be making a shift back into a fresher, cleaner diet soon. I usually like to stay pretty flexible with what I eat (as long as it's vegan and mostly organic) and enjoy lots of healthy food, including whole grain pastas, and plenty of treats too. But recently it seems like there have been too many "treats" sneaking into the regular rotation: chips, beer, vegan ice cream, white bread and pasta, vegan cheese pizza, soymilk, cereal, sugar in my coffee or tea. I'm starting to feel the effects and also feeling the shift of season into summer and a desire to lighten up my body and my diet with the warmer weather!

So anyway, here's tonight's pasta... Is it "good" or "bad?" I guess that's relative; my indulgent dinner could be considered another person's health food ;) Organic semolina pasta with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, purple olives, chickpeas, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, fresh oregano, nutritional yeast, sea salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper and lots of fresh raw chopped spinach stirred into the warm pasta at the end. Healthy? Maybe. Delicious? Yes!
(...And I wash it down with a glass of organic red wine. Cheers!)

Friday June 17th: Fruit and Pizza

7:08
Some black chai tea and an apple for breakfast today before class.

12:01pm
Sweet, juicy mango, fragrant pineapple, tart lime juice, fresh coconut meat, coconut water and frozen bananas. All local and organic, all delicious... And I add a little Hawaiian spirulina too.

I have the most beautiful compost :)

8:14pm
Pizza party! Organic cornmeal and whole wheat crusts, homemade sauce, daiya cheese, vegan pepperoni, purple olives and lots of garden fresh torn basil... And a glass of organic red wine too :)

Thursday June 16th: No Cooking!!!

11:35am
Tortilla chips with leftover hummus and mango salsa after class. We had a visitor today and stayed after class so it's late by the time we get home. I'm starving, on my moon, and too lazy to cook... This is a few bites of what's easiest to grab!

12:41
Raspberry Ginger ale. Giving in to peer pressure.

12:44pm
Eagle made lunch: brown rice pasta shells with olive oil, red pepper flakes, shoyu, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, etc, etc, etc....

4:38pm
A bite of something sweet :)

6:47pm
Lucky me, I get treated to dinner at a friends house tonight. Melissa is an amazing cook (and a supersweet girl) and she makes us a beautiful vegan meal even though they're living in a really cool but really small place with no kitchen. Naan flatbread pizza with hummus and veggies, and a beautiful fresh salad with a little balsamic vinegar, lime, and coconut oil. Wow! So fresh and delicious, I love it. Thanks Melissa!

7:59pm
It's dark and nearing yogi bedtime but we stay at Greg and Melissa's hanging out with them and Mel's brother Denny, talking and snacking on sweet bites of mango sorbet and coconut ice cream for dessert. Good times :)

June 15th - Happy Full Moon!

Fresh local organic pineapple, coconut, lilikoi and mint from my garden, so beautiful!

11:36am
I add some frozen bananas to all that beautiful fresh fruit and blend it up with a little spirulina... Now THAT'S breakfast!

1:06pm
A little Coronita n lime. (Doesn’t that lime look like a heart? I see them everywhere these days!) Happy full moon day!

2:49 pm
Dulse. Gotta get my iodine!

I spend the afternoon making a variety of small, simple dishes. Fresh red beets with crunchy apples, raw walnuts and garden parsley. Extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Simple sweet golden beets fresh from a friend's garden with sea salt, coconut vinegar, lots of garden fresh dill and a sprinkling of raw sunflower seeds.

Tender arugula salad with lots of bean & lentil sprouts, a little extra virgin olive oil, a splash of nama shoyu and sprinkling of seaweed gomasio.

Garden fresh cucumber and basil with local red tomatoes.

3:31 pm
I also make a nice hummus out of dried chickpeas, sea salt, a clove of garlic, fresh lime juice, chipotle, sesame paste, extra virgin olive oil and a dash of cayenne. Add some ciabatta from the Kilauea Bakery and that's a feast!

Kevin, who works on the land here, gifted us an awesome new composter! Here’s the first batch of beautiful food scraps to start it off... Thank you Kevin!!!

Dessert! Eagle surprises me with a big spoonful of creamy peanut butter and sweet cherry jam, then I add another treat: a raw maca chocolate truffle bar :)

Tuesday June 14th - Play Day!

This morning after mysore class I picked up a loaf of fresh ciabatta and a hazelnut soy latte... and forgot to take my photo of it ;)

1:42pm
Tuesday Mysore class is finished and tomorrow is the full moon... woohoo, I’m ready for a break! I plan to pack a picnic and take it up to one of my favorite beaches, but find I’m missing most of the ingredients I wanted to cook at home, so it’s Harvest Market organic salad bar that ends up coming to the beach with me. No problem! Raw kale and cabbage salad, tempeh veganaise salad, peas, carrots, beets, hummus and cucumber slices.

4pm
After an idyllic afternoon at Tunnels Beach, I crack open a fresh coconut and then head to the Tuesday at 2 Farmers Market in Hanalei for a few fresh treats. Then it’s back to Harvest Market again to meet some friends and enjoy an organic smoothie: acai strawberry banana rice milk, mmmm mmmmmm :) A few hours of conversation and a can of coconut water later, the sun has set and the giant full moon lights my way home... 

10:08pm
I’m really feeling this moon and my own moon cycle too: wide awake way past my bedtime, talking rapidly and incessantly, and making a laaaaaate night quesadilla snack: tempeh cubes, daiya pepperjack, organic pineapple salsa and cilantro in a spinach whole wheat tortilla grilled with a little Earth Balance and sea salt. Good thing there’s no practice tomorrow morning!

June 13: More Simple Deliciousness.

9:22am
Surinam cherries for breakfast.

1:26pm
One of our students brought a special treat today: Lilikoi RAW "Cheesecake." Yum Yum Yum!!! Thanks Sara and Shaela, recipe please!

3:19pm
Miso blooming... I added some dulse and wakame too.

6:43pm
Simple, beautiful lightly stirfried veggies with tempeh cubes. Coconut oil, fresh ginger and garlic, lots of crisp green beans, sweet crunchy carrots, vibrant rainbow chard and mung bean sprouts with red pepper flakes and nama shoyu.

7:59pm
Evening tea. Rose, lavender, chamomile. Ahhhhhhhh... ready to drift off to sleep...