Chocolate Cottage Cheese

1 Cup whipped cottage cheese
1 chocolate pudding
truvia/sugar


This mixture is soooo yummmy! I added some Fiber One, Frosted Flakes, and some Cinnamon Sugar Almonds that I just picked up from Trader Joe's!

This was the perfect post-yoga snack for me today!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Today I was reallly in the mood for something sweet potato-ey...so I decided to make mashed sweet potatoes!!!

Ingredients-

1 large yam or sweet potato
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon
sugar/truvia
nutmeg
4 dried figs
skim milk (or almond milk/soy milk)

After cooking up my sweet potato and then mashing it, I added truvia and the above spices to the mix. I didn't list exact measurements because those spices really are to suite your tastes... I went a little crazy because I love cinnamon and nutmeg....Then I chopped up some figs realllly small, added some milk and I was done!!

Enjoy!!!!

I'm sure this would be reallllly good mixed with dried dates, nuts, etc.....

Summer Solstice

In honor of the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, Times Square is holding an event called "Mind Over Madness Yoga". I went last year by myself and it was AMAAAAZING! This time I'm dragging my mom along! Last year was an unbelievable experience, practicing yoga with hundreds of other New Yorkers in the middle of Times Square. It was awesome. This year is going to be even better, having my mom there with me. Doing yoga is something I usually love to do by myself, it's my "me-time", but there is something really special about sharing yoga with others, especially with close friends and family. So I am definitely looking forward to tonight's class (and to the other challenge of being able to listen to my breath and find peace in the middle of Times Square...)!


{Peace, Love, and Giggles}

African Yoga Mat Bags

I just came across these awesome yoga bags made by African women from a cooperative in Rwanda! My yoga mat bag is also made by African women from Rwanda but I am not sure if it is from this company because I have had mine for years. So, for all you yogis out there, check these out! They're seriously cool and who doesn't love fair trade goods? Especially when it goes to Africa!!!!

http://shop.indegoafrica.org/collections/yoga-bags

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal

This recipe is adapted from Hungry Girl's creation of a giant oatmeal bowl recipe.
I always try to switch up my oatmeal recipes because I eat oatmeal almost daily!!

• 1/2 C oats
• 1 C water
• 1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• pinch of salt
• Cinnamon (I use a cinnamon/sugar blend)
• 2 splenda packets
• Hershey's sugar-free chocolate syrup
• 1 banana

Place the oats, water, and milk into a pot. Place over high heat. Add the salt, cinnamon, and splenda. Stir. Once it starts to bubble, add the chocolate syrup. Stir again. Then, slice a banana and place it into this pot of yumminess!! Once the oatmeal looks nice and thick, pour into a bowl and enjoy your massive chocolate banana oatmeal!!!!!

Kabocha Squash Fries

One of my favorite comfort foods!!! These Asian squashes may be hard to find, especially during the warmer seasons, but trust me on this: they are sooooo worth the search!

• 1 Kabocha squash 
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil Spray (or actual olive oil)

Peel the squash (sounds much easier than it is, you literally need to use some muscle strength to cut apart the peel!) with a knife.

Cut into french fry- sized pieces. Place in a baking dish and spray with olive oil spray (or drizzle some olive oil over it). Sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt and pepper and bake on 425 degrees for around 20-35 minutes (may take longer depending on the oven). I placed my baking dish into the broiler for another 5 minutes to add some crispiness to the mix! 

Enjoy!!!!

Honeydew Lime Popsicles/Cubes

• 1 medium honeydew (very ripe)
• 1/4 C lime juice
• 1/4 splenda 

Blend all of the above and pour into ice cube trays or popsicle molds for a nice, refreshing summertime treat!!!

Homemade Granola Bars & Bits

Hey everyone!

Today my sweet tooth was in full throttle and I just had to make something that would satisfy my cravings, so I adapted a recipe from The Dashing Dish Blog and made some homemade granola bars....which actually turned out to be half granola bars and half granola bits (perfect for sprinkling in oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese, you name it!!)

Here is the recipe:

• 1 C rice krispies
• 1 C bran/flake cereal (I used Fiber One Honey Clusters)
• 1 C twig/fiber cereal (I used Fiber One but All Bran works too)
• 1 C oats (quick cooking)
• 1/2 C honey (using agave nectar would "veganize" this recipe
• 1/4 C peanut butter (I used "Better n Peanut Butter" for a low fat option)
• 2 tbsp butterscotch morsels (PB, white chocolate, and chocolate chips would all work too)
• 1/2 Splenda (Truvia works too)
• pinch of salt
• Cinnamon (a few shakes) -(I used a cinnamon/sugar blend)
• 1/4 C shredded coconut 

Get a large mixing bowl and mix all of the cereals together. Use a spoon to crush the cereal. Microwave the PB for 30 seconds and mix in. Mix in the honey, Splenda, salt, coconut, cinnamon, and butterscotch morsels.

Pour into a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 25 minutes on 375 degrees! You can leave the bars in longer for a crunchier bar. 

*When I baked this, half of the baking dish didn't turn into bars and instead turned out to be just plain old granola!!! YUMMMMM YUMMMMMMMM!!

And remember, as John Lennon once said: "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." So go ahead, share some of these granola bars with someone who needs them!