Ayurvedic Cookies – Heavenly Muesli-Crunch Cookies (Sugar-free!)

August 9, 2016 by Lorien

This recipe has been blowing my mind and deeply exciting my tastebuds and senses since I first made and intuitively put together a batch of these delicious cookies a week ago!

They are super simple, require no processed sweetener (not even beloved maple!). They are a great wholesome treat to have on hand for afternoon tea, a snack at work, the kid’s lunchbox’s and or any other excuse you can make in your day to open the cookie jar and sit down with one of these amazing treats in your mouth!

…Okay, enough cookie-talk, let’s get to the cookie-cooking!

Wholesome Ayurvedic

Heavenly Muesli-Crunch Cookies!

(sugar-free, nut-free, gluten-free*, vegan friendly)

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of organic oats*
1 cup of organic sunflower seeds
1 cup of organic pumpkin seeds
4 tablespoons of organic cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons of organic cardamon powder (or seeds)
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1/2 tsp of fine organic sea salt
200ml of home-made organic melted ghee or coconut oil
20 organic dried ‘desert’ dates soaked, de-pitted and mashed into a puree or blended.
1 tsp of organic pure vanilla essence
your love!

* Note: If you are celiac, use ‘gluten-free un-contaminated oats‘.

Creation process:

**Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes while you prepare your cookie mix.

Place all dry ingredients; oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon powder, cardamon powder & sea salt into a large mixing bowl.
Prepare your dates: take the pits out of the dates and place dates in a medium bowl. Cover dates in hot water and let soften for 3-4 minutes. Once dates are soft, remove the water and mash with a fork or blend in a food processor to make a date puree. (It’s ok to leave some chunks!) Add the date puree to the dry mix of oats and seeds.
Now melt your ghee or coconut oil and stir into the dry mix with the dates.
Add vanilla essence and stir with a wooden spoon or clean hands until the wet and dry ingredients have mixed well together and your happy with the consistency.
Take some melted ghee or coconut oil and oil your baking tray or use a sheet of baking paper.
Take a small piece of cookie mix and roll into a ball in your hands then flatten with the palms of your hand to create a circular cookie shape.
Place your tray of cookies in the oven and bake for approx 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Take them out once they’re done and let them cool before stacking them in your favourite cookie jar or container!

Voila! Your cookies are now ready for your nourishing pleasure! Yum!! :)

If you loved this recipe – share the love by sharing the recipe link below with your friends via facebook!

Happy wholesome cookie munching friends!

x Lorien

Spring Moong Bean Kitchari Recipe with fresh parsley & creamy salted avocado! Gluten Free / Vegetarian / Vegan / Wholesome!

October 9, 2015 by Lorien

The best nutritional path to take in life is the one that suits you most!

We are all unique and this means that our bodies and digestive systems are unique as well! (Yay! how beautiful is that!)

Our bodies thrive when we can listen and be intuitive about our food & lifestyle choices.

Instead of following the latest food trend or getting overwhelmed by varying food philosophies – ask your body what it wants, what it needs and then listen. You are not like anyone else. Doing what everyone else does will never be truly nourishing.

In order to really nourish yourself – you must listen to the call of your tummy, your feelings, your passions and your inspirations.

Ask yourself these questions… Which foods feel amazing in your tummy? & Which foods make your heart and mind sing? and move towards those things… experiment, play and explore!

Often creating this inner connection with self is all that is needed to soothe, calm and rebalance the intelligence of our body, heart and mind.

It’s exciting, it’s fun and it’s delicious to open up, to explore your body and to listen to what foods your body wants, loves and needs.

Master your eating and you will master your mind… this is what the Ayurvedic sages of India share with us.

“Quality of mind depends on quality of food.” ~The Vedas

Ingredients:

2 cup whole moong beans (soaked overnight)
1 cup basmati or brown rice (washed 3 x and strained)
1/4 pumpkin chopped into cubes
1 cup green beans chopped into small pieces
8 cups of boiling water
1 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
1 clove of garlic finely chopped/pressed
1/2 a red onion finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, 1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp himalayan salt & a few cracks black pepper
1/2 ripe avocado & some fresh parsley or coriander
your love! :)

So easy to digest, nourishing & in Ayurvedic texts said to be a ‘complete protein’!

Creation process:

Add 1 tblsp Ghee or Coconut oil to your pot
Once melted, add 1/4 teaspoon of Cumin seeds & Coriander seeds. Allow to toast.
Add Ginger, garlic and onion to the spices & toast. (Garlic & Onion is optional).
Add 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder & stir.
Add 2 cups of soaked & rinsed whole moong beans.
Add 1 cup of rice.
Stir & toast in the spices for a few minutes to lighten the lentils & rice for improved digestion.
Place your chopped pumpkin and green beans in the pot.
Add 8 cups of boiling water & stir. Allow to gently boil.
Add a pinch of Himalayan salt and a few cracks of black pepper.
Continue to stir regularly – adding your juicy love! :) Cook for approx 20-30 minutes on a medium heat.
When Rice & Moong become creamy, turn off the heat and serve with an extra spoon of ghee or coconut oil on top, 1/2 an avocado sliced and salted and a fresh garnish of parsley or coriander!

Voila!

A super delicious nourishing vegetarian and vegan (minus the ghee!) complete protein dish! Yum! This is such an easy meal to make during the week when it’s hard to come up with creative ideas for the family and you want something fast, nourishing AND delicious! :)

Bon appetite! :)

x Lorien

Wheat-free, No Stress!

July 19, 2015 by Lorien

Fresh gluten-free buckwheat pancakes and organic berries for breakfast!! (pancakes made by Mary Murray in Toronto, Canada!) :)

Making the transition from eating wheat as a staple to eating gluten-free / wheat-free grains can be quite a daunting challenge and difficult at first to negotiate for many lovers of food out there who love their bread, toast, bagels, pancakes and pasta!

When choosing to embark on a ‘wheat-free’ journey there can be a lot of stress associated with having to learn to literally ‘eat’ again and figure out by yourself – what you CAN and can’t eat to stay true to your new way of life.

What you may not know is that many gluten-free processed and packaged products you see on the super market shelf are not going to do your body ANY favours… They are just as bad, if not worse.

Cheap and often nasty gluten-free ingredients to be aware of in the supermarket: Corn flour, corn starch, corn syrup, maize, potato starch, tapioca flour & white rice flour. (+Anything that is not labelled certified organic! In a big super-market it will be genetically modified if not otherwise stated.)

Why go wheat-free?

Wheat has changed A-LOT since humans started first eating it. Through the process of agriculturalisation – the precious and highly revered staple grain for many cultures has become less than a shadow self of what it once was. The nutrients and goodness that wheat may have used to offer has now diminished. Since we eat it so much as its used as a ‘filler’ or main ingredient in virtually everything, our bodies often struggle beneath the surface to deal with the large amounts of this stuff that we eat. It is very easy to eat ‘wheat’ 3-5 times in one single day these days, the supermarket is filled with wheat products – your cereal, toast, sandwhich, biscuit, crackers, pasta, fancy cookies… it’s all around. Wheat has made it in the big leagues ~ by far the most processed and consumed food product in the western world.

Common symptoms of eating Wheat:

Weight gain, inflammation of joints, arthritis, skin rashes, acne, pimples, obesity, malabsorption, fuzzy head, confusion, tiredness, diabetes, depression, high blood sugar levels, poor digestion, feeling heavy & fluid retention.

You don’t need to live with any of these ailments – they are preventable through looking at your food and lifestyle choices. For many… wheat is the number #1 offender. Simply cutting it out 90% of the time can lead to drastic inspiring results, weigh loss, clear thinking, reduced pain and inflammation plus feeling good about life!

Good news: Choosing Wholesome ‘Wheat-Free’ Alternatives is Easy!

It doesn’t need to be so stressful! There are SO many delicious wonderful wholefoods you can eat and cook with to replace the wheats throne at your table!

My top ‘Gluten-free’ + ‘Wheat-free’ wholesome kitchen favourites:

Buckwheat pancakes, buckwheat bread, buckwheat crisp bread, buckwheat flour for cooking.
Quinoa flakes for porridge, quinoa flour for baking, whole quinoa for simply eating.
Millet flour for baking, millet flakes for porridge, whole millet for simply eating.
Amaranth flakes for porridge, amaranth flour for baking, whole amaranth for simply eating.
Brown rice flour for baking, brown rice flakes for porridge, whole brown rice for simply eating.
Besan (chick-pea) flour for baking, making pancakes and binding.
Mung bean pasta, adzuki bean spaghetti, black bean spaghetti (there are so many great grain-free pastas available nowadays in your local health food shop – just ask them!)

There are SO many great ingredients and foods that make the body feel good – AND that taste good. Try some of these favourites for yourself and remember, never stress – there is a whole world of delicious, simple and nourishing wheat-free foods out there for you to love and enjoy!

x Lorien

A bowl FULL of LOVE. Guest Interview with Ayurvedic Chef Stephen Galpin

May 13, 2014 by Lorien

There are many ways to be of service in this world…

Some choose to serve in third world countries, contributing to the quality of life and love in communities that have limited resources.

Some serve their country, some feed the poor, some sacrifice their own wellbeing in protest for the environment, mother nature and the wellbeing of others.

There are so many ways to be of service, through our thoughts, words and actions every single day.

Drum-roll please… Make a warm cup of Tumeric Chai, grab your blankey and get cosy as we take some time with a true teacher of the spirit of service.

Chef Stephen Galpin, our Wholesome Loving Goodness featured guest this month, is of service through LOVE-FILLED food and wisdom.

Stephen’s cooking of delightful ~ spice, ghee, LOVE infused offerings have a way of transforming the ‘eater’ the ‘receiver’ of this truly divine cuisine.

This morning as I enjoyed a bowl of his amazing porridge for breakfast at the Mudita Ayurveda and Mindfulness retreat in Byron Bay that I work on each year, I was reminded of the power of porridge, the power of infusing LOVE into your cooking. I was so inspired that as soon as I finished the bowl of creamy, vanilla, saffron polenta I swiftly walked to my car, got my laptop, turned it on and began writing these words in honour and praise of this amazing Chef, teacher and master of devotional cooking.

About six months ago I did an interview with Stephen. I asked him some questions about the life of being an Ayurvedic chef, his inspiration, his perspective on this gorgeous food and offering of love that he shares. He graciously agreed to share this information with me, with you – the Wholesome Loving Goodness tribe!

In nature there is a divine timing for when a fruit is ripe, when a flower opens, when the rain falls and when the sun rises. This divine timing cannot be forced or controlled.

This interview has had it’s own divine timing.

The time has come, it is the spring of introducing you to this great master and teacher of Ayurvedic cooking, spirituality, philosophy, culinary expertise & love.

I am delighted to introduce you to a teacher of devotion, spirit and service…

Stephen’s porridge is bowl-licking good!

How did you first come to discover Ayurvedic cooking and what was your inspiration to make this a big part of your journey?

I was introduced to Ayurveda through studies of yoga, there was no real inspiration it sort of just evolved. As I changed so did my approach to cooking and health.

What does it mean to prepare ‘Ayurvedic’ food to you and what sets this type of cooking apart from regular cooking practices?

To prepare Ayurvedic food is to approach your preparation and cooking with mindful awareness, giving full consideration to every step of the process and how the ingredients will interact enhance and balance each other, how the finished dish will then affect those that are eating it. Consideration is given to stimulating the digestive fire or “Agni” through the subtle use of warming spices to prepare food that will not exaggerate any actions.

What is your favourite Ayurvedic spice, if you had to choose one and why?

Cardamon, I love the qualities, aroma and scent. I cant imagine a cup of tea without a pinch or two. :-)

Life is full of so much magic and beauty, what is it for you that bring’s the most joy each day?

Simplicity, I love just being.

If you could share one piece of kitchen advice with families around the world to inspire some wholesome loving cooking, what would it be?

Keep cooking for yourself and others, cooking is an act of loving kindness.

What are the key elements that make a difference in your daily life?

I like to be still and have time to contemplate, mainly I try to get through each day without upsetting anyone including myself. I always think at the end of each day whether I have achieved that and mostly I have so thats pretty cool.

Finally, if you had one wish for humanity and the world at this current time, what would it be?

Mutual love and respect. I think if we can all respect each others uniqueness and extend loving kindness towards each other. We all grow up differently reaching stepping stones in our own time, so if we can allow that growth to happen naturally and not try to control, govern or force to much.

Stephen has a beautiful Ayurvedic Cook Book with 88 Love-filled Recipes called ‘The Ayurvedic Kitchen’ that you can purchase from his website.

Connect with Stephen for inspiration and wisdom on the path of Ayurveda, cooking and love on his website & facebook page.

“Ecstasy is experienced through expansion. The ecstasy of food is waiting for you to dance & play with it, to get excited.

Allow that feeling to flow from within. When your cup is full, it will overflow! Let the pot catch it. This is the gift that nature’s abundance has to share when you take the time to get to know it.”

~ Chef Stephen Galpin

Namaste

Thankyou Stephen, such an honour to spend some time with you!

x Lorien

Summer Fresh Salad!

January 23, 2014 by Lorien

Fresh organic crispy cos lettuce (hydrating & rich in chlorophyll for the blood), Organic home sprouted Moong bean sprouts (protein source, enzymes), fresh organic Coriander (cooling/balances the fire element ‘pitta’ in the body, great for the skin), organic red capsicum (yummy!), Avocado (healthy oils, fats & deliciousness!) and love!

x Yummm!!!