Morning Prayer

May you be happy and at ease,
may you be free from suffering,
may you awaken to the lesson within,
may you see the beauty in everything.
SSP

Maroccan Dinner

 Chickpea and Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained. 

2 cups of grated carrots.

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
1 garlic clove, sliced red onion
1 ½ tablespoons of fresh dill, minced.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
½ teaspoon of ground cumin.

Directions:
In a glass or ceramic bowl, toss all ingredients, cover.
Allow the salad stand for several hours at room temperature.


to serve: arrange on a bed of lettuce or kale

Hummus from scratch

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove.
¼ cup of toasted sesame seeds
¼ cup of fresh lemon juice.
2 cups of canned chickpeas drained, rinsed.
½ cup of water.
¼ teaspoon of ground cumin.
¼ teaspoon of cayenne.
Salt, to taste.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Lemon wedges.

Indian Prasad (flat bread) freshly toasted golden and fragrant

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, sesame seeds and lemon juice; process until the mixture whitens.

Add the chickpeas and process until smooth.

Add the water, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

Add the cumin, cayenne and salt and process. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Flourless Pancakes

...suited for Diabetics!!!!

Instead of using flour use coconut flour and almond flour (you will need less than the original recipe w regular flour would require), instead of sugar use stevia, if you are a vegan use ground soaked flax seed instead of eggs. You can add sliced peaches, plums, apples, blueberries - whatever fruit you like. Made this on Sunday morning, it was delicious, no carbs, no sugar!!!

Vegan Cinnamon/Banana/Ginger Icecream

put in a blender :
3 cups of almond milk, 1 frozen banana (cut in chunks), 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp dried/ground ginger, 1 tsp Stevia (natural sweetener suited for diabetics), blend till smooth, (optional: chocolate chips), freeze, occasionally stir to keep smooth - voila! Enjoy

writing ...meditation...

...Writing has become a meditation and inspiration in itself.  Meditation - because I become completely absorbed and focused through the process. I forget to eat, what time it is or to take a break. Inspiration - because reliving my life this way is like an epiphany of some sort to discover what is possible, how to overcome obstacles, how to really live life to the fullest without regrets and to hopefully give the courage to the reader to believe in themselves when times get tough, to keep going, to start over, to never give up, to keep your gaze inward, see the silver lining within yourself not at a distant horizon. Its all here inside of you, its in the here and now....

Adventures...

....However, there was this particular day when I thought that beautiful little world of mine was too small and I decided to explore the world. I think I was 3 or 4 years old. So I packed my Dads “Rucksack” (an old fashioned backpack), that was so large that it dragged on the ground behind me, took his guitar (don’t ask me why), put my boots on and my “Tiroler Hut” (a hat typical for the Tyrol area in Northern Italy) and left. Nobody noticed. I got about ¼ of a mile just past the neighbor’s house when the neighbors saw me and casually asked where I was going. “Exploring the world” was my equally casual answer. Well, they asked me if I wouldn’t want to have some cookies and milk before embarking on this long journey, and, sure enough that sounded like a great idea and I went inside, forgot about the journey and enjoyed being spoiled. My parents showed up shortly thereafter, surprised of course but not even mad, just took me back home. So that is where my first big adventure ended and my dream of the big wide world started....

(excerpt from my forthcoming book 

"It’s not about putting your foot behind your ear -Living an Inspired Life/A personal journey of transformation through yoga"