How are you doing today? Is everyone enjoying Full Moon Wednesday? I think Full Moon Day is a vast improvement on Hump Day, what do you think? If you missed my post on the Full Moon and how it effects us on everything from Insomnia to Romance to Difficulty Concentrating to a Great Time for a party, check it out!I’m glad most of you seemed to enjoy my little moon factoids & tidbits, and yes, blame your recent drama & insomnia on the moon! And to new commenters and readers, thanks for coming out of the woodwork, I love that! muah!!!!!
Moving right along with some tidbits about me…
Recently, one of the things that I’ve been thinking about doing is becoming a certified personal trainer. I was drawn to that not because I truly want to train people day in day out, but because I think it would be a nice supplement to my yoga teacher credentials. Rounding out and broadening my knowledge sort of thing.
However, after much soul searching, I think the personal training certification is on hold for a bit because I am pursing the next, and highest level, of yoga teacher certification which is the 500 hour level as recognized by Yoga Alliance!!!!! I’ve been registered at the 200 hour level since 2001 and this is the next and only jump up, and I am thrilled to be doing it!
Today I met with my guru and mentor today, and many of the previous thousands of hours of yoga teaching that I’ve done, the hundreds of hours worth of yoga retreats and conferences that I’ve attended over the years, and my own personal self-inquiry into the practice, both meditative and asana, will be “counted” in some way. I’m really excited because I am a life-long learner and hold everything from my California Real Estate license to my Certified Lactation Educator & Counselor credential. Jack of all trades, I tell you. And I love it. My brain is always working; I need to feed it with new information and new things to devour, ponder, & study and for me, since yoga is my true passion and this is the perfect path.
But enough yoga talk, let’s talk about Holiday Peppermint Chia Seed Pudding!
You may remember just a couple days ago I decided to make the Vegan Creme de Menthe bars which are a lovely combination of creme de menthe (i.e. minty flavor) and chocolate?
Well, I decided to make Holiday Chia Pudding with a wintery and minty flavor.
Averie’s Holiday Peppermint Chia Seed Pudding
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 c Nut Milk (I used TJ’s lowfat vanilla almond milk) or milk of your choice
1/2 Tsp Peppermint Extract (Warning: Start slowly with this and do not overdo it. Peppermint Extract is very potent stuff, nothing like vanilla extract, and a little bit of Peppermint Extract goes a long way)
1-2 Tbsp Agave (or to taste) and/or Stevia to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir
Let it sit out for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice
This is after 15-20 minutes
This is after 12 hours in the fridge. You can refrigerate the pudding for up to 2 days.
Note that the pudding will continue to thicken as time elapses. The little seeds will soak up every drop of the liquid and will expand, thus thickening the pudding.
Enjoy the Pepperminty Pudding!
If you missed my Chocolate Chia Pudding, check this post out.
Or maybe good ole Vanilla Chia Pudding is your speed.
Or maybe you’d like to make a chocolate, oat, and chia seed cookie-bar snack? Check this one out!
In addition to some Peppermint Pudding, I broke into a Vega bar.
Skylar’s comment: Good gwah-NOLE-ah (granola) bar, Mommy! She has sampled dozens of varieties of raw bars, granola bars, flax seed crackers, you name it, she’s tried things right along with me.
And she gave this bar the Two Year Old Two Chubby Thumbs Up stamp of approval.
So did I. The berry flavor shines right through which was nice as does the date flavor.
I cleaned a pineapple. We go through about 2 a week but they’re pretty acidic so gotta be careful not to get too pina-liscious carried away.
Also dehydrated some banana slices.
Before
After
The house smells absolutely divine with the fragrant fumes of roasting bananas. It’s like banana bread on steroids wafting through your house. I actually ran errands on purpose because they smell Too Good!
For dinner I made a kale salad with tomatoes, brock, cukes, and my Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing.
For Dessert, what else, but some Holiday Peppermint Chia Seed Pudding!
And I also had some Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls that were calling my name.
I never tire of these little balls! (twss) . They taste just like real raw chocolate chip cookie dough and they’re vegan, gluten & soy-free, and they’re ready in 10 minutes or less!
I had a great surprise in the mail today!! A lovely care package of homemade goodies from the lovely Bekah of Beek Eats
Coconut Chia Granola, Cinnamon-Cumin-Maple Almonds, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Everything is fabulous and Bekah’s a great cook & an even better friend, love ya sweetie! Thank you!!!!
Yoga Today is Seated forward bending in Paschimottanasana. If you’re a runner especially, you really need to think about stretching your hamstrings in a seated forward bend or standing forward bend where you’d fold over at the waist and touch your toes. Running shortens your hamstrings, and forward bends will counter that and helps to lengthen them back out. And doing so will help you prevent injuries.
For the non runners, this pose also helps to stretch and release your lower back and since we all spend too much time sitting at our ‘puters and not doin’ our backs any favors, forward bends will help your back out, too.
And with the traditional ashtanga style toe-hold
Tip of the Day: Being Green Around the House
- Make Your Own Detergent: Stop dumping polluting chemicals down the drain. A simple, cost-effective dish detergent can be made for your handwashing or for your dishwasher. Check out these recipes:
- 2 cups liquid castile soap
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 tp. lemon juice
- 3 drops tea tree oil
- Shake well before use. Use 2 tablespoons per load.
(Tips courtesy of Holistic Moms Network)
GiveAway Alerts:
Katie’s got a great one going on, check it out!
Itzy’s Kitchen has something really great, too!
Priyanka is giving away Glo Bars!
Stay Tuned For Another Peppermint Recipe…
peppermint chia seed pudding yum!
OK why do I feel old. Your 2.76 yr old and Beeks both like American Girl. I don't even know who that is. Help me please.
Injuries. I used to joke that i only have one injury- it just takes turns moving around to different parts of my body.
I am knocking on wood right now- can you hear me? I have been relatively injury (all overuse one) free since my Mom passed away in January. Oh there's always a my neck/back. But that's chronic and I just deal (read: ignore) with it. I am nursing a bit of a niggly right shoulder/chest issue, but honestly I think it's tied in with the neck. Chatturangas piss it off too :-(
Thanks for the great week recap!
Deb
p.s.
Good luck with the American Girl loot- I went through a total "Get me a 100 dollar doll for my birthday" each year. Granted I did LOVE them, along with the AG magazine, catalog, etc etc. :)
Great week of posts Averie- obviously I've been behind on like the last three days, bahaaa but I'm catching up. Thanks again for such a nice little feature of my package. Lol- got quite a number of page views that day. :)
Also- your comment about Skylar with the almonds literally made me melt. She's so adorable, and your relationship with her is awe-inspiring. As a little girl, I used to claim I never wanted kids, and granted I've opened my mind a little bit more- but reading your blog, makes me realize what an awesome mom I could be- heck, who else would eat all the goodies I make if I didn't have kids?! Lol.
But that was very sweet of you to say, and yes, 2 1/2- that is craazy. Glad she loved them. I'll have to make some more for her if we ever meet up. :)
Beautiful business cards..good luck!
Enjoy!
I LOVE LOVE the business cards.. very chic yet natural!! :)
Skylar looks adorable with her gifts.. I was a huge American Girl fan when I was little!!
Knock on wood.. never injured myself (badly)… never even broken a bone. HMM perhaps I dont exert myself much!?!? lol
Happy Sunday, Averie :)
Your kale chips look SO SO GOOD!
Music/Workouts/Food/Fitness – http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/
Happy Sunday,
Katie
I made your Creame de menthe bars…question: do you serve yours frozen? Mine came out pretty thick and is hard as a rock. AWESOME none the less …so it really doesn't matter but if I wanted to serve them not as ice cubes…haha
how come mine are green? I guess they make green and non green creame de menthe?
I am waiting with baited breath for your gingerbread cookie post. I have my organic gingerbread cookie dough out of the fridge ready to roll out and bake later today…but a batch of Averie's I am sure RAW, VEGAN dough sounds like it will hit the spot! I will for sure be making those! I think gingerbread cookie gifts are going to be my home made treats this year.
I wanted to thank you for your supportive swine flu shot comments! it is all a calculated risk no matter which way you go.
hugs to you!
yesssssssss raw vegan gingerbread!
THANK YOU so much for letting me know about the messed up links – i fixed itzys and then actually added the vegan chili recipe, which for some reason i totally forgot to do last night :)
ummmm i have 3 american girl dolls…can i come visit and play american girl dolls with skylar? pretty please?
Hi Averie,
I am in awe of your strength and beauty. So admirable. You are lucky to have the abilities to participate in such a fitness activity and pursue it. Appreciate that :)
Awesome yoga today … hopefully I'll be at that level after my teacher training.
& raw vegan gingerbread?! Can't wait for that. ^_^
Skylar = too cute :)
Happy Sunday, dear Averie!!
oh. and your business cards are GORGEOUS!
Woah! that yoga pose is awesome Averie!
I cannot wait for your raw vegan gingerbread :)
Sorry I have been such a bad reader lately :(
I have never had any serious injuries.. besides a broken collar bone.. ouchy.
awesome looking business cards! They turned out great. Im really excited for the raw vegan gingerbread recipe! Gingerbread is one of my favorite things to eat so I cannot wait for this! Have a wonderful evening!
i injured myself so badly playing tennis for 10 years.. rolled my ankle EVERY month! it was such a pain. i always love your recap posts..they make me hangryyy! good thing im eating kettle korn right now!
I CAN'T WAIT for the gingerbread recipe!! I am a ginger fiend, and was just looking at the recipes I have for gingerbread and neither one was inspiring.
I have been exercising for the past week with a sore knee. It's a chronic over-use injury that I just deal with even though I know I shouldn't. Tomorrow I think I'll try yoga instead!
Raw Vegan Gingerbread????? I just bought some molases! I may have to try this hoooray! How delicious do those kale chips look?
GREAT business cards. They're just beautiful.
Only sports related injury- broke my hand falling out of a back tuck cheerleading. I had mono and had no idea and was super tired (hence why I dropped short of a full rotation). Craziness!
awwww im glad you had a great yoga day :) i was just thinking today how i could go for a good old hot bikram sesh sometime soon :) mayyybe after finals i'll treat myself!
i totes need to pick up a bag of chia seeds. what's a good price to pay for them? i saw apple cinnamon ones today but hesitated because of the price (like 7 bucks) and i wasnt sure what they would taste like
Which doll did she get?? My girls are getting American Girl dolls this year too, from my mom. They're getting Kit and Rachel (I think those are their names – they are best friends) and I think they will love them! I'm so glad you see Skylar's reaction to hers! So sweet.
Raw vegan gingerbread? I'm psyched!!
I do things when injured All. The. Time. Such as the exercise I am currently doing with this stupid pinched nerve… I'm glad your business cards turned out so well! Love the American Girl doll! I had 3 growing up!
girl you are a machine! that pose is crazzzzzzzy!!!
My parents still make my siblings and I pose for a holiday card.. I'm pretty sure ill still be taking christmas picture photos with my parents in my 40's. That's tradition for ya!
speaking of cards, I love the business cards — they are very "you" :) and so profesh!
another winning weekly recap, beautiful :) love ya!
I LOVE your business cards! Definitely eye catching ;)
My worst injury happened after running 5.6 miles (which at the time, was a distance record for me) in old shoes, after spending 2 weeks on my butt studying for exams. My legs were not ready for it, and I really hurt my hip. I had to stop ALL activity for two weeks, and couldn't run for two whole months. All of this magnified by being in the middle of triathlon training at the time! Anyways, I'm much more careful now. I lay off my hip immediately at any sign of a flare up.
That headstand is cah-razy!!
Today has been crazy here too. Too much shopping/baking and not enough essay writing
I thought I seriously injured myself and pushed myself too hard on the treadmill 3 weeks ago, but it's looking more and more every day like it was just beets :-)
A. You rock because your Holiday cards are ready by Dec. 5th and you think that's last-minutey.
B. You rock because even though I half-assed your kale chip recipe, they were still ridiculously delish.
C. You rock because your business cards are out and out GORGEOUS and unique. You did an amazing job!
Now I just don't understand why Skylar's opening Christmas gifts now, but I know you guys travel so … I'm gonna assume it has something to do with that (not like I haven't been giving myself gifts weekly).
I totally forgot to tell you that I can do a headstand now!!! I can actually bring my legs down just like you do in your picture…the only difference is that I am not resting on my forearms – I'm on my head with my hands on the ground and arms bent at 90. Definitely easier than your way but I'm still proud of myself. Thanks to YOUR inspiration!!
I love your new business cards! I think they represent who you are and the qualities you exude (??) very well.
I'm so glad you posted all those pics of Skylar too – she is so darn cute. I'd be excited about all of that, too!
Love ya Lady..
PS..On your peppermint donut holes, what is the equiv. of one cup of whole flaxseeds in ground flaxseed?
I did my first half marathon after only having run 9 miles before. I let some friends talk me into it…and then I HAD to keep up with them the whole race…Geez…I had IT Band problems for months!