Self Love Take 2: Lent and setting intentions

I hope you all had a lovely self love day on Saturday and some of what I said sunk in. Here I am writing this post, which has been playing in the back of my mind since Saturday, and I'm dying with the flu. Yes, I looked after myself over the weekend. There were salads, juices, tea, soup and bed rest. Sometimes, the body decides that despite all of that, it's just not enough and so here I am, typing up part of the blog before I can take photos because, frankly, the thoughts of doing the entire post as well as grappling with the time I've given myself, is doing my head in and I want to take care of myself.

This post has had serious editing changes in the last day and a half. What started as a post for a raspberry pancakes recipe turned into a much needed stop and think out loud, type out loud situation. The pancake recipe will arrive soon but I've decided not to push on past where I'm at and instead explore the thoughts whizzing around in my head that have been there for weeks. The thoughts that have been telling me to slow the f*>k down, to think about waves, sunsets and rest. So that's what I'm gonna do.

Those of you who read my blogs know that I don't claim to be some super smiley, happy, yoga bendy hippy. Not that there is anything wrong with any of those labels but was I'm saying is that I am just me and some days, that involves not being my full self, not having the complete fill of energy and exuberance that I would love to have each and every day. I was delighted to look at Instagram today and see a beautifully simple photograph by Tara's bakerhands of a mess of bowls and spoons in the sink. Her post was about doing your best and reminding ourselves that not everything is perfect and picturesque. I try and show this in my photos too. More and more on my blog and my life, my intention is to be authentic, just me, as I am that day in that moment. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but the intention is set.

Photo courtesy of Tara Jensen at Bakerhands. Follow the link above to her beautiful page.

For years, I've had this other intention of having a healthy life where yoga, its bends, curves, postures and breaths align with my life and become an integral part. At different periods of my life, this has happened and I've felt amazing, like something just clicked. Then yoga became something I 'should' do, something I would drag around with me in my head. Now I find yoga sprouting up out of the earth like an inquisitive little seedling in my life and I want to nurture it rather than let it grow out of control or to try and control the hell out of it.

I'm not in the least bit religious but as kids Lent was a big part of our year for three reasons.
1. You could give up something that was unhealthy
2. you could eat as many pancakes as you liked before starting Lent and
3. Easter and all its magic followed.
This year for Lent, I've decided on a few definitive things.

1. I'm going vegan for Lent. I've been mainly vegetarian for January and February and with the exception of eggs (raised locally and organically by my awesome friend Deirdre from work), I want to try being vegan for Lent as a way to get ready for the growing season in the months ahead.

2. Although I'm giving up other animal products, I don't want Lent to just be about removing things from my life so I'm adding yoga. 30 days of yoga in fact with Yoga with Adriene. She's very chilled out but challenging and best part is she says awesome and jokes a lot in her classes. This way I feel like I'm giving up unnecessary stress and it feels good.

3. I am setting an intention for the rest of Lent to take a look at my life and remove the unwanted, unnecessary stresses, like a cleaning for the heart and the head. These last two months of organizing and then finally moving house have been fantastic and I haven't got enough words to describe how happy I am in my little house. I'm tired though, really tired and now that I've conquered the bills and the swap overs,  it's time for some well deserved rest.

In all my rambling for this post, I guess what I'm outlining is that with self love and taking care of myself, it's necessary not just to remove the stuff that doesn't work for me but to place it with some good stuff. Right now that includes good food, good yoga, good intentions and good rest.

If you were looking for a pancake recipe today, I did make them for the awesome Éadaoin but when she came over, between sickness, chats and declining light, we just decided to eat our weight in them rather than take photos and post on time. Cheeky of me I know but I will post it some other time and there will still be a recipe on Saturday.

This lent, take some time to warm your soul. Don't just punish yourself by removing something you actually love. My focus is going to be me time, rest and getting ready for the energy that Spring has in store for us. What's yours?

Appreciation and taking time out: No curry tonight

I'll admit something. I don't have a recipe today. I'm not trying to be a perfectionist. I devoured the delicious potato and lentil yellow curry with cardamom jasmine rice I made earlier. Warming, laden with garlic and ginger and nutty brown lentils, it's exactly what my soul needed today. I didn't take photos of it. I didn't take down the recipe as I went along.
There's something to be learnt from this. Take things as they come. Rest. Take time. Let things sit. Warming your soul sometimes means warming your body up, even if that's with a warming curry.

When I was busy in the sunshine, racing on my bike from one outdoor cinema to another, I had a limited amount of time to rest and be on my own. When I finally found the time, it was precious. For some reason, I've found that when the pace of each day slows down and there is suddenly so much more alone time, I dread it. The ringing in my ears filled with sounds of silence. That type of emptiness unnerves me. What I realized today, though, is by doing this daily writing and daily recipe challenge, I am making time for myself. My health and my peace of mind is becoming more and more relaxed as a result. Each day, I look forward to my own time more now and enjoy time in company so much more. There is an appreciation there.

Today was about appreciating the small things and removing the need to control, to perfect. With depression can come a sense of 'not good enough'. You are good enough. Just as you are. Make time for you. Make time to rest. Make time to be good to yourself rather than listening to the voice of the harsh critic inside your head, meddling with your emotions and creative ideas. Today was about releasing that judging negativity and keeping something for myself. I'll make that curry recipe again for sure and I'll happily take photographs and lovingly arrange them in a blog post. Just not today. Today I rest. Today, I'm taking time for myself and for you. Today, I'm aware and calm and letting the week of blogs continue of their own accord.

It feels like days when I go for a surf and I don't want to achieve anything. Catching the best wave, improving my pop up, paddling faster, harder, better. None of this is relevant on those days. The only thing that is important to me is being out there, in the water, sitting on my board and staring out to sea. Watching surfers catch waves and yelling out "whoop" as they curve along the beautiful body of water. Feeling the wind whip around or the stillness of a late evening surf. Scooping water in the cup of my hands and splashing it over my head and face, as if I'm blessing myself with the sea. Trickling my fingertips through the soupy water either side of me. Feeling the give and pull of the sets as they bob me through the dappled liquid. Letting waves come and go, thoughts come and go. Experiencing it all. Appreciating it all. To me, that is not a wasted surf or a show of a lack of talent. It is not a wasted evening or a lack of adequate fitness or drive or dedication. Sometimes, it is the best thing I could possibly do for myself and my craft. This blog post is the same.

Take the time to appreciate the little things. Rest. Keep something for yourself.

Simple squash and the surf countdown

 

Squash is a strange sort of veggie. For a LONG time, I was baffled by their tough waxy skin and its seemingly bland taste. I always thought it was one vegetable of various forms, all tasting of nothing much. This whole outlook changed over the last few years. Now I can think of practically no other vegetable that is as tasty, versatile or magic to look at in a bowl of food or growing in a back garden. Now, it's simply a wonder food. Filling but not starchy. Bursting with a multitude of colours, textures and flavours depending on how you choose to cook it. A pantry staple. Have I gone on about it long enough?

 

Why bother to peel, chop and cook this simplest of squashes and what motivated this busylittlefoodie to do such a thing on a January day? Well, for those who know me best, I am in complete denial of the weather around me. All my clothes are summer clothes, more appropriate to beaches and barbeques than rainy, overcast January days in Ireland. It's fitting then that I'm a mere 5 (!!!!!) days away from leaving for New Zealand, I'm having cravings for smoothies, colourful salads and sunshine colours all around me. These are things that are decidedly missing at the moment. Instead of getting down in the dumps about it, I decided to embrace the Irish weather, winter salad style take 2.

 

This recipe keeps the warmth of hazelnuts that was in my last recipe but also has the added yumminess and warmth of toasted coriander seeds, honey roasted squash, plenty of garlic to keep colds and flus away, rocket for a fiery kick and chickpeas for energy and warmth.

 

This salad is great as it's made in 3 parts. Part 1: Roasted squash-can be done the night before or in a batch every few days. Step 2: Roasting the other veg, chickpeas and nuts-can also be done the night before and stored in fridge to add to greens for your lunch. Step 3: Add roughly chopped greens-takes 2 minutes. It's a great salad that can be chopped and changed and is perfect for people who want a hearty, fresh meal but say there's never time to make a fancy salad.

 

Hope you like it. I'll be posting once more, I hope, before I leave for New Zealand and then expect plenty of photos from Raglan. The surf countdown begins! Thank you for reading as always!

Bliss X

 



 

Ingredients: (Feeds 2)

PART 1: SQUASH

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into cubes

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tbs honey

1 tbs olive oil/coconut oil

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Prepare squash. Stir through the garlic, honey and oil. Place squash on baking tray, covered in tin foil for 20 minutes until squash is almost completely soft.

 

 

PART 2: REST OF SALAD

While the squash is roasting, get cracking on the rest of the salad.

 

1 courgette, cut in half lengthways, then half again and then into chunks

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin/1tsp cumin seeds

50 grams of hazelnuts (almonds or others work just as well)

200 grams of cooked chickpeas/1 can, washed and drained

200 grams of fresh spinach, washed and chopped roughly

100 grams of fresh rocket, washed and chopped roughly

 

Method:

In a bowl, mix the courgette, coriander, cumin, hazelnuts and chickpeas together, toss well. Once squash has had its 20 minutes in the oven, remove the tin foil and add your chickpea mix. Toss around in the tray and put in oven for 15 minutes to toast everything else. Once the time is up, tip all the tray ingredients, including all that lovely melted coconut oil and honey into a bowl with the spinach and rocket and toss gently. Add a squeeze of half lemon, serve and enjoy all those lovely colours and flavours!

 

 

 

All images and text copyright of Grace Brady @ busylittlefoodie