What's the Difference Between Natural and Organic?

"All natural"

"Eco-friendly"

"made from sustainable resources"

"locally produced"

Have you ever wondered exactly what these catch phrases mean?  Unfortunately sometimes these are just that, catch phrases and marketing tools to confuse health conscious consumers with pure intentions.

You can read my post about green washing techniques here.

The Canada Organic logo was designed to help clear up some of this confusion.  When you see the logo below you can be sure that the product is certified organic using Canadian standards.  That means no artificial pesticides or fertilizers and no genetic modifications.

Here's a quick summary from a recent article in the Globe and Mail:

Photo Source

If you are still in doubt use this handy organic check list made by the Canadian Organic Trade Association.

I know, I know, now you're probably thinking "hey what about my favourite booth at the local farmer's market?  There's no logo on their apples, should I abandon them and go to Wal-Mart instead?"  (Yes, there are certified organic products in Wal-Mart and many other chain stores).

Generally I would recommend, no logo, no buying (referring to the Canada Organic logo of course).  However there are some exceptions.  If you can talk directly to the producers and can be assured of how their products are grown and prepared, then certification may seem unnecessary.  In fact there are lots of smaller farms that are growing organic food that could meet certification standards, but they cannot afford to officially certify. 

The Canada Organic logo is a result of the increasing distance between consumers and the producers of their food.  When I'm in the grocery store buying an apple I only have the tiny produce sticker to tell me where this apple has come from.  I have no information regarding it's treatment, growth or conditions of transportation to the store.  Basically I am uninformed.  The Canada Organic logo, on the other hand, provides a wealth of information about the food it is found on, allowing consumers to make informed choices on the food they purchase and eat. 

So keep on hunting for that little red, green and white logo ...

5 Ways To REALLY RECYCLE Your Yoga Mat

Here in India it's custom to take off your shoes when inside, so I spend a lot of time without shoes.  Yesterday while barefoot I almost got into a rickshaw because I am so used to not having any shoes.  While I love not being attached to shoes or sandals, it does make my feet more dirty.  No matter how many time I rinse my feet throughout the day, it seems like just a few minutes later they are dirty again.

So when I step onto my yoga mat ... guess what?  My mat ends up dirty as well especially at the very front and back from repeated surya namaskars.  The yoga place where I'm staying goes through this clean - dirty yoga mat cycle very quickly.  I began to brainstorm some ways the mats could be reused or upcycled.    

When I looked around on the internet I found lots of DIYs and crafts for recycling yoga mats, but a lot of them seemed inappropriate for a thoroughly loved and down and dirty mat.  In fact some of these DIY projects appeared to be only for brand new mats.  For instance one "recycling" idea was to cut the mat and use it to line kitchen cupboards to rest underneath glasses and plates.  Hmmm ...

I definitely won't be doing that with any of the old mats that are seen around here.  So what should we do with those?  Toss them in the landfill?  I hope not.  Instead here are some ideas:

Make Confetti (use the edges and corners that are not damaged)

Source: Namastilo

Cut out shapes for kids' yoga (endless imagination here)

Photo Source: Namastilo

Use under a blanket fora dog/cat bed

 Photo source

 Gardening knee pads (maybe 2-3 layers glued together)

Source: Brit + Co.

Here's a great idea for those really grudgy mats.  Cover up the grudge!

 Source:  Let's Get Crafty

(The author here suggests still using it as a yoga mat, but I think it would be too slippery.  Instead cut to size and use as a door mat.  Try using different mediums to glue to the old mat.)

What do you do with your old yoga mats?? 

Raw Vegan Lunch & Dinner Ideas

I know it's been a million years since my last post, but I just couldn't resist posting another list of raw vegan dishes to make once I return "home".  Yep, I'm still in India ... my home away from home.

Raw Sesame Noodles from KrisCarr.com

Christmas Tree Salad by Healthy. Happy. Life.

Lavendar Creme de Cashew Cakes by better raw

Lime Chipotle Avocados by Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)

 

Blackberry, Jicama & Apple salad from Vegetarian Times

 

Salad Rolls with Cashew Sour "Cream" by Organic Empire

Fresh Cantaloupe & Beet Juice from For the Love of Food

I guess I will just have to drool over these photos until I get back to Canada in March. 

If anyone is still out there, thanks for reading!!

Triple Berry Raw Vegan Ice Cream

This simple raw vegan sattvic ice "cream" is a triple berry, triple step process.

Step One:

Freeze 1 banana + a handful each of 3 different berries (I used strawberries, raspberries & blackberries)

Step Two:

Once frozen, blend everything together in a food processor until it resembles soft serve ice cream.

Step Three:

Consume!

 

Sitali For a HOT Summer's Day

Here's an easy breathing exercise to cool you off during the next summer heat wave.

Sitali is one of many breathing exercises commonly practiced either before or after yoga asana (postures).  These exercises are called pranayama.  A Sanskrit word, pranayama literally means restraints of the breath.  Prana is the vital life force that exists in everything.  In this case it's referring to the most gross form, which is the breath.  Yama means to restrain or control.  Thus pranayama literally means to control the breath.  When the breath is controlled and calm the body will follow and eventually the mind.  If you practice pranayama regularly you will notice that everything else seems to melt away when you are focused on your breath.  The mind becomes one-pointed.

To practice sitali, first sit in a comfortable position, preferably cross legged.  If your knees are higher than your hips you may require a meditation cushion or a folded blanket under your bum to take the pressure off your knees.

Take a few deep abdominal breaths, both inhaling and exhaling through the nose.  When you inhale your abdomen will expand with the air filling your lungs.  Then as you gently exhale relax your abdomen.

Now open your mouth and stick out your tongue, curl your tongue as in the picture above.  If you cannot curl it like the picture, just do your best and curl the edges as much as you can with the tongue sticking out of the mouth.  Now inhale deeply sucking the air in through your curled tongue.  When you have finished inhaling comfortably, bring your tongue back in and close your mouth and exhale through the nose.  Again stick out the tongue and inhale.  Then exhale through the nose (with the mouth closed).  Continue inhaling and exhaling this way for several rounds.  You can practice making the inhale and exhale smooth and rhythmic by counting to 4.  Inhale for 4 counts, then exhale for 4 counts.  Now you're doing sitali!

Sitali not only cools you down, but also purifies the blood and quenches thirst.  It's also safe to practice sitali at home without the guidance of a teacher. 

Happy Summer Everyone!

 

Rhubarb Blackberry Raw Margaritas

Celebrate summer with frozen margaritas! 

Simple to make, raw and vegan.  These ones are virgin, but you can add some booze if that's your style.

Meltin' in the hot summer sun

Here's what I did:

• 15-20 stalks of fresh rhubarb, juiced in a juice extractor then frozen in an ice cube tray
• 1 cup blackberries, frozen
• raw vegan sweetener, to taste

Mix everything in a blender until well combined.

It's a little labour-intensive to haul out the juice extractor for the rhubarb, but I thought it was well worth it.  Besides I didn't want to do the same old boring strawberry rhubarb tart.  I really wanted to try something different. 

I hope you enjoy!

DIY #10: From Tank Top to Bag

Here's a super easy bag made from an old ill-fitting, but lovely Indian silk tank top.  All you'll need is a tank top and either a sewing machine or needle and thread.  Even if you are hand sewing, this project will take you no time!

1. Turn the tank top inside out.  
2. Lay the tank top lining up the side seams so the straps line up.  The straps now become the handles of your new bag. 
3. Sew the bottom closed. 
4. Turn right side out. 

Important Note:  Choose a tank top that has the same neckline as the back.  This tank top has a scoop neckline that is the same in the back, but some tanks have a scoop or v-neck in the front and a flat neckline in the back.  The latter will not work for the project.

My tank top had a slightly different pattern on the back, so when the side seams were lined up the front of the bag had a kind of mismatched look, but I think it's charming (plus since I didn't want to go out a buy a tank for this project, I couldn't exactly be too picky).  If you're concerned about this, make sure you use a top with a matching pattern both back & front.

This top is from a Canadian company that I absolutely love, Alchemy.  The owner sources the materials and labour from India, paying local women a fair wage and then shipping back to Canada for sale. 

I love that I can support both my countries by buying Alchemy merchandise.  Reading the story of the owner, Trish, who is also a yoga teacher, describe how she fell in love with India which resulted in her repeated travels back and forth from Canada is a bit reminiscent of my own story.

I absolutely love that in less than 10 minutes after being a tank top I was already using my new favourite bag.  I stuffed one of my favourite books in there ...

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Happy craftin'





Rose Gold Snake Bracelet DIY

I'm going to a wedding this weekend and I need some jewelry to go with my "new" thrift store dress (yes, that's how I roll).  Determined not to buy anything new I rummaged through my jewelry stash and found this plastic, rather unattractive snake wrap bracelet.  I wonder why I even kept this thing ...

Well good thing that I did because it's perfect for a DIY project.  Tiffany's recently came out with a line of rose gold jewelry, and of course just a few short months later everyone is copying them ... including me!  I mixed some pearly pink acrylic paint with gold paint and voila - rose gold!

My favourite part?  The emerald green snake eyes ...

I used an extra fine tipped brush to paint around the eyes.

It's June, are you going to any weddings this summer?

Berry Friendly Strawberry Raw Vegan Tartlets

I made these dessert cups for my mom and a group of her friends who were getting together the day before Mother's Day.  I wasn't there, but apparently the tartlets were a hit and everyone asked for the recipe, which of course my mother didn't have.  But now you do:

Crust -

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• handful of dates, pitted and soaked
• pinch of sea salt

Filling -

• 2 cups raw cashews
• 1 cup strawberries, chopped
• 1/8 cup coconut oil
• 4-5 tablespoons raw sweetener (honey, agave, stevia, etc ...)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol-free)
• pinch of sea salt
• water, enough to make everything blend
• 2-3 strawberries for garnish and filling (optional)

This is actually the recipe I used for my very first raw vegan cake!  That was an exciting day for me ... and for the people we had for dinner the next night.  This time I cut back a lot on the coconut oil because I found it a little too coconutty, and well oily as well.  The coconut oil is basically what holds the cake together, so instead of making a cake I chose to put individual servings in muffin cups.  That way it didn't matter if there wasn't enough coconut oil to hold it together.

You can't see it in the picture, but the crust is on the bottom.  Simply crush the nuts in a food processor until it's a powder.  Add the salt.  With the processor running add the dates one-by-one until the mixture begins to form a ball.  Press the crust into the bottom of the muffin cups.  Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

I used to think I could never blend a nice nut based dessert in my cheap low-speed blender, but that's so not true.  It just takes a little bit of extra work (and maybe more liquid).  Add a little bit of water in the bottom of your blender and about half the strawberries.  Mix until well combined and then add the rest of the strawberries.  It's important to have some liquid to help everything blend.  Add the cashews one handful at a time.  Stop the blender often and stir.  Make sure it's not getting too hot!  This is a raw tart after all.  Keep adding the nuts and then the rest of the ingredients and blend until it's smooth.  This took me about 20 minutes.  If you have a high speed blender it'll probably take you 5 seconds ...

Add a little of the filling into the crust.  I placed some sliced strawberries inside for a sweet surprise.  Fill the cup with more filling and garnish with a strawberry slice on top.  Place in the freezer overnight to firm up (since there's not much coconut oil).  Remove from the freezer 1-2 hours before serving. 

This recipe made 10 tartlets.  My mom was getting together with 7 friends, so you know what that means.  I had 2 tartlets to play around with myself.  Here's a peak at what I did:

That's right!  I added 1 heaping teaspoon of aromatic velvety smooth raw vegan cacao!  It's been so long since I've had anything with raw chocolate.  I'm trying to be a good yogi and stay sattvic, but I just couldn't resist.  And the cacao really helped to keep the filling firm.  I'm thinking of trying it with cinnamon next time.  I also put the crust in a cute flower shaped cake mold.   

Stay tuned for more raw vegan dessert recipes very soon ... 

What is Organic Honey?

Have you ever wondered, what does organic honey actually mean??  It's not a plant that can be sprayed with pesticides.  It's not grown in soil with artificial fertilizers.  Is conventional honey from bees treated with antibiotics??  I started to wonder, how different can the organic honey be from the non-organic golden goo?  Is this just another case of the big bad marketing man trying to fool us innocent consumers? 

(Note:  I know, I know, it's not vegan.  But as I've mentioned before on my blog, I occasionally use local raw organic honey as a sweetener [and facial moisturizer], rather than highly processed, albeit vegan agave syrup from abroad).

Thankfully here in Canada there are quite a few rules being enforced by organic honey certifiers that make organic honey quite different than conventional.  Here's what I found out about organic honey standards in Canada:

[Caution: before reading further, only truly organic nerds will find this stuff interesting ...]

• Origin of bees - All bees must come from organic sources.
• Sources of nectar - Sources of nectar and pollen must be mainly from organic plants.
• Location of bee hives - There must be a buffer zone of at least 3000 meters from plants treated with non-organic substances.
• Food - Organic honey must be the main food for adult bees.
• Humane treatment of bees - Adequate honey and pollen must be left in the hive for the colony to survive after the honey is harvested, clipping of the Queen Bee's wings is forbidden, bee smokers cannot contain synthetic materials, destruction of hives after harvest of honey is forbidden, lead-based paints are forbidden.
• Pest Management - Antibiotic drugs are forbidden and only non-synthetic (certifier approved) substances can be used to control pests, parasites and diseases.
• Extraction of Honey - Beekeepers cannot extract honey from a comb with a live brood inside.
• Cleaning - Only organically approved cleaning products can be used.

The Soil Association has similar rules for organic honey in the UK. 

I definitely feel better buying organic honey after researching all this, and I never would have imagined there are so many guidelines regarding humane treatment.  No wonder so many bees have gone missing in the past few years! 

Remember that like organic food, organic honey also has a lengthy (and costly) transition period.  So if your favourite stall at the farmer's market isn't selling honey with the Canada Organic logo on it, it could be that they are following most of these same rules but are awaiting certification or simply cannot afford it.  Talk to them and see how they produce, collect and jar their honey. 

New Posts Coming Very Soon ...

Hello there faithful followers!  No, I haven't forgotten you, I've just been a wee bit busy.  My annual trip to India was cut short this year.  I usually return in May, this year I landed back in Canada at the end of March.  But I wasn't home for long before I made an unexpected trip to Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean!  I had a wonderful time re-connecting with family.  Unfortunately the airline lost my luggage, so now that I'm back home I'm scrambling to re-place my lost items and repeatedly contacting the airline to arrange my reimbursement.

... but don't worry I haven't forgotten my blog.  In fact I have lots of posts planned for May.  There will be lots of crafts (mostly replacing the lost items from my luggage), organic info and of course raw vegan sattvic food.  Here's some of the good stuff:

Blueberries with Cardamom "Milk"

• 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup water, filtered
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground
• raw sweetener, to taste

Combine everything (except blueberries) in a blender and mix until it resembles milk.  Pour the "milk" over the blueberries and mix. 

I used frozen berries, so it turned the milk purple.  YUM!

Raw Vegan French Dressing 

It's pictured here as a dip, but believe me, that's only because it's so good that every time I pour this dressing on a salad I devour it so quickly that I only think about pictures later!  My secret ingredient here is fresh raw turmeric root, which I picked up in Trinidad:



If you don't have the root, which most people probably don't since I've only ever seen it in the Caribbean, then 1/2 teaspoon of the powdered tumeric will do just fine.

• 1/4 cup water, filtered
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked
• squeeze of half a lemon
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 inch piece of tumeric root, peeled and chopped
• pinch of sea salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup cold-pressed olive oil

Blend the water, nuts and red bell pepper in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend.  With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil and mix until everything is well blended.  Keep in a covered bottle in the fridge.

Another favourite of mine are these dehydrated cinnamon apple crisps:

 

These were bought, not made (sorry no recipe).  I don't own a dehydrator, but if I did, these would definitely be first on my list to make (along with raw kale chips ...).

Stay tuned for upcoming posts about raw vegan tarts, DIY devi bracelet, organic honey de-mystified and my thoughts and lessons learned from my time in Thailand (with photos!).

5 Raw Vegan Recipes To Try When I'm Back in Canada

No blender, no food processor, no fridge, heck I don't even have my julienne peeler!  So these 5 yummy recipes will have to wait until I get back on Canadian ground ...

1. Raw "Oat"meal (oat-free) from Raw Therapy (my new favourite blog)
2. Juice: carrot, grapefruit, ginger, lemon - Facebook status update from Ani Phyo (love her!)
3. Broccoli & tahini heaven from Path Less Trodden
4. Heart Beet Rawvioli from My New Roots (which is an awesome blog BTW with amazingly mouth watering photography)
5. Avocado, fennel & citrus salad from Vegetarian Times

Of course there's no reason why you can't prepare these recipes right now, unless of course you're away from home like me.  That's why I`ve shared my raw to do list with you all.

Gluten-Free Coconut Cupcake (with Coconut Frosting)

I think I might be obsessed with coconut.  I am definitely obsessed with coconut!  These gluten-free, vegan cupcakes are a coconut lover's dream.  Hot from the oven these little gems are sure to keep you warm on those cold winter nights. 
Now no more chit chat, here's the recipe:
for the cupcakes -

• 1 1/2 cups coconut flour
• 1 cup raw evaporated cane sugar (would be lovely to substitute coconut sugar if you can)
• 1/2 cup shredded dried coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup almond milk (hemp milk might be nice too)
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the frosting -

• 1 cup coconut oil
• agave, honey or coconut nectar (to taste)
• shredded dried coconut (for garnish)

Combine all the dry ingredients for the cupcakes in a bowl and mix well.  In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients.  Slowly add the wet to the dry and mix until well combined.  Pour into a muffin tin and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.
When the cupcakes are cooled, whip together the coconut oil and sweetener.  Give each one a generous dollop of frosting and then sprinkle with more shredded coconut. 

It really can't get any more coconutty than this!

What could be better ... um ... how 'bout chocolate gluten-free coconut cupcakes with chocolate coconut frosting!!

I just couldn't resist trying out a chocolate version.  Simply add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to the batter (chocolate chips in there might be nice too) and add some cocoa powder to the coconut oil frosting.