Weekend: lots of yoga and some good food

How are you guys?

I meant to post before the weekend but I just didn’t get a chance to do so. Today’s post is about the past weekend and some of my new tasty discovery…

On Saturday we had a really heavy rain over here (and I mean it when I say “heavy”), since we had a work event scheduled. It was an outdoor 24hour yoga challenge. I was schedule to teach at 4pm but I went there around noon time just to hang out with my ” yoga circle”. Even thou it was super duper cold it was a great experience to practice outside with the rain in the background. Besides the place was beautiful…

I am really sorry I didn’t take any other pictures, I just completely forgot that I took my camera. I taught a Mandala style class, sometimes I like to do that in the class too, to shift things around,,,,;)

Sunday: I was happy to have a half day off. I was pretty tired physically to begin with, then I had my regular class and after I just wanted to enjoy the rest of my day. Tom took us for a drive to Toronto; finding some new places and enjoying the ride

 

I found a new place that I am already in love with. The Bunner’s bakery-(gluten free of course). Honestly I heard about it before but never had a chance to get there. They have the best Cinnamon buns in the world and delicious cupcakes and yummy bread….I highly recommend that place.

There would be no trip to Toronto without stopping at Fresh Restaurant to eat. I just adore this place , the culture there and the food …

I know IWe should give a chance to some other places. (I have a few on my list to check it out already) but each time we talk where to go we both end up with the same conclusion. The only thing I would say is:” a bit too much sprouts guys”

I look “funny” on this picture sorryyyyy;))))

One the way home we stopped at Starbucks for our Americano and we enjoyed our goods in the car-messy stuff;)

The end.

I have a recipe ready for you so stay tune,

xoxo

Izabela

 

 

 

Lonely red peppers

Since we came back from Europe I wanted to try making “something kind of like” my mom served us for dinner after our hiking trip; stuffed peppers. But hmm…her meal was delicious obviously but too heavy to handle for my stomach on a regular day and I learned my mistake.

While doing shopping last weekend in the Organic Garage I saw a stock of beautiful big red peppers and I couldn’t resist buying them. I was planning to make them on Monday but then by the time I came back I was too hungry to wait for dinner so they had to wait.

I was off today so finally I picked these 2 guys from my fridge, stuffed them with “tofu ricotta” following this recipe.

Tofu stuffed red peppers

“Tofu ricotta”

2 big red peppers

1 garlic clove

1 tsp olive oil for greasing your baking dish

spices: herbs de Provence, nutritional yeast, salt&pepper

cheese of your choice (Tom got it with a regular Jarlsberg and since I didn’t have any vegan cheese at home I had one without cheese).

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Start by washing and drying your peppers, then trim them from the top and core the center. Squeeze a garlic clove and rub them inside the peppers. Lightly oil your backing dish or use  parchment paper. Stuff peppers with “Tofu ricotta” and sprinkle with cheese on top. Place in the oven for around 40 minutes, watch them to make sure the skin is not burning. It’s  great and high in protein meal for any time of the day. You can add any veggies or salad on the side.

I am off for Yoga Therapeutics training during the weekend so I am pretty excited about that. Will be back with some reviews for sure….until then

Stay well,

 

Izabela

 

Vegan Zucchini Tofu Lasagna has been served

I am always trying to get the best pic of a meal I am blogging about -sorry, not this time.
Maybe I was too hungry or too inpatient to spend some time and take a proper shoot before I dug in. And believe me it tastes better than it looks.
I was craving lasagna for a while (again) but wanted to try it without using a traditional lasagna pasta. I wanted to make it a lighter lunch and easier for my digestion and whoa-everything is possible.

Vegan Zucchini Tofu Lasagna

inspired by Elise and this recipe
You will need:
1 big zucchini
a good marinara sauce (choose the one you really like)
½ block organic firm tofu
a handful of spinach
spices:
turmeric, “Tamari” (gluten free soy sauce), mustard, crushed red pepper flakes, herbs de Provence, nutritional yeast.

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Start with making “tofu ricotta” by smashing tofu with a fork and adding all the spices into a bowl. Add chopped spinach and let it sit and marinate for a bit. Peel a zucchini using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler to shave lengthwise noodles. It’s pretty tricky at first but it doesn’t have to be pretty;)
Start lining your lasagna in a baking dish with marinara on the bottom, zucchini noddles, tofu ricotta and so on until you reach the top. Sprinkle with more nutritional yeast or cheese of your choice. Place into the oven for around 40 minutes.

We enjoyed this lasagna for the last week. Considering that my picky husband ate one on his own when I made it for the next day,

I am pretty sure you won’t regret it.

xoxo

Izabela

Partner Yoga on the weekend

Wow, that was a very exciting weekend. As I promised I am sharing what has happen.

Saturday morning was busy. I woke up very early and headed to my Viynasa class which was not too bad at all. Depressing weather didn’t stop us from turning upside down and got playful with tripod stand.

Later on I went to an open house of one of the studios I teach in. This time I taught a Partner yoga class with a co-worker.

So what is Partner Yoga all about?

It involves two (or more) people joining together to transform traditional yoga asana and create new version of it. Partner yoga allows to open the body more deeply that we can not do it on our own, keep correct alignment, balance and focus. Because you support each other in a specific posture it helps with increasing the stretch and the impact of yoga on your posture. It’s mutually beneficial for both. You can do the same pose with your partner or interwind a pose and create a new one.

Partner yoga connects you with your partner not only on physical level but also emotional. Since it involves the yoga asana, conscious breath but also touch – you will touch and you will be touched by other people – Be prepared;).

Finally Partner yoga offers a unique way to build trust and gain sensitivity to your partner’s needs. It can be intimate and help with fortifying communication in an relationship and bring you closer with your partner. Having said that you can practice with anyone you want: your spouse of course but also with a friend, a co-worker, a stranger, a fitness buddy. Most important it’s a playful way to have fun and laugh together.

Until now I was practicing all the Partner yoga classes with my friend. Somehow we built this connection and trust to the level where I was not afraid to “fly” above her, balancing my body only on her feet. And maybe I didn’t even realize how important it was. For those who are new to this practice my advice is to keep eye contact all the time and continuously check with your partner what they need or how much longer they can hold you, how much deeper you can push them etc.

Julie is in a Child pose and I am stretching in a backbend- felt awesome!

Overall the whole event was fun. The class went well. Not everyone came in with their partner so we matched people up and also practiced with them. Later on I hang out there a bit, met people from my training. It was great to see my old friends.

The excitement of Saturday didn’t end there. I managed to convince my “dancing buddy” to go out to a night to the club. Tom was not thrilled – he just hates clubbing…I needed to dance so my friend’s husband and Tom went to the bar and we both went a club. It felt extremely good to get crazy on the dance floor after so long (too long). Although I need to admit that I couldn’t feel my toes at the end of the night and on Sunday I was extremely tired all day. Well… I am not getting younger and I guess now I need my time to recover the next day.

The last exciting news from my weekend is that I found out that I won a prize from the draw that took place at the studio’s open house. Which is: Chef of the local vegan restaurant is coming to my house to prepare me dinner (vegan dinner of course). This is very exciting although I wonder what Tom will eat 😉
I am not sure how it all works yet, but surly I will share my experiences from it.
And now… we shall start the work week.
Xoxo

Izabela