Nana’s Crunchy Jumble Cookies
Did you know October 1 is Homemade Cookies Day or that October is National Cookie Month? Many foods have days honoring them, including many different kinds of cookies. On a more serious note, October is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So in honor of my 91-year-old grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, I made a batch of her crunchy jumble cookies today.
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Cooking Classes Arizona
I love cooking classes. I love giving cooking classes. I love taking cooking classes. I took my first recreational cooking class back in California more than 20 years ago and I have never stopped. My last major culinary learning adventure was a five day culinary retreat in Sedona I attended with my sister in April. Diane Carlson, Founder of The Conscious Gourmet, taught us to prepare all kinds of dishes - breakfasts, soups, salads, appetizers, main courses, and desserts using wholesome, natural ingredients.
We worked with expellar pressed oils, sea vegetables, and natural sugar substitutes like agave, rice syrup, and maple sugar. It was a total mind-body-spirit immersion that included yoga and taught us how to fully experience food and its effects. We left this culinary retreat with a notebook full of information and delicious recipes.
That was more than five months ago and my desire to continue my culinary education has returned. Fortunately there are lots of cooking classes in Arizona to indulge my culinary curiosity. If you are like me and love cooking classes or are looking for a fun way to get more comfortable in the kitchen, here are a few cooking class options to check out:
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Bikram Yoga Phoenix
I‘ve been practicing various styles of yoga here in Phoenix for more than ten years.
Several years ago my sister convinced me to try hot yoga so I did but never went back. The instructor was demeaning and in my opinion reckless when he stood and bounced on my sister’s thighs during supta vajrasana.
As a person who wilts in extreme heat, prefers freedom to structure, and works to avoid unnecessary injury, Bikram Yoga did not resonate with me.
Recently, I’ve had the urge to give Bikram Yoga another go. Many people I admire, including Wayne Dyer, praise its positive effects.
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Limoncello Cheesecake Squares
I love cheesecake and limoncello, the wonderful lemon liqueur from Southern Italy, so when I came across a recipe for limoncello cheesecake squares in Giada De laurentiss’ Giada’s Family Dinners
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Scottsdale & Phoenix Yoga Teacher Training Programs
Are you thinking about becoming a yoga teacher or expanding your understanding with advanced studies? If you live in Phoenix or Scottsdale you are in luck. There are several Yoga Alliance registered Yoga Teacher Training Programs to chose from.
But first, how do you choose the yoga teacher training program that’s right for you? There are lots of things to consider including:
- your intentions and objectives
- required prerequisites of the program
- location
- cost
- schedule
- style of yoga
- yoga teacher trainers level of experience
- Yoga Alliance Registration status
For more on how to choose a yoga teacher training program.
To help you get started identifying the program that is right for you, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular yoga teacher training programs in the Greater Phoenix Area.
Yoga Teacher Training Programs
At One Yoga, Scottsdale - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour teacher training program offered several times a year.
Desert Song Yoga and Massage, Phoenix - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour yoga teacher training offered every other year beginning in January.
Inner Vision Yoga, Chandler - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour, 300-hour, and 500-hour programs available.
Kirk Yoga, Scottsdale - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour teacher program taught by Anusara certfied teachers.
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour program offered in 3 modules throughout the year.
Yahweh Yoga, Chandler - The world’s first international christ centered yoga training program. Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour program offered in four modules throughout the year.
Yoga Phoenix, Phoenix - Yoga Alliance registered 200 hour Kundalini Research Institute Level I and Level II training.
Yoga Pura, Phoenix - Yoga Alliance registered 500-hour yoga teacher training program offered annually beginning in January.
Yoga Village, Scottsdale - Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour teacher training program taught by Anusara certified yoga teachers
YogaFit - Specializing in yoga teacher training for healthclubs. Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour yoga teacher training offered in weekend workshops throughout the country.
Are you interested in finding a yoga teacher training program somewhere else in the US? Yoga Alliance, the US organization that registers both individual yoga teachers and yoga teacher training programs (schools) who have complied with minimum educational standards established by the organization, has a database of registered yoga teacher training programs you can search.
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September is National Yoga Month
September is National Yoga Month.
To celebrate and promote yoga and healthy living, A 10 City Yoga Festival Tour is being held throughout the US and Canada with many of the top names in Yoga - Shiva Rea, Larry Payne, Timothy McCall - participating. All proceeds from Yoga Month and Yoga Health Festivals will benefit Youth Health Alliance and health education for underserved children.
To learn more about Yoga Month.
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Steak Fajita Recipe
I love fajitas. Steak fajitas. Chicken fajitas. Shrimp fajitas. It’s one of my favorite meals to order in Mexican restaurants.
The truth is fajitas are easy to make at home. Just marinate your meat, slice a few veggies, give them a quick toss in a skillet, gather a few garnishes and dinner is served.
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Corn Salad Recipe
T his simple corn salad is a wonderful way to take advantage of the delicious fresh corn flooding the markets at this time of year. The corn looked so fresh and delicious when I shopped Sunday morning I ended up buying way more than I needed and have been looking for ways to use it ever since. We’ve enjoyed corn fritters, corn chowder and this delicious simple summer corn salad that can be tossed together in one bowl.
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Recipe for Healthy Eating
“Far more indispensable than food for the physical body is spiritual nourishment for the soul. One can do without food for a considerable time, but a man of the spirit cannot exist for a single second without spiritual nourishment.”
~ Gandhi
Is there a recipe for healthy eating?
The quality of what you eat is important to your overall health and wellness. But is there something that is even more important? The folks at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition think so. Advocates of a holistic approach to nutrition, they postulate that what you eat is secondary to the quality of your life - your relationships, your career, your physical activity, and your spirituality - considered primary food in their unique recipe for healthy eating.
No matter how much attention and care you give to your diet and what you eat, optimal health and wellness will evade you if your sources of primary food are deficient. Focus on what really feeds and nourishes you and you are sure to thrive, even if your ‘diet’ isn’t perfect. This is a key ingredient in their recipe for healthy eating.
It’s the news I’ve been waiting to hear after years of trying to determine the ‘right way to eat’ from all the experts and authorities who appear locked in a violent battle of conflicting nutritional information. When you look around you realize that the science of nutrition has done little to alleviate the modern woes that surround us - obesity, chronic disease, and deep seated unhappiness.
It’s because what we eat can never replace our desire for quality relationships, rewarding work, enjoyable physical activity, and spiritual connection with food. And yet we try to fill all that is missing in our lives with food. In the process we become sicker, fatter, and unhappier.
Once we recognize the importance of primary food in our recipe for healthy eating and begin focusing on improving these critical areas of our lives our issues with the food we eat take their appropriate secondary position and become manageable. We are able to lose the weight and eat better with much less struggle. It seems too good to be true, but it’s not. We are on the path to living healthy, happy, rewarding lives. We have found a recipe for healthy eating we can live with that will support us. Will there be bumps in the road? Yes, but given our increasing awareness of food’s rightful position of importance we will feel equipped to handle them.
If you are you interested in learning more about holistic nutrition or working with a counselor The Institute of Integrative Nutrition has a graduate directory to assist you. I worked with Darshana Weill of Fruition Health by telephone for several months. One of the first graduates of the IIN program, she is a gifted holistic health counselor who helped me fine-tune my nutritional concerns.
IIN graduate, Dani Spies, has a beautiful informative website full of healthy recipes. You can purchase the book, Integrative Nutrition: The Future of Nutrition
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Italian Sausage & Pasta Recipes
Do you enjoy preparing tasty italian sausage & pasta recipes? I hope you try this one. It’s one of my favorite Italian sausage and pasta recipes for ziti with sausage and vegetables, adapted from the cookbook, Jacques Pepin’s Kitchen: Cooking With Claudine
This italian sausage and pasta recipe is one of those quick easy pasta recipes you can turn to again and again. I first made this easy pasta dish for my brother back in the late 1990s. He gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up and its been in my files ever since.
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