INSTANTPOT RECIPE ALERT!

This Red Pumpkin Dal recipe flow is adapted from #everydayayurvedacookbook for the instantpot. It’s a favorite of mine and so easy when you put it in the pot in the AM, then eat when you have the lunch break. Enjoy!

Red Pumpkin Dal

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentil or split mung beans

3 cups water

1 can coconut milk

2-3 cups cubed winter squash (any and all!)

1-2 tbsp seasonal spice mix (see my cookbooks for more!)

Direction:

1. Pressure cook for 5 minutes.

2. Hand-blend if you want it real smooth.

3. Serve with a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

Have you adapted any of my recipes for your IP? Please share below so everyone can benefit!

Ashwagandha!

One of more famous Ayurveda herbal friends.

The name of this herb from the Himalayan foothills means “smell of a horse.” While the root does smell like horse, its use is also said to bring the strength of a horse. This is a common tonic herb for male reproductive vitality, and an adaptogen, which helps the body cope with stress.

Best used in milk.

Botanical name: Withania somnifera

AKA: Winter cherry

Parts used: root, bark

Rasa: bitter, astringent

Virya: heating

Vipaka: sweet

Qualities: heavy, unctuous

Actions: nourishes all seven tissues, improves strength and reduces fatigue, improves memory

Rtucharya: winter

Contraindications: can be heating in excess

Ayurveda texts describe the importance of shifting our diet and routines with the seasons...

Ayurveda texts describe the importance of shifting our diet and routines with the seasons, but something I keep meeting in my Ayurveda practice is the pervasive effects of changes that AREN’T due to nature.

Culture can also be a factor in lifestyle rhythms, and have huge impacts on health. In some places, fall is a time of massive change in daily schedules as children and university students go “back to school” and they as well as their families are swept into a sudden shift in the demands and timetable of daily life. It is wise to take into account the effects such changes have on the system!

If you think about it, it makes sense the digestion, or sleep, or nerves might go through the ringer a bit as things are suddenly quite busy, and quite different, from how they were a week or two ago. Simplifying the diet can make things a lot smoother, as well as taking care to implement a few touchstone routines, such as a consistent lunchtime or bedtime, to ground down the days while change is afoot.

Consider a Fall Community Cleanse as an opportunity to establish these rhythms, with a little help from your friends.

There is often a digestive component, or was at the beginning of the story.

In this case, the pain may increase after eating difficult to digest foods like dairy, wheat, and fatty or fried foods.

In the ayurvedic view, improving the agni, burning ama, and cooling the blood reduce inflammation. See my summer recipes in #everydayayurvedacookbook

Systemic situations can be complicated, and while I share these general principles to shine some light on sources of joint pain, its a good idea to seek out a professional about anything chronic.

The juice on joints.

In the event of dryness, pain will be aggravated by cold, dry weather, and by taking cold, dry food like raw vegetables, crackers, and ice water. Joints are likely to make cracking sounds.

This will be more likely in people with cold, dry constitutions.  General vata management, increasing ghee and hemp in the diet, and practicing oil massage regularly can help. Be on your game in cold weather.

The juice on joints.

Why paining?

Joint pain can be due to dryness breaking down articular surfaces and/or, joint pain can be the result of inflammation. Pain in one joint can be structural, while many joints hurting belies a systemic situation.

Dude. Seriously. What’s the deal?? CAN we mix fruit with other food???

If its cooked, yes. The idea is that the fruit is introduced to the agni, pre-digested a bit, and it is working out its differences with the foods while they stew together. Regardless, Ayurveda may recommend you not do this every day, for optimal gut health.

Raw fruits for dessert or on the side, not so much.

Personally, I notice if I keep it simple, like just 2-3 ingredients: hot grain, bit of ghee, cooked fruit. It works. When its gets complicated and there’s lot of fruits, or some proteins plus grains plus ghee- or EGGS. Then I get gassy. THIS is how you know if its working. Gas.

Another thing I notice, honestly...as the years go by I am less drawn to mixing fruits with foods, and go for savory a lot more often. Period. I hardly eat fruits in the cold months. Except, of course apple crisp. It all goes out the window for apple crisp! : )

How do you cook fruits with food and how often??

FALL BREAKFAST RECIPE ALERT!

I can’t tell you how many people have told me over the years that this is their breakfast on those “I don’t know what to eat” mornings. When you’re not super hungry but you know you need something. Don’t eat something weird and processed- eat this!

Ghee Bomb Apples

The easiest recipe yet: 

Stir-fry one apple in a tsp ghee, add a Tbsp or 2 of water if it sticks.  Top with sweet cinnamon and ginger powders.  A light, warm breakfast.  Note: this works great with peaches too!!

Is it apple time yet where you are??

Taking care of yourself...

Taking care of yourself is about maintaining good health through a steady practice of self-observation. Ayurveda works when you pay attention to your Self. The information you gain about what makes you glow is pure gold.

Think about caring for plants and pets. You have to pay attention to them—figure out what kind of food they like, how much sun and water they need—by watching how they react to changes. Everybody knows you have to walk a dog and water a plant, but how often? Does it change as they age or at different times of year as the sunshine and rains shift?

There’s no judgment if a plant likes less sun or needs fresh soil. And there’s no need to judge what makes you thrive, like needing more rest than exercise or the other way around. There’s true intimacy, acceptance, and joy in this kind of self-discovery. I am feeling so lucky today that this is part of my work.

RASSPBERRY!!!

This year, my raspberry bushes are on their third summer and look what they did! I find greatest meaning in growing food at this stage of life. I wish I were better at it. Live and learn!