Freebies for Community Members

The Ayurvedic Living Community Membership is headed into its 4th year and we are accepting new members into the crew! 

With our NEW annual member option for $33/ month, you get 

Accountability community meetings with Kate, and an ongoing discussion group with the crew. 

Deep discounts on community cleanse. 

Monthly book club on Women’s Health, Bhagavad Gita, and more. 

A huge library of seasonal self-care, cooking, and women's health workshops, plus the occasional members-only live workshop with Kate. 

January only, when you join you get access to The Everyday Ayurveda Kitchen, a video cooking course worth $400!! Access ends January 31st, so now is the time if you want to get this cooking bonus! 

Food for Thought

For more than 15 years, the dining duo of Billy Costa and Jenny Johnson has been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping behind the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you the inside scoop on where to wine, dine and spend your time. So, get ready - it's Food For Thought, giving you something to chew on.

Listen here

Why Detox Now?

What’s the deal with a winter detox? So, we know about Ayurveda and cleansing at the juncture of seasons. Why in mid-winter???

I find climate to be an environmental factor as well as a cultural factor. Culturally, many have undergone a few weeks of holiday enjoying of heavy foods, combining foods in complicated ways, and lots of sweets! While we have discussed in this space tricks for maintaining moderation, this time can mark the beginning of ama. The program I’ve developed for the New Year’s Detox is shorter and more targeted than my seasonal cleansing programs. It is about processing holiday ama- before it gets a foothold.

Kate’s #1 Digestive Around the Holidays

I’d like to share my #1  MOST EFFECTIVE HOLIDAY DIGESTIVE PRACTICE. 

Drumroll, please. 

It’s meal spacing. You’ll be amazed what your belly can do when you find a 4-hour period throughout the festivities to NOT EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING. OK, maybe some hot water. 

It’s not easy, it may mean skipping breakfast, or the apps, or waiting a bit longer till cocktail hour but I’m telling you (and I totally watch the clock and count the hours- and hey 3 hours are good too) I feel so much better in the day to follow. Let your hunger grow! 

Wishing you a simple and pleasing time of rest and relaxation. 

Holiday digestion Tips 2

Between meals is the time to digest. Through experience, I have noticed the importance of spacing it out. Eating even a bite, or something healthy like fruit, between big meals causes indigestion. Try these three tips through your holiday season, and drop me a comment below to tell me how it’s working!

Holiday digestion Tips

These tips are hard-won! I have long been a lover of celebration and have experimented and over-indulged enough to know when to draw the line! These tips are my non-negotiables for digesting big meals. Please let me know how they work for you!

On Milk

Milk gets a bad rap these days, but Ayurveda uses milk a lot! 

A few things about milk: 

Milk is hard to digest when taken cold. It is always served warmed up, with warming spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. 

Milk opposes dry skin, dry poops, and frayed nerves. So it's medicine in the dry season (and later in life is also a dry season). 

The milk of today is not the milk of days of old, however. Quality milk is non-homogenized, and responsibly harvested from cows who are calving in season.  

Have you noticed A2 milk popping up at your grocery? A2 (heirloom) cows may be closer to traditional cows, and I have seen A2 milk digest better for many.  

Plant milks are said to take on the qualities of the plants used. Usually not as nourishing as cow’s milk.  

I’ll field questions about milk for Friday’s live! Leave me a comment or a DM and I’ll try to address it. 

Butternut Tikka Masala

Sharing an oldie but goodie on request from my lovers of the butternut! SO GOOD.

Butternut Tikka Masala!

Ingredients

For the Squash...

• 4 cups Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 1“ cubes (about one small/medium squash)

• 2 tbsp Farmtrue Traditional Ghee, melted

• 1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Spice

• 1/2 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt

For the Tikka Masala...

• 1/4" Ginger Root, peeled and chopped

• 1 Serrano Chili, halved and seeded

• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste

• 2 tbsp Golden Milk Superfuel Latte Mix

• 2 tbsp Traditional Ghee

• 1 medium Onion, chopped

• 8 Roma Tomatoes, coarsely chopped

• 1 1/2 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt

• 3/4 cup canned Coconut Milk

• 1 can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed well

• 3 large handfuls of Baby Spinach

Directions

To roast the Squash:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

2. Toss the squash with melted ghee, spices, and salt.

3. Transfer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 25 minutes, until tender.

4. Broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the squash cubes.

To prepare the Tikka Masala:

1. Use a small food processor to combine the ginger, chili, Golden Milk Latte Mix, and tomato paste to make the masala; process to a paste. If your processor is too big for the job, dice everything up small and stir to combine. The sauce will be blended later.

2. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven, warm the ghee over medium-high heat. Saute the onion for 2-3 minutes until it begins to brown.

3. Turn heat down to medium, add the Tikka Masala, and saute, mixing well, until the spice mixture begins to brown, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and salt. Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes on medium-low heat.

5. Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce until smooth.

6. Stir in chickpeas, spinach, and coconut milk.

7. Gently stir in the squash cubes.

8. Return to a simmer for 5 minutes.

9. Serve over basmati rice or with Stove-Top Naan Bread.

Use code FARMTRUEKATE15 for a discount on ghee and more from my friends at @farmtrue

Sattvic Mind

This doesn’t mean agenda and craving won’t be there! Just less compelling. 
In Ayurveda, mental wellness is patience and alertness, one is able to both accept things as they are and take necessary actions for preservation and prosperity. 
Our thoughts and desires move through the mental field, but balanced consciousness sees them for what they are, and discerns when to act and when to remain still — without angst, anxiety, or regret. 
Our Sattvic mind is an unbiased observer, not muddled by agenda or craving. 

NOW- from this place, WE ACT. Imagine how this ability to separate one’s individual will from the act- and how the likelihood of the action benefiting all beings is greater this way.  

Does this make sense? 

Letting Go

“The wise one lets go of all results whether good or bad and is focused on the action alone. Yoga is a skill in actions.” B Gita 2.47 🏋🏼‍♀️❤️ 

Reposting this ancient reminder as a follow-up to my IG live last Friday where I discussed the importance of slowing down between reaction and action during these times when everything seems to be escalating so fast. 

I'm going to keep this thread on mental wellness going this week. Please drop any Qs for another live in the comments or DM.