Comforting Food & Flipping Upside Down

"Do you know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, you can come home and absolutely know that when you add egg yolks to sugar and milk, it will get thick. It is such a comfort." - Julie Powell from the film Julie & Julia

While today was certainly a healthier day than yesterday, honestly, my body isn't feeling much better. The head cold has gotten worse, my legs and arms are sore, and I alternate between feeling feverish and freezing. Yikes. On the upswing, however, my classes went dashingly well...including my new class at Know Yoga Know Peace! I also cooked some wonderfully comforting foods tonight that - I'm optimistic - will make me feel better. Here was the menu:

Ginger Tea
The potent and spicy blend comes from How It All Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. This cookbook has a number of interesting tea, smoothie, and juice recipes.

- 3 tablespoons thinly sliced ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 Truvia packet (optional)

Combine the ginger, cayenne, and water in a small pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture - using cheesecloth - into a large mug and enjoy! serves 1

**Cheesecloth may be found in the baking isle of your grocery store or at a craft store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby. You can use it in cooking to strain mixtures and create herb bundles for easy retrieval from soups**

Brazilian Black Bean Stew
This seemingly complex recipe is, in actuality, so easy to whip together. It comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's new cookbook, Color Me Vegan. The flavor is a wonderful mixture of sweetness from the mango and spiciness from the hot sauce and sausage. It's perfect for a cold night!

- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. Mexican-spiced vegetarian sausage, casings removed (or real sausage if you aren't a veghead)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 large green pepper, chopped
- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- a few healthy glugs of hot sauce
- 2 cans black beans, drained
- 1 mango, peeled, chopped, and seeded
- salt

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is soft (about 5-7 minutes). Add the sausage, sweet potatoes, and green pepper and continue sauteing until the pepper softens (about 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes to the vegetables and fill the empty tomato can halfway up with water. Add the water to the pot with hot sauce to taste. Cover the soup and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Add the beans, mango, and salt to taste. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes to marry the flavors and heat the beans through. serves 5-6

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Headstands for Head Colds
When my head feels like a giant helium balloon (you know the feeling), I love flipping upside down into  headstand. That heavy pressure in your sinus cavity literally moves around in your head...offering some nice release. Getting into a headstand can be quite complicated, but - like most things in yoga - can also be accessible to most people. I have included below a link to yoga journal's step-by-step guide to getting into a headstand. Try it out the next time you are feeling sinus pressure or have a head cold. It feels kinda neat (!) and actually alleviates some pain and unpleasantness.

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/481

A few headstands, Mexican-style stews, and ginger teas later, I am ready for bed. Here's hoping tomorrow will bring a full recovery and lots of energy =)