A weeks worth of Fall dinners.

I have this strange idea that if you make it yourself and use whole, fresh ingredients, are mindful of portion size and enjoy each bite fully, oh and practice yoga, you don't have to worry about silly little things like calories or fat content. My motto: know where it comes from, make it yourself, and enjoy. Remember:

Food that is loving prepared tastes better and satisfies longer.

Most of these single recipes could last you a whole week. The soups can be frozen. 

Fall Squash Soup

Ingredients Cinnamon croutons 1 medium butternut squash (or seasonal squash) peeled, seeded, cut into chunks 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs butter 2 large onions diced 6 gloves garlic diced 1 cup white wine or water 8 cups chicken stock 2 sausages (chorizo, andouille) depending on preference 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce 1 tbs cayenne pepper 2 tbs fresh thyme (or dried, adjust accordingly) 2 tbs fresh oregano (or dried, adjust accordingly) Salt to taste Fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Toss squash to coat in olive oil and roast 30 min. Heat butter in large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until tender and browned about 20 min - the longer and slower you cook the better - you need enough heat to golden brown.  Add squash, garlic and wine/water and cook at high heat until reduced by half, about 10 min. Add stock and bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low, simmer for 15 min. Meanwhile, in another pan, cook sausage until browned over medium high heat (the higher heat seals in the favor). Puree squash/stock mixture and return to stockpot. Stir in sausage, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, herbs, and season with salt/pepper to taste. (I like lots of pepper and the best salt.) Serve in soup bowls, garnish with cinnamon croutons.

Cinnamon Croutons

Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 3 tbs brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cayenne 1 small loaf of sourdough cubed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in butter, cinnamon and cayenne and cook until bubbly and the sugar has fully melted, 2-3 min. Toss with bread, spread on a baking sheet and bake for 30 min.

This recipe is modified from the original source: Caprial's Soups & Sandwiches

Time: 1 - 1 1/2 hours

10 Hour Chicken

A great recipe that you can prep in the am, be gone all day and eat when you get home. Perfect for a full day of errands, work, apple picking, or yoga teacher training.

Ingredients 1 whole organic chicken (washed, dried, and scrubbed with corse salt) 1 lemon halved Salt/Pepper 1/2 bunch of thyme 1/2 a head of garlic

Use a crockpot on low. Generously sprinkle with salt/pepper. Tuck thyme, lemon halves, and 4 cloves of garlic in the cavity of the chicken. Place the remaining garlic around the pot. Cook for 9 1/2 hours. Preheat the over to 400.  Put the chicken on it's back (breast side up), sprinkle with more salt/pepper and roast the chicken until it is crispy (25 min). Let is cool. Carve and enjoy. PS: Don't turn off the crock pot! You can also cook this in the over at 200 degrees, cover with aluminum foil.

Time: 10 hours

Original Source: My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow

Mama Leone's Chicken Soup

This recipe comes from my favorite blog of the moment: RestoredStyle.com

You can freeze half the recipe and save it for days when you don't feel like cooking (if you ever have one of those days!)

Time: 45 min

White Bean Soup

Yum, easy, nutritious and satisfying. I usually have all these ingredients on hand.

Ingredients 2 tbs olive oil 1 fennel bulb (thinly sliced) 1 large yellow onion (thinly sliced) 2 garlic cloves (thinly sliced) Pinch of red chile flakes 1/4 tsp dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 14 oz cans of cannelloni beans, rinsed, drained 2 pints stock (vegetable or chicken) 1 bunch of kale several slices of good crusty bread toasted 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (grated)

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add fennel and cook for 10 min, stirring occasionally. Add onion and garlic, turn the heat to low and cook for 30 min, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and sweet. Add chile flakes, oregano, and pepper, cook for a minute. Add beans and stock, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, add salt to taste and let cook on low for an hour. Then add kale. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler to high. Ladle the soup into individual bowls, float the bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls in the broiler until the cheese is bubbly. 3 min at the most should do it.

Time: 2 hours

Chicken and Dumplings

Holy Chicken! So good. If you have a long rainy afternoon, this recipe is for you. My Louisville based Southern Grammie would have been so proud.

Ingredients 1 organic whole chicken Corse salt/pepper 1 tbs butter 2 tbs olive oil 1 stock celery, chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 1 small leek, chopped 1 slick bacon, diced 1 dried bay leaf (dried) 1 tsp fresh thyme 1/2 cup white wine (you can drink the rest of the bottle while cooking and eating this!) 2 cups vegetable stock 2 cups water 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tbs baking powder 1/2 cup half and half (make it a big 1/2 cup) 1/2 tsp fine salt Fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat the over to 400 degrees. Wash, dry and salt scrub the chicken and cut into 10 pieces. (This is not that hard to do, but it takes some time, especially the first few times. You can purchase a chicken cut up or ask the butcher to do it (those Whole Foods guys are awesome!), you can also reference the Joy of Cooking. I do this whenever I have a question that my mom could have answered. Cutting up a chicken really gets you in touch with the animal and gives you time to give proper thanks.) Aggressively season with salt/pepper. In a large oven safe pot with a lid, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Thoroughly brown the chicken pieces 8 min per side and remove to a plate, leaving the fat in the pot. Add vegetables, bacon, bay leaf and thyme to the pot and cook for 15 min over medium-low heat. Return the chicken to the pot. Add white wine, bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Add stock and water, bring to a boil and season with salt/pepper to taste. Turn off the heat, cover the pot with a circle of parchment paper, and put the lid on. Cook at 400 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, half-and-half, and salt together in a bowl. Take the pot out of the oven, discard the parchment and scoop large spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture on top of the chicken (about 10 dumplings). Cover the pot, put it back in the oven, and cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and a bit more ground pepper. Serve immediately (with the rest of the wine) and plenty of juices. Oh man!

Time: 2 1/2 hours

Both of these are from Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter and both are so delicious.

I am just a Yoga teacher.

A beautiful and poignant article by a seasoned yoga teacher and mama, Amy Cushing.

I arrive early and roll out my mat.

I greet wide-eyed new students with a smile and laugh with those who return week after week.

I don’t wear Lululemon or Donna Karan sweat pants or own a Manduka mat. Not that I would mind, there’s simply no room for expensive style in our family budget.

I do still treasure my eight-year-old Be Present crops adorned with an embroidered pink orchid. Those are quality. They were purchased when being carefree was more the way of life.

I am not skinny or incredibly bendy and I cannot float from crow to handstand to plank. But I can do each individually, slowly and mindfully, and can show you how to improve your own practice.

Is that a fat roll you see as I demonstrate parsvakonasana? Yes. Maybe two, in fact; a product of carrying two babies and having little time for myself these days. I’ll work on finding a washboard ab or two once the kids don’t need me so much. I’m OK with it. Are you?

And wrinkles? No those aren’t wrinkles, they’re imprints of a life lived.

I could care less about your pedicure. My own 10-minute home pedi isn’t the best either. I’m more interested in the position of your foot.

I note your shoulder scar, your curved spine, your swollen knee—not to judge your appearance, but to give you a safe practice.

I may see and hear things that are personal. And they will stay that way.

Some days I may look a bit tired, likely from being up all night with one of my children or trying to fit 30 hours into a 24-hour day. Please, bear with me. I have arrived to give my best and I will do just that.

I may laugh at my fumbled words or missteps; it is part of who I am.

I can help you feel a little better, breathe a little easier and guide you toward a meditation practice, but I won’t promote a guru.

I don’t have a guru. I don’t want a guru.

But I have great teachers who have inspired me on my path. I hold them close to my heart and they are a part of the practice I share with you.

Despite a decade of practice, my yoga journey is a continuing lesson. Each day I learn more of the wisdom that surrounds it. I will do my best to always be a student as well as a teacher.

I am just a yoga teacher who teaches at the local studio up the street.

I may not be cover model flawless or the vision of yoga teacher perfection, but I am a teacher.

And that’s perfect enough for me.

 Source: Elephant Journal article written by Amy Cushing Posted on Facebook by Portland Yoga Teacher Sarah Robinette 

A million birds and unexpected sun.

Who actually knows how to take time and live with soul and body and God all in sync?

The iPhone weather forecast said rain all day, like 100%, so when the sun unexpectedly came out during Brendan's nap, I stopped all to-dos and perched myself in the sun with a chai, a pen, and paper. The door is open and Coco and I are sitting in the doorway feeling the heat and listening to a million birds in the big oak tree in the front yard.

Right now, my spiritual practice is to observe. Be present to the fullness of life all around me and rest in the heat of the sun before the moment passes.

It has. The clouds have rolled in, the rain returned.

I invite you to find a moment to observe today.

Here-time asks me to do the hardest of all: just open wide and receive. -from One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Deliciousness in all the right places or Raw Mediterranean Pesto Torta

Ok. So. This recipe comes from Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods by Renee Loux Underkoffler, however I modified it just a bit to make it a little easier and not so onion intense. It is so out of this world favorful and tastes awesome with chips.

Mediterranean Tapenade Torta

Marinated Onions 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced) 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs nama shoyu (basically fermented soy sauce that in vegan and gluten free) 1 tbs apple cider vinegar Pinch sea salt

Pesto-Olive Tapenade 2 cups walnuts (soaked for an hour) 2 cups fresh basil 1 cup fresh parsley 2 cloves garlic 1/2 cup pine nuts 1 cup green and black olives (pitted) 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs apple cider vinegar 2 tbs white miso 2 tbs nutritional yeast Pinch sea salt 1 chopped zucchini 1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts 1 tomato, sliced across the seeds and cut into bite-sized pieces 1/4 cup chopped herbs for garnish (basil, parsley, cilantro)

Mix to combine onions, olive oil, nama shoyu, apple cider vinegar and sea salt. Allow to stand for 20 min (or more) until savory and soft. Meanwhile, in a food processor chop up basil, parsley, and garlic. Add walnuts and pine nuts. Add olives, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and miso. Add nutritional yeast and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Turn out to a bowl and fold in zucchini. Press the mixture into the bottom of a pie dish. (Or make it fancier by using a circle or square). Layer artichoke hearts. Layer tomatoes. Gently pressing each layer. Drain the marinade from the onions and layer onions. Garnish with herbs. Allow the torta to set for at least an hour in the fridge. Serve with chips!

I served this with a classic Ceasar Salad* for dinner, (I absolutely love the flavor of anchovies.), then had it the next day for lunch and a snack with tortilla chips - it got better each time.

Classic Ceasar Salad*

In a bowl, mash up finely diced garlic (2 cloves) and anchovies (4 small fillets), combine with 2 tbs mayo and 2 tbs olive oil. Season with salt/pepper and lemon juice. I also added just a dash of apple cider vinegar. Combine with chopped romaine and croutons. Slice parm with a vegetable peeler over the salad. Season with a lot of fresh ground black pepper.

*An easy version inspired by Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

Food loving and mindfully prepared tastes better and satisfies longer.

After an awesome summer of fresh-from-the-Earth food that requires only a little bit of a chop here and there and a strong desire to keep the oven in the off position due to the heat, I am so loving firing up the range and cooking! I love to make my time in the kitchen preparing foods a sort of meditation, prayerful time of intention and loving preparation.

In the book, 3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery, Seppo Ed Farrey and Myochi Nancy O'Hara outline 5 Principles of Mindful Cooking. These principles apply to my raw food friends as well. 

Before selecting the recipes you wish to prepare, consider those you will be feeding and what they might enjoy. Then bring all your attention to the food. Food lovingly and mindfully prepared tastes better and satisfies longer.

FIRST. Consider the time you have allotted to cook and wisely choose the recipes you wish to prepare, with your time constraints in mind. Rushing only serves to undermine mindfulness. SECOND. Before you begin, check to make sure you have on hand all the needed ingredients or workable substitutes. THIRD. Wash, chop, sift, and stir. Think only of washing, chopping, sifting, and stirring. Breath and be mindful of each slice of the knife, of each swift of the spoon, of the magical process of cooking. FOURTH. Before throwing anything away, consider whether it might have a use. For example, save vegetable remains to make soup stock or use them as compost* to feed your garden. FIFTH. Keep it simple. Relax and enjoy the process of cooking, and the miracles that are born from your efforts. Sometimes we get so carried away that we can't stop, and with all good intentions, we make more food than anyone could possible eat at one sitting. If you want to make four or five different dishes for one meal, remind yourself that three are plenty.

Try this totally awesome recipe. I had it this morning, prepared as instructed above. It blew my mind.

Oatmeal with Sweet Potato and Apricots

2 cups rolled oats 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated 4 dried apricots, chopped (or a handful of raisins) 3/4 tsp sea salt 1 tsp vanilla extract yogurt and honey to taste

In a larger saucepan, bring 5 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Stir in oats, sweet potato, apricots (or raisins), and salt and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Serve with a few spoonfuls of yogurt and honey stirred in.

Bonus: Brendan, my two year old loved it!

*The city of Portland composts!