Tag Archives: Snack

Day 25: Juicy Hips and Crispy Chickpeas

This morning I woke up feeling groggy, a combination of working until 1am and the head cold that came to visit yesterday.  The last thing I wanted to do was turn myself upside down in downward dog when my head felt ready to explode sitting right-side up.  So I decided to take it easy on myself and go back to my quick favorite Opening to Hanumanasana with Adi on Yoga Today (though, you’ll notice if you click the link that I actually do this practice on YouTube).  Even though this class is only 25 minutes, it is full of juicy hip openers (which, if you couldn’t tell by now, I love!) and, more importantly today, not too much upside-down time.  It had been a while since I’d done this one, and as much as I love it, I always dread the pose where you are in a sort of super wide pigeon, with your foot rolled to the outside.  I used to have the worst time with that pose, especially on my right side.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it didn’t make me want to cry or punch someone today.  I’m letting things go guys!

I spent the afternoon working on an online training to become a volunteer tax preparer, which was my favorite project in AmeriCorps and something I’ve wanted to get back into for a long time.  When I got home, I was hungry but still had some work to do before I made dinner, so I decided to roast some chickpeas.  This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but for some reason I never have–odd, since I always have several cans in the house at all times.  Anyway, I did a quick search on the googs and discovered the blog How Sweet It Is which devoted an entire post to roasting the little ‘banzos! Excellent.  I followed her method and decided to go with rosemary, garlic powder and salt for my maiden voyage of making what is sure to be one of my new favorite snax.

All ready to go in the oven!

All ready to go in the oven!

Nom

Nom

 

As you can probably see from the second photo, they ended up a little, shall we say, well done.  However, my good friends will tell you that I tend to prefer things on the crispier side, so I was ok with it.  Next time, I either won’t keep them in so long or will lower the temperature of the oven.  However the flavor was great and they were a perfect crispy treat to tide me over until I was finished reviewing filing statuses.

And now it’s time for a little dinner, movie and early bed time to get rid of this cold once and for all!  I’ve got a lot of upside-downing ahead of me tomorrow. 🙂

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Filed under Food, Goals, Practice, Recipes, Roasted Chickpeas, Yoga, Yoga Snax

Saturday Snax: Avocado Toast

What is better than avocado?  Avocado spread on toast!  One of my favorite things to eat is the avocado toast at Cafe Gitane  on Mott Street in NYC.  And while I’m lucky enough to work in the neighborhood, this treat is just as easy to make from the comfort of home!

A perfect snack.

What you need:

1 Ripe Avocado (Has some give when you press into it, outer skin has darkened)

2-4 slices whole wheat bread (depending on how much avocado you like)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Pinch of Salt

Sprinkle of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

To make:

Toast the bread.  While it’s toasting, peel and pit your avocado.  This is done by cutting into the avocado and running your knife all the way around the outside.  Twist the avocado and pull open.  Using a larger knife, remove the pit by swinging the bottom of the blade down onto the pit (it’s all in the wrist!), then twisting to loosen it and remove.  Use a fork or spoon to scoop out the avocado meat into a small bowl.  Mash up the avocado with the fork.  Add the lemon juice and salt and mix.  Spread the avocado mixture onto your toast, then sprinkle on the red pepper flakes to your liking (just remember not to touch your eyes after handling the red pepper flakes!  Not that I have done this…).

Then…enjoy!  Bon appetit!

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