Blog Archives

Vegan Colcannon Irish Potatoes

3/31/2020

Thanks to the coronavirus I am posting this Saint Patrick's Day recipe a bit late. As many may have seen, I have opened my Etsy account, The Elizabethan Closet, where my store features many vintage items that I have used to inspire me on this blog.

I found this adorable 1980's "Irish" skirt, which inspired me to make an Irish potato recipe. I love peasant cooking, and potatoes have been a hearty and healthy vegetable for Europeans for thousands of years. In fact, if it weren't for potatoes, not many people who have sustained nourishment in their time. Mashed potatoes are my favorite recipe, and wanted to ignite my home with the luck of the Irish.

According to whatscookinginamerica.net the history of Colcannon is, "During the 1600 and 1700’s in Europe and Ireland, potatoes, cabbages, and leeks were considered the food of the common man so it was inevitable that a dish would evolve that combines all the ingredients. The word colcannon is from the Gaelic term “cal ceannann” which means white-headed cabbage. It is also believed to be a derivative of the old Irish “cainnenin” translated as garlic, onion, or leek.In Ireland, colcannon is served as a special treat with ham or Irish bacon.

The Irish tradition is to serve colcannon as the main dish for Halloween festivities and refer to the evening as “Colcannon Night”. Colcannon is used for the foretelling of marriages. Just as Americans have the fun superstition of the single young lady who catches the wedding bouquet will be the next to marry. Young single Irish women hope to find the ring hidden in their plate of colcannon. A blindfolded, unmarried woman is to pick the head of cabbage or kale from the garden that is to be cooked in the colcannon dish. Charms such as rings, thimbles, and coins are wrapped and hidden in bowls of colcannon. This is a particularly exciting eve for the young men or women. If a young unmarried girl is lucky enough to find a ring in her bowl, a marriage proposal could be soon waiting for her and she would likely marry within the year before the next Colcannon Night. Other young maidens would fill their stockings with their first and last spoonfuls of colcannon and hang them from the front door handle. It is believed that the first man through the door would become their future husband."

Like a fair maiden, I wanted to celebrate this Saint Patrick's Day with a healthy and hearty side dish. Potatoes get a bad wrap, but today, when eating fried potatoes, the deep fryer wipes all of the nourishment out of the potatoes. In fact, the starch has long kept people nourished during their time of farming and hard labor.

The beauty of this skirt is inspirational for all to do a little bit of home cooking. Enjoy!

Find this skirt and other fun, funky and vintage items on my Etsy Shop, The Elizabethan Closet.

Vegan Colcannon Irish Potatoes
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes (used white skin)
2 tbsp vegan butter
1 3/4 cup leeks (white parts)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 head small cabbage, finely chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
nondairy milk (optional to help mash potatoes)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Wash and boil potatoes in a large pot of water for 20 minutes, or until a knife can easily slice in half. In a pan, melt the butter and cook the vegetables (except the green onion) for several minutes until edible.

Once the potatoes are edible, drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Mash with some additional butter and (optional) nondairy milk (use as much as desired) and mix in the cooked greens. Mix in the raw green onion. The traditional method includes putting potatoes in a bowl, making a well, and adding a dollop of butter on top of the potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

*Note: I prefer a more buttery taste so used less nondairy milk and more butter in the recipe.

Checkout my other potato recipes below and my new Etsy shop, The Elizabethan Closet. Let's Connect!

Vegan "Cheesy" Garlic Herbed Cauliflower + Potatoes

Vegan Creamy Chive Potatoes

Vegan Parsley Potato Soup

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Welcome to The Elizabethan Closet on Etsy!

3/24/2020

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Hello Mind Body Soul Food Followers,

Today I announce the grand opening of my Etsy shop, The Elizabethan Closet, a place to discover vintage clothes, antiques and funky finds. While living in Germany between 2014-2015, I created a self-published vegan cookbook. During this time, I needed props for my recipes and discovered a love and passion for pastime relics. That love grew when I moved back to the states.

During some years after Germany, I noticed I needed some outfits for a couple weddings and randomly chose vintage clothing from Goodwill. It was a subconscious buy, as at that time I didn't know how to look for vintage clothing or did not realize the worker union tags.

The year 2019 was rough, and during this time I found estate sales to be my sanctuary and my sadness was channeled into my photography for this blog. I became inspired by vintage dresses and antique glassware, which ignited many recipes that you see here today.

Now I must part with my collection, and I hope that all the joy these dresses and plates brought me, it will light your home up with some joy too.

It's a bit of an awkward time to post this considering the coronavirus is on the rise in the states. But with this being the season of rebirth, I too have to shed my skin and start a fresh.

Here is just a preview of somethings you'll find on The Elizabethan Closet. I will be uploaded new items weekly. I have been a bit slow at uploading due to the stress of losing employment because of coronavirus and just figuring things out.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me! Thanks for your support!

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Vegan Lentil Farro + Kale Soup

3/23/2020

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Food is healing, and one thing during this COVID 19 crisis is that we need to ramp up our immune system. And one way of doing this is through eating natural, whole (and organic) foods.

Food is medicine and for thousands of years, humans used food to help chronic disease and ailments. Soup is an ideal food for healing because it contains a variety of spices and produce that contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances like Vitamin C + E and beta carotenes that fight free radicals from doing additional damage to cells.

It is best to get this from real food before consuming supplements (the artificial version).

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
- Hippocrates

As seen on my YouTube Channel, I discuss various topics regarding COVID 19 and what foods are most ideal during this time. This recipe contains 4 ingredients I mentioned in my, "12 Healing Plant-Based Foods to Incorporate in Your Diet During Covid 19."

This recipe includes turmeric, garlic, coriander seeds and kale, all of which contain Vitamin C and are packed with antioxidants. This soup balances carbs, protein along with healthy fat from the olive oil.

Not everyone has the luxury of cooking from home. But, during this time where many of us are unemployed, healthy cooking is possible on a budget. In addition, this as well as many other recipes on Mind Body Soul Food are affordable and time-friendly too.

Now that many of us have spare time, it is essential to look within (and save money) to detox from all the over indulgences from high sugar, salt, processed and fried foods. This is a time to take care of our health and ramp up immune system as even though you may not get COVID 19, the common flu and allergies are plaguing the states just as much.

Stay healthy. Stay well. Stay connected.

Vegan Lentil Farro + Kale Soup
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
3-4 tbsp olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 med. red skin potato, chopped
3 cups kale, thinly sliced
4 cups vegetable broth (32 oz).
1/2 cup farro
1/2 cup French green lentils
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
In a large pot, cook the onion and garlic in olive oil for 3 minutes. Next, add celery and carrots and cook for several minutes. Add the spices and potatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (farro, kale, lentils) and simmer for 20-25 minutes until edible and silky smooth. Adjust any seasoning to your taste.

*Note: The broth will soak up so you can reduce the farro to 1/3 cup. Or add additional broth if needed.*

Let's Connect! Check out my other healing food recipes!

Coconut Vegetable Noodle Soup

Lemon + Ginger Immunity Tea

Kale Farro Salad w/ Parsley Tarragon Dressing

Yum

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Quick-n-Easy Yoga + Fitness + How To Videos

3/19/2020

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Being sedentary and alone is not easy. We are social creatures, and the body was meant to be upright and moving. Back in 2018, I worked a startup app called, Snack, to provide quick, and easy to digest videos in under 3 minutes.

Here are a series of short videos that I've done that mainly revolve around yoga, postural awareness and some exercise.

I separated these by categories for bedtime yoga, seated/chair/office yoga, mat yoga, and general fitness / exercise. The app / site closed captions may not be accurate and that is a technical glitch of the program not being able to understand some words.
I hope this helps and there are more videos on Snack than shown below:

BEDTIME / IN BED YOGA + EXERCISES

CHAIR / IN OFFICE / AT HOME YOGA, POSTURE + EXERCISES

MAT YOGA + HOW TO + INFORMATIONAL VIDEO

GENERAL FITNESS VIDEOS

LET'S CONNECT + SUBSCRIBE BELOW!

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Most Simple Lemon + Ginger Immune-boosting Tea: COVID 19 Vitamin C Recommendations

3/4/2020

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Seattle has been interesting the last couple of weeks. This week in particular with the spread of COVID 19 in Kirkland. The retirement homes I work at have gone on quarantine so that means no fitness classes for residents and no work for me. Many clients have cancelled their training hoping to avoid any contact with possible germ-filled locations.

Many corporations have requested people to work from home as a preventative. Smart? Yes. But what many people do not realize that exercise and many natural foods are immune boosters.

Most people today misunderstand the human body. Thanks to the growth of the medical industry, people understand the human anatomy in separate pieces or from the lens of pharmaceuticals. Most people do not understand the human body is like a garden. It is its own vast and complex eco-system that has the ability to regenerate.

Many people do not live healthy lives. They have stressful jobs, don't exercise and eat out a lot. Some do smoke marijuana as well as consume alcohol on a frequent basis.

Working from home is great, but unless one secludes themselves to the four walls of their apartment it is impossible to avoid the public. During this time, it is important to boost immunity through moderate exercise as well as through whole / natural foods.

Recent research published from greenmedinfo.com states that Vitamin C is beneficial for COVID 19. It may not be a cure, but it can help boost immunity and those who had the virus in Asia have found positive effects on people who recovered from the virus. Vitamin C also aided other viruses like pneumonia and influenza.

Fresh Lemon Ginger tea boosts immunity, acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and relies nausea and digestion. Lemon is an ideal source of Vitamin C and ginger contains gingerol, a bioactive compound that exhibits strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects.

During this time, moderate exercise and consuming more whole foods prepared at home will maintain immunity.

Greenmedinfo.com also suggests, "start taking vitamin C right away; at least 3 grams a day, spread right across the day. That's a 1,000 milligram capsule every 8 hours, or a level teaspoon of powder dissolved in a pint or so of water, drank all through the day."

Lemon + Ginger Immune-boosting Tea
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Water
1/2 small lemon, juiced
1-2 inches of fresh ginger, cut in half
Honey for non-vegans

Directions:
Cut ginger and boil in water in a pan for 5-7 minutes. While boiling, squeeze half a fresh lemon into a mug. Pour the boiled ginger water into the mug. Add honey to taste if desired. Drink while warm / hot.

For a weaker flavor, use only 1 inch of ginger or 1/4 of a large lemon.

Let's Connect!

Yum

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A Journey into Thought & Spirit

Vegan Colcannon Irish Potatoes

Find this skirt and other fun, funky and vintage items on my Etsy Shop, The Elizabethan Closet.

Welcome to The Elizabethan Closet on Etsy!

Vegan Lentil Farro + Kale Soup

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
- Hippocrates

Quick-n-Easy Yoga + Fitness + How To Videos

BEDTIME / IN BED YOGA + EXERCISES

CHAIR / IN OFFICE / AT HOME YOGA, POSTURE + EXERCISES

MAT YOGA + HOW TO + INFORMATIONAL VIDEO

GENERAL FITNESS VIDEOS

Most Simple Lemon + Ginger Immune-boosting Tea: COVID 19 Vitamin C Recommendations

Author

Categories

Archives

A Journey into Thought & Spirit

Vegan Colcannon Irish Potatoes

Find this skirt and other fun, funky and vintage items on my Etsy Shop, The Elizabethan Closet.

Welcome to The Elizabethan Closet on Etsy!

Vegan Lentil Farro + Kale Soup

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." ​- Hippocrates

Quick-n-Easy Yoga + Fitness + How To Videos

BEDTIME / IN BED YOGA + EXERCISES

CHAIR / IN OFFICE / AT HOME YOGA, POSTURE + EXERCISES

MAT YOGA + HOW TO + INFORMATIONAL VIDEO

GENERAL FITNESS VIDEOS ​

Most Simple Lemon + Ginger Immune-boosting Tea: COVID 19 Vitamin C Recommendations

Author

Categories

Archives

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
- Hippocrates

GENERAL FITNESS VIDEOS