Author: Grace

2min Okutama River Meditation

Grace

Here is a 2min river meditation, created in Okutama, Japan.

  • Start the video or audio, sit with a straight back, your chin slightly pulled in, relax your shoulders and close your eyes (or lie down if too tired!).
  • Relax and slow down your breathing.
  • Listen to the river, each time you notice your mind has wandered, gently go back to listening to the river.

Download Audio File

Breakfast Smoothie Recipe

Grace

Am trying Veganuary this month and made this smoothie for breakfast out of ingredients I found in our kitchen, it was really good! Here’s the recipe:

Blend all these ingredients together with a mixer or blender (serves one):

Large handful or frozen mango
Handful of frozen blueberries
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp chia seeds
tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
150ml approx of hot water (to help melt the frozen fruit)

Colour Pencils

Grace

Been wanting to use some colour pencils that need sharpening for a while. They are chunkier than the standard size, I had a large size pencil sharpener for them but it got broken when the bag it was in got caught in my bicycle wheel when I was cycling to a yoga lesson through Toyama park and I hadn’t got around to getting a new one. This morning while removing flash cards from a yoga anatomy colouring book I suddenly and joyfully realized I could sharpen them with Dan’s penknife!

This pose is Janu Sirsasana – head to knee pose – a forward bend to help gently look forward to the coming year, yet still holding 2020 – a year that has stretched many of us beyond what we can bear.

Plant-based Teacake

Grace

This is a yummy, relatively healthy teacake I make quite often. Recommend it with a cup of tea!

Ingredients

300g dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, etc.)
260ml hot tea (about one mug of tea)
40ml juice and grated peel of 1 orange
225g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
100g brown sugar
3 tsp brown sugar for topping (1 tsp per cake)
45g chopped hazelnuts (15g per cake)


Directions

  1. Place the dried fruit in a bowl and pour over the hot tea, orange juice and grated peel. Cover and leave for at least 3 hrs or overnight. (A)
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C, grease 2 small loaf tins and line with baking sheets.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. (B)
  4. Add the sugar to A (raisin mix).
  5. Add B (flour mix) to A and carefully stir in.
  6. Divide the mixture evenly into the tins and smooth over the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula.
  7. Sprinkle all over with sugar and chopped hazelnuts.
  8. Bake for approx. 40min, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If it looks like the top will burn, cover with foil.
  9. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10min, then turn out and cool on a rack.

CAKE VARIATIONS

  • No orange (may need to add a bit more tea or plant-based milk if mix is too dry)
  • No cinnamon
  • Add ½ tsp ginger and/or ½ tsp allspice
  • Add 50g coconut oil (For step 4. Beat the coconut oil and sugar together, add this to the raisin mix A and then stir in the flour mix B)


TIN VARIATIONS

Tins – 1, 2 or 3
(baking time approximately 1hr for 1 tin, 40min for 2 tins and 30min for 3 tins


TOPPING VARIATIONS

  • Walnuts, pecans or almonds instead of hazelnuts
  • No sugar
  • No nuts
  • No topping
  • Dust with icing sugar to make a Christmassy one!

Based on these recipes 🙂

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11608/fruity-teacake
https://www.yumsome.com/bit-of-the-good-stuffs-vegan-old-fashioned-english-tea-loaf