Matcha

Does anyone have a product, that kindof changed their life? I'm no great believer in super foods, or miracle cures and diets. But I do have one product that really changed my eating, or in this case drinking habit. It is matcha green tea. In case you have never heard of matcha, it is a powdered green tea leaf. So instead of steeping the green tea leaves in hot water, and just drawing out the anti-oxidants, you are actually ingesting the entire life and all of it's benefits. 1 cup of matcha has as much antioxidants as 10 cups of regular green tea! So good for you! For me, it helped me to stop drinking energy drinks. I used to drink them, a looooot. Like in college I would just drink three energy drinks a day, instead of eating. Can you believe that? I was prone to migraines if I didn't drink one, I would get the shakes if I didn't drink at least one a day, I was 100% a energy drink addict. After college I did slow down a bit, but I still heavily relied on them, my last job I would be presenting in schools all day and I felt like I couldn't get through a day without at least one energy drink, and this was a serious problem. I started to really think about energy drinks, what's in them? I know it's a lot of caffeine, but to be honest that was the least of my worries. I was more concerned about the sugar and the chemicals in them. What were they doing to my teeth, my stomach, my brain??  

I realized that I wanted to stop drinking energy drinks, and I needed something to replace them. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, and when I am it needs lots of sugar to make it palatable, again not great for you. So I started reading up on matcha and I loved everything I read. At first I tried blending it into a smoothie, which was ok, but I didn't feel like that was the best way to drink it. Then I discovered the matcha latte. I heat of half my mug of cashew milk, put in one teaspoon of matcha, no sugar, and whip with a hand held frother until it is really thoroughly mixed (other wise it will taste powdery) and then add hot water and mix again briefly. Keep in mind, this is not how people in Japan drink it, there is much more structure and ceremony to how they drink their matcha, they hand mix it with a wooden whisk and it's very different. You could totally do that your self, they sell tea bowls and whisks at tea places like Teavana but you could also check your local Asian market, like T&T. To learn more about the traditional way of drinking matcha, you can watch this video or read this article, and there is a lot more resources out there. 

Now, this is where the matcha changed my life. If  I had just one matcha latte in the morning, I had energy all day. I never felt like I needed an energy drink. I had steady energy all day while I was at work, and if I was feeling tired when I got home around 4pm, I would have another. There is nothing bad for me in this. No sugar, no chemicals, just nut milk, water and pure matcha. I couldn't believe that tea, just green tea, could be the thing that got me off energy drinks but it did. Do I still have the occasional energy drink? Yes, but maybe 1 every couple months because I miss it, or I didn't drink green tea and didn't sleep well and I'm desperate. I hardly ever get migraines any more, and I feel so much happier to not rely on an energy drink to get me through the day. 

Matcha doesn't have to be expensive, when I bought it at teavana it was over 30 dollars! I couldn't believe it. So I asked my aunt who besides having a PhD in Japanese Literature also lived in Japan for over 10 years, and she said that was a ridiculous amount to pay, so I just buy a thing of it at my local Asian market for 6 bucks. An awesome deal and 100 times cheaper than buying energy drinks. 

I'm not saying that matcha is going to change your life, even though it did for me. But whether you need to get off energy drinks, want to boost your metabolism, or lose weight, or maybe you just really like green tea, try it. It is so good for you, drinking it can only help you.

To learn more about Matcha Tea check out this website: http://matchasource.com/health-benefits-of-matcha-tea/, yes they do want you to buy matcha, no I don't buy from them, they just lay out the information really clearly.

Cinnamon

xx

insta: @cinnamonheartvegan

twitter: @cinnamonheartv

What did I do all summer?

Well, I pulled a typical me and didn't post for a couple months, but I kindof had a good reason. I had to return home to Hornby Island to take care of my Uncle and Grandma who were both very sick. My uncle is still sick, but now on medication and getting better. But I spent half of July and all of August on Hornby looking after them and their garden. Now I'm not going to lie to anyone, I wasn't vegan while I was there, I was vegetarian. It is a very small island (less than a thousand people) and vegan options aren't great, and none of my family really knows how to cook vegan food and it would have just been one giant stress on them too try and accommodate one more thing when we were already so busy and stressed out. I know a lot of people won't understand why I had to go vegetarian but I know that it was the best choice at the time, and made life easier for my family which is exactly why I was there in the first place. But now I am glad I am back home, and can return to a fully plant based lifestyle.

So what exactly did I do? Well I did a lot of stuff, I cleaned because we thought there was black mold in their heritage home, I picked and picked and picked in the garden. Beans, squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes.... you name it and my grandma is growing it. She has a huge garden every year, but she fractured her back at the beginning of summer and was unable to care for it anymore. I cooked for them, which was a challenge as their are omnivores and my meat cooking abilities are limited at best. I learned how to can things, peaches, tomatoes, and to make jelly. I picked plums, and pears, helped with construction clean up, and was pretty much a general labourer haha. I also did get to see some of my childhood friends and hang out which was great too.

I am so glad I went, not just because I wanted to help my family get better, but because I hadn't got to spend so much time with my family since I moved off when I was 17. I learned all the gardening things I never learned when I was a kid. My aunt, who was also there helping, realized we didn't learn nearly as much as we could, or should have when we were younger, and I was so glad for that opportunity now. 

I am about to start a new job, a government internship, so who knows how much I will be able to post, but for now I will share some photos from my time on Hornby, you can check out more on my instagram @cinnamonheartvegan.

This is how we looked a lot in the beginning when we thought we
were dealing with black mold.

Grated beet, apple and carrot salad, all grown by my Gramma.

Tomatoes grown by my Gramma, she had cherry, heirloom
and all sorts of different kinds, all delicious.

The blackberry and crabapple jelly we made.

All of the garlic we braided

The peaches we canned

The tomatoes we canned.

All figs grown on my Grammas fig tree, so, so good.

Cinnamon

xx

insta: @cinnamonheartvegan

twitter: @cinnamonheartv

Day 1 Check In

Alright! Well, I guess today was the official first day of me trying to live a healthier life style. Even though I am doing all those things I said I wanted to do, I can't help but feel lazy because I am unemployed and even though I did go to the gym and work out for an hour, and ate healthy all day and drank tonnes of water...the rest of the time I was lying around. I lay in the sunshine for a while, I watched a couple episodes of friends... and then I just sit around and wait for my boyfriend to come home haha. Also, even if I want to work out for a few hours a day, to try and take up more time and get more fit, I'm not at a place where I am even physically fit enough to really do that. 



I need to start coming up with some hobbies haha. I love to read so I should start doing more of that and I have always wanted to get better at art so I should also try that as well. I've been browsing pinterest to try and find new recipes, exercises and fun things which has been good to. For today, I've decided to post a few pictures of me right now, as well as my measurements.

These shots are from today, after the gym. Probably not the most flattering time to take selfies, but hey you can see this is the real me. As you can see from the collage below my skin is not having the greatest time right now. I attribute this to stress as well as drinking too much alcohol and pop...and the fact that I am totally a picker, I can't help it!. I am really hoping with drinking 3-5 litres of water per day that this improves. I met my goal today water wise. I have drank almost 2 1/2 litres of water and 1 litre of green tea so far and I still have 1 litre of peppermint tea to go before bed! I was surprised that I didn't even feel like I had to force myself to drink that much. Between the gym and lying in the sun I wanted to drink lots of water!

I also took my measurements today which was depressing. I've never actually taken measurements of myself so I don't really have anything to base it on, I just hope to see these numbers shrink. I also don't have a scale to weigh myself and there isn't one in our apartment buildings gym so I really only have these numbers to base my progress on.

Measurements

Wrists: 7.25 inBicep: 14 inBust: 44.25 inUnder Bust: 40 inStomach and Hips: 43.25 inButt: 50 inThighs: 29.5 inCalf: 18 inAnkle: 10 in

I also went to the gym today and worked out for half an hour on the elliptical, and then did leg day! I'm thinking of getting a fit bit so I can more accurately check how many calories I'm burning because these machines don't even have a heart rate monitor on them so I think they aren't very accurate. Savannah, you're unemployed and broke, remember? Oh right, never mind.

Exercise

• 33 minutes on the elliptical, 4452 "strides"
• 3/15 side leg lifts, each leg
• 3/15 front leg lifts, each leg
• 3/15 lying butt lifts
• 3/15 lying toe taps, each leg
• 10 minutes of stretching

This totaled a bit over an hour of exercise and my legs were burning at the end, but I was very happy that I got through it. I am thinking of adding some yoga to my mornings as well to take up some more time in my day but also as a form of exercise that is highly beneficial but also won't tire me out too much for my gym session.

I did well on the eating thing today I think. I am going to re-download the myfitness pal application on my phone so that I can better keep track of my calories and exercise. The most frustrating part about those apps though is trying to calculate for your own dishes, like soup or dal. How can I accurately guess exactly how much of each thing was in one serving? Oh well, at least this will help be a guideline for how much I should be eating every day.

Meals

Breakfast - Left over dal makhani with rice, weird brekky, I know.

Lunch - A large spinach salad with cucumber, pepper, tomato, carrot and avocado with a balsamic vinaigrette. And a quarter of a small water melon.

Post Gym Snack - 1 cup of cashew milk with turmeric, a cup of blue berries and a handful of raw almonds

Dinner - Simple Summer Corn Soup from Minimalist Baker's website slightly modified, and half of a whole wheat bagel.

Snack - The boyfriend wants popcorn later which will have a bit of margarine and nutritional yeast.

Simple Summer Corn Soup

Cashew milk with turmeric and black pepper

Not so bad right? You know, I don't even know if anyone is reading these, but that's ok. If it keeps me on track, if it makes me feel better to share then I am going to keep on posting.

Cinnamon

xx

insta: @cinnamonheartvegan

twitter: @cinnamonheartv

Healthier Vegan Dal Makhani

Hello!

Today I am going to share a recipe of a dish I love, but isn't normally very good for you. Dal Makhani. My boyfriend is Indian and that means he has taught me so many good Indian dishes, but a lot of them are heavy on the butter, oil or cream, Dal Makhani being one of those dishes. If you have never had Dal Makhani you are missing out. It is a rich, and hearty, very satisfying dish. But this dish is traditionally definitely not vegan. Makhan literally means butter in Hindi so it's pretty obvious there is supposed to be a lot of that.

Dal Makhani with Rice

I wanted to have the creamy delicious dish, but with less calories. I based this recipe off of Veg Recipes of India's recipe here. Their website is absolutely amazing for vegetarian Indian dishes, but they are not vegan for the most part. There are different kinds of Dal Makhani, Dharba Style, Restaurant Style, and Home Cooked Style. This I would say is a mix between dharba and restaurant style. I replace the butter with margarine, though in the future I think I would like to try it with coconut oil instead, and I replace the cream with Silk's creamy cashew milk which is really delicious and very low in calories. The kind of lentils you need are called Urad Dal or Black Lentils see here, I find them at my local Save On or Fruiticana. You should be able to find them at an "ethnic" food store, or if you have a well stocked grocery. You want to buy the whole black lentil, not the split ones. Enjoy!

Dal Makhani

• 1 cup Urad Dal (can take out 1/4 cup and replace with 1/4 cup of red kidney beans)

• 3 cups water for pressure cooking (+extra if needs more cooking)

• ½ cup finely chopped onions

• 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped

• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste or 6 to 7 garlic + 1 inch ginger

• 2 large tomatoes or 1 cup tomato puree (I usually use salt free canned diced tomatoes and blend them)

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• 2 to 3 cloves

• 2 green cardamoms

• 1 small cinnamon stick

• 1 small to medium bay leaf

• ½ tsp red chili powder

• 1 cup of water or add as required

• ½ cup Silk Cashew Milk (You can use any plant based milk you prefer,  I find this the creamiest)

• 2 Tablespoons of Margarine

• salt as required

1. Soak lentils and kidney beans if using over night or all day in water, then drain and rinse.
2. Place the lentils and kidney beans if using in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water, place on high heat and cook for 20+ whistles. Pressure cooking is more of an art than a science and you really will just need to check a few times to see if they are done. They should be very soft, squishable between your fingers. If when you check they aren't done, add more water and pressure cook for an additional 5 whistles at a time. Once done keep the lentils, and their water aside.
3. In a heavy bottomed pot heat margarine over medium heat and then add whole spices: cumin seeds, cardamom pods, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute until they are aromatic.
4. Lower heat to medium and add the onions, cook until soft and golden.
5. Add ginger/garlic paste and green onions and cook until the raw smell of the ginger/garlic paste goes away.
6. Add tomatoes and chili powder, simmer until you see the margarine releasing from the sides.
7. Add cooked lentils and kidney beans if using, and their water to the pot, with 1 cup of water (or more if necessary) and stir. 
8. Simmer on low, with no lid for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently and adding water as necessary. It should not be too thick or thin.
9. When the gravy has thickened enough add the cashew milk, stir, and turn off the heat. It is ready!

Dal Makhani with Chapatti

You can eat dal with rice, chapatis, or naans. Feel free to throw some fresh chopped cilantro on top, I just hate cilantro with a firey burning passion.

Now that you are eating Dal Makhani, you can listen to the song Dal Makhani! It's from the movie Dr. Cabbie which is really good, about a young Indian doctor who moves to Canada for a better life. It's got comedy, drama, and romance, what more can you ask for?