Lalla, 14 Century Lioness Mystic of Kashmir, said:

When you eat too much,
you forget your truth, 

and fasting makes you conceited,
so eat with some discipline,
and consciously. Be
an ordinary human being.

Then the door will open,
and you’ll recognize the way.
Lalla, be moderate!

(From Lalla: Naked Song, translations by Coleman Barks, Maypop.)

Eating a vegan, organic diet is a highly conscious way of living. Vegan, organic foods are best for the health of our bodies; best for the creatures; and best for our sacred mother earth. For more information on why I eat vegan, please read my previous blog article “Why Eat Vegan?” (Teja Blog, 9-9-10.)

Today I’m offering some tips that help me eat healthy during a busy workweek. Now that I am working as manager of my brother’s outdoor gear shoppe, plus blogging regularly, and being the mama of two boys, I find that cooking a big meal once or twice each week works fabulously as it creates many leftovers for the rest of the week.

As I’m doing my best to juggle it all, I’m really appreciating leftovers, more than ever! For example, one night last week, I cooked a big pot of bean soup, roasted some yams, and boiled some polenta. (For simple instructions on cooking polenta, see my blog article “Vegan Yogini Prepares A Thumb’s Up Dinner for Her Sons”, 2-11-11) As I put the leftovers away in containers, I put some of each dish into a bowl to take to work the next day. As I sprinkled fresh parsley, seaweed, and red bell peppers on top, I thought, ‘this is the most beautiful, colorful bowl of food ever’ so I took a photo of it… and the idea for this blog article was born…

Even when we are busy and stressed, we can still make healthy, vibrant, fresh, organic, vegan food a priority. The yams in that meal were super easy to prepare: I simply scrubbed them, cut them into wedges (with skins on), and tossed them with extra virgin olive oil, cinnamon, and paprika… then roasted them uncovered at 395 degrees for about 40 minutes. Yams are especially wonderful in a work lunch, because they are very grounding. For more information on grounding, see my previous blog articles: “Grounded at the Root” (9-24-10) and “Vegan Yogini is Grounded and Healthy!” (3-9-11)

If you have other food tips for busy jugglers, please post them in the comments section below this article.

May all beings have food to eat each day. May all beings know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

See me live talking about my vegetarian soup cookbook here: Yogini-Bliss on YouTube

Photo of Teja’s leftovers lunch taken by Teja Shankara.