Namaste! So lots has happened since our last post… and yes, I will be including the recipe for the brownies at the end of the post. They’re incredible and fueled the drive to and from NYC for Bhagavan Das at Dharma’s.
It’s amazing how much what one gets excited about changes over the years. You’d think we were kids on Christmas coming home from Yoga Thursday night to find a Tierra Farms package at our door filled with 20 pounds of raw nuts and seeds. I must say though, it is a beautiful thing!
I spent Friday playing in the kitchen, making Hemp Seed Maca Brownies for the trip to NYC the following day. We then spent the evening at the Roji Tea Lounge, reading and doing school work. A great atmosphere, hip music, incredible tea, and still quiet and peaceful enough to do work at without distraction.
Saturday was an incredible day! After teaching class, a group of 6 of us left from the CNY Yoga Center to make way for New York City. The whole trip was spearheaded by Bhagavan Das’s performance at Dharma Mittra’s Studio, which was incredible by the way. He’s amazing, a beautiful example of Bhakti and devotion.
On the way down, everyone had plenty of energy… this is what happens when you get a group of Yogini’s and a yogi at a rest stop….
Chelle's rest stop Pinchamayurasana
The Gang and their food at Quintessence!
Shortly after arriving in Manhattan we got lunch and then some at Quintessence. I don’t know how long we were eating for, but my goodness, it was incredible! Though we arrived shortly after they stopped serving brunch, we were allowed to order a couple items off their brunch menu, they’re awesome like that. Everything we had was absolutely delicious. The Fofu Benedict I ordered was out of this world, I don’t know how they make their fofu, but it is beyond.
After lunch we headed over to Union Square, passing Jivamukti on our way over to Lush, the girls had to get their soaps, bath bombs etc. After Lush, we headed over to Lululemon for some Yoga gear. I think they had their suspicions that five of us were Yoga Instructors and wanted to sign up for their research and development discount. That’s right instructors, you can sign up with Lululemon to get 15% off purchases for yourself for feedback a couple times a year. Pretty awesome, but I still didn’t have 100 extra dollars to spend on a pair of yoga pants.
Finally, we made way up to Dharma’s for an incredible 2 1/2 hour Kirtan with Bhagavan Das. For those of you who love Kirtan and chanting the names of the Divine, do yourself a favor and experience a Bhagavan Das led Kirtan. It was beautiful, to see all the Dharma crew packed in there chanting the names of the beloved. The Hari Krishna chant that ended it had the whole house up and dancing, clapping, full of bhava and light.
We then ended our day in the city with a trip to One Lucky Duck for shakes and treats. Yvette and I split a “Spanking” a delicious shake with banana, cinnamon and other such things; a “blue grape” which is grapefruit juice with blue-green algae, and a “mallowmar” a delicious chocolate covered graham cracker type thing covered in a creme reminiscent of marshmallow.
The drive back was a long one, traffic getting out of the city was pretty nasty for midnight. Rain was coming down pretty solid for most of the drive, but thank goodness for those brownies and all that cacao, which kept me alert and awake, getting all those Yogini’s back to Syracuse about 4:30 in the morning. And without any further delay… the recipe you’ve all been waiting for…
Hemp Seed Maca Brownies
1 C Grated Cacao Butter
1 C Cacao Powder
1 C Hemp Seeds
1/2 C Maca
1/2 C Dates (soaked)
1 Tbs Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Mesquite (optional)
Directions:
Measure out the grated Cacao Butter, and place in a bowl in the dehydrator to melt into a liquid.
Soak the dates in water until soft (30 mins – 1 hour), then put dates and soak water in the food processor and process into a paste.
Mill the hemp seeds into a flour in a coffee grinder, then add to the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and process.
Scoop out the batter and form into bite size brownies and place on dehydrator trays.
Tip: Use any of the leftover Cacao Butter in the bowl to coat your hands, so the batter won’t stick.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees overnight or until desired chewiness is achieved.
Try not to eat them all at once, and remember, Cacao and Maca are both stimulating to the body, I wouldn’t reccomend eating these after dark.
Enjoy! Om Namah Shivaya!
~ The Raw Yogis
Raw Yogic Food 