Yoga and dessert

Many of my readers have asked for some details on the yoga teacher training program that I started last week.  So here is the low down.  I will have teacher training classes once a month through May on a Saturday and Sunday from 9-6pm.  During our off-weeks I am expected to attend at least one class at the studio, teach a lesson to a family member or a friend, and read about yoga from selected texts.  The first weekend fell on my birthday weekend and it was the perfect way to usher in a new year of life.  On Saturday, we did introductions with our fellow yoga students, enjoyed a challenging class on standing poses, dissected the standing poses and taught them to our classmates.  We did teach in front of the group of 19 other students on our very first day and while it was a little nerve wracking it was good to know we already had enough knowledge at the end of day one to pull it off.  Sunday was more of a workshop where we learned how to do modifications for each of the standing poses we practiced on Saturday and the afternoon was an intensive but fascinating anatomy class focusing on bones, joints and introducing muscles.  I enjoyed both days very much and yes, I was quite sore on Monday!  I had a chance to teach Greg a series of stretches for joint health and I taught my elementary school class a lesson called “The anatomy of yoga” where we used yoga poses to learn the names of bones and muscles as the human body is our focus in science right now. 

I returned to the studio this weekend to take a restorative class, which was just what the doctor ordered after my 7 mile run on Saturday.  Any week that results in the majority of laundry being work out clothes, is a good week!  

All of this physical work makes me hungry.  Sometimes I forget to eat more when I’m working harder. So anticipating the morning runs and yoga practice that this week has in store for me, I decided to premake dessert for the week.  The only problem is our oven broke.  The range still works as does our outdoor bbq and Greg has ordered the part and is confident he can fix it, so we are in no danger of starving.  Just no baking for the next few days. That said, I experimented with a no bake dessert that came out de-li-cious! 

Pumpkin cheesecake parfaits

Pumpkin cheesecake filling

15 oz can pumpkin puree

16 oz cream cheese (whipped) 

tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves and allspice

a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg

6 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp milk

½ tsp vanilla

Using a hand mixer blend together all ingredients until smooth and creamy

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Using a hand mixer whip the cream to soft peaks and then mix in the vanilla and sugar until dissolved. 

Ginger snap Crumbs

About 20 of any crunchy ginger snap type cookies (I used TJs gluten free)

(Place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and crush with a rolling pin to make crumbs)

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Assembly

Choose mason jars or wine glasses.  Layer cookie crumbles, pumpkin filling, more crumbles, whip cream, more crumbles, pumpkin filling more crumbles, whip cream and a tiny sprinkle of crumbles on top.