Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Do you love lasagna, but can’t stomach grains? Or maybe you’re just trying to avoid the heavy, tired crash that comes with heavy comfort foods? Then our paleo Turkey and Kale Veggie Lasagna is perfect for you!

Here is a simple recipe for you that so far everybody who has tried it loves. The middle eastern recipe called tabbouleh is based on a load of fresh herbs (really, make sure you use a lot of herbs) and bulgur. Bulgur is wheat that is crushed and pre-cooked, then dried again, so there is no need to boil the bulgur before adding this to the salad – the moisture from tomatoes, oil, and lemon juice soaks right into the grains making them softer and even more flavorful. Of course, if you don’t have 40 minutes to wait until the bulgur slowly absorbs the liquid you can also quickly boil it for 5 minutes, but I really do not recommend this. The salad itself is already quite filling in my opinion, but I recently hosted a dinner party where a vegan main was needed, and so I felt the need to add another element.

A plant-based diet is more and more popular and even though this type of eating is completely doable (and delicious!) without any meat substitutes, there are still many of those widely available. I eat about 80% plant-based and rarely consume any of the substitutes, but my partner sometimes likes the feeling of eating meat, so I have been trying out some of them. As I haven’t given up meat completely, these products do not trick me to think I am eating meat, but that said – they do taste good! So if you need to cook a meal for somebody who does not believe that a plant-based diet is delicious and filling, then these meat-free balls are a good place to start!

Bone broth is all the buzz in the health food world these days. And I’m not talking about broth or stocks that come in a box or a can. These shelf-stable soup bases don’t have the same nutrients and vitality of a homemade broth. They can be fine in a pinch but they don’t share the same superfood status of bone-stewed liquid gold. True bone broth comes from the slow-simmering of animal bones, together with scraps of meat and lots of nutrient-dense veggies. The result is a flavorful elixir of health.

One of my all-time favorite foods is chips and salsa. In fact, one of my typical indulgences is chips and salsa with a coin-style margarita con sal. Usually, if we eat out at a Mexican restaurant, my entree of choice is a fish taco (grilled not fried, sub the cheese for avocado) on either a corn tortilla or lettuce wrap. Check out the recipe below, if you’re not cleansing.

I do a little cupboard cleanup at least once a year where I try to use up all the odd ends of dry ingredients that I have laying around. The raw buckwheat here is one of these ends, but it does not mean that I do not like raw buckwheat – I do! I just rarely eat it in savory versions as my favorite is buckwheat muesli that I just realized have not even shared with you, so I will fix that soon. But this simple dish here is a quick weeknight dinner that comes together in around 30 minutes and most of this time you don’t need to do anything. Just chop your veggies throw everything in two pots, transfer some of the first pot over to a second one, stir a little and you are done. Easy! You can also substitute almost everything in this meal – cauliflower instead of broccoli? Of course! Adding in zucchini? Why not! Replacing buckwheat with say, quinoa? Surely it would work! Just open your fridge and cupboard, see what you got and get creative!

How would you describe your perfect birthday cake? For me (Jo), carrot cake is the ultimate birthday feast centerpiece. It’s always been my favorite cake since I was a kid. And every year I try to re-create a new favorite version! My birthday was just last week, so I’ve been daydreaming about a new carrot cake recipe for weeks now. My friend and nanny Kerry is an amazing baker, so I asked her to make my daydream into a reality. I wanted this cake to be a spin on the typical carrot cake flavors while incorporating elements of my favorite grain-free pumpkin rolls with a citrus cream for some extra decadence and an extra veggie punch. The end result is this super flavorful and delicious Carrot Cake with Citrus Cream!

If you are a spice lover like myself, I am pretty sure this recipe will stay with you forever. This chili oil goes with everything. I enjoy it with my dumplings and noodles, drizzle it on scrambled eggs and use it on avocado toast. I use it to top my ramen soups and rice bowls. I sometimes even drizzle it on vanilla ice cream! You probably get the point, you can add this to anything!

What could be better than chocolate? Chocolate and berries! Desserts that combine berries with chocolate feel like the gold standard. These Raspberry Cheesecake Bites tick all the boxes. Raspberries give just the right amount of acidity and sweetness to the silky cashew-based filling. The luxurious texture and brightness of the tangy berries make this filling completely drool-worthy. And to top it all off, they have rich chocolate crusts that you’ll be tempted to eat all on their own.

Not sure that today’s creation should be called a recipe because it literally is frying up a bunch of brussels sprouts, seasoning them with salt and lemon, and serving with sunflower seeds and cheese. But sometimes the easiest things are the best things in life, right! By the way, did you know that some people might have a true reason behind not liking brussels sprouts – some people have a heightened perception of the bitter taste and brussels have bitter notes and this is why they are not fans of these healthy nuggets.

Even though it is winter here in Estonia, I somehow crave summer food. Maybe it is because I miss summer, long days and sun. Maybe it is because Estonian traditional Christmas food is very much on the heavier side (think pork, sausages, lots of potatoes, etc.) and the light salad is a nice change. Or maybe it is because this spicy, zingy, and fresh salad is just so good and simple to prepare. Whatever the reason – I have been eating this at least once a week for the last two months. It is so light but full of flavor. I love spice and this is definitely a salad for spice lovers. In fact, if usually, you can just choose to use less chili in case you don’t like heat then for this salad, I recommend just making something different if you don’t like heat as spiciness is essential for this dish.

Here is a unique little snack for your next celebration! Everybody knows regular cheese balls, but these are 10 times better! Goat cheese balls! I rarely eat deep-fried food, especially homemade deep-fried food as the amount of oil used is crazy. But these balls are an exception and totally worth it! The zinginess of goat's cheese cuts through the deep-fried fattiness and the balls end up being highly addictive.

I love curries! All kinds – fresh and zingy ones like they usually make in South-East Asia and also the heavier ones as they make in India. I understand that this is a serious simplification, but in my mind, the South-East Asian ones are brighter and Indian ones heavier. Of course, there are thousands of curry recipes in the world and every family has its own tricks and secret recipes. Here is one of my recipes that is leaning towards Thai green curry, but it is definitely not an authentic one being prepared in Estonia with the ingredients I can get my hands on. But it is delicious for sure! I add my curry paste recipe below but feel free to use a store-bought one or make adjustments.

The options for this soon-to-be-your-new-favorite go-to dressing are endless. Zeal restaurant is infamous for their Avocado on the Half Shell appetizer, which is simply an open-faced avocado with Zeal Dressing drizzled into the hole where the pit previously resided. A little Himalayan sea salt and freshly ground cracked pepper and you have one quick crowd-pleaser. Enjoy the dressing on your favorite bed of mixed greens or some massaged kale. Do you have a restaurant favorite? Be sure to leave me a comment below and I’ll do my best to recreate it in a Conscious Cleanse way.

Vegan Stuffed Shells Ingredients: Tomato-Basil Marinara: 2x 28 oz. cans tomato puree (I love Muir Glen products. They're a little pricier but worth it.) 1/2 cup dried basil (That's not a typo. It's really 1/2 cup, not 1/2 teaspoon) 2 tablespoons of maple syrup 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Here is another autumn dish. There is something in the air that makes me crave all the warm foods and this stew is definitely warm. Real comfort food that makes you feel warm inside out. And this warmth is very needed if you decide to pick the mushrooms yourself as I did. It is rather chilly outside already! Please make sure you always only pick the mushrooms you are familiar with and only from the places far away from big roads and cities. Estonia is a nice place to live because we still have plenty of wilt forests and I just love foraging.

Are you searching for a cake to serve your family and friends this holiday season? A dessert that’ll impress your guests but won’t take you hours to make? We’ve got the cake for you! Our new Pistachio Olive Oil Cake with Cacao Cashew Ganache makes a fantastic holiday dinner centerpiece. It’s the perfect recipe to have in your back pocket for any occasion.

We like to stick to a light soup for our pre-feast holiday meals. It takes the guesswork out of what to eat while you’re working to get your big meal together for later. So today we’re sharing one of our favorites: Creamy Pumpkin Sage Soup. Bursting with rich flavor and a smooth creaminess, this soup will warm your belly and enliven your taste buds just in time for the crisp fall weather. You might even want to add this to your menu instead of eating it beforehand. It’s sure to impress your guests and they’ll never know it’s good for them!

The holidays are almost here! This year we want to switch up dessert with something a little different. So today we’re sharing this beautiful and mouth-watering Apple Tart! This is our nourishing (and allergy-friendly!) alternative to the classic apple pie. It has all of the familiar, comforting spices you’d expect, but the creamy apple puree base and gorgeously caramelized apple topping give the texture a boost.

Giving up caffeine can be hard! That’s why we created this detox-promoting, coffee-flavored alternative to soften the blow of going sans coffee. Enter, the Dandelion Root Koffe Latte. Dandelion root, often associated with the pesky dandelion weed, has been used for centuries to treat depression, scurvy, and even diabetes. It’s difficult to find dandelion root in most health food stores, so your best bet is to buy it online. We bought our dandelion root and chicory from Frontier Natural Products and Starwest Botanicals. A great liver detoxifier, dandelion root is also known for aiding in digestion and weight loss.

Right now I can’t imagine any other recipe that would be more suited for autumn than these stuffed vegetables. They are warm, slightly spicy, and full of seasonal fresh vegetables. So-so good! I am not a big fan of autumn as it tends to be rainy and dark in Estonia, and spring is still very far away, but I absolutely love all the fresh produce available and I like to make the most of it. There are probably a million different recipes for stuffed vegetables. I once went to a yoga retreat in Morocco and as they offered cooking classes too, I got to learn how to make Moroccan-style stuffed vegetables. They used minced meat as the main filling ingredient, but as I very rarely consume animal products, I figured lentils might be a good substitute. I just remembered that all the cooking classes in Morocco were private classes in a tiny local kitchen and fully in French, which I don’t speak. It seems that food is a universal language because I managed to understand everything just fine.

Looking at the calendar and seeing the Halloween is near I am almost sure that everybody has too much pumpkin. I love pumpkin, but there is always too much of it. As I hate food waste, I always roast all the pumpkin I have leftover, squeeze extra water out of it, and keep the puree in the freezer. The flesh is easy to use for soups, cakes, and risottos and it lasts there forever. Today's recipe is also based on the pumpkin puree, but in case you don’t have that waiting in the fridge, just roast the cubes of pumpkin in the oven and use the puree fresh. In this case, you don’t need to squeeze out all the water, just use it instead of some of the stock. What do you do with all the pumpkin leftover from Halloween? Let us know in the comments!

“You are what you eat,” we all have heard it, know it, and most of us believe it. But are we aware of it and the aspects related to the effects of food on our minds? We need to take care of what we are eating and what is eating us. We know the effects food has on our bodies and have basic knowledge about what food contains what kind of nutrients and in what quantities, also what kind of nutrients we need to get healthy to lose fat, etc. But we have probably not given importance to the effects of food on our minds and personality. Does the food we eat really affect our minds and thoughts?

When the cold weather has gradually manifested itself, pumpkin soup warms our souls. You can prepare this delicious gluten-free pumpkin soup recipe, both with and without cream. Ingredients: 500g (about 2 slices) pumpkin 1 potato

The chillier it gets the more soups and stews find a way to my table. And why wouldn’t they if they are so easy to make and delicious each time! I must admit that even though this type of food is very easy to prepare in bulk, I usually still only cook for one lunch or dinner. But this does not mean that you should cook for each separate meal. Feel free to double or triple the recipe and eat it several days in a row or even freeze it for future quick dinners. I completely understand that cooking is not something that everybody loves to do and if you are one of those people just prep ahead. It is 100 times better to have a few homemade healthy meals waiting for you in the fridge or freezer, than quickly ordering something random from the local fast food joint. Not that there would be anything wrong with enjoying a burger now and then. Oh, and I kept the soup 100% plant-based and did not even add any vegan creams because the potatoes and beans are creamy in nature. But if you like things extra creamy go ahead and add cream cheese or sour cream of your choice right before blending.