The absolute best of of teaching yoga on the Central Coast is the different varieties of fruits, veggies, greens, cheeses and wines (yes, I said wine and cheese) that students gift to me on a daily basis. At first I thought I was just really popular, now I realize the abundance of such things when you live on a huge piece of property with fruit tress, raised beds and the like, lucky them! But luckier for me, because I haven’t had to spend a dime on avocados, cucumbers, peaches, plums, lemons, limes, oranges.. you get the picture… in like, months. No, seriously. They must LOVE me!

I find myself face-to-face with free and fresh produce everyday at the gym, the library, the yoga studio’s I teach at, my friend’s homes… it’s literally everywhere! Sometimes I get greedy; I see a big bowl full of mango with a sign that says “Take Me” and I can’t help but take 2, maybe 3 if they are still sitting there 2 days later! I win!!

So I’ve taken up cooking, baking in particular, as a side-job/ hobby to use up all this delicious-ness I seem to collect! Oh! And eating it too! A student asked me just today who eats all this stuff and I was like, “Um, me?” Is that bad or something? Of course I leave stuff out for Andy to try since we live and breath on opposite schedules, and I share with the neighbors, and with Sugar and Corduroy, but for the most part, it’s just ME doing the eating! And I’m fine with that, really.

So, last Friday a student dropped off fresh peaches at my house. In her words they were an 8.5 out of a possible 10. In my words, these were like a 12. I’m not from Georgia but hot damn were these sweet, juicy and delish! Another student gave me small black plums from her tree and as soon as I saw them I thought CRUMBLE!!!!! and then MUFFINS!!!! and lastly PUDDING!!!! Hey, I’m Italian, food is always on my mind!

I know, I know, you’d think I’m a short chunky Italian lady who eats baked goodies all day but I swear, I’m not… anymore…. I’ve lost 20 pounds since September so I know my diet of clean eating, mad exercise and little weekend splurges like this are all TOTALLY worth it!!!

Saturday mornings I teach two back-to-back yoga classes at the Yoga Centre in San Luis Obispo. The Ashtanga Primary Series followed by a vigorous Vinyasa class. Fun times. And like 2 of my favorite people take that class and are always commenting on my food activity via Instagram so I wanted to bring them in a little “something something” for their ride home! Muffins it is! Peach and blueberry  to be exact with toasted coconut on top, yummers!

Peach and Blueberry Muffins- makes 15 muffins.

*2 cups coconut flour

*1 teaspoon baking soda

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

*1/8 cup maple syrup

*1/8 cup honey

*1/2 cup light brown sugar

*1/2 cup coconut or almond milk

*1/4 cup dairy-free yogurt (I like So Delicious)

*1 egg

*1/2 cup blueberries

*2 cups peaches (roughly, the more the merrier!)

*Toasted coconut for topping.

*Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Spray 15 muffin tins with nonstick spray. I like Trader Joe’s Coconut Oil Spray.
1. In a large bowl, gently toss the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together until combined. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the honey and brown sugar together – it will be thick and lumpy. Try to get out as many lumps as you can – a fork works well to break it up. Add the peaches, yogurt, and beaten egg. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently begin to fold it all together. It will be very thick. 3. Add the milk slowly and continue to gently mix the ingredients together. The milk will thin everything out, but the batter will still remain thick. Fold in the blueberries. Do not overmix the batter, which will lend tough, dry muffins.
4. Divide the batter between 15 muffin tins. Fill all the way to the top. Top with 2-3 thin slices of peaches, one blueberry and a sprinkle of coconut. . Bake for 17-18 minutes until very lightly browned on the edges. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Allow the muffins to cool completely.

So yeah, this recipe is an easy one, but a goodie! Let me give some credit where it’s due… after recently joining Pinterest, I found a banana muffin recipe here and modified it to fit my own skinny-girl needs, which excludes the use of gluten at times! Enjoy!!

Okay, onto the crumble…. my girl Amy Harper runs an Move Your Ass circuit training group and she posts amazing recipes on her site for me to try and experiment with. We are both obsessed with exercise, yoga and clean eating, so check her site out, you’ll love it. I loosely based my peach, plum and green thumb crumble recipe off of her’s so I’ll give credit where it’s due again… I’m pretty good at that…!

Peach, Blueberry and Plum Crumble- makes 10 pieces- oh! and it’s Paleo!

*Equal parts fresh blueberries, plums and peaches (as much as you’d like)

*Juice from one lemon

*1 cup almond or coconut flour

*1/2 cup toasted almonds, first toasted in your oven, then pulsed in a food processor for later

*1/4 cup melted coconut oil

* 2 T honey

*1/3 tsp cinnamon

*2 pinces of salt

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350F. Place all fruit in a 9×9 inch baking dish and squeeze the lemon on top. Toss slightly to coat. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, nuts, melted coconut oil, honey, cinnamon and salt. Spread the nut topping evenly over the berry/fruit mixture. Bake until fruit is bubbling and well cooked, and the topping is crunchy. 30-40 minutes tops! I substitute in different fruits and berries depending on season!

I did about a full extra hour of cardio this morning after demolishing that baby last night! Well worth it though, right? Right! Okay, last but not least is my new breakfast/snack fav..it’s pudding… but not just any pudding, one made with chai seeds, honey, cinnamon, coconut milk and why yes, more peaches!

This is an easy peesy recipe which you can make hours before or leave refrigerated overnight and enjoy in the morning!

Coconut, Peach and Chia Seed Pudding- makes 1 serving

*1/8 cup Chia Seeds (I love this Trader Joe’s brand)

*1 cup coconut milk

*1/8 cup honey

*2 pinches of cinnamon (optional)

To prepare: Mix ingredients well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, if not overnight. The coconut milk will thicken into a pudding consistency. Add your desired fruit or berry on top before serving! And if you didn’t know, Chia Seeds are packed with nutritional value. In just one tablespoon, you get three grams of protein and 2.9 grams of Omega-3 fatty acids; all from this rich plant-based source.

Okay then, my first EVER blog entry is complete. My ma will be happy I’m using my journalism degree again and spending hours editing and tweaking and annoying myself with this one little blog post. (I’m freaking out over hitting the “publish” button too.) Clearly I need to cook more. Or practice more yoga. Or both. And if you came here to listen to one more egotistical Ashtanga yogi talk about their practice, poop, pose they’re stuck on or what series they’re in, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m much more concerned these days with taking my yoga practice off the mat and literally into the world, my food, my marriage, my work, my relationships and my total well-being. Thank you Jen Bulik-Lang for reminding me how very important it is to stay in the moment, in the present tense, right here, right now. Even though we have yet to meet, I am inspired by you, your journey and the happy long life I am praying God will give you in place of the cancer.