Vinyasa on the Beach and Chicken, Vegetable and Corn Soup!

Wow, hard to believe 2 months have passed since I last posted. As life has been finding a settled rhythm in Brunswick Heads, and as we have been getting ready for our baby, I have not found myself typing on my blog regularly. Nonetheless, here I am today. Firstly, what brings me to my blog was my search for a Chicken, Vegetable and Corn Soup recipe. I was not able to find one with more than just onions and garlic for veggies (aside from the all important corn), so decided to make up my own, and post it on my blog. Here are the ingredients: -2 cups worth of left over roast chicken, cut into small chunks -8-10 cups worth of delicious stock made from last nights roast chicken carcass -2 large carrots, diced -1 large zucchini, diced -6 medium dutch cream potatoes, diced (or whatever you have for spuds) -2 corn on the cob, corn cut from the cob, or 1 can sweet corn -3 small-medium onions, diced -6 small cloves of italian garlic, chopped -1 thumb nob size of fresh ginger, sliced -1 cup worth of last nights left over gravy (optional) -dark soy sauce to taste -butter for frying onions (1-2 tbsp your choice) First, heat pan on medium. Add butter when pan is hot, once sizzling, add onions, fry until soft but not browned. Add garlic and ginger, fry until aromatic. Add diced carrots, zucchini, and potatoes, sautee until coated nicely with butter, add corn. Add enough chicken stock to just cover all of your ingredients. Cover pot with lid. Bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer until carrots and potatoes are soft. Add the gravy and heat through. If you like a creamier texture, give a few whirls with a hand held blender, but leave plenty of chunks of veg and corn for texture. Add chicken and heat through. Add soy sauce to taste, or omit soy sauce and add some cream instead, or add both:-) Enjoy with friends and fresh sourdough bread, delicious! So, to add a bit of yoga to this blog (aside from the homemaking yoga of soup making and sharing), let me share with you my Pregnancy Vinyasa Yoga routine from down on the beach yesterday. To set the scene, I was at Torakina Beach in Brunswick Heads. From the beach you look out to the heads, where the river meets the breakwater of the ocean surf. The tide had just turned, from going out to coming in. This meant that as you look out to the heads, turquoise green ocean water is distinctively crashing into the deep blue of the outgoing river current. Spectacular to see. At the heads you can see the crystal green water swirl and crash as the tide invites surfers and boogies boards of all ages to play with the dolphins in it's swell. Well...that's a bit of an exaggeration, there were no dolphins...today...but they are not uncommon to see swimming up the river chasing fish with the incoming tide. As the tide was just turning, there was plenty of firm, golden-white sand to practice yoga on. Here is the sequence I was inspired to follow: -Sukhasana, forward bending, on each side-swapping the cross of my legs -Sukhasana with gentle twist on each side -cat-cow, cat on exhale, cow on inhale -on all fours, twisting to look over one shoulder at a time, while bringing hip on same side towards shoulder, twisting with exhale, neutral on inhale -Adho Mukha Svanasana, few breaths here -Adho virasana, resting, knees very wide (to make room for belly) -Adho Mukha Svanasana, few breaths here -runners lunge, gently warming up hip flexors and quads -Adho Mukha Svanasana between sides -Adho Virasana, resting -Tadasana, centering, standing tall on inhale, grounding on exhale -Vrksasana, centering, having fun balancing while pregnant, smiling -Tadasana -Trikonasana, narrow stance, hand not resting on lower leg, to Tadasana -Virabhadrasana II to Tadasana -Extended side angle, sanskrit name escaping me, smile, tadasana -Vrksanada, centering, balancing, life is beautiful -Virabhadrasana I, strong, brave, preparing for labour -Supported Uttanasana, hands on thighs -Dandasana, arms extended over head -Janu Sirsasana, with pelvis angled, and also with pelvis facing forward, both sides -Baddha Konasana, mindful of saccrum, taking it easy -Supported Supta Virasana, taking it easy, lots of length in lower back -Sukhasana, twisting to both sides -Alexander Shoulder Stretch -Quad Stretch lying on my side, both sides -Savasana on my side, supported by the warm sand After this I played Aerobie Frisbee with my husband and two boys, followed by a lite picnic on the beach and a walk home in the afternoon to escape the high UV (and it's still winter here, yikes!). As my soup is nearly ready to blend, season and serve, it is time to finish up my blog. Happy soup consuming if you decided to try the recipe, and happy yoga practice if you decide to try to sequence. What ever you busy yourself with next, happy times. Namaste, Jenelle