And the craziness of life continues. We are still quite busy with work, though it seems to be getting a bit easier each day as we check things off of our list. We were lucky enough to be able to enjoy our holiday weekend, though I had a little bump in the road along my way. Saturday morning in the middle of my 8:30 am 90-minute Vinyasa yoga class, I suddenly had a strange pain in my upper back, near my right shoulder blade. It came on sharp and so suddenly, but nothing ever seemed to happen to cause it. I sat back into child’s pose and gave it a second, took a deep cleansing breath, then I stood up and attempted to meet up with the class in Utthita Trikonasana, extended triangle pose. That really hurt. Weird. So back to child’s pose I went. It wasn’t my shoulder, I had full mobility, but it was something in that area, and it really hurt when I twisted my torso. I took restorative poses for the remainder of the class and thankfully my teacher that day was Elyssa, my super amazing chiropractor!! She immediately knew what it was. A rib subluxation, in other words, my rib popped out of place. If this hadn’t happened to me before, on 2 or 3 other occasions, I may have been concerned upon hearing that. Thankfully I knew that I just needed it to be popped back in and I would be on my merry way. Elyssa, fit me in, gave me an adjustment, gave that rib a good jarring “umph!” and I felt some immediate relief, though I was still very sore. I spent the remainder of the weekend, icing and trying to take it easy. Elyssa told me that unfortunately this is the result of hyper-mobility or being extra flexible. Sometimes our bodies can do something easily, that they maybe shouldn’t. So yay!

I get so frustrated when I have an injury, not because of the pain or the injury itself, but more because that means I have to take time off from my daily yoga practice. It has become such a part of my daily routine and I feel like it is what makes me, ME! When I am forced to take a few days off, it is so much harder for me mentally, than any physical pain I could endure. I guess in some ways it is good for me though, it gives me time to take a step away and reflect on my practice, on everything it means to me and what I can do to continue evolving it.

I plan to be back to my usual practice by this weekend, hopefully. I am feeling better each day. I think I just may have to make some modifications and take it easy for a while, so as not to risk another unexpected rib popping!

What do you dislike the most about being injured? Do you like the forced time away from your daily workouts or do you dread it?

While I am on this forced time away from yoga, I did get to squeeze in some time for a new tattoo!! I guess if I am already gonna be out of commission with yoga for a few days, why not, right? Josh Schlageter, at Hand of Doom Tattoo, drew up this lovely lady for me and he tattooed her on my left thigh yesterday. I am so excited about it. It is huge and the colors are absolutely beautiful. This iPhone photo doesn’t do it any justice, so I will have to post another once it is fully healed. I keep thinking I am done getting tattooed, that I have enough. Then I end up with more. Oops!

So, besides popping ribs and tattooing thighs, I have actually been able to find a bit more time in the kitchen. Over the weekend, I got to play a little, I made these delicious almond-flour cinnamon rolls (recipe courtesy of The Urban Poser), I was honestly amazed at how incredible they turned out! I subbed coconut sugar for the honey in the filling and I skipped out on the raisins and nuts in the filling. I am telling you – if you love warm cinnamon rolls, these hit the spot! They are almost a bit biscuit-like. It is incredible that they are totally grain-free!  Recipes like this, honestly get me dancing around the kitchen. Totally brilliant.

I also made a delicious Easter dinner for us on Sunday night since my parent’s are away on vacation. I roasted one of our delicious pasture-raised smoked hams from Sojourner Farms in Olean, NY, and I served it with some oven-baked sweet potato fries and roasted asparagus. It was a perfect and simple dinner. But, of course, we had a ton of ham leftover and I bought way too many sweet potatoes, so I had to figure out something to do with all the leftovers. That is where this delicious breakfast for dinner hash came in.

It was simple to put together and it is easily customizable to what you have on hand. If you are vegan, simply don’t add any meat or eggs. If you are a cheese addict, sprinkle a bit of sharp cheddar, jack or whatever your favorite cheese is, over top. You could also add cherry tomatoes, jalapeño, corn, black beans, etc. I feel like there are no rules with hashes! So have fun with it. This hash would obviously work as a main breakfast dish or a brunch side dish, but really it is great for dinner or even lunch. It takes such little time to prepare and you could even eat it right out of the pan to keep it really simple. Since I had just picked up some local farm fresh eggs this morning, I decided to top the hash with one egg for each of us, since they cook so easily and perfectly on top of the sizzling hash. If you don’t like or want eggs, you can leave them off and the hash will still be incredible.

[print_this]Sweet Potato and Poblano Hash – Gluten-free + Dairy-free, Vegan Option
 Serves 2 as a main course, more as a side dish

• 1 large organic sweet potato (mine weighed just over 1 pound), cubed (I leave the skin on because I like it, feel free to peel away)
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 poblano peppers, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• a pinch or two crushed red pepper, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup leftover local pasture-raised smoked ham, cubed (optional)
• 2 farm fresh local brown eggs (optional)
• 1 handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes until they begin to soften, add the sweet potato, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cover and cook about 5 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften. Try not to stir around too much, just enough to keep them from sticking. You want them to get a nice brown outside to them.

Remove the lid and add in the garlic, peppers and ham. Toss everything around to combine and try to leave in a single layer so the potatoes can begin to brown a bit. Allow to cook for another 5 to 8 minutes. Tossing once the underside begins to brown. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Toss in half of the cilantro and the scallions.

If you are adding eggs, crack two eggs on top of the hash. Cover the pan and allow to cook another 3 to 5 minutes until the whites are set. Serve immediately topped with the remaining fresh cilantro and green onions.

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