ALMOND, CINNAMON + GINGER LATTE

I received a lot of interest in this recipe when I posted it on an Instagram story last week, so here ya go! The latte is delicious in its own right, but also works as aid to anxiety and PMS. This is a rich, grounding drink for slow mornings, cloudy afternoons, with a book, or a meditation. I find it to be a wonderful snack before or after yoga as well. You have tummy-friendly, blood sugar-lowering, heart-healthy spices including cinnamon and ginger, which are also both anti-fungal foods, and beneficial to brain health. Ginger helps with menstrual pains. Ashwagandha reduces anxiety with its adaptogenic power. There are cordyceps mushrooms in here too; don't worry though, the flavour is so mild you won't actually notice (in fact I think cordyceps is kind of sweet and caramel-y). More scientific research is needed for this fungus, but it's been utilized in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries for promoting longevity, and helping with lung and kidney function. All these ingredients are anti-inflammatory and rich in anti-oxidants, which may help prevent or fight free radicals.

Content warning: I will now talk about my anxiety for a lil bit.

WALNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE with SWEET POTATO FROSTING

Do you like moist, dense brownies? Do you like creamy, cinnamon-y sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Then I bring good news with me today, friend. This recipe is for you. It's both those magical, wondrous foods combined into one cake. Hellooo.

SUPERFOOD DOUBLE CHOCOLATE POPSICLES

Today has been a whirlwind but also super chill. I had a bunch of social plans - beach day with comfy inspiring friends, late afternoon tea with a wise lady bud, and then a date with a new person - but I woke up feeling anxious and decided to stay in my house all day. Sometimes I just need to do my hermit mode. I would confidently say it's worked out though. I got some work done (i.e. this recipe), painted more of my room white, listened to a bunch of great albums and podcasts, and I think this evening I will do some yoga and have a bath. I just had a cyber "chat" with my ex partner and it didn't totally petrify me so that's progress too. One foot in front of the other, right? I have been trying to take it easy this week because I have my new tattoos that are healing, so I can't really sweat or be in the sun. For those of you who know me even a little bit: you know that sweating and sunbathing are all I really do in the summer. So I have been actively trying to stay cool and in the shade. I miss the gym and biking, but it's nearly been a week so I can get back to 'em soon. I'm not good at sitting still.

Enough of me, though. On to popsicles.

WARMING CHAI ALMOND MILK

I like to work hard. I like to relax hard (if that's a thing... I mean 'power naps' are a thing so relaxing hard can be a thing too, right?) I generally don't like long-term routines, so my workout regime changes at least once or twice a year. For awhile recently it was bodyweight exercises in my room plus dancing really sporadically to music. Things have changed. Now, most days I do P90X (and my workouts are always in the morning by the way). For those of you who don't know P90X: I will direct you to the wikipedia page on it. Basically it's an awesome program of videos that focus on different muscle groups (biceps, back, legs, chest, etc.) and there's a few that are high intensity cardio workouts as well (lots of jump squats, oh mama). There's also one for yoga, which is like an hour of warrior poses (feel da buuuurn) and then another 30 minutes of less challenging yoga moves. The program is technically designed to be 90 days long, and you're supposed to do a certain workout each day of the week, but I don't like following rules so I just do what I feel like. I usually do one workout (they're all about an hour) every morning, but they're tough and every few days or once a week I need a break, so I use those days for stretching, because there's a DVD for that too. It's an hour of taking care of yourself, and it feels so good. Tony Horton, the guy who designed the program, is really into yoga - and he was actually vegan for a little while; there's a part in one of the videos when he talks about making non-dairy corn chowder! - so there's a lot of yoga in the stretching video too.