Thursday, February 24, 2011

Costa Rica Yoga Retreat

I have just returned from Costa Rica.  After spending 7 days at Samasati, I am feeling great!  As one student put it "the view alone is worth the trip" then after eating lunch, she said "the food alone is worth the trip!".  I agree on both.  The view - the rainforest mountain overlooking the ocean - is breathtaking, it is nature at her finest.  The greenery, the vibrancy of life there will feed your energy like nothing else can.  Then there's the food that Samasati's cooks lovingly prepare 3 times a day. 

Food
We all started out hungry for live fresh food.  In Minnesota winter, that is not something that is easy to find.  I wrote down a few of the meal menus while I was there:

Lunch Monday:

Cooked green beans w/tahini sauce
Fried plantain
Steamed vegetables (cut into cubes): yellow & green squash & carrots
Blackbeans & rice
Rice pudding w/cinnamon

Dinner Thursday evening:

Brocolli cream soup
Garbanzo burgers w/tomato sauce
Cooked Spinach w/spices (onion, jalapeno, etc)
Roasted Vegies
Couscous
Cucumbers & tomatoes
Dessert:  Coconut cake

Breakfasts always included the choices of fresh cut local fruit (papaya, mango, watermelon, cantaloupe, banana, freshly blended juice (local fruit); blackbeans & rice, cereal, granola, yoghurts, fresh baked bread w/butter & jam selection, eggs

As you can imagine, I was stuffed full each meal - there was so much bounty of live, healthy food.  By Tuesday, I had my fill, so I naturally cut back on my meal portions.  With the healthy meals and all of the yoga and walking, I feel slimmer, stronger and greatly energized now.


See more about the trip in the next post

2 comments:

  1. It sounds like an awesome trip! I am getting hungry just reading about the food as well as inspired to keep cooking new things. Glad to hear you all had a great time.

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  2. mmmThanks Chef Leen! I have been trying new things at home, caribbean squash soup, creamy brocolli soup, fried plantains with lovely toppings like cheese, tomato, jalapeno, asparagus, then baked & all melted together, adding lettuce, avacado & sour cream - you can also have sauteed mushrooms in there to bring it on home!

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