The Better Helper

When I was a kid, we didn’t have a whole lot of $. We made do on government food and a military budget shopping excursion at the Commissary.  I grew up on junk food (kool-aid, chicken nuggets, Hamburger Helper and PB&J's) and I’m grateful I’m eating a lot healthier as an adult today. :)
I was craving comfort food on this cold California night and I loved this one particular Hamburger Helper dish that was pasta, cheese, marinara sauce & (gasp!) ground beef (before my non meat eating days). I decided to make a vegan, gluten free version.  Here's the recipe:

1-2 tbl spoons of Earth Balance vegan butter (I use the soy free one)
1 Better Than Meat pattie
1 box of Daiya cheddar mac n cheese
1-2 cups of marinara sauce
1/4 cup of nooch = nutritional yeast
Himalayan salt to taste
good music to dance to while cooking!

In medium pot, fill 3/4 with water and heat on high until boiling.  Place pasta in water and stir occasionally until al denta (about 5-min).  Rinse with cold water and set aside.  In medium size sauce pan, saute butter on medium heat. Place BTM pattie in the middle and after a minute or two, separate pattie with fork and spread out.  Cook for about 5 min. On low heat, add pasta, cheeze and marinara sauce.  Mix well.  Don't forget to do some dance moves!  Lastly, add nooch and H salt.

Et voila! 

Suffice it to say...it was Delish!! Memories of my childhood rushed forth and my heart (and belly) were so warm and fuzzy. Bon Appetit!

Goddess Cafe Presents: Holy Yoni Sweets

Goddess Cafe Presents:

~~ Holy Yoni Sweets ~~

Featured at LOVE-aPalooza, LA

Dec. 3rd, 3-10pm

Thank you and Congratulations on hearing the call. This delectable treat of vanilla cake and strawberries has very special prayers and Intentions infused within. The Kitchen Ceremony begins with a water offering to the Ancestors and the Four Directions.  Spiritual tools assist in addition to a Whispered Yoni Mantra, Songs from the Heart, Rosewater and other non GMO ingredients resulting in a Vegan, Gluten Free journey of both Heaven & Earth. 

Healing, Abundance, Gratitude & Love will hopefully nourish your Mind, Body, Spirit and Heart as you open your senses to what lays before you. 

The Invitation is open for you to lather the Holy Yoni sweet with the icing and strawberry enclosed inside your gift bag. 

Close your eyes and savour each bite. Take the time to be in the Silence of what arises as deep appreciation for Honoring the Yoni and the Gift of Who You Are washes over you....

$13 Love Exchange as a suggested donation. A portion of the proceeds will help to heal fellow Yoni carriers and find their voice through Song and The Drum. 

Prayer For You:

Honor the Yoni and You.  Love.  Cherish.  Receive.  Give Thanks.  Trust.

Ba Ha La Na (This translates to: Let go and give it to God/dess). Mahal (Love).

With Infinite Gratitude,

Athena at The Goddess Cafe

Cell: 805-901-4132

Email: lillith523@yahoo.com

Blog: Goddesscafe.blogspot.com

Bittersweet Mistake

You know how they say, "Never go to bed angry?"  Well, from a Goddess Cafe perspective, "Never go to the oven angry." ;) Why?  Because what you are feeling goes right into the food.  Serio.

'Made With Love' completely applies especially to all the other emotions as well.  But, the marketing departments don't make the mucho moulah if it's advertised 'Made With Tears' or 

'Made With Sarcasm and Bitterness'.  Or maybe there's this whole other market untapped!?

There are so many that blog about their baking prowess and successes which is commendable, however, for whatever reason I wanted to share about this particular 'mistake' or failure.

The catalyst was a desire to make red velvet, GF (gluten free), vegan cupcakes for my friend Kevin.  And let me just share that I love challenges!  Especially when it comes to desserts!  So, I made a promise to him that I would attempt to make some because I had yet to create such a product.

I went shopping at my usual spots: TJs, Wholefoods and Lassen's for the ingredients.  Then organized and placed them on top of my work surface along with the recipe aka 'Guidelines'.  Please take note: Baking is a bit like chemistry and for most things, all dry ingredients should be mixed with each other in their own bowl separate from the wet ingredients.  I was utilizing Erin McKenna's cookbook: Babycakes and had all my necessary baking tools at the ready.

Now, before any mixing commenced I checked the state of the oven and noticed how dirty it was.  The bottom was lined with some kind of black blot of an unknown substance and I quickly descended upon it with my weapons (vinegar, baking soda, gloves and sponge).  I quickly became irritated with ranting/raving especially during the clean up and I think there might have been some foaming at the mouth.  It took close to almost two hours of consistent scrubbing before I took up my wooden spoon to mix the ingredients.  By then, it was too late to stop.  I was invested!  Not only that...I was determined to complete this task at hand!

Normally, with any cooking/baking endeavor, I begin the preparation with a set Intention/Prayer and I make an offering to the Ancestors.  For these Bittersweet babies, I failed to do so and the end result was not to my satisfaction.  At all.

When they came out, they were brown.  The entire box of red dye was devoured by the cocoa powder (as you can see from the photo above) and the small chunk I placed in my mouth tasted of... how can I put it?  What I think a bad one-night stand would taste like: bittersweet disappointment, quickly followed by regret and shame.

At least I got the consistency right!  And I learned a very valuable lesson/reminder:

Approach the Kitchen Ceremony with the same reverence you do upon entering a Temple or Sacred Space, with Mindfulness and an open Heart/Mind/Spirit, for that is what will enter the food as it nourishes All parts of You.  Most importantly, don't be afraid to fail. The action of trying is far better than the paralyzing fear of not succeeding.  Doing nothing accomplishes just that.

Stay tuned for my next attempt.  Hopefully, it will taste like Magic and not Regret. ;)

Friday Night at MB Universe

'Fury' is a nickname I share with one of my best friends, MB. We go on regular beach walk/runs in Ventura.  Just be on the lookout for an unlikely pairing of white dread locks with splashes of color and an Asian brunette with a pair of wings tattooed on her chest.  The Talking Rock at the Estuary is a regular stop on our excursions where we share life updates with one another.  I spoke of my recent Goddess Cafe in LA at LACI last month and the Irish Fury requested the same menu so how could I possibly refuse?

I went to MB's house first to do most of the prep and cook as much as I could so that we didn't have to wait too long to indulge.  There was a meditation we both wanted to attend and then Collin was going to meet us at the Center so we could caravan together afterwards for Goddess Cafe!

I instructed Collin to toss the salad (haha!) and I reheated the alfredo sauce for the pasta.  The table was set and MB, the Beastmaster Rick, myself and Collin gathered together for a Friday Night feast of a yummy salad, pasta and...of course, Dessert.

The chocolate chia pudding (chia seeds, coconut milk, flax meal, hemp seeds, honey and agave nectar, cocoa powder) topped with cashew creme (soaked cashews, hemp milk and agave) and strawberries.  I've included a photo below that MB took.

Yummy food is great especially when you get to share it with the people you care about and support you in living your dreams and passions.  The talk at the table swirled from sports to art to food to animals and everything else in between.  As the dark creeped in and as the dessert slowly dwindled from spoon to lips, we listened to the night.  Our Collective stories weaved a dance and the food was the perfect accoutrement.

Another successful night for Goddess Cafe and one more thing I am grateful for.

Photo credit: MB Hanrahan

Goddess Cafe in the Arts District

And So It Begins...

Last month I was fired from my day job. I was simultaneously shocked and not surprised because it was like that relationship you were holding onto for financial reasons but was toxic to your well-being...and you just didn't know how to end it.  Insert 2x4 here.

I finally surrendered to IT.  IT being that Dream of what I really really wanted to do.  Cook, write, travel, do, BE and Live Ceremony.

I took the 'firing' as the ultimate sign: the opportunity to invest in ME and what I love AND was/is passionate about it.  Where happiness and joy emanates.  When you first wake up and you're excited about your day...and not just trying to 'survive' or 'get through it' or Goddess forbid you're 'dreading' it.  That, unfortunately, was my reality for many years.

Ironically, this is the first blog I've written since I created it 3 years ago.  How auspicious! since this year is when I finally decided to invest solely on what Athena, Inc. looked like and how to move forward in manifesting it into reality.

So, yesterday I had the golden opportunity to bring Goddess Cafe to LACI located in downtown Los Angeles courtesy of a Hummingbird Circle contact (thank you 'Holy Tree').

I wouldn't be from California if I didn't mention LA traffic and it was a 3 hour commute round trip from Ventura County to the Arts District.  The anecdote to this is good music, good company and good conversation.  I had all three there and back again.

The menu I chose was a personal favorite: Fettuccine Alfredo.

I thought a fresh salad of romaine lettuce and spinach topped with hemp seeds, pine nuts, walnuts and tomatoes with a salad dressing that had marinated chopped garlic would be a good accompaniment.

What's so great is that they have a small kitchen with an electric stove and conventional oven.  I brought my pot that a set of triplets could comfortably sleep inside of and my bags filled with spices and other chef accoutrements.  Before cooking (as I was taught), I made my offering to the four directions, Mother Earth and Father Sky.  People walking by must have thought I was quite strange standing in the middle of the kitchen with my eyes closed and my palm reaching towards the heavens, but this aspect is a vital component as much if not more so than the love put into the food.  I feel you can sense and taste it.

I sauteed the mushrooms first and set them aside.  Next, it was the garlic and onions.  My hope was that the aromatic scents of the kitchen would permeate those in close vicinity and instill a hunger for what I was preparing.  Needless to say, it worked and there were some whom were drawn to the kitchen with an unsatiated curiosity.

The Alfredo sauce is a combination of garlic, onions, mushrooms, Daiya mozzarella cheeze, hemp milk, spices and herbs and most of the time...singing.

Here's the end product:

For Dessert, a chocolate chia pudding (chia seeds, coconut milk, flax seed with blueberries, hemp seeds and cocoa powder) topped with cashew creme and strawberries.

Throughout the entirety of the experience, I sung the Grandmothers song softly to myself, smiling and thinking of my own Grandmother whom taught me about food and spirituality.  I hope she is proud.

Today I promise to continue to: Follow the Grace and Bliss of My Life.

Infinitely grateful,
Athena

What IS Goddess Cafe?

One Day...

For the longest time, I've had this desire to have a cafe of my own..and not just any cafe, a Goddess Cafe featuring non gmo, organic, vegan, gluten & soy free yummylicious food and desserts. It would be THE place where people congregated, gathered and connected. The Center where enlightened souls divulged in orgasmic morsels and discussed their current spiritual practice(s) or latest novel being voraciously devoured. 

It would be a space where spiritual nourishment transcended from a 'practice' to a work of art such as tonight's dessert served in a wine glass: drizzled chocolate love sauce on the inside, a bottom layer of the special yoni berry sorbet, layered with ice cream and topped off with chopped up banana and yes! more chocolate sauce. Special chants, prayers and crystals were used. The end result? Total surrender for your taste buds and comfort food that essentially was intended to activate a mind, body, heart connection. 

Who says you can't have an 'experience' while satiating your appetite?

And if there are skeptics and naysayers present, I'd like to invite you to try some Yonilicious Chocolate Love sauce if you're up to it...for that, my sweeties, is one of the reasons why the Goddess Cafe came into fruition. :0)

The Premise:

Until a proper location is secured, the Goddess Cafe is mobile and travels within Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties.  However, traveling not only domestically but internationally is a possibility for the future. Most items are purchased from our local farmers markets and made with more love than the world has people. Seriously. 

Food is prepared and served at the designated Goddess House. Typically, The Goddess Chef chooses a theme and creates a menu. We gather together, eat, laugh 'til our bellys hurt and our tummys are filled to capacity. 

Who We Are:

We are Conscious Women co-creating and sharing our Gifts. We are a network of Spiritual BEings whom love to cook, connect, share, laugh, support and live healthy lifestyles.  We are passionate about so many different causes ranging from health, environment, politics, animal rights/activism, feminism, spirituality, and alternative healing to name a few.

Our Intention:

We feel that the choices we make and the steps we take directly reflect who we are and what we stand for. To BE healthy is to Live healthy and in order to do that, being mindful of what we put into our bodies is one of our top priorities. And we'd like to share our Love of Good Food and our hearts with You! We offer collaborative dinners, potlucks, and presentations.  Not to mention edible, educational and entertaining workshops showing you how easy it can be to eat with heartfelt and healthy intentions.

And, guess what? It's only the BEginning! :0)