Every Friday is “Friday Fun Day” and I post a website, quote, recipe, or story that relates to simple and minimalist living. Sometimes I just post something fun and inspiring!

Don’t you love friends who bake? Better yet, friends who share their baking with you. I have a friend who is a wonderful baker and very generous with sharing her creations with me.

Not too long ago she knocked on my door and delivered the most wonderful vegan bread. Once you get the hang of it, vegan cooking can be simple not to mention extremely healthy. The bread was so delicious I asked her to share the recipe with me. If you’re interested in trying vegan cooking but don’t know how to get started, this recipe is easy and tasty.

My friend wanted to give credit where credit was due so she told me that she found this fabulous recipe on Joy the Baker’s blog. She did a bit of modification and halved the recipe and used sweet potato instead of pumpkin (didn’t take as long to bake- watch at 45-50 min and see if you need more time).  She also added a few dried cranberries and molasses and honey in place of the maple syrup (just because she didn’t have any syrup in her house).

Below is the recipe. Enjoy!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour ( or whole wheat flour… or just use only all-purpose flour)

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup water

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a rack in the center of the oven.  Grease and flour two loaf pans (mine are 8×4×2) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together.  Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in.  Fold in most of the chopped walnuts, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the batter once in the pan.

Divide the dough between the two greased pans and sprinkle with a few walnut pieces.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Serve warm.  Maybe even wrap one loaf up in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for future munching.

My friend Judith (L) and me (R). She took me to my first Yoga class in the mid 90s.

Yoga is the perfect exercise for those of us on the simple living path. Many spiritual traditions encourage living simply and Yoga is no exception. Living simply and practicing Yoga go hand in hand because both practices are about experiencing life more fully. And isn’t living live more fully why we strive to live more simply in the first place?

Yoga means to yoke or unite. Yoga is a system of physical (asana) and breathing (pranayama) practices designed to help us experience optimal health and happiness. The fusion of mind body and spirit takes place when one practices Yoga. If Yoga is new to you and you want to find out more, click  here for a fun website that gives a great general overview of Yoga. There are many forms of Yoga. I prefer the Iyengar method and you can click here for an overview of this type of Yoga. This is also the website of one of my favorite Yoga teachers-Marla Apt.

If everyone practiced Yoga, I’m convinced we would have a more peaceful world. Can you imagine if Congress and other comparable governing bodies around the globe took a break everyday to do a few downward facing dogs? What about the UN? Wouldn’t it be nice to see representatives from all over the world sitting quietly and breathing together for a few minutes before they got back to their daily agenda? Yoga reminds us that we all are equal. You can’t stay in a Yoga pose too long before you are forced to face your own humanity. We all are struggling with the same things and we all ultimately want happiness and peace. Yoga is a great tool for helping us achieve this.

My Yoga practice is one of the greatest forms of wealth in my life. I’ve been practicing since the mid-nineties and I can’t imagine life without doing some sort of asana every day. Yoga has enriched my life in so many ways. I’ll be honest though. I started doing Yoga because I thought it would tighten up my abs and help with the fight against gravity. But a funny thing happened once yoga became my main form of exercise. I suddenly cared more about feeling good than looking good. I’ve become more accepting of my body and other people’s as well. I now see beauty in what real bodies look like and not the bodies portrayed in airbrushed Madison Avenue advertising.

Yoga is just you hanging out with yourself. Yes, there’s a mat involved and maybe a few props here and there, but Yoga doesn’t demand a bunch of fancy frills. There are no shoes involved and no special clothes as long as what you wear allows you to move comfortably. I can practice yoga in a class, at home alone, or while I’m on the road traveling. All I need is a small space and I’m set to go. What could be simpler?

Yoga has also saved me money. That’s right! Even though I spend money taking classes, Yoga has made me less materialistic. I now prefer a Saturday afternoon in the Yoga studio as opposed to an afternoon at the mall. Instead of expensive outings to trendy restaurants or overpriced theatrical or sporting events, I prefer an afternoon of hiking or walking on the beach.

Yoga is for everyone. No matter what your age, background, religion, race, nationality, or financial situation is, this ancient form of exercise is open to all. I have met so many interesting people from all walks of life in the Yoga classes I have taken. Despite all of our different beliefs and backgrounds, my mind has opened up and I have learned that we are all basically the same.

Several years ago I had a friend who was interested in Yoga but had reservations about going to a class. She thought you had to already be good at it before you even started it. She eventually went to class with me and loved it. She soon realized that Yoga is not about being “good” at it. No one ever completely masters Yoga. Yoga is a process and that’s the beauty of it. Living simply is a process too and we never completely arrive. The rewards are in the journey.

Most of us have no idea what real poverty is. The next time you complain because you can’t afford the latest “whatever”, keep in mind what you are about to read below. NOTE: I did not come up with this. Someone posted it on the Zeitgeist International Discussion Forum.

If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have any money in the bank, your wallet and some spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation, you are luckier than 500 million people alive going through this suffering.

If you can read this message you are more fortunate than the 3 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Rainbow over Maui

Special Note: I am thrilled to present the following guest post from blogger Jill Brown of The Duchess Guide.

Beliefs are only thoughts you keep thinking about over and over. So let me ask you this? What are your thoughts about success?

On January 15th, 2009 an Airbus A320 commercial airline took off from New York City’s La Guardia Airport en route to North Carolina. The crew of five and one hundred and fifty passengers enjoyed roughly six minutes of ascent into the clouds as they departed Manhattan on their journey. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the plane experienced what is known in the aviation world as “bird strike.” The behemoth plane, already on its way up, crossed paths with a flock of comparatively small and insignificant Canadian Geese. The only problem for US Airways Flight 1549, and all other aircraft, is that while small in comparison – birds of a feather are incredibly dangerous to safe flight. The Canadian Geese caused the jet engines to fail and the pilot was forced to ditch the plane into the frigid waters of the Hudson.

Luckily in the story of Flight 1549 – we already know that all 155 individuals on the plane lived and were safely rescued from the floating airplane in the Hudson River. However, there are countless flights that have encountered the bird strike scenario and not lived to tell about it.

How can something so relatively tiny be so totally destructive? How can a twenty pound bird bring down a high-flying, powerful 93,000 pound plane?

Speed, velocity and the energy of aerodynamics are the answer!

And this story is a perfect illustration of how your beliefs about success, money and what is important in life are often just programmed illusions since birth. Yes, money is important. But what about other meanings of success? How many times have you been flying high, happy, unstoppable, an object in blissful motion toward your pie in the sky dreams – only to have a negative “bird strike” thought or comment from another bring you crashing down? Don’t let these old beliefs or unhappy naysayers sabotage your journey and high flying dreams! There is a broader definition of success that includes health, going after your dreams, loving what you do, making time for love and family and caring for your spirit and body which are absolute essentials in a wealthy life.

As certain as there are planes which are downed by bird strikes, there are even more that encounter this scenario and have the strength and power (through great design and planning) to stay in the air. Don’t let others bring drag you down into the keeping up with the neighbors game. Use the tools of meditation, affirmations and self-assessment to dig deep inside into what you really believe success and wealth mean. These tools will keep you properly prepared for the next time an ugly, negative belief  (or discouraging comment from a disconnected person) rears its head and tries to bring you down. When you have the strength, the tools and the knowledge – you can keep yourself flying ahead, on course and experiencing your own belief of what success really means.

Jill is a Los Angeles, California-based coach and writer. She is the author of the weekly inspirational column, Duchess Digest, on Single Minded Woman.com and is the founder of Duchess, LLC; a business dedicated to helping and inspiring the best in all women. Additionally she is the co-host of a bi-weekly podcast show, Your Life Your Style, on blog talk radio. You can join her free weekly newsletter packed with tools, tips and inspiration through her website: www.theduchessequation.com and follow her on twitter: @JilltheDuchess. When Jill isn’t writing or coaching, she loves to travel, study cultures and do anything outdoors with her Labrador Betty.

Me-Just Happy to be Alive!

Society has conditioned us to believe our wealth is measured by money and material possessions. However, our real wealth and true net worth expand much further than the numbers in our bank accounts.  If we limit ourselves to a narrow definition of wealth, we will never be able to fully enjoy life and experience our true riches.

Our current monetary system produces a lack mindset and leads us to believe we must constantly be chasing the dollar if we want to be happy and content. Messages of accumulating more, more, more are constantly thrown at us, and as we strive for bigger and better, it’s often never enough. Our longings for more seem to go to infinity.  We think that if only we had a bigger house, a job making 20% more, a fancier car, then we would really be set. But then we find out nothing could be further from the truth.  Often when we do end up with more, we find that the void we thought would be full is still empty.

Our economy is in intensive care, and there is no clear indication of when things will be better.  This is the perfect time to reexamine our thoughts and ideas about wealth. How empowering is it to define your net worth by an outdated and dysfunctional money game that is rigged for an elite few and is constantly upping the ante for the rest of us? Although the current system is our reality for the time being, we need not give it any more power than is absolutely necessary. As we shift our thinking, we realize our true wealth is the things that money just can’t compete with or provide.

The list below outlines some alternative ways to tally up your real net worth, so review it and see how you measure up. I bet you are worth gazillions!

• Your Health-It may sound like a cliché, but your health is your greatest wealth.  If you feel lousy, it doesn’t matter how much money you have stashed away or how many summer homes you own. More importantly, if you have bad health, it’s harder to enjoy your other riches such as your friends, family, and passions. Don’t take your good health lightly. It’s one of your greatest assets. If you think not, then talk to someone who is suffering from a serious illness. Most people who are seriously ill see a bigger picture than those of us who are healthy. Learn from them and start to expand your perceptions of what’s important in life. Wake up every day and thank the deity of your choice for yet another day of good health.

• Your Mate/Partner-What a wonderful thing it is to spend your life with someone you love. Our deepest desires as humans are not really money or the material, but love. Remember when you first fell in love and how great you felt.  Having someone to go through the good times and the bad times makes the journey of life so much easier. It’s a real blessing to have someone special in your life, so cherish them and don’t take them for granted.

• Your Children-Children are priceless! Need I see more?

• Your friends- Families are wonderful but our friends are extra special because we choose each other. We have no control over who our families are, but all the control in the world when it comes to picking our friends. Friends are there to help you through bad times and to share the good times. And when we reciprocate by being there for them, the rewards are two-fold, because we gain the joy of having been there for someone as well. Good friendships allow us to be with people who accept us for who we are and are not forever trying to alter us.

• Your animal companions-Animals friends bring so much joy and fun to our lives. Besides the regular activities we participate in with our animal friends, just watching them as they go about their day to day lives can keep us entertained for hours. Animals teach us to live in the moment and not to fret about the past or worry about the future. Our animal companions are the epitome of unconditional love.

• Free Time- The gift of time to spend in any way you choose is an asset rivaling the most successful monetary investments. What a luxury it is to have time to spend with family and friends, time in nature, time reading and relaxing, time for fun, time for getting adequate sleep, and time to just do nothing if that’s what floats your boat.  The extravagance of time is definitely a valuable commodity and an often under-rated resource.

• Access to Modern Conveniences- The times we live in provide us with more access to technology and modern conveniences than ever before in the world’s history. You have a refrigerator, right? Access to a washer and dryer? What about a TV, computer, microwave, radio, electricity, heat, air conditioning, etc? Compared to past generations, most of us live like royalty. Modern conveniences save us time and make life a whole lot easier.
• Your Life Experiences-Each of us are unique and our life experiences make us who we are. Whether they are good or bad, we can use our experiences to learn, teach, and contribute to those around us. So if you aren’t already, get out there and purposefully start living. You’ll have setbacks for sure, but you will also have many victories as well.

• Your Spirituality-If you are a person who travels a spiritual or religious path, then you know the rewards — peace of mind, comfort, support, a connection with the divine. Spirituality is what feeds our soul and differentiates between the materialistic world and the world we cannot see. We all know deep down there is something more to being alive than just what is in front of us, but so often we forget and get caught up in things that won’t matter in the long run. Our spirituality helps us through the challenging times and keeps us connected to what’s important in life.

• Your Education- An education is not only a degree or certificate. Education is a skill you’ve learned, or a book you’ve read that inspires conversation and thought.  Whether it is a degree from a fancy university, a trade school certificate, or information acquired from the local library, all are forms of education and are very valuable. Once you learn something, it’s yours for the keeping and can never be taken away from you.

• You Humor- Laughter has a way of soothing the human spirit and making us whole again. If you have the gift of humor and have people around to laugh with you, know that you have an asset that can carry you through most anything this crazy life sends your way.

Another beautiful winter day in Venice Beach, CA

Happy New Year Everyone! I’m looking forward to a prosperous 2010 for all of us. Speaking of prosperity, I have a great investment tip I’d like to share. Now, I don’t in any way shape or form claim to be a finance guru, but I do think my advice will give you some great returns. Invest in your health this upcoming year and every year after that as well. There’s no better place to put your time or money than in one of your most precious assets-your health and well being.

As I reflect back over the past year, I’m particularly thankful for good health once again. Yes, I may be unemployed and have added zilch to my net worth, but I sure do feel great. It may sound corny, but not a day goes by that I don’t acknowledge and thank God for giving me yet another day of well being. Besides, what good is any worldly wealth if you feel sick and run-down?

I’m an avid yoga practitioner (Iyengar yoga to be exact) and I attend a class almost every day. If I can’t make a class, then I can be found practicing in the middle of my living room floor. I roll out the yoga mat, my feline companions Shylo and Hunter take their respective places on my mat, and I use what little room is left to stretch out into down dog or go up into headstand.  Yoga has been a great investment for me physically, mentally, and spiritually. I especially love how it has made my mind flexible and much more open to the world around me.

Investing time and money into yoga has been one of the best investments I have ever made. So when my yoga studio membership fee came due several weeks ago, I did not hesitate at plopping down $650 for unlimited yoga classes for the next 6 months. Some people might think this is a crazy thing to spend money on when you don’t have a job, but it would be even crazier for me not to do so. Instead of hitting the mall with some of the Christmas money my parents gave me, I’m hitting the yoga studio instead.  I can’t think of a better thing to spend money on than something that I love doing, keeps me healthy, and is loads of fun!