Yogi Claire Spring Newsletter

We made it through the Winter - although if the weekend weather forecast is to be believed, we are not completely done with the Siberian weather yet!


I thought it would be timely to put out a newsletter outlining what is happening at the moment with my classes.  Well to be honest - not much in the way of change!!  Things are ticking along nicely with the usual schedule working pretty well so no need to change things around.  I think people enjoy some consistency in life.

Easter:  A couple of notes for the Easter period: No Thursday evening class on 29th March as the church is being used for Maundy Thursday Service.   No toddler class on 2nd & 9th April.  No chair yoga on 4th April.  No Avenue class on 30th March and 6th April.  No Tues morning class on 3rd April only.  Note the Tuesday evening class at United Reformed Church IS running all over the Easter period so if your usual class is not on - you are welcome to attend that one - it's a really big hall so loads of space!! If you are in any doubt - check the links on my calendar page of website or bob me a quick text to check.

Price Adjustment:  I'll get the money stuff out of the way first - the Tuesday and Thursday evening classes will have a slight price increase from 1st April from £5.50 to £6 per session.  This is because my continuing training and increases in room hire impact on my costs.  The classes are still very reasonably priced and so versatile as there is no need to book ahead of time and you don't have to commit to a block booking.  Please let me know if this creates a real problem and we can maybe come to an arrangement to help with the cost of classes, as I would hate for anyone to be unable to come to yoga due to cost. This also simplifies my prices as it means all regular classes are £6 per session (apart from chair yoga and toddler yoga which remain at £5 per session)

Chair Yoga:  The new chair yoga class on Wednesday mornings has been really wonderful, and well attended - even when the room was a bit chilly one morning.  We just got on with it and had fun with our movement - then warmed up with coffees in the cafe afterwards!  

Toddler yoga:  I'm happy to say this class is still well attended but I usually have one or two drop in places each week, so if you have little ones and fancy it - have a look on my website for all details.

April Workshop:  On April 14th I am running my Standing Tall Workshop again (the first one of this theme was 3 years ago!!) - this is an exploration of feet through our yoga postures.  This is fully booked at the moment but if you would like to be put on the waiting list let me know.

Yogi Claire Online Content: I am still producing weekly online content in the form of a 12 minute yoga video and also a weekly relaxation.  This is free content with contributions to cost welcome, if you see fit.  They are unlisted videos on You Tube/Soundcloud so you do need a secret link via email to access them.  Message me your email and which class you attend if you would like go on the subscribers list.  (class members only)

Remember if you haven't been to class for while - and would like to return, please don't hesitate.  No questions asked and certainly no judgement!  Hope to see you soon

 Click here for Yogiclaire Website

Awesome Vegan Banana Bread

Another recipe for you!

I've been doing my best to eat plant-based since Oct of last year (2017) and it's been going remarkably well.  It has been a gradual thing for me - I was pescatarian (eating fish but no meat) for about 4 years prior to that but when I educated myself on  a few things I realised it didn't sit well with me to be eating fish and dairy due to the cruelty involved and the fact that I love so many other foods that don't involve suffering, means I am lucky i can make the choice to eat this way.  (I'm going to leave it at that as this is a blog of a recipe....this is a lovely, easy loaf to make and eat whatever your eating habits are)

Firstly this is definitely more bread-like than cake-like - it is quite dense but can be lightened up by changing the flour used.  I do not like anything that is 'scream in your face' sweet....in fact I prefer bread to cake but this does have a subtle background sweetness due to the banana and date syrup used.  With the quantities used there is not an overwhelmingly banana flavour but again if you want that - you can easily tweak the recipe.

There is an ingredient called aquafaba - which is basically the whipped up water from a tin of chickpeas (i did experiment and tried with the water from some butter beans and it worked just as well)  This is in lieu of eggs and appeals to me as I hate waste and like to use everything I can!!

Ingredients:

2 small ripe bananas
Quarter cup of melted coconut oil or other mild flavoured oil
Quarter cup of date syrup
Three Quarter cups of aquafaba
2 cups of flour - I used 1 cup of spelt and 1 of regular white flour, have used all spelt, does work fine, but not as light!
1 Teaspoon mixed spice
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1-2 tablepoons of soya yoghurt or plant milk (I love Alpro coconut yoghurt for this)

Equipment:

Loaf tin oiled
Electric hand blender (can use hand whisk)
Large bowl

Method:

1. Drain liquid from a tin of chickpeas.
2. Whizz up in a bowl either with a hand blender or whisk - it shouold whip up all bubbly pretty quickly.
3. Break up the bananas into the bowl and whizz some more.
4. Melt the coconut oil to liquid and add to the bowl.
5. Add the flour, baking powder and spice and fold in - combining everything throughly.
6. Start adding the milk or yoghurt slowly until the mixture loosens a bit. I mix it to almost dropping consistency but not quite - use your intuition!
7.  Transfer mix to oiled loaf tin.
8 Bake at about 180degs (fan oven) for approx 30-35 minutes.  It should rise really well and goes a little cracked on top but the crunchy top bits are the best!
9.  Eat when a little warm either as is or with a little vegan butter or almond butter spread on top.  Would be ace with vegan custard too.
10.  ENJOY!!