Zucchini Boats - Easy, Fast, Low Carb - ENDLESS possibilities

I've had some zucchini in my fridge for awhile, they were looking a bit sad and I knew they had limited time left on this earth. I had very little else in my pantry or fridge, but I was hungry and felt obligated to use the zucchini.

In the midst of started preparing these, I realized there were endless possibilities for this meal. I've seen variations of zucchini boats mostly using Italian themed ingredients. The recipe below is what I had on hand, so this is what I used. I've also brainstormed and listed a few other ideas. Use what you have on hand, get creative and make it your way!

Prep time: Less than 5 minutes
Cook time: Approximately 20 minutes
Servings: 2-3 depending on who you're feeding and if this is a meal or a side dish/appetizer

3 whole zucchini (cut off the ends, slice them in half, you can also cut the round bottoms off so they sit flat)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Sun dried Tomatoes
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Cilantro

Heat oven to 375 (I used the convection setting on my oven)

Place the zucchini on a foil-lined baking sheet
Brush a bit of olive oil on each of the prepared zucchini halves
Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Top the boats with sun dried tomatoes and cilantro
Layer the cheese on the top

Bake for ?? - around 20 minutes I think. I didn't set my timer. Once I saw that the sun dried tomatoes were getting crispy I pulled them out.

Just a few suggestions for toppings:

Fresh tomato
Basil or other fresh herbs
Green onion or scallion
Shallot (sautéed first)
Prosciutto, pancetta, Bacon, canadian bacon, turkey bacon, etc.
Feta Cheese
Mushrooms
Onions
Jalapeño
Banana Pepper
Prepared salsa or pico de gallo for garnish

Yes, you CAN.

Yoga.

"I can't do that."

No, you can't DO yoga.

You can feel yoga. You can strengthen your body using yoga, and learn to listen to it even when it's only whispering to you. You can tune out the noise of life when it's too much for you with yoga. You can also struggle with yoga, and feel defeated by it. You can try to force your body with yoga, and find yourself at war with body and mind. You can surrender to your practice, and learn new things about yourself through yoga.  You can do things you never thought possible, with time, practice, and with the healing power of your heart and mind. You can learn to forgive yourself and be gentle with yourself through yoga. You can do all of these things and more; it's in you to decide what you WILL do, and at what pace.

"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state." (Sharon Gannon) 

In my years of mentoring others through yoga, I have heard countless reasons why people think yoga isn't for them. Maybe yoga isn't your thing. That's cool, no pressure. You could give it a try once or twice and either reaffirm that fact, or dispute the myth once and for all.

"I'm not flexible" - What better reason to start a yoga practice?
"I don't have the time" - We make time for what is important.
"I don't have the equipment"- You don't need equipment. You need a mat, your mind, and your body.
"It's too expensive" - Not in Fairbury, Nebraska it isn't.
"I don't want people to make fun of me" No one is looking at you. They are self-focusing.
"I already work out, I don't need to stretch" Add yoga to your fitness, it's probably already there.
"Yoga is too easy" It's too easy if you don't fully commit yourself in mind and body.
"Yoga is too hard" It's too hard if you push yourself beyond your limits. Don't do that.
"Yoga seems weird" Yoga is whatever you want it to be. Strong, fit, soft, flowing, relaxing, meditative.

New yoga practitioners often experience a variation of some or all of those reasons which keep them from yoga. The replies to those "reasons" are limited in scope but also simple and honest.

As yoga becomes more mainstream, more popular, and more accessible, it also becomes more intimidating. Searching for "yoga poses" or "yoga vinyasa" in Google or Pinterest returns a flurry of sinewy yogi's displayed in seemingly impossible or back-breaking positions. This is yoga, but it doesn't have to be your yoga. Yoga is for the thin, the full figured, old, young, bendy, not bendy, men, women, athletes, and whatever body type and personality you can conjure.

Yoga is not about what you can't do; it's about what you CAN do. Yoga is about "yes."

I 100% believe in the statement: Yoga is for everybody, every body, anytime, anywhere. If you can breathe, you can "do" yoga.

Yoga is for everybody, every body, anytime, anywhere.