Bean Crock

2 cups of beans (eg butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, aduki beans) either soaked overnight and boiled in fresh water for one hour, or 2 tins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed and diced
1 leek, chopped
3 large tomatoes (avoid if arthtitic), chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
Vegetable stock or tomato passata
Paprika, pepper
Mixed dried herbs
Handful of chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a sturdy pan at a medium heat. When hot, add the onion and the garlic and keep moving until translucent. Be sure to not to burn. Add a good pinch of paprika to colour the mix. Add the leek and sweet potato, and saute for a few minutes. Add the beans and stir, ensuring the colour of the paprika covers all the beans, adding more if necessary and to taste. After a few minutes, add the stock or passata and water, until the mixture is well covered. Add a little pepper if necessary. Throw plenty of mixed herbs in. Put the lid on, and put into the oven at a low heat for at least 3 hours if using dried beans, or one hour if tinned.
To finish, throw the chopped parsely over.

A special addition to this retreat is the inclusion of workshops with experts such as Gaby Weiland, who will show you inspirational ways of incorporating raw foods and wholefoods into your diet. Personal development will also be covered, with a workshop with psychotherapist Rachel Webb. Two treatments are also included in the retreat - a sumptuous massage and a specialised detox accupuncture session.

Included:
Accommodation in our beautiful Eco Cabins
All food, juices and smoothies
Daily yoga and meditation
Daily session in our detox sauna and hot tub
Invigorating walks
Plenty of time for rest and relaxation
Massage
Detox ear accupuncture session
Workshops with nutritional expert
Personal development workshops
Raw food feast

Date: 17th - 21st March

Cost: ?790 pp

Too book, or for more information, contact us. More information will be live on this page soon.

The festive season is here again, and we have a variety of perfect gift vouchers for that special someone. We’ve plenty of day spa packages for people who are living in the Leitrim and Sligo area, but also overnight breaks for people further afield.

We also have all of our wonderful retreats available as a gift voucher, so why not give the gift of health this Christmas, with a break filled with relaxation, regeneration and the skill to help you lead a healthier, happier life.

All of our gift voucher packages are listed below, and are available to buy over the phone on 071 91 34939 or online through www.ardnahoo.com/special_offers.php

Day Packages

Head to Toe Pamper ?180 (3.5 hrs)
The ultimate treat for someone special. Begin by melting your cares away in the Uisce Hour (a session in our indoor/outdoor wet area, including Detox Box Sauna and Hot Tub) before indulging in a Back, Neck and Shoulder massage, Fabulous Footsie and Skinglow Facial Massage. Detox tea and healthy snacks are included to nourish as you relax and drift away in bliss.

Stressbuster ?90 (2.5 hrs)
Relax and unwind with an Uisce Hour (a session in our indoor/outdoor wet area, including Detox Box Sauna and Hot Tub) and then indulge in a massage of your choice. Includes detox tea and healthy snacks.

Detox Treat ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Purify yourself with a session in our infrared detox box sauna, eliminating all toxins and burning up to 2400 calories. Followed by a nourishing massage of your choice.

Melt & Massage ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Soak your cares away in our outdoor hot tub, before feeling your muscles melt with an indulgent massage of your choice.

Uisce Hour for two ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Soak away your cares with a session in our Uisce Area, complete with detox box, steam room and hot tub. Lay back in the bubbles and gaze upon Loch Nahoo.

Residential Packages

Ultimate Chillout Break
Escape to our eco retreat and give your body the rest it deserves. This fantastic break includes either one or two nights accommodation in a private Eco Cabin, a soak in the outdoor hot tub, a massage of your choice and organic dinner on one night, as well as an organic welcome pack. With the different pricing options below, this is perfect for that special someone who deserves a completely pampering escape.
One night
?180 per single person (?280 at weekend)
?300 for two (?360 at weekend)
Two nights
?225 per single person (?360 at weekend)
?340 for two (?450 at weekend)

1. Fires
It’s almost worth freezing your fingers off outside, knowing that you can come in to a blazing fire. Yes, it’s dark at 5pm, but the fire is roaring and you don’t have to worry about the outside world. This is where the hibernation kicks in for most people in Leitrim. Something has to be really blooming good to make us leave our fireplaces.

2. Winter Food
Mmm, winter food. Slow cooked with rich flavours, winter meals just warm you from the very core. A wonderful lamb stew, with meat falling apart on the fork…a split pea and sweet potato soup…shepherd’s pie…It’ll all sort you out.

3. Crisp winter mornings
When it’s not pelting with rain, those perfect winter mornings of watery blue sky, fresh (and freezing) air and a clouding of frost just make everything look like a picture book.

4. Hot Whisky
The perfect end to a winter evening. So long as it’s made properly, with clove-studden wedges of lemon, good quality whiskey and honey.

5. Duvets, scarves, blankets and jumpers
Snug as a bug in a rug.

Each weekend will include what to use, how to use and how to make the remedies indicated by the subkect matter; by the end of the course the full spectrum of harvesting, drying, making infusions, decoctions, compresses and poultices, tinctures, macerated oils and ointments will have been covered and experienced by the participants.

This is an amazing opportunity to live and study under a true wise woman, who has been treating herself and her family for many years. With a wide range of knowledge of natural medicine, Shen Tao and herbs, Judith is opening her home and her mind to pass this information on. Each three day weekend costs ?200, and workshops run from 6th - 8th 2010, and every fourth weekend thereafter.

For more information, contact Judith on 07497 36406 or email judithhoad@gmail.com

We’d both heard of raw chocolate before, but never had the ingredients to hand, or seen it offered elsewhere. Raw chocolate is made from the un-fired cacao bean, before it is turned into what we know as chocolate. As the cacao bean isn’t fired at the high temperatures needed for traditional chocolate, the supernutrients are contained, meaning that chocolate is good for you! Mix these ground nibs into smoothies, nibble them as a snack or sprinkle them on cereal, and you’ll experience an incredible rush of energy. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McGonaghy often mix raw cacao smoothies and go running in the forests of California for hours on end.

Now, the taste isn’t quite as satisfying if your pallete is used to the creamy taste of milk chocolate (as mine so lovingly is). But if you’re a fan of good quality dark chocolate, then you’ll really enjoy our recipe…

You’ll need equal amounts of raw cacao butter, raw cacao nibs and agave syrup. We started off with 100g of each, which was anough for about 30 chocolates.
Put some boiling water in a pan, and put a perspex bowl over this. Do not put the pan on the heat - you want to melt the cacao butter but not heat it. You could also leave the butter in a warm place to melt it down. When it’s gooey, mix in the ground nibs (you’ll need a coffee grinder to do this) and the agave syrup. Mix this well. Pour into ice cube trays and leave in the fridge to set. About four hours later, they’ll be hard enough to eat, just like ‘normal’ chocolate!

When you’ve made the above once, experiment. Throw in superfoods like goji or acai berries, increase the syrup, or add honey or nuts. Go wild! And tell us how it all works out.

Carrot and Beetroot ‘Spaghetti’

Raw Chocolate Mousse

Apple, carrot, betroot and aloe juice

This range is exclusive to Ard Nahoo in Leitrim, with no other stockists nearby. For any more information, contact Nicola at Ard Nahoo.

New Yoga Classes at Ard Nahoo

Start 8th September

Tuesdays:
All Levels Yoga (Beginner

What we’ll brush over is the unfortunate demise of Wee Whitey, who met her end a few weeks ago.

But less of that, let’s all just be grateful there are baby chicks in the world again!

Unfortunately we only have a blurry photo to show for it, but it’s better than nothing…

But worry not, after a quick redesign and a new special broody coup, Dumpy is back on her eggs. And after a quick google told us that these eggs should be chicks in as little as 3 weeks, pretty soon we’ll have a new gaggle! So here’s hoping that Sarah/Elvis is doing his job properly. Any ideas for new chick names can be submitted here!

But we will muddle through, safe in the knowledge that pretty soon we’ll have even more of the blighters ready to fill our egg cartons (and bellies). Now, how long does it take before chicks turn into egg factories?

Ard Nahoo on the Six One News

See Noeleen and others talking about Eco Tourism in Ireland, our uniquely designed Eco Cabins and how green holidays can lift Ireland’s tourism industry out of the recession. And Nicola pretending to read a book in the Green Room.

We still have availability for this weekend, so book in and enjoy all of the festivities from our stunning Eco Cabins, just a quick walk from the best festival Leitrim has to offer.

Cairde celebrates diversity and community and in this year

This all depends on whether Sarah/Elvis has been doing his job properly, and if she can stay on for the remainder of the course, but if she does, we’ll be adding three more to our brood. There was a bit of a glitch after a fight with Whitey, and one of the original eggs broke, but it seems to have been smooth sailing from then on.

This has also helped distract us from Buster’s absence (I saw him running up the drive a few nights ago, but on the whole we have been a badger free zone). We also have a very friendly bird around the place, who lands on the side of the hot tub while guests are having a soak, and perches on the windowsill outside the green room.

But we still miss Buster. Maybe if we put a badger egg under our broody hen, some magic might happen…

The No.1 grower and producer of Aloe Vera and Beehive based products.

Aloe Vera products have been known to alleviate:

? Eczema
? Psoriasis
? Irritable Bowl Syndrome
? Arthritis
Please join us for a special preview of our extensive range of health, nutrition, personal & skincare.

Thursday 11th June at Ard Nahoo Eco Retreat, Dromahair at 7.30pm.

200g salmon, cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) cubes
1 leeks, chopped into 1cm (0.39 inches) pieces
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
Tablespoon sugar (optional)
75ml soy sauce
5 tablespoons water
300g brown rice (or however much you think 4 people will need)

Heat a casserole or crock pot with a little oil. Sweat the onion, leek, celery and carrot for around ten minutes over a medium heat. Then add the garlic and sugar and cook for one minute. Throw in the fish, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a further minute. Pour in the soy sauce and water (the colour of the sauce should be a lightish brown - too dark and it will be too salty, too light and it will be bland) and stir. Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve over brown rice or udon noodles and enjoy.

A fantastic bonus was the friendships made by the women sharing the Eco Cabins at Ard Nahoo. Strangers on the Friday, and exchanging addresses and phone numbers at the end. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend from our residents.

2. Detox Retreat - Last Places
We still have a few places left on our 5 Day Detox, 1st - 6th May. You can find all the information about this great value retreat here, which includes daily yoga, daily sauna/hot tub sessions, daily guided walks and beautiful organic vegan food and juices. Can’t make it for the full five days? Make the most of the Bank Holiday and come for three, leaving on the Monday. No better way to kick start the new you in time for what promises to be a beautiful summer…

3. Beautiful Summer
A few months ago, I overheard a man on the street saying it’s going to be a long, hot summer. Then I read in The Times (admittedly in the Home section) that a famous long term forecaster has said the very same. Taking his forecasts from migration habits, the way plants are growing and the feeling in his waters, he predicts months in advance. Usually bad tidings. But I trust this man. And I trust the man in the street. So long hot summer, here we come!

4. Celebrity Banisteoir
The lads from Dromahair GAA are in the final of RTE’s Celebrity Banisteoir, led by Katherine Lynch. So if you’re watching, cheer them all along!

5. Green Weddings
We’re in the early planning stages of holding Green Weddings at Ard Nahoo. Ideal for intimate groups looking for a beautiful and ethical setting for their celebration. At this early stage, we make a solemn promise not to use the phrases “special day” or “blushing bride”. Keep an eye out for further developments.

1. Lady
Lady is our little midget hen, with furry legwarmers. Perhaps the hen who might get a little broody soon, Lady enjoys hiding back in her bed, convincing her owners that she has been ravaged by a fox.

2. Rusty
Imaginatively named, Rusty is a somewhat pensive hen, who enjoys time alone. Or is just exceptionally slow. Never seems to know which way is which. Imagine a headless chicken…with a head.

3. Sooty
Another great name, Sooty enjoys leftover bread and rice, and dislikes competition. Always the first into bed at night, Sooty likes to lay low and suss out the others before making a decision.

4. Hen Hansard
The most fantastically named and beautiful hen is prone to low self esteem, and is oft picked on by other more assured hens. Though the confidence is picking up, and now Hen Hansard runs for the food with the others, head held high, whilst singing classics from the Frames (which sound suspiciously like clucking)

5. Other White Hen
Rest assured, this hen does have a name, it’s just slipped my memory. This hen, Whitey I shall dub him, is known for his bullish antics around the orchard. Whitey knows what he wants, and will stop at nothing to get it. Nothing.

Bonus 6. Dave/Elvis/Sarah
Named Dave after his original owner, Elvis by the kids and Sarah by his original owner, Dave/Elvis/Sarah rules the roost. This beautiful and flamboyant rooster cockadoodledoos whenever he wants a bit of attention (thankfully not at dawn). While he doesn’t seem to have much on an interest in the ladies, he is extremely protective over his hareem, and never eats until they are finished. What a gent.

Stay tuned for more adventures from the Ard Na Hens. Have a great weekend!

This is the perfect chance to spend a day at Ard Nahoo and immerse yourself in yoga. The days are longer, brighter and warmer, and nature is blooming here. For more details, visit the site here or get in touch.

1. Server back up and running
Something strange has been going on with our site all week, meaning we haven’t been able to access it, or our emails. It finally came back today, so grovelling emails are now being sent all around. We usually reply to emails within 24 hours (unless they are sent on a Sunday or Monday, when we are closed. These days we check mail less frequently, so it may take a little longer). If you don’t receive a reply to an email within these times, then sent it again, or give us a call. Up here in the mountains our internet is a little less reliable (and quick!) than in a city.

2. Twitter
We logged on for the first time to Twitter today, after a long appeal from many different sources. I’m still not entirely convinced, but am sure it will become steadily addictive. Especially as I now know that Stephen Fry is a regular twitterer.

3. The Observer
We had an excellent write up in the Observer a few weeks back, that for some reason never made it up onto the blog. You can read the article here…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/feb/22/green-holiday-ireland-atlantic-coast

4. Detox Retreat
The bookings have started to come in for the 5 Day Detox Retreat, which is happening on 1st-4th May this year. To read more about the retreat, click here

5. Expose, Dr Hauschka and Detox Box
On last night’s episode of Expose (TV3) the girls went to the Dr Hauschka Heaven and Earth Spa in Dublin. Here they sampled the infrared detox sauna, and raved about the therapeutic qualities it posesses (Good for acne, arthritis, muscular pain and stress, as well as burning 900 - 2400 calories!) The good news is that we have our very own ‘Detox Box’ at Ard Nahoo. Overlooking the lake and hills and protected by a glass screen and roof, most guests choose to melt away their cares before jumping into the hot tub. Our detox box is open to all, residential or day visitors. For more information, click here

Cristiaana has been practicing Yoga for over 13 years. She has comprised her teachings from well known Yoga masters in the Los Angeles area and has integrated the wisdom of her varied and courageous life history in her teachings, resulting in life changing testimonials from her students.

Cristiaana’s celebrated style of teaching is ‘provocative, leaving one feeling they have been heard and seen on a very personal level.’ A unique and enjoyable practice uniting strong postures, healing breath and energy cultivation designed to awaken and balance the energy in the body, calm and focus the mind and open the heart.

Included each day are morning and evening Yoga sessions along with meditation instruction inspired by uplifiting lectures to reflect upon during the days leisure hours.

Maria, Ard Nahoo’s organic and vegetarian chef, will be preparing meals during your stay. Sunday afternoon we will journey into the town of Dromahair for the renowned midday meal at The Riverbank Restaurant situated on the Bonet River ( this is included in your package, please note however that breakfast before morning classes is not included. )
This summers retreat is priced at 750 Euros and includes full Yoga & Meditation tuition, meals and four nights accommodations in Ard Nahoo’s Eco Cabins along with a 50% discount for use of the ‘Uisce Area’.
A non-refundable deposit of 340 Euros is required no later than May 1st in order to reserve your space, the remainder is payable upon your arrival at Ard Nahoo. There is a 12 person capacity for this retreat.
For more information please visit www.truthisyouridentity.com or phone +45 25 14 06 90.

1. Yoga, Walking and Relaxation Retreat
We only have two places left on this retreat, and cannot wait for next weekend. It should be a fantastic retreat, with daily yoga, walks, soaks in the hot tub, and beautiful organic food. So if you’re at a loose end next weekend, check out the information here www.ardnahoo.com/yoga_retreat.php

2. World Rally
The rally has begun, and is set to pass our door (well, road) early on Sunday morning. I think Rally Fever has started to kick in, but I think it would take a lot more than a few speeding cars to get me out and about at 7am on a Sunday.

3. Detox
Our detox officially ended a few weeks ago, which is why I just drank a cup of proper tea, with proper milk. It was a great two weeks, much easier than any of us thought, with very few cravings (tea and bread were the biggies). The key was having an abundance of beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables, gorgeous meals made from the best ingredients, and a lot of water. We rarely felt hungry, and actually ended up eating more than usual. The difference was, we were eating fantastic food.
We have a 5 Day Detox Retreat planned for 1st - 6th May, which will be more of the same, but including yoga, sessions in the Uisce Hour and walks every day, along with a divine detox menu. For more information, visit the site here www.ardnahoo.com/detox.php

4. Valentine’s Day
While not everyone’s a fan (me included) what better way to make up for your ills than to escape for Valentine’s Weekend? Or grab a cabin with a few friends and bemoan the sentimentality of the rest of the worls? We have a fantastic special up on our site, which you can see here…

5. Long Overdue Congratulations to Leon
With all of the hullaballo surrounding our internet connection, we’re really late in congratulating Leon and Eimer with the birth of their first daughter, Hanne. Leon, of Reverb Studios, is our web guru and tech guy, and a neverending source of help. So we’re over the moon that Eimer gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl.