Household Blog

My kingdom for a straw. One thing I’ll say, I really don’t care much for the taste of the cleanse lemonade. I’m not a big fan of lemonade to start with, and the cayenne kick? Not so much. But I have friends who love the taste. Guess I’m just lucky. But yes, it occurred to me today that a straw would generally make this stuff more drinkable, and since the cayenne tends to settle a bit to the bottom, it’d also help for stirring it up while you’re drinking.

Normally I talk endlessly about food. Now all I have to discuss are the nuances of master cleanse lemonade. I’m going to be a happy girl this weekend—culinary freedom! So the plan is to break my fast Friday evening. Originally I’d thought to break it Saturday morning, but my growing experiences tell me Friday evening might be easier on my system. And here’s why.

This morning, getting up was harder, my energy was slower to rise, and I’m a morning person, so that’s definitely strange for me. However, once I was up I was definitely wide awake. But. When I went to drink my first cup of the day, I realized that the chugging method doesn’t work so well when you’ve been all night without anything in your stomach. So tomorrow morning, I’ll be sipping a bit more slowly until my stomach is “primed” for the day. No big deal, just felt a little bit nauseous, but I just sat with it, and it passed within five or ten minutes.

This morning’s slow start helped drive home another point: help yourself out in advance. It probably goes without saying, but make your lemonade the night before. Set out your clothes for the next day. Put gas in your car before you need it. Anything to cut yourself a bit of a break the next day.

My energy (once I got going) was still really high today, and the clarity of the senses continues. The body-awareness definitely intensified. It’s like I’ve been talking on a bad phone line all this time, and suddenly the static has lifted and I can hear my body so well. Pretty amazing. I did some very light cardio, just a mile or so of brisk walking, which felt great, and followed that later in the day with some gentle stretching.

As far as mindset, I feel very sharp and intense—yes, yes, I mean more intense than usual. Socializing is harder day by day, and brain to mouth filter is virtually non-existent. Once more I reiterate, no business meetings (thank you Kate). Frankly, I’d prefer to just have a whole week by myself next time I do this, just so I could be more fully present in the process and not distracted by work, friends, family, etc.

Oh, and ha! One more little bit of info: if you should decide to fast and use a laxative tea to help with flushing your system, only drink one cup, at least to start. Take my word for it :)   I got the Traditional Medicinals Smooth Move tea blend (I love their teas) and they said to drink before bedtime, no more than 3 cups a day. I drank two cups before bedtime. I was up every two hours. Too much information?

So I think that’s all I got for now. I’m going to go sit in the sunshine, read a bit, and go to bed early. Even earlier than usual. Two more days.

Day two of my fast is almost done, and I’m still alive!

Today I had my herbalism class, which was a blessing. Being engaged in something I find fascinating really helps one not to obsess over not eating. In the afternoon, we went on a short hike to look at the plants bursting forth enthusiastically. It was a beautiful day for it: golden light, a clean warm breeze, the brilliant new green of eager young leaves stood dramatically out against the gray and taupe and beige of the trees, the reddish crunch of fallen leaves, and the blue, blue sky.

I found that walking was very comforting for me. I don’t think I’d have the energy to do anything very strenuous, but just low-impact walking, or stretching, or yoga, it just feels delicious. It seems like I can feel more of my body, and my vision and hearing and (tauntingly) sense of smell all seem sharper. And although I find it more difficult to focus on one thing, like writing this post for instance, I find it remarkable how many things I can observe at one time, like living in wide lens, hearing, smelling, noticing things that normally I would have tuned out or missed entirely.

Still not having a big problem with hunger, though as a foodie I’m certainly missing the comfort and joy of cooking and eating, one of my favorite creative outlets. But I’m redirecting that energy toward the wonderful things I intend to prepare when my cleanse is over.

And my energy is still very good, in fact I seem to be more energetic than normal, which I didn’t expect. There are moments when I want to sit down and rest, but not in a sleepy way—more in a managing-my-energy-resources sort of way. Last night I was even surprised that I was still wide awake when I went to bed and had to meditate a bit to get to sleep.

So in summary, still going strong, definitely feeling shifts in awareness within my body. Walking and stretching are very soothing and lovely activities. Focused activities like reading, not so much.

More tomorrow!

Each spring, along with a thorough house cleaning, I like to do a thorough spring cleaning for my body as well, flush out the toxins and cobwebs of the past year. Not only do I find that this leaves me feeling refreshed and energized physically, but I think it helps me process things emotionally as well; muscle memory isn’t only about remembering movement patterns—our bodies store emotional experiences as well.

For the past few springs, spring cleaning has meant a strict raw foods diet in combination with additional fiber and supplements. However, this past year has been a doozy for me, and my mind and body both have been yearning for a deep cleanse. In a recent herbalism class, we learned about the “master cleanse” system and I’ve decided to give it a whirl this spring. Although most references suggest doing this cleanse for 10 days, my goal is five days, although I’m going to listen to my body in case I need to alter my plans—I’m not an ascetic, after all. Also, since I’m not really trying to lose weight, I followed the advice of Elson Haas’ article on the topic and increased the amount of maple syrup in my blend. See the recipe below, and my notes of the first day of my spring detox.

Master Cleanse Recipe (64 oz. - a full day’s batch)

2 quart Mason jar or other container
12 T. fresh-squeezed organic lemon juice
6 T. organic maple syrup (I used 9 T.)
½ t. cayenne
Pure filtered or distilled water

In your 2-quart jar, add the lemon juice, maple syrup (suggestions range from 6 to 12 tablespoons), cayenne. Add distilled water (about 60 ounces) till jar is full. Shake well to mix, and re-shake it every time before serving (otherwise the cayenne sinks to the bottom). This makes 4 pint servings—I have opted to have an 8 oz. cup of the lemonade eight times a day, about every two hours, to curb my cravings. Another consideration is that the lemon juice can be hard on your teeth, so you may want to opt for drinking your servings all at once at your “meal” times, rather than sipping constantly all day.

Other than the lemonade mix, it is suggested that one drink filtered water and herbal teas or laxative teas.

So here am I on Day One. Strangely, the hunger isn’t a huge issue—the craving for food is certainly there, but it’s not that debilitating “I’m starving!” belly pang. The cup serving every three hours seems to be working to keep me from getting too antsy for sustenance. My physical energy seems pretty good, I thoroughly enjoyed some deep stretching earlier and relished a feeling of being intensely grounded and present in my body. That said, even writing this post is a bit challenging—although I have a wonderful body hum and my sense of sight, smell, and hearing got more clear and pronounced as the day wore on, I think I’ve gotten so grounded in my body that my brain is a little spacey, and both my body and mind seem to be sort of floating through the day, rather than being direct and driven as they are normally wont to be.

So first day’s notes: Make sure you have plenty to do, but nothing requiring deep analytical thought, nor anything too physically demanding. Stretching is delicious. Music is lovely. I’m planning to enjoy an evening at the Barksdale Theatre this evening, but I don’t recommend business meetings while fasting—that bit of advice volunteered by Kate of Charlottesville’s Guerilla Yoga Project, a classmate who did the master cleanse a couple weeks ago, and I concede the wisdom therein. Oh, and don’t plan on any meal dates with friends or coworkers—it’s just taunting yourself. And of course, as ever: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

One day (almost) down, four more to go…

Has anyone else done seasonal cleansing or panchakarma? What was your experience?

I was craving hearty vegetarian comfort food the other day and this just hit the spot.

Spicy Tempeh Noodle Bowl

For marinade:
8 oz. tempeh, chopped into small pieces
1 T. ume plum vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 T. Sriracha!!! (it’s just so fun to say!)

For peanut sauce:
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 1/2 T. fish sauce
1/2 t. ume plum vinegar
1/2 t. soy sauce

8 oz. gluten free spaghetti or linguine (I like Tinkyada)
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 to 2 T. agave syrup (to taste)
handful of sprouts

In a bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and stir in tempeh till it is thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the peanut sauce ingredients until smooth. The goal is to have a thick but pourable sauce, the consistency of heavy cream. Add more warm water if necessary. Set aside.

While cooking the pasta in a pot of salted water, heat some vegetable oil or butter (a tablespoon-ish amount) in a deep skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the tempeh mixture and cook for a couple minutes until thoroughly heated through, then add the ginger and cook, stirring constantly for another minute. Add the peanut sauce and simmer 3 - 4 minutes. It will be slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta. Toss pasta with the tempeh sauce mixture and add a handful of sprouts, if desired. Serve. Enjoy. Rub your belly in contentment.

Serves 2 to 4

What are your favorite tempeh recipes?

The number one question I’m asked by people who are GF-curious is, “I don’t get it—why are some oats gluten-free and others gluten-full??” And after having said, “Gee, I don’t know, I should look into that,” a couple dozen times, it apparently got through my thick skull and I finally looked into it.

And the answer’s a two-parter.

First, (ha! just as I expected!) on its own, oats do not contain gluten, however, during harvest, processing, and packaging, it usually ends up containing gluten, and often a LOT of gluten, through cross-contamination. Think about it: it only makes sense that wheat, oats, barley, corn, etc., would be harvested with the same equipment, from neighboring fields, processed on the same machinery, etc.

And to clarify, the term “gluten,” as we use it here, more specifically refers to gliadin, the troublesome little protein found in wheat that is the bane of those with Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance.

Some lovely people have caught on and have started harvesting, processing, and packaging their oats so as to avoid any cross-contamination, and to these lovely souls I am tremendously grateful. I am a big fan of my homemade granola in the morning…

BUT, here’s the kicker: oats do contain a protein called avenin that sometimes can cause Celiac-like symptoms. Many people, such as myself, that have gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease tolerate moderate portions of gluten-free oats just fine, but others do have difficulty with it.

As in most things, there is no cut-and-dry universal answer except this: listen to your body.

My dad loves spicy, funky food, so I wasn’t terribly surprised when he recently asked me to teach him to make kimchi—this traditional Korean dish of fermented cabbage doesn’t skimp on intense flavors.

Having taken Suzanna Stone’s fermentation class last fall, I’ve relished any and all opportunities to expand my repertoire of fermented foods and beverages, and teaching other people is a joy, especially my delightfully enthusiastic Popsicle—let’s just say I came by my fervent love of food honestly. Both my parents are proficient in the kitchen, and the belly-laughing French declarative “Honh honh honh!!” is frequently heard emanating from the kitchen as concoctions are sniffed and tasted.

So here’s what we used:

Kimchi

4 pounds napa cabbage
1 pound carrot
1 large bunch of scallions
1 large hunk of ginger, peeled and grated
2 heads garlic, cloves smashed and peeled
Dry red chilies—however many you dare to use (we used a couple dozen Arbol chilies *grin*)
3 T. Sea salt

1. First, prep your ingredients—use organic, and do not wash them. Peel away the outside leave of cabbage and chop into 1 to 2 inch chunks. Chop or grate carrot in food processor—do not grate by hand as this will be too fine a grate for the carrot. Remove outer part of scallions and trim off ends, then slice on diagonal into 1 inch pieces. Smash garlic cloves and remove skin. Peel and then grate ginger—I find this easiest to do using a food processor.
2. Next, begin layering your veggies into a large, sturdy stoneware bowl in thirds: spread a third of the cabbage in a layer, then a third each of the carrot, scallions, garlic, ginger, and peppers (I leave my peppers whole); then sprinkle 1 Tablespoon sea salt evenly over it all. Layer in the next to thirds in the same manner until all the veggies and salt are layered into the bowl.
3. Allow contents to sit for a bit, maybe ten minutes—the salt will start to pull water out of the vegetables, and this will become your brine.
4. Then take a pounding implement (you’ll be glad for the sturdy bowl at this point) and start to pound the mixture, and don’t be shy! The goal is to bruise the mixture, break down the cells walls, and draw out more and more liquid from the vegetables. Alternate mixing the contents and pounding, as my lovely paternal assistant demonstrates in the accompanying pictures.
5. Once you have some brine puddling in the bottom of the bowl, it’s probably time to start filling your fermentation jar (I find that this recipe—about five pounds of veggies—almost exactly fills a wide-mouth 2-quart Ball jar). Add some of the veggie mix to the jar, then use your fist to smoosh it down, drawing the brine up over the vegetable matter and flushing out any renegade air pockets (which could cause spoilage during fermentation). Continue adding vegetable matter and smooshing it down till you’ve almost filled the jar and/or you run out of veggies. You’ll be amazed at how much juice is in there.
6. Almost done. Wipe the inside exposed lip of the jar. Now we need to add something to the top of the jar to hold the cabbage mixture submerged in the brine. Some people use a stone, but Suzanna taught us to use a ziploc bag filled with brine**. Fit the baggie down on top of the kimchi, pushing it down to flush out any air bubbles. Seal up your jar and pat yourself on the back—good job!
7. Ferment at room temperature for 1 - 4 weeks. Burp the jar once or twice a day to let any vapors out. Every few days, remove the ziploc, rinse and dry it, wipe out the exposed inside lip of the jar, and replace the baggie. Take a nibble occasionally to see if your kimchi is ready.
8. When your kimchi tastes like it’s ready, refrigerate it. You’ll continue to store it with the baggie on top and wiping the inner lip with each use to prevent the molding that can come with air exposure, but if it does get a little mold at some point, just scoop out that part, wipe out the jar, and you should be fine. The kimchi will keep in the fridge indefinitely.

**On brine: First, the water for the brine must be chlorine-free. This can be accomplished by either letting the water boil and return to room temperature before using, or by letting the water sit out open overnight—either will allow the chlorine to evaporate. Mix at a ratio of 1 Tablespoon sea salt dissolved in 1 cup water. Second, the brine is used in this manner to preserve the batch: any vegetable matter that is exposed to air could potentially mold, hence the ensuring it is completely submerged in brine, and if the baggie breaks, you aren’t going to hurt your fermentation, you’ve only added a little more brine. No harm, no foul. We like that.

What are your fermentation experiments and experiences?