Household Blog

Breaking the fast.

What an experience. Today got intense enough that I’ve decided to break fast a day early. It’s the right time. And since I’m breaking the fast, I can talk about FOOD again! I can smell it simmering in the kitchen as I type. When coming off a fast or any other stringent diet, it’s important to do so gently. Since I’ve been on a liquid fast, my goal is soft super-nutritious foods. I’m making a soup with a homemade bone broth base for protein and CALCIUM, with some small pieces of chicken in it as well, soft-cooked veggies (carrots, sweet potato, celery), a happy blend of balancing spices, a handful of sprouted beans, and (YAY!) sprouted quinoa. Oh, and mushrooms. And fresh ginger. Okay, I think that’s it. So it’s boiling to a lovely soft consistency while I try not to eat my own hand.

And of course small portions to start. Earlier I was trying to convince myself that I should break my fast with ice cream. But good sense won out *grin*

So a last assortment of insights and tips.

1. Expect that you will be a bit of a space cadet, and try to prevent stumbles. For example, my cat played the April Fool’s trick on me this morning of locking me out of the house at 5:00 a.m. No fun.
2. Don’t drink the lemonade right after brushing your teeth. Blech.
3. Rest when you need to rest. Sleep was harder than normal for me. Go with the flow.
4. And lastly, once more, because it always bears reiteration, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Do what you need to do, and don’t push it. This isn’t a competitive sport.

Bon appetit!

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?

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.

As part of my herbalism class, this past week we had a guest teacher, the lovely Suzanna Stone, to teach us about fermented foods, fermented beverages, and above all, the importance of joy and courage in the kitchen. We all left the class thoroughly blissed, with happy tummies and tons of inspiration to digest.

Over the course of the day, we sampled and/or made sauerkraut, kimchi, ginger carrots, beets, brined garlic cloves, herbal soft drinks, kombucha, and t’ej – an exquisite no-heat Ethiopian honey wine. Needless to say, I can’t wait to try out these wonderful ideas in my kitchen at home. Currently percolating, I’m planning to make a fermented green tomato salsa with the last of the tomatoes left on the vine. I’ll keep you posted as I progress.

Suzanna introduced us to a wealth of wonderful information about the health benefits of fermented foods. My favorite quote of the day: “’Rotten’ is a culturally-determined concept.” That made me chuckle. In addition to adding a couple fabulous new books to my wishlist (especially Steven Buhner’s book on sacred and herbal beers) and nifty way of peeling ginger with a spoon (again, how have I missed this!)  we were introduced to Lehman’s Non-Electric, a catalog wonderland of do-it-yourself whizgiggery, sturdy tools, enough non-electric (and some electric, to be fair) items for the home, kitchen, and farm to put a tear in any luddite’s eye.

I placed my first order on the Web site (funny that – non-electric and available on the Web) this morning and am eagerly anticipating my first shipment, along with a free copy of the paper catalog, which will be my evening harlequin romance reading for many an evening, tucked under the covers with a warm dog at my side. I feel almost a little cheated that I’ve missed out on this for almost thirty years, but I’m happy to make up for lost time.

Took a lovely drive this morning, as promised in my previous post, out to Avery’s Branch Farm to see the operation and most importantly, to meet Sunshine. Spending a sunny July morning in peaceful rumination, I am proud to say that she was quite a gracious hostess.

Located south of Richmond in the county of Amelia, Avery’s Branch is a family-run farm focused on raising all-natural meat, dairy, and produce. Though not certified organic (a lot of hoops through which to jump), the farm uses sustainable and organic methods to ensure the highest quality of life for their animals. Their dairy cows are predominantly Jerseys and are grass-fed in rotating pastures. An assortment of chickens are similarly rotated and grass-fed (and bug-fed, and whatever-else-they-can-get-their-beak-on-fed). Throw in a few pigs, a smattering of adorable feline rodent control agents, and one enthusiastic lab/pitbull mix named Sammy, and you’ve pretty much got a complete menagerie. Farm products include pork and chicken, eggs, raw milk and dairy products, as well as fruits and vegetables and fresh-baked goods; most of which I can vouch for as being absatively dee-lish.

If you don’t live near Richmond but would still like to find a farm to support in your area, visit Local Harvest, a site replete with information on farms nationwide, what they produce, regional CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), farmers markets, an online store, and tons of information.

Happy eating, lovelies! And by the way, Sunshine says, “Moo.”

Moo. I want to meet my cow.

I’m a person with a mission people. I recently got my very own cow share, and I want to meet my cow. For those of you who don’t know what a cow share is, it is an arrangement in which I legally purchase a share in an animal, thereby entitling me to a portion of its raw milk. My specific arrangement is with Avery’s Branch Farms, a family-run operation out of Amelia, Virginia. The family gets a secure long-term investment covering the costs of keeping their cows, and every week I get a sweet, creamy gallon of raw milk from a grass-fed happy (named Sunshine), plus raw butter, happy chicken eggs, raw cheese, etc., upon request.

And I want to meet my cow.

Think for a moment about what you eat in a week. Can you pronounce most of the ingredients? Does it come in a disposable package? How many hands working for how many companies and corporations have touched it? How many miles were driven and how much gas was consumed moving the product between the original ingredients, the suppliers, the distributors, and who knows how many other middlemen, before it reached its spot in your supermarket-of-choice? How much are the farmers paid, at the root of any such equation? How do they treat the land, or their animals? These questions, and the fact that I cannot answer most of them, disturb the hell out of me.

So many of our consumables (is that a word?) end up in our cupboards or refrigerator in packages bearing no resemblance to their original source. Beef comes from cows people, it doesn’t just grow into steaks like cabbage patch kids. And I like to eat meat sometimes, but I also like to know my food comes from an ethical source.

So I’ve made a decision. As much as possible, I want to consume responsibly. I want to know exactly where my “stuff” is coming from, that my money is going to support sustainable farmers, not brand-name “organic” and “free range” mega-farm monstrosities that make a mockery of those very ideals. I want to shake the hand of the person that cultivated my food, and know that we are supporting each other, that the money I spend with them to nourish my body is in turn going to be recirculated within our local community – that’s sustainable.

Beyond that, I want to be able to pronounce all the ingredients in my food and not eat anything with corn syrup in it unless I’m adding it myself (mmm… caramel corn…), to know how my eggs and veggies and rice and meat get to my table, exactly where they come from.

So here’s what I’m doing. I’m going to the local farmers’ markets. I’m trying to eat whole foods, in season, sustainably farmed right here in Virginia without use of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides or the like. For those staples that I cannot garner from local farms directly (such as rice or olive oil), I’m seeking out companies directly, informing myself and choosing whom I want to support. I will continue to enlarge my garden year by year and learn more about growing my own food and herbs. I learn to make other foods myself – cheese, yogurt, wine, kombucha, etc. I will eat food that is tastier, healthier, fresher, and I will bask in the goodness and wholesomeness. Or I’ll just say “yum.”

So I’m going to meet my cow. I’ll keep you posted…