Household Blog

Springtime, the farmer’s markets have reopened, glory be to the PTB! Another winter past, another year springing anew, and nothing shakes off the last residual frosty shivers like a curry. In celebration, I got more produce from the farmer’s market than one girl could possibly stand a chance of eating on her own. But I’m going to do it. With a little help from my friends of course. And here was last night’s creation.

Spring Lentil Curry

• 1 1/2 c. dry lentils
• 1 to 2-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 whole Arbol pepper, or similar dry medium-hot pepper
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3 to 4 spring onions, white parts and greens chopped and separated
• 1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• several handfuls fresh spinach, chopped (3 cups maybe? ish?)
• 1 can organic coconut milk
• 2 T. curry powder
• sea salt to taste

I use sprouted lentils, and if doing this, be sure to start them sprouting the day before. Regardless, cook your lentils, sprouted or otherwise, in chicken or vegetable broth. Set aside, reserving a little bit of the liquid.

Heat a broad, deep skillet over medium heat. Add butter, ghee, or coconut oil for sauteing, and then add ginger and bay leaves. Cook until aromatic, about a minute. Add carrot and the white parts of the chopped onion and sprinkle with a smattering of salt, stirring until the carrot is slightly tender.

Add lentils, coconut milk, the hot pepper, and curry powder. Mix well and adjust curry to taste, adding more salt if necessary. Allow to cook and thicken a bit, uncovered, about twenty minutes. Add spinach, cilantro, and the reserved green onion. Cook another five minutes and adjust salt and curry to your taste.

Serve over rice. Rub your belly with joy and gratitude for spring.

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?