Fire Cider Update

Not surprisingly, I did jump the gun on the timeframe for this fire cider.  If you'll remember, on January 27, I crafted this tonic from apple cider vinegar, onion, garlic, horseradish, star anise, red pepper, rosemary, ginger, jalapeno, fennel seed and turmeric.  At the time, I doubted my patience regarding the recommended month's fermentation.

Sure enough, this morning, I just "felt" it was ready.  It had been busy and bubbling, enticing me to open the crock with its sparkling energy.  I think I was right.  The 25 days or so seemed to be enough.  Here is a shot of it before I drained and bottled it.  You can see the vegetables and spices are soft and fully integrated into the liquid.  Here is how I bottled it:

First, I put my colander inside a larger bowl, and cut a length of cheesecloth long enough to be able to wring out the contents, squeezing out each healing drop of the cider.  My colander has holes instead of mesh.  You may be able to skip the cheesecloth if your colander is tight enough.

And . . . the finished product:  gorgeous, no?  I had to try some right away.  YOWZA this stuff is powerful!!  Delicious, but whoa, nelly, this could kill any germ. It really is delicious, in a "hurts so good" kind of way.  I could only drink an ounce or two, which is good because that's the dose [I read this after I took it].

Fire cider is purported to solve seasonal allergies and ward off viruses [flu!!] and harmful bacteria.  Also, taken before meals, it stabilizes blood sugar and helps with digestion.

I took my dose straight, but most folks add something.  The cursory research I performed yielded these potential mixers:  a spoonful of honey, orange juice, bone broth [hmm -- like a hot and sour soup, I guess?], kombucha, seltzer water and vodka [! now we're talkin'].

Remember, friends, this fire cider is adapted from an ancient home remedy.  Though it holds the wisdom of countless old wives, use it sparingly, medicinally, lest you singe your innards.  If it's a vodka fire cider tonic you choose, let it be your one and only.  I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.  To your health!

Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome

Have you heard of Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome?  If you're like me:  a #spoonie who sometimes employs a healthy dose of denial to get through the day, the notion of one more thing to have to worry about may bring you down, but ultimately knowledge is power.

What are the chances I'd be diagnosed with MS? 1.5% to be precise.  And yet I've got it.  It'd be nice to think I'd have a pass on anything else, but, alas, we're all fair game for anything.  To add salt to our wounds, it turns out that some of us are more than fair game, shouldering a higher burden of chance for additional illnesses.

Hence -- Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome.  Having one autoimmune disease predisposes us to more of them.  Having three or more qualifies us for Multiple Autoimmune status.  In my case, I also have Raynaud's disease -- a circulatory response to cold or stress that affects extremities with blanching and uncomfortable numbness.  It can possibly be dangerous if it lasts too long.  It rarely happens to me, and when it does, I just have to rub my fingers for an hour or two to keep the blood flowing until it passes.  The photo above, taken today, is unfiltered, and it wasn't very cold, so I'm not sure why it happened.  My hands are fine now and back to normal.  Raynaud's comes and goes.  I also have Hyperkeratosis which comes and goes, and manifests in itchy skin rashes, inflammation and thinning of the skin in patches.  This also causes chronic dry eye for me which makes my eyes feel like they are full of sand.  When it hits, my eyes are bloodshot and teary.

One might expect the notion of Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome to be devastating, but I've actually been relieved to learn what is going on.  My random, transitive symptoms throughout the years have never been adequately labelled or treated on their own. I always thought they were irritations I had to address above and beyond my MS.  Now I know they are related to what is going on with MS. Now that I know they are simply signs that the beast is grumbling again, I tend to the beast:  my immune system.  After a few days of bone broth, clean eating and rest, my outward indicators of disease activity recede.  Who needs an MRI?  I've got my trusty MAS symptoms.

My Favorite Salmon!

I LOVE this amazing king salmon from Vital Choice.  These filets make for such a quick, easy, nutritious dinner.  I pre-heated my cast iron pan in the oven at 450 degrees. The fish was thawed in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes while I steamed and sliced these beets for the salad.   I coated the fish in a couple drops of olive oil and caraway and fennel seeds, then, turning the broiler on to 500 degrees with the rack at the highest setting, I quickly retrieved the hot pan and {sizzle!} popped the filet into it and under the broiler for a scant 3 minutes.  The salmon was perfectly medium-rare to my liking.  You could cook it a little longer if you like or leave it in the pan on the counter for a bit afterward since it'll continue to cook.  I squeezed a little lemon on the fish and salad -- 23 minutes from freezer to plate, and there was even some waiting time in there where I could have made more food if needed.

I never mention companies or products that I haven't tried, and I don't see the point in mentioning anything that doesn't knock my socks off and make life better for #spoonies like me.  I am happy to endorse Vital Choice because it has been a huge part of my wellness these last few years (and the products are delicious!). I consider my flash-frozen fish to be a valuable part of my "pantry staples" -- healthy food that is always on hand so I don't have to resort to junk food in a moment of weakness. By ordering in large quantities, I take advantage of better pricing, and also qualify for free shipping.  More than insurance against junk food, though, this fish is better than what you'd find at fine restaurants!  I'm not exaggerating.

My doctor recommended Vital Choice to me several years ago and the quality of the products and the customer service are exemplary. Wild-caught and frozen on the dock, the freshness and nutrition of these filets are superior to fish that has never been frozen.  The fish is sustainably sourced and Vital Choice's website is an excellent resource for recipes and cooking tutorials. Referrals from these links on "A Midlife Regeneration" will help to support this blog.  I thank you in advance and hope you enjoy your fish!

Elements of Macrobiotics

Through my long journey with mainstream, Integrative and Functional Medicines, I've applied self-taught dietary precepts with input from the doctors.  Somewhere in my vegan years I learned a lot about Macrobiotics.  A fully macrobiotic diet wasn't accessible for me for many reasons, but the yin/yang energies of foods and the spiritual parallels with our bodies' meridians did resonate.  Also, since I was raised in the Wisdom of the Edgar Cayce Readings, much of the information on food combinations in macrobiotics rang true to me.

In macrobiotics, combining all parts of a plant is considered the best way to fully integrate the nutrients and energies of it into the body.  The upward growing leaves are the yin of the plant (aspiring, expanding, upper chakras) and the roots of the plant are the yang (dense, contracting, grounding, steadying, lower chakras).  My personality tends to live in the yin, which helps my outlook, but my sometimes air-headed nature is an obvious detriment, so I could use some grounding. 

When I found the loveliest bunch of beets the other day, the idea of combining all parts of the food immediately came to mind.  It was a huge bunch, and I didn't think I'd be able to eat it all at once, so I used a couple of the beets in a roasted vegetable melange for dinner last night, including sweet potatoes, garlic, shallots and dried apricots. 

This morning, I cleaned up the leaves and stems of the beets, and fried them in duck fat, along with the cold leftovers of the garnet-tinged root veggies.  Finally, realizing I'd probably never be able to eat the whole panful at one sitting, I topped it all off with a fried egg, figuring it would be enough to have leftover-leftovers (a third meal).  Well, I did eat the whole thing at one sitting -- mindfully, slowly, over the course of 45 minutes or so.  I will say that the yang-ish shift is palpable.  I'm feeling pretty steady now and able to think.  I'd better get to work before it wears off! 

Oh -- and this was really delicious!

Today's Healing Breakfast

Fully employing the Wahls' Protocol this morning, I palpably sensed the mitochondrial happy dance in my cells as I chowed on this luscious bowlful.  It all began with compliant bacon in duck fat at low heat, and then quickly crescendoed with a head of bok choy, half an orange bell pepper and two cloves of garlic, stir-fried quickly at high heat.  Finally, for the denouement, a few drops of ume plum vinegar added sparkle.  I just love the piquant vinegar against the rich fats here.  Bravo!

Simple

Bone broth is so helpful for this spoonie but sometimes the brainwork to make it an appealing treat is more than I can handle in the heat of the moment.  In a flash of inspiration today, I remembered I had recently made a couple of jars of Nom Nom Paleo's "Magic Mushroom Powder".  I simply stirred a teaspoon of it into my fresh broth.

For anyone who hasn't checked out Michelle Tam's award winning website, you should.  She has her own jars of "MMP" available on her site, but you can also find her recipe there.  I am terrible at precision, [lazy] so my first go at creating the powder was way too salty (I assumed that a 1 lb. package of salt was 2 cups, and it clearly isn't).  I just bought a bunch more dried mushrooms and mixed them into my first batch and it's just perfect now, though I'm sure it'd be even better if I'd actually followed Michelle's guidance.  In any case, now that I have a reasonable facsimile of the "Magic Mushroom Powder", it fits beautifully into my imprecise [lazy] manner of doing things.  It is so darn good stirred into bone broth!  Simple.

Organ Meats?

On a recent string on the Wahls' Protocol Facebook page, folks were talking about other ways to get our organ meats.  Canned sardines were discussed.  If the whole organism is canned, there are organs!  People were getting pretty excited.  I'm excited too, but, full disclosure, I am not actually sure the whole organism is in these luscious Portuguese sardines from Vital Choice.  The head isn't there, and while the bones and skin are, I'm not noticing any organs.  No matter -- they were amazing on a non-compliant bed of sage and onion gluten-free polenta (corn isn't the best for us)  I also sauteed a few mushrooms, a handful of arugula and two cloves of garlic (which count as a veggie serving!) and perked the whole thing up with arrabiata sauce.  This is an example of getting a lot of whole food goodness despite the inclusion of the corn.  We aren't all perfect all of the time, but we can keep leaning into it. 

As for the organ meats, I give myself credit for the luscious oysters on the half shell we ate in New Orleans and also for my weekly chicken livers with lemon and balsamic glaze.

Fire Cider

I've never tasted this, but the idea of a homemade elixir to combat every manner of winter germ is intriguing.  Also, the flavor combos in some of these recipes sound delish.  Really it should be called fire vinegar, since apple cider vinegar is the medium for the magic, but I guess it should be consumed in small doses along with a carrier beverage.  I'll read up more on it as it becomes ready for consumption -- in a month's time.

I started filling my jar with ingredients from a recipe at Mountain Rose Herbs, but my proportions were based upon what I had on hand, and I added a few other things that I thought would be good in the mix.  Homegrown fresh rosemary, half an onion, a few crushed garlic cloves, a couple of star anise pods, some chopped ginger, minced horseradish, a chopped jalapeno, roasted chipotle flakes, fennel seed and ground turmeric are the chosen goodies for my first batch.  I'll need to shake it every day and wait a month.  Delayed gratification is not my favorite, so this'll be a good exercise for me.  I will update anything pertinent I learn along the way.

This Morning

After an amazing long weekend in New Orleans with friends from college, I'm rejoining real life gradually, i.e. at a lazier pace. 

Breakfast today was a revamp of last night's dinner.  We had my lovely organic chicken livers with onion, garlic, lemon and a balsamic glaze last night, along with broccoli and garlic seared in coconut oil and grass-fed butter.  I served myself the remnants of the broccoli cold from the fridge, then whipped the cold liver into a mousse with my ancient food processor.  It was fantastic atop a sprouted muffin.

Another Variation

Guys -- these breakfasts get better and better!  This one features the same bacon, bok choy and garlic, but I also added a few watermelon radishes and a hefty cup of fresh cilantro.  I finished it again with ume vinegar. 

I did go out on a limb here, working with so many strong flavors.  I knew it was a gamble, but it sure paid off!  I cannot say enough good things about the bacon/ume vinegar combo:  perfect foils.  If you do this, please only use two shakes of vinegar.  A little goes a long way.

Mmm -- I'm so sorry it's gone!

This Girl's Breakfast w/Spoonie Tips

Always striving for a better Wahls' Protocol effort, in the morning I sometimes falter.  Cognition is the last part of me that wakes up, so sometimes I stumble around for a while with coffee before I can pull together something to line the stomach so I can handle all the supplements and pills I take. When short on time, it's a piece of Ezekiel toast with NaturAlmond almond butter (the best in the world IMO.  But the Ezekiel is non-compliant! In short, I know I can do better, so I open up the crisper instead.

Properly prepped, a mitochondria-feeding panful like this comes together in a matter of minutes. I used a whole large head of baby bok choy (still 2 cups after cooking), two large garlic cloves and a third of a pack of organic, nitrate-free bacon. The piquant addition of umeboshi plum vinegar at the end was amazing.

Nobody else here eats bacon, so I cut the package into thirds and freeze the parts I'm not using.  I leave them in the original wrapping so they don't stick together inside the freezer bag.  That way I can only use one third at a time. They don't even need to be thawed when I need to cook them. I just put the bacon in the pan on a low heat and turn it often, separating the pieces with two forks as they soften. This is easily accomplished at the same time I'm chopping whatever else is going into the pan.

Remember that only two cloves of garlic count as one of your 9 cups of vegetables in the Wahls' Protocol.  I like to cut them into large pieces like this instead of mincing them.  That way they don't burn as easily and the flavor is so mellow and delicious.

First I fully cooked the bacon, then moved it to the side and piled the garlic and mushroom onto it so they could begin to warm while I seared the bok choy pieces in the bacon fat at a slightly higher heat.  Though it's tempting to peak, I tried not to so the first edge could get nicely cooked.  Pretty soon it was time to turn the bok choy and give the other side a sear.  Once the leaves started to wilt, everything got stirred together for a minute and it was done.  I added the vinegar at the end -- just a splash.  Mmmmm.  Three veggies accomplished and a sustaining start to the day!

Sweet Collards

This Wahls' worthy bowl was so delicious and healing.  I cooked the collards quickly in bacon with large chunks of garlic and whole fresh cranberries.  Toward the end, I added organic raisins, fennel seeds and a pinch of himalayan salt. 

When Ellie hears me chopping, she comes running.  I save the larger stems for her.  I toss them to her and that little ole lady pup leaps to catch them in mid-air, quickly and noisily gobbling them up one by one.  It's a fun game and she can never get enough greens!  Neither can I.

A Warm Salad for Dinner

This was lovely -- it was loosely based upon one of Dr. Wahls' recipes (Bacon Salad).  Since my husband is not fond of bacon, and I had some organic chicken thighs to use, I subbed these chicken pieces for the bacon.  They were  quickly seared at high heat, with salt and pepper.  The kale was first rubbed with oil and lemon, then topped with sauteed brussels sprouts, carrots and chick peas, and the hot chicken finished it, along with a scant drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze.  This was a hit!

For 2018: Health First

 A theme that resonates with me, and that I've noticed over and over again lately, is:  Health First. This isn't just another catch-phrase referring to the general intent to try to be healthy.  This means putting on my own oxygen mask before assisting others.  Assertiveness is sometimes difficult for us spoonies.  We are frequently depleted and unfocused and it's all we can do to go through the motions of busy family life without giving much thought to our own needs -- until we collapse.  Since we are the only ones in our own challenged bodies, it makes sense that others may not understand we need something different.  Many spoonies need harmony to stay healthy, so that's another reason we might not speak up for ourselves, or put our needs first.  Putting ourselves last is not sustainable, however, and there's no time like the present to change what's not working.

Coincidences, like receiving this "Health First" message from various sources in a short amount of time, encourage self-reflection.  Why does this simple message resonate so?  Aren't I already prioritizing my health? Upon reflection -- no.  What I've been doing lately is squeezing self-care in between other's needs.  I've allowed my support-role status for the whole family to overwhelm my agenda.  It's not their fault.  It's up to me to look out for myself.  It's up to them to look out for themselves.  It's up to all of us to look out for each other.  But in 2018 my own health comes first.

Mindful eating starts in earnest now.  This delicious brunch is all I've eaten today because it was so satisfying. I prepared a whole pan-ful of bacon, onions, kale, Brussels sprouts, leftover baked sweet potato, fresh cranberries and avocado.  No seasoning was needed because this real food was soooo flavorful!  There were about 5 Wahls' Protocol veggie servings here.  Taking the 20 minutes to prepare this healing meal, and mindfully eating it, was a great way to set my health as the priority now.