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.