Author Archives: acuplace@gmail.com

About acuplace@gmail.com

Sarah began her studies of holistic health at the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard where she earned a certificate in Therapeutic Massage Therapy in 2003. Sarah continued on her educational journey at the Temple of Kriya Yoga where she earned a 200 hour certificate in Hatha Yoga teacher training. From here Sarah continued on to the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine earning a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Master's degree in Oriental Medicine. Sarah also holds an advanced 108 hour certificate in Acupuncture from the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangzhou, China where she spent time in specialized lectures on Traditional Chinese Medicine for women’s health, weight loss, MS, strokes and more. Sarah is also an Adjunct Professor and Clinic Supervisor at the College of Lake County Health and Wellness Promotions Program.

What’s for dinner in the spring

We ended up having a whole meatless week around here until Saturday when my daughter requested burgers on the grill and promptly ate 2! How is that for balance? Everything from last week was quite delicious I could almost do a redo. I can’t even choose a favorite it was all so good. 


We didn’t get to the baked chicken yet so that will be in queue this week for sure plus:

Cauliflower pizza 

Lemon chicken asparagus stir fry

Green lentil curry 

Palak paneer cheater dinner from Trader Joe’s 

I have another challenge for you this week if you would like to join me. In January I gave up white sugar as a way to reset after the holidays. I felt fantastic after the initial detox. Sugar is tough to kick! I’ve slowly fallen back into old habits and am looking forward to getting back to the lightness I felt when sugar didn’t have such a grip on me. The first few days are tough I won’t lie but it does get easier. I didn’t give up honey in my tea in the morning and things like that. Let me know if you’d like to join me! 🙂
Have a great week!

What’s for Dinner in Spring

I love how paying attention to what’s happening in our environment adds many levels of richness to my life. I was driving this morning to have breakfast with my brother and sister and along the side of the road almost hidden were tiny baby buds. It was so cool to see spring coming to life. It almost makes the gloomy rainy days worth it! 🙂 We started a row of onions, carrots and lettuce last week outside and I can’t wait to find some sprouts. Our indoor starts are looking happy so far too. 😉

This week we are going to have some meatless options and some sour dishes for spring. I hope you are feeling a little lighter this week now that we are officially in the spring season.

What’s for dinner:

Asian Style Fried Rice and Beans

One Pot Cheesey Mexican lentils, black beans and rice

Spinach and Lemon Soup with Orzo with a side salad

Italian Baked Chicken with Green Lentil Mash

Artichoke Spinach Ricotta Calzones

 

Sneaky Greens for Picky Eaters

My daughter I’m discovering is a unicorn eater. She has her favorite go to carbs like most kids but she will pretty effortlessly eat just about anything in front of her. My son started out this way and as he nears 2 has discovered the words No! and Yucky! I have no idea where 🙂

In an effort to get him to eat more than yogurt, cheese, crackers and seaweed I’ve been inspired by this weeks “eat your greens” challenge.

Magic Spring Muffins

 

When I get back from a yoga class my son and I usually share a protein shake of some sort. I switched them over to green shakes this weekend and he no longer was so excited about them when they weren’t chocolate. Yesterday I threw in some cocoa powder and dates and we were back in business. I realize that even lots of “grown ups” aren’t huge fans of veggies and as a once very picky eater myself (sorry mom) I am sharing these 2 recipes to help you get more greens into your lives.

Sneaky Smoothie

Sneaky Smoothie

Chocolate “green” smoothie

What you need:

  • cup of packed spinach or greens of your choice
  • 1 banana
  • 3 dates
  • 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
  • 1 scoop of collagen
  • 2 cups water

blend everything until smooth ( you could add a nut milk or honey for extra sweetness if you need to)

you could also switch out strawberries or raspberries for the banana to mix it up

Enjoy!

Magic Spring Muffins

Magic Spring Muffins

Magic Spring Muffins

We used maple syrup as this is technically in season right now but you could also use honey too.

What you need:

  • 1 cup packed peas or spinach ( I used spinach)
  • 1 cup milk of your choice, I used ripple plant based milk
  • 1/4 melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup (or more to taste) maple syrup
  • 2 ripe smashed bananas
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour of your choice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

What to do:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin.
  2. Put spinach, milk in blender and blend until smooth. Add coconut oil, bananas, syrup, and vanilla to blender and blend until smooth again.
  3. Add dry ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until green and creamy.
  5. Pour in muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.
  6. Bake 15-18 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

 

What’s for dinner: eat your greens

Tomorrow is officially the first day of spring! To celebrate I challenge you to eat some greens everyday this week and notice how you feel. I find if I buy a big bag of greens at Costco it makes me motivated to get through it before it goes bad. Greens don’t just have to be leafy- broccoli, asparagus, peppers, green beans count too! 

We are having a Green Day around here and started the day with a bed of sautéed greens for a left over bean burger, a little cheese, salsa and fried egg on top. 


After a quick hike we had a smoothie with a cup of spinach, strawberries, 1/2 banana, water and a scoop of powdered gelatin.


Lunch was leftover chili with green peppers and an avocado. 

Dinner is shredded chicken over Asian slaw salad. 

The nature of spring is to flourish. I hope you are feeling that way! 

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

(Hubby requested) BLT with roasted pepper and tomatoes soup with a few handfuls of baby chard thrown into the soup

Kale salad with cilantro tuna

Surprise meatloaf (this has a hidden hard boiled egg inside I’ll post a picture and maybe recipe after my husband makes it) with a side of asparagus and a few veggies hidden in the loaf too.

Rice cakes (not the stale crunchy kind) with steamed broccoli 

What are your favorite green recipes? 

What’s for Dinner, Preparing for Spring

Sorry for the late posting I was trying to take a break from screens as much as I could after the time change to help with the transition. So far so good around here. I think the key was having everyone staying up too late on Saturday 🙂

Happy “worm” full moon last Friday also. My daughter and I started watching the moon just about a year ago and have really enjoyed learning what native cultures have named the full moons of each month and what they represent. The worm moon is so named because March is the month when the ground starts to thaw and soften allowing the worms to move to the surface and giving birds their food source back. It also means that garden planting is just around the corner! If you don’t have a garden or space for a garden I encourage you to try growing something even if its in a pot, the wonderment and deliciousness never cease to amaze us. I was just reading last week that traditionally peas are sown on St. Patrick’s day. We might give that a go.

sugar snow

Its a strange sight to see snow again, it was kind of nice believing that winter was over now that we had adjusted to warmer weather. These March snows actually help the sap move in the maple trees to give more maple syrup. I just recently found this granola recipe and its the best one I’ve tried out, super yummy and delicious, if you want to pay homage to the maple syrup season this is a great recipe for it! Are you feeling your body’s own internal movement of fluid? Anxious to be outside? That’s the liver qi rising up and out after our winter rest. You can learn more about what that all means and how to get the most out of Spring at Yogapuncture for Spring this Saturday afternoon 3-6p at OhmMother Yoga. I’d love to see you there!

Here’s what’s on the menu this week around here:

Beef Chili

Mushroom Raveoli with spinach and mushrooms

Black Bean burgers

Cod and almond green beans

What are you cooking?

Preparing for Spring

My daughter scampered into our bedroom this morning early as the sun was just thinking of rising. As she burrowed under the covers she said, “Mama I hear the birds chirping.” Half asleep I replied, “Uh-huh” and snuggled her close and fell back asleep. An hour or so later as I opened my eyes for the day the first thing I saw looking up and out the window was clear blue sky.

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At drop off for school this morning it was undeniable that the “sugar snow” we had last week has awoken the grass and everyday it gets greener. It feels like spring is awakening around here.

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I feel it inside of myself as well, a certain kind of renaissance is happening. I feel inspired and motivated.

In Chinese Medicine the natural state of the Liver energy is to flourish. The liver has a hand in helping all systems function most optimally so it is especially ideal to let the liver flourish. The spring is when the liver and gall baldder are most active.

If you missed Yogapuncture for Spring in Crystal Lake last week you have two more chances to come to class. Next Saturday March 18th at Ohm Mother Yoga in West Dundee and Saturday March 25th at Blu Rain Yoga in Antioch.

Join me for gentle, mindful movement to improve circulation and cleanse the internal organs. Learn gentle ways to cleanse the liver energy. Leave class feeling a little lighter ready to flourish this Spring. I can’t wait to see you there!

 

What’s for Dinner Preparing for Spring

I didn’t make a shopping list last week because we had so many left overs from my daughter’s birthday party and extra odds and ends around the house. It was kind of fun to be creative with what we had, clean out the fridge and not waste food.

Sometimes dinner looks like this and that’s ok 🙂

left over garlic soup with a side of chicken quesadilla or cauliflower grilled cheese with shredded pork, rice and beans for the kids on a messy dinner table

left over garlic soup with a side of chicken quesadilla or cauliflower grilled cheese with shredded pork, rice and beans for the kids on a messy dinner table

I taught Yogapuncture for Spring in Crystal Lake Friday night over at Bonnie’s. It was, as usual a lovely evening and we talked a little about spring foods and how to keep a happy, healthy liver energy. (there’s two more opportunities for Spring yogapuncture this month at OhmMother Yoga  in West Dundee and Blu Rain Yoga in Antioch too)

Because we are in transition dinners will have some yellow foods to nourish the spleen energy (the spirit of transition) some warm foods since its technically still winter and some green and lighter foods of traditional spring.

What are you in the mood for, for dinner?

Crock pot spaghetti squash and meat balls (first time giving this recipe a go but I love the concept)

Almond crusted salmon with garlic mustard aoli on a bed of lemony creamed spinach (look for a recipe this week)

Pork Chops (they were on sale at the farmer’s market, I’ll be cooking them and serving them alongside some asparagus and mashed cauliflower)

Skillet Gnocchi with white beans and chard (one of my favorite dinners!)

Homemade Rueben sandwiches

Illness as Meditation 

My little bear is quite sick, it seems he’s saved a whole winter’s worth of sickies for right now. Being a little one’s everything can give someone quite a lot of time to think.

It’s hard being still. I’m not good at it. I don’t think most Americans are.


Last week we spied our tulips peeking out. Oh no! I thought, it’s quite possible we will get a frost or snow. So I gathered stray leaves and made blankets for all the sproutlings confused about this mild winter. Why don’t I extend that same level of compassion to myself? Nothing in nature is always blooming and yet we skimp on restoration for ourselves and then wonder why we are always so tired. 

Spring is a becoming. Hardy plants grow deep, strong roots. Illness is not comfortable but it happens. Perhaps running from pain and unpleasantries makes us weaker and more frail. Like the hardy plants, leaning into it makes us stronger. 

Join me Friday in Crystal Lake for Yogapuncture for Spring. We will be working on keeping strong roots in the spring, working with the emotion of anger and talking about what it means to cleanse. There a few spots left just for you 🙂