Tag Archives: detox

Spring Soup, a Gentle Cleanse

Here is the recipe for the spring soup we shared at the self care class at Trillium Yoga in Antioch. Its adapted from the spring vegetable minestrone soup in the Hearth edition of Taproot Magazine. I didn’t make the dandelion pesto but is a lovely addition to the soup and dandelion makes your liver happy (you’ll have to get the magazine to get that part of the recipe, you’ll be glad you did.) 🙂 I don’t have a picture of the soup but it is hearty and makes your belly feel happy. Green is the color of spring and green foods are especially cleansing and nourishing to the body. As the weather sways between warm and cold this helps boost your veggie intake and keep you warm until the warm weather stays and you can switch over to salads and other cooling foods.

What you need:

  • olive oil
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 2 leeks, white and pale parts, roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 potato diced
  • fresh thyme
  • salt
  • 1 can cannellini beans or 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
  • 7 cups vegetable stock
  • 1/2 bag chopped kale
  • 1/2 bag of sugar snap peas
  • bag of fresh English peas

What you do:

Add the olive oil, onion, leeks and garlic and cook until soft. Add potato, thyme to taste and salt and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the beans and stock and bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are soft. To finish the soup add kale and peas and cook until the kale is wilted (about 5 minutes). Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.

Kiwi Salsa

I posted a picture of this delicious recipe last night on facebook and a few of you requested the recipe so here it is. It was even better than expected and its a perfect spring food for 3 reasons: its green (color of Spring), its sour (taste of Spring), it has cilantro (liver cleanser).

I got it from The Shrinking Kitchen along with this blackened tilapia recipe. It was better than my favorite restaurant fish tacos. Super simple to make, you won’t be disappointed. I think the salsa would be great with chips too. Let me know what you think.

What you need:

4 kiwis, peeled and diced

1 roma tomato, diced

1 jalapeno, deseeded (if you are a wuss and don’t like super spicey)

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro

juice of 2 limes

salt to taste

(you could also add avocado chunks if you’re eating with chips)

What you do:

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Put in fridge until ready to use.

Enjoy!

 

 

Garlic Lime White Bean Soup with Arugula

This is a great Spring recipe. If you are looking for the benefits of a “liver detox” whithout the suffering that goes into most detoxes give this recipe a try.

What you need:

9 cloves of garlic

9 limes

5 cups of chicken or veggie broth

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

2 cans of white beans, rinsed

1 cup rice, optional

2 cups arugula

avocado

What you do:

Add a teaspoon of ghee to your stock pot and cook garlic until fragrant.

Add juice of limes, stock and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cook rice in separate pot.

Turn stove off and add rice, arugula and cilantro just before serving so that greens are just wilted.

Garnish with sliced avocado.

Serves 4.

Natural Medicine Cabinet Essential: Bentonite Clay

I am a super sucker for a good spa treatment. Its been a couple years now since one of the perks of my job was having to receive a massage every week to give out grades. (I’m wondering now why I gave that gig up! :)) One of my personal favorites are wraps. I love how soothing it feels to be wrapped up and feel all the yucks get pulled from my system.

I’ve recently been reading alot about bentonite clay and discovered its simply awesome for a variety of reasons. Wellness mama has a great post showing all the benefits of bentonite clay and how to use. What especially peaked my interest about it was using it in bath water to reduce the negative impact of the chemicals in the water that my daughter loves to splash and play in. I’m finding now that adding a tablespoon or so of a mix of bentonite clay, Epsom salts and dead sea salts to my daughter’s bath water makes me feel better about her playing in the water (our water is terrible, definitely not drinkable by any means except if you are almost 2) and I’m finding that my daughter is sleeping better!

 

I’ve written on my love of epsom salt baths in the past but I’m really enjoying the addition of the bentonite clay and I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need for an expensive burrito wrap at the spa now that I can make clay masks at home.

This was part of my week-long ritual to prepare myself for a new decade.

Bentonite Clay Mask

Equal parts clay and apple cider vinegar.

A little goes a long way! I was able to add about 2 tablespoons of each for a mask and body rub. When the clay is mixed with water or apple cider vinegar it expands and asks like a porous sponge that draws toxins from your body. It feels cool to the skin and eventually hardens and then leaves your skin feeling firm and smooth. A simply luxurious treat!

I left the mask on for 10 minutes or so and then washed it off. I massaged the remaining clay all over my body and then drew a warm epsom salt bath and soaked for 20 minutes or so. It was fantastic! Its my plan to do this at least twice a month.

 

Recipe for Gentle Detox for After Thanksgiving

I posted a picture of this detox on the facebook page over the weekend. I’m going to start this blog with a disclaimer. In Chinese Medicine we almost never recommend a “detox” because it is too harsh on your body and can actually knock your body out of balance in the opposite direction. If your thanksgiving meal was mostly white this is a great way to gently nourish your digestion and clean your system out. I like starting this on Monday because most likely after thanksgiving you have slowly started to go back to eating your normal diet so its not quite as much of a shock to the system.

What you need:

2 lemons

1/2 cucumber

10 mint leaves or 1 drop of peppermint essential oil (preferable young living) I used essential oil because that’s what I had on hand

3 quarts of water

Directions:

Slice lemons and cucumber and drop into water. Add mint, You can gentle muddle the mint leaves to release the essential oils. Let sit so ingredients can infuse the water overnight. Drink first thing upon waking and before breakfast. This helps to bring your body into an alkaline state and revs up digestion. In Chinese Medicine cold and raw foods are almost never recommended except for maybe in the summer time. Drink this room temperature or add a little hot water to your infused water so that it is warm, this also helps with digestion. Peppermint is considered a cooling herb so if you tend to run cold you might considered leaving the peppermint out or switching with some fresh grated ginger, which is a warming herb. WARNING: you might experience an extra trip to the bathroom 🙂 You might also find that you crave drinking more water this way.

This is a great routine to get in the habit of in general, don’t just wait to do when you overindulge.

Let me know what you think! My husband and I loved it. I’m feeling a little more energized this morning 🙂

*** If you are a nursing mama you might choose to omit the peppermint as it has been known to decrease milk supply.