Its Time To Do Some Spring Cleaning!

Happy first day of Spring! ​

Maybe you are like me and already have spring fever or are just itching for warmer weather to match the sunshine. I am going to use the next few blog posts to discuss spring cleaning the body, emotions and your environment. Today we will start with  spring cleaning ​your living space. 

Now is a great time to sweep away winter! What can you do?​

Open the windows! Get that stagnant winter air out of your house. If its cold out try opening just one or two windows at a time for 5 minutes or so. ​

Deep clean your house! I love using Thieves House Hold cleaner for cleaning the house. Its great on just about every surface and it smells lovely without any toxic chemicals.  Dust the base boards, ceiling fans, behind the refrigerator and other furniture and all those other places you often ignore.

I also like to use my diffuser to purify the air especially with all the sickness that has gone around this winter. ​For my spring cleaning I used Purification. Purification is an essential oil blend that contains citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, melaleuca, lavendin (hybrid lavender), and myrtle. It’s a great blend to use to purify the air and can also be used to relieve bug bites or as a natural bug repellant. If you don't have a diffuser you can put a couple of drops of Purification in a spray bottle of water and mist into the air.   

Clean out your closets! Start to put winter clothes away or to the back of your closet making room for spring clothes. Throw away anything you haven't worn in awhile or that no longer fits.​

Take inventory of your clutter! Donate or recycle things you aren't using or are broken. ​

Nurture your house plants and start your garden! Clear away any dried leaves, replenish the soil, compost any plants that may have died.  ​

You know what they say, "A clean house, a clean mind!" Happy Spring Cleaning! Stay tuned for our next blog about liver and gall bladder detoxification. 

Getting Ready for Spring and Tex Mex Squash Casserole Recipe

I can imagine you are experiencing with me the tumultuous times of spring already. In our minds and hearts perhaps we hoped the first day of spring would have brought fresh flowers and sun shine and instead here in McHenry County we had rain and hail storms! We are in the midst of transition and this is an important time to keep our bodies healthy. When the environment is changing temperatures drastically daily, raining, snowing, hailing etc our bodies can easily be knocked off kilter. 

We talked last week how eating lots of greens in the spring is a great way to cleanse the body. Right now as we are patiently moving through the transition of winter to spring it is also important to keep the spleen nourished. In Chinese Medicine the spleen/stomach system helps the body through seasonal transitions. If the spleen is not functioning at its best it can make it harder to keep the liver cleansed and cause us to get sick more easily. 

Here is what you can do to make it through this time of hope. The warm weather really is right around the corner and it will soon be here to stay! (at least until fall and winter)

Continue to follow the spring diet of lighter, greener foods but also make sure to eat foods that fortify the spleen. The spleen needs bland or full sweet foods like grains (wheat, quinoa, rice), sweet potatoes and squashes. The spleen is especially nourished by yellow and orange foods. See below for an excellent squash casserole that is easy to make and tastes delicious! 

Keep your neck covered when you go out into the wind. Don't make the same mistake I did when I went out for a run on Saturday and didn't bring my scarf. Thank God for acupuncture and herbs that nipped this cold in the bud! Sometimes we want to believe its warmer than it really is outside, but always make sure to dress for the weather. 

This is the squash recipe that I started with: Tex Mex Summer Squash Casserole.

Instead of summer squash I used kabocha squash in keeping with the transitions of the seasons. I also added some mini red peppers and corn salsa to give it a little more color and flavor. It was delicious! If you are more of a carnivore than an herbivore adding a little ground turkey seasoned tex mex style would be a wonderful addition, just keep it more as an accent rather than the bulk of the dish to keep it light. 

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)

230 Florence St

Crystal Lake IL 60014

815.893.9825

www.clnap.com 

Spring Cleaning and Dandelion Greens Recipe

The first day of spring is quickly approaching, we've already "sprung ahead" with the time change and it seems as though the birds are chirping away trying to wake the earth back up and make it warm again. In Chinese Medicine spring is the time when the liver is most active and is why its a great time to do some spring cleaning in your house and in your body.

Chinese Medicine does not advocate heavy duty cleanses because so often what this does is swing your body out of balance in the other direction. Instead do some mild cleansing through your diet. Our bodies no longer need rich meats and heavy foods to stay warm like they do in the cold winter months. Start to replace red meat with more fish. Now is the time to start eating lighter foods so that they body can in turn feel lighter and more energized. The color of the liver is green and the taste is sour, so leafy greens and other green veggies as well as sour foods like apple cider vinegar are great to eat during the spring.

The liver is also associated with the tendons of the body and the eyes and the body is more susceptible to wind attack. The spring is a great time to rev up your exercise routine and spend some extra time stretching. If you know of anyone that complains of eye disorders in the spring such as dry eyes, allergies, sinus problems etc the liver might need a little help. Wind can manifest in the body as rashes, itchiness, colds, and pain that moves around the body so make sure to take care when outside in the wind to keep your neck covered. Seasonal changes are always a great time to get an acupuncture treatment to adjust to the changes in the environment.

This week our produce box from Crystal Lake Health Food Store had dandelion greens and leeks. Dandelion greens are great for the liver but they can be a little bitter tasting. Here is how I turned dandelion greens into a delicious dinner dish.

If you want the benefits of dandelion greens but are concerned with the taste mix a little spinach with them.
I started with this recipe for Bacon and Kale Adobo but as you can see I didn't really stick with the recipe.

What I used:
1 leek chopped
whole bunch of garlic
tomato cilantro seasoning
splash of soy sauce
couscous-quinoa mix
1 bunch dandelion greens chopped
1/2 bag of baby spinach
bacon (as garnish)

I started by lightly browning the chopped leeks and garlic. Then I added a 1/2 cup of water, the tomato cilantro seasoning and the dandelion greens and spinach. I cooked on low until the greens wilted with a splash of soy sauce. Meanwhile I cooked the bacon and couscous-quinoa mix. Once everything was cooked I mixed the greens and couscous together and crumbled the bacon on top as a garnish. It was a quick and easy dish to prepare and it tasted wonderful. You could easily turn this into a vegetarian dish by taking out the bacon and using braggs amino acid. I didn't let my dinner guest know what the greens were until he decided he liked them and he was surprised how flavorful the meal was.

Tonight we are having chicken, parsnip and apple stew. The granny smith apple is both green and sour, a nice little treat for the liver.

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

I saw my first pair of robins this weekend. While spring has been in the air for a bit that was the sign I was looking for especially since Saturday marks the official first day of spring.

The liver/gall bladder system in chinese medicine is associated with the season of spring. As the world around us starts to turn greener and flowers start to blossom similar things are taking place with in our bodies.

The heavier energy of winter is lifting and lighter energies are now becoming available to us. The spring is a perfect time to cleanse the body of the heavy rich foods of winter and more sedentary lifestyle we've been living.

So what can you do?

Clean your house, reorganize your closet and open the windows even if just for a few minutes. Donate or free cycle anything that you no longer use or wear.

Get active outside. Spend more time outdoors breathing in fresh air moving your body. Make sure to keep your neck covered in the wind so you don't catch a cold. Resist the urge to peel away all of your layers...its not summer just yet. The liver controls the tendons in the body so make sure to stretch often as your cleanse your body.

Eat lighter foods. As the energy in the world becomes lighter in spring your body should also feel lighter and more energized. Eat smaller meals more often adding extra green leafy vegetables to cleanse your blood and liver. If you eat meat, replace warming foods like red meat with more seafood. (make sure to add cilantro as it helps detox heavy metals out of the body) Stay away from heavy foods like dairy and sweets.

Wake up with the sunshine and birds chirping and do your workout early so that your energy and metabolism are high throughout the day.

Emotions, memories, or feelings that have been buried can resurface when harmonizing the liver. The old rises up and out before it leaves the physical/emotional body. Practice meditation breathing in through the nose, tongue touching roof of mouth, exhaling out through mouth allowing tongue to drop. Exhale with an affirmation such as I trust, I am motivated, I believe.

Get your spring tune up acupuncture treatment to keep your immune system strong and allergies, hay fever, and asthma at bay as well as helping your body readjust after the time change.

Ask your acupuncturist for an herbal formula that will keep your body at its best for the spring.

The more you are able to harness the cleansing energy of spring the more energy you will be able to soak up in the summer time when the energy is lightest and most available to us. Not only is this great for your health in the present moment, it will also help you transition smoothly to next winter creating more reserves of energy later.

Garlic, Lime, Swiss Chard Soup

the perfect spring cleanse soup

sautee 9 cloves of garlic with ghee

add 6 cups of water

add the juice of 3 squeezed limes

use large can of white beans with water

(after mixing together you might blend beans to make soup creamier)

rinse swiss chard and chop

chop stems of chard (tastes just like celery and is rich in phytochemicals)

let simmer on low for 40-60 minutes

garnish with cilantro

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)

230 Florence St

Crystal Lake IL 60014

815.893.9825

www.clnap.com