Cold Season Rituals & Staples
The late autumnal temperatures may be weathering down our skin, but these seasonal staples will rekindle your internal fire & soften you back into your bones. From traditional provisions like bone broth to the sacred ritual of simmering ghee under a full moon, Sarah-Kate of The Great Kosmic Kitchen is here to guide us into generating warmth as golden as a spoonful of ghee . . .
If you’ve been feeling like a wilted flower for the past few weeks you’re not alone. I’ve had to dig a little deeper into my ‘self-care basket’ and remembered a few rituals that are always helpful in getting me through the transition into fall. Anytime there’s a major transition, seasonal or otherwise, I tend to focus on supporting my hormones with nourishing foods and healing plants. Here are a few practices to try if you’re in need of some extra self-nurturing as we welcome in the cooler days of the season.
Want to know more about using healing plants in your daily meals? Check out our Be Radical, Eat Traditional! Meal Plans where we'll give you all the tools to create some serious kitchen magic! Sign up here for our tele-class and get the inside scoop on our new cookbook launching this month!
Full Moon Ghee
Making ghee on the full moon is deeply grounding and calls for special attention when making this medicinal treat. Ghee’s powers are all about the importance of eating healthy fats which nourish everything from our brain to our hormones to our liver and digestive system. Fat keeps us full, but don’t make us fat. That’s what sugar and refined carbohydrates do when we eat them in excess. So make a jar of ghee and add it to warm drinks, use a spoonful to sauté veggies or even use it externally to soothe dry chapped skin.
Luna Chai
Staying in our ‘moon mind,’ this twist on a classic chai recipe is full of warming spices and balancing herbs to give extra support to our precious hormones. Vitex, or Chaste Berry, is a game changer when it comes to getting a grip on your PMS symptoms. I notice a drastic difference in my energy, emotions and cramping when I take this herbal blend regularly before my moon-time. For an extra boost, adding adaptogens like Astragalus give our neuroendocrine and immune systems a chance to take the edge off of everyday stressors without have that same knee-jerk reaction when we are feeling stressed out and overwhelmed.
bone broth
Simple comfort is what a pot of bone broth simmering on the stove brings to mind. The soothing gelatin that’s released when making bone broth is used for its healing properties in the digestive tract. Sipping on a cup is really great if you’re recovering from a prolonged sickness or if you’re feeling deficient in nutrients. Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions has a lot of information about the benefits of broth and wonderful recipes to try.
Congee
This slow cooked rice porridge is another healing food that is simple to make and is soothing to our digestive tract. Congee offers the nourishment of highly dense foods, without creating excess which can cause inflammation and mucus and in turn, slows down our system. Try a bowl in the morning instead of oatmeal or a smoothie. Add in your favorite flavors, savory or sweet, and notice how you feel throughout the day.
