Chinese Herbal Medicine: Sweet & Spicy Postpartum Recovery Soup

I know that it's been quite a while since I devoted time to posting recipes on my blog, but based on the last post about my homebirth, I hope my readers can understand that my focus was elsewhere. The journey of the birth of my second child has been an extremely pivotal time in my life that has opened up so many doors for me. This week I am participating in a training that will prepare me to become a Hypnobirthing instructor so that I can help other women have the incredibly special and empowering birth that I was fortunate to have. Also this week, I have officially graduated from IIN, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and am now a certified Health Coach. Finally, I also made the decision to attend a training in October that will certify me as a Lactation Educator. With all of these credentials, I hope to help women during the most important time of their lives: assist them with nutrition counseling as they work to get pregnant, help maintain sanity and a healthy diet during pregnancy, teach them about Hypnobirthing and the amazing power they have to birth their babies, and then help them establish a successful breastfeeding relationship with their child.

Establishing a successful breastfeeding relationship is all about partnership between a new mama and a newborn. It requires the mother to be on her path to healthy recovery from the birth. In the United States, women are expected to be up and running the next day after a birth, but these are extremely high expectations. Even after my birth, I still have muscle soreness weeks after. In China, on the other hand, women are to be confined to their homes for 30 days. New mothers are  not allowed to eat raw fruit or vegetables, or drink coffee, cold drinks or even cold water, which can only be drunk warm or hot. They are to be dressed warmly and enjoy warming, healing herbal soups.  The Chinese know that the postpartum time is extremely important and requires that a new mama gather back her strength.

I researched some of the recipes for the types of healing herbal soups served to Chinese women in the postpartum period and wanted to share with you a delicious recipe that I developed. It is full of ingredients that cleanse and tonify the body.The majority of the ingredients can be found in your local Asian market. Here is a short summary of the herbal uses of the ingredients in the Postpartum Recovery Soup.

Ginger: warms the body and stops bleeding, especially uterine bleeding. It acts as a detoxifier.
Red dates (jujubes): helps to restore energy and balance
Longan: used for postpartum weakness, stablizing the stomach and the nervous system
Black dates: helps to restore energy and balance (more tonic effect than red dates)
Snow Fungus: strengthens the kidney and lung chi, perfect for aid postpartum women who are physically weak
Wakame: Reduces swelling, stimulates the production of healthy breast milk and replenishes the new mama with vitamins and minerals lost during the birthing process
Shitake Mushrooms: supports the immune system and reduces inflammation
Goji Berries: Reduces bleeding and tonifies the body

Sweet & Spicy Postpartum Recovery Soup
Stock (to be made ahead of time)
1 lb pasture raised/organic chicken bones with some meat on them
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Celtic or Himalayan salt
6 quarts filtered water

Soup
1/2 cup sliced ginger
1 1/2 cups dried red dates (jujubes)
1 cup dried longan
1 cup dried black dates
2 cups snow fungus
1 cup wakame
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms
1 cup goji berries

Process:
1. Put all ingredients for stock in an enamel or stainless steel soup pot, bring to boil and then put on low and cook over night or at least 6 hours.

2. Once stock is prepared, removed chicken bones and add back the meat from the bones to the pot

3. Add in all ingredients except for snow fungus and bring to boil and cook for 15 minutes

4. Add snow fungus and then simmer on low of 30 minutes

5. Enjoy!

Farinata Pizza: Gluten Free & Delicious

Have you heard of Farinata?? If you haven't then you are seriously missing out! Farinata is chickpea flour pancake that is popular in Tuscany and the Tuscan coast. It's incredibly easy to make and is incredibly delicious. The texture is rich and luxurious and the flavor is nutty and delicious.

Paleo Friendly Smokey Roasted Potatoes with Wild Mushrooms & Bacon

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Molasses Cake from Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House (Gluten Free & Vegan)

Recently over dinner, one of my best friends said she has a proposition for me. Immediately, I thought she was going to come up with a brilliant idea for a money making start-up. I began imagining myself as a COO of a hip, up-and-coming, company filled with smart and innovative talent. She interrupted my revelry with an announcement about putting together a book club. I smiled, while my get rich quick hopes were dashed and we discussed the details. In all seriousness, the book club was a great idea! Five us meet monthly to discuss books, motherhood, life, and a variety of other female-centric topics.

Not Your Average, Delicious Green Juice Inspired by Sōw

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Grain Free & Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Bread

One of the biggest battles I've been fighting this pregnancy is some killer sugar and chocolate cravings. I'm pretty sure that its most likely related to mineral deficiencies. I've been doing more research on the topic and found this fascinating article linking sugar and chocolate cravings, specifically to a magnesium deficiency. After taking magnesium transdermally only once (via magnesium oil spray), I didn't have any cravings all day and couldn't even look at chocolate for the first time in months.

Since I was feeling so great, I decided to do some baking, but since I've been eating so much sugar and chocolate, I decided to bake something that's low in sugar and healthy. So I've come up with a grain-free, gluten free & vegan zucchini bread, made with olive oil and chestnut and hazelnut flours. Chestnuts are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 and also contain other minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. Hazelnuts are very high in magnesium, iron and manganese.

I also added unsweetened chocolate bits to the recipe just because it sounded good. The bread turned out to be deliciously nutty and naturally sweet from the nut flours. Additionally, the psyllium husks and chia seeds make for a very moist cake. Finally, the olive oil adds a nice savory flavor. The best part: my daughter's been gobbling it up!

Homemade Tom Ka Gai (Spicy & Sour Coconut Chicken Soup)

My favorite take out meal has got to be Tom Ka Gai, a sour and spicy fragrant Thai soup made with coconut milk, lime juice, and thai spices like galangal, kefir leaves, lemongrass, and chilies. Every restaurants' version of this soup is a little different. Having now made this soup at home, I've come to realize that some restaurants add cream to their soup and others add flours to thicken it. If you have food allergies, make sure to ask the server about possible additives in your soup. Otherwise, you can use my recipe and safely make it at home without any worries.