Pumpkins & Squash…

and Soup oh my…

At the moment I have a pumpkin soup simmering on the stove top and I baked some spaghetti squash yesterday. I also found some fresh pesto at the local Italian shop that will make my roasted chicken taste like summer (I’m still holding on). Prepping food always gets me ready for the week ahead and makes putting together a lunch or dinner easy and relatively painless. If I don’t finish the soup before I head to the states this week, I will freeze it in ice cube trays. Upon return, it will make for a delicious meal and I won’t have to stress about running to the market right away. Meal prep and batch cooking takes some planning but when you look out for your future self the work it requires makes it worthwhile in the time you’ll save in the future.

With the change of seasons, there is always a bit of a risk of a cold. Supporting your immune system with plenty of fresh vegetables and warming soups are a few easy ways to help your body fend off viruses that may come into your life.

Your immune system works on a constant basis fighting off invaders in the form of germs and bacteria. Our immune system is made up of different organs throughout the body and includes your tonsils, thymus gland, the lymphatic system, your bone marrow (white blood cells are made here and are the main attackers of infection), as well as your spleen, and appendix. Along your small intestine, there are small patches of lymphoid tissue called  ‘Peyers patches’ ** along with the GALT** (Gut-associated lymphoid tissue) ensures that viruses, bacteria, and parasites are identified and the correct response is carried out.

Consuming fresh produce increases the availability of vitamins and minerals that your body needs when it fights off a cold. Soups and bone broth increase your hydration and also helps to thin mucus to make it easier to get rid of (mucus membranes are your first line of defense when foreign bacteria try to make a bid to infect you). Increasing your vitamin C intake also has benefits and lowers the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections**.

Ways to increase vitamin C with fresh fruit and vegetables of the season:

• parsley
• kale
• broccoli
• fresh thyme (just 1 oz/28g. provides 50% of your RDA)
• brussels sprouts
• persimmons
• fresh oranges (not juice)

The trees are about to show us how beautiful it is to let things go.

Those of you in the southern hemisphere are enjoying the warm spring temperature and might be thinking about doing a “spring clean” (of your diet, your closet, etc.), We in the north are slowly moving towards the shortest day of the year and even as the days get shorter there is room for change. Just as the quote above states it doesn’t need to be spring to do a bit of clearing out. What’s been holding you down/back over the last months? Take some time over the next two weeks or so and spend some time letting go. This can take on many different forms: Cleaning up your diet (what’s one food that you want to let go of?) cleaning out your closet, under your sink, journaling instead of watching TV or scrolling through social media. Let go of the thoughts that eating healthy has to be hard, or is out of reach. It can be a change and it’s not always easy but now is the perfect time of year for a change.