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Cure Winter Blues - 10 Simple Tips

cure-winter-blues Aah, it's that time again. When the air is brisk, the ski is gray, the land is frozen....and SO ARE WE!! Help!!

Rest easy, we’ve got your cure for the winter blues. Sometimes known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the blues usually begin when the days get shorter and the sky clouds over into perpetual gray. If we were bears, we could follow our natural instincts and go into hibernation until the temperature warms up again. But, alas, we humans have to keep functioning, even in winter. So without further ado, here are our Top Ten Tips to help make your winter – yes, it’s possible – wonderful.

1. Go outside and walk briskly with your face in the light--even if it's gray outside--for 20 minutes every day. Both the light and the exercise will kick up your feel-good serotonin. If the wind chill outside will deep-freeze your face, find a health club with windows, locate a treadmill or a stationary bike in the brightest light, and hop on.

2. Try a sunlamp specifically designed to improve SAD. We like the GoLite, from Apollo Health. http://www.apollohealth.com/golite.html
Use it just 15 minutes in the morning to reset your circadian rhythms.

3. Hit the hay! Be like the bears and give in to the dark nights. Don't push yourself to stay up late.

4. Eat warming foods like grains, free-range organic meats, root veggies and soups.

5. Add warming spices like cayenne, garlic and ginger to your foods.

6. Take a quality fish oil supplement to raise your spirits.

7. Avoid foods that stress your body in the cold like ice-cream, too many raw foods, cold smoothies and too much sugar.

8. Drink warm herbal teas to get your water quota. Try immune-stimulating Echinacea from your favorite organic Tea.

9. Try a hot water bottle. Sounds a little 1800s, but it works like a charm. You can get a hot water bottle at any drugstore. Toss it into your bed to warm up your sheets, or use it on an achy, crampy belly.

10. Health-up your comfort foods. We all crave comfort foods in the winter - our serotonin levels our lower due to lack of sun. So the body compensates by craving carbohydrates and sugary foods to naturally boost serotonin levels. Remake your favorite comfort foods with the highest-quality ingredients, and savor them slowly after playing in the snow.

Rustic Chicken Soup

Rustic Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil, as needed gluten free chicken-soup

3-4 split chicken breasts (organic), rinsed, patted dry
8 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 heaping cups thinly shredded cabbage (bagged coleslaw
mix is fast and easy)
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, cut up
1 yellow summer squash, cut up
2 zucchini squash, cut up
6 to 8 baby Yukon Gold potatoes, cut up
1 4-oz. can chopped green chilies - mild or hot, to taste
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon each of: dried basil, oregano and parsley
Hot red pepper flakes, shake to taste
1 14-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 or more cups organic chicken broth, as needed
A dash or two of Worcestershire sauce, to taste, (optional)

Directions:
1. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil into the bottom of a Crock Pot or slow cooker. Lay the chicken breasts in the bottom; top with half the chopped garlic. Season with sea salt and pepper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the shredded cabbage, bell pepper, yellow and zucchini squashes, potatoes, and green chilies; and toss them with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt, ground pepper, herbs and a shake or two of hot red pepper flakes. Toss to coat.

3. Pour the veggies into the crock in an even layer. Pour on the diced tomatoes. Add the chicken broth and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, to taste. The liquid should just about cover the veggies. If you like more of a brothy soup than a stew, add more broth.

4. Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours, until the chicken is tender and easily breaks apart into pieces with a large spoon. Taste test for seasoning adjustments.

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