 Today is the winter solstice, a day when the North Pole is tipped as far away from the sun as it can be and the sun shines down on the Tropic of Capricorn. The official solstice is at 10.23 tonight with a full moon know as the Cold Moon following tomorrow. 🌕
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. Many ancient cultures marked and celebrated this day also known as Yuletide. 🌲 Although it’s easy to see this day as gloomy and dark, it should be considered a joyous day, a day that signifies the moment we turn towards spring and lighter days. 🌞 It is a day of death and rebirth. Some believed it was a day when dark spirits roamed the earth. We light candles to welcome back the sun into our days and keep away dark spirits. 🕯The colours red, green and gold were traditionally used to celebrate this time of rebirth ❤️💚💛. Evergreen, holly and mistletoe would also have been used to symbolise everlasting life. In fact so many traditions we think of as Christmas are actually old pagan traditions.🎇 I’m learning to have a healthy respect for this time of year despite never really loving winter, I appreciate as well as party season it can also be a time to be slow, rest, nourish and firelight with friends and family. And taking vitamin D obvs! Merry winter solstice all! #wintersolstice #yuletide #solstice# fullmoon #wintertraditions #yule2018#pagan #christmas #vitamind#winterhealth #winterwellness #capricorn#nutritionaltherapy #healthandwellness#gingerandpicklesnutrition  I saw this and thought how apt at this time of year when really so many peoples mental health gets a battering. I think the cartoon says it all but what if we really did treat mental health like physical health? Is it not just as important?
There are many many ways to support your mental health through the use of nutritional therapy and of course the many other wonderful alternative therapies out there. Mental and physical health are so intertwined one cannot really be separated from the other, much like your brain is part of your body. Look after yourselves peeps and each other. Image from www.robot1-hugs.com ____________ #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness#mentalhealthrecovery #robothugs#healthyfamilies #nutritionaltherapy#eatwellbewell #alternativetherapies#foodasmedicine #christmas2018#gingerandpicklesnutrition  Part of supper last night: two aubergines roasted in the oven for 30 mins, remove the flesh from the skin into a blender and whizz up with tahini, raw garlic (2-3 cloves depending on how much you like garlic!) and lemon juice (approx one lemon). Season with salt, pepper, chopped coriander and a healthy dose of olive oil. And if feeling fancy pants: some pomegranates.
And you have Baba Ganoush....Best named dip in the world! Kids love this one so much, such an easy way to get them to eat aubergine, one of the most misunderstood veggies I always feel....🙏🏻🌍 🍆 ____________ #babaganoush #middleeasternfood#tahini #eatwell #nutritionaltherapy#simplesuppers #nightshades#heathyfoodie #eatwell #nutritionaltherapy#kidsnutrition #toddlerfood #blw#healthyfoodie #blwideas #dinnerinspo#dips #kidsfood#gingerandpicklesnutrition  😥The smallest G&P is really struggling to cut her incisors and NOTHING is helping. Cue sleepless nights 😳, dribbling, random temperatures and helpless fingers in a very red mouth. I’ve tried all the homeopathic powders and teething gels going,so decided to have a crack at something #homemade.
Cloves are an age old remedy for tooth ache or sore gums as they provide an analgesic numbing effect and cloves are also antiseptic. So add one teaspoon fresh cloves to one tablespoon of olive oil and grind into a paste. Rub on babies gums with your fingers or soak an old muslin and put in the freezer for more gum rubbage. 😁👏✨ EDIT: just to add always worth trying these things, but my toddler did NOT appreciate my efforts and said homemade teething remedy caused more tears and a mini meltdown...#fail. Back to the drawing board. Anyone have any teething tips????? #teething #remedies #parenthacks #mothersofinstagram #parenting101 #blw #toddlerfood #kidsnutrition #parentingproblems #herbsasmedicine #herbalifenutrition #tuesdaytips #healingwithfood #naturalmama #naturalmedicine #naturalhealth #lifestylemedicine #holistichealth #naturalhealth #foodheals #gingerandpicklesnutrition  One of the downsides of ones partner working away midweek, is that minor household injuries can turn into the most annoying thing EVER...And nothing more frustrating than a splinter in my right hand. So last night, remembering something from my childhood, I tried applying a bread poultice.🍞
👉Step one: warm milk in a pan (don’t boil) 👉Step two: add warmed milk to bread until softened and make a paste with the mixture 👉Step three: add the paste to splinter and cover with gauze and wait for splinter to be drawn out. Magic.✨ Now that really is #foodasmedicine #naturalremedies #tuesdaytips #foodheals #bread #remedies #healingwithfood #naturalmama #naturalmedicine #naturalhealth #holistichealth #naturalhealth #gingerandpicklesnutrition  If one food could sum up happy Sundays to me it would be banana bread. No sweetener in this one, made with eggs, almond flour and flaxseed (and loads of overripe ‘nanas obvs!).
Good Sunday nosh. Serve warm with a cup of something and a smidge of butter (preferably in bed with the sunshine peeking through)....happy weekend ya’ll ✨✨✨ #bananabread #glutenfree #nourishyourself #glutenfreebristol #easylikesundays #plantbased #foodasmedicine #foodforthesoul #fruitstagram #healthyfood #cookingwithkids #lowsugar #sugarawarenessweek #nomnomnom #breakfast #snackfood #toddlerfood #gingerandpicklesnutrition  So I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently. Who hasn’t? It’s all over the news and social media (including mine!)
But have been having an issue with children’s snacks (which pretty much have to be handed over at the school gate to avoid a walking home meltdown) Other than fruit how do I keep it fairly healthy but still try and respect and try reducing down on plastic waste? There are many great brands out there offering a decent alternative to the kitkat and monster munch that was considered perfectly adequate when we were growing up. But none that I’ve found that offer any packaging that isn’t single use plastic. (But please people correct me if I’m wrong ) And really, as always with these things, it tends to come back to making your own. Energy balls have been around for ages, there are 8 billion recipes for them online. But mostly it comes down to a few non specialist everyday ingredients you can chop and change. They are not time consuming and actually bloody easy - I’m quite lazy, this is really true. This batch took me all of 3 minutes to make in a food processor and I’ve made enough for after school snacks for the week. So the shopping bills are looking a bit healthier as I’m not buying thousands of organic snack bars! Nearly all of the ingredients came from glass, cardboard or paper so I feel just a tiny bit smugger and happier with myself. And then, I go and add spinach to the mix (you can’t taste it) and boom! Kids think I’m some sort of magician! They won’t eat green vegetables without serious arm twisting but green snacks.... MIND BLOWN ♻️ #zerowaste #reducetheplastic #lowimpactmovement #reducewhatyouproduce #mindfullysustainable #packagingfree #cookingwithchildren #eatgreen #kidsnutrition #toddlerfoodideas #healthykidsfood #blw #rockthelunchbox #realfoodforkids #gingerandpicklesnutrition |
AuthorLouise Cullen Archives
February 2019
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