Healthy Cooking Archives - Essentrics with Susan

Simple Tools for Immune Support – Fermented Veggies

You know the basics to keep the coronavirus from spreading: wash your hands often, stay away from others, keep a 6-foot distance even when you enjoy a walk outside together–with those who have had no symptoms. But what can we do to strengthen our body with simple food choices? My post yesterday included a link…

Fasting–Friend or Foe?

From WebMD to Susun Weed, clinical herbalist for over half a century, many of my respected resources say extensive fasting has many concerns–even dangers. Since the recent trend is to use fasting and “cleanses” as a weight-loss tool, let’s address that first. Is it really a helpful ‘jumpstart’ to rebalancing your weight–and keeping those extra…

Vitamin D–Sun, Food or Pills?

Low Vitamin D? You may not need synthetic pills made in a laboratory which is usually all the doctors suggest when you show up low in Vitamin D on a blood test. Before deciding for yourself, consider this list of possible side effects from taking a supplement: Kidney stones. Confusion or disorientation. Muscle weakness.…

Essentrics Schedule + Weight Rebalancing

My New Year’s Intentions include: Weighing myself weekly Last winter, I put on 14 pounds after going to several months without weighing myself and getting addicted to sugar again which is so easy! In my past, I’ve obsessed with weighing myself more than once a day which is not healthy either. Once a week…

Fall into Winter with Soups and Stews

I love this time of year. Fall and Thanksgiving quickly recede as we start getting snow and colder weather–and the change can be abrupt here in Steamboat Springs. My husband and I just returned from Mexico where I went for the week-long Essentrics Symosium (sign up for my newsletter if you want more details). When…

Common Sense Health Tips

I just reposted “20 nutrition facts that should be common sense – but aren’t” on Facebook. One of my favorites is that eggs are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. I have very good friends who are bright and educated, yet order an egg white omelet which is devoid of most of the…

‘Tis the Season…To Take it Up a Notch

It all starts with Halloween–or in my case, October 15th with birthday celebrations. And if we don’t consciously choose otherwise, the slippery slope through U.S. Thanksgiving, Hannakuh, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Kwanza can pack on the weight, leaving us feeling packed into our clothes, fatigued and often sick more often throughout the winter from…

Immune-Supporting Herbs

My last post included the Three Musketeers for immune function from a food point of view; let’s focus today on two herbs well known for immune support. One you may be unfamiliar with is astragalus root (astragalus propinquus) which looks like a tongue depressor when you buy it at the health food store. It’s been…

Service Berries

Service berries were something I knew nothing about, until moving to Steamboat Springs about 11 years ago. Since my discovery, it’s been an August goal to collect some to enjoy in a variety of ways. They look and taste a lot like a blueberry, though slightly less sweet and can be identified by a little…

Remember…Rosemary and her Many Benefits!

Summer is a great time to remind you about the many benefits of rosemary, botanical name: Rosmarinus officinalis With Mediterranean origins, the woodsy-citrus-like fragrance of rosemary has added beauty to gardens, flavor to kitchens, and a great remedy in apothecaries throughout the world. Related to mint and resembling lavender, rosemary has many medicinal uses, in…