New Bern, NC – Still enjoying some of the cornucopia of goodness from Thanksgiving? Leftovers may be my favorite part of the holiday, so it seems appropriate to have savored my Cranberry Secret Sauce over some peanut butter on gluten free toast for breakfast today.

Yum!

Check last week’s post to keep that tasty and versatile jewel of redness around for the whole holiday season.

This week foodtalk4you is serving a bit of this and that as well – a cornucopia of seemingly random information that is so appropriate for the season. Let’s dig right in!

GERMS

You’ve probably noticed how the trend has been away from anti-bacterial hand soap.

For those of us who wizened up to the more current wisdom that regular hand soap did a fine job, thank you, we were often at a loss to find regular liquid soaps. Seems that the relentless use of all things anti-bacterial can actually train germs to grow stronger to resist the effects of anti-bacterial germ warfare.

Finally, Bath and Body Works and other purveyors of “soap-ness,” have returned to offering most of their wares in the non-antibacterial form. Excellent!

Having said that, I do like to use a foaming anti-bacterial soap before handling my contact lenses or touching my eyes.

Here’s the thing I just discovered. You DO NOT have to buy foaming soaps! It’s a rip off.

How do I know?

Well, after accidentally buying the regular liquid to refill my foaming squirt-top container, I discovered regular liquid is too thick to go through the apparatus. What to do? I tried diluting the liquid – one-part soap to 2-3 parts water – guess what? Foaming soap! Think of all the water I had been buying all those years.

You’re welcome!

No matter what soap we use, the trick is in proper handwashing technique. Rub, rub, rub those dirty paws thoroughly. Get to all surfaces of the hands, between fingers, and scrape your nails along the palm of the opposite hand to drive the soap bubbles underneath them. The rubbing process with soapy hands should last for 15-20 seconds or two hums of the Happy Birthday song.

Dont forget to include those wrists!

Says Deidre, “Using one soapy hand to wrap around the opposite wrist, twist back and forth several times. Repeat for the other wrist!”

No kidding. If your family is continually passing around the “crud,” truly proper handwashing, coupled with not touching your face, will break that hand-to-mouth/eye/nose circle of germ circulation.

RECOVERING FROM A HYPERVIGILANCE HABIT

Today’s next tidbit is something I’ve successfully employed in my recovery from being in a hypervigilant state for the past two years – even longer, as I endeavored to be “on-the-ready” for my husband’s changing needs.

Just because the need for hypervigilance is no longer there, does not mean our nervous systems magically switch to a normal maintenance mode. Some of my symptoms were manifesting as an irregular heartbeat at bedtime.

My former nighttime caregiver routine was busy and emotionally taxing; sleeping time meant keeping a constant ear out for my husband. No wonder I was showing stress: relaxing at night was contrary to what I was actually doing.

Maybe you, too, are trying to come off of a hypervigilant state. Whether it’s a different living circumstance, a change in jobs, or a change in relationships, converting to a calmer state of mind is not easy. Others may wonder why you may be having a rough time since the “problem” has been eliminated.

You and I know differently.

While I am still very much a work in progress, I would like to share a bit of success that may help you, too. Curing hypervigilance and anxiety requires a multi-faceted approach, often with professional counselors, but this may be a starting point for you.

By the time I had read up to page 62 of Virginia Ritterbusch’s book, Reframe Your Viewpoints, harness stress and anxiety, transform it into peace and confidence, I was writing in the margins with my epiphany.

Following her recommendations to look at today’s circumstances, with a focus suitable for our adult selves TODAY and not from our former traumatic focus of yesterday, I realized the source of my heart palpitations.

I learned to see/recognize my anxiety; to feel what I was feeling; and to substitute an alternate thought for my anxiety.

This is how that went for me – here comes that nightly tension; I’m feeling those strong erratic beats of my heart which causes more anxiety – and instead of the usual tailspin, I applied alternate thinking.

I thanked those feelings/friends for having kept me on alert for so long, but now the need was no longer there. All I needed to do was to relax to go to sleep and get some much-needed rest. Those helpful feelings of hypervigilance can assist me in the future when I need to be vigilant, but not now. Right now, I’ve got this, and I’m going to spend a few minutes of being mindful of my quiet breathing.

Those nightly heart palpitations have vanished. I keep with mindful breathing each night before retiring. Reading the print version of Virginia’s book each night also helps.

Remember to be “off screen” before bed each night; the blue light of electronic screens is detrimental to the production of sleep-inducing hormones. Read something relaxing and helpful from a good old-fashioned printed book. It can be part of your winding-down routine for a good night’s sleep.

FAST CHICKEN SOUP FOR FEELING BETTER

Last, but not least, a quick update on healing chicken soup.

As a vocalist in three choirs over the holidays, keeping the “pipes” working is a big job. While post-hurricane mold spores swirl in the air along with the usual mix of wintertime viruses, many of us are walking a thin line between health and vocal collapse.

I’ve ramped up the usual version of chicken, broth, garlic, and fresh ginger with the addition of some fresh sliced whole lemon and dill as a gently complimentary spice.

I’ve cheated the all-night simmering of chicken bones with large boxes of organic, free range, chicken bone broth.

Quick, Healing, Chicken Soup – 2018 version

With just the following ingredients you can have some yummy, healing soup:

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

5 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

¼ sweet onion, diced

2 T. olive oil

Several thin slices of whole lemon from the middle of the fruit (about ½ lemon or more)

2 chicken thighs

2 chicken legs

1 large container of chicken bone broth

Salt, pepper, and dill weed to taste

In soup pot, sauté the ginger, garlic, onion in olive oil until fragrant. Add the chicken, bone broth (with some water to rinse container), lemon slices, and seasonings. Simmer until chicken is falling off the bone.

Remove chicken; take meat off the bones. Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to soup pot.

Ladle up a fragrant bowl of healing goodness.

Enjoy!

Until next week-

Deidre