Practice Updates and Spicy Green Bean Recipe

Hello patients, friends, and followers,

I have wanted to write to you for some time! I have so much I want to share and will try to do so as concisely as I can 🙂

Despite being diagnosed with PCOS at age 26, I was able to conceive in the fourth month of trying.   For 10 years, I refused Western interventions (namely hormonal birth control), relying on acupuncture, herbal medicine, and dietary therapy to address my underlying hormonal imbalance. Adding hormones to a hormone imbalance did not resonate with me during my early years of acupuncture school, and was certainly not an option when trying to get pregnant.

And, despite the “advanced maternal age” of 36 when conceiving and 37 when delivering, I had a very healthy and uneventful pregnancy (except for some world-class nausea in the beginning and some gnarly foot swelling at the end).

With the help of Jason, my doula, an amazing doctor, and the Hypnobabies program, I had a natural, un-medicated birth. I squatted baby out at the foot of the bed (not to worry, my doctor made a perfect catch), hopped rope over the umbilical cord, and climbed into bed so Harvey could be placed on my chest before delivering the afterbirth. No tears (As in ripping. There were tears of joy, of course!).

As prepared and magical of a birthing experience I had, breastfeeding hit me hard. I struggled early on, and coupled with sleep deprivation and huge hormonal swings, it was one of the hardest times of my life (but happiest too, very strange!). While I’ve made peace with my situation and continue to work very hard, it still is a struggle at times.

So now we have a yummy 4 1/2 month old boy who is terribly cute and makes me happy. I’m back in the office 4 days a week, where I’ll hang out for awhile. I plan to add more hours in the future, but not now.

I’m grateful for a partner who helped me to recover and supports me on my journey to finding balance.   Diet was a huge force in my recovery and remains a big part of my life. Chinese Medicine suggests that post-partum, women should eat foods that are warm, nourishing, and easy to digest. I highly recommend The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother for guidance here.

I’ve had to learn to go with the flow now more than ever (hard for me!), and getting to the store/markets requires more planning than in the past.   I really wanted to make a recipe using the Thai chili peppers that grew in our garden, and came up with this recipe on the fly that I’ve since made many times. Never one to “wing it,” I think my years of practice following recipes and preparing simple foods allowed me to create this “masterpiece” with ingredients I had on hand.

Ingredients:

(1-2 pounds) of fresh greenbeans, stringy end snapped off

1 onion, cut into rings or chopped

5-6 cloves garlic (or more), minced

A small handful of fresh Thai chili peppers (You can also buy these dried, or can substitute another fresh pepper like one Serrano), minced

2 TBS sesame oil

2-3 TBS ume plum vinegar

2-3 TBS tamari (or soy sauce, coconut aminos, etc)

 

Directions:

Add beans to large pot of salted boiling water. Cook, covered, 4-5 minutes. Beans should be fork tender, but not too soft (they will be cooked again).

Heat large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add sesame oil.

Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 5-7 minutes.

Add peppers and garlic, stir, about 1 minute (lower heat if garlic starts to brown)

Add green beans, and toss to coat.

Add vinegar, stir, and cover with lid. Stir occasionally for a few minutes, until green beans are well cooked and coated.

Turn off heat and add tamari. Toss.

Voila! It will taste like restaurant quality Asian food – or even better. Enjoy!

It’s really nice to be back.   Thanks for reading.

In good health,

Molly