This has been an exciting week! I tried 2 new recipes AND a new alternative health therapy. Recipes first.
1. I made Wild Salmon with Avocado Salsa. I found this recipe in a free magazine, Simply Recipes. I can’t find the recipe online anywhere, which is unfortunate because it’s delicious. Basically you put a spice rub consisting of olive oil, salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion powder and pepper on the salmon, grill the salmon, and then serve it with avocado salsa made of avocado (of course), onion, tomato, hot peppers, cilantro, lime, and olive oil. I never would have thought that cumin would taste good on salmon, but it was DELICIOUS!!
2. I also made Slow Cooker Harissa Stew. This was my first time using harissa, and I was hoping I would like it because a little jar of it is $4.99. But, I was in luck because like it I did! I was expecting the meat to be balls-out spicy, but it just had a pretty mild, spicy, exotic flavor. We had it over rice one night and over butternut squash the next day. The recipe was very easy to make. If I can get my hands on some lamb chops without spending a fortune, I want to try this recipe next.
Besides that I made some old favorites this week – Primal Ham Bone Soup with a smoked ham hock (amazing!) and Instant Banana Bread.
On to the other big news this week, after months of saying, “Reiki sounds really interesting. I’m really curious about it. I should really try it.” I finally tried it this morning. For those you are unfamiliar with Reiki, check out this link.
Despite the fact that I’ve talked to a few other people who have had a Reiki treatment, I was still very unsure of what to expect. Well, here is a brief run-down of my experience. I chatted with the practitioner for a few minutes, explaining how I heard about Reiki and how I heard about the facility at which she works. Then we got started. I laid down on a massage table with a blanket over me. The practitioner started at the my head, very lightly laying her hands on my head. She worked her way down the front of my body, very lightly touching me. At certain points I felt a very strong heat come from her hands. It was super bizarre! At one point when she was working around my stomach, I saw a dark purple light behind my eyes that faded quickly. She said purple represents the crown chakra.
When she finished with my front side, she mentioned that my knees absorbed a lot of energy, as did my right ankle and foot. She said she could tell that I’m a runner and have evidently battered my joints a bit. Then I rolled over, and she touched a few spots on my back, legs, and feet, and then it was over.
Do I feel any different? I don’t think so. My hips and quads feel really tired, but I went to a pretty intense vinyasa class last night, and I’m thinkings that’s probably the cause of that. It was a very interesting experience. I went into the experience with cautious open-mindedness. I’m not sure if I’m a believer in the efficacy of the treatment YET, but she did make several comments that belied a knowledge of things I’ve been thinking about and contemplating – things I did not talk to her about at all. So, that is definitely mysterious!
My take-away from the experience is that there is a lot more to this world and our existence than we are generally led to believe.
So that’s my update for the week! As always, thank you for reading!