Going on a Holiday
As my acupuncture patients know, each summer my family and I set off for a three week vacation. Americans don’t usually take that much time off, but in other countries it’s pretty standard. And given the amount of stress I was experiencing before vacation, I needed the first 5 days just to decompress!
Stress
In fact, I was so stressed that I was sleep talking to my husband the first few nights in our lovely Airbnb in Nice, France. He told me I woke him up and said, “Write this down!” He got a pen a paper and then I proceeded to speak a bunch of gibberish to him. Then another morning I woke to see him sleeping on the sofa. I asked him if the mattress was hurting his back or hips and that’s why he was on the sofa. He looked at me confused and said “Don’t you remember?” I obviously didn’t. He told me I yelled at him that he was taking up too much room and to move over. He said he was already on the edge of the bed and any more over would have been the floor so he escaped to the safety of the sofa. We had a good laugh about that one!
It was clear that my mind needed a rest, big time. So after the first few days of sleep talking bossiness and very restless nights, I finally settled my nerves and began to enjoy my holiday. I share my story to encourage all of you to take time off to unplug and reboot. Your mind, body, and spirit need it. I’m back seeing patients feeling rested and present. It’s wonderful.
The Wonders of Greece
I wanted to also share with you a Tzatziki recipe that I found while in Greece. First off, the food was amazing. Everything was fresh and we ate huge salads every night. I loved it.
Tzatziki (ZAT ZEE KEE) is a wonderful Greek yogurt dip filled with garlic and tons of flavor. We put it on just about everything we ate. And it’s super simper to make.
1 1/2 cups full fat, organic, yogurt. Start by straining the yogurt. You can do this by putting the yogurt in a coffee filter and then placing in a dish for a few hours or over night. The excess liquid is removed to leave you with a very thick yogurt based. To that take 2 medium sized cucumbers, peel and grate them. Squeeze the grated cucumber to remove the excess liquid. Then sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. Next, take 4-6 gloves of garlic and crush them. Finely chop the garlic and add to the yogurt with the cucumbers. You can then add a little more salt, some vinegar, and olive oil. Make it to your taste. Serve it cold with chopped veggies. Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika and Greek olives before serving. Enjoy!
Have a great week. Donna
