More Recipes for a Dreamy Restful Sleep during Perimenopause and Menopause

More Recipes for a Dreamy Restful Sleep during Menopause

Written by Emily Edmonds

Loved our last post and looking for more recipes to provide you with restful sleep during the hormone fluctuations of menopause?

Read on…

• Grilled Tofu with Reishi, Shiitake and Wood Ear Mushrooms

1. 1. Firm Tofu – 1 package
   2. Wood Ear Mushroom – 16 oz
   3. Shiitake Mushrooms – 16 oz
   4. Reishi Mushroom Powder – Dried – 1 tsp
   5. Porcini Powder – optional – 1/2 tsp
   6. Black Sesame Seeds – 1 tbsp
   7. Tamari or Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp
   8. Sesame Oil – 1 tbsp
   9. Ginger – 1” knob – freshly ground
   10. 10. Green Onion – 1 fresh – white rings sliced only
   11. 11. Miso – 1 tbsp
   12. 12.Ume Plum Vinegar – 1 tbsp
   13. 13.Maple syrup – 1 tsp

Make sauce – peel ginger and zest with a microplane.  Combine soy sauce or Tamari, sesame oil, ginger, green onion, miso, maple syrup and Ume plum vinegar into a bowl or blender and mix thoroughly. 

Slice tofu in 1/2” slices.  In a small frying pan, heat sesame oil until hot.  Add tofu to frying pan and grill until cooked through.  Finish by brushing with sauce.  Remove from heat, set aside and brush with sauce.

Wash the mushrooms and dry thoroughly.  Add more sesame oil to the pan and sauteé mushrooms until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.  Add a small amount of soy sauce to season and add some black sesame seeds and finish cooking until liquid is boiled off.  Add reishi powder and porcini powder while still warm and stir thoroughly.

This makes enough for about 4-5 nights so have one serving and keep the rest in the refrigerator for future use.

Serve warm!

• Sardines with Wild Yams and Pumpkin Seeds

1. 1. Sardines – 1 can – wild caught
   2. Eggs – 2 
   3. *Wild Yams – 1 large
   4. Pumpkin Seeds – 1 tbsp
   5. Vinegar – 1/4 cup
   6. Celtic Sea Salt – 1 tbsp
   7. Dulse – optional
   8. Rye bread – optional

This is a simple recipe to put together, but it can be an acquired taste for those who do not like fish.  But sardines are the richest source of B12, they are also high in omega 3 fatty acids and quality protein.  If you can adapt yourself to the taste, the health benefits you will gain will pay off dividends.

Fill a pot with water and heat on the stove until boiling.  Generously season with salt.  Score the potatoes around the middle and make a small cut just through the skin around the entire width of the potato.  Boil until fork tender, around 10-15 minutes.  Remove from heat with a slotted spoon and allow to cool.  Set aside.

Keep the water and add the vinegar.  Bring water to a boil.  Boil eggs in water with the shell on for about 7-10 minutes.  Remove from water and allow to cool completely.  This is good to make in advance and have in the refrigerator as needed.

Remove the peels from the yams and slice into 1/2” circles.  Peel the eggs and slice horizontally into small circles.

Slice the bread in 1/2” rounds an gently toast.  Toast pumpkin seeds gently over low flame.  

Drain the sardines and allow to dry on paper towels if necessary.  Place 1 slice of wild yam, 3-4 small slices of egg, 1-2 sardines on one slice of toast.  Top with pumpkin seeds and dulse, if using.  Serve warm!

*Note – If you have Hashimoto’s Disease or Graves Disease or if you have been diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis – avoid dulse and season with Celtic sea salt.  If you have these conditions, eat only the whites of the egg not the yolk (yolk contains a lot of iodine).

If you have an allergy to gluten, avoid the rye bread but I don’t recommend eating gluten free bread.

If you cannot find wild yams, the white yams are the ones that are closest and will work fine in this recipe but the wild yams are best.

• Millet with Almond Butter, Figs and Mulberries

1. 1. Millet – 1/2 cup
   2. Figs – fresh or dried – 1/4 cup
   3. Mulberries – dried – 1/4 cup
   4. Almond Butter – 2 tbsp
   5. Pea Protein Powder – 2 scoops
   6. Date syrup – 1 tbsp
   7. Lavender Flowers – 1/2 tsp – optional

Boil 1 cup of water and add millet.  Add figs, mulberries and lavender flowers if using.  Stir frequently over low heat until cooked.  Sift or sieve in pea protein powder and stir vigorously to combine.  Add almond flour and stir until dissolved.  Add date syrup to taste.  Serve while warm.

• Split Pea Soup

1. 1. Leek – 1 – rinsed and cut into quarters
   2. Celery – 3 stalks – cut into small pieces
   3. Carrots – 2 – peeled and cut into small pieces
   4. Dried Split Peas – 1 cup
   5. Bone Broth – 2 cups
   6. Water – 2 cups
   7. Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
   8. Bay Leaf – 1
   9. Thyme – fresh – 5 sprigs
   10. 10.Celtic Sea Salt

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Sauteé leeks and celery for 3 minutes.  Add bone broth, water and split peas and season with salt.  Make a bundle of bay leaf and thyme and tie with a string or cheesecloth, then submerge into the liquid.  Cover and simmer for 60-80 minutes, or use in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes.  Add carrots to soup.  Cover and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until peas have broken down (if using a pressure cooker – 10 minutes is all that is needed).  Season with some more salt if necessary.

• Adzuki Bean Stew

1. Ginger – 1” knob – peeled and finely grated on a microplane zester
2. Leeks – cut and rinsed, minced into small pieces
3. Celery – 3 stalks
4. Soy Sauce or Tamari – 1 tbsp
5. Ume Plum Vinegar – 2 tbsp, divided
6. Sesame Oil – 2 tbsp
7. Date Syrup – 1/2 tsp
8. Adzuki Beans – 1 cup 
9. Water – 4 cups, divided
10. Reishi powder – optional
11. Kombu – 1 small piece – optional
12. Miso – 1 tbsp
13. Bonito Flakes – optional – 1 tbsp
14. Celtic Sea Salt – 1 tbsp
15. Black Sesame Seeds – 1 tbsp
16. Dissolve Celtic sea salt into 2 cups of warm water, add 1 tbsp of ume plum vinegar and dissolve.  Add 1 slice of kombu if using.  Soak the adzuki beans overnight.  Drain and rinse the beans thoroughly and set aside.

In a large pot, toast the sesame seeds for one minute and set aside.  Add sesame oil and heat until warm, then add leeks, ginger and celery until translucent.  In a tea kettle, heat 2-3 cups of water.  Prepare a large pyrex with a spout or bowl with a strainer on top of it.  Place bonito flakes and miso on top of the strainer.  When boiling, pour the water over the bonito flakes and miso into the pyrex or bowel cover with a plate for about 10 minutes.  Stir the miso on top of the strainer thoroughly and pass mixture through sieve.  You want the flavor of the miso and the bonito but not the chunks and you want to make a smooth, brothy mixture.  If it is not smooth, pass it through a sieve it again.  

Pour the miso / bonito water into the large pot and heat until it gently simmers.  Add the beans and kombu slice to the pot and simmer covered over low heat for 45 minutes (or use a pressure cooker for 20).  Add the rest of the ingredients and serve warm.

*Note – If you have Hashimoto’s Disease or Graves Disease or if you have been diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis – avoid kombu.

We hope you enjoyed this two part series to help you sleep better!