My family and I moved to Sweden last spring to be a part of the Happy M Kitchen project. When we left our home in the Costa Blanca in Spain it was a delicious 25c with endless clear blue skies, but as we stepped off the plane in Gothenburg to a more than refreshing 5c with horizontal rain, and as my 4 year old son exclaimed “Brrr! Dad, why have we come here?” I found it difficult to get into the Swedish springtime vibe. A year has passed since then though, and after not only surviving but actually really enjoying our first Swedish winter we are nevertheless very glad to see spring arrive, and we’re totally feeling it this time around.

It’s such a relief just to wear a few less layers of clothing, as this alone gives a sense of freedom of movement, and there is always a great joy in witnessing the natural world burst into action. With the first flowers starting to bloom and buds appearing on the trees, as the sap rises to feed their future flourish of green, we can feel the same natural cycles that trigger these changes are actually doing something to us too. It’s a feeling that moves us on a deep level, and in fact, if we get with it and go-go-go with that spring time flow we can help set ourselves up for a year full of health, vitality, fun, and indeed, frolics!

Cleansing time

This time of year is traditionally a time for cleaning out the house: we open the doors and windows wide, dust those hard to reach bits, and clear out any clutter that was accumulated during the cold winter months. Likewise, spring time is the perfect time to clean out any excess that may have accumulated in our bodies. In winter we tend to eat heavier, richer, fattier foods that have more hearty and warming qualities, but now is really the time to get rid of what those foods leave behind so that we can skip into summer all light and nimble on our feet. In many traditional cultures and religions, spring time is a time for fasting or cleansing the body, and as it is a time when our bodies are naturally predisposed towards this, it actually makes a lot of sense. According to traditional oriental medicines, the liver and gallbladder are most open to cleansing during the spring time and we can easily give them a helping hand by including more cleansing foods in our daily meals, by taking more exercise, and by drinking liquids and juices that can promote a gentle detox.

Get into the spring vibe!

And so it is here in the living, pulsating heart of Happy M Kitchen (the kitchen!) that the sun is creeping in the windows, lighting up the work tops and getting us right into the spring vibe. We’re all like excited little lambs bouncing and playing around and as we start to cook in a lighter style the lids are coming off our cooking pots, we are using our ovens less, and the cooking times are getting shorter. We are using a little less salty seasonings and focusing more on those cleansing foods with refreshing flavours and textures like citrus, radishes, lots of lovely new-growth leaves, living sprouts, and more raw foods. There are small additions to the meal plate like a little grated daikon (or mouli) that will help to break down fats in the liver, and our new Spring Green Detox juice and Ginger Lemon Shot to help with detox processes.
To be honest, the main difficulty we face is to stop the food jumping up and dancing off the plate, but we have our ways and it’s nice to see a steady procession of customers spinning pirouettes up the street after they leave.

So now is the time and right here at Happy M Kitchen is the place where you can nurture your very own internal spring cleaning. The food we’re serving up every day will get you hopping up on the good foot so you can get down and do the bad thing! (if you so wish) and if you feel like you need a real kick start to your spring cleanse then we’ve got a comprehensive range of diet and juicing packages to suit your needs and goals.

Pop in and have a chat, or a dance, we’ll be more than happy to join in with both.

Jack