Drying and Storing Herbs

Now is the time to dry your fresh herbs for storage. Don't wait until late summer or fall when you are busy canning! Now is the time!

The plants should then be gathered as follows:
*barks in the spring,
*leaves before the plant flowers,
*flowers on the first day of opening, and
*roots are best in the autumn (when lifting a root an effort must be made to get out the entire root, so a long spade or fork is needed)

The best time to cut herbs for drying is just before they flower. This is when the leaves have the most oil. Different varieties of herbs flower at different times of the season, so look for buds or newly opened flowers as your clue for harvesting. But, if your herbs have already flowered, they can still be harvested and dried. It is better to harvest herbs mid-morning when the leaves are dry but before the hot midday sun, but early evening is also good!

For some herbs you can cut and hang. For other herbs you must dry them quickly due to moisture content, or they will mold, ruining the entire bunch.

For herbs such as lavendar, cone flowers, goldenrod, oregano, and sage:

To harvest, cut the whole stems within a few inches of the base of the plant, gather into groups of 5-6 stems, tie and hang in a warm, airy location. When dry, strip off the leaves, store in a covered container such as a jelly size mason jar.

You can then tie them in loose bundles, and hang in a warm, airy place until dry. Make sure they aren't crowded so that air can circulate around them.

If you are harvesting echinacea (cone flowers) for medicinal purposes see this page, as you will also need to harvest the roots.

For high-moisture herbs such as lemon balm, basil, tarragon, mints, dandelion, nettles, and red raspberry leaves:

Remove individual leaves, or dry on stems. Lay in a single layer in a food dehydrator and dehydrate until very dry. Remove leaves from stems (if you haven't already) and place into air tight containers (mason jars, vacuum sealed bags, etc)

You can also dry these types of herbs in an oven. Heat over to 200 deg. Turn off. Place your herbs in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in warm oven. When dry, place into air tight containers (mason jars, vacuum sealed bags, etc).

You can also lay herbs on mesh screens in front of a dehumidifier over night, and store when dry.

All herbs need to be stored away from direct sunlight or heat as these rob the herbs of their potency. Enjoy your herbs!

Coming soon: herb butter, and vinegars and oils infused with herbs..

Homemade Ketchup

(without all that nasty high fructose corn syrup)

Summertime brings BBQ's and what's a BBQ without ketchup? But have you ever looked at the label? Here is a healthy alternative to store-bought.

1 6-oz can of tomato paste

1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp sweetener (I prefer agave or honey)

1 tsp Braggs Liquid Amino's or soy sauce

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp salt

2 1/2 Tbsp water

Combine ingredients in a small pot or saucepan, simmering for 10-15 minutes on medium heat, stirring often. Allow to cool, then store in the refrigerator in a mason jar. Usually lasts 2-3 weeks.

Basil

One of my favorite things about summer and gardening is basil.

More specifically..pesto.

The aromatic leaves can be used fresh or dried to add flavors or spices in stews, vegetable, poultry, vinegars, pesto and pasta dishes.

Aside from its culinary use, basils have medicinal uses. Basils have long been known to treat headaches, coughs, diarrhea, constipation, stomach aches, worms, warts and kidney malfunctions.

Pick basil leaves when young during summer. Freeze, dry or use to flavor herbs or vinegar right after picking or pack in jars of oil to preserve them.

Easy Pesto

In blender:

handful washed basil leaves, no stems (about 1/2c packed)

2 cloves garlic, peeled (more if you really like garlic)

1/4 c fresh parmesan cheese

cover with good quality olive oil (1/2- 3/4c)

Pulse until blended. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Blend again. Spoon over warm pasta, or use as a dip for warm bread.

Delish.

What is Kombucha? (pronounced kom-BOO-cha)

Some call it a tea, some call it an elixir. Either way, it's a miracle, and it's been used around the world for hundreds of years to help restore balance and vitality.

Kombucha is not a supplement, drug, or medicine... it is simply a super healthy food that helps the body to find (or regain) its natural balance in the body, which promotes overall well being.

Kombucha supports:

digestion

metabolism

immune system

appetite control

weight control

liver function

body alkalinity

anti-aging

cell integrity

healthy skin & hair

To put it in simple terms, Kombucha will make you feel good!

I LOVE this stuff! Yes! You can make your own, although I have never tried it. I LOVE the Synergy brand..so yummy!

SAD

Healthy Diets, Not Standard-American Diet Prevent Disease
article from al-natural-health-and-beauty.com

The Standard-American Diet is sad.

Many Americans assume that the United States is the world's healthiest nation. Unfortunately, statistics show that we are not as healthy as we may think.

We do enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world, with extraordinary emergency medical technology and trauma care.

The average American has first-class access to emergency health care, but this fact doesn't make us healthy. When we evaluate our national lifestyle as one of healthy living we get a different picture.

The Standard-American diet typically might include a doughnut or muffin with coffee and orange juice for breakfast followed by a mid-morning bagel with cream cheese.
Lunch would likely be a turkey sandwich with some chips and a soft drink-or a hefty fast-food burger with extra cheese, a large order of french fries, and a "super-sized" soft drink.
The afternoon hours would feature an "energy-boosting" candy bar from a vending machine with another soft drink.
Dinner promises a meat-and-potatoes entree with a roll and margarine, some green beans for the health-conscious, and some ice cream for desert.

This diet amounts to a prescription for poor health at best and disaster at worst. Virtually any departure from this diet will make you feel better. There is very good reason that the Standard-American-Diet is referred to by its acronym-SAD!

Ancestors Healthy Diet
Just one hundred years ago or less, the Standard-American Diet was dramatically different from what we eat today.
Widespread corporate "mono-agriculture" with concentration on singlecrop specialties and chemical fertilizers and pesticides was unheardof then. The typical Standard-American-Diet consisted mostly of fruits, vegetables, wild grain and seeds, fish, raw, unpasteurized dairy products, and meat from wild animals. Our ancestors consumed 30 to 65 percent of their daily calories (and up to 100 grams of fiber a day) from a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. That is why, long before the discovery of vitamins, people who had access to healthy foods lived extremely long lives without vitamin deficiencies or major illnesses.

Their protein needs were met by consuming pasture-fed animals, wild game, and fish that were rich in highly beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid. These fats protected our ancestors against diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Laws of Diet-Nutrition
Many who violate the laws of diet-nutrition are ignorant of the relation of the laws of living (eating, drinking, and working) to their health. If then we would resort to simple means, and follow the simple laws of health that we have been neglecting-proper diet, use of pure water, fresh air, sunshine, rest, and nature's remedies, herbs, etc., nature would restore the body to its original health.

The Standard-American Diet would be sad no more.

Plant Protein Source
an article from Green Smoothie Girl

Myth #1: “People need 20% protein—and animal protein is best.”

The idea that beef, chicken, fish and other animal products are the “best” source of protein is ingrained in the American psyche because of very successful work on the part of the multibillion-dollar cattle and dairy industries. They have immeasurable help from the fact that bodybuilders can show impressive bulk as a result of eating “quality” animal proteins. The plant protein source is, in fact, superior.
People are surprised to learn that vegetables have plenty of protein. To believe that, you have to let go of the idea of 20 percent protein being good and necessary—Colin Campbell’s animal studies in The China Study, and then his largest human nutrition study ever conducted, documented that a 20 percent animal protein diet leads to all the modern degenerative diseases. Campbell noted that rats fed 20 percent casein (cow-milk protein) developed cancerous tumors and died early, while those fed 5 percent casein were lean and vigorous beyond their life expectancy. When the diets of the two groups were switched, Campbell and other researchers around the world repeatedly got consistent results. Formerly lean animals developed tumors and died on a high-protein diet. And the tumors of overweight, cancer-ridden animals disappeared and life expectancy increased when they were switched to low-protein feed.
I used to lease a Pharmanex Biophotonic Scanner, and in the course of a year scanned 10,000 people nationwide for the carotenoid antioxidant levels in their skin, which is the nutritional endpoint of the body. The average American scans at 20,000. I scan at 70,000, which is above the 99th percentile and off the top end of the chart (as you would expect, virtually all raw foodists I measured scan at 50,000 or above). I scanned cancer patients who were below 10,000 (and we therefore could not get a reading). And despite doing a lot of work in gyms, I never once scanned a bodybuilder even as high as the national average! They were, on average, not much higher than the cancer patients. Their animal-protein diets may create a bulked-up appearance, but I’m more concerned about their long-term health.
Vegetables tend to have 9-10 percent protein. (Broccoli and spinach, however, have more than 40 percent protein, and my Best Whole Food Green Drink has the best green sources of protein on the planet, spirulina and chlorella algaes, with 58-60 percent protein.)
People often say they know sickly vegans to justify daily meat eating as a good lifestyle choice. But of course, not all vegans eat good nutrition: they don’t eat meat, but they might eat cotton candy for breakfast! Have you ever seen a sickly gorilla? He looks for nothing but a plant protein source every day.
Stephen Arlin, author of Raw Power!, is a 17-yr. vegan raw-foodist, as well as a rocked-up, 6’2”, 225-lb. bodybuilder. Bill Pearl is a vegetarian who won four Mr. Universe bodybuilder titles. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “Bill Pearl never talked me into becoming a vegetarian, but he did convince me that a vegetarian could become a champion body builder.”
A “quality” protein (animal flesh that matches human flesh closely) isn’t the same thing as “good” protein, as Campbell discusses extensively in The China Study. Your body can assemble all the amino acids from a plant protein source to create more quality muscle mass that does not break down quickly like that in heavy-meat-eating athletes.
I inadvertently put Stephen Arlin’s theory and observation that plant-based muscle mass is more enduring to the test recently. I peeled a tendon off my shoulder kickboxing and was forced to take a nine-month break from all weight training while rehabilitating. When I returned (having eaten my long-time, vegetable-intensive and animal-products-minimal diet), I was able to lift my original weight within two weeks and had lost no visible muscle definition. Fact: Animal flesh and animal products may lead to quick muscle mass, but eating lots of animal flesh is a Faustian bargain: short-term gain for a steep long-term price. Protein powders and bars are a fad designed to increase protein intake beyond healthy ratios. A plant protein source is best and leads to long-lasting, slower-to-build but slower-to-degenerate muscle mass. A typical American 20 percent animal protein diet is linked to cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and many more risks.

Making Butter

Yesterday I made butter for the first time. It was quick, easy, and tastes unbelievable!

I think the key is starting with good quality, fresh, RAW milk. Here in Northwest Indiana I have access to raw milk for $2 a gallon. Compare that to the dead stuff you buy at the store for $3.70+ a gallon.

Still questioning the safety of raw milk? Read this article, and this one. Read this article for the benefits of raw milk. Wondering what's wrong with pasteurized and homogenized milk from the store? Just click the links..

Back to making butter...

I started with 4 gallons of raw milk. When raw milk is refrigerated for 12+ hours, the cream rises to the top. Using a ladle, I skimmed the cream off the top of the chilled milk.

Making butter is simple and easy. You can churn the butter from cream in a blender, food processor, or mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid), therefore my instructions will be for the mixer..

Directions:

Start by pouring cream into the bowl of a standing mixer. I started with 2 quarts of cream. Start the mixer with the whisk attachment on low speed (to avoid splatter) and progress to medium speed as the liquid begins to thicken. Increase the speed to medium-high or high (if the cream allows that without splattering). Continue mixing at this speed until the buttermilk (looks watery) separates from the butter (light yellow, or white clumps).

The butter should then be washed to remove as much of the butter milk as possible. Remove the butter from the butter milk, and place it in a bowl with cold water. Using your hands, form the butter into a ball, squeezing gently to remove buttermilk. You may salt your butter at this stage (to taste). Dip frequently into the cold water to keep it cold. Continue until butter milk is all squeezed out. Not washing the butter will result in butter that my go rancid because of the butter milk.

The butter can be then be wrapped and frozen or refrigerated for storage.

Raw Foodism:

Raw foodism (or rawism) is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of un-cooked, un-processed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. If 75-100% of a person's total food consumption is raw food, he/she is considered a raw foodist or living foodist. Raw foodists typically believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits.

Raw (vegetarian) food diets may include a selectıon of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds (including sprouted whole grains), and non-pasteurized/non-homogenized dairy products (such as raw milk, raw cheese and raw yogurt).

Adherents of raw foodism believe that consumption of uncooked foods encourages weight loss and prevents and/or heals many forms of sickness and chronic diseases. “Raw foodists” believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost much of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body.

Common beliefs held by raw foodists:
*Raw foods contain digestive enzymes which aid digestion, meaning that the body's own enzymes may work unimpeded in regulating the body's metabolic processes, and heating food above 104-120 degrees Fahrenheit degrades or destroys these enzymes in food.
*Eating food without enzymes makes digestion more difficult, which could lead to toxicity in the body and cause excess consumption of food, obesity and chronic disease, such as metabolic syndrome, which some studies suggest affects up to 25% of the U.S. population.
*Raw foods contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that affect the immune system and digestion by populating the digestive tract with gut flora.
*Raw foods have higher nutrient values than foods which have been cooked. In addition, processed food and convenience food often contain excitotoxins (flavor enhancers) which can cause excitotoxicity. Foods with added chemicals, preservatives, additives, colouring agents/dyes of any kind are frowned upon by raw-foodists.
*Wild foods (or natural foods) are more nutritious than domesticated foods or industrially produced foods.
*Cooked foods contain harmful toxins which cause chronic disease and other problems.
*Raw foods like fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants and thus help to stifle signs of aging.
*Eating cooked foods can lead to acidosis.

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
~Thomas A. Edison

U.S. Junk Food Intake Worsening
Article from Dr. Mercola

Forsaking healthy, home-cooked meals, more Americans than ever are gorging on calorie-rich, nutrient-poor snacks, sodas and sweets when the dinner bell rings, according to three studies tracking changes in the U.S. diet over the past 25 years.
Americans have increased their energy intake of French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza and Mexican food as part of their meals," conclude researchers led by Dr. Samara Joy Neilsen of the University of North Carolina.

Overall, they found that total (food) energy intake has increased over the past 20 years, with shifts away from meals to snacks and from at-home to away-from-home.

We know in the United States that obesity is on the rise, and we know that this is because of two things -- we're increasing our energy intake across all the age groups as well as decreasing our physical activity.

Focusing on changes in diet researchers compared the results of national U.S. government food consumption surveys conducted in 1977-78, 1989-91 and 1994-96.
In every age group, more and more Americans now consume a large proportion of their daily food intake via snacks rather than sit-down meals, favoring quick, easy -- often non-nutritious -- foods like potato chips, cookies, pizza and other high-calorie treats.

The proportion of energy from restaurant/fast food has increased considerably since the late 1970s. Among 19- to 39-year-olds, away-from-home food consumption just about doubled between 1977 and 1996, with 28% of young Americans saying they had eaten out on any given day in 1996, compared to just 14% two decades previously.

Another study, presented by Dr. Alanna Moshfegh of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, broke the survey findings down even further, looking at changes in the popularity of our favorite -- and not-so-favorite -- foods. She found steep increases in consumption of pizza, chocolate and hamburgers, in children as well as adults.

Children are making a definite shift away from milk to sodas and sugary drinks. While 90% of 6- to 11-year-olds in the late 1970s said they had milk on a given day, just 78% could say so by the mid-1990s. At the same time, daily soda consumption rose in the same age group from 31% in the 1970s to 46% two decades later.

The war between milk and soda is indicative of a shift in the U.S. diet, where nutrient-poor "junk foods" are gradually replacing healthier items such as low-fat milk, fruits and vegetables. "One is being consumed at the expense of the other," said the author of a third study, Dr. Ashima Kant of the City University of New York.

Looking closely at data on children's responses to the 1988-1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, she found that "energy-dense, nutrient-poor" foods now account for over 30% of American children's daily energy intake, "with sweeteners and desserts jointly accounting for nearly 25%."

The population is changing, there's a faster lifestyle, the mix of restaurants is different today, the availability of all types of food in all kinds of settings is much more prominent today.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is one of the reasons why U.S. immigrants outlive their American-born counterparts and are less likely to die of heart disease, lung cancer and suicide.

90% of the money Americans spend on foods goes towards processed foods.

How can you possibly be healthy with that much processed food in your diet? You really need the reverse ratio to stay healthy, 90% non-processed food and spend plenty of time in your kitchen to prepare it.

You don't have to despair and say poor me because I was born in the U.S. and am going to die sooner than those born in a foreign country. You can take the proactive step and aggressively implement the diet suggestions which will provide the same health benefits that those born outside the U.S. are receiving.

The main strategy? Stay away from processed foods and either pay someone to spend time in the kitchen to prepare your non-processed food meals or do them yourself.

I have less free time than most reading this newsletter, yet I prepare over 95% of my meals myself to preserve my health.

Soy. It looks harmless.

And, it tastes like a vanilla milkshake! What's not to love?!?

I have avoided soy for quite a few years now, after reading articles like this. But recently, I have let it creep back into my life. Probably because it tastes REALLY good, and it cooks better than rice milk. It seems that every vegetarian/vegan food blog or cookbook uses it liberally. Have they not done their research? From what I have read:

*fermented soy is ok (miso, tofu, tempeh)

*unfermented soy is bad (soy milk, soy flour)

*soy is in everything, and it is likely GMO.

Here is a great article with about 50 sources listed is called Tragedy & Hype: The Third International Soy Symposium. It is written by Sally Fallon.

Reasons I avoid soy products:

* Even though I nurse my babies, I cannot ignore the warnings about soy infant formula "... estimated that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the oestrogenic equivalent (based on body weight) of at least five birth control pills per day" Can you imagine the effect this has on a growing baby girl or boy? Ugh!

*"Hundreds of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, cognitive, immune system breakdown, and even heart disease and cancer. Contrary to popular belief that soy is a health food, evidence reveals that soy consumption has been linked to numerous disorders, including infertility, increased cancer and infantile leukemia, Type1 diabetes, and precocious puberty in children have been fed soy formula. (early maturation, such as breast development and menstruation as early as 6 years of age). Scientists have known for years that the isoflavones in soy products can depress thyroid function and cause goiters in otherwise healthy children and adults." Read the full article here, this page has many sources.

Bananas

The other day I was doing some last minute grocery shopping at our local grocer. In all honesty, I don't shop there very often (due to limited selection and very high prices). I needed some bananas, because if we don't have any in the house, Savannah (2) will think she is starving to death. They had a BUNCH of ripe (brown spots) bananas sitting there beside the green ones. I asked the produce clerk if she would give me a deal on the ripe ones, and she did! Yeah!! $.19 a pound. I bought 26.31 pounds of banana's for $5! I promptly came home and peeled and froze all of them for smoothies! Had to share! :)

"King Corn"

We watched an eye opening documentary a few nights ago titled "King Corn". Living in Indiana, we love our sweet corn!

This film is about best friends who decide to move to Iowa to grow an acre of corn, after finding out (through laboratory hair analysis) that their bodies were made primarily out of….corn.

Americans are so “corny” because almost every product in conventional grocery stores – from steaks to chicken breasts to condiments to desserts to tomato sauce to frozen entrees (the list goes on) are ultimately derived from genetically modified (GMO) corn, either in the form of high fructose corn syrup or from corn-based animal feed. Scary thought!!!

The filmmakers visit cattle feedlots which hold thousands of animals dining on GMO corn-based feed and learn that too much corn causes the cattle to eventually develop an acidic condition (acidosis) that eventually kills them. Both corn-fed beef and high-fructose corn syrup contribute to the obesity epidemic in the United States.

This film is available FREE on Netflix instant view, and probably Google Video's. It is well worth watching!

Welcome!

This blog is dedicated to providing good tasting, healthy, vegetarian, and vegan recipes, that even picky children will eat.
I also hope to include vital nutrition information that mainstream America may discard.

Please feel free to give feedback on the recipes (and info :) But, please go easy on me, I'm still learning too! I, in no way claim that what I eat, or what I feed my kids is perfect. But I am trying to spare them the misery of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc... that seem to be the norm in our society.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~Proverbs 22:6

I want to thank, and whole-heartedly recommend an awesome site: Happy Foody. It is where I get so many recipe ideas, and the inspiration to do a veggie blog of my own. Sara is nothing short of amazing!

Blessings!

Staci