Foods That Heal: Spinach

Today's Food that Heals is Spinach served up in Crumbs Bakery's Spinach Fettuccine.

This is pasta that Popeye would love!

How Happy is Lisa?

Lisa works at Crumbs Bakery, which is why she is so happy! Crumbs is a worker owner business established in 1986 and is located in Athens, Ohio. They have wonderful pastries, as well as hand crafted crackers and wonderful pasta. Crumbs Bakery is in a shared use kitchen with me, The Herbal Sage Tea Company. There are other folks who create wonderful foods as well, but today's topic is on Lisa, Crumbs and the FAB Spinach Fettuccine. What a wonderful way to include some veggie into a nutritious meal.

We often think of spinach as a cooked green and many do not enjoy it.Spinach  eaten as a fresh green,  can tend to be tough or too leafy for many. But spinach is so beneficial. I want to encourage everyone to try spinach in their weekly menu. Lisa is just the gal to help make that happen. Can  you see that glow of health beaming directlyy at you? Could it be that those ribbons of spinach and love are permeating thru? Maybe!! I love having creative folks  around the kitchen, we never know what will be stirred up, cooked or brewed. Lisa's infectious laugh is an added bonus any day at work.

Include spinach in your diet the easy way is with the Spinach Fettuccine offered by our local bakers from Crumbs! Spinach is rich in flavanoids, vitamins and minerals. Dried spinach is blended with flour, eggs and other secret bakery ingredients and made into these little ribbons called Fettuccine. By eating this nourishing pasta one has the benefits of fiber.Spinach is rich in complex carbohydrates, which provides our bodies with vitamins, minerals and energy. Crumbs Bakery and their offering of spinach, can provide our bellies with a real delight in taste as well as health!

So please eat your spinach! Keep Lisa smilin'!

Foods that Heal

This is the first blog on my series entitled,
"Foods that Heal". My focus is on herbs and their therapeutic effects, with the idea that herbs are not only something to add to water to make a tissane or tea, but something to add to your meals or use to create a meal.
I will be interviewing Athens,Ohio area growers, producers and foodies for this series and allow them to share with you their favortie Foods that Heal.

Today's herb is one such herb,it is one of my favorite herbs for health.Nettles ( Urtica dioica),also known as Stinging Nettle are best harvested in spring, when the leaves are fresh and full of healthful juices.They are considered a spring remedy and a general detoxifying herb for the whole body. Nettle has Vitamin C, protein and fiber. It also works in creating relief of allergy symptoms as Nettle is a source of quercetin which is a flavonoid that inhibits the release of histamine. Many find that by drinking Nettle tea consistently they exhibit less allergy problems. Nettles are nutrient dense and contain the minerals calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sulfur and zinc, as well as vitamins B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, C, E, K and folate. In addition, Nettle contain numerous phytochemicals, including lycopene and beta-carotene.Nettle is also a diuretic,helping to rid the body of excess fluid and toxins.

If you choose to harvest Nettle yourself, be sure to wear gloves as Nettle has fine hairs on the leaves and stems that contain chemicals that sting and burn when it comes in contact with the skin.Folk remedy suggests that stinging yourself with Nettle will relieve pain associated with arthritis. I just find it uncomfortable if I harvest without wearing gloves. When the leaves are steamed in tea or cooked, the stinging will not occur.Nettle also looses much of its sting when dried.

It is most often prepared as an infusion, pouring a cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of the dried herb and leaf to infuse for 10-15 minutes I make it into a tea and also use the leaves as food. Nettle is nourishment, simple yet effective, nourishment.

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Today, I have chosen to make a batch of Nettle sun tea, which after steeping for the entire day, I will strain and put into the frig for refreshing cups of Nettle tea for a few days!
We served Nettle to everyone at Athens Farmers Market on Saturday and converted many naysayers to the wonderful taste of Nettle tea.We brewed it hot, then cooled it and sampled it as Iced Tea. It was wonderful!

Slippery Elm Bark Changed Everything

Here in Tealand we handcraft our blends. Working closely with healing herbs has allowed us to become very familiar with each one.Sometimes we use the flowers, or berries.Other times the whole plant,and with some herbs, we work with the roots or bark. Slippery Elm Bark is one of these.We blend with slippery elm utilizing the inner bark of the tree. This mucilaginous part of the tree offers the utmost in healing.It not only soothes an achy throat, but it has been traditionally used to help soothe the entire digestive system.
Generally we blend using the cut inner bark, it is very fluffy and somewhat stubborn in blending well with other herbs. We had an idea, why not use the powdered slippery elm bark? We add the powdered version of this healing tree to our Essiac formula and it works well with the other powdered herbs. Well... the answer is in the photo. Do you see that shine to the blend once water has been added? This blend was allowed to steep for 10 minutes, and when we began to strain it, well, the healing ,soothing, muscilaginous nature of slippery elm bark slowed the straining process almost completely to a halt! WOW! We were surprised at the thickness that the powder produced compared to the cotton cut version of the inner bark.Remember this is the same herb, the same part of the tree, only cut differently!The taste was somewhat altered as well, we think a bit smoother, much like one of Thayers throat lozenges, made from slippery elm bark. The recipe stayed the same except for this, what we thought,would be a minor change. Many of you may like this new version, and if so grab a package of Calm Your Cough Tea now, as this blend is a once in a blend situation.On a side note, if you don't like it and picked up a package please send us an e-mail and we'll ship you out our traditionally blended Calm Your Cough Tea!

Hunting the Elder plant in SW Florida

I found this plant while biking on Pine Island Florida this week. It is called Kalanchoe delagoensis. Common names are Mother of Thousands or Chandelier Plant. Although not a native plant,I have seen it blooming this week in Pine Island Sound and along the Manasota Key area. I was told that it was brought here as a house plant years ago and has since gone invasive on Florida's coast. The bright colored coral tubular flowers hang together, hence the name chandelier plant. The two places where I found it were near old home sites, long since abandoned. I was also told that it takes 2-3 years before the plant flowers, but once it starts to grow it is very invasive.I was on a mission to find the Beach Elder or Marsh Elder, native to Florida when I found this beautiful plant. The Beach or Marsh Elder is not a true Elder (Sambucus), but nonetheless I was intrigued when I was told that elder grew amongst the ocean areas.I have a real affinity for elderberry and love to use it when I can in my blends. When I travel to SW Florida yearly I bring extract made from elderberry that grows in SE Ohio known as Sambucus nigra (black elderberry) for some local friends. The health benefits are far reaching with a focus on supporting one's immune system and helping to fight off the flu. At The Herbal Sage Tea Company we make a highly concentrated extract with the elderberry fruit, as well as adding these powerful antioxidants to our Family Health Tea with elderberry. Thanks for reading this blog and I will share new plants that I discover as I travel the way of the Herbal Gypsy.

2012

This is the first day of thenew year, generally I try and take it one day at a time, but this year,2012,seems to be on every one's radar as an upcoming epic year.
Last fall flew by me and I did not have a chance to post to this blog. My father had been diagnosed with cancer in late fall, intitally, we were told that it was operable and that we could expect treatment and some recovery. That's not how it played out and now and we find out that it is terminal.
My parents are extremely strong individuals and when working as a team, as they have done for over 61 years, they are awesome. They have taken this diagnosis head on and are truly living each day to its fullest.Taking great care of each other and following the treatments prescribed, with the added benefits of eating quite well and having herbal teas in their daily diet.The fact that they are snowbirds and are now in the warm of Florida helps too!

As an herbalist and someone who plays the role of caretaker often,I have found myself very frustrated at times since the diagnosis. Although dad is enjoying many of my teas,including Happy Belly Organic Herbal Tea,he is beginning to feel the ill effects of his treatments.Currently he is also taking elderberry extract and Family Health Tea. The tea blend is rich in anti-oxidants,vitamin C, is all organic and caffeine free. Elderberry has been used traditionally to help fight the flu for centuries, and the extract is very effective.We do NOT want him to get the flu or any illness at this point!

We have purchased an RV and plan on traveling down south to visit them and help in any way, leaving in the next few weeks.I will also continue to look for new revenues for Herbal Sage Brand Teas,as I travel, and will have opportunity's to share my herbal knowledge in a couple of scheduled classes in Florida.

For now I am working hard to get Herbal Sage's main offices in order, with my excellent blending staff ready to blend in my absence.I plan on blogging as I travel, sharing herbal information, Herbal Sage Tea news and of course tidbits about my dad's road, and how we all travel with him as he moves thru it.
The Sage suggestion for today is,,,, to remember to take your elderberry extracts and share your herbal teas. Drink organic healthy herbs often and enjoy!

Local Food & Spices

Our Farmer's Market in Athens, Ohio is still going strong. We have an abundance of wonderful farmers who are keeping us nourished with local veggies, great selection of fruits,herbs,teas and spices. We also have processors,such as myself, who create products using these wonderful local ingredients.
Staring last month we began to harvest and dry local spice bush berry. After the herb is dried we hand crush the berries to release the amazing flavor trapped in each seed.We look for the berry in the undergrowth of our woodlands. They are most often found growing under Paw Paw trees.When we harvest our Paw Paws in early Sept, the spice bush berries are still green, giving us notice to comeback and harvest in a month.
The old timers in my area told me that they generally harvested the twigs of the spice bush tree to use for a tasty tea. They would often be in the woods hunting in the fall, and would brew up a batch of spice bush twig tea. They did not bother to much with the berry as the hardness of each berry made the tea brew too weak. The berry taste is similar to a nice nutmeg, not too strong, yet full of its own unique flavor.
Because spearmint is one of my favorite herbs I add crushed spice bush berries to a blend of organic spearmint leaf. Giving me a tea I call, Native Spicebush Spearmint Tea. The flavor is an interesting blend of mint and deep spice. A perfect reminder of fall for all of us here in Athens, Ohio.
The berry is said to have medicinal qualities, good for relief of fever and flu symptoms.It can also be added to seasoning mixes, or used alone, to add the distinct flavor of native nutmeg.

Elderberry Harvesting

The whole world stands still for us when we see the elderberry beginning to fruit. Watching the bushes as they grow taller and taller, sometimes out of our reach, umbels cascading with green, semi-green and then deep purple fruit, give precedence to our days here in Tealand in SE , Ohio.
A storm blew thru night before last and as it woke me, thunder crashing, my first thoughts were to the elderberry fruit. How are they handling this wind and rain? Knowing that many "seeds" were dropping to the ground, beginning growth for next season, I hoped Mother Nature would leave enough on the bush for harvesting.
Our harvesting this year is leading us deeper into overgrown areas. The vines, thistle, multi floral rose,poison ivy and snakes creates an exciting and challenging wild crafting adventure. This type of work, I must admit, is my favorite part of being an herbalist. Working and harvesting in the field allows me to feel the presence of Mother Nature. I could do without the possible snake sighting, but we watch were we walk, when we can see the ground and hope for the best!
Some of the berries will be dried and added to our Family Health Tea, the rest will be made into an extract and be made available on line and at our local farmers market. I've added a link for more information about the healing qualities of elderberry.
As early as 2007, research studies have found that black elderberry to be effective in shortening the duration of influenza A and B.Elderberries are unusually rich in the phytochemicals known as flavonoids. Among all fruits, elderberries are the most concentrated source of anthocyanins, a class of flavonoids that act as powerful antioxidants to boost the immune system.