i’ve been devoting a lot of time and energy lately to the natural motherhood series, and while i’m going to be continuing that as normal, i wanted to branch out and offer something that would appeal to the un-pregnant majority (a complete assumption) of my readership. i was thinking about what i could add to my current series, which include the wheel of the year, natural motherhood, and herbal preparations, and my husband ingeniously suggested a series on wild edibles. yum yum! Read the rest of this entry »
wild foods feast, part 1: intro + dandelion!
April 16, 2011 at 12:35 pm (Green Living, Herb Profiles, Recipes, Whole Foods)
Tags: coffee, dandelion, food and drink, green living, healthy snacks, herbmentor, natural vitamins, weeds, wild food
herbal preparations: honeys, oxymels, and elixirs
February 20, 2011 at 10:49 pm (Basic Herbal Preparations, For Kids, Herb Profiles, Herbal Remedies, Recipes, Whole Foods)
Tags: cordial, elixir, food and drink, green living, Herbalism, herbs, home remedies, honey, medicine, oxymel, vinegar
a bee from an egyptian hieroglyph
i figured i would take a short break from the series that i’m doing on natural motherhood and crank back up on a couple of my other projects. something that i’ve been meaning to add for a while is a basic herbal preparations entry for sweet medicine—for honeys, oxymels, and elixirs. honey (the common denominator between all three of these preparations) is a mysterious substance. in the archaeology of beekeeping, author eva crane posits, based on neolithic cave paintings in valencia, spain, that honey has been a food source for humans for at least 10,000 years. since the beginning of written history, thousands of medicinal and culinary uses of honey have graced the tablets and pages of our past. yes, dried bee puke has held our interest for quite some time! it has been used to treat wounds, to aid in the mummification process, to preserve food and drink, to sweeten things, and, as every granny knows, to stop a cough dead in its tracks! Read the rest of this entry »
make your own goat cheese!
November 26, 2010 at 4:07 pm (For Kids, Green Living, Recipes, Whole Foods)
Tags: cheese, food and drink, goat cheese, goat milk, green living, healthy snacks, herbs, natural products
in my attempt to revive antiquated kitchen skills, i’ve learned to make chicken stock, pickled veggies, jams and jellies, but one of my favorite d.i.y. things has been goat cheese. i’m tempted to pick some up every time i go the store. it just stares at me from the cold shelves of the “gourmet foods” section of the grocery store, all creamy and rolled in exotic herbs. it says “buuuuy meeeee” (softly, and with the voice of mike rowe from “dirty jobs” lol). i pick it up, and i aaaaaalmost buy it—but then i look at the price—and i put it down. let’s be honest. it wouldn’t make it a day in my fridge—especially if there’s melba toast within reach. i rarely buy it because i can’t justify the expense. sorry mike. Read the rest of this entry »
food as medicine: herbal chicken stock
November 8, 2010 at 8:02 pm (For Kids, Green Living, Herb Profiles, Recipes, Whole Foods)
Tags: chicken stock, food and drink, green living, herbs, natural products, soup
i may be in the minority here, but as a been-drenched-in-sweat-for-six-months alabamian, i must say that i’m quite pleased that it’s finally starting to get cold (yes, here in bama we consider 60 degrees cold!). cold weather means time for root veggies, pomegranates, greens, and squashes. it’s a sign to everything in nature to slow down and rest. aerial parts of plants begin to die back and all of the energy and vital force moves down into the roots for storage and for several months of waiting. we slow down too—after the cold settles in, only the die-hard runners and joggers can be seen out on the roads. the rest of us put on our robes, waddle to the windows, look out at the frost-covered cars and say “eh, maybe not today.” Read the rest of this entry »
healthy greens for potato chip addicts: kale chips
October 20, 2010 at 9:21 pm (Green Living, Recipes, Whole Foods)
Tags: food and drink, healthy snacks, kale
if you’re the kind of person who can sit down in front of the tv and eat a whole bag of potato chips at once, then this recipe is for you. i found out about kale chips while surfing through raw food videos on youtube (my official opinion on going raw, btw, is that it’s difficult, unhealthy, and time consuming—but that doesn’t mean that using raw foods as part of your diet is a bad idea!)
so anyway, i found this recipe and was intrigued by it. at first, i didn’t believe the claims about the rockin’ tastiness of dried kale, but i was looking for healthier snacks and it seemed something i might be able to try. i used the raw foods method, meaning that my chips were dehydrated, not baked, but you can do either and i’m including instructions for both ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Urban Herbwifery 