Blogs

At first Aprils box was going to be "Love Your LIver", but as life became busier and busier for me I realized I needed to change our April box to the Slow Down Box.    The two subjects are very connected and I watch people all the time going at high speeds through life and I am always telling people to slow down and take a moment.  

Aprils  box was inspired by the chaos that has hit my life.    I personally do a very good job adding "Slow Down" Moments in my life, but I was hit with a lot of changes this month and they were all coming on very fast and they hit so fast that I was having trouble grounding myself.  I still made sure I had my tea time moments, but they were to fast and I was not getting my daily hiking time up the mountain.  For me this was not good.  My mountain time is what keeps me together and my mountain surroundings were changing.  

Long story short. Right before 2015 ended, I was working on letting go of the old in my life.  This change was hitting big and hard and deep down I new more change was coming.  I just did not know it until I was in the middle of the storm. I have lived on a farm in the coastal mountains for 13 years.  Moving to this land is what healed my from some serious health problems that I was having   The mountains and  the beautiful valley with a combination of a beautiful horse named Bella is what healed me.  Fresh air, spring water, living out in nature and eating organic food is what healed me.   In March we were notified that the owner of our property need to sell his other place and move on to this one.   We new this day was coming and at first my heart was broken and I was worried about where I could live to keep me healthy.  Fresh air and pure water are the vital elements to keeping me alive.  

First let me explain why I feel Love Your Liver is connect to Slow Down. 

Nourishing yourself with healthy food full of vitamins and minerals and a cuppa nourishing tea and you feel yourself relax into life.  Feeding yourself healthy nutrient dense food will nourish your nervous system therefore nourish your nerves which will give you the ability to relax and enjoy life's beautiful moments.  

Allow yourself to dream

To slow down

To have slow food in your life

When you are pooping instead of looking at your phone and keeping your body in a "Fight or Flight mode, put it away and letting it all go.  If you need to look at something bring a paperback book into the bathroom 

To have a cuppa tea while sitting in a bath, sit outside and watch the sky, listen to the birds, with a loved with a loved one or just stop and have a quiet moment for yourself.  

We are presenting your with the slow down box, to push you, to help you slow down in life.  We are here to remind you to stop, reflect, dream, be still, digest your meal slowly, to cook, yes I said cook.  I here some of you say cooking is not slow or relaxing.  But really it is and it is time we stop putting the belief out there.   It really is our fast pace life that has taken the enjoyment out of cooking and has set up so many generations to not know how to cook.   

Slow Food

Spice up your life

No time for tea?   

Linden Flower Infusion: This is a night time ritual.  

You will start it at night, strain in the morning and drink throughout the day.    Place 1 oz of Linden Leaf and Flower in a quart jar. 

Happy Day Seasoning 

Add Happy Day Seasoning to salad dressings, marinades and sautes.  You can also infuse it in honey, vinegar or oil.  

To make salad dressing or marinade:

Take 2 tablespoons of Happy Day Seasoning and mix with 1/4 cup organic olive oil and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white balsamic vinegar.  

Shake and let sit over night. 

5 Tbl. lavender buds powder

5 Tbl. rose petal powder

2 Tbl. orange peel powder

2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder

2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/4 tsp clove powder

1  1/4 tsp ginger powder 

Handfuls of Love 

Serenity Syrup

Fresh organic lemon balm, lavender buds, linden leaf and flower, motherwort, lemon grass, lemon verbena, a pinch of mugwort, organic lavender tincture, local honey, brandy, mountain mama hawthorn flower essence and Love 

Sleepy Time Honey

Infuse packet of herbs with 1 cup of honey

1 cup honey

2 Tbl. powdered lavender

2 Tbl.  powdered chamomile

1 tsp. Powdered lemon balm

1/2 teaspoon powdered nutmeg

1 tsp linden leaf and flower

One Ounce of dried Linden Leaf and Flower for Tea or Infusion

Linden Flower Infusion: This is a night time ritual.  

You will start it at night, strain in the morning and drink throughout the day.    Place 1 oz of Linden Leaf and Flower in a quart jar. 

You can either make several batches of relaxing tea or make an infusion.  

To make tea

Coffee Bath Salts 

Folk Method for Tincture Making

Tinctures are a concentrated liquid extracts made from fresh or dried herbs.   They are very potent.   Because they are so concentrated, they should be administered carefully and sparingly.  

Most tinctures are made with alcohol as the primary solvent.   Effective tinctures can also be made with apple cider vinegar and vegetable glycerin but will not be as strong as the alcohol-based tinctures.   If you are using vegetable glycerin please keep in mind that most vegetable glycerin is made from soy.   I am against using soy for a variety of reasons so I do not recommend vegetable glycerin unless it is soy free.  If you are interested in using it please make sure your source is 100% certified organic, otherwise you will be using GMO vegetable glycerin and that is not healing for your body.   

Alcohol Tincture: You will need 80 to 100 proof, such as vodka (I like Finlinda Vodka), gin, or brandy.  Half of the proof number is the percentage of alcohol in the spirits, 80 proof brand is 40 percent alcohol, 100 proof vodka is 50 percent alcohol.  

You will need: 

Herbs fresh or dried

Clean dry jars

Cheese cloth

Strainers

Tincture bottles

Funnels.  A variety of sizes. 

Menstruum of choice: Alcohol, apple cider vinegar, and/or soy free glycerin

Traditional or Simpler's Method.  

I prefer using the traditional way.  I am old fashion and I believe that this method works beautifully.  It has for years..  

Fresh Flowers and Leaf:  

Chop herbs finely and place 2/3 o 3/4 in a clean dry jar, pack it tightly.  

Pour alcohol over the herbs, fill just over the herbs by an inch.  Cover herbs completely. 

Label and date

Shake daily, give it some Love

Dried Leaves and Flowers

Fill jar 1/2 with herb material

Pour alcohol over the herbs, fill just over the herbs by an inch.  Cover completely. 

Label and date

Shake daily, give it some Love

Fresh Bark, Roots and Berries:

Fill jar 1/3 to 2/3 of fresh herb

Pour alcohol over the herbs, fill just over the herbs by an inch.  Cover herbs completely.  

Shake daily, give it some Love

Dried Bark, Roots and Berries

Fill jar with 1/3 to 1/2 herbs

Pour alcohol over the herbs, fill just over the herbs by an inch.  Cover herbs completely 

Keep in mind roots and berries will expand 1/2 their size.  

Label and date

Shake daily, give it some love

Remember to pour enough menstruum (alcohol, vinegar, wine or vegetable glycerin) to cover the herbs.  Liquid should rise 2 to 3 inches above the herbs.   Herbs should move freely when you shake the jar.  cover with a tight-fitting lid. 

Apple Cider Vinegar:

Warm it slightly first then pour it over the herbs. Fill just over the herbs by an inch. 

Vegetable Glycerin 

Mix 3 parts vegetable glycerin to 1 part distilled water heat it slightly. Mix well then pour over the herbs.  Fill just over the herbs by an inch.

Place the jar in a warm location, like a kitchen counter.  Avoid sunlight exposure.  After a few days if you notice the herbs are not covered all the way be sure to top off with more alcohol.

Let sit for 6 to 8 weeks.    

To Strain You Will Need;

Strainer, unbleached cheese cloth, 2 cup or 4 cup measuring cup, labels and bottles.

Place strainer over measuring cup, put cheese cloth over strainer.  Pour contents of tincture into strainer.   Squeeze, squeeze and squeeze.  Twist and squish.   Get all of the wonderful healing properties out.  

Pour into tincture bottles and label.   

Dosages Adult

Tinctures dosages do vary, you might want to start with less and adjust as needed. 

Acute:  1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon every 30 to 60 minutes until symptoms subside  OR 2 dropperfuls every 2 to 3 hours for 1 to 2 days and then taper down 

Chronic:  1/2 to 1 teaspoon  three times daily OR 2 dropperfulls 3 times per day for 8 to 12 weeks.  

You can put them in tea, water, juice, ice cubes, smoothies Popsicle ect. 

Herbal Syrups

Sweet, Soothing, Delicious 

It's the Ahhhhh.... of Herbal Medicine

www.mcminnvillehealthdefense.ning.com

I love making syrups, the smell of a syrup simmering on the stove is one of the best smells!  You can get very creative with your herbal syrups, try adding some berries, spices, or fruits, be creative!

 Syrups are pretty easy to make. They are a wonderful remedy to keep on hand, they are tasty sweet medicine that can be used for a verity of aliments. There are not just for illness.  You can make immune syrups, energy syrups, LOVE syrups and more! 

To Make a syrup, you simply make a strong herbal brew ( think strong strong tea).  For a sweetener you can use honey (Honey will help store your syrup for a couple months in the refrigerator, it is also very healing for sore throats and coughs) maple syrup or fruit juice concentrate or fruit juice.  If you need to preserve it for a longer amount of time add vodka, brandy, whiskey etc.. 

Things to do with syrup- You can add syrup to your herbal teas, on pancakes, in your smoothies, herbal pop-cycles...  There are many things you can do, so have some fun! 

Basic Syrup Making: 

Use 2 ounces of herb mixture or fruit or both,  to 1 quart of water.  Over low heat, simmer the liquid down to 1 pint (half way).  This will give you very concentrated tea.  

Strain the herbs from the liquid.  I use a strainer with a cheesecloth over a 4 cup measuring cup.  Squeeze out all the excess liquid from the cheese cloth.    Pour liquid back into the pot

To each pint of liquid, add 1 cup (more or less) of honey/or other sweetener to the pot. 

Warm it gently, on low.  Mix well.   You can cook it on a higher heat to thicken it up, but watch it closely.  I prefer mine, cooked gently on low and it is a bit waterier, but it will be more alive with the enzymes from the honey and herbs, than the high heat method.

If you like, once mixed you can add fruit concentrate.

It will last a month if refrigerated or in the kitchen cupboard for few weeks.

If you need it to last longer than add a small amount of alcohol such as brandy or vodka.   I have used Whiskey to.    Add about a 1/4 cup per 2 cups of syrup. 

Honey Onion Syrup: 

A delicious remedy for colds, flu's sore throats, and coughs.  Great for children and adults.  

Ingredients:

one large onion

1-2 cups honey

Optional Ingredients:  few cloves of chopped garlic or some fresh grated ginger

How to make: 

Cut onion in half, then cut into very thin discs, 

In a medium sized saucepan add onion and optional ingredients.  Add enough honey to lightly cover all of the cut items.  cook over low heat for 30 minutes(do not boil), until onions get juicy and soft..  Place in a glass jar and cover with lid and lable.  No need to strain. 

This will store in the refrigerator for several weeks.  

Take by teaspoons when you feel a cold or flu coming on,  Soothes coughs and boosts immune system.   You can eat the onions in the syrup.  

Horseradish Honey Syrup for Cough:

Horseradish syrup quells coughs and soothes a sore throat; grate a small piece of horseradish into a small saucepan. Squeeze the pulp over the pan to extract additional juice. Add a little honey and enough water just to cover the pulp; boil for 5 min. let the pulp cool, and then squeeze the pulp again to catch any additional juice; discard the pulp. Mix the horseradish juice with enough honey to make a palatable syrup. Take up to 5 tbsp. of the syrup a day.

Elderberry Syrup