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Cleansing for the New Year

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This is a repost of a blog I wrote around this time last year. Happy New Year everyone.

Is anyone else ready to put away the dairy and desserts and cleanse for the New Year? I personally love a good cleanse, though I’m partial to the low-suffering kind. I know people who think it’s not a real cleanse unless you take in nothing but fresh juice and water, but that never made sense to me. Our bodies like balance, and balance by extremes is not really balance at all at the human level. Just look at how bad yo-yo dieting is for people or how hard it is on the body when there are huge weight fluctuations. Gentle detox is a way to cleanse while giving the body support to adjust, instead of shocking the body and then reeling from its effects. Of course, there is a time and place for everything and if you know what you are doing and have the right support, then by all means juice away your days. If you prefer a cleansing reboot that doesn’t leave your blood sugar levels bouncing and your mood-o-meter permanently set to hangry, keep reading for some options.

Adding powdered greens to your daily routine is one way to activate detox mechanisms in your body. While cleansing you should be drinking extra glasses of water anyway, so adding a scoop or packet to one of your glasses or bottles of water is a great way to get extra goodness. It is worth noting that some green mixes, like Paradise Herbs, are formulated for energy~

while others, like the Food Science one below, are formulated more specifically for cleansing. Greens in general, whether in a powder or in a whole fresh or cooked form, are cleansing though so an energy greens mix will still work towards detoxing your system. Both these mixes came in my New Hope Blogger Box and they are tasty as well as healthy blends, but there are of course other reputable greens out there. Just be sure to read ingredients lists thoroughly.

Adding a cup or two of detoxifying herbal tea a day is another easy way to help your body cleanse. There are plenty of blends out there, such as detox teas by Yogi and Traditional Medicinals that are as easy as boiling water. Flora makes a tea concentrate that you just pour a bit out and add hot water to. They promote their cleanse every year on Facebook so you can actually join a group of others using their product to get tips and expand your knowledge a bit into the world of detox. (Plus if you join in you just might get a coupon I believe.) They do have a dry blend as well.

If you want to do something a little more involved than greens and teas, making up a batch of kitchari is what one of my herbal teachers drilled into us as the most healing, cleansing, tri-doshic thing you could do. Kitchari is a meal from the tradition of Ayurveda that is made up of mung beans and basmati rice (brown or white depending on your preference), spices, and ghee. You can eat it once a day to support a general cleanse, or you can eat kitchari three times a day and nothing else but herbal teas for 6 days straight for a more intense detox. As with all things herbal, kitchari is a traditional dish that you can find a thousand variations for so this recipe can be modified as you like. What follows is how my herbal teacher told us to make it and it has never failed me. It’s a calming meal, easy on the digestive system, and healing.

Kitchari Recipe:

1 C mung beans

1 C brown basmati rice (my herbal teacher actually used white basmati rice, so your choice really)

1 tbsp. ghee (vegans can use coconut oil)

1 tsp. each turmeric, cumin, and coriander

After soaking the mung beans overnight (or at least 6 hours), cook them in 4 C of water until they are thoroughly soft, about half an hour.

Cook rice according to its instructions, depending on white or brown, then mix together with beans.

Warm the ghee in a sauce or sauté pan and add the spices, cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes or so.

Mix the spices and ghee with the rice and beans and you are finished. Eat as often as you like.

I’ve never been big on resolutions, but I do like the spirit of renewal that January sweeps in. A gentle cleanse sets a nice tone for the year~ a reminder to think better, feel better, act better, and be better. Best wishes for health, fulfillment, beauty, and peace to everyone for the New Year. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Brain Health

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While creating a mini-course on adaptogens, I’ve been thinking about putting together a blend focused on brain health for my sons who are students and will be for many more years. The adaptogenic herbs I’m thinking of including are Ashwagandha, Tulsi, Gotu Kola, and Rhodiola. This would be a great mix for long-term energy and stamina, with herbs specifically targeting brain health, focus, and stress management, with anti-depressant and anti-anxiety action. This seems like an optimal mix for a student, or for anyone looking for long-term brain support. As we age it is especially important to make sure our brains get the best nutrition and care we can provide. No one else can do it for you~ this is self care at a fundamental level.

Here is an infographic from Delicious Living that has other ways to improve brain health on a daily basis. These tips are not only good for brain health but overall health and wellness in general, and they really aren’t hard. It’s a nice reminder of how eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing stress, exercising, and consciously limiting toxins improve every part of daily life. I’ve been thinking lately how the ripple effects of our thoughts and actions can be either be beneficial and building a better future, or damaging. It’s hard to always choose wisely, but self care can never be detrimental.

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Nutritious foods don’t have to be boring. The New Hope Blogger Box has some foods this time around that make superfoods snackable and drinkable. This Beet Latte from Raw and Root has goji and maqui berries along with the beet root to make this a deeply nourishing addition to any daily diet. This combination offers support for energy, heart health, weight loss, and more. Check out their website to see all the benefits of these three superfoods. This powder is going in my morning smoothies.

This dried Dragon Fruit from Jungle Orchards  has only 6g of sugars per package, plus 2g of protein. Dragon fruit is considered a superfood for its many benefits without the excessive sugar that many fruits have, especially dried fruits. This would make a great healthy snack for kids’ lunch bags when you want to send them off with extra fruit but not extra sugar. To learn more about the many benefits of dragon fruit (it was all new to me!) then check out this article which talks about weight loss, lowering cholesterol, improving energy, and more.

Avocado is delicious but has the one overwhelming flaw of being seriously high maintenance when it comes to catching its perfect ripeness, and also you can’t take an avocado anywhere without bruising. These freeze-dried avocados from Senor Avocado take the guesswork out of avocado ripening and they are fully transportable so lunch boxes can carry them. The healthy fats are still there, and the taste is the same as a fresh, but the texture is slightly different so no avocado toast with these. Instead, throw them on salads or soups, or just eat them as a snack or as part of healthy meal. There are different flavors but I really liked these Peruvian Pink Salt ones.

Enjoy the upcoming Memorial weekend (for those here in the U.S.) and be sure to take good care of yourself with some healthy delicious foods, some fun activities, and plenty of rest. Your body and brain will thank you for it. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

DIY Bath Salts Mother’s Day Gift

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What mom doesn’t treasure her bath and beauty time? Whether you are making a gift basket for your mom as an adult, or helping little ones make gifts for your partner, natural DIY pampering gifts are easy to make and will actually be used and appreciated. If you are working with little ones, essential oils need to be handled with care because they are so potent they should not be put on the skin directly without a carrier, and also the scents can be overwhelming if you are using a lot all at once.

To make a custom jar of bath salts, you have some options. You can use sea salt, Epsom salts, pink, grey, or black salt depending on where you are and what you fancy. Epsom salts are best known for aches and pains, but pink and grey salts can help with those too, and they have a high mineral content. Sea salt and black salt are detoxifying, and all the salts are good for the skin. You can also blend different salts together if you can’t decide or want to make sure you cover all the salt benefits. Whatever salts you use, just fill a jar with them, and add the essential oils you want in a ratio of about 10-25 drops per cup, depending on how strong you want the smell. Mix with a chopstick and cap tightly.

To make it a moisturizing bath soak, you can almond oil or grapeseed oil to the salts slowly, mixing the blend as you pour. You will want about 1 3/4 cup salts, with 1/4 cup oil. When the oil and salts are all blended together, add your essential oils and stir some more to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Since this is a total of 2 cups, you can use 20-50 drops of essential oils.

If you are making this for someone who takes more showers than baths, then a salt scrub is another option. You want more oil than salt in that case~ 2 cups of almond or grapeseed oil, 1 cup of fine sea salt, and 20-50 drops of essential oils. You can always make an herbal oil first, then add that to the salts. Add the oil directly on top of the salt, then add the essential oils and stir well. You can use sugar instead of salt for a gentler body scrub. Prepare the exact same way as the salt but use brown sugar instead.

Another option is to add dried herbs to the salts. This of course looks lovely but can make a huge mess, so adding a large sized muslin bag or two to the jar of bath salts is a nice touch. The bather can spoon in however much they want into the muslin bag, then place it into the bath for a nice soak that they don’t have to worry about cleaning up later. Lovely herbs to add are rose petals, calendula flower tops, seaweed, and/or oats. The proportions are completely up to you, and in fact you can just use herbs for an herbal bath without any salts, or just add the salts and herbs together, or add essential oils to the mix as well. There are no hard and fast rules, so just follow your aesthetic sense or look to your (or her) favorite products to get an idea of what proportions might be most appreciated.

As always, be sure to label whatever you make and to write down the recipe. Here are some more DIY gift ideas if bathing isn’t the best treat for your gift recipient. Have fun with whatever you are making and Happy Mother’s Day to all the hard working mamas out there. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

How to Make Rose Oil (Quick Method)

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There are two traditional ways to make an herbal oil. The first method is referred to as the Folk Method, the Cold Method, or even the Solar Method although you can do it in the winter without the sun’s help, it just means that no artificial heat is used. Letting the sun help with herbal infusion is recommended though when that is an option, but here in the Pacific Northwest, there are few months in the year when that is viable. The cold method is what I used in the video series one and two where I infused olive oil with Roses for about 4 weeks. This method that I’m sharing below is called the Quick Method or the Hot Method because it is done on the stove-top and you have your oil in a matter of hours instead of weeks. So you might be wondering why everyone just doesn’t use the hot method if it’s so much faster, and the answer to that is the Folk Method in herbalism is generally the preferred method for best preserving all the healing properties of an herb. With the artificial heat comes the chance of over-heating and ruining some of the herb’s beneficial attributes, as well as the oil’s beneficial attributes. Many aspects of herbalism have a Folk Method vs. a Quick Method, with even the microwave being employed at times in Quick Method recipes, such as melting wax for lip balm for example. If you are mindful of keeping the heat on low and using a double boiler approach, this method should give you fabulous, fragrant oil that you can use the same day on your skin or in a more extensive recipe. If you are not pressed for time though, using the Cold Method is actually simpler and offers less opportunities for damage to the herbs and oil.

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Herbal Infusion in Oil using Quick Method (Hot Method) 

Put your herb or herbs into the top of some kind of double boiler. I use a measuring glass in a pot of water. Add the oil of choice (olive oil is most common and what I use, but you can use something different such as sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil). The oil should more than cover the herbs, with plenty of room for movement.

Fill the bottom of the double boiler with water, then place it all on low heat. This mixture should stay on low heat until the oil takes on some of the color and fragrance of the herbs, so count on at least one hour, then let the mixture cool before straining and bottling. Some recipes have the oil on low low heat for up to 48 hours so don’t worry about letting it sit on heat for too long. Dried herbs are preferred because anytime you introduce water into an oil preparation, you also introduce the potential for bacteria. Fresh herbs are called for in certain cases, such as with St. John’s Wort which makes a fantastic massage oil since it eases aches and pains, in which case it is recommended to dry wilt the fresh herbs for 24-48 hours before placing them in oil. Stir the herbs while they are on the heat every once in a while with a wooden chopstick.

Because I have Rose buds instead of Rose petals, I bruised and chopped the buds a bit with the largest blade I have before adding them to the oil. The more surface area available on your herbs, the better, and bruising them starts the process of releasing their oils and fragrance.

This often gets people asking, why not use herbal powder then…? You can use herbal powders, but straining the finished oil is difficult, and you might not ever get it completely free of the powder. If you do use a powder, plan on straining with a clean coffee filter two or more times, instead of straining with a cheesecloth over a stainless steel strainer. Once the herbs are strained from the oil, store in a glass jar in a cool, dark place for up to six months and always check for rancidity before using (the smell will be ‘off’). If you can refrigerate your oils, they will last longer.

Use rose oil as a moisturizer or serum alone, or add essential oils to it for even more benefits, or use the oil in recipes for lip balm, healing salves, or body butters. Rose is known to be hydrating, softening, beautifying, and particularly good for mature and/or sun damaged skin. Other good herbs to infuse into oils are calendula, lavender, or peppermint which is particularly revitalizing for tired feet and legs. Get creative with whatever you have in your particular corner of the world.

Happy Spring to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope the change of seasons has infused everyone with lightness and loveliness. Enjoy and please subscribe (top right or down below if on mobile) for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

 

 

 

Bay Rum Aftershave and Toner

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Did you know you can make your own Bay Rum? That old school scent that men use as cologne and can be made into other things as well…? When I first ran across a recipe for it I had a small mental freak-out, along the lines of, “Wait, what? You mean Bay Rum is literally just bay leaves and rum? Of course!! Oh my gosh I have to make it!” So I did, adding cinnamon sticks and cloves along with the bay leaves, then finishing it with some vanilla extract. It smells manly and awesome, familiar in a nonspecific way. So far I’ve only made an aftershave/toner with it, but I intend to infuse more men’s inspired goodies because it’s such a traditional scent that even though it’s a tad old school, it is still so recognizable.

Making Bay Rum is the same as making any other herbal extract, just with Rum as the alcohol. As with all traditional herbal recipes, there are endless ways to do this. Here’s what I used:

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Bay Rum:

1/2 Cup Bay leaves

2 Cinnamon Sticks

4 Cloves

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After combining these into a glass jar, I shook them up daily or at least every other day for about four weeks. Then I poured the strained liquid into a glass jar and added 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

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1/4 Cup Bay Rum

1/8 Cup Witch Hazel

1/8 Cup Distilled Water

1 teaspoon Aloe Juice (or gel)

1 teaspoon Glycerine

8 drops Bergamot essential oil

8 drops Bay essential oil

Put all ingredients together into a glass bottle with either a spray top or just a screw lid. Shake before using each time and it’s best used right after cleansing and/or shaving. Can be used on face, neck, and body for its toner actions (balancing pH) and as cologne.

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It always amazes me how easy it is to make custom, small-batch, clean and green products. Looking at the old recipes of simpler times is so inspiring because they used ingredients they were surrounded by at any given time, such as the sailors who started using versions of bay rum to smell better after months at sea. Back then everyone seemed to have at least some knowledge of how to use herbs and what to do with other natural ingredients that surrounded them, and that knowledge connected them to the natural world and fostered respect and perhaps more than a little awe. This connection still exists, but the threads are thinning, and it concerns me that one day only a select few will carry on these traditions and this connection. I’d love to see an edible garden on every schoolyard and creative crafting of food and herbs in the classrooms. In a world of advancing technology and all the emphasis on STEM, it’s important to consider the role of nature, art, and creativity in the world we want to leave our kids.

Happy Creating and please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Cleansing for the New Year

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Is anyone else ready to put away the dairy and desserts and cleanse for the New Year? I personally love a good cleanse, though I’m partial to the low-suffering kind. I know people who think it’s not a real cleanse unless you take in nothing but fresh juice and water, but that never made sense to me. Our bodies like balance, and balance by extremes is not really balance at all at the human level. Just look at how bad yo-yo dieting is for people or how hard it is on the body when there are huge weight fluctuations. Gentle detox is a way to cleanse while giving the body support to adjust, instead of shocking the body and then reeling from its effects. Of course, there is a time and place for everything and if you know what you are doing and have the right support, then by all means juice away your days. If you prefer a cleansing reboot that doesn’t leave your blood sugar levels bouncing and your mood-o-meter permanently set to hangry, keep reading for some options.

Adding powdered greens to your daily routine is one way to activate detox mechanisms in your body. While cleansing you should be drinking extra glasses of water anyway, so adding a scoop or packet to one of your glasses or bottles of water is a great way to get extra goodness. It is worth noting that some green mixes, like Paradise Herbs, are formulated for energy~

while others, like the Food Science one below, are formulated more specifically for cleansing. Greens in general, whether in a powder or in a whole fresh or cooked form, are cleansing though so an energy greens mix will still work towards detoxing your system. Both these mixes came in my New Hope Blogger Box and they are tasty as well as healthy blends, but there are of course other reputable greens out there. Just be sure to read ingredients lists thoroughly.

Adding a cup or two of detoxifying herbal tea a day is another easy way to help your body cleanse. There are plenty of blends out there, such as detox teas by Yogi and Traditional Medicinals that are as easy as boiling water. Flora makes a tea concentrate that you just pour a bit out and add hot water to. They promote their cleanse every year on Facebook so you can actually join a group of others using their product to get tips and expand your knowledge a bit into the world of detox. (Plus if you join in you just might get a coupon or more, depending on if you are one of the firsts to sign up.) They do have a dry blend as well.

If you want to do something a little more involved than greens and teas, making up a batch of kitchari is what one of my herbal teachers drilled into us as the most healing, cleansing, tri-doshic thing you could do. Kitchari is a meal from the tradition of Ayurveda that is made up of mung beans and basmati rice (brown or white depending on your preference), spices, and ghee. You can eat it once a day to support a general cleanse, or you can eat kitchari three times a day and nothing else but herbal teas for 6 days straight for a more intense detox. As with all things herbal, kitchari is a traditional dish that you can find a thousand variations for so this recipe can be modified as you like. What follows is how my herbal teacher told us to make it and it has never failed me. It’s a calming meal, easy on the digestive system, and healing.

Kitchari Recipe:

1 C mung beans

1 C brown basmati rice (my herbal teacher actually used white basmati rice, so your choice really)

1 tbsp. ghee (vegans can use coconut oil)

1 tsp. each turmeric, cumin, and coriander

After soaking the mung beans overnight (or at least 6 hours), cook them in 4 C of water until they are thoroughly soft, about half an hour.

Cook rice according to its instructions, depending on white or brown, then mix together with beans.

Warm the ghee in a sauce or sauté pan and add the spices, cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes or so.

Mix the spices and ghee with the rice and beans and you are finished. Eat as often as you like.

I’ve never been big on resolutions, but I do like the spirit of renewal that January sweeps in. A gentle cleanse sets a nice tone for the year~ a reminder to think better, feel better, act better, and be better. Best wishes for health, fulfillment, beauty, and peace to everyone for the New Year. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Digestive Herbal Blend

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Most of the herbs in our kitchen cabinets, such as basil, fennel, and ginger, not only taste delicious, they also promote healthy digestion in one form or another. I like to make up a powdered blend of digestive herbs that is basically a version of chai without the tea but with cacao. It not only improves digestion, helps balance sugar levels, improves circulation, and is anti-inflammatory, it also is anti-aging because it is chock full of antioxidants. Those are a lot of benefits for just a half teaspoon at a time, twice per day in smoothies and coffee! It could also be sprinkled on granola, added to oatmeal, fruit, or yogurt. You can add turmeric to this mix, or really any other powdered herb that you would like, and in fact all the ingredients are subject to personal tastes and can be reduced or eliminated if desired. As with all things herbal, this recipe is to be used as a rough guideline, not something that needs to be followed exactly, though you certainly can if you want to. The cacao has a bit of caffeine in it and is not a traditional component of chai, but I add it because I like the depth it gives the flavor profile, plus it is full of antioxidants. If you are mostly looking for an evening, after dinner tummy tonic, then leave the cacao out.

My blend is equal parts cinnamon, ginger, and cacao powder, then a quarter the amount of cardamom, then about 1/2 again (1/8 cup) of ground cloves and nutmeg combined, with a few turns of a black pepper grinder added at the end.

So here’s an example mix:

1 cup cinnamon powder

1 cup ginger powder

1 cup cacao powder

1/4 cup cardamom powder

1/8 cup cloves powder

1/8 cup nutmeg powder

A bit of fresh ground black pepper to taste

I use it in morning smoothies and in my after lunch coffee. If my stomach needs a bit of digestive help after dinner, I tend to eat a small handful of fennel seeds and if that doesn’t help, drink an herbal infusion of whatever I have on hand that is caffeine free and has digestive benefits. Of course taking bitters 10-15 minutes before a meal helps start the digestive process off on the right track, and taking a probiotic can ease tummy woes as well. This blends smells amazing and is tasty enough for gift-giving. Please share with anyone who might need a little digestive support during the holidays.

Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested. Happy Solstice!