Tag Archives: recipe

Healing Herbal Liniment

For me, the word “liniment” conjures up images of a very old-timey medicine cabinet.  But that certainly doesn’t mean that this old-time remedy won’t work well!  The fact that liniments have been around for so long just speaks to their effectiveness.

So what are liniments? Liniments are healing external applications that can be used for a variety of issues, depending on what herbs are included in the mixture.  Liniments can be used as a disinfectant for cuts and wounds, while they can also help to soothe sore and inflamed muscles and joints.  Some liniments are formulated for helping with circulation problems, arthritis, rheumatism, sprains, strains, and bruises. Continue reading →

Zucchini-Blueberry Muffins

It is the most wonderful time of year for eating local foods! I just can’t believe how abundant things are at the market and in our garden.  It’s delightful!

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It’s also the time of year when people start wondering – what do I do with all this zucchini?! Luckily, blueberries are also plentiful at this time of year and the combination makes for a delicious and pretty nutritious muffin. Continue reading →

Strawberry Crumble Dessert

Oh. Yes.

It’s that time. Strawberries are here and what a relief it is to taste the delectably sweet, perfectly plump, thoroughly red flesh of one that is locally grown.  I wait all year for strawberries to be like this.  Does life get any finer? Continue reading →

Buttermilk Ramp Biscuits

Have you spotted ramps while roaming through the forest or at your farmers’ market this year?  They’re fun to cook with and fun to harvest.

We’re nearing the end of ramp season, but there’s still time to try this delicious recipe!  Someone special recommended a version of it several months ago, and I was excited to finally have ramps around so that I could try it.  It’s a great way to taste the season! Continue reading →

Farm to Table Through the Year – Free Ebook!

Today I’m happy to announce the debut of a new ebook, Farm to Table Through the Year: 12 Months of Fresh Food From the Garden.  This helpful book is a collection of growing tips, recipes, and inspiration for each of the 12 months of the year.  Continue reading →

Homemade Yogurt in a Crockpot – Four Steps

Yogurt is an excellent way to promote proper functioning of your digestive system. As long as you’re eating yogurt that has live active cultures, it contains probiotics (aka beneficial bacteria) that help to balance the microflora in your gut.  This makes digestion easier and helps keep your system moving regularly.

Making your own yogurt ensures that you know where your milk came from, and also reduces your reliance on continually buying hundreds of little yogurt containers.  By knowing where your milk comes from, you can be sure to choose milk from grass-fed cows.  Not only are grass-fed cows generally living a higher-quality, free-ranging life where they are eating what they should be naturally (i.e. grass and not corn or soy which also increases your exposure to GMOs), but grass-fed cows also produce milk that is more nutritionally dense.   For example, most grass-fed cow milk contains nearly 5x more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an unsaturated fat that may help with heart health and assist with weight loss. Continue reading →

Homemade Vanilla Extract

After finishing up a store-bought bottle of vanilla extract, I realized that I could make my own version of this baking staple quite easily for less money and with better assurance of quality vanilla beans.  Continue reading →

“Heart Your Heart” Herbal Sprinkles

Food is medicine.

It’s true.  What we put into our bodies will have consequences for our energy levels, ability to ward off diseases, and maintain homeostasis in our body’s systems.  We know this immediately if we pay attention to how we feel after eating poorly or well — we are either drained or renewed, weighed down or weightless.  And of course, there are new studies added almost every day that link poor diet to the diseases we see so frequently in our culture that often revolve around a cluster of symptoms we call metabolic syndrome.

Adding herbs to our diets is an easy way to benefit from their protective and healing properties.  They can also taste delicious! Continue reading →

Clean it Green: Laundry Detergent

We recently went to a Sustainability Symposium at the Botanical Gardens. It was a day filled with a variety of lectures related to the impacts of climate change in Northeast Ohio, gardening, and green living.

One of the lectures discussed green cleaning products.  At one point, the presenter showed a picture of what it looks like in the cupboards underneath the sink in a “green” home — lots of cloth rags, vinegar, baking soda, and maybe some borax or washing soda.  She then asked, “How many of you have cupboards that look like this?”

I was one of very few people that raised a hand.  Hmm…I guess there’s still a lot of educational work to be done!  Continue reading →

Sprout It Out

The weather remains snowy and cold, but there are fresh things growing indoors!

Sprouts are a wonderful way to introduce a fresh, healthy food to your winter diet.  And certainly, if you are aiming to eat a low-carbon diet that incorporates lots of local foods, sprouts are an ideal way to continue eating fresh through the winter months.

They’re also really good for you! The most common types of sprouting seeds (mixes of radish, alfalfa, clover, broccoli, legumes) are rich in nutrition containing:

  • Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Vitamin K
  • Minerals such as phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and calcium
  • Dietary Fiber
  • Folate
  • Protein
  • Antioxidants
  • Chlorophyll Continue reading →