Category: Recipes

Immune Boosting Elderberry Syrup

11/4/2016

A simple elderberry syrup recipe made with dried elderberries, honey and herbs for an immune boosting and delicious syrup. Can be used medicinally or on homemade pancakes or waffles. My favorite (and easiest) recipe comes from WellnessMama.Com

Black elderberry has been used medicinally for hundreds of years. Studies have shown that elderberry can have a measurable effect in treating the flu, alleviating allergies, and boosting overall respiratory health.

Ingredients

⅔ cup dried black elderberries (I get mine from Monterey Bay Spice Company)
3½ cups of water
2 Tablespoons fresh or dried ginger root
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon cloves or clove powder
1 cup raw honey (find great honey at local farmer's market)

Instructions

Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves (do not add honey!)
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
Discard the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a pint sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
Ta Da! You just made homemade elderberry syrup! Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Some sources recommend taking only during the week and not on the weekends to boost immunity.
Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.

0 Comments

Stuff, Bake, And Enjoy The Heck Out Of A Pumpkin

10/17/2016

0 Comments

It’s pumpkin season!

Not only do pumpkins fit well into a health-conscious diet, they taste good too! They are low in calories but high in fiber. They are also low in sodium. The seeds are high in protein, iron, and the B vitamins. Pumpkins are very high in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that converts Vitamin A, which is important to maintain a healthy body

Ingredients

1 pumpkin, about 7 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Spinach - about 2 cups
6 oz mushrooms (sliced)
2 oz diced bacon
1/2 lb chicken cut into ½ inch pieces
3 oz roasted red peppers

1 cup cooked wild rice
¼ pound cheese, such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into ½ inch chunks
2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
About ¼ cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
About 2/3 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Directions
1. Cut a good size hole in the top of the pumpkin. Large enough that makes it easy to clean out the seeds and place your stuffing inside.

2. In a separate pot, cook 1 cup of brown rice or wild rice and set aside.

3. Remove seeds and strings from pumpkin and top

4. In a pan sauté garlic and onion until they become fragrant (4-5mins)

5. Add the mushrooms, peppers, chicken, and bacon into the pan and light sauté until the chicken has browned and the bacon is mostly cooked. (these ingredients have a lot of water in them and you want to get some of it to evaporate out before putting it in your pumpkin)

6. Add the spinach and rice to the pan and mix until the ingredients are nicely combined.

7. Stuff that empty pumpkin with the fixings!

8. Add the cream and cheese, place pumpkin top on.

9. Bake at 350F for 2 hours. Check on the pumpkin at 90mins, remove the top so any extra liquid can evaporate and the top stuffing gets nice and brown

When the pumpkin is ready, carefully, very carefully (it's heavy, hot, and wobbly) bring it to the table or transfer it to a platter that you'll bring to the table

0 Comments

Immune Boosting Elderberry Syrup

Stuff, Bake, And Enjoy The Heck Out Of A Pumpkin

Archives

Categories