When I consider which plants have been used historically to support healthy airways, I first think about what would be most accessible to the most people. This post has some choices that are easy to find at most grocery stores, save one local (to me) business offering that I am going to highlight.
How do you and your family members make decisions together and apart? Do you know what each of you values individually? As a group?
Tonight I experimented with a summer mocktail that ended up being a winner! Refreshing, light and crisp, and always a delight to use so many ingredients straight from my yard. Recipe in link.
This year my cucumber plants are thriving. We often eat them quickly with lunch or dinner, but every now and then we get more than we can keep up with.
Incidentally, we also all really love pickles at my house! My great grandmother always canned the most delicious homemade dill pickles, and my husband’s grandmother often made refrigerator pickles (which are pickles made without the lengthy fermentation process). Many refrigerator pickle recipes online have a ton of sugar (2 cups or more per jar), which I don’t especially enjoy as a primarily dill pickle fan, and also use white vinegar for processing, while I prefer the taste and health benefits of apple cider vinegar.
This week I made my first attempt at following Rosemary Gladstar’s guidelines for creating her “Perfect Cream” recipe.
I am thrilled with the way it turned out. Â This somehow rich yet light moisturizer is positively decadent. Â
I am so grateful to Rosemary Gladstar for so freely sharing her knowledge and light with the world! I agree with Gladstar, that traditions involving food, remedies, and plants should be re-connected on a personal basis with every human household, so that we can sense, taste, smell and feel the quality and nourishment nature provides when we mingle with her respectfully. And alternatively, so that we may recognize both overt and subtle clues indicating compromised quality or assault to nature, and ultimately our own health, which helps us know when to take restorative action.
One of my favorite restaurants on the planet is Casa de Luz in Austin, Texas. Â It is so delicious, and I can feel the cells of my body grow more resilient with every bite of their macrobiotic, plant-based, gluten free menu. Â Often I think, “I would be so healthy if I ate this way every day,” but then forget to actually try until the next time I eat there. Â However…
We co-habitate with a wonderful hearty loquat tree that lives at the edge of our 1/2 acre lot along one of our neighborhood’s busiest streets. About three years ago I began harvesting the fruit annually for a simple loquat preserves recipe I like to make with my kids. Jump to the bottom if you want to get right to it!
There is something that is delightfully enticing about finding food in your own yard – especially food that is offered by nature without any effort or coercion – and turning it into a routine to look forward to seasonally. Â My now 7 year old daughter is always my buddy when it comes time to harvest loquat, and we all get excited when we see the tree limbs start to become weighed down with fruit in April.
This DIY peppermint lip balm recipe took me from start to finish about 10 minutes. Â It feels great and is about as clean as it comes, with only two ingredients plus optional peppermint essential oil. Â
If you’re like me, you probably prefer soap and water for hand-washing, but every now and then need a hand sanitizer instead.  I try to avoid using alcohol-based products because they dry my skin so much and often have ingredients with concerning health effects like triclosan, Benzalkonium Chloride and phthalates. This recipe literally took me less than 10 minutes to make.  It has a pleasant cinnamon and citrus scent and nice moisturizing effects.
When was the last time you made something for fun? Â Not because you had to, not because you needed to make money, not because your kid needed help with a school project, but a time when you sat down, gathered a few materials, and decided to scratch the itch of an idea?
I tend to have really dry hands due to spending all my waking hours with kids – which always includes a lot of hand washing, messy projects, clean up and food prep.  At times, particularly in winter and also when I attend hand drumming classes consistently, my hands can even develop painful cracks.  Store-bought lotions typically […]
