Green Drink

Tomato tomahto comes to mind when I hear women say they drink green drink.  I always get very excited thinking they are talking about the same thing that I learned to make from my mother-in-law.  Most women refer to their spinach/kale/green smoothie as green drink.  I do not.  I refer to that as our smoothies, which are really good too.  The green drink that is referred to in the title is a drink made with herbs. 

The reason for the drink is to get as much chlorophyll from the herbs as well as their vital nutrients and minerals.  Our green drink does not include quite as many things as my mother-in-laws because...we live in a townhouse.  I long for the day when I can have my herbs placed in between beautiful flowers so that they'll look prettier and grow more abundantly.  I have not listed every single thing that is in every herb, nor have I listed all of the wonderful things these herbs can do for your body.  If you want to know more about a specific herb, google it, and use a reputable source (possibly someone that has used and/or studied the herb for a long time!).  Also keep in mind that the nutrients in herbs easily assimilate AND if you don't need them, your body will flush them.  They work they way they were made to work...imagine that!

Things you need for green drink:

Herbs of your choice, which can include:
Comfrey, Calcium, magnesium, vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Phosphorus...etc. Astringent, helps with stomach problems, builds strong bones and teeth! Worried about comfrey? Read this.
Plantain: Calcium, Vitamin C, Blood Cleaner
Burdock: Blood Cleaner
Dandelion: Calcuim, vitamin A, C, blood cleaner
Wild Lettuce a.k.a the weeds growing in your grass that are not prickly
Filaree: Vitamin A, woman's herb, but can be used by anyone
Catnip: Stomach problems (think gas and bloating), may help morning sickness, soothing herb
Marshmallow: Soothing herb
Alfalfa: Full range of vitamins, calcium, manganese, magnesium
MINT: To make it taste good! Vitamin C, iron

Pineapple juice (You can use another juice. HOWEVER, and this is according again to my mother-in-law, the pineapple juice helps assimilate the herbs into the body.  It is the best carrier juice out there and is actually a good juice for the body)
Cheesecloth
Pitcher


Pick which herbs you'd like, let it soak in a bowl of water while you get the blender out.  Rinse off the herbs put them in a blender and almost cover them with water.  Blend.  Use the cheese cloth to strain out the chopped leaves, or leave them in if you can stand the thicker drink (I can, Rico doesn't like it as much).  Make sure you squeeze out as much of the green liquid as you can.  Mix in the pineapple juice and serve.  Also, throw your chopped herbs back in the garden.  It completes the circle (we take what we need and give the rest back to the Earth!--sounds a little bit like a hippie, but Heavenly Father gave us this wonderful Earth, I do what I can and Rico loves pouring it back out). 

My "herb garden" (it is fuller now!):

Plantain, comfrey, burdock, mint

Mint, lemon balm, mint, catnip, marshmallow, strawberry

Our Version of a Watertable

Microwaves-Where Does The Radiation Go Anyway?

People L.O.V.E. their microwaves.  Well, almost all people.  J grew up without one and to this day his parents don't own one.  Wait...how do they heat up their leftovers, melt butter, melt chocolate?!?  With an oven and a stove.  Nachos? Oven.  Softening cream cheese? Set it out the night before.  How ancient does this seem?  I thought they had missed the times.  There were a few things I thought I knew more about.  Besides microwaves, I KNEW I was right about vaccinations and non-stick cookware.  Needless to say, my mother-in-law was right.  She and I have become great friends and every time I am with her I learn so.much.more.

Back to microwaves:  I remember my mom telling me not to stand too close because of the radiation...wait, what?  How is it that putting my face too close the the face of the microwave is bad, but eating food that is pumped with radiation seems to be ok?  Where is the disconnect?  I like Dr. Mercola--please see that I did not say love.  I like him.  I don't know that I agree with all of the supplements people should be taking, but a lot of what he says makes sense to me--he is logical and I can usually read his articles without having to look up too many words.  If you haven't heard of this until now, check out his website.  Here are some excerpts from one of his articles:

"A study published in the November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli "zapped" in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants.

There were also reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, but mineral levels remained intact.A 1999 Scandinavian study of the cooking of asparagus spears found that microwaving caused a reduction in vitamin C.

In a study of garlic, as little as 60 seconds of microwave heating was enough to inactivate its allinase, garlic's principle active ingredient against cancer.

A Japanese study by Watanabe showed that just 6 minutes of microwave heating turned 30-40 percent of the B12 in milk into an inert (dead) form. This study has been cited by Dr. Andrew Weil as evidence supporting his concerns about the effects of microwaving. Dr. Weil wrote: 'There may be dangers associated with microwaving food... there is a question as to whether microwaving alters protein chemistry in ways that might be harmful.'"

Chicken Stock!

I have wanted to make chicken stock (J says that no one calls it that-so I should say chicken broth) for a very long time.  I have been waiting until we can afford to get an organic chicken.  Well, that day isn't happening soon.  In the meantime, Fred Meyer sells roasted chickens, no MSG, etc.  I bought one, took as much of the meat off as I could, put it in a crock pot.  Poured filtered water over it and added some celery, green onions, carrots, basil, oregano and some dried onions!   Yes, dried onions.  I didn't even have an onion to throw in--other than the one I was using for the meal that night.  Anyway, let that sit overnight on low in a crock pot.  Supposedly you can let it sit for up to a week.  I dislike many things on my counter almost as much a J, so 24 hours was enough for us.  I let it cool, put it in left over canning jars from my freezer jam experiment (which went perfectly and tastes amazing), and froze them.  I have heard you can freeze the stock in ice cube trays and then in ziploc bags.  But, any time I can use glass or metal instead of plastic, I do.  I ended up draining it twice-I didn't think of lining my steamer bowl (not strainer!-haha) with cheese cloth until after the first pour.

Also, a quick search online and it seems I did make broth...bone broth.  Check out the differences here.