The incredible, edible plum

Hangovers....stomach flu....morning sickness....migraines.....overeating.....car sickness....eczema

Who in your family can't benefit from the healing power of the umeboshi plum?

My first experience with ume plum vinegar came through my good friend Lauren who gave me a delicious recipe for pressed salad many years ago. The salty, briny vinegar is a stand out flavor that I soon wanted to add to every salad I ate. Not just tasty, ume plums have been used as medicinal remedies in Japan and China for centuries.

Here is a great article on the health benefit highlights of ume plums.

You can see how I use it on a summer salad that I recently prepared for Mother's Day.

And if you really want to experience something amazing (or you are really hungover/ill) take yourself to Teaism and order the plum ochazuke. It is the the most soothing meal I have ever consumed in all of Washington DC. They float whole ume plums in the soup from which you will suck the briny flesh. There are no words for that kind of flavor experience. Just look at its glory.

Oh Honey, you shouldn't have. (tasted like feet)

Raw Honey

or how I overcame my fear of botulism

Initially I had some reservations about raw honey, mostly due to the fact that prior to learning about natural foods, I liked all my food one way: sterile. I mean, if you can pasteurize something or make it shelf stable or preserve it, why not? Safety first, right?

Well as it turns out whole foods equal healthier foods and sterilizing food kills precious enzymes, nutrients, etc. So after extensive research, I bought my first jar of raw honey.

This honey was too strong for my husband. Actually, to quote him, he said it tasted like eating dirty feet. As usual, my kid thought it was delicious (seriously, no taste buds on my kid) and I found it tolerable. I liked seeing all the little bits of hive and what not, swirling around in there. Made me feel like I was really getting all the power of the bee. But it was hard to overlook the foot smell, so after that jar I tried one a bit less "chunky". Next honey.

Okay, so this one rated better than the first, still chunky but less footy. Sadly, this honey was not local to Virginia and when it came time to use the raw honey for springtime allergies the rule is: Buy Close to Home. Next honey.

Now this is a tasty honey. Golden Angels Apiary, we chose the Wild Rose variety, bottled in Singers Glen, Virginia. No bits of hive in this guy, to the delight of my hive hating husband. Rated excellent by the whole family.

What am I doing with all this honey?

• Honey is naturally anti-viral,anti-bacterial and anti-fungal
• It can be used in place of cough syrup or to soothe a sore throat
• It can be on wounds to speed healing and fight infection
• A spoonful of local honey a day helps ward of environmental allergies
• Naturally occurring enzymes and probiotics aid in digestion

There is a ton of info about honey all over the internet. I think this website remains factual and concise: World's Healthiest Foods.

A quick recipe for when you feel sickness creeping up on you. And it works. My patients swear by it. Drink it when you feel sick or when you are taking care of your sickly family. And don't be scared. It is actually pretty tasty.

Garlic Lemonade

2 quarts water
8-10 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
the juice of one lemon (or two if you like lemons)
raw honey, however much you'd like

a pinch of cayenne pepper
optional: a chunk of peeled ginger

Combine the water and the garlic (and ginger, if using) in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for one hour. Remove from heat. Add the lemon, cayenne and the honey. I like to leave all the chunks just chilling at the bottom of my jar. Strain it if you'd like.

You already know why the honey is there. A quick rundown of the rest. Lemons: vitamin C, plus acidity to fight infection. Cayenne: brings your body temperature up to sweat out those nasty germs. Garlic: oh the healing power of garlic (and ginger) is endless. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, the list goes on and on. I could write a whole post just about garlic. Hmmmm.......

****You probably have heard this a million times but just to be sure NO HONEY FOR BABIES UNDER ONE YEAR OLD. Okay. I feel better now****

To Market, To Market

Tis the season for the return of the farmer's market here in Crystal City. Zoe and I took a walk down to see what they had to offer this Tuesday. I laid out a challenge for her: Find me a vegetable you have never eaten and we will eat it tonight. She accepted the challenge and we were off.

Here is our favorite pic from the market:

I digress. Back to the challenge. Zoe actually found two ingredients that she wanted to try and who am I to cut short the passions of a budding foodie?

We came home with swiss chard and ramps.

Here is what we made.

Finely chopped ramps (bulbs and leaves)

Chopped Chard (leaves and stalks)

Saute until soft in a cast iron skillet with little bit of butter

Salt/Pepper

Paired with some leftover smoked brisket from Mother's Day and brown rice, Zoe proclaimed our meal delicious. Challenge complete.

And now the boring facts....

• Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C, with a 1175g serving containing 214%, 716%, and 53%, respectively, of the recommended daily value.
• It is also rich in minerals, dietary fiber and protein.
• Swiss chard is an excellent source of bone-building vitamin K, manganese, and magnesium; antioxidant vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E; heart-healthy potassium and dietary fiber; and energy-producing iron.
• It is a very good source of bone-healthy copper and calcium; energy-producing vitamin B2 and vitamin B6; and muscle-building protein.
• Swiss chard is a good source of energy-producing phosphorus, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, biotin, and niacin; immune supportive zinc; and heart-healthy folate.

Nutritional Value of Ramps

• Ramps are a fat free and low calorie food.
• One half cup of ramps, boiled and chopped, contains only 16 calories.
• As part of the Allium family, ramps, like leeks, onions and garlic have been shown to reduce total cholesterol and LDL or "bad" cholesterol.
• As little as two or more servings per week of Allium vegetables has also been shown to lower the risk or prostate and colon cancer. Like onions, ramps also offer some fiber.
• One half cup of ramps offers five percent or less of the daily value of manganese, iron, folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

Mother's Day Feasting

Yesterday was Mother's Day so my husband and I treated my parents to an all-out meat and veggies extravaganza. I had planned to take more pictures but we were all so excited to start eating, I forgot.

Here is the menu:

4lb ribeye roast

brined overnight, coated in a pepper dry rub and smoked for 4 hours

4lb brisket

brined overnight, dry spice rub and smoked for 8 hours

Roasted Vegetables

golden beets, celeriac, carrots, onions, japanese sweet potato

drizzled in grapeseed oil and sprinkled with sea salt and garlic powder

Spring Salad

arugula, baby spinich, fennel root, tomatoes, baby cucumbers

tossed in olive oil, ume plum vinegar and lemon juice

Strawberries and Cream

fresh whipped heavy cream with just a touch of vanilla (no sugar added)

fresh strawberries

My dad, who is 100x harder to feed then my five year old, loved the whole thing. He even ate all the roasted vegetables because he thought they were all varieties of potatoes. When I told him he had just eaten beets and celery root he seemed a bit surprised as he was sure that he didn't like those things.

After I digest all this meat, I will be sure to come back and delve in to the reasons I love using ume plum vinegar.

Quinoa: I thought everybody knew you

A post about quinoa may not be advanced enough for some of you, but on the off chance that you have not been introduced to this tasty seed, let me formally introduce you.

Quinoa is a gluten free seed, related to dark leafy greens like chard or spinach. It can be used in place of rice or potatoes in the "starch section" of your plate. It crushes rice and other grains in the protein department, yielding 8g per 1 cup serving and adding 5g dietary fiber. Make it like you would any grain by adding in herbs, veggies or enjoying it plain for dinner. It's always tasty but for me, its most delicious first thing in the morning.

Morning Quinoa Delight

Make a bunch of quinoa the night before. Serve some for dinner and then set some aside in the fridge.

In the morning, melt a bit of butter in a saute pan.

Chop up one apple and one carrot into bite size chunks

Saute in butter until slightly soft. I like them browned but still crunchy.

Toss in a cup of the quinoa and some chopped pecans or other nut of your choice.

Stir until quinoa is warmed.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and eat.

This is a tasty breakfast porridge. Full of protein, fiber, minerals and nutrients- this kicks your oatmeal's ass. And my kid loves it, yours may too.

Herbs 101

In our house, there is a wall unit devoted entirely to loose herbs, about 50 different herbs all in all. I use them pretty much everyday. I can't possibly cover all that they do in one blog but I'll start with the basics.

If you want to get into using herbs for healing with your family I recommend buying just a couple basic herbs and launching off from there. I buy all my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have great prices and amazing quality.

If you are just getting started here is what I recommend:

• chamomile: gas, colic, indigestion, anxiety, insomnia
• catnip: restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, stomach upset
• mint: any stomach issue
• elder flower: fever, colds, flu, excess heat
• lemon balm: anxiety, stomach issues, headaches
• hibiscus flowers: makes tea taste good and is red and pretty
• slippery elm or licorice root: sore throats, coughs

Making tea is one of my daughter's favorite "adult" things to do. Start saving all your glass jars (pickles, salsa, jelly, etc). You are going to need a lot! Get a big mixing bowl and a scoop. Scoop equal parts of different herbs into the bowl and mix them together. Pour the mix into a new jar and label it.

Why do I really love making my own tea?

1. My daughter practices measuring, stirring, pouring and labeling and she thinks its all great fun.
2. I am teaching her knowledge of medicinal plants.
3. When she doesn't "feel good" she asks to make a cup of tea and it always helps.
4. It's so much cheaper than buying prepackaged tea.
5. Hand blended tea makes great gifts.

Making tea blends:

Now you have all your herbs in the jars and ready to go. Here are some of my blends or experiments with your own. I added some extra herbs in green if you decide to go all out.

Nighty Night: Catnip, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, rose, lavender, passion flower

Tummy Soother: Mint, chamomile, lemon balm, catnip, fennel/anise for gas, blackberry leaves for diarrhea, cinnamon for diarrhea

Rise the Sun Tea: (as named by Zoe and I don't know why) 2 parts Hibiscus flower, 1 part mint-- drink iced instead of juice

Stuffy Head: mint, lemon balm, elder flower, thyme, eucalyptus, sage, rosemary, echinacea

Sore Throat: slippery elm, licorice, mint, sage, eucalyptus, thyme, echinacea

Having herbs readily available is such a relief to me when I know my child is suffering and I don't want to give her over the counter medicine. If you want to rely on herbs for most of your "I don't feel good" moments I recommend adding the following books to your library:

• Anything by Dr James Duke, especially The Green Pharmacy
• Naturally Healthy Babies and Children by Aviva Jill Romm
• Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child by Janet Zand

If you read the post on leftover smoothies and you are wondering the answer to what else I put in my popsicle tray, it's leftover tea. Trust me, when your child has a fever or sore throat, an ice cold licorice root and mint popsicle will REALLY help. Just be sure to sweeten it with raw honey.

RAW HONEY? Okay, we will tackle that another time.

Leftover smoothies=Tasty desserts

When you have made too much smoothie (and this happens a lot when you are first experimenting) here is my solution:

POPSICLES! YAY!

Just pour your leftover smoothie into any popsicle tray, ice cube tray or empty yogurt cup with a stick and freeze. There are some really great, new popsicle molds on the market right now...bpa free, stainless steel for quick freezing, silicon, etc.

Honestly, if I don't have time to whip up a breakfast smoothie, we have been known to eat breakfast popsicles over here. Good luck finding a healthier or tastier popsicle then the our spinach mango pops!

And there is one another thing in our popsicle tray that is sure to please.....check back tomorrow.....

PB and J becomes AB and Bs

If your child has ever asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, this is sure to please. PB and J: Meet AB and B (almond butter and banana/berries). You could make a peanut butter and jelly with bananas sandwich for breakfast, but I think this is a great alternative. Less carbs, more probiotics, whole fruit, less sugar, and omega 3s make this an easy powerhouse breakfast.

It almost follows the smoothie guidelines missing only the serving of vegetables (review my post Breakfast Smoothie #461 for smoothie rules). I have experimented with adding spinach, celery or cacao greens powder for veggies and it is still pretty good, but truly I make an exception most days and leave the veggie out of this one.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberry or other fruit flavored kefir of choice. My daughter has decided pomegranate is the best. (probiotics/protein)
• 1 tablespoon Trader Joe's almond butter with roasted flax seed (protein/omega 3s)
• 1/2 banana (fruit)
• 1 cup frozen berries (fruit)

These are just my ratios. The easy part of smoothies is adding more or less of each ingredient until you get the flavor and consistency you like.

*Side Post: Why almond butter with flaxseed over plain peanut butter?*

Almond are less allergenic as they are a true tree nut as opposed to peanuts which grow underground and are prone to mold and fungus issues.

Almond butter gives you a slight edge on fiber and slightly less sugar. Almond butter has less sodium but more fat. Trader Joe's almond butter with flaxseed edges out the peanut butter for me with the addition of omega 3 fatty acids, but ultimately they are pretty similar. The choice is yours.

I will use Trader Joe's peanut butter as a comparison but check the stats against your brand of choice.

Almond Butter with Flaxseed v. Peanut Butter

Serving Size: 2 TBSP

Calories: 200/ 200

Total Fat: 17g/ 15g

Sat Fat: 1.5g/ 3g

Sodium: 80mg/ 150mg

Carbohydrates: 6g/ 6g

Dietary Fiber: 4g/ 3g

Sugar: 1g/ 2g

Protein: 7g/ 9g

Okay so now you are ready to start experimenting with smoothies but what if you have to add a little more this and then add a little more that and then Oh No! Too much smoothie! Don't worry, I have a plan that too....