Amazing Ginger Recipes

Considered one of the world's favoured medicines - and cooking ingredient - ginger has been used since ancient times. With numerous uses ranging from an appetite stimulant, digestive aid, immune system booster, anti-inflammatory and circulatory stimulant, ginger reigns in modern cuisine and herbal remedies.

Here are a few of my favourite recipes:

Ginger Tonic Tea

This medicinal tea is particularly helpful for colds that are accompanied by coughs.

• Pour a cup of boiling water over 1 - 2 tablespoonfuls of freshly grated or chopped ginger.
• Steep the infusion for 10 - 15 minutes, and then strain.
• Pour into a teacup, add 1 teaspoonful of honey and drink.
• To relieve bloating or menstrual cramping, add a bit of lemon juice to the cup and drink the brew after meals.

GingerFusion for Varicose Veins

One of the challenges that overweight people tend to battle with is the emergence of varicose veins, due to the strain the excess weight puts on the circulatory system. Ginger tea helps by reducing the inflammation and normalizing blood flow.

• To make, pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 -2 tbsp. of freshly grated ginger
• Add 1/2 tsp. of linden flowers or hawthorn green parts
• Cover and steep for 10 minutes
• Drink 3 cups of the tea daily for 4 weeks.

Ginger Cookies

Great recipes for snacking, plus the kids will love 'em too!

11/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. powdered ginger

7 tbsp. sugar

About 1/4 lb. (approx. 500 g) cold butter or margarine

2 egg yolks (separated)

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F or 204 degrees C. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment.
• Mix flour with baking powder, ginger and sugar. Cut butter or margarine into cubes and add to flour mixture.
• Add honey and 1 egg yolk. Knead into a smooth dough, adding flour if the dough is too sticky.
• divide dough into 4 portions. On a lightly floured surface, shape each portion into a roll as thick as your thumb. Place on a cookie sheet and press dough until somewhat flat.
• beat other egg yolk and brush onto rolls of dough. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 12 minutes.
• While warm, cut into thin slices and cool slowly in cooling oven.

That's it for ginger. I hope you get to try these amazing recipes. I'd love to know how your experience was. Leave a comment below.

Health Benefits of Some Common Herbs (and How to Use Them!)

Herbs, fresh or dried, are an excellent addition to your home cooked dishes. They are great for seasoning and often help to bring out the flavors of other ingredients in your dish. If you are trying to limit your sodium intake, herbs can help increase the flavor without all the added salt. Not only do herbs bring more complexity to your meal, but they also increase the nutritional value! Check out the health benefits of some of our favorite herbs to cook with:

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne is a potent stimulant for the whole body and is especially useful for aiding digestion, normalizing circulation, toning the nervous system and relieving pain and inflammation. It contains a great deal of Vitamin C and beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body and is important to eyesight. Cayenne also contains essential oils which are responsible for stimulating the skin, as well as for the spice's appetizing colour and aroma. Therapeutically, use uncooked cayenne,  either fresh or dried, because it is less irritating than cooked cayenne pepper. It is often blended with other herbs to enhance their medicinal actions. Click here to get one of my favourite chili recipes.

Parsley

This herb is a diuretic that purifies the blood and accelerates the excretion of toxins. It stimulates appetite and aids digestion and metabolism. It can also relieve bloating, stomach cramps and nausea, as well as relive arthritis symptoms. When eaten regularly, it reduces heart rate and lowers blood pressure. If you want to keep your breath fresh, chew on fresh parsley leaves, and for the treatment of kidney stones, brew up some parsley tea. You can also throw in a handful of parsley into your favourite green juice recipe.

Basil

Thanks to its anti-spasmodic properties, basil is used for treating flatulence and stomach upset. It also helps ease tension and induce sleep. Its pungent taste triggers the production of saliva, enabling the body to digest food more effectively. It further aids digestion by increasing appetite and the flow of bile. Basil can also stimulate the cilia in the nose, helping to clear the nasal passages of mucus and disease-causing bacteria. 

Basil wine is a digestive aid. to prepare, follow this simple recipe:

• Steep a small bunch of fresh basil in a bottle of white wine for 24 hours.
• Then strain the wine and refrigerate.
• Drink a 4-oz. (approx. 120 ml) glass after meals.

Ginger

Ginger helps stimulate the heart and circulatory system and has an antibacterial effect. In addition, it promotes appetite and digestion because its spicy components actually activate the flow of saliva and the production of digestive juices. Finally, ginger is well known for its ability to reduce inflammation, promote respiration and help treat colds and coughs. These amazing ginger recipes are a delight anytime!

Oregano

This herb is commonly used both fresh and dry in Italian sauces. It’s rich in antioxidants and has a surprisingly strong antibacterial property. In fact, oregano has been proven to treat the digestive disease giardia better than prescription medications. If you are making pasta for dinner, give this awesome Five Herb Pesto a try for a healthy dose of oregano, or sprinkle dry oregano into tomato sauce as it cooks! 

If you’re trying to decide if you should use fresh versus dry herbs, it’s a good idea to use the same rule of thumb that you may use when buying other produce. Buy what is in season in your area. Like most produce, herbs are available year round, but they can be expensive. When the herb you need isn’t in season, it’s OK to buy it dried instead! 

Dried herbs are general better in sauces and dishes that bake or simmer for a long time because the flavor gets stronger as it cooks. Fresh herbs are great chopped up and added to a dish at the end, or even sprinkled on top of a salad.

What herb do you plan to use in your next dish?

Tame Your Sugar Cravings by Balancing Your Body's PH

You may not have thought about the pH scale since secondary school biology/chemistry class. As it turns out, that lesson is actually applicable to your life outside of the classroom. We all know sugar has addictive properties so it’s no wonder that eating it only makes us want more. Sugar is one of the most acid forming foods that you can eat and the acidic state it creates in your body is partly responsible for leaving you wanting more.

Having a more alkaline, balanced pH is vital to your health because it enables all of your cells, organs, and systems to function at maximum performance. If you struggle with sugar addiction, this could be your entrance onto the road to recovery. Human blood pH should be slightly alkaline ( 7.35 - 7.45 ).  Below or above this range means symptoms and disease.  A pH of 7.0 is neutral.  A pH below 7.0 is acidic.  A pH above 7.0 is alkaline.

An acidic pH can occur from, an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients.  The body will try to compensate for acidic pH by using alkaline minerals.  If the diet does not contain enough minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur.

An acidic imbalance will:  decrease the body's ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease the energy production in the cells, decrease it's ability to repair damaged cells, decrease it's ability to detoxify heavy metals, make tumor cells thrive, and make it more susceptible to fatigue and illness.  A blood pH of 6.9, which is only slightly acidic, can induce coma and death.

Acidosis is mostly due to consuming a diet, which is far too high in acid-producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline producing foods like fresh vegetables.  Additionally, we eat acid producing processed foods like white flour and sugar and drink acid producing beverages like coffee and soft drinks.  We use too many drugs, which are acid forming; and we use artificial chemical sweeteners like Aspartame, which are extremely acid forming. 

Generally, alkaline forming foods include: most fruits, green vegetables, peas, beans, lentils, spices, herbs and seasonings, and seeds and nuts. Generally, acid forming foods include: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, grains, and legumes.

An acidic body is a sickness magnet.  What you eat and drink will impact where your body's pH level falls.  Balance is Key !!!

Practical Ways of Taming Sugar Cravings

• One of the best things we can do to correct an overly acid body is to clean up the diet and lifestyle. To maintain health, the diet should consist of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods.  To restore health, the diet should consist of 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods.

• Another way to alkalize your system and keep sugar cravings at bay is to get moving! Take a walk! Exercise! Your cardiovascular system helps regulate many body components including its acidity levels.

• Taking deep breaths also aids in removing excess acid from the system through the release of carbon dioxide. Make sure to get a good dose of fresh air and exercise as a non-edible way to help balance your system.

• Adding more fermented foods and beverages to your diet is also a great way to level your pH as well as assist in digestion and nourish the gut – which is another culprit for sugar cravings when not functioning properly.

Here is a list of a few acidic and alkaline foods to evaluate where you can make small changes or swaps in your diet to improve your health, balance your body’s pH, and in turn gain control over your sugar cravings. 

Sugar addiction can’t be cured in a day so do your best and be proud that you are taking yet another step in the right direction!