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Dandelion Benefits & How to Use this Common Plant
Category: Herbalism
Are there dandelion benefits? Don't mow them down yet! There are many benefits of this common plant and several ways to use it.
What are the Health Benefits of Dandelion?
Dandelion root has long been held as a liver tonic in folk medicine. Studies suggest this is due to its ability to increase the flow of bile. Although it's known as a weed, dandelion has a range of health benefits. The leaves have long been used as a diuretic. The root is good for the liver. The key actions of dandelion are diuretic, detoxifying, and bitter.
Dandelion leaf's diuretic action is used for high blood pressure and reducing the volume of fluid in the body. Dandelion root is one of the most effective detoxifying herb. It works primarily on the liver and gallbladder to help remove waste products. Dandelion also stimulates kidneys to remove toxins in the urine. It encourages steady elimination of toxins due to infection or pollution. This helpful plant can be beneficial for many conditions including
- constipation
- skin problems
- acne
- eczema
- psoriasis
- arthritic conditions
- osteoarthritis
- gout
How to Make Dandelion Tea
- Leaf – Dandelion leaf can be used to make a tea or infusion. To make one cup of dandelion leaf tea use one teaspoon of dried or 2 tsp of fresh herb and add it to one cup of just boiled water. Let this steep for 10 minutes to receive the maximum benefits.
- Root – roots are best people prepared as a decoction due to their tough nature. To make a dandelion root decoction use 20g of dried or 40g of fresh dandelion root to three cups of water. Simmer on low and reduced to two cups of water.
- Flower – you can also make it tea with dandelion flowers. Use a handful of fresh picked flowers, rinsed well, in a cup of 8 oz. of just boiled water.
Dandelion Tincture
Another wonderful way to take advantage of dandelion benefits is to make a tincture. Dandelion tincture is typically made with dandelion root. You can follow the below directions to make a dandelion root tincture. To use for detoxifying or skin conditions mix a half a teaspoon of the tincture diluted in a half a cup of water and drink three times per day.
Herbal Tincture
Materials
Instructions
- Place herbs in a large, clean glass jar and pour on the solvent ensuring that the herb is covered.
- Close and label your jar with the name of the herb, solvent, and the date.
- Shake the jar for 1-2 minutes.
- Store in a cool dark place for at least 10-14 days (or longer), shaking the jar every 1-2 days.
- After 14 days you are ready to strain out the herbs. Pour the jar through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth. (There are some new fancy tools for this I have found like this herb press that helps make it less messy and extracts every last drop).
- Squeeze out the herb to get all remaining liquid.
- Discard or compost your herbs.
- Pour your finished tincture into a clean dark class bottle using a funnel.
- Close and label your jar with the name and date of your tincture.
Dandelion Leaf Greens
Many people eat dandelion leaf like any other edible green in a salad. Make a dandelion leaf salad for it's cleansing benefits. Both the leaf and flower are a good source of minerals. Many enjoy this salad in early spring with the young tender greens. You can add the greens to a juicer when juicing other vegetables as well as smoothies. The leaf of the dandelion plant is particularly diuretic. Dandelion greens are a great source of vitamins and minerals such as:
- Vitamins A, C and K.
- Folate
- Calcium
- Potassium
Dandelion Benefits for the Skin
Lastly many skin conditions have a root cause from within the body. Detoxifying the body can often resolve many skin issues. Due to dandelions detoxifying properties it is a good choice for healing your skin.
Follow the below instructions to make a dandelion root decoction. Even better and step it up a notch and add burdock root as well. Make a decoction of 5g of burdock root and 10g of dandelion root. Divide this into three doses and drink throughout the day to heal skin conditions.
Herbal Decoction
How to make your own herbal decoctionCost: 1Equipment
Materials
- 3 tbsp dried herbs
- 1 quart filtered water
Instructions
- Place 3 tablespoons of dried herbs into a small sauce pan.
- Cover the herbs with a quart of cold water.
- Slowly heat the water to a simmer and cover.
- Allow to gently simmer for 20 to 45 minutes.
- Strain into a quart jar, but do not discard the herbs. Some water will have evaporated, so your strained liquid will not fill the jar.
- Pour additional hot (but not boiling) water over the herbs in the strainer until your jar is full.
- Once your decoction is finished simmering, you can infuse more delicate leafy herbs or flowers into the hot water that cannot stand up to the lengthy simmer time, straining the mixture again after another 10 to 15 minutes.
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Simple and Healthy Snack Ideas
Category: Real Food
Healthy snack ideas are helpful to have prepped ahead of time. In the moment you or your children are looking for a snack, it needs to be simple, easy, and fast. If not, that's when junk food often creeps into your life. It is also helpful to have a list of healthy snack ideas that can be put together fairly easily for those moments.
What is the Healthiest Food to Snack on?
It might be obvious but the healthiest foods to snack on are whole foods as opposed to processed foods. Whole foods include fruits and vegetables. Apples, pears, oranges, and bananas are healthy and require no preparation. However, most of the time kids want something a little more interesting.
Healthy Snacks for Kids (and Adults)
There are many easy whole food combinations that make very healthy snacks with little preparation. Often, the biggest challenge is coming up with ideas in the moment. That's when you hear, “Mom! There's nothing to eat.” That's usually your cue to start listing off things you have in the house that they can eat. This can become a daily occurrence over summer break or school vacations when kids are home all day (right!?).
Easy Snack Ideas Kids Can Prepare
If you have older children or teenagers, they can prepare their own snacks. They may not want to, but it's a great way to teach them how to take responsibility for their own health. A great way to empower tweens and teens is to have a printed list of snack ideas in the kitchen so they don't have to bug you to come up with ideas for what to eat.
Some ideas for the list:
- Apples & cheese
- Rice cakes & nut butter
- Homemade popcorn
- Veggies & sour cream dip
- Celery with nut butter
- Dried mangos and banana chips
- Dates with nut butter
- Oatmeal with honey
- Smoothie
In addition to these types of simple to prepare snacks, you can also have some healthier packaged snacks on hand. I typically reserve those types of snacks for on the go or for school snacks but sometimes, in a pinch you have them!
What to Eat if You Are Craving Junk Food?
If you or your kids are craving junk food, first figure out what it is you are after? Is it something sweet, salty, or maybe crunchy or creamy? If you can determine what kind of taste and texture you are craving you can most likely find a healthier alternative that is better for you.
An example might be, you are craving ice cream. A healthy option that will also offer a sweet and creamy experience is plain greek yogurt, fresh berries, and maple syrup drizzled on top. It's also a great conversation to have with your teenagers.
Healthy Snack Recipes
A good habit to get into is to do a little preparation ahead of time to have some more complicated or time consuming snacks already made and ready to eat. My weekly habit is to bake a batch of muffins because they are great for snacks. My son's regular snack is toast with this homemade healthy nutella (also a good thing to have on hand). You can also prepare other recipes that kids will enjoy as snacks.
Here are some great options I have found on other blogs:
- Keto Corndog Mini Muffins from Elena's Pantry
- Cherry-Almond Soaked Baked Oatmeal Recipe by Kitchen Stewardship
- Paleo Carrot Cake Bread from Paleo Running Momma
- No Bake Sunbutter Crunch Bars from Against All Grain
- Chocolate Chip Tahini Bars from Chocolate Covered Katie
- Fermented Vegetables Sticks from Fermenting for Foodies
- Berry Chia Pudding from Whole New Mom
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe to stay in the loop. If you are looking for some of the healthy tools and resources mentioned in my articles, take a look at my healthy shopping guide.
Some of our links are affiliate links, which means if you click and buy, I earn a small commission. The price is the same for you, though. Thank you!
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The Best Healthy Gluten free Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Category: Gluten Free
These gluten-free lemon blueberry muffins don't even seem like gluten-free muffins. When I finally perfected this recipe, the kids said, “Mom, these are like real muffins.” 🙂 They know I always bake everything gluten-free.
Ingredients You Need for Gluten-free Blueberry Muffins
- gluten free flour mixture I used King Arthur Gluten Free flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- vanilla extract
- sea salt
- butter or coconut oil for dairy free
- maple syrup
- eggs
- lemon juice (bottled is fine)
- almond milk or your choice of milk
- blueberries, fresh or frozen
Gluten free Flour Mix I Use
In this recipe I typically use the King Arthur Flour Gluten free flour mix. It would probably work with any other gluten free 1:1 mix but I have not tried it. If you do use another flour mix, let us know how it works in the comments.
Tools you’ll need to make these muffins
- Mixing bowls
- Wooden spoon
- Whisk
- Muffin tin
- Muffin liners (these are the best ones that don't stick to the muffins)
- Wire Rack
What Makes These Muffins Healthy
A typical blueberry muffin recipe usually calls 1 cup of white sugar. That is a sweet muffin… or a cupcake really. This healthy muffin recipe calls for maple syrup as the sweetener, which is a healthier option. There are also healthy fats included in this recipe like butter or coconut milk, eggs, and milk. Without the addition of vegetable oils, this is a heathy snack. Not to mention the antioxidants and vitamins in the blueberries!
I make a batch of healthy muffins every week. They are great for a grab and go breakfast, snack, or even something to pack in school lunches. You might also want to check out this chocolate zucchini muffin recipe.
Gluten free Dairy free Blueberry Muffins
This recipe calls for butter but you can easily make this dairy-free by using coconut oil instead of butter. I have done this and it works out great.
How to make blueberry muffins without blueberries sinking?
Most people have had this problem happen to them! If you mix the blueberries right into the already mixed batter, they may sink to the bottom. This doesn't always happen but sometimes it will. The way to prevent that is to coat the blueberries with the flour mixture before folding them in.
Can You Freeze Gluten free Blueberry Muffins
Yes! If you want to make a batch and freeze them for later you can. Place them in a silicone freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months. Reheat in a toaster to avoid a microwave.
Gluten-free Lemon Blueberry Muffin
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup gluten free flour mixture I used King Arthur Gluten Free flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 1/3 cup butter melted
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- raw turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Place the blueberries in a separate bowl and pour 1/4 cup of the flour mixture into the bowl to coat them with flour.
- In a glass measuring cup mix together melted butter, lemon juice, almond milk, maple syrup, and eggs.
- Mix wet ingredients into dry mixture until blended.
- Fold in the floured blueberries
- Pour into paper lined muffin cups about 2/3 full.
- Sprinkle raw sugar on top (optional)
- Bake 20-25 minutes.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe to stay in the loop. If you are looking for some of the healthy tools and resources mentioned in my articles, take a look at my healthy shopping guide.
Some of our links are affiliate links, which means if you click and buy, I earn a small commission. The price is the same for you, though. Thank you!
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