Mint continued!

Today I am delighted to talk about more wonderful benefits of Mint, as well as enjoying another recipe for this wonderful Sunday!
I will continue to go over some uses and benefits of the amazing herb Mint.
through my readings in books as well as online I have found mint to a most useful herb as well as being easily grown and dried.  Since I was a little girl I remember my amazing mother heading to the cabin and harvesting the mint that grows wild up there for our families winter supply. To this day the fond memories bring a smile to my face as I now get to do that for my family! Though I like to bring some down from the cabin to grow in my garden here in town!

Some of the lesser known properties of mint include its antiseptic and antibacterial properties, allowing mint to seep in hot water then cool is wonderful when applied as a wash.
"Its Anit-itch properties can be used for treating insect bites like those of mosquitoes, honeybees, hornets, wasps, and gnats. The cooling sensation will relieve you of the irritating sensation to scratch, and the anti-inflammatory nature of mint will bring down swelling!"

For I love to grow the chocolate mint and what I call the cabin mint.  These 2 will be introduced to my new garden this coming spring! Along with some new trees for the yard. I have in my kitchen 3 of the trees already, as they arrived during our week of -37 degrees F for our low temp, I chose not to put them in the ground under the almost foot of snow at the time in my yard where I am planting them. :)
I will be loving this spring in the new home!

As for this holiday season I have been enjoying decorating the home and fixing more that needs fixing, absolutly loving the changes the seasons been bringing.  It is solstice, officially winter, and the shortest day of the year.

The winter solstice occurs at a specific time, not just day. This year, at 12:11 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 21, the sun shone directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, the farthest south the sun reaches, leading to less light and colder temperatures in the north. In the Southern Hemisphere, it was the longest day of the year."

Looking forward to a day of cooking and enjoying what the winter brings for Sunday with my family! Sour dough pizza will be for dinner and peppermint hot chocolate after we come in from building snowmen that my kids have been  begging me to make with them the last 2 nights :) It is going to be an awesome day and I am looking forward to watching the chickens play in the paths we make in the snow! Pictures to follow with the little ladies who have also been enjoying the warmer days.

Resources  http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-mint.html,  http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/21/5-things-to-know-about-the-winter-solstice/#ixzz2oAWoIl3Q

The recipe for the day!

Ingredients 
Original recipe makes 80 cookies Change Servings

• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate
  
• 80 buttery round crackers

• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  

Directions

1. Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate coatings over hot tap water for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir . Do not cook or get water into the chocolate.
2. After it is melted, stir in a couple drops of peppermint flavor into the chocolate.
3. Dip crackers into the melted chocolate and then place onto a cold cookie sheet and put into the refrigerator to set. (A freezing tray to rest the dipped cookies will keep the bottoms neat looking.)
4. In a few minutes take them out and package in candy cups. The cookies are best kept at room temperature or a cool dry place away from any odors. 

Oil of the day

Peppermint!

This oil will be 10% off between Nov 14 and December 31st! 

Daviau.myameo.com

With clinical grade oils these can be taken internally as well.

The Wonderful World of Mint!

Mint is a herb used for such a wide variety of ailments, from headaches with aromatherapy to a tummy soother in a tea.
One of the benefits of mint that I enjoy is in tea, the soothing affects on the sinuses; what this means is mint is good for asthma patients!  As my youngest son has asthma, mint is something I like to give him during the times of year when we are inside more with the dust and outdoors during the spring when the pollens are rampant. A few drops of essential oil on the pillow to breath in while you sleep is a wonderful way to help the sinuses as well as a natural way to help with depression.

Mint naturally, when eaten, produces saliva and helps with the aid of digestion! So cooking with mint is also beneficial to to those who have difficulty digesting food naturally.

The recipe i will be cooking this weekend (compliments to Hhuffington Post and allrecipes.com)

I am looking forward to trying the new recipe this week!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound(s) dried rice noodles, about 1/4 inch wide
• 3/4 cup(s) fresh grapefruit juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoon(s) sugar
• 1/4 cup(s) plus 1 tablespoon asian fish sauce
• 1/2 pound(s) cabbage, finely shredded 4 cups
• 3 large scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound(s) cooked chicken, cut into long strips
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup(s) chopped mint
• Sriracha, for serving

Directions

• 1. In a bowl, cover the noodles with cold water and let stand until pliable, 25 minutes. Drain. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, stirring, until al dente, 1 minute. Drain the noodles in a colander and return them to the pan. Fill the saucepan with cold water and swish the noodles around. Drain and swish the noodles 2 more times. Drain the noodles in the colander, lifting and tossing, until dry.
• 2. In a small bowl, stir the grapefruit juice with the garlic, sugar and fish sauce until the sugar is dissolved.
• 3. In a large bowl, toss the rice noodles with the shredded cabbage and scallions. Add the dressing and toss well. Add the chicken, cilantro and mint and toss. Serve right away, passing Sriracha sauce at the table.

Happy Saturday!

Daviau.myameo.com

Recipe of the day!

Quote for the day "All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.  ~John Gunther"

Feeling excited to make breakfast for the kiddos this morning, while wanting to add the cinnamon into our diet I did indeed make some amazing pancakes. These are quite different from our usual banana pancakes.

Original recipe makes 4 largish pancakes, I doubled everything and didn't make very large pancakes. These cooked perfectly on the cast iron skillet.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (we used coconut oil)

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, or as needed

Helping mom today!

Directions

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. Whisk milk, egg, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together in a separate bowl. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just blended.
3. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil on a griddle over medium heat; pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the hot griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to form on top of pancakes, 3 to 5 minutes (with the cast iron it was 5 minutes then closer to 1-2 by the time we finished). Flip and cook until second side is golden brown, 3 to 5 more minutes (same as above with the cast iron). Repeat with remaining batter. 
4. Enjoy the pancakes! 

We put syrup and almond butter on the pancakes, and it was AMAZING. However next time we will be trying some apples or bananas also!
These took a total of 20 minutes to make and eat! 

Wholeness Healings

Changing of the Seasons

It has truly been the most intense whirlwind of life events over the last year!  As we come to December I look back over the last few months with gratitude and amazement. Between a new home, pets, and work, life around here has been very fast paced.
I am delighted to say that I have finally begun working more intently on wholenesshealings.com! Along with this I will be enjoying creating, a weekly blog, with such topics as Herb of the week!   This week happens to be Cinnamon.  I will post fun recipes and healthy uses throughout the week.  With the topics each week I will be adding enjoyable information about how the different herbs can be beneficial or harmful to out pets both indoor or outdoor.

Looking forward to this weeks first recipe today: We used almond milk!
Cinnamon Hot Chocolate

Stay warm in this winter weather with those ones closest to you!