Friday Herb Fun Day!

It's Friday again and time for Friday Herb Fun Day.

Turmeric: How This Cousin of Ginger Benefits Health

If you’ve never heard or used turmeric, it is a tropical root that has powerful health benefits. Native to India, it is very similar to its cousin ginger. It has been used in Indian and Chinese cultures for centuries. What medicinal properties does turmeric contain?

To begin with, its main compound, curcumin, has the power to prevent cancer; and improve heart health. Used primarily in curry mixes, curcumin, which is a plant pigment, is responsible for turmeric’s yellowish color. Derived from the Latin, it means earth-merit. Interesting! Turmeric has large leaves, similar to ginger. The stems of turmeric are spicy, and the extract taken and processed is where its properties incur the most benefits.

Turmeric is widely known as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal herb, which also lowers cholesterol. Helpful in the treatment of jaundice, the extract also has been known to benefit the liver. In fact, historically, this extract was utilized in treating liver and gallbladder disorders by helping in the flow of bile from the liver.

Another benefit in using turmeric is the recommendation for use in skin care which, by the way, has been utilized for delivering positive and effective glowing skin for centuries. As a possible treatment against cancer, turmeric is being studied for this and other potential treatments as well. One study reports that turmeric shuts down a protein active in the spread of breast cancer. It should also be mentioned that another study revealed that the incidence of leukemia is very low in countries where the people consume a lot of turmeric in their daily diet.

Because curcumin is an anti-inflammatory agent, it is said to relieve the aches and pains associated with arthritis; improves cardiovascular conditions; has shown to decrease symptoms of skin cancers and reduced the incidence of chemically caused breast cancer in lab animals; and its oil functions as an external antibiotic, preventing bacterial infection in wounds. Curcumin also reduces an active number of genes which is linked to heart disease, colon cancer and Alzheimer's.

Occasionally shredded and used fresh, turmeric is more often dried and powdered for use. Turmeric extract and turmeric have been used by humans as a food for a very long time, and is believed to have little or no toxicity at all when taken in moderate doses. If consumed in recommended amounts, turmeric extract is generally safe. It has been used in large quantities as a condiment and cooking ingredient with no side effects.

Physicians discourage the consumption of Turmeric Extract during pregnancy or breastfeeding as it might cause uterine contraction. Turmeric Extract should not be used by people with gallstones or obstruction of bile passages without consulting their doctor.

As always, consult your physician before taking turmeric or any dietary supplement.

Kid Friendly Recipe of the Week

My boys are getting so big. My oldest just turned 4 last week and he feels he is a big boy now. It is so fun at time to be able to stay home and be with the boys as they are growing up.

What Kid Friendly Recipe do we have this week? Sometimes I have a hard time getting the boys to eat their fruits but the recipe we have for you today should help get those fruits down.

Fruitiritto Burrito

Ingredients:

tortilla shells
Creamy peanut butter
Banana
Strawberries
Fresh Peaches, pitted and sliced
Vanilla yogurt

Instructions:

Slice up fruit to get ready to fill tortillas. Amount of ingredients will vary depending on the number of people being served. Slice only what is needed so that none gets wasted. Spread approximately 1 tbsp of peanut butter onto each tortilla.

*TIP: warming tortillas in the microwave (with a little cup of water) makes this step much easier!

Add sliced bananas, strawberries, and peaches to each tortilla.
Drizzle a small amount of yogurt over the fruit. Fold sides over and roll up tortilla. Peanut butter will help hold fruit in place.
For eating with a fork, drizzle yogurt over top of the rolled up
tortilla instead of inside it. Cut tortilla into chunks. Vary the fruit by season, or add favorites to the mix for different tastes.

My boys love peanut - so this recipe is an easy push for me, but if you have allergies you might try a small amount of honey butter or jelly instead.

Thanksgiving Recipes - Day 2

This next recipe I like because it combines two things I'm really not fond of on Thanksgiving - pumpkin and cranberry and makes something great out of it.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cups brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fresh or dried cranberries
Directions:
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs and oil. Mix well. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir well. Fold in the cranberries. Transfer mixture to two lightly greased loaf pans. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 45 to 55 minutes or until golden and baked through. Cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Thanksgiving - a time to cook

Yes it's really time to think about that holiday that is truly based on Cooking, Thanksgiving.
For those of you who love to cook and those of you who don't we will try and get some recipes here for you to use and share.

To start the Thanksgiving Recipe Hunt lets start with:

Traditional Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing & Homemade Gravy

For the Stuffing:

½ cup whole chestnuts or dried if you can’t find whole
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 cups stale bread, cubed (really, I must admit I buy mine at the store)
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
¼ cup butter, melted
Olive oil
Salt (sea salt is preferable)
Pepper
1 10 lb. turkey

For the Gravy:
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
Corn flour
Chicken stock
Butter (if necessary)

Directions:

The Night Before:
If possible, the previous night, or at least one hour before cooking, prepare your turkey. Remove any giblets and rise well (inside and out) with cold water, then pat dry with paper towels. Generously rub turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and place back in refrigerator until time to cook.

The Next Morning:

Preparing the Stuffing:
To roast the chestnuts, cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375F oven. Let cool for 10 minutes and then peel and chop.

Do not turn oven off as it will need to be preheated for cooking the turkey.

In a large pot over low heat, heat the olive oil then add onions and celery. Sauté for about 3 minutes or until soft. Stir in crushed garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme and apple and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in egg, then add chestnuts and bread. Toss mixture well. Stir in warm broth and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Preparing the Turkey:
Remove turkey from fridge and loosely stuff the neck cavity with chestnut stuffing, fold the skin under and secure in place with a toothpick. Then loosely stuff the main cavity, making sure to leave room for expansion and the air to flow through.

Then prepare your roasting pan. Use a large roasting pan and at the bottom add two roughly chopped carrots, onion and celery. Place the rack over the vegetables. Now place your turkey, breast side up, on the rack. Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake, uncovered, at 375F for the first 30 minutes, then baste and reduce oven temperature to 325F. Continue basting turkey every 25 to 30 minutes. The cooking time should be approximately 20 minutes per pound of turkey, which would be about 3.5 hours for a 10b turkey. To check if the turkey is cooked pierce the thigh bone, juices should run clear without any pink. Also use a meat thermometer on the thickest part of the thigh. The temperature should show 180F. Turkey should be golden and crispy on the outside too.

Remove the turkey from roasting tray and reserve juices for gravy.

Tip: For extra added safety, I like to remove the stuffing from turkey once turkey is cooked and bake on a separate dish for approximately 10 extra minutes.

For the Gravy:

Mash the vegetables in the roasting tray, then push all ingredients through a sieve. Discard any remaining vegetables or fat. Place the sieved liquid in a saucepan and simmer over low heat. If you don’t have enough liquid then add 1 cup or more (depending on how much gravy you need) of chicken stock; You can also add a couple of tablespoons of butter.

In a small bowl add two tablespoons of corn flour and mix with cold water (about ½ cup) until all lumps dissolve. Slowly add a little of this mixture (tablespoon by tablespoon) to the saucepan, stirring well after each addition and allowing time for gravy to thicken. Keep adding corn flour/water mixture until gravy thickens.

Tip: You can also add a couple of tablespoons of red wine to the gravy or Madeira for a richer taste. The alcohol will dissolve during the cooking process and children will be able to have the gravy.

Review - Express Lane Meals

For your first review I decided to do my current favorite "Rachael Ray" I started my collection last Christmas and have built on that gift. But today I thought we would start with "Express Lane Meals" by Rachael Ray.

The caption on the cover says it all
what to keep on hand, what to buy fresh for the easiest-ever 30-MINUTE MEALS. The book starts out with a Keep it on Hand listing listed by storage area. This is great especially if you are just starting out and really don't have a houseful of cooking material and a great refresher for those of use just getting back into cooking.

The big thing I realized about all of Rachael's cookbooks is that she uses a variety of foods, spices and pizzaz in her recipes. She takes the ordinary and makes it seem new, she combines flavors I would never have tried on my own.

My husband and I are somewhat pickey eaters, but I have never been let down by one of Rachael's recipes. It generally takes me longer than the 30 minutes it states in the recipes, but that's because I am terrible at chopping, so don't go by me.

In this particular book she gives an express shopping list for each recipe, based on what you should have "stocked" already, she also provides some express shopping lists you can fill in and take to the store. The recipes are great.

The only down side is there is no categorization of the recipes, I don't really see a flow or an order.

There you have it, all and all this is a great recipe book and as long as your decent with chopping you'll be done in no time.

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Friday Herb Fun Day : Rosemary

Rosemary: What’s In A Name

Derived from the Latin meaning sea dew, rosemary is a small evergreen shrub. With needle-like leaves that are dark green, rosemary is notable for its use in a variety of dishes. The leaf of the plant, however, is used for medicinal purposes. Here are some healthful advantages in using this herb.

Rosemary may improve memory, relieve muscle pain, and stimulate the nervous system. It is used for digestive problems, circulatory problems, pain, neuralgia, spasms, wounds, eczema, rheumatism, and depression. As an antispasmodic herb, it is used to increase urine production. Another fact about rosemary is that used in combination with St. John’s Wort and ginkgo biloba, it may improve disorders associated with brain inflammation.

In addition to calming the nerves, rosemary relaxes muscles, eases pain, and reduces tension and anxiety throughout the body. Thus it has been very helpful in treating headaches, migraines caused by stress, depression, nervous exhaustion and apathy. As a circulatory and nerve stimulant, rosemary activates the flow of digestive juices. While traditionally rosemary has been used by herbalists to improve memory, it also aids in the treatment of headaches and poor circulation, and embodies an effective stimulant producing increased memory function. The components in rosemary enhance a stronger blood flow. It not only improves brain function, as mentioned earlier, but has also been used to treat disorders characterized by circulatory weakness such as: high and low blood pressure; varicose veins; bruises; and sprains.

Rosemary is said to be fight bad cells and has shown anti-cancer and anti-tumor activity. Because it possesses strong antioxidants, it may prevent cancer-causing chemicals invading cells, most notably in the liver and bronchial areas. Described as potent enough to kill bacterial infection, it should be stated it cannot totally expunge bacteria from the digestive tract. However, rosemary has been shown to treat toxic shock syndrome.

Because rosemary stimulates and improves circulation throughout the body, it increases the blood supply to the skin, which is thought to help restore a youthful glow. Another benefit is if your hair is dull from product buildup, you can try a rosemary tea rinse. Rosemary cleans hair follicles and promotes hair growth. Use it once a week to obtain a thick, clean hair and scalp.

Along with sage and thyme, rosemary is yet another culinary herb which also embodies medicinal benefits. If you have an herbal garden, or wish to plant one, you may prefer to begin with adding these three herbs as your starting point. At least you will be off to a healthy start!