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When you travel, it is hard to be productive for work - or really enjoy a vacation - when sleep deprivation is screaming in your head.
I know.
So, I’ve tried several sleep tools and supplements and now have a combination that helps me.
Try these. Mix them with your own ideas.
Why rely on the boxed powdered teas when you can easily make your own with fresh ingredients.
You can grow some beautiful bushes, dig dandelion from your yard, or order pure herbs from two of my favorite online herb shops. (Check them out below.)
As a bonus, I get “revenge” on my high school home ec teacher. Well, not exactly. But it makes us laugh.
https://www.highgardentea.com/
https://mountainroseherbs.com/
Does your stomach tighten up when you feel nervous?
Does digestion get difficult when you are stressed?
Or do you get tired easily when you feel overwhelmed?
Regular basil and holy basil, also called tulsi, look very different. They both grow super easy. Whether in your kitchen window herb garden or in your edible landscaping, these are two herbs you want for health.
(Here’s the link to learn how to make basil herbal infusion)
http://www.thevireolife.com/blog/2018/7/11/six-easy-steps-for-herbal-infusions
You’ve started planting a few herbs. Yummy harvest.
Now you’ve got seeds and you want to know what’s next.
When you aim to cook healthy, sometimes you just plan your meals around “what’s good for me.”
That gets boring in the kitchen.
When you don’t have the energy to cook a healthy meal from scratch, that gets frustrating. It also usually ends in ordering pizza for the third night in a row.
Do you enjoy creativity? Have a lot of herbs and spices on hand to let your creative thoughts flow. Also, create theme nights — complete with music, games, movies, and food around your theme.
Perhaps you love travel. If you enjoy foods from other cultures, grow their herbs, like lemongrass, and use them in your cooking.
For the days you are too tired to cook, be sure to have some canned and frozen options that meet your healthy goals. You can’t live your exciting life and not expect to have an “I need rest” night sometimes.
Happy cooking!
Reaching your goal of eating healthy and getting outside more, may have you dreaming of planting a small organic garden. It’s an adventure you’ve wanted. And then you don’t go past dreaming because you fear a nightmare.
Perhaps a friend says “Oh, I tried planting a big garden one year and the bugs just destroyed it. It was a lot of work for nothing.”
You can start the garden habit and not suffer the frustration of losing your work to the bugs.
Here’s how.
Pick your favorite vegetable you want to grow. Then find out which plant is a good companion for it. For example, if you grow tomatoes, plant basil alongside. Or if you grow squash, surround them with white icicle radishes.
You can grow tomatoes in a handy “bucket garden” like this one, making it easy to take care of any pests.
Another way to start small is pick a theme. In February - Heart Health Month - I showed you what to plant in a garden for heart health.
Learn all you can about those plants your first year. What kind of soil they like; how to prevent the pests and diseases for them. Then the next year, add another vegetable.
Growing up, my family had a vegetable garden. I remember harvesting and helping my mom blanch and freeze and can. But it was definitely not organic gardening. So, we’ve learned organic methods. My favorite - just because it is quirky - is preventing squash bugs.
I don’t remember where I learned this trick - it is not even in my favorite bug book.
It’s duct tape.
When we find the eggs, we put duct tape over them and rip them off.
There’s just one issue when you prevent all of the bugs from chewing up your garden.
You have more vegetables than you can eat. But, that’s why you have freezers and friends, right?
Whether it is one bucket with one tomato plant with basil or a window sill of herbs, pick one and start your adventure.
Several “weeds” can be safely eaten, even with medicinal benefits.
Red and white clover are two. Red clover especially has phytonutrients that can adjust with hormones. Which means some people will benefit and others would not - so check with your doctor before consuming on a regular basis.
It’s also high in vitamins and minerals. Great in teas or salads.
Several companies have community gardens. The benefits are great — for those who dig in the dirt.
But there are easy ways to get the benefits for even more people, without the “uh-oh, whose turn is it to weed” headache.
Sometimes I experiment in the kitchen … the ones that turn out great, I share with you. This stew uses a lot of spices great for digestion, plus some unusual ingredients from the garden. (Yes, I include some dandelion that was growing by the mint and it turned out tasty.)
Chamomile is widely known and used for mild insomnia. But did you know you don’t have to drink it? If you feel restless or anxious before bedtime, you can also use chamomile in a bath or footbath to enjoy the calming effect.
Chamomile likes to grow in full sun
Chamomile is also an anti-inflammatory, due to its essential oil, azulene. This may also help to lower fever. To use a gargle for sore throat, make a double-strength tea.
A cup of chamomile tea is also a digestive aid, both through calming and the bitter compounds in it.
For some individuals, chamomile has an immediate calming effect. (That would not be me.) For others, chamomile needs to be used a few times a day over several days to help. (My hand is raised on that one.)
Fresh from the garden
Chamomile is considered safe for children.
How much? 1 tsp dried herb to one cup water for tea.
Prepping chamomile to dry in the dehydrator
My experience with chamomile out of our garden: Dried and fresh taste very different. Fresh has almost no taste. Dried chamomile has a mild sweet taste.
Resources: Medicinal Herbs - Rosemary Gladstar. The Simple Book of Herbs - Lisa Bedner, R.N., Herbs for Stress and Anxiety - Rosemary Gladstar.
I admit. I never thought I’d like immersion blenders (after a bad experience years ago). Now? It’s fun seeing what can be pureed.
This recipe has topped my list, because once it is made we eat it as soup, pasta sauce, or as a chicken sauce. Spicy - but not too spicy. Rich - but fresh and light. If you prefer chilled soups, this is probably not going to be a favorite. But who wants chilled soup in January, anyway?
I trimmed back a rosemary bush and had to come up with several ways to use a ton of rosemary.
Of course, my favorite way is #9!
I get asked what we are planting in our garden, so I decided to show you here.
This year was different. As we continue to develop our medicinal herb garden, we had much less time this year for our vegetable garden, so we used what we have learned to decide what to plant.
We asked ourselves, which plants are most important to us, because every plant has its unique pests and challenges. This summer we decided to not grow some of our regulars.
Beans require a lot of harvest and processing time. Squash is quick and easy to harvest and process, but the squash bugs are beyond description. I won’t even go there. Melons and cucumbers are nice, but there is not a great way to save extras.
So, tomatoes (easy to grow, harvest, and freeze), peppers (the same), and sweet potatoes (the variety I like are only sold at a store an hour away) were it for us this summer. Spring and fall include a lot of beets and radishes, as their pests are easy to control.
Next year our medicinal herbs should be established and we plan to get back to our regular vegetables. As you garden, for that matter as you live, there is a continual re-setting of priorities.
Enjoy your harvest!
Making an infusion is similar to making tea. Once you know which herbs you want and if you are using fresh, frozen, or dried, the rest is easy.
For this example, I am using fresh Holy Basil from my garden. Holy Basil is an "adaptogen" - which helps the body adapt to stress.
Harvest the stems and leaves before flowers form, in early morning, just after the dew is off. That's the ideal. However, these I harvested at 5:45 a.m. because that is when I needed to make my infusion. Also, the tops had flowered, so I used them. Amount? Enough for 2+ tablespoons fresh per cup of water. (If using dried herbs, use 1+ tablespoon per cup of water.)
Rinse off any obvious dirt.
Strip the leaves and flowers to use. (Some people also use the stems.)
Chop Coarsely.
Place the herbs in either a mason jar or a french press. When I began making infusions I used a mason jar and then strained the herbs through a cheesecloth. If you are going to make infusions several days a week, invest in a french press to save you time.
Steep for 4 hours minimum. The longer the herb steeps (generally), the stronger the infusion. I either make my infusion at night and let it steep overnight to drink in the first few hours of the day, or begin steeping in the morning and drink during the afternoon.
Drink the infusion within a day or two, putting it in the refrigerator if over 12-24 hours. Or freeze the infusion in ice cube trays. This is especially useful for infusions you want to use as herbal remedies. For example, if you want sweet basil, chamomile, and mint to steep together for 4 hours to help with digestion or headaches, you don't want to wait 4 hours for relief. Having it made and frozen, you can pour boiling water over 2-3 cubes and have instant help.
If you have questions, or ways that you make infusions, I'd love to chat in the comments.
These simple pictures don't reflect the emotions they evoke in me. This is an "oh, my" step in a personal journey. We planted this chamomile and coneflower this weekend.
SO?
Have you ever had something that you worked (and worked) toward and no matter how hard and long you worked it seemed to get further away?
Two and a half years ago Doug Traxler and I decided to turn our side yard into a Medicinal Herb Garden. With the help of Nashville Foodscapes and Lisa Bedner, RN and certified herbalist, the soil was prepped, the plants selected, and the garden designed. But then ...
All of 2017 was spent re-weeding. (Ok, not all. We did go to a friend's wedding in CA.) We would weed a section, then by the time the next section was weeded, the bermuda grass would reappear in another area. Evenings. Weekends. Over and over.
This spring we started weeding again.
But you know what happened? Enough of the deep roots were out that there were fewer and fewer weeds and grass. As fewer weeds came up, there were fewer to go to seed.
(Is anyone seeing a life lesson here, too?)
So, this weekend, after making the final layout of one of the herb beds, I was able to plant my first herbs in this garden.
As I sat listening to the rain, I felt such a sense of wonder and hope. "Wow. Something I had begun to feel discouraged over, finally has a tangible proof that IT CAN BE DONE." (Yes, there is still much more to do, but I have hope.)
If you are struggling to make something happen, drink a cup of chamomile tea (not from my garden yet, though ... it's not grown enough) and remember IT CAN BE DONE.
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ViREO Life is a health and wellness practice, incorporating physical activity, exercise, nutrition, and behavior science services. The text, photos, video and other media presented in this site and the social media connected to this site are for information purposes only. None of the above information sources are intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. This information is not to be used to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified health care professional. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult your health care provider.
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