0 Healthful Benefits of Dandelion Leaf and Root

Photo Credit: Naturopathic-health.co.uk

Dandelion is often one of my "go to" herbs.  It has so many benefits and can be bought inexpensively in dried form (you can find it HERE).

The two forms we use the most in our house is the dried leaf and the dried root (not in powdered form).  I use these two forms to make herbal teas.  With the leaves, I make an infusion and with the root, I make a decoction.  I have written posts about how to make and infusion and decoction and you can read more about infusions HERE and decoctions HERE.


Dandelion is one of the key herbs that is used to purify the blood and support the kidneys and pancreas.  The leaves are particularly helpful as a diuretic and helpful for cellulite and fluid retention.  A combination of root and leaves has been known to be helpful in dissolving urinary stones and gravel.  In relation to the pancreas, this is a key herb for helping to increase insulin secretions, which is beneficial for diabetics.

It is also known as a "bitter", which means that it helps to activate the entire digestive tract and liver, thus helping to ease digestion, increase appetite and the flow of digestive juices, and cleanse the liver.  It is also known to help treat liver disease and sluggish liver as well as help to dissolve gallstones.  The root is also a mild laxative.

Not only does dandelion have many healing and cleansing properties, but it is high in minerals.  It is high in minerals like iron, phosphorus and manganese, and also has significant levels of potassium, calcium, zinc and more.  It is also very high in vitamin A and a good source of B vitamins an vitamin C.

For all you breastfeeding moms, this herb is also a galactogogue, meaning that it helps to increase milk supply.

Dosing with herbs can be tricky.  You will often find different dosages on the internet.  I recommend that you use a resource that you trust.  One book that I have found helpful is Nutritional Herbology.  He includes doses with his herbal descriptions.  I also recommend finding a trained herbalist in your area, as they can be an excellent resource and can help you determine the dose your body will need.

As with any herb, you should check with your health care professional before taking.  Be especially cautious with dandelion if you have a history of gallstones.

Please be aware that I am an affiliate with Amazon and Mountain Rose Herbs.  Any use of the links in my posts is much appreciated and like a tip to help keep this blog going.  Thank you!

(Featured on GNOWFGLINS and The Nourishing Gourmet, Real Food Renegade).

Detail: Healthful Benefits of Dandelion Leaf and Root

0 Coconut Butter Cake

I tried this recipe a few weekends ago as a breakfast treat for us and it was SO yummy, I just had to share.

My fellow Nourished Living Network blogger, Patty, at Loving Our Guts, has this delicious recipe.  It is perfect for everyone, and especially those who need to be gluten free.  Very kid friendly!

This cake came out light and fluffy; I could not believe that it was grain free!  I happened to have some lemon curd on hand, so I did not make her frosting recipe, but instead topped it with lemon curd and frozen blueberries.

Divine!

(Featured on The Real Food Forager)

Detail: Coconut Butter Cake

0 Whole Foods Friday - Salmon Croquette Salad with Lemon Aioli Dressing

I love creative salads, especially during these hot summer months!  My sister, Christy, at Whole Foods On A Budget, has this delicious recipe!  Hop on over to her blog to check out Salmon Croquette Salad with Lemon Aioli Dressing!

Detail: Whole Foods Friday - Salmon Croquette Salad with Lemon Aioli Dressing

0 The Second Fridge...

I SO wish I had done this a couple of years ago.  With a growing family and eating and preparing whole, traditional foods, a second fridge really is a necessity.  I was thrilled to find mine this week on craig's list for just $100 and the people delivered it for me!

It's no shining beauty, but it works well and I hope it will last me 4-5 years.  It should pay for itself very quickly just from all the food that I will be able to save from going to waste.  My kitchen fridge and freezer have been so full that I have had trouble keeping track of what I have and often fresh produce has gone bad before I could use it.

Now that I am doing more fermenting and dehydrating, I have needed room to store all these yummy fruits and veggies.  So, now I can buy even more in bulk and be able to save grocery dollars that way as well.

Not only can I now see what I have much, much better, but I am finding that I can do meal prep throughout the day that I could not have done before, as I had no place to put it.  I prefer to do meal prep earlier in the day, as the dinner hour can be a tough one sometimes with a toddler.

Another time saver is being able to make and store my herbal tea in batches instead of having to make it each day.  Most herbal teas are generally able to be stored in the fridge for two days, so I can make a double or triple batch of tea, which is a nice time saver for me.

So, my cold storage now includes two side by side fridge/freezers, one chest freezer, and if needed (I have it turned off right now), and small compact fridge that is build into our outdoor grilling area.  I never thought I would fill that much cold storage, but each unit is being very well used!

(Featured on GNOWFGLINS, The Nourishing Gourmet, Food Renegade)

Detail: The Second Fridge...

0 My Co-Sleeping Experience

Co-sleeping...not exactly what I had pictured when I brought my little boy home from the hospital!  I started out as the typical mom reading all the typical books and hoping for the happiest baby on the block!

But, it didn't happen.  Within a month or so, my son was settled in his crib and I would drag myself out of bed twice a night to breastfeed.  This was exhausting to say the least.

My son was not a big napper either.  He took about three 45 minute naps a day as an infant, which also left me exhausted.  Those naps soon became two 45-60 minute naps.

I breastfed my son until he was 18 months old, still doing a nighttime feeding up to about 14 months.  Despite all my hopes, he would never sleep through the night, even after the feedings stopped.  He was up at least once and sometimes twice a night, crying and needing some comforting.  As much as my reading encouraged the "cry it out" method, a few tries of that left me convinced that that was not normal.  I could not bring myself to ignore my son's screams.  So, I was stuck, getting up once or twice a night to comfort my son and then trying to go back to sleep.

When my son was about 6 months old, I started my journey to become a Clinical Master Herbalist with Vintage Remedies.   A number of months into the program, I had to read a book about co-sleeping with your baby, called Sleeping with Your Baby by James McKenna.  That was eye opening at the least and I started to seriously consider whether we should give it a try, though by this time, my son was a year old and I felt like it might be too late to start.  My husband was not super thrilled with the idea, so I just continued on as we had been doing.

Sadly, last October, I suffered a miscarriage at the end of my first trimester.  After a D&C, I had lifting restrictions for six weeks.  This left a dilemma for nap time.  My son's naps were now down to one nap and that typically lasted one hour - an hour and a half if I was lucky.  Since I really didn't have a choice, I started having him nap on the sofa in our great room.  Imagine my surprise when he started to take better and longer naps, soon stretching to two and three hours at a time.  He was never bothered by me puttering around in the kitchen or doing whatever other things needed doing.


It was at this time as well that we took the plunge and started to co-sleep.  My body needed rest so badly to help my recovery and me and my husband really wanted to start to get a full night of sleep, as he still was not sleeping through the night.

We tried sleeping on our queen sized guest room mattress on the floor (our bed was only a full) for a few months to see how things went.   My husband and I like to sleep next to each other, so I would sleep in the middle of the bed.  Our little guy finally started to sleep through the night!  We would start him off in his room, then when we went to bed, we would bring him into bed with us.  This worked great, as it gave us time to be alone at night when he went down.

We soon realized that a queen sized bed was not what we wanted, so we did end up buying a king sized bed.  Because we have a little one sleeping on it and I hope to get pregnant again, we bought an organic wool and latex mattress.  We LOVE it!  It is so comfy and I loved having no chemical smell when it was delivered; no off-gassing worries.  We have a cotton and then wool cover on it and I have to say that when we potty train, we will probably use a plastic liner until we are free of night-time accidents, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it!

I know that co-sleeping may not be for everyone, but we have all come to love it.  My son's naps doubled in time and he is sleeping through the night for the most part.  But, when he wakes up for a drink of water or a bad dream, we snuggle together and he is able to go right back to sleep - and no getting out of bed for mommy and daddy!  It was also very healing to me as I was recovering from my miscarriage to have my son right there with me at night.

I hope our story encourages those of your who are considering co-sleeping.  If we have another baby, we will co-sleep (not in the bed for the first number of months, but the baby will sleep next to our bed) from the start.  I have loved seeing how much our whole family loves co-sleeping and it has certainly met a need my son had.  Once he started to co-sleep with us, those naptimes doubled in time and he was finally able to sleep through the night.  That is all my mommy's heart needs to see to know that we did indeed make the right choice for our family.

(I am an affiliate of amazon and appreciate you stopping by as a "tip" for all the work I put into keeping this blog up and running.  Thank you!)

Detail: My Co-Sleeping Experience