Make Healthier Choices

Helping people Make Healthier Choices about real-food choices for optimal heath.

Recipes

Audrey’s Pine Needle Tea

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My friend, Audrey Heath, not only shared her Pine Needle Tea recipe with me, she was kind enough to drop off her finished product for me to try. She definitely kicked it up a notch or three! I’ve made pine needle tea for many years, but found mine to be quite boring. You won’t find Audrey’s tea boring!

Use ONLY Eastern White Pine Needles!!!

There are lots of pine trees in North America, so please be CERTAIN that your tree is, in fact, an Eastern White Pine. Using the wrong needles, or drinking too much, could make you quite sick or could even be deadly. If you are unsure, find your county forester or contact your cooperative extension service to help you identify yours. Then check with your doctor before drinking!

You can find more information at Nature.org and Farmer’s Almanac. Found on nature.org: “Fun Fact: White pines are the only five-needle pines found east of the Rocky Mountains and get their common name from the number of needles in each pine: W-H-I-T-E!”

Does Suramin Come from Pine?

Somehow, a rumor started that Judy Mikovits said Suramin came from Pine. Do pine needles or Pine Needle Tea contain Suramin? Absolutely not! according to Judy Mikovits.  Suramin is a synthetic drug that doesn’t come from pine. Here’s exactly what she said:

“I didn’t say pine needles. I talked about a 100-year-old essential medicine, a synthetic drug made by Bayer-Monsanto, called suramin. And suramin is a synthetic drug, but it’s known to stop the expression of retroviruses, and viruses . . . Suramin does not come from pine needles, but there are terpenes. That’s a class of chemicals where we get turpentine that will stop a lot of toxins and pathogens, but it’s also very toxic.  . . . . ” ~~ Judy Mikovits

Hear What Judy Mikovits Said about Suramin (at 9:50 Minutes)


Audrey's Pine Needle Tea
 
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Please check with your doctor before drinking this tea.
Author:
Recipe type: Tea
Ingredients
  • 2 Gallons of Clean Water
  • Large Coffee Can of Eastern Pine Tree Needles cut into 1" lengths.
  • 20 to 25 Star Anise
  • 2 Tablespoons Cardamom
  • 2 Tablespoons Fennel Seeds
Instructions
  1. Bring water to a boil, turn off.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes.
  3. Re-heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  4. Cool, strain, bottle, and refrigerate.
  5. Make certain you strain; you don't want to swallow any pine needles!

Remember that boiling releases the terpenes and over 116° kills the Vitamin C. 160° causes Vitamin C to explode. If you are interested in keeping the Vitamin C in tact, bring the water to a boil, let it cool to 115°, and then add the ingredients and let steep.

DO NOT DRINK THIS TEA WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING WITH YOUR DOCTOR!!! 

Cut Eastern Pine needles.

If you have a chance, look up what benefits might be found in star anise, cardamom, and fennel.

Statements on this page and website have not been evaluated by the FDA and are NOT intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, prevent or cure any disease, condition, illness, or injury. Please do not use any information on this website in place of a doctor. Please consult a doctor before making ANY dietary changes.

Thai Soup – Immune-Building Soup

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A dear friend gave me this recipe. She calls it Thai Soup, but I call it Immune-Boosting Soup.  I cook all of my bone-in chicken in my Instant Pot, which gives me a beautiful bone broth. There’s no need to further cook the bones. Chicken cooks in about 25 minutes, and produces a beautiful gelatin.

Make it Strong or Weak

I made an extremely strong batch of this soup using water instead of chicken stock/bone broth, and froze it in small batches in freezer-safe Mason jars. After thawing, I added the fresh bone broth and then heated it–YUM. If you find you made your batch too strong (too much garlic, ginger, lemongrass, or cayenne), just add more chicken stock/bone broth.

I apologize that there aren’t any amounts in the first ingredient list. If you’ve done enough cooking, you’ll know just how much to add of each.

I’ve added Thai Soup #2 with the amounts I used in my latest batch. This batch could have been a little stronger–maybe less water.

Thai Soup
 
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Ingredients
Instructions
  1. After cutting up ingredients into bite size pieces, slow simmer in a pot for about 45 minutes, being careful not to boil the broth/stock away.

Recipe With Ingredient Quantities – Thai #2

You might want to adjust quantities in this recipe, but this gives you a starting point. I’ve specified Shitake Mushrooms in this recipe, since they are known as the best for the immune system, but any mushrooms will do.

Thai Soup #2
 
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This recipe includes the quantities I used in my soup.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 32 ounces homemade chicken broth, or 2 16.9 oz Boxes of Bone Broth (or Chicken Stock)
  • 6 Garlic Cloves, pressed
  • Thumb-size Ginger Root (about 3 tablespoons, sliced or shredded)
  • 1 Teaspoon Organic Dried Turmeric Powder (or 3-inches of fresh)
  • *3 Medium to Large Tomatoes, blanched with skin removed and diced, or a 15-ouce can of Diced Tomatoes
  • ⅛ Teaspoon Cayenne
  • 1 Medium to Large Diced Onion
  • 1 Cup Shitake (or any) Mushrooms
  • 3 Carrots, sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Lemongrass or ½ cup chopped fresh Lemongrass
  • Extra tomatoes or water can be added if soup tastes too "hot."
Instructions
  1. After cutting up ingredients into bite-size pieces, place all ingredients in a medium size pot and slow simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and be careful not to boil the liquid away.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats (Bisquits)

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No Toxic Ingredients

This dog treat recipe doesn’t contain propylene glycol, caramel color, or sodium nitrate, unlike so many commercial dog treats. Many “vitamins” found in dog treats aren’t really vitamins at all; they’re drugs that can come with side effects. If you’d like to learn why I would never give “vitamins” to my dog, and how those drugs are made, check out this article by Dogs Naturally Magazine.  If you’d like to delve even further into the world of “vitamins,” check out this article: The Truth About Vitamins in Nutritional Supplements.

PLEASE CHECK THAT YOUR PEANUT BUTTER DOES NOT CONTAIN XYLITOL!!! 

 

Peanut Butter Dog Treats (Bisquits)
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Brown Rice Flour
  • 1 Cup Freshly Ground Oat Flour
  • ¾ Cup Freshly Ground Flaxseed
  • 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons Brewer's Yeast
  • ½ Teaspoon Garlic or Onion Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Parsley
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Cup Peanut Butter
  • 2 Slightly Beaten Eggs
  • ½ Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • About 1 Cup Liquid--bone broth, apple juice, apple cider, or water. PLEASE NOTE: You may or may not need more or less liquid depending on how much oil is in the peanut butter.
Instructions
  1. Add all dry ingredients to mixing bowl (stand mixer works great)
  2. Mix thoroughly.
  3. Add peanut butter and egg.
  4. Mix together, then add enough liquid to make into a ball.
  5. Roll out onto floured pastry board.
  6. Use cookie cutter to cut into dog bones or cut into squares.*
  7. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.
  8. Flip bones over and bake for 25 more minutes.
  9. Reduce oven to 175° and bake for 6 to 8 hours or dry in a dehydrator overnight at 155° or until completely dry.
  10. Dehydrate longer, if necessary, making certain treats are completely dry. (Moisture will cause them to spoil quicker.)
  11. Leave out enough for the week, and store remaining in an airtight container in freezer.
  12. * I have a tiny dog and lightly score dough into tiny pieces before baking, which is quicker and makes it easy to break when they are dry.

Please Be Sure To Properly Dehydrate

As with any dry dog treat, beware that they can be a choking hazard, especially if they are too large. Please give them small, bite-size pieces appropriate for your size dog.

Did you know you can get a dog bone cookie cutter with your dog’s name personalized on it? Personalized Dog Bone Cookie Cutter.

When I don’t have time to make these, I purchase made-in-New-Hampshire Casey Jones Bones. In my local area they sell for about $5.99/box. UPDATE: I know Casey Jones Bones was sold, but I can no longer find any information about the company.

Source: How To Detox Your Dog

Quick and Easy Macaroons

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3-Ingredient Macaroons

When I’m craving something sweet, or when I have leftover egg whites from making Hollandaise sauce I usually make these macaroons. These gluten-free macaroons can are made with only three ingredients–the vanilla and Himalayan salt are optional.

Macaroons RecipeRenegade

 

Macaroons
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
These delicious macaroons are quick and easy to make.
Author:
Serves: 15
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F
  2. Place all ingredients in bowl.
  3. Mix until well blended.
  4. Drop onto cookie sheet using small, old-fashioned ice cream scoop.
  5. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.
Notes
To keep macaroons from being sticky on the bottom, flatten before baking; flip after baking 15 minutes and cook for another couple minutes.


Can This Reverse Diabetes?

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Question Mark

 

According to Dr. Mark Hyman, rye bread and rye pasta can, “Turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes.” Dr. Hyman, didn’t reference whole-grain rye; he referenced rye bread and rye pasta. The article was published in 2011, and I’m just reading it now. Somehow, I had missed this important information.

So here’s what I read by Dr. Mark Hyman, who is one of our most credible sources when it comes to food and nutrition:

“Breaking news! Some newly discovered compounds have just been found to turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes. Are these compounds found in a pill bottle? No! Instead, you’ll find them on your dinner plate — in rye bread and pasta.”

Rye Bread Recipe Renegade

Lose weight and improve metabolism???

In another article dated 2013, I found:

“As I mentioned in my book, UltraMetabolism, rye has some very special properties because it is slowly absorbed by the body and has phytonutrients that help you lose weight and improve metabolism.” ~~Dr. Mark Hyman (2013)

I’m betting you hadn’t heard about this, either. Why hasn’t this information been all over the news? You might not know anyone who is diabetic, but I’m guessing you at least know one person who is overweight and headed in that direction.

Do You Own a Bread Machine?

You wouldn’t have found wheat products in my home for about the last fifteen years (read why here). The exception was holidays or when having guests for dinner–UNTIL–I found Jovial’s All-Purpose Einkorn Flour. My husband is quite happy I found it and especially happy I found Dr. Hyman’s article about rye.

 

I’m still using my Westbend bread machine that I’ve had for about 20 years. I love it! It  lets me delay the start so we can wake to homemade bread.

I plan to upgrade to this bread maker in the near future:

Westbend Walmart
Available at Walmart.com

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Rye Bread - Can This Reverse Diabetes?
 
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Rye Bread
Author:
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients, in the order they appear, into bread machine pan.
  2. Lock pan into bread machine.
  3. Set bread machine to: WHOLE WHEAT, 1½ POUND, MEDIUM CRUST COLOR.
  4. Press Start (or add to time for a delay start and press START.

 

When I successfully make this recipe without a bread machine, I’ll update this page with the directions.

UPDATE: Please note that this recipe was updated on September 28, 2016. Using more rye and less wheat provided an even better loaf of bread. The amounts used before 9/28/2016 were: Rye: 2 1/3 cups and Jovial’s Einkorn Flour: 1 cup

If you use the type of yeast I linked to in the recipe, there is no need to dissolve it–just add it to the pan. If you’re wondering why I think it’s okay to occasionally eat gluten, please read Are you Still Eating Wheat?

Try this white bread that’s made with Jovial’s Einkorn Flour and Milk Kefir—Milk Kefir Bread.

 

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Is it True This Can Reverse Diabetes?
 
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Coming soon - How to make the Rye Bread recipe without a bread machine.
Author:

 

 

 

 

 

Jo-Anne’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This recipe uses half the sugar and butter that most chocolate chip cookie recipes use and are just as delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Jo-Anne's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 2¼ Cups Jovial's Einkorn Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic Salt
  • ½ Cup (1 stick) Softened Butter
  • ½ Cup Demerera Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 to 2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • OPTIONAL: 1 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
  1. Remove butter from refrigerator to soften. (You may want to take this out about an hour or so before you intend to make these.)
  2. Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
  3. In small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  4. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
  5. Mix in vanilla.
  6. Mix in 1 egg at a time.
  7. Mix in flour mixture.
  8. Mix in chocolate chips.
  9. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet using #1 ice cream scoop (1 ounce) or spoon.
  10. Bake at 375° F for 10 to 11 minutes or until cooked.
  11. Leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.
  12. Transfer to cooling rack.

The reason this recipe uses 1/2 the butter as most chocolate chip cookie recipes is because less oil is necessary when using Jovial’s Einkorn Flour.

If you make your first purchase at Tropical Traditions using my affiliate link, you’ll receive a coconut book for free and I’ll receive a small discount coupon. Click the flour picture below to go to Tropical Traditions: