Herbal Cough Suppressant Recipe That REALLY Works

 Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night - usually about 3 or 4 am and I cannot go back to sleep.  What would any rational person do?  Watch television of course.  Usually Dr. Oz is on and  since I have missed the afternoon showing,  I watch it in the middle of the night.  Makes perfect sense doesn't it?  I do learn lots of interesting things.

Monday night, it happened again, I turned the TV on, and his guest was Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, who is an M.D. and is Native American.  She has written a book called Healthy at Home (which I have ordered on Amazon) and it is full of natural home remedies for all kinds of things.  On this episode, she was talking about sore throats, respiratory infections, and coughs.  I couldn't have seen this at a better or more opportune time.

My BFF had been in Evansville all last week because her mother was in the hospital.   Tonya had spent the entire week at the hospital with her.  By Saturday, she was getting sick.  She had a scratchy throat and didn't feel well.  By the time she got back to Nashville on Saturday evening, she was sick.  SICK.  Hacky cough, fever, malaise - the whole works sick.  She ran a fever all Sunday and Monday with the cough getting worse.  I told her what our daughter's pediatrician had told them about using honey for cough suppression.  He told her to give her boys a couple of teaspoons every few hours and Annie said it really worked.  So, Tonya was doing the honey thing and she said it was really helping.  I mean, coughing is the worst.

Back to Dr. Low Dog's herbal recipe for cough.  On the show, she made a concoction of thyme, lemon, and honey and she said it would really do the trick in suppressing a cough.  When the hour was civil enough, I sent Tonya a text and told her I was making her this concoction.  She had seen Dr. Oz on the afternoon showing and said THANK  YOU!

I cooked it up just like Dr. Low Dog said and sent it down with Dan to hand in the door.  That was yesterday.  This morning she sent me a text and said her fever broke during the night - finally - and that the concoction was really helping!  Yay!!  That is a first hand account that it really does work and it tastes good.  Here is what you do:

2 cups water, almost boiling
3 TBSP fresh or dried thyme
juice of one whole lemon
1 cup honey, preferably raw or at least local

DO NOT GIVE TO CHILDREN UNDER 1 YEAR OF AGE!!

Put the time in a bowl.  Pour the hot water over it and let it steep for 15 minutes.  Strain into a container that has a lid.  Add the juice of 1 lemon and the honey.  Stir to mix thoroughly  Put the lid on and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.  Take 1 or 2 Tablespoons every 3 to 4 hours.  Simple.  Easy.  And, it tastes good which is more than you can say for most commercial cough medicines which they have shown really do not work.

Seems like there is a lot of flu, congestion, upper respiratory kinds of things going around right now.  Coughing will wear you down and keep you awake.  Try this concoction and hopefully it will help you too.  There are no chemicals or additives.  All ingredients are natural which is never a bad thing and it's relatively inexpensive to make.  Give this a try for yourself or anyone you know who is hacking, wheezing, and coughing.  It could make things better in no time.  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Everything on the Earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission.  This is the Indian theory of existence.    Mourning Dove, Christine Quintasket (1888-1936)  Saiish

Baked Pear Spinach Salad With Mascarpone, Cashews, And Champagne Vinegar Dressing

Here it is Tuesday, October 22nd already.  How did this happen?  Where is it going?  Why am I not ready for cold weather or the fact that I had to put on closed shoes on Sunday because it suddenly got cool?  Bye bye sandals until next spring.  Sigh.  It makes me so very sad when sandals have to go.  My feet are not very happy.  I'll be waiting until the first warm day to drag them back out.  Believe me.

One of the really nice things about fall though is the abundance of tree fruit like apples and pears.  YUM!  I like apples, but I LOVE pears.  Dan is not a fan.  He doesn't like the texture which to me is unfortunate, but to each his own.

My daughter and I were talking about pears last week and she mentioned she had baked some.  Baked pears?  Why had I never thought of that.  When I got home, I headed straight to the world wide web and researched some baked pear recipes.  This is one I created by combining several things together for this fabulously delicious salad for dinner.  (The dressing recipe is my own.)  Are they good?  Let me count the ways.  My, oh my.  Here is what you will need:

Pears - as many as you want to bake (I used Bartlett)

1/2 to 1 stick butter

1 container Mascarpone cheese

Cashews, rough chopped (I used about a cup)

Home made Champagne Vinegar Dressing - recipe below

To check if pears are ripe, push around the stem to see if it's soft.  If so, they are good to go.  You want ripe pears for baking.

First, if you have never baked pears, this is how I did mine.  I used Bartlett pears and cut the pears in half, scooping out the core in each half.  I used a teaspoon to core the pears.  You can bake 2 halves, or as many as you want.  I did 3 pears the first time which was 6 halves.  Sunday, I did 5 pears for 10 halves.  I melted a half stick of butter in a baking dish for the 6 halves and a whole stick for the 10 halves.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put the butter in an appropriate sized baking dish and melt the butter in the oven.  As soon as the butter is melted, remove the baking pan from the oven and coat the pears in the melted butter.  I rolled them on the skin side, then placed them cut side down in the butter.  Bake for about 45 minutes until they are fork tender.  Sunday, I baked these and this is how they look when they come out of the oven.  Heavenly.

Now, turn the pears over to expose the cut and cored side.  Place large dollops of mascarpone cheese in each pear half and stick them back in the oven for about a minute or two until the cheese melts.  Don't let it all run out of the pears.  It's the really good part.

If you are not familiar with Mascarpone cheese, it is an Italian cheese that sort of has the consistency of cream cheese but tastes like whipped cream.  Double yum.

I decided I wanted salty and sweet to go with the fresh spinach, and I had a can of cashew halves on hand.  I rough chopped them and sprinkled them over the melted mascarpone cheese.  I put several hands full of fresh baby spinach on salad plates and put a pear in the middle of the spinach.  I sprinkled more chopped cashews on the spinach.  Now to make the dressing.  I don't always measure when making dressing, but this is pretty close and you may want to adjust it to fit your taste.  It is sooooooo good, especially the tanginess with the sweet and salty.  Yummo.

Champagne Vinegar Dressing

Finely mince about 1/4 of a small shallot, super fine.

Using a large clove of garlic, make a paste out of it by putting about 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt on a cutting board and mashing the garlic with the flat side of the knife.  Work the knife back and forth, pressing and mashing until you have a paste made from the garlic clove.

In a bowl, pour about 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil in and add the shallot and garlic paste.  Add about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. (two big squeezes) Add the juice of one lemon and two big splashes of champagne vinegar (probably about 2 TBSP).  Add one small pinch of salt if needed and fresh cracked black pepper.  Whisk until combined and drizzle over the spinach and the pear.  Serve.  Consume.  Just try to savor each bite.  Delicious.  (The dressing is so good I could probably drink it with a straw.)

This is such a pretty salad to present with whatever entree you are serving.  Perhaps you will just want to eat the salad with some good crusty bread.  Or, maybe you would prefer the baked pear without the spinach and dressing and consider it dessert.  It all works and it is wonderful any way to choose to eat it.  Truly.  They also keep nicely in the refrigerator (covered) and can be eaten the next day.  I ate mine cold and it was delish!

Sometimes things just come together in an oh so right way.  If you like pears, this is a great way to enjoy them.  Yes indeedy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Pears have been cultivated and enjoyed for thousands of years.  Homer referred to them as a "gift from the gods" in the Odyssey.  healthdiaries.com

  

Lebanese Potato Salad - Salatat Al Bataata

Hope your weekend was as fantastic as ours.  The weather was amazing!  It was raining Saturday morning, but the clouds dissipated and the sun came out in all it's glory.  The temperature was perfect.  I will take all of that weather we can get.

Sunday, our grandson had a make up fall little league game.  Everyone was invited here to dinner afterwards and it needed to be something kind of simple that could mostly be made ahead.  So, I went with a tailgating kind of theme.  You can tailgate for baseball right?  If it's not really de rigueur for baseball like it is for football, perhaps we will start a new trend.

All the grandsons think hot dogs are something magical as my daughter says.  They don't get them often and we don't either, so I thought we would grill some hot dogs, Irish bangers, and some good old Polska Kielbasa.  I mean, who doesn't love a good Polish sausage?  I made chili early in the day so everyone could have a big old chili dog, or a bowl of chili, whichever they preferred.  There were all the "fixins" for the hot dogs and sausages, and I made chocolate rice krispie treats for dessert.  Now, that is a meal fit for a kid if there ever was one.  The adults seem to enjoy it quite a bit too now that I think of it.

For the adults in the group (I do try to consider them too), if they didn't want chili, I made some lebanese potato salad with a recipe my daughter got from her mother in love who came to America from Lebanon when she was 18.  This is some good potato salad, let me tell you!  There is NO mayonnaise so it won't spoil.  Something  you might consider next time you need a pot luck dish!

This potato salad has a really bright lemony flavor that I love.  (Remember, I never met a potato I didn't like.)  The parsley adds a wonderful flavor.  Other countries use lots of parsley in their recipes, but we don't.  I think it's time to start another treat.  It's

This recipe is  easy to make (even better) and is super delicious!  Here is what you need:

 7/8 good sized potatoes, scrubbed (I'd say about 3 pounds)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 big lemons)
1/4 cup good olive oil
salt
fresh parsley

Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  Remove from stove and pour off the hot water.  Cover with cold water and let sit until you can handle the potatoes without burning your hands.

Remove the skins by simply pulling them off.  (It's kind of fun)  Cut the potatoes into cubes and salt to taste.

Mix the dressing of olive oil, and lemon juice.  Pour the dressing over the potatoes and toss.

Remove the leaves from the parsley until you have about 1/2 to 3/4 cup.  Rough chop and sprinkle over the potato salad.  Toss.

That's it!  How easy is that?

I love potato salad of all varieties and this one has become one of my favorites!  If you feel it may need a little more dressing, just make sure you use the olive oil and lemon juice in the same quantity.

This is an excellent side dish when you want something different and it's GREAT for tailgaiting since you don't have to worry about spoilage.  The only thing I might add next time are some chopped scallions, green and white parts.  Some recipes also call for a little chopped mint.  I'm not a big mint fan, but you may love it.  Remember, mint is a strong flavor, so add about 1/4 cup of chopped mint if you want.

Give this recipe a try!  Dan loved it and he is VERY picky about potato salad. And, thanks Alma for sharing another of your fabulous native dishes!  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Parsley - the jewel of herbs, both in the pot and on the plate.  Albert Stockli

Spiced Pecan Cake

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Has it seemed like Monday all day to you?  It sure has to me!  Those Monday holidays mess up my week, especially since I don't go to work everyday.  Sometimes I have to look at my phone to see what day it actually is.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend.  We celebrated with family and friends with a cookout enjoying the first of the summer bounty from the Farmer's Market.  Fresh strawberries, corn, green beans, and peaches are in.  Yum.  One of the most enjoyable things about summer is the bounteous fare of fresh fruits and vegetables we get to enjoy.  And, then, there is the beautiful sunshine, warm weather, and summer evenings to top it all off.

Fresh local strawberries are the absolute best don't you think?  It's nice to have access to strawberries all year round, but they just don't taste like the smaller, juicier, sweeter, local berries.  They are just a little taste of heaven as far as I am concerned.

I made this beautiful pecan cake with some of the fabulous pecans my new friend Dianna sent me from Texas.  They pick them up off the ground by the pounds.  There are pecan trees everywhere in the Dallas area.  Yes, I said pounds. Wouldn't that be wonderful?  My daughter told me there is a company you can take them to and they shell them for you.  Amazing!  Who knew?  It's sure better than cracking hundreds of shells and trying to get the nuts to come out in something other than little tiny pieces.  Look at these beauties!

We have bags of them to enjoy.  Lucky us!  So, I decided to make this fabulous pecan cake I found on Food Network.com.  The recipe was posted by Pat and Gina Neeley and is really, really good.  Makes a super "shortcake" for fresh fruit.  Here is what you need:

Filling

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir everything together in a bowl until all the nuts are coated.  Set aside.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp milk

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cake

1 package golden yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease and flour a 9x13 pan

Beat all cake ingredients together for 4 minutes.  Pour half the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Spread the pecan filling on top of the batter.  Pour remaining batter over pecans, spreading batter to cover the filling.

Bake about 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool 30 minutes.  Drizzle with glaze.

This cake is as good by itself as it is with some beautiful strawberries!  Makes a perfect "coffee type cake" that could be served for brunch.   Or, it's absolutely delicious eaten just as it is.  Give it a try.  It's delicious.

 Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

 A special thank you to my dad and his two brothers who all served in World War II.  As a mother, I can't imagine seeing three of your sons go off to war.  What a sacrifice.  Fortunately, they all returned.  Others were not so fortunate.   Thank you will never be enough for their service and sacrifice for our freedom.

Hunger Awareness Month - Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup with Kale

Happy Monday to everyone.  How was your weekend?  Hopefully, it was all that you wanted it to be, especially restful.  How is it that those days we wait for all week fly by in such a blur that it's Monday once again and all you did was work - some more.  There is the never ending list of things to do around your home, the yard, grocery shopping, laundry and it's all necessary, but is it fun?  Did you get to spend a little time with yourself, your family, your friends?  We got to watch our oldest grandson play his first "fall" ball game Saturday.  The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  Don't spend all your time working and fretting about things and forget to make some memories.  Work will always be there waiting for you.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, life goes on.

Today, I am continuing a series on Hunger Awareness which takes place during the month of September.  Here are some statistics about hunger among children in the United States provided by ConAgra.org.  These are very disturbing figures indeed.

Hunger Means Children Rely on Support from Food Banks

• Hunger disproportionately affects children—nearly 40 percent of the people who turn to charities for hunger relief are children, although they represent only 25 percent of the U.S. population.
• Households with children experience food insecurity at almost double the rate of households without children.
• Nearly 1 in 5 children in this country is served by Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks.
  • Nearly 14 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America.
  • More than 3 million of those children are ages five and under – representing nearly 13 percent of all children under age five in the United States.
• Feeding America clients with children in their households were often faced with the tough decision of providing food for their family and paying for other necessities. For example:
  • More than 35 percent had to choose between food and medical care.
  • Nearly 55 percent made trade-offs between food and utilities.
  • More than 46 percent had to choose between food and paying rent or the mortgage.

Children who live in homes with food scarcity or insecurity have more difficulty in school.  Hunger makes concentration almost impossible, there is increased illness and lack of energy.  There is increased fear and insecurity in not knowing where your next meal will come from.  Yes, some are able to participate in school food programs that provide breakfast and lunch, but there may be no food over the weekend or for an evening meal.

At East Nashville CoOp Ministry, we are striving to provide healthy food for the homeless and those living in poverty.  Feeding America/Second Harvest stocks our pantry once a week for food boxes that are distributed to those in need.  This is a crisis that is occurring nationwide and worldwide.  The fact that we are the wealthiest nation in the world makes it hard to understand why anyone should go hungry.  Feeding America/Second Harvest has fed 1 in 8 people this year.  They have distributed 3 billion pounds of food and have fed 37 million Americans.  But, the problem persists.

The CoOp has had to stop serving breakfast due to a lack of funds, but we are continuing to serve lunch.  Today, we prepared lemon chicken orzo soup with kale, grilled cheese rounds and baked apple crisp.  This soup was inspired by some that I had at Panera Bread Company.  It is really good, healthy and easy to make.  We made enough to feed 100 people today, but here is how you can make it at home on a smaller scale.

1 whole chicken
1 large onion, diced in small pieces
2 carrots, diced in small pieces
2 ribs celery, diced in small pieces
1 package orzo pasta
1 bunch kale ( or use fresh spinach if you prefer)
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried oregano

Cover the chicken with water in a large pot and boil until the chicken is done.  Remove the chicken and add about 4 cups of water to the remaining stock cooking in the pot.  (you will have to use your judgment)  Add the vegetables and let them cook until soft.  Meanwhile, remove all the meat from the chicken, cut in bite sized pieces and return to the stock with vegetables.  Add the oregano and lemon juice.  Add the orzo and let cook until done, adding more liquid if needed - water or chicken stock in a box.  If using kale, remove the stems from the leaves and chop the leaves into bite sized pieces.  Add the kale once the orzo is cooked and let cook for about 15 more minutes.  (If you are using spinach, give it a rough chop and add when the orzo is cooked).  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add more lemon juice if you prefer.

This is a delicious and filling soup with a nice lemon flavor that has a wonderful Mediterranean flare.

Because our budget is limited, we make lots of soups and casseroles that will stretch our money and feed as many people as possible.  It is a real challenge, but ever so rewarding.

If there is a food pantry in your town or at your church, support it in any way you can.  People need to eat every day of the year, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If you have spare time, volunteer to help at your local soup kitchen or pantry doing what you can to help alleviate hunger in our country.  The thought of a hungry child is heartbreaking.  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Food brings people together on many different levels.  It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love!  Giada deLaurentis

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