Aniseed Essential Oil - Profile of the Day

(Pimpinella anisum)

The truth is I didn't use this particular essential oil until the past 2 years. It wasn't included in the oils we studied during my aromatherapy certification and I just had not even thought much about it. Not until a friend told us that there was an essential oil that hunters and fishermen use - to mask human scent. He wanted me to make a soap that had that in it. So since I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate aromatherapy in our lives and on our website, I said sure! I started doing the research, reading hunting and fishing blogs and forums, and apparently this is a very common use for aniseed essential oil. Then I started doing my research on the oil itself, its properties, benefits and chemical properties and I was amazed that I hadn't used it sooner!

For those who want the short version of what aniseed oil is used for look here. For those who want much more information take a look at the beginnings of our essential oil database and what it will look like. I've started with aniseed oil, which also obviously starts at the beginning of the alphabet, but we will be adding to this database daily with a "short version" and the in-depth look at all the ways a particular oil may benefit a particular issue in your life. We do offer aniseed oil on our website, but there will be some oils we will profile that we don't carry, but will provide you with links to those who do.

Thanks for listening! Hope you begin to incorporate essential oils and practical aromatherapy in your every day lives and discover as we have that you can't do without them.

When I was around 42 years old, 100 pounds, and still barely 5 feet tall, for the first time ever I had my cholesterol levels tested in a routine annual exam. Well - they came back VERY bad and at that time I was eating your normal meat, cheese, and veggie diet and staying at the same weight for about 20 years and a size 4. I knew I had to stay away from sugar, potatoes, bread and white rice as much as possible because I always gained weight if I ate those things. No advanced nutritional science here - I just knew my body and my body told me it couldn't metabolize those things and every ounce I ate would end up as pounds on my hips and thighs. Well, to be honest, I didn't really know anything about the word "metabolize" at that time - I just simply gained weight - enough said.

The doctor at that time was amazed that not only was my LDL (bad stuff) very high, my triglycerides were also very high (very not good). But my HDL's  (the good guys) at that time were quite high and probably because I walked every day. He decided and I agreed I didn't need to take any medicine for it - yet. Of course, the statins such as Lipitor weren't quite as routinely given back then.  The point I want to get across is at that time they were teaching low-fat, low calorie diets to lower cholesterol. I was in nursing school and needed to do a teaching presentation for my speech class and decided to make that my subject. So, I studied everything I could find to teach others what they should eat to keep their cholesterol down. All of my research from your routine medical research journals to the registered dietitions' comments told me I could and should eat bagels because they are "low fat", and yes, I could eat those low-fat cookies even though they had an amazing amount of grams of sugar in them. Hey, I was excited - I could now eat things I thought I couldn't!! Everything I read said as long as the fat content (ANY fat) was low, regardless of the sugar or starch content, would be okay and, in fact, good. 

Follow me here a year later as I gained 30 pounds (that's a lot on a 5' frame), probably in less than a year and my cholesterol, of course, didn't go down at all. I continued this way for many years (about 20 years) until I realized on my own that this wasn't working (apparently I'm not such a quick learner.) That's when I started looking at less meat, no white stuff, more veggies and fruits and I slowly transitioned into mostly raw for one summer (which I blogged about here) and I quickly lost those 20 pounds, easily and I certainly didn't eat any less. We ate huge salads almost every day. 

Well, now the prevailing wisdom and recommendations have turned their course and the medical establishment has decided that maybe those weren't such good recommendations. They still haven't learned or are convinced that proper nutrition can in fact heal the body without pharmaceutical medications, but studies such as the one here will help convince them. Now the rest of us who knew it already can sit back and just say "we told ya' so!"  I routinely eat one avocado a day if I can find them for less than $1.50 each and I can now - thank you Trader Joe's!! Mainly because I just love them, and I knew the fat in them was good fat so I wasn't counting fat calories. Luckily Warren doesn't like avocado's - I don't like to share and besides we can only afford one avocado addict in this family.

Thank you Canadian Medical Association! Take a copy of the abstract from the original study linked to below the next time you go to your doctor - or better yet before getting that prescription refilled. Absolutely don't, of course, go off any medications without first discussing it with your doctor - but now you have something he or she might actually listen to.

ADDENDUM: October 29, 2012:

I ate an avocado for breakfast this morning - totally filling, satisfying and good. I decided to look once again at the nutritional values in eating just one. Here is a link where all of that is broken down quite extensively and clearly. The article that is linked below is about the incredible value of increasing "monounsaturated" fats into your diet to increase the good cholesterol (HDL). Avocado's are FULL of monosaturated fats.

And below is the clinical study proving that including monounsaturated fats into your diet is a very good thing.

Thanks for listening!

Our family has a favorite vegetarian casserole that we make quite often that is known by a couple different names such as Special K Loaf or Cottage Cheese Loaf, but I've been looking for more variety and different foods to offer at dinner or lunch. There are a LOT of veggie burger recipes and they are easy to find already made for you at any grocery store. But I like to try to make things from scratch. We recently had the pleasure of having a Trader Joe's open near our house and I can say for sure that this store is now my favorite "go to" for food! One of the things we discovered on our first or second trip there was their "Brown Rice Medley", which is as stated on the package - "A delicious blend of long grain brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds." Now I know we thought that sounded like a strange combination but decided to give it a try and we were happy that we did. I'm not a real big fan of regular brown rice - it takes too long to cook and it tastes rubbery to me, but I eat it because it is so much better for me than the white rice that I really like. So I am very happy to say this particular brown rice is absolutely delicious, takes approximately 35 minutes to cook and the texture is very nice. Which is why of course that I decided to try a brown rice veggie burger. Hope you like it!

Annie's Brown Rice Veggie Burgers

2-1/2 cups water
1 cup Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley
1 to 2 teaspoons of Earth Balance butter spread
McKay's Chicken Style Instant Broth to taste (I used about one tablespoon)
1 Tablespoon seasoning blend of choice (we LOVE Olde Westport's Special Blend and buy it in bulk)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 green bell pepper
1 carrot chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1-1/4 cups nuts (walnuts or pecans) finely ground in food processor
1 egg (range free if possible), whipped slightly
1/2 cup raw sesame seeds - you can grind these or not depending on your preference

Bring the water to a boil, add the brown rice medley, the butter, instant broth, seasoning blend, onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in a large saucepan. Cover and turn down to low or medium low - however, you normally cook your rice and everyone's stove is different. Cook this for approximately 35 minutes or until the water is soaked into the rice. I like to set it to the side still covered for about 10 more minutes because it makes the rice softer. Let this mixture cool enough to handle.

Combine the rice mixture with the egg until the mixture stays together. Make into about 12 balls or whatever size you want really (yep, it's a little messy - wet hands work best). Flatten the balls into patties and roll in the sesame seeds. Cook patties in organic extra virgin olive oil (just a little to keep them from sticking to your pan) over medium heat. Cook until golden and you're sure the egg has set and they are heated completely. Usually 3 to 4 minutes on each side is sufficient. 

Now these are really good on whole wheat buns with your favorite hamburger fixings, but I like them also with a creamy dill sauce that we make and no bread.

Sure hope you try them, like them and let me know about it!

Thanks for listening!

 As I sit here clicking the keys on my laptop, my view outside is stark, cold, dreary with lots of snow. The scene is purely black and white and nothing else. So you're probably wondering why I'm thinking about fishing. I guess it's because this is the time of year I love looking at gardening and seed catalogs, which also starts me daydreaming about warmer weather and sitting on the river bank fishing. We kayak and we're also thinking about ways to fish in our kayaks.

That being said, I decided to do some additional research into the benefits of using scents for fish bait. I signed onto some of the fishing forums, such as Bass Pro Shops forums and even the United States Catfish Association. And, yes, they almost all use some type of "scent" added to their bait to attract fish. I also found out again that Anise Oil ,or also called Aniseed Oil, is one of the more popular ones. According to an article on eHow.com:

"Trout anglers have long known that one of the secrets to really great trout fishing lies with bait. There are many mass produced commercial trout baits on the market, however, most of these have a few basic ingredients in common. When you get down to it, trout love cheese, garlic and anise oil. Specifically, Velveeta cheese, garlic salt, the enticing licorice scent of anise oil simply drive trout wild."

There are many ideas of why anise oil works, but I think I've come up with the real reason. Anise oil is sedating and has a strong calming affect on the nervous system. So there you go - it's not that Anise Oil "attracts" fish; I think it's just they are temporarily sedated and not quick enough to get away from that hook. Just my opinion of course but I like it!

When a friend of ours told us about how affective Anise Oil is for fishing - and hunting - he convinced us to make some products with that particular oil, so we did. You can check out our Hunter and Fisherman's spray and soap. We also carry a high quality Aniseed essential oil to make your own. Check out the link below for more detailed information about making your own bait.

Thanks for listening!

Fight cancer – eat raw broccoli & cabbage!

The tissue of cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, contain high levels of the active plant chemicals glucosinolates. These are metabolised by the body into isothiocyanates, which are known to be powerful anti-carcinogens. Consuming cooked or processed broccoli may result in less of the potential anti-cancer compounds being available for absorption, suggests a new study from TNO Quality of Life. Consumption of the cooked vegetable led to lower levels of a compound called sulforaphane being measured in the blood and urine, compared to consuming raw broccoli, according to findings published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Cool! One cup also has 2 grams of protein.

Thanks for listening!

Ann

My husband has a sweet tooth - mostly for chocolate, but sweet is where it's at for him. When we started eating "raw" I didn't really see a lot of dessert or sweet treat type recipes. I've since found quite a few and they are really, really good. This one is perfect for the holidays and any parties you may have. After making them, put in plastic bag or appropriate sized freezer dish and put in freezer until time to serve. We adapted this recipe from RawVolutions' famous "Cinnamon Girls", but tweaked it to where it suited us a little better. Although in most raw food recipes it is recommended to soak the nuts overnight, we didn't in this recipe because I think the texture of the raw nuts soaked would be too wet and soft. Some day I'll try it with them soaked since they are better for you that way.

"Raw" Cinnamon Nut Balls

This recipe can make up to 15 balls depending on the size you prefer. I recommend a smaller size that is about one bite, maybe two bites for each one. This recipe can easily be made vegan by substituting the honey for the agave nectar.

2 cups of raw nuts (you can use walnuts, pecans, or almonds - a mixture of all three)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon (go easy here because it's easy to overdo it)

1 cup raisins or we used Trader Joe's "Golden Berry Blend" that has dried raisins, cranberries and blueberries

1/4 cup raw honey

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 tbsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract (no it's not raw, but used in a lot of raw recipes)

Grind the nuts in a food processor, add the cinnamon and dried fruit (raisins) until mixed well. Mix the honey, agave nectar, olive oil and extract together in a separate bowl. After this is thoroughly combined, add to nut mixture until a dough-like consistency - meaning to the point you can make into a ball that sticks together. You can eat these now or you can freeze them for later. We've found that if frozen they stick together better and taste better after the mixture has had time to sit.

They look quite attractive on a serving dish. The protein from the nuts and the agave nectar and raw honey, although sweet, do not spike blood sugar levels, which for those of us with any insulin resistance is important.

Let me know if you try these and how they worked for you. Did you like them or not so much?

Thanks for listening!

Thanksgiving this year for our family was a little different in the way things turned out. We've always had challenges in trying to get all of our children together at one time under one roof and at one table. My daughter and I were hospital nurses and one or the other of us invariably ended up working on Thanksgiving. Our son and daughter-in-law were both in the restaurant business and also had a difficult time having Thanksgiving off. This year was different in that our daughter works 8 to 5 as a nurse practitioner, I'm not working as a nurse and our daughter-in-law is out of the restaurant business starting a new career. I'm sure all of us face challenges of this sort and especially with so many families where the biological mom and dad of a child are no longer together. So what's the point of all this you're probably asking. Well - we still weren't able to get all of our children and grandchildren together at one time, but it was nonetheless one of our best Thanksgivings and we celebrated it twice. Our daughter and her family joined us on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. All of us already had had our fill of turkey and dressing and we were experimenting with raw and vegan foods. Below is a recipe that we adapted from "Seven Secrets Cookbook", which by the way is full of what look to be very good vegan recipes. We're focusing more and more on raw and vegan and it is a process. We have friends who are strict vegans and our granddaughter is a strict vegan, so we want to be able to cook foods for them. Along the way we are finding that these foods are more easily digested and we feel better when we stick closer to this way of eating.

This particular recipe was a success and fairly easy to make. We tweaked and changed quite a bit of the recipe and I think the next time I make them, I'll change it again. 

Vegan Pecan Patties

2 cups soft bread crumbs (we used dried and soft bread crumbs, a little cereal, and dehydrated nuts)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (we used walnuts this time - I'll try soaked pecans next time)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1 garlic clove finely minced
1/2 tsp Vege-Sal (a trademarked blend of sea salt and spices from Spike)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsps of Washington's chicken seasoning (we prefer McKay's but it contains dried milk, so it depends on how strict you are)
16 ounce brick of Mori-Nu Firm Tofu
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos

 1.  Place bread crumb mixture, nuts, oats and onions in a large mixing bowl. Add seasonings and mix together.
 2.  Blend tofu with water and Liquid Aminos in blender and then add to the bread crumb mixture and mix well.
 3.  Place evenly on a nonstick or oiled cookie sheet. We used a small ice cream scoop and ours flattened while they baked.
 4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom.

My husband put his pattie between 2 pieces of bread with ketchup, his idea of a hamburger. We also made a raw mayonnaise and used that as a topping. They were quite good even without a topping, but there are many ways these could be served, which is why I think it is a versatile recipe and will go into my folder as a "keeper."

Let me know if you try it and how you liked it. If you have a recipe much like this, we'd love to hear about that too.

Thanks for listening!

Banana Peanut Butter Green Smoothie:

Simple, easy, not vegan nor totally raw because of the honey and yogurt - but in my mind totally healthy. You could easily make it vegan by substituting agave or stevia for the raw honey and using yogurt made from soy or nut milk. But - totally yummy!! Very satisfying and "sticks to your bones" as my mother used to say - meaning you're not hungry again in an hour or two. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic soy milk or nut milk (almond milk would be really good in this - I just didn't have any made)
1/3 cup organic yogurt (again you can use soy or nut milk yogurt)
2 Tbsp of natural peanut butter (I love chunky and if I can't get the health food store stuff, I love Smucker's brand "Natural Peanut Butter"
1 to 2 Tbsp of raw honey
1 frozen banana (or you don't have a frozen one - which you should always have if you make green smoothies) add a few ice cubes to make it cold - it will be naturally thick.
1 large leaf of kale, romaine or any dark leafy green you have on hand

Just blend, blend, blend until smooth. I like to leave some of the chunkiness of the peanut butter. If it's too thick for your blender, just add a little more milk.

I haven't run it through the nutritional calculator yet, but this recipe is full of quality protein from the soy milk, yogurt and peanut butter. You get the probiotics from the yogurt and calcium from the yogurt, dark leafy green and soy milk. The raw honey is amazing for the immune system and doesn't spike your blood sugar. I like the chunky peanut butter because it just adds a little bit more fiber. A great way to start the day.

This size makes enough for one adult or two children.

Let me know if you try it - not complicated and you may have your own peanut butter smoothie recipes - we'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for listening!

 Organic Oats Facial Mask - Do it Yourself Recipe

We (Wingsets) used to offer a facial scrub on our website, much like this one, and it was very popular. I decided this is a much more effective scrub made at home fresh and it's easy to do. The basic recipe was adapted from "The Herbal Home Spa" by Greta Breedlove. She agrees with me that nuts and grains are particularly nice and effective ingredients in facial scrubs and masks. Nuts have a high fat content (the good fats) and the grains or beans, such as garbanzo beans and poppy seeds will do a very good job of exfoliating the skin. Be careful to grind these ingredients completely using a coffee mill or a very good blender as they will be too "scrubby" and make small tears in your skin that is definitely not good for your skin.

Base Mixture
1/2 cup Organic Oatmeal (we use steel cut, but it doesn't matter, as long as it is organic)
1/4 cup Organic Oat Bran
3 Tbsp Organic raw almonds
2 Tbsp Organic pumpkin or poppy seeds (I like the raw pumpkin seeds and they have a high content of Vitamin A - very skin healthy)
2 Tbsp of a mixture of dried herbs like lavender, chamomile and/or calendula (preferably organic or wild-crafted)

Using a blender or coffee mill (we have one for coffee and one for spices), grand all of the ingredients individually and then mix together in a bowl - a whisk is helpful. Package this dry mixture in a glass container for future use.

To make fresh mask:

1. Combine approximately 1 tbsp of the grain/nut mixture with 1 tbsp of yogurt, which contains natural alpha hydroxy acids that are gentle but effective in cleaning and nourishing the skin.  I like to mix a little raw honey into the yogurt mixture as well.

2. Add essential oils of your choice, lavender, myrrh, frankincense, spikenard, tea tree, carrot seed and chamomile are all good choices. We also make a "Skin Blend" of these oils already mixed together. You only need 2 drops per each application of the mask. All of these oils have been researched and the literature indicates that they have very good properties for skin health and cell renewal.

2.  Make a paste that will spread easily on your face without pulling or tugging. Apply gently to face and rub gently in a circular motion - always be very gentle around the eye area. I like to let this sit for at least 30 minutes but each of us have a different sensitivity, so be your own judge. If it feels uncomfortable, then wash it off. I like to rinse it off by splashing warm water and rubbing gently until it is all removed.

According to the author of this book (and I would agree but would add chamomile for all skin types):

Herbs for Facial Grains:

Dry Skin: Rose, Lavender
Normal Skin: Rose, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Calendula
Oily Skin: Rosemary, Sage, Witch Hazel
Problem (dull or break-out prone) Skin: Add green clay and add 1 tsp of goldenseal, 1 tsp myrrh, and 1 tsp comfrey root.

I personally love this mask, but would not recommend using more than once a week. Oats are well known for their ability to decrease inflammation and improve skin texture. Try it and let me know how it worked for you. We'd love comments or suggestions on how to improve this or what additions you would make - fresh avocado might be a good addition!

Thanks for listening!

Raw Taco Salad:

This is what I had for lunch today - the picture makes it look like not very much food, but let me assure you it was very filling and satisfying - and tasted wonderful (trying to find words to use besides awesome and amazing - any suggestions)?  Anyway - it was GOOD! It's not 100% by-the-book raw since I used canned salsa, but it was fresh, required NO elecricity, and took just a few minutes to fix. Seriously, I've not been eating very healthfully a lot of the days because I just didn't think I had time to stop and fix a meal - well, this one is another example of how quickly and easily you can make a very healthy and satisfying meal - and did I mention with lots of vitamins and phytonutrients. The idea for the "meat" base, which is ground up walnuts came from a new friend who is 100% raw - thanks Kimberly!  She is also going to show me some really good cracker recipes next week - yep, we'll share them.

Raw Taco Salad:

"Meat" base (meaning not really meat):

• 1-1/2 cups raw walnuts ground in a food processor (we would substitute pecans for our daughter-in-law who is very allergic to walnuts)
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin (organic if possible)
• 3/4 tsp ground coriander seed (I used my mortar and pestle and it took literally less than a minute but has much more flavor than store bought ground
• 2 Tbsp Nama Shoyu 
• Combine the walnuts, soy sauce, cumin and coriander and mix well. 

This "meat base" recipe makes more than I need for one meal. I store it in the refrigerator and use it in different "meatless" dishes or just to top off a salad.

To assemble the salad:

1 cup of raw butternut squash noodles (spiralized - check out our picture of our spiralizer in an earlier blog).
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup Warren's freshly canned salsa (of course you'll have to find some as good as his - which will be difficult)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Cilantro
1 Tbsp crumbled raw feta cheese (okay - I know it's not vegan - but I'm not 100% there and not sure I want to be.

Of course you could add additional dark leafy greens or romaine to make an even bigger and better salad. This was great for today. 

Let me know if you try it and what you think.  Questions and comments are always welcome.

Thanks for listening!