Category: Immune Support

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Nettles Soup

Nettles Soup… If I could only make one wild food recipe the whole year it would be this. Because Nettles. And because Soup. Its just so Nourishing, and yet so Cleansing after months of eating heavy winter foods. Nettles are packed with nutrients so they strengthen your entire body, build bones, thicken hair & nails, reduce inflammation, improve immunity.
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When picking nettles, you won’t get stung so often if you sing to them. One of my teachers Susun Weed taught us this nettles song: The spirit of the plants has come to me in the form of a beautiful dancing green woman. Her eyes fill me with peace. Her dance fills me with peace.
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Although the last batch I picked I sang the Go-Gos. Whatever song pops into your head.
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Pick your nettles before they start making seeds. I cut the tops, because they will continue growing. I tell the nettles I am giving them a haircut. I use the scissors to pick up the nettles after they have been cut and have gracefully fall to the ground. Or I cut the nettles right next to my basket so that they fall directly into my basket after they have been cut. This method, plus singing, rarely results in getting stung by a nettle.
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Once home, I let the nettles sit on the porch awhile so the bugs can crawl away. Then I cut off the leaves. Use the stems as fertilizer for the garden. Then soak the leaves in water to wash away any dirt or dust.
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When I make Nettles Soup I don’t measure the ingredients, the recipe changes with every batch. But basically it includes leek, carrot, potato, butter, chicken broth and as much nettle leaves as I can stuff into the pot.
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I did however write down measurements for this latest batch: 100g organic butter, 1 leek, 2 cloves garlic, 2 carrots, 2 small potatos, 1 stalk celery, 200g nettle leaves, 3L chicken broth, salt & pepper. Cook the chopped leek, garlic, celery in butter till soft in a big pot. Add broth, carrots, potatos and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium, cover with lid and cook until veggies are soft. Then add nettles, lower heat to low, cover and cook about 20 minutes. Add salt & pepa and push it good. Turn off heat and let it cool to room temperature. Then puree in a blender. Enjoy! Extra soup can be stored in the freezer so you can enjoy during winter.

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Dandelion Shots

Did you know that Dandelion is one of the strongest & most commonly used herbs in Chinese Medicine? Pu Gong Ying is the Chinese name. Dandelion strongly cools heat & clears toxicity from the body. Heat toxins can manifest in the body as red skin eruptions, acne, sores, cysts on the skin or breast abscesses, red or painful swollen eyes, vaginal infections, urinary infections. Dandelion is used to help cool & clear these heat toxins from the body. Dandelion also directs energy downward, promoting urination, and clearing heat via the urine. In fact the french name for Dandelion is Pissenlit, which means “Pee in bed”. Since Dandelion is so diuretic, Dandelion should not be taken long-term by people who have low blood pressure.
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In Chinese Medicine Dandelion is usually combined with other herbs as part of a tea formula but fresh Dandelion leaf & flowers can also be ground into a juice, warmed and drank with a touch of honey. I call this a Dandelion Shot. Just grind up dandelion leaf & flowers in a blender with a little water then pour into ice cube trays & freeze for later use. Then when I need dandelions cooling detoxifying medicine, I can put a cube in a tea cup, add hot water & honey, then drink. A cube of Dandelion puree can also be added to soups to increase the nutritional and medicinal value of the soup. Large doses of Dandelion over many days may cause mild diarrhea, but otherwise Dandelion is a safe medicinal food. Enjoy!

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Lacto-Fermented Pickles

Lacto-Fermented Veggies & Herbs… Did you know that there are gazillions of tiny lactobacilli that cover the surface of all living things? These lactobacilli are alchemists that do magic. They convert starches present in foods into lactic-acid-producing bacteria that help preserve food. This is one way that folks preserved food before refrigerators were invented. Lacto-fermented foods are also more easily digested as they contain many helpful enzymes, have increased vitamin levels, & promote the growth of healthy gut flora in the intestines.
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Folks all over the world have lacto-fermented foods in their traditional diet. Saurkraut, kimchi, salsa, pickles, relish, chutney, are just some of the more well-known lacto-fermented foods sold in stores. BUT nowadays what is sold in stores is usually not lacto-fermented. You can tell by looking at the ingredients. Water, salt or whey is all that is needed to lacto-ferment. And lacto-fermented veggies taste so much better because subtle flavors are enhanced, you can taste the freshness & vitality of the food. So find an artisinal lacto-fermented company who does it right or do it yourself.
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Here is a recipe for Lacto-fermented Carrots.. Ingredients: 4 cups tightly packed carrots (washed & very thinly sliced or grated), 1 TBSP grated ginger, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2 TBSP salt, 1 quart water. Directions: Stuff the carrots & ginger into clean dry jar. Dry roast the seeds until they pop. Pour seeds over carrots & ginger. Mix salt in water to form a brine. Pour brine over carrots & ginger. Make certain the carrots & ginger stay submerged under the brine. Fill brine to top of jar. Place jar in a large bowl to catch any liquid that spills out during fermentation. I like to put a clean glass or a piece of plastic wrap on top of the brine, then pour more brine on top of the plastic wrap, to ensure that no air will touch the carrots or ginger. Seal the jar tightly. Leave on counter at room temperature. On Day 2 open the jar to release any gases then reseal. You can start eating the carrots now if you want. But the longer you wait, the more flavorful the carrots will be. After 3 weeks remove the glass or plastic wrap, seal and put jar in refrigerator to slow down fermentation & preserve the flavor. Enjoy!

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Tonic Herb Bone Broth

Tonic Herb Bone Broth… It’s still snowing here in Finland. Winters are long & one way to build immunity & strength during the neverending cold season is by making a pot of herb bone broth every week from your leftover meat or fish bones with some tonic herbs, then drink the broth throughout the week. I think everyone used to make tonic bone broths back in the day, but modern lifestyle has gotten away from it. Let our food be our medicine.
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Bones are simmered with water & vinegar for a long time (10-24 hours) to extract the minerals, cartilage, marrow, gelatin in a form that is easy to absorb & assimilate. Bone broths made from bones of free range animals have been used to treat many types of chronic ailments. If you eat meat, don’t waste the bones & throw them away! Those bones are good medicine.
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It is not necessary to add herbs to your bone broths, but why not? They add flavor, nutrition & medicinal properties. I change the herbs every week, depending on how I’m feeling. But I usually add tonic roots such as Codonopsis, Siberian Ginseng, Astragalus, Dang Gui Angelica Root. I add Reishi Mushroom, known as the Herb of Immortality in Chinese Medicine. I always add Goji Berries & Jujube fruit, which are Blood Tonics. Other tonic herbs I add: Jiagulan, Oatstraw, Nettle Seeds. I usually add Nettle leaves, Goatpipe, Rosehips, Hawthorne berries. You only need half to one TBSP of each herb. If it’s a delicious tasting herb like nettles, goatpipe or goji berries then add as much as you like. I also add Carrot, Celery, Onion, Garlic, Ginger for flavor.
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Here is my recipe for Tonic Herb Chicken Bone Broth: bones from 1 free range chicken (skin removed), 2 TBSP vinegar, 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery sticks, 4 cloves garlic chopped, 1 inch piece of ginger chopped, half an onion chopped, herbs of your choice, 3 Liters water. Directions: Place all ingredients into a 3 Liter sized pot. Bring to a boil, remove foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to low, cover & simmer 10-24 hours. The longer you simmer, the richer it will be. As the broth simmers, the water will evaporate and the broth becomes richer and thicker. After cooking, strain broth into another pot. Broth stays good about 5 days in refrigerator. You can use this broth as a base for soups or just drink it warm in a tea mug. After drinking a cup, you will certainly feel warm and revitalized. Enjoy!

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Rosehip Cinnamon & Sea Buckthorn Ginger Vitamin C Balls

Rosehip Cinnamon Vitamin C Balls & Sea Buckthorn Ginger Vitamin C Balls…. We tend to think of Oranges as THE food highest in Vitamin C. But Rosehips & Sea Buckthorn berries are a much richer source of Vitamin C. And they grow locally here in Finland.
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An Orange contains 53 mg Vitamin C per 100 grams. Fresh Rosehips contain up to 1157 mg Vitamin C per 100 grams (23x more vitamin C than Orange). Fresh Sea Buckthorn berries contain 400 mg Vitamin C per 100 grams (8x more vitamin C than Orange).
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Dried powdered Rosehips contain 500 mg Vitamin C per 100 grams (10x more vitamin C than Orange). And dried Sea Buckthorn berries contain 140 mg per 100 grams (nearly 3x more vitamin C than Orange).
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Rosehips & Sea Buckthorn berries also contain many other vitamins, minerals & nutrients, not only vitamin C. And nutrients are more bioavailable, more easily absorbed, when they are eaten as whole food instead of isolated in a pill.

These little herbal balls are easy to make and can be eaten as a snack or added to a cup of tea to sweeten & give an added nutritional boost.
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Recipe for Rosehip Cinnamon Balls: 4 TBSP Rosehip powder, 1/8 tsp Cinnamon powder, Rose petal infused honey, 2 TBSP Cranberry powder (optional for decoration). Mix the powders in a bowl. Add 1 tsp of Rose Honey & stir. Then add another tsp of honey & stir. Continue adding a tsp of honey at a time, until a thick dough consistency is reached. Then form little balls and roll the balls in Cranberry powder for a nice pink-red finishing touch. Place balls on a plate and then put in the refrigerator for a few hours. I recommend keeping them refrigerated in a container so that they stay more firm, but its not necessary. The flavors of Rosehips, Rose Honey, Cinnamon and Cranberry are a warm, sweet yummy combination that feels perfect in Autumn.
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The recipe for Sea Buckthorn Ginger Balls is the same, except the ingredients are 4 TBSP Sea Buckthorn powder, 1/8 tsp Ginger powder, Honey. You can also use Ginger infused honey instead of Ginger powder. And after forming the balls, roll them in Sea Buckthorn powder for a nice orange finishing color. I like mixing the tart flavor of Sea Buckthorn with the pungent flavor of Ginger, it has a nice kick to it. Enjoy!

*Nutritional information cited in this post was taken from a study done by Tehran University of Medical Sciences and published in the Iranian Journal of Public Health, “Ascorbic Acid Content of Rose Hip Fruit Depending On Altitude”. And a 2008 study published in the Journal of Food Science 73(9):C615-20 “Vitamin C Content of Sea Buckthorn Berries”.

Sea Buckthorn Berries
Dried Rosehips

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Classic Cold Care Tea

Classic Cold Care Tea… Yarrow, Elderflower, Peppermint. Also known as YEP Tea or Gypsy Tea, is a traditional herbal blend that goes back centuries in folk medicine. This Tea is drank as a hot infusion at the first signs of cold or flu.
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Yarrow, Elderflower & Peppermint are all diaphoretic herbs, which means that they open the pores of the skin, allowing Excess Heat to leave the body via perspiration or sweat. (When sick, Excess Heat in the body can manifest as sore throat or fever or thick mucous or yellow mucous or feeling hot and achey).
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When drinking this tea you’ll quickly feel the heat in your body come to the surface of your skin, and then you will start to sweat a bit. This activates your immune system and will help to support the fever process as well as help break a prolonged fever. An elevated body temperature helps to kill viruses in the body, so fever & sweating is one way that the body fights off viruses.
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Yarrow is antiseptic & anodyne which means that she helps inhibit the grpwth of harmful micro-organisms, helps prevent infection & helps reduce pain.
Elderflower is expectorant, assisting in expelling mucous from the body. Elderflower is also a soothing nervine, helping you to relax and rest.
Peppermint is antispasmodic & decongestant, and so beneficial for a spastic cough or sinus headache.
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The combination of these 3 herbs has a quite pleasant taste! Sipping this tea while its hot, throughout the day, at the first signs of feeling sick will usually have me feeling better in 1-2 days. Of course its also important to rest, drink plenty of water and eat warm soup.
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Enjoy & Be Well.

Yarrow flowers
Classic Cold Care Tea
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Dandelion Bud Capers

I did the thing: Dandelion Bud Capers. Been seeing them on instajam and since my yard is full of dandelions I decided to give them a try. They actually taste really good! No bitterness and kinda pickle-y tasting. If you have dandelions, I suggest you do the thing too. Dandelion benefits your liver and Spring is the perfect season to support your livers ability to detox and cleanse after a long winter of eating heavy rich foods. Also dandelion capers are naturally fermented and fermentated foods benefit your gut as they help replenish friendly bacteria in your intestines. Dandelion capers are quite healthy and easy to make. When picking dandelion buds, of course you only want to pick dandelions that have not been sprayed with pesticides or chemicals and only harvest from dandelions that grow in a clean area. If you look down in the center of the rosette of dandelion leaves then you will see small round dandelion buds about the size of a hazelnut. They also taste nice just eating them raw. If you would like to make dandelion capers, here is one easy recipe that I adapted from The Elliott Homestead: 2 cups dandelion buds (remove the bottom little frills (phyllaries) and stems, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 3 juniper berries, 3/4 TBSP salt mixed into 1 cup water. Rinse buds in cold water then put into a clean jar. Add garlic & juniper berries. Cover buds with enough salt water to completely submerge buds. They will float so put a piece of plastic wrap over the jar then slowly push down another jar into the first jar. This jar will push down the buds so they stay underwater. Make sure the buds always stay under water. Let this sit on the counter for 5-7 days so it can ferment. Then its ready to eat after 5-7 days. Keep refrigerated. You can add capers to salads, stir-fries, as a side condiment or even eat them as snacks. Enjoy!

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Pine & Gooseberry Oxymel

Pine needle Gooseberry Oxymel. The taste is quite Delicious! I was wanting to make an oxymel with Pine because Pine is so high in vitamin C & grows abundantly here in Finland. I decided to try adding some yellow gooseberries that grew in my yard and had frozen from last year. The sour sweet taste of the gooseberries pairs excellently with the taste of Pine. And since gooseberries are anti-inflammatory, Pine is high in Vitamin C, and oxymels are an ancient remedy for respiratory ailments, this makes sense now in the age of Corona.

Recipe: 2 cups yellow gooseberries, 1/2 cup fresh Pine needles, 2 tsp Angelica leaf, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 1/4 cup honey. Mix in a clean jar and put in refrigerator for 2 weeks. Do not use a metal lid on the jar because vinegar and metal lids will react. I use a glass jar with a rubber seal & glass lid. Shake daily. Strain and pour into a nice bottle. Keep refrigerated. I add this to pretty much anything I eat, lately I’ve been adding it to goatpipe salads and stirfry nettles. You can also take a teaspoon 3x a day as a respiratory tonic. Enjoy!

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Sea Buckthorn Aronia Berry Ginger Thyme Spruce Oxymel

Sea Buckthorn, Aronia Berry, Ginger, Thyme, Spruce Oxymel. This was an experiment that turned out tasting pretty good. Tangy, Pungent, Savory, Sweet. I wanted to work with Sea Buckthorn because I read they have the highest nutrient content of all wild berries, especially high in vitamin C, E and essential fatty acids. But their taste is so sour! They need to be mixed with other flavors to mellow out their intensity. So I mixed 1 cup smashed Sea Buckthorn berries with 1 cup smashed Aronia berries, thumb sized fresh ginger sliced, 1/2 cup dried thyme, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 and 1/2 cups spruce sprout infused honey. Mix together and let sit in refrigerator 2 weeks. Shake daily. Strain. Pour into clean bottles and keep refrigerated. I use oxymels as food and pour on top of vegetables or whatever food I’m eating to give the food some extra exciting flavors. And oxymels have the added benefit of supporting respiratory health and have been used since the times of ancient Greece for congestion, cough & bronchitis. You can take a teaspoon several times a day and evening for mild respiratory symptoms or just use as a tangy food seasoning. Enjoy!

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Finnish Forest Tonic Soup

Finnish Forest Tonic Soup… I wanted to make a Finnish version of the Chinese tonic soups I eat during cold months and this turns out really well! When choosing ingredients for the soup, I wanted to stick with local herbs that have a ‘tonic’ or fortifying and strengthening quality. There are Nettle seeds to tonify kidneys, Chaga & Forest Mushrooms to tonify immune system, Roseroot is an adaptogen tonic, Oatstraw tonifies Qi Blood Essence & Yang, Red Clover is also classified as an adaptogen by many herbalists and is a phytoestrogen, Bilberries nourish liver yin & eyes, Iceland Moss also moistens & nourishes liver Yin and tonifies digestive Qi, Chicory Root nourishes liver Blood & Liver Yin, Yellow Dock Root nourishes Blood. I also added Garlic & Chives to warm and expel wind cold, Lovage to add warmth, Juniper Berry for warmth and to expel Wind Damp Cold, Carrot & Celery & Chicken & Goatpipe for added nutrition and Pine Needles for vitamin C and flavor. I referred to Peter Holmes book Energetics of Western Herbs to research many of the energetic properties. The soup is cooked in a crockpot or on a very low heat for several hours. The base of the soup is skinless chicken with bones plus water which forms a nourishing bone broth as it cooks over time. This soup is one of many things I try to do to feel healthy during these long dry cold Finnish winters. And I will soon be offering packets of dried Finnish Tonic Soup for anyone interested in giving this Finnish Tonic Soup a try!

Some Finnish Tonic Herbs
Warming & Tonifying