Stuffing, Acorn Squash, and Lentil Loaf

     Eek! Thanksgiving is early this year. I almost let it slip by me. But don't panic if your in the same boat. Here are some great Thanksgiving recipes fit for any gluten free, vegan friendly, table for this year complete with a few variations just for fun.


1.  Acorn squash is one of my favorite fall flavors. On top of it's deliciousness, it's super easy to roast and stuff. The flavor of the squash works well with a number of different stuffing options as well. This recipe does not include the stuffing because I have several options for you to choose from below.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

(6 Servings)

3 Acorn Squash, halved and seeded (save the seeds to toast later, they're yummy)

¾ cup of Ghee, melted

6 cups of Stuffing (recipes below)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400.  Brush each half of squash with melted ghee and stuff 1 cup of your chosen stuffing in each half, season to taste with salt and pepper. Wrap each half tightly in foil.  Bake, covered, for about 1 hour.  In the last 15 minutes of cooking, remove the foil to allow any extra liquid to cook off.  Transfer the Squash to your serving platter, carefully. If you have any stuffing left over, you can arrange it around the squash on the platter.



2. Lentil Loaf is a staple in my home. It's super easy to make and can be extremely versatile. In this recipe I'll guide you through how to stuff your Lentil Loaf. I'm not including the stuffing here because further down there are a few stuffing recipes and variations. Any of those stuffings will work well for your Loaf.

Stuffed Lentil Loaf

(6 Servings)

3 tbsp ground Chia seeds

6 tbsp Water

1 ½ cups Lentils (I use Yellow lentils to make it more like turkey, brown for “beef”)

3 ½ cups Vegetable Broth

2 medium sized Onions, diced (I like using sweet yellow onions, but it's your choice)

2 cloves Garlic, minced

3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 cups cooked Rice

¾ tsp Salt

½ tsp White Pepper

2 cups of Stuffing (recipes below)

Mix together the ground chia seeds and water. Place in the fridge to chill. Reheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and drain the lentils and add them to a stock pot with the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to and allow to simmer about 30 minutes. Strain (optional- you can save the broth to cook your rice in for more flavor) and mash while hot. Set aside to cool. In a skillet, sautee the ontion and garlic in oil for 3-5 minutes, or until soft and just transparent. Combine with mashed lentils, in a large bowl. Add in rice, salt, pepper, and chia seed mixture. Mix well (optional- combine in a food processor and process until smooth for a more turky-like appearance). Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, leave the edges coming out of the pan. Fill the bottom of the lined pan with a little more than half of the lentil mixture, make sure to get up on the sides, but leave space in the center.  Fill with 2 cups of stuffing. Put the remaining lentil mixture on top of the stuffing and seal the loaf. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Gently pull loaf out of pan using the parchment paper. Remove paper and arrange on your platter. Slice carefully. If you have any stuffing left over, arrange it on the platter as well.




3. This is one of my favorite stuffing recipes. It's super tasty and really easy. This stuffing goes so well with so many different dishes, and you can easily make it into a salad by serving it over a handful of fresh, baby greens. Chayote squash is a great vegetable found year round here in Florida. It can be eaten raw or cooked and has a slightly cucumber-ish flavor. If you cant get chayote, try butternut squash for a delicious fall flavor.

Quinoa Chayote Stuffing

1 cup dry Quinoa

2 tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

2 cups Vegetable Broth

1 cup diced Chayote Squash

½ cup diced Celery

½ cup diced Carrot

1 diced medium sized Onion (I use sweet yellow onions)

2 cloves Garlic, minced

2-3 leaves of Fresh Sage, chopped

1-2 sprigs of Fresh Thyme

¾ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Pepper

¼ cup Fresh Parsley, chopped

2 tbsp Olive Oil or Avocado Oil

Rinse your quinoa very well and allow to drain. While your quinoa is draining, pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or ghee) in a sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the drained quinoa and cook, constantly stirring, to allow the remaining water to evaporate and toast the quinoa. This should take about 2 minutes. Add in the broth and bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, covered. Don't stir or lift the cover! Remove the saucepan from heat and allow to sit for an additional 5 minutes....still no peeking! Remove the cover and fluff your quinoa. If any liquid is remaining at the bottom, return it to the heat for 5 more minutes. Otherwise, toss that quinoa into a large mixing bowl to await the other ingredients.

Heat another tablespoon of oil (or ghee) in a pan and add your veggies (chayote, celery, carrot, onion, and garlic). Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until veggies are nice and tender (about 20 min). Now it's time to add in your sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix together while cooking for just a few more moments. Then toss 'em all in with the quinoa. Add in your parsley and the remaining oil. Toss well to combine.



4. Falafel stuffing? Sounds weird, I know, but it's DELICIOUS! This recipe does take a bit of work because you'll be making your own falafels to use, but the result is amazing and totally worth it! This works equally well as Tamiya (an Egyptian version of falafel), just use fava beans instead of chickpeas.

Fall Falafel Stuffing

For the Fall Falafel:

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium Onion, chopped

3-4 Garlic Cloves

1 cup cooked (or canned) Chickpeas, drained

¾ cup fresh Parsley leaves

1 tbsp ground Sage

½ tsp Cayenne powder (or to taste)

½ tsp dried Rosemary

Salt & Pepper

¾ cup Gluten Free Bread Crumbs

For the Stuffing:

Falafel, smashed

1 tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

1 cup Butternut Squash, diced

1 medium sized Onion, chopped (I prefer sweet yellow onions)  

1 cup Celery, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, smashed and chopped

2-3 fresh Sage leaves, chopped

1 tbsp fresh Rosemary leaves

1 tbsp fresh Thyme leaves

½ cup fresh Parsley leaves

2 tablespoons Olive Oil or Avocado Oil

For the Falafel:
Preheat your oven to 350.  Coat a baking sheet with olive oil.  Place the onion, garlic, and chickpeas in a food processor and pulse a few times to break everything up.  Add in 1 tbsp olive oil and the remaining ingredients and pulse until a coarse paste forms.  Don't process this too well or it won't work.  Form the mixture into small balls (or use a small, 2 tsp, cookie scoop), or patties.  Mixture will be soft, be careful and use wet hands to avoid sticking.  Arrange falafel on the greased cookie sheet and brush with olive oil.  Bake for about 35 minutes, turning once or twice to ensure even browning.

For the Stuffing:
Smash all of your falafel (make sure they are broken up into large chunks, but not completely ground) and place into a large mixing bowl. In a skillet, heat olive oil (or ghee) over medium heat. Add in butternut squash, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until veggies are tender. Combine with falafel and remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine.



5. This stuffing is a great way to sneak some extra healthy veggies into your family's Thanksgiving. Jam packed with cauliflower, beets, celraic, and so much more. You can also eat this as a roasted veggie salad, over a bed of fresh baby greens.

Cauliflower and Roots Stuffing

4 tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

1 medium sized Onion, chopped (I like using Sweet Yellow Onions here)

2 cloves Garlic, smashed and chopped

1 large Carrot, peeled and chopped

1 cup Golden Beets, peeled and chopped

1 cup Celraic (celery root), peeled and chopped

1 head of Cauliflower, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

¼ cup fresh Parsley leaves, chopped

2 tbsp fresh Rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp fresh Sage, chopped

½ cup Vegetable Broth

In a large skillet, over medium heat, warm the oil (or ghee). Add onion, garlic, and carrot. Cook until soft (about 7-8 min). Add in Beets, Celraic, and Cauliflower. Cook until tender (about 7-8 more min). Add in remaining ingredients and cook until liquid is absorbed (about 10 more minutes). Optional- roast in a preheated oven for 10 more minutes with a little ghee or olive oil.



6. For all of my Shroomies out there, this stuffing is awesome! It's packed with mushrooms and herbs to make your Thanksgiving out of this world. The creamy element is cashew milk so it's perfectly great for all you vegans as well!

Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

1 cup Wild Rice, rinsed well and drained

1 cup Brown Rice, rinsed well and drained

5 cups Vegetable Broth

1 tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

1 medium sized Onion (for this I like to use red onions)

2-3 cloves Garlic, minced

½ cup Celery, chopped

½ cup Carrot, diced

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp fresh Sage, chopped

½ tbsp fresh Thyme leaves

1 cup Cashew Milk

½ cup fresh Parsley leaves, chopped

In a saucepan, combine wild rice, brown rice, and broth. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until rice is tender and the kernels pop open, takes about 45-60 minutes. Uncover the rice, remove it from the heat, and fluff it with a fork.

In a skillet, heat oil (or ghee) over medium heat. Add in onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Cook until tender (about 7-8 min). Add in the mushrooms and continue cooking an additional 10 minutes. When done add it to the rice with the sage, thyme, and cashew milk. Put it back on medium heat and cook until thick and creamy. Add in the parsley and toss to combine.





I hope you enjoy these recipes! Let me know what you think down below!

Savory Pumpkin Recipes

     Thanksgiving is just days away, and Christmas is just around the corner. That means it's time to pull out all those family recipes, but sometimes it's fun to introduce a new recipe or two. This year, I want to get back to something I love, pumpkin. Not just the pumpkin spice that everyone obsesses over this time of year, but pumpkin itself. So here are some of my favorite pumpkin recipes. Some make great side dishes, and some work well as meat-free main dishes. These recipes also don't have to be confined to this time of year, sometimes I make these just for fun. So I hope you enjoy!

1. This makes an excellent replacement for stuffed turkey. Stuffed pumpkin can be served year round and is a great, healthy dish. This recipe is Vegan and Gluten Free. Feel free to experiment with fillings. Try quinoa or rice instead of bread, add cheese to the mix, or try using seasonal produce from your local farmer's market.

Stuffed Pumpkin

1 small Sugar Pumpkin (about 3 lbs)

1 medium Onion, diced

4 small Mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 handfuls fresh Spinach or Chard, roughly chopped

¼ lb lightly toasted (or stale) Gluten Free Bread, cubed (about ½ inch chunks)

2-4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 small Apple, cored and diced

¼ cup fresh Chives, chopped

½ tbsp fresh Thyme leaves

½ tbsp fresh Sage, chopped

1/3 cup unsweetened Cashew or Hemp Milk

Salt & Pepper to taste

Optional* ½ tsp Cayenne Powder (or to your taste)

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut away the cap of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits (save the seeds to toast later if you want). Clean up the underside of the cap. Season the inside of the pumpkin (and the cap) with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Place on baking sheet and set aside.

Pour olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms. Cook until onions are slightly browned. Add in the spinach (or chard) and cook until slightly wilted. Scrape mixture into a bowl and add the bread, garlic, apple, chives, thyme, and sage. Mix well. Stir in the cashew milk and season with salt & pepper, to taste.

Stuff the mixture into the pumpkin, cover it with the cap and bake in the oven. Bake, covered, for 1 ½ hours (90 minutes). In the last 30 minutes of cooking, remove the cap to allow any extra liquid to cook off. Transfer the pumpkin to your serving platter, carefully. To serve, either scoop out the stuffing and pumpkin flesh, or slice into the pumpkin.

2. This vegan, gluten free, chili is great for the colder nights that accompany this time of year, but it's also packed full of healthy produce and spices. This recipe works well with zucchini, turnip, yellow squash, celeriac, and many other vegetables. Feel free to play around with it and try some new ideas.

Pumpkin Chili

1 small Sugar Pumpkin (about 3 lbs)

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ cup ground Flaxseed

¼ cup Gluten Free Flour

1 Zucchini, chopped

1 Turnip, chopped

2 medium Red Bell Peppers, chopped

2 or more Jalapenos, diced

1 large Onion, chopped

6-8 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 tbsp Tomato Paste

4 cups Vegetable Broth

2 (10 oz) cans Diced Tomatoes

1 (16 oz) can Red Kidney Beans

1 (16 oz) can Black Beans

2 cups Corn

1 tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp ground Cumin

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

a few dashes of Balsamic Vinegar

¼ tsp Dijon Mustard (or less)

Salt & Pepper

Peel the pumpkin and cut into 1-inch pieces. In a 6-quart or larger pot, heat the olive oil and whisk in the flour and ground flaxseed. Whisk until smooth, and add in the pumpkin, turnip, zucchini, peppers, onion, garlic, and tomato paste. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in remaining ingredients (including the juices from the can of tomatoes). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 1 hour (longer if you have the time). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

3. These are not your typical pancakes. Packed with savory vegetables, they can be served for breakfast, or as a side dish at dinner. Make sure your veggies are thinly shredded or finely chopped when you make this vegan, gluten free, recipe. Feel free to play around with the ingredients. Try golden beets instead of carrots. Or use Parsley, Sage, and Thyme instead of Cilantro, Turmeric, and Cayenne. Instead of Spinach, use Watercress or Swiss Chard. The possibilities are endless.

Savory Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup Gluten Free Flour

¾ cup Pumpkin Puree

½ cup chopped Spinach leaves

½ cup shredded Carrots

½ cup chopped Green Onions

2-3 tbsp chopped, fresh Cilantro leaves

½ tsp Cayenne powder (more or less to taste)

½ tsp Turmeric powder

Salt & Pepper

¼ cup Club Soda (Soda Water)

2-4 tbsp Oil

In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except oil). Mix well, adding more soda water if the batter is too thick. Heat and grease a griddle or skillet. For each pancake, use 2 tbsp batter. Spoon batter onto hot griddle and allow to cook. When the bottom is done, carefully flip each pancake over to finish cooking. Each side takes about 3-6 minutes to cook until lightly golden. Serve hot.

These taste amazing when topped with sour cream, feta or goat cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds, a variety of chutneys, and many other toppings. Enjoy!

4. This falafel variation is so good it'll be hard to go back to the regular kind. It's great for a Thanksgiving meat alternative, or for a quick lunch. The dressing is a delicious hybrid of the traditional Tzatziki and Tahini sauces you typically find at flalfel restaurants. Feel free to play with the ingredients a little and make it your own.

Pumpkin Falafel

For the Falafel:

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium Onion, chopped

3-4 Garlic Cloves

1 cup cooked (or canned) Chickpeas, drained

½ cup Pumpkin puree

¼ cup fresh Cilantro

the juice and zest of ½ a medium Lemon (about 1 ½ tbsp)

1 tbsp ground Cumin

½ tsp Cayenne powder (or to taste)

½ tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt & Pepper

¾ cup Gluten Free Bread Crumbs

For the Dressing:

¼ cup Tahini

¼ cup Greek Yogurt (or Coconut Yogurt for a Vegan alternative)

the juice and zest of a medium Lemon (about 1 ½ tbsp)

1 medium Cucumber, seeded and shredded

1 Garlic Clove, minced

Salt & Pepper

For the Falafel:

Preheat your oven to 350. Coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Place the onion, garlic, and chickpeas in a food processor and pulse a few times to break everything up. Add in 1 tbsp olive oil and the remaining ingredients and pulse until a coarse paste forms. Don't process this too well or it won't work. Form the mixture into small balls (or use a small, 2 tsp, cookie scoop), or patties. Mixture will be soft, be careful and use wet hands to avoid sticking. Arrange falafel on the greased cookie sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake for about 35 minutes, turning once or twice to ensure even browning.

For the Dressing:

Whisk together tahini, yogurt, and lemon juice. Slowly stir in remaining ingredients.

5. Mashed potatoes are a staple with many a meal here in the South. This mash combines the potatoes with pumpkin and seasonings to provide an excellent twist to for our Holiday tables. And just like mashed potatoes, you don't have to limit this to the Holidays if you don't want to.

Pumpkin-Potato Mash

1 ½ lbs Red Potatoes, quartered

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 Garlic Cloves

¼ cup unsweetened Cashew or Hemp Milk

1 ½ cups Pumpkin Puree

2 tbsp Miso Paste

1 tbsp fresh Chives, minced

Salt & Pepper

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are easily mashed with a fork. Drain water. In a small sauce pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and saute the garlic until golden. Mash potatoes until smooth, mix in all other ingredients and adjust seasoning if needed.

6. I love making my own salad dressings. It's a great way to add a touch of healthy herbs, ferments, and/or flavor to any diet. Here's one of my favorite fall dressings. Feel free to play around with the ingredients to make your very own pumpkin dressing.

Pumpkin Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Pumpkin Puree

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup Apple Sauce (or Greek Yogurt to make a creamy variation)

1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp finely grated, fresh Ginger

2 tsp finely minced Garlic

1 tsp Honey

½ tsp Dijon Mustard

Salt, Pepper, & Cayenne to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk vigorously to combine. Enjoy on any of your favorite salads!

     I hope I have done my part to get you all interested in pumpkin, not the spice, this fall. I also hope I gave you some new ideas for Thanksgiving, or any Holiday, dinner! In any of these recipes, feel free to change the ingredients around. Have fun, play around, and let me know what you think below!

Rosemary Juniper Cranberry Sauce

     I am always experimenting in my kitchen, especially this time of year.  One of the things I try to do most often is add herbs into our food, both to enhance the flavor, and to make sure my family is consuming enough vitamins (herbs are jam packed with vitamins and minerals).  Rosemary and Juniper are two herbs that I absolutely love and they have great health benefits, so when I ran across a recipe online for Cranberry Sauce with Rosemary and Juniper, I decided to try it out and make it my own.  I have included the URL for the original recipe down in my resources, for those of you who want to check it out.

A note about the herbs:

     Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis is excellent for your memory, improves your mood, reduces inflammation, eases pain, protects the immune system, stimulates circulation, detoxifies the body, protects against bacterial infections, prevents premature aging (because of its high amount of antioxidants no less), and helps heal many skin conditions.  Most of these benefits have been known and used for centuries.  Shakespeare even wrote “rosemary, that’s for remembrance” in his play Hamlet.  Rosemary is also commonly added to food in many areas and does help aid digestion and calm the stomach.  Also, because of its antibacterial properties, rosemary makes a great breath freshener. 

     Juniper Juniperus communis is naturally antibacterial, antiviral, and antiseptic.  This makes it a great choice to fight infections of all kinds.  Juniper is useful to reduce inflammation and to increase the production of stomach acids, which means that it’s great for digestion.  Juniper, like cranberry, is great for the urinary tract and helps to prevent and treat urinary tract infections.  Juniper also helps to lower blood sugar and can alleviate some of the problems associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle. 

Rosemary Juniper Cranberry Sauce

12 cups organic cranberries (fresh or frozen)

1 bottle hard apple cider of your choice

2 cups apple cider (the family friendly kind found in your local produce department)

1 cup orange juice

½ cup red wine of your choice

1-2 tsp dried juniper berries, lightly crushed (I love the taste of juniper, so I lean more towards 2 tsp, but it is a strong flavor so start light)

3 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped

Raw, local honey

½ tsp sea salt

Combine cranberries, apple cider, hard apple cider, orange juice, wine, juniper, and rosemary in a pot.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 10-15 minutes, or until all the cranberries have popped.  Add ½ cup of the honey and all of the salt.  Stir and taste, if it needs more sweetening, add more honey about ½ cup at a time.  Add more juniper or rosemary at this time as well, if needed.  Simmer until the sauce has reached the desired consistency, remember that it will thicken a bit upon cooling.  

If you want to store it/can it, pour into sterilized mason jars (makes 5-6 pints), leaving ¼ inch free at the top.  Put the jars into a boiling water bath for about 15 minutes.  This sauce will keep, canned, for about 1 year.  Refrigerate after opening, or just serve fresh at Thanksgiving dinner!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe.  Just like with all my recipes, feel free to play around and make it your own.  Change up the herbs (basil or mint should be tasty, or you could go with the classic cinnamon and clove combination), use beer instead of cider (there are some really good gluten free beers out on the market right now), gin instead of wine (for those of you who just love the flavor of juniper), or add some seasonal nuts (walnuts might be especially tasty).  Experiment and have fun making healthy food for your friends and family!

Resources:

Herb Wisdom – Juniper: http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-juniper.html

Local Kitchen Blog – Cranberry Sauce with Rosemary and Juniper Berries: https://localkitchenblog.com/2009/12/12/cranberry-sauce-with-rosemary-juniper-berry/

Organic Facts – Health Benefits of Rosemary: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/rosemary.html

Sage, the Scent of Thanksgiving

     November is a month of gatherings.  When we gather together this month, we are asked to think about things we are thankful for (at least that’s always been my family’s tradition).  Even though the origin of Thanksgiving may not have happened the way we have all been taught in school, it has come to represent a time of family and friends, of thankfulness and of blessings.  What the holiday has become is a wonderful tradition for families and a great celebration of the things in life that we may take for granted throughout the year. 

     As we do gather together over a bountiful table, certain aromas tend to be present.  The smell of the turkey and dressing are, of course, the most prominent.  Now, each family has their own recipes.  Being from the South, I don’t believe oysters have any business in my dressing (supposedly this is common in certain areas, and is even supposed to be an ingredient in the first Thanksgiving dressing recipe).  However there are certain spices that make themselves into every dressing recipe I have ever encountered.  One of these is sage.

     Sage Salvia officinalis is one of the many, many cooking herbs that are also amazingly beneficial to our health.  It’s in the Lamiaceae family, which is commonly referred to as the Mint family.  Plants in this family are characterized by a square stem and distinctive flowers that have petals fused into an “upper lip” and “lower lip,” which is why this family was originally referred to as the Labiatae (labia is Latin for lip).  The Lamiaceae family is also where you find Basil, Mint, Lavender, Thyme, Rosemary, and Savory, so this is a family known for its culinary delights.  When it comes to culinary herbs, I have a pet theory that they were originally added to food because most of them help aid digestion in some way.  However, it may be a “chicken and egg” situation.  Do we know that they help with digestion because they were added to food? Or were they added to food to aid with digestion?  Hmm… 

     Sage has been used in most cultures as a medicinal and culinary favorite (I use it in my Pumpkin Sage bread).  The ancient Romans actually revered this herb so much that they created a special ceremony just for the gathering of sage.  The Greeks and Romans both used this herb to help preserve meat (science believes that this is due to its high level of antioxidants).  Arab physicians in the 10^th century believed that sage promoted immortality.  14^th century Europeans used sage to protect themselves from witchcraft.  It was also prized in 17^th century China for the flavorful tea it makes.  Today, sage has become one of the most commonly burnt herbs for smudging, which is a practice that comes from the Native American use of burning herbs to cleanse one’s self and space, as well as to connect to nature and spirits.  The actual herbs used in this way by Native Americans varied among the tribes (some of them are very secretive about what herbs the used) and were typically not burnt in a bundle, but instead in a bowl or shell.  But the current practice is beneficial (even for you healthy skeptics), as sage smoke helps us to de-stress and fights the bacteria in the very air we breathe.

     I have used a strong sage tea as a mouthwash and gargle to fight gingivitis and heal a sore throat.  Sage tea can also be used to fight fevers, to calm nervous anxiety, to stimulate digestion, improve liver and kidney function, as a wash for the skin (makes a great toner and helps fight acne), as a hair rinse (makes hair super shiny and helps to darken hair if left on for an extended time), helps reduce excessive sweating, is a natural deodorizer (great for body and home), helps relieve hot flashes in menopausal women, helps deal with feelings of grief and depression, helps protect against cardiovascular diseases, and can help improve brain function and memory.  You can also use sage as a steam inhalation to help with asthma.  Sage poultices can also be beneficial in first-aid situations where antibacterial action is needed.  There are many more benefits of sage and I could probably write a small book on the subject! 

     For all of you new moms, and mom-to-be’s out there, you should avoid taking this herb in medicinal doses, or even at all.  It stimulates menstrual flow which could cause complications in the early stages of pregnancy.  It also dries up milk flow, so breastfeeding moms should avoid this herb until it’s time to wean your baby (at which point it could be very helpful).  It could also cause a minor allergic reaction in people who are allergic to other plants in the Lamiaceae family.  You should also use caution with this herb if you are prone to epileptic seizures. 

    

Parts Used: Leaves, small stems, flowers

Medicinal Actions: Analgesic, Antibacterial, Anticancer, Antifungal, Antihydrotic (refrigerant), Anti-inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Antiseptic, Antispasmodic, Antiviral, Aromatic, Astringent, Carminative, Depurative, Emmenagogue, Estrogenic, Nervine, Vermifuge

    Thank you all for reading this.  I hope you enjoy sage as much as I do and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them down in the comments below!

Resources:

Annie’s Remedy – Sage: http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail52.php

Botanical.com/A Modern Herbal – Sages: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sages-05.html

Health Beckon – 20 Amazing Benefits of Sage Herb for Skin, Hair, and Health: http://www.healthbeckon.com/sage-herb-benefits/

Herbalpedia – Sage, Not Just for Thanksgiving: http://www.herbalpedia.com/blog/?p=156

Herb Wisdom – Sage Herb: http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-sage.html

History – The History of Thanksgiving: http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving

Manataka American Indian Council – The Real Story of Thanksgiving: https://www.manataka.org/page269.html

Organic Facts – Health Benefits of Sage: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/sage.html

Spirituality and Health – The Ancient Art of Smudging: http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/ancient-art-smudging

World’s Healthiest Foods – Sage: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=76