 BEET KVASS
Ingredients: 2 large or 3 small beets peeled and cubed 1/4 cup of whey 2 tsp of salt 1/2 gallon ball jar or other glass container with lid Place the cubed beets in the jar add the whey and salt then fill to the top with filtered or spring water. Cover with the lid and let sit on the counter for 2-3 days depending on how hot it is in your home. In the summer months I only let it sit for 48 hours. Place in the refrigerator. Stir before serving. Drink on an empty stomach. I made the beet kvass with oat whey. I extracted the whey from oat kefir that I made. I placed about a cup of kefir into a coffee filter and hung it on the sides of a glass to strain out the whey. This yields about 1/4 cup of whey.
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 Lilac Butter Cookies
21/2 cups of flour (I used a gluten free blend that I make ) 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup butter 1/4 cup of agave or 1/2 cup of sugar (brown not packed) 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups of lilac blossoms Cream butter, add the egg, vanilla, agave, and fold in the lilacs. Mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl then add to the wet butter mix. Bake at 325 for 11 minutes. Typically, 8 minutes is the magic number for a soft cookie but this is a wet batter and needs a little more time to cook, take them out when the edges are slightly brown.  Nettles and Yellow Dock Soup
Ingredients 3-4 quarts of a ready-made broth (maybe a homemade bone broth previously frozen) or Better Than Bouillon (a product okay to use in a pinch, organic and natural and tastes pretty good, comes in different flavors) it’s okay to just use water but make sure to add enough spices for flavor (double spices below) Sometimes I blend my nettles and yellow dock leaves in the blender the result looks like pesto and place it like that in the pot. In the picture featured the some of the greens are cut and some are blended then added to the pot. 1 bunch or large bowl of nettles from your garden or wild-crafted from the mountains 6-8 young yellow dock leaves easily found in your backyard or alleyway 2 large carrots 1 large leek 1/2 lb shiitakes or baby portabella mushrooms 1 1/2 cups cabbage 2 sweet potatoes 3 cloves of raw garlic 1 tsp salt, or to taste 1 tbsp fresh sage or ½ tsp dried sage x’s two 1/4 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp coriander seed whole or crushed x’s two 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar 3 tbls of olive oil or avocado oil 1 cup fresh parsley leaves coarsely chopped Plain whole milk yogurt Begin with washing and coarsely cutting the greens. Please us rubber gloves to do this for the nettles as the plant has little hairs on it that sting to touch, or if you are like my husband, just do it barehanded for the love of the natural sting and stimulation. Place aside. Cut off the top part of the leek and discard (you can freeze this for a stock pot later). Slice the leek in half and then slice into long pieces. Place the pieces in a water bath (there is a lot of soil in the many layers) and let the dirt sink down. Remove the leeks from the bowl or sink and let them air dry for a little on a cloth. Next, rinse and slice the mushrooms and cabbage, peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Slice the carrots 1/4 inch on a diagonal so they look like long disks. Crush, peel and mince your garlic. Warm up your soup pot and add the oil. Lightly saute all the vegetables together until you see them start to sweat or you can smell the garlic. At this point add your veggie broth or water and stir in all your greens, add in the vinegar and spices. Cover and bring to a boil then lower and simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes, you can always cook it longer. Check the soup periodically, you may need to add more broth or water as it evaporates during the cooking process. About 10 minutes before you serve your soup add the other sage, coriander, and salt to taste, always re-season your food especially soups. Right before serving fold in the parsley. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then serve with a dollop of yogurt. Enjoy!  Nettles is one of the best spring time tonics for energy, healing, and increasing nutrition. It's a nutritive tonic herb, a galactogogue (increases milk supply), rich in protein, and nutrients. Nettles is very high in calcium, magnesium, trace minerals sulphur, zinc, chromium, boron, and chlorophyll-rich in muscle-relaxing magnesium. Through its nutrition, can make our blood stronger, and through its astringent nature, can stop bleeding. This is a friend worth having around all the time powdering and putting in your shaker mixes to add extra nutrients to every meal. For the kids green eggs and ham! Yorkshire Pudding Gluten Free and full of Nettles 1 big handful of fresh nettle leaf 2 eggs 1 cup of milk (your choice coconut, almond, cow, goat, etc.) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp oil (avocado, olive, coconut, etc) and more for muffin pan 1 tbsp agave syrup 1 tsp baking powder 2 cardamom pods open and use the seeds 1 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1/4 cup almond flour 1/4 cup arrowroot flour (starch) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place your muffin tin, preferably a cast iron pan, into the oven and get it nice and hot. Then, place all your ingredients into a blender, I use a VitaMix, and blend together until it is a thin liquid batter. Once your pan is nice and hot add some butter or oil into each muffin spot, pour the batter and listen to it sizzle. Fill to about 3/4 to the top. Cook for 20 minutes. We want the inside nice and moist don't cook it too long, but if you cook it too long it will just turn into a nice muffin. Serve with hot butter, syrup, or powdered sugar and enjoy.   Vaginal steams are used in in traditional medical systems worldwide to maintain the general health of the female reproductive system that I have been using in clinical and personal applications for over 10 years. They are used to treat vaginitis, urinary tract infections, to stimulate blood flow to the pelvic area, painful periods, to soften tissues, adhesions, fibroids, and to prepare the area for treatment. We always use plants, not essential oils, for vaginal steams because the plants already contain the perfect amount of volatile oils. Plants such as basil, whose volatile oils have antibacterial constituents, are frequently used. Hot water releases these oils, and when mingled with steam the oils are able to penetrate deeper into the pelvic tissues as opposed to topical applications like douches or sitz baths, which only reach the vagina and cervix. This method even allows one to treat issues with deeper pelvic organs such as the Fallopian tubes and ovaries. In the same way that steaming your face pulls impurities to the surface, steaming the pelvic floor can draw out old blood near the beginning and ending of your period. Also a warm steam can be very soothing during an active urinary tract infection helping to soothe the tissue. I encourage clients to use this opportunity to urinate directly into the pot while steaming for this issue because they can do so without pain. I use rose as an astringent and tonic along with a sitz bath in the case of UTIs. I like to steam monthly right before my moon because it helps to bring on the bleeding and ease cramping. This is a traditional Mayan Healing technique and was taught to me by Miss Beatrice Waight, who was my teacher for several years, as well as Rosita Arvigo and Pei Fen Yan L.Ac., my Chinese women’s medicine doctor. Giving yourself a steam is easy. Clean your toilet, boil a medium sized pot of water and add some dried organic basil leaves, organic rose petals and organic calendula or marigold flowers. Place the pot into the toilet bowl and set the seat down. Wrap your thighs with a sheet or sarong. To do this, place the sheet behind your bottom, bring the sheet in both hands and wrap each leg then lift the sheet to expose your vagina. Sit down and put a blanket over your lap, wrap it around to hold in the steam. Stay on the toilet until the steam goes back down into the pot. Note: you must be careful using this particular method, it is very easy to burn yourself. To avoid burning yourself make sure the water in the pot is at least 4 inches from the top and always wrap your legs. If it feels too hot stand up and release some steam. We make Yoni Steam boxes so you don’t have to use the toilet. I think it's way more comfortable and it can be placed anywhere, including outside under the full moon. This box features a cedar frame and Colorado pine beetle blue wood, It can fit in the bottom of your closet upside down and can store extra towels etc. I keep mine in my closet. Indulge in your very own vaginal steam box, handmade with love and intention. We can stain it or leave it natural. Size can vary depending on your height and weight. Will ship in one piece. Standard size is 15x15x15, larger sizes are available. Optional items include: handles, various wood species combinations, hinged door, back rest, removable lid, Butchers block oil, or Beeswax coating. Click on the images to order your box or steam blend today.
  St. Joan’s/John’s Wort Hypericum perforatum
There are some 490 species of Hypericums, many of which possess bright yellow flowers and the signature perforated leaves. Several species are commonly used as ornamental plants in people’s gardens. The perforations are easiest to see when a leaf is held up to the sun and viewed from beneath, it is quite striking to see how much light comes through. The perforatum species is the most common variety and grows wild on hillsides with ample sun exposure. It is an annual, grows 12”-18” high on single stocks, sometimes 2 or 3 stalks will grow from a single base root. The flower petals are bright yellow and the flower centers are a darker yellow-orange. St. John’s Wort is the plant that holds the healing power of the sun. It blooms around the feast of Saint John (hence its name), on June 24th at the height of the summer. People used to hang bundles of it above their doors to ward off evil. The star shaped golden yellow blooms are collected and dried or steeped in olive oil that results in a beautiful crimson sun-infused medicinal oil. The oil is then used in salves and oil blends for ailments such as contusions and stagnant strains and sprains, particularly in concert with Arnica. During the winter months, it works well in moisturizers to infuse the body with a memory of the sun and to increase one’s sensitivity to light increasing Vitamin D intake (by “perforating” the energy field, allowing more light into the system), which helps to alleviate the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is a wonderful massage oil on children with growing pains. Internally, tinctures from the fresh plant are used to treat nerve tension and nerve pain, and as an antiviral. Mixed with lemon balm it is an effective treatment for Herpes simplex I and II. St John’s Wort clears out excess emotional debris from the liver and blood, promoting a healthy mood and emotional well-being, and is highly effective as an antidepressant. It opens one’s field to the sun, allowing more light into the emotional body, so much so that in some cases it can result in hyper sensitivity to sunlight. It is a powerful liver clearing herb and helps women who have PMS resulting from liver imbalances. Finally, the tea can be used as a topical antibacterial agent for acne. This plant is not recommended to use while on medicines that need to stay in the body such as anti-rejection drugs in the case of organ transplants. St Joan’s Wort can teach us how to acquire true, deep and lasting clarity, and to fully receive the medicine and wisdom she offers one must create a long- term relationship with her. If you are interested I have some infused oil and tincture for sale drop me a line for your personal blend! stregagardens@gmail.com or 720-380-9916.  Strega's Clean Kitchen is the name of the "smudge" or blend of herbs I burn specifically in my kitchen. I spend a lot of time cooking, medicine-making. and drinking tea in this part of my home. I can say for for my own family and friends that come to visit, it's the place we spend most of our time. I created a special blend based on some traditional herbs used by my ancestors for keeping the energy clear. I want the doors for nurturing and nourishment to be open. I want to infuse my food and medicines with love. I do that through speaking my prayers or intentions into my food and the smudge can help maintain the integrity that I desire. It's a formula that holds a sense of protection and clearing while bringing in the blessings of my lineage. I invoke this energy with my thoughts and words. The herbs I use are Rosemary, Ponderosa Pine resin, Calamus Root, and Rose. I powder these plants together in a mortar and pestle while I sing a loving song, singing keeps my mind from wandering. Once I am done, I keep it in a dish next to my stove so it's always in view. I make it in small batches so it remains fresh. Feel free to try my formula and add your own personal touch to this special blend. If you find it difficult to make on your own I am offering a Strega's Clean Kitchen Smudge Kit that includes 2oz of the Smudge blend, bamboo charcoal burners, and a booklet with songs and prayers to use while smudging. If you would like just a little amount of the smudge blend that is available too. Visit my website stregagardens,com for more details. I am located in Erie, Colorado. Most of the plants have been harvested in the Rocky Mountains, grown in my garden, or sourced with a reputable organic company. Traditional herbal medicine is the use of plants as teas, tinctures, salves, poultices, powders, pills, bolus, balms, glycerites, honeys, cough syrups, steams, and many more
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AuthorLaura Clemmons Archives
May 2020
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Finding the Medicine Within
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