Today someone reading my post about cinnamon and honey weight loss tea asked whether it would be safe to use during pregnancy. I looked through my herbals and found a recipe for easing pregnancy, which uses cinnamon, so that indicates to me that cinnamon could be safe for pregnant women (and their unborn dear ones.)

From John Lust’s herbal, The Herb Book: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to More Than 500 Herbs:
This is said to prevent nausea and miscarriage. It is also for reducing labor pains and increasing milk production.
1 part cinnamon
5 parts blackberry leaves
5 parts milfoil
10 parts raspberry leaves
Steep 1 teaspoon in 1/2 cup boiling water. Take 1/2 to 1 cup daily in mouthful doses.

Note that there’s to be NO OVERDOSING… which is what I need to address concerning the cinnamon and honey diet. Though the cinnamon may be safe in normal amounts, drinking large amounts might not be safe during pregnancy. Plus, I wonder about the wisdom of trying to diet during pregnancy. This is something a pregnant woman should definitely discuss with her physician.

In addition, you should be aware that there are certain herbs intentionally used (by some) to terminate pregnancies. Here’s the list of common herbs a pregnant woman should avoid:

Angelica
Birthroot
Blue Cohosh
Brooklime
Bugloss
Cotton Root Bark
Ergot
Golden Seal
Ground Pine
Juniper
Male Fern
Motherwort
Mayapple
Pennyroyal
Potassium Permanganate
Rue
St. Johns Wort
Savin
Tansy
Thyme
Valerian
Yarrow
This information is derived from two sources, Herbs & Things - Jeanne Rose’s herbal, and Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs.

All these are likely to cause abortion to occur. DON’T try this at home! I’m against abortion in general so I’m hoping this won’t be taken by anyone as a way to terminate a life. I put the list here for the benefit of herb-using women who want to preserve their pregnancies.

This list of herbs said to ease childbirth comes from John Lust’s The Herb Book:
Althea
American Spikenard
Bennet
Birthwort
Black Cohosh
Blind Nettle
Blue Cohosh
Cannabis
Columbine
Comfrey
Common Groundsel
Cotton
European Ragwort
Flax
Garden Raspberry
Garden Violet
Goat’s Rue
Horehound
Iceland Moss
Lady’s Mantle
Pansy
Primrose
Ragwort
Shepherd’s Purse
Silverweed
Spikenard
Squaw Vine
Wild Red Raspberry
Wormwood

NOTE - some of these are mentioned on the ‘do not use’ list… I’d especially avoid Blue Cohosh! Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs says it isn’t safe to use.

And about the Wormwood - I wouldn’t use that either. I know that too much of that is a danger.

Personally, I’d stick to something simple like Raspberry Leaf Tea which is well-known to be good for pregnancies.

Jeanne Rose wrote: “Raspberry leaf tea has been used for hundreds of years by women throughout their pregnancy to ease the pains of labor, to prevent miscarriage, and to increase the milk supply. It was mentioned by Pliny in his medical botany books. For the tea: one ounce of the leaves is steeped in twenty ounces of water for fifteen minutes, strained, and drunk - at least two cups per day. The leaves are also used as an astringent for diarrhea, as a gargle for sore mouths, and as an infusion to wash external ulcers and wounds. The berries are excellent eaten during a bout of diarrhea.” - Herbs & Things, page 100.

Also, note on the list of herbs that ease pregnancy, Cannabis is listed. This is Marijuana.. which is, in my opinion, a miracle healing herb… but I recommend that mothers do NOT use it during pregnancy or at any other time. The reason is that use of Marijuana is cause for child welfare agents (CPS or DHS social workers) to take children from their mothers. Especially during pregnancy, this is a real danger. I have met a young woman who used Marijuana to ease birth pains, who never got to take her child home from the hospital because THC was found in her baby’s urine. You will notice, if you give birth in a hospital, one of the first things they do is slap a urine sack on the infant to collect urine for drug testing. YES, this is true! And babies with any kind of drugs in their system are taken away from their parents. So DON’T use Cannabis/Marijuana while you’re pregnant. It just isn’t safe. If you use it you might need my other site: Fighting Child Protective Services CPS False Accusations, and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.

One more very important thing! Use moderation, no matter what herb you choose, whether you’re pregnant or not. Too much of any herb can be dangerous. If you’re not certain a herb is safe, ask your obstetrician or (if you’re breastfeeding) your pediatrician.

Here are the links to the herbals I used for this post:

I work at the local pizza restaurant during the lunch hour when we usually stay busy serving pizza by the slice, breadsticks, sandwiches, wraps, fajitos, and on Fridays, enchiladas.

This winter, soup was added to the menu. My co-worker is a marvelous cook and prepares these soups a couple times each week, varying between potato soup, chicken noodle, pizza soup, and broccoli soup. Unfortunately none of these soups are intended to be vegetarian so I don’t eat them.

A few weeks ago I took her broccoli soup recipe home and adapted it to my vegetarian diet. I still use milk products so I added whole milk to my soup; if you’re vegan, you can eliminate that and substitute water or broth instead. (Yes, more adaptions, but I’m sure you can handle it.)

Here’s my version of our Broccoli Cream Soup without the chicken broth!

In a large soup pan heat three cups of water while you’re chopping veggies.

Chop one cup of carrots and toss them in the water.
Then chop one cup of celery. Toss it in.
Next, the broccoli. You’ll need four cups of that. Toss it in and let it boil for about three minutes.

Hint: chop the carrots and celery in small pieces, not large chunks.

Next you’re going to drain the water from the veggies. But save the broth! I put the broth back into my four-cup pyrex measuring cup and put the veggies in my strainer which sits in the sink until I need them again.

The next thing you’ll need is an onion. Chop about 3/4 of a cup of onion and put it into the large soup pan with six tablespoons of butter. Heat the onions, stirring, stirring, until they are tender.

Add six tablespoons of flour, and stir until creamy. Work it all in.

Now gently and slowly, add back in your three cups of vegetable broth, stirring it into the floury onion-butter mixture so that everything is even and not lumpy.

Next add two cups of milk if you use milk. If not, stir in two cups of water.

Heat it up! You need for this to boil for at least a minute, and if you’re using milk, you’d better stir constantly.

Next add back in your veggies (remember, the ones you boiled earlier?)

To this mixture add one tablespoon parsley, one and a half teaspoons of salt, and half a teaspoon of garlic powder.

Simmer covered for 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve with warm tortillas, quesadillas, buttered french bread, or whatever you have that sounds and tastes good to you!

We get about four servings out of this soup.

It is product day here at Country Kitchen Pantry, and today I’m going to tell you what I’ve been eating for breakfast every day lately.

Clif Bars are perfect for taking on a long hike, and eating in the woods. Alternatively, they’re great for a quick, nutritious breakfast when you’re in a hurry to blog then get ready for work. They are clean and neat to eat right at the computer keyboard. No crumbs! And they taste wonderful. At least I like them, especially my current favorite flavor, “Peanut Toffee Buzz”.

The buzz comes from a bit of green tea content. Not a lot, but it is a bit of a pick-me-up which I appreciate due to the fact I quit drinking coffee over a year ago. Green tea is much better for us than coffee. We all know that!

Here are the ingredients for the Clif Bar I ate this morning:

Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifProâ„¢ (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Dry Roasted Peanuts, ClifCrunchâ„¢ (Apple Fiber, Organic Oat Fiber, Organic Milled Flaxseed, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Psyllium), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Peanut Toffee (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Peanuts, Cocoa Butter, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Dry Roasted Peanuts, Natural Flavors, Salt, Soy Lecithin), Organic Peanut Butter (Organic Dry Roasted Peanuts, Salt), Icing (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Cocoa Butter, Soy Milk, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors), Peanut Flour, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Green Tea Extract (50mg caffeine equivalent).

There’s a warning for allergic people: Contains soy and peanuts. May contain traces of dairy and tree nuts. We source ingredients which do not contain wheat, dairy, and are not genetically engineered.

As you can see, Clif Bars use lots of organic ingredients. The label says, “70% Organic Ingredients”. I think that’s pretty good. Sure tastes good, anyhow.

There’s also a cute story on the label about how the founder of Clif Bars had an epiphany in 1990 when he was eating an energy bar, and realized he could make better energy bars at home. He experimented for two years in his mother’s kitchen. His business is an incredible success because his products are outstandingly good. If you haven’t tried a Clif Bar yet, maybe you will now that you’ve read about how much I’m enjoying them.

[Note: I'm not being paid for my recommendation. I don't do pay-per-post blogging.]

To make Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Pie, you’ll need sugar, cinnamon, allspice, mace, salt, cooked sweet potatoes, peanut butter, milk, butter, eggs, and a pastry shell.

Ready?

Combine 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon mace, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well.

Stir in 1 + 3/4 cups cooked sweet potatoes. Mix well.

Stir in 1 cup of peanut butter. Stir until smooth.

Add two slightly beaten eggs, 1 cup of milk, and 2 tablespoons melted butter, and mix everything thoroughly.

Pour this mixture into the pastry shell and bake for 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Worth eating, and good for you!

My grandmother made rice pudding for us when I was a child. Back then, we looked forward to it… but I rarely hear about anyone eating it these days. Here’s a simple recipe for delicious rice pudding:

Boil one cup of already-cooked rice with two cups of milk. As soon as it boils, turn down the heat! Then add half a cup of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Some people might want to add a beaten egg yolk at this point however I don’t do that. Cook it over a very low flame, stirring constantly so it won’t burn. After it is quite thick, remove it from the heat. At this point egg-users can whip the egg white into a froth and fold it in. Add half a teaspoon of vanilla or lemon juice. If you like, before serving you might want to add some raisins or canned peaches, or some other type of fruit.