Welcome to The Cherry On Top.
Thank you for joining us for another foodie edition. If you've been following The Cherry, you know I've been trying to garden and grow my own food for years and I'm still not very good at it. In my experience, there are very few fruit and veg that are fail proof. Boo! Hehehe... I've read hundreds of times how easy it is to grow onions, leek, garlic, carrots, spinach...No way, man. I'm yet to grow these vegetables successfully, but I won't give up.
Two of the few things I've been able to grow recently are ginger and turmeric which I thought was curcumin. That's what they call it in Europe, but it turns out that curcumin is in turmeric. Hmmm...I only started purchasing turmeric a year or 2 ago because I read that's it's so great for us, which I'll address in a bit.
It's so cool that you can plant it in the ground or in a pot and have success. A few months ago, I blogged about what to plant in a garden shared with chickens. I let my gals have at the green house this winter when everything was nearly dead and they left the ginger and tumeric alone. This might be an exception, but it was our experience.
So far we know that ginger and tumeric is very easy to grow. Ya need some warmth, light and soil and you can plant it in a pot or in the ground. It doesn't require a ridiculous amount of water, which makes it even easier still.
Like many other plants, when the leaves begin to yellow, you can harvest. My first tumeric harvest, pictured at the top of this entry, wasn't very orange or gold and the flavor was very mild. This could be good if you're not really crazy about the flavor of it.
To make a healthy infusion, thinly slice some ginger and tumeric, do a partial grind of black pepper from your mill and if you like, add some honey. The black pepper enhances the absorption of the curcuma. Ya really don't even taste the pepper. Pour a cup or two of boiling hot water over your ingredients or just simmer it all in a pot on the stove. I make it on our wood stove. Let it simmer for at least 5 minutes. I often keep adding water to my pan and let it sit all day whilst I grab a cup every hour or so.
You can add lemon if you like and maybe even lime. I have made a delicious infusion with lime, ginger, mint and honey.
Here are a few things you can do with ginger and or tumeric:
infusions
Asian dishes like stir fry or curries
make ginger ale from a ginger bug
cough drops
iced tea
kombucha
shots
dressings
mocktails
soups
smoothies
hummus
facial scrubs
pain relief balm
tumeric butter for skin
golden milk (drink) sounds delicious
That's me just quickly accessing my Pinterest board using the word ginger in a search. Besides the beautiful greenery, the ease of growing them, the topical purposes, we still haven't got to the other health benefits. I'll hit you up with another list.
Ginger and or Tumeric:
promotes digestion
reduces inflammation
helps protect the respiratory system
provides cardio vascular support
relieves nausea
eases muscle pain
boosts metabolism
supports brain function
aids in balancing blood sugar
antioxidant
aids detoxification
lowers blood pressure
increases energy levels
improves circulation
helps fight cancer
blocks heartburn
soothes menstrual cramps
improve libido (Yowza!)
prevent bacterial and fungal infections
improve sleep
aid eye health
positive mood
improve liver function
migraine relief
reduce stress
helps with acne
Holy, crap! That is a lot of awesome, right there.
You can do your own research or hit up your holistic doctor for more information. Pinterest is my go to place for ideas. See if any of our boards might be good for ya.
I hope this may help you out. Oh! I should have mentioned that not everyone loves the taste of ginger or tumeric. I highly advise using just a little in the beginning and as you get used to it, add more. That's what I did. I thought it tasted weird, earthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment