Dandelion

 

Dandelions, wishes, weeds, flowers for all mommies. For this mommy, getting a bouquet of dandelions from my kids was always so special. Little did they know that they were picking there dinner when they were bringing in leaves with them. Dandelions are so full of vitamins A, B, C, D and K along with folate, iron, calcium, magnesium and calcium. They long have been used as an appetizer before meals, as they break down fats fast and aide in digestion.  They also are used to detox, which supports liver health. If you are already on a diuretic please talk to your health provider before starting to add dandelions to your diet. 

Salad is a nice way to get the greens in. Just add them, cleaned and chopped into a salad with rocket and spinach, feta, walnuts and dates.  I like to use a vinaigrette for dressing. 

Tea for the flowers. I soak my flowers, including the green bottom, in 4 parts water, 1 part app,e cider vinegar for about 5  minutes.  Rinse and add to a quart jar about halfway up. Then add lemon balm leaves and peppermint or spearmint leaves to fill the rest of the way.  Pour hot, not boiling, water into jar, cap and steep for about 30 minutes. The flowers are sweet but the greens are bitter so you may want to add a little honey to your tea. Strain and enjoy. 

This is such a great way to one get the flowers out of your grass before they turn into wishes for little kids, and two, to get some healthy doses of minerals and vitamins. I get my kids to help me pick. We fill my basket and the yard is still pretty spotted with yellow beauties. A friend of mine puts a little trinket sack over some of the dandelion flowers so that when they "turn to seed" he can save them from flying away. Pretty cool. You could do this and plant them on purpose. I like to just let them grow everywhere, even in the walkway of my food garden. The more the better. 

Keep brewing, keep cooking, and most of all keep healing,

Happy Spring my friends!

MysTorri 

Do your best, even when you don't want to.