Herbal Remedies for Kids!

Make it fun. Give your child "facials" (facial steams using healing herbs), herbal baths and footbaths (make a girls spa day!), massage her sore muscles, pat her aching head with a cool compress and wrap her sore throat with a warm fomentation.

Make an herbal tea or infusion into ice cubes and let her suck on them. (Tell her not to chew them, though; chewing ice cubes isn't great for her teeth.) You can also mix them with fruit juice and make them into popsicles. When used appropriately, herbs are effective and gentle enough for kids and a healthy alternative to many over the counter remedies.

Tootsie Soak

Tired Tootsies? Relish the scent of relaxing herbs and the warmth of the water as you soak your feet, and you’ll feel calm from the tip of your soaking toes to the top of your once-frantic head. Make an infusion of soothing herbs (about one cup of herbs per quart of water) and pour it into a shallow pan. Add enough warm water to make the soak comfortably hot, then immerse your feet and drape the pan with a towel (to hold in the steam). Lean back and breathe deeply. Before the water gets too cool, remove and dry your feet. This is a good time to moisturize them too!

**Herbs for a relaxing foot soak include: marshmallow, pennyroyal, sage, rosemary, juniper, angelica, chamomile, rose petal, lavender, yarrow, elderberries, and clover blossoms.

Stress-Busting Bath

Near the top of every list of stress-reducers is a good long soak in the tub. Enhance your stress-busting bath with relaxing herbs. There are a couple of easy ways to draw one:

• Simply make an infusion (a strong tea), using about one cup of herbs per quart of water. You can use one favorite herb, or a combination. Let the infusion steep for half an hour or more, then strain and pour it into your bathwater.
• Or wrap the herbs in cheesecloth, tie shut, and hang it from your tub faucet. The hot water will run through the herbs while you draw your bath.
  

Best bath herbs: chamomile, lavender, linden flowers, rose petals, lemon balm, passionflower, mugwort, marshmallow root, sassafras, vervain, burdock root, meadowsweet, comfrey root, agrimony, pennyroyal, and orange peel. A little mint will revitalize you, too.

Massage is a great relaxer. How can I incorporate herbs into my massages?

Good point! Adding soothing herbs to your massage oil is a great way to multiply the benefits
of hands-on de-stressing. To transform your plain massage oil into an herbal treat:
Place about 1/4 cup of herbs in a jar.

• Pour your favorite massage oil (apricot kernel, sweet almond or grapeseed for example) over the herbs; add enough so that a couple of inches of oil remain after the herbs are soaked.
• Cover the jar and let it stand in a warm place for a couple of weeks. Shake the jar daily.
• Strain the oil and gently warm it before using.

These herbal massage oils also make great gifts for the holidays... share the gift of relaxation.

Best Herbal Tea Combinations

Many of you asked for specific herbal tea combinations....Best anti-stress bets include (try one or a blend of any of these great herbal teas):
Nerve tonics
valerian, hops, chamomile, scullcap, oats, damiana

Nerve relaxants
St. John’s wort, passion flower, valerian, lemon balm, lobelia, scullcap, hops, chamomile, lavender

Nerve soother
oats, barley, slippery elm bark, marshmallow root

Nerve stimulants
kola nut, peppermint, ginkgo, gota kola, wintergreen, spearmint, cayenne, ginger, rosemary, ginseng

Tea Time!

Whether you need to relax before climbing into bed, de-stress after a busy day at work, or even get your day off on the right (calm) foot, a cup of herbal tea can help. Try different herbs that are known for their soothing properties, then pick your favorites and enjoy them solo or in combinations. As a general guideline, use about a teaspoon of herb per cup of water, and steep for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remember, the best tasting teas are brewed loose!

Another Super Company - Burts Bees!

As a vocal proponent for transparency in the cosmetics world, Burt’s Bees has played a central role in developing labeling standards for natural products and ingredients. On average, the line contains 99 percent natural ingredients, and the company aims to achieve 100 percent by 2011, with absolutely no parabens or petroleum-based compounds. Already using recycled material in its packaging, Burt’s Bees has set a goal of making 100 percent biodegradable or postconsumer recycled packaging by 2020. The company’s latest initiative, the Greater Good Foundation, delivered its first grants of more than $150,000 to education and environmental stewardship programs throughout the country.

Yeah for 7th Gen!

Competing in an industry of big polluters, Seventh Generation annually saves some 171,000 trees, 62 million gallons of water, and 103 billion BTUs of energy thanks to its green-products line (chlorine-free recycled bathroom tissue, recycled plastic trash bags, and natural dishwasher detergents, to name a few). Since 2005, the company has cut its own greenhouse-gas emissions by 34 percent, and by funding home-energy audits and offering forgivable loans for fuel-efficient car purchases and solar-panel installation, Seventh Generation also helps employees reduce their own carbon footprints. Be sure to support eco-friendly companies - buy their products and spread the word!

New! Free app for iPhone® & iPod® Touch from Simply Organic

Anytime I get to combine technology with responsibly grown products, I thrive.

Simply Organic has launched a new recipe app for the iPhone and it is now available FREE from the iTunes® store. This new app lets you search for recipes by categories, ingredients, and other criteria. It can generate shopping lists from selected recipes, and you can even get directions to the nearest store where Simply Organic products are sold - although never forget that EdibleNature ships the complete Simply Organic product line straight to your door and at discount prices!

The app has more than 1,000 professionally created recipes with easy-to-follow instructions, nutrition facts and, chef suggestions.

You can browse popular collections, from Healthy Kids to Vegetarian Main Dishes, then flip from recipe to recipe. Searches can be filtered by what is already stocked in the fridge, by what ingredients are in season, or by keyword. Recipes can be sorted by ease of preparation, cooking time or by favorites.

A special shopping feature of the application is the ability to send coupons for any Simply Organic product to an email address where you can then print them before heading to the store. This is one cool app!

Watch the App demo video on YouTube or download directly from iTunes.

Good News for Fido!

Fido has it pretty good these days. If he's lucky, his Baby Boomer master gives him gourmet, preservative-free, organic dog food with a little natural glucosamine to keep his joints working; some probiotics for healthy digestion; omega-3s for his brain and coat; and maybe even a lutein supplement to keep his eyes healthy. As humans adopt healthier eating habits and use supplements to prevent disease and stay healthy longer, many want to offer the same health benefits to their pets. Pet owners are also becoming increasingly savvy about bioactive ingredients — especially those for specific conditions, such as joint health, obesity, digestion, inflammation and vision dysfunction — and their benefits for pets, causing a spike in demand for new animal products with these nutrients. Try Animals Apawthecary, Ark Naturals, Dancing Paws, Pet Naturals and Dr. Goodpet... because doesn't Fido deserve the best?

Simply Organic Brings Shopping Lists to Your iPhone

In a pinch for time, but still want to give your family a healthy homemade meal? Available free from the iTunes® store, Simply Organic has just launched a recipe application that allows users to search for recipes by categories, ingredients, and a host of other criteria. The application even generates shopping lists from selected recipes...now, if it only cooked the meal too!

Does Junk Food Make You Dumb?

Hmmm... We've always known that people who constantly eat fatty foods aren't making the smartest CHOICES ever, but is the food itself actually making them less intelligent? A new study out of Oxford University has found that a diet of burgers, fries, and other high-fat foods may cause you to become less mentally alert, damage your short-term memory, and weaken your physical endurance. This is exactly what happened to rats that were feasting on high-fat diets, and they exhibited these changes in as little as nine days. Whether or not it has the same effect on humans is TBD.