I have gotten many emails about recipes for Congee and Kicharee. Although the generic recipes are posted here: http://blogofherbs.com/recepies/food-for-life-and-health-kicharee , http://blogofherbs.com/recepies/appetite-for-health-heres-a-recipe-congee .
Many people don’t want to figure out how to make recipes by adding in their own ingredients. Well, here is my favorite Congee recipe although I do make my Congee very similar to Kicharee. The difference to me is that I make congee with a little sweetness and dates/berries and Kicharee with vegetables and such.

Ok here is a list of what you need:
1/4 cup Adzuki Beans
1/4 cup Red Beans
1/4 cup Mung Beans
2.5 cups Brown Rice
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill 7grain hot cereal
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Flax Seed
1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Germ
1 cup Organic Brown Sugar
40g Raisins
Pinch Kombuchu Sea Weed
1tsp Sea Salt
Herbs I-
20g Ginseng/ Ren Shen
20g Astragalus/ Huang Qi
10g Cassia Stick/ Rou Gui
10g Cascara Sagrada
Herbs II-
25g Goji Berries/ Lychii Berry/ Gou Qi Zi
30g Jujube Dates/ Da Zao
2g Dried Ginger/ Gan Jiang
20g Longan Berry/ Dragon Eyes/ Long Yan Rou
10g Cassia Stick/ Rou Gui
10g Rhubarb/ Da Huang

Ok, right now its night time so put all your beans in a large bowl with a large pinch of Kombuchu Seaweed. Cover with fresh water, cover and leave it alone until tomorrow.

Now that its tomorrow and approximately 6 hours you want this to be done and you are able to tend to the Congee in 4 hours, lets get started!
Strain our your beans and throw them in your super large Crockpot. Wash your rice under some water and put that in the Crockpot and cover with water. Fill it up to about 3/4 the way full and set to High for about 20-30 minutes and then set to Low Heat (this isn’t necessary). Let that cook for about 4 hours total stirring a few times to make sure the bottom isn’t cooking by itself.
Now, about the Herbs I and II. Herbs I need to be decocted so they are separated out. You can do this step anytime you like before its time to get back to the Congee after the 4 hours. Here is how you handle that:
Add 4 cups of water to a SS pot. Bring to boil and add herbs. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the water is reduced by half. Strain off herbs and save the liquid…
Back to the Congee, has it been 4 hours already? Great, lets first stir our pot and check the texture. Assuming everything is good lets move on.
Add decocted mixture of Herbs I in the pot, Add the HerbsII pile, raisins, and sugar. Now start stirring and slowly add your Bob’s powders in the pot to ensure no clumping.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything but everything should be in there by now. Top the crockpot off with water and cook this for another 2 hours or so stirring occasionally.

Now that everything is done pack up in Tupperware all your not going to eat now. The Congee shouldn’t be very sweet as is and it should be pretty good. You may sweeten it up a bit if you like. You may also add a little milk for breakfast eating.
This recipe is good for energy, energy regulation, bowel regulation, weight loss, weight management, immune system and brain/function through the day (alertness).

Enjoy Responsibly!

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If you want to find out what your western diagnosis is or what type of medication your going to get when you see your doctor you can easily go to WebMD and it can tell you how terminal your cough is.

However, some of us are proactive and use complementary medicines for disease and illness. Not every answer out there can be found on Google and other sites for alternative healing and help. This was the first blog to move into a proactive approach to helping those with questions. I can’t however get back and post to everyone’s question that is sent to me.

Introducing a way to get much more immediate answers, help others and interact in the holistic community. Myself, a friend of mine Russell, and www.DimmakHerbs.comhave come together to bring you a forum to parcipate and ask questions that people from many different backgrounds and disciplines can help you with! Simply go to www.AlternativeMedicineForums.com and sign up to start asking and participating!

Don’t pass up this opportunity for top notch help and interacting in a community that shares your views on Health, Nutrition, Medicine, Diet, Exercise, etc…
On top of General discussions and chit chat there are specific medicine categories on:
Oriental Medicine / Acupuncture
Naturopathic
Chiropractic
Physical Therapy
Ayurveda
Massage and Body Work
Homeopathy
and more…

Can’t wait to see you all there!

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I have seen other sites and pages on the Internet that are dedicated to the power of Garlic. It seems however that Garlic is just too simple of an herb for people to give it any credit. Garlic seems like a ‘grandma herbs’ or something that you just use for Italian cooking. Well, there is of-course some truth to this because to use an herb medicinally you have to use it in much higher potency than you put in your spaghetti. Once we get passed the herb as a simple food and get the right potency we are left with an herb that can be attributed to being able to treat all ailments. Lets see why-

Garlic is a tonifier, bile stimulator, metabolism increase, detox, and its antibiotic AND anti-parasitic (I’m sure I even missed something).
Garlic has a very pungent smell and one that lasts, as most of us know. This smell is due to compounds of sulfur, but that same compound is what makes it a great antibiotic. Since Garlic is also anti-parasitic you can use it as a ‘general herb’ for any time you are sick or even as prevention!
Medicinally as a herbalist the main usage for garlic is lung conditions, colds, flu’s, and infections. Garlic is for these acute conditions so it should be taken in smaller amounts and often. One of the best ways to make a preparation of Garlic is to make it into an oil that can be kept in a bottle in your cupboard. The reason is fresh Garlic has the better properties for invasion conditions and it makes for a very easily used product. Here is how:
Buy a bunch of fresh Garlic
Buy a small-medium bottle of olive oil in a glass bottle
Peel the Garlic and mash it up in a mortar or similar. Put all of your garlic in a glass jar and cover with your olive oil. Put the lid on your jar, shake it up and put it away for a 3-4 days or so. A warm environment would be better. After a few days simply strain the ‘Garlic Oil’ back into the olive oil bottle and put it in your cupboard.
Typically a good dose is going to be 1-3 teaspoons every 2-3 hours internally for respiratory issues, colds, flu’s, stomach issues, etc.
This oil can also be topically! Put a few drops in your ear for an earache or apply on small cuts and scrapes to aid in healing and repel of bacteria or parasites.
Lets not forget that you can just use this  oil to dip some whole wheat bread in etc at meals. I would also like to note here that my dog gets ear infections quite often. I simply feed him some garlic and put some of the oil in his ears and it clears up usually in about 3 days or so.

Now, lets also get back to Garlic as a building and tonic herb. Garlic and onions together can be added to about any meal, and I highly recommend it. Garlic and onions can be traced back to Egyptian workers to keep them healthy and strong while building the great pyramids.

Garlic also is absorbed by the body very quickly. If you eat large doses of it you can smell it on your skin just a few minutes after. Also you can try rubbing some on your feet and you will be able to taste it in your mouth.

Got intestinal, hook, pin, or ring worm? Other parasites? Well, you should probably go to the hospital, but in true Blog of Herbs fashion I have some help for you anyway. You need alot of Garlic, get it mashed up and in a jar for multiple uses. First, rub the garlic directly over the area of problem (or garlic oil). Do this about 3-4 times daily. Ingest a couple cloves worth of garlic every 2-3 hours. Make a tea of a hot cup of water and dissolve 1 ounce of Garlic in it, now take this as an enema 1-2 times daily.

So whats the bottom line? Lets have a little more respect for Garlic although no need to fall prey to rediculous claims and sham stories.

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