Andrea

Who knew a common weed could be so useful? Stinging nettle Overview: Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica and the closely related Urtica urens) has a long medicinal history. In medieval Europe, it was used as a diuretic (to rid the body of excess water) and to treat joint pain. Stinging nettle has fine hairs on the leaves and stems that contain irritating chemicals, which are released when the plant comes in contact with the skin. The hairs, or spines, of the stinging nettle are normally very painful to the touch. When they come into contact with a painful area of the body, however, they can actually decrease the original pain. Scientists think nettle does this by reducing levels of inflammatory chemicals in the body, and by interfering with the way the body transmits pain signals. General Uses Stinging nettle has been used for hundreds of years to treat painful muscles and joints, eczema, arthritis, gout, and anemia. Today, many people use it to treat urinary problems during the early stages of an enlarged prostate (called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH), for urinary tract infections, for hay fever (allergic rhinitis), or in compresses or creams for treating joint pain, sprains and strains, tendonitis, and insect bites. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) Stinging nettle root is used widely in Europe to treat BPH. Studies in people suggest that stinging nettle, in combination with other herbs (especially saw palmetto), may be effective at relieving symptoms, such as reduced urinary flow, incomplete emptying of the bladder, post urination dripping, and the constant urge to urinate. These symptoms are caused by the enlarged prostate gland pressing on the urethra (the tube that empties urine from the bladder). Laboratory studies have shown stinging nettle to be comparable to finasteride (a medication commonly prescribed for BPH) in slowing the growth of certain prostate cells. However, unlike finasteride, the herb does not decrease prostate size. Scientists aren't sure why nettle root reduces symptoms. It may be because it contains chemicals that affect hormones (including testosterone and estrogen), or because it acts directly on prostate cells. It is important to work with a doctor to treat BPH, and to make sure you have a proper diagnosis to rule out prostate cancer. Osteoarthritis The leaves and stems of nettle have been used historically to treat arthritis and for sore muscles. Studies have been small and not conclusive, but they do suggest that some people find relief from joint pain by applying nettle leaf topically to the painful area. A few other studies show that taking an oral extract of stinging nettle, along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), allowed people to reduce their NSAID dose. Hay fever One preliminary human study suggested that nettle capsules helped reduce sneezing and itching in people with hay fever. Researchers think that may be due to nettle's ability to reduce the amount of histamine the body produces in response to an allergen. More studies are needed to confirm nettle's antihistamine properties, however. Some doctors recommend taking a freeze dried preparation of stinging nettle well before hay fever season starts. Other Some preliminary animal studies indicate that nettle may lower blood sugar and blood pressure, but there is not enough evidence to say whether this is also true in humans. Plant Description: Stinging nettle is the name given to common nettle, garden nettle, and hybrids of these 2 plants. Originally from the colder regions of northern Europe and Asia, this herbaceous shrub grows all over the world today. Stinging nettle grows well in nitrogen rich soil, blooms between June and September, and usually reaches 2 - 4 feet high. Stems are upright and rigid. The leaves are heart shaped, finely toothed, and tapered at the ends, and flowers are yellow or pink. The entire plant is covered with tiny stiff hairs, mostly on the underside of the leaves and stem, that release stinging chemicals when touched. What's It Made Of?: Stinging nettle products are usually made from the leaves and stems, and sometimes the roots. Root preparations are used to relieve symptoms of BPH. Available Forms: Stinging nettle is available as dried leaf, freeze dried leaf, extract, capsules, tablets, and as root tincture (a solution of the herb in alcohol), juice or tea. It also comes in the form of an ointment or cream to be put on the skin. The root appears to have different pharmacological effects than the leaves. How to Take It: Pediatric Although available in many combination formulas to treat colds, asthma, and allergies in children, a specific safe and effective dose for children has not yet been established. Talk to your doctor before giving stinging nettle to a child, so the doctor can determine the proper dose. Adult Stinging nettle is used in many forms, including as teas, tinctures, fluid extracts and creams. The freeze dried leaf capsule is very popular among male physicians. Precautions: The use of herbs is a time honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. Herbs, however, can trigger side effects and can interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, you should take herbs with care, under the supervision of a health care provider. Stinging nettle is generally considered safe when used as directed. Occasional side effects include mild stomach upset, fluid retention, sweating, diarrhea, and hives or rash (mainly from topical use). It is important to be careful when handling the nettle plant because touching it can cause an allergic rash. Stinging nettle should never be applied to an open wound. Because nettle can alter the menstrual cycle and may contribute to miscarriage, pregnant women should not use nettle. Do not self treat with nettle for BPH. See your doctor to receive a diagnosis and to rule out prostate cancer. There is some evidence that stinging nettle may raise blood sugar and could possibly interfere with diabetes management. There is also evidence that it can lower blood sugar. Either way, patients with diabetes should monitor their blood sugar closely when using stinging nettle. Stinging nettle can have a diuretic effect. If you have kidney or bladder issues, speak with your physician. Possible Interactions: Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs (blood thinners) -- Stinging nettle may affect the blood's ability to clot, and could interfere with blood thinning drugs, including: Warfarin (Coumadin) Clopidogrel (Plavix) Aspirin Drugs for high blood pressure -- Stinging nettle may lower blood pressure, so it could make the effects of these drugs stronger: ACE inhibitors: Captpril (Capoten), Elaropril (Vasotec), lisinopril (Zestril), fosinopril (Monopril) Beta blockers: Atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), propranolol (Induran) Calcium channel blockers: Nifedipine (Procardia), amlodipine (Norvasc), verapamil (Calan, Isoptin) Diuretics (water pills) -- Because stinging nettle can act as a diuretic, it can increase the effects of these drugs, raising the risk of dehydration: Furosemide (Lasix) Hydrocholorothiazide Drugs for diabetes -- Stinging nettle may lower blood sugar, so it could make the effects of these drugs stronger, raising the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Lithium -- Stinging nettle may have a diuretic effect and may decrease how well the body excretes the drug. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) -- In a scientific study of patients with acute arthritis, stewed stinging nettle leaves enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of diclofenac, an NSAID. Although the effect can reduce pain, talk to your doctor before taking or using stinging nettle if you also take NSAIDs. Read more: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/stinging-nettle-000275.htm#ixzz1kri7l3We

Sarah, thank you so much for this information! I actually really like stevia and gave it another try in the flower bed this year. I managed to dry 2- 1qt jars of whole leaves. I think I posted earlier that I steep a leaf or two when I'm making iced tea, but I hadn't thought about making sweet water! What a great idea! How long will it last in the fridge? Sweet water would work so much better in things like hot cereal and lemonade. Also great to know about the connection with diabetics. I'm going to try again to get my Dad to use this stuff instead of splenda. And maybe "sweet water" would help with this! THANK YOU!!!

I was out cleaning up the front garden bed, trimming back things, pulling up things I didn't get to last Fall, and getting ready for the new planting season. Lo and behold, my nettles are going to town! In fact, they never really died back this year. So, I clipped off all the old stuff and I have lots of lovely fresh green nettles to work with! My first thought was, YES, now I can dehydrate some! Thank you all for your responses about dehydrating nettles! I know I'm late in replying, but I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the info!

I just made this last night. It is DELICIOUS! Definitely a keeper recipe! I think that next time, and there will be a next time because it's so good, I will decrease the butter by a third as well as the sugar. It was a bit too sweet for our tastes. But a great recipe! Thanks for sharing!

I've used the ice chest method also. It works great! I got the info from the Hillbilly Housewife link that Violet has posted.

Yep, I made 5 batches of jam and will be giving the majority of it away as gifts. Canned Nerd, that is too cool! I'm going to look into this!

Kathleen, freeze the broth that won't fit in jars in ziploc bags. If you lay them flat to freeze, they stack nicely in the freezer and take up less room! I came home to a surprise gift of a giant bag of kiwis on my front porch. Looks like I'll be making kiwi jam tomorrow - a LOT of it!

Hey, when did we get ? I LOVE this one!

Yep, I'm going to make some nonfat yogurt tomorrow myself, using the cooler method and then I'll turn it into soft cheese. It should be done in time for Thanksgiving! Yumm! Arby, I'm so glad your yogurt maker is working so well for you! Make sure and post your favorite/most successful recipes! I'm pretty new to the world of yogurt making, I've only done it a times, but I would love to learn more about it. We love the stuff and I have lotsof fruit in the freezer to flavor it with. If work ever slows down, this is an area I would like to explore a bit more.

AH - you basically end up with a soft cream cheese. I've only done it a few times but it's worked well for us. And just like the store bought soft cheese, you can mix just about anything into yours! We are particularly partial to chopped olives and diced green chilies! But I've made herbal spreads with bits out of the yard, and the family has eaten just fine! I think the favorite herbal blend so far has been chopped chives, a teeny amount of thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. At Christmas, I usually make a salmon spread. Maybe I'll make my own yogurt cheese this year!

Homemade Yogurt Cheese (Hillbilly Housewife) http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/yogurtcheese.htm Homemade Yogurt Cheese 1 quart yogurt, store-bought or homemade, dairy or soy 1 strainer paper coffee filters or cheese cloth or any loosely woven fabric that is clean, and preferably, pet-hair-free You may use homemade yogurt or purchased yogurt to make this recipe. I always use homemade because I keep it on hand regularly. Line a strainer with damp cheese cloth, or paper coffee filters or any clean loosely woven clean fabric. It will take about 3 or 4 paper coffee filters to line a standard sized strainer or colander. Spoon the yogurt into the filter or fabric. Set the strainer in the sink and allow it to drain overnight. The whey will drip out of the yogurt, leaving a smooth, creamy all natural cheese similar in texture to cream cheese or neufchatel. This recipe makes about 1-1/2 cups. I use yogurt cheese to stuff celery, spread on crackers, bagels or toast, and as a base for dips instead of sour cream. I also like it mixed with brown sugar and cooked whole wheat berries. This is particularly good as a snack or for breakfast. This cheese is also good spooned into a bowl and topped with fresh or canned fruit. See the recipes for Cream Cheese Sauce, Cream Cheese Frosting, and Creamy Fruit Dip, for ideas. A quick note for folks who have rogue nocturnal pets, specifically cats. I can’t drain my yogurt cheese in the sink overnight because cats will get into it and eat every bit of it while I sleep. To combat this, I set up my draining device and place it in the oven overnight. I find a large bowl or dishpan and invert a cereal bowl in the bottom of it. Then I place my strainer on top of the inverted cereal bowl. The inverted bowl acts like a rack, to keep the yogurt above the whey which drains out of it as it sits. The yogurt goes into the lined strainer as directed above. The whole apparatus goes on the bottom rack of the oven. I make sure the oven is turned off, shut the door and go to bed. In the morning, my cheese is perfect, having been well protected from lurking felines all night long. This method also works well if you want to save the whey to use in cooking. Some people prefer to drain their yogurt in the fridge, which is a great idea. My fridge is small though, so I’ve had to make other arrangements. Soy Yogurt makes excellent soy yogurt cheeze. It can be used to replace dairy cream cheese in many recipes. It tastes a little fruitier and sweeter than dairy yogurt. Many people prefer it to dairy yogurt cheese. If you’re vegan you owe it to yourself to give this a try at least once. It is very good.

Homemade Yogurt from powdered milk (Hillbilly Housewife) 3-3/4 cup warm tap water 1-2/3 cups instant nonfat dry milk 2 to 4 tablespoon store-bought, plain yogurt with active yogurt cultures (read the label to be sure) In a large saucepan combine the tap water and dry milk powder. Stir it very well, and let it sit a few minutes. Then stir it again. All of the dry milk should be dissolved. Heat the milk over medium low heat until it reaches 180°. This kills off any competeing bacteria so that the yogurt will respond better to the acidophilus cultures. Remove from the stove and allow to cool to 115°. If the milk is any hotter than this then it will kill off the yogurt cultures. Add the store-bought plain yogurt to the warm milk. Stir well. Allow it sit for a few minutes and stir a final time. This should dissolve the store-bought yogurt completely. Carefully pour the mixture into a very clean, quart-sized, wide-mouthed canning jar, or another clean, quart-sized container. Incubate the yogurt in a warm spot for 6 to 8 hours, or until it is set almost as thick as store-bought yogurt. Chill and eat. Each cook develops her own way of incubating home made yogurt through trial and error. I am going to describe my method, followed by some other common methods and ideas. But first there are a few things you need to know. Yogurt is cultured from acidophilous bacteria, which you can sometimes buy in powdered form at the health food store. I have never actually seen it, but I've heard tell about it. Yogurt can also be cultured from store-bought yogurt which contains "active yogurt cultures" or live bacteria. Read the label and it will tell you if the yogurt contains active cultures or not. I always use prepared yogurt as my culture. I buy a large container of plain store brand yogurt from the store. I bring it home and scoop it into a couple of icecube trays. Then I freeze it. When it is completely frozen, I take the frozen yogurt cubes and pack them in a plastic freezer bag. Each time I make yogurt, I use one cube as the starter. You can use your own fresh yogurt as a starter too, but eventually it loses it's power due to the introduction of foreign bacteria, usually after using it about 3 or 4 times. I like to use a new frozen yogurt cube each time I prepare yogurt. I've had my best results this way. When making yogurt with powdered milk, it is good to use more dry milk powder than you would to just make fluid milk. For instance, normally I would use 1 1/3 cups of dry milk powder to make a quart of milk. When I reconstitute milk for yogurt, I add an extra 1/3 cup of dry milk powder, using 1-2/3 cups of dry milk powder for a quart of yogurt. This makes the yogurt thicker and also higher in calcium. Even when preparing yogurt from fluid milk, the results are better if you add a little extra powdered milk for thickness. There are lots of ways to incubate your yogurt. I prefer to do it in my electric oven. I set the stove dial half way between OFF and 200°, or at approximately 100°. The light which signifies the oven is on, pops on for a moment, and then pops off when the temperature is reached. I set my jar of yogurt in the oven and leave it for between 6 and 8 hours, usually overnight, or while I'm out for the day. I take out the yogurt when it is thick. This method works every time for me. My yogurt has a very mild flavor, which the kids like better than the sour stuff we used to get from the store. There are many other ways to incubate your yogurt. Some people pour the warm milk combined with the starter, into a large preheated thermos and let it sit overnight. Other folks set the yogurt on top of a warm radiator, or close to a wood stove, or in a gas stove with the pilot operating, or on a heating pad set on low. Sometimes I have placed the jar in a pan filled with warm water, to keep the temperature even. This worked pretty well when I incubated the yogurt next to the wood stove. It kept the yogurt at a uniform temperature, even with occasional drafts from the front door opening and closing. The heating-pad method is supposed to be pretty reliable. You set it on low and then cover the heating pad with a towel, place the yogurt on top of it, and put a large bowl or stew pot upside down over the yogurt. This makes a little tent which keeps the heat in. I don't have a heating pad, and have never actually used this method myself, but a good friend swears by it. Another friend uses a medium sized picnic cooler to incubate her yogurt. She places the jars inside the cooler and then add two jars filled with hot tap water, to keep the temperature warm enough. After 4 hours, check the yogurt to see if it is thick enough. If it isn't then refill the water jars with more hot water, return them to the cooler, and let the yogurt sit another 4 hours. When I tried this method, it worked very well. It took a full 8 hours, but the yogurt was perfect, and I liked not having my oven tied up during the day. Also, there was little danger of getting the yogurt too hot while it incubated, and drafts weren't a problem because of the closed nature of the cooler. You should try to disturb the yogurt as little as possible while it is incubating, in ensure you get good results. After the yogurt is thick, place it in the fridge. It will stay sweet and fresh for about a week or two. You may prepare more than one jar at a time if you like. I included the method for a quart because this is the size canning jar I use. Narrow mouth canning jars would probably work too, but I prefer the wide mouth ones because it is easier to stick a measuring cup or ladel down inside of it, to scoop out the yogurt. I usually prepare two quart jars at a time. The prepared yogurt is good mixed with jelly, fresh or canned fruit, served with granola for breakfast, or substituted for sour cream in many recipes like stroganoffs. It is also nice pureed in fruit smoothie blender drinks, or stirred into gelatin or popscicles before freezing them. It can also be stirred half and half with regular mayonnaise to make a very tasty low fat mayonnaise. This mixture can be used in just about any recipe which calls for mayonnaise. Learning to make yogurt is a trial and error process. Most people don't have perfect or consistant results the first few times they make it. With a little practice though, anyone can learn to make it. When you get a little skill at it, the entire process becomes second nature, and you will have sweet fresh yogurt available whenever you like. http://www.hillbilly....com/yogurt.htm

I just had this epiphany this morning, so give me a few days! It also figures that I just put 40 lbs of this years raw almonds into the freezer! This might be a fun experiment if I had some free time - almond cheese takes a minimum of 2 days. I have a light week next week so let me see what I can do! andrea

You can still make herbed yogurt cheese from powdered milk?

Wow, you're right, AH. Soy Cheese is a pretty involved process: http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1999382.htm#cheese Interesting to know though. I think I'll stick with almonds since they grow so plentifully here and raw almonds will keep forever in the freezer. Hmmmm, I wonder if they would sprout though after being frozen? I need to research this!

You've got me thinking, AH. I've got access to tons of almonds but not so much soy. Check this out: http://www.ehow.com/how_2053821_make-raw-almond-cheese.html You can make cheese from almonds! Wooohoooo! Okay, back to the normally scheduled thread

NICE SCORE!

and yet more oregano . . . I think it's got world domination on it's mind . . . .

Apricot Jam - 2 batches of regular, 1 batch of sugar free

Very Cool! Thanks for the tip! I'm going to give this a try!

I either use the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook or the recipe on the back of the Krusteaz bag of pancake mix which I will buy from time to time if the price is right! I also cook extras of both waffles and pancakes and freeze for future use. As for limpness, we always heat them up in the toaster and this seems to solve the problem!

I snap mine off as soon as I spot them. Supposedly, the plant then puts it's energy into the bulb instead of the flower. I don't know if it's right, but it's what I've always done . . .

Really, it turns out good? I keep looking at this recipe wondering how on earth it would work. But really, it tastes great? It doesn't turn brown or anything? Okay, I'll have to give it a go. It would definitely make an interesting gift!

Hmmmm, any reason I couldn't do this with the pre-sliced mushrooms you can purchase in the grocery store?

Thanks Mother! Great Info! Kappydell and Mother, do you blanch the nettle leaves before dehydrating them or do they go straight from the plant to the dehydrator? I'm guessing the dehydration process eliminates the stingy spines? Your input would be very much appreciated! I have a lot of nettles that I hate to see go to waste! Thanks again!