If you didn’t have a reason to fire up the grill, now you do. This grilled vegetable medley is simple to make and exhibits that smoky, charred flavor you want as summer comes to a close. You can turn these grilled veggies into a side dish or make a unique salad. The choice is yours, and we hope that you put your own creative spin on it, as everyone is their own grill master. Just make sure that you don’t burn your veggies to a crisp. You want them to retain some chew and juiciness. Cooking them for too long can dry them out and complete zap them of all their nutrients.

This medley uses red, green, and orange bell peppers, red onion, and zucchini. Feel free to add white button mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, or replace the zucchini with yellow squash. You can even slice up some eggplant if you want! Although we seasoned these veggies with the staples (sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder), you can add other herbs that you enjoy. Great herbs to add include rosemary, thyme, oregano, and parsley.

For grilling, we high recommend that you use a grill basket. A grill basket makes it very easy to keep your veggies from falling through the grates. You can also use a skillet-like basket, or a closed basket with lids and handles. That allows you to flip your vegetables. If you do not have a grill, feel free to use a cast iron grill pan and cook the vegetables on the stove. A grill pan will give you the same char marks, just without the open fire char. Both are viable options!

SHARE:

The post The Best Grilled Vegetables appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

From descaling coffee makers to getting rid of grime and water stains, vinegar is an excellent cleaning agent. Distilled white vinegar is a versatile cleaner in the non-toxic cleaning world, but multi-purpose does not mean it is all-purpose. When it comes to cleaning with vinegar, there are household items that can easily damage if you clean them with vinegar. Additionally, if you mix vinegar with other cleaning agents, especially bleach, the acid in vinegar can create dangerous chemical reactions.

People like vinegar because it is both inexpensive and non-toxic. Even though it is readily available, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every cleaning obstacle you face. You don’t want to ruin wood finish or damage your stone countertop. For these reasons, we’ve highlighted seven things that you should never clean with vinegar.

Grout

If you have unsealed or damaged grout, do not clean it with vinegar. Over time, vinegar can wear grout away and cause it to deteriorate. If you have sealed grout, however, you can clean it with vinegar, but you should still use non-acidic cleaners to avoid ruining your grout. 

Cast Iron

Don’t let any cast iron lovers ever see you soak your cast iron pans in vinegar. There is a specific set of rules to follow when it comes to seasoning and cleaning your cast iron pans. The seasoning process slowly builds up a coat of oil that helps keep cast iron non-stick. The reason that you should not use vinegar to clean your cast iron is because it cuts through that film, in addition to reacting with cast iron and causing it to rust.

Hardwood Floors

Tile floors can take a beating, but hardwood floors are a little more sensitive. People have mixed feelings about completely avoiding vinegar on hardwood floors or using a diluted vinegar solution to clean them. Most flooring manufacturers recommend that you do not clean floors with vinegar because the strong acid can eat away at the finish, causing it to dull over time. 

Rubber Gaskets And Hoses

If you repeatedly expose rubber gaskets and hoses to vinegar, they will disintegrate over time. Make sure that you check the manufacturer’s instructions before you clean household appliances with vinegar. Dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators may contain rubber that can easily disintegrate when exposed to vinegar. 

Pet Messes

If you have a pet, especially a new one, they will most likely pee or poop in the house. Vinegar is not an ideal cleaning agent for surfaces like mattresses, upholstered furniture, or carpeting. The Humane Society of the United States does not recommend the use of vinegar on pet messes. The reason for this is because the strong chemical odors may encourage your pet to reinforce the urine scent mark in that area. Ideally, use an enzyme-based cleaning agent for pet messes. 

Your Phone Or Tablet

Maybe you are following a recipe and dirty the screen of your phone or tablet. Whatever you do, don’t clean the screen with vinegar. Additionally, if you are making dressing or something that calls for vinegar, avoid splashing vinegar on the screen. The screen has a fingerprint-resistant coating that vinegar can damage. Should you need to clean your screen, use a microfiber cloth dampened with water. 

Natural Stone Surfaces

Marble, granite, and other natural stone surfaces, such as slate, should not be cleaned with vinegar. That means don’t use vinegar on home furnishes like countertops, floors, or shower walls, or household goods like tabletops or serving pieces. The acid in vinegar can etch stone or cause pitting that you cannot undo.

SHARE:

The post 7 Things You Should Never Clean With Vinegar appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Historically, Fat Tuesday was a day to prepare for Lent, i.e. making sure food was stored properly and taking part in confession. It slowly evolved to be a day of gluttony, where people indulged in meats, eggs, cheese, butter, and other animal fats, all of which Christians abstained from during Lent.

Mardi translates to Tuesday and Gras translates to fat. Fat Tuesday became known as Pancake Day in Great Britain because people would use up all the dairy and eggs to make pastries or pancakes. In the United States, people usually eat a lot of festive foods and drink plenty of alcohol, especially in New Orleans.

Fun Fact: The first Fat Tuesday actually took place in present day Mobile, Alabama, not in New Orleans. French settlers made their way to New Orleans, but these rowdy Fat Tuesday celebrations stopped after the Spanish took control. The bans were lifted after Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812.

Many people in the south associate Mardi Gras with a pot of simmering greens, the signature scent of Crawfish Etouffé, and corn bread cooking in a cast iron pan. The cooking of Cajun food and is faithfully observed around the time of Fat Tuesday, but Cajun food doesn’t have to revolve around sausage, oysters, crabs, or shrimp. Cajun food more about the flavors, spices, and the essence of spirit than the actual food itself. Heat is a primary element, but don’t add more cayenne than you can handle. To help you get in the celebratory spirit, we want to give you some tasty recipes to make your Fat Tuesday not so fat.

Mardi Gras Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 3 cups banana chunks, frozen
• 2 cups fresh pineapple, cubed
• ½ cup spinach
• ½ cup raspberries
• 1 cup blueberries

Instructions:

• Add 1 cup of banana chunks and 1 cup of pineapple to a blender with a tablespoon or so of water. Blend until smooth. Pour this into three small glasses.
• Rinse the blender and add 1 cup of banana chunks, 1 cup of pineapple, and the spinach with 2 tablespoons of water. Blend until smooth and pour into the three glasses on top of the banana/pineapple mixture.
• Rinse the blender and add the last cup of banana chunks, in addition to raspberries and blueberries with a tablespoon or so of water. Blend until smooth and then pour in the three glasses on top of the spinach mixture. You should have three tri-colored Mardi Gras smoothies!

Vegan Banana Beignets

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas
• ¼ tsp. alcohol-free vanilla extract
• 1/16 tsp. almond extract
• 1/3 cup raw brown sugar
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• ½ cup chickpea flour
• ¾ tsp. baking powder
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• ¼ – ½ cup organic, unsweetened almond milk
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Organic vegan powdered sugar, for garnish

Instructions:

• In a large mixing bowl, smash the bananas and mix in the almond & vanilla extracts. Stir in the sugar and set aside.
• Mix the flours, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
• Combine the two mixtures in one bowl and mix well. Stir in the almond milk until you get a creamy batter.
• Warm 2-3 inches of vegetable oil in a pan. Oil should be 350 degrees before frying the beignets.
• Drop heaping amounts of batter into the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides. Once they are browned, remove from the oil and set on a cooling rack or paper towels. Repeat until you’ve fried all of them.
• Dust with powdered sugar (optional) to serve.

Vegan Jambalaya

We had to give you a savory recipe to enjoy Fat Tuesday. We love this recipe because it is easy to make and packs some heat! Try it out and let us know how you like it.

Click here to make the recipe.

SHARE:

The post Here’s How To Make Your Fat Tuesday Not So Fat appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

While you may have ditched your BPA bottles, Styrofoam plates, and plastic utensils, you may still have your toxic cookware at the ready. Choosing safe, non-toxic cookware is just as important as consuming healthy foods and avoiding the foods that make you sick. Most people, however, do not consider the harmful effects of toxic cookware and often purchase products that contribute to toxin accumulation in the body.

The convenience of a non-stick pan has become popular for the average home cook. In fact, some of the most popular and commonly used cookware products are of the nonstick variety. Did you know that nonstick cookware contains a chemical that could be jeopardizing your health? Nonstick cookware releases perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is a carcinogenic chemical, when heated. Additionally, most nonstick cookware contains harmful heavy metals that flake off into your food during the cooking process.

Is Nonstick Cookware Making You Sick?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reproduction, liver damage, and growth and development were affected in laboratory animals that were given large amounts of PFOA. This chemical is considered dangerous because it can exist in the human body for long periods of time. The American Cancer Society has said that PFOA is “…present worldwide at very low levels in just about everyone’s blood.”

Unfortunately, toxic nonstick cookware products are present in many homes, despite the reported health risks of using them. Some people choose to ignore these dangers because nonstick cookware is cheap and easy to clean. Well, let us say that you should not skimp on cookware. Invest in some of the following non-toxic cookware options, so the healthy food you eat actually remains healthy.

Cast Iron

You can’t go wrong with cast iron. Historically used to prevent iron deficiencies and anemia, cast iron cookware has become increasingly popular in the modern culinary world. Cast iron is one of the safest cooking options on the market and it is praised for its ability to retain heat at a lower temperature. It can also withstand a very high temperature that nonstick pans typically cannot tolerate. Free of PFOA and other chemicals, cast iron is a safe cookware option. Learn how to season it and clean it properly by looking it up online.

Porcelain Enamel

Enamel is a form of glass, and most enameled cookware is cast iron with an enamel coating. The most common form of enamel cookware is the Dutch oven or stockpot, and like cast iron, they can handle high heat and retain heat extremely well. Keep in mind that enamel coating can be made from clay, which can leach lead into food. Don’t go the cheap route when buying this type of cookware and make sure that it doesn’t contain lead.

Stainless Steel

Along with cast iron, stainless steel is one of the safest cookware options, especially when high-quality stainless steel is used. Make sure that you are purchasing food-grade stainless steel cookware because there are many grades of stainless steel. Some people view stainless steel cookware in a negative light because it contains nickel, which helps to ward off rust or other corrosions. If you are concerned with the nickel percentage, opt for either 18/8, 18/10, or 18/0 stainless steel, the first number specifying the percentage of nickel and the second number indicating the percentage of nickel. Be sure to use non-abrasive cleaning materials when you wash stainless steel to avoid damaging the lining.

Titanium

Before we delve into the benefits of titanium, you must understand that certain titanium cookware manufacturers coat their titanium with non-stick finishes. Be advised: non-stick coated titanium is not healthy! Titanium is used for medical instruments and joint replacements because it is a biocompatible metal that is non-toxic. Legitimate titanium cookware is lightweight and evenly distributes heat across the non-porous surface.

SHARE:

The post The 4 Safest Non-Toxic Cookware Options appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

If you regularly read our content, you know that we strongly encourage people to make healthy, dietary changes. In addition to highlighting foods that are beneficial for you, we also try to illustrate why certain foods are detrimental to the body. When it comes to overall health, however, a lot of elements, which can do harm to the body, are often overlooked. In this specific case, we are referring to cookware.

A lot of people don’t take the time to familiarize themselves with the potential dangers of certain cookware. So many people purchase nonstick cookware because these items are sold based on how easy they are to clean. People almost neglect the fact that popular nonstick cookware products contain a harmful chemical that can increase one’s risk of cancer.

Most nonstick cookware is made with poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These substances can release perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a carcinogenic chemical when heated, into your food. Other chemicals can also flake off into your food during the cooking process.

So How Do You Choose Cookware?

When it comes to buying pots and pans, you need to keep an eye out for certain words. Aluminum and Teflon should always be avoided when you are buying cookware. According to research, elevated aluminum levels have been linked to ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and problems with the central nervous system. Teflon is a material used in most nonstick cookware and can emit toxic chemicals at high heat. This is both dangerous for the cook and the person who eats the food.

Don’t let toxins leach into your food. We recommend the following nontoxic cookware items to keep your kitchen healthy.

Cast Iron Cookware

In the olden days, almost everyone used cast iron pots and pans. Most health experts agree that cast iron cookware is one of the safest options on the market. Not only do cast iron pots and pan retain heat well, but they also handle higher temperatures better than nonstick cookware. People who have low iron levels can also use cast iron cookware to naturally boost iron levels, because some of the iron from the pan can end up in your food (this is totally safe, by the way). Make sure you read up on how to properly season and clean your cast iron cookware.

Regular Stoneware

Stoneware is typically used for baking, as opposed to cooking on the stove. Stoneware is better than using aluminum baking sheets, roasting, pans, or muffin tins. While they can be tricky to clean, they give your food some great flavor and they help to evenly cook your food. Don’t use soap to clean the stoneware because the stone can absorb the soapy flavor.

Stainless Steel

Next to cast iron, stainless steel is considered to be one of the safest, nontoxic cookware options. Stainless steel cookware can resist corrosion and it doesn’t flake off into your food. The important thing to remember is that there are many grades of stainless steel, so make sure you buy food-grade cookware. Stainless steel is a combination of carbon, chromium, nickel, and manganese. Make sure you don’t use an abrasive cleaning device to clean your pans because damaging the lining makes it possible for metals to leach into your food.

Glass

While you won’t use glass on the stove, glass cookware is nontoxic, eco-friendly, and extremely durable. There are no PFAS or fluorinated chemicals in glass cookware, but make sure that you buy oven-safe glass! This is of vital importance because you don’t want to spend time making an elaborate dish, only to have your glass break in the oven. As long as you are using glass cookware, you may as well use glass containers instead of plastic ones to avoid the toxic effects of BPA.

SHARE:

The post Ditch The Nonstick For These Nontoxic Cookware Options appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Almost every household has aluminum foil. It makes clean up easy if you are baking and people even use it to scrub pans to help clean the food that won’t come off with a sponge. Some sources even say that you can cure common health ailments with aluminum foil! Since aluminum is a heavy metal, why would you want it in your body?

Aluminum took the place of copper in cookware because it was cheaper for mass production, and it made these items easier to clean. These items include regular pots and pans and certain kitchen utensils like forks, butter knives, and serving spoons. It’s best to avoid aluminum cookware and cook with ceramic, stainless steel, or cast iron pans.

There has long since been a debate about aluminum foil increasing one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. While aluminum foil isn’t good for the body, you would have to eat a lot of food cooked at very high temperatures in aluminum foil to have detrimental effects on the brain. Aluminum poses other health risks, however, making people more susceptible to bone diseases and kidney failure.

When it comes to cooking or wrapping your food with aluminum foil, you should not do it. It’s that simple. The metal can leach into your food, especially when you cook with it. The foil is not meant to be in the high oven temperatures. The higher the temperature, the more metal emits into the food. More aluminum can leach into foods with more acidic pH levels, e.g. tomatoes, citrus, or spices.

New studies have shown that cooking with aluminum foil can cause an aluminum build-up inside your bones. The aluminum begins to takes up space, ultimately reducing your calcium content. This is why those who cook with aluminum foil are more prone to developing bone disease. Additionally, cooking with aluminum foil has been tied to pulmonary fibrosis and other respiratory ailments, due to the ingestion of aluminum particles.

We do not recommend using aluminum for cooking. It is best to use porcelain or glassware when preparing baked dishes.

SHARE:

The post If You Use Aluminum Foil, Stop Right Now: Here’s Why appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Almost everyone in the US has a microwave in the kitchen. It is a convenient appliance that seemingly makes our lives easier. You can defrost, reheat, and even cook food in microwaves. Are we at all concerned about the dangers of microwaves, though?

A lot of people use microwaves without thinking of how they may negatively affect their lives. Microwaves essentially can kill your food, robbing it of the nutritional value. Cooking your food, in general, robs your food of potential nutrients you could be getting. This is why we always recommend eating more of a plant-based and even raw foods diet for optimum health. But we digress…

Here’s a crash course on how microwaves work

Microwaves contain something called a magnetron (not from Transformers), which converts the received electricity into short-wave frequency radio waves. Science! It’s sort of electromagnetic radiation. Radiation, you say? Not so good for the body. The radiation can actually change the molecular structure and create radioactive compounds in our food. For instance, breast milk loses 96% of its antibodies when microwaved.

It’s important to know that microwaves are non-ionizing radiation. X-rays, Gamma radiation, and nuclear medicine are all types of ionizing radiation. While non-ionizing radiation isn’t as bad, it can still negatively affect your health. And we continue to contaminate our bodies by eating microwaveable meals, which are filled with chemicals and preservatives.

Microwaves work using alternating currents, which ultimately reverse the polarity of atoms. What does that mean, though? Basically, there are water molecules in the food. The water molecules shake in the food, which causes the food to heat up.

How Do Microwaves Harm Your Health?

• They can cause cataracts
• Trigger birth defects
• Weaken the immune system
• Can lead to cancer onset
• Leads to possible serious illnesses
• Compromises body’s immune response to bacteria or viruses

 (Note: These are only going to happen if you stand directly in front of a microwave that has a crack or leak in it.)

Eating Microwaved Veggies Can Lead To

• Dropped white blood cell count
• Fast-rising cholesterol levels
• Drop in hemoglobin (which can lead to anemic conditions)

What Diseases Can You Get From Microwaves?

Fatigue

Microwaves can actually be the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, and even obesity.

Insomnia

By having adverse effects on brain health, due to electromagnetic radiation, microwaved food can lead to cases of insomnia or other sleep disturbances/troubles. 

Nutrient Deficiency

Cooking your food in the microwave causes your food to lose nutrients. If your food doesn’t provide you with the nutrients you think you are getting, you can become nutrient deficient, which an lead to a variety of diseases. 

Deprivation of Antioxidants

Microwaving your food = no more antioxidants. By destroying the antioxidants in the food, it means you aren’t getting them. Antioxidants are essential for heart, brain, and immune health. Antioxidant deprivation can increase your risk of heart attack or high cholesterol. 

Cancer

The radiation that contaminates food can increase your risk of developing cancer. By eating too much microwaved food, radiation can accumulate in the body and cause cancer growth.

Since we live in an instantaneous world, most people who own a microwave use it on a daily basis. Making meals, defrosting or even reheating in a microwave daily can not be good for the body. Maybe its time to invest in a toaster oven. Cast iron skillets on the stove, or even the regular oven are optimal ways to go about cooking and reheating food.

SHARE:

The post What Microwaves Are Doing To Your Health appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

If you are cooking your food in those convenient, non-sticking Teflon pans, you should know that you are cooking your food on fluoride.

Fluoride is a very harmful man-made substance that can compromise your health.

Chemicals

Fluoropolymers, the substances used to make Teflon pans, release a persistent gas when heated to high temperatures. They release compounds called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), trifluoroacetate, (TFA) and polyfluorocarboxylic acids (PFOs).

Even though these breakdown chemicals are generally considered non-toxic, it can be dangerous because they may cause long-term health effects as they accumulate in the body.

The good news is that Teflon will only breakdown into these harmful compounds if the cooking temperature exceeds 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Normally, home cooking does not often get that high but we should always take a precautionary approach when using Teflon frying pans and other non-stick cooking ware.

Alternatives

Look for cookware that holds heat well, prevents scorching and sticking, and has a heavy bottom.

Cast iron has been known as the first nonstick surface, requiring minimum fat and less cleaning. Some iron is actually released into the food but this isn’t always a bad thing. Most Americans are low in iron so this isn’t usually a health concern.

Stainless steel is another great alternative to Teflon pans. It is durable, long lasting, and is great for healthy cooking. Stainless steel is very accessible and there are many varieties of shapes and sizes.

Made of a combination of metals, stainless steel is durable and long lasting. Stainless steel cookware may have aluminum in the bottom of the pan but it is not a health problem as long as it is not in contact with the food.

Anodized aluminum cookware is sealed so the base metal (aluminum) doesn’t enter the food prepared in it. The only drawback is that it must be hand-washed, even after the toughest, messiest cooking, as the anodization is corrupted when it comes in contact with commercial brand dishwashing machine detergents.

Ceramic cookware can be useful in some circumstances, such as baking and slow cooking. It’s a nice alternative for people who like the heat distribution of cast iron, but hate the long seasoning process.

Be careful not to scratch the stainless steel because it can result in the harmful release of nickel or chromium.

Thank you for reading !

SHARE:

The post Fluoride-coated Frying Pans appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.