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 ‘Herbs II’ 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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I have a new recipe that I have been promising to get on here. You can find a few recipes online, but I will show you how I make it and what its about.

I’ve talked before about Congee, a Chinese porridge that is made for the purpose of health and healing. Personally I like Congee for breakfast. The white rice porridge with Gou Qi Zi, Da Zao, some cinnamon and sweeten it up a bit. Add whatever you like, the Chinese like to make Congee for Dinner as well with Fish, etc. I however, like Kicharee for lunch and dinner instead.

Remember in the movie ‘Matrix’ on board the ship they were eating a food that was said to have “everything in it that you need.” Well Kicharee is in fact a food that has everything you need. Kicharee can be eaten at anytime, at any meal, and for as long as you like. Kicharee has a balance of all the nutrients you need, is healing, has huge detox properties, and also supports the body functions. Kicharee has been used as diet therapy to heal cancer and many other degenerative diseases. Eat this when your sick, healing, pre and post surgery, can’t hold food down, want to diet.

First, I will tell you how to make Curry. You may have some already made but this is better and you want it roasted.
Combine:
1 part Turmeric Powder
1 part Cumin Seed Powder and
1/2 part Coriander Powder
in a sauce pan under medium heat. Stir around and heat to a nice roast until a pleasant aroma comes off. The Curry Powder is done at this point if you want to have Curry to cook in other meals. For the Kicharee you need about 1/4 cup and you want to continue to roast it until its a nice brown, set aside.

Here is the rest of what you need. Remember that many things can be added or removed or substituted, etc. Make sure you have a Huge Crockpot for this. A Huge Pot would work but requires more supervision.
2.5 cups Brown Rice
3/4 cup Mung Beans
1 Large Yellow Onion
2 Large Pinches of Kombuchu Seaweed
1/4 cup Curry
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1/8 cup Tamari
Minced Garlic and Ginger
and 1/4 cup of any or all of the following
Flax Seed
Wheat Germ
Buckwheat
Barley
Cracked Wheat
and about 1/2-1 cup of any vegetables you want.

First thing is you need to soak your mung beans overnight. So the night before you need to put the mung beans in a large bowl full of water and add the seaweed to it.
The next day you need to take all of the floating beans and toss them. Drain the mung beans (keep the seaweed) and set aside. Put your rice in a colander and wash with hot water. Put your beans and rice in the crock pot. Add vegetables and the sea weed from the beans. Cover with water over about an inch and set at low for 1 hour. At this point Almost all of your water should be soaked up. Now add your vegetables, meats, herbs, additions of wheats, etc. Add the chicken stock and fill up the crock pot, leaving about 1/4 inch or so, with water. Let your Kicharee continue to cook on low for about 4-5 hours. At this time turn a large frying pan on medium heat. Add olive oil to the the pan and chop your onion. Add garlic and ginger to the oil and add your onion and add olive oil on top of the olive oil. This may seem like a bit of olive oil but look at the pot of Kicharee you have. Cook the onion till the onion is softened, not browned. Add the Tamari and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add your curry in there and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Now add this directly to the crock pot and stir it in well and pour a bit of olive oil on top and stir. Let that cook 20-30 minutes and you are all done. Dish out and put some soy sauce or tamari on top of it. I portion this out into individual bowls and refrigerate the bowls. The kicharee thickens up in the fridge, but thats okay, you can add water to make it as soupy as you like!

Enjoy!
You also may notice you may need to make a trip to the Oriental Grocery Store before making this, and also you are making a gigantic amount, but you will have to portion down on your own if you want.

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Most of the herbs used by a herbalist are not household herbs. In fact, ’spices’ are herbs that are of quite different quality than the others herbs used to treat illnesses most of the time. So, I know that I talk about herbs that many people don’t have around the house. Of course I always recommend the right herbs for the job and I am not here to give you ‘home remedies’ and tell you to take ginger for a huge list of conditions.

Today, I ran across a recipe that I have for food seasoning. This is no normal herbal seasoning. It is a special blend that contains a great deal of vitamins and minerals that can be used to season food. Since most of the ingredients are found in most households, I thought you guys would love a little change :)!

Here is the recipe:
1part each of
Garlic
Parsley
Watercress
Sweet Basil
Oregano
Marjoram
Thyme
Kelp Powder
Dulse Powder
Nettles
Comfrey
Rose Hips
Capsicum
1/4 Part each of
Dandelion
Burdock

It is best to make a small amount of this concoction and check your taste. Adjust as necessary. You can grind in some Sea Salt and Pepper if you really wanna make an all around seasoning, but those can be added separately anyway.
When you get it down the way you want, make a large powder of the seasoning. Large amounts can be used in making stocks or soups. I use this in kicharee and congee recipes for the vitamin and mineral benefits.
Guess how much I save over those who buy multivitamins? The best part is these are being taken as food, so they are assimilated by the body in a natural way!

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Shawn, 43, writes me “I have difficulty with the acid in coffee and have been searching for a substitute. I am also predisposed to diabetes. Dandelion interested me because of it affect on pancreas and liver function, but if it is used for constipation well…My question is… coffee drinkers tend to drink alot of coffee so, at what amount does dandelion coffee become harmful and how would it affect the bowel and other systems of the human body?”

Coffee substitution has become popular, as quitting isn’t as easy as it seems. Like smokers find out, even when you get over the nicotine its the habit that gets you. What a coffee substitution will allow you to do is continue your daily routine with a less harmful drink.

Shawn asks a great question here. Let me explain. Most people relate the negative effects of coffee to the really high content of caffeine. From a holistic point of view one of the bigger problems with coffee is the high acid content that people are ingesting into the body. But, lets get back to the caffeine first. There are little bags over your kidneys that hold your adrenaline, adrenal glands. This is your bodies reserve energy that has powerful effects on the body. In our competitive world we strive to highest levels and this, in most cases, make us push our bodies past the threshold. To get through the moment we find ourselves pouring some coffee or get an energy drink. This is fine for occasional use, but we often find conflict with moderation don’t we? Instead of making up our over-usage with rest, quality food, and light exercise we struggle through the day and continue to ingest caffeine. This leads to burnout over time and a serious complication. You find yourself in a state of fatigue and the only answer is to ingest more caffeine. At this point you are now seeking energy from a source that is actually going to make you tired. I’ve read a simple test to judge your adrenal exhaustion. Ingest a cup of caffeine or a 16oz energy drink and if you sleep is not effected (considering you sleep on normal schedule) you have something to worry about. But don’t put out that hit on Juan Valdez yet, I will have some tips to help out.

Lets talk about the Alternative Medicine view of coffee. First off is the high acrid levels of coffee which is also Shawn’s concern. High acid levels of the body lead to blood and digestive tract toxicity. This bring out alot of other problems like skin problems, acne, herpes outbreaks, digestive complaints, hemorrhoids and so much more. In Oriental Medicine caffeine has the effects of Heating and Dampening. When you heat and you dampen you create a very nasty effect on your body. Think of 100degree heat and 100% humidity, not good! Lastly, the adrenals are governed by the Kidney. The Kidney ‘governs’ our bodies Qi. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it helps in urination, and if your not suffering from water retention this can put extra strain on your kidneys. By overworking your kidneys you are already overworking your energy, or Qi, due to excessive urination.

Tips: Depending on the severity of your case, it will most likely take a month or more to recoup. First thing first is get a substitute and start drinking that instead. You may need to actually gradually cut down on coffee while gradually increasing your substitution. The BEST IDEA would be to start using Green Tea for caffeine. Green Tea first and foremost has anti-carcinogenic properties and the caffeine content is quite low. Also, Green Tea is also Cooling and Drying, the complete opposite as caffeine and can in turn help reverse the negative effects of previous caffeine usage.
Coffee Substitute:Can be made with dandelion and chicory. Roast the chicory the same way as coffee beans. Add 1 part dandelion root to 1/2 part roasted chicory root to a coffee grinder. Grind the mixture up and use this powder the same as you would some store bought coffee. This mixture brings the aroma, smell, and color your used to, but the taste is a bit different, but surprisingly close! It will also be a bit bitter tasting, herbally speaking, as that is common to herbs with liver affluence.
Dandelionhas nothing but good things here. High in Vitamin A, Iron, Potassium, and others. Dandelion treats dysentery and has positive effects on the digestive tract, but overdose can actually cause mild diarrhea. In the case of our recipe above you would be possibly in the overdose range in about 6 cups of coffee. As far as its effects on the body dandelion has properties that will help eliminate toxins in the liver and the blood, it has heat elimination properties, helps clear skin conditions (this is from cleaning blood), it aids in bile secretion so helps dissolve stones and regulate the bowels. Dandelion also has an interesting effect that Shawn will love, it regulates blood sugar levels which will help with diabetes and hypoglycemia!
Lastly Dimmak Herbs also sells a Herbal Remedy called BURNOUT that will help in this situation, you can also check out their line of products for fatigue.
I would also like to give one last comment regarding the blog post. Skin ailments are often causes of high acid levels in the body. Also, if you know that you have high acidity levels (greasy food, bad diet, caffeine) Seaweed is a great remedy. Kelp is easy to come by or get in a habit of having some Miso Soup daily. Interestingly enough Dandelion also works great for this as does Fennel, Slippery Elm and more.

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