Author: Paula Cas

I write fiction, non-fiction, verbiage for all our websites, and have been publishing my fan fiction on my various sites for many years. https://paulacas.com I am a Spiritual Medium and use Tarot cards as one my primary tools in doing readings. For 30 plus years have been doing readings in settings from my living room to truck stops. I tell you what Spirit wants you know for your betterment, not what you think you need to know. I’ve worked on computers since before there was such a creature as Windows. A Mountain Maryland native, but have spent years spent living in Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. My husband, Oro Cas, and I spent 10 years driving tractor-trailer across the 48 contiguous states. Oro Cas and I produced and hosted Internet Radio shows on BlogTalk Radio, video productions on KDCL Media and Oro Expeditions YouTube Channels.

Food as Medicine: Dog Rose Hip (Rosa canina, Rosaceae)

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

The rose (Rosa spp.) hip (also sometimes written as “rosehip”) is a pseudofruit in the economically important Rosaceae family, which includes apple (Malus spp.), strawberry (Fragaria spp.), plum (Prunusspp.), and almond (Prunus spp.). The genus Rosa includes more than 100 species that have been cultivated since ancient times in a vast array of climates.1 Both rose petals and rose hips can be used in culinary and herbal preparations. Rose plants grow as shrubs and are characterized by thorny stems, compound, serrated leaves, and attractive, colorful flowers.2 Different species of roses are native to areas around the world from Europe to Japan, where they have a long history of culinary and medicinal use.3 Today, roses are cultivated commercially for ornamental and medicinal purposes in Europe and Asia, but wild varieties are also found in North and South America.

The rose hip is an aggregate…

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Antibiotics Are Killing You

by Oro Cas

Oro Cas's avatarOro Cas Reflects

How many people do you know who have never taken an antibiotic in their lifetime ? Probably not very many. The fact is a large majority of people in this country and around the world have been prescribed an antibiotic at one point or another.

Would you have been willing to take that pill or injection if someone told you beforehand that there was a good chance your entire body make up would be changed ?

The lady who wrote the story I’m sharing is an incredible person with an inner strength that can only be understood by myself and others who are living with the physical effects  of this problem.

If your body seems to be breaking down quicker than normal then you will want to check Amy’s post out because she has shared a wealth of information on the subject.

This is the link to Amy’s story.  >>>

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Blue Moon 31 March 2018

by Good Witches Homestead

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

The full moon on Saturday, March 31, 2018, at 10° Libra is a blue moon because it is the second full moon of the calendar month. The Blue Moon March 2018 astrology chart has eight challenging red aspects and one helpful blue aspect. Full Moon March 2018 is a blue moon in every sense of the word.

Mercury retrograde opposite the full moon means it will be hard to understand your feelings and even harder to share them. Saturn squares the full moon and Mercury brings negative thinking, sadness, and loneliness. Worry and fear from fixed stars make this a particularly troubling full moon. Doing nothing and letting the full moon get you down is not an option.

The good thing about challenging aspects is that they force you to work hard and improve yourself. The one positive aspect of the full moon chart is helping you positively transform your life in…

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Foraging for Fiddleheads {Well, Sort Of}

by Good Witches Homestead

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

After a long winter, we delight in those emerging specks of green that mark the start of the growing season. The air might still carry a chill, but that doesn’t deter us from heading to the farmer’s market to catch the first glimpses of fresh, local produce. Among the baskets of root vegetables and early spring herbs, you’ll often find fiddleheads, the coiled fronds of the ostrich fern {Matteuccia struthiopteris}. In the ground, these deep-green curled stems will later unfurl into tall ferns ranging from two to even six feet in height, but in this early stage, they resemble the neck of their namesake; the fiddle.

For Our Body

As with many spring greens, fiddleheads offer much-needed nutrients after a long winter. To start, they’re a great source of vitamins A and C {4,052 IU and 2.6 mg per half cup, raw, respectively}. They also contain potassium and manganese, which…

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Food as Medicine: Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis, Asparagaceae)

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

History and Traditional Use

Range and Habitat

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis, Asparagaceae) is a herbaceous perennial with stalks that can grow to several feet in height. Most asparagus is harvested once the stalk reaches 6-8 inches in height. The stalk is the edible portion of the plant, along with its pointed, budlike tip.1,2 If asparagus is not harvested, the stalks grow into finely textured, fern-like plants before going dormant in winter.3 In the United States, the primary asparagus producers are the states of California, Washington, and Michigan.4


Depending on the cultivation method, asparagus yields a crop in one of three colors: green, white, or purple. Green asparagus, the most common in the US, is allowed to grow exposed to sunlight until harvested. White asparagus contains no chlorophyll due to human intervention, which involves mounding dirt on the stalk as it grows to shield it from sunlight.

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Calendula – A Golden Herb for Garden and Kitchen

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Known also as the poet’s marigold or pot marigold, calendula brightens garden beds, pots, vases and culinary creations from spring to frost {or beyond} with its sunny flowers.

The flowers smell like honey, slightly spicy and woody- reminiscent of fresh rhubarb or angelica flowers- and their flavor is pleasantly mild and vegetable-sweet. Traditionally, the golden petals were used to flavor and color broths {hence the nickname “pot marigold}, butter, cheese. The dried petals even were used as a saffron substitute because they impart a rich golden color. In my own kitchen, I use calendula in vegetable dishes, salads- particularly egg salad- custards and puddings, herb butters, baked goods, with grains and in mild-mannered soups.

For best flavor, gather the flowers at their peak bloom. Gently pull the petals from the bitter center disk and discard it. The petals can be used either whole or chopped. {Note that the petals are…

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The Basics: Quick Guide to Every Herb and Spice in the Cupboard

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

INGREDIENT GUIDES FROM THE KITCHEN

Ever get coriander confused with cumin? Or wonder just what exactly curry powder is made out of? As much for our benefit as for yours, we’ve put together this quick reference guide to all the most common (and some uncommon) herbs and spices!

Saffron

For any herb or spice listed below, click on the name to read the full description. We’ll continue adding to this list as we cover more of the seasonings we use in our cooking.

Dried Herbs & Spices

  • Asafoetida (Asafetida) – Used as a digestive aid in Indian cooking, asafoetida has a strong odor that mellows out into a garlic-onion flavor.
  • Achiote Paste and Powder – Reddish-brown paste or powder ground from annatto seeds with an earthy flavor. Used primarily in Mexican dishes like mole sauce, cochinita pibil, and tamales.
  • Allspice – Similar to cloves, but more pungent and deeply flavored…

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Learn Your Land

By Adam Haritan

Continue reading “Learn Your Land” →

Cooking for Health

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Serving medicine for dinner may not seem terribly appetizing, but most cultures traditionally eat much of their medicine. It may not be a coincidence that nature has provided so many of our medicinal needs in herbs that taste good. When you want to take herbs over a long period of time – either to treat a chronic problem or to fend off disease – incorporating medicinal plants into your meals makes a lot of sense.

The next time you add a pinch of this or that, consider that you are doing far more than flavoring your meal. Throughout these posts and other websites, you have seen many familiar kitchen herbs and spices mentioned as medicines. For example, ginger relieves pain, garlic is “nature’s antibiotic” and ginger and turmeric, two of the main ingredients in curry powder, improve liver function.

Almost every cookbook is filled with recipes that rely on herbs…

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Edible Spring Greens {Recipes}

By Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Spring Green Salad

It’s time to renew. This applies to our outer worlds as well as to our inner worlds. Spring has traditionally been a time to jump-start the liver and gently cleanse our bodies.  The natural world, with its infinite wisdom, provides us with every opportunity to do just this. Bitter and nutrient-packed greens come to life, and for those of us paying attention to nature’s hints, provide us with delicious and nutritious Spring tonics.

Dandelion greens are packed with vitamins and minerals, and also, provide a bitter kick that helps support liver function.  This is important during spring because the hepatic function can become naturally a little sluggish after a more sedentary winter filled with rich seasonal food.  Violet-greens and chickweed are super-packed with nutrients, making them just the spring pick-me-up your body needs.  Young greens of dandelion and violet especially are ideal, for both texture and taste reasons.  You’ll…

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