Tammy's Recipes

bulk herb store
Submitted by Anonymous
I think I've bought from the same company. I love their teas. They have a salve too that I use for the kids. It's wonderful for bug bites to cuts; I use it for just about everything. Anyway I would love to hear more. :)

tea!
Submitted by Anonymous
My midwife gave me *almost* the same tea; it had the red raspberry leaf, alfalfa, nettle, and comfrey. Everything but the nettle grows in my backyard... not on purpose. :) My little one is 7 weeks now, and I am officially allowed to stop drinking the tea (now that I'm finally used to it!). Enjoy!

Herbs...
Submitted by Tammy
I've never tried the Eden Salve... I have not done a lot with herbs but I have always tried to drink red raspberry leaf tea (we harvested our own a couple years ago) during pregnancy... and I like the taste, so I drink the "pregnancy tea" even when I'm not pregnant. :) I did get some fennel seed from a bulk foods store (actually cheaper than ordering it online) and plan to add that to the pregnancy blend during nursing. :)

Submitted by TaftMommy
You harvested your own red raspberry leaf? What did that entail? Does it have to be a specific type of red raspberry?

Harvesting red raspberry leaves
Submitted by Tammy
Well, my mom has a huge red raspberry patch, and we harvested the leaves from there. We dried them in the dehydrator. They did look like what I just purchased, but I don't know what type they were, and I have no idea if we did it the "right" way! :)

It's not too much work, and it's free... BUT, I will say that a 1-pound bag of red raspberry leaf from bulkherbstore.com is HUGE and costs... $6.95, I think? So...  it's a major time-saver to just buy it! :)

Submitted by Anonymous
That is a great company! I have loved their rrl tea, and just found "Dr. Cinnamon" which is great on a cold morning, too. :)

I use a French coffee maker (I don't know if that's the name) to steep my tea in it--it's a little glass pot with a mesh disk that you can push down when it's done steeping, and all the leaves stay on the bottom.

floaties
Submitted by ShannonLynn
What is the best thing to use to not get floaties? My husband will drink the tea when I fix it for him but he is starting to not be able to handle the floaties. I could strain through a coffee filter I guess but if someone knows a different way I would appreciate it. Is there a tea pot type thing that will brew more then one cup with no floaties? I'm not asking for much am I? :)

Thanks,
Shannon

Tea strainers
Submitted by Tammy
Well, my IngenuiTEA teapot (in the last photo above) brews about 14 ounces at a time and has a pretty fine mesh strainer, and I haven't noticed anything getting through BUT it also probably wouldn't bother me if there were a few loose bits in my cup, so I can't say anything for certain. The strainer in the bottom is a lot finer than the wire mesh teaball infusers, though... it's a plastic mesh.

Submitted by ruthieroo
I'm no tea expert but right after I read this comment I was browsing a list of crafts that use recyclables or promote recycling and these instructions for making your own cloth tea bag (out of muslin) jumped out at me. I haven't tried it yet but I think I will. Instructions here.

Otherwise I just use one of those metal mesh tea balls.

Ruth

Mixing the tea
Submitted by tinachoe1031

Hi Tammy, I wanted to ask, how did you measure your tea? I'm not sure what it means by "8 parts." I got some tea from Bulk Herb store as well, and wanted to make a premix as well, but i"m not sure about the measurements. Can you let me know how you measured your tea? Or if anyone else can let me know, that would be great!

Thanks!
Tina

Mixing bulk herbs for pregnancy tea
Submitted by Tammy

Hi, Tina!

A "part" can be any measurement -- a tablespoon, a 1/4 cup, a 1/2 cup, a cup, etc. So you would choose your measure (for example, a tablespoon) and then use 8 tablespoons for "8 parts", 3 tablespoons for "3 parts", 2 tablespoons for "2 parts", etc. This way, you can easily make however much tea you need. :) Does that make sense? :)

Thanks!
Submitted by tinachoe1031

Thanks Tammy! That makes perfect sense! Can't wait to make my premixed tea!

Learned something new!!
Submitted by Jules
thanks Tammy!

Honestly I didn't know a part could be ANY measurement lol.

I'm feeling a bit silly now lol, now I'm wondering what i thought they meant when so-and-so would say 2 parts (something) to 1 part (something) I dunno, maybe I thought they meant a cup.

I dunno, but thanks!!

Pregnancy Tea?
Submitted by Army Wife

I have never heard of pregnancy tea... I was just wondering, what are the benefits?

Me either!
Submitted by Jules

I don't drink tea at all during pregnancy. Matter of fact I don't drink any caffeine, (that includes chocolate) during pregnancy, as caffeine is not good for the baby. I only breastfeed for a few days, so I can enjoy the occasional chocolate after pregancy. :-)

Tammy, does this tea have caffeine in it? I don't know what is in those herbs.

Benefits of pregnancy tea
Submitted by Tammy

Well, pregnancy tea is just an infusion made from herbs that are beneficial during pregnancy. :) Since it's not made from the tea plant, it's not a "real" tea, and it has no caffeine. :) In the U.S., herbal infusions are commonly called "herbal tea" even though they're technically not tea. :)

Here is a good page about some of the herbs I used in my tea. The peppermint is the least "essential" of the herbs, since it's purpose is for flavor and relaxation -- the others have great health benefits like vitamins! :) You can always use Google to find a lot more info about any of these herbs! :)

First of all I have really been enjoying the reading on your blog. I have ordered several types of herbs from the bulk herb store. I just love their store and her parent's ministry.

Now for the question, do you know if the pregnancy tea will affect my breast milk supply now? I am still nursing my 16 month and although I love nursing her I do not really want to increase my milk supply while pregnant. : ) I am trying to limit her nursing to 4-5 times a day and I am worried with more milk she will want to nurse all the time. Just wondered if you knew anything about this.

Thanks and I pray God continues to bless you and your beautiful growing family.

Emily
http://emilyswhatsoeverthings.blogspot.com/

My friend just gave birth, and while she was pregnant she drank gallons of pregnancy tea. I had a few cups while at her house, and I'm hooked--I actually crave the stuff. The only catch is that I'm definitely trying NOT to get pregnant. Can the tea be counterproductive to someone who isn't pregnant or trying?