Join me, Joanna Becker, at the Quasi-Vegetarian Homestead on what has been a very rainy Christmas.
It’s summer, and this summer, it’s raining. It’s been raining for 2 weeks almost, everything is green again, the water is flowing, the plants are all growing, and I don’t even need to wash my own herbs or vegetables because everything has had a bath in the most beautiful rainwater.
And the kids love exploring with grass that is soaking wet. Wetting their feet, dirt between the toes, so many caterpillars, butterflies everywhere, frogs everywhere on the leaves, it is such a beautiful thing to experience.
It is so nice to come outside; we have spent a lot of time inside cooking, crafting, putting up the Christmas decorations, and a lot of time cleaning, too.
I have had such a nice relaxing, nurturing time drying herbs, drying flower petals, with a view of making my own special tea blends, including this Home grown organic hibiscus flowertea.
I love to indulge in a decadent organic Rosehip and Hibiscus Herbal Tea with honey, packed with vitamin C which is everything we are told to have when building strength and immunity and preventing allergies.
And to keep my iron in the normal range, I take a daily dose of Floradix or Floravital, which I noticed includes 135.0mg of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Red Sorrel) flower, a Hibiscus flower which is said to be rich in vitamin C to help in the absorption of iron.
And so my question became: can I drink HOME-GROWN hibiscus tea? I’m keen to find out if the varieties of hibiscus flower growing at the Quasi-Vegetarian Homestead are safe and tasty to drink.
In my way of thinking, making Hibiscus tea at home for fun should be as simple as plucking the flowers, gently removing the stamen, separating the petals, dehydrating, then adding to a saucepan of gently simmering water. I watched a few YouTube videos, read a few articles, decided that I was on the right path, and started testing for myself.
I got started making my own Hibiscus Tea at home by picking flowers from my garden, which matched the variety that are said to be a delicacy in Mexico in salads and a Youtube video of a woman making and drinking tea with exactly the same plant.
I was encouraged by my researching the kitchen to confirm that yes, hibiscus often appears in ingredient labels on food products. When I buy tea (or any other plant-based food), I have a good read of the ingredients each and every time – do you? Doing this imprints on my mind the plants that are edible and beneficial for immunity (or whatever else is marked on the packet). Hibiscus is often mentioned on raspberry style tea blends or other immunity-boosting tonics, drinks, vitamin blends, kombucha, and so on. So there I had it… a clue to go looking online to find out which species were edible and safe to eat, before rummaging in my garden to see if I had the safe and edible varieties to dehydrate and produce my own hom-made organic Hibiscus tea blend.
If you’re going to have a go at this, I recommend that you make sure to do your research on trusted websites, YouTube channels or books (I have a book shelf dedicated to edible plants and food based medicines, a handy resource in the kitchen) and understand safe doses – and only eat what you already know is good and safe for you from previous taste-testings or trusted lessons with a Food Scientist (which, by the way, I’m not).
After a day of fun in the kitchen, I decided these dehydrated hibiscus and dandelion flowers could make beautiful tea blends for months. They passed my preliminary small taste test, they felt beautiful to touch and handle while I warmed them in water and poured out tea, and were sweet and nurturing on the taste-buds. Little dehydrated hibiscus chips might also end up on my menu for the quasi-vegetarian homestead.
My husband, 3 children and I live on a 25-acre homestead on the coastal strip of regional mid-north coast NSW. It’s here that we run our home business, homeschool our children, take care of our pet cows, ducks, chickens, cats, and dogs and learn how to grow plants for eating to complement the local supply of fresh, organic vegetables, herbs and fruits we are blessed to have delivered to our doorstep from local farming cooperatives. After learning to live with mammalian meat allergy, it became ever so much more important for us to adopt a Quasi-Vegetarian diet and ensure we had our own food ready to pull from the ground and add to the plate.
The Mammalian Meat Allergy Nutrition Community is a way for you to find friendship and solace in a private network of other likeminded people who have had their life suddenly change following tick bite or diagnosis of Mammalian Meat Allergy (alpha-gal carbohydrate allergy) from paralysis tick bite.
The upcoming Book and Community dedicated to healing and living bravely with mammalian meat (alpha-gal) allergy onset after tick bite
Thank you for joining us. My goal here is to create a community of friends, and encouragement to prioritise our health so we can live a beautiful, empowered lifestyle all the while enjoying tasty, satisfying and nutritious recipes that suit our special dietary needs.
Of course, if you have not experienced any negative side effects of tick-bite and are simply looking for a renewal lease on life with plant-based recipes and vegan style nutrition, for any of the valid personal or altruistic reasons to have a plants-based diet, you are also welcome!
What does the community include?
3 new plant based ingredient recommendations each month specific for wellness and recovery and especially beneficial after tick-bite and diagnosis of Mammalian Meat Allergy (Alpha-Gal) allergy
Ongoing article stream with recommendations to helpful books and wellness resources for your home
Exclusive MMA Nutrition Community Group for connection and conversation
Monthly Video featuring Q&A and follow-up email with helpful links
Monthly Subscribers-only email with new MMA-friendly plant-based Recipes from my new cookbook
Be first in line for the exclusive and first Cookbook dedicated to Mammalian Meat Allergy after tick bite written by Joanna Becker
In the Kitchen with Jo – exciting homestead-style tips for wellness and lifestyle gains
As apart of my specific recovery and wellness plan, I have chosen to spend very little time on social media and in private consultations. So to this effect I encourage you to FOLLOW THIS BLOG and SUBSCRIBE TO MY EMAIL LIST to receive regular communication from me with all the resources above while I am producing the book.
This community is 100% free for you to be apart of. Sign up for the email list to receive a free menu planner and a short list of my favorite kitchen tools for a predominately plant-based menu suitable for all the family.
If you are new to suffering ill-effects from Mammalian Meat Allergy (alpha-gal), please take hope from my words and the opportunity to you listed above. I earnestly believe it is possible to turn a corner to gain a new quality of life. What once felt like an impossible situation for me, living meal to meal in fear for several years, became an opportunity to give myself the kind of nurturing I had never received in my entire life, full of rich opportunities to learn and connect with people and ideas I may never have considered prior-tick-bite. And incredibly, now, I would not choose to take away what happened to me (“for me”) as it has helped to create a life I am very grateful for, that fills me full of hope that our outdoor environment is beautiful and designed specifically to help and serve us in both the short and long term.
You are welcome to email me anytime with questions you have to help you on your particular journey back to normal life, and even beyond into an improved, empowered lifestyle you can be grateful for. To do so, sign up to my EMAIL LIST and when you receive the welcome email, simply reply and say hello.
