Pick Me Up, Basil!

(This is the blog of . The byline at the top is wrong. I will fix that as soon as I can and put Lara Skye Baddour's name at the top where it belongs. That said, here is her blog.)

I was feeling a little blah the other day and decided to go into Stew Leonard’s on my way home.  As I was walking around, a woman called out to me to taste her pesto hummus.

I thought to myself how cool the universe is to show me up on hummus making.  I caved and tried some and it wasn’t so bad.   I made it a point to eat more basil that day.  Basil is a natural anti-depressant herb that we should incorporate into our diet on a consistent basis, so it's good for moody days and those blah days that tend to happen to us all for whatever reason. Basil is loved by Italian food lovers and beyond for it’s fragrance and pungent aroma.  Basil is the very loved cousin of the mint family.

It has become a favorite in many italian dishes even though it originated in India.  In India, it is called Holy Basil and is actually worshipped by some as being an incarnation of God.  One of the things I like about the Hindu culture is that certain plants to them are known to be sacred and basil is one of them.

Basil is also great for coughs, asthma and improves blood circulation.  When our blood circulates more it helps prevent the cholesterol from building up in the blood vessels.  So, what does that mean to you? If you love bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, add some basil to it! It could help your blood vessels stay unclogged.  Basil has been known to also be a fever reducer, which makes sense if it works on blood circulation.  Now, we can think of Basil as the friend that likes to move our blood around and make us feel better! Woo hoo!!

According to Ezinearticles.com basil contains: Vitamin A, Magnesium, Iron, calcium, potassium and vitamin C.  http://ezinearticles.com/?Health-Benefits-Of-Basil&id=175090 One of the major issues with growing basil is that insects love it and want to eat it too.  Some research suggests that basil itself is good to ward off insects but in my experience, I found that to be just the opposite.

Bugs love it and will eat it all if you let them.  I have created a concoction that has worked well to keep those buggers off the basil.  I have learned that one homemade insecticide might work on one plant but not the other.

LARA’S INSECT REPELLENT FOR BASIL PLANTS   Inside a clean sprayer bottle, add: -One inch block piece of Ivory soap bar.  NOT Ivory Liquid soap (will kill plant) -One sprig of rosemary. -1/4 cup Neem Oil (can be found in any Indian market) -4 TBS of steeped peppermint tea that has cooled. Fill with warm water and shake vigorously until soap has dissolved.  Do not fill sprayer bottle all the way to the top. Fill 2/3 of bottle so that you have room to dissolve the soap.

HOW TO SPRAY: Spray only on the actual basil leaves where you see bugs.  Don’t over spray or go crazy and spray all your plants with it.  This is where the mistake is.  When you see the bugs on your basil plant, spray them directly and leave them alone.  They will fall off and add to the soil.  Only spray in the early mornings before heading off to work or before you have dinner.  The closer you spray to sunrise and sunset, the better.  Also, if you see that the bugs are decreasing, stop spraying and just spray with fresh water.  Remember that when you spray anything it will end up in your soil.  Only use the ingredients that I’ve listed since they are the least damaging.

Here are a couple of my recipes for you to try:

HAPPY CHEESE SANDWICH Sprinkle some shredded mozzarella cheese inside pita bread or on top of any American bread, tear some basil leaves and sprinkle on top, slice some tomatoes very thinly and put on top, drizzle with olive oil and some black pepper or omit it for children.  Toast in toaster oven until melted and then press down on sandwich, cut in half and be happy!

GREEN MAYO Take a handful of basil leaves and put into food processor Add 1 cup of mayo Few dashes of black pepper Sprinkle of garlic powder Blend in processor and put into glass jar and store in the refrigerator.  Use on any sandwich where you would use regular mayonnaise.  Send me any cool recipes you might have that include fresh basil in them.  I would love to try some of your recipes too! Email me at: laraskye@yahoo.com