Sweet, Sweet Cinnamon

Cinnamon is one of the most common household spices. It is used in pies, apple sauce and, lots of everyday foods that we never really think about. But, cinnamon has a lot more creative uses than just being a tasty spice. Although, if nothing else, it is great to have on hand for scent purposes.

Cinnamon's many gifts

-Warming agent

-Improves circulation

-Clears congestion (DO NOT SNORT !! lol)

-Digestive aid for overeating, sluggish digestion, and bloating

-Stabilizes blood sugar

-Antiseptic, anti-fungal, antiviral

-Helps sluggish/painful menstruation

This tree bark sure has a lot of gifts to give that I bet you've never heard of before! I only recently stumbled upon these abilities and, it was completely by chance.

Testament to cinnamon's abilities:

I recently began taking ACV (apple cider vinegar) regularly to aid in some digestive problems and hopefully to help me loose a little weight. Well, if you've ever drank ACV straight you know what I mean when I say it feels like death. I took a swig thinking that I was awesome sauce and let me tell you, ACV put me in my place! I literally thought I was dying. So, I thought maybe if I added some honey, lemon, and cinnamon to the ACV that it would sweeten it up enough for me to stomach it quickly. Well, it worked because it was delish!

This is probably TMI but, it's important to the point I promise.

What I hadn't expected was my time of the month to pop up and ruin my week. A little backstory, ever since I was on birth control a few years ago, my monthly visits are super weird and take forever! They make me feel all weird and crampy which I really hadn't ever had a problem with before. But, this week when I took the ACV concoction, it was not only shorter by a few days but, I was also less crampy!

Now, you may say that any of the things in my concoction could have caused this or even that it was a freak thing that just happened one week. Well, feel free to believe that all you want but I have tried this several times now and it really has been helping. I have also experimented with not adding the cinnamon to my mix and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad periods came back.

So, I am sold on it. I also looked it up and reading what it actually does helped me to become a believer. It works by stimulating your uterus to contract thereby making the lining that you shed during your monthly to come out faster and more easily.

There is a warning to this though! If you are pregnant or could become pregnant it is not recommended to be taken in high doses especially during the first trimester because of the uterus contracting abilities it possess. To my knowledge no one has ever miscarried due to cinnamon overdose but always better to be safe rather than sorry.

I have never and probably will never attempt to grow cinnamon as it is a tree and I have no room in my greenhouse for trees. BUT, it is fairly cheap to procure even organically grown. Plus, there are lots of fun crafts you can do with it to make you or your home smell like Christmas year round, which I love but my hubby hates because it makes him hungry! LOL! It makes me hungry too but it smells so good, sometimes it's worth it.

Decorations with cinnamon

-One of my favorite ideas is to hot glue or wrap with twine cinnamon sprigs all around a regular candle (one not already in a jar). when you light your candle it will give off the scent of cinnamon with little to no work on your part.

-It makes excellent stove top potpourri especially when mixed with citrus! It will make your home smell divine! All you have to do is add whatever desired spices, fruits, and herbs (my favorite mix currently is cinnamon, lemon, orange, whole cloves and a tiny bit of ginger) to a big pot and turn the heat on low so it barely simmers. Quite easy and great for holiday parties where you want to give that extra good impression.

-Cinnamon ornaments are always a hit with grandparents when they come from grand-kids and are homemade. To make them you need 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce, and 1 & 1/2 cups of ground cinnamon (feel free to get the cheap stuff). Mix it together until it forms a dough like substance. You'll want to use some clear wrap to roll it out flat so it doesn't stick to your rolling pin. Once it is the desired thickness (about 1/4 in) use cute cookie cutters to cut out the ornaments or if you're a boss you can free hand it. Take a straw, fork, or something to poke out the hole where the string will go through to be tied up on the tree or wherever it will be displayed. Bake at 200 degrees F for 2 & 1/2 hours or place on baking racks out of the way to dry (this will take longer but will reduce the bubbling effect that sometimes happens in the oven).

As you can see, cinnamon can give your life a lot more flavor than you may have originally imagined! Feel free to add it to all your holiday desserts for some extra benefits and some added flavor as well!

(The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.)