This is one my kiddos favorite snacks and although it can be made with any type of fruit, strawberries are a favorite and must have ingredient for them so when strawberry season comes around this is always the first thing we make.  With no exact recipe, you can merely chop up whatever fruit is in season and throw it together in a bowl with a squirt of lemon or lime juice and dip away.  I have included some increments we most often use if you would like to follow a recipe, but please tweak away.  We have tried this recipe with mango, pineapple, goji berries, etc.  But this combination is the favorite.

1 lb. chopped strawberries
1 finely chopped apple
3 chopped kiwi
1/2 lime 
Optional:
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
​
Stir all the fruit together in a bowl and squeeze the lime over all.  Sprinkle in the chia seeds and stir everything together.

Follow the recipe to make a batch of whole grain tortillas here or use ready made tortillas.  Brush oil over each tortilla and sprinkle with a mixture of 3 parts cinnamon 1 part sweetener of choice (I have used xylitol, monk fruit and stevia powders, all have tasted great).  Cut into wedges with a pizza cutter and bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them - I usually go the entire 20 minutes and I use a stone to bake them on.

Trifolium pratense
Family: Fabaceae (Legumiosae) pea and bean family
Parts used: blossoms 

As a spring sprouting perennial, red clover is well known for its cleansing properties, from the blood to lymph, lungs and digestive tract.  As it cleanses it eliminates toxins by increasing the flow of urine and bile as well as moving mucus out of the lungs and other areas of the body.  Because of its cleansing property this is a great herb for treating different chronic conditions and mystery illnesses.

Red clover, like other alteratives should be used consistently over a long period of time for gradual detox and purification. This could be from months to years depending on the body.

• Food: eat the blossoms, add to salads, soups, drinks, smoothies or any fresh dish, seeds can be soaked and sprouted or used for micro greens
• Tea (1-3 teaspoons per cup of water – drink cold for hot flashes and heat conditions)
• Bath, soaks
• Poultice, compress
• Extracts, syrup, liniment
• Powder, sprinkle, capsules
• Honey (food or skin ointment)
• Herbal oil, ointment, salve, cream
• Washes, eyewash, mouthwash, gargle
• Douche, enema

Found in disturbed sites, fields, meadows, mountains, and lawns. There are a variety of species but red clover is the most medicinal. Leaves are oval shaped, ending in a point, with a whitish crescent in the center, divided into three leaflets (ternate). Flowers are pink to purple in a dense oval head. You can also find sprouting seeds to plant in your home garden.

• Red clover likes loamy, well-drained soil but will grow anywhere.
• Sprinkle seeds in full sun in the early spring or fall, keep moist until sprouting.
• Blossoms are ready to harvest right as they open, don’t use browning blossoms.
• Harvest on a dry, sunny day, snipping right below the blossom head, it’s okay to gather the top leaves as well, though they will affect the flavor as they get more potent as they mature.
• Spring blossoms have the sweetest flavor, come fall they lose some of the sweetness.
• Process or use immediately or dry thoroughly for storage.
• Roots have tiny nodules filled with nitrogen fixing bacteria, as the deep tap root pulls up minerals from the soil into the plant, it puts out nitrogen that nourishes the soil making it a great cover crop.

Red clover is very easy to identify and it grows wild in a lot of places so this is a good foraging herb.  I personally like to have all the herbs I can growing in my own garden, I found some red clover seeds in the sprouting seeds section of Mountain Rose Herbs website.  You can also purchase the dried herb from Mountain Rose Herbs, Bulk Herb Store, or Dr. Christopher's Herb Shop.

Coumarins in red clover may interact with blood thinning medications, use with caution. Herbalists contend that phytoestrogens may affect hormones in pregnancy and estrogen related conditions, yet others say they help balance and nourish those same conditions.

Herbal Legacy - Red Clover (2022)
​Red Clover Benefits - Dr. Axe
Herbal Legacy - Red Clover (2014)
Herbal Academy Red Clover 
A Handbook of Native American Herbs by Alma Hutchens, p. 160
A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M Grieve, p. 207
Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss, p. 172
Backyard Medicine (quotes from old herbals and recipes, with dosages), p. 139
Botany in a Day
Floriography, p. 38
Handbook of Nature Study, p. 591
Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung, p. 219
Peterson Field Guides: Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, p. 159
Planetary Herbology by Michael Tierra, p. 191
Practical Herbalism (full list of constituents and actions, preparations and dosages) p. 254
Prescription Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, p. 123
Mountain States Medicinal Plants by Briana Wiles, p. 182
North American Wild Flowers, p.290
Nutritional Herbology by Mark Pedersen, p. 144 (details of actions and constituents)
Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide
School of Natural Healing by Dr. John R. Chistopher, p. 56)
Stories of Plants and Trees (N4), p. 240, 347
The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody, p. 105
The Herbal Academy: Recipes Monographs: Intermediate Herbal Course, p. 205
The How to Herb Book by Keith and Gordon, p. 51 (specific conditions and how to use)
The Language of Flowers by John Ingram, p. 235
The New Age Herbalist by Richard Mabey, p. 80
The New Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman, p. 482
The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra, p.220
The Wild Wisdom, p. 136
The Woman’s Herbal Apothecary, p. 67
Wildflowers and the stories behind their names, p. 46
Wild Flower Children: The Little Playmates of the Fairies by Elizabeth Gordon