Some herbs and spices stand out as super healthy healers. Cinnamon is one of those spices.

I actively look for ways to use it and thought I’d share some ideas. The all familiar spice, Cinnamon has a sweet, woody fragrance in both ground and stick form.

Cinnamon boasts some of the highest antioxidant levels of any food, which makes it an important player against chronic inflammation. Notable among its list of antioxidants for you geeky experts, are carotenes, cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

In plain English? These are all important for the boost and maintenance of your good health.

And, it’s a tasty addition in so many surprising ways. No matter what your way of eating is, it’s easy to incorporate Cinnamon. I’ll help you out!

breakfast

For breakfast, it’s a natural complement to cereal, granola, oatmeal, or yogurt, and it’s wonderful sprinkled on wholegrain or gluten-free toast, or mixed into waffle or pancake batter.

fruit

And it’s great with fruits too, like apple sauce, roasted rhubarb, and baked pears, or mixed with honey and then drizzled over a bowl of sliced bananas, kiwi, oranges, and strawberries. Yum!

savory

Cinnamon also highlights the taste of many vegetables like baked squash, carrots or a roasted root medley. It’s a staple in vegetable soups, and adds zest to a veggie hash, stuffed eggplant, or peppers.

Plus, it’s also a big favorite to give some warm personality to grains such as rice and couscous. Give your quinoa some kick too. And it’s widely used in dishes like curry, chili, or a rich Moroccan stew (yum). How about another favorite of mine - cinnamon sprinkled on bacon before cooking. Yessssss.

beverages

Cinnamon lends its unique flavor to many beverages, including mulled cider and wine, punch, chai and spicy teas, smoothies, eggnog, and winter coffees. I always add it to my coffee. In fact, some mornings I make Bulletproof Coffee instead of breakfast, and add cinnamon to that delectable treat (coffee, ghee, coconut oil and cinnamon blended until foamy).

condiments

Cinnamon is used in all kinds of spice blends, condiments, and spreads.

It’s typically included as an ingredient in mixes like Chinese five spice powder, curry powder, garam masala, Jamaican jerk blends, and an all time American favorite - pumpkin spice mix.

Plus, it adds a delicious zip to chutney, fruit confit, marmalade, or jams and jellies like plum or blueberry jam. Yum central!

How about a few recipes?

Okay! Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

BANANA CINNAMON SMOOTHIE

Mix and match to suit your mood and favorite flavors.

1 banana (pref. frozen chopped)
Lite Coconut milk / Almond milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
½ tsp cinnamon ground
2 tbsps nut butter
collagen Protein powder

Give it a whirl in the blender and enjoy!

APPLE CINNAMON CRISP

A super healthy dessert for the fam!

5 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup coconut flour (you should have this in hand along with almond flour for flour substitutes when needed)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 large eggs
2-3 Tablespoons honey (or more to taste, perhaps mix the topping without the eggs, sweeten to taste, and add the eggs last and mix well).
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
(optional) full fat coconut milk, sweetened to taste with honey (optional as a topping on a splurge)
Here’s How:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Peel, core and slice apples. Keep the slices close to the same size for even baking. Place apples in an 11 inch stoneware deep dish baker.
- Warm coconut oil in a pan. Chop nuts, if using them. Add nuts, coconut oil, coconut flour, flaked coconut, honey, salt & cinnamon into a large bowl. Mix well, and taste if desired. Adjust honey to taste. Then add eggs, and mix till it all gets crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples. Be sure to cover apples completely, to seal in the juices and keep the apple slices moist!
- Bake 35-45 minutes or till apples are tender and crumbs are golden brown.
  Serve warm, or with optional sweetened, full fat coconut milk or cream over top. Yum!

CINNAMON CHICKEN

Get your flavor on!

– Chicken

– olive oil or coconut oil

-salt

– black pepper

– garlic powder

– paprika

– cinnamon

– cayenne pepper (optional)

-Coat the chicken with either olive oil or coconut oil and then sprinkle evenly with all the seasonings, being sure to start with salt.

-Bake in baking dish as you usually would and enjoy!

Cinnamon!