Friday Foodie Fix
This week’s secret ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is cinnamon! I do love cinnamon. People use it most often during this time of the year but I love it all year long. It’s great in smoothies. I had planned to share my latest smoothie with you this week and I got carried away with my Dairy Free Cheese Crisps and 3, 2, 1 Chili.
To gather a little more information on cinnamon I turned to my favorite reference, The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion (Deluxe Edition)
It notes that cinnamon was once used in love potions and to perfume wealthy Romans. Sign me up! Cinnamon comes in two varieties, Ceylon and Cassia. Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. They harvest it during the rainy season when it’s more pliable. You can purchase it in sticks or ground into powder.
Now each type of cinnamon has it’s own unique flavor. Ceylon cinnamon is mildly sweet in flavor and a buff color while Cassia cinnamon is dark reddish brown color and has a more pungent slightly bittersweet flavor and is often what you will find on spice bottles just marked cinnamon.
Cinnamon is great in both sweet and savory dishes. But not only does it taste good, but it is good for our bodies. Here is a listing of the many benefits I found while searching cinnamon. I have not verified these claims but have read them in many places. This list comes from The Healthy Snacks Blog.
antifungal, antibacterial and antiparasitic properties
anti-inflammatory properties
help lower blood sugar and may lower choloesterol
excellent source of manganese, dietary fiber, iron and calcium
and this one being my favorite, just smelling cinnamon improves our memory and performance of certain tasks (I wonder if this is true)
Any way you slice it, cinnamon is a gold mine to be tapped into. How do you use cinnamon? In your sweet or savory dishes? Do you have some just hanging around the kitchen to make things smell wonderful and help with your memory?
Please share your recipes via Mr. Linky and if you don’t have a blog please leave them in the comments section. Now that we know we want more cinnamon in our lives, we need more ways to use it!
Guidelines:
- Share your recipe title along with your name and blog name. example- Diane@ The WHOLE Gang-Cinnamon Spiced Pecans.
- Link to your individual post, not your homepage and then link back to this post. This completes the circle and allows your readers to find more recipes using the secret ingredient.
- Include your name and recipe title. Please link back to this post in your recipe post.
Please follow these guidelines so I don’t have to delete your link. Every week some get deleted.
Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ………. Sage!
November 26th …..Thanksgiving Inspired Meals
December 3rd …… Cabbage
December 10th ……. Ham
December 17th ……. Yams
December 24th ……. Readers choice
December 31st …… Wine
Cinnamon is an easy one. I linked up my cinnamon rolls and a dairy free version of my pumpkin pie which I just posted today. Thanks for hosting.
Linda those both sound wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
My fave cinnamon is Vietnamese Cinnamon. I get mine from Costco – I use a ton of it, so it helps getting it in a big size container. I added my Cinnamon Raisin Bagels to your carnival. Thanks Diane! xoxoxo, Ellen
I use cinnamon tons … all year round. I linked up several where cinnamon plays a starring role. 🙂 I have more, but I'll give somebody else a chance now. 😉
Shirley
Jo@ NuttyKitchen-Spiced Butternut Squash Fries
Oh, I love cinnamon. And, it's one of Sam's favorite smells. If I bathed in it, he would be the happiest man on earth. BTW, did it mention what certain tasks it helps with? 😉
I love cinnamon almost as much as chocolate. 🙂 I linked the recipe for Cinnamon Dough. I hope that's OK. It certainly isn't tasty for eating, but I love having the smell around this time of year. I use it for making ornaments, air freshners, and like modeling clay for the kids (and me) to play with.
I'm soooo failing at linky's lately. haha. Love cinnamon, can't wait to try some of these recipes out.
Rachel- there are so many good ones to choose from, good luck.
Hello you amazing woman, I want to wish you and your family a really fabulous Thanksgiving! xo, carol
Thank you Carol, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours too.