Rants, raves, witches

Oh my, it's Friday, this week flew by. I am deviating this week. I have been told that if I lived in another time, in the past, I might have been burned at the stake as a witch. This because I have such a grim opinion of the medical world.
  This all goes back a long way, when I was 15 I had polio. There was an epidemic so my folks turned their living room into my hospital room and coped with all my problems for  over 8 months. I was paralyzed except for my hands and arms. One of the "treatments" was heat packs. These were tossed into a pressure cooker until steaming hot, Mom could not use her hands, needed tongs to carry them and flop them onto my body. Before long my blood had been altered, boiled. So they discontinued the treatment, thank the good Lord, that was torture, and didn't really work.  I was lucky to have a family that worked with me and helped me get back on my feet, had been told that wouldn't happen. Okay, first go round with medicine.
  I married young, 18, and started a family. We were in the Air Force so traveled all over the place, including overseas. A few years in, became foster parents and one of our first 6 babies was ill. She had a lot of problems. Asthma,  abducted hips, all in all, a lot for a babe to bear. She did okay despite a lot of trips to the ER, and we adopted her when she was a year old. At the age of 5, she developed  some bad bruising. We were sent to Denver to a Children's  hospital where she was diagnosed with a blood disease. There was no cure, so they experimented with her meds. She died 5 years later.
  After that, I watched both my parents die at the hands of doctors, and improper treatment. And when my hubby and I retired, he got sick shortly after arriving here in Tennessee. We spent 6 years with him in bad shape,  good share of the time in ICU in Knoxville. It was a scary ride until he died. His doctors changed meds every time we got things on an even keel, and set us back constantly.
  I learned early on to talk with Health Food store folk, they are so knowledgeable. I asked how to avoid my Mom's gnarled arthritic hands, and was told to take ginger and turmeric, which I have done for over 30 years. Now they are becoming well know as anti inflammatories, useful for a lot of problems as most illness is caused by inflammation. I have no pains or distortions, I like that at my age.
 The whole point, be proactive, decide to care for your body and do it. Did you know eating processed meats, like bacon and bologna can raise your chance of cancer over 60%? Is it really worth that? Eating a healthy balanced diet is not that hard. My son has a fairly large garden and I have a small one. His domes have let us have greens so far all ths winter. And of course,  they are available at the grocery store. 
  Learn to care for your body, no one else will do it for you. It's so worth it to feel well. I had a round of stomach woes and considered taking Nexium, or Prilosec until my pharmacist daughter told me the side effects. You will develop brittle bones and anemia shortly. Big Pharma plans it that way. I found  that OTC Pepcid works and has no long term side effects, so just learn to read, and make better options your plan.
  Stay in good health till we meet again!

More Natural cleaning ideas, and some helpful hints

 Hi all, only another week and a half of January.  February is an unknown but by the first of March we start seeing daffodls, forsythia and hopeful signs of spring, so we have another 5 or 6 weeks and the earth will start warming up here in the south. I am not much of a winter person so always glad to see spring time arrive.
   Have a couple of ideas to ease the grocery bill today, by making some cleaners out of normal household products. Lets start with glass cleaner:
 1 cup of rubbing alcohol
 1 cup of water
 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar
 Put these all together in a spray bottle, shake well and spring clean.
  Next is a grease cleaner, for your kitchen or where ever needed.
 1 cup white vinegar
 1 cup ammonia
 1/3 cup of baking soda
 1 gallon of water.
This will turn your greasy cooking areas etc into a squeaky clean area, and deodorize at the same time.
  The next cleaner is for your bathroom, sinks , shower etc.
 2 cups rubbing alcohol
 1 tablespoon  ammonia
 1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid
 2 quarts water.
  Mix all together and put in spray bottle. We will have the spring cleaning done before you know it.
 If you are in need of scouring powder, mix equal parts of baking soda and salt and put in a parmesan shaker, freshens and cleans well.
  My grand daughter has taken to sending me blog tips too, here are a few she sent me this week.
  Did you know if you push a straw up through the bottom of a strawberry it will hull it quickly?
  How about rubbing a piece of a walnut meat on scratched furniture to hide the scratch?
  Or get your WD40 and use it to clean your childs art masterpiece crayon drawings off a tv or computer screen.
 Save your egg cartons and use to store Christmas ornaments or other small objects.
 And last today, turn your muffin cup pan upside down, shape cookie dough over the cups,bake, and use to hold fruit or Ice Cream desserts. Hope you are not suffering winter doldrums yet, hang in, see you next week.

More Natural Health Helpers and an energy snack

   What a difference a week makes! The wind howled most of the night, the temperaure dropped, and when it started getting light, I watched snowflakes swirling around.  Its still snowing lightly, but not really covering the ground, just enough to make our mountain roads slick and cancel school. Yesterday, I worked out on the porch for a long time, filling bird feeders and sweeping, the sun was so warm I was sweating. Well, it will change, in a few days we will see the 50's again.
  Do you have a daughter with long hair? Does it tangle? You can take a few drops of olive oil on your fingers and work it into the tangle to loosen it. There are products you can buy made of shea butter and beeswax that work too.
  Are your finger nails needing a bit of brightening up? Soak them in ginger ale for a while, that should help.
  Got some break out areas you need to treat?  Pulse a handful of  peppermint  leaves  with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and apply to pimples, let set 15 minutes and rinse off.
 For a quick face scrub, mix  4 teaspoons of baking soda with 1 Tablespoon of water, use gently as a scrub and rinse with warm water.
  If you have a lot of allergy problems,  basil is an excellent herb to add to your cooking. Its a natural  allergy reliever, use lots of the fresh herb or get some supplement capsules and take daily.
  If you have a cut or scrape, or your child has banged up an elbow or knees, take a piece of banana peel and apply with adhesive tape,   its a natural astringent that stops bleeding and helps heal.
  And here is a recipe for some energy bites.

 2 cups of cocoanut flakes
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup ground flax
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix alltogether , roll into bite sized balls and store in refrigerator.
 Have a great week, looks like winter has begun in many areas so stay warm.

Home made Grahm Crackers

  Hi all, the sun is up, the weather is warmer, who could ask for more! Except for a neighbor making strange noises somewhere, its a peaceful morning.
  My grandson made the Deans list again, so proud of him.  I have absolutely the worlds best grandchildren, and one of them has two kids, making me a great grammie. Seems such a short time ago my parents were in this position and I was the younger one, but the worm turns and now I am the "old" one. Time slips away so rapidly, that a year passes in a blink of the eye.
  I have a great, easy recipe for you today, and I am hoping you are joining in on the switch from processed to more natural, better for you foods. It's really an easy way to eat, a little protein, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and stay away from junk foods. It's amazing to see how many things in the grocery store are not good for us, and not essential for a good diet.

  So here we go,
 Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

4 Tablespoons of butter, room temperature
4 Tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat the butter and syrup or honey until smooth. Add the egg and beat again.
Mix the dry ingredients and slowly add to the honey mixture. Will be crumbly, add a few drops of water if needed.  Press onto a baking sheet, I would line mine with parchment. Make two inch squares with a knife, and prick each square with a fork a few times.  Bake for 15 minutes, cool, then break into crackers.
  You know what's in these, so no problem giving your kids a healthy treat.  Yourself too.
  Til next time, have a great week