Recipes, Rants, IDeas

Do we not elect senators and congressmen? Have they totally lost track of their job? They seem to always be taking vacations without deciding any major issues, get big salaries, amazing retirement benefits and yet do not take the job of representing us at all seriously. And they squabble like school kids, come on, work together for the good of the people, that is your job. If we did our jobs the way they do theirs, we would be fired. Not many years ago, hearing our national anthem, or reciting the pledge of allegiance made our hearts flutter with pride. But it seems now we are no longer the land of the brave and the home of the free. Oh yes, we have many brave people who do stick up for and protect us, but the freedoms our forefathers fought for are slipping away, like pulling the plug in your tub and watching the water go down the drain. If you are a white, Christian, straight person, the Good Lord forbid you say anything about anyone else. But those others can constantly pick at us and take away our freedom of speech and religion. Yes, I believe people have rights, but time was people came to this country because they wanted to become Americans, learn our ways, language and become apart of us. Not drag their country and their way of living here and push ours out. if we went to any other country in the world, we would go because we wanted their way of live, and we would not push our ways on them. Ok, feel better, just hate the way life is going, and fear for our kids and grand kids future, not shining and bright like it was in the past. It has been HOT lately, and the humidity makes it feel like breathing underwater at times. If you are suffering from allergies and headaches, here is a tea to help. 1 teaspoon of peppermint leaves brewed in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes, strain and add 1 teaspoon black cumin seed oil( get this at Mountain Rose Herbs) and 1 to 2 teaspoons of organic honey. Sip and relax.You must know we are loosing our bees due to the GMO growing in our country, and that will mean down the line no pollination and loss of many crops. If you want to help encourage bees, plant some of these in your yard, yarrow, sedum, Rudbeckia, Lantana, goldenrod(yep) butterfly weed, asters, bee balm and even catnip. I found a neat pattern for a bee house, made of 4x8 inch pieces of wood, made into a box, filled with potters clay and holes punche 3/4 of the way back with a 1/2 inch pencil or dowel, my pencils are not that big so maybe a wood spoon handle. Put some screw hooks and a wire on top and hang in the yard. Son Doug has taken a long time foster dog to town this am for his journey to Jersey and hopefully a loving new home soon, will miss the big lug, he is a sweetie. Hope he gets a good home soon. Well, off to brew some iced tea and vacuum. Stay cool, see you soon.

Living in a Toxic World

Just a rough guess but maybe 80% of the stuff we use every day contains at least one and sometimes more toxic ingredients. Nail polish has Toluene, very harmful I found some natural water based from a company called Vita Cost, but it says to take it off with rubbing alcohol and that does not work. The only way I found is to peel it off, little by little. There are Parabans, and all manor of bad for your health things put into toothpaste, mouthwash, cosmetics soap, shampoo, it takes a lot of research to find things that are not going to do you some harm. Reading labels is imperative these days. My new Mother Earth magazine has a run down on some toxins, and where there are. I'd like to share it with you. Number 1 BPA . This is a hormone disruptor, linked to breast and prostate cancer, yep, guys are in danger too. If you are still buying non organic canned foods, and the lining of your can is white, that's the stuff. Try a different brand at least. Also found in water and baby bottles and cash register receipts. Might not want to keep those around. Number 2 is Phthalates. They are also cancer causing, hormone disrupting and linked to mental problems. Most often found in toys, flooring and cosmetics. Number 3 is Parabans. These are every where, shampoos, foods, personal items of all kinds, read that label. They are huge hormone disruptors, be cautious using them on kids, shampoo is prime. Number 4 is Formaldehyde. This one I have battled with since a child, get a nasty rash if I get near anything containing it, It is mostly a carcinogenic. Found in clothing, flooring and lots of common everyday things, again your soap and shampoo. Even flu shots, I finally was told to quit getting them after getting so sick for many years of having one. Doc figured it out, glad to know about that. And number 5 is flame retardants. These are linked to reproductive and developmental issues. For a time children's pajamas were treated, and other clothing but its also used in furniture making. These are just the tip of the iceberg, there are literally thousands of chemicals in our products, from clothing to personal care, to what our homes are built of. There are a lot of place you can research these, try safecosmetics.org for your personal care,for building materials try cpsc.gov/pagefiles121919. If you are looking for a particular substance, just put it in your search engine, tons of things come up. It's been very humid, making it feel much hotter than usual. We are not as bad as some places, but warm enough. Not complaining, much prefer this to winter. Got a lot done early, took the cat litter box, and the container I put the used litter into out and scrubbed them this am, all drying in the sun. Got a late start as I received my order of organic baking products yesterday and mad e a few cookies early. Sometimes ya just need a little dessert. Stay safe and cool, play in the hose with the kids and grandkids. Missing my little ones, Dad is back in school studying hard this summer. See you soon.

Your all natural home made drug store

Many of us have done our home work and realize how deadly OTC and prescription drugs are. The stuff for heartburn and reflux can destroy your kidneys, aspirins can cause internal bleeding, and now this week there are warnings about immodium. It's being used as a get high drug and killing people. That is of course and extreme example but will cause the stuff to become a behind the counter med, no longer on the shelf. Th ere are many things in nature that work well, and have no side effects in most folk. Let's talk about some of them. If you are suffering from a cold, or flu, avoid Sudafed etc. Echinacea is effective, used by taking 900 mg as soon as symptoms appear, once a day. Or garlic, an allicin which works like penicillin, can be used by just adding it to your diet daily to avoid catching colds. If you are coughing, a syrup can be made by mixing 1/2 cup honey(organic) with 1/4 cup of water 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of chopped sage in a pan over medium heat. Cook and stir for 10 minutes, strain, take as needed. This will keep in a glass jar for 3 months. Another idea is to put Vicks on your feet, put your socks on and sleep. My kids have used this on their babies for congestion and it works. If you don't want to buy commercial, make your own easily, by melting 1 part beeswax and adding 2 parts coconut oil and 10 drops of eucalyptus oil and 5 drops of camphor oil. . Pour into a tin. I use shea butter as I am allergic to coconut. This is so close to the real stuff you will not believe it. If you are having pain, there are alternatives for aspirin. Willow bark or feverfew pills are available at health food stores or on line, I go to Mountain Rose Herbs or my vitamin place, Swansons. THese work well with no side effects. Arthritis pain? try turmeric and ginger. I take these every day in capsule form, but you can make tea of the herbs too. Both are anti inflammatory and kill pain. Diarrhea? Ginger works here, or applesauce with a spoon full of carob powder. Or slippery elm. Heartburn? Best thing going is deglycerrized licorice. or DGL, chewable tablets. I get German chocolate flavored ones. They work fast and well. Constipation? Swanson has big containers of psyllium powder. Cheap. Thats whats in a lot of OTC stuff, but this is one simple ingredient, just add a spoon or two to a glass of water. My day starts with a glass of warm water, organic apple cider vinegar with Mother and a 1/2 teaspoon of psyllium every morning. Prevents the problem from the start. And to avoid diverticulitis, I add a spoon full of fresh ground flax seeds to my oatmeal. All these things work for most, one warning, if you are on meds for high blood pressure, avoid anything with licorice. It causes your medicine to not work well. I grow a good share of the herbs I use now, yarrow, mint, elderberry, all good for many things. Your computer is a valuable tool for searching for more information. I have a female cardinal that makes me laugh. She comes every morning and several times a day to look at herself in my rear view mirrors on the car. She pecks and scolds, She has brought her mate a few times lately. Wonder what they are thinking? It's comical to watch. Time to shut the house up, it's been very pleasant lately but we are into a period of very warm days, 90's. Will last til midweek next week then back into the 80s again. . Next time, we will get into the toxic world of cosmetics and personal products. Enjoy summer,see you soon.One final thought, a lot of these concoctions were taught to Settlers by the American Indians, and used by our old time folk who lived alo9ne on the prairies with no doctors to help. They did pretty well, and knew which herbs to use for different problems. Pretty smart folk.

STOP! Don't buy that. Yet.

There are a zillion people out there trying to sell us stuff. This will make you skinny, this will make your hair gorgeous, this will make you stop aging, this will remove wrinkles, etc, on and on. Well, I recently learned a lesson. Had been watching ads on tv , QVC and on my computer for a hair care line, WEN. I watched for many months before I bit., What a deal, you could get $139.95 worth of product for $39.95. So I ordered it. And soon had a huge box of stuff. I use shampoo and conditioner, but not all the other bottles, tubes and sprays in the box. And yep, first time I used it, my hair was soft, shiny and pretty. Kept on using it but in a few weeks, the drain was clogged with hair and my brush was full of hair every day. And then one morning o GMAu(ABC) there was a warning from medical experts saying this product was under fire, and being sued by many woman for hair loss. So I quit using it. Was going to flush it, but didn't want to get it in our ground water so ended up sending the containers to the dump. If this had been the end, that would have been good. But one day I got a huge box of products again and a bill for $139.99 to be taken off my credit card. Called the card folk and told them I had not authorized this bill and did not want to pay it. Called Wen and protested, asking to be removed from list and telling them I did not like the stuff. They said it was taken care of. But nope, not so, a month later yet another box of product was shipped and I was billed. Went through procedure again but this time demanded a letter stating I was no longer on their mailing list. Got it by e mail later the same day. Here's the deal. Never buy anything unless you go online, look for ingredients, results and mostly customer reviews, read as many of those as you can. They are so valuable. I learned my lesson the hard way, every one wants to sell you stuff, but its not all good stuff and it's up to us to protect ourselves from scammers, and even legit companies if there are things in those products that cause us grief. I recently bought pillows and spent weeks looking for the right one for me, and in the end got a good deal, but read a lot before I made the final decision. Did you ever watch a drug ad? Ask your doctor if you need "---". There are studies out now saying Prolia, given to post menopausal women with osteoporosis is not effective, and in fact does more harm than good. As do Nexium, Prilosec and those heart burn reflux meds. They damage your kidneys if you use more than just once in a while. Love watching the ads, and the side effects ending with "and death" at the end. So my point is, do some research, as much as you can, and find out if you really want something before you spend good money on it. Sadly, you can not rely on what anyone says these days, honestly is just not the policy.

Summer Time

I like summer, not fond of the cold winters. But the last week has been very warm, and the humidity is high. So getting out early to water and do yard chores is essential. The garden takes a lot of water, but is looking good., My cucumbers are blooming,have been picking some luscious blueberries, almost as big as grapes. And my son brings me enough lettuce for a weeks worth of salad, along with fresh green onions every week. I have some lettuce almost ready, due to rabbits, its growing in a deck railing planter . I also have pots on the deck with extra tomatoes, like yellow pear and roma's, so have a lot to keep track of. My family spent a lot of years in Texas, we never saw rain like they are having now. North Texas has snow storms as bad as the midwest, and dust storms that blew in red dust from Oklahoma. Many times we covered the windows with wet towels to keep it breathable for the babies when they were small. Today I am going to pass along some more ideas for your "green" home. Go to the store, and in the laundry area but a BIG box of baking soda, I get a four pound one. And at least a gallon of vinegar(white). With these, maybe a box of borax, some tea tree oil and a few essentials oils, you can do all your cleaning and yard chores in a non toxic way. Start with the toilet bowl, put 1/2 cup of baking soda in a flushed bowl, and add 1/2 cup of vinegar, let sit a few minutes til the bubbling stops, swab and flush. My bathroom cleaner is equal parts of water and white vinegar, a few drops of tea tree oil, and if you want a scent, add lavender, lemon or other essential oil. If you had not known, vinegar kills 99.98% of germs, as effective as caustic clorox, lysol etc and no fumes to inhale. Scouring powder came under fire this week, it contains formaldehyde among other deadly ingredients. Make your own with half salt and half baking soda, one of those old Parmesan cans works well as a sprinkler. Again, add essential oil if you want lemon or lavender etc scent. You can make soft scrub by using baking soda and mixing it with enough Dawn to make a cream. Moving outside, weed killer is as simple as putting 1/2 cup of salt in a spray bottle, fill with vinegar, add a squirt of dawn, and spray on a dry hot day. I also found out this week to watch out what brand of tea bags or tea you buy. Most of them use weed, and insect spray o n the leaves, and the first place it washes off is in your teacup. I buy great organic tea from Swansons. If you have not, go to their website and pull up organic foods, it's amzzing how much they have. And delivered right to your door. Getting ready to brew some peppermint tea, have a great week, see you next time.