BUGS in your Yogurt? Yuck! Roasted tomatoes, face cleaner etc

  If you have had your tv news on at all the last week, you would have caught the blurbs about yogurt. If you are still buying the flavored type, shame on you. And now another reason to skip them, they use bugs to get the color for the red ones, strawberry, cherry etc.  Plus you know they have as much sugar as a can of soda, or use bad stuff like aspartame.  So glad I switched to plain Greek yogurt several years ago, its so good, and I control the add ins, put strawberry's or blueberry's or honey and vanilla. Oh, another point, if you buy regular honey at the store, many of them have corn syrup added to them, did not know that til this week. Try and find local brands, they help your immune system too, could keep those allergies at bay if you eat a spoonful a day.
  My son's garden is producing a ton of cherry tomatoes, and after so much sauce, we start looking for other ways to preserve them. Yesterday, I split a cookie sheet full of them, cut in two, and mixed about 3 tablespoons of olive oil with a teaspoon of lemon juice, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of fresh thyme and basil. Drizzled the oil over the tomato halves, added a touch of pink salt and put them in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes. They do brown a little. I let them cool, and put them in containers in the freezer, they will add a great flavor to soup, stew and other dishes this winter.  While that was going on, my box of fresh mushrooms got chopped and sautéed and put in the freezer too, love having those ready for making homemade mushroom soup to add to casseroles., and for other dishes.
  Let's create a natural first aid kit.  Here are the items to stock:
Bandages, various sizes
Vitamin E capsules or oil
Tea tree oil(Walmart has)
Lavender oil
A potted Aloe plant
Unprocessed Honey
Ginger capsules( I keep fresh Ginger root, grated , in the freezer)
Peppermint tea
Baking soda
  And what do I do with these? If you get a kitchen burn, run cold water over it at once, for 10 minutes or more. Then grab an aloe leaf, or a bit of the vitamin E. My daughter badly burned her face when she was young, we took her to the hospital where they treated the burn with salt water, it made it hurt so much worse, I went down the street and bought vitamin E caps and squeezed them all over her face. At first the doc was mad at me, but as he watched her heal with little scarring, he became convinced  that they worked better than salt water. Ok, on to minor cuts, not needing stitches, wash with soap and water after you have stopped the bleeding with pressure,  use the tea tree or lavender oil to disinfect, and bandage.  Stomachache  -- try ginger tee, or peppermint. If you have gall bladder problems, enteric coated peppermint oil capsules  will sooth that and indigestion as well. I also keep DGL(de glcerized chewable Licorice) caps on hand, they work wonders. Tried Tums etc, but even those all have an effect on your body if used long term.  If you are stressed, try rubbing your temples with lavender oil. There are also herbs, like Ashwaganda, gensing, valerian root that help you stay calm. And the soda is for grease fires in the kitchen, or adding to your  bath water. Mine is mixed with Epsom salts and lavender oil for bathing, very relaxing.
  Want a gentle, effective facial cleanse, sans chemicals and additives? And cheap  too?  Try this. Put a cup of soy, rice, almond etc milk in your food processor, with 1/2 cup of whole oats and a tablespoon of raw honey. Blend well. Store in clean jar in refrigerator. To use, put small amount in the palm of your hand and gently massage into your face. Rinse well.
 Watching the leaves on the maple tree turn red, seems early. Also sweeping lots of leaves off the porch lately. The pears are getting ripe so will be time for pear butter and canning soon.  Not a fan of winter, hope this is not telling us it will be a long, cold one. We are having some very humid weather now, but next week looks good, only upper 70's and dryer.
 Hope you are enjoying your days, take care, stay well.