Hope everyone’s having a fun day! Thanks again to all our authors and readers who have made this blog party great. Ok, let’s get back to the conversation.
Ashley, do you have any home remedies to share?
I drink a lot of water. I think that's a great preventative. It washes out your system, getting rid of at least some of the toxins we're taking in on a regular basis. I also take more vitamin C in colder months. I drink chamomile tea when I'm stressed.
A women after my own heart. Chamomile tea is one of my favorites. I also drink alfalfa tea each day, as well as use a netipot to help with my allergy issues. Chris, do you have any home remedies?
Other than a hot bath really staves off sore muscles. When I worked at a winery, I was on my feet 6 hours a day. I’d come home and soak in the tub or I wouldn’t be able to walk the next day.
PJ, do you have any remedies to share?
I began studying homeopathy and herbal remedies many years ago, so I have tons of home remedies that I use on a regular basis. I’m a fan of herbal teas for whatever ails me. Ginger for digestive upset, raspberry tea for colds and sore throats, chamomile for restful sleep, and green tea with lemon as a general tonic. I’ve treated ear infections with calendula drops and garlic poultices, and use tea tree for any type of fungal infection. Clove works great for tooth aches and lavender is a wonderful external topical pain reliever. I could go on and on with the uses for everyday items found in many people’s cabinets. Everyone should know how to use herbs to heal. There may come a day when we have no other choice. Best to be prepared.
Thanks for sharing all those remedies. Kimbra, what about you?
I use baking soda and water to mix up a paste for a bug bite or a bee sting. It fixes most minor ailments.
I do make my own bread. For some reason, I always get other people's left over bread makers. They say, "Oh I have a bread maker. We don't use it anymore. Do you want it?" And that was first bread maker. I figured I would learn what to look for when I bought my own. Then my daughter had a bread maker given to her and she said "Do you want it?" and again I said sure. This may be the year I actually go and pick out my own bread maker. I want one that can make a nice whole grain loaf. I made my own yogurt when my children were younger. It's such a great food and so versatile. A lot like cottage cheese. It was so easy to make that I got rid of my yogurt maker. Now I can't really remember why I thought it was so easy! I haven't done it for awhile but since I'm working on using only grass fed cow's milk in my diet, it's even more important to make my own. They only give you ingredients on the outside not what the cow was fed.
I’ve never made my own yogurt, but have always wanted to try to. JF, what about you?
No, I’m nowhere near patient enough for that kind of thing, lol.
Have you tried anything, Chris?
If you think of a sauce, we make it ourselves. We are also beginning to make taco seasoning and things like that. We can put less salt in and nothing I can’t pronounce. I’ve never made soap or toothpaste.
PJ, we’d love to hear from you on this subject.
Since I have smoothies several times per week, I make my own homemade almond and coconut milk. It’s incredibly simple and the taste is far superior to store bought. It also eliminates the unwanted additives like sugars and carrageenan, an added thickener that is very inflammatory to the body and is even a known carcinogen. I will never understand why these things continue to be added to our food supply!
Kimbra, what about you?
My Mom used to have us brush our teeth with baking soda, and that was before we knew that it whitened teeth ;D she was a smart lady. But I guess she had to be with nine kids. So, I guess I grew up experimenting with food and other things. I use vinegar for cleaning. And tomato sauce…well of course. I make my own pasta and bread and I could go on and on.
My husband is Italian and I learned how to make my own tomato sauce from his mom’s recipe. Once you have homemade sauce, jar sauce never satisfies anymore. Still haven’t made my own pasta yet, but that’s on my list of things to do!
This time of year it's homemade baked beans and soups. And if the soups have beans, even better. I recently learned how to make my own hummus which is a great dip for all kinds of vegetables.
I love hummus. Haven’t tried to make it yet. JF, what’s your favorite?
Baked macaroni and cheese. Not necessarily the healthiest but so good!
One of my favorites too! Chris, what about you?
It’s hard to pick one, but maybe spaghetti and meatballs. Everything is homemade.
You ladies are making me hungry. Glad it’s almost dinner time! PJ, what’s your favorite?
Vegetarian Lasagna! I make my own sauce, and between each layer of lasagna noodles I spread a mixture of chopped spinach and zucchini. For cheeses I blend part skim ricotta and low fat cottage cheese with pepper and some Italian herbs. I’ll add low fat mozzarella on top and bake covered with foil until the last ten minutes. Then I take the foil off and brown the top. I love that crusty brown cheese! Served with warm rustic multigrain bread and a nice Chianti…heaven.
Sounds yummy! Kimbra, do you have a favorite?
I’m still searching for that. . . I bake and create a lot of my own recipes. I’ve won a few recipe contests…because Mom always used to throw things together to come up with healthy meals. She did that before homemade meals were considered healthy…she didn’t have very much money in the budget for food so she found ways to stretch a dollar. I guess I learned from the master.
Thanks ladies for sharing. Time for our final break before the last blog is posted. We’ll be back at 5 pm.