Mosquito Bites & Bee Stings

Natural Remedies:

Mosquito Bites---We mix baking soda and a little water to make a paste.  Whenever we get a bite we just put this right onto the bite, and the itch/pain goes away.  (We store it in a baby food jar, when it dries out we just add a little more water and mix.)

Bee Stings---We apply apple cider vinegar on the sting and within minutes the sting goes away.  This worked successfully this summer on baby Moriah, and also my nephew Brody.  (Brody thought this was so cool!)

Happy Summer in the Midwest!   

Rhubarb Jam

Last year Shana came over with her two kids and we made this great tasting jam. While the kids played, we each tripled the recipe and made our own batches. There were lots of laughs + a big mess + kiddos played great together=fun! It is always fun to make this jam with a friend!

This recipe came from Sharon, a family friend from growing up. She makes it, and gives it to her friends as a little gift. Although this is best made in the spring (when the rhubarb is red and at its best) I seem to be a little late in life again this year and will be making it in the fall! Maybe next spring I will be on the ball.

Rhubarb Jam

5 cups Rhubarb

3 cups Sugar

1 3oz. pkg. Strawberry Jello

Cook rhubarb and sugar til boiling.

Remove from heat.

Add Jello and stir.

Put in jars-just refrigerate.

(I freeze it too!)

Happy Jam Making!!!

Potato Power

I love potatoes!  Growing up, sometimes my dad would call me his "Spud" since potatoes were my favorite thing to eat.  Another favorite treat---Yes, you guessed it-Lefse!  Which is mostly made of potatoes as well (unless you count all the butter I put on)!

You may wonder how this has anything to do with the title,
"Potato Power"...
Last week while preparing for my mom, sister Holly, and her boys to visit, I was making supper and burned myself very badly.  It was tearfully painful.  The burn was around my finger and thumb, and it was the worst burn I ever remember having!  I called Lawrence and he looked up some ways to help it.  I truly didn't want to be stuck to a bowl of cold water and ice all day.  I tried many things, but the best thing that helped-and you may not believe me-was a potato!

I took a potato, sliced it, and put it on the burned area.  Immediate relief took place.  After a few minutes, I turned the potato over to the other side. I repeated this process often within the first hour.   After awhile, I could use one slice of potato for a longer chunk of time (which was a good thing since I was still getting ready for everybody to come).  It was amazing how this potato remedy took away the pain almost instantly! 

The crazy thing...although I should have had a blister(s) from this burn, and it looked like I was getting one...I never got any!  The next day, the burn spot had faded away with absolutely no pain.

I told my friend, Becky,  about this amazing potato remedy...  And guess what?  She recently burned herself (not on purpose, of course) and tried out this remedy experiencing the same great results!

I love how God gave us the powerful potato-not only for french fries, mashed potatoes, and lefse, but also for helping heal the skin from minor burns. 

Happy Potatoes!!!

Free Printable Planner Templates

Crazy how fast time goes...
Summer is almost gone and another school year is about to begin! 
I was looking for ways to get more organized with our school year and I came across some great planner templates. This site offers daily, weekly, monthly pages to print.  It also offers many various other templates related to business, school, projects, loans, attendance, groceries, exercise/health, time lines, finances, etc... 

One template I specifically like is called: 
The Printable Weekly Planner (PDF). 
On this one page it has the days of the week, a spot for notes, task list and people to call.

When I was looking around at this site, I was amazed at all of the template options made available to print!  If you are interested, click below to check it out!
http://www.vertex42.com/calendars/weekly-planner.html 

Happy Planning!

http://www.vertex42.com/
Our goal is to help people manage their time, their finances, and their careers, by providing simple tools in the form of high quality spreadsheet templates, calculators, calendars, resumes, and articles that are designed to educate and increase productivity.

Benefits of Flax Seed

Each morning before I consume anything, I put about 1 1/2-2 Tbsp of flax seeds in my coffee grinder and grind them.  I then add it to a cup of water or juice, stir and drink it down.

Flax seed makes me feel full and it has so many health benefits!  It also curbs sweet cravings!  Flax has omega 3 fatty acids and is recognized as one of the richest sources of essential fatty acids (EPA's).   

Cholesterol/heart-Flax has shown to reduce the total cholesterol, including the LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.
Diabetes-Flax seed is very low in carbohydrates, making it ideal for people who limit their intake of starches and sugars.
Cancer-Flax seed is high in phytochemicals, including many antioxidants.  It is high in alpha linolenic acid (ALA) which has been found to help fight cancer.  (Flax seed has been proven to be very beneficial against colon, prostrate and breast cancer!)
Menopausal symptoms-Flax helps stabilize hormones and fights depression.  Flax has a mood boosting property-DHA.
Weight Loss-Flax seed reduces cravings, gives a feeling of fullness and also speeds up metabolism.  It also increase energy and stamina, and a feeling of well being.
Constipation/diarrhea/irritable bowl (IBS)-Flax is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber.  Flax seed also adds substance to the stool.

Truly the list goes on and on, but these are a few of the main things flax seed is good for.
 
When buying Flax seed, freshness is of great importance.  I buy the seeds and store them in a ceramic container with a tight sealed lid.  I then grind only what I use at the time.  I would never buy pre-ground flax seed!

For the kiddos, I sometimes add it to smoothies, oatmeal, or things I can hide it in!

What an amazing seed God made!  It is a great source of fiber, lignans (antioxidants) and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA)!

***If you are interested in buying flax seed and or a coffee grinder:  in the red box above click on "click HERE to get to our store" will get you to a place you can order it.  I put it under "Our Favorite Health items" and also under the category called, "Food".

Other places to buy it is at: various health food stores or Cash Wise in the Natural health food section in the bulk food section, etc...

HAPPY FLAX SEED GRINDING!!!









 
 

3 Step Face Cleaner

Over the years I have used various facial cleaners, my favorite had been Clinique.  After reading various natural ways to help with acne, pores etc... I came up with this 3 step process which I use and some friends have tried and like it and now use it too. 

I think of all the teenagers who are going through so much, and then they get a good case of acne.  You may want to try this out and see if it works for you!  A good friend of mine has a teenage son, and he had been on prescription medicine for his acne.  He no longer takes his acne medication, but uses this instead!

The things I really like about this cleaner: it's easy, cheap, healthy and works for most people.

Face Cleaner:
          1.  Toner-Witch hazel
          2.  Acne and Face-In a bottle-I put about 3/4 clear aloe vera and 1/4 hydrogen   peroxide and shake (I always make sure I use a fairly new bottle of hydrogen peroxide).  If my face is oilier, I use 2/3 aloe vera and 1/3 hydrogen peroxide.
          3.  I follow up applying coconut oil, castor oil or apricot seed oil...
          4.  Optional:  1-2 times a week, in the shower I wet some baking soda in my hands and rub it on my face.  It seems to open up and clean out my pours

I don't put the oil on my zits, or on oily areas.  (My friend's teenage boy doesn't use the oil at all.)  On acne or zits, I put the aloe mix on it.  If it is severe, I use it throughout the day.  If I get a sunburn, I put the aloe mix on it also.  My little girl loves this little aloe mix "medicine" for her bug bites and rashes.

I also used the coconut oil for my baby's cradle cap and diaper rash.  If any of my kids get any kind of rash, I will use the coconut oil as well.  It all has truly helped us.

I also like using coconut all over my body.  I sometimes even add a couple drops of  lavender oil to it for the nice smell.

    
     

Egg Bake and Monkey Bread

We were recently at Kari and Dan's house and they served this great egg bake and monkey bread, along with fruit, orange juice and coffee.  I just made this same meal for our little guy's 3rd. birthday and it was very easy to make. 

Egg Bake
12 eggs
1/2 c. half and half
2 c. shredded cheese
1 tsp dried mustard
salt & pepper

Melt 1 stick butter in baking dish, then pour in above mixed ingredients.  (I added onions, but most anything can be added.)  Bake 40 minutes at 350.

Monkey Bread
4 cans biscuits

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. butter
melt together

Tear the biscuit into pieces and put into a bundt pan, pour sugar and butter mixture over biscuit pieces.  Bake 25 minutes at 350-375.