A Butterfly in Winter

I am in awe of the small wonders we are surrounded with but often never notice in our busy day-to-day lives.

This morning, while throwing a few pieces of wood into our outdoor wood furnace, something caught my eye. There was a little butterfly sitting on one of the logs! Quite unusual for the middle of January!

It brought to mind how the Lord carries us through even the wintry times in our lives...we must try and see the sunshine where we are at now(which is what I think this butterfly was doing on this slightly warmer day!) and endure because spring WILL be coming!

He WILL carry us through!

"Weeping may endure for a night; but joy cometh in the morning" Psalm 30:5

Baking Soda to treat Food Allergies?

I recently read on the Avoiding Corn Forum on Delphi about someone's positive experience with using a product called Tri-Salts to minimize and/or shorten allergic reactions to foods. Apparently this works because during an allergic reaction, the body's pH becomes more acid. The ingredients in the Tri-Salts alkalinize the body.

I do still have some reactions to *something* (usually in processed foods). The reaction lately is to have severely chapped/sore/burning lips soon after I have consumed *whatever it is*. This happened on Friday night at dinnertime. Soon after eating, I started having the chapped sensation and was dreading facing the next 3 days of horribly chapped lips that absolutely nothing would help. I then remembered the thread on Tri-Salts and that there was a recipe, but all I could remember was it was a small amount of baking soda and something else.

I got a box of baking soda and used a bit more than 1/8 teaspoon in about a half cup of water and drank that. Within half an hour, the soreness and burning was GONE! The next morning, my lips peeled like crazy after getting out of the shower(this usually happens on day 3 or so). After some light exfoliation with a rough towel, my lips were fine!

Scroll down on http://www.woodmed.com/index.php/component/search/?searchword=trisalts&ordering=&searchphrase=all to find helpful advice in regards to food allergies, as well as a recipe to make a homemade version of Tri-Salts, containing baking soda and salt.

Praise God for a simple remedy!

Your mileage may vary. I certainly wouldn't rely on this for an anaphlactic reaction. But it couldn't hurt to try it for any other reaction when you know you/your allergic child have been exposed.

Fruity Minty-Lime Popsicles, OR, an Easy Way to Add Vitamin C to your diet

Not being satisfied with the selection of popsicles in the grocer's freezer(or the price of the 'healthy' ones), I searched and searched for a recipe to make popsicles comparable to the commercial ones, yet free of preservatives, colorings, and other additives.

I was blessed last winter to come across a PBS cooking show where they were making foods from Mexico, and this recipe was featured.

Here is how I do it:

Fruity Minty-Lime Popsicles

In food processor, combine and pulse until finely chopped:
3/4 cup sugar (I use cane sugar in order to avoid GMO Beet sugar)
2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped mint leaves(I have been using dried peppermint from my herb garden)

Pour sugar mixture into bowl.
Add and stir until thoroughly combined and sugar is dissolved:

2/3 cup lime juice (I use Santa Cruz Organic Lime Juice)
2 cups sparkling water

In prepared popsicle molds(or other suitable containers), place pieces of frozen fruit. We use frozen pineapple, blueberries, and strawberries(my favorite).

Fill with lime mixture to about 1/4 inch from top. Insert popsicle stick/lid and put in freezer to freeze for a few hours until firm.

Enjoy!

Hummus, OR, How to add immune-boosting raw garlic to your diet

Having just (hopefully) gotten over the flu making its rounds through our family one by one, I am again looking at ways to boost our immune systems.

Raw garlic is a good immune booster, but not many people can stomach the thought of simply eating the cloves every day. Especially not the kids.

Here is one solution and one of my sneaky tricks to getting the kids to eat it: Hummus!


A few years ago I found an easy recipe on the back of my McCormick bottle of ground cumin. I tried it because it had pantry staples and not a bunch of stuff I don't tend to have around(like tamari).

Here is my version:


Easy Hummus:

In a food processor, combine:

1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas(garbanzo beans), drained with 1/4 cup of liquid reserved
3(yes, 3) garlic cloves (original recipe calls for 1)
1TB lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt

Puree until smooth or the consistency that you desire.

Serve with cut up veggies, organic or otherwise non-GMO corn chips, or whatever your heart desires.

Be warned: You WILL have garlic breath! So make sure everyone has some! ;-)

Enjoy!

Low-grade reactions...finding the cause

I have been having some very low-grade reactions(minor throat itching) the past week or two and decided to try and get to the bottom of it today at my BioAllergenix appointment.

We tested the last things I had treated last time(lavender EO, nutmeg, Tulsi Tea, Green tea w/Honey, and Chamomile) and came out fine with all of them. Yeah!


I then started with my toiletries, bringing in my prior "bare bones" baking soda and olive oil, along with some soaps, facial cleansers, two shampoos and some lotions.

For *my body*(your mileage may vary), this is how I came out:
Jason Fragrance Free Shampoo-ok
Gluten-Free Savonnerie Shampoo--NOT OK
Badger Balm-ok
Jergens Original lotion-ok
WAHM-made Lemongrass Ginger Castille Olive Oil bar soap-ok
Velocity facial cleanser-ok
Velocity facial moisturizer-NOT OK
Olive oil-ok
Baking soda-ok
Aquaphor-ok
Burt's Bees Milk and Honey Lotion-NOT OK

So, basically I can use the ok items and be pretty sure I'm not dragging myself down. I guess I will use scant olive oil or coconut oil on my face as a moisturizer, baking soda for teeth brushing until I test some toothpaste, and coconut oil for deodorant(yes, it does seem to be working!).

Having taken care of my showering ritual, I went to the next near-constant in my day-to-day life: Breakfast.

I have been having oatmeal with blueberries and either slivered almonds or sunflower seeds pretty consistently for breakfast. Sometimes I have fried eggs on toast, but don't want to have that every day.
Here's how I came out:

Oats-ok
Almonds-ok
Sunflower seeds-NOT OK, especially when tested paired with the oatmeal

When I was avoiding so many things, one of my main oils was sunflower oil. I wonder if using it during the peak allergy stuff is what triggered my body to react to it as well? Who knows?

Point to ponder: many dried fruits have sunflower oil in them. I know Craisins do(one of my snack staples), as do the dried blueberries from Aldi(which I use sometimes on oatmeal in lieu of frozen blueberries).

Interestingly, sunflower oil is one of the top ingredients in the Burt's Bees Milk and Honey Lotion. I'm bringing it next time to retest and see if it's ok after being treated for Sunflower oil.


Next was a bunch of supplements. As of now, all I am taking is a fish oil, since that's all I have that I know is safe. I would love to get on a multivitamin, but that will have to wait until I have the money for them...maybe in a few months. In the meantime, I shall eat the best I can.

Here's how I fared there:
Twinlabs Allergy Multi-caps--NOT OK! This was about the worst thing today.
Evening primrose oil-ok
NOW brand Quercetin-NOT OK
Twinlabs Quercetin + C -ok
Sambucol Syrup-ok
Sambucol Cold and Flu Tablets-ok

So, I can put the Sambucol, Quercetin + C and EPO in my arsenal. The others I guess I will toss. I used most of them up already, anyway.


I also decided to have weeds treated today, since nothing is pollinating right now and it'll be way easy to avoid.
Last fall, I did grab some ragweed and put in a bag for later. Tested it today and sure enough, I am *still* weak to it. So I *definitely* wanted to have weeds treated. The treatments helped immensely this past fall, but not completely. Hopefully with being able to completely avoid it, it will work all the way this time around.


So, in a nutshell, I got a good idea of what to use in my daily regimen, what to put in my medicine arsenal, and was treated for the ingredients in Astroglide, weeds, and sunflower seeds(and oil).

We'll see how things go next week when I retest!




TMI Ahead for those who might find it useful...

I have been having issues off and on with either the spermicide-free condoms we had been using, or else the paba-free Astroglide. So, , I brought some in to be tested, and --guess what-- the Astroglide is BAD BAD BAD! The doc entered all of the ingredients into the system and treated me for that as well.


Here's to better health!