Welcome to the “Fit for Five Minutes” series! Through this series, I will give you an idea a day for half the days in March of things you can do to get yourself moving! Do them during commercials, just before lunch, while baby is asleep, whenever you can!!
When you have completed a Fit for 5 task, come back here and leave a comment for a chance to win a prize. To easily get back here, click on the drawing of the basketball guy on the sidebar. Read through the FAQ’s after the list of ideas to understand what this is all about. Here are all the ideas:
1. Jump rope or jump on the trampoline.
2. Turn on your favorite crazy song and focus on trying to wiggle every single part of your body at least once to the beat of the song. This means your head, hands, neck, toes, belly, arms, knees, behind, back, etc!
3. Jog in place.
4. Lay on floor with legs lifted slightly off the floor. Pick up something heavy (your baby, weights, books) and lift it up and down, up and down with your arms, straight into the air. You may pause after each minute to put your legs down for a sec if you need to.
5. Do as many sit-ups as you can in a row. Rest, do it again until your 5 minutes is up.
6. Jumping jacks.
7. While watching television, mimic the actions of the actors/actresses in the commercials in an over-exaggerated fashion.
8. Sing every children’s song you can think of that has actions to go with it.
I’m a Little Teapot
Once There was a Snowman
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes (Do this one lots!)
The Hokey-Pokey
Do as I’m Doing
Little Bunny Foo-Foo (Have to jump like a bunny too!)
9. Dance around the kitchen (or wherever) with or without a partner.
10. Imagine a hopscotch game on your kitchen (or other room) floor and use it to get hopping. Or, make a real hopscotch game with sidewalk chalk outside and play it with your kids.
11. Toe touches & knee bends.
12. Lay on your side and lift your top leg slowly up and down, never letting it quite touch the bottom leg. Do 15 to 20 leg lifts before rolling over to the other side and doing leg lifts on that side. Keep repeating. For added difficulty, hold the bottom leg up a couple of inches off the floor.
13. Kegel exercise 8 different times for at least 30 seconds. {What's this? If you are a Mom, you probably know already. If you aren't, you probably don't really need to do this one. Email me if you still need/want an explanation because I couldn't find a good explanatory site to link to that I considered child friendly. ;)}
14. Play a quick game of chase with a child or other available, willing participant.
15. Your turn! You make up one and tell us what you did to get active for 5 minutes!
Why are you putting this on your blog? I thought of doing this mostly so that I can make myself do some of these things. By putting it on my blog, I give myself some accountability. Besides that, I thought someone else might want to join me in doing this. :)
What about accountability for CompleteLee Blog readers? Aha! Good question! My idea for you is this:
**Read over the ideas.
**Decide to do it.
**Do it. (Today, next week, whenever you plan it in)
**Report back here and leave a comment (or email me at http://www.blogger.com/blog@completelee.com) letting me know “I did it!” {You can tell me exactly what you did, or how much fun you had doing it if you want, or simply let me know, “Did #2”.}If you follow those steps, I will willingly lavish praise upon you as well as enter you in to a drawing to win one of these items: {If you win, you choose the item you want.}
~~My “He’s the One” CD (digital version or actual CD)
~~My “Out of the Mouths of Babes” book (digital version only)
~~One dozen cookies or one loaf of bread (continental U.S. only)
~~Three pieces of my “non-free” sheet music (digital copies)
Hmmm. Seems like I’ve seen that prize list before. Hey, now! That’s not quite true! I added something different this time—the funniest book I have ever read (or written). You’ll be hearing more about it soon! And, who knows, it may be only you and I that participate in this series. I am fine with that. I am hoping that the actual prize will be the fun of doing these things for someone, but I thought it would be fun to throw in a little prize for the thrill of it since it is always cool to win something. {If you have a prize you would like to donate to the cause, let me know!}
Can my name be entered more than once into the drawing? Absolutely! Every time you leave a comment letting me know you got one done, you are entered in to the drawing again.
How many times can I be entered in to the drawing? There are 15 days worth of ideas for you to do. You can do each thing once and receive 15 entries. Or you can pick and choose, repeating some and not doing others and get one done every day, thereby earning an entry every single day! If you really, really, really, really want to win a prize, you can also refer your friends and family members to this contest. If you can get them to leave a comment on my blog stating your name (or blog name) as the person who referred them, you will be entered in again!
Why 5 minutes? This is an easy question. I am busy! Anyone can find at least 5 minutes out of their day seems do-able. {"Am I right or am I right or am I right?" 1 bonus entry to the person who first correctly identifies either the character that said that, or the movie it came from.}
Any questions? Please ask away! This is going to be fun--Let's get moving!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Mama Rika's Random Tips & Tricks
People are frequently asking me "how do you manage to...fill-in-the-blank". So, I thought I would share some things I do. Some of the things might sound completely silly, but sometimes I come up with some simple but effective strategies. I'll keep throwing out ideas via posts like this on how I do different things and perhaps you will find one or two things that will be of use to you. :)
1. Turn of the day. When my oldest three children were small, there got to be regular squabbles about whose turn it was to pick a video, help with dishes, sit by Mom, etc. I resolved this issue completely by beginning turn of the day. Each child gets a turn of the day. If it is that child's turn of the day, anytime there is any question about whose turn it is to do something, we just ask whose turn of the day it is and that child gets to choose.
For example, on Monday it would be Patchy's turn of the day, Tuesday it would be Nan and Wednesday it would be Bub. When Thursday comes around, we start back at the beginning. So, on Monday, if the kids were going to play a game together and couldn't decide on the game to play, they would have to play what Patchy wanted because it was his turn of the day.
This system cut down on tons of problems. Often, the kids were very happy that it was their turn of the day, but occasionally they had to do something they didn't want to do because it was their turn. It works both directions.
2. Finely grated zucchini. You can put finely grated zucchini, apples, onions and other random fruits and veggies in just about anything you cook and the kids never notice. It is a great trick for getting extra nutrients in the kids without fuss. My kids are pretty good eaters anyway, but it never hurts to throw in more good stuff. Make sure to use finely grated or pureed and not coarsely grated. They WILL spot those! Zucchini is great because it has such a mild flavor. You can put quite a bit of it in without flavoring the sauce a distinct flavor.
3. Leave bags in the freezer. Yeah, I know that sounds just plain weird. And it is. But it works for me. I like to freeze things for later. Usually the things I freeze (like Featherlight Wholegrain Wheat Waffles that you can find the recipe for in this post) don't last all that long. I label the bag with the contents, put the bag in the freezer and hope for it to last for months. When we polish off the remains a week later, I just put the labeled bag back in the freezer on the appropriate shelf. Then, when I make more, I just grab that empty bag and refill it. Bags don't take up much room in the freezer and this way I get lots of uses out of that one gallon size zippy bag rather than just one. As an added bonus, I don't have to try to find a permanent marker to relabel another bag!
4. Buy first, plan later. This one I suppose sounds like I have taken leave of my senses. But it, too, works well for me. Here's the way I do this. Each member of my large family has an unusually incredible ability to pack away more food than their size would indicate. In addition to this, they all have very fast metabolisms. This means that I have to maximize the amount of food I buy while trying to minimize the amount of dollars I spend. I always buy what's on sale first and then plan out daily/weekly/monthly menus.
Most people try to figure out their menu plans for the week first and then go buy just what is on their list. The trouble for me with this method is that I might feel like making a homemade lasagna and get to the store and find that the price for the pasta, cheeses and sauce that I need to make it are at an all time high price wise. If I go ahead and purchase those items to stick with my grocery list, then I might have less money to spend stocking up on the really good deal the store was offering on peanut butter and canned green beans.
5. Read or sleep rule. When it is bedtime at our house, we have always had the read or sleep rule once you have been told it is bedtime. This makes it so that if little ones really aren't tired, they have something to do quietly until they are ready for sleep, rather than demanding that they sleep. It also has helped instill a love of reading in my children. The drawbacks are that sometimes they keep reading and reading and reading and reading...
6. Your taste buds haven't grown up yet. I never say a child doesn't like this food or that food. Our rules always require tasting an item presented to you. When the child has tasted the item, I thank them for tasting. If they were less than impressed with it, I just remind them that it is okay, it is simply that "your taste buds haven't grown up yet." You'll like it as you get older. Sometimes it takes 2 tries before they like the food, sometimes it will take 100. But I always emphasize the fact that it isn't that they don't like the item, it is young taste buds. This method has worked over and over and over again. But, it isn't fool proof. Everyone has different preferences. Because of this, we also have trick #9.
A funny story to go along with this happened with Peanut. All my kids have really loved pickles. Peanut is my 5th child and he really, really wanted to like pickles because everyone else did. Each time we brought the pickle jar out, he would try one. He would put it in his mouth, his eyes would water and he would have a tortured expression on his face. I would ask him what he thought and he would tell me, "It's good." He did this so many times and every time, the expression on his face would be the same. I finally took pity on him and just told him that it was okay not to like pickles. He could choose to not like pickles. I think he was 4 or 5 at the time. He has been a non-pickle eater ever since. He is 11 now.
7. Sign rotations. This is my way of trying to plug messages into my kid's brains that don't come from the sound of my voice. If I find a quote or a scripture that is applicable to something a child is going through, or that upholds a value I am trying to instill in my children, I will write it on a post-it, index card, or larger paper and tape it up. I put things on the fridge, bathroom mirrors, by light switches, in the hallway or anywhere that the kids might happen to read it. I change these out from time to time, always trying to vary the locations because after seeing something around for a while, one tends to forget it is even there! I just think this is a good way to enhance what you are trying to do in other ways.
8. Trades. I started this when my big kids were small. I have always tried to teach my kids to eat in a healthy manner. It was amazing to me how much junkfood they would bring home from church, birthday parties and other events and I needed some way to combat that a bit. My mother had done this somewhat with my younger siblings, so that is where I got the idea. Mom would have a supply of "healthy candy & snacks" that they could trade in their junk food and get better-for-you choices. I added to the idea by not only trying to have healthy things they could eat, but also offering things like stickers, small toys and trinkets. I have to admit that I was much better about keeping this up with my older kids than I have been with my younger kids. I could do better. The kids were really quite good about trading in their things.
9. It is on my list! Everyone in the family gets to have one thing on their "do not eat list". (See also rule 6 above.) Personally, I hate peas. Canned peas are the worst. If I feel I can not politely decline a serving of peas, I will swallow them whole rather than bite into them. Kevin can't stand asparagus. If I am serving something that is on someone's list, they are not required to try it. Everything else, either their taste buds haven't grown up enough yet, or we just haven't found the best way to serve it yet!
See more tips http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/3211 or http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/ or http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/03/your-best-time-saving-nutrition-tip-or-kitchen-tip-real-food-wednesday.html
1. Turn of the day. When my oldest three children were small, there got to be regular squabbles about whose turn it was to pick a video, help with dishes, sit by Mom, etc. I resolved this issue completely by beginning turn of the day. Each child gets a turn of the day. If it is that child's turn of the day, anytime there is any question about whose turn it is to do something, we just ask whose turn of the day it is and that child gets to choose.
For example, on Monday it would be Patchy's turn of the day, Tuesday it would be Nan and Wednesday it would be Bub. When Thursday comes around, we start back at the beginning. So, on Monday, if the kids were going to play a game together and couldn't decide on the game to play, they would have to play what Patchy wanted because it was his turn of the day.
This system cut down on tons of problems. Often, the kids were very happy that it was their turn of the day, but occasionally they had to do something they didn't want to do because it was their turn. It works both directions.
2. Finely grated zucchini. You can put finely grated zucchini, apples, onions and other random fruits and veggies in just about anything you cook and the kids never notice. It is a great trick for getting extra nutrients in the kids without fuss. My kids are pretty good eaters anyway, but it never hurts to throw in more good stuff. Make sure to use finely grated or pureed and not coarsely grated. They WILL spot those! Zucchini is great because it has such a mild flavor. You can put quite a bit of it in without flavoring the sauce a distinct flavor.
3. Leave bags in the freezer. Yeah, I know that sounds just plain weird. And it is. But it works for me. I like to freeze things for later. Usually the things I freeze (like Featherlight Wholegrain Wheat Waffles that you can find the recipe for in this post) don't last all that long. I label the bag with the contents, put the bag in the freezer and hope for it to last for months. When we polish off the remains a week later, I just put the labeled bag back in the freezer on the appropriate shelf. Then, when I make more, I just grab that empty bag and refill it. Bags don't take up much room in the freezer and this way I get lots of uses out of that one gallon size zippy bag rather than just one. As an added bonus, I don't have to try to find a permanent marker to relabel another bag!
4. Buy first, plan later. This one I suppose sounds like I have taken leave of my senses. But it, too, works well for me. Here's the way I do this. Each member of my large family has an unusually incredible ability to pack away more food than their size would indicate. In addition to this, they all have very fast metabolisms. This means that I have to maximize the amount of food I buy while trying to minimize the amount of dollars I spend. I always buy what's on sale first and then plan out daily/weekly/monthly menus.
Most people try to figure out their menu plans for the week first and then go buy just what is on their list. The trouble for me with this method is that I might feel like making a homemade lasagna and get to the store and find that the price for the pasta, cheeses and sauce that I need to make it are at an all time high price wise. If I go ahead and purchase those items to stick with my grocery list, then I might have less money to spend stocking up on the really good deal the store was offering on peanut butter and canned green beans.
5. Read or sleep rule. When it is bedtime at our house, we have always had the read or sleep rule once you have been told it is bedtime. This makes it so that if little ones really aren't tired, they have something to do quietly until they are ready for sleep, rather than demanding that they sleep. It also has helped instill a love of reading in my children. The drawbacks are that sometimes they keep reading and reading and reading and reading...
6. Your taste buds haven't grown up yet. I never say a child doesn't like this food or that food. Our rules always require tasting an item presented to you. When the child has tasted the item, I thank them for tasting. If they were less than impressed with it, I just remind them that it is okay, it is simply that "your taste buds haven't grown up yet." You'll like it as you get older. Sometimes it takes 2 tries before they like the food, sometimes it will take 100. But I always emphasize the fact that it isn't that they don't like the item, it is young taste buds. This method has worked over and over and over again. But, it isn't fool proof. Everyone has different preferences. Because of this, we also have trick #9.
A funny story to go along with this happened with Peanut. All my kids have really loved pickles. Peanut is my 5th child and he really, really wanted to like pickles because everyone else did. Each time we brought the pickle jar out, he would try one. He would put it in his mouth, his eyes would water and he would have a tortured expression on his face. I would ask him what he thought and he would tell me, "It's good." He did this so many times and every time, the expression on his face would be the same. I finally took pity on him and just told him that it was okay not to like pickles. He could choose to not like pickles. I think he was 4 or 5 at the time. He has been a non-pickle eater ever since. He is 11 now.
7. Sign rotations. This is my way of trying to plug messages into my kid's brains that don't come from the sound of my voice. If I find a quote or a scripture that is applicable to something a child is going through, or that upholds a value I am trying to instill in my children, I will write it on a post-it, index card, or larger paper and tape it up. I put things on the fridge, bathroom mirrors, by light switches, in the hallway or anywhere that the kids might happen to read it. I change these out from time to time, always trying to vary the locations because after seeing something around for a while, one tends to forget it is even there! I just think this is a good way to enhance what you are trying to do in other ways.
8. Trades. I started this when my big kids were small. I have always tried to teach my kids to eat in a healthy manner. It was amazing to me how much junkfood they would bring home from church, birthday parties and other events and I needed some way to combat that a bit. My mother had done this somewhat with my younger siblings, so that is where I got the idea. Mom would have a supply of "healthy candy & snacks" that they could trade in their junk food and get better-for-you choices. I added to the idea by not only trying to have healthy things they could eat, but also offering things like stickers, small toys and trinkets. I have to admit that I was much better about keeping this up with my older kids than I have been with my younger kids. I could do better. The kids were really quite good about trading in their things.
9. It is on my list! Everyone in the family gets to have one thing on their "do not eat list". (See also rule 6 above.) Personally, I hate peas. Canned peas are the worst. If I feel I can not politely decline a serving of peas, I will swallow them whole rather than bite into them. Kevin can't stand asparagus. If I am serving something that is on someone's list, they are not required to try it. Everything else, either their taste buds haven't grown up enough yet, or we just haven't found the best way to serve it yet!
See more tips http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/3211 or http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/ or http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/03/your-best-time-saving-nutrition-tip-or-kitchen-tip-real-food-wednesday.html
Friday, December 5, 2008
Mama Rika's Top 25 Natural Remedies Part 3
Here is the final installment of my Natural Remedies series. The post for part 1 can be found here. The same disclaimer applies to this post as applied to part 1. Part 2 post can be found here.
Cedarwood essential oil has a very pungent odor. I don’t care for the smell. However, it is great for fighting those dreaded pimples. As soon as a little acne spot decides to dare mar your face, apply drops of cedarwood oil. Do this heavily at night. It dries them out fairly quickly. If you catch them right as they begin, you can prevent them from forming all the way. Great to have on hand for teens and adults.
Peppermint oil is wonderful for coughs, fevers, and Christmas pretzels (but that is a treat and not a home remedy). Purchase peppermint essential oil and a drop or two on little baby footsies if they have a cough/cold or fever. Very gently rub the tiny foot with the oil. Do NOT massage the feet of little ones vigorously or in any manner other than gently for a short period of time so as not to overstimulate them. The light massage soothes baby. The vapors from the peppermint work to loosen up congestion. Peppermint has also been known to help reduce fevers. You can use the peppermint essential oil not only on babies, but older children and grown-ups as well.
Plaintain is for bites and stings. I use it in salve form as soon as someone is stung and it stops the spreading of the redness/puffiness and helps it clear up faster.
Prayer/Blessings are the best thing for any ailment. Sometimes inspiration can be found to guide you to something helpful. On occasion rapid recovery has been known to happen after the laying on of hands with a blessing. In emergencies, prayer helps to keep everyone involved calm and invites the healing powers of heaven.
Pregnancy is not a home remedy, obviously, but during pregnancy there are a lot of natural aids to be found to help mother and growing child. I’ll not elaborate too heavily on these. (You can read my Childbirth: Preparing for the Miracle book to get my complete thoughts on pregnancy, labor and delivery.) Some favorites for pregnancy include raspberry leaf for overall motherhood health, Floradix for iron, Vitamin C & E, relaxation and visualization.
Soup. Huh? Soup? You may have heard that chicken noodle soup cures things. Well, it isn’t an old wive’s tale. I even did a smidge of research for you so that you know I am not kidding you. You can find a little more info here, here and here. Chicken soup is wonderful when you have a cold to help ease congestion. It is soothing when you have a sore throat. It is calming when you are uptight. There’s so much good stuff that goes in to chicken soup that it can’t help but be healing. Chicken soup with homemade noodles of course is best. (I’ll post that recipe and video in the near future.)
Swedish Bitters from Nature’s Works often works best simply as a threat! On occasion if I threaten with pulling out the Swedish Bitters, a child has been known to recuperate much more quickly. It is horrid tasting, but it will kill just about any bug that ails you.
White Willow is a painkiller. It works like aspirin, but doesn’t have the side effects. It is suitable for headaches and pain from injuries.
Cedarwood essential oil has a very pungent odor. I don’t care for the smell. However, it is great for fighting those dreaded pimples. As soon as a little acne spot decides to dare mar your face, apply drops of cedarwood oil. Do this heavily at night. It dries them out fairly quickly. If you catch them right as they begin, you can prevent them from forming all the way. Great to have on hand for teens and adults.
Peppermint oil is wonderful for coughs, fevers, and Christmas pretzels (but that is a treat and not a home remedy). Purchase peppermint essential oil and a drop or two on little baby footsies if they have a cough/cold or fever. Very gently rub the tiny foot with the oil. Do NOT massage the feet of little ones vigorously or in any manner other than gently for a short period of time so as not to overstimulate them. The light massage soothes baby. The vapors from the peppermint work to loosen up congestion. Peppermint has also been known to help reduce fevers. You can use the peppermint essential oil not only on babies, but older children and grown-ups as well.
Plaintain is for bites and stings. I use it in salve form as soon as someone is stung and it stops the spreading of the redness/puffiness and helps it clear up faster.
Prayer/Blessings are the best thing for any ailment. Sometimes inspiration can be found to guide you to something helpful. On occasion rapid recovery has been known to happen after the laying on of hands with a blessing. In emergencies, prayer helps to keep everyone involved calm and invites the healing powers of heaven.
Pregnancy is not a home remedy, obviously, but during pregnancy there are a lot of natural aids to be found to help mother and growing child. I’ll not elaborate too heavily on these. (You can read my Childbirth: Preparing for the Miracle book to get my complete thoughts on pregnancy, labor and delivery.) Some favorites for pregnancy include raspberry leaf for overall motherhood health, Floradix for iron, Vitamin C & E, relaxation and visualization.
Soup. Huh? Soup? You may have heard that chicken noodle soup cures things. Well, it isn’t an old wive’s tale. I even did a smidge of research for you so that you know I am not kidding you. You can find a little more info here, here and here. Chicken soup is wonderful when you have a cold to help ease congestion. It is soothing when you have a sore throat. It is calming when you are uptight. There’s so much good stuff that goes in to chicken soup that it can’t help but be healing. Chicken soup with homemade noodles of course is best. (I’ll post that recipe and video in the near future.)
Swedish Bitters from Nature’s Works often works best simply as a threat! On occasion if I threaten with pulling out the Swedish Bitters, a child has been known to recuperate much more quickly. It is horrid tasting, but it will kill just about any bug that ails you.
White Willow is a painkiller. It works like aspirin, but doesn’t have the side effects. It is suitable for headaches and pain from injuries.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Mama Rika's Top 25 Natural Remedies Part 2
The post for part 1 can be found here. The same disclaimer applies to this post as applied to part 1. In case you were wondering...I was going to do this all in alphabetical order, but realized I forgot a few, so that is why it is not in order. :)
Ginger can be very soothing for upset stomaches and helpful against carsickness and can be found in things we all like to eat. Ginger snaps, gingerbread, and ginger ale to name a few. However, read the ingredient labels because some of these products actually contain NO ginger! You can also get ginger as a powder (spice), in capsules and as a tea. My children and I are all prone to carsickness, so I like to take ginger snack items with us. I have found that we are more likely to get carsick if we have little in our bellies, so I try to make sure we always eat well before traveling.
Honey Lemon Tea is not only a tasty, comforting drink, it feels really good on sore throats. It is also awesome for kids with croupy cough! (Don’t give honey to kids under 1 because they don’t have the proper enzymes to digest it.) You can make the tea by getting a mug and squeezing in about a half a lemon. Add a teaspoonful of honey. Pour in warm, but not quite hot, water to fill the cup. Stir and taste test. Add more honey if needed.
Milk and Bread Poultices are very useful in drawing out slivers and stickers from the skin. {This one I learned from my MIL who grew up on a farm.} Simply take a pinch of bread and a couple drops of milk. Squeeze any excess milk out of the bread and apply it to the sore with a band-aid. Leave it on overnight and then try to get the sliver out in the morning when the skin is nice and soft.
Mineral Supplements are always good to have on hand for growing pains, cramps, and calming. I like Peter Gillham’s Natural Calm best. It mixes easily with water and the raspberry-lemon flavor tastes fine. Kids don’t mind it.
Molasses Milk should be made with blackstrap molasses for best results. Blackstrap molasses (available at health food stores) is a great “girl tonic” since it is rich in iron, calcium ant potassium. It is good to drink anytime, but especially during PMS time. Make it by pouring a glass of milk (cow, rice, soy or almond is fine) and drizzling in about 1 or more TBS of molasses as you whisk the drink with a fork.
Nerve Tonic comes in a tiny white pill from the company Hylands. Hylands is a homeopathic company whose products are without side effects. Nerve tonic is very mild and can be given in small quantities to small children. It is helpful for when you just can’t fall asleep at night or when a kid is in a bit of a panic after having received an injury of some sort. It has a very calming effect. It has a very sweet taste and just melts on your tongue.
No Milk Products is a rule we use when someone has a cold. Milk tends to be very mucous forming and who needs that when you are going through the tissues like crazy already!
Cayenne Tincture is something I try to keep on hand in the fridge. We have used cayenne tincture to successfully stop bleeding noses. Here’s what we do. Put a few drops into about ½ to 1 oz of water. Have a piece of plain bread right next to the cup. Have the child gulp down the drink as fast as possible and then quickly eat the piece of bread. Why? Cayenne is hot! We came up with this method for my oldest child who got nose bleeds frequently. This is the same child that can not even stand the “heat” from black pepper. He would willing take this treatment, though, because he knew it worked when he couldn’t get the blood flow to stop.
Cayenne Pepper in powder form can be poured directly onto a bleeding wound to stop the bleeding. This cauterizes it right away. We don’t do this every time someone bleeds. This is only used when we can’t get the bleeding to stop. At the risk of sounding completely careless, I shall share a story of my own ineptness. {Warning! Blood story ahead! Faint of heart should not read!} I was trying to pull up the edge of a can that I had just opened with the can opener and decided to use my fingers rather than grab an instrument of some sort to assist me. Needless to say, I managed to slice open my pointer finger on the edge of the can. I quickly grabbed hold of my finger with my other hand because I realized immediately that I had done a stupid thing. I held on tightly and poured water over it, then let go to see what the damage looked like. Bad idea. Blood gushed forth and kept gushing and gushing. I had someone grab the cayenne pepper for me and I covered my would liberally with the red powder. Results were nearly instantaneous. No more blood gushing. I bandaged it up and allowed the healing to begin!
There's the end of part two. As always, please feel free to share your ideas by posting a comment. Part three will be coming along in about a week. Feel free to email this post to a friend, and/or subscribe to my blog for more like this.
Ginger can be very soothing for upset stomaches and helpful against carsickness and can be found in things we all like to eat. Ginger snaps, gingerbread, and ginger ale to name a few. However, read the ingredient labels because some of these products actually contain NO ginger! You can also get ginger as a powder (spice), in capsules and as a tea. My children and I are all prone to carsickness, so I like to take ginger snack items with us. I have found that we are more likely to get carsick if we have little in our bellies, so I try to make sure we always eat well before traveling.
Honey Lemon Tea is not only a tasty, comforting drink, it feels really good on sore throats. It is also awesome for kids with croupy cough! (Don’t give honey to kids under 1 because they don’t have the proper enzymes to digest it.) You can make the tea by getting a mug and squeezing in about a half a lemon. Add a teaspoonful of honey. Pour in warm, but not quite hot, water to fill the cup. Stir and taste test. Add more honey if needed.
Milk and Bread Poultices are very useful in drawing out slivers and stickers from the skin. {This one I learned from my MIL who grew up on a farm.} Simply take a pinch of bread and a couple drops of milk. Squeeze any excess milk out of the bread and apply it to the sore with a band-aid. Leave it on overnight and then try to get the sliver out in the morning when the skin is nice and soft.
Mineral Supplements are always good to have on hand for growing pains, cramps, and calming. I like Peter Gillham’s Natural Calm best. It mixes easily with water and the raspberry-lemon flavor tastes fine. Kids don’t mind it.
Molasses Milk should be made with blackstrap molasses for best results. Blackstrap molasses (available at health food stores) is a great “girl tonic” since it is rich in iron, calcium ant potassium. It is good to drink anytime, but especially during PMS time. Make it by pouring a glass of milk (cow, rice, soy or almond is fine) and drizzling in about 1 or more TBS of molasses as you whisk the drink with a fork.
Nerve Tonic comes in a tiny white pill from the company Hylands. Hylands is a homeopathic company whose products are without side effects. Nerve tonic is very mild and can be given in small quantities to small children. It is helpful for when you just can’t fall asleep at night or when a kid is in a bit of a panic after having received an injury of some sort. It has a very calming effect. It has a very sweet taste and just melts on your tongue.
No Milk Products is a rule we use when someone has a cold. Milk tends to be very mucous forming and who needs that when you are going through the tissues like crazy already!
Cayenne Tincture is something I try to keep on hand in the fridge. We have used cayenne tincture to successfully stop bleeding noses. Here’s what we do. Put a few drops into about ½ to 1 oz of water. Have a piece of plain bread right next to the cup. Have the child gulp down the drink as fast as possible and then quickly eat the piece of bread. Why? Cayenne is hot! We came up with this method for my oldest child who got nose bleeds frequently. This is the same child that can not even stand the “heat” from black pepper. He would willing take this treatment, though, because he knew it worked when he couldn’t get the blood flow to stop.
Cayenne Pepper in powder form can be poured directly onto a bleeding wound to stop the bleeding. This cauterizes it right away. We don’t do this every time someone bleeds. This is only used when we can’t get the bleeding to stop. At the risk of sounding completely careless, I shall share a story of my own ineptness. {Warning! Blood story ahead! Faint of heart should not read!} I was trying to pull up the edge of a can that I had just opened with the can opener and decided to use my fingers rather than grab an instrument of some sort to assist me. Needless to say, I managed to slice open my pointer finger on the edge of the can. I quickly grabbed hold of my finger with my other hand because I realized immediately that I had done a stupid thing. I held on tightly and poured water over it, then let go to see what the damage looked like. Bad idea. Blood gushed forth and kept gushing and gushing. I had someone grab the cayenne pepper for me and I covered my would liberally with the red powder. Results were nearly instantaneous. No more blood gushing. I bandaged it up and allowed the healing to begin!
There's the end of part two. As always, please feel free to share your ideas by posting a comment. Part three will be coming along in about a week. Feel free to email this post to a friend, and/or subscribe to my blog for more like this.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Mama Rika's Top 25 Natural Remedies
To begin...I believe that God designed our bodies in a wonderful way in that our bodies are able to heal, to recuperate when broken, and to fight off diseases when we get them. Our bodies will do everything they possibly can do to renew themselves. I also believe that while it is true that we can do things that are detrimental to our bodies, we can also do things that affect our bodies in a positive way. What we put into our bodies, what we put on our bodies and what we expose our bodies to all play a role in our health. I do believe that there are things outside of our control that can be harmful to our bodies, but we can do many things to keep ourselves in the best health possible.
I try to accentuate our family’s health by trying to serve as many healthy meals as possible and keeping fruits and vegetables available for snacking. I also encourage our family to be active physically. One other thing I do is to “say no to drugs.” And I don’t just mean illegal ones. I feel like, as a society, we rely too much on a different drug for every little ailment. I don’t have anything against doctors. I have a nice family doctor. I just try to not visit him often. I try to take a natural approach to healing, and decided to share my ideas with you. I hope you will find something useful.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so I am not recommending that these things will work for anyone and everyone. I make no claims that you will achieve any sort of miraculous results by using the items I outline below. I am simply sharing what I have done with my family that has worked well for us. Every person is different.
I have studied nutrition, herbs and supplements on my own from my early teens. {And that was a really long time ago, yet just a moment has passed. :)} I like to check up on the physicians desk reference to determine for myself the side effects of various prescribed drugs. I have been taught many things by my Mother who knows an amazing amount of things, having read, studied with an expert, and having run a small health food store for many years. I have seen some things that work and some things that don’t work as I have raised my 7 kids. (The oldest is now 18.) I can count on one hand the number of times that any of my children have had a drug of any kind. But, I have no paper work to show that I am any sort of expert, nor do I claim to be one.
So, please read through this with those things in mind. And, please read and study on your own. You can find out things the best that way, but this might be a good starting place. Thanks!
This is going to be a three part series. Here are the first several items, not necessarily prioritized by what is best or most important.
Acidophilus is great for upset tummies and keeping good bacteria around. You need the good bacteria to fight off the “bad guys” that your body encounters. You can get it in chewables for kids or swallowable capsules. You can also find it in yogurt with live cultures. Click here to see how to make your own crockpot yogurt. It is always a good idea to take acidophilus when you have been on antibiotics because antibiotics destroy the good bacteria along with the bad.
Aloe Vera soothes and rejuvenates burned skin. We have an aloe vera plant that we just break off a leaf and squeeze it on. Burns heal so much faster this way.
The last time I used it was a few months ago when I splashed boiling hot water from some pasta I was draining all over the left side of my face. Wow, did that hurt! I had bright red blotches all over, some more severe than others. Part of my eyelid and just below my eye was particularly painful. I kept putting on Aloe every 10 to 15 minutes for the first little while. It soothed and made it much less painful. Then, as I could, I put it on less often. In the morning, there was a small spot on my eyelid and by my eye that was visible. The top of my ear also still hurt, but that is all! Amazing stuff!
Aloe Vera can grow indoors or out nicely. It is actually easy to grow. {This is coming from someone who did not inherit her mother’s green thumb!} Aloe Vera can be purchased, but if you buy a kind with a lot of fillers, it doesn’t work nearly as well. I wouldn’t choose the kinds with funky colors and ingredients you can't pronounce. Check with your local health food store for the best brands. The one I like comes in a see through tube-like container, but I can’t remember its brand name.
Apple Cider Vinegar can be gargled to clear up throat ailments. If you have a tough time gargling, you can take a small spoonful and just swallow it. That method isn’t as effective, but does help. It is especially good with mucous build up and we’ve used it on strep too.
BFC (this stands for Bone, Flesh & Cartilage) from Nature’s Way is the perfect salve for all bumps, bangs and bruises. It heals things so much faster. I could tell many stories of how this has healed in amazing ways. It is really wonderful for sprains, of which we have had plenty. We use this very regularly on "owies".
Echinacea and golden seal are similar herbs. They both strengthen the immune system, but golden seal is a lot more potent. Golden seal should not be taken for long periods of time. Echinacea is safe to give kids and can be purchase in liquid drops. Use when a boost is needed.
Emergen-c from Alacer is such a must-have. Emergen-c comes in little packets that you add to water. It fizzes. It comes in many flavors, all of the ones I have tried are a bit tart, but not unpleasant. The lemony flavors are best in my opinion. Emergen-c gives you plenty of vitamin C, which most everyone knows is wonderful in fighting the common cold and and other ailments. It also gives you electrolytes and most flavors have a good bit of potassium too. Great for sporty kids like mine. Better than sports drinks.
Garlic is something we eat a lot of in my cooking. Not only does it taste good, it has known benefits for your immune system. It has been called “Russian Penicillin”. For an extra boost when feeling ill, I like Kyolic garlic. This comes in capsule and in a liquid. The liquid can be squeezed directly into the child’s mouth. Yes, it is very garlicky! Most of my kids have actually liked the taste. Others took some coercing. But you do what ya gotta do for the kids to help them be healthy!
Garlic oil ear drops work wonderfully well for ear infections. You can get this at the health food store. There is a kind with garlic & mullein that is also fine. The other ingredient is olive oil. When I notice my kids getting runny noses, it often is affecting their ears as well, so I will use the ear drops then, before they start to complain of ear aches. I had one child that got some bad infections, but we never had to go put tubes in or do antibiotics. Make sure the ear oil is warm, not cold, not hot, (room temperature is okay). Then, drop a couple drops in the ear. Treat both ears, regardless of whether the child has pain in both. Finally, put a cotton ball in the ear and you are done.
Okay, there's part one. Don't forget to do your homework! Part two and three will be coming soon, so stay tuned if you enjoyed this little show.
I try to accentuate our family’s health by trying to serve as many healthy meals as possible and keeping fruits and vegetables available for snacking. I also encourage our family to be active physically. One other thing I do is to “say no to drugs.” And I don’t just mean illegal ones. I feel like, as a society, we rely too much on a different drug for every little ailment. I don’t have anything against doctors. I have a nice family doctor. I just try to not visit him often. I try to take a natural approach to healing, and decided to share my ideas with you. I hope you will find something useful.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so I am not recommending that these things will work for anyone and everyone. I make no claims that you will achieve any sort of miraculous results by using the items I outline below. I am simply sharing what I have done with my family that has worked well for us. Every person is different.
I have studied nutrition, herbs and supplements on my own from my early teens. {And that was a really long time ago, yet just a moment has passed. :)} I like to check up on the physicians desk reference to determine for myself the side effects of various prescribed drugs. I have been taught many things by my Mother who knows an amazing amount of things, having read, studied with an expert, and having run a small health food store for many years. I have seen some things that work and some things that don’t work as I have raised my 7 kids. (The oldest is now 18.) I can count on one hand the number of times that any of my children have had a drug of any kind. But, I have no paper work to show that I am any sort of expert, nor do I claim to be one.
So, please read through this with those things in mind. And, please read and study on your own. You can find out things the best that way, but this might be a good starting place. Thanks!
This is going to be a three part series. Here are the first several items, not necessarily prioritized by what is best or most important.
Acidophilus is great for upset tummies and keeping good bacteria around. You need the good bacteria to fight off the “bad guys” that your body encounters. You can get it in chewables for kids or swallowable capsules. You can also find it in yogurt with live cultures. Click here to see how to make your own crockpot yogurt. It is always a good idea to take acidophilus when you have been on antibiotics because antibiotics destroy the good bacteria along with the bad.
Aloe Vera soothes and rejuvenates burned skin. We have an aloe vera plant that we just break off a leaf and squeeze it on. Burns heal so much faster this way.
The last time I used it was a few months ago when I splashed boiling hot water from some pasta I was draining all over the left side of my face. Wow, did that hurt! I had bright red blotches all over, some more severe than others. Part of my eyelid and just below my eye was particularly painful. I kept putting on Aloe every 10 to 15 minutes for the first little while. It soothed and made it much less painful. Then, as I could, I put it on less often. In the morning, there was a small spot on my eyelid and by my eye that was visible. The top of my ear also still hurt, but that is all! Amazing stuff!
Aloe Vera can grow indoors or out nicely. It is actually easy to grow. {This is coming from someone who did not inherit her mother’s green thumb!} Aloe Vera can be purchased, but if you buy a kind with a lot of fillers, it doesn’t work nearly as well. I wouldn’t choose the kinds with funky colors and ingredients you can't pronounce. Check with your local health food store for the best brands. The one I like comes in a see through tube-like container, but I can’t remember its brand name.
Apple Cider Vinegar can be gargled to clear up throat ailments. If you have a tough time gargling, you can take a small spoonful and just swallow it. That method isn’t as effective, but does help. It is especially good with mucous build up and we’ve used it on strep too.
BFC (this stands for Bone, Flesh & Cartilage) from Nature’s Way is the perfect salve for all bumps, bangs and bruises. It heals things so much faster. I could tell many stories of how this has healed in amazing ways. It is really wonderful for sprains, of which we have had plenty. We use this very regularly on "owies".
Echinacea and golden seal are similar herbs. They both strengthen the immune system, but golden seal is a lot more potent. Golden seal should not be taken for long periods of time. Echinacea is safe to give kids and can be purchase in liquid drops. Use when a boost is needed.
Emergen-c from Alacer is such a must-have. Emergen-c comes in little packets that you add to water. It fizzes. It comes in many flavors, all of the ones I have tried are a bit tart, but not unpleasant. The lemony flavors are best in my opinion. Emergen-c gives you plenty of vitamin C, which most everyone knows is wonderful in fighting the common cold and and other ailments. It also gives you electrolytes and most flavors have a good bit of potassium too. Great for sporty kids like mine. Better than sports drinks.
Garlic is something we eat a lot of in my cooking. Not only does it taste good, it has known benefits for your immune system. It has been called “Russian Penicillin”. For an extra boost when feeling ill, I like Kyolic garlic. This comes in capsule and in a liquid. The liquid can be squeezed directly into the child’s mouth. Yes, it is very garlicky! Most of my kids have actually liked the taste. Others took some coercing. But you do what ya gotta do for the kids to help them be healthy!
Garlic oil ear drops work wonderfully well for ear infections. You can get this at the health food store. There is a kind with garlic & mullein that is also fine. The other ingredient is olive oil. When I notice my kids getting runny noses, it often is affecting their ears as well, so I will use the ear drops then, before they start to complain of ear aches. I had one child that got some bad infections, but we never had to go put tubes in or do antibiotics. Make sure the ear oil is warm, not cold, not hot, (room temperature is okay). Then, drop a couple drops in the ear. Treat both ears, regardless of whether the child has pain in both. Finally, put a cotton ball in the ear and you are done.
Okay, there's part one. Don't forget to do your homework! Part two and three will be coming soon, so stay tuned if you enjoyed this little show.
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