Drug-free Poison Ivy Treatment

Today we have a guest post from my cousin Abby!  I thought that some of you would find this tip to be very useful.  Abby and her husband Pete are editors of the literary magazine Prime Mincer.

I tell everyone this, and I usually get a gentle, reassuring, smile that suggests that it's not that they don't believe me, but do sincerely doubt what I'm saying. 

I am HIGHLY allergice to poison ivy. I get it every year, and stopped going in the woods altogether a long while ago. Even with tights, socks, boots, and everything tucked in together, I still get it just by being out of doors. The first year I got it bad I had to go to the doctors and get on steroids. It's bad. However, in a fifth grade science book I came across the treatment, but didn't test it until years later. I wish I had listened sooner, and I urge anyone who does get poison ivy to take heed.

Here's what you do: When the itching gets bad, go into the shower. Turn it on HOT, and then direct the spray to the affected area(s). Slowly turn up the heat. This will finally hit that "itch" where it lives and will be about the most pleasurable experience of your life. It's endorphines like no other. Eventually the relief will turn to numbness, and this is when the magic occurs. Turn off the water, get out, and you'll find that the place previously burning with misery is numb and will stay that way for hours. If it begins itching again, jump back in the shower. There were times when I took up to four showers a night in order to sleep, but it worked. This will treat, but it also shortens the lifespan of the whole encounter. The patches are being drained of their poison and the skin gets dry. 

Whatever you do, do NOT take a hot bath. This will put the poison in the water and then it will spread everywhere. Look to the hot shower, and all will be well. Trust me!

Make Yogurt In Your Crock Pot!

I am a person that does not like to have a lot of appliances. I like to just have a few that are versatile and use them for a lot of things. I thought about making homemade yogurt for awhile and looked at various yogurt making appliances but was hesitant to spend the money and then give up the counter space for something else. Then I found out how to make yogurt in my crock pot, and life was beautiful! :)

It is SO easy that I cannot imagine going back to store bought ever again. I control the quality and fat content, there are no chemical additives, and it is a great money savings. Check it out:

Put 8 cups of milk into your crock pot (cover) on low for 2.5 hours.

After that time, turn the crock pot off. (don't take the top off) and leave it alone for 3 hours.

After the 3 hours, add in a half cup of plain yogurt (yes, you're going to have to buy some plain yogurt to start with, and once you make your own, save a little of it to "feed" the next batch) (use a whisk to mix it in--be kinda quick about it), put the top back on, and wrap the whole crock pot up in a thick bath towel.

Come back in 8 hours or more and your yogurt is done. Easy!

If I get around to starting the yogurt before 8am and I'm going to be home most of the day, I can finish the batch before I go to bed at night. Alternately, this works well to start at around 4pm, and you wake up to yogurt in the morning, which is perfect for adding to your morning smoothie!

It is not all that important that the yogurt be put away directly after the 8 hours of incubation. it could stay in there for longer. Obviously don't leave it out on the counter for days, but it is fine if you just get around to putting it away after 10 or 12 hours or whatever. It'll be alright.

I use glass canning jars to store my yogurt in the refrigerator. Very easy!

You can use anything from skim to whole milk. At my Kroger they mark down organic milk pretty often, so when I see that I try to buy extra and make yogurt then. Even if I pay full price for the organic, though, it is cheaper than buying organic yogurt.

And did you know that pets benefit from yogurt too? You can add a little to your dog or cat's food and let them have some good probiotics as well!

When Sickness Comes to The Johns House

So last weekend it hit. The Crud. Saturday afternoon I started feeling junky, then two kids were sniffling and coughing, and then my husband started feeling junky too. We had been exposed to a sick friend a few days before, and her daughter had gone into the hospital with a combination of ailments, including the flu. Oh boy! Here we go! This is what we do when the Creepin Crud comes around:

1-2 Ultra Immune upon waking, plus 1-2 a couple more times during the day. (should be taken on an empty stomach, so I just pop 'em when I think of it and haven't eaten)

Healthy Lemonade: a sweet drink that doesn't work against my immune system! In fact, it boosts it because of the nice pH balance it gives.

Berry Well: 1 tablespoon mixed into the healthy lemonade several times a day. Tastes great and helps fight The Crud.

NO SUGAR, and very limited products with honey or agave. (And no white flour, either!) The more healthy food, the better. Now is not the time to start eating junk. (It sure helps to have healthy food stocked up and easy recipes to make. I went out to buy groceries the first minute I felt well enough to do it, just to be sure we'd be stocked up in case we really went down hard.)

Odorless Garlic This is a new product for me. Garlic is great for fighting off any bad germs, and not dealing with garlic breath for a week is a huge PLUS! The kids take these just like a jelly bean. No problem!

Oscillococcinum is my favorite homeopathic flu remedy. We have used it for years. I had just ordered some on Friday because we had none on hand, so of course it had not yet arrived when we started feeling bad. I was delighted to find it in the Cold/Flu section of Walmart! It is easy to take, helps reduce the severity of symptoms and duration of the flu. You can easily give it to chidren (reduce the dose, of course) as well.

For the kids they take Super Kids, vitamin C, Berry Well, and Vitamin D3. I also used a cough remedy from Herbs for Kids.

I take all of my regular vitamins, of course. (That includes Super Dad, Bee Strong, Glucosamine MSM, Mineral Blast, Aloe Vera, and Vitamin D3)

Even with good nutrition and supplementation, you cannot always avoid illness. (well, maybe some people can. But nobody living at my house is one of them...) We do the best we can with what we have, and throw everything we can at sickness when it dares sneak in the door.

For this time around, we seem to have done relatively well. My two sniffling coughers stopped coughing within a day or two, and the sniffles are greatly reduced. They never stopped running around and playing full time. My husband and I still have some aches and have taken some naps, but in general have still continued to do the laundry, get the groceries, drive kids where they need to go, cook food, do school, etc. so I think we have done pretty well too. I am still not feeling 100% yet, but I am very thankful that we did not get hit really hard this time around. I think that having a ready arsenal of both healthy habits, as well as helpful supplements/remedies makes a huge difference for us. We rarely ever need to take a child to the doctor, and that has been the case for 16 years. (so far this year none of our children has been to the doctor for anything. This is life as usual for us.) I have invested in reference books (and read them!), and a variety of high quality herbal, vitamin, and homeopathic items that have been useful to us. It is very uncommon that we have an illness here that I am not equipped to handle at home. 9 times out of 10, if we do go to the doctor, I know exactly why we're going, and it's to get help in a way that I don't have the ability to do at home.

Knowledge is power. Preparation is also power. Being ready with what you know and what you have can make getting through common illnesses a lot less miserable than it needs to be. (even if that just means you can stay at home and deal with it, instead of shelepping the kids to the doctor's office....)

Ways that I am Dealing with Plastics and BPA

Concerns about the safety of plastics, particularly those made with BPA, are increasing. This article gives some good ideas for limiting our exposure to this dangerous chemical.

As I understand it so far, when plastics, particularly those with BPA, get hot, toxic chemicals are released into the food or beverage inside the container. Not good!

I wanted to share some of the ways that I am being more careful about limiting my family's exposure to BPA. Most of these are pretty simple and doable for the the average family (I think):

-I use glass canning jars for a lot of food storage needs. With wide mouths and regular, there are only 2 size tops to deal with. I have a cabinet with a nice assortment of quarts, pints, and half pint jars. They work great for most leftovers, and can even go into the freezer. (just be sure to leave a half inch or more of space if freezing liquids in glass jars) You can find jars at most grocery stores. They are extremely versatile and last a long, long time.

-I read that Ziploc brand storage bags are BPA-free, so I am now spending a little extra to get that brand instead of others.

-I no longer put any hot foods into any plastic bag or containers. We only use plastic for dry or cold items. (cereal or pretzels for a car ride snack, leftover applesauce if there are no jars available, etc.)

-For times when I have hot foods that need to be stored in plastic, I first use a glass 9 x 13 pan and flash freeze (or cool) the food, then transfer the frozen food to the plastic bag or container that I like to use.

-We NEVER EVER microwave any kind of plastic. This includes "paper" plates that have a plastic coating on them. And that goes double for any kind of convenience foods that are packaged in plastic, with instructions to microwave the stuff inside the packaging. If you buy stuff like that, just take the food out of the plastic, but it on a ceramic or glass plate, and microwave it as usual. (or cook it on the stove top or in the oven, if you like)

-I never did this, but I know people that do: DO NOT cook your frozen veggies inside the plastic bag. I don't care if it says that it's a "steamer" package--it's not good for you, and plenty easy to just put into a glass or ceramic bowl or casserole dish to cook.

-We never serve hot drinks in any plastic cups, or paper cups coated with plastic.

-The paper plates that I do buy are 100% paper. No plastic ingredients.

-We have some plastic "kid plates" in fun colors that I used to serve dinner to my children on sometimes. I no longer serve any kind of hot or warm food on those, or in any plastic bowls. (we have some Tupperware cereal bowls that are only allowed to be used for cold items now)

-We are looking for stainless steel water bottles for the whole family, but are having trouble finding ones that we are sure don't have any BPA parts. In the meantime, when we do use bottled water, we have made some adjustments: We no longer keep a large pack of bottled water in the car. The heat that builds up in the car is enough to make the water hot, which means the plastic container is getting hot too. And we want to avoid that. Although I realize that it is possible that any bottled water could have gotten hot before we even bought it, when we do buy it, I store it in the house, and we take our bottles out of the fridge before we go someplace. And we try not to leave the bottles sitting in the car if it is getting warm out. Now that cooler weather is here, this will not be as much of an issue for a few months.

-Now that I know that the insides of metal cans (for basically every canned food) is likely to have BPA that will have been heated and leached into the food, I am avoiding canned foods as much as possible. I have been choosing more frozen and fresh items in order to avoid the BPA as much as possible.

-I am choosing to purchase more items that are sold in glass jars instead of plastic. (Bonus: If you don't have many glass storage jars, this is a way that you can start a collection for free! Buy your spaghetti sauce in glass jars and then wash and reuse the jars. Easy!)

Future plans for continuing to increase our level of safety in regards to BPA:

-I plan to buy glass pyrex storage containers for the items that do not fit well in a glass jar. So far what I see is that most of the flatter pyrex containers do use plastic tops, but I would consider that an improvement over some of the options I have on hand right now. (and I would still be careful about not letting hot food come into contact with the plastic lids)

-We will eventually find stainless steel (NOT aluminum) water bottles and invest in them for our whole family. Then we won't be buying so much bottled water while out and about.

-I will continue to move more and more toward fresh, unprocessed foods that do not come packaged in plastic or cans coated with BPA.

What are some ways that YOU are avoiding plastics and BPA?

Cabbage Leaves Instead of Tortillas or Buns!

I have read a lot of recipes for raw foods that include cabbage leaves in place of tortillas or buns. Back in the summer I took this quick video and these photos to show you how it worked when we tried it out! This is a fairly normal taco meal for us, just exchanging the cabbage leaves for the tortillas. They were nice and crunchy, held in the salsa better than a tortilla, and had a light enough flavor that we all enjoyed it.



Start with a cabbage leaf:


Add a little cheese (if you're a cheese eater):


Black beans:


Some raw nuts:


Add some raw salsa:


Roll it up and eat! (tasting is believing!)

Swine Flu Vaccine: No Thank You!

I know that many people are concerned about the swine flu right now, and with the latest hype about the new vaccine for it, it is in the news a lot. For me, there is no way that I would counter the minor risk of a flu like this one with the major lifelong health risk that would be associated with getting the vaccine. Here is an article that will explain more about the ingredients and risks associated with the swine flu vaccine. Please do your best to become informed before subjecting yourself or your family members to any vaccines.

What about non-stick pans and coated aluminum?

Erica,

You mentioned Aluminum and aluminum pans in your email this morning.
Do you have an opinion on Circulon (R) brand hard anodized aluminum
non-stick pans? They happen to be on sale currently at Sears, and we were
considering purchasing a set.

Our kitchen has a flat ceramic cooktop surface, and our cast iron
skillets are not completely flat on the bottoms and are not recommended
to be used on this type of surface.

Thanks in advance!

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

From the research I've done, non-stick coatings look to have some health risks that are distressing. Here are some resources I've found:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/09/20/beware-teflon-products-can-harm-your-baby.aspx
http://shop.mercola.com/Seminars-Dangers_of_Teflon_Special_Report-P775.aspx

Dr. Mercola writes in another article:
Use glass, cast iron, carbon steel, titanium, and enamel cookware. Both aluminum and Teflon are well known for their toxic dangers, and stainless steel can expose you to carcinogenic nickel.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/22/toxic-metals-the-reason-you-still-feel-sick.aspx

I hadn't read about the risks of stainless steel before. Rats! Now I have to think about one more thing.... ;)

I hope this helps!

~Erica

I did think of Visions cookware for this. It is glass-ceramic, so I would think it would be a safe choice. I got a bunch of it back in the olden days when I first got married, but passed it along to a friend in favor of the Revere stainless steel set that I also got, which was what I was used to from growing up. Now I guess I'll be on the lookout for some sales on Visions.

Q&A: How do you get wheat for baking?

Some of you are starting to think about trying out making homemade bread. I have enjoyed baking bread for many years now (close to a decade, actually! which is making me feel rather more experienced at this than I had previously considered myself to be!!).

I do grind my own wheat, and get wheat in 25-50lb. bags from a local Amish store that special orders it for me. If I were you, I'd do some searching on google for "organic wheat" and see what sources you can find. For sure there are places that will ship it in buckets, but of course that is more costly than finding it someplace local. You could make some calls to any of your area health food stores, bulk food stores, and Amish or Mennonite stores to see if they can help you. Typically these smaller stores have a whole catalog of products they can order, so if they know someone wants a particular item, they can get it in stock for you. If you live in an area where wheat is grown, you may be able to purchase it right from a farm.

My bread recipe is here. I use a Whisper Mill to grind wheat, and a Bosch mixer for kneading.


I will give you a little tip: On March 17 you are going to have access to a wonderful resource that will show you how to bake your own bread without needing any special equipment at all. Be on the lookout for my email that day! :)

Q&A: How do you make homemade yogurt?

One of the things that was discussed on our conference call the other night was making homemade yogurt. What a wonderful way to be sure that the ingredients going into your food are safe and healthy! Plus, making yogurt is very economical and easy.

If you buy a yogurt maker there will be specific instructions on how to make it work with that particular maker. To make yogurt without a yogurt maker, there are a ton of resources available on the internet. Click here for one link I found.

If that one doesn't seem like a good fit for you, google "make homemade yogurt" and you're sure to find something that works better for your situation.

One thing I liked in the above link was the tip for making the yogurt a little thicker. When I have made homemade yogurt I have always found it kind of thin and that didn't go over so well with my family.

To sweeten homemade yogurt you can add any fresh or frozen fruit and whir it up in your blender or food processor. You can mix in applesauce or any healthy jam or jelly. You can also leave it plain and add liquid stevia in a flavor that you enjoy! This adds flavor without calories.

Green Smoothies--from a class member

Just wanted to pass on what we and many others do to add greens in our diets. We use baby spinach or romaine lettuce along with fruit and must have bananas for smooth texture. You can add flax meal or nuts to add more protein. If you think yuck, just try baby spinach and frozen bananas and you will be amazed! Can’t taste the spinach at all! if you add TONS of strawberries to make it red then noone will know the green is there! Some hard core raw people use cabbage, chard and other greens that are more bitter.

Thanks!

Jeanette

Jeanette wanted me to mention that she was inspired to try this because of Serene Allison's wonderful raw foods recipe book Rejuvenate Your Life. I am a big fan of this book as well!

I've hired a personal trainer

She's my 12 year old daughter. I pay her a dollar a day to make me do some exercise. :)

Like a lot of you, I don't particularly like to exercise. For that reason I've always got my antenna up for exercise that I can actually enjoy. (because I know I won't do the stuff that I don't like!) Over the years I have found a few at-home exercise programs that I do enjoy, and the next hurdle was making myself actually use the stuff. I started paying my daughter to motivate me to do my exercise each day awhile back, but we'd kind of fallen off the wagon recently. Now we're back on, and she does a great job of getting me going.

Some of my favorite at-home exercise resources:

Leslie Sansone's walk-at-home DVDs. It's basically marching in place, with some side steps, kicks, and arm work thrown in. Much more challenging than a walk around the block, and doesn't take any special equipment or much space at all. Leslie is a friendly face and a good encourager. A 1 mile walk only takes 15 minutes, and 2 miles takes a half hour. She has longer walks available too, though I don't normally take the time to get into those. I get Leslie's DVDs from Netflix because I can switch it out with a new one when I get tired of the same video after awhile.

Joyce Vedral's weight lifting DVDs are really good. Fast Forward is my favorite. This lady is really an inspiration--in her 60s and able to wear a bikini and look great! Light weight lifting is important for bone health and to keep osteoporosis away.

Rebounding is very fun, feels good, and is easy. It is great for your immune system, brain, and cellulite! (woot!) I've got this rebounding DVD and it is pretty fun, and surprisingly challenging. Needak and Reboundair are considered to be the best rebounders for your health. My friend Evie sells the ReboundAIR at her site here.

How to choose supplements and vitamins

Today I want to share some advice I often give to people about trying new vitamins and supplements.

First of all, people usually want to know how to tell if a vitamin is a good quality or not.
Low-quality vitamins and supplements usually have a large number of fillers, starches, and often even aspartame. Look at the ingredients first to see what the non-nutrient items are that are included. If you see a lot of them, you might want to keep on looking for something else. You also want to weed out the ones with aspartame right away. (Children's vitamins usually have aspartame in them--horrible and poisonous!) MSG and its various forms are also sometimes in vitamins. I recommend the site MSG Myth to learn more about the many ingredients that are derivatives of MSG.

You want to get a vitamin that is affordable and easily absorbed into your body, and in a form you can easily remember to take. You can have the best vitamins in the world, but if you hate to take them or forget all the time, it isn't going to do you any good.

When it comes to vitamins or supplements that you are expecting to experience a result from (like energy from Bee Strong),
I recommend that people start out with just 1 or maybe 2 items at first and see how you feel after a couple weeks of just using those. That way you know what's working and what's not. Did it give you the energy you were looking for? If yes, do you want to adjust the dose a little higher or lower? I tell people to just take the smallest effective amount that helps them. No need to go overboard.

Now obviously, for something like a calcium supplement (for instance) you probably aren't going to feel any different from taking them, but you know that absorbable calcium is very important for your bone health, so you want to find a good source for it that you can afford and be consistent about, and continue on. Don't *not* take supplements like calcium just because you don't *feel* anything.

However, if you start taking a new calcium supplement and you notice that it makes you feel sick, now you know that maybe you need to try a different one. If you had tried it along with 6 other new vitamins, you won't know which one is the likely culprit. Get it? :)


If someone wants you to buy a whole bunch of stuff at once, it is going to make it hard for you to tell what to attribute any success or problem to a particular item. By taking it slow you can find what truly works well for you, and not waste money on products that aren't going to be a help to you.

Yes, eventually you will probably want to take a good multi-vitamin, a calcium supplement, and possibly several other items to address your unique needs. Just take it one step at a time when getting started, and work your way up to all of the items that you want and need. (Obviously, this is not meant as contradictory advice to something that a health professional may have told you. This is just a general rule of thumb that works for many people.)