Category Archives: home remedies

Healthy feet – part 2

frugal strategies, home remedies

After a year of my dd experiencing pain in her feet, I finally found out that the issue was fairly simple to resolve – the cause of the pain was slightly fallen arches, and the answer was orthotics.

Just a week after the appointment in which the orthodist told me the worst thing for dd was to go barefoot, we had a well-read guest for a Shabbos meal.  We have a similar holistic approach to health and nutrition and somehow we stumbled onto the topic of foot health.  I told him my discomfort with the idea that going barefoot was harmful, and my sense that orthotics was addressing the symptoms but not doing anything to treat the cause itself.

In response, he told me of a book he read called Born To Run.  In it are discussed an ancient tribe that lives in Mexico called the Tarahumara. The Tarahumara can run extremely long distances without stopping (100 miles at a time) in an area that has a harsh terrain.  Not only that, but people in their nineties can do this, too!  And they do it without the benefit of expensive running shoes that have been engineered after decades of extensive research, but wearing thin sandals. And though 80% of runners experience foot and leg injuries every year, these people with their seemingly primitive shoes rarely experience injuries, even though they log so many more miles than the typical modern runner.

I wanted to read the book myself to learn more about this, but wasn’t able to get it until this Sunday from my library.  Since it took me five weeks to get the book, I did some research online to learn a bit more about foot health and what kind of shoes are actually most beneficial to the feet (but I was glad to finally be able to sit down with the book!).  In my eagerness to learn more about this, I read the 289 page book at one sitting.  (Here‘s a 1 1/2 minute clip of the author in which you can see his new way of running and foot gear; I thought it was worth watching.)  There was a lot of information about body mechanics, but I’ll sum up what I learned.

The foot is a very complex appendage.  It is very sensitive, and is made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 tendons, and 18 muscles.  When you wear shoes, it weakens this supportive network of your foot, similar to when an arm or leg are put in a cast – tendons get stiff, muscles get weaker.  As the muscles of the foot get weaker, the arch collapses and other injuries occur.  So here was the answer to my unspoken question at the orthodist – why does an arch fall?  And how does wearing orthodics help that?

My understanding in short is that the arch falls because the muscles of the foot aren’t being used enough.  Orthodics are like a crutch for the foot – the create artificial support that the weakened foot isn’t creating for itself.  But to really remedy the underlying issue, it seems the foot needs to be exercised more, not less, in order to strengthen those muscles.  (It very much reminds me of eye glasses, another compensatory measure that leads to increasing muscle weakness over time.)

It seems that minimalist shoes are best for allowing your foot to mimic being barefoot, but other than the specialty shoes I’ve looked into (Vibram, Vivo, Nike Free), I’m unclear about if inexpensive canvas shoes with minimal support are better than good quality shoes in terms of allowing the foot to exercise more (if so, dd has a few pairs of those).  Dd developed the problem she had after a year of wearing Crocs all the time, and the orthodist told us that shoes like that are what keep her in business!  I think a shoe like Crocs might be problematic because there’s so much cushioning on the sole but no support all around, whereas a thinner sole would allow the foot to better protect itself from harmful walking patterns.  When it comes to running shoes, a study showed that ironically, the more expensive the running shoes, the higher the injury rate for runners was.  Those wearing less expensive shoes were actually better off than those with shoes with all of the technology behind it. When the foot is less cushioned, you’re more aware of how you use your feet and adapt accordingly.

I’m strongly leaning toward Vibram Five Fingers, even though they look so darn funky.  But I’m sure my dd wouldn’t wear them in public, and around the house I told her she might as well go barefoot!  My kids are like me – they’re willing to do alternative stuff, but want to look ‘normal’ in the process.  😆  The Vivo Terra Plana shoes look normal, but they are so extremely expensive – over $100 for a pair of flats – and I don’t know how long they last.

I find the idea of spending huge amounts of money to mimic not wearing shoes to be kind of contradictory.  Obviously walking barefoot is free, but since one still needs to wear shoes when out and about, I’m still wondering if there are inexpensive options to the specialty shoes.

I’m looking for a good buy on Vibrams and when I find them plan to get a pair for myself (my arches fell after six pregnancies).  I think if I get dd the Vibrams and can get her to wear them, once her feet feel better it will be easier for her to consider wearing them more frequently, but I’m not willing to pay so much money and have them sit in the box, so it will depend on finding a good deal.  For now I’ve suggested to dd that she go barefoot or in socks as much as she can when at home, and am  still leaning toward having her buy several pairs of Teva shoes when she gets to Israel.    I haven’t found anything yet that says Birkenstock-type shoes (like Teva) are problematic, but I’m not able to independently come to an educated conclusion about that – I don’t know how the body mechanics are affected by cork bottom shoes.  As of now I think it’s a decent option – certainly preferable to a lifetime of orthotics.  I’m far from an expert, but learning so much about how the feet ‘work’ has been very interesting and educational.  If anyone knows of any good options for minimalist shoes, please share!

Avivah

Arnica – a must have remedy

home remedies,

A few weeks ago an older woman fell down in front of a store I had just walked into.  My ds11 rushed in to tell me that my dd15 was outside helping her, so I went out to see what the situation was.  The woman had stumbled over the cement parking divider and fallen forward, hitting her head hard.  As soon as I saw her head (bleeding and a large lump rising fast), I started rummaging around in my purse for my vial of arnica, THE homeopathic remedy I don’t leave home without.  Unfortunately my kids had given some to my baby a couple of days before and put it back in the wrong place in my purse; fortunately there were still huge mounds of snow in the parking lot so after helping her to her car and cleaning up her head, I was able to make her a makeshift ice pack by ripping up a plastic shopping bag and tying it around some snow that I packed together.  But I felt frustrated not to have been able to find the arnica when I needed it.

Yesterday I was listening to a cassette and the speaker mentioned that arnica stops bleeding – I’ve heard this before a number of times and every time forgotten about that aspect of arnica’s healing qualities, and I mentally resolved to fix this little fact into my mind this time.  A half hour later I was picking up something from a friend’s home and in the few minutes I was there, her 9 yo daughter cut her head badly when she fell while outside playing with my dd9.  When I saw her, blood was gushing all over her head and onto the ground and I couldn’t tell what the size of the cut was, or even where on her head it was.

Fortunately this time the arnica in my purse was back where it was supposed to be and I had the timely reminder about it being effective in stopping bleeding (though I would have given it anyway because of the blow to the head and issue of swelling), so I quickly gave her about six or seven pellets.  Her father asked me what I was giving her, and I told him it was a remedy for shock and trauma and would stop the bleeding and reduce any swelling.  Cuts to the head always bleed profusely and scare the living daylights out of parents since it looks so alarming, but within five minutes the bleeding had totally stopped.  (It was probably less but I wasn’t keeping an eye on my watch.)

I wanted to give her a second dose after ten or fifteen minutes but by then the emergency medical volunteers had arrived (in a case like this it’s recommended to give a dose every fifteen minutes for an hour).  As I was watching the little girl getting more and more ‘shocky’ looking (pale, staring, looking faint), I knew she needed more arnica, but the medics were taking care of her and it wasn’t appropriate for me to be involved at that point.   I did mention to her mother after she was taken to the emergency room that if they could pick some up at the health food store, it would be a good thing to give her a few doses over the next day for the trauma. Fortunately she only needed one stitch and was back home a few hours later.

Arnica is a must have remedy.  It’s the only homeopathic remedy that I buy two of – one for my house, one for my purse; there are so many situations that it can be helpful in, and having it immediately can allay all kinds of bumps, bruises, and trauma.  My ten month old baby recently was at the stage of learning to pull himself up and then falling over backwards hard – he quickly learned to recognize the arnica vial and as soon as he sees it, he stops crying immediately and his eyes brighten up while he waits for me to give him some (it’s in tiny sugar pellets).  I also bought some arnica flowers to make a muscle rub, but have yet to get around to that project.

Something I especially appreciate about homeopathic remedies is that it’s very easy to get kids to take them since they taste so good.  This was very important at a time like today, when my friend’s daughter had no idea what I was giving her and had blood running all over as I gave it to her – being able to tell her it tasted like candy made it much easier.

Eventually I’d like to learn lots more about homeopathic remedies so I can effectively use a wide variety of them, but for now arnica is a very useful remedy with many day to day applications – any bumps, bruises, falls, or cuts.  When my oldest son was 6 he was hit by a bus and thrown across the street (the passengers on the bus thought he was killed but miraculously he only suffered a cracked collar bone), I took him to my pediatrician a day or two after the accident to be sure everything was okay (he had been in the emergency room overnight for examination and supervision immediately after he was hit, so it wasn’t like I waited two days after a major accident to wander in to a doctor).  She was a Russian doctor who took one look at him and told me, “He’s in shock.  Give him some arnica immediately!”   At that time I didn’t know what it was, but in the last ten years, I’ve learned!  (She also taught me about garlic oil for ear pain.)

It’s ironic that using arnica sounds like something new-agey but it’s actually something that was a well-known remedy for a long time. A few months ago my dh bought a comic book written over a half century ago (I think it was Little Nemo), and when someone in the book got hurt, my kids got a kick out of reading that arnica was recommended!

I usually buy arnica itself, but last time I was at the health food store they had a new product, which is what I used today.  It’s called Arnicare Trauma, and contains arnica, bellis, and ledum; it’s made by Boiron.  It’s not better than arnica alone, but the formulation is slightly different to address a slightly different concern.  If I had to choose between the two, I’d go with plain arnica.  One vial of a homeopathic remedy costs about $7 and is worth every penny.

(This post is part of Fight Back Fridays.)

Avivah

Oh, no, the mumps is coming! Puhleeze.

home remedies, nutrition

Today I received the following email from my synagogue regarding what is being portrayed by the city health department as a public health warning.  You can see the response I sent to the synagogue at the end as well as additional comments.

“We want to share some important information with you regarding a continuing mumps outbreak in this part of the country.

The situation has involved over 1200 people, primarily members of the Hasidic community in New York and New Jersey.  While this health alert targets the Hasidic community, we are aware that the Yeshiva community has been affected as well.

There have been no outbreaks in the Hasidic community in Baltimore City .  However, with Passover fast approaching and with it the opportunity for extensive social interaction with people from the affected areas of New York and New Jersey , the Health Department aims to make the community aware of the issue and to encourage everyone, especially children, to be sure they are fully immunized against mumps. This is achieved by receiving 2 doses of MMR vaccine, at least 4 weeks apart.  Typically, one dose is given at 12 months and the second at 4-6 years, prior to school entry.  However, the doses can be administered at a later age.  The other way to be protected, of course, is to have had the disease, as confirmed by a physician.

We are asking your assistance in communicating this information in an appropriate manner to your family and friends.  You can cite the facts that are presented in the attached document. The Health Department has already sent out information to the pediatricians and federally qualified health centers in the area.

Please keep in mind that this is a time-sensitive issue.  Passover is coming; the first night is March 29.  With families joining together for the holiday, that will create optimum opportunity for mingling and infection.

The vaccination requires 10-14 days to produce protection.  So it is imperative that you make your family and friends aware of this so they can ensure their protection in time for the holiday.”

Things like this disturb me because they are: 1) based on inaccurate information; 2) creating fear and hysteria; 3) don’t have any helpful information to balance the message being sent.  Here’s the message I sent in response:

“I’m disappointed to receive a message like this from the shul.  Those who are familiar with the mumps outbreak know that in fact the majority of those who contracted it were fully vaccinated on schedule, and therefore the recommendation to take care of vaccinations is unhelpful. I realize the purpose of this message was to be helpful but I’ve watched a lot of hysteria in the frum community online build for at least a couple of months now based on inaccurate information like this.  People are frantic since their vaccinated children are getting mumps and the only information they have is that the vaccination should have prevented it.

Mumps is a minor and unpleasant childhood illness that is easily dealt with with mega doses of vitamin C in the event that someone does contract it; let’s not get people worked up about something like this, particularly at a time of year when so many people are already stressed out and won’t have the time to get accurate information. “

I realize whoever sent it out was basically cutting and pasting the information from the city health department,  seeing it as a service to the community.  I don’t see this as a negative reflection of the synagogue employee or volunteer who sent this, clearly trying to be helpful.  But I do see statements like these: “With families joining together for the holiday, that will create optimum opportunity for mingling and infection” as inspiring fear.

I also think that since young children are the least affected by mumps, the suggestion to be sure that especially children get the vaccination makes no sense.  It’s not the kids who have to worry about long term side affects; it’s post adolescent boys and men (I’ll put this concern into perspective below).

I was on a discussion board a couple of months ago when a woman shared that her daughter overseas had a roommate who contracted the mumps.  I couldn’t believe the extremely  emotionalized and dramatic reaction of the mother – threatening to sue the school (as if the school has the power to keep germs from circulating in the air :roll:) since they must have allowed a student who wasn’t fully vaccinated in, saying that those who don’t vaccinate are responsible for spreading disease, and on and on and on.

When other posters jumped on board to agree with her and blame all those horrible and selfish natural- granola- crunchy-negligent parents who don’t care about anyone and leave a trail of disease and suffering in their wake, I felt it relevant to share just one tiny little detail that was leaving the medical establishment in Israel (where this happened) scratching its head – most of those who got the mumps were fully vaccinated (as I mentioned in my note to the synagogue).  An investigation was launched there to figure out what happened – since clearly the issue was  the lack of effectiveness of the vaccine.

Does anyone else wonder why a critical point like this is conveniently being omitted?  Maybe because noting it would create a conflict between what you’re being told to do and what will actually be of benefit.  There’s nothing being suggested to protect oneself from the mumps except vaccination – and what can they tell you to do when you’ve already followed their suggestions and it hasn’t helped?!

Fear of the unknown is hard to deal with and it’s understandable that people overreact when faced with something they hardly know anything about.  Here’s a little bit of information to dispel the fear.  The mumps for many generations was a common childhood illness – uncomfortable but rarely dangerous.  Lifetime immunity was a nice side benefit for those who had the mumps.  Some of you might be as old as me, lol, and remember when chickenpox was considered in this way.

Is someone reading and thinking, “doesn’t she know about the sterility issue? You can’t take a chance with that, can you?” Isn’t it a wonder that humankind has somehow perpetuated itself despite the majority of males for hundreds of years having the mumps?  Hmm.

The reality is that only about two percent of males who get mumps after puberty have testicular swelling.  Of that very small percentage of post adolescent boys,  98% have swelling on only one side.  Now, of that very, very small percentage that have swelling of both testicles, the huge majority recover and have no issues affecting sterility. So you don’t have to be a professor of mathematics to realize that statistically this is unlikely to be a problem.

And you already know I’m of the belief that building up a strong immune system is your best defense for any kind of sickness (along with lots of vitamin C and rest).  I wrote about guidelines for taking vitamin C here.  A positive outlook can do wonders, too!  I won’t be worrying about this one tiny bit, and I hope none of you will, either!

Avivah

Echinacea glycerite

home remedies

Several weeks ago I  preapared a batch of echinacea glycerite.   I made about five cups worth, which should last a long time when you consider that it’s given by the dropperful.    And a dropperful only holds half a teaspoon!

A glycerite is similar to a tincture, but uses vegetable glycerine as a base for the herbs instead of alcohol. To make it, I used equal amounts of echinacea and yarrow, a sprinkle of cayenne (I’ll leave this out in the future), 2 -16 oz bottles vegetable glycerin, a little bit of water, and brewed it for three days on the lowest flame.  Using glycerine makes it pleasant tasting for kids and adults –  you can serve it easily by putting a dropperful in a cup and adding a little bit of water.  They drink it right now!

A couple days ago dh was giving the kids some elderberry syrup (the littles don’t let us forget to give this to them every morning) and taking some echinacea for himself, and said we should call them Mommy’s yummy-ites  instead of glycerites. 🙂   Everyone has been appreciating my efforts to provide tasty and  enjoyable ways to strengthen their immune systems.

Dh was been feeling under the weather for the last few weeks, and last week I suggested he take a teaspoon of this echinacea blend every hour.  He had been taking it once or twice a day, but with echinacea, that’s not enough.  Echinacea is most effective when taken at the first signs of being under the weather, every hour or two.  I’m happy that he’s now back to himself – I won’t fully credit the echinacea for it, but I’m sure it helped!

Recently  I was somewhere when I met a young couple visiting from out of state. Their toddler was sick and listless, and the parents were very concerned.  Generally I don’t say anything about health or nutrition to people unless I’m asked about it, but the mother knows me for several years and because of some suggestions I gave her regarding pregnancy and childbirth, she was able to avoid some medical issues she was concerned about.  So she knows I’m not a flake.  🙂

Because I could see how helpless they felt, being far from home and not having anything in the house to give her (the father said he wished they had antibiotics for her), I offered them some of this glycerite (I even gave it to my 4 month old baby when he was showing the beginning signs of a cold – he excitedly slurped up the dropperful because it was so tasty).

But the baby’s father said he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of giving her something new (because they don’t want to give her something that might disagree with her), which I respected.  Their toddler had no appetite because of whatever her little body was fighting off, and it was a little sad/ironic to me when right after telling me they wouldn’t give her the echinacea, they gave her a piece of cake and then some very sugary breakfast cereal to encourage her to eat.

Everyone has their own process and their own timeline that they come to new things at….

On the flip side, today a friend came by to get some for her husband, since the health food store was closed, and I was happy to be able to share what we’ve made.

I transfer all of the herbal remedies I’ve made into amber colored glass bottles with dropper lids.  I have 2 oz. and 4 oz. bottles, but for our family I find the 4 oz a more practical size.  When they need to be refilled, I pour it from the larger glass jar that I keep stored in the fridge.  I put a label on each smaller bottle and keep them on the door of my fridge on their own shelf where it’s easy to find them.

Making these herbal remedies is just a matter of finding a recipe and following it.  I took the concept for my mix from a comment in the Bulk Herb Store catalog, which said that echinacea, yarrow and cayenne are a powerful combination.   But the cayenne adds a little bit of a kick that doesn’t enhance the taste and I’d rather in the future just add cayenne to my personal serving of broth when feeling under the weather.

Making your own herbal remedies may sound intimidating or complicated, but if you can bake a cake or cook oatmeal, you can make your own remedies.  It’s very satisfying to be able to learn new things that you can use to help your family stay healthy!

Avivah

Homemade herbal facial steam treatment

home remedies

My dd14 was reading a new book on herbs that I recently bought, Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health.  I got this because it had so many recipes and seemed user friendly, and so far I’m very pleased with it (though naturally it arrived immediately after I finished making all of my glycerites).  Yesterday she asked me about several herbs that were in a recipe she was interested in preparing, for an herbal facial steam. 

We didn’t have all the ingredients, but I told her she was welcome to use anything I had on hand.  She used the following, which is a mixture for normal to oily skin:

  • 3 parts comfrey
  • 1 part raspberry leaves
  • 1 part sage
  • 1/4 part rosemary

It also called for 2 parts calendula, but I didn’t have any.  She mixed up a batch and put it in a glass canning jar to store it and tonight prepared some for a relaxing facial steam.  What that means is that you throw a handful of the mixed herbs into a pot that contains 2 – 3 quarts of boiling water, then cover it and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.  Then she took the pot to the dining room table, sat down and leaned over the pot, and covered her head and the pot with a bath towel to create a mini steam tent.  (You can periodically lift the towel a bit if it gets too hot for you.)

She steamed for six minutes and then emerged invigorated, with her face dripping from sweat.  I figured while the pot was hot I’d try it, too!  That was a very pleasant experience, and as I breathed in the herbal vapors, they felt very soothing and healing internally, too. 

Right after I finished I rinsed my face with cold water and then my mom came by.  I suggested she try it, too!  She did, and I gave her a neck massage for a couple of minutes while she steamed.  Then ds16 tried it (the pot stayed hot for a while!).   A short while after he finished he came to ask me if I noticed a difference in my skin, and I told him I hadn’t paid any attention.  He said his skin was visibly clearer and blackheads were gone.    (Dd9 popped out of bed when she heard my mom come by and she tried it, too, not wanting to be left out – but I don’t think she thought much of it one way or the other.)

This was a relaxing, fun, and frugal way to treat myself to some nurturing self-care right in the comfort of home!

Avivah

Making vitamin capsules

home remedies, nutrition

My computer is still down so I’m sorry I can’t post more often – I miss being here daily!  We’re going to call another computer expert in since the first one can’t figure out what’s wrong. 

I got my most recent order of herbs, and I got something new this time (well, actually I always get something new :)) that we’re putting to use today – I ordered kosher capsules and a capsule ‘machine’ to make filling them easy.  These are already lending themselves to more uses than I expected!

I got the capsules to make using powdered herbs easy, basically the food herbs that are hard to take in large enough amounts when using as more than casual spicing.  But after getting it, I realized that we could use them for the powdered vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) that we use – until now we mixed it into juice but I use pretty massive doses when the kids are under the weather and they don’t  love taking it.  They don’t hate it, either, but finding a more pleasant way that works for everyone seemed to be a good idea.  And when dd14 started to fill them, she asked me if she should add some bioflavonoids to the mix.  (I bought the powdered bioflavonoids last year because it was the only form I found them kosher, but it is nasty tasting.  So none of us ever use it, even though you’re supposed to take the sodium ascorbate with it to maximize absorption.)  I thought that was a great idea, so now the kids have made over 300 capsules of this vitamin C mix – they used 4 parts sodium ascorbate to 1 part bioflavonoids.  Each capsule is about 500 mg and easy to take.

The next capsules they prepared today were: ginger, tumeric, and cinnamon.  Dd14 has an extra bone in her foot that is causing her pain when walking, and I’ve been taking her to the podiatrist every 3 weeks since she got back from camp this summer.  He has been trying low intervention ways to deal with the issue, but at the last visit he said the inflammation is interfering.  He prescribed a local anti-inflammatory patch, but my insurance wouldn’t cover it and I’m not so sure I want to use it anyway.  (It would be over $200 every couple of weeks, if I do choose to try it.)  Dh asked him why he doesn’t just tell dd to stay off her feet for a week, and the doc said that wasn’t realistic.  I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of anything so obvious!  Instead I started researching natural anti-inflammatories.  Some of those are tumeric and ginger, and she’ll start taking the capsules today.  I think that this will take longer than the medical patch, but I’m more comfortable with it and so is she.  And of course we’re encouraging her to stay off her foot as much as possible.  Hopefully this two pronged approach will be helpful.

Since I know someone is going to ask, I got the capsules from Mountain Rose Herbs – a bag of 1000 was $23 (I got size 00), and the capsule filling machine was $13.  You  can buy less, but this size bag was a good idea – my dd9 (her birthday is today :)) told me that if each of us has 2 vitamin c capsules a day, all that they prepared will last us just a month.  🙂

Avivah

Homemade Oral Rehydration Solution

home remedies, recipes

I posted this the day before the hacking situation and didn’t initially realize this post was lost when the system went down.  Though I said that I wouldn’t repost anything, I’m reposting this because I think it’s a valuable thing to have on hand.

These are notes that I made for myself that I’m sharing.  I’m obviously not a health care practitioner and like all that I post about, this is what I would do if I found myself with a family member dehydrated to help them. 

Here are several versions, basically all the same idea:

Homemade Oral Rehydration Solution

1) 1/2 t. salt, 2 T. honey/ sugar, 1/4 t. potassium chloride; 1/2 t. trisodium citrate (can be replaced by baking soda), 1 quart clean water

2) 3 T. sugar/honey, 1 t. salt, 1 quart water

3) 8 t. sugar/honey, 1 t. salt,  1 quart water

Here are signs of dehydration: weakness, headache, fainting, dryness of mouth, decreased saliva, lack of/decreased urine that is dark and highly concentrated, sunken eyes, loss of skin elasticity, low blood pressure (especially upon sitting up or standing), fast pulse when laying down or sitting up.

If you suspect dehydration is developing, administer the rehydration solution by mouth.  If the patient is too ill to drink, give drop by drop, work up to a teaspoon if possible.  Don’t stop until patient can keep down one quart.

How much solution is needed?  Adults and large children should drink at least three quarts of oral rehydration solution a day until well.  Each feeding: for a child under 2 – between 1/4 – 1/2 large cup; for older children – between 1/2 – 1 large cup.

If the  child vomits, wait ten minutes and then begin again.  Feed slowly, small sips at a time by teaspoon.  The body will retain some fluids and salts needed even though there is vomiting.  Extra liquids should be given until diarrhea stops. 

Hopefully none of you will need this, but as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this was very helpful to me when my dd8 got dehydrated on Shabbos and started repeatedly throwing up. 

Avivah

Making first aid salve

frugal strategies, home remedies, ,

In the beginning of the summer, I shared how we made a salve for poison ivy.  That worked well, but we discovered one problem with it – since we used coconut oil as the base for it, it became liquid at the summer temps.  Then when we put it in the fridge, it would be hard as a rock when we took it out.  We managed with this, and the salve was great.  But one day when it was in its liquified state, someone knocked the open container over and it all spilled out.  And that was the end of that salve. 🙁

So I wanted to make another salve, but decided to improve upon what we did last time – namely to improve the consistency and make it less greasy.  I decided to base this recipe on the ingredient list of the all purpose salve that I bought last year.   Going along with the premise that the first ingredients listed are used more heavily, I weighted the herbs I included accordingly. The basic formula for a salve that I used is 3 T. herbs, 2 c. of oil, and 1 1/2 oz beeswax. (Note – in my opinion this isn’t enough beeswax.)

I chose the following herbs: comfrey – 1 part, plantain – 1 part, echinacea leaves -.5 part, yarrow  – .5 part, and a few olive leaves thrown in for kicks.  🙂  I made four times the recipe above.  I simmered the herbs in oil for a couple of hours, then strained them out.  That gives you herbal infused oil.  Then you mix the beeswax into the infused oil.  I used pastilles (tiny little beeswax balls) that I bought for this purpose.

(A little off topic, but I ended up buying a huge amount of beeswax – I was going to buy a pound but saw that after shipping, it was $15.  And for $35 I was able to buy eight pounds including shipping from a different site – I had a frugal struggle with myself, trying to decide if it was better to spend less money or to get substantially more for my money – and now I  have enough beeswax for the rest of my life.  I think I’ll have to find a new hobby to use it up or my greatgrandchildren will be making herbal salves to take home with them when they visit me!)

The beeswax didn’t mix in well the first time I melted it – it melted but solidified in a layer on top of the oil.  When the pot with all its ingredients were remelted, it mixed in nicely – I don’t know why it needed a second melting.  After the mixture cools, you can decide if it’s the consistency you like.  If it’s too loose, add some more wax; if it’s too thick, add some more oil.  I wanted it a little firmer so I added about another 3/4 cup of pastilles (it was late and I didn’t feel like measuring it exactly), and remelted the whole batch another two times so it could be mixed in.  At the end I also added the last little bit of an aromatherapy oil mix that I’ve had around for about ten years from my doula days.

This morning my ds16 put all of the salve into jars – we now have about eight cups of salve.  (After he put it into the jars, he told me he thinks we should add a little more beeswax to make it firmer.  I told him that suggestion would have been more useful before he put everything in jars!  But it can be remelted and the wax added if I want to do that.)  I ordered different sized tins to package this in, but they haven’t yet arrived, which is why it’s all been transferred to glass jars.   I made a very large amount because I want to give this as gifts for Chanuka, but the basic recipe above will give you a nice amount.  It’s the kind of salve that most people would find valuable to have around, and to buy a 4 oz can of a similar salve would be about $17.  Using that as a baseline price, ds16 calculated the retail value for what we made to be $271!  It was a fraction of that to make it ourselves.

We tried it out first thing today – our cat got a bad cut on his foot sometime during the early morning, deep enough to see the bone.  So dd8 doctored him up (yes, my eight year old daughter does what I’m too squeamish to do :)).  He licked off the first salve she applied, and kicked off the strip of cotton that she tried to tie it on with, but she applied another thick layer and he left it on.  Even though he was clearly in pain, he seemed to appreciate her putting it on.  This should significantly accelerate the healing.

This salve is good for all kinds of cuts, abrasions, bug bites, itching, and diaper rash.  Good for kids, adults, or even pets.  Very useful stuff!

Avivah

How to make elderberry syrup

frugal strategies, home remedies, nutrition, , ,

Last night I made my first batch of elderberry syrup.  It is filled with antioxidants and is good for preventing colds or treating them, depending when you take it.  I bought dried elderberries online, but if you are able to pick them fresh locally, all the better!  Here’s how simple it is to make:

Elderberry syrup

  • 1/2 c. dried elderberries (or 1 c. fresh)
  • 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
  • 3 c. water
  • 1 c. honey

Put the berries in a pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.  Let simmer for 30 – 45 minutes.  Mash the berries with a potato masher, and strain through a fine strainer.  Add honey while liquid is hot, stir, and bottle.  Keep in the fridge – should last 2 – 3 months when refrigerated.

I made four times this recipe and I ended up with three full quarts plus one 16 oz honey jar. I forgot to mash the berries, but since they were dried to start with, I think this was probably less important than when using fresh berries.  I added the cinnamon sticks because they taste good, but also because cinnamon kills bacteria and is great for fighting infections.   I used crystallized honey that was sitting around not being used because the kids said it doesn’t taste as good when it’s crystallized.

Here’s a breakdown of the cost to make it: I bought the dried elderberries for 7.95 lb, and used 2/3 of that (wanted to save some to tincture), so the berries were $5.30.  I used three cups of honey, and if I figured the cost correctly, each cup was $3.33 cup.  That seems high to me (I thought I paid about 2.50 per cup, less when I recently bought small 16 oz containers for 1.99 each), but I based it on googling how many cups of honey are in a gallon (supposedly nine); I buy a gallon/twelve pound container for $30.  So the honey was $10.  I’ll add in .14 for the cinnamon sticks, since I got a container that had thirteen sticks in it for .88 so each stick rounds up to .07.  The total for 12.5 cups of elderberry syrup came out to 15.44.

When you consider 4 fl. oz of Sambucol costs around $12.99, or to use their cheaper price for a larger bottle, 7.8 oz is $21.99, that’s a real bargain! Elderberry syrup from Mountain Rose Herbs is similarly priced with a 4 oz bottle being $13.25.  To put it further into perspective, 4 oz is about a quarter of a cup and 8 oz is half a cup – so I’m getting about thirty five times as much for the same price (my price for 1/4 c. is .31; 1/2 c. is .62).

Because this has a limited shelf life and I don’t want to use up my fridge space hosting three quart sized jars for months, for immediate use I kept one quart plus the little honey jar, and canned the other two quarts so I can keep them on a shelf out of the fridge.

This can be given when a child is showing signs of the cold or a flu, a tablespoon every hour or two, or you can give them a teaspoon each morning as a general immune strengthener.  This could easily be added to tea or (if you let the water boil down more so the final result is thicker) poured on top of pancakes or waffles.  Getting kids to have some of this isn’t hard at all.  This morning we gave the younger kids a teaspoon each, and a minute after ds3 got his spoonful, he came back holding out a cup and asked for a cupful!

Avivah

Making a poison ivy remedy

frugal strategies, home remedies

My ds10 showed me on Shavuos that he has a very bad rash between his fingers, which was super itchy.  (My kids have a way of only telling me about things like this on Shabbos or yom tov, when I can’t do much about it.)  He said he was sure it was poison ivy.  I asked why he thought so, and he told me he pulled out poison ivy with his bare hands when he saw it growing in the yard.  When I asked what made him do that, he said he planned to wash his hands after he pulled it out but forgot.  I mentioned that we have plenty of garden gloves that would be useful for something like this, but he said it was too much work to go into the garage to get them.  When I said we had pairs right on the back porch, too, he said that would have been too much work, too!

So not surprisingly, he now has a very unpleasant case of poison ivy.  I have a recipe in my notebook for a poison ivy remedy that I’ve never made, and decided that it would be instructive for him to prepare it himself.  The recipe called for just three ingredients: burdock root, plantain, and comfrey.  I have comfrey in my small collection of herbs, and burdock and plantain growing wild in the yard.

His best friend came over early in the day, and I sent them both out to harvest the herbs.  Plantain is easy to pick, but the burdock roots are long and skinny so it’s a bit of a job to dig them.  He discovered that using a full sized shovel made the job a lot faster than using a trowel.  Once they came in with enough of the herbs (I had to send them back out a couple more times), I had ds peel the burdock roots and chop them up, then wash the plantain leaves and chop them up. 

He put a cup of burdock and a cup of plantain into a pot with 1/3 cup of dried comfrey.  (The recipe called for equal amounts of each herb in the dried form, so I figured we should use about triple the amount of fresh herbs so it would be the right balance.)  He put enough coconut oil into the pot to cover the herbs, and then let it simmer on low for a couple of hours.  (You can also use Vaseline, or a combination of virgin olive oil and beeswax instead of the coconut oil, but for simplicity, health, and it’s powerful antifungal/antibacterial properties, I prefer coconut oil.)  After it cooked for a while and the herbs were starting to get crispy, dd14 strained it out (he had to leave for his baseball game, or he would have done this, too) and put it in a small glass jar to cool.  We made about 9 oz of salve.   

When he got home from his game, the mixture had solidified, and he put some on his hands.  Very soon he told me that the itching was much less and the irritated red skin was noticeably less inflamed.  After a couple of hours, I suggested he apply some more, and within an hour he told me it was much, much better.   I’ll have him continue to apply it until the rash is entirely gone; I’m hopeful with the help of the salve that it will be pretty quick.

When I placed my last bulk herb order a number of months ago, I ordered a 4 oz can of herbal salve that was good for general antibiotic use, stings, etc, and paid $16.95 for it.  This was a bit of a splurge for me but it seemed like a valuable item to have around.  And it has been very useful for diaper rashes, chapped skin, cuts – it’s been helpful for a number of things, and I also bought a small 1 oz container to keep in my purse.  Four ounces lasts a lot longer than you might expect – we still have almost half of the container left, even after using it frequently. 

We checked the ingredients in the salve that I bought, and saw that it contained both comfrey and plantain, along with three other ingredients.  We realized that the salve we made can easily substitute for the one we purchased in terms of practical usage (reducing skin inflammation, itchiness, healing cuts, diaper rash).  But this cost us a LOT less – the herbs we picked were obviously free, the amount of comfrey we used was probably less than 50 cents, and I bought the expeller pressed coconut oil in a 5 gallon bucket for about $80 a while back (price has gone up since).  Since there are 80 cups in 5 gallons, and I used a cup for this recipe, the cost of the oil was $1.   I’m not going to figure out how much gas we used for two hours on the lowest setting when cooking it, but let’s say that it cost another $1.  That means for less than $2.50 I was able to make a comparable salve to what would have cost me $34 if purchased retail.  We also realized how easy it would be to slightly change the recipe to make a salve that has the same ingredients as the one we purchased; while it would be slightly more expensive, since we’d need to use other herbs that we purchased in bulk instead of harvested ourselves, it would still be only an additional $2 for the entire batch. 

If you want to make a healing wash instead of a salve, use water instead of oil and follow the same directions.  Use the herbal wash to rinse the affected area periodically. 

It was fun and educational for him to make this and see how easy it is to take care of your own health.  And this batch should last us for quite a long time!

Avivah