Herb remedies from Granma's book

 

Did your grandma have any unusual home remedies?

It seems like every grandma has one or two unique home remedies that they pass on from generation to generation.

In the good old days people used to rely on time tested remedies, a do it yourself cures.

Here are some of them:

 

Do you feel you are getting sick? Then, you need salty water!

Salty water soothes the inflamed throat, and irritations caused by bacteria and allergens quickly disappear. Gargling salty water three times a day reduces respiratory infection.

 

Stomach cramps? Drink chamomile tea!

Chamomile contains glycine, which reduces the contractions in the lower intestines.

 

Bad breath? Try parsley!

Parsley successfully destroys bacteria that cause bad breath.

Reduce swelling and inflammation with cabbage leaves

Even doctors recommend cabbage leaves for swelling and inflammation. Press directly secure with a bandage. Hold during night.

 

Cracked lips? Healed them with honey

Moisten your lips with warm water, put a small layer of honey and wait some time to dry. Apply paraffin wax and leave for 15 minutes. Remove with cotton you've dipped in hot water. Repeat this every day, for several weeks ...

Cardboard kitchen

Why not turn empty cardboards into this?

Be creative!

Easy Recycle Project - Toilet paper rolls

 

Here are some ideas for empty toilet paper rolls DIY easy projects. You can do this even as a craft project with your kids.

Pen holder

You will need 4 empty toilet paper rolls, small piece of carton, stapler, glue and colours for decoration.

   

 

Jewelry display

Thanks to Claire for this fabulous idea

 

 

Protect Important Documents

Before storing diplomas, marriage certificates, and other important documents, roll them tightly and insert them in paper towel tubes. This prevents creases and keeps the documents clean and dry.

 

Flower wall art

See the whole story here

Fancy Bag

I found these bags here. There is no tutorial, but I believe that it is not difficult to make one.

Cute ornaments

This is very, very cute. Thanks to My Very Educated Mother blog.

And of course, you can do plenty of kids craft projects, JUST BE CREATIVE!

Stuffed toys

 

Does you child love stuffed toys? Are they all over the place?

Here are some ideas how to store them, and at the same time to be easily accessible to your kid.

Wall display

Attach a strip of Velcro on the wall to stick all fluffy stuffed animals and puppets for an easy find (low, within toddlers’ reach)! (idea by organizer Julie Mihaly)

WIRE PLANTERS ON THE WALL

 

Toy net

Use a toy net or any type of canopy that hangs in a corner

 

Strawberries

 

As the strawberries season is approaching I thought I searched a bit about some tips and tricks on strawberries – how to keep them fresh, or, how to clean them. You would agree with me that washing and taking out the top leaves.

So, here are some tips I found:

Do not wash the strawberries until you eat them.

If you don’t have tupperware, or similar container, put them in a GLASS jar. 

When it comes to washing and cleaning, remove caps from strawberries only after washing (the caps keep the water from breaking down the texture and flavor inside the strawberries.

I wonder how this has never come to my mind before

So easy. Just use a pipe.

And then, prepare them the easiest way

While still wet, roll them lightly in a little almond meal.

Serve.

Photo and recipe by Just another food blog

Mushroom Meringues

 

Ingredients:

15 meringues

1 glass of minced walnuts

125 gr. butter

 

Blend the meringues. Mix the butter and minced walnuts together and add the blended meringues. Stir the mixture well. Use this dough to form balls the size of a walnut, for the mushroom cap. Carefully make the mushroom stem with a bottle neck and stick them to the caps. Decorate with cacao powder. Cool them in a fridge and serve.

Y7YGJNAHYA8Z

Naturally dyed Easter Eggs

After writing the previous post on dangerous food colours, the first thing that came to my mind was – what about Easter Eggs? I remember that my grandmother used to dye her eggs for Easter with a dark red powder and red onion.

I searched for other natural colors for Easter Eggs dyeing and this is want I found and put together:

Yellow – Carrot, Turmeric Curcuma, or Saffron

    

The egg will be more yellow if you use all three ingredients. The best would be to use 3 tablespoons of turmeric curcuma powder, 3 spoons of shredded carrot and 3 spoons of saffron. Add some sugar in the water and boil them for 30 minutes. Put the already boiled eggs and keep them in this water all night long.

Red – beetroot

Prepare 1 l. of water, 3 glasses beetroot juice and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Put the eggs and boil them slowly. After they are boiled, leave them in at least 1 more hour.

Dark Red – red onion

There are two ways how to do this. You either boil the eggs together with the outer red layers of the onion, or carefully wrap every egg in the red onion layers. The colour intensity depends on the time boiling the eggs and keeping them together.

Blue – red cabbage

Shred the red cabbage, squeeze it, and put it in a pot, together with water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Boil together for 30 minutes. If you want to achieve a marble look of your eggs, use only the water, and if you want blue colour, put the eggs in the pot and leave them overnight.

Green – Spinach

Put the spinach in a water, and leave it for 3 hours. Boil it for 30 minutes, and put the eggs to stay overnight.

   Photo courtesy by: Ecofabulous

Food E Numbers to Avoid

When you go shopping, especially food shopping, do you read food labels? Are you interested what’s in it? And more important – do you understand all those words and abbreviations?

I am one of those people who never, or, rarely reads food labels. Or, better say - I used to be. After stumbling upon several articles about food additives, emulsions and food colours, I realized that the more I learn about this, the more concerned I get.

And, of course, I even found some EU Regulations on labeling food, in particular food dyes, that gives me reasons to start thinking that our health, and the health of our children is at stake.

Food additives are substances added intentionally to foodstuffs to perform certain technological functions, for example to colour, to sweeten or to help preserve foods. All food additives are identified by an E number.

E100 - E199 Colours

Colours are one of the more controversial E number categories, as there has been some research suggesting some of the artificial colours are responsible for causing hyperactivity in children. They also may cause asthma and cancer.

E200 - E299 Preservatives

E300 - E399 Antioxidants and Acidity Regulators

E400 - E499 Thickeners, Stabilisers and Emulsifiers

E500 - E599 Acidity Regulators and Anti-Caking Agents

E600 - E699 Flavour Enhancers

E900 - E999 Miscellaneous E Numbers

E1000 - E1999 Additional Chemicals

I tried to make a summary of my research and list the DANGEROUS and TOXIC E Numbers – Colours to AVOID!

So, here it is:

E Number	Name	Category	Side Effect	Where
E102 E103	Tartrazine alkanet, alkannin	Colour - Yellow and Orange	Forbidden in some parts of the western world! May increase hyperactivity in affected children. Asthmatics sometimes react badly. Take care if you are sensitive to Aspirin	Sweats, busicits
E123	Amaranth	Colour - Red	Very Dangerous May increase hyperactivity in affected children. Take care if you are sensitive to Aspirin. BANNED in some countries	cake mixes, fruit-flavoured fillings, jelly crystals
E129	Allura Red AC	Colour - Red	Avoid if you suffer from asthma, rhinitis (including hay fever) and urticaria (an allergic rash also known as hives	Widely used as food colouring, in snacks, sauces, preserves, soups, wine, cider etc.
E151	Brilliant Black BN	Colour – Black	People who suffer from allergic conditions, asthma, rhinitis, urticaria, etc. should avoid this substance	Widely used in drinks, sauces, snacks, wines, cheese etc

You can read more about this here, and here

 
Photo Courtesy SlashFood.com

Good Appetite!