Here's to your health!

This website is just bursting with herbal remedies and makes mention of the author's grandmother's 'doctoring journals' ... take a peek and see if it offers inspiration for a natural 'cure' for what ails you.

Old World Cures for Winter Ailments

Do You Want To Feel Better?

Several years ago I was a wreck physically:  Sleepless nights, aches and pains in feet, shoulders, knees and hips.  Creaky knees when climbing the stairs.  Dry skin on face.  It is not by some magic pill that I feel well now.  I did not look forward to growing any older.

Fast forward five years.  With a transition to a better diet, one that includes a variety of whole foods .. including grass fed meats, raw milk, organic farm eggs, organic produce, bone broths, healthy fats, cod liver oil and magnesium supplements, and almost zero processed foods, I have made a transformation health wise to feeling more energetic and zero pain. 

Shame on Western medicine practices that 'sell' pills for this and that and totally overlook that our food is the key to our health.  You really are what you eat. 

It's a bit more expensive to eat healthy .. but you only have one body.  And future medical expenditures for poor health will, in the end, be more costly to 'fix' than taking care of our physical well being at a younger age. 

How does a person go from a poor diet to a healthy diet?  SLOWLY.  One area at a time.  I started by eliminating processed foods that were causing hives.  Then cut way back on sugar and simple carbs.  While increasing fresh produce.  Then adding sprouted grains, homemade bone broths and finally, cod liver oil and an occasional dose of magnesium. 

If you are in poor health, please consider your diet and treat your food as your sustaining life force to good nutrition. 

Teach yourself how to grow a few edible vegetables .. and add to your garden each year.  Teach your children and grandchildren how food is grown.  Cook together with your family.  Teach yourself and family new skills each year to provide, cook, bake obtain good quality food.  With the speed of the internet, you can hone your skills in no time.  Take baby steps towards a healthier future.  The earlier you start with your children, the easier the transition. 

Who needs the gym?  Workout in the garden.  Walk around your neighborhood.  Use the stairs instead of the elevator.  Exercise should be free! 

Here's to your good health!

A Pickle By Any Other Name

It's pickle making time and we've got a bounty of cukes this year from the garden. 

Dill Pickles

I've got two half gallon mason jars fermenting with sour pickles.  The taste test will have to wait 5-7 more days.  Recipe here.

I've heard of two ailments that dill pickle juice can possibly remedy.

1) a mild tummy ache

2)  muscle cramps

With a mild tummy ache this morning I took a small shot of dill pickle juice.  While the tummy ache eventually went away, I think this helped with causing me to burp so may aid in heartburn relief.  One try is not enough to make any conclusions.

Taking a small amount (2.5 oz) of dill pickle juice is reported to speed up relief from muscle cramps.  If you have a medical condition that limits salt, check with your doctor first.  Be sure to check out the links for more details. 

From the Original White House Cookbook, 1887 edition ... under 'Health Suggestions' ... it mentions on page 495:  "Nervous spasms are usually relieved by a little salt taken into the mouth and allowed to dissolve."

Yea or Nay?  What do you say?  Do you have an old time remedy for a tummy ache and/or muscle cramps/spasms? 

Fruit Tree Pests ~ Killed Naturally

I came across this blog that has a remedy for fruit tree moths and thought it might be worth a try this spring (when we ever get into spring ... ugh) .. anyhow.  Check it out if you have such trees that are plagued with moths/worms.

Moth Killer Recipe

Enjoy the day!

How to 'Convert' a Picky-Eater

My  5 year old grandson has a limited taste palette and he often won't eat the meals I prepare.  So .. I have been telling him about nutrition one bite at a time.  We have chats about my garden and the farm where we get some of our food.  He is now my kitchen helper washing and peeling carrots, chopping lettuce, and adding ingredients to the cooking pots.  Observing, soaking in, and hands on assistance is converting him to a boy that now enjoys carrots, milk, and even butter.  This morning I had him help churn butter in a crock.  Prior to today, he would always tell me, 'I don't like butter' .. not even hidden under jelly on toast.  After his try at making butter, I made him toast .. and he insisted Grandma not cover up 'his' butter with jelly.  We have little chats about where his food comes from each time he comes over.  That boy will one day be a discerning eater ... by golly!

Bone Health ..

I've written about the benefits of making your own beef and chicken stock before.  When we purchase our beef from a local ranch, I always ask for about 15 pounds of bare bones cut in 2 inch pieces (no meat).  These get roasted (approx. 5 lbs at a time and the rest are frozen until needed) in a moderately hot oven (400F) for two hours in a roasting pan .. then added to my enamel canning kettle with 5 quarts of water, 4 large yellow onions, quartered and skins left on, a pound of whole carrots (don't peel) .. and a head of celery (I used the woody parts and leaves from my garden crop) .. NO SALT.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 12 hours .. adding water if necessary to end up with 5 quarts of liquid.  After defatting and straining the liquid, it can be frozen or canned for later use.  This year I canned it due to limited space in my freezer.  When refrigerated is congeals .. so you know that it's got lots of nutritional properties.

chicken stock

It always amazes me after making soup and consuming this broth for several weeks, that I notice less and less aches and pains .. and cricks in my bones.  My shoulder injury from a year ago spring is healed as well.

For chicken stock, buy whole chickens and save the backs and wing tips.  Freeze wrapped individually in plastic wrap until you have about 8-9.  Fill a canning kettle with the frozen bones, 3-4 onions, carrots, and celery .. you can add a few herbs too .. NO SALT.  This doesn't take nearly as long to make as beef stock, as you don't have to roast the bones, and it cooks in about 3-4 hours on the stove top.  Defat, strain and store same as the beef broth in freezer or by canning.

Forget those little bouillon cubes and broth in a can from the market.. make your own broth from bones that most people throw away.


Be sure when freezing to use freezer safe containers.  I prefer to use straight sided glass jars (without narrow openings as these will crack), leaving about an inch or two for expansion as it freezes.

Broth is beautiful - 

Grandma's Remedy

To break up the winter doldrums, today I'm going to try a periodic piece about how I think 'grandma' would have found/fixed/made a solution to a basic need during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Today's problem .. oldest son is sick with a sore throat AND an empty pantry.  Calling me .. he asked if I had anything to eat that would not hurt his throat when swallowing.  He is used to buying canned soups .. which I don't buy.  Not having a tremendous amount of time I threw together something nutritious and comforting that my grandma would have made.

Gr-gr-grandma Minnie

Turkey Spatzen Soup: (small German dumplings)

1 quart turkey stock (I keep homemade on hand in the refrigerator and freezer .. grandma would have canned it for shelf storage)
1/4 cup each chopped - onion, carrot, celery
salt & pepper to taste

dumpling dough as follows - 

one egg, 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cup cake flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp double acting baking powder (organic),
a small pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp dried parsley

To make soup base:

Heat the broth and veggies, salt and pepper to a low simmer.

To make spatzen:

Beat egg in a small mixing bowl with a fork; stir in the water.  In a medium size bowl, add the dry ingredients .. then blend with the liquid.  Mix well with fork.  Dough will be more like a thick batter.

spatzen dough

With stock simmering on low, drop 1/2 teaspoon size amounts of dough a few at a time.  They will sink .. then start to float.  Keep adding a few more small spoons of the batter .. not so much as to cool the soup .. it needs to be at a constant simmer.

Makes about 2-4 servings

turkey with spatzen soup

This soup took less than twenty minutes .. start to finish and can be easily doubled.
Our great grandparents made most of their meals from scratch.  Simple wholesome ingredients were used .. because that's all they had ... hum .. just imagine only having basic whole foods to choose from .. what a concept .. how far we've strayed away from that idea.  Let's get back to basics for the sake of our family's health! 

Brief History of Home Canning
Health Benefits of Homemade Broth (turkey, chicken, beef, etc.)

If you are interested in starting a 'Grandma's Remedy' page each week and want to link up, leave a comment.