My garden has brought a whole new dimension to our family. Our children are involved in every stage, from planting the seeds, to weeding, to nurturing, harvesting, and the best part — eating. It gives us something to do together, a reason to be outside more, a reason to interact more, a reason to celebrate our successes and learn from our failures, a reason to get dirty. Did I mention that I love my garden? Because I do.

If you know our family, we are huge Tex-Mex fans. Fresh tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and guac are a staple in the Cooper household so naturally, peppers are a must. Last spring, we planted 9 pepper plants. When it dropped below 100 degrees in north Texas, the peppers finally decided to thrive in a major way. Peppers, peppers everywhere! I’m much too lazy to CAN or pickle my peppers, so I’m dicing and putting them in freezer bags. That way, when it’s taco night, I can just take out a single serving of jalapenos for dinner. Perfect! I’ve also been able to save the seeds to use next spring (yay for not having to buy new seeds every year!). By the way, it’s super easy to save your own seeds and keep them in the freezer, to keep their germination rate high and in tact. It’s not only economical to save your own seeds, but a step in self sufficiency by not having to rely on a store or seed catalog every season. Check out some seed saving tips here.

We’ve got hot banana peppers, sweet banana peppers, bell peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, and a couple weird hybrids that were cross-pollinated with one another: bell-apenos and bell-aneros. There’s something so satisfying in seeing your hard work of nurturing, watering, weeding and tending turn into something delicious. Here’s to fresh, organic peppers all year long!

The first was filled with hope, simple solutions, and tools to better myself and my family. The second? Fear. It was literally all fear-based. I was lectured for 30 minutes on WHY it was imperative to be on MS pharmaceuticals. My philosophies were met with rolled eyes and mocking smiles. And if I continued in my “kooky” ways of alternative treatment, well then, expect to be disabled in some way, shape or form in the next decade. It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN. That’s what the numbers say. That’s what all the scientific research points to, after all. Scientific research, mind you, that was financially-backed by those with monetary interest in getting as many people possible on those drugs.

And the alternative treatments? Well, there IS NO scientific evidence that they do anything to help with MS, I was told. Translation: No evidence = no proof = you’re an idiot to do anything otherwise. Oh, all those people waving their victory flags, saying they were CURED from an otherwise incurable disease because of their healthy lifestyle changes. Those guys? Ya, just ignore them. They don’t have a PhD or MD attached to the backs of their names and therefore have no pull in the scientific community. Whatever they did to cure themselves must have been a fluke. Or they had the wrong diagnosis to begin with. Or they are a one in a million chance of that happening. Don’t listen to those people. Listen to those with money.

Perhaps there is no scientific evidence that alternative treatments cure disease because there is no money to be made on such ideologies. Who would make money when you stopped eating boxed, processed foods? Who would get wealthy if everyone rid themselves of disease and turned into self-sufficient, happy people, not dependent on drugs? How lucky I am to be born in a time when there are so many drug options available to MS patients, I am told over and over. No. I am blessed because of all those small guys who came before me, stood up for their convictions and chose to share their success stories, their inspiration, their victories! I am lucky because I’ve met so many wonderful people willing to impart their knowledge with me, of centuries-old herbal medicine and philosophies. These people aren’t looking to make a quick buck off of me, they are wanting to help me look deeper, to find that root cause of disease and shut off the switch.

The neurologist asked the reasoning, the logic behind my choice in refusing the standard MS drugs. Prayer, I told her. I prayed about it and once I made my decision to follow a path of natural healing, I felt completely at peace. I was then met with a blank stare. I guess there is no scientific evidence that prayers are answered, and therefore I wasn’t speaking her language.

“What’s done is done,” the neurologist stated. There is NO going back. The lesions are there and will NEVER go away. There is NO CURE. These drugs are your insurance policy against the disease progressing further and faster.

See the language used here? No, Never. FEAR! If a person is told over and over they are stupid, they are stupid, they are stupid … they are likely to believe it and over time, even say it to themselves. If a patient is consistently told NO, NEVER, DO WHAT I SAY OR ELSE, what do you think they will believe?? What attitude gets implanted in their heads when it comes to their health?

Contrast that with my appointment with the herbalist:

“I have seen clients do ‘X’ treatment and recover completely from this disease. I’m not making any guarantees, because everyone is different, but THERE IS that POSSIBILITY.”

So you’re saying there’s a chance! I’ll take chance, possibility and hope over fear and ‘being doomed’ any day.

Hope vs. fear. Which one will you choose?

Now I have to insert my asterisk at this point. Both my son and daughter’s lives were saved because of modern medicine. I am so grateful for the role they played in our life-threatening scenarios. Forever grateful. Modern medicine, especially in America, is VERY good at emergency care. They are the best. But I am not talking about emergency care here, I am talking about an autoimmune disease (and most disease that our country is plagued with today). Modern medicine is not good at treating these types of diseases. I don’t doubt that doctors have the best of intentions for their patients. They are not “out to get us” with their fear-based language. It’s just all they know to do. I realize all of this generalizing with ruffle a few feathers. This is my personal experience and my personal opinion. I wanted to share these observations with you so that perhaps when there is another 29-year-old mother of 3 young children who suddenly loses her eye sight and receives a life-changing diagnosis, perhaps she will be able to see past the rhetoric and make an informed, prayerful decision about her treatment. Perhaps this post will help that person.

Don’t let anyone scare you into a treatment you do not feel comfortable with. There is hope! You just have to be willing to seek and learn and listen and work and change …. and pray.

(A respectful shout out to my father and grandfather, who are brilliant physicians and have dedicated their lives to helping others. They, most certainly, do not fall under the category of fear-based health that I have explained here today. They are rays of sunshine and a great blessing to my life. They also respect and support my decision to treat  multiple sclerosis drug-free, of which I am very appreciative.)

As many of you know, I’ve been treating multiple sclerosis drug-free since my diagnosis over three years ago. I was grateful to visit with Kal and garner more insight into my natural healing journey. I took pages of notes between his 2-hour class and my 1-hr personal consult. Some of the info I’ll share will be pertinent to everyone and some, just for me, but perhaps it could help others out there seeking answers to their health issues.

No. 1 Tip: DIET
For the first time in history, this generation of children are on pace to die of OLD AGE diseases before their parents. It is no secret that bad health is at epidemic proportions and no one can seem to figure out why. Perhaps it’s a combo of diet, electromagnetic waves all around us, environmental toxins, many generations of people eating “non-foods”, etc. But no matter what the source is, we have to do everything in OUR control to make sure we are the healthiest we can be. We cannot afford to eat badly when so much around us is causing stress on our bodies. The main health source in our control: Diet.

Kal recommends a dairy-free, wheat (gluten)-free, refined sugar-free diet with little-to-no animal proteins. That may sound extreme to many used to the Standard American Diet (SAD), but consider the alternative. Continue on our country’s path of diet, where obesity, depression, pharmaceutical drug-dependence and rampant disease is found all around us. OR — Make permanent lifestyle changes (notice I did not say “go on a diet”) that reverse the vicious cycle. For me, this lifestyle change is worth the opportunity to help my body heal from multiple sclerosis, hypothyroidism and eczema, while also helping my daughter continue healing from asthma and rampant allergies. How bad does your health have to get before it’s “worth it” to you? Don’t wait as long as I did. To prevent disease is significantly easier than climbing back up the cliff of health once you’ve fallen off.

What I’m doing:
• No wheat (gluten). Perhaps down the road when I’ve healed, I can go back to eating “sprouted” wheat. But for now, it’s on my banned list. I CAN have amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, which should all be sprouted before eating.
• No dairy. In Kal’s words, anything from a mammary gland.
• No refined sugar. You know, the white stuff. But listen to all that I CAN have: molasses, fruit, honey, stevia, agave, maple syrup, sucanat.
• Organic, grass-fed animal protein no more than 2 times per week. Less if I can.
• Never eat past 6:30pm.
• Herbal tea/smoothie/water/fruit only til 10am every day.
• 70-80% raw
• 100% whole food
• Nourishing plant-based diet

If you were to put a “label” on this way of eating. It is commonly known as GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free). This eliminates the gut load my digestive system has to deal with and allows for healing to take place. Inflammatory-causing foods are elminated. If you were to ask me three years ago if I’d be eating this way, I’d probably laugh at you. You see, I wasn’t ready for it. Why do something if you’re not committed to it? Why do it if you doubt it? If you do make a lifestyle change in the name of health, do it with a grateful heart, a good attitude and lots of faith. A sour attitude would make all of your efforts fruitless.

* Kal’s wife has an excellent website with many resources that speak to this particular diet, including tips and recipes. You can view that HERE.

My Personal Assessment:

Kal observed that my upper cervical spine (where the majority of my MS lesions are located) was one of the worst he’s seen in all his years as a practicing chiropractor. He said it would require intense therapy through a trained Nucca chiro for at least 2X/week for 6 months. Apparently my c-spine is so messed up, it’s fixated and will not respond to normal adjusting. He said he has seen MS patients with less severe c-spines go through Nucca therapy and completely recover from their MS indefinitely (as long as their spine remained in place and they always kept the inflammation response in check).

Apparently my adrenal glands are non-existent. My bile ducts are clogged and not producing bile at all. My liver was in good shape and healthy, but running HOT (because of the lack of bile going through), which is the cause of my eczema. He said every skin condition is generally the symptom of a liver that is not functioning normally. Once my bile glands start flowing normally, the skin conditions should clear up. Sidenote: Since performing ‘bile duct’ massages on myself as he showed me, my skin is indeed clearing up. Perhaps this could also be a result of the diet. My thyroid was healthy, but low (obviously since I’m hypo), but he thought that my thyroid condition was secondary, meaning that once we address the other issues, it could heal. My stomach was shoved up in my diaphragm and he “massaged” it into the spot where it should be (it hurt). He also massaged my bile ducts (ouch!).

He finished up with saying that the fact that my spine was so severely bad, and how clogged I was, it was amazing I was staving off major MS symptoms and doing as well as I am. He said that was a testament to the fact that I’ve been working hard at healing myself. Thank you for that affirmation!

The treatment he suggested was:
– Nucca chiro therapy 2X/week, for 6 months and then be readjusted twice per year. If I can’t find nucca, find someone certified to do Grostic method or KneeChest.
– Liver Power Formula (herbal tincture) that feeds liver and adrenal glands
– Drink Barberry LG tea 1 cup, 2X daily for bile flow
– Self stomach massage 1X/day
– Self bile duct massage 3X/day
– Take an anti-inflammatory herb every single day and rotate herbs every 6 weeks. Rotate between evening primrose oil, nettle, yucca
– Continue taking KNA tincture (kelp, nettles, alfalfa) for healthy thyroid. I’ve been taking this daily instead of my levothroid for the past 1-2 months
– Take “Infection Formula” herbal tincture to kill that gut infection

For my daughter:
The most interesting thing I learned in my daughter’s consult was this: Her many allergies are due to her bowels not moving often enough and a “toxic” liver. Once we address the bowels and remove stressors from the liver, her allergies should fade away. Such a simple answer for what I considered a considerably complicated issue. I’m grateful for learning the cause of issues and how to treat them rather than merely addressing symptoms as modern medicine often does.

So that’s it! What are your thoughts? Who wants to make this lifestyle change with me? I’d love to see what we can collectively “cure” through making these changes in our lives.

This was too amazing not to share. Inspired from The Spunky Coconut, who is my new favorite blog. She is on board with the way I’m eating now: gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free. This recipe definitely HIT THE SPOT!

Pumpkin “Milk” Shake

In a blender, stick in coconut milk, pumpkin puree, dates, vanilla cream stevia and ice cubes. Blend and serve. No exact measurements here as I just threw it all in. My approx measurements were 1 can coconut milk, 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, about a 10 dates, 15 drops of stevia and 2 cups ice cubes. That filled up my vitamix and served 6 eight-ounce glasses. But feel free to mess with those ratios and make it your own.

All the taste and sweetness of a fall treat without compromising health. This beats a sugar-laden, artificially-flavored pumpkin milkshake from (enter fast food restaurant) any day! Any my 5-year-old, who is a dessert connoisseur (i.e. only wants refined-white sugar if she can get her hands on it), gave a double thumbs up with this healthified recipe. Keeping this in my fall recipe repertoire indefinitely!

By a raise of hands, whose first aid kit looks a bit like this: antibiotic ointment, tylenol, aspirin, ibuprofen, benadryl, antiseptic sprays, antacids, anti-diarrhea meds?

Ya, that is me. I’m not afraid to admit it. Many of us have been programmed to understand first aid to look like this. I’ve been slowly working my way to replacing these items with herbal alternatives. Slowly. My motivation was put into overdrive this past week when my daughter had a terrible allergic reaction to ibuprofen. She fell and hit the area near her eye on Sunday. Black, swollen eye. Ouch. When Monday rolled around, she was ok to go to school, but was still in pain from the incident. In a rush to get her out the door on time to school, I offered her a small dose of dye-free ibuprofen. An hour later, I get a call from the school nurse saying that her face was swollen, coughing, sneezing uncontrollably, red-faced and miserable. It wasn’t until later that we realized many kids with asthma or other respiratory issues (my poor daughter) can often react to NSAIDs (non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drugs) in this way.

That led to a google search on ibuprofen and children, which led to a flood of information I wished I had known before. My resolution to learn natural, effective, drug-free alternatives in treating my family during first-aid situations was ignited. Join in my journey, will you?

Let’s build our herbal medicine chest together, step by step. I’ll provide easy to follow whats, hows and whys and share with you everything I’ve learned. Feel free to offer suggestions and please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not a Dr. or pharmacist (my dad and brother are, tho!) I’m not certified in anything. My only credentials are being an impassioned mother of 3, who also happens to have a degenerative, chronic auto-immune disease. I know there are better things in this world than popping pills and sticking our heads in the sand, ignoring the true root cause of our health issues. I’m determined to help my family HEAL using the God-given gifts this earth has to offer.

With that said, let’s break it down topic by topic. Today I’ll touch on HEADACHES. Throughout the years I’ve known many friends and family members who have suffered with headaches and migraines. This post is dedicated to you.

HEADACHE FIRST AID

Meadowsweet and willow bark tincture should be the first line of defense for headache pain management. Don’t know what a tincture is? Click here. Meadowsweet and willow bark herbs both contain the natural glycoside salicin, which has a very similar chemistry to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Salicin also has the same antipyretic (fever reducing), anti-inflammatory, and analgesic (pain relieving) properties as aspirin (source). Before the pharmaceutical industry began making aspirin with petrochemicals, they used white willow bark to make aspirin. Use these herbs in tincture form.  30 to 40 drops (about 2 dropperfuls), three to five times per day, that you drink in a little water until symptoms subside.

Lavender essential oil is best when placed on the temple for a stress or anger-related headache. Make sure you get “Lavandula officinalis“, as seen here. There are many varieties of lavender, but lavandula officinalis is grown at higher altitudes, which adds an additional constituent to their medicinal uses that other lavenders do not have — inhibits blistering that comes with burns. Lavender is very soothing and also analgesic (kills pain).

Chamomile is a great anti-inflammatory. Headaches are generally caused by an inflammatory response. After drinking chamomile tea, consider placing the used tea bag at the base of your neck and holding it there with a clean cloth. You may also use chamomile essential oil. Use lavender essential oil on the temples and tops of shoulders and chamomile at the base of the neck.

MIGRAINE SUFFERERS

My-graine essential oil is a powerful blend of many essential oils (copaiba balsam, chamomile German, Grapefruit, helichrysum, lavender, marjorm, peppermint, zanthoxylum) that can significantly help a migraine sufferer. As discussed above, apply on temples, base of neck and tops of shoulders. Soak in the bath with 3 drops of the oil and place 8-10 drops on a cold washcloth placed at the back of the neck at the same time. Try to relax as much as possible while the essential oil takes effect.

Feverfew tincture is an effective migraine remedy, especially for those with light sensitivity. For some migraine sufferers it can be used daily as a preventative, and for others it only works as treatment for acute migraines. Feverfew is also an excellent anti-inflammatory, making it useful in many other first-aid situations, which we’ll discuss later. 30-40 drops two-four times per day.

So let’s summarize, if I were to get a headache, mild or otherwise, meadowsweet/willow tincture would be the first thing I grab. Easy and quick. If more treatment were required, get your water boiling to start your chamomile tea. Follow that with lavender essential oil applied to the temples. Drink your chamomile tea and apply chamomile essential oil or tea bag to the base of the neck and lavender to the tops of the shoulders. All of these options are safe for children, but it is important to note that children should not be getting headaches. Seek a medical professional if they are. ‘

For migrane sufferers, feverfew tincture becomes your go-to remedy, followed by the lavender and chamomile or my-graine essential oil blend.

HERBAL MEDICINE CHEST (with links on where to find it)
Lavender essential oil
Chamomile essential oil
Chamomile tea – any local grocery store will carry regular chamomile tea in their coffee/tea aisle
Meadowsweet and/or willow tinctures
Feverfew tincture
My-Graine essential oil

Keep in mind that the above remedies are helping alleviate symptoms (albeit all-natural), but not treating the source of the problem. Keep a record of food consumed and other substances exposed to near the time of the onset to help track the cause of the headache. I encourage everyone to continue on in their own personal healing journeys through diet and other natural self-healing opportunities. Find a good chiropractor, naturopath, homeopath, or a dr open to alternative treatments. Continue learning and researching and above all, moving forward. Take care, my friends.

Next post — stomach ache/digestion troubles

• Back-to-School Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snacks – Eat Well, Spend Less has You Covered!

• Nut-free lunches and snacks

• 22 After School Snacks

• 10 Healthy Treats for Kids

• 5 Tips For Eating Salads with Children

• Simple School Snacks

• Quick and Easy Dinners

• Pasta, Beans and Greens: 5 Easy Dinners

• Are You Ready for Breakfasts?

• School Lunch Solutions

The good news? We are the parents and we have control. We can make a difference, one lunch at a time. If we’re too rushed, too busy to care or too distracted, our kids are shuttled off to school to fill their bellies with nutritionally dead food. And so we wake up an extra 15 minutes earlier in the mornings to pack nutrient-dense foods that provide our children with the energy to learn, focus and feel good.

Now if you’re like me, despite being full of good intentions, sometimes the well runs a bit dry in the idea department. Peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese? Here are some healthy lunch ideas to fuel the brains of those we love the most.

Photo Source via HERE.

WRAPS
nitrate-free turkey/ham lunch meat with string cheese, lettuce, mustard, red onion, tomato
hummus spread with julienne celery, onion, carrot
brown rice and sauteed onion, garlic, peppers, feta cheese

MAIN DISH
meat roll (nitrate-free lunch meat rolled up), cubed cheese, assorted fruits/veges with yogurt/ranch to dip
cookie cutter sandwich, bust out the seasonal cookie cutters and have some fun!
BLT with spicy mustard (my daughter’s fav)
pizza sandwich – open-faced sandwich served with fruit
egg salad sandwich
leftover pasta/birds nest pesto can be served cold
meatball on a stick
Turkey pinwheels
Chicken salad 
Pasta salad
rainbow wheel
cranberry spread on turkey and lettuce

A quick note on PB&Js. Many school cafeterias are banning peanut butter due to an increase in allergies. Almond butter (I get mine at Costco), Tahini (sesame seed butter) and Sun Butter (sunflower seed butter) are excellent substitutes that still fulfill that PB&J craving. If you’re really feeling adventurous, make your own almond butter or other nut butter in your super blender/food processor.

SIDES
hummus and carrot/celery stix or corn chips/pita chips
homemade pickles – my kids like them spicy so we add cayenne
apple slices (don’t forget to dip in lemon juice to prevent browning) and raw caramel sauce for dipping
hard boiled egg
edamame on a stick
meatball cut in half with carrot/lettuce/cheese on a stick
inverted green and red grapes sliced in half on a toothpick
homemade fruit leather in dehydrator
yogurt taffy
dehydrated apple chips
raisins
pistachios

DESSERTS
homemade nutella on 9 grain bread or used to dip fruit

I make a bunch of these ahead of time and keep in the freezer to take out for lunches as needed:
muffins
macaroons
cookies
granola bars

After reading this list, somehow greasy, limp pizza slices just don’t sound very appetizing, huh. Or flavorless beef on a nutrition-less white bun. Or reconstituted mystery side. Buh Bye lunch line … Hello exciting lunch box!

Have any other lunch ideas to add? Please share them in the comments!

*This is part 1 of my Back to School Series. Coming up, we’ll talk about quick, easy and above-all HEALTHY breakfasts, dinner ideas and more …

If you’re already familiar with the essential oil world, then you will likely have heard of the Young Living brand. Butterfly Express’ Deliverance is the equivalent of Young Living’s popular essential oil blend called Thieves.

This essential oil blend is a must have in every home.

Let me give you a few scenarios of why this is the case.

Scenario 1) Your child comes down with a cold/flu/nasty virus. Your scrambling around your medicine cabinet trying to think what would be best to administer. Tylenol? Children’s Ibuprofen? Cold medication? But then you think, “Wait? Didn’t I read something about NOT giving children any cold medications?” But that doesn’t matter at this point, because you see their sick, miserable bodies and are willing to give them anything to feel better. Then you think, “Aren’t there some natural remedies for these types of illnesses that I read about once?” But you’ve forgotten what they are, and because you’re under pressure to alleviate your child’s misery, you need to give them something NOW.

Scenario 2) You watch the news, you’ve heard about it from your doctor — there are SUPERBUGS living among us, waiting to cause an antibiotic-resistant infection at any moment. This isn’t fear-mongering, this is reality. Overuse of antibiotics in our society have caused viral and bacterial bugs to adapt and evolve into stronger and harder to kill infections. Anti-bacterial wipes in our homes. Anti-bacterial soap stations, bolted to the wall for everyone’s use. These are all part of the problem. Sidenote: I speak from experience — my once 12-month-old nearly died from an antibiotic-resistant staph infection that forced him into pediatric surgery.

Scenario 3) You’ve read about aluminum, fluoride, artificial colors/sweeteners and other nastiness in most commercial toothpastes, but decide to turn a blind eye to the fact. Because, what else would we use? The “natural” toothpaste is expensive ($5/tube!) and you’re much too busy to whip together a homemade toothpaste recipe. It’s just one of those things we have to use and hope it’s ok in the end. Right? (And if you haven’t heard about the dangers of commercial toothpaste, read this).

All of these scenarios have a solution – DELIVERANCE essential oil. Take a look at what makes up this blend – clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, lemon, rosemary, thyme, oregano, wild oregano. These essential oils alone, and even moreso together, create one of the strongest anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungals out there. It’s all natural and you’re not adding synthetic chemicals to your body.

Deliverance’s many uses:

- respiratory infections

- sore throats

- dental diseases and infections

- cold sore/canker sores

- any type of infection

- athlete’s foot fungus/toe-nail fungus

- warts

- expectorant

- helps the lymph system to drain

- strengthens the immune system

- use as a household cleaner

- purifies the air to fight viruses and air-borne bacteria

Solution 1) At the first sign of illness, start applying deliverance essential oil to the bottoms of your children’s (or yours, depending on who’s sick and who you’d like to prevent from getting sick) FEET. Your feet have the largest pores on your entire body, making it an ideal spot to allow *anything* you apply to it to absorb right into the body. I also apply this oil to the chest and back as well. Keep applying every hour or so. This will certainly not cure your illness on the spot, but I definitely believe it shortens the duration of said illness, and even prevents it from becoming more severe by boosting your immune system. During flu season, I apply this oil to the bottoms of my kids’ feet while they are still healthy as this may prevent them from catching the flu in the first place. Prevention is much easier than treatment. There are many other oils for specific illnesses and ailments, but this one is my standby. The one I reach for FIRST. It is my first line of defense in my family’s first aid kit.

Solution 2) A small spray bottle filed with 100% aloe vera and 10-15 drops of Deliverance is a homemade go-to hand sanitizer. Couple that with my healing lotion bar, and you’ve a combo much more powerful than the common hand sanitizing soaps and foams found everywhere. And it will do something those artificial sanitizers will not — kill the superbugs. Make several and keep them handy in every purse, diaper bag, car — the places you have with you when you’re out and about and need protection the most.

How I made mine:

violet glass spray bottle
100% aloe gel
5-10 drops Deliverance
5-10 drops of a citrus EO (orange, grapefruit, lemon)

*other oils with antiseptic properties that can also be used –
Cedarwood, lavender, lemon, lemon grass, myrrh, neroli, patchouli, peppermint, rose, sandalwood, tea tree, thyme and ylang-ylang

Solution 3) I brush my teeth with Deliverance — and nothing else. I take my toothbrush, get it wet under running water, then add a few drops of Deliverance oil and go to town. My mouth feels super fresh and clean. I realize it sounds strange, but if you just give it a try, you’ll find that you prefer it over the conventional stuff. Think about all of the chemicals you’re eliminating just from this one change. And think how you are also reinforcing your immune system with every brush. If you’re not quite ready to let go of your toothpaste just yet, consider using Deliverance as a mouth wash. Just use your hands. Cup your hands under the faucet to fill it with water, add a few drops of Deliverance and swish around your mouth. You will love it, I promise. And if you do anything, please soak your toothbrushes in water and Deliverance. Especially if you’ve been sick.

Bonus Solution) Want a kick-butt homemade all-purpose cleaner? Take an empty spray bottle (I often use the cheap $1 ones found in the health/beauty trial section at Target). Fill with 50% water, 50% white distilled vinegar. Add 10-15 drops of Deliverance and shake. Use this in your kitchen and bathrooms and you’ll never look back.

You can find Deliverance in the Kissacooper Apothecary, which normally retails for $17 per 10ml bottle, on sale throughout August for $12.50. Free shipping if you are picking it up local in DFW, Texas. $3.95 flat-rate shipping everywhere else. Free shipping for orders over $50. And remember …. the FREE lip balm still applies to the next 7 orders.

Here’s to healthy, natural solutions!

Ok, so let’s also assume you’re one of those people who don’t like to waste. You spend all this money on beautiful, organic, locally-grown, $$$$$ produce at the farmer’s market and think to yourself, “What a shame to only use the JUICE out of this stuff and throw away all the fiber (i.e. pulp)!” Of course,  you could throw the pulp into the compost pile, but the compost bin that your husband was supposed to build 4 months ago is still sitting in parts in the garage. (uh hum) What to do?!

Have no fear…….

I have the solution!!!

Check this out. Let’s make vegetable bouillon! Oh yes, you over there with your hand up. You have a question? What would one do with vegetable bouillon? Anything you can do with chicken or beef bouillon, vegetables can do it better. Here’s why. Those little CUBES or PACKETS you buy in the store marked chicken or beef bouillon. Yes, those. They are FULL of MSG and artificial nastiness, my friend. There is nothing NATURAL about them, even if their package says so. While I can find plenty of healthy chicken BROTH in the stores — this one if my fav, btw — I have yet to find a healthy version of bouillon.

A base for soups, flavor sauces, cook your rice or pasta in a vegetable-flavored stock for extra tastiness. And if you make it the way I show you, you can keep it for a decent shelf life and use it for food storage. Have you watched the news lately? Ya, food prices are going crazy right now (can you say HYPERINFLATION?), so anything you can make yourself cheaply AND store it for longer term storage is basically AWESOME.

Ok, down to business.

After juicing, you’ve got the pulp, like so. TIP: If I know I’m going to use my pulp from juicing, I will run the pulp thru the juicer a 2nd time to squeeze all the excess moisture out of it.

Next, you have two options:

1– If you have a dehydrator, scatter the pulp on your dehydrator screen. It’s a bit of a soggy mess and the veges are all mashed together, but that is what we want!

No dehydrator? No prob. Scatter the pulp on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. Set your oven to its lowest temp (mine is 118 degrees F) and leave the oven door ajar just a tad. Let the pan sit in there for a couple hrs and keep checking til it looks thoroughly dry and crispy.

Dry pulp (for me) looked like this. In my dehydrator on its low temp, it took one day.

Then I busted out my teeny tiny food processor. Put in the crunchy pulp and let it rip.

Blend it into a fine powder.

I store my vegetable bouillion in a mason jar. You can use a nifty Food Saver jar sealer attachment on your mason jar for longer term storage (a year plus) or merely just keep the lid tight and it should last at least a year. I happened to have some of those oxygen absorber packets handy and added one to the jar as well.

You don’t have to be a JUICER to make vegetable bouillon either! If you ever open your fridge and notice some veges going bad and wilted. In other words, not something you particularly want to eat, but you find yourself in the same predicament such as 1) Don’t want to waste it and 2) composter is inconveniently unavailable. You take your wilted veges and chop them up in tiny pieces, or use your food processor to grind them up and voila. The only difference is your water content is higher so the drying time might be increased.

FRUGAL AND HEALTHY!