Mama's Medicine Chest: Miracle Skin Salve

It's rare a day goes by that we don't use Miracle Salve on something. It's affectionatly called bo-bo cream at our house, sometimes accompanied by a lot of wailing and tears. Some friends were over and while the men were talking my friend's husband got stung by a wasp. The Man said, "Oh we've some....stuff...that work great on that." He couldn't think of what it was really called and didn't want to tell another grown man we could give him some Bo-bo cream *smile*.
 I first tried this product for diaper rash, because one of the girls had a persistant case and any of the standard diaper rash creams made it SO much worse. It worked great, and slowly I found out just how MANY things it works great for.

• Sunburn
• Bee/wasp/hornet- I usually  swell up and hurt for days, but that last time I put Miracle Salve on it and finished cleaning out the car and had no other issues.)
• Rashes- I've heard it works great on poison ivy, but haven't experienced that ourselves.
• Dry skin- It won't make my eczema go away, but it will calm and sooth it.
• Bruises- Can't begin to tell you what a HUGE difference this makes, especially if you get it on there quick. Often the bruise doesn't even appear.
• Ant bites, and other bug bites- The girls and I have all gotten into ant hills this summer, you don't know the burn unless you've been there. I quickly wipe them all off in the yard and then run with the screaming child to get bo-bo cream.
• Razor burn 

Basically I use it on any skin problem that isn't oozing or bleeding and have seen great results most every time. I have learned that if it's a bruise or a bite the longer you take before you apply, the less affective it is. I've melted some down in a glass measuring cup, in a crockpot of water and then poured into chapstick tubes that I keep in my purse, so we always have some around. I use it a lot on my lips and on my face too if it's very dry. My sister had a break out on her face and she tried everything she could think of to make it go away, and nothing worked till she tried miracle salve.

I like to just buy my salve, but you can make a similar salve yourself if you are interested. Check it out here.
You can click on the Miracle Salve banner at the top of this post to buy the pre-made salve that we use. If you buy it through this link or the banner for Beeyoutiful at the side our family get a portion for the sales. Don't feel obligated to buy anything though. I have simply been so pleased with that products that I am always telling people about them, and when I found out I could get some money back for telling other people about them, I decided I would.
I have been buying from Beeyoutiful for about 5 or 6 years. The owners are a Christian couple, and are so helpful. You can call and ask  them questions about supplements, how and why to take them, and what would be best for you to take, and if they don't have the answer they will research it and get back to you. You can waste a lot of money on low quality suppliments, that your body can't even absorb because they are synthetic. GMO products are used in some supplements, in fact it's thought that the first deaths (in 1989) linked to GMO products was due to genetically modified bacteria used in the supplements. Most (if not all...I haven't check) of their suppliments are from whole food sources, and the owners have the same quality standards for their supplements that I have, but their prices are very reasonable. If nothing else you want to request one of their catalogues, which is more like a free semi-annual magazine, full of really helpful and informative articles. They usually send out two a year at least. And you can read the old one's on-line.
And if you are without Miracle Salve and someone and get a snake, ant, bee bite look around for some Plantain. My understanding is that it grows in all 50 states, I see it in most lawns, and I've read it will stop even a rattle snake bite...though personally I would be putting some on as we drove to the hospital. You just grab a leaf, chew it up, and put it right on the bite or bruise. Just a good thing to know about if you didn't already.
Best of health to you all!


c

Mama's Medicine Chest: Onions and Garlic

One of the wonderful things about working with herbs is that you can always learn more. I learned about this cough syrup from a friend about a week ago, just in time to help kick the lingering cough floating around our house. She said they have such great results with it that they share it with everyone. My friend learned this technique from her pediatrician. Here are the very complicated directions. Chop an onion. Layer it in a jar with honey or sugar. Let it set at room temp until the juices start coming out of the onion. That juice is your cough syrup.
I was really curious how this would taste, but I found it smells a lot worse than it tastes. Ours mainly tasted like water downed honey...though I do still have a cold right now, so it could have an effect on my taste buds. I would use sugar if you are making this for a little one too small to eat honey. If you are using honey it will be worth your time to find a local source of unpasteurised unfiltered honey to make this with, as it will help with the cold. If you have trouble locating some try looking for a nearby bee keeping association, or asking at your local health food store (not a chain store, a local owned one). My mother-in-law says she remembers her mom making a version of this and putting it in their chest too. Sounds pretty messy to me, but I would try it if I was desperate.
This second remedy is a garlic salve that I learned on-line called GOOT...I've not seem WHY it's called GOOT, my guess is Garlic Olive Oil Treatment, but I don't know. I really love this stuff. And since I learned it I try to always keep about five heads of garlic in the house, since I don't want to make a special trip to the store when I need it. I like to make this up in small batches whenever an illness hits. It can loose potency if it gets old. If all of us are sick at once it's best to make a larger batch. These instructions are pretty flexible; I don't measure, but just guess. I use about a tablespoon of coconut oil, two large garlic cloves, a teaspoon of olive oil, 7 drops of oregano oil, and 10 drops of lavender. I mash up my garlic in my little mortar and pestle. If you can't think of any way to smash it just chop it as fine and small as you can. Put your coconut oil in a jar and apply some low heat to melt it. It melts at 76 degrees so I set it outside or in the car or by the woodstove in the winter. I wouldn't microwave it, but I don't microwave anything. Then mix in the rest of your ingredients and let it chill in the fridge. I apply it to our feet and cover with old socks. I also apply it to any swollen lymph nodes on the neck.

Garlic is a natural anti-biotic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-cancer. It's as powerful as penicillin, but with no side effects, except smell. I understand it works best taken orally, but that's hard to get a two year old to do. You can chop it fine and cover it with honey. I like to chop it pill size and swallow. If I'm very sick I set a timer (or else I will forget) and take a clove every hour. Oregano is anti-bacterial, and some people say an anti-biotic. It helps break up congestion. You can find wild Mediterranean oregano to be taken orally at your health food store or on-line (I would call to see which is meant for oral dosage). The Man and I take it under our tongue. It is VERY hot, and needs a quick chaser. I saw on-line where one lady had taught her 5 years old and older children to drink some water and hold it at the back of their mouth and she would drop some into their mouths in the water and them tell them to swallow. You don't want to use this remedy if you are pregnant. Lavender is an anti-septic and helps people relax, lowers fevers, and it smells much better than garlic. These are the reasons I've included these things. It helps to know the why, because then you know better how to use them. For instance, if there are a lot of colds going around you might want to do a lot of cooking with garlic and oregano, even if your family isn't sick.
I love how simple many of these remedies are. Another wonderful thing about these particular remedies is that I have personally found them to be very effective, but they are gentle enough to be used on very small children. Because of the things I have read, and that these remedies are food based, I personally would feel comfortable using them one of my children at as young as three months, though you need to seek your own advice and prayerfully make your own decisions on these things.
May God grant you wisdom and knowledge as you help keep your family healthy! c

Read other posts in this series:
Blackberries- tummy trouble

Mama's Medicine Chest: Black Berries

I have learned a LOT in the past year about ways to take care of my family's health at home, not just proactive, but also during times of illness. I used to think I just need to 'let things take their course' if I wanted to treat something naturally, and I've put my health in danger following that philosophy. I have since learned there are lots of ways to help our bodies do the things they were designed to do by boosting our immune systems and even using naturally occurring antibiotics. By using these front line defences I haven't yet needed to take my children to the doctor, through there is certainly no shame is using other types of medicine when they are needed. I thought I would start sharing some of the things I have learned now, while most of us are not experiencing colds, so you can thinking about investing in a new medicine chest for yourself a little at a time before the cold season hits. Some of these things are SO inexpensive and easy to do, and today's suggestion certainly is.

Collect and dry black berries, and black berry leaves. I just let them sit out on the counter in dishes to dry then put them in a container to wait till the winter. Use this to make a tea for diarrhea. Some other things you might consider adding to the tea are fennel seed and mint or chamomile for taste.

Here are some other ideas of things you can do for diarrhea, the root cause of the diarrhea will determine how affective these things are.

• Drink rice water- Soak 1 part rice to 2 parts hot water, pour off the water and drink. I mix it with something else, like a yogurt smoothy with black berries to make it easier to drink for the girls. You can still cook the rice and eat it, which is also good for a torn up tummy.
• Drink juice with a few drops of Grapefruit seed extract in it, which helps kill any bad bacteria in your stomach.
• Put lots of raw garlic, a natural antibiotic, in your system. You can cut it pill size and swallow whole, buy capsules, or make a very easy quick garlic salve called GOOT (I'll give directions for it next time) and put it on your feet. Sounds crazy, I know, you should have seen the look on The Man's face when I started this. One of the girls had run a  fever for a day while we were out of town. The poor thing looked like a wilted flower. I mixed this up and an hour later she was up and around playing, and The Man was a believer. This is the BEST cheapest front line defence I have found. You put it on your feet because the pores are some of the largest in your skin and it is most quickly absorbed there. It's also a good place to put your Vick's chest rub. 
• Eat lots of yogurt (the natural kind of a culture listed on the label Dannon is the most common store brand and propiotics. This puts good bacteria back in your stomach.

One great free resource for more information on home remedies is a forum called WellTellMe and a book well worth putting in your library is Be Your Own Doctor.
May God bless you and yours with good health! c

Read other posts in this series:
Onions & Garlic