Onion Pack For Congestion

 

I had to make onion packs this week for my sick baby. This is an old home remedy for congestion. It helps break up the congestion and get the phlegm moving.

When I was a new mom I was at a loss for coming up with a way to put this on a person. I tried putting the onion on the skin and wrapping a scarf around the chest. It didn't work.

This works:

Dice about a 1/4 cup onion and place in the middle of a flannel rag or cloth napkin. Sprinkle with ground mustard. 

Go easy with the mustard it can be irritating on the skin. Ask me how I know....

Fold the napkin strategically encasing the onions.

I fold it so that one side of the pocket is only one layer of fabric thick. You can see how the onion juice easily soaks through on that side. 

I place the thin side against the skin and then safety pin the pack to the inside of the patient's shirt.

Make sure when you safety pin the pack on, that you go through all the layers of the pack that way it will stay neatly folded and doesn't spill onions everywhere.

I also had to mix up some garlic infused oil for earaches. This is my favorite remedy for earaches.

I mix about 1 TBS. Olive Oil with 1 freshly grated garlic clove. I put one to two drops of this garlic infused oil down the ear 4-6 times a day. Wiggle the ear a little to make sure the oil goes all the way down. You can use a small piece of a cotton ball or wadded up bath tissue to plug the ear and keep the oil from running out and staining pillow cases.

Lavender essential oil (diluted in a carrier) wiped on the outside of the ear hole has been very soothing, in my experience. I don't recommend that essential oils be put into the ear canal. Keep the essential oils on the outside!

I like to use a blend of Laurel Leaf, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Melaleuca, Lemon, Cardamom Seed, Ravintsara, and Ravensara essential oils, also, wiped on the outside of the ear hole. This helps take the edge off of the pain. I use the dōTERRA Breath® blend (diluted in a carrier). 

There is a cool company that sells knock off Young Living and dōTERRA blends. HERE IS A LINK. I have never tried them or done a side by side comparisons. But, I am sharing their site because they are much cheaper. And, I am not an essential oil cult member, even if I am a dōTERRA consultant. ;)

I hope you are all staying well! Let me know if you have any tried and true congestion and earache home remedies! :)

A Bunch of Drying

 I've been drying some of summer's bounty the last couple months.

The children and I picked pineapple weed all throughout June. We were able to collect almost a full quart jar of dried pineapple weed flowers. I blended them with mint and lemon balm for tea.

The rest of the herbs and flowers from my yard, that can be used for herbal infusions, I have been collecting and blending together. 

There is a little borage, calendula, mint, lemon balm, lavender, and rose petals. I added some anise seed and ginger. I'm calling this Yard Blend Tea. :)

From our neighborhood community garden I have all this basil to dry.

These hot banana peppers are from my garden. I did not feel like pickling them. I decided to hang them and once they're dry maybe I can grind them into some kind of chili powder. ? I have never done anything like that before. Have any of you ever dried banana peppers? I could use some advice!

Psalms 104:14
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,

and herb for the service of man: 

that he may bring forth food 

out of the earth;

Beautiful Flowers!

 

These beautiful flowers made up a bouquet that I put together a few weeks ago. 

I love being able to have fresh flowers to beautify our home! I was not always so, though. As a teenager I thought pretty things were just a vanity. I considered growing flowers a waste of soil that would be much better utilized for growing vegetables: food for people to eat. I had a very practical mindset. Putting effort into being pretty was a frivolous waste of time and resources.

I grew up. I learned to appreciate beautiful things. I realized there is value in beauty. God made beautiful flowers, and sunsets, and rainbows and mountain ranges. He made them beautiful for more than practical reasons. Imagine if he made all the flowers the same color. They would work. They would attract pollinator insects. They would be able to develop seeds and reproduce. The flowers could have been all the same. But God showed us that He values beauty and variety.  

Ecclesiastes 7:29 

Lo, this only have I found, 

that God hath made man upright; 

but they have sought out many inventions. 

Luke 12:27  

Consider the lilies how they grow:

 they toil not, they spin not; 

and yet I say unto you, 

that Solomon in all his glory 

was not arrayed like one of these. 

Key Lime Pie | Double Batch

 

Key Lime Pie was Mr. In The Mid-west's birthday request this year. I had never made a Key Lime Pie before. I read several recipes and watch a few video recipes. What I ended up doing was a combination of several recipes and (sort of) a triple batch split between two pies. 
It turned out to our liking, so I figured I better write it down before I forget what I did to make it. :)

Graham Cracker Crust

3 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs, ground fine
10-12 TBS. Melted Butter
1 TBS. Molasses
1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon 

Blend the graham crackers in a food processor. Add sugar and cinnamon; mix to combine. Split the graham cracker mixture between two pie plates. Melt the butter and molasses; then pour half into each pie plate with the graham cracker crumbs.

Mix together the crumb mixture and the butter mixture right in the pie plates. Press the crumbs into place evenly over the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides. Use the bottom of a measuring cup or glass ramekin to pack the crumbs together very firmly.
Bake at 350° F. for 15 minutes or until desired level of toasting is achieved.
Remove the crust from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix filling ingredients:

Key Lime Pie Filling

2 cups Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice (it took almost 3 lbs. of limes to get 2 cups of juice.)
2 TBS. Lime Zest
3 (14oz. each) Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
8 Egg Yolks
10 drops Natural Green Food Coloring (optional)

Mix the filling ingredients with a whisk. 
Pour into two graham cracker crusts.
Bake at 350° F. for 30 minutes.
Chill over night. 

Garnish with lime zest, lime slices, and whipped cream.
Serve with more whipped cream.
Enjoy!