Amelia's World of Health

A friend of mine sen this out and I have been wanting to try it. Of course with a 1 1/2 year old around the house, I can barely keep the floor vacuumed! So here it sits until I am able to try it on my own.

Enjoy and thanks for posting this from The Herb Companion!

Link: http://www.herbcompanion.com/herbal-living/natural-bug-repellents-for-camping.aspx

Text:

Erin is the Communications Manager at Mountain Rose Herbs and an apprenticing herbalist at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies, where she botanizes and wildcrafts medicinal plants in the magnificent Oregon Cascades. www.mountainroseherbs.com

I shared the long Memorial Day weekend with friends on 40 acres of Ponderosa Pine and White Oak forest near the Klickitat River. This was my first trip to the rugged Washington wilderness and I found its rocky hills and thick woods crawling with lizards and rattlesnakes and scorpions breathtaking!

It was sunny spring perfection, so we hiked deer trails for hours exploring wild plants like Lomatiums, tasty Alliums, and ripening blackcap raspberries. A fresh spring trickled from the rocks and we collected cold mountain water to make wild rose tea in the mornings.

Klickitat, Washington.

During one afternoon expedition, we came across a wet patch abloom with yellow arnica flowers. Anyone who has spent time in arnica habitats will know the strong affinity this plant has for mosquitoes. Thousands and thousands of buzzing, blood-sucking mosquitoes! As we gathered to admire the heart-shaped leaves of the Arnica cordifolia, a hungry swarm clouded around us. Thankfully, I was prepared with a strong homemade insect repellent that kept them at a comfortable distance. Thinking ahead, I’d also made an astringent spray and poultice powder to apply to pesky bites, hiking scratches, and campfire burns.

Back at camp, a band of excited children wrapped white sage and cinnamon sticks in newspaper to make fragrant and effective fire starters. They marched triumphantly around the blaze, tooting their horsetail whistles as the herby campfire smoke proved inhospitable to the buggy invaders.

Herbal fire starters are fragrant and effective.

Anytime I leave for a camping trip, I bring some staple extracts along. This collection usually includes a few of my favorite go-to herbs like skullcap and valerian to help relax my muscles and lull me to restful sleep, Oregon grape root as an anti-bacterial and digestive aide, a good astringent like red root bark (Ceanothus velutinus), and yerba santa to help dry up sneezy, watery allergy symptoms.

Being equipped with my trusty bag of herbal formulas makes handling the unforeseen much easier, and my forest experience that much more delightful.

My trusty collection of formulas.

Bug-Away Spray

I’ve read that catnip essential oil can be as effective as DEET, but it can also be expensive. So, I made a tincture of fresh catnip leaf from the garden in pure grain alcohol, which drew out the volatile oils in just a week and produced a lovely emerald extract.

• 4 ounces fresh catnip tincture (95 percent alcohol)
• 4 ounces witch hazel extract
• 80 drops organic citronella essential oil
• 80 drops organic eucalyptus essential oil
• 40 drops organic lavender essential oil
• 20 drops organic rosemary essential oil
• 10 drops organic lemongrass essential oil
• 10 drops organic lemon essential oil

1. Mix all ingredients in an 8 oz spray bottle and shake well before using.

2. Re-apply as often as needed.

Herbal Astringent Spray

This spray is ideal for itchy bug bites, removing sticky pitch from fingers, minor burns, cuts, scrapes, and a myriad of other irritating situations. I used my own tinctures of wild-harvested herbs that are anti-microbial and astringent, but similar herbs that you prefer can be used.

• 2 ounces witch hazel extract
• 1/2 ounces red root bark tincture
• 1/2 ounces Oregon grape root tincture (organically grown goldenseal tincture can be used)
• 1/2 ounces Pipsissewa tincture
• 1/2 ounces Uva-Ursi tincture

1. Mix all ingredients in a 4 oz spray bottle and shake before using.

2. Re-apply as often as needed.

So I still need to update on my nutritionist's appointment, but I wanted to make sure I post one thing she suggested I add to my diet. It's inexpensive and so good for you...Gomasio. I have included a link from another blogger to help explain what it is and how to make it!

http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2005/01/gomasio-sesame-salt.html

Here is the text:

Gomasio (Sesame Salt)

I was introduced to gomasio about the time I was introduced to Macrobiotics - a Japanese philosophy that, among its many food-related principles, extols the virtues of sesame salt, not least for what it claims are its natural healing properties. Well, the Macrobiotics didn't stick (although there are some good basic tenets there), but the gomasio sure did.

Gomasio is one flavor powerhouse. Used as a replacement for salt on whole grains (it's very good on rice), soups, stews, and vegetables, it's a delicious way to reduce sodium while adding a little calcium, magnesium, iron, protein, and fiber.

Note: The photo above is a juxtaposition of my raw, unhulled, unroasted seeds on the left, and my toasted, ground seeds on the right.

Gomasio is made by grinding dry-roasted sesame seeds with salt. You can purchase it prepared, but it's easy to make, and the fresh-roasted sesame seed taste isn't something you're likely to find in a jar that has been sitting on a grocery store shelf for god knows how long.

The seeds are about 50% oil by weight, almost half of that is the rancid-vulnerable polyunsaturated type. Luckily, as Harold McGee writes in his book On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen:

"[Sesame seed oil] is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation and rancidity, which results from high levels of antioxidant phenolic compounds (lignans), some vitamin E, and products of the browning reactions that occur during the more thorough roasting."

From what I can tell, sesame seeds aren't chock full of vitamin E, not like an almond. Maybe there's enough there to supply a little seed's needs, if not the needs of a 100 kg human male. One nutrient they are chock full of is calcium - 60 mg in just 2 teaspoons!


Ingredients

1/4 cup raw, unhulled sesame seeds
1 tsp. table salt
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1 Place seeds (any color - black, brown, red, yellow, tan, ivory, etc.) in a clean, dry, frying pan and toast on low heat, stirring often, until golden or until they start to pop - try to pull them off the heat before popping takes place.

Note: I used the lowest setting on my gas hob. My seeds toasted in 20 minutes. Many recipes claim they'll toast in 5 minutes, but I suspect they're using higher heat. The longer, lower-temp toasting will result in more even heat distribution, more even browning, and a more potent roasted flavor (since more seeds will have undergone browning reactions).

2 Allow the seeds to cool for about 10 minutes, then place in a small electric grinder with the salt and pulse a few times until most of the seeds are cracked open. Be careful not to grind to a flour consistency; you want some of the texture of the seed to remain.

Note: Change any quantities you like. The typical ratio is 8 parts sesame seeds to 1 part salt, but you can use less or even no salt if you prefer.

The technique for making gomasio shown above is convenient and time-saving. The traditional method (learned from my Macrobiotic days) involves toasting the salt, preferably a fine grain sea salt, until it shines; letting the salt cool; then grinding it by hand with a Janapese mortar and pestle (suribachi). The seeds are roasted in the same manner as above, but then ground in the mortar with the salt until most of the seeds have cracked open.

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Thank you to this blogger for such a helpful post!

Here is yet another post from one of my favorite blogs: Peaceful Parenting

This link talks about if Children should drink milk or not, but also mentions a great recipe including Gomasio for good nutrition:

1 ounce dry wakame seaweed, baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes
1 cup toasted unhulled sesame seeds

Grind the wakame in a mortar or bowl until powdered; discard the tough inner ribs. Measure out 2 tablespoons. In a suribachi or mortar, grind the sesame seeds a bit, add the wakame, and continue grinding by hand until well mixed. Use as a condiment or snack.
Source: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/06/should-children-drink-cow.html