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This past Friday, the three of my kiddos and I went on a lovely 2-hour hike through some local trails. A gorgeous 70 degree day, with many leaves in full splendor. We are trying every Friday to find a new place to hike or bike, and then have some fun creative time at home. (We call them artsy fartsy Fridays ;) We try to be creative all through the week, but maybe do something more special on Fridays. (More about last Friday in a bit.)
In my last post I shared how I have been diving head first, or should I say heart first, into the world of herbs after dabbling my toes in for a while. I placed an order of herbs yesterday, and wanted to tell you what I ordered, and why. Many of the herbs I ordered, are nutritional herbs, not medicinal in nature. This means you don't have to worry so much about taking too much, or whatever. It is a food, and you can treat it as such. Also, you only need a little in a big smoothie, or whatever soup or stew you add it to, so a little goes a long way. A frugal way to keep our families healthy! Anywho, here's my list:
- Bilberry fruit powder:
-Lowers blood sugar; improves circulation; eye health; ani-aging (what woman doesn't like that?); and may help symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. My husband is blind as a bat without his contacts at a young age, so I have been interested as of late in helping keep his eyes as healthy as they can be. Also, diabetes runs in his family. He has not been diagnosed with that awful disease, yet I want to help his blood sugar in any way I can as a helpful preventative.
-Every night I make a big blenderful of smoothie (different types each night), and I will be adding this to our smoothies. He'll never know! Also, I add blueberries to our smoothies a lot, which also are good for eye health.
- Oatstraw powder:
-Excellent source of calcium. I noticed that if I don't get enough calcium in right now from different sources, my teeth feel a bit of pain. Being I am pregnant and nursing I need all the calcium I can get...this is also something I can add to smoothies, or whatever I'm inclined to.
-I've also been getting calcium from eating lots of fresh salads...the greens are full of calcium, or adding fresh greens or greens powder to my smoothies as well.
-Hawthorne Berries:
-Strengthens the heart and nerves to the heart; regulates blood pressure; perfect preventative if have a family history of heart disease; helps with arrhthmic heartbeat
-Safe and effective with long-term use
-Liver Cleanse herbal mix:
-This is a mixture of herbs--one of them being dandelion--they are all made to help cleanse the liver...which is soooo overtaxed in most of us! Did you tylenol, is very, very hard on the liver? Something many of us take very often. I remember learning about that back in nursing school. Anyhow, I have a daughter who struggles with slight exzema and some acne, and I believe it may stem from her liver. What's going on internally shows up on our skin, and is a red flag to something going on/blockages internally. This liver cleanse is something I will be making a tincture out of for my daughter, but anyone would really benefit from a good liver cleanse. Not something I would do while pregnant, however.
-Along with this, I will order some amber tincture bottles to store it in after it is made.
~I will continue with what I ordered and why in tomorrow's post~
~All purchases were made at a local health store, or http://www.bulkherbstore.com;
I mentioned I'd show you what we made last Friday....well here's what we made and some links so you can enjoy them with your kiddos too, if you're so inclined!
-On our hike we collected a bunch of acorn tops, so I've had fun making these lovely little felted acorns...the link is here.
-And, a little fun with pumpkins? You have it ready to print right here. (Poor girl still had bedhead..we did this craft in the early morning, and she had hit her head on some blacktop the night before...she cried all of 30 seconds, what a trooper!) On her daddy's military I.D. card his eyes are doing the same thing, so this picture had me laughing pretty hard!
Have a blessed day!,
Joy
Please remember: This post is not suggesting these herbs will cure or treat any disease you have. I am just telling about what we do in our family....please make sure you use caution and inform yourself before taking any natural herb or medicine =)
This post is a part of The Nourishing Gourmet's - Pennywise Platter; and Monday Mania at the healthy home economist.