Jill's Home Remedies - herbs, home remedies & natural health

Healthier Easter Basket Ideas

April 16, 2019 By Jill 4 Comments

I have fun putting together an Easter basket for my girls every year – even for my teenagers! They never get too old, do they? Or perhaps I never feel too old to make one up for them. ;) Holidays are always an excuse for me to make things a little special for them. I don’t, however, like to fill their baskets with a bunch of unhealthy treats.

Here are a few ideas to make Easter baskets not quite as unhealthy.

Healthier Easter Basket Ideas

1. Stevia Soda

I always buy them stevia sweetened soda as a treat. Our favorite is Zevia. There are different flavors such as Cola, Orange, Grape, Black Cherry, Ginger Root Beer, Cream Soda, and more. One thing you will notice about these sodas is that they all are clear in color even though the flavors are diverse. That is because there are not unhealthy colors added to Zevias like traditional soda.

2. Healthier Candy & Snacks

There are different options for healthier candy to choose from, but a few that I am using this year are:

Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans - uses organic cane sugar and organic fruit juice; no artificial colors or flavors
Yum Earth Organic Lollipops - colored with organic fruit juice and sweeted with organic cane sugar and organic brown rice syrup
Bug Bites Dark Chocolate Squares - sweetened with cane sugar
LARABARs - sweetened with dates
Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs - sweetened with honey and I will substitute coconut sugar for the powdered sugar called for in the recipe

3. Herbal Starter Plants

This year I am assigning each of my girls an herb to grow themselves in a large container. They have to learn all about caring for it and how to use it in food and medicine. Their Easter basket is a perfect place to give them their assigned herb.

4. Spritual Books

I bought each of my girls a book to help them in their spiritual walk. Our main focus at Easter is the Resurrection of Christ, so I thought it a great excuse to give them each a good book! We love to all read at my house so what better time to splurge on this and add to our collection of good books. (We typically get most books through the library.)

Here are the books I bought for each:

17 year old – Wrestling Prayer by Eric and Leslie Ludy
14 year old – Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
12 year old – Busy Books: Sermon Notes for Kids by Darlene Schacht (This girl has already filled up one of these sermon note books and has been asking and asking for another one!)
8 year old – Princess Penelope’s Reward by Angela O’Dell (This lady is the author of some of our homeschool curriculum books through Masterbooks that we love, so I figured we’d love this book too!)

5. Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Eggs don’t have to be dyed with unhealthy dyes! You can use things like onion skins, turmeric, red cabbage, lavender flowers, etc. instead! Find out how in this post.

I would love to hear some of your healthier Easter basket ideas!

How To Make Dr. Christopher’s Strep Blend

February 1, 2019 By Jill 8 Comments

Strep throat can be a very painful condition. In fact, some would rather have any other sickness because of how miserable it typically is. Today I’m going to share a strep blend using ingredients you likely already have in your cabinet that will help you feel better fast. This formula was created and used by Dr. Christopher himself and has proved to be a great healer for many. [4]

One of my daughters woke up with a scratchy throat recently. It was the kind that made me think it may just be allergies or sinus drainage so I kept an eye on her but didn’t worry much about it. On day three, however, she woke up with her throat hurting so badly that she could hardly swallow and didn’t want breakfast because it hurt too bad to eat. I realized I needed to get the big guns out and start her on Dr. Christopher’s Strep Blend!

Strep throat is one of those things that you can’t diagnose for sure without a test at the doctor’s office. There are other infections that can cause the throat to hurt so baldy that you think it must be strep and yet it isn’t. So no, I didn’t know for sure that my daughter had strep throat, but I knew we had recently come into contact with people that came down with strep, so it was a possibility. The good news is that natural remedies are safe to use no matter what the condition may be – you don’t have to have a specific diagnosis to treat it. This Strep Blend can be used to boost the immune system and kill infections and viruses of all kinds.

Take note that strep throat is one of those illnesses that CAN be dangerous if you don’t treat it. If left untreated, there is a possibility of rheumatic fever developing. Treat your children immediately when they are sick, and it’s always a good idea to get them checked out at the doctor if you suspect strep to make sure your home remedy successfully treated it.

Strep Blend Ingredients

Garlic

This strep throat blend contains garlic, which is a powerful natural antibiotic! It has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. [1] [2] It’s important to use fresh garlic – the kind in the jar isn’t as potent as freshly crushed.

Raw Honey

According to Dr. Axe, raw honey has vitamins, 22 amino acids, 27 minerals, 5,000 enzymes, [3] making it not only a tasty reason to use it in herbal preparations, but a healthy reason as well. Honey that is not raw, however, cannot boast of all of this nutrition. Heating the honey kills beneficial nutrients. In a pinch I would use any honey on hand, but I keep raw honey in my cabinets for regular use. Buy raw honey here.

Cayenne

Cayenne is the last herb in this easy formula. Cayenne is a great catalyst herb in any herbal formula, meaning that it opens up your receptors to absorb vital nutrients. In other words, it helps the other herbs work even better than they would on their own. That is exactly what cayenne does in the formula. Plus it really helps the throat to heal quicker. Buy organic cayenne here.

How To Make Dr. Christopher’s Strep Blend

Ingredients

4 cloves fresh garlic
1 tablespoon raw honey (buy here)
1/4 tsp. powdered cayenne (buy here)

Directions

Mince garlic.
Stir in honey and cayenne.
Chew 1/2 tsp. every 30-60 minutes, allowing the mixture to coat the throat, and then swallow.
Take this mixture at this frequent dose for 24 hours (during waking hours), and then take it every 1-2 hours for at least 2 days more.

It’s very important that you take this mixture as indicated to ensure that the strep is actually completely gone.

Dr. Christopher's Strep Blend

2017-01-31 20:54:12

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Ingredients

4 cloves fresh garlic
1 tablespoon raw honey (buy here)
1/4 tsp. cayenne (buy here)

Instructions

Mince garlic.
Stir in honey and cayenne.
Chew 1/2 tsp. every 30-60 minutes, allowing the mixture to coat the throat, and then swallow.
Take this mixture at this frequent dose for 24 hours (during waking hours), and then take it every 1-2 hours for at least 2 days more.

By Jills Home Remedies

Adapted from Herbal Legacy

Jill's Home Remedies https://jillshomeremedies.com/

References

Allium sativum (garlic)–a natural antibiotic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6366484
Garlic: A natural antibiotic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v05/i04/html/04news4.html
H. (2016, September 19). Raw Honey: Get More Energy (Just Like Ancient Greek Athletes Did!). Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://draxe.com/the-many-health-benefits-of-raw-honey/
Herbal Legacy Articles. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2017, from http://articles.herballegacy.com/herbal-remedies-for-strep-throat-or-sore-throat/

Originally published 2/01/2017

Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe

December 17, 2018 By Jill 63 Comments

What makes it feel like Christmas time to you?

For me it is falling snow, the crisp cold air, Christmas songs on the radio, cutting down a tree in the woods, reading as a family the account of Christ’s birth in Luke chapter 2, hot chocolate, to name a few.

Depending on where you live in the world and what your family’s traditions are, your answers will vary from mine.

One thing we may all have in common are the scents of Christmas. I don’t like to fill my home with toxic artificial fragrances, so grabbing some herbs from the cabinet and a few fruits from the counter are more my cup of tea.

The smell of the pine tree sitting in my living room is my all-time favorite Christmas scent, but there are a few other herbs and spices that put me in the Christmas spirit! This recipe I’m about to share includes cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, star anise and orange.

Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe

Ingredients

2 TBS organic whole cloves (buy here)
2 organic cinnamon sticks (buy here)
2 organic bay leaves (buy here)
2 orange peels or 3 tablespoons organic dried orange peel (buy here)
3 star anise (optional)

Directions

Add herbs to a pot with 3 cups of water.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer on low as desired.
Keep an eye on the pan to make sure the water does not boil out.
Can also combine water and herbs in a crockpot and cook on low.

If you don’t like the smell of cloves {like my brother-in-law } or one of the other ingredients, just leave it out or substitute it with another scent that you love!

This post is linked to: A Mama’s Story What Joy Is Mine The Modest Mom Raising Homemakers A Wise Woman Builds Her Home