Temps & Expo Day

Expo day is this Friday! Expo day is where every student at IOS presents their projects for their independent study that they have been working on all semester. There's going to be a potluck and people are able to check out the school and the campus, pretty exciting I know. Plus it's the last day before break! I'm decided to have an exhibit, I'll have some remedies I've made out and some golden milk for people to try. I'm also making a book of how to make the remedies I've learned about. I should get working on that soon....  My friend Cesis independent study is punk fashion so I'm going to be dressing in steampunk stuff for her. My apothecary class has also made a bunch of things this semester that we will have for sale. Stuff like sugar scrubs, soaps, lip balms, salves, etc. Lots of people have been buying them to give as Christmas presents.  It's all going to be exciting :)




I thought today I'd talk about things to help with fevers since lots of people have been home sick with them. So a general thing you can drink when you're sick is peppermint tea. It's super medicinal and it has a cooling effect. With children it's best to have them drink spearmint tea instead because peppermint has menthol in it. I personally like Spearmint because it has that sweet taste but peppermint is more potent. You can also add a drop of basil oil to a spoon full of honey or 2 to 4 drops to a glass of water and take this about twice a day. For MILD FEVERS you can bake a large onion for 40 minutes at 400(F). When it's done you mix the juice with an equal amount of honey. You want to take 1 to 2 tsp an hour up to 8 times a day. For HIGH FEVERS you can drink yarrow and boneset tea with a pinch of cayenne and/or you can add some cinnamon or fresh grated ginger. Of course if your temperature is about 104(F) I suggest going to the hospital. Oh and another thing you can use for fevers and general sickness is this garlic, lemon and ginger mix. Crush a medium sized garlic clove, grate a similarly sized piece of ginger and squeeze the juice of one lemon into a small bowl. Mix in 1 tsp of honey. I like to add a little more honey than that. You could take this straight or add it to 1 cup of warm water. You should take this up to 3 times a day. My absolute favorite thing for fevers is dark chocolate. Yes, I said chocolate. You don't want to get milk chocolate or some with lots of sugar. Chocolate chocolate chocolate (:

All Natural Lozenges!

The other day we had an Herbalist, Ginger Web, come to our school for a little activity (I will give you the link to her website at the bottom of this post). She showed us how to make lozenges because lots of people are getting sore throats this time of the year. I was so energized to make these that for a while I forgot that I should write this all down for my blog and project. One of my teachers reminded me though, so here you go :)

Lozenges!

You'll need:

Powdered Slippery Elm bark (I had never even heard of this tree before. It grows in central and northern America and even some in Canada)

Cinnamon

Rose petal powder

Licorice powder

Honey

A small bowl and a spoon

A sheet of wax paper

To make:

The reason I didn't give measurements was because you don't really need them and I wasn't given any. The goal is to make a "dough" that you can roll into marble sized balls.

First, in your bowl, mix together some honey and about a half cup of the slippery elm. Once you have it the consistency you'd like, add in the licorice, rose petal, and cinnamon to taste. Add no more than a spoon full of each. I don't really prefer licorice but it soothes and kinda coats your throat so I just add more cinnamon than licorice. The slippery elm has the same effect.  Add more honey if needed and stir.

 Once you've got that how you like it, sprinkle some slippery elm onto the sheet of wax paper. Take some of the mix you made and roll it into a marble sized ball. Take the ball and roll it in the slippery elm so it's coated then set aside. You might want to put some of the slippery elm on your hands, the honey makes everything sticky :) When you've got them all done, you can taste one or put them in the fridge. Keeping them in the fridge will harden them. I've heard they'll be completely hardened after a week, but you can eat them before that, just they won't be very hard.

Let me know if these lozenges worked for you or if you made them a different way!

Gingers website is http://gingerwebb.com/





Happy Days is my Favorite Theme Song

Oh boy, winter....

        Scientists have proven that a lack of sunlight can either worsen already existent depression or lead to a mild case of it. Meaning staying inside to much is not to good for those emotions of yours. But sometimes we can't escape it, like during winter when the sun pretty much never shows her face. It is also estimated that 19 million Americans suffer from depression, serious and mild cases. According to herbsfordepression.com "Prescription anti-depressant medications can produce side effects that worsen the symptoms of depression." Such as drowsiness, fatigue, agitation, violent behavior, etc.


Okay, okay. I get it. Depression is bad. What can I do about it?


        Well, for starters being healthy is a big factor, being active and eating lots of fruits and veggies. I've also heard oatmeal is helpful? And some people are really sensitive to the entertainment they are giving themselves, such as sad movies, songs etc. Most people don't even realize it, so you could try filtering what you're letting yourself watch and/or listen to. Aromatherapy is good too. A little rosemary or thyme oil behind your ears to smell throughout the day.  You can drink lemon balm tea, 1 to 2 times a day. This one's easy because grocery stores usually carry this tea. There are also a ton of other herbs out there that are claimed to help with depression, but possibly the most popular is St. Johns wort. A book I read suggested making a tea by steeping 1 to 2 tsp of St. Johns wort (per cup) in hot water for 10 minutes. Drinking 1 to 2 cups of this a day for 4 to 6 weeks.

If you have serious depression, I suggest seeking professional help. Lots of love and best wishes to you if so <3

If you have tried or do try any of the things listed above or have your own methods for helping depression, I'd love to hear how they worked out for you!

Cure For The Cold

The weather is finally acting like it should in fall!
My friends are excited about this. Me, not so much. For my I.S. (independent study) I chose to mainly focus on sicknesses and such that come with this cold weather.

I have recently been informed of a delicious and nutritious drink called Golden Milk. It's a warm drink that has many health benefits. It's a great treat on a chilly night. It can help prevent cancer, its a treatment for heart disease, it's an anti-inflammatory and it lubricates your joints so it helps prevent and cure arthritis as well as any joint pains. There are so many more but I'll keep it short n sweet. It's nice to drink before going to bed, so I make it for my mom, dad, and I at night. I've noticed it has been helping with my growing pains. It's also been cleaning something out of my system but I'm sure you're not going to want the details on that.

Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:

• 1/8 tsp Turmeric
• 1/4 cup water
• 8oz milk (you can use almond milk, rice milk, or any kind you want. I use regular cow milk)
• 2 tbs coconut oil (you can use almond oil, but the original recipe calls for ghee. I just use coconut oil because I LOVE coconut. The oil you use will effect the taste.)

Directions:

• In a small sauce pan combine turmeric and water, bring to a boil and stir for 8 min. remove from heat.
• In another sauce pan combine oil and milk. bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the stuff on the bottom doesn't burn, then immediately remove from heat.
• Add the turmeric mixture to the milk mixture and stir until the milk is completely yellow. Serve warm.

Enjoy!


P.S. I've also heard that Golden Milk breaks up the mucus deep in the chest. This plus the fact that the warmth and oil soothes the throat means its probably good to drink when you have a cough or something of the sort.