Being sick....sucks

Catching any bug is not fun. The last few days I have dealt with different symptoms: sore body, fever, phlegm (sexy), headaches. Whenever I have any ailment, my go to book for about the last ten years has been EveryWoman's Guide to Natural Home Remedies by Sally Freeman. This was no different, especially having congestion and developing a dry cough. The book gives you herbal and folk remedies; and I find it interesting what people in different regions in the world do. I decided to make the Puerto Rican cough syrup, the recipe follows.



Juice of two lemons
1/2 ounce honey
2 cups whiskey or other hard liquor (I used rum)
2 pieces of fresh anise or 2 teaspoons anise seed

Boil for ten minutes and take as needed.

I did change alittle something in the recipe. Because I buy raw honey, I did not want to cook it and kill it's health benefits. Therefore, I boiled the fresh lemon juice, rum, and anise seed for ten minutes, when it cooled I mixed in the raw honey. Please note that the liquor does reduce, so you will end with a solution of atleast half of what you started with. Also, take it off the heat and transfer after the ten minutes because it can continue to reduce.

Verdict: This cough syrup tasted so yummy to me, tangy and sweet. I also slept better than the night before where I kept waking up with constant coughing.

“Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject.” Thomas Mann

photo source


Grant it, sometimes I think there is a village developing in the backseat of my car. Ok, maybe it's not thaaat bad, but you get my point. However, with my home I really do make an effort of keeping stuff organized. It may sound odd that you should have respect for your stuff, but when you do, you take care of it. Part of this respect would be having a place for it. The hooded hair dryer I had on my living room room floor for 3 days? Yea, that is no place for it. Organizing and keeping things organized just feels good. For example, when I travel I make sure everything is tidy before I leave; when I return back to my home the energy is right and I don't have those dreaded feelings of having to clean up, it's the continuation of my trip if you will. Over time I think of new things I can do to improve my way of living, and I also get great ideas from others (especially reading other blogs). Here are some tips that have helped me with home organization:


1. Keeping bills together. I have a beautiful wood-carved mail holder that I got at the thriftstore for just a few bucks, but all that would not serve it's purpose if I didn't use it. You need not have a mail holder, it can simply the corner of your desk. The main thing is keeping your bills organized so you can easily look at the days payment must be received, which ones you owe on, etc. It's happened to me in the past, I open mail and stick it in my purse or leave it in my car and find it way later. Paying a $39 late fee is never cute, this is definitely a case where being organized pays!


2. Have a place for important documents. Places like office supplies stores and Target sell safe boxes that are fire and water proof, they range at about $50. Make the investment if you can, this will fully protect important papers in case anything should happen, and that includes tipping over a cup of water.


3. Keep your records for 7 years. That is always the recommended time. I keep them tied up together by year in a bin and can easily access them should I need to. Digging through drawers and boxes is not usually fun. I shred receipts a couple months after they have posted to my account, but I do keep those of large purchases and add to my records.


4. A yearly binder. This one I thought of a few months ago when I got a hold of dividers with the months on the side of them. I thought about how I could utilize them, and then it hit me to but them in a big zip up binder that I have and with pockets between them and keep my bills paid, statements or important papers I get in the mail and organize by month. My method before was keeping everything on a yearly basis in a shoebox sized bin, but even then that could be a pain trying to find a certain paper from a certain month. At the beginning of the year all those papers get transferred to the larger bin (see #3).


5. The kitchen. For me having stuff organized by their purpose makes it easier for me when I am cooking. Spices together, cookbooks together, anything-with-a-plug together and so on.


6. Seasonally cleaning. It makes it easier to think of doing big cleanses during the changing of seasons (and while your at it, change your toothbrush around the same time too.) There is usually some stuff that we just will never wear, or don't care to. Someones trash is definitely somebody else's treasure. If it's in decent condition, donate it. If it's stained, ripped or just plain not worth it, throw it away or find another use to it like cutting up a shirt to make rags to wipe down counters with.


7. Weekly/bi-weekly/monthly cleaning. When you get a chance, vacuum, wipe down counters and so on. Smudge (cleansing the air with burning sage) if that's something you like and which I happen to. Take a good look at your home cleaning products. Lots of them may smell good but that is because it's loaded with chemicals. I keep just a couple products to clean my home completely which is very different from how I grew up. The whole space underneath the sink was filled with cleaning products. Ahh the smell of Pine Sol may be nostalgic but there are other alternatives.


8. Open the windows. If even a bit, it will help circulate the air in your place.


9. Calendars and planners. Having a planner is a wonderful thing to have. You can spend time organizing your week, things like which days to work out, completing things on your to-do list, and sometimes we need to schedule when we will have our Me-Time.


It seems when dishes start piling up, the more clothes on the floor, messy papers and everything seems chaotic the less we want to deal with it. You will notice when there's a place for the stuff around you, you tend to feel more free. When it comes to organizing it isn't about micro-managing your life, it's about simplifying it.

Our hairy, four-legged children.

Growing up, we always had larger breed dogs, and small dogs weren't really my thing, UNTIL this yummy dog entered my life in 2008. She was homeless, dirty, filled with fleas, and yet, I was so in love; the connection was immediate. For the first time I would be taking a lot of responsibility for a dog. First thing I did was research on more natural and healthier approaches to taking care of a dog. I went to the library and I got a DVD by Gary Null about Holistic pet care. One of the things mentioned that really stuck, was the use of BHT, which you will see in some (namely larger "name brand") dog food. BHT is used as a preservative, but that same preservative is also used on tires. Can someone say, yuck? I also noticed one day while looking at a cereal box for humans that BHT was used for the box. No bueno. Gary cooks all the food for his pets, which is wonderful, however I tried it for a couple weeks and found it to be too time consuming to cook a small amount of food everyday. Since then I look for healthier dog food such as Newman's, Halo, etc. She gets a mix of dry and canned foods. Also, something I learned on the video was the benefit of flax oil for the dogs heart and coat.
Recently it hit me that I can make a larger amount of food, pack it individually and freeze it. I came up with this recipe and she loves it. I take out one serving and thaw it out the night before so it can be ready the next morning. Also, once I serve it, I pour a good teaspoon of organic flax oil on top of it (she loves it on it's own, but doing this makes one step less.) By the way, cats are carnivores not dogs, which I thought them to be; still giving dogs meat is o.k. but not completely necessary if it's something you don't agree with.

Nana's homemade dog food
1 cup organic barley
Water (check barley package for amount)
2 organic carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled, chopped into chunks
1 yam, peeled chopped into chunks
3-5 slices turkey bacon, cooked and cut into smaller pieces (I prefer Applegate Organic Turkey bacon)

In a pot I add the water and barley and cook for about 15 minutes before throwing in the carrots, sweet potato and yam. I cook everything for the remaining time together (see barley package instructions for length of time of cooking.) Once cooked, I mash all together till in small chunks. Lastly, I mix in the turkey bacon pieces. And voila!

I then divide the servings into BPA-free containers and put in the freezer until ready to use. If you will be using all of the food within a few days, it should stay good in the refrigerator, but freeze if it will be longer than that. You can also double this recipe easily.

"Can Urban Gardens Create Community?"

From American Friends Services Committee:

Urban gardening has grown in popularity in Los Angeles. But is this phenomenon a passing trend or a sustainable reality? Hear various expert speakers working in the community, in schools, co-ops, and other publc spaces use urban gardens as a way to rebuild community. AFSC Los Angeles will also share its work in creating two gardens at local high schools as a form of peacebuilding. Following the dialogue will be a freereception for the opening of our art gallery exhibit, "Cultivating Spirited Land."
Speakers include: Mud Baron, the Green Policy Director for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education; Connie DePaepe-Layton, Master Gardner and a leading advocate for greening Los Angeles; and Megan Hobza, a noted community leader in the field of time banking.

When:

Thursday, November 11, 2010 7:00 pm to 8:00 p.m.

Where:
AFSC Los Angeles Office 3rd Floor
634 S. Spring St.Los Angeles, CA 90014
(recommend parking at Joe's Parking Lot on 530 S. Spring St.)

Contact Information:
For more information contact: Anthony Marsh, Los Angeles Area Program Director 213.489.1900 x119 or amarsh@afsc.org

Holistic Breast Cancer Presentation

Free workshop on Holistic Breast Cancer prevention and treatment offered this Saturday. You can register by calling 626-303-3300. Snacks will be provided by Whole Foods.

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31 days, finally. Part deux.

Today..................I learned...

september 15th: about Slow Food LA

september 16th: about the City's new Special Events Street Closure Fees Ordinance (read more here)

september 17th: You shouldn't spend more than 20% of your monthly income on your debt payment

september 18th: "Nana" a title Ghanaians accord people of stature

september 19th: About "Poppit", not a new dance, but a baby carrier. Concerned.

september 20th: About Miyoko Miki via an exhibit at LAMAG

september 21st: Kimchee and sauerkraut help alleviate IBS symptoms

september 22nd: 70% of energy in China comes from coal

september 23rd: how to make chocolate truffles

september 25th: Billie Holiday is buried in the Bronx

september 26th: Swallowing garlic cloves is not that bad (and helped improve my health).

september 27th: That someone makes orange thongs for men. I was witness to someone rockin' it!

september 28th: Mobile, Alabama celebrated the first Mardi Gras in the United States in 1703.

september 29th: Gumbo means okra.

september 30th: The drum + dance basics to Cuembe