Turmeric

A month or so ago, I became aware of the health benefits of turmeric.  Click here for that article.  It is apparently related to ginger, and I was looking for something to help with inflammation. I absolutely hate taking ibuprofen, and needed a back up plan for My Pain Relief Tea. I figured that something as innocuous as a spice would be easy enough to incorporate into my life, and from research, there were not any side effects that I, myself, needed to be worried about.

I ordered some from Mountain Rose Herbs, 8 ounces for $4.25 of certified organic ground turmeric root (rhizome). I have ordered more than a few times from Mountain Rose Herbs and have been completely satisfied with everything about them, their products, their professionalism, their delivery. Here is the turmeric that I ordered.

When I got it, I tried it in a tea (made the paste, etc.) and guess what? I don't like it. I just don't like the taste of it. I even tried a lemon turmeric iced tea, and ... no go. I just can't stomach it. I don't like Indian food either, and turmeric is used in curry.

So what to do?


Enter The Capsule Machine. :)

This is a handy, nifty tool for filling your own capsules with whatever you want to fill them with. I got mine from Amazon.com, but you can shop around.














Mine came with 1,000 capsules.

It really is a great machine! If you ever have rolled your own cigarettes? this is so much easier than that, and way better for you than that too.

I am going to get my turmeric into my body somehow!












I read from Dr. Weil that turmeric is not well absorbed without piperine, which is in black pepper (see another great article here) so I added some black pepper to my turmeric.

I didn't get too scientific here, just put a few dashes of black pepper into my turmeric bowl and mixed it up.

I'm not sure if it was enough or not, as I can not find ratios anywhere that might be best.



But onward I pressed, and found that the machine is super easy to use. Maybe a little messy, and be forewarned, turmeric stains things yellow...even my fingers.
But I now have some turmeric that I can stomach! YAY!
















I will update in the next several months to let you know if this helped with my arthritic and muscle pains from fibromyalgia.
Best Wishes!
~~Mama Trep
*please do your own research on this great spice!

Try this, ok? Extending the life of Dawn Dish Soap

Yep! That's only one sink-ful!

Try this, ok? It is one way I stretch a buck.



A while back, I was thinking about what I spend money on. Things that recur in time and that I have to spend money on to take care of them, well...these really piss me off.

You know, it's laundry, dishes, trash, cooking, cleaning...


I have learned to make laundry soap and cleaning supplies. But today I'm going to share with you how I stretch what I do spend on washing dishes. It is not exactly non-toxic, but I have tried to wash my dishes with castile soap mixtures, and I agree that you should probably try that yourself first, if you really want to go the non-toxic route. But I miss the bubbles, and the no-nonsense, git-r-done clean of using Dawn dish soap. I've washed a few dishes in my lifetime, and have tried all kinds of dish soap, and always come back to Dawn.



So try this:
This is what you need:

• 20 to 24 oz of Dawn *I like it for grease cutting.

• 1 cup borax

• 1 cup washing soda *baking soda works too

• 1 empty gallon jug

Directions:

1. Funnel borax and soda into gallon jug, fill jug with warm water about half way, then cover and shake it until all the crystals dissolve.
2. Add all of the Dawn that you bought. Swirl it gently around to mix. Try to not make any bubbles. 
3. Fill gallon jug up slowly the rest of the way with water. Again, try to avoid making bubbles so you can fill your jug.
4. Pour some of your new mixture into the Dawn container to leave at your sink.
   Just refill your Dawn container as needed, and keep the rest in the gallon jug put up.

Voila! A gallon of dish soap. 

I have also used this as a stain prewash for laundry, especially on grease stains, and it works!

Thanks for reading! Best Wishes!
~~Mama Trep