Yarrow Salve

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.


One of the downsides to herbal medicine is that it takes some time to produce these folk remedies.  Sure, sometimes you can just step outside, pick a few leaves (in this case, yarrow), crush or chew, and apply.  But that only works if you actually have the plant right there, and if it happens to be the right season.  Otherwise, you're SOL.

Naturally, it just makes sense to have medicines prepared in advance.  That's why they call us preppers.  A yarrow salve is super simple to make.  Even a sheeple could do it.

Infused oil. First, make the infused oil.  Begin with about two cups of freshly harvested yarrow leaves and flowers.  Yarrow that is in bloom has the highest concentration of active constituents in it (the stuff that makes us better).  Make sure the leaves and flowers are completely dry.  You may need to let them dry for a day or two before using.

Cut up the leaves and flowers and pack them into a one pint canning jar.  Pour olive oil over the yarrow, covering it completely, and put the lid on the jar. Write the date on the lid and place the jar in a dark cabinet or closet for one month to let the yarrow infuse into the oil.

One month later, strain the yarrow-infused oil through a sieve or cheesecloth and store the oil in a clean jar out of direct light.

Salve.  To make the salve, put into a glass canning jar slightly larger than the amount of infused oil you have, one ounce of beeswax per cup of yarrow infused oil.  Pour the infused oil on top of the beeswax.  Place the jar in a small saucepan with about two inches of water and put it on the stove on medium heat.  Heat and stir until all the beeswax is melted.

Remove the jar from the pan and let it cool slightly.  Pour the salve into small glass canning jars or tins (Altoids tins work well) and let cool completely.  Label (after a while, all salves begin to look alike) and date.  Use within six to twelve months.

Herbalists use yarrow salve to alleviate pain and discomfort associated with:

• stings and bug bites
• minor bleeding
• abrasions
• rashes, including diaper rash
• burns

As with any product, herbal or otherwise, test a little bit on the skin before using to make sure there is no allergy to it.  Yarrow is in the ragweed family and may cause a reaction in those allergic to ragweeds.

For further reading:
https://montanahomesteader.com/medicinal-yarrow-first-aid-salve/
https://modernhomesteadmama.com/diy-yarrow-salve/
https://medievaldigger.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/making-a-strong-yarrow-salve/

 © 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

6 march 2023

Rice Krispies--Don't Believe Everything You Read

Somehow last night I got to thinking about breakfast cereal.  I'm not quite sure why.  Maybe it was because I was tidying up the pantry/laundry room (yeah, not the best combination) and looking at the Rice Krispies, both some new boxes as well as a #10 can of them and a quart jar that I vacuum sealed seven or eight years ago.  And at some point the seal failed, but the lid was still completely stuck to the jar rim, so it didn't seem like oxygen was getting in, but it probably still was.
Sometime during the tidying process I decided that there must be a DIY recipe for Rice Krispies somewhere. So I went to the web, and got three hits.  That should have been a clue right there.  The first two were for essentially the same recipe; the third was for a Youtube of how to DIY Rice Krispies, using the different recipes he found.  

Homemade Rice Krispies
2 cups white rice, cooked
coconut oil

Spread the cooked rice onto a cookie sheet, no more than 1/4 inch thick.  Bake at 275 for 2 hours, until totally dry, but still white.  Cool for five minutes and break into small pieces.

Put 1 inch of coconut oil in a pan and heat it to 375 degrees.  Fry the rice until it is golden brown, about 30-45 seconds.  It doesn't really pop, but it does slightly puff (according to the recipe authors).

I'm trying to be charitable here.  Nothing positive is coming to mind.   Words fail me.  In short, do not waste your time or your money.  The guy in the Youtube tells it like it is.  You see his numerous attempts, which are pretty much failures as well.

His conclusion, and mine:  DIYing it doesn't work.  You will not be fooled, and neither will your children.  Just buy your Rice Krispies.  For us as preppers, they've got an incredible shelf life just by vacuum-sealing them in a canning jar, evidently at least seven or eight years.

I share this recipe for a very good reason:  as a reminder that you can't just take somebody's word that something is going to work.  Whether it's food or something else, you need to try things out in advance to make sure they work, they work for you, and they work for your family.  You need to know that there are absolutely things that do not work, even if some woman on the internet says it does.  

Links to articles about making your own (not)-Rice Krispies and the guy who tells the truth:
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/homemade-rice-krispies-cereal/
https://theundauntedkitchen.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/make-your-own-rice-krispies/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hTRw5b_1Gw

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 

Tick-Borne Bacterial Illnesses: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, Etc.

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.

Unlike the other creepy-crawlies covered recently who are only able to transmit one kind of disease, ticks are more evolved.  They spread pain and suffering in a much wider variety of ways (wow, makes them sound like politicians, doesn't it?).  Their bites can transmit bacteria, viruses, and other parasites.  Some species of ticks may carry more than one kind of disease.  It's enough to make you want to bathe in DEET and never go outside if you think about it long enough.

But that approach isn't necessarily healthy, or practical.  So let's be a little more realistic.

In an effort to be a bit more logical in the approach to addressing the various tick-borne diseases, today's post will focus on the bacterial diseases transmitted by tick bites.  Other tick-borne diseases will be addressed later.


Please refer to the post on ticks for methods of preventing tick bites and removing ticks.


All tick-borne illnesses:

• If you have the resources, every patient presenting with a tick bite in a high risk area may be given doxycycline in a 200 mg single dose.  
• If I had an immediate family member with a tick that had possibly been attached more than twelve hours, I wouldn't hesitate to use doxycycline in this manner, and assuming I still had an adequate supply.
• Others can use their own supplies or hope for the best. I wouldn't use my supplies prophylactically on someone outside my family. 
• Even today, if a patient indicates he has been bitten by a tick, and he displays signs and symptoms consistent with a tick-borne disease (and which are common to many illnesses), a physician will start him on a course of antibiotics immediately.  Blood test results take time, and at least one of these tick-borne illnesses can quickly become fatal. If a patient reports flu-like symptoms after a tick bite, antibiotics are automatically administered.
• Regardless of whether a tick-borne disease is identified sooner or later, antibiotics are still used.  Those identified later may need a longer course of therapy, up to four weeks, and there is the possibility of suffering the consequences for life.  
• The treatment for most tick-borne diseases that are bacterial in origin is the same--doxycycline.  Physicians typically prescribe doxycycline at 100 mg/2x per day/10-14 days.  Amoxicillin is another option, 500 mg/3x per day/14 days.
• The common signs and symptoms:  headache, rash, muscle and joint pain, altered mental status.

There is very little information in the off-grid medicine books I consulted on the treatment of tick-borne diseases.  The best resource I could find is the CDC.  Links are posted below.

Lyme disease.  Lyme disease mimics many other illnesses, with rashes, headaches, and muscle and joint aches, and has a very long incubation period--up to 30 days.  If a patient recalls being bitten by a tick, that helps with diagnosis, but most patients--over 60%--do not recall being bitten.  Remember, a tick doesn't latch on and stay on.  It attaches for a very long feeding, and then falls off.  (Sounds like some of my babies.)  Early signs include a characteristic bullseye rash around the site of the attack bite.  There may be meningitis or inflammation of heart muscle, neither of which is going to be easily diagnosed in an austere environment.  Later symptoms include severe arthritis involving many joints or chronic meningitis--headaches, problems in thinking clearly, and sleepiness.

The ticks that carry Lyme disease are found all over the US, but most infections occur in the Northeast and North Central US.


Rocky Mountain spotted fever.  The ticks carrying this disease are found throughout the US, but most frequently identified in Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  The incubation period is 3-12 days.  Early signs (1-4 days) include a high fever, severe headache, gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, anorexia), and edema around the eyes and on the back of the hands.  Later signs include altered mental status, cerebral edema, pulmonary edema and respiratory distress, necrosis (tissue death requiring amputation), and kidney failure.  If there is any suspicion of RMSF, begin treatment immediately.  Delay may be fatal.

The rash associated with RMSF begins 2-5 days after the onset of symptoms.  The small, flat, pink, non-itchy spots first appear on the wrists, forearms, and ankles and sometimes spread to the trunk, palms and soles.  About 10% of patients never develop a rash and the decision to begin treatment should not be based on the presence of a rash.  Later, the rash turns red to purple.  This is a sign of severe progression of the disease and treatment should have already begun.

Rickettsiosis.  The ticks that carry this disease are found in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic US, as well as southern Arizona.   The incubation period is 2-10 days.  The disease is less severe than RMSF; the treatment is the same.

Ehrlichiosis.  The ticks that carry this disease are found in the Southeast and South Central US.  Additional symptoms include fever, chills, and gastrointestinal complaints--vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, and nausea.  The incubation period is 5-14 days.

Anaplasmosis.  The ticks that carry this disease are found in the Upper Midwest and Northeastern US.  Additional symptoms and incubation period are the same as for ehrlichiosis.  There is the possibility of co-infection with Lyme disease.

Tick-borne relapsing fever.  The ticks that carry this disease are found primarily in the Western US, and most cases occur when people sleep in rustic cabins, whether in the summer when ticks are most active, or in the winter when fires are heating cabins and ticks nesting in walls and woodwork are activated.  The incubation period is about 7 days.  The febrile periods last 3 days, followed by a 7 day break, then another 3-day fever, and so on.  The usual antibiotics are tetracycline or erythromycin, both in the same dosages:  500 mg/4x day/10 days. 

Links to related posts:
Ticks--Preventing Bites and Removing Ticks 

For further information:
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/rmsf.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/tbrf.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/lyme.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/rickettsiosis.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/anaplasmosis.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/ehrlichiosis.html

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

30 april 2023

Instant Meals--Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables and Curry Rice with Chicken and Vegetables

I'm not a huge fan of those freeze-dried meals or MREs for a couple of reasons.  The price tag is pretty hefty just for one person, but for a large family on a single income it becomes a little prohibitive.  And then there are all the additives and preservatives and stuff we'd rather not eat, especially when they upset our stomach.  This isn't to say we don't have some.  We most definitely do, thanks to the nice sponsors of the Survivalblog writing contest and having won the contest a few times.  Otherwise, I don't think we'd have anything like that.  It's just beyond our budget.

However, it's really important to have some instant meals on hand to at least be able to have a good meal when everyone in the family is sick or in the immediate aftermath of a disaster when you're still collecting your wits.  And it's a pretty good idea to have some of these meals in your emergency kit.  Like many people, we keep our emergency kits at the front of the garage so they're ready to load in the truck at a moment's notice.  Unfortunately, for about three months of the year it gets pretty warm out there, and having to frequently rotate out commercially prepared meals becomes just too expensive.

Fortunately, making your own freeze dried meals is totally do-able.  Once you've got all your ingredients it's really quick, and much cheaper, because you aren't paying for all those ridiculously expensive additives and preservatives that you don't want anyway.

My friend Renee shared her inspiration for making some great instant meals for her family to reduce costs of traveling to archery tournaments all over the country.  I spent yesterday afternoon making several of these to try out on my family for dinner to see which they liked best.  There's actually a lot to see over at The Yummy Life, and all of it looks pretty darn good.

Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables

Place the following in a quart size freezer Ziploc bag:

• 1 cup pasta broken into 2" pieces
• 1/4 cup freeze dried chopped chicken
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/4 cup freeze dried veggies
• 2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• pinch of cayenne

Label and date the bag and add cooking directions.

To cook in the bag, add 1 cup of boiling water.  Put bag in cozy or wrap in towels to conserve heat.  Let cook for nine minutes, turning halfway through to mix ingredients and continue cooking.

Notes:  For the pasta, choose one that cooks on the stove in less than 4 minutes; we used Asian rice noodles.  Angel hair pasta is a good choice; however, it is pretty pokey and may put holes in your freezer bag, causing a leak if you choose to cook in it. Put angel hair in a separate baggie first to help prevent it from poking holes in your cooking bag.

Any freeze dried veggies will do--we went with corn and peas.

Curry Rice with Chicken and Cashews

Place the following in a quart-size freezer Ziploc bag:

• 2/3 cup instant rice
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried chopped chicken
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted cashews
• 1/4 cup freeze dried vegetables
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon dried onion flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Label and date the bag and add cooking directions.

To cook in the bag, add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water.  Put bag in cozy or wrap in towels to conserve heat.  Let cook for nine minutes, turning halfway through to mix ingredients and continue cooking.

Notes: Any freeze dried veggies will do--we went with corn and peas.


I absolutely love these meals, and the family is pretty happy with them, too.  No, I wouldn't eat them every day; I like cooking and baking and the aroma in the house.  You don't get that with an instant meal.  But something else is pretty great about these--they can be customized.  Professor suffers from gastroparesis and other abdominal issues and can't eat a lot of things (which is really, really sad, because he was always my very best eater).  So I can customize his meal by making a smaller portion and omitting the offending nuts and corn.  QOTPE wants her nuts unchopped and packaged separately.  In stressful times, we really need to do what we can to make our people happy, and though never a fan of catering to children's palates, in this case I don't have to chop the nuts, so it saves me time.

Links to related posts:
DIY Instant rice
DIY Chicken bouillon


© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com