The Medicinal Uses of Japanese Honeysuckle

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 when there are no conventional alternatives. 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. 

When I was a child, the elementary school I attended in Southern California had a massive honeysuckle plant whose vines covered the entire fence. And every spring a friend and I would wander down there during recess to suck the nectar. The joy I received from that experience would be reason enough to plant this shrub. The fact that it can be used in so many ways medicinally provides added support for using it in landscaping. But note that it many areas it is considered an invasive weed. I wish that were the case here, well, I wish it would spread and propagate so easily.

Medicinally, honeysuckle is an alternative to goldenseal; it's used like Forsythia suspensa and often in conjunction with it to achieve a stronger effect. It's quite an amazing medicinal herb and ranks in the top fifty in Chinese herbal medicine. It's been used throughout history to treat problems with:

• muscles and joints;
• skin (inflammation, infectious rashes, sores, carbuncles, abscesses, chickenpox);
• upper respiratory tract (colds, sore throat, mouth sores, influenza, pneumonia, strep throat, tuberculosis);
• intestines (diarrhea, dysentery, Crohn's disease, salmonella);
• communicable diseases (mumps, measles, hepatitis);
• kidneys (lowering blood glucose levels in type-2 diabetes);
• circulation (blood pressure, cholesterol);
• eyes (conjunctivitis, keratitis, corneal ulcers). 

That's quite a list. It has been shown effective against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Vibrio cholerae, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli.

Parts used: Flowers, leaves, and stems.

Time to harvest: Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) blossoms are picked in the spring and early summer. The leaves are harvested mid- to late summer. And the stems are harvested in the autumn and winter. When harvesting flowers, choose fully formed blossoms that are about to open. Older, completely opened flowers may not be as medicinally active as younger blooms. In fact, smaller, tightly closed buds are stronger than older flowers. Spread the flowers, leaves, or stems out on drying racks and dry until crispy. Store dried honeysuckle parts separately in opaque, airtight containers in a cool, dark place.

Honeysuckle is used in numerous ways to treat scores of illnesses.

Food: First off, honeysuckle flowers and leaves can be eaten just as food, without any medicinal intention. Or medicinally, for intestinal problems.

• Flowers
• Young honeysuckle flowers and buds are eaten 
• Stir-fry slightly for treating diarrhea 
• Make into syrup 
• Leaves 
• Stir-fry or boil and eat like spinach

Infusion:

• Flowers alone: Boil 1 cup water and pour over one tablespoon dried honeysuckle flowers. Let steep 10 minutes. (Add honey to tea for treating any upper respiratory infections.) Use for:
• headache 
• strep 
• tuberculosis 
• intestinal infections 
• diarrhea and gastroenteritis, especially due to Salmonella food poisoning 
• bacterial dysentery 
• gastric ulcers 
• nausea and vomiting 
• hepatitis C 
• syphilitic skin diseases and tumors 
• pain and swelling 
• Flowers and stems 
• dysentery 
• pneumonia 
• Stems 
• acute rheumatoid arthritis,
• mumps and 
• hepatitis 
• Leaves 
• gargle for sore throat 
• mouthwash for canker sores 
• Flowers and leaves 
• chickenpox 
• Flowers, along with cowslip, elecampane, or mulberry 
• coughs 
• mild asthma 

Decoction:

• Flowers
• Influenza A (H1N1, H5N1, H7N9). The study was done on mice and this is the formula they used: boil 10 grams of honeysuckle in 100 ml of water for 30 minutes to produce 50 ml of decoction. I could not find how often the decoction was administered.  This same decoction may prove useful in treating Ebola. 
• Stems and branches 
• dysentery 
• feverish colds 
• rheumatoid arthritis, acute stage (best when combined with other herbs). Recommended dosage is from 10 to 20 grams in decoction or capsules.
• mumps 
• hepatitis 
• influenza, especially for joint pain 
• Bark, made in a ratio of 1 part grated bark to 7 parts water 
• gout 
• kidney stones 
• liver problems

Poultice: This can be made by crushing the whole plant into a pulp and applying directly to an inflamed or irritated areas or sores.

• Bites and stings;
• eyes, breast and throat.

Wash: Follow directions for making an infusion and use as a wash externally for:

• skin inflammation;
• infectious rashes 
• infected boils 
• eczema 
• skin allergies 
• poison ivy 
• sunburns and other minor burns 
• tumors, especially breast cancer 
• scabies 
• rheumatism

Tincture: 1:5 with 95% alcohol. Use the flower bud tincture for:

• diarrhea or gastroenteritis caused by food poisoning
• lower blood cholesterol 
• reduce blood pressure

Salve: A salve made with honeysuckle tincture can be used to treat:

• skin irritation and inflammation;
• wounds and accelerate healing

Contraindications: May slow blood clotting. Do not use two weeks prior to surgery. Honeysuckle is not for long-term use. Avoid during pregnancy and breast feeding, as well as if trying to conceive.

Other uses:

• Insecticide
• Vines used to make baskets 
• Fishing--hunting tribes put large quantities of Japanese honeysuckle in streams or lakes, etc., in order to stupefy or kill the fish 
• Food additive to increase growth of broiler chickens

For further information:
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-512/honeysuckle
https://www.nature.com/articles/cr2014130 (Chinese research article on anti-viral activity of honeysuckle against influenza A viruses--H1N1, H5N1, H7N9--in mice. Researchers boiled 10 grams of honeysuckle in 100 ml of water for 30 minutes to produce 50 ml decoction.)
https://www.sciencealert.com/honeysuckle-tea-can-treat-influenza-a-viruses-and-possibly-ebola
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577469/ (wound repair and antimicrobial activity)
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/honeysuckle-essential-oil.html
https://draxe.com/honeysuckle/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30296293
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26174209 (lowers blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes)
https://elmaskincare.com/herbs/herbs_honeysuckle.htm

6 may 2019

How To Make and Use Pumpkin Powder (Yeah, It's a Thing) in Your Prepping

You know, it's exciting to wake up each morning and learn something new, whether it's making a tasty treat (my favorite), or saving money, or working out a just-add-water recipe.  But when it's all three of those and more?  Well, life could only get better if the liberals would just accept the fact that Trump won the election.


About four or five years ago, my Grocery Outlet store had a killer deal on eight-ounce cans of pumpkin puree.  I love the smaller cans (which I have not seen in stores since that time) because usually I only want one cup of pumpkin puree instead of two.  The second cup got wasted far too often.  And then, I wasn't saving any money.  Anyway, I bought a lot, apparently, because the price was right and the little cans were just so cute.

But now they're four years out of date.  Previously, some pumpkin cans from another processor started bulging at about the five-year mark, and I don't want to lose this current batch.  Pumpkin has gotten a bit expensive.  So I had to figure out something to do with these last remaining dozen cans.

A few weeks before realizing that I had to figure out a solution for the pumpkin, I started making some just-add-water mixes for muffins.  And I was also going through the Dessert for Two cookbook by Christina Lane.  (You see where this is going, right?)  Could I dehydrate pumpkin puree and make cupcake and muffin mixes, especially in smaller batches than a whole can of puree would normally allow?

So I somewhat followed the procedure recommended by Tammy Gangloff in her Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook.  She only starts with fresh produce, so, of course, I had adjustments to make.  After thoroughly dehydrating the pumpkin leathers, I put them into the blender to powder them.  And while I got some good powder, there were also a lot of larger bits.  I figured it wouldn't be a problem, because everything would rehydrate anyway, right?

I created a just-add-water adaptation of pumpkin cupcakes using pumpkin powder, and it was pretty good.  The cupcake was a bit crumbly, which has since been corrected by increasing the amount of egg powder in the recipe.  However, there were hard little bits of pumpkin that hadn't rehydrated completely.  It was still good, but you know, I want great if I can have it.  The hard little bits of pumpkin had to go.

Obviously, the pumpkin had to be completely powdered.  Unfortunately, running it through the blender for a longer time wasn't doing the trick.  So I pulled out the wire strainer, hoping the mesh on it would be fine enough to do the job.  Yep, it was.  No, I do not remember where I got it.  Maybe Amazon.  The strainers at the grocery stores I checked yesterday did not have a mesh that was fine enough.

With the fine powder produced using a strainer to hold back the larger bits, the experiment was perfectly successful.  The larger bits were run through the blender again a few times, but eventually, it was time to call it quits. I'll use the coarse powder for soups. The fine powder was stored in one canning jar and the larger bits in another.

I decided to blog on this today because some lucky devils out there are going to come across deep-discounted pumpkin after the holidays.  It's nice to know how to use it, especially if the pumpkin is in larger cans.  Not only is pumpkin powder great for making cupcake and muffin mixes, but it can also be used for flavoring smoothies, yogurt, and pudding.  The larger bits can be put to use in soups.  Pumpkin powder is light, takes far less space in storage, and allows you to make just the right amount to serve your family without wasting the rest of the can.  Gotta love it.

Mini-Batch Pumpkin Cupcakes (just-add-water)
Makes 6-7 cupcakes


7 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons egg powder
2 tablespoons dehydrated pumpkin powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons coconut oil
---------------------
3/4 cup water

In a medium bowl, combine everything except the coconut oil and mix well.  Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the coconut oil.  Store in a pint-size canning jar and label.

To prepare cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Pour cupcake mix into a medium bowl and add 3/4 cup water.  Mix well for two minutes.  Pour into cupcake liners, about 1/2-2/3 full.  Bake for 30 minutes, or  until cupcakes test done. 

Buttercream Frosting
2 tablespoons butter powder
2 teaspoons dry milk powder
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water

Combine the above in a small bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer if it's an option. Otherwise, mix by hand. 


Mini-Batch Pumpkin Muffins (just-add-water)
Makes 7 muffins

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons quick oats
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon                                  
scant 1/2 teaspoon baking powder                
1/4 teaspoon baking soda  
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash teaspoon nutmeg                                    
dash teaspoon cloves                                     
2 tablespoons egg powder     
2 tablespoons pumpkin powder
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey powder
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil

Combine all ingredients except coconut oil in a medium bowl.  Then cut in coconut oil until it is evenly distributed.  Put this mixture into a pint-size freezer bag.

To prepare the muffins, pour the mix into a medium bowl.  Add 3/4 cup water and stir well to combine, but do not overmix.  Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Pumpkin Curry Soup Mix (just add water)
2-3 servings
1 tablespoon butter powder
2 tablespoons dehydrated minced onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1/4 cup coarse dehydrated pumpkin powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry milk

3 1/2 cups water


Add everything except water to a half-pint canning jar.  Apply lid and shake to combine ingredients.  Label, add cooking directions, and store in the cabinet.

To prepare:  Pour mix into a small saucepan.  Add 3 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer ten minutes, or until pumpkin is fully rehydrated.

Links to related posts:
Instant Soups
Instant Meals
Quick and Dirty Dehydrating


For further reading: 
https://practicalselfreliance.com/pumpkin-powder/
https://www.trail.recipes/blog/dehydrating123-how-to-make-pumpkin-powder/
https://www.trail.recipes/recipes/curried-pumpkin-soup/
https://momwithaprep.com/dehydrate-canned-pumpkin-make-pumpkin-powder/
https://www.frugalupstate.com/crafts-diy/diy-how-to-dehydrate-pumpkin/

Basic White Sandwich Bread

Food Storage Made Fabulous, the 2nd volume of articles from the Prep School Daily blog, is now available on Amazon.  With over 100 family-friendly recipes using basic long-term food storage staples, your family will have no idea there's a crisis. 

If there's one thing we've learned from the late pandemic, it's that people need basic recipes--recipes that aren't found in most modern cookbooks--and tips for adapting their favorite recipes to use food storage staples.

You see, before March 2020, suggesting to people that making bread is a critical life skill would be akin to advising them of the need to learn to knit their own socks or butcher their own chickens.  As increasing numbers of women entered the workforce in the preceding decades, they delegated family meal preparation to grocery stores and restaurants.  Mothers didn't teach their children to bake and cook, but rather relegated these essential life skills to the back burner.  When the pandemic shutdown confined families to their homes, an entire generation of women--including high level executives and others with advanced degrees--struggled to navigate their way around the kitchen to recreate the foods they were accustomed to purchasing each week at the grocery store.  Even for those who are quite comfortable in the kitchen, the vast majority of cookbooks on the market today have a slant to them--vegan, vegetarian, paleo, etc.  They focus on beans, Insta-pots, or cooking once a week. Most basic cookbooks rely heavily on convenience items and fresh dairy.

While many preparedness writers focus on how political and economic events play out--the doom as some people call it, Prep School Daily emphasizes the importance of preparing well--good food is essential to good morale, good health, and continued survival.  It doesn't matter much whether food insecurity develops due to natural disasters, job loss, rioting, a pandemic, or economic upheaval.  When there is no food in the stores, I want food stores on my shelves.  It's my responsibility--it's every parent's responsibility--to make sure those shelves are well-stocked to feed the family well.

End of rant.

So one of the true basics--so basic that it never even occurred to me to write about it until now, is plain white sandwich bread.  Without any whole grain, it's not as healthy as whole wheat sandwich bread, but it serves an critical function in challenging times:  it is much easier for beginning bread makers (the people, not the machines) to be successful with white bread.  It's easier to learn the nuances of how the dough is supposed to feel, the right amount of water to add, how long to allow for rising, and beyond that, to transition the family gradually from eating white bread to whole wheat, which has a much longer shelf life and is more nutritious.

Basic White Sandwich Bread
4 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup dry milk powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

(If you are not sure whether your yeast is still good, begin by whisking it, the sugar, and the water together and let stand for 10 minutes.  If the mixture bubbles nicely and smells yeasty, you're good to go.)

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together and then add in the oil and water.  Stir until pretty well combined and then turn out onto the counter to knead.  Knead dough for 8-10 minutes, until dough is smooth and tacky, but not sticky.  (Resist the temptation to add more flour.  If your work surface becomes sticky, spread a little oil or butter instead of flour.  This will prevent your bread from becoming too dry.)

Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm area to rise, 60-90 minutes.

Turn dough onto counter and let rest 10-15 minutes.  Divide into two equal pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each into a rectangle, with the short side about the length of the bread pans.  Roll each rectangle up, cinnamon roll-style, and pinch ends together to seal.  Place seam side down in well-greased bread pans.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise 60 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reaches 190 degrees.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and another 10 minutes before slicing. 

Links to related posts:

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Whole Wheat No Knead Bucket Bread

Flour

All the Different Kinds of Yeast

Making Your Own Candle Wicks For Oil Candles, the Hard Way and the Easy Way

Just so you know, I spent an absolutely inordinate amount of time researching this topic.
 

THE HARD WAY

According to the Internet, these are the best DIY candle wicks.  There are other methods for making wicks that take a little less time and slightly less work.  But they don't burn as brightly while consuming the same amount of fuel, so ultimately, these are more cost-effective by offering the brightest bang for the buck.  The borax and salt solution strengthens the wick and helps it burn brighter and longer while producing less ash and smoke.

Candle Wick Solution
1/4 cup borax
2 tablespoons salt
1.5 cups water
Butcher's twine, cotton yarn, or embroidery floss--just make sure it's 100% cotton

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Add the borax and salt and stir to dissolve.    Place your cut cotton twine or yarn in the solution and soak for a day.  After soaking, dry the twine thoroughly.  It may take up to three days in a humid area.  (I put mine in the dehydrator because I was really impatient.)

After the yarn is completely dry all the way through, melt paraffin wax or old candles, or even cheap crayons, in a double boiler (perhaps an empty, rinsed vegetable can).  Dip the strands of cotton lengths for your wicks in the melted wax three times.  Dry the wicks on waxed paper or use clothespins to hang from them from a clothesline.  You might be tempted, as I was, to skip this step. But for research purposes, I didn't.  

If you are using these wicks to make wax candles, you'll also want to reuse aluminum wick tabs from tealight candles or fashion your own from heavy-duty aluminum foil.  If you are using these for oil candles, you'll also need a bit of thin wire to hold the wick up out of the oil.  Fine gauge crafting wire is ideal (yeah, I don't actually have any lying around, either), paper clips (not so great), or Christmas tree ornament hangers (wish I'd done this before putting all the Christmas stuff away) could all be pressed into service.  The tabs and wire holders are not needed if you are making these candles with canning jars and using the spent lid for the support (after you make a hole in it).

Evaluation:  These wicks work just fine.  They usually light right up and don't appear to smoke or make much ash.  But in the interest of full disclosure, I should state that I am not a candle aficionado.

THE "THROW-MONEY-AT-IT" WAY

If you've got the money and would rather buy than DIY, you can get these handy little things called floating wicks.  Ellie got me a box of fifty for Christmas, and I finally pulled them out today to give them a whirl.  Stick a little wick in the center of the cork-based floating tab (coated with foil on top so that the cork doesn't burn), place it in the oil, and light.  And it just lights right up.  It doesn't need time to pre-soak in the oil or anything like that.  Burns perfectly.  They run about seven dollars for a hundred.  I got the small ones, and they tipped over sometimes as I was trying to place and light them.  After reading the reviews on Amazon, I'd get the larger ones if I ordered again.  These floating wicks burn up to ten hours.

Evaluation:  I liked them.  They're cute and clean, no smoking and no ash.  If I had more dollars than sense, I'd definitely just get these.  They burned just as brightly as the other wicks.

THE EASY WAY


The easy way is to just get cotton yarn, the heavier stuff like for crocheting washcloths, not the very thin stuff for crocheting tablecloths.  Soak it in oil.  I swear I cannot tell any difference.  I have been using the plain yarn and the yarn soaked in borax and salt, with and without being coated in wax.  I'm afraid to write this, scared that I will offend the candle-making gurus.  But really, I can't tell any difference.  I've been using ten-year-old rancid vegetable oil and current stock (well, close enough) olive oil.  I honestly can't detect any difference, even though The Internet Says that olive oil burns cleaner.  I'm just sad that I wasted so much time soaking the yarn, drying it, dipping it in wax.  For naught.  Except that now you don't have to waste your time.

Evaluation:  As far as I can tell, plain cotton yarn works just as well, without the muss and fuss.  This is what I'm using.

I will add that the soaking in borax and salt and dipping in wax might be important if the wicks are being used to make wax candles.  I'm not interested in testing that out, at least not for another year or two.  Why?  I've got loads of rancid oil and cotton yarn to go with it. 

One final, very important note, which nobody mentions online.  Maybe because they all have common sense and know this already and figure everyone else does as well.  But I didn't.  And I was so frustrated because my wicks would work, and then they wouldn't.

So here it is:   The wick actually has to be close to the oil.  Of course, in my world, it would quite acceptable to have an inch gap between the surface of the oil and the top of the wick, which is supported by the canning jar lid.  However, this does not make for a candle wick that burns well on planet Earth.  So make sure the base of the wick is pretty close to the oil. Then you can be happy and not frustrated as I was. As the oil burns down, just replace it with more oil, or add in water if you're only putting an inch or so of oil in the jar. 

Links to related posts:
Oil Candles
Uses for Rancid Oil
Salt  

For further reading:
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Candle-Wicks
https://candles.lovetoknow.com/Homemade_Candle_Wicks
https://www.redtedart.com/how-to-make-a-candle-wick/

Wash Your Hands!

Really, just washing your hands properly can halt the spread of many illnesses. Unfortunately, far too many people do not wash hands. And even more unfortunately, we have to use the same doorknobs as they do, and sometimes we also have to shake hands with them. So even if we are meticulous about washing our hands, we have to do it well and frequently for the best protection.

We've all seen those people leaving public bathrooms without washing at all, or children who try to get away with a quick rinse. Statistically, only sixty percent of women and less than forty percent of men wash their hands after using a public bathroom. Disturbing, isn't it? Sadly, we can't really do anything about it. At least, not safely in a society where a whole lot of people are absolutely bonkers.

But we can wash our own hands properly, and we can teach our children exactly how to do it and why. There are five steps:

• Wet hands with clean, warm (it's more comfortable), running water, and then turn off the tap. Having running water makes you rush because you don't want to waste water. 
• Lather hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to cover the hands, wrists, between the fingers and under the nails--especially under the nails. The undersides of fingernails are like miniature Petri dishes perfect for breeding microbes. Keeping nails trimmed and using a nail brush will automatically eliminate a lot of opportunities for infection. (Side note: Artificial nails of any kind can harbor all sorts of microbes. Keeping with the natural look is safest. And cheaper and easier, too.)
• Scrub hands vigorously for 20-30 seconds. Teach children to sing "Happy Birthday" slowly, all the way through, twice, making sure all the while that they wash between their fingers, the knuckles, and under the nails.  
• Then rinse well under running water. Rinsing in standing water risks recontaminating your hands. Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Finally, dry the hands using a clean towel or an air dryer. Also, use the paper towel (or the hem of your shirt) to open the bathroom door to avoid recontaminating your hands. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists when hands should be washed:

• Before and after preparing food
• Before and after eating
• Before and after caring for anyone who is sick
• Before and after treating any injury or changing bandages
• Before touching your face, especially the eyes, nose, or mouth 
• After returning home
• After using the toilet or helping a child use the toilet
• After changing a diaper
• After blowing your nose, or coughing or sneezing into your hands
• After touching any animal, including pets, animal waste, or animal feed
• After handling garbage or taking out the trash
• After touching any surfaces in an ill person's room

Washing hands thoroughly and every single time it is called for will dramatically reduce the spread of contagious disease.  

Links to related posts:

Quarantine

Isolation

Cleaning and Disinfecting

Sterilizing 

For further reading:

https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/providers/guideline.html

https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/patients/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/science/index.html

The Medicinal Uses of Cayenne

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.

This was by far the most frustrating item to research and write about to date.  Six or eight years ago I read a very detailed article on the medicinal uses of cayenne.  I even saved it to the hard drive of a laptop long since deceased.  Of course, I can't find it online now.  Regardless, I thought the information should be rather simple to track down.

Not so.

While cayenne has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes, there isn't a lot of detail to be had.  Historical use of cayenne in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres shows it was used for treating indigestion, confusion, tremors, hemorrhoids, menorrhagia, tonsillitis, scarlet fever, sore throat, flatulence, gout, fever, nausea, heart attacks, and the list goes on.  But how exactly was it administered?  How effective was it at treating diphtheria?  What dosages were prescribed when it was used in conjunction with penny royal for expelling the retained dead tissue of a miscarriage?

It is fortunate that some scientific research is being and has been performed, but even that isn't too helpful if it is only conducted in a laboratory, which is the case with many of the articles I posted links for below.  In the case of internet jockeys and self-professed gurus, the information may even be dangerous.  Anecdotal evidence of cayenne pepper powder stopping bleeding does not mean using cayenne to stop a serious bleed is a good idea.  Would the bleeding have stopped anyway with a little direct pressure?  Is pouring cayenne into a wound creating a greater potential for infection?  After all, doesn't the cayenne need to be washed out before closing that wound?

On the other end of the spectrum, striving to care for our loved ones in a post-apocalyptic world (PAW) may have us willing to throw anything and everything at a problem.  As the physicians leading the off-grid medicine courses I attended taught us, CPR is for dead people only.  When society has completely collapsed and there is no higher medical care, you don't perform CPR, except in cases of drowning, lightning strike/electrocution, and choking.  Those people were healthy before the accident.  Everyone else has a medical condition that brought on the heart attack and that will not be able to be diagnosed and/or treated without modern medicine.  I can accept that.  It's easy to say now.  But what if the heart attack patient is my husband, who as a type-1 diabetic is in the do not resuscitate (DNR) group?  Can I just let him go?  Probably not.

Would I be willing to try giving him some cayenne tea if he were able to swallow or cayenne tincture under his tongue if he were not (supposedly used on someone who had just expired, with miraculous results)?  Yeah, I'm kinda attached to him, so I'd do it.

Unfortunately, these kinds of things have only anecdotal stories attached to them.  There's no scientific research to back them up.  Treating a heart attack patient with cayenne pepper when more civilized care is available would be considered malpractice, at least in this country.  No one's going to do it.  Does drinking a strong tea of cayenne pepper help stop internal bleeding?  Heck if I know.  But Dr. Patrick Jones, a veterinarian and herbalist, has used it on dogs hit by cars, and he says it has worked.  That's another one that isn't likely to be researched for a long time.  Would I be willing to try it on someone who was suspected to have internal bleeding?  Well, of course that's going to depend on a few factors, but I'd probably be open to the idea.

With that said, here are some suggestions for using cayenne. 

Infusion:  1/2-1 teaspoon of cayenne in one cup of boiling water.  Drink warm, about one tablespoon at a time (16 sips per cup), for indigestion, fever, gout, arthritis, rheumatism, and sore throat and cold.  For internal bleeding, use one teaspoon and drink it as quickly as possible. 

Powder: Pour it on and apply pressure.  Honestly, the "apply pressure" part is the most important.  If the bleeding is that serious, I'm going to go with a commercial clotting agent like Celox or QuikClot, if it's my family.  Everyone else can have cayenne. Yes, cayenne in a wound is going to burn.

Capsules:  One capsule, one to three times daily, for indigestion.  (I've been doing this for six years, and I have no problems with heartburn, unless I run out.  That happened once.  Now I keep a better supply.)  Also, and there is more research on this (web addresses posted below), cayenne pepper does not cause gastric ulcers.  On the contrary, it helps heal them.

Cream:  Add 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder or a couple of drops of cayenne tincture to some body lotion and rub over the affected area for arthritis and rheumatism.

Cayenne oil:  In a glass jar, place 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of crushed mustard seeds, and 2 teaspoons of grated ginger root in one cup of carrier oil such as olive or almond.   Allow to infuse for one week, then strain.  Use as a massage oil for treating muscle, joint, and arthritis pain.

Cayenne tincture:  Fill a one-quart jar with fresh cayenne peppers (or halfway with cayenne powder) and top off within 1/2 inch of the rim with grain alcohol (95% percent) if possible, or the highest proof you can get.  (You may substitute apple cider vinegar or glycerin for the vodka, but the tincture won't be as strong and will only have a shelf life of six months.)  Place lid on top and store in cool, dark place for six to eight weeks.  Strain to remove peppers and store tincture in dark glass bottle.  Shelf life--three to five years.

For further reading:
http://www.holistic-research.org/uploads/1/1/3/8/11385972/cayenne_pepper.pdf (Accessed on 28 December 2018)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5785894/ (Accessed on 28 December 2018.  Chronic disease, inflammation, and spices)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19919287 (Accessed on 27 December 2018.  Cayenne inhibits bacteria)
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/antimicrobial-properties-of-chili-peppers-2332-0877.1000145.pdf (Accessed on 27 December 2018.  Effect of various hot peppers on various strains of bacteria and viruses)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16621751 (Capsaicin and gastric ulcers.  Accessed on 27 December 2018)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21104944 (Accessed on 27 December 2018).  Capsaicin cream in treatment of chronic pain) 

Comfrey-Calendula Salve for Cramps, Sprains, and Fractures

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.

This comfrey-calendula salve is a beautiful thing when it comes to stopping charley horses in their tracks.  It also works well for healing fractures and sprains, burns, and contact dermatitis, like from poison oak.

Comfrey-Calendula Salve
1 cup olive or coconut oil
1 1/3 cups dried comfrey leaves
1 1/3 cups dried calendula petals
1 oz beeswax

In a double boiler, melt the beeswax and olive oil together, and then add the comfrey and calendula.  Simmer for 3 hours. A crockpot that can be set to "warm" will also work, and it can be left overnight.

Put a canning funnel in a 12-ounce canning jar and line it with a few layers of cheesecloth.  Pour in some of the oil and herbs and press it through gently.  Continue until all of the oil and herbs have been strained through the cheesecloth, wringing the last of it through to get every last bit.

Links to related posts:

Coconut Oil 
The Medicinal Uses of Comfrey
How to Make a Salve
Calendula

When Milk Goes Bad: Several Culinary Uses for Spoiled Milk

Due to the move, I quit making yogurt in an effort to clean out the refrigerator, and in the bustle of trying to unpack and organize, it took me awhile to get started again at our new location.  Part of the problem was due to the yogurt starter.  I couldn’t find the official starter tablets, though I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them.  I still have to wonder where they could be, because they should only be in the refrigerator or freezer.  And I couldn’t locate the probiotic capsules either.  I know they’re somewhere….  What I did manage to have unpacked in the right location was some children’s probiotic powder designed to be added to milk.  Vanilla flavored single-serve packets.  I picked it up to try as a yogurt starter.  I thought I had used it before and that it had worked. (Maybe I used two packets instead of one.  Not sure.)

It did not work this time.  I let the milk culture all day and still only got lumpy milk.  I was going to add more of the probiotic packets and try again the next day.  But that day never came.  Instead, the lumpy milk just took up valuable real estate and went sour in the refrigerator.  My family would have a collective heart attack if they knew what I did with that sour, lumpy milk.  But we don’t want you and your family to experience any stress.  So here’s how to use spoiled milk, instead of just pouring it down the drain.  It’s kinda like making lemonade out of lemons.  There’s nothing to fear here.  It’s all good.

 

The first step to using spoiled milk is to re-brand it, so to speak.  The whole family will raise a stink about consuming spoiled milk.  After all, it smells nasty.  It tastes nasty.  Therefore, nothing good could possibly come from using it.  So trust me here, do not tell them you are using spoiled milk.  It is re-branded as homemade buttermilk.  Of sorts.   

The bacteria that are naturally present in milk have been consuming the natural sugars in milk all along.  But as the use-by date approaches, the bacteria swell in numbers, such that when you hit that magic date (or maybe a little afterwards depending on how cold the refrigerator is, how often it is opened, and how long the milk is left out before being returned to the refrigerator), the bacteria reach a point where their presence is known by smell and taste.  

From a baking and cooking standpoint, cultured buttermilk from the store is basically the same thing as spoiled milk, but the bacteria were purposefully added in extra numbers to produce the sour taste quickly.  Sour milk that you accidentally made at home will perform the same as store bought buttermilk in your recipes, and the same as your other DIY substitute for buttermilk using dry milk and lemon juice/vinegar. 

Because the re-branded buttermilk (formerly known as the soured milk) acts as a leavening agent, it’s a great choice for quick breads that use baking powder. 

•  Biscuits
•  Scones
•  Pancakes
•  Waffles
•  Cornbread
•  Quick breads

It also makes perfectly divine caramel dip for apples or caramel syrup (known by some as buttermilk syrup--but you know caramel syrup sounds much tastier) for pancakes and waffles.

Finally, it is perfect for dipping for vegetables before coating with bread crumbs for deep frying. 

And for those who wonder about the safety of consuming spoiled milk, remember that this is basically buttermilk.  It’s sold in stores for people to drink and use in recipes.  Also bear in mind that spoiled food rarely causes food poisoning.  Spoiled food usually makes people gag.  Food with bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that cause food poisoning usually tastes perfectly fine, and that’s why people eat it, and then get sick later.

These are the recipes I used that failed yogurt/now spoiled lumpy milk in just the past two weeks:

• Whole wheat sandwich bread
• Lemon quick bread
• Chocolate zucchini quick bread
• Buttermilk biscuits
• Caramel syrup
• Yogurt banana pancakes 
• Pumpkin waffles
• Caramel apple cupcakes
  

Nobody noticed.   They all scarfed it all down, except for the quick breads, because I'm freezing some for later.

Links to related posts:

Food Poisoning Overview

Basic Food Storage—Dry Milk

Caramel Syrup

Making Thick, Creamy Yogurt

Yogurt Banana Pancakes

Biscuits

References:

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/sour-milk-tips?utm_source=pocket-newtab  10.07.22

More Breakfast Cereal--Muesli

As for breakfast cereal that I like to eat, now we're getting somewhere.  Once you've got the homemade Grape-Nuts and the homemade Wheaties, it's a cinch to put your own muesli together.
Apocalyptic Muesli
4 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup crunchy wheat cereal
1 cup wheat flakes
1 cup dried apples, apricots, raisins, or other fruit

Mix together and put in covered container.  Most recipes I've come across say to add the fruit when you're ready to serve.  The cereal manufacturers don't seem to do that, so I don't know why we need to.  But if you want to keep your grains really dry, add the fruit when you're ready to serve.

Yeah, that was easy, too.

Links to related posts:
Wheat
Homemade Grape Nuts
Homemade Wheaties   

No Meat, No Ammo, No Problem

One of my other interests that I really enjoy is family history.  And as I was packing up some of my binders in anticipation of a possible move, I happened upon some newsletters from my Grandfather Banks' family.  He was born in Missouri in 1914, and in this particular newsletter was an account his younger brother, Norman, shared.


"During the Depression, in the early 30's, money was hard to come by.  We had plenty of rabbits on our farm, but with money so scarce, we couldn't afford to buy ammunition to shoot the rabbits.  So, one day my dad picked up the crosscut saw, a can of black paint and a brush, and he told me to come along with him.  I couldn't figure out what he was going to do.   I had learned from past experience that I shouldn't question him about anything.  We went into the woods on our farm and cut down a few trees, and then cut them into logs.  After that was done, he painted a black spot, about six inches in diameter on the ends of the logs.  Then, he told me to get the dogs and start chasing rabbits.  Well, the rabbits ran for the 'hollow' logs, knocked themselves out, and we just picked them up.  We had rabbit for supper that night."

"This story won me first prize in a liar's contest in 1987, but I felt awful guilty taking the money, because it wasn't really a lie.  If anyone is in doubt, just ask Omar Thomas... he was there."

Hopefully we will have prepared well so that we aren't facing starvation from lack of food and ammo.  However, this possibility of being able to save money and ammo seems intriguing, and even children could be sent out to do this kind of "hunting."

Cheating (Premature) Death

"Preparation does not guarantee success, but lack of preparation guarantees failure”--Japanese proverb.

All the preps in the world won't guarantee that our family members and we will survive coming festivities. Death is a part of life. When you pick up one end of the stick (birth), you pick up the other (death). For some, it comes sooner rather than later, no matter what we do. For many, it will come sooner rather than later because of so much they could have done, but failed to do.

It is essential to understand this deep down and be at peace with it. It absolutely boggles my mind the number of people who cannot accept death, even for the extremely ill and aged. I visited with our veterinarian about this very issue and the vast numbers of people he sees in his practice who are hysterical and inconsolable and angry about the deaths of their pets. They're mad at him for not saving them, even when their pets are old and in pain. They're angry at God and the world.

In considerable measure, how our loved ones and we fare post-collapse will reflect on our relationship with God and our ability to accept death. And how we choose to prepare to prevent premature and unnecessary deaths. Because there really is a lot we can do, even if we have no training whatsoever in medicine. It all boils down to preparation.

• Food. Store and be able to grow food. More people die during war from starvation than from bullets.
• Water. Store water. Know how to and have the means to purify water. Know how to keep water sources free from contamination.
• Sanitation. Know how to dispose of sewage, where to dig the latrine, how to do laundry, and how to do the dishes and keep food preparation areas safe. And have all the supplies to do these things.
• Known medical conditions. Have all the supplies and knowledge to manage our known medical conditions--diabetes, hypothyroidism, asthma, allergies.
• Historical killers. The number one killer for women until the 1900s was childbirth. The number two killer was burns (skirt gets too close to the fire, cotton is pretty flammable, suddenly there are third-degree burns on the legs). Communicable diseases, especially childhood ones. Make sure you have the medical supplies, vaccines, whatever, to deal with these.
• Infections. Be able to treat sepsis (blood poisoning), pneumonia, influenza. Got antibiotics?
• Vector-borne illnesses. While mosquito-borne diseases tend to be confined to more tropical areas, mosquitoes have been known to migrate northward when conditions are favorable. Ticks are pretty much everywhere. Lyme disease is being found in new areas all the time. Even here in the high desert where we have never, ever seen ticks, we found a few last year. Fleas and rats don't care how cold it gets--they'll find you. Do you have insect repellents, mosquito netting, and insecticides?
• Common injuries. Do you have the supplies to manage lacerations, burns, and broken bones?
• Dental hygiene. Ten percent of ER visits are for dental care. Do you practice good dental hygiene? Have you got adequate supplies to last the duration of the crisis?
• Risky behavior. Don't take foolish risks. Avoid danger. While the nanny state has been pretty good at making sure stupid doesn't hurt, that time is coming to an end. Stupid will be painful once again.

Making sure you've got these basics covered will go a long way towards cheating a premature death when our society collapses. There's not much point in learning what to do in a case of appendicitis if you haven't even got enough food or means to purify water. The same goes for pneumothorax and pneumonia. Food and water first.

Links to related posts:
Hypothyroidism
Acquiring Antibiotics
Diabetes
Tick-Borne Bacterial Diseases
Water Purification
Water Purification Methods in One Easy Chart