I enjoyed doing the top 10 posts in years past—the most popular reads. Seeing what interested people. But now? Only three of this year’s posts made the top ten list. All the bots skew results, making a Top Ten of 2025 list pointless. So I decided to go with my favorite things.
10. Pumpkin Pasta. The recipe for this divine dish appeared in a local magazine, and I tweaked it just slightly to use long-term food storage ingredients. We were all floored at how good it was, and now I am carefully watching for the day when canned pumpkin is put on clearance at the local grocery store.
9. The Medicinal Uses of Crocus. After purchasing crocus bulbs at Home Depot, I was saddened to learn that only one specific variety of crocus bulbs is medicinal, so I had to buy them online. Crocus isn’t a medicinal powerhouse like yarrow, echinacea, or calendula. However, it does possess its own superpowers, like treating smallpox, scarlet fever, and whooping cough.
8. DIY Quikclot Hemostatic Dressings. Quikclot high price makes it cost-prohibitive for most families to acquire, especially when there are a lot of kits to outfit. Making your own at home is a quick and easy way to prepare for bleeding issues.
7. Animals Self-Medicate, Too. I found it fascinating that animals know how to take care of their own wounds and discomforts. Of course, I’ve know that dogs do this forever when they eat grass. It just never occurred to me that other animals would as well.
6. Poisonings. In the course of writing several blogposts on poisoning, specifically when there is no doctor, I learned quite a bit about how to treat the various poisons. I think we’ll see a lot of this when society collapses.
5. Refeeding Syndrome. It never would have occurred to me that electrolyte levels would have to be monitored in patients in had been starving. I would have acted as the American soldiers did when liberating various concentration camps during WWII. I would have fed the starved people as generously as possible. And I would have been horrified if I’d killed any of them.
4. Fried Rice Food Poisoning. I can’t believe I’d never heard of this until Becky mentioned it. I can say that I am a lot more wary now of refrigerating rice (and pasta) too long.
3. Achilles Tendon Rupture. I always assumed that an Achilles tendon rupture in austere circumstances would be permanently disabling, since there would be no surgeries performed when things fall apart. So I was really interested to learn that these ruptures can repair themselves with proper rest.
2. Pain Relievers and Antibiotic Resistance. I found the recently discovered correlation between pain reliever usage and the development of antibiotic resistance absolutely incredible. How long have all these medications being in use, and we’re only now learning that Tylenol and Ibuprofen in particular facilitate the development of antibiotic resistance?
1. Morning Sickness on Steroids. I don’t know whether my daughters will experience incapacitating morning sickness. It does run in my family, and it was a major cause of death for women until the early 1900s. I’ve been concerned about this issue for years. And finally, Heavenly Father led me to the answer.
I am so blessed to have been able to learn so much. I hope 2025 was a good year for you as well.
