Monday Moments

Don't forget our Coconut Oil Give-Away  CLICK HERE!

Making Your Own Gluten-Free Vanilla

According to Vanilla Review, "Quality vanilla is a tasty and essential cooking ingredient. It’s also very expensive. By making our own extraction we get the highest possible quality product made from the absolute best vanilla beans. Considering that the FDA regulates vanilla extract by bean weight and not bean quality, you never know what you might be getting with manufactured products. Your vanilla will be free of the artificial colors and vile corn sweeteners found in even high-quality vanilla extracts. Hand crafted vanilla extract is a great gift that will last a lifetime — like a fine wine, vanilla extract matures with age."

Wow, the ingredients are expensive!!!  Have you price Vanilla Beans lately?  Actually the beans have gone down in price.  Remember to get only the best quality beans and they should be fresh and soft.  We think that dollar for dollar and quality of product you will find that making your own Vanilla will actually save you money in the long run!

We found an excellant tutorial for you HERE.  We love our homemade vanilla and if you are Gluten-Intollerant or Celiac then you will be glad you made your own too!

Making your own vanilla does require liquor, as does making some of your own herbal extracts.  The following is for us gluten-free folks:

Gluten-Free Vodka BrandsChopin (potato based) - http://www.chopinvodka.com/
Ciroc (grape based) - http://www.cirocvodka.com/
Ciroc now features flavored vodkas!

Gluten-Free Rum
Most Rum is naturally gluten-free, including Bacardi & Cruzan. Beware Rums with fancy "natural flavors" that could be hiding wheat, barley or malt.


The Gift of Hospitality
Our Hospitality Hint of the Week

Today we are going to begin a series of ideas on things you can to to Bless others in the name of Jesus Christ.

Many people are homebound for one reason or another and often forgotten. This Hospitality Hint is great for the homebound or just ANYONE for that matter.  There are many lonely people in this world often surrounded by thousands.

Call or Text

Check in every once in awhile allows others know your are thinking of them.  A phone call is more personal, but a quick text message can be equally appreciated by most people.  Even Facebook messages or emails can be encouraging.

Reading Through the Bible In a Year

We are again attempting to read through the Bible this year. Just joining us or did you get behind? No matter and no need to play catch-up. Start where you are today and go forward.

Monday: Luke 4:1-12, Ephesians 5:22-33, Psalms 119:81-88, 1 Kings 17-18

Tuesday: Luke 4:13-30, Ephesians 6:1-9, Psalms 119:89-96, 1 Kings 19-20

Wednesday: Luke 4:31-37, Ephesians 6:10-24, Psalms 119:97-104, 1 Kings 21-22

Thursday: Luke 4:38-44, Phillippians 1:1-11, Psalms 119:105-112, 2 Kings 1-3

Friday: Luke 5:1-11, Phillippians 1:12-20, Psalms 119:113-120, 2 Kings 4-5
Saturday: Luke 5:12-16, Pillippians 1:21-30, Psalms 119:121-128, 2 Kings 6-7

Sunday: Luke 5:17-26, Phillippians 2:1-11, Psalms 119:129-136, 2 Kings 8-9

We also like to read a Proverb a Day corresponding to the day of the month. This month I am memorizing Psalms 20, could you memorize a Psalm?

Genealogy or Family History

Ever wondered who your grandparents were or where they came from? I have been finding out some interesting things, solving some medical mysteries and just having some fun with genealogy (family history) explorations!  If you want to find out how to search your family history or see what fun I'm having visit my other BLOG  http://footstepsbehindme.blogspot.com

101 Herbs That Heal

Below is the First 10 in my list of the 101 Plants/shrubs/Trees on our property that have healing qualities.

1. Aloe
2. Apple Trees
3. Aronia
4. Basil
5. Blackberry
6. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
7. Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
8. Catnip
9. Cayenne
10. Chaomile

Cayenne

This rather ambiguous little pepper has so many uses and health benefits that I decided just to link you to them.

The plant itself is rather easy to grow and like hot weather so if you'd like to grow a pepper that has a little bite without burning your face off, Cayenne peppers are probably the way to go. They have a medium heat and are used in many Cajun and Mexican dishes. Here are a few steps to growing your own supply of this versatile and hot, but not too hot, pepper.

Check out the Chili Man

or this UTube Video

http://youtu.be/i2LX59Z2pU0


Chaomile

Why Do People Use Chamomile?

Chamomile has a long history of use in Europe for digestive ailments. The active constiuents of chamomile have anti-inflammatory properties, and ease spasm and discomfort in the digestive tract.

• Indigestion
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Canker sores
• Colic
• Conjunctivitis, eye irritations
• Crohn's disease
• Diarrhea
• Eczema
• Gingivitis
• Hemorrhoids
• Menstrual disorders
• Migraine
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Peptic ulcer
• Skin irritations
• Ulcerative colitis
• Minor wounds

Safety
Chamomile is part of the Asteraceae plant family, which includes ragweed and chrysanthemum, so people with allergies may react when they use chamomile either internally or topically. Call your doctor if you experience vomiting, skin irritation, allergic reactions (chest tightness, wheezing, hives, rash, itching) after chamomile use.
Chamomile should not be taken during pregnancy or breast-feeding.
Chamomile contains coumarin, a naturally-occurring compound with anticoagulant or blood-thinning effects. It should not be combined with warfarin or other medications or supplements that have the same effect or be used by people with bleeding disorders. It shouldn't be used two weeks before or after surgery.

Here's a great UTube Video on how to grow Chamomile

http://youtu.be/gtqyUhSZxi0

Monday This 'n That

Greetings friends!  Thanks for coming to visit today!  Mondays seem to be the day that I put together several tips and thoughts to get your week started.

The garden is looking lovely and the flower beds that I started and/or renovated are taking shape thanks to the hard work of my helpers.  Getting all this work done with two folks, getting older, and slightly handicapped is not easy.  I'm going to have to wrap my brain around projects that aren't so demanding.  Unfortunately, it seems, that my old girl (my 130+ year old house) is always in some state of needing repair.

Meet Beef and Buddy

Today we are introducing you to some of the members of our farm family.  Buddy the Llama (pictured above with our Boer Goat Buck) has been with us for 12 years or so.  We bought him as a 9 month old black Llama with hopes that he would be a guard Llama for our sheep.  He was naughty with the sheep so not knowing what else to do with him we put him in with our cows and calves.  He loved it!  He took to guarding the calves like nobodies business!  We no longer have dairy or beef cows except for the lone beef we grow our every year.  So now he has charge of the lone dairy calf we are growing out for beef and a couple of buck goats.  He's getting really gray but we hope he is enjoying his final years here at our farm.  Life expectency of a Llama is 20-25 years so he has a few years left.  Not every Llama is suitable for use as a guard.  He has to have a special personality.  Our Buddy is really a buddy to us, especially Mike.

Meet Beef, he is our newest beef project.  He is a Guernsey Dairy Bull Calf.  We bought him from our local raw milk dairy where he spent his first week eating milk straight from his mother.  We continue to feed him milk via a bottle, now he gets goat milk and has started to eat grass.

The Economy
"We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefitting from their success -- only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development."

Ronald Regan, September 29, 1981

Reading Through the Bible In a Year

We are again attempting to read through the Bible this year. Just joining us or did you get behind? No matter and no need to play catch-up. Start where you are today and go forward.

Monday:  Luke 1:57-66, Ephesians 2:11-22, Psalms 119:25-32, 1 Kings 6-7

Tuesday:  Luke 1: 67-80, Ephesians 3:1-13, Psalms 119:33-40, 1 Kings 8

Wednesday: Luke 2:1-20, Ephesians 3:14-21, Psalms 119:41-48, 1 Kings 9-10

Thursday: Luke 2:21-40, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalms 119:49-56, 1 Kings 11

Friday: Luke 2:41-52, Ephesians 4:17-24, Psalms 119:57-64, 1 Kings 12
Saturday: Luke 3:1-20, Ephesians 4:25-32, Psalms 119:65-72, 1 Kings 13-14

Sunday: Luke 3:21-38, Ephesians 5:1-21, Psalms 119:73-80, 1 Kings 15-16

We also like to read a Proverb a Day corresponding to the day of the month. This month I am memorizing Psalms 20, could you memorize a Psalm?

101 Herbs That Heal

Below is the First 10 in my list of the 101 Plants/shrubs/Trees on our property that have healing qualities.

1. Aloe
2. Apple Trees
3. Aronia
4. Basil
5. Blackberry
6. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
7. Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
8. Catnip
9. Cayenne
10. Chaomile

I only have 58 more plants/trees/shrubs to propigate. (Chuckle) This also means I get to create more beds to plant all these wonderful and beautiful plants. There's nothing like edible landscape, incorporate all these wonderful plants into your landscape and include them in your 'flower' and garden beds. We will discuss two plants a week.

Calendula

According to Wickapedia Calendula or "pot marigold, is a genus of about 12–20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to the area from Macaronesia east through the Mediterranean region to Iran. Calendula should not be confused with other plants that are also known as marigolds, such as corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, or plants of the genus Tagetes.

The name Calendula stems from the Latin kalendae, meaning first day of the month, presumably because pot marigolds are in bloom at the start of most months of the year. "

Calendula is usually used externally for its antiseptic and healing properties in treating skin infections, cuts, punctures, scrapes, burns and chapped or chafed skin or lips. The tea or the tincture in water can be swished and swallowed in order to help heal oral lesions, sore throat, or gastric ulcer. Calendula has a good history of external use in the treatment of varicose veins.

Cat Mint aka Catnip

Catnip is almost a weed around here.  A member of the mint family, it got it's name because of how much Cat's love the herb.  Common catnip looks alot like lemon balm and often has a lemony flavor and can be used in place of lemon balm in some instances. 

Not all Catnips are the same.

Catnip has a history of medicinal use for a variety of ailments.  The plant has been consumed as a tea, juice, tincture, infusion or poultice, and has also been smoked.  However, its medicinal use has fallen out of favor with the development of more effective drugs. 
The presence of a chemical called nepetalactone produces sedative-like affects in humans, making catnip a popular home remedy for headaches as well as insomnia.  

To make catnip tea, add one teaspoon of dried catnip leaves or three to four teaspoons of fresh catnip leaves to a mug of boiling water and let it steep.

Nepetalactone is a mosquito and fly repellent.  Oil isolated from catnip by steam distillation is a repellent against insects, in particular mosquitoes, cockroaches and termites.   Research suggests that in a test tube, distilled nepetalactone repels mosquitoes ten times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient in most insect repellents, but that it is not as effective a repellent when used on the skin.

For educational purposes only This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.