Using the Humble Onion for Colds and Coughs

Many times we get comments from our ‘Commentistas’ that are so value-adding that I have to share them in a blog post. The Herbal Survivalist constantly adds value to the readers of this site and the followers at The Herbal Survivalist Spot. Here’s a homemade cough and cold syrup recipe that she shared this morning using onions! One of my favorite eats.

 Photo credit

Homemade Cough and Cold Syrup with Onion and Honey

by The Herbal Survivalist

It comes from a book I mentioned briefly before called 10 Essential Herbs by Lalitha Thomas. This is a rare (I believe because it’s out of print) book from 1996 that my mother-in-law stumbled upon somewhere. It’s very interesting because Lalitha is not a “certified” anything when it comes to herbs, but it’s clear as you read through the book that they are very much a part of her daily life and that her own personal study and use of herbs is extensive. Personally, I’m very happy to read a book by someone who doesn’t have letters after her name but has devoted much of her life to learning a craft, and Lalitha is incredibly skilled at communicating how to use herbs in a down-to-earth way for anyone who is just learning. I love this book in particular because it focuses on 10 easily acquired herbs (cloves, chaparral, cayenne, comfrey, ginger, garlic, onion, peppermint, slippery elm and yarrow) and shows you how to treat almost anything with only these 10 herbs. Amazing!

This recipe I’m sharing comes from her chapter on Onion, which I confess I had sort of skipped over at first to read the other chapters on more “interesting and useful” herbs. The laugh is on me, because when I finally got around to reading about the humble onion, I was astounded at how useful it is! I made this recipe in 20 minutes yesterday while puttering around the kitchen making other things and Abbie and I have been using it since then. It seems to be keeping her coughing to a minimum, as well as helping to ease my sore throat and minimizing my stuffiness. I feel like it’s helping to decongest my sinuses, which is such a relief, even if it means I’m going through tissue by the boatload.

Ingredients:
1 cup freshly chopped onion

About 1/2 cup raw honey

Plus any of the following (optional):
1 tsp. Cloves (whole or powdered)- specifically good for pain relief

1-2 Tbsp. Comfrey or Slippery Elm (dried or powdered)- Comfrey is particularly good for healing, and Slippery Elm has more of a reputation for soothing and coating the throat

1-2 Tbsp. fresh chopped Ginger root OR 1 tsp. Ginger powder- Ginger increases warmth, circulation (important for healing) and the overall effectiveness of the syrup

**You can include all of these optional herbs, but at a maximum of 2 Tbsp. extra herbs total

Directions
Put chopped onions and any herbs of choice into a small stainless steel or glass pot (not alumnimum). Add enough honey to cover the onions ( for me, this seemed to be about 1/2 a cup, though I didn’t measure exactly).

Turn the pot on low heat and slowly simmer. The honey will soften and become liquidy, and you want to keep the temperature very low while allowing the herbs to steep in the honey. It’s best to keep a lid on to help keep all of the medicinal properties of the herbs in the syrup, and just take the lid off to give it a quick stir every few minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn at all (though the temp. should be low enough to prevent this).

Give it 20 minutes of simmering, then remove it from the heat. Strain the onions and herbs out and store the remaining honey (which might have flecks of herb in it and this is fine) in a small glass jar with a lid and keep it in the fridge.

The syrup can be used as often as needed, up to every half hour. Here are the dosages:

1 tsp. for a younger child

1 Tbsp. for anyone 10 years and older

While we’re on the topic of using onions medicinally, I thought I should mention another use I learn yesterday. A commenter said that when her children are sick, she puts chopped onions in a small bag around their neck when they go to bed and in the morning, they wake up well. First I had ever heard of it, but I’ve heard stranger things. Wouldn’t you know it that later yesterday, as I was reading about onion in the book, I read that breathing the fumes of an onion will help with congestion from a cold or other illness!

Since both Johanna and I have been plugged up lately (her more at night, me all the time) I decided to chop a large onion into chunks and put it in a bowl on the night table near where we both sleep. I couldn’t quite bring myself to actually put it in bed with me, but I could still smell it, for sure! Well, last night was the best sleep I have had in a few nights and the first time that I woke up without feeling all plugged up! Three cheers for the onion!

Adult recipe additions

These additions are to be used by only an adult 80lbs or over
Herbs to add:
Cumin 1/4 tsp nutrition
Cayenne 1/8 tsp for heat diaphoretic
Slippery elm bark powder 1/2 tsp nutrition demuculant
Thyme 1/4 tsp strengthen immune system

After straining onions and syrup take warm onions in a press or potato ricer and press juices out into the honey. This is the consent rate. The good stuff.

For more great tips and helpful herbal remedies, The Herbal Survivalist provides free info and recipes at The Herbalist Survivalist Spot. Also consider ordering her e-book “Herbal Survival and First Aid” here. 

As always, thanks for stopping by – and follow me on Twitter if you’d like: @SurvivalSherpa.

 

Where There Is No Kitchen: Cooking When The Grid Goes Down

Editor’s note: P. Henry offers some very practical tips to cooking in a SHTF scenario. He even added a tip for washing dishes from a 1880’s homesteading manual – I’ve never heard of or tried this one. Check out the other practical advice over at their site – The Prepper Journal. 

by P. Henry

Source: The Prepper Journal

Many of you are familiar with the nearly famous books “Where There Is No Doctor” and “Where There Is No Dentist” that are the most widely used health education books in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. These are great references that you can download from our Resources page that cover basic medicine and dental care from a perspective of a people who aren’t able to drive to the doctor or see the dentist whenever they have a tooth ache.

The concept of “Where there is no” popped into my mind as I was preparing to write this post. In a grid-down scenario we may not have the easy access to our kitchen tools that we have relied on in the past. Most kitchen appliances are powered by electricity or gas and if those both go out due to an emergency you could find yourself living “where there is no kitchen”.

Not having access to your microwave shouldn’t cause you any panic though, because people have been living pretty well without these conveniences for a very long time. Even if you have stored 30 days worth of dehydrated food and water, chances are you will want to eat something warm before it is all over. Even in the military we only ate MRE’s once a day when we were out in the field. MRE’s will keep you alive but eventually you get tired of that and want something hot and delicious. I know that MRE’s can be heated up too, but the contents of a regular bag of MRE’s can’t hold a candle to a nice venison stew that has been cooking slowly over a fire all day.

With some simple planning and preparation you can cook just about anything you need to keep you alive and healthy through any disruption. There are a few considerations and lots of options for cooking that we will discuss below.

Cooking Options

We are going to assume that any cooking that you will be doing is outside in this grid-down scenario. No cooking with open flame should be done indoors and that includes using your big stainless steel propane grill. Fumes are toxic and can hurt you so keep it outside for safety.

Wood stoves – These are about the closest you can come to the power and convenience of a range or oven inside your house or retreat location. Yes I know that I just said to cook outside, but your stove is vented outside already. This is a winter solution though because you won’t likely want to fire up the big wood-stove in the living room in the middle of August.  In much older homes, the kitchen was in a different part of the house because the heat would stifle everyone else. During the winter a wood stove is a perfect solution for cooking and you can easily fit a couple of pans on the top and regulate the heat easily. You can cook on a wood-stove with your regular pans without any problem.

Backyard Grill – This is my personal first line of defense if the power goes out. It is simple to use and already set up outside. The main drawback is the need for propane but I keep an extra 50lb. canister of propane at all times so that if my main source runs out I still have a spare. This spare propane would be on my list of basic household items that you need to stock up on also. Some people use charcoal so an extra bag or two would be wise. It won’t last as long as a can of propane but having the ability to cook for a few days is always a smart idea. Optionally, if your house is heated with propane, you can purchase an adapter to run your grill but you probably are already using your oven in the house. It’s nice to have options.

Campfire – Since the dawn of time people have been cooking over an open fire on the ground. This would be my fallback option after the propane was gone or if I had something that was larger and needed to cook for a long time. Campfires don’t need to be fancy but having a pit surrounded with rocks to contain the fire is preferred. To cook on a campfire, you will want to invest in at least one piece of cast iron cookware. Two would be the best giving you the option to fry or cook a big stew. You will also want to have a method to suspend your cookware over the flames. This is where agreat tripod like the one on the left here or a grate you can set on the ground over the coals. I prefer the tripod, but the grate is much simpler when you are using a skillet.

Camping stoves – These are a great solution too and use the same type of Coleman propane cylinders your lanterns take. They do have the drawback that the grill does though, and once your fuel is gone, they are worthless. You can use the grill grating itself over a regular campfire so don’t throw that away. We will talk about that more later. Backpacker stoves also come in handy in a pinch, but that would not be ideal for cooking larger meals. It will heat up single portions nicely though, and there are a lot of fuel options for the short-term emergency.

Rocket Stove – Rocket stoves are simple to build using materials you may have lying around or in the shed. These can be fueled with sticks and twigs and make a great surface that produces a lot of heat without a big footprint. There is an article about how to make a rocket stove out of a few cans that you should check out also.

Lanterns – Anything that produces heat can warm your food and some lanterns give you the ability to use the heat escaping from the top to boil water or heat soup. This is yet another good option that may work for some people. Candles can also be used but this would be my last resort. They take forever but you are already using your candle so this is a way to get two uses out of your preparations.

Solar – I saved this one for last but solar cooking shouldn’t be discounted at all. If you have sun and dry weather this is a great way to heat up and cook meals if you have time to wait. You will want to build your own solar oven which is fairly simple or there are several you can buy online. If you just need to warm up a can of soup you can sit that in the sun on the driveway for 30 minutes and voila!

Solar ovens can be made in numerous ways with lots of material. Here is a video for a funnel solar oven by LDSPrepper that cost only $5.

 

Cooking Necessities

The first place we look is to our cooking containers, or what we are going to hold over our source of heat to contain this wonderful food you are getting ready to cook. Cast iron is my personal favorite but that isn’t practical if you are on the move. You can also cook with #10 cans if needed, just be sure that the plastic coating on the interior melts out first.

Aluminum foil is not only useful for creating a solar oven, but you can form bowls out of this to cook with or boil water in a pinch. Aluminum foil is a second cousin to Duct tape I believe, because it has so many uses and should be on your list of supplies for your household. Can and bottle openers are nice. They aren’t necessary because if you are hungry enough, you will get that can open, but they are very convenient and do not cost anything at all. You will also want to have plenty of capacity for making fire in the first place. Lighters are simple and cheap, but flint and strikers should be in your survival kits also.

Other tools you could use are oven mitt or pot holders to handle the pots on these cooking surfaces. Wooden spoons and spatulas won’t melt like plastic and you can even make these yourself if you have plenty of time on your hands and a sharp knife.

Cleanup

Now that the group has been fed how do you clean up? Sanitation is something that becomes more important with the severity and duration of the emergency. Germs are easily passed so cleaning your food utensils is an important consideration for the health of your survival group.  Assuming you have some water on hand for cooking, we can look back at how the pioneers cleaned their dishes.

The rare 1881 Iowa settlers manual has a tip for washing dishes when you’ve run out of soap. It’s in the cleaning chapter of the book and was written for some of the first people moving into Iowa to homestead in the 1880′s.

“To wash dishes without soap, have your dishwater hot and add a very little milk, as this softens the water, gives the dishes a nice gloss and preserves the hands. It removes the grease, even that from beef, and yet no grease is ever found floating on the water as when soap is used.“

For the most part, hot water and a sponge with abrasive on one side will do the trick. Boiling dishwater before doing dishes would be the safest way to make sure you’re not scrubbing your pots with Giardia. But as for me, 99% of the time, I’m content with just getting it hot enough to cut the grease. Your call. After scrubbing, strain your dishwater through a fine mesh strainer (or a bandana) and broadcast the waste-water. In other words, fling it far and wide. You can use the rest of whats left for compost.

Related articles

• Sustainable System: Rocket Stoves (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• Sherpa Gear Review: The Idiot Proof Emberlit-UL Stove (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• Daily YouTube – Very Simple Brick Rocket Stove (thesurvivalplaceblog.com)

 

Udderly Ridiculous: A Tyranny Exercised for the Good of its Victims

First they came for the raw milk farmers,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a raw milk farmer.

by Ron Paul

Source: LewRockwell.com

While I oppose most gun control proposals, there is one group of Americans I do believe should be disarmed: federal agents. The use of force by federal agents to enforce unjust and unconstitutional laws is one of the major, albeit overlooked, threats to liberty. Too often Americans are victimized by government force simply for engaging in commercial transactions disproved of by Congress and the federal bureaucracy.

For example, the offices of Rawesome Foods in Venice, California, have been repeatedly raided by armed federal and state agents, and Rawesome’s founder, 65-year-old James Stewart, has been imprisoned. What heinous crime justified this action? Rawesome sold unpasteurized (raw) milk and cheese to willing customers – in a state where raw milk is legal! You cannot even drink milk from a cow without a federal permit!

This is hardly the only case of federal agents using force against those who would dare meet consumer demand for raw milk. In 2011 armed agents of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many millions of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to stop Allgyer from selling his raw milk to willing customers.

The use of force against individuals making choices not approved of by the political elite does not just stop with raw milk. The Natural News website has documented numerous accounts of federal persecution, including armed raids, of health food stores and alternative medical practitioners.

Federal bureaucrats are also using force to crack down on the makers of gold coins for fear that people may use these coins as an alternative to the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency. Bernard von NotHaus, the founder of Liberty Dollars, is currently awaiting sentencing on federal counterfeiting charges — even though Mr. von NotHaus took steps to ensure his coins where not used as “legal tender.”

Yet, the federal government was so concerned over the possibility that Mr. von NotHaus’s customers might use his coins in regular day-to-day commerce they actually labeled Mr. von NotHaus a “terrorist.”

These type of police state tactics used against, among others, raw milk producers, alternative health providers, and gold coin dealers is justified by the paternalistic attitude common in Washington, D.C. A member of Congress actually once told me that, “The people need these types of laws because they do not know what is good for them.” This mindset fuels the growth of the nanny state and inevitably leads to what C.S. Lewis said may be the worst from of tyranny “…a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims.”

All Americans, even if they do not believe it is a wise choice to drink raw milk or use gold coins, should be concerned about the use of force to limit our choices. This is because there is no limiting principle to the idea that the government force is justified if used “for our own good.” Today it is those who sell raw milk who are being victimized by government force, tomorrow it could be those who sell soda pop or Styrofoam cups. Therefore, all Americans should speak out against these injustices.

 

Medicinal Moonshine to cure coughs

 I’m always interested in home remedies to keep me away from doctors. I pick plantain from our yard and school yard when it pops up to use for insect bites and other ailments. For sore throats I use is raw apple cider vinegar, honey, and water. James over at Survival Punk shares a home remedy for a stubborn cough that uses three of my favorite ingredients – medicinally, of course. Check it out…

For this article I wish I had a gypsy wagon for selling snake oil from. Crazy James’ Snake Oil Wagon of Wonder. Maybe a new business venture for me if this Survivalpunk thing doesn’t pan out. So I got over the stomach virus thing and a few days after I started having a sore throat and a horrible cough. I felt really bad for a few days, achy, tired, runny nose, the works. I thought I might have caught the flu going around. Actually I might have or maybe bronchitis, I’m not sure I don’t go to the doctor and I’m not a doctor, I don’t even play one on the internet. All I know is five days later I’m still coughing and it sucks. One of my good friends who knows a lot more about both herbal remedies and a lot more about moonshine told me to take some to get rid of my lingering cough. Well I’m never one to turn down a chance for booze so this is what I did for my cough.

The recipe my friend gave me, after I already made this one, is as follows:

• One Shot of Moonshine
• A spoon full of Honey
• A squeeze of Lemon juice

I might try that when I wake up but right now I’m drinking another recipe. I knew she had said to combine Moonshine, Honey and Lemon and Googled that while waiting for her to text me back with her recipe. I came across a whole slew of Moonshine remedies on this site. What I followed was his Pleasant-tasting syrup for a nagging cough, and a nagging cough was exactly what I have. The recipe looked super easy so let’s make some Moonshine cough syrup.

Ingredients

You will need three things to make this cough syrup. Moonshine, Honey and a lemon. I love short shopping lists. If you can get real Moonshine or make it then that’s the best. I was in a pinch and even living in Tennessee couldn’t get any quickly. The local liquor stores now sale moonshine. It is not as strong as the real stuff but close enough for me. For the honey I suggest going local if you can. I bought the most local stuff I could get with the cone still in it. For the lemon just get one, unless your Florida Hillbilly you probably don’t have them growing in your backyard.

Read the rest of the recipe here

Related articles

• DIY Herbal Cough Drops: Sore Throat Remedy (20somethingallergies.com)

Homogenizing the Herd: Real Milk and Your Health

by Todd Walker

Tomato seeds were splattered wall-to-wall in my mama’s kitchen.

Photo credit

I forget who threw the first ripened bomb. I think it was my cousin. We’ll blame him anyway. What ensued after the first splatter was the tomato battle of the century. All six siblings and cousins launching red, juicy fruit at high speeds. Half of us were inside the house and the other half in the yard.

My uncle had acquired a truck load of tomatoes from the farmer’s market. (We still have no clue how he thought we could eat, can, and preserve that many tomatoes.) Both sets of parents happened to be away that day – and the truck’s evil payload tempted us. Idle hands are indeed the devil’s playground.

The three inside the house finally surrendered, realizing we had a superior ammo cache. They marched out the door with hands raised and reported that we (the outside rebels) were in for it when the grownups got back. Knowing they were right, we started wiping tomato juice and seeds to conceal our short-lived victory.

Farm life verses urban dwelling

Memories of growing up on the farm weren’t all this fun. There was lots of dirty jobs that had to get done. And the kids (5 boys and one girl) got dirty doing it. This before hand sanitizers and bicycle helmets. Getting dirty was part of growing up. Cleaning up for us was a cool dip in the lake to knock the heavy dirt off before dinner.

A few miles up the dirt road was a dairy. My best friend helped out around the dairy for extra money. I would go with him some days. It was a commercial operation but we were allowed to drink some raw milk at the end of work. Delicious stuff.

Homogenizing the herd

If you listen to the propaganda from the FDA you’ll never try a sip of raw milk (AKA – Farm Milk, Real Milk), much less let your kids get near it. Apparently, this stuff will kill you. The milk nazis are waging war on raw milk farmers who offer this natural goodness to Joe and Jane Public. The Industrial Food Machine has successfully brainwashed and homogenized the herd to fear Real Milk. The pasteurized cousin of raw milk loses its beneficial bacteria through heat and nutrients are damaged and destroyed.

Photo credit

I personally don’t drink store bought milk anymore. I still use dairy products from free-range, grass-fed cows like organic heavy whipping cream, butter, kefir, and ghee. I even pick up a bottle of raw goat’s milk at the farmers market from time to time – for ‘pet’ use only, of course. Plus, goat’s milk has more beneficial properties for your health than cow’s milk. For anyone considering milk production on their farmstead, goats are a valuable addition.

How ’bout a glass of Nanny State?

Pick an alphabet agency. These so called government agencies (pimps for the Big’s) are suppose to oversee and provide safe food, drugs, education, etc. Even in the face scientific and anecdotal evidence concerning the consumption of raw milk, the FDA can’t risk the thought of commoners seeing the truth.

In a recent study on allergies in children, Amish children in northern Indiana were tested for allergies, along with a group of non-farm and farm raised Swiss children. The Amish children mostly drank only raw milk and participated in ‘dirty’ jobs on the farm.

Because the Amish emigrated from Switzerland, and are thus genetically similar, the team compared Northern Indiana Amish farm children with today’s Swiss kids. Though rural kids are known to be healthier than city kids, the team found that the Amish have a superior immune response to allergens and asthma than even Swiss farm kids have.

Here’s what Dr. Holbreich’s team found:

• Only 7% of the Real Milk drinking Amish kids showed an allergic reaction
• Over 44% of the urban Swiss kids suffered from allergies
• While 25% of the Swiss farm kids experienced allergies

Don’t be shocked if you’re charged with ‘child endangerment’ for allowing your children to drink Real Milk – it’s not your choice, remember.

Even those with lactose intolerance can drink Farm Milk without ill effects – thanks to the naturally occurring L. lactis bacterial breaking down lactose in raw milk. The pasteurized non-Real Milk loses it’s beneficial bacteria in the heating process, but leaves some of the harmful nasties. The process turns the milk sugar lactose into beta-lactose causing intolerance in some people.

Whether to drink Real Milk and dairy or not is a very personal choice. If you chose to drink milk, I’d suggest the real, natural, unadulterated white goodness.

Got Real Milk?

If you want to find the real stuff, here’s some helpful resources to help with your search.

Weston A. Price

Real Milk Finder

NOTE: Check you local and state laws concerning Real Milk. It’s a shame we don’t live in a free market where we are able to voluntarily exchange value for value. That’s not our reality. Do your due diligence and live healthy.

Your turn. What’s been your experience with Real Milk, if any?

Follow me on Twitter @SurvivalSherpa

Slippery Elm Bark and its wonders

A week ago I came down with 24 hour stomach bug with a 102 fever – the day before DRG and I had planned to leave on our mini-vacation. Fortunately it was only a 24 hour bug. The fever broke the next morning and we set sail. The effects of the bug had me pulling over several times for ‘rest stops’ since I had to ‘go’ 6 times on what would have been a 5 hour trip.

That was probably too much info. However, the article below is another example of how nature provides so many avenues for healing our bodies – not only when pharma drugs aren’t available, but in place of the local pharmacy.

Source: Totally Organic

 by MedicineMan

The Wonders of Slippery Elm

 

 

 

 

Traditional Use

Slippery elm was one of the most useful medicinal plants of the American wilderness. Native Americans from the Missouri River Valley used a tea of the fresh inner bark to make a soothing laxative. Among the Creek, a poultice of the bark was a toothache remedy. The Osage and other groups applied bark poultices to extract thorns and gunshot balls. Surgeons during the American Revolution used bark poultices as their primary treatment for gunshot wounds, and a soldier, separated from his company, survived for ten days in the wilderness on slippery elm and sassafras barks. During the War of 1812, when food was scarce, British soldiers fed their horses on slippery elm bark. Nineteenth-century physicians recommended slippery elm broth as a wholesome and nutritious food for infants and invalids, and the tea has long been the herbal treatment of choice for acute stomach ulcers and colitis.

 

How to make a “moc” chocolate milk drink with slippery Elm.

 

The Recipe:

Take 10 oz. Hot Milk

2 tblspns Slippery Elm Bark Powder

1 tspn spoon honey

This can be added to fruit juices and create a freshness / earthy flavor. It adds a healthiness to a good quality fruit juice or add it to a freshly juiced juice e.g. apple celery carrot  or sprinkles some throughout your cereals hot or cold. Watch the difference!!!

So why is it so Great !!!

Slippery Elm was also used by native americans to remove the gamey taste out of their meats. It was also used to gel certain kinds of foods. this is because slippery Elm will absorb almost 20 times its volume and becomes like a liquid oatmeal ( this is also known as a gruel).

Read the rest here

When the Cat and Mouse Agree, the Grocer is Ruined

by Todd Walker

Moose, our largest rescued dog, will sit in the backyard and watch squirrels steadily eat the sunflower seeds from our bird feeders. When we open the door to go outside, he springs to his feet and sprint toward the offending tree rats. They scurry up trees and wait until we go back in and Moose, our beloved squirrel watchdog, settles back to his post.

They’re both in on this seed-stealing racquet – a mutual agreement of sorts. He’s obliged to attack when the backdoor opens, they fain fear. Oh, they’ll sacrifice an occasional slow squirrel to make their cat and mouse game look real for us onlookers. In reality, it’s just a game they play.

This analogy is easily applied to many aspects of our world today. The consequences are far more serious than our backyard escapades. In our rigged world, the grocer being ruined is you.

Here are just two examples the cat agreeing with the mouse to ruin the grocer.

1.) The FDA and the Industrial Cancer Machine

Dirt Road Girl has only had one doctor (let’s call him Dr. Jones) tell us to seek alternative cancer treatment – off the record of course. This doctor has to keep his job. When I asked if he had heard of Dr. Burzynski, I was surprised, no, shocked that he did. He knew of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski’s gene-targeted approach using non-toxic peptides and amino acids, known as antineoplastons. I’ll not go into detail on how the FDA and the Texas Medical Board spent years and millions of dollars attempting to ruin and silence his patented treatment. Click here for more info if you’re interested.

I called the Burzynski Clinic and asked about DRG being treated there in January 2012. Our insurance would not cover the treatment because it wasn’t FDA approved. We were in the rock-and-hard-place scenario. We went with the conventional route. When a loved one’s life is on the line, you do whatever you think is the best method of healing.

One side benefit of our conventional experience has been the great awakening we’ve experienced watching the creepy-cozy mutualism between Big Pharma and the medical establishment. Dr. Jones flat-out told us that pharmaceutical companies call the shots for mainstream medical practitioners. The system is set up to punish anyone who doesn’t prescribe their ‘best practices’ and drugs.

The bottom line is: Follow the money trail. The FDA is supposed to act as a ‘cat’ protecting the grocer (individuals) from destructive vermin. As in Dr. Burzynski’s case, the FDA has admitted that his treatment actually cures resistant forms of cancer. The problem lies in that one man, Dr. Burzynski, owns the patent and would be the only beneficiary if the FDA approved his methods. Big Pharma would not get their usual piece of the money pie. So, it makes perfect monetary sense for those deeply invested in the Industrial Cancer Machine to keep their mouths shut and do as they are told – by the deep pockets of Big Pharma.

What can you, the individual grocer, do to escape ruin?

Question everything. Get second opinions. Seeking alternative treatment for life threatening medical issues like cancer is a very scary individual journey. The powers that be throw all their resources into preserving their monopoly. They spin every treatment outside their reservation as quackery. Do your own research and make your own decisions. If a free market existed in medicine, one could choose, based on self-interest, which method of treatment to pursue – without regulation. If a treatment is truly quackery, it would soon be exposed. On the other hand, effective treatments are available to individuals that are being silenced by our ‘watchdog’ FDA’s marriage to Big Pharma.

The marriage has been consummated – and we’re the ones being forcibly screwed.

Investigate for yourself:

• Vitamin D
• Hemp oil – A Harvard Medical School study found that marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half.
• Burzynski, The Movie
• Several alternative protocols listed here

2.) The Industrial Food Machine

Children drinking fresh milk, Australia 1929 / Sam Hood

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Obviously, living a healthy, active lifestyle is less expensive than conventional medical treatments. Eating a diet of nutrient dense, organic, whole foods is becoming more and more difficult. Enter the pesky FDA (and other alphabet agencies) yet again. Are you starting to see a common denominator in our equation? It’s that money trail again. Follow it.

Increasing your level of self-sufficiency, preparedness, and resilience has certain costs. You may not need a permission slip from local authorities to grow a backyard garden or raise a few chickens – yet. Times are changing. The Powers That Be hate individuals following their natural self-interest of independence. Even growing a garden for a portion of your own food can turn you into a Freedom Outlaw.

You may have missed some of these stories of ordinary, everyday people taking their health into their own hands.

• War on raw milk
• Steve Cooksey was drug and insulin dependent, taking (4) insulin shots per day, just to survive. His nutritional blog came under attack by North Carolina’s regime because his method of breaking free from insulin shots didn’t meet conventional USDA standards. He found freedom through following a primal/paleo lifestyle.
• Gardening Outlaws in Michigan, Florida, and Oklahoma have been targeted for arrest, harassment, and fines.

Reducing nutrient dense food choices is not the stated goal of the FDA. They would not admit that Genetically Modified foods are harmful to humans. They’ve got 90 day studies to prove that GMO’s are safe for ingestion – wink, wink. Independent long-term studies are showing otherwise. Another discrediting blow to our we’re-from-the-government-and-here-to-help crowd.

Food and water are essential to our survival and ability to thrive. The Industrial Food Machine wants total control of these life-sustaining resources. Thankfully, more ‘common folk’ are beginning to wake up to the lies promoted by the elite’s ministry of myths. As the orbit of freedom continues to expand, thanks to independent, alternative news sources, people are starting to ‘get it’. We’ve been lied to. Over and over.

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” was the line screamed from Howard Beale in the classic film Network in 1975. Simply screaming out the window and into the streets won’t change the game our cat and mouse are playing. You’ll only loose your voice. Individual action is needed to protect the grocer (you and me).

Action Steps to Food Freedom

• Grow your own food.
• Buy locally produced food.
• Connect with local farmers, farmers markets, and food coops.
• Stock up on non-hybird, heirloom seeds.
• Find resilient-minded people in your community and connect.
• Get educated. Do the opposite of what the USDA/FDA recommends – unless their methods agree with your lifestyle.

Not only are we to register our guns, children, property, and even our thoughts, it won’t be long before we have to register our backyard gardens. Control is the goal. Are you really willing to submit and put tumor producing GMO’s into the bodies of your children? I didn’t think so.

Don’t wait for the cat to keep the mice in check.

Stock up on plenty of rat shoot – if you can find it.

Keep doing the stuff!

Related articles

• Case Dismissed! Texas Ends 15-Year Fight Against Cancer Doctor Burzynski (articles.mercola.com)

Do You Have the Guts to Survive?

 

Maintaining your gut for survival

by JP Martin

Source: Bug Out Nutrition

Gut Flora

Pop quiz: do you know how many cells are in your body? The answer is close to 100 trillion. However, the number of cells that belong to your body proper are outnumbered by bacteria within your body by almost 10 to 1. Woah.

Let that settle in for a minute. In reality, you  are less of a single organism and more of a symbiotic colony of a number of different ones. Even in the body cells proper, organelles called mitochondria have their own set of DNA and are effectively a different organism.

Yet most of the focus on medicine throughout history has been focused on the observable. Only recently has the function of the bacteria within us become a popular topic of study in health sciences.

The lion’s share of this bacteria lives within the gut, the area including the large and small intestines. They are essential to many roles within digestion and without them, we would not be able to process food correctly. We need their enzymes to break down certain foods or absorb vitamins and nutrients.

Another key role that the gut flora plays is in the protection of the body against threats. The gut is one of the most contaminated environments in the body and the potential for bad bacteria to build up and cause illness is always present. The bacteria within your gut can protect against negative bacteria and change the environment to prevent infection.

Gut permeability

To the naked eye, the intestines seem to be a more or less solid barrier. However, on a cellular level this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The cells of the small and large intestinal walls are known as epithelium. Between them they are held together by what is known as tight junctions which, for the most part, remain tight.

However, a number of things can cause the tight junctions to break apart. Considering the incredibly dynamic nature of what passes through the guy. When these junctions leak, the incredibly septic contents of predigested food and bacteria can leak into the massive amount of blood vessels which surround the gut. This can lead to massive inflammation in the body at large and even brain problems.

Read the rest here

Related articles

• Acquisition of Gut Flora in the Infant (thepaleonurse.com)

 

Making Yogurt: Experiments 1-4

I’ve written before on the health benefits of probiotics in fermented foods like my Down and Dirty Sauerkraut. Daisy Luther offers her trials and tribulations on her way to success in her DiY yogurt process.

by Daisy Luther

Yogurt making gear

I was absolutely determined to make yogurt.  Real, yummy delicious yogurt, the nice thick kind that can stand on its own in a dish, supporting a big spoon full of fruit.

Yogurt has so many good things going for it!  I eat it almost daily and contribute my resistance to stomach viruses and my greatly improved acid-reflux to the habit.  You can read more about the benefits and some tasty ways to use it in my “Ode to Yogurt”.

Attempts #1 and #2

Attempts 1 and 2 were made simultaneously.  The only difference between the two was that #1 was made from pasteurized milk from the dairy and #2 was made from reconstituted powdered milk.

Live yogurt for starter

I used the “thermos” method, found in detail HERE.

Basically, the thermos method is as follows.

1. Heat 1 cup of milk to 165-185 degrees F (use a candy thermometer – or, wait until you are starting to see some bubbles rising but the milk is not yet boiling).
2. Remove the milk from the heat and allow it to drop to 105-110 degrees F.
3. Gently stir in the starter (1 tablespoon of yogurt with live cultures).  You want it to be well-combined but don’t use anything crazy like an immersion blender.  Just a whisk will do.
4. Immediately place the mixture into a thermos that has been warmed with hot water and put the lid on.
5. Keep the thermos cozily wrapped in towels overnight (8-24 hours).

You should get up to delicious, rich, thick yogurt.

I, however, did NOT get up to delicious, rich, thick yogurt.  I got up to runny, drink-it-through-a-straw yogurt.  I was seriously bummed.

Regular milk, thermos method

Powdered milk, thermos method

I noticed, however, that the powdered milk yogurt was thicker than the refrigerated milk yogurt.  That got my wheels turning a little.

Attempts #3 and #4

In the face of my early morning disappointment, I decided to try a few different things with the next batches.

I searched up “Why is my thermos yogurt runny?” and found this awesome site, Not Quite Nigella, had some interesting suggestions.

My next two batches were made from a cup and a half of milk from the fridge with 1/3 of powdered milk stirred into it. I was hoping that if the milk was thicker to start with, so too would be my yogurt.

I made another attempt at the thermos method, described above, with half of the mixture.

With the other half, I tried the blog’s “oven method.”

While my milk mixture was heating on the stove top, I turned the oven on to 300 degrees F.

I washed a pint Mason jar and filled it with scalding hot water to keep it warm.

When the milk had been inoculated with the culture, I poured the half that didn’t go into the thermos into the empty, warm jar and placed it on a pan, popped it in the oven, and turned off the heat.  I left it in the warm oven for 5 hours.

Alas, it resulted in runny yogurt.

Oven method, powdered milk mixed with regular milk

I had, at this point, reached my yogurt frustration threshold.  I spoke rather impolitely to the yogurt in the thermos, wrapped snugly in its towel.  I left the thermos on the stove while I baked a batch of cookies.  I turned on the oven a couple of times to keep things warm in the kitchen.  I strongly suspect my other failures are because my house is so chilly, a fact that is really only bothersome when making yogurt or waiting for bread to rise..

I left the thermos of yogurt for 11 hours.  I opened it…and ……SUCCESS!!!!! Happy dance in the kitchen!!!!

Thermos method, powdered milk mixed into regular milk

 

So, the keys to the successful batch of yogurt were…

• The thermos method
• Adding 1/3 cup of powdered milk to each 1-1/2 cup of regular milk
• Warming up the kitchen a few times throughout the day.

Tomorrow I am planning to make a full batch of yogurt. I will let it sit for a solid 12 hours, and  I might try putting the thermos on a heating pad and turning it on intermittently throughout the day. I really want to keep it low-tech because yogurt making is a skill I’d like to be able to accomplish without the grid.

Author bio: Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

How Chronic Couch Preppers Can Look Good Naked Again

by Todd Walker

Do you hate mirrors!

In the not so distant past, mirrors were my arch-enemy. I’d talk myself into believing that the shirt hid my love handles. The Dirt Road Girl must have used a shrinking agent in the laundry. Wait a minute! That doesn’t explain my leather belt shrinking. Hum. What’s up with that?!

I had become a chronic couch prepper. I was carrying 50 more pounds than my once athletic frame was intended to haul. In my delusional mind, I figured on summoning super-hero strength if the time came for me to hump my 40 pound bug-out-bag plus an extra 50 pounds of self-indulgent body fat. Pulling myself up by the bootstraps in a SHTF scenario or emergency situation has it’s time and place. What do I do when merely reaching for my boot straps is exhausting?

If you’ve followed my journey any length of time, you’ve heard me talk about my primal/paleo lifestyle. It’s not some fad diet. It’s a lifestyle of making choices and taking your health and fitness into your own hands. I can’t imagine that preparedness minded people would not embrace this lifestyle. Going into any emergency, natural or man-made, optimal health and fitness might give you the edge in survival. The people who depend on you can’t if you’re a chronic couch prepper.

If you stumbled upon this site and aren’t into preparedness, self-reliance, and resilience, but are looking for a solution to the dieting dungeon and want to experience real long-term health and fitness, you’re in the right place.

The benefits of going primal

Since going primal in February 2010, I’ve lost the aching joints, irritated bowel, sugar cravings, and 50 pounds. I’ve gained confidence in my physical abilities, muscle mass, increased energy levels, new appreciation for play, and a lifestyle of healthy living. An added bonus is I look good naked again – according to Dirt Road Girl 🙂 Vanity? Not really. It just goes with the territory of a primal lifestyle.

Do you have to follow the primal lifestyle to be physically fit? No. It’s the path I’ve followed and highly recommend for those who have tried ‘everything’.

Prisoner of the Pyramid

The real Zombie Food Pyramid is the USDA Food Pyramid

Nutrition is key to a healthy lifestyle. Following conventional wisdom on nutrition was a big fail for me and millions of Americans. I have two degrees in Health and Physical Education. In those six years, I was schooled to follow the conventional wisdom of eating mostly carbs mixed with a little fat and protein. Great plan if you value chronic health problems, fatigue, and dying. Following the misinformation put out by our benevolent government (corporate-driven USDA food pyramid) will only help you remain a chronic couch prepper. Why would they do that? Follow the money. I’ve chosen to abandon willful ignorance and take control of my own life. Self-reliance and preparedness starts within you.

RESET!

Flip the pyramid upside down and start over. Eat no grains, or grain based meals for one month. Hold on there pilgrim! All preppers know that storing grain in 5 gallon buckets is the way to survive TEOTWAWKI. Again, think like a hunter/gatherer. Destroy the old conventional paradigm. I know this will offend and even anger traditional/conventional preparedness folks. I’m no expert on nutrition, I just know what worked for me. All I’m asking is that you take the challenge for one month. Break free from the conventional wisdom and give it a chance.

The Caveman’s Gym

What would Grok do? Short and intense is better than long and grueling. I’ve had friends join me on my work outs. They are very simple and minimalist. No gym membership, long hours, expensive equipment, or boring stuff. Here’s some of the ‘gym’ equipment I use.

• My body weight for pull ups, push ups, lunges, and squats.
• Rocks for throwing and lifting.
• Fallen trees, broken into manageable pieces, are used for weighted squats and balance.
• Sledge hammer swung at old tires. I also do Shovelglove. Never heard of it. Click here to check it out. Splitting wood with a sledgehammer, wedge, and axe are great full body movement creating functional fitness.
• Don’t discount children and grandchildren. I hoist my grandson on my shoulders (40 pounds) every time he comes over and we do our walk. Well, he rides and giggles. I walk.
• 7 gallon water containers. Grab two that are full to perform killer lunge sets. I don’t do many with that weight. Work up to heavier weight with two gallon jugs of water or other object with a handle.
• Sprint as fast as you can every 7 to 10 days. This is all out effort whether you bike, run, or swim. My sprint sessions only last about 10 minutes. Long slow distance only leads to stress related injuries (chronic cardio)…especially in shoes.
• Tree climbing. I’m not talking about with a deer climbing stand either. Get over your domesticated workout and go wild!
• Here’s another wild workout I posted that you may find helpful.

Functional fitness for SHTF

Specialization is for insects. “Time to go to the gym,” my buddy moaned. He can bench press 400 pounds but can barely squeak out a pull up. In any survival situation, versatility will be the key to not becoming room temperature. If he and I were hiking and had to climb a tree to escape a charging wild boar, he might be out of luck. Ever watch a dog ‘exercising’ outside? He doesn’t run in a boring circles. He mixes it up with jumping, sprinting, sparing, playing, with an occasional stop to pee on bushes. Animals move without monotony. Movement is survival.

Wild animals depend on their ability to move to survive. The odds of us having to sprint to the nearest tree to outrun a wild beast is small. WTSHTF it’s the two-legged predators I’m worried about. Knowing we could escape a dangerous encounter is rewarding. More practically, could I carry my wife or children to safety if called upon? Our fitness level should be well-rounded. We’ve got to be strong to be useful.

Here are a few resources I recommend to get you into the wild and moving naturally.

1) The 13 MovNat Movement Skills© (Check out this site for natural movement)

If you’re wondering what moving naturally means for human beings, think of human species-specific movement aptitudes. Visualize how the human animal would move in nature for his survival – that is natural human movement.

‘Aren’t there more natural ways to move naturally than just running?’

Human beings possess locomotive skills such as 1) walking, 2) running, 3) jumping, 4) balancing, 5) crawling, 6) climbing, or 7) swimming.

In addition to locomotive skills, human beings also utilize manipulative skills such as 8) lifting, 9) carrying, 10) throwing, and 11) catching, and 12) throwing and combative skills, such as 13) striking or grappling.

2) Mark’s Daily Apple. Reprogram your genes for effortless weight-loss, vibrant health and boundless energy.

3) The Paleo Solution. Revolutionary solutions to modern life.

4) Free The Animal. Richard Nikoley’s quest to live a primal/paleo lifestyle.

If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired when it comes to your workout, give these suggestions a try.

You’re turn. What’s been your exercise regiment? – I hate that word. It’s so hard to keep up with a regiment. Share your wild functional workout with us.

NOTE: A recent email conversation with Daisy Luther got us both thinking about the importance of fitness and health for survival. Over the next few weeks I’ll be putting together a more detailed series on functional fitness, healthy living, and unconventional advice for those following a preparedness and self-sustainable lifestyle.

Got anything in particular that you’d like to hear discussed?

Related articles

• Doing Push-ups for Preparedness (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• The Paleo Solution For Preppers (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• Survival Fitness: Walk the Walk (dprogram.net)