Echinacea Tincture

It is nice to be prepared for things before they happen, I love stocking my pantry for this very reason.  This year it is my goal to stock my medicine cabinet as well. From the front yard.

Last year was a hard year for us health wise. I can't remember a year where me and my family contracted a cold more often. It felt like just after one person got over it someone else would start to feel sick and this nasty process continued from November till May. Near the end of winter I picked up some echinacea tincture. I was hesitant to try it because a 4oz bottle cost $20 but I was sick of being sick and sick of tending the sick so I broke down and purchased it. What a difference it made! As soon as my kids nose would start to run I would give them some tincture and low and behold it usually didn't go any further.

Wow what is in this stuff? So I looked into it and low and behold it is so easy to make I was mad at myself for not making some before now; and making it yourself is so much cheaper too! See it pays to be prepared. I also didn't realize that echinacea is actually more commonly known as a cone flower and lots of people have it planted in their garden beds! Like my mom for instance. I lived there how many years and never knew what was right outside my window! Live and learn I guess.

This tincture works to build up your immune system when you start to feel low or that sore-throat-I-ache-all-over feeling. If you make it with glycerin it is perfect for kids, or you can make it with vodka for adults. I mix mine with mint and my kids call it tea when I give it to them, "sickie tea".

If you can't get the fresh herbs to work with, you can always buy the dried ones from mountainroseherbs.com

Echinacea Tincture
To make the tincture you will need:

• 2 Cups chopped fresh echinacea flower and leaves
• 1/2 Cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 3 Cups food grade glycerin or vodka
• 1 Cup water
• Quart jar and lid

Mix herbs, glycerin or vodka and water in quart jar cover and shake.

Let it out at room temp and shake it once a day for 2-4 weeks.

Strain the herbs out with cheese cloth and put in a dark glass bottle to store for use. 2 droppers full 3 times a day when fighting a cold.

Pretty simple to do right? Especially if you use your own herbs this tincture is very inexpensive to make. I am trying to prepare for a difficult winter so I am not caught off guard this time. Then I can just relax and take care of my family without running out and paying the price with my health and wallet.

Take the time to do this while the plant is blooming still and you will be ready for whatever bug this winter is going to throw our way. Naturally of course.

                                                              The Farmer in the Dell

How to Treat a Coconut Oil Stain

Life was busy this week. When I am busy I get rushed, when I am rushed accidents happen, and when accidents happen it makes me have to slow down and take care of the accident.  This makes for even less time than I started with. So why do I rush around in the first place if I know it leads to trouble? Good question, we try to keep life as simplified as possible around here but there are days when everything happens at once and I just have to make due with the time I am given.

This usually translates to me trying to multi-task with my toddlers and little baby, (ie. making granola bars with two little people who mainly just want to eat the ingredients, mommy trying to stir the coconut butter that has separated and a baby who decided she now wants to be nursed/held.) All necessities in my little family right now and when properly timed it can all be enjoyable, just not all at once. In the frenzy I caught my spoon on a hard piece of coconut butter solids on the bottom of the jar causing me to spill the oil all over my shirt and skirt. Of course, as life would have it, I forgot to put on my apron before setting out to make the granola bars so here we have the aftermath.

My initial gut reaction to a spill/stain is to always flush it with cold water, so that is what I did. However that is really not a great idea for oil stains as oil and water don't mix. So then what do you do for pulling up the excess oil? Why you heap on some baby powder or corn starch to soak it all up out of the fabric.

I let mine sit on for 15-20 min before shaking it off out side. I could see where the oil was but it wasn't as noticeable, step in the right direction.

The next thing I did was to put some dawn dish soap, that I have on hand to strip my diapers, on the spots and scrub in the fabric with an old toothbrush. You want to break down the oil so any de-greasing dish soap will do. My one year old loved this part, he went a little over board with the dish soap but it didn't hurt anything. Who knew cleaning up mommy's messes would be so fun!

Now I just threw them in the wash on my hot/cold setting as it is best for a oil stain to be washed in the hot to "melt" the oil. I just used my homemade detergent.

After being in the wash I hung the clothes out to dry on the line. You wouldn't want to run them through the dryer as it can set the stain if not all of it has come out. Here is how they turned out after treatment.

Yay no oil marks! I hate when clothing gets ruined, I always feel like I didn't try hard enough to save it. Now I know I can just throw some baby powder on my oil stains when we are away from home. I love when something in my diaper bag is multi use!

So while it did take some extra time out of my day I discovered a new way to deal with oil stains and my kids had fun helping mommy. I guess it was not all that bad of an accident anyway.
                                                                 The Farmer in the Dell

When Your Child Humbles You

I am sure that every parent, at one point in their life, experiences this to some extent. I didn't realize, as a young unmarried woman, that those judgments I so quickly passed on the mother in the store for her screaming child were maybe not the result of poor parenting. Possibly they were just having an off day. Why am I so quick to judge when I only see a glimpse of that woman's day, or life to be exact? God has given us everything we need as parents to guide, guard and grow children who will be a blessing and a rest. However, he never promised that the journey along the way would not include tantrums, bad attitudes, rebellion and testing.

"Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." Proverbs 29:17

I was visiting with my friend and had brought all three of my children with. It was after a nap so I figured they would be rested and in a good mood. However when we arrived they proceeded to climb on and touch everything, break things, scream and fight with each other and pester the baby with any chance they had while being so busy with all the other destructive activities. I was mortified. Here I was looking forward to visiting with a dear friend and my children were displaying the worst behavior they could possibly muster. For not getting to see my children very often I was hoping that she was not thinking that this is how they are all the time. Because they are not monsters all the time, just once in a while :)

I was glad when my husband arrived to help manage them till we left, however we were both grievously disappointed and disturbed by our children's behavior. Why had they done that? Especially when we worked so hard to teach them how to conduct themselves when we are all out. I can tell you that it was extremely humbling. I felt like a parenting failure. I realized that all those mothers I had frowned on before for ill behaved children may have been experiencing the same thing and I had judged them so harshly.

Perhaps God gives us children for not only to shape and mold their little souls but for ours as well. My pride took a big blow, and honestly, it needed it. No matter how much we pour into our children we live in a fallen world and are fallen people that make mistakes, it is bound to show up sometime. The Lord guides and leads us as a shepherd with discipline and love. However he knows the unique struggle of young mothers because it says.

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11

 

We need to be gently led. I need to be gently led, because many days I am just drained emotionally and physically from the daily parenting struggle. All you that are young and don't have children yet or whose children are young babies; please remember that when you see a mother when you are out, struggling with her child, look at her an realize it may not be a very good day for them. In fact a smile is always appreciated!

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

 

It turns out that in the end I was really craving grace, the very opposite of what I was feeling toward other mothers around me. Grace for others to know that; it is okay, I realize that my child is a sinner, and that her/his behavior is not going to reflect a regenerated heart and mind. Their sin nature is most often reflected at the time when I desire them to be displaying good behavior. This is part of the parenting process.

I had my serving of humble pie this week, it was bittersweet, but I hope it was enough that I can remember to give grace to others with little ones. Remember that we all have bad days, ourselves included!
                                                                 The Farmer in the Dell

Refined Sugar-Free Pickled Red Beet Eggs

I am starting to get back into some of my regular activities and getting to pay attention to some things that I have been putting off for awhile, like my garden for example.  I should have harvested my beets three weeks ago but I was a little busy with my brand new baby then. Excuses, excuses I know but they were still there when I harvested them this week. Me and my little helpers picked and cleaned our stash, we maybe even snacked on one raw. Everything had splashes of purple till we were done but we did finish the job and now had to decide what to do with all these beets.

Not a hard decision for my farming husband, he was craving red beet eggs. Now I am not really a fan of the red beet egg. I always saw them on the salad bar and thought they were there for the older generation who liked that kind of thing. I guess I am married to an old soul. At any rate the whole reason he let me plant most of our garden in red beets is because he wanted some red beet eggs out of the deal, so I figured I may as well make some. Another reason I just never got into the habit of even trying to like red beet eggs is the pickling liquid is usually full of sugar. I try to avoid added sugar in my family's diet as most of the time it is really not necessary.  

So with that in mind I set off to make red beet eggs. I even had these cute little red beets, because I just never have the heart to thin them out after planting, it just feels like such a waste to me. So some of them are on the baby side of small but they are just the right size for mixing with eggs.

Red Beet Eggs

Makes a Dozen or Two Quarts

• 2 wide mouth quart jars 
• 1 dozen eggs
• 3 cups baby red beets
• 1 Cup white vinegar
• 1 Tbs sea salt
• 1/2 Cup honey
• 11 whole cloves
• 1 Tbs whole peppercorns
• Pinch of cumin seeds  
• Pinch of coriander seed

Hard boil your eggs.
I like to just put mine in a pot, cover eggs with water, put heat on high till the water and eggs come to a boil for 2-3 minuets. Turn the heat off cover the pot and let set for 20 minuets, then refrigerate.

*As a note for those of you who may have fresh eggs from your chickens like I do, you can just lightly crack your eggs before boiling and then you will have a much easier time peeling the shell off. I love fresh eggs, but man they are a pain to peel when hard boiled!

Put baby beets in a pot of water and bring water to a boil. I boiled mine for about 1 1/2 hours but it will depend on how little or big the beets are. Just boil till you can pierce easily with a knife.

Save 1 cup of the beet water for later and drain off the rest. Then cover beets with cold water and the skins will just slide off, easy peasy. Set peeled beet aside.

Now put the reserved beet water, vinegar, salt, honey and spices in a sauce pan and heat on medium till the honey dissolves. Set aside.

Layer your red beets and eggs in your quart jars. It will be pretty tight in there so I like to do one layer of beets then a layer of eggs to make sure there is some of both close together.

Pour the vinegar honey liquid over top the eggs and beets. Put the lids on and shake to try and cover evenly. Mine were packed too tight as you can tell, I was greedy and tried to fit 14 eggs in, oh well.

Refrigerate for 3-5 days and then dig in!

I actually am starting to like these now; they make a great addition to any picnic and have beautiful color and flavor too! Making my husband happy makes me happy too it's a win, win situation.

                                                                The Farmer in the Dell

My Review of Benkung Belly Binding

Benkung Belly Binding is a Malaysian practice of taking a long strip of cloth and wrapping it tightly around your torso to aid in recovery post baby. The list of benefits include

• Pulling diastasis recti (separated abdominal wall) back together 
• Quicker elimination of waste blood in a natural way
• Aids in shrinking your waistline, hips and rib cage back to pre-pregnacy size
• Helps with posture, preventing your back from caving forward while nursing, minimizing back pain
• Helps your uterus and internal organs return to their rightful place 

The reasoning is that when you are pregnant, your body cells expand storing up extra fluids, fat and air to cushion and nourish your baby during that last trimester. However, when you have your baby, your body no longer needs to store water for amniotic sack and air to cushion the baby so your cells will release the excess and return back to normal size. The wrap is there to speed up this process.

I was really intrigued by the claims on this style of wrap as others I tried previously don't really work on shrinking your rib cage or hips. I have noticed in my last two pregnancies the hips and ribs just haven't gone back to their normal size. I am also worried about diastasis recti this time as this was my fourth pregnancy in 3 years, and while I work out there is only so much that can do to pull things back together, and I wanted a head start. The other thing is that it just looks really pretty. So I bought one from etsy and started wrapping the day after giving birth.

Here I am the day after

One week later

Two weeks later

I have to say that so far I am very impressed with my wrap, and here is why. At a follow up visit with my midwife and a gynecologist last week, they were so shocked and pleased to see that my uterus was already 4 inches below my belly button. This was only 5 days after giving birth.

Another thing is that while I still occasionally bleed it is not even every day and I am only about 2 weeks out from my birth.

I am also enjoying wearing a good portion of my regular clothes already which I have never done this soon.

We will have to see how it works with pulling my abs back together, but as everything else has been pretty accurate so far I am hopeful that it will do well in that area too.

Things I was not expecting:
That it is more comfortable than I thought it would be. It is like an all day hug and feels really good, especially in the tummy and pelvic region.

I get a bunch of compliments on how pretty it is, and I love wearing it.

It is easier to put on than it looks. It is kinda intimidating working with a 10 yard strip of fabric for the first couple times but I can wrap myself now in a couple of minuets.

The only down side for me so far is that I can't sleep or nap in it. Some people do and have no problems, but it makes me feel like I breath too shallow laying down and wakes me up.

In all I am really enjoying my benkung wrap. I wear mine for the recommended 8 hours a day and plan on continuing for the 6-8 weeks postpartum, which is when you are going to get the best results from using the wrap. I am really glad I decided to try it, for something so simple it is very effective.

                                                             Loving this little girl

                                                             The Farmer in the Dell

Eliora's Birth Story!

I have been waiting so long to write this post it almost feels surreal doing it now.  It was starting to think that our baby was never going to come. I was feeling so heavy, depleted on energy, stressed and bombarded by an onslaught of other people's opinions/comments it really had me down. So I decided to put my children to bed early last Tuesday and just do some relaxing things to help my body unwind. I also felt keenly aware of people praying for me that night, as I was told by a handful of my friends/family they were lifting me up in prayer. So after some baking, facebooking, watching some baby related youtube videos, getting a shower and reading my book I settled in for the evening feeling a lot better and maybe even hopeful that I could meet my baby soon. 

Then it happened. I woke up at 1:45 Wednesday morning with strong contractions. I could have just danced, except I was in pain, so I was all smiles as I turned over to tell my dear husband today was the day and that I was going downstairs to walk around and just be 100% sure that this was it. It didn't take me long to figure out this was the day, so I called my mom to tell her to get ready and went back up to see what my husband was doing. Still sleeping, he said he never heard me the first time, but I told him it was time for him to get up and for us to call for a sitter for the kids and time the contractions. It soon became very apparent that we needed to get moving out the door, as my last baby was delivered in 3 3/4 hours and these contractions were getting intense. So Josh's aunt came right over and watched our other 2 while we jumped into our already packed car (I had my birth bag in there for 3 weeks now) said a prayer and sped down the road on that wet, rainy morning.

I labored with Boaz in the car too but this time I was trying to do more of the breathing exercises which helped quite a bit. Drinking water in between contractions helped too because last time I was hoarse and couldn't barely talk from all the yelling, progress. However we were still 15 min away and it felt like I needed to push, so for the lat 15 minuets holding a baby back was really awful, possibly the worst part of the whole birth.

We got to the midwife's home in record time :) Thank the Lord Josh just had new tires put on the car!

He and my midwife helped me up the stairs to the birth room where I was checked and yep, it was time to push! So after pushing for a few min my water broke, a little unusual for me as they had to break my bag for the last two. After pushing my baby's head out I am used to being pretty much done as the rest of the body tends to slide out but this was a different baby and I needed to push hard to get the broad shoulders and the rest of the body out. It was 3:45, two hours after I had been woke up from sleep by contractions, and now I was holding my baby girl! Praise God!

Eliora was just jabbering and talking the moment she came into the world! It was so sweet to hear her precious little voice! I had the shakes for a little afterward, probably from having a 2 hour labor, and after-pains but knowing that God brought us there safely and gave me an uncomplicated birth we were overwhelmed with joy! I love those sacred moments where you first get to meet and bond with your baby. Seeing what they are like and who they resemble and just soaking up the whole essence of this new little person who you have been carrying for all this time. We all were rather tired and I was ravenous so after I had a granola bar and nursed Eliora while we all took a little rest.

Eliora wanted to nurse again an hour later, and we had breakfast. After that Josh got to clamp and cut the cord and the midwife got down to business measuring and weighing our baby girl. Josh was guessing she weighed about a gallon of milk, 8.6 lbs and my midwife was thinking 8lbs 12oz. They were both wrong she was a soft, pleasantly plushy 10 pounds on the dot! No wonder I felt so much heavier this time! In all honesty there was very little difference in delivering my 6 pound girl and her sweet 10 pound little self. Maybe if I knew ahead of time it would have stressed me out and caused problems but as it was she was just a healthy, happy, hungry girl!

Phoebe and Boaz love their new little sister, Boaz just showers her with kisses and Phoebe makes sure she has everything she needs from blankets to stories. This little girl is cared for and well loved.

  Our little family feels so complete with our little Eliora, which means the Lord is my guiding light. I hope the Lord fulfills her name and guides her thorough her life continually!

                                                                 Enjoying this season of blessing
                                                                       The Farmer in the Dell

Busy Weekend and Birthday Detox Waffles!

We celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday last Tuesday, and with coming off of all the festivities and picnics of the fourth of July weekend I know I was really wanting to simplify our diet and get back into the regular swing of things. However it is a birthday, and if anyone knows me well they know that I just love to celebrate birthdays and have a fun party and make cute food. Now we really didn't have her "party" then because I keep telling her we are waiting for her brother or sister to come so they can be there too, so far this is working :) She is very easy to make happy; that is such a grace for me right now, as it is harder for me to deal with a belated party than her. In hind sight I should have done it back in June but can't change things now so I will just have to go with the flow!

Anyway still wanting to make it a special day for her I asked her what she wanted to eat for her birthday breakfast. She asked for cereal, which is very easy and part of me wanted to take her up on it but the other louder half of me kept thinking of all the processed food/sweet things she had the weekend before, and that and while cereal may be a special thing for her, waffles are too so I suggested them instead.

Now I also realize that most people would not consider waffles a health food, and really traditional ones are not, but like most things there is a way to make it healthy and that is what we did here. For my conscience sake I like to think of these as detox waffles. I like to have these when I want something naughty for breakfast but know deep down I really should be having something healthy.

I usually like to have low gluten or gluten free breads and baked goods and these just happen to be gluten free/dairy free/refined sugar free and can be made vegan as well! However since we are getting a stock pile of eggs from our chickens right now I added a few eggs to the mix too but this is a very adaptable recipe. It also happens to very simple and inexpensive too and who doesn't like that?

Oatmeal (or Detox) Waffles

Makes about 6 Belgian waffles or 9 regular waffles

• 4 Cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 4 Cups water
• 2 Ripe/spotted bananas 
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 Cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• 1-2 eggs (optional)

Preheat your waffle iron

Throw all ingredients into the blender and blend till smooth batter

Use spray oil to grease the waffle iron and pour in the batter. It doesn't rise/expand like regular waffles so basically almost fill the iron for each one.

For a belgan waffle maker it takes about 10 min, for a regular it may be closer to 5, and if you have a mini waffle maker those take about 2 min till browned and slightly crispy on the outside.

We like to serve these up with some fresh fruit, jam or maple syrup. Most of the time though my kids are so anxious to eat them they just get eaten plain! They are good just about any way :)

I don't feel bad at all giving these to my kids as it is basically like a bowl of oatmeal in waffle form!
Feel free to indulge :)

                                                                  The Farmer in the Dell