Swine Flu...A Big Hype???

First it was the avian flu. It scared me to pieces. I would sit up late at browsing the Internet to see any info I could find on it.
I go to Disney World eight months pregnant, caught the flu there. It was miserable. But it wasn't the Avian Flu. High fever, (104) Horrible cough, and the aches....the aches, oh that was the worst.

So when the "Swine" flu started to make the headlines, I was at first a bit skeptical. Because the Avian Flu never really caused much damage here in the US. But this Swine Flu, it was really close to the US because of Mexico.

Now, me, I am not one to run to the doctor for every aliment. I learned a long time ago, when we were on the more poorer side that it saves a great deal of money. ;-)

Since I don't run to the doctor, I have tried to learn and put into practice some natural home remedies to see if that will nip whatever I have in the bud, before I'll make a trip to the doctor. In eight years of marriage, and three kids later I have gone to the doctor about...um about 10 times, and an emergency room visit. This is not an exaggeration either. We just don't visit the doc very often.

About a week ago a friend of mine posted on her facebook that she had the Swine flu. I am like, "Oh Great! I am worried that I am going to get it now." As it seems every month I have "caught" something.

Sweetie then came down with a fever on Thursday night, so on Friday I made a trip to the health food store and stocked up on some Vitamin C, and a homeopathic flu formula. "Just in case"

Saturday night, I just sort of felt "off", and then woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty much yuck.

I began to drink my little "EmergenC's" every time I was thirsty. Then the fever came. So I began taking my homeopathic flu formula. In between that, I took heavy doses of Echencia/golden seal.

The aches were the worse thing of the whole ordeal. My head ached, my ears, jaw teeth, wrists, ankles, EVERYTHING. Motrin and warm showers helped me immensely. And sleep. After 24 hours the fever broke, the aches went away, and I thought, "nah! I didn't have the Swine flu" I didn't even get the respiratory problems. Just a little stuffy nose.

For one, the Swine flu was supposed to be worse than the regular flu right? Well, I had the regular flu, and that was about FIVE times more worse than what I had just experienced including the aches. And the regular flu lasted about five times longer, so it couldn't be the Swine Flu.

Until I saw my friend and asked her how she was doing, and if the flu was as horrible as the media is making it out to be. Her answer. No. The Media is definitely hyping it up. She said the first day was the worse, but after that, she was fine.

Did I have the Swine Flu? I don't know. But I was exposed to it, I live in an area where the outbreaks are "elevated" and had all the symptoms of the flu. Dr. Oz said that the main signs of Swine Flu were the Fever and body aches.

I certainly don't think it's worth risking your life or health on the up and coming Swine Flu shot



DISCLAIMER: What I wrote above is my own opinions. I am not a doctor, and I am not responsible for any choice you make regarding your own health.

Texas Toadflax

Has your little boy or girl bring these "flowers" to you? And have you thought them to be "just weeds"?

Me too. Until one day, I was looking a facebook friend's profile, in which she had shared a picture of one of these "pretty weeds", and someone told her it was called Texas Toad Flax. And it isn't a weed. It is an herb!

I found this very interesting, as I am trying to learn more about herbs. I even bought a correspondences course to become a "family herbalist". Slowly, but surely, I am making my way through it. ;-)

But anyway, back to the original topic.

Since, this is such a common "weed" I thought I'd share about it. It makes me stop and think what other things we call "weeds" are really useful herbs?

Here is a link to showing a detailed description of this herb:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/toadfl19.html

Oatmeal Goodness

As promised, here is a post on how I Roll/crush my oatmeal ♥

First I have my Bosch Universal Mixer. This baby is waaay better than Kitchen Aide. I had Kitchen Aide when we were first married and I enjoyed it immensely. But when I began to bake my own bread I read in several places that the Kitchen Aide would not cut it when I wanted to mix dough with my Whole Wheat Flour. It would burn the moter out.

Bosch has been around for years, and it comes with a limited lifetime warranty. My husband bought ours with a tax return when we were pretty poor. They are fairly pricey. Around $500, but sooooo worth the price!

The attachments that you see next to my Bosch mixer are from the Family Grain Mill. The Family Grain Mill is a versatile hand cranked mill and oat roller/flaker. You don't need a BOSCH to Roll your own oats.

The Family Grain Mill was given to me by my parents as a graduation gift from college. I know. I am a weird girl. I actually asked that from them when they asked me what I wanted, LOL!

When my husband bought me the BOSCH he also bought the connector that allows the Family Grain Mill and Flaker to become motorized through the BOSCH mixer

So here it is all set up to roll the oats.

We buy our Oat Groats in 5 gal Pails that are CO2 packed. The place we buy them from is The Bread Becker's out of Woodstock Georgia. They have several co-op groups through the South and South East. If you visit their website, they give a list of where their co-ops are at.Here are whole oat groats

These are what Whole Oat Groats look like

In the hopper ready to be crushed and rolled and flaked

Coming out of the Roller into a glass pan

All the oats have been crushed and rolled

Now, I have a pan of boiling water going, and I add the oats to the water

I let simmer about four minutes

Then let it set five more minutes to cool down

Add some Raw uncooked honey

Add some pure vanilla extract. My husband actually makes ours. Yum!!!

Add lots of Cinnamon. Cinnamon is *VERY* good for you.

Organic Milk

And Raisins to mine. The kids don't like Raisins in theirs.

So there you have it. That's how I Crush/roll my oats. ♥

Feeling Icky Sicky

For the past month, I have been feeling yucky. I am not sure if it is a combination of some bug traveling around our area or allergies or both.

Normally, I don't get "allergies". The only thing I am allergic to is mold; as most people are, lol!

But the pollen count is high in our area. And whenever the weather changes, I seem to get some sort of attack.

Scratchy throat, stuffy head and nose, and just feeling like snuggling up in a warm blanket. That feeling lasts about two days at the most, then I start sneezing and blowing out whatever was in my body. By day six and seven I am starting to feel normal. Then the next day on day eight or nine, I wake up to the stuffy head, nose, and scratchy throat again. Uggg!

This has been lasting a *MONTH* I am so sick of it!

My hubby was so sweet. This morning, as I lay snoring in bed, he , hid a card underneath a pile of junk mail. He knows me so well, in knowing that I throw out junk mail pretty quick. Thankfully, I checked underneath the pile this morning before I tossed it in the trash, and there was a card with my name on it.

It was a sweet card that just told me he was thinking of me today, and that he hopes I start feeling better throughout the day. ♥ And he wrote a cute poem/verse in it. That sure did help raise my spirits!

My "Get Well" card next to my Valentine's Day flowers he gave me

I got alot of comments about how to roll and crush oats. It's getting time for me to roll and crush some soon, and I'll be sure to take pictures, and write an entry about it. Hopefully next week.

And those of you who left comments, I will slowly come by and visit your blogs as I have a few moments. As well as being "sick", I am in the middle of potty training Tiny Boy. Praise the Lord he is picking this up fast, and I am hoping that most of the "training" part will be done in a couple of days.

But I value your comments and your visits *Sooooo* very much. Please keep coming by. Just please understand, as I am sure you do if your a mom yourself, that other things come first before blogs. ;-)

How I Like My Oatmeal

For the last several years I have been eating oat-meal every day.

Why?

It's Cheap.

It's Healthy.

It's Quick.

The Kid's eat it.

I don't have my oatmeal the conventional way though. Nope. Not me. ;-)My oatmeal is "old-fashioned".

It is so "Old-fashioned" that I need to buy the "whole" oat groat, and not the "Quaker Oat" old-fashioned kind.

Yup,I crush/roll my own oats. ;-) Sound's kind of naughty, lol!

Seriously, it is "delicious" that way.

Then, I boil about 1 cup slightly salted water to 1/2 cup of rolled oats. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, I turn it down to simmer, add my oats to it, and cook it for about four minutes.

Then I take it off of the heat, and let it sit for about five more minutes.

After that, I divide the pot of oatmeal into individual portions and add to each portion:

1/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1 TB. of Raw Honey

a heaping dash of cinnamon

Rice Milk

And a Bunch of raisins.

It is sooooo good!

The kids don't like raisins in theirs. And I substitute whole organic milk in theirs for the rice milk.

Sweetie likes it so much, that she eats about two servings of it. And she HATES Mr. Quaker Instant Oats. HATES it.

And you know what?

I don't blame her one bit! ;-)

So, why all of this talk about oatmeal? I don't know, I guess I have it on my brain. I haven't blogged in a while, and I was trying to think of something to blog about, and for some strange reason oatmeal came to my mind. So I went with it. Hope it provided you some entertainment. :)