Could the cure to H1N1 be in our kitchen or yard?

With the winter months coming it has been all over the news and radio that the CDC thinks we will have a new wave of H1N1 outbreaks. It has also been reported that they also think there as many deaths from the vaccine then the flu. And the side effects: neurological diseases particularly Guillain-Barre syndrome. Not something I want to do. I'm not pregnant, over 65 or have a immune disorder. Really don't need the vaccine. I also heard many stories on how cinnamon and other herbs can cure the flu. Many sites that are trying to sell herb supplements. I think it's more than the cinnamon bark.......... Or the thieves oil. Save your money it might just be in your own kitchen or yard.
Nostradamus, 1503-1566 the famous doctor and prophet that survived the black plague also cured many others with what was called rose petal pills. He ran a perfumery that meant using natural petals like rose petals and herbs to make the scents in his day. But he noticed that his workers didn't get the plague. Then there is the famous 4 thieves vinegar. The story goes that there was 4 thieves in France that were robbing the dead during the plague and many of the doctors where shocked to see that not one of them had became infected. They asked how they protect themselves. They told them of a wine that they drank each meal.
This is where it gets fuzzy. Because there are many different recipes. First I heard it was vinegar or wine. Now there is a doctor that is marketing a oil that he named Thieves Oil after this legend. And there is no garlic added. Yes many say the reason it works is the garlic makes people stay away from you!!
4 Thieves Vinegar (or Wine)

1 clove of garlic crushed and minced

equal parts:
thyme
peppermint
rosemary
sage
lavender

Place in red wine or in a clean bottle. Cover with apple cider vinegar. Many recipes online will say just say vinegar. But I think it depends on your area. For in areas that have many wineries that wine would be easy to get. While other areas cider was easier to find.
Leave out for 6 weeks and shake everyday. After the six weeks is up strain the herbs. You can drink with meals if brave. I have used this vinegar as a cleaner.

There also is many different recipes for Thieves Oil. One thing they do have in common is that the garlic isn't included.

Thieves Oil

equal amounts of cinnamon bark, lemon oil and eucalyptus
equal amounts of: cinnamon bark, lemon, eucalyptus, clove, and rosemary

So not to different on ingredients but both are placed in a clean jar or bottle and covered with a base oil. This could be extra virgin olive oil, almond oil or walnut oil. Do not use basic vegetable oil or canola oil they will turn rancid. I know from experience that my olive oil that was a mix of vegetable oil and olive didn't last long. But this is left out for 6 weeks and shaken everyday. After the six weeks is up strain the herbs.

There is medical studies proving that cinnamon bark can kill common and hospital-acquired infections. A study of surgeons have proven this. In 2008 the French researchers found this fact to be true also.

Studies also show that lemon juice is antibacterial and antiseptic, and a effective insect repellent. Straight vinegar kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). Even lavender and thyme are more antiseptic than phenol, the stuff in common household cleaners! Research shows that antibacterial plant oils may not cause drug resistance germs. Even rose petal have antiseptic properties. It is regarded as a mild sedative and anti-depressant which can reduce the stresses in our lives. In this day and age we all can use that. Wow that why our men bring us roses to say they are sorry... Giggles...

I love the smell of lemon, cinnamon, lavender, rose and peppermint that I could have many different vinegar cleaning products. Or Apple Cider and cinnamon for cleaning. Lemon vinegar for the bathroom and kitchen. Lavender and rose for the bedrooms. My daughter would love a wintergreen and peppermint cleaner.
How about the Thieves Oil for cooking. That lemon oil for lemon pepper chicken. With sage, thyme and other herbs that are good for Italian dishes and could also help fight infections.

Keep in mind this will not as all things keep you from getting sick. Like echinacea it doesn't keep you from getting a cold or flu it helps your body fight the germs. I really think the truth is that we need to eat more healthy and wash our hands like our doctors. Washing for 20 seconds. That good old warm water and soap do the job but a little help from nature to kill the nasty viruses doesn't hurt. Sing in your head or out loud to help your little ones The ABC song.

I do read to much!!

My poor four legged companions are confused! Seeing how I read online that BPA plus 42 chemicals that were 5 times higher levels that are found in humans. This more likely to damage our pets like our babies or elderly. I was reading some info on Pets for the Environment and came across this info. I made me so crazy that I had to go out and get new food and water dishes for my animals. My four legged babies. I took away their plastic dishes the ones they considered their own! Well the dog was the most upset, he keep looking at his red bowl and then whining. Well we did tell him we had something for him and when he looked in the bag was not very happy there was NO TOY.

Bisphenol A or BPA is a additive that is added to plastic to keep it from shattering. It has been found to cause health problems from the plastic breaking down and BPA leeching into the food. It is a known endocrine disruptor; damaging the endocrine system which regulates metabolism, growth, development, puberty, tissue function and also helps with determining mood. That's one reason why I don't microwave foods in plastic and cool my foods before placing them in freezer containers to freeze. PLUS why you should keep old plastic containers for food. I use them to hold craft items or odds and ends. Plastics with the recycling arrow with the number 3 and 7 contain BPA. 1,2,4,5 and 6 do not.

Plastic dishes can get scratched and hind all kinds of nasty things in the little grooves. That the kitties can get a condition called kitty acne. Bumps around their face. Our cats have these bumps at the neck, we thought they where from the fleas, like bite that scabbed over. But as I watched Old Princess drink from the mudroom water-dish and noticed that those bumps are right where she leans on the water-dish to drink! I decided that I had to get new water dishes right then. Plus the dog has these bumps too. These scratches can hold bacteria, fungus and germs. Not good for anyone!

So it was late when I was reading this and said I have to get new dishes for my animals. I began to look on line for sales. I saw a add for melamine food dish. I thought to myself, melamine, melamine that sounds familiar. After googling melamine I found out it the stuff that is often combined with formaldehyde in floor tiles, kitchenware, fire retardant fabrics cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides. That in 2008 killed 6 children and hospitalized 150,000 year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent protein content. Baby formula included. Some children may have life-long chronic kidney problems. I remember that and I also remember that before the baby formula that pets where dying from the same exposure! Yep the recall of pet foods, was due to melamine poisoning. Exposure to melamine in the right amounts (is any exposure acceptable?) can cause kidney failure and death. AND they still sell pet dishes made with this stuff and even tableware! They have found some tableware leach considerable amounts of melamine! And we place our food on it. Our four legged family member eat everyday from it.......

Our animals are showing the effects of this exposure. There has been a growing number of hyperthyroidism in cats
cancer in dogs. The top three are fire retardant chemicals, teflon non-stick coating and plastic exposure. I don't use teflon cookware any more after learning the teflon flakes off and we eat these flakes, poisoning our food. I have hard ionized cookware that cleans even better than telfon even burnt on foods, just soak for a while and wash!

So I had to go get some shinny new bowls for my pets. I found a ceramic cereal bowl that was a mis-matched bowl that didn't really fit with the other bowls and that is the cats food dish now. And a larger flat bowl for the mudroom water dish. the dog got a nice side shinny stainless steel bowl with paw prints on the side. Plus we got a big water dish that holds 3 quarts of water. Whew.......I feel better!

My first giveaway! Rubbermaid takealongs!

The nice people Erin, Jim and Lauren at Rubbermaid blog Adventures in Organization are giving me a chance to host a giveaway!
When the package arrived we opened right away. As you see this is the box it came in. The green in me thought that was a big box for the little items but NO Styrofoam peanuts so they got bonus points for that. Plus Miss Princess thought they sent it to her for a nice bed.... She also had to check out the blue ice fun shape... She licked it and rubbed up against it so I think she likes it.. Really she followed it from the box to the table. Silly cat!

I received a package of 4 TakeAlong squares. The new quick Clik seal makes sure the lids snaps into place. We sealed by pushing in the middle of the lid. They are dishwasher and freezer safe. I tried the freezer. Nice it didn't crack after I took it out and tried to get the food out of it like some container have done to me. At first I thought I over filled them, so I used less the next time and still had the stupid thing crack. Can't freeze things in something cracked.
Rubbermaid will tell you that they are microwave safe but I don't like to microwave any food. Goodhousekeeping did testing on all the plastic containers and none has large amount of phthalates or BPA so I do use them for food storage just don't microwave food in them, I tend to heat the contents to high and melt the package....... But for testing I put some hot tomato sauce in one. It did not stain the container at all. I thought it would melt and stain. It was straight from the stove bubbling hot.

The blue ice fun shape lasted so long! We have used the block blue ice for our lunch bags. Yes most of us who live here, including me take our lunch. Sometimes when I have a short day I take a snack and a drink and got smaller ice packs, you know the ones that look like a pop cap or something like that. They don't last long. I end up with a tepid drink. So I thought this small ice pack isn't going to last the 6 hours before lunch, well it did and was still cool to the touch after 8 hours. The monkey was so cute, Rubbermaid also have a frog and football shapes. Of course the daughter was upset at the time I got the package that she didn't get the football too, seeing how she was excited about the Brown's game on that night and her boyfriend coming over.... but she loves the monkey shape too. Then we tried the container out for his monster sandwich.. turkey, ham, pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato, pepper slice, onion and Italian dressing. IT fit! Without smashing the bread down.

Rubbermaid is giving one lucky person from this blog a 4 pack of Takealong square containers and one blue ice fun shape Plus the marker for notes to your child. I know my daughter works with younger kids and they have to mark their containers. They have to mark everything they bring in their lunch box. This was handy to have. Rubbermaid was thinking for notes and we thought before reading the letter, to mark containers for school or work...... LOL
this giveaway will end on September 19 at 1:00 AM EST
Winner will be picked by Random.org
Open to anyone in the US and Canada.


Go to the Rubbermaid site and look around post something you like. Heck I have a few Rubbermaid Items already! But found more I would like to get... hehe
Follow my blog. Shades of Green or remind me that you do follow my blog
Subscribe to their blog Adventures in Organization
Follow on twitter @rubbermaid
Become a fan of Rubbermaid's Facebook page
Please leave a email address so i can reach you if you win....Whether or not a boy or girl will be using the fun shape primarily or whether it should be gender neutral.
Leave a comment for each action you make....

Good Luck!

I've been a bad girl

So if you have been reading my blog you know I live with vegetarians. And I eat meat some times, when not at home most of the time. It seems a waste to make 2 meals. Well I went to a cook out and ate half a hamburger. Then I went to work. My stomach hurt so bad. I told my co-worker that I went to a cook out and eat to much. She laughed and said you had a hamburger didn't you. I was like yea, OH yea. Last time I ate a hamburger was the company picnic over a month ago and my stomach really hurt after that. WELL it was about the only thing left and hot that should be hot, happens when you work that day...... But she was there teasing me that I haven't ate hamburger in so long..... Back to today, well she remembered that and told me I was putting my stomach in distress. That my body can't handle the hamburger, it super processed and you know it the junk that they grid together. I was like oh did you go vegetarian too.... But really I don't think I can eat hamburger anymore, It makes my stomach hurt....... No more hamburgers for me.... I thought I should have eat more fresh corn on the cob and apples, yum.. but I learned.
Of course the die hard vegetarian reminds me that ground beef has antibiotics, hormones, and bacteria and what ever else may have gotten in the meat or cow,. Then reminds me that meat can stay in your digestive tract for months.... Most of the time she isn't that militant, she can talk to me like that cause most of the time she doesn't preach she just talks about what she has learned. Reminds me of when she would came home from school excited about learning some cool when she was young!
humm I think I"m slowly turning vegetarian... Cue 80s music... I think I"m turning vegetarian, I think I"m turning vegetarian, I really think so; think so.....

look what I found!!

I went shopping at Walmart the other day and found a couple of Aluminum Water Bottles that are bottles are recyclable, BPA free and very cool! They where only 4 dollars a piece. Beats the 12 dollar a piece price at most online places. I took them on a drive from home to Columbus and back in one day. Yea it wasn't fun. But it keep the drinks cool enough for me, well the daughter had hers empty before Columbus. They are also dishwasher save but I don't have a dishwasher... They came with a hook that you can hook it to your backpack or purse. It not that small hook but the large hook that the side pushes in for a wide belt can fit, haha speaking from experience.
The two I got where the designs, they also had a blue and red. The online site only shows assortments that you have to buy together where my store had them separate Say what you want about Walmart but they do have some good deals at times!

Tinker Bell

I have a little friend who loves Tinker Bell! She turned two this spring. When she would open her gifts she would scream BELL! So I ran across this page on About.com a booklet that was a ad for the movie Tinker Bell. Of course I had to look at all the pages! There are games, puzzles and crafts all with fairies from the movie. Heck I have a couple older friends that would love this..... So I thought I share with the mommas of little girls. Fairy lovers too! Like ME!!

There is a really cool page for Fairyminders. Little signs you print out and stick in the bathroom to remind your little ones to turn off the water. Light switch covers to make their rooms enchanted!! Or a door sign for the babies door...... Just pick JPEG file or PDF file and print from there.

The coolest is the bird feeder station. Bell herself shows you her bird feeder stations that she made in Pixie Hallow. I would love to see pictures of your feeder stations!!

I would love to see the signs too inn action ........ Off to print the fairyminders for my bathroom. I think I have some sticker paper here somewhere.... Oh well I know I have card-stock......... Have fun!

And the fairy at the top of this blog I made at the Disney Site
plus I gave her some color because it wouldn't let me print it that way, don't look to close at my coloring job it been awhile since I have colored...

More green frugal things I do

So after I write my last blog entry I find more things that would be concerned green by frugal ideas. Just to make me laugh at myself. So to remind me that I do have more ideas to share.

Opening my refrigerator door I see a couple more ideas. There is a salad dressing in old bottle that use to hold steak sauce. Not just the bottle being reused but the way I got he label off. I soak it for 30 minutes or so in hot water (as hot as you can get it). When it works right the label comes off in the water, but sometimes it is stubborn. I peel what I can off. I then get peanut butter on a washcloth and rub into the glue residue. I know what you are thinking but it really works! I didn't believe it at first but tried it after running out of GOO Begone. The peanut butter is usually the stale peanut butter that someone left out opened or got jelly in. We use it for the dog special treats (we hide meds in a big spoonful) and for glass goo. My cold boo boo pack. I found some rice behind the cabinet and sewed up a fabric oblong bag and filled the bag with the outdated rice. I made heat-pads for friends with both rice and beans that I found hidden in my cupboards or behind them.

Then I go to take my kitchen scraps in a reused coffee container out to the compost bin. I really forget that this is green because I have been doing this since I was little. I use to throw my scraps in my flower garden when I first moved into the city and had my neighbors freak. they didn't know what I was doing throwing foodstuff on the ground and dig up my front yard by my house.

Lastly I was going to take a bath before bed. I don't always take baths just for aches and rashes. I reach for the magic salts and see my oatmeal bath. You guess it. I made both. My expired oatmeal became my bath for rashes. Bath salts are equal amounts of Epsom salt, sea salt and baking soda. I add a EO (essential oil) for a nice aroma. Oatmeal bath was oatmeal I put in the blender until it made a fine powder, it cheaper than the oatmeal bath you can get a the store. It makes your skin so soft.

Speaking of skin so soft. Yea I have that too. It is used mainly for flea treatment rinse for the dog.

I'm sure that after this blog I might be reminded of even more green but I thought they where just frugal ideas. What about you? Have frugal ideas that you found out where green?