Natural Remedy for Menstrual Cramps and Heavy Flow

This is AMAZING!  As a person who has suffered in the past with endometriosis, I thought it hopeless to find a natural way to decrease the pain that comes with the menstrual cycle and never even thought that decreasing the amount of flow was possible.  I started experimenting with different remedies, and started putting a few things together in my own mind about why your "period" is painful.  I just cannot believe what I've stumbled on to.  Even more, I cannot believe how simple and cheap it is.  Did you know that pain medications hurt your liver? Obviously you do, because you're here!  Medications are bad for your body, especially your liver.  Synthetic ingredients and chemicals have no place in the human body.  This I know.  But I was willing, for years, to make the trade off.  The medication that allowed me to get through 7 to 9 days of pain and suffering, was worth a little liver damage.  Sounds terrible, but that was my thought process!  But THANK YOU JESUS there is a better way.  The verdict is still out on how well it works for ALL others, but I know that this works for me, better than anything I've ever taken, including birth control;  which I took to decrease flow, shorten the time span, and reduce the pain.  If you are miserable during your menstrual cycle or if you know someone that is, you MUST tell them about this.

Ingredients:

Black Cherry Or Tart Cherry Juice (with NO additives), I always use R.W. Knudsen's brand "Just Black Cherry", which can be purchased in Healthfood stores, most upper-scale grocery stores like Publix and Kroger, or online at Amazon.com.  I have NEVER tried regular cherry juice with added sugar, I'm not sure that it would work.

Red Raspberry Capsules (crushed raspberry leaves with a kosher vegetarian capsule) I always use "Natures Sunshine" brand.

Directions:

Drink a 1/2 Cup of Cherry juice right before the onset of your period (Like the night before, if yours comes regularly), or right when you start, drink 1 to 2 cups.  Drink at least 1/2 cup 3 times per day while your period continues, or drink more for more pain.  There's no side-effects, so you can drink as much as you feel you need throughout your cycle!  The Cherry juice is specifically for pain.

Begin taking the Red Raspberry capsules at the onset of your period, according to the labeled directions.  You don't have to take more than the label suggests, because this stuff is amazing.  You just want to take it regularly, so that it stays in your system.  My Red Raspberry capsule directions say to take 1 to 2 capsules 3 times per day with meals.  I take the maximum amount during the first day of my cycle, and then taper off as the days pass.

The Science:

Cherries have a natural component called anthocyanin that stops inflammation.  So much so that the FDA allegedly asked cherry growers to stop publicizing scientific studies that show that cherries work as well or better than Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen. I suppose it was hurting sales of those medications in those specific areas.  Cherries can be used for arthritis, gout, muscle inflammation, and more.  It is said in some studies that Tart Cherries are superior to that of black cherries, but having tried both, the Black Cherries have worked better for my menstrual pain.  I would suggest trying both, unless the first one knocks out your pain totally.  

Red Raspberry leaves have been used for centuries to ease inflammation, especially inflammation associated with the female organs. It contains fragrine, an alkaloid that nourishes the ligaments and tissues of the female organs.  It's most useful in toning the muscles of the pelvic region, specifically the uterus. It's also used frequently to avoid miscarriage, to help milk production, to tone the uterus in preparation for labor, and to ease labor pains, etc.  I am extremely cautious when carrying a baby, and while I did take ONE red raspberry capsule per week in late pregnancy (to tone and prepare), I was too afraid to risk taking anything regularly, besides food.  This is to be decided by you, according to your research and your convictions during pregnancy.  After tons of research, I see nothing that contraindicates taking it while not carrying a child.  As a matter of fact, even websites that try to play down or debunk the amazing effects of natural substances have a difficult time with this one.  Simply put, it works.

My Story; it's personal... but I'm gonna put it out there for the benefit of humanity:  Gentlemen, you may now excuse yourselves.

Normally I have a 7 to 9 day period, with doubled over pain for the first two days and some pain for the remaining time, besides the last day (usually).  I also experience an extremely heavy flow for about 5 days.  I have to wear a tampon and a pad for at least the first 3 days to protect my clothing.  Day 6-9 is what most people would consider normal flow.  So I'm not talking about a remedy for a couple of cramps and a little short period.  I'm talking about a fix for an absolute nightmare that lasts 7 to 9 days.

An old home remedy passed down from generation to generation was to grow cherries and jar/can them so that all of the women in the family would have plenty to get them through the year.  It's been said that eating a 16 oz bag of cherries will alleviate menstrual cramps.  And while I do love fresh cherries, I just don't have the time to sit around eating them all day.  The juice contains the potent stuff, it's not the pulp or the fiber that we're after.  So I sought after real cherry juice.  I know that sugar is debilitating to the body, and thought that that may counteract the good effects of the fragrine, so I wanted a juice with NO additives.  I really wanted a juice that had not been pasteurized, because I know how wonderful fruit juice is in its raw potent state... but no such luck.  The FDA has people so scared of a little bacteria, that they're willing to kill the enzymes that we need.  I lost hope a little about that, but continued on to find something that works.  BOOM! I found a Cherry juice with no additives at my local Publix.  The brand is listed above in the ingredients section.  So I bought a jar, with that old family secret a girl mentioned at a Natural Remedies Seminar in Wildwood, GA in the back of my mind.  I dug into the "medicine" cabinet (which is filled with ONLY herbs and spices) for that bottle of Red Raspberry I had left over from my last pregnancy.  I went ahead and took 2 capsules, just for good measure.  It had been quite sometime, and I figured the ole' uterus could use some toning!  Well, time had come two days later for my period... but no period came.  Mine comes like clock work.  What in the world was going on?  So I went on about my business and that night felt a slight pain, resembling a menstrual cramp.  I knew Aunt flow was due to arrive shortly, so I took 2 more red raspberry capsules before bed, and drank about a half a cup of cherry juice.  The next morning I woke up and started my routine, and it wasn't until I went to the restroom to find that I had started.  It blew my mind!  Usually I'm hit with excruciating cramps about 2 hours before the flow starts.  What was even more strange is that I didn't even mess up my clothes.  It was a scant amount, not what one would consider a normal flow.  I started to wonder if I could be pregnant or if something was wrong... not really considering that the cherry juice and red raspberry could actually be responsible for such an incredible difference.  To make this long story shorter....  By day 3 my period was gone.  I had not experienced ANY cramps, except for that initial signal cramp the night before I started, my flow was barely noticeable, and my period was shortened by 6 days.  I was and still am astonished every time my period rolls around.  My life has changed.  Dramatic, I know, but true non-the-less.  I hope that you'll try this and tell everyone you know.  I can imagine there will be some individuals that might not benefit like I have from this remedy, but for God sakes it's worth a shot.  And don't forget, try the tart cherry juice from the same brand, if you don't get the results you want from the black cherry juice.  I tried the tart, because one time my publix was out of the black cherry.  It still helped me tremendously, but my period was literally un-noticeable with the black cherry juice, even though the tart is more potent according to clinical trials.  Please research the benefits of cherry juice and red raspberry for a more robust understanding of why these two together are like a little miracle!  You will not regret it!

Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo

I have forever searched for an alfredo sauce that was comparable to the creamy, cheesy stuff that comes in a jar, with which you can do no wrong.  After many goopy, cakey, cardboard-esk tasting recipes, I was given a simple tofu based recipe that could use a little work, but was totally do-able.  I changed the recipe here and there each time, but it wasn't until a friend at church mentioned a smooth and creamy ingredient that helped her alfredo sauce, that mine became just what I wanted.  Avocado, HELLO!  Why didn't I think of that?  It makes everything silky smooth, as a matter of fact, I use it in my vegan puddings and "yogurts", plus it adds a nutritional componant....... PERFECT!  This stuff is really good.  And no, the avocado didn't turn my sauce green or brown, just a little more off-white. Pictured below is my fancy vegan "Shrimp Alfredo".  Variations are listed at the bottom.

(GF) To make this recipe gluten free, make sure your tofu doesn't contain gluten and that you use gluten free fettuccine noodles.  I love Tinkyada brown rice pasta.

Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) box of silken tofu (soft works best, I use Mori-nu brand)
1 ripe Avocado (totally optional, but it makes the sauce creamier)
1/2 to 1 Cup of Almond Milk or water (use any alternative milk/amount depends on how runny/ripe your avocado is, and you would need more liquid if you use firm tofu instead of soft.  Don't forget that rice milk is much more watery than almond or soy)
3 tsp. of garlic powder (or 2 cloves of fresh garlic, (feelin' fancy!) (or less if you're not a fan)
1 Tbs. oil ( I use Extra Virgin Olive oil)
6 Tbs. Nutritional yeast flakes (Healthfood store item, can also be bought online)
1.5 tsp. Sea Salt
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tbs. Parsley (mix into strained noodles)
1 (12 oz.) box of Fettuccine Pasta Noodles (look at the ingredients, some brands sneak eggs in)

Additional Ingredients (optional):
1 Cup of chopped vegetables (like squash and zucchini) or
1 Bundle of asparagus or
1 package of vegan "shrimp"

Directions:
Start boiling your pasta according to the package directions (including salt as directed)
Place all ingredients, except for pasta and parsley in the blender and blend until smooth
Once your noodles are soft, strain off water, and put back in pot
If you're lazy and don't want more dishes to wash, you can mix your alfredo sauce right into the noodles and heat on low until sauce is warm
If you chose to do it the prettier, harder way, you simply heat your blended sauce in a saucer or pot on low until warm, and drizzle over your fettuccine noodles once on each plate

Boiling my noodles (according to the package directions).

All of my ingredients except noodles and parsley blended smooth.

Boiled noodles strained and parsley added.

** To make your fettuccine alfredo fancy, you can saute some sliced vegetables like zucchini and squash, mushrooms, and onions, or asparagus; top the noodles with your sauteed veggies and then drizzle your alfredo sauce on top of the noodles and veggies.  I've also sauteed some vegan shrimp that I found in an awesome grocery store and made shrimp alfredo with veggies!  You can be as fancy or simple as you want, this is a great, quick meal.

Sauteing some asparagus with earth balance, 1/2 squeezed lemon, and garlic salt. MMMMM!!  

Add Asparagus to the top of noodles for Asparagus A La King!

Hope you enjoy!  It's an easy, breezy favorite of mine!

Homemade Dishwashing Detergent Tablets

I'm on a quest to make all of my own stuff.  Whatever it be, I want to figure out a way to do it myself, thus saving money (product, containers, gas, make-up to go get item ;) ), time, our health, and the earth (not to mention I just love creating things)!  I started with Homemade Laundry Detergent, easy Homemade hand-soap, All purpose cleaner, and there are at least three others that come to mind that I'm going to try and perfect before exposing the world to them.  This one was actually my favorite to make.  I guess because it makes cute little detergent cubes that are well-structured and self-contained...? I don't know, but anyway, this is really easy, especially considering I already had 3 of the 4 ingredients.  The two main ingredients are also two of the main ingredients in the homemade laundry detergent.  Do you see how all of this is starting to pull together and make money saving sense?

This is an old 52 oz jar of coconut oil that I washed.  I couldn't get the sticker paper off, so I just wrote on it!

Like I always mention (because I know how I think when looking at homemade recipes) if you're wondering "why would I go buy this stuff when I could just buy the pre-made detergent?"  Well, the answer is that this is WAY cheaper.  You buy a big box or canister of each, and you can make this recipe over and over, not to mention these ingredients can be used for a variety of other homemade recipes.  Plus these ingredients are considered natural and safe!

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Borax (found in the laundry aisle)

1 Cup of Super Washing Soda (laundry aisle, not the same as baking soda)

1 Cup of Lemi-shine (dish detergent isle) OR you can also use citric acid, I've even heard of people using powdered lemonade.  I think you could use lemon juice, but I haven't come up with the ratios for that yet.

1/2 Cup of Kosher salt or Epsom salt

Vinegar for your rinse cycle (if you have hard water)

All of these ingredients are considered "natural" and straight from the earth.  Lemi-shine is basically just citric acid derived from fruit.  You can purchase citric acid in bulk online for considerably cheaper than the Lemi-shine.  Even though the Lemi-shine is cheap, I always like to go as cheap as possible.  I'll be ordering my citric acid today. 

You'll also need:

A closable container (I've re-used a 52 oz jar of coconut oil, washed of course! A tupperware container or even a ziplock will do)

3 plastic ice trays 

A bowl or ziplock to mix the ingredients in

(these things can be washed and re-used of course, this is not poison :))

A mixing spoon

A tablespoon for measuring

Directions:

Mix Ingredients well in a medium sized mixing bowl or a large ziplock

Spoon 1 Tablespoon into each cube of the ice trays (feel free to use 1 tablespoon of the powder if you need detergent right away, the detergent is finished at this point, we just want to mold it into cubes)

Set aside (where children can't reach) for 24 hours (don't mess with it, it has to stiffen up)

After 24 hours break tabs out, and put them in your container!

Use 1 per load, and always use a little vinegar in your rinse cycle if you have hard water.  Otherwise you'll have streaky or foggy dishes.

If you don't have ice trays, you can get creative, or you can put this in a mixing bowl and let it sit out for 2 days, stirring occasionally.  If you don't stir, the citric acid will make this one big block!  You'll need a knife or ice pick then :(.  The ice trays are WAY less fuss in my mind.

This makes 48 loads.  Feel free to double or even triple the amount, if you wash a lot of dishes!  Here are the pictures of what this process looks like:

Mixing ingredients in a ziplock

1 Tablespoon in each "cube" section of the ice trays

After about 4 hours the edges begin to bubble and seperate

My Preciousssss! (24 hours later)

They fit right in the detergent dispenser!

My ugly Label!  The old sticker wouldn't come off, so I just wrote on it!  I plan to replace this today!  I can't stand it. (weirdo, I know)

 HAVE FUN!  Hope you enjoy your Homemade Dishwashing Detergent tabs!

Breaded & Baked Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those tricky vegetables that some LOVE but some say the texture is too strange.  If you cook eggplant just right though, you don't have that strange spongy or mushy texture that have turned away so many!  This is a tweaked version of a baked eggplant recipe I found in a book called "Vegan Homestyle".  My husband is a huge fan of this dish, and rightfully so... it's packed with flavor, takes up a large section of his plate, and presents beautifully :).  You may have tried the less healthy version at a little hole in the wall called "Olive Garden" ;], but it's been battered with white flour, filled with sodium, deep fried, and topped with that no-no mozzarella.  We'll this my friends is baked, and safe!  Enjoy this with a side of vegan Fettucini Alfredo, a nice salad, and or something green.  I usually serve mine with sweet peas or italian cut green beans.  This recipe makes enough for a family of four, with leftovers (lots, if you have small eaters).  Hope you likey!

This breading recipe and process is very similar to my tofu fillet recipe and equally as satisfying.  You may want to check out that recipe if I leave you confused on anything.

Breading Meal Ingredients:

This makes enough for two whole eggplants, half your ingredients if you're flying solo or cooking for 2

1 Cup whole wheat flour

8 Tbs. Nutritional Yeast Flakes

2 Tbs. Onion Powder

2 Tbs. Parsley (dried, not fresh)

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Paprika

Directions:

Mix well in a medium sized mixing bowl

Other Ingredients:

2 Large Eggplants (look for ones with no bruises or flaws)

1/4 to 1/2 Cup of vegan Mayo (like vegenaise or any homemade vegan mayo)

Spray olive oil (or a misto sprayer and your favorite olive oil)

1 Jar of Marinara (I prefer organic and Kosher, Barilla is a good brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray two (or three, depending on the size of your eggplant) cookie sheets with oil (even if they're non-stick, the flour will need the oil to make the badder stick), and set them aside

Slice both eggplants into 1/2 fillets, like shown below

Work quickly after cutting, because eggplant will turn brown if exposed to air for close to an hour

Smooth about a teaspoon of vegan mayo on each side the fillet, and place in flour bowl with flour

Gently turn over in the flour to make sure both sides are covered

Place on cookie sheet

Repeat process until ALL of the eggplant has been covered in vegan mayo and flour and placed on the cookie sheet

Once ALL of your eggplant is on the oiled cookie sheets, spray the tops of the eggplant with oil (you will see that instead of being dry and covered with flour, they are now looking damp.  You won't need a ton of oil, just enough to moisten the flour)  It should look like this:

Now, put your cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 45 minutes

Lift a fillet with a spatula to see that the underside is cooked, mine is always a little more brown than the top

You want your bread to be crusty and cooked, not wet

Assess from here as to whether you should let it cook for 10 more minutes or not

It should look like this:

When finished, remove from oven

Top with warm marinara, vegan mozzarella, or pesto!

Leftovers?  Use your breading meal for Tofu fillets later in the week and use your left over eggplant for sandwiches!  Yep, it's good!

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

This can be used in anything that requires mozzarella cheese.  I love to use it in my Vegan Lasagna or on pizza, but it's good for a variety of different things.  I'm actually in the middle of doing another blog post about Breaded and Baked Eggplant (in which it can be used), and realized with a quick search that I had never posted about this cheese!  So I'm here for a quick jot down, with no frills or excitement.

I like to use this right out of the boiler, but if you want to make it in bulk or use it shredded, feel free to freeze it in a ziplock or a freezer safe container, and shred directly over your pizza dough (or whatever), while still frozen.  Put the remainder back in the freezer.  This will get gooey and melty like real cheese. It has lasted as long as 3 months in my freezer, but I've never had any left after three months, it might last a while longer.

I snagged this picture from my Sicilian Lasagna post!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. Tahini Butter (peanut butter aisle)
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast flakes (healthfood store)
3 Tbs. Quick oats
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1.5 tsp. onion powder
1.5 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
1 Cup of water

Directions:

Blend smooth, and thicken on low heat. stir every few minutes, and use immediately or freeze for later.  After it is frozen, it can easily be shredded with a grater, if you need it for pizza, or other recipes. 

Simple Homemade foaming Hand-soap

Like I mentioned before in one of my other Eco-me posts, it's going to take just a few simple ingredients, purchased in bulk to make ALL of your household cleaners, including the ones you bathe with.  One of the products that I want to always keep on hand is a natural Castile soap concentrate, like the many Dr. Brooner's Soaps available (at great prices, especially on Amazon).  Dr. Brooner's comes without fragrance, or with fragrance (100% essential oils only), and there are 18 different uses printed right on the label.  I was using my concentrate mainly for bathing the kids, but ever since my new journey into Do it yourself land, I've found new and interesting ways to use this liquid.  The great thing is that it's concentrated, so a little goes a long LONG way!  So without further-ado, I give you Foaming Hand-soap.  It is Ridiculously easy!

Ingredients:
~2 Tablespoons of Liquid Castile soap (Use a little more if you want it really soapy) (I used Rose Castile soap, because it's all I had on hand.  The smell isn't super loud, so it worked perfectly)
~3 drops of essential oil or Fragrance oil (optional, I used peppermint here)
~Water to fill dispenser
~Foaming soap dispenser (Re-use an old one, or purchase one for 89 Cents, right here at bulkapothecary.com)

**note- it has to be a foaming soap dispenser, otherwise your soap will come out watery and unmixed.

Directions:
Put your liquid castile soap into your dispenser bottle
Add Essential oil drops (if you choose to use one)
Fill with water to the neck of the bottle
Give a gentle shake

ENJOY!

I ordered 3 of these dispenser bottles; now we have homemade soap at our most used sinks.  One peppermint, one patchouli, and one "Coolwater"for the Man Sink.

**cas·tile soap  

Noun Fine, hard white or mottled soap made with olive oil and sodium hydroxide (Lye).

Simple homemade laundry detergent

Number two of the eco-me series!  I'm getting rid of the complex, chemical laden household supplies that I never knew I could live without.  As I'm researching the web and prodding my grandmother with questions about how they use to do things, I'm learning that with a few staples, you can do pretty much all of your household duties with ease.  AND it's MUCH Much cheaper!  I've ordered something called Soap nuts or soap berries that can be used alone as a soap for laundry, dishes, counters, floors, even your body and hair!  Now that is what I call ALL-NATURAL!  But I've heard some reviewers complain about its inability to get out tough stains.  Well, with a house full of boys, I'm going to need to keep something on hand just incase the soap nuts don't do the job on important clothing articles.  This laundry detergent is super easy to make (it literally took me 5 minutes my very first time), it is amazingly cheap, can be purchased in the grocery store, and there's no long list of chemical compounds that you cannot pronounce! YAY!  So without further or due, I give you the easiest recipe I could find on the web, with a little touch of me :D.  Thank you Potholes and Pantyhose for this great recipe!

Now, you may say "why would I want to buy these things and go through the trouble of making my own, when I could just buy the pre-made stuff?  Well, the answer is in the money breakdown (besides the fact that you know you're using good old fashion ingredients instead of all of that bad junk), not to mention, the boxes are still full after making a 48 load batch.  I'm not sure how many batches I could get out of these boxes, but I'm thinking at least 3 (just make sure you have 3 bars of soap).

What you'll need:
A Large storage container, that will hold 32 oz (tupperware, glass, or even a ziplock will do)
1 box of Borax
1 box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 bar of  Soap (I am making my own, but if you choose to use store bought, most recommend Ivory, Zote or Fels Naptha (found on the detergent Isle).  All of these brands are made with sodium tallowate, like most soaps,  which is extracted from animal fat.  If I were going to use a pre-made soap, I would purchase a castile soap, which is vegan.  I took this picture before I knew :(, but you can see my little homemade soap there at the bottom :).

For more information on these ingredients, please see the very bottom of this post.

Borax $3.38 for 76 oz = 9.5 Cups
Arm & Hammer $3.00 for 55 oz = 6.8 Cups
Soap $1.00 per 48 loads

Borax = $ .67  For 48 Loads
Arm & Hammer = $ .90  For 48 Loads
Soap = $1 For 48 Loads

Total = $2.57   for 48 Loads
that is = $ .05  Per Load

Average 48 Load Laundry detergent $11   Vs.  Homemade detergent $2.57?  Savings of  $8.43!
HELLO!

That being said, let's move on!

Directions:

Grate your bar of soap with a fine grater, or use your grater wheel in your food processor
Change your grater to a regular blade in your food processor if you chose to be lazy like me ;)
Process your soap for about a half a minute with the regular blade to chop up your soap slivers
Add 2 cups of Borax and 2 Cups of Super washing Soda to the processor with your soap
Process until mixed thoroughly, it should resemble regular washing detergent!
This batch makes 48 Loads

Put in an air tight container, and make a cutesy label, if you choose!  Use 1/8 Cup of detergent for regular loads, and 1/4 Cup for Super dirty loads!  I chose to put the recipe on my label, so that I don't have to go fishing for it when it's time to make a new batch.

I imagine you could use a blender to make this, or mix it by hand, but I haven't tried those methods, and was satisfied with the 5 minutes it took to complete this with a processor.

Enjoy for yourself, or give as a gift!

Copied and Pasted for your viewing pleasure :D

Borax

Chemical Compound from the earth

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water. Wikipedia

Formula: Na2B4O7·10H2O

Molar mass: 381.37 g/mol

IUPAC ID: Sodium tetraborate decahydrate

Melting point: 1,369°F (743°C)

Density: 1.73 g/cm³

Boiling point: 2,867°F (1,575°C)

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals), Na₂CO₃ is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the ashes of many plants. It is synthetically produced in large quantities from salt (sodium chloride) and limestone by a method known as the Solvay process.

HOMEMADE VEGAN SOAP
Soap made by hot or cold processes, where a sodium hydroxide (lye) and water mixture,  along with oil molecules are bound together to form glycerin.  The Lye, once bound with the oil, makes a chemical change, and is enveloped in the oil, so that it is no longer caustic to the skin.