At Home With Mel

As much as I know about medicine (which is quite a bit since I went to school for it) I'm always trying to advance my knowledge of all natural remedies. Yesterday I was in one of my favorite stores and picked up a new book. It explores Shamanic medicine and where it is really interesting to me to learn how the traditional shaman works I find it to be a very advanced read. You really have to shut the tv off and not have any distractions and concentrate on what the book is saying. I am finding it rather fascinating and it is definitely making me want to learn so much more about herbs and homeopathic remedies. I am naturally drawn to trying to heal and help people. I love learning about this kind of thing and what I can do myself to put it into practice.

Everyone remembers grandma's medicine cabinet and some of the odd things that was in it and a lot of times that medicine cabinet was actually located in the kitchen. Back when your grandparents were kids they used more home remedies and less prescriptions. A lot of times it was because they couldn't afford to go to a doctor or pharmacist. These days people still can't afford it because the cost of health care is so crazy high. Over the past 2 years I have been working on learning more and more about home remedies and I have found it has come in very handy. For example a combination of lavender and Epsom salt in a warm bath helps relieve my restless leg syndrome so I can actually sit still in the evening. After trying multiple prescription medications just to have them not work and end up back at the doctor to try some thing else I decided to go the natural way. I quit taking the medications from the pharmacy altogether. Some times I wonder if those medications didn't ac

I've always loved to bake, in fact I've wanted to open my own bakery for a long time, and nothing tastes better than fresh baked bread. But what makes it tastes even better is knowing you made it with your own two hands. It's so easy and you probably already have all the ingredients you need in your kitchen. Well maybe not the yeast but you can pick that up for pennies on the dollar at any dollar store. I use the Fleischmann's Dry Yeast bread recipe for my bread. I have found it always turns out soft and wonderful. My family tends to go through a loaf in a day or two, especially if it has been a little while since the last time I made it. This recipe also can be formed into smaller balls to make dinner rolls. Scald 1/2 cup milk, stir in 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 3 tablespoons margarine. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve 1 package active dry yeast 1 1/2 cups warm water (105F - 115F).Add milk mixture and 3 cups unsifted flour; beat until smooth. Stir

Over the past year or so my interest in wanting to be self sufficient has significantly increased. Now I will admit that all the shows on tv really got the juices flowing even more, but having lived in the country all my growing up years gave me a lot of knowledge that I didn't even realize I had. The only problem is we live in town and we are dirt poor. Barely being able to put food on the table we had to do something and fast. I very quickly learned how to find the best deals at the grocery store and cut our grocery bill down. I have tried out recipes I didn't even know I could make. I've learned I know a little bit about a lot of stuff and when I combine that knowledge I was amazed to find how much I actually do know. I love doing the things I learned as a kid and the new things I have learned as an adult. I've learned to modify things to accommodate living in town from living in the country. For example I can't tear up the yard for a garden but I still grew some