Frugal Home Remedies: BRAT Diet

After suffering from a gastrointestinal infection it is not unusual for the symptoms to remain long after the virus or bacteria is gone.  Keep hydrated by drinking an electrolyte solution.  I prefer to mix Gatorade half and half with water.  Once any vomiting has stopped it is time to move on to the BRAT diet to bring the diarrhea under control.

B  banana
R  rice
A  applesauce
T   toast (or saltines)

Start out slowly by eating small amounts, say half a banana and a few saltines.  Try to keep a little something in your stomach to avoid heartburn.  Once your symptoms have abated you can begin to introduce bland, non fatty proteins to the BRAT foods.  I start with a boiled egg.

Stay away from dairy until you have been symptom free for 24 hours, then you can introduce plain yogurt in small amounts.  The yogurt can help introduce good bacteria back into your digestive system.

Now you can add other foods in small amounts, one at a time, to see if you tolerate them.  If symptoms reoccur, remove that food from your diet and return to the BRAT diet.

You should be diarrhea free very soon, but if your symptoms persist for more than a few days call your health practitioner.

BRAT Diet Avgolemono Soup

1 cup chicken broth
1 cup cooked rice
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Heat chicken broth.  Add rice.  In a bowl beat together eggs and lemon juice.  Stir egg mixture into soup and keep stirring until broth begins to thicken.  When hot and creamy soup is done.

This soup is a less bland way to add protein into your BRAT diet.

God bless,
Pam

Frugal Home Remedies: Switchel

Switchel, also know as Haymakers tea, is a popular drink for people doing hard work or to give an invalid energy.  Think of it as the Colonial Gatorade.  It is popular, even today, in the Appalachias and in the Prairie States.

You can even read about switchel in my favorite book series, "The Little House on the Prairie".  Ma makes switchel as a surprise for Pa and allows the girls to bring it to him in the hay field.

Switchel recipes change according to each individual family's tastes.  Here is a basic recipe:  one part apple cider vinegar, two parts sweetener, two inch piece of ginger.

Grate the ginger, then add the honey and vinegar.  Refrigerate until needed.  Mix 4 tablespoons into a cup of water to make switchel.

The sweetener changes according to the area of the country.  A small amount of molasses or sorghum gives the switchel a traditional flavor.

Medicinally the vinegar in switchel is purported to reduce arthritis inflammation and reduce cholesterol.  The ginger is an anti nausea remedy.  The honey soothes a sore throat and cough.

Try switchel as a beneficial home remedy and a healthy alternative to sports drinks.

God bless,
Pam

The Frugal Mennonite Cold Remedies

I have written on this before, but since I woke up yesterday morning with a killer cold I thought I would readdress the subject.  You know:  Stuffy, sore throat, congestion, cough and sore stiff neck.  Just a warning; if a sore, stiff neck is accompanied by a headache call your doctor asap.  These are the symptoms of meningitis.

There are some basic remedies that have been my family for generations, going back to our country roots.  Country people didn't have doctors available to them and, often, couldn't afford one.  So, we cooked up remedies in our kitchens out of ingredients that were always on hand.

Onions, onions, onions.   Onions are a cure all.  Some people roast them, wrap in flannel and apply as a poultice to the chest.  Eating a raw onion each day was thought to keep illness away (and everyone else).  Onions are mixed with other healing ingredients to make onion syrups.

Always In The Kitchen

Honey is another basic for colds and coughs.  You can just swallow a spoonful to calm a cough (for children under two use another type of sugar syrup).  My favorite honey remedy is to finely dice one onion and several garlic cloves.  Mix these with honey in a sealable container.  Leave out on the counter and take a teaspoonful several times a day.

Local Honey Is Best

My grandfather would have added whiskey to the above honey mixture.  Many remedies rely on whiskey.  I don't know how it works, but I do know that we kids sure slept well when we took it.  Maybe that was the plan.

My great grand aunt would smear goose grease on my dad's chest and cover it with a red flannel cloth.  He said that it smelled awful.  I do think that Vicks smeared on a congested chest and covered with flannel provides relief.  If you don't want the mess just place a small amount under your nose.  You can also take a small amount orally; allow it to melt slowly at the back of your throat.

Sauerkraut juice has been used as a healthful drink.  It is believed that if you drink sauerkraut juice you will benefit from the vitamins and it will make you drink more water.  Save yourself from drinking the juice and just make sure you drink lots of water.

Warm salt water gargles are effective for fighting sore throats.  I like to use a neti pot for head congestion.  Basically, with a neti pot you are irrigating your sinuses with salt water.  It is very effective to use during allergy season to wash pollen out of your sinuses.

Neti Pot

I am going to rely on my honey, onion, garlic cough medicine, lots of water and my neti pot.  Oh, and rest, so after posting this I am going to relax in bed with a good book.

God bless,
Pam