Whacky Kooky Home Remedies

                                                                                                           Week 18 (Save $18)

Some of these home remedies are pretty strange and off the wall but are harmless yet weird and may deliver results.  Give them a try, who knows.

Hiccups and sugar
Maybe a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down.  The sugar supress the nerve muscle in the diaphragm which would contract spasmodically and contribute to your HIC! UPs!  Swallow a teaspoon of dry sugar and results within minutes.

Insect bites and toothpaste
Not only for polishing those pearly white.  With just a dab of minty toothpaste can actually relieve the itch of insect bites.  The peppermint oil in the toothpaste soothes and cools the itch.  Peppermint oil has the same effect if you have it on hand.

 Use Vodka for Foot Odor
 Soak a washcloth with vodka and wipe your feet to get rid of the odor.  Vodka contains alcohol, which has a drying effect.  It will dry out the moisture that allows bacteria to grow.  Rubbing alcohol has the same effect if you rather use your Smirnoff  vodka for toasting.

No more warts with Duct Tape
Cut a small piece of duct tape and cover your wart for a week.  Remove the duct tape and clean the area scrubbing with pumice stone.  Repeat another week until the wart falls off.

Bad breathe? Try yoghourt
Research shows that the probiotics in the yoghourt can help reduce bad breath.  Not only great for your digestive system and bones.  Just a few teaspoons a day can keep the bacterial odor away

Coughing and Chocolate
Dark chocolate contains Theobrobine which can supress nerves responsible for the coughing reflex.  Calm a hacking cough with chocolate.  Finally, no justification is required when it come to eating chocolate!

Teabags for burns? 
Sooth a kitchen burn with a wet cool teabag.  It quickly reduces and soothes the pain.  Not only good for making a great beverage, it’s a great quick first aider.

Motion sickness, Go suck on a lemon !
Nausea with motion sickness cause by excess saliva produced.  Sucking on a lemon dries out your mouth and can sooth the queasy feeling.  It just make do the trick.

Stress of driving and a stick of Gum
Apparently chewing peppermint or cinnamon gum lowers fatigue, anxiety, and increases alertness.  Who would of thought a stick of gum could calm your commute. 

 

What whacky remedies have you tried?

Happy Easter!

                                                                   

                                                                                               Week 17 (Save $17)

 

                                                                                           

Baking Soda, more than just for baking!

                                                 

                                                                                                         Week 16 ( Save $16 )

Baking Soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) is not only good for baking perfect baked goods or neutralizing the odors in your refrigerator. This affordable, environmentally friendly product has countless versatile purposes for your everyday uses throughout your home. 
   So what else is baking soda good for? 

Add to your toothpaste: Sprinkle a little baking soda to your toothpaste helps whiten your teeth!  The baking soda is safe and gentle without causing any damage to you enamel.  Why spend extra dollars on those gimmicky teeth whitener's.

Freshen Your Mouth: Neutralize odors in your mouth by adding 1 teaspoon  of baking soda into a half glass of water. Swish, rinse and all fresh!  

Insect Bites, Itchy Skin, Sunburn: For insect bites and sunburns, make a paste out of baking soda and water, and apply onto affected area. To ease the itch, shake some baking soda into your hand and rub it into damp skin after bath or shower. Great for poison ivy!

Booster your liquid laundry detergent:  Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to each load of laundry to get better results from liquid detergents!  By balancing the pH, you’ll get bright cleaner clothes!

Pots and Pans: For cooked -on- foods, soak pots and pans in hot water and baking soda and detergent for 15 minutes first. Then use dry baking soda on a clean damp sponge cloth as a scratchless scouring powder.

Clean your mugs: Remove coffee and tea stains from your favorite mug.  Place I tablespoon of baking soda in your mug, then fill it with warm water. Scrub the inside after about an hour and your mug will be shiny like new.

Clean your Produce:  Baking soda is the food safe way to clean dirt and residue off fruits and vegetables.  Fill a sink with cool water, add 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Let the fruit or veggies soak for a few minutes before wiping them down with a clean cloth. 

Make a Surface Soft Scrub

For safe, effective cleaning of bathroom tubs, tile and sinks–even fiberglass and glossy tiles–sprinkle baking soda lightly on a clean damp sponge and scrub as usual. Rinse thoroughly and wipe dry. For extra cleaning power, make a paste with baking soda, course salt  and liquid dish soap—let it sit then scour off.

 

Clean the toilet: Add 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to your toilet at the same time. It will bubble and fizz, and will scrub the toilet clean! This will not only clean the toilet bowl, but will also keep the pipes clear of build up if used regularly. Add both to your toilet once a week and never have a back up again!

Extinguish Fires  In event of a minor grease fire in your kitchen, use baking soda to help smother out the flames.  Turn off the gas or electricity if you can safely do so. Stand back and throw handfuls of baking soda at the base of the flame to help put out the fire .

Deodorize your home: Use baking soda to deodorize everything…

•  Place a open box in the back of the fridge to neutralize odors
•  Your cutting boards (sprinkle, add enough water to make a paste and scrub.  With  a lemon for an extra boost)
•  You garbage can or even your composter (sprinkle a little in the bottom of the can or in the bottom of each fresh new bag!) .
•  Sink and tub drains ( keep lingering odors from resurfacing), pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain while running warm tap water–it will neutralize both acid and basic odors for a fresh drain.

 

Not bad for around a $1 a box

Do you have any other tips or tricks?

 

 

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

                                                                                             Week 15 (save $15)

With Spring and Easter just around the corner, bake some colorful easy cookies with just one batter mix!

 

Ingredients     Yield: 60 cookies  

1.5 cups butter softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
Food coloring ( I prefer color paste)


Directions

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well to form dough.

Divide the dough into 3 and mix desired colors with food coloring in separate bowls until colors mixed through.

Wrap the color doughs and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight for easy handling. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Roll out the dough on floured surface 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into desire shapes with floured cookie cutters.  Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven until lightly brown. Baking time will depend on shape and size of cookies. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes then transfer on cooling rack.

Optional: Decorate with icing and candies when completely cooled

                                                                 Enjoy!