First-Aid Remedies: Straight From Your Kitchen

You don’t have to invest in a costly first aid kit to be prepared for a minor emergency. In fact, most people already have a wide variety of food ingredients in their kitchens that double as first aid remedies. Oatmeal, baking soda, vinegar, ice cubes, honey and milk are just a few items from the kitchen that can be used as treat minor ailment, and here's why!

Stop the Itch
Outdoor summer fun or work can lead to an itchy poison ivy or poison oak rash. Stop the itch and soothe the skin with plain oatmeal. Cook a small pot of old-fashioned oatmeal according to directions, adding no flavoring. Allow it to cool, then apply a thin layer of the oatmeal to the skin rash to stop the itch. To sooth all-over dry, itchy skin caused by sunburn or too much time spent in the salt water or chlorinated pool water, pour two cups of old-fashioned oatmeal into a tub of warm water and soak for 15 minutes.

Baking Soda Remedies
Got heartburn? Mix one-half teaspoon of baking soda in a small glass of water and drink to put out the fire. Bee sting or bug bite? Dip the tip of your finger in water, then dip it into baking soda and dab it onto any type of sting or bite to soothe the inflammation and stop the pain.

Vinegar
Vinegar is a disinfectant and will cleanse any minor wound, as well as rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Vinegar also kills nail fungus and promotes healing of minor cuts and scraps. Mix a few drops of white vinegar into baking soda to make a paste (mixture will foam) and spread onto large scraped areas or skin rashes for pain relief and to promote healing.

Ice Cubes
Every cook has (or will) burn their finger while cooking. An ice cube will cool the skin quickly after it has come into contact with a hot pot. Hold an ice cube on the burn for 15 seconds on, then 15 seconds off, until the pain subsides.

Honey
Raw, pure honey contains antibacterial properties and is great to coat, protect and promote healing of minor skin burns and abrasions. Apply a thin layer of honey to injured skin and cover with gauze to keep in place.
Honey also quiets a cough and soothes a sore throat. Swallow a spoonful of honey every hour or so to coat and soothe a sore, irritated throat and kill germs.

Cure Diaper Rash
An irritated baby’s bottom needs some quick first aid to stop the pain and crying. A little cow’s milk will soothe skin, stop the burn and promote healing. Gently wash the area with plain water to remove all urine, then soak a clean soft wash cloth in milk and gently place on the diaper rash area and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water and let skin air-dry before re-diapering. Milk is a natural anti-inflammatory and will calm the inflammation on contact and begin to cure the diaper rash pronto.

Milk It!
The next time you get a heel blister from an ill-fitting shoe or a hand blister from a DIY project, soak a cotton ball in milk and hold it on the blister for 15 minutes to relieve the pain, prevent infection and promote healing.

Jose Jimenez writes all about natural health and home remedies. His recent work is on the best rn-bsn online programs in the US.

IKEA Cook Set (Budget Camping Gear Under $10)

 

For this video I wanted to share this great find from IKEA - a stainless steel 4-piece of cookset that can easily be integrated into anyone's camping gear. As I've mentioned on the vid, we were originally there to purchase a bookshelf for our ever-growing collection of books (we found one for a great price by the way).

I also picked up a utensil caddy that I've seen in various DIY sites and vids used as a wood stove/ fire pit. Not bad for $5.99. They did have a shorter version of the same caddy but I went with the taller piece.

I've made it a habit to seek out items that may be used or repurposed as camping/outdoors gear whenever I'm at a shop. You just never know where you'll find something useful with a matching low cost to boot.

I'll be testing both items out hopefully soon to see how it holds up and will post the results here and on YouTube, of course.

Budget Mess Kit

I've been on the look out for a basic mess kit for awhile now but I didn't want to spend too much on it. I was at a local store cruising the kitchenware section, and I found the mess kit displayed next to the lunchboxes, thermos, and water bottle section. It looked like a bento box (which I have a thing for - great way to pack your lunch by the way) so I had to check it out. I was surprised to see a dish nested inside the compartment as well as a handle that attaches to the exterior of it. For $5, it was a no-brainer.

What I like about it so far:
Stainless steel
price
the main compartment is deep, even with the dish inside, there's plenty of room to stash additional supplies (fire starter kit, pocket utensil, etc.)

What I didn't like:
It had a large brand sticker on the lid which was a pain to clean up (Goo Gone did the trick).

At the very end of the video, I mentioned that I was going to test this out on a gel chafing fuel with a rack on top of it to see if it works out or if I have to make modifications to the set up. Obviously, I don't plan on cooking elaborate meals with this, just basically warm up precooked food. I'll also test boil time for water just out of curiosity. I'll post the results here of course.

Lesson learned & also a good tip for those of you who are looking to expand your camping or preparedness gear: Don't always go to the obvious places to find what you're looking for. Having a keen eye and learning to see things as having multiple purposes can help you save a few bucks.

Frugal Food Strategy

With the cost of nearly every food ingredient rising steadily, knowing how to implement strong frugal food strategies is a life skill people can no longer afford to leave undeveloped. 

There is no shortage of articles on the subject, but the time to sift through thousands of individual recipes is hard to find when you have other priorities on your plate like earning a living. That’s why I feel it’s more helpful to think of grocery savings in terms of categories. This leaves the door open for people to explore individual recipes and ingredients that suit their particular family needs, while still providing some direction with regards to saving money on the food bill.

Go international for flavorful food fun that won’t break the bank.
Many popular ethnic foods are extremely affordable, making international cuisines a powerful grocery-savings strategy for the at-home cook. Basically, any type of ethnic food that relies heavily on plant-based foods and incorporates legumes regularly is a safe bet when it comes frugal flavor. Examples include Mexican dishes such as bean burritos, Caribbean food items such as coconut rice with pigeon peas and a number of Indian meals such as saucy lentils and vegetable biryani.

Strategic side dishes can shave serious dollars from your grocery receipt total.
We all want to serve something the whole family will enjoy sitting down to experience together, but blowing the budget on fancy extras can leave you short on savings for other necessities when they arise. That’s why having some favorite frugal side dishes you can regularly rely on at dinner time makes excellent money-saving sense. There are still nutritious and affordable ways to dress
them up. For example, one of our favorite ways to enjoy sautéed string beans is with a little minced garlic and sesame seeds. This doesn’t represent a huge cost to us, but provides way more wow factor than the plain steamed variety.

Making your own dry mixes is a seriously underutilized saving strategy.
While it may not seem like much to tack on a few extra bucks for convenient baking mixes, the truth is making things from scratch is literally a fraction of the cost. The problem? Time. That’s where creating your own dry mixes in bulk comes into play. By purchasing or saving large one – five gallon containers with airtight lids and creating mixes in bulk every few months, you can easily save both time and money. Whipping up a bulk batch of homemade corn bread mix, followed by a small pan of the finished product for dinner one evening, takes virtually the same time as simply baking the bread does.

However, the end result is that you have a large batch of dry mix that’s just as convenient as what you’d buy at the store standing ready for you to use the next ten or twelve times you need it. Similarly, homemade brownie mix in bulk is great for those small, square pans of treats the kids enjoy having after school. There are many other online recipes for making your own dry mix, including ideas for pizza dough, baking mix, pudding and more. Find a few that work with your family’s meal preferences, and start saving today!

Precision meat purchases represent powerful savings opportunities.
Having a long-term love affair with meat can mean major money getting added to your overall food budget. There are ways to indulge your carnivorous tooth without going broke, however. Using ground beef as a seasoning item, stretching seafood for further savings and embracing stir fry dishes and soups with gusto are all excellent ways to enjoy your meat money to the fullest. For poultry fans, there are a number of ways to save money on chicken as well, including the purchase of those large bags of chicken leg quarters, making your own stock and more.

Stick with nutritious, cheap food choices.
Those who know me well are aware that I pride myself on learning how to prepare tasty tidbits from the cheapest of grocery items. You know, the ones most people turn their noses up at on a regular basis. After all, how much enjoyment can you get from things like frozen spinach, brown lentils, cauliflower and chick peas? Plenty. Embracing cheap food items from the healthier areas of the grocery store will have you feeling more energetic and in control of your weekly grocery costs in no time. Roasted cauliflower steaks can be extremely succulent if prepared properly, and collard greens offer consistent nutrition for a song. These high-nutrient foods also are lower in calories, enabling you to fill up faster on the good stuff while maintaining a calorie count your doctor will give you a gold star for.

Buying affordable food for your family doesn’t have to mean skimping on nutrition. These money-saving shopping and meal planning strategies will have you on straight path to savings in no time.

***
RVS Note: If you've never been to one of those international groceries, you're missing out. Even if you're not very adventurous with your choice of food, it's worth taking a trip there and checking out what your local store has to offer. Usually their veggies are super fresh, not to mention very cheap and if you happen to like to dabble with cooking, you'll come out of it inspired to try something new. Another tip I'd add to this is to see what's in season. For example, it's a great time to get apples this time of the year so I've been making lots of desserts and sauces based on that. Simple food tastes the best.

[Source: News Bad]