True Wealth

“The greatest wealth is Health.”

-Unknown

Prevention vs. Intervention

“Mainstream medicine would be way different if it focused on prevention even half as much as it focused on intervention…”  

-Anonymous

Homemade Hand Sanitizer

In our family, we used to use too much hand sanitizer, too often. When you're a SAHM with young children, trying to keep them clean and prevent illness, getting everyone to wash so often can be difficult. So I ended up resorting to hand sanitizer more often than I should have. Finally, the nagging doubts and concern got to me, and as I researched more (click here to learn why sanitizer is bad), I decided we were done with the stuff, except for the occasional exception.

But we needed a replacement for those times when we are at the park, in the car, have been in a public place, etc, and still need to get rid of germs. I found lots of recipes for homemade sanitizer (noordinaryhomestad.com, doterralife.wordpress.com, onegoodthingbyjillee.com, natural-supermom.com, doterraforyourlife.blogspot.com) which started the wheels turning in my head. My whole purpose in wanting to make my own was to get away from alcohol-based products, yet some of these recipes call for it (or witch hazel, which contains alcohol) as a main ingredient. I ended up making a couple batches of a solution that used pure aloe vera gel, fractionated coconut oil, and essential oils. The pros for this recipe were: It smelled way better than commercial hand sanitizer, didn't contain any petrochemicals, and moisturized the hands without being sticky or oily. The cons were: Pure aloe vera gel is way too expensive to use like this all the time. So I moved on to the next phase of my experiment.

When this homemade hand sanitizer was gone, we all just had to wash with soap and water more, which is ideal anyway. And as it turned out, the easy answer for a substitute was the best one: OnGuard spray. I wrote last month about the virtues of the OnGuard essential oils blend and how I have been using OnGuard in a bottle of water (shake before each use) to spray on all germy surfaces once a week. I was also already using it before snack time on the children in my church's nursery each Sunday. And after my research showed that nothing else is more effective, I wondered why I had waited so long. Now I have a pretty little blue glass spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of OnGuard that I keep in my purse for when we need it. I love how it smells, how well it cleans and disinfects, and knowing that it's good for ingestion and boosting immunity. I also love the fact that each drop is only 13 cents--making my bottle of homemade "sanitizer" less than $1.

Risotto Revisited

Over two years ago I posted this recipe of mine, which is a family favorite. The other day while browsing the internet for butternut squash recipe ideas, I got the idea to just cook the butternut squash, cube it, and add it to this yummy recipe. It was wonderful! Not only does the squash add that delectable butternut flavor, which complements the risotto perfectly, the addition of this veggie, makes the recipe more healthful.

Katrina's Risotto

Half butternut squash, baked and cubed
4 to 5 c. chicken broth
4 Tb. butter
1/2 medium onion (or more), diced and sauteed in the butter (or, in a pinch, use 2 Tb. minced onion--but it's not nearly as good)
1 1/2 c. brown rice

2/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese--or use Mozzarella and Parmesan

Heat broth until boiling. Add rice. Cook until tender (35-45 minutes).

When rice is ready, add sauteed onion and cubed squash.
Add cheese. Stir and serve.

Budget Saver Tip #34: Buying Wheat, Part II

We don't eat as much wheat now as we did back when I started this blog, simply because of Bountiful Baskets and our subsequent increase in eating fruits and vegetables. But wheat is still one of our food staples, so we have no problem rotating it in food storage. In fact, we had recently gotten down to the last 50 lbs or so (which is alarmingly low for us and should theoretically never happen), so my husband made a couple inquiries to find the best deal.  In the past we have generally bought bulk wheat from one of our church's canneries, as I detailed in a post I wrote two years ago, here--the Part I of this Budget Saver Tip. The Church Canneries typically have the best price and we always buy a lot at once, so this has worked out well for us. But last year my husband found out that about once a year or so, IFA (Intermountain Farmers Association) gets in wheat for even cheaper. And it's good, triple-cleaned wheat, too. Now, for those of you not on the western side of the country, IFA isn't an option, but I wonder if there aren't other comparable farm stores in your area...

So now, as you can see from the picture, we have replenished our wheat supply--by 700 lbs. This should last us a little over 2 years and it cost us $19 per 50 lb. bag. That's a 2+ year supply for less than $275! I love it.

For more numbers, check out my post on money saved by home grinding (and home bread making) here.

For more information on how we store our wheat, see this post. (To add to that information, we now have multiple buckets--which we purchased secondhand for a dollar or two at our Wal-Mart bakery--to make things even easier.)

And lastly, for those unsure of the nutritional difference between white and wheat flour, see my post here.

Guest Author: Cynthia's Story

When I learned from one of my readers that she rooted out all the MSG in her diet and thereby drastically improved her health, I asked if she would write up something about her experience that I could share with others. She graciously complied and sent me the story below. We share it in the hopes that it helps someone else...


My journey with MSG begins with the common story of a working mother with three active children and a traveling husband. My time was stretched thin, so I had resorted to quick Hamburger Helper/Kraft Macaroni and Cheese/Marie Calendar Pot Pie dinners during the week, and McDonalds/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell type meals on the run. I also made, on the weekends, meals that utilized Lipton Onion Soup mix to make a beef roast or a meatloaf.

Over a time span of about 10 years of this I started developing health issues that were classified (due to no other explanation the doctors could think of) as Fibromyalgia. I also was not sleeping and I was retaining water. During this same period, my step-son was diagnosed with ADHD. His child psychiatrist recommended to keep his diet as healthy as possible and to avoid all MSG products in addition to a script (prescription).

This is where my research began of the foods in not only fast food but also in sit-down dining and grocery store products. It was important to know that labeling laws at this point had not caught up with the game of elusive labeling where MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) was also hidden under the names such as "spices" (that are undefined), "Autolyzed Yeast", and "flavorings," just to name a few. One of the best resources I used was the following website: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html.

Before my research was over I had discovered some things that amazed me. Did you know that the state of California uses MSG for growing its vegetables? Neither did I. I discovered purple onions in a Central Market from California that were so large that they would spill over the largest hamburger bun. This cannot be normal. This made me look long and hard at buying organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible (especially when the skins are consumed). I also discovered that the Ruby Tuesday chain's baked potatoes were treated with MSG to keep them from spoiling and to add more flavor (when they presented me with an allergen list before ordering!). Cantina Larado gets their chicken and beef in pre-marinated pouches that are loaded with MSG--so much for fresh Tex Mex, as the sign indicated.

You will find that most food chains do not like to discuss food prep...so avoid these as they are hiding their practiced use with the stuff. Most everyone will tell you MSG is a natural ingredient that is found in tomatoes, corn, and onions--which is true--but you would not eat a couple of bushels of it in a hamburger from your local favorite food chain if they did not put it in there! Too much of anything is going to have a negative effect.

I could go on and on about my discoveries and this would be longer than anyone would care to read. So moving along, I will tell you that I also discovered, not only from reading but by physical experience, that MSG affects the neurological system as well. It tricks the mind into thinking the food you are eating taste good, which enables a cost savings to the food industry, allowing them to forego real food products such as salt, onion, garlic, etc. And in turn, it also creates addiction so that you will consume more of the product. It is a win-win for the companies making money and a lose-lose for the consumer who has a rise in medical care cost and weight gain. Oh yes, the product will also mess up the body enough for you to gain weight. Remember, your liver and pancreas can only filter out so much. The rest is up to us. So before it was all over with, my nerves in my digestive track, hands, tongue, feet and face were subjected to pain.

Today, through getting back to food basics in cooking and only going to places that serve "real" food (this includes marinades to salad dressings made in their kitchens) I no longer am suffering from the nerve pain or the "Fibromyalgia". I am able to work out and hike like I used to. I sleep again, which is a major big plus for my health. I no longer take any medicines for the troubles that MSG caused me. But I will be on a prescription multivitamin indefinitely, due to the nerve damage it caused. I am grateful that Michelle Obama has made it her personal mission to monitor the food our children eat and the impact it is having on them. If the rest of us get on the same page, we can get back the quality of food that we once had in our grocery stores, and drive down the price of quality so that it is affordable to all American families.

Best wishes to all who are trying to better their diets. Below are some links that assisted me in my search for truth:

http://www.cascadewellnessclinic.com/sports/excitotoxins.shtml
http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm
http://www.3fatchicks.com/4-foods-commonly-containing-msg/ http://www.rense.com/general35/hidd.htm

Budget Saver Tip #33: Start A Money Makeover

I recently read this book after a dear friend told me about it, and I was pleased to realize that my husband and I already do most of the things Dave Ramsey advises in his Total Money Makeover Plan. It also gave me a greater appreciation for the fact that we had no student debt right out of grad school, as frankly, I was stunned to learn how much student debt the vast majority of Americans accrue.

One of Dave Ramsey's biggest pushes is to help people get out of debt. I guess if you've never been without debt it's hard to conceive what it feels like to be debt-free (except a mortgage), but from my husband's and my point of view, how do people function under such heavy debt burdens? Where's the peace of mind, the reassurance that if something terrible happened, you'd be okay financially. Of course, in our finances we still have progress to make and goals to reach, but I'm glad to re-realize that we're on the right track.

One thing I took particular note of in this book was his discussion on car loans. Back in this post I mentioned that it seemed that getting a car loan was just a normal way of life for the average American. Well, I was right. As Dave Ramsey says: "When it comes to money, normal is broke. You want to be weird, and weird people don’t have car payments." (I guess that's why we've seen people look floored when they've learned we bought our van in full. In this, I don't mind being weird!) 

According to Ramsey:

"Recent statistics show that one-third of car buyers sign up for a six-year loan at an average interest rate of 9.6%. Among these buyers, the average price of the car is just over $26,000. This means that one-third of the cars you see on the road are dragging a $475 payment behind them.

"The car dealer won’t tell you that your awesome new car loses about 25% of its value the instant you drive it off the lot. After four years, your car has lost about 70% of its value!

"What does that mean? After six years, you’ve paid almost $33,000 for a $26,000 car, which is now worth maybe $6,000. Not a good deal." (Source)

Ugh. Americans definitely need to wake up and get wise to the numbers! (If you're wondering how not to do the above, see Dave Ramsey's car plan here, and what we did last year here.)

And by the way, if you're one of those who likes to lease your cars, that's an even worse mistake--in fact, Dave Ramsey calls that "car fleecing:"

"Statistically, leasing is the most expensive way to drive a car. But, according to CNW Marketing Research, nearly one in five people lease their cars. The National Auto Dealers Association says car companies make more money off leasing you a car than if you bought a car with cash. Don’t fall victim to the 'fleece.'" (emphasis added) (Source)

There is so much more great information in this book and so much sound advice that I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to know how to get out of debt and/or how to get more on top of their finances. This is a "makeover" that has worked for many thousands of people, laid out in a step-by-step process that makes it easy to understand, if not to do. As Dave so often says, "If you will live like no one else," [budgeting, sacrificing, and being responsible with your money], "one day you will live like no one else," [be financially free and independent].