Old Family Cold Remedy

So the summer colds have hit our family in a big way; first our son and now my husband and myself. As a nursing mother I am leary or using many medications at this point. This concoction may not cure a cold but it has been used in my family for at least five generations and it does make you feel a bit better if you can get past the taste. Personally, I find the taste to be comforting and soothing when I have a cold since my mother and grandmother used to give this to me when I was sick. I plan on making some tonight and I am sure it will at the very least make me feel a little better and more comfortable.

Great Great Grandmother Smith’s Cough Remedy
Depending on your toleration for sourness or tartness, use a water and vinegar or lemon juice combination such as:
3l4 cup water
1 - 2 tablespoons cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 -2 teaspoons sugar or honey
1 teaspoon butter (to coat the throat)
1/8 to ¼ teaspoon black pepper (as can tolerate)
Heat all ingredients and sip as needed.

My personal preference is to make like my mom did with cider vinegar and honey.

Attempting to go "no poo"

For a few years now I have been hearing about people who either stop using shampoo all together or greatly reduce how often they use it. My reaction has always been "Oh I could never do that. My hair is so fine I would be a complete grease bucket." I always thought this was something only for people who have thick curly hair.

Recently it seems that this has been coming up more and more often so yesterday I decided to do some research and then to take the plunge! I used the directions found here: http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/go/index.php/389/why-you-should-go-no-poo/. I was shocked that I could replace my shampoo and conditioner with baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

My mother always told me that she had used acv on her hair as a kid to make it shine and I vaguely remember trying it myself once as a kid but feeling like I smelled like vinegar all day (it seems I must not have rinsed it out enough).

I have to say I am so happy with how this turned out! I was prepared for having several weeks of greasy nasty hair as my scalp adjusts to producing less oil but the first day it looked pretty good and I think today after doing this for the second time it looks even better. It has lots of body, is not greasy at all and is soft and shinny! Also, I do not feel like I need to put additional styling products into my hair.

I love this whole idea for several reasons. First off my hair looks great. Secondly I'm not putting harmful chemicals on my body or back into the environment. And most of all this is so cheap! I figure this option will cost me less than $2 per month as opposed to the five to seven dollars a month it would typically cost me to wash condition and style my hair using commercial shampoo, conditioner and styling products purchased with sales and coupons. This is a win-win solution!