Of all the blog posts that I write, compiling the list of home remedies is always the most fun!

The home remedies listed below were submitted by my friends that grew up Amish or have an Amish background. Home remedies are so much a part of their everyday lives in Amish country, that many of them struggled with this project. Their perception being that home remedies are a way of life for everyone.

After several days of them focusing on the mission at hand, the home remedies started pouring in. It was difficult to choose only ten but hopefully there is at least one home remedy on this list that you will find helpful.

1) To keep cookies fresh: Place a piece of bread with your cookies to keep them from drying out or to restore moisture to dried cookies.

2) Homemade Bird Food: 2 Cups Tallow/Suet or Lard (melted), 1 1/2 Cup creamy Peanut butter, 5-6 Cups of Yellow Corn Meal. Mix together, allow to cool until it reaches the right consistency to press into pine cones. Hang outside for the birds to enjoy. If mixture gets too hard to press into pine cones, stick in microwave container and heat for a few seconds to soften mixture.

3) Homemade Seasoning Salt:  1 Cup Salt, 2 Tablespoons Onion Powder, 1 Tablespoon Celery Salt, 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder, 2 Teaspoons Paprika, 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder and 1 Teaspoon dried parsley powder. Mix and enjoy.

4)  Chest Cold/Flu Symptoms: Prior to going to bed put a thick layer of Vicks Vapo Rub on the bottom of your feet, cover with socks. Vicks will absorb into your skin overnight.  This is a favorite Amish country home remedy.

5)  Kidney Stones:  If you are having problems passing kidney stones, drink homemade beet juice. Boil fresh beets, allow to cool and drink.

6)  Drooling Babies: The Amish swear by this: Wwhen your baby starts to drool, work with them to teach them how to drink out of a regular cup.  This teaches the children how catch their saliva before they drool.

7)  Seasonal Allergies: Find a local beekeeper (preferably within 15 miles of your home).  Purchase honey from local source. Take one teaspoon of honey each morning.  I know several people that this has worked wonders for.

8)  Fallen Arches/Plantar Fascitis:  This was actually recommended to one of my friends by her doctor.  It is to provide temporary relief of pain until special inserts for her shoes were made.  Put a large strip of duct tape on the bottom of your foot from heel to toe.  Place a second strip beside the first strip.  The tape grabs your instep and gives relief from the pain.  She said it was a bit embarrassing to wear during the summer, however it was worth the embarrassment.

9)  Burns on skin when cooking:  Immediately pour Pure Vanilla Extract directly on burn.  Brings instant relief. Should not be considered an alternative for medical treatment...only to bring temporary relief from pain.

10)  To get rid of those pesky gnats:  Pour cider vinegar into a bowl. Cover bowl with film. Punch a hole into film. Gnats crawl in and can't get out.

I would love to hear any home remedies that you and your families swear by in the comments below! 

Attention: Be sure you read all the way to the end of the Sweet Meadows Retailer Story! Sweet Meadows has customized a special offer for March 2010 you won’t want to miss! By: Marsha Bonecutter “A huge leap of faith!” That is how Katie Brown, owner/manager of Sweet Meadows in Zanesville, Ohio describes the opening of her health food store. Katie and her husband, Shawn, co-own the store along with her parents, Martha and Tim Kimpel. Their story began several years ago when Katie’s father converted his farm to an all grass based farm and the family began learning the health benefits of grass-fed beef. That led to learning about organic foods and how to live a healthier lifestyle. “When we first converted our farm years ago,” Katie said, “there was no one around raising grass-fed beef. Most people thought we were nuts to even attempt such a thing.” Almost ten years later, there are a number of farms converting to all grass. They began selling their grass-fed beef at the farmer’s market in 2003. They added pastured pork, poultry and eggs and Katie’s uncle added pastured lamb. They developed a wonderful, loyal customer base and the business began to grow. “Once we changed our lifestyle and diet,” explained Katie, “we quickly realized there was nowhere close to buy the kinds of foods we wanted to eat. We decided at that time if we were going to sell our meats, we might as well sell other products.” In 2004, in a small downtown Zanesville location, Sweet Meadows was born! “I had absolutely no experience in the food business or even retail,” Katie said. “We just tried to figure things out as we went along, and made tons of mistakes.” Suffice it to say, these “mistakes” were ironed out with the love and support of her wonderful family and the mentoring of Annerose Schafferin of Bexley Natural Market, who offered names of distributors and contacts and even provided Sweet Meadows with their first cash register. Katie and her family have always had a goal of being able to support other local farmers by buying their products, as long as they were raised according to the family standards. “When I wrote my first check to buy grass-fed beef from another farmer, I was so excited!” Katie says, proudly. Another source of pride is that in 2009 her father’s farm was the first in Muskingum County to be certified organic.

Katie soon out-grew her first small location and in 2005, the store moved to its present location on Maple Avenue. The new location is larger which allows for more refrigeration and more products. Sweet Meadows carries a wonderful selection of natural and organic foods. Many products come to mind when Katie is asked about her favorites. “Well, of course, Berlin Breads,” laughs Katie. “The Pumpkin Streusel Spelt bread is my most favorite!” Other favorites include a non-homogenized milk and a Perry County honey. The store continues to grow their product selection based on customer request. Much hard work is involved in the managing of a natural foods store, especially with two little children in tow. Thankfully, Katie Brown is no stranger to hard work. Katie’s first job was on her family farm, working for a dollar an hour. By the time she reached her early teens, Katie was milking cows and by high school she was managing the dairy. How many college students get up in the morning, milk the cows, go to school all day, come home, milk cows again and then do homework? Senior year of college brought Katie a change of pace. “My dad was managing a clay mine at the time, so I went to work for him keeping records and running the front end loader.” Katie laughs, “Trucks used to come for clay and couldn’t believe I was the one climbing up into the loader to load them.”

Much of the success of Sweet Meadows is due to the philosophy by which Katie runs her business: Great customer service. “I greet my customers with a smile and am willing to help or answer questions whenever I am asked. Katie takes requests for new products and places special orders for her customers on a daily basis. Her relationship with her customers is truly rare. “Because I am here everyday, I know my customers and their families by name. They know my children and my children know them.” Katie’s customers even surprised her with a baby shower for her first daughter. “I love that the relationships go beyond just a customer/grocer,” says Katie. “I feel, as a society we are lacking in common courtesy and I want to give that to my customers.” “In 2004, there was a real need in our area for organic foods.” Said Katie. Sweet Meadows meets this need and much more!

************Sweet Meadows Special Offers************

Berlin Natural Bakery Product Specials Buy 1 of any Berlin Natural Bakery "FRESH" spelt baked goods and receive 50% off a second Berlin Natural Bakery item of equal or lesser value. Limit 3 per customer per visit. Ground Beef Special Buy any package of Sweet Meadows ground beef and get 50% off any second package of ground beef. Limit 3 packages per customer per visit. Take advantage of these offers today by saying to the cashier "I saw the retailer story on Sweet Meadows on Berlin Natural Bakery's Website and would like to take advantage of the [bread/beef] discount." Special Offer Expires March 31, 2010.

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Stuffed French Toast Recipe

By: Joy Schrock

NOTE:  This recipe requires overnight refrigeration. It takes approximately 15 minutes to prepare this dish that your family and friends will talk about for a long time.  This is no doubt one of my personal favorites. There are lots of variables to this recipe based upon your own personal preferences.  Don't be afraid to adjust the amounts of the ingredients.  For example one time I had a loaf of french hearth bread that was going stale.  I decided to use it to prepare this dish.  To fill the cake pan, I had to adjust the bread slices to 14 and do a bit of creative cutting to fit it into the pan.  When I poured the milk/egg mixture on top, I realized that I needed more.  So I divided the milk/egg recipe into thirds and added 1/3 more to thoroughly cover the bread.  I also needed to add an additional 20 minutes to my baking time due to the additional liquid.  It turned out fabulous with the french bread, but it's fabulous with just about any type of bread.  Have some fun with this and improvise according to your own taste.

Ingredients: 8-12 slices of bread (several days old) Approx. 1 Cup Cream Cheese (Whipped) Approx. 1/2 Cup Jam, Pie Filling or Fruit Preserves of your choice 8 Eggs (Beaten) 2 C. Milk 1/3 C. Maple Syrup 1/2 t. Salt 1/2 t. Cinnamon Lightly grease cake pan (approx. 9x13, 1 1/2" deep) Spread your desired amount of cream cheese on 4-6 slices of bread.  Place cream cheese side up in cake pan.  *Note:  Depending on the bread type and size that you choose, it may take 4-6 pieces of bread to cover the bottom of the cake pan)  Adjust the quantity of the bread accordingly. Spread the other 4-6 pieces of bread with the preserves of your choosing.  Place these slices face down on top of the cream cheese slices.  You are basically making a sandwich. In a separate bowl beat eggs, add milk, maple syrup and salt.  Pour over the bread in the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Top slice of bread may float a bit initially, push down gently with a spoon to ensure all the bread is well saturated with the egg/milk mixture.  *Note the bread will not completely soak up all of the egg/milk mixture.  When you bake it the milk/egg mixture will create a type of quiche effect.  Cover with film and refrigerate overnight. Baking Instructions: Remove film, cover with foil, bake at 350 degrees on the center rack for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 25-35 minutes uncovered.  Remove from oven and allow to cool until it reaches the desired temperature for serving. Cut into squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar. (for presentation purposes only...not a necessity for taste), top with fresh fruit, serve warm with pure maple syrup.  Enjoy!

By Joy Schrock, President of Berlin Natural Bakery

Never in a million years when I purchased Berlin Natural Bakery, would I ever have believed the amount of work that it takes to produce something as simple as a great loaf of bread. After all, I considered myself to be a great baker...how hard could this possibly be?

There are moments in each of our lives that we look back and realize that one decision completely changed the entire course of our lives.  Purchasing Berlin Natural Bakery changed absolutely everything about mine.  Had I known going in to this what I was truly signing up for, I might not have done it.  Actually, I'm quite sure I wouldn't have. 

However, today I feel so fulfilled and incredibly honored to be part of helping to raise the standards of our food supply.  This is not an easy task for many reasons.  However, our rewards are in knowing that what we do truly improves the quality of people's lives.

The production standards that we have put into place are based upon several decades of research and experience.  We do not change our products to meet the standards of the latest trends or fads.  We stay true to the mission.  What is that mission?  It's very simple...to produce spelt products that you can trust.  Products that are made with ingredients that you can pronounce and easily recognize, that are NOT genetically engineered and that taste great.  Sounds easy?  Check out the steps we go through to make your loaf of bread.

1)  Contracts are negotiated with small independent farmers throughout Germany.
2)  Soil preparation and crop rotation standards are set, farmers are well trained and their farms are inspected.
3)  Genuine German certified spelt seed is planted.
4)  Farm equipment is cleaned and inspected to ensure no cross contamination:  seeder, combine and trucks.
5)  Routine farm inspections are done to ensure no chemical pesticides and herbicides are being used and that the quality standards of the spelt grain are being met.
6)  Genuine German Spelt is harvested and tested to ensure it is free from chemical pesticides and herbicides. 
7)  Genuine German spelt grain is stored in its tight outer hull, in a separate stand alone facility that has never been used to store other grains.  This facility is cooled and air blown...ensuring the grain does not become susceptible to mold or pests.
8)  The spelt is de-hulled upon demand of shipment.  Equipment used in de-hulling is only used for Genuine German Spelt.
9)  The grain is packaged and shipped in a sanitized and inspected container.

Dr. Franck and his staff oversee the entire process of our Genuine German Spelt grain...from certified seed production ...till it reaches our doors.  Their standards are so high, they can literally trace a bag of grain to the field or the lot in which it was grown.

Then it's our turn:
1)  The spelt grain arrives at Berlin Natural Bakery...an ALL spelt bakery.  It is stored in coolers until milled.
2)  We stone grind the grain daily on site at the bakery.
3)  The flour we stone grind today...is used to produce the products we bake tomorrow.  Our flour is not stored for months, which ensures no rancidity or susceptibility to pests.
4)  Our stone grinding method allows us to preserve the whole grain.  We lose less than 1% during our milling process.
5)  We bake only small batch breads.  We do not over work the dough, add dough conditioners, gluten or preservatives.  This can only be achieved by baking small batches.  We have highly skilled bakers that oversee the entire baking process to ensure consistency and quality of every product.
6)  Our products are double bagged for freshness.
7)  Baked and shipped fresh daily.
8)  Our bakery holds the highest Kosher Certification "Orthodox Union".  Soon to be Non-GMO Project approved.

Isn't it amazing what all we go through to produce a loaf of bread?  Fortunately we didn't have to meet these standards overnight.   Many of them have been established and implemented over the years due to our never ending need to know the truth and to do what is right...regardless if it's what is easy. Many of you may not even care about these standards and fortunately for you...you don't have to. 

You can count on us to continue to do our best to ensure you receive our best.

We know you have a choice regarding the spelt baked goods that you purchase.  Thank you for choosing ours!  We consider it an honor to serve you.

Peace & Blessings,

Joy

For 4 Servings: 18oz ALB-GOLD Pasta Fusilli 1 onion 1-2 cloves of garlic 2 tbsp butter 1/2 cup cream 1/2 cup vegetable stock 1/2 milk 1/2 cup gogonzola 1/2 bunch basil 1/2 bunch parsley 1/2 cup hazelnuts or almonds

Directions

Boil the ALB-GOLD Fusilli al dente in saltwater. For the sauce peel and cut the onions and garlic into precise strips. Sautee in butter in a skillet until transparent. Add vegetable stock and milk. Simmer this for a few minutes. Add the gogonzola, let it simmer until the gorgonzola is melted. Season it with salt and pepper and add the basil and parsley. Serve the ALB-GOLD Fusilli with the sauce and the chopped almonds.