The Ear Infection that Shook the World

If you have children you know that coughs, fevers, runny noses and ear infections come in the middle of the night.

What was once a happy child frolicking through the day making you crazy has now turned in to a screaming crying, NOT SLEEPING child (the worst and saddest kind).

As a parent you also know that your options in the middle of the night are not the greatest as far as help is concerned and depending on the age of your children you can't always give them a cold remedy  or antibiotics.

At our home we are slowly beginning to embrace essential oils. I know it's a super trendy thing right now but after last night I am singing their praises! I use essential oils for DIY cleaning products in my home as well as lavender oil for burns. I've slowly been building up my essential oil collection and happily so because I needed them last night.

Around 11:30 last night Max woke up screaming in pain. His ear was sore. I've never dealt with ear infections before, I had no idea what to do. So what do you do in the 21st century when you need a home remedy?! PINTEREST!

Yes I did go to Pinterest to find a remedy, yes I know that the 'internet' does not know all, but we live in a fascinating modern age and instead of going to the emergency room to sit with my 4 year old for hours I went online hoping to find something natural that could get us through the night.


I found this pin. It talks about using lavender essential oil, coconut oil and lemon essential oil to help soothe an ear ache.

Keep this in your back pocket parents, especially if you have kids that suffer from ear infections.

I used this remedy on Max twice last night (in the middle of the night and VERY early morning) and each time he was back to sleep in less then 5 minutes, and managed to stay asleep for hours.

I honestly can't believe how well this home remedy worked, and twice ! I don't really know or understand what essential oils do for your body. Maybe it's the soothing smell (lemon oil is yummy smelling) or maybe it does really get into your body and help in a very natural way.

I mostly think I'm too lazy to read all the information that will probably tell me why they work. I'm a lets see if it works kind of gal.

Anyway, this one has been added to my home remedies board on Pinterest as well as my Tried Tested and True board. I can't go on enough about it!!



A side note:
The women that shared the remedy will also remind you that if you child is in an extreme amount of pain, seek medical help, she is not a dr, just a Mom trying to do the best for her child.

In our home we are all for natural healing if possible but antibiotics are our friend and we would never want our children to suffer any longer then they have to or at all.

  PS - Max has a doctors appointment today

Just Beet It!

       Living in a rural community can have it's perks. There are farm stand as far as the eye can see all summer and into the fall and even though I'm not a huge veggie person, you can never scoff at fresh local produce.

There are many people in my family that love a jar of pickled beets, combine this with my love of preserving all things and there may be a jar at your doorstep in the near future.

Alas, if you do not have someone to quench your beet craving, I give to you my recipe for Bread and Butter Beets.

You'll need

BEETS! 10lbs of them

Pickling Spice (1 tsp per 500ml jar, 1tbsp per 1L jar)

Pickling Liquid

2L sugar

2L vinegar

2L water

Beets are a pretty tough root vegetable so you're going to need to boil to heck out of them. Start them off in a pot of cold water and boil until they are fork tender. About an hour.

Now this is when you're going to want to either wear gloves or just embrace the colour purple. Because this is the colour your hand will turn if you don't.

Cool the beets in cold water, cut off ends and peel with your fingers. Cut the beets into quarters or whatever size you would like and put them aside in a bowl until your jars are ready.

Grab another pot and add your pickling liquid ingredients to it, stir and bring to a boil.

While you're peeling and cutting, boil your jars, rings and lids in a large canner or pot for about 10 minutes making sure there's at least 1 inch of water covering them.

Once you're jars are sterilized add the pickling spice and pack in the beets. 

Carefully fill the hot jars with the hot pickling liquid within 1/4 inch of the tops of the jar.

Cover with your lids and screw bands tightly and place the jars back into your pot of boiling water. 

Boil for 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and place the jars aside. Somewhere they can sit undisturbed for around 12 hours. 

Listen for the gratifying 'POP' of your jars sealing  and you're all set!

Let the jars sit for at least a week so the beets can take in all the flavor from the spices, then enjoy them yourself of gift them to friends or family.