Homemade infant gas relief

The other night I woke up to my poor baby's screams of gas pain. It was horrible watching him cry and wiggle around in pain.

I tried burping him, bouncing him, rocking him, and even rubbing his tummy. All to no avail.

Finally he let out a hearty burp, passed some wind from the other end, and fell back asleep.

I then began wracking my brain for ways to help him for the future. In the past I've used store bought infant gas drops, but the ingredients leave me feeling rather uncomfortable.

I had heard of fennel being an excellent gas reliever but that isn't an herb I have around much. Then I remembered I had purchased some fennel seeds to make sausage patties! (recipe coming soon)

So the following night when my little guy started to have the same issue I sent my hubby to the kitchen while I rocked and swayed.

After a few minutes he appeared with the liquid gold! Fennel seed tea.

I gave my little guy a bottle with a little of the tea. When he finished it he let out a burp and fell right to sleep! Our prayers had been answered!!!

Now I'm determined  not be with out this tummy calming herb! I'm making a tincture of it to keep on hand for quick fixes, but I will also be sure to have some seeds handy for when sipping on tea might be a preferred option.

For the tea: I recommend about a teaspoon of seeds per cup of water. 

Crush the seeds then steep for about 10 minutes. 

I would then give an older baby maybe a quarter cup of tea. 

For a young baby I would use a dropper and give about a tablespoon.

For the tincture: I recommend making a 2 ounce bottle. 

That mix would be 60% glycerin to 40% water and use up to 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds. 

Place the water, glycerin, and seeds in a a glass jar. 

Seal the jar and place in a large pot filled with water almost to the top of the jar but not covering the jar or touching the lid. 

Then place the pot on the stove to simmer for 2-3 hours. 

Strain out the herbs with a tight-weave cloth (clean old t-shirts are perfect). 

Store in a tincture bottle and give 2-3 drops as needed.

This is a super simple, and quick, way to help alleviate gas in a baby, child, or adult and it's way better for you that most commercial gas relievers!

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor! I'm just a momma passing on what I do for my own family. This is not medical advice.**

I'm linking up at: Homestead Blog Hop

Homemade Rice Milk

As I mentioned in my last post our daughter B has severe allergies and eczema. Since she is allergic to pretty much everything, I have to get creative.

She really likes to have cold cereal (what kid doesn't right) but her allergies leave us with very limited solutions for milk.

In the past we've used soy milk, since she's allergic to nuts and animal dairy. But then we found out she is also allergic to soy.

We needed a simple solution so we switched to rice milk. But honestly there is just so much junk in it. And with all the other things we have cut out we have to do a lot of cooking from scratch which means our budget has to get stretched.

The normal $4 for a carton of rice milk was kind of pushing it. I can get a bag of rice, or 2-3 lbs of chicken for that price. So I decided to try my hand at making my own. The results were amazing and now I can spend my money on things that will feed us all for longer.

I just whip up a batch of rice milk before going to bed and we're set for the morning, I want to start making bigger batches, but I need to get some bigger mason jars first. Anyone looking for a home for their old mason jars??

In case there are some others out there like me, here is what you need:

1 cup cooked rice
4 cups water

Then blend it until it's smooth, or as smooth as it will get. After it's blended strain it through a mesh strainer.

That's it! So simple and it actually tastes good. If you wanted to sweeten it you could add a few teaspoons of sweetener and a dash of vanilla. But we use it plain.

Pinterest

Do you use any animal milk alternatives?

I'm linking up at: The Homestead Barn Hop

Super Simple Sour Dough

I didn't add a recipe to my reasons to make sour dough post because I figured there were already tons of recipes online. But since I've had a few requests I decided to go on ahead and share my recipe/process. 

It's so simple and very rewarding.

First thing I do is clean one of my quart size mason jars making sure to rinse them in really hot water. 

Then I mix together equal parts rye flour and water, and fed it 2 times a day with equal parts water and rye flour. You're supposed to transfer it to a new container each time, but I may not do that each time. I at least aim for doing it after I've fed my starter twice. Changing it helps to cut down on your chances of mold. 

Once my starter got bubbly I started feeding it once a day. It took about a week for it to get good and bubbly.

Doing equal parts definitely makes it easier to not mess up the measurements. If I added too much flour I could easily just add more water ;o)

When I baked the bread I just used half, or more, of the starter and then added flour water and salt. If you are the type to measure things out specifically then the recipe below will be helpful. But if you're like me then just add flour and water until it's a slightly sticky dough.

My first few loaves didn't come out as well as my more recent ones, but the longer I keep my starter going, the better of a rise I  get. I also switched to unbleached all purpose flour because my family didn't care for the taste of the rye bread.

You could store your unused starter in the fridge. But since I bake a loaf once a week, I keep mine out and feed it once a day with about a 1/4 cup of flour. (sometimes I forget and it still does well)

Super Simple Sour Dough Starter Recipe   

(adapted from Nourishing Traditions Cookbook)

1 cup rye flour, 1 cup water, tight weave cloth, 
3 1/2 cups rye flour, cold water

Mix the one cup rye flour and 1 cup water in a large glass bowl or jar. Mixture should be soupy. Cover with cloth and let sit for a day. The next day "feed" your starter by adding 1/4 c of flour and enough water to keep the soupy consistency. After 12 hours "feed" your starter  again. Repeat this process every 12 hours for 7 days. After the 7th day you should be ready to bake. 

note: if you are running out of room for your starter in your jars, pour out half and then feed what's left. It's not about having a lot but getting what you have cultured. By the end of this you should have about a quart of sour dough, more if you didn't dump any out. 

Super Simple Sour Dough Bread Recipe

1/2 quart (2 cups) of sour dough starter, 3 1/4 cups of flour (I use unbleached all purpose), 1/2 tablespoon sea salt, 3/4 cup water 

Pour your sour dough starter into a bowl, then add your flour, and salt. Mix together gradually adding water until you have a smooth slightly sticky dough consistency (add more flour if needed). Then cover mixture and put it to the side to rise for 12 hours. 
Before baking preheat oven to 350*. Then shape your loaves either in a loaf pan or by hand. Bake for about an hour.

This recipe gave me 2 good sized loaves. 

After you finish preparing your loaves to bake you can feed your starter again. At this point I began using unbleached flour to feed mine. 

Make sure if you are fermenting anything else that you keep your starter at least a few feet away. A whole seperate area would be best. I keep my kombucha on the counter and my sour dough on the table. 


Do you make sour dough? Will you now that you have a simple recipe?

linking up at: Homestead Barn Hop, Mostly Homemade Monday, Backyard Farming Connection, Simple Life Sunday, From the Farm

Fast Food Hack

Ok maybe you are one of those amazing people who gave up fast food never to look back. I am not that person. Now granted my family and I pretty much never frequent these establishments but that doesn't mean I don't get a craving for some bad for me yumminess.

Since I don't want to eat frankenfoods I figured out a solution... Remake what I like AT HOME! It's really not hard, you just find the things you need to create the flavors you like. One of our favorite hacks is McDonald's big macs. As a kid this sandwich was on my schools hot lunch menu. So I have had a long relationship with the big mac. Once I figured out how to remake them at home I was hooked!

You start out with a pretty straight forward double decker burger. You can use the bottom portion of a bun for the middle bread, or you can skip it all together! The only part of this that isn't self explanatory is the sauce. For that you will need:

3 tbsp Mayo

2 tsp yellow mustard

2 tsp sweet relish

1 tsp paprika, and dash of white vinegar

stir :o)

That's it! Super simple. After you make your sauce you just add it on top of your burger and enjoy. I hope this saves you from making a trip to McDonalds!

Are you a fast food junkie or have yo given it the boot?

I'm linking up with: Mostly Homemade Mondays

Momma's Milk Enhancing Smoothie

Three months ago our family grew by two feet! I gave birth, at home, to a beautiful 9lb baby boy. For the first month and a half my milk was amazing. But I started to notice some dry spells. Thankfully my baby boy's weight wasn't affected but if I hadn't of caught it who knows what could have happened!

As soon as I noticed the drop in my milk I set to google to find what I could use to up my milk supply. I found a plethora of recipes for things like lactation cookies, bars, and shakes. But they almost all had ingredients that I didn't have. So I decided to research herbs and foods that help to increase your milk supply. There were three things on the list I actually had: oatmeal (old fashion oats), flaxseed, and alfalfa. So I decided to make a smoothie with them!

This smoothie has been such a blessing because not only is it a great milk booster, it's also delicious! If you're not a nursing momma this smoothie would still be great to drink because it is jam packed with vitamins and essential nutrients!

Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
1/3 c old fashion oats
2 tbsp alfalfa
2 tbsp flaxseed
3/4-1 c milk (any kind of milk)
hand full of blueberries
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
sweetener of choice to taste

Edit to add: I put the oats, alfalfa, and flaxseed all in the blender first. Then once that was grounded up nicely I added everything else.

But we were gentle in your midst, like a nursing mother warmly loving her own children. - 1 Thessalonians 2:7

I'm linking up with: The Homestead Barn Hop, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Farmgirl Friday