Ginger Tea Recipe - Natural Pain Relief that WORKS

I'm still drinking my homemade Ginger Tea - and it's still proving to be very effective as a pain reliever. Once again this weekend, I skipped it and my foot (tendon injury) woke me up with a sharp pain on Saturday night as I tried to move it against the sheets. Yesterday and today, I'm drinking my Ginger Tea and no pain. Just like I'm taking a pain pill - but I'm not.

For those of you that might like to try my Ginger Tea recipe for yourself, here it is:

Get yourself one big, fat hand of fresh organic Ginger Root.  Fat fingers, because you will want lots of meat left after you take off the bark.  Cut away the bark, and then cube the flesh of the root - maximizing the surface area that will be exposed to the water as it brews.

Boil yourself a big tea kettle of water and then brew (I use a cute tea pot that reminds me of the English countryside) three organic green tea bags together with the cubed fresh ginger.  Let it steep a long time.  Me, I let it go several hours because I want all that ginger to free itself into the liquid. 

Grab a pitcher that has a cover/lid.  Blend your steeped ginger/green tea with cold water in the pitcher, stevia to sweeten it to your taste.  Use all the steeped ginger from the teapot, or if it's too strong for you, then save some in a glass jar in the fridge -  a handy second batch when you're ready. 

I think the green tea helps with the flavor, as does the stevia.  Plus, they both are helpful in their own right (antioxidants, etc.) and that can't hurt when you're healing. 

For those of you interested in learning more about Ginger as a natural alternative to aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, check out these sites:

University of Maryland Medical Center
(where the med school reports that ginger is "commonly" recommended for nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness, pregnancy, and chemotherapy, as well as a "digestive aid for mild stomach upset," (whatever that means) and as a help for "inflammatory conditions such as arthritis" along with heart disease or cancer.

Consumer Affairs
The consumer site references studies published in the Journal of Pain (as well as research done by several American universities), where ginger is recognized as a pain reliever in either its raw or heat-treated forms.  It also points to ginger as being a big pain remedy in Chinese medicine, and reports that ginger has both anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties similar to non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 

Dr. Andrew Weil
Dr. Weil, the recognized alternative medicine practitioner who periodically shows up on PBS, also recommends ginger for pain relief.  All for the same sorts of things that the University of Maryland does -- nausea, muscle/arthritis pain, etc. 

Vertical Farming: Have You Heard About This Yet?

Over at The Vertical Farm, they've got some very interesting info for you.  For instance, these folk are advising that within the next 40 years, we'll be facing the basic need of feeding around 3,000,000,000 (three billion) mouths. 

We can't do it with the farmland we've got now.  Problem.  Unless we get creative and farm differently.  One solution: vertical farming. 

Which, yes, is something a lot more complicated that the Baker's Rack Vegetable Garden I tried to grow long ago on the apartment balcony -- but at least I got that footprint idea right ....

It sounds pretty darn smart - especially the recycling aspects, and the idea of safe water and safe food.

For more info, watch this:

Where's The Note? Facing Foreclosure, You May Want to Check Out this Site ASAP - or NOT

Where's the Note? is a website published by a group of organizations (see their logos at the bottom of the page, you'll have to search for their actual sites -- they don't link to this new web site) that's getting lots of media attention.

Go to Where's the Note and you'll get background information on foreclosure issues (things like the definition of a mortgage note) as well as lots of direction on how to fight your impending foreclosure due to the apparent idiocy involved in fast-tracked foreclosure processes by financial institutions across the country.  Better known at this point as "foreclosuregate," in case you haven't been reading the news lately. 

Of course, there are those that are arguing that even if there's a paperwork mess resulting in a title nightmare, if the borrower could not pay the note, then legally Where's the Note gives them action, but morally nothing's changed.  Folk like Mike Konczai are writing about this twist on the growing news story, and I'm happy to see it. 

Because while there are those (including at least one member of Congress) that have advised homeowners to squat, staying put in their homes until the paperwork mess gets sorted out, I gotta wonder if that's best for the home owner. 

It's far from a peaceful life, squatting.  Waiting for the shoe to drop - and unless you get a windfall, then you're setting there knowing you can't pay what you owe, so eventually that's a bell that is gonna ring.  Squatting is not a guaranteed winning Lotto ticket.

Plus, it keeps you from pulling up stakes and moving forward.  And forward is good.  So you join the millions of Americans negatively impacted by this depression, ahem, recession?  So you move to a rental, a forced downsizing of your life?  Is this really and truly so horrible? 

Maybe not, Dear Reader.

Many folk are scared of the simpler life, only to be very pleasantly surprised.  Because a simpler life is a better one.  Whether you voluntarily pursue it or it's thrust upon you, either way -- it's freeing not to be burdened with so much material stuff.  A new chapter in life may mean a second chance to pursue a dream, move to another location, get rid of that dining room set you hate and never use. 

So, while Where's the Note? sounds awfully friendly, I gotta wonder if it's worth all that angst to avoid the eventual New Chapter in Life.  Second chances are sweet, no matter how you come by them.