It’s time again for another months Crazy Quilt of Love! Man, has this month whipped past me! Seems like it was just yesterday I was working on last months links. April has been a rather tough month for our family. My Mother suffered a minor stroke and I spent a week at my parent’s home helping her during her recovery. She is doing very well now. Thank you to all for your prayers and well wishes!
I haven’t had a lot of time this month for reading so my list is a bit shorter than usual. Enjoy!
On Taking Care of Yourself
Sleep – Sleep is HUGE in improving your health! Really, this cannot be overstated. If you’re having sleep issues you should check out this post on naturally increasing your melatonin. Melatonin is key to a good nights rest.
Hair Care – Are you sick of paying outrageous prices for shampoo that is loaded with chemical additives? Me too! This post from Our Heritage of Health shares some ideas from the past on doing without shampoo.
Dry Skin – This recipe for bag balm, or beef tallow balm is a real lifesaver. A commercial version of this is a big seller at the local feed store. Great help for hands that do hard work!
Salt – I tend to forget for some reason how many people still think salt is the devil when it comes to healthy eating. Not the case at all! Salt is necessary and vital to health. Wars have been fought over access to it. It’s that vital. You can learn more about it in this post is salt really bad for you?
Transitioning to Real Food – We have a kindred spirit here in this post on how to eat real food. Real Food Eater is another believer in the baby step plan to getting more and more real food into your family’s life!
Ingredients
Love posts about individual ingredients! I think they really help clear away some of the fog by focusing in detail on the pros and cons, ins and outs of just one thing. I haven’t written one of these for a while but now that The Granny Plan series is finishing up I hope to get a one or two out in the coming weeks. In the meantime you can check out my ingredients page as well as these awesome ingredient posts!
Almond Flour – In the real food world you’ll see a lot of recipes calling for almond flour. And I mean a lot! Why is that and is almond flour something you should strongly consider as a replacement for wheat flour? I tend to think not. My gut feel is to stick with the traditional ingredients unless I have a very compelling reason to switch like food allergy. They have a long history of providing good nutrition and are usually the least expensive options. Empowered Sustenance lays out a detailed case for moderation in the use of almond flour that I’m in agreement with.
If you’re looking to keep food costs under control you may be considering adding a vegetarian meal or two to the weekly roundup at your house. Hannah at Healy Real Food Vegetarian shares this post with us on several vegetarian foods that are highly processed that she would never eat. It’s a good primer on what to avoid when putting together real food vegetarian dishes.
Easy-Living Granny Style
Chickens – I’m always amazed when people think chickens are vegetarians! In fact chickens will eat just about anything smaller than them and even bigger critters if they’ll hold still long enough 
. Check out this post on what exactly do chickens eat?
Dog Care – This is true for cats as well, though I suspect cats don’t like it as well as dogs do. Cod liver oil is the best supplement for your dog.
Cooking less – Great tips here on how to reduce your time in the kitchen!
Recipes – These little butter treats are just pure genius! So easy to make and great for kids. And Homemade Mommy shares this easy method to make cultured butter a delicious change from sweet butter.
What did you find that you loved in April?
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