My mom always had the simplest solutions to things and they still hold up today. I don’t know if it was born out of need — we didn’t always have a lot of money growing up and we certainly didn’t have Google to find answers — or if it was just a simpler time and we didn’t have as many store-bought options. Probably a combination of both, but I still make use of so many of the things she taught me.
She taught me how to stretch a dollar and how to stretch groceries. To this day, some of my favorite meals have been created just by “shopping” in my own pantry. Most of the simple solutions I list below are from my mom or grandma, and a couple were handed down from my mother-in-law. There is even an honorable mention to my dad included (that one is actually my all-time favorite).
I hope this list helps you in moments where you are in a real jam and have no way or time to go to the store, and in those middle-of-the-night up with a sick kiddo moments in which you need something to get you to the morning:
1. Stop ants in the kitchen: Mix 2 drops Dawn dish detergent, 3-parts water, and 1-part white vinegar into a spray bottle. Spray where ants are visible. Ants will usually be gone in about 24 hours.
2. Stop a night-time cough: Mix 2 tablespoons honey to 1 tablespoon lemon juice, sip slowly just before bed.
3. Out of buttermilk needed for a recipe: Mix 1 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar, let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Dish too salty: Peel a potato and cut it in half. Add it to your dish and allow to cook on low for 5-10 minutes. The potato will soak up much of the salt. Then, simply remove and toss the potato.
5. Sore throat or sore in mouth: Gargle with salt water. The salt helps speed healing.
6. Baby wakes up in the night with a croupy cough: Run a super hot shower or bath and keep the bathroom door closed and no fan on so the room becomes very steamy. Sit and read to baby for 15-20 minutes in the steamy room. If it is cold outside, simply step outside immediately. If it’s not cold outside, open the freezer and stick your heads in for a few minutes. This usually causes giggles from baby and is a treasured memory of mine!
7. Relieve menstrual cramps: Brew a cup of coffee and put a lot of cream and sugar in it. Prop your feet up and sip the coffee for 10 minutes.
8. Relieve growing pains: Stretching before bed for 10 minutes will help your muscles relax once you lay down. If they are persistent, massage muscles with lavender essential oil mixed with coconut oil.
9. Relieve earache in the middle of the night: Hold warm compress on ear for 15 minutes.
10. Headache relief: This is my number one go-to and my dad taught me this one. Create a hot compress, as hot as you can stand it, and cover your entire face with it. Sit in a dark, quiet room with your head back and the rag on your face. Repeat 2-4 times; it usually takes me three times. It is as if you can feel the headache float out of your face with the hot rag. Amazing and it works every time. It is even better if you have someone make the hot compresses for you, then you can just simply relax with your eyes closed in between.
