Kitchen Common Sense, Healthy Choices and the Garden

Kitchen Common Sense: Burns

Greetings!  Tonight's blog is brought to you by Burn Free, which would have been extremely useful last night if I could have found either bottle I know are here.  I have no idea where they ended up when we moved.  I may break down and buy another one.

As anyone who has worked in a kitchen (or curled their hair, flat ironed their hair, etc.) can tell you, burns are part of the game. Those who knows me very well can tell you: I am exceptionally burn prone.  My last foray into burn action (before last night) involved hot vegan butter, a persnickety whisk and exceptionally bad/good luck; good luck it missed my eye (thank you glasses!), bad luck it was just shy of a third degree burn.

For those who are are unlucky enough to burn themselves, here are some tips:

1. DON'T put ice on the burn; I know it seems intuitive, super hot to treat super cold, but the extreme ice will do more damage.  Run your appendage under cold water, or use a clean cloth soaked in water if holding the burn under water is awkward (like, you know, your face).  Get cold on it FAST, the longer it sits the deeper the burn.
2. If there is a blister, DON'T pop it.  Leave it intact as long as possible.  That blister is all that stands between your damaged dermis and bacteria.  If it pops, go from there.  Remove the loose skin and keep it clean.  Don't use peroxide or rubbing alcohol; warm, soapy water will do just fine. 
3. Burn cream:  I mentioned Burn Free; as a person who's used it for everything from sunburn to skin-gone-oh-great-gods-what-happened burns, it is worth every penny.  Most burn creams are designed to pull the heat from the burn to prevent further damage; there is a huge variety, so take a look!  I plan on putting one in my kitchen...whether found or purchased...because last night proved it needs to live in the kitchen.  As an added bonus, it smells like Tea Tree Oil.
4. First aid cream: after my epic burn, I looked for something other than neosporin.  I'm not vain by nature, and given options between a scar and infection, I'll take a scar any day.  That being said, I wanted something that had more of a lotion quality...that's where the tattoo cream came in.  A tattoo is basically a large open wound.  Most shops will give you A&D ointment.  I hate the smell of A&D.  At a past tattoo convention we found a booth with some all natural cream from H2Ocean; let me tell you, this stuff was killer for tattoos (the tightness while it's healing, the itchy, peeling stage...the whole shebang).  As it turns out, it is also killer for burns, two to three days post burn and beyond.  I have NO scar, no mark what-so-ever...and with how bad the burn was it's impressive.  Be careful what you put on your burns, lotion may sound like a good idea but it could cause infection.  Google/Bing/etc. your options!!
5. If it is serious, or you think it is serious, don't mess with it!  If you feel like your burn is serious, or is in a sensitive area, call your local ER or clinic.  If in doubt, seek medical help!!  

Best course of action is not to burn yourself!  If it does happen, take care of it!!

Healthy Choices

My goals this year include cutting out processed food...which includes soda.  The last six weeks I've had clear sodas only; no coke/diet coke/coke zero.  The "clear" ones (Sprite, Sierra Mist, Ginger Ale) I've had maybe three in the same time period.  I drink tea (iced tea, now that the weather is warmer) and water.  I can't begin to describe how much better I feel.  I'm not saying everyone should cut soda, but pay attention to how you feel.  It may be time for a change up!

Gardening: Boxes!

With our new place I've got oodles of space for gardening, and as such, I'm going to put in gardens!  My end goal is five 4'x8' boxes.  As of Sunday, I have two!  They're empty, they need leveling and such, but I'm super excited!!  Big thanks to my mother-in-law Candy for showing/helping me put them together!!

Progress to be posted as we get there!  Pictures to be posted soon  too :)

That's it for now.  Eat Happy!