Beauty Tips – Natural Health Care Tips

Vegetables grow in fertile, well drained and well-cultivated gardens seldom suffer greatly from pests and diseases. The modern gardener accepts that all wildlife has a right to live. It is only when things get out of hand that any living creature causing damage to garden plants can rated as a pest. It is up to the gardener to use his superior intelligence to outwit possibly harmful small creatures instead of polluting the environment surrounding his home. The labels of packaged pesticides should be read carefully. If the contents are dangerous to you, your children and your family pets consider carefully before you buy such substances. Always lock dangerous pesticides quite safely away from children. Do not mix dangerous pesticides with water and don’t store them in lemonade or other drinks, your child may drink the stuff and be poisoned.
The commonly recommended insecticide nicotine, for example, is a poison. As for chemical weed killers the long-term effect of some modern kinds is as yet unknown. The older weed killer, sodium chlorate, is liable to explode; it also runs in the soil and may kill plants in your neighbor’s gardens. Many sprays and powders contain derris or pyrethrum. These are natural insecticides prepared from plants. They are harmless to all warm-blooded creatures but derris can kill fish. If you use derris pesticides, keep sprays and dusts away from your garden pool.
Aphids (greenfly, mealy aphis, black fly) vegetables: all. Damage: they are sapsuckers. Plants are weakened; leaves die and flower buds may be ruined. Control: allow plants sufficient space and do not grow vegetables in shade. Water well and often in dry, summer weather. Keep down weeds, encourage ladybirds. Spray with derris or pyrethrum. These are natural insecticides prepared from plants. They are harmless to all warm-blooded creatures but derris can kill fish.
If you use derris pesticides, keep sprays and dusts away from your garden pool. Encourage natural predators like the hedgehog, toad, frog, ladybird, wasps in (spring but not in summer) and lacewing flies. Learn to distinguish between the helpful centipede, the less helpful millepede and the unpleasant wireworm. Most moths, butterflies and their caterpillars are on your side. The caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies and of the cabbage moth are not! Careful attention at all times to garden hygiene will do much to keep disease to a minimum. Indeed, one cannot ‘cure’ plant diseases and prevention must always be the policy. Always cut out any dead branches or shoots as soon as you notice them and burn them. Also burn ant-rooting fruits.

Bottle gardens are the use of closed glass containers for growing plants in the home. Large bottles such as carboys are ideal, though even smaller containers can house one or two plants. This method is ideal for growing the more delicate plants, particularly ferns, that require a humid, dust free environment, though a wide range of house plants can be grown. Bottle gardens or jungle jars as they are sometimes called are extremely decorative and have great charm but apart from these qualities they can also play a useful role. A bottle garden offers you the choice of adding to your collection of houseplants. Some of the more choosy plants you can expect to grow selaginella (club mosses) which are mossy and fern-like and carpeting; nertera depressa, another carpeting (but much more difficult) plant with tiny leaves and little orange berries; many kinds of the tender ferns such as the wiry-stemmed maiden-hairs, miniature, tender palms, crotons, fittonia, calathea, maranta, peperomia, pellacea, pilea and pellionia. Some of these you will recognize as being good room plants under certain conditions and the important thing about using these in bottle gardens is that most are fairly slow growing. They also provide colour and texture contrast. It is possible to fill a bottle with just one type of plant, say a colony of bromeliads or ferns, but usually they look more attractive when the plants are mixed. Unless you know your plants well, do not be led into thinking that if a plant is small and has small leaves it is bound to be suitable for this type of garden.
Jungle jars have become so popular that today special glass containers are being produced for this purpose. Unlike the old-fashioned glass carboys these are made with necks large enough to allow an arm to reach down inside. Another and easy-to-fill jungle jar is an outsize brandy balloon type glass. Storage jars and even wine and cider jars and bottles can be used, so long as it is possible to plant them. The glass is usually clear and is preferable to that tinted light brown, or green which obscures much of the light. The important thing is that it should be clean and be kept clean.
If you are filling a jar which has a narrow neck you should be both careful and patient. First group the plants in the way you hope to see them in the jar. If you cannot insert your hand you will need to improvise a tool or two so that you can make a hole for the plant, guide the plant into the hole, cover it and firm the soil round the plant afterwards. Often one thick stick will do the lot but more often it is helpful to lash a kitchen spoon to a cane to dig out holes. An old fashioned cotton reel on the end of a cane will make a neat little rammer with which you will be able to pat the soil round the plants. These should always be set firmly in the soil otherwise their roots will not be able to absorb nourishment and they may sicken and die.

The safest thing to put in is charcoal, which is so light in weight that it cannot crack the glass. If you use small pebbles such as pea gravel, do this with care, perhaps a thin layer of peat to cushion the impact of the stones on the glass base. To fill a carboy, make a funnel or cylindrical chute of strong paper or card. Insert one end of this into the neck of the jar. First pour in the peat, then the gravel and lastly the soil. This drainage layer needs to be quite deep, 2 inch or so for a large carboy and proportionately less for smaller jars. Composts should not be too rich or the plants will grow too fast. The amount of soil you use will depend upon the size of the container; you should be able to see much more glass and plants than soil but it is the depth of the plant’s roots, which should guide you. These must be properly planted. To get the soil in the right condition so far as moisture is concerned, calculate how much you need, take about one third of this amount and spread this out on newspaper to dry. Spray the other two thirds until it is just moist, uniformly so, and when you take a handful and squeeze it gently it should just cling together. This dampened compost should go in first. The dry compost follows to form a top dry layer, which should help to seal in the moisture. As with dish gardens, water the plants beforehand and allow them to drain thoroughly. Knock them from their pots in turn. If the aperture of the glass is very small it may be necessary to shake off any loose soil from the roots so that the plant can be slipped in easily. The leafy portion is no problem because this naturally contracts, as it is eased root first through the opening. To make sure of this, hold the plant by the tips of its leaves, or if it is tall, gather its branches or leaves up near its center stem, so that this top portion is made really slim. Make a hole in the soil, tilt the jar and aim for the hole. This actually, is easier than it sounds. Direct the plant into the hole with the stick or with the spoon. Make the hole for the next plant directing the soil round the roots of the first plant. Settle the soil down before tilting the jar for the second time. Continue this way until all the plants are in position. If the soil is properly moist the plants should settle in and you should not need to water it for some weeks. If the balance is right you should see a little condensation or dew on the interior each morning. However, if this seems excessive then there are several runnels and large drops on the glass, there is too much moisture in the soil and it would be prudent to remove the moisture from the glass to prevent it running back into the soil. Lash a tissue to the end of a wire or the bow of a coat hanger to do this. When the time comes that you see no condensation, this is an indication that the soil needs watering. To do this, gently spray the interior glass. This will help to clean it at the same time. Do not feed the soil or the plants will grow too well.

Lilies are often sold packed in peat or wood shavings to help retain their moisture and protect them. They should be planted as soon as available from September to January. Any lily can be moved successfully immediately after flowering if care is taken to keep the soil on the roots. Some come dry from Japan or N.W. America and these may not be on sale until soil conditions outside are far from ideal. In this case pot them immediately and plant out later when conditions are correct.
With the exception of L.candidum and other European lilies such as L. martagon which make roots from the base of the bulbs only, lilies should be planted with their soil at least twice the depth of the bulb above it, thus a 2-in. deep bulb would need a hole 6-7 in. deep. This is because many lilies make roots from the stem in the first few inches of soil, in addition to those below the bulb. Sites for such lilies must be weed free, for hoeing near them is disastrous. Many lilies grow wild in the company of low-growing shrubs, the roots of which help to drain the soil, and others are found on steep slopes where moisture is flowing under the surface for much of the year, but all are on well-drained sites, and if necessary special beds must be made with extra peat and sharp sand to retain moisture but allow free drainage.
Beds or even hummocks of such soil which will raise the roots and bulbs above the winter water table may make all the difference between success and failure. Some lilies will tolerate lime and others die if given it. Most lilies like to have their flowering stems in the sun, at least for part of the day, and grow well with a ground cover of low shrubs, or even annuals to protect their roots. Lily bulbs should be examined to make sure there is no basal rot present, as this will cause the scales to fall away.
Such bulbs should be burnt. The bulbs can be dusted with a fungicide to prevent the spread of the fungal disease which causes death of leaves and even of the whole shoot. Once the plants are growing they can be protected from this disease by spraying with a systemic fungicide. Virus diseases are in curable, but their spread can be checked by spraying plants with a systemic insecticide which kills aphids which spread virus diseases. Some lilies are comparatively tolerant of virus diseases, but grow better without them, and others are killed by them.

Ingredients.
meatballs.
1 small onion peeled and finely chopped.
1 small sweet green pepper seeded, cored and finely chopped.
15 coriander leaves, or parsley chopped.
2 cloves of garlic chopped.
1 pound of finely ground beef.
2 teaspoons of salt.
1 teaspoon of ground red pepper.
½ teaspoon of ground cumin.
1 egg.
3 cups of vegetable oil.
Method.
1. In a food processor or a large mortar, coarsely grind the onion, pepper, coriander and garlic.
2. Place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl and combine it with the mixture from the processor. Add the salt, red pepper, an egg and cumin. Now put it in food processor or mortar and mix it well until it becomes a smooth mixture.
3. Form the mixture into balls, 1 Inch in diameter. If the mixture is sticky, chill it for 10 minutes before rolling the balls. Roll the balls lightly but thoroughly between the palms of the hands. Many meatballs break open in cooking because they are not rolled long enough. There should be no cracks in the meat mixture.
4. At this stage we can fry it by dipping it in a beaten egg mixture and fry, 4 or 5 at a time, until the outsides are crusty and brown and drain the meatballs on paper towels and leave to cool and serve it with ketchup or chutney.
CURRY SAUCE.
Ingredients.
½ cup of butter.
3 large onions peeled and chopped.
2-inch piece of fresh ginger root peeled and minced.
10 cloves of garlic chopped.
1 cup of plain yogurt.
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric.
1 teaspoon of ground red pepper.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 cup chopped tomato.
2 tablespoons of freshly chopped coriander.
Method.
1. Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry, stirring continually, until the onions are light golden brown.
2. Put the onions out of butter and add the ginger, garlic and yogurt and process it to a smooth puree in the processor.
3. Heat the saucepan again over medium heat and add the puree and cook it for 5 minutes. Now add the turmeric, red pepper and salt, stir it and cook for 5 more minutes until the spices have blended in. Now stir in the tomatoes and water. Bring a boil by increasing the heat and let it become in a smooth sauce.
4. Add the meatballs, stir gently to coat them with the sauce, then cover the pan and let them heat through for 10 minutes.
5. Transfer the meatballs to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the coriander leaves.

Ingredients-
3 pounds of skinned Chicken parts.
2-lemon juice.
1 teaspoon of paprika.
¼ teaspoon of ground red pepper.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Method.

1. Wash and thoroughly dry the chicken parts. With a point of a sharp knife, make deep cuts in equal distance and place it in a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix together the lemon juice, paprika, red pepper and salt and rub this mixture well into the chicken pieces.
3. Let the chicken in this stage rest for one hour on room temperature. Meanwhile prepare the marination.

MARINATION INGREDIENTS.
6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped.
2-inch piece of ginger root peeled and chopped.
3 green Serrano chilli peppers, or 1 jalapeno chilli.
1-½ cups of plain yogurt.
4 tablespoons of melted butter.
1-½ teaspoons of ground cumin seeds.
1 teaspoon of salt.

1/2 level tsp. ground cardamom.
1 tsp. garam masala
A few drops of red or orange food coloring.
Method.
1. Place the ginger, garlic and chilli peppers in a food processor grind it and add all spices and process to a smooth sauce. The color will seem garish but don’t feel it will tone down under the grill.

2. Using a spatula pour the mixture from the processor over the chicken pieces and rub it well into and on every piece. Set the chicken aside to marinate at room temperature for two hours, this marinated chicken can wait for ten hours also in refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. (if using a charcoal barbecue, make sure the coals are glowing).
3. Thoroughly drain the chicken from the marinade and let it dry. To reserve the marinade give a blow with blow-dryer.
4. Place the chicken pieces on a raised rack or on an oven spit with a pan set below to catch the basting marinade.
5. Sear the chicken on all sides, turning with tongs to avoid piercing the seal being built up. Immediately lower the heat to 375 degrees or place the chicken pieces away from the source of heat.
6. Immediately baste with the marinade and cook for 5 minutes. Baste again if the surface has dried and cook for another 5 minutes.

7. Turn the pieces over carefully with the tongs and baste the reverse sides with the marinade. Keep turning as necessary, basting when the surface looks dry.
8. Now increase the heat to 450 degrees and brush the chicken pieces with a complete coating of melted butter. Replace them under the grill so that the coating and butter fuse to a crisp, hard crust.
9. Remove the chicken pieces with tongs and set them on a platter with onion rings and limes and serve immediately.

Ingredients.
For batter.
½ lb of Flour.
½ oz butter.
½ teaspoon salt.
2 eggs.
1 cup of milk.
4 oranges.
6 tablespoons of hot lard or clarified dripping.
Method.
Make a light batter with flour, butter, salt, eggs and required quantity of milk to make it the proper consistency; peel the oranges, remove the whole layer of white skin as possible and divide each orange in to 10 portions with out breaking the thin skin, unless it be to remove the pips; dip each piece into batter. Keep ready a pan of boiling lard or clarified dripping, drop in the oranges and fry them a delicate brown from 8 to 10 minutes. When done lay them on a piece of blotting paper before the fire to drain away the greasy moisture and dish them out. Sprinkle over them plenty of pounded sugar and serve quickly.

ORANGE CREAM.
Ingredients for a quart mould.
1 oz of Isinglass.
6 large Oranges.
1 Lemon.
Sugar according to taste.
Water as required.
Good cream ½ pint.
Method.
Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemon, strain it and put it into a saucepan with the isinglass and sufficient water to make it in all 1-1/2 pint. Rub the sugar on the orange and lemon rind, add it to the other ingredients and boil all together for about 10 minutes, strain through a muslin bag and when cold beat up it with ½ pint of thick cream. Wet a mould or soak it in cold water; pour in the cream and put it in a cool place to set. If the weather is very cold, 1 oz of isinglass will be found sufficient for the above proportion of ingredients.

ORANGE JELLY.
Ingredients for a quart mould.
1 pint of Water.
2 oz of Gelatine or icinglass.
½ of Loafsugar.
1 Seville orange.
1 Lemon.
9 China oranges.
Method.
Put the water into a saucepan with the icinglass or gelatine, sugar and the rind of 1 orange and the same of ½ lemon and stir these over the fire until the isinglass or gelatine is dissolved and remove the scum. Then add to this the juice of the Seville orange, the juice of the lemon and sufficient juice of china oranges to make in all 1 pint: from 8 to 10 oranges will yield the desired quantity. Stir altogether over the fire until it is just on the point of boiling: skim well; then strain the jelly through a very sieve or jelly-bag, and when nearly cold put it into a mould previously wetted; and when quite cold, turn it out on a dish and garnish to taste. To insure this jelly being clear, the orange and lemon juice should be well strained and the icinglass or gelatine clarified before they are added to the other ingredients and to heighten the colour a few drops of prepared cochineal may be added.

Ingredients.
1 roasting chicken.
Marinade.
5 tablespoons of soy sauce.
The juice of 1 lemon.
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
Stuffing.
2 cups of rice, boiled.
1large tomato, thin sliced.
1medium onion, chopped.
1capsicum, finely chopped.
2 eggs.
1 tablespoon of freshly grounded black pepper.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1teaspoon of Chinese salt.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Frying.
6 tablespoons of butter.
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Gravy.
2 table spoons of vegetable oil.
3 cloves of garlic, mashed.
The liver of the chicken, Mashed.
2 tablespoons of all-purpose floor.
1-½ cups of the chicken stock from the steamer.
1-¾ tablespoon of soy sauce.
¼ teaspoons of freshly grounded black pepper.
Method.
1. Take a whole boned chicken. In a large mixing bowl, stir the soy sauce, lemon juice and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Place the chicken into this and turn it several times until it is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Let it sit at room temperature while you prepare the stuffing (you may give it at this stage 5 to 6 hours or over night stay, refrigeration is also allowed).
2. Put a pan on the medium heat, put two tablespoons of oil in it. When oil become hot put two beaten eggs in it and stir, now add onion, tomato, capsicum, salt, Chinese salt, black pepper. Now mix it all properly and add boiled rice and stir it. Now stuffing is ready.
4. Drain the chicken from the marinade and set it in front of you. Pour the remaining water into the steamer water, which you have to keep ready for steaming. If the bird has a split from the tail opening, take needle and thread and sew this together before working on the closing. Run the needle in a basting stitch through the flesh and skin all around the tail opening. Hold both ends of the thread in your hands and draw it together like a drawstring. Knot to fasten. Now take a length of thread and wind it around both of the leg ends, about 1inch up from the end of the skin. Draw it tight and knot it, leaving a lump of frill. (You will need leg frills later). Do not tie the legs to each other.
4. Place the chicken opening toward you. Start stuffing into the bird. Gradually fill the bird. You may find you will not need to use all the stuffing if the bird looks full to bursting, otherwise it will split under pressure when cooking. Take the needle and doubled thread and again employ a drawstring technique to sew up the breast opening.
5. Take a short length of trussing string and wind it round one of the leg frills. Attach it to the other leg frill and draw them together across the chicken. Lay the chicken across the length of the cheesecloth and wind the cheesecloth firmly around the bird with a long length of trussing string. Secure it firmly because the chicken skin becomes extremely fragile during the steaming and will split open unless you encase the bird in cheesecloth. 
6. Bring the water in the steamer up to a boil and place the chicken in the top section. Cover and steam for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Remove the bird from the steamer and dry it with paper towels.
7. In a large wok, heat the butter and oil until a haze forms on top. Using 2 spatulas, carefully fry the bird, browning it on all sides. You may roast it also. Roast it at 350F. (gas mark 4) for about 1 ½ hours, basting it with melted butter about every 15 minutes. Remove the bird to heated platter and keep it warm in a low oven while you make the gravy. Don’t for get to remove both thread and trussing string before serving.
8. Heat the butter and oil in the wok and fry the garlic until light gold. Stir in the mashed liver mixing it in with the back of the spatula until the mixture becomes smooth and oily. Add the flour and keep on cooking, stirring until the gravy thicken and there are no lumps, add soy sauce and black pepper and pour it on gravy pot.

Ingredients.
2tablespoon of vegetable oil.
½ pound of fresh, medium shrimp, shells cleaned and deveined.
8cups of basic chicken stock.
2teaspoons of salt.
The outer, yellow peel of 2 lemons, cut into strips.
The peel from ½ a lime.
2 green Serrano chillies or 1 jalapeno chilli, seeded and cut into silvers.
½ pound of firm, white fish fillets, cut into strips about 2 inch long.
6dried Chinese mushrooms, cut into strips.
¼ pound cooked crabmeat, cut into chunks.
2 to 3 tablespoons of fish sauce.
3 limes juice.
2 fresh red-dried red chilli, coarsely chopped.
30 fresh coriander leaves.
Method.
1.   Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and fry the shrimp’s shells until they turn pink. Add the chicken stock, salt, lemon and lime pile and green chillies or the jalapeno chilli. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes.
2.   Strain the contents of the saucepan through a sieve, discarding the solids, and return the stock to the pan. Bring it to a boil again.
3.   Add the fish pieces and the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and let the soup boil for two minutes more. Stir in the crabmeat and add fish sauce. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
4. Stir in the lime juice and then shift the contents of the pan to a soup dish. Sprinkle with red chilli silvers, spring onions and coriander and serve at once.

SPINACH SOUP WITH EGGS.
Ingredients.
4cups of basic fish stock.
10 spinach leaves, washed and cut across into 1-inch sections.
2 eggs, beaten.
2 teaspoons of soy sauce.
8 to 10 oyster crackers.
Method.
1. Bring the stock to a boil and add spinach. Immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the spinach for 5 minutes.
2. Begin to stir the soup and gently pour in the beaten eggs, stirring until they form shreds. Season with the soy sauce and remove the soup from the heat.
3. Pour the soup into individual soup bowls and float two oyster crackers on each.
BASIC FISH STOCK.
Ingredients.
1pound chicken pieces in 2 quarts of cold water, cut off all skin and fat.
2 teaspoons of white vinegar.
2 spring onions.
2 cups of clam juice.
Method.
1. Place all the ingredients except the clam juice in a pan and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the chicken and onions and pour in the clam juice. Bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for more5 minutes.
3. Let the stock cool and then strain it through a sieve.

Ingredients.
2 tablespoons of peanut oil.
½ teaspoon of anchovy paste.
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grounded.
½ a large onion, finely sliced.
1 teaspoon of powdered turmeric.
½ teaspoon of powdered ginger.
1 green Serrano chilli, chopped.
4 cups of basic chicken stock. (mentioned in hot and sour soup).
½ cup fresh or frozen kernels.
10 spinach leaves.
½ teaspoon of salt.
Method.
1. Heat the peanut oil over medium heat in a large pan and fry the anchovy paste and garlic, stir it and let it become light brown.
2. Stir in the onion and turmeric and continue to fry for 2 to 3 more minutes. Then add the ginger, chilli and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Return the heat to high. Add the corn kernels and spinach, bring to a boil and cook, stir for 5 minutes and then serve it in soup bowls.

SPINACH AND BAMBOO SOUP.

Ingredients.
4 cups of basic chicken stock.
8 spinach leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces.
¼ cup of canned bamboo shoots.
1 slice of ham, ¼ -inch thick.
4 small fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced.
½ teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of sesame oil.
Method.
1. Bring the stock to a boil in a pan and add the spinach and bamboo shoots. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the ham and mushrooms and continue to simmer for more 2 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, stir in the salt and sesame oil. Serve in the soup bowl.

CHICKEN CORN SOUP.

Ingredients.
8 cups of basic chicken stock.
½ pound of chicken meat, cut into 1-inch pieces.
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced.
1 cup of baby corn (tin pack).
2-inch garlic piece, minced.
2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
2 tablespoons of white vinegar.
¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
½ teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of Chinese salt.
2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
½ teaspoon of sugar.
1 tablespoon of cooking oil.2 eggs.
Method.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil over medium heat in a pan and add the baby corn. In an other sauce pan heat up the oil and put ginger and garlic in it to fry until it turn golden put it in the chicken stock. Now put the chicken in the stock. Now add white vinegar, salt, Chinese salt, soy sauce and black pepper. In one cup of water mix cornstarch and sugar and put it in soup. While soup is becoming thick add two beaten eggs in thin stream in it at boiling point. Now it is ready you can serve it.