Edible Tulip

The Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar and a Vinaigrette for Potato Salad

I'm not a huge fan of apple cider, warm or cold, so I stayed away from the cider vinegars that I used to see at the bulk store and the health food store. I think the reasoning behind my buying some for the first time many years ago was the retro glass jug it came in (not the one pictured above), sort of like a magician's apothecary vessel holding misting potion, AND the cheap price (I believe $2.99 for 3L) for something natural, aged in wood, unpasteurized and naturally fermented. Who could resist the temptation?

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) soon became a regular in my ever growing assortment of vinegars and oils. I liked the tangy almost harsh taste; it has none of the sweetness of a balsamic vinegar. I think it's more like a wine vinegar, slightly fruity with musk tones. I actually bought this particular batch for my dog, Simon. I feed him a raw food dinner and the apple cider vinegar is supposed to have numerous pet benefits: adding it to raw ground beef reduces any bacteria the meat may contain; it is also a natural flea preventative and it makes coats shiny and healthy.

ACV is an age-old folk remedy for a staggering away of common ailments: pet and environmental allergies; high cholesterol; sinus infections; the flu; chronic fatigue; candida; sore throats; itchy dry skin conditions like dermatitis; and even arthritis (helps the last one in animals too). I wondered how ACV could be a positive medicine for candida when typically you are encouraged to avoid alcohol and acid during a high yeast growth period because it kills off the good bacteria. Over on the website Earth Clinic Folk Remedies I found an explanation: "Apple Cider Vinegar in itself is alkaline because of its "ash" content, which means if the apple cider vinegar was burned, what is left over becomes ash. When you check for the pH of that ash and dissolve it with water, the content is alkaline. Whenever our body digests anything, it undergoes oxidation, which is similar to burning and the end result is that you can determine whether the end product was alkaline or acid. Apple Cider Vinegar has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties, primarily coming from the malic acid and acetic acid portion of the vinegar. Apple cider vinegar acts as a buffer in the body because the acetic acid reacts with base or acid compounds to form an acetate, therefore rendering them chemically bioavailable for the body's utilization. Additionally, Apple Cider Vinegar can reduce the toxicity of certain compounds by converting the toxin into an acetate compound, which is less toxic. This is why they are ideal for insect bites and certain skin allergies. While Apple Cider vinegar in itself is considered alkaline, a chemically pure vinegar (acetic acid) is neither acid nor basic forming as it leaves no ash as the entire portion, when burned evaporates completely".

Potato Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon each fresh marjoram and fresh thyme, chopped

As far as the potato salad goes, you can prepare it however you like. For this very basic picnic table potato salad dish, I simply boil 3 pounds of small red skinned potatoes until they break apart when pierced with a fork. I drain them, place them in a large ceramic platter, and coat with the dressing while they are still warm/hot. The ACV seems like a high ration with the olive oil (i.e. half to half) but because it gets soaked into the potatoes, it seems less vinegary and instead adds a welcome punch. I chop up some red onion and toss that in to. The fresh herbs carry the rest of it. 

Natural Plant-Based Household Cleaning Products (And Good Ol' Vinegar and Baking Soda)

I stopped being dependent on chemical-based products for my body a long time ago. I use a natural deodorant (crystal roll on; lemon verbena stick; Burts Bees spray on, to name a few) and sure it doesn't work as well as a name brand anti-perspirant chock full of aluminum and a whole bunch of other ingredients you probably can't pronounce but then again sweating is part of the human condition. It's natures way of releasing toxins from our system. It's why you can smell booze or garlic if you've had a little too much of either the night before. And frankly, I'd rather smell like my self than baby powder blended with a heavy dose of musk. I've always been sensitive to smells and to chemicals, and in many ways I'm thankful for that. In addition to becoming allergic to my bed sheets when I used a chemical based laundry detergent, my sensitivity was also almost the determining factor in a relationship break up. I was picked up for my birthday dinner in a freshly cleaned car that had been sprayed with air freshener. In my books, that's a mood killer when you're tryiing to talk while feeling as though someone's grandmother wearing too much of her talc powder is sitting on your face. I do love the smell of lily of the valley, of wet ferns, of fresh cut grass, of AIR in general, but I don't like reproductions of those smells, created with chemicals and packaged up in aerosol containers. After a few bad headaches following cleaning the bathtub, I decided to stop buying store bought name brand chemical household cleaners. Not only do they smell awful, there are poison warnings plastered all over the bottles. And often enough they tell you that a specific cleaner that's okay for a kitchen counter should not be used on natural marble, wood, fabrics, and painted surfaces. Hmmm, why? Because the cleanser is so potent it will peel paint? I started using plain old white vinegar mixed 1 part to 3 parts tap water just like they did 50 years ago. I use it on everything, everywhere, instead of a lysol or a multi-purpose windex. It does smell vinegary when you first spray it but when it dries it loses all scent. In addition to the vinegar/water homemade solution (you can get a large jug of vinegar for about $1.99!), I use two other cleaning products: an all natural fruit and veggie spray made of palm oil, cellulose gum and witch hazel which I soak the produce in for 10 minutes in cold water in the sink. In other words it takes a natural cleanser to work off the pesticides, i.e. chemicals, that cover my food. And an all purpose plant-based natural SOAP which I use on everything - to clean the kitchen sink, as a shampoo for my dog, to wash my hands, to mop the floor. The one pictured above is a Whole Foods brand and I think it cost about $2.99. It uses organic lemon essential oils, chamomile, white tea, aloe vera, and a certified organic coconut cleansing complex which creates a great sudsy soap. Why wouldn't everyone prefer to use NATURE instead of synthetic fragrances and irritating sodium lauryl sulfites. And for an exfoliant when you have those extra tough stains like RED WINE on white counter tops, don't grab the extra strength bug killer/stain remover, sprinkle some baking soda on top, let sit, scrub. Bet it's gone! I'd love to hear any tips you might have, or natural cleaning methods you've randomly discovered, or invented, or have been passed down in your family.

Here's a piece from CBC Marketplace that explains why household cleaners fall under the Hazardous Products Act. As a little preview, this is how much producers of toxic products care about the well being of their consumers over a little profit: "We wanted to ask Health Canada about its role and some of the concerns raised in this story, but they refused repeated requests for an on-camera interview. The manufacturers of Lysol, Clorox and Pledge all said they were unavailable for an interview and so did their trade association."

p.s. I was about to toss the ceramic toothbrush holder also in the picture above that I got at the local Dollar Store. It was when my boyfriend lived here and we both used handheld manual toothbrushes and the wooden toothbrush affixed permanently to the bathroom wall was made of wood and beginning to rot. Plus, who knows who has used that toothbrush holder before we moved in. Ew. Anyway, this toothbrush holder didn't work that well either. The spittle deposits in the bottom of it and it becomes sludgy pretty quickly. Plus my boyfriend moved out and I switched back to an electric tootbrush. Then it rained yesterday and soaked all the spring flowers beginning to bloom in the front garden so I pinched at the base of the stem a few of the delicate ones keeling over from the heavy rain and brought them inside and looked around for something to put them in and lo and behold the toothbrush holder works perfectly. It holds about 1/2 inch of water in the base and it has 6 open squares for putting in a flower stem. Why not look around your house or your apt and find an item that can be used for something other than its intended purpose. Let me know what you find!