10 Essential Home Remedies Using Common Pantry Staples

In my latest video, I review 10 essential home remedies to keep on hand in your pantry for treating everyday complaints, including coughs and colds, stomach aches, minor burns and scrapes, indigestion, and more.

And in this blog post, I highlight a few of those remedies from my video and provide you with detailed step-by-step instructional videos to help you learn more. Along with traditional medicine, these homemade remedies will help keep you and your family feeling happy and healthy.

Honey

Honey not only provides a sweet treat for our palate, but it can also help fend off colds when infused with garlic, ginger, and turmeric And as I share in my video, I was very excited to learn that honey can actually help treat a minor burn. (See the National Institutes of Health link below.) So for us home cooks, it’s definitely worth keeping a little container of honey by the stove.

• US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: Up-to-date use of honey for burns treatment

Ginger

Ginger is another wonderful ingredient to keep on hand to help you feel a bit better when you have a cold. It’s also great for quelling nausea. And what better way to enjoy ginger when you have a bit of a stomach ache than with a homemade ginger ale!

Apples

Apples are a tasty fruit to eat all on their own, and it turns out that the pectin in apples can actually aid in digestion. But there are a lot of ways to consume apples and reap their benefits than just by eating them raw. You can make your own homemade apple cider vinegar, which you can add to water with a bit of honey for a refreshing drink that can help calm indigestion.

But don’t worry, if vinegar is not your favorite way to benefit from apples, you can also make applesauce or even dry apples for a sweet snack. For drying apples, you don’t need any special equipment like a dehydrator. You can dry apples right in your oven!

Turmeric

These days, we hear so much about Turmeric. This spice is known for its wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. So next time you have a few body aches when suffering from a cold or flu, try whipping up a cup of Turmeric Milk—or Golden Milk as it is commonly called. With a little dollop of honey mixed in, you can’t go wrong. The delightful spiced fragrance and the warmth of the milk will have you feeling better in no time!

Salt & Sugar

The properties of salt and sugar play key roles in many home remedies. Salt, when mixed with warm water, can make an effective gargle when you have a sore throat. When mixed with a bit of olive oil, salt and sugar can make a great scrub for rough body parts like heels and elbows.

For me, the best home remedy when it comes to sugar is something I have known about for over 50 years! When I was a child, I was plagued with hiccups, but my mom always knew what to do. She’d place a little bit of sugar under my tongue, and it always calmed my hiccups down. And quite quickly!

We didn’t know the science behind the hiccup cure back then, but I have learned that the sweet taste triggers the vagus nerve, which calms the diaphragm and causes the hiccup spasms to stop. How about that for a home remedy!

A Final Word About Home Remedies

I am not a medical doctor, so to be safe, be sure to check with your physician before taking any natural remedy.

Home remedies are never a substitute for modern medicine, especially for serious illnesses, but they can certainly bring you a little bit of comfort when you are feeling under the weather. So be sure to stock your pantry with these common items for the next time you feel the sniffles coming on, have a touch of indigestion…or maybe you are simply trying to stop your hiccups!

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Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!

And if you’re looking for a printed book full of my traditional foods recipes to show you how to create a traditional foods kitchen, be sure to order your copy of my new bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.

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Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

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I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

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Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Home Remedy Making Supplies

• 64-ounce Jar
• 32-ounce Jar
• 16-ounce Jar
• Plastic Storage Lids
• KitchenAid Blender
• Wusthof Knife
• Spatula
• Bamboo Cutting Board

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Spice Grinder
• Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
• Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
• Vacuum Lids
• Whisk
• Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

Recommended Reading

• The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
• Nourishing Traditions
• The Doctors Book of Home Remedies: Quick Fixes, Clever Techniques, and Uncommon Cures to Get You Feeling Better Fast
• Books by Rosemary Gladstar:
  • Medicinal Herbs – A Beginner’s Guide
  • Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
  • Family Herbal
  • Herbal Healing for Women