Aloe I Love you

This is not a big earth shattering post...I burned the side of my hand this morning while cooking up some omelets for us...but it was a very hot skillet and I got the side of my thumb pretty good (bad).  And what did I do?  I went old school and went straight out to the porch and cut me a stem off my aloe vera plant.  

First let me say, if you don't have a pot of this growing in your home then go out and buy one ASAP.  They are happy little plants that are hearty and easy to grow.  And they multiply like crazy.  This little guy in the lower right of the picture was left out in the sunshine for too long and we just knew he was done for!  Not true!  We brought him inside for a couple weeks...watered him and put him close to some of our other healthy plants and look how healthy he is now!  (Look I don't have kids or pets due to our nomadic lifestyle...I love plants.  Don't judge...)

So if your grandmother never showed you how to use aloe straight from the plant, it goes like this.  The old wives tale is -- the plant will tell you which stem it is offering.  Never take the biggest one or the smallest one.  Take a moment to look and you will see which one to take.  With sharp scissors make a clean cut on your plant.  At this point you want to make sure the area for application on your skin is clean and dry.  You need to open up the stem and get the "goodie" out.  We always just use our nails to open the plant up. Working from the small part of the stem downward to our cut, just open it up. I flatten the stem out flat - sort of creating a surface with the gel exposed and apply the gel right on to the affected area.  Some people sort of squish it out of the stem like a tube of toothpaste.  Whatever works for you.  The goal is just to get a good amount of gel on the burn. It is going to be runny and sort of gross but just go with it.  It is worth it.  Viola'! 

So what is so special about aloe?  Well turns out it was given as a burial gift the Egyptian Pharaohs  and was referred to as the plant of immortality...many people even drink the stuff for weight loss and other health benies.  Depending on what you read it is either really good for you or could cause cancer...This is why we need to teach critical thinking in school....You decide for yourself...You can learn more about that here or read this  interesting article here.  Drinking it is not for me...boogers... 
#stayhealthy #healthyactors #aleoiloveyou

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