Honey and Onion Cough Syrup

Good afternoon!  

Its a beautiful day here in NH, so I am enjoying some precious time to myself. Cup of tea in hand I have been cleaning and preparing all morning. It seems I still have a lingering cough from my last bought of cold and a friend was concerned. Knowing how she cares for me I took her advice and whipped up a new batch of my all-time favorite cough remedy.

Its the simplest cough syrup to make (à mon avis) all you need is:   Honey
                                                                                                    Garlic
                                                                                                    Onions

See, pretty simple. First, a little history.

Honey is one of those substances on the planet that is just absolutely amazing. It has so many properties for health and wellness that its hard to imagine that anyone would go without honey in their diets. It is antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, expectorant, anti-allergenic, laxative, antianemic, and tonic properties. According to the Koran "[Eat thee of honey] wherein is healing for mankind." Even the ancients knew of its revitalizing powers as one of the first fermented beverages was Mead made of honey.

Onions and garlic are wonderful little bulbs that are packed with sulfer, of vitamin C, B6, biotin, chromium, calcium and dietary fiber. Also they contain Vitamin K, B1 and folic acid. Hard to ignore the fact that onions are so very good for you, and they taste great in almost everything. There must be a reason why all over the world onions are grown and incorporated into almost every food/cooking style from asian to french, german and south american. They are a staple part of almost every diet and that has to be due in some part to their many health benefits.

Now onto the good stuff. Start by gathering everything together. I strongly recommend using raw honey from the closest local apiary to you. By choosing raw and local over store bought you are consuming pollen from the area in which you live. This will help your immune system adjust to the allergens in your home and neighborhood. Also all the properties above are muted when the honey is pasteurized. the pasteurization process kills all of the bad bacteria (which there is little of in honey) but it also kills the good bacteria that give honey its amazing properties. So, when in doubt, find someone local that keeps bees and I am quite confident that they will part with some of their honey. (chances are its much cheaper than the store-bought brand as well)

 So on to gathering the ingredients. I used 2 cups of honey. 1/2 of a large onion, and a handful of garlic cloves.

Measure out the honey and pour into a medium sized sauce pot.

Chop up the onion. I used 1/2 of an onion because it was large, but if you have small onions perhaps a whole one or two would work for you. Just a rough chop nothing fancy.

Next chop the garlic. Again, a rough chop works just fine. *spoiler alert* its all going to get strained out in the end. I just grabbed a handful of garlic and began chopping but if you're not a huge fan or you dont like garlic at all it can be omitted.

Then throw it all in the pot with the honey and place on the stove. Heat on medium until the honey loosens up and is easily stirred. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

While this is doing its own thing find a container to hold your cough syrup. I chose medium sized Ball jars. Whenever I make any kind of remedy that needs storing I always sanitize my utensils. Because this batch wont stick around long I didnt do a full boil bath with the jars. Instead I heated enough water in my tea kettle to fill the jars and fill a small bowl to sanitize the lids. The other important reason for the process is to warm the jars before putting hot liquids in them. If you dont heat the jars before putting the cough syrup in you are much more likely to have one explode and that is not alot of fun.

By the time you clean up and get your jars ready your syrup should be just about done.

Carefully strain into your chosen jars and Voila!

Dont forget to label your concoction with the date and what it is, and I hope you feel better soon!

Sources:
http://www.foods-healing-power.com/health-benefits-of-onions.html

Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers - Stephen Harrod Buhner


Note: not an alternative to seeking medical assistance. Always consult your physician before taking any alternative/herbal treatments for any conditions. Dosage may vary based on preference, taste, and size of person. Recipes call for 1tbsp per dose up to 3 times per day but again dosage varies person to person. I am not a physician, I just prefer to care for my own health and the health of my family in the most natural ways possible.

Fire Cider

Its a nice quiet Friday morning in New Hampshire, the cloud cover from hurricane Sandy is finally breaking after its 4th day and we have some scattered sunshine peaking out this afternoon. Im sitting enjoying a cup of tea with my dog's head tucked under my arm as she is helping me post this blog today. She could possibly be the best dog ever, whenever Im sick (like today being the third day of the seasonal cold) she refuses to leave my side and i feel all her love and trust flow between us when we're curled up this way. Dog is definately this woman's best friend.

On to more important business. Since I do have a nasty bit of a cold I would like to share a recipe for fire cider!

Fire Cider is an age old folk remedy that is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and basic all around immune boosting. The ingredients are proven to improve circulation and generally promote good health. 1 teaspoon of this tincture when you feel the sniffles come on should help boost your immune system and fight off more serious symptoms. Some people take 1 teaspoon a day during the duration of cold and flu season to ensure that they're health is in good working order. (Note: not an alternative to seeking medical assistance. Always consult your physician before taking any alternative/herbal treatments for any conditions. Dosage may vary based on preference, taste, and size of person. Recipes call for 1/2 teaspoon to 1 oz per dose but again dosage varies person to person. I am not a physician, I just prefer to care for my own health and the health of my family in the most natural ways possible) well not that the disclaimer has been established, let us begin!

You will need:
1/2 cup fresh grated ginger root
1/2 cup fresh grated horseradish root
1 medium onion, chopped
10 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Several sprigs of fresh rosemary or 2 tbsp of dried rosemary leaves
1 tbsp Turmeric Poweder
 apple cider vinegar
raw local honey to taste

One Big Jar

Start by grating the horseradish and the ginger root. (by the way if youre doing this like I did while having a cold, youre in for a sinus opening surprise!) place in bottom of jar. Next I chopped the onion and the jalapeno (be sure to save all the seeds) and also placed in the jar.

  Take the lemon and grate it into the top of the jar. Use as much of the rind as you can before you get down to the flesh. Once you have done that chop the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the jar as well. I used a neat gadget that is a measuring cup/grater/juicer/other stuff. (Thanks gram!) so with just one tool I did all of my grating of the initial roots as well as the lemon and the juicing with only dirtying one dish.

After the lemon I chopped up the garlic just roughly and added them to the jar, and crushed up the springs of rosemary and stuffed them in too. Top it all off with turmeric and apple cider vinegar and you've made yourself some Fire Cider!

To finish up be sure to add cider vinegar all the way to the top, and place a layer of wax or parchment paper between the glass mouth of the jar and the metal rim of the lid because the vinegar WILL CAUSE EROSION. no wiggle room on that one. you want to place this concoction in a shady place (so basically not in direct sunlight, put it on a low shelf or in a cupboard) and be sure to shake once a day for a month. After 4-6 weeks it will be ready to be strained and put in a new clean jar for keeping. It has a shelf life after straining of at least 2 years. 

To take: when the sniffles start coming on during the dreaded cold and flu season take 1 teaspoon once to twice a day. Sweeten with raw local honey to taste (its okay if you need alot of honey, its only gonna help the cause) and take like a shooter.

Now as much fun as this was to make today, unfortunately its not going to help me in the cold I am battling. Thats ok. The next time I get sick or someone in my house does, we will have Fire Cider at the ready to knock the cold on its arse. Bright Blessings to you all and may good health go with you!

Ivy