Simple Homemaking-cough syrup

Just to have a go at it, I decided to try some homemade remedies this year, instead of running to the pharmacy for another bottle of cough syrup that doesn't work.

I did research and came up with a few new recipes. This one is a cough syrup using ginger, garlic , lemon and honey. No exact measurements, which will not surprise my face to face friends.

I used both fresh ginger and some that I had picked up in a jar at my local Indian market, as I liked the kick to it. The honey is a good humectant and is antimicrobial. The lemon juice is a great added source of vitamin C. The virtues of garlic are many; it is a natural antibiotic, it is an anti-viral and a fungicide. Garlic stimulates your immune system too, so it was a good choice to add to my recipe.

You could make this cough syrup with a base of equal parts water and honey (as a simple syrup is with 1 cup water to 1 cup white sugar), if you are leery of using whiskey in it. I used whiskey which aids in helping you to sleep, versus coughing out a lung.

After you have your ingredients in your jar, keep it in a dark place. Shake it several times daily. At the end of this time (depends of which base you chose), you can sift out the ginger and garlic -though we are keeping it *as is* and we don't mind that it is a little thicker, with either a chunk of raw ginger or garlic to chew on.

Take 1 Tablespoon as needed, to sooth the cough.

Most cough syrups are a simple syrup base, with chemical compounds added, coloring and alcohol, with perhaps some herbs added in. Mine doesn't taste like candy, but remember, it isn't supposed to. It works I tell you.

Your amounts will depend on the size of the jar you choose. Fill it up halfway with the liquid of your choice, the alcohol does a much better job of drawing out the natural properties of the other ingredients though. Make sure to add 1 cup of honey if you are using the whiskey base.

Peel, slice and chop your ginger and garlic, drop it in. (I used 8 cloves of garlic and about 1-2 inches of fresh ginger). I used a whole fresh lemon (no seeds), but you could use only a tablespoon or two. I added 2 Tbs. of the minced ginger garlic (not necessary) from the store and then screwed the lid on and began 'the shaking.'

I left mine on the counter for the first day (to get me in the shaking mentality), then moved it to the refrigerator.

If you are using the simple syrup route, the syrup will be ready to use within a week. If you are using the whiskey recipe, then continue to agitate it for 4-6 weeks, this will really draw all the natural healing properties out of the ingredients.

Store in the refrigerator, and always use a clean fresh spoon. (as if spoons could be naughty!)

Be well and God bless you!

The unstrained beautiful cough syrup-forgot to snap the picture before I threw out the lemon

Ready and waiting

Homeschool-science, life skills, pesto madness

We have bought, planted, watered, pinched back, weeded, used and harvested our basil from our garden.

I share with you my basil pluckers, honestly we learned a lot along our basil path. I am happy to have my little homeschool children along side me in our Basil:science/life skills lesson- as prior to them entering into the garden lessons, it was only me doing all the work. It would be a half day job of making the pesto...but now it is cut down to only 1 1/2 hours of pesto making time.

How we love our basil and that pesto sauce that we have frozen into ice-cube portions, awaits for us to call it out of its designated spot in the freezer and onto our forks.

*When we freeze it, we leave out the Parmesan cheese, as this doesn't behave itself in the freezer.

Recipe for Pesto:

Tons of fresh basil

extra virgin olive oil

salt

black peppercorns

pine nuts (pignoli nuts)

heaps of fresh garlic

blend in your food processor, scoop out into ice cube trays, cover each tray with wax paper and an elastic to keep other freezer flavors from effecting your pesto. When frozen, pop out and and place in your chosen freezer container, labeling the date. It will keep for 12 months, or until your next harvest time. It is full of natural goodness and certainly will keep away the colds with all the wonderful properties of garlic.

Yes, we did eat it by the spoonful, just to see if we had the proportions right. Some of it never made it to the freezer, as it was so good we couldn't wait!

Harvesting Echinacea-coneflower

I have always had an interest in natural ways of health and healing. As a Christian, I believe that God has given us all we need to live well, perhaps things are not quite as well since sin entered the Garden, but I still believe in a loving Father that cares for His children...and so call me 'Crunchy' or call me a tree hugger, but I think it is so much better than chemical solutions to health.

In the past we have bought most of our herbal needs from local shops, that carried what we needed. This year however, I decided to begin to make my own herbal treatments from what I have growing in my gardens. I have done research for years, on what herbal/natural treatments exist. We've used echinacea tincture for years, this year I decided to make my own.
We use this at the first sign of a cold coming on, just a half a dropper full is enough, continued every few hours until you've beaten it.

Parts of the coneflower that are usable:flower, leaves and roots. I picked away from my large bed of coneflower, the best time to pick is near frost time. I snapped off several plants, then also tugged out 20 roots (they are not very big roots). I gave everything a rinse in the sink, the roots got a gentle scrubbing to remove all the remaining dirt. I laid them out on cookie sheets in my kitchen and put the oven on the lowest setting for 20 minutes, leaving them for several hours before opening the door to begin the next process. Make sure the flowers and leaves are totally dry (don't want any dampness that can later create mold).

I tried to snap of as much of the stems from the roots, prior to drying. These roots get rock hard. I ground them in my coffee bean grinder, a few at a time until powdery. It makes an awful racket. A few leaves and flowers were thrown in.

You can use leaves, flowers and roots fresh...I do some of both for echinacea.

More to follow...I will let you know how to make a tincture of echinacea, how to use the now dry echinacea in tea, or how to put them into empty gel capsules. I also made some cough syrups, an echinacea, an onion syrup, a honey-ginger-garlic cough syrup, a cilantro syrup...so come back and see.

Will it taste good? Well, probably not like candy...but my kids take it without too much fuss. And we tend to be a very healthy bunch, thanks to God.