large family natural health #3

 

healthFreeDigitalPhotos.net by Praisaeng

Need a great cold and cough remedy that is homemade??  Then look no further.  This is probably one of the most potent and strong tasting –cough suppressing–and throat healing natural remedies I have EVER taken.  IMG_20140925_143027Notice all the little pieces floating around inside??  That would be garlic and onion and some fiery hot cayenne pepper!!!  That is what you want to be taking when you are trying to ward off a sore throat or cough.

This is how you make it….

You will need 1 cup each of the following:

gingerroot, horseradish, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper

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Here is a piece of gingerroot.  You can buy it at your local grocery store, look in Chinese stir fry fresh food area.  How to prepare it?  Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the outside of it.  Then chop into a few chunks.   IMG_20140925_124806Here is horseradish.  I got this from my close friend who grows it in her herb garden.  It is a root therefore grows underground. 

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You prepare it the same way, by using a vegetable peeler and cut into chunks.IMG_20140925_125006Here is my garlic all minced and ready to throw into the food processor.

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I peeled and chopped my onion into chunks and put into the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients minus the cayenne pepper.IMG_20140925_125118

Puree it until it is completely chopped up.IMG_20140925_125459

Divide it up evenly into 4 quart sized jars.  IMG_20140925_125507

Pour unpasteurized apple cider vinegar into the jars.IMG_20140925_125512 (2)

Yes, it will smell horrible.  Even when chopping those ingredients you can just FEEL it burning your nostrils:)IMG_20140925_125533

Here it is sitting in my jars.  I then looked over on my counter top and realized that I had forgotten to add the cayenne pepper!!!!  This stuff is still pretty strong and just knowing how strong it already without the cayenne pepper, it was just going to get stronger.IMG_20140925_125554

What I did, was to pour them out again into a large mixing bowl and added the 1 cup of cayenne pepper.  I was sure to buy the hot kind, no whimping out!!  I mixed it up and poured it back into the jars and closed them tight with a lid.  IMG_20140925_143018 Put them in your pantry for about 3 weeks to sit.  About every 3 days, I picked up the jars and gave them a shake and swirl to activate all of the ingredients.

After the 3 weeks, I then used a mesh strainer and strained out all of the little particles.  I then poured the remaining mixture back into the jars and recapped them.  I keep them on my pantry shelf for storage.

While we moved down here, my children all came down with a hacking cough sickness.  A few of the children were brave enough to try the tincture.  It is extremely spicy and burning, I would not recommend it for young children.  My older ones, who took a tablespoon and drank it at the back of their throats could feel the effects immediately.  It literally burns going down your throat.  You can feel it working in your sinuses immediately.  Sure it tastes horrible, but if you think of cough medicine, it isn’t that tasty either.  Do it quick and it will work wonders.

I woke up a few days ago and was thinking that I might have become the last victim falling prey to the sickness. I immediately took 2 tablespoons and let it glide down my throat.  It burned for a little bit and I took another dose later in the afternoon but I did not get any more sick.

Before learning about natural remedies in my life, I would have never blinked at the thought of NOT buying cough medicine when I or the children were sick.  Then as I realized that the medicine did not “cure” the sickness I stopped getting it.  Colds and sickness are a natural part of life, we are going to be exposed to germs and the more we are the more our bodies will build up immunities to them.  We do our best to try and train the children to wash their hands before eating, being careful to use hand cleaner after getting into the van from shopping, and trying to just keep their fingers away from their eyes, nose, and mouths–sometimes that is impossible for little ones!!!

That has been the natural “cure” in our life.  But we are living in a germ filled world and we ARE going to be occasionally exposed to sickness.  The best way for  help is prevention.  We try to eat a healthy diet, get exercise, fresh air, and drink lots of water to help flush away bad bacteria.  But for the occasionally sickness I would almost always turn to some natural healing remedy.  This is FULL of everything natural and “normal”  just by taking a spoonful can help you feel the effects instantly.  I recommend making it and having it on hand for the coming “sickness” months.

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