How to: Make your own elderberry-honey syrup

Today I thought I would share a recipe that is part of our daily health routine.  Elderberry syrup has literally changed our lives.  I first learned of elderberry syrup a couple of years ago, when it was recommended to me to use as a homeopathic treatment for a flu/cold I was battling.  I took some store bought syrup and it helped tremendously, even though it was pretty pricey.  Fast forward a bit, and I started reading more and more about the benefits of elderberries and not only them being used during sickness, but also to prevent illness.   

Here is some info from Herbwisdom about the benefits of elderberries: 

Elderberries have been a folk remedy for centuries in North America, Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, hence the medicinal benefits of elderberries are being investigated and rediscovered. Elderberry is used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, to improve vision, to boost the immune system, to improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsilitis. Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell. People with the flu who took elderberry juice reported less severe symptoms and felt better much faster than those who did not. Elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1951.

I can truly attest to the benefits of these little magic berries.  My husband and I  have been taking small doses of the syrup everyday for the past 7 months and this is the first cold and flu season that neither of us have gotten sick.  As most of you know I run a daycare out of my house, and getting sick usually just comes with working with small kids.  But not this year, not even the sniffles.  

So, since the syrup can run upwards of $20-25 dollars for a 4-6 oz bottle in the store, I thought I would share our recipe to make your own for much, much less.   This recipe makes 32 oz.  You can easily half it to make a smaller batch if you want.  Here is what you will need to make your own syrup.

~4 cups water

~1 cup of dried elderberries*

~2 cinnamon sticks

~fresh ginger (about a 2 inch piece, peeled)

~2 tsp. whole cloves

~2 cups honey (if you can get your hands on local, raw honey, that is best)

~A large glass bottle or jar 

~small strainer/sieve

~medium saucepan

~funnel

*Elderberries can be found in bulk at most health food stores or on Amazon or Mountain Rose Herbs. 

Once you have all your supplies gathered, you are going to grab your saucepan and put it on medium heat.  Add water, elderberries, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon sticks.  Give it all a good stir, and bring to a gentle boil.   Once it starts to boil, give it another good stir and reduce heat to simmer.  Cover with lid and let simmer for 20-25 minutes

While the mixture is simmering, take your bottle or jar and add your 2 cups of honey to it.  I use a funnel since my bottle has a small top.  

After about 20 minutes check the elderberry mixture.  It should be reduced to about half the original liquid.  Give it another good stir and remove from burner. Remove large solids (cinnamon, ginger) Toss in trash or compost.

For the next step you are going to need you sieve or strainer and funnel.  Put strainer in funnel and add the warm elderberry juice to your bottle of honey.  Make sure to use a spoon to squeeze all the yummy juice out of your elderberries.  Discard or compost solids.

Once all the juice is added, it will look like this:

Give it a really good shaking to mix the honey with the juice, and VOILA!  Your own elderberry syrup for a fraction of the price.  Make sure you refrigerate your mixture, and it will last for up to six months in the refrigerator. 

The daily dose for adults is 1-2 tsp. daily and 1/2 tsp for kiddos. Remember herbs are medicine and should be treated as such.   I haven't read any info that elderberries interact with any other medicines, but if you are on medication, you might want to ask your doctor or naturopath to make sure.

Enjoy!!

How to: Make your own healing salve

Hello!  I hope you all had the beautifulest of weekends and a happy mamas day.   Ours here was a good one, made better by so much thoughtfulness from family and friends.  Mother's Day is a hard one for me.  Even though I was blessed by having one of the most wonderful mothers in the world, our own struggle with infertility has felt emotionally overwhelming at times.  This year my family and friends made me feel special and so loved, and made me forget the hurt that this day triggers.  It was wonderful.  

Well, now onto this post.  I have been making my own salve for a few months now and I love it.  It all started with the need to find something to soothe my severe eczema flare ups, especially on my hands.  This salve does the trick for me and I use it continuously throughout the day.  I just replaced my everyday hand lotion with this and it has worked wonders.  I also use it on my other flare up spots and it helps tremendously.  My husband has even started using it, and loves it.  This salve is also really great for cuts, scrapes, rashes, and cold sores.  Here is what you will need to make your own salve. 

~2 cups sweet almond oil (or any cold pressed oil of your choosing)

~1/2 cup of both comfrey and calendula flowers

~2 ounces of beeswax (bars or granules work)

~essential oils of your choice (I use a combo of lavender, sandalwood, ylang ylang, chamomile, and geranium)

 ~large glass measuring cup

~double boiler or a makeshift one

~large saucepan

~cheesecloth and a rubberband

~jars or containers of your choice (I use small 4oz. glass jars)

Step 1~Take your herbs and your oil and mix them together in a sealed glass jar.  Give them a good shake and let them sit.  I let mine infuse for up to two weeks.  Just make sure they are in a cool, dark place and give them a good shake everyday.  This lets the goodness of the herbs soak into the oil.

Step 2~ After your herbs have soaked, you are going to want to strain your oil.  I use a large glass measuring cup covered with cheesecloth and a rubber band.   I let them sit for 15-20 minutes to make sure all the herby oil has drained down.  Now you can remove the solids, I always give them a good squeeze.  You want all the yummy oil you can get. 

Step 3~ Take your saucepan and double boiler and bring some water to a boil.  After it boils I turn it down a bit.  Take your double boiler, and place on top.  I bought my makeshift double boiler off of Amazon for $4 versus a real double boiler running around $30.  

Step 4~Dump your strained oil and your beeswax into your double boiler.  You are going to want to mix and give it a good stir.  Mix every couple minutes until everything is nice and melted together.  I use beeswax granules since they melt faster.  If you are using bars of beeswax I would chop them up or grate them a bit first. 

Step 5~Once everything is nice and melted together, I dump everything back into my large glass measuring cup.  This is the step where you are going to add your essential oils.  I use about 10 drops of each, but customize it to how you like it.  You are going to want to do this step fairly fast, since everything will start to solidify pretty quickly.  

Step 6~Once you have mixed everything thoroughly you are ready to pour into your jars or containers.



Step 7~After pouring your jars, let cool for 20-30 minutes before putting on lids.  This recipe fills around 6 4oz. jars.  The consistency of this recipe is completely up to you.  The way I make it, you can spread easily out of the container.  You can mess with the beeswax amounts and add more if you want it more solid or less if you want it softer.  Remember, if it doesn't come out the first time like you want it, you can always dump everything back into your double boiler and melt back down and adjust measurements.

Enjoy!  

*Most common herbs and oils can be found in bulk at your local health food store.  If you can't find any, my favorite online resources are Bulk Apothecary and Mountain Rose Herbs.