Thursday, September 24, 2015

10+ Herbal Cold & Flu Remedies to Make for Your Fall/Winter Pantry


"Bless your heart, child, it's to keep you well. You don't want to be sick, do you?"... Change of air and care will keep you well, I dare say, or if it does not entirely, you will have the fever more lightly..."
~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Time to stock your fall/winter pantry with herbal remedies and preventative foods! Including your children will not only ensure that you share quality and productive time together, but it will also encourage interest in the arts of natural healing. Some of these recipes should be started now as they require time to "infuse". I will put a note next to those items. The remaining projects can be prepared with you and your junior herbalists in as little as 30 minutes! What a blessing it will be to have a nice array of herbal goods come cold and flu season! 






Elderberry Infused Herbal Honey

{requires 2 weeks to infuse}



Elderberry Oxymel

{needs 2-4 weeks to infuse}






Elderberry Throat Spray

{requires tincture recipe below}



Elderberry Tincture

{needs 1 month to macerate}






Elderberry Scrap Syrup

{make this thrifty syrup with your leftover, recycled elderberries from the other recipes}



And remember, when it comes to herbal remedies, more frequent doses are necessary. Unlike over-the-counter medicine which seems to give relief in one pill (though it is only a "bandaid" of the symptoms), the natural route requires constant nurturing to gently heal and strengthen the immune system. I often implement many of these remedies at one time for good results. I will take the tinctures and/or oxymel every few hours, apply the rub liberally around the neck and chest, drink lots of herbal tea with herbal honey and spray down the rooms to sanitize the air, doorknobs and faucets. We also run our diffuser with appropriate essential oils, administer the colloidal silver spray when necessary, take lots of vitamin C and rest, rest, rest. Do you have any tips to share?
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37 comments:

  1. Thank you for these Jes!
    We have been using essential oils and honey for a variety of things...my newest try is Chinese herbs...has worked wonders for cough asthma.
    Have a wonderful day,
    Lori

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    1. That sounds wonderful! Which herbs are they?

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  2. Not sure if my recipe is the same, but I have been making my own "vapor rub" for a while now. I love it! I make an elderberry elixir too. This year we are making fire cider, and giving it a try.

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    1. Thank you for sharing! The fire cider is on my to-do list also! :)

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  3. Thank you Jes, it seems colds and allergies are all ready taking its toll! Blessings, Lynn

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    1. Yes, unfortunately but thankfully there are herbs to the rescue! :)

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  4. These are wonderful! Thank you for the recipes as well as the reminder it's that time again! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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    1. Yes, I noticed my reserves were diminishing, hence this reminder to me too! :)

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  5. Thank you for this JES. Going to go through and pin some so I can do some more research and hopefully make some of these up soon.
    Blessings,

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to share :) Research is always a good investment of time!

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  6. Thank you my dearest JES, your suggestions are always so very precious to me !
    Be blessed
    Dany

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    1. Thank you Dany, may you and your loved one's keep nice and healthy this season!

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  7. This post is a treasure trove of remedies. The ones we've used really WORK. Would you believe my husband and I have already been sick (just a few weeks back), and it's not even cold season yet? I had your Elderberry Tincture at the ready, though, and mixed up Jacqueline's No-Side-Effect Cough Remedy, too, so we got over it fairly quickly. I'm ordering the ingredients that I don't already have for the Calendula Cold & Flu Elixir today so I hope to have it ready before long, too. Thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes for herbal medicines.
    Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thanks for sharing! And do let me know how the elixir works out for you. We really went through that one fast! Jacqueline's remedies are always so helpful too! And what is nice... we haven't purchased over the counter cold/flu medicine in many, many years!!! :)

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  8. Thank you so much for these recipes-I have shared on fb and pinned too

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  9. Question, for a newbie that wants to try her hand at one or two first before plunging headlong into stocking a full "medicine cabinet" which two would you recommend to try first? We deal with a lot of allergies, asthma in a small child, sinus infections that lead to ear infections in a 16 year old, and eczema of the worst variety in the 16 year old. Thanks for any help you can offer!

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    1. Hi there! Well, my favorite cold/flu remedy is the first recipe of the Calendula/Cold Flu Elixir. However, gathering all the ingredients might be a bit much for the first time so I would suggest the elderberry tincture. Plus, with the elderberries, you can prepare a few of the other recipes as well (including eventually preparing that first recipe). They are a powerful little immune boosting berry (which are also helpful for the hay fever you mention)! You could read more about the benefits here:

      http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-to-make-elderberry-medicine-home.html

      Also, while I am not a doctor or herbalist, I have a close family member who was born with severe asthma and eczema, recently he has found significant relief with the asthma by daily taking of khella extract drops and the use of jojoba oil nightly after a shower on the eczema.

      I hope this helps!

      P.S. The cough syrup remedy can be prepared with simply pantry items making it a good first time recipe also.

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  10. We've just had a nasty cold virus, so I 'm really pleased to hear about these so I can be prepared! Thank you for sharing them :-)

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  11. JES, just letting you know that the links to those last three Elderberry recipes aren't working. They say 'this page does not exist'. Mimi xxx

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  12. Thank you for sharing all of these ma'am Jes, though I will make the cinnamon and honey only since these two are the only available ones here in the Philippines. My son has a bad cough right now and is having fever. We did not see the doctor yet for fear for another antibiotic. He just had his antibiotics last month for pneumonia. Do you know any recipe for oregano for cough Ma'am Jes? Thank you very much and God Bless =)

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    1. Hi Jang, nice to hear from you though I am sorry to hear of your son not feeling well. I am not aware of remedies for cough using oregano (but that doesn't mean they don't exist). I know it is an excellent anti-fungal herb... The recipe for cough syrup (second one listed) uses simple pantry items which you may be able to prepare... Also, lots of herbal teas to keep your son hydrated, tepid baths to keep the fever down (and also to keep your son hydrated)... A vapor rub on the throat would be helpful too. But remember, I am not a doctor and am only sharing what I do for my family... Probiotics would be excellent for him to take in lieu of the antibiotic... Praying for a speedy recovery!

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    2. Thank you ma'am Jes =) i have oregano in my "little" garden, I was just hoping to add and try some new recipe. What i have been doing is to boil some leaves for my son to drink and put some honey on it enough to cover the taste, Anyway, thanks for praying for my son and thanks for all those posts, they are so helpful as I am trying to do away with artificial meds. I believe God give us all we need in nature =) Thanks again and God Bless!

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  13. What an inspiring post! I'm slowly making the transition into natural/herbal remedies etc, for my family, and this post is a great help! Thanks so much! By the way, how nice are the DoTerra Essential Oils, right?! They are just so good; I have balance in my diffuser right now! :)

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    1. Yes, love the doTerra oils! I have been using the geranium, lemon and lavender in my diffuser for hay fever help :)

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  14. I just received my order for some elderberries this week. I am looking forward to making some elderberry concoctions for my family too. I sure do wish that I had some growing in my own yard and am on the lookout for some to plant. Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes!

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    1. How exciting! I too wished I had elderberry growing! I did buy seeds but it seems very tedious to grow... Well, enjoy making some herbal goods with it! There are many neat things you can do with elderberry :)

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  15. You are such a busy lady. I wonder how you can do it all?

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    1. Well... I don't do it all ;) I just stay home 90 percent of my life :)

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  16. Looks like a great resource list. I will be looking into the vapor rub...I could use it now!

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  17. Thank you for all these ideas! I need to get busy so I'm prepared. I saw this on Awesome Life. Pinning!

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  18. There are several I want to try right away, and others I'll have to plan for. I'll pin to my Natural Health Pinterest Board for easy referral. Thank you for this collection!

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  19. This is a fantastic roundup and I can't wait to try, I will be pinning and sharing on FB as well!

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