Saturday, January 12, 2013

Ginger, Lemon, & Honey Tea Base ~


Hello, lovely friends!

I have been fighting yet another cold. I guess my body can't really fight anything off with the pregnancy and I'm apparently the most susceptible person ever. I obviously can't take cold medicine which is fine because I haven't taken cold medicine in a few years.

So, I have turned to ginger as I always do but this time in a slightly different form. I've already told you about the healing properties of ginger in my Ginger Root Tea post from last fall. You can read about that here.


 I found this recipe for honey & lemon tea base on Homesteading Survivalism's Facebook page. You can visit their website here. They suggested adding ginger, which is perfect for fighting off colds! The original blog post did not suggest using it. You can read Catherine's blog post here. She gives the history of the tea and answers many questions.


Ginger, Lemon, & Honey Tea Base Recipe ~

1 Lemon 

1 Hand of Ginger root

1/2 Cup of raw honey

1/2 a box of pectin


I chopped up the ginger and lemon


I then poured the raw honey into two 1/2 pint jars.

The base is supposed to thicken in about a day or two. That did not happen though, it actually seemed to turn very watery. I knew that I was coming down with a cold and needed to use this right away so luckily I had bought pectin in case the first try didn't work (As Catherine's post later suggests).


I poured the contents of the two jars into a saucepan. I had no clue how much pectin to add. I'm no expert! I ended up using about half the box as it wasn't thickening up at all with a few teaspoons. That may be more than I needed, but it turned out perfectly and it now looks like marmalade, so I'm not changing anything.


I then let it boil for about three minutes. I don't know if this takes away from any of the healing properties of the raw honey, but the stuff works, so I'm not too worried about it.


The ginger tea base with the pectin.


The watery tea base without the pectin (I think it looks prettier though). 

You then add 1-2 teaspoons of the mixture to a mug of hot water. I make a mug of Salada green tea (decaf these days) and then add the tea base. 

This tastes exactly like my ginger root tea, but it's nice that it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. I can just boil hot water and make a mug of this at any time. It's much more convenient than constantly chopping up the ingredients to make the ginger tea. 

I now take the second jar to work with me which I could never do before. The ginger tea does not warm up well in the microwave at all. I really wouldn't suggest that anyway, who knows how much of the healthful properties the microwave would destroy. I've been drinking about two to three mugs a day and my cold hasn't formed in to anything after a week. I still have a very occasional, slight sore throat and that's about it.

My verdict is that this stuff works really well. I think it tastes delicious but many people probably won't. You just have to remember that you're taking this as a cold remedy. As I continued to take the tea throughout the week I started straining out the lemon and ginger after I let it all steep for a few minutes. It was a little disconcerting to have the chunks of lemon and ginger in the bottom of the mug. It was sort of like drinking pulpy warm lemonade, also not very enjoyable. 

I hope I've explained this recipe well enough through my trials and errors. If not, please feel free to leave any comments or questions that you may have.

Here's to a healthy new year!

Love,

 


Linking with ~

Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 
Time to Shine at Diamonds in the Stuff 
Cowgirl up Link party at The Farmhouse Porch
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest