We picked something up at the airport on our way to Georgia or on the way back. It’s lingered for a week, but something that’s made the endurance lesser and not quite as strong is homemade elderberry syrup. We use a mix of elderberry syrup, Rescue Tincture, echinacea, zinc, and a special soup to knock out disease. The syrup is super easy to make and really not that pricey if you buy dried organic elderberries by the pound on Amazon. Check your local grocer, but I know that our Sprouts has them for like $40 a pound, which is almost twice as much as I found them for on Amazon. Here’s the recipe:
Erika‘s Homemade Elderberry Syrup
(keeps for up to two months)
- Start with about half a pound of dried organic elderberries. Raw elderberries are toxic, but the fumes when you’re cooking them are not toxic so everything should be totally safe for you and your family ages one and up, if you cook the elderberries before consuming.
- Add enough water to fill the pot you’re using, 3 to 4 cups. You can use less or more depending on how concentrated you want it to be and how much you want to make.
- Cook covered, undisturbed on medium high heat for 45 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. It should be a deep blackish purple color.
- Add sweetener of choice, something syrupy works best here so of course, if you’ve got little ones, be careful with using honey as it can cause botulism for babies under a year old. However, if everyone in your household is over one, you can use as much honey as you’d like to make the consistency you want. I like to use blue agave, which is natural and organic. I had just enough to cover about an inch of the container I’m putting elderberry syrup in and then pour the elderberry juice on top after straining it and squeezing out all of the excess juice out of the berries.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two months.
The servings for elderberry syrup are as follows: one to two years old, half a teaspoon of syrup four times daily acutely. 2 to 5 years old 1 teaspoon of syrup four times daily acutely. five years and up 2 teaspoons of syrup four times daily acutely.
That’s it! Nice and simple ingredients, totally clean, and nothing you don’t know about or want in your medicine. Taking this tincture four times daily during the duration of your illness, i.e. colds or flus, will greatly lessen the impact of coughs, sneezing, congestion, and general malaise and fatigue.
I’ll soon be posting my recipe for a nice garlic soup with tons of veggies and greens that makes your cold go over a lot faster as well with some tips from my grandma. The secret? Lemon juice… And green Tabasco.
Tout de suite!
Erika
The Sweet Life with The Zuckeros 