DIY Herbal Remedies: Powerful Medicinal Recipes to Try at Home

DIY Herbal Remedies: Powerful Medicinal Recipes to Try at Home

Introduction:

in this article as  we make three incredibly homemade remedies that will revolutionize your Wellness routine the cool  thing about all three of these recipes is that you can make them at home from ingredients in your  garden or in a normal grocery store these will supercharge your immune system ease your cold  symptoms and guarantee you a good night’s sleep

1. Sleepytime Tea: Relaxation in a Cup

Main ingredients :

Lemon balm
Chamomile flowers
Borage flowers

let’s jump into the first recipe a homemade sleepy  time tea first ingredient for the Sleepytime tea

Growing Lemon Balm in a Green Stock

I’ve been growing one plant  of lemon balm in my green stock for probably two years now this was a small little tiny plant  that has as you can see grown out of control I did put it in the green stock because I knew that  lemon balm spreads aggressively and I didn’t want to just put it in my garden where it would just  take over and so by putting it in my green stock I have a little bit more control over it now

Dehydrating Lemon Balm: Methods and Techniques

We’re going to dehydrate the lemon balm and I have a dehydrator an electric  dehydrator but if you don’t you can dehydrate in, I’m going to pop them in oven just put it at this e lowest temperature  especially for herbs and leave the door of the oven cracked open because the lowest temperature  of an oven is actually still a little too hot for herbs

The Dehydration Process: Temperature and Timing

if you’re going to use an electric  dehydrator you’re going to put it on a between 90 and 105 temperature for about 12 hours that’s  what I usually do sometimes I do 24 hours just so I don’t have to check it at 12 hours and I know  that it’s done you really want the texture of the leaves to be very crispy and very dry so that that  way it shreds up very easily and you I’m leavingthis stems on the plants but when I remove them  from the dehydrator I do pull the stems out

Limited harvest of chamomile and using leftover borage flowers for tea

I did grow chamomile in  my garden this  year and I’ve been collecting the flowers not very many not as much as I would like and then  this here I have some borage flowers which is all also really good for relaxation and sleep I use  the rest of the borage to create a tincture but I did have some of these flowers left over that

I  had dried and so we’re going to use those up in this tea so I bought these little disposable tea  bags on Amazon and and they seem to work pretty good so far I was actually very surprised they’re  more of a cotton texture rather than a lot of the ones that you get online are a paper texture  so I’m doing two teaspoons of the lemon balm and then I’m doing one teaspoon of the chamomile

Finalizing the Sleepytime Tea

just because I  don’t have very many and that’s all there is to it I’m going to tie this little bag up and put  it in a glass jar and that is our Sleepytime tea you know I never really was a herbal remedy fan  until I got older and it was actually my husband who got me into it before he really got me into  herbal medicine

I used to get sick I mean really sick several times a year so my immune system  wasn’t great but since we switched over to Herbal Remedies and we first started with things  that you buy over the counter we use these in two ways one as a preventative and then also as if we  feel like a cold is coming on we’ll take a bunch of these to try to you know get our immune system  activated and focused on clearing up whatever it is that we have and I’m happy to report that ever  since we switched over to using herbal medicines I haven’t had a cold in years

How herbal remedies help keep you healthy and fight off illness early

I can’t even remember  the last time I was sick I haven’t been sick so what I’ve really taken away from using herbal  medicines is that they are more of a way of keeping yourself healthy and try to fight off an  illness quicker faster earlier in the process the second recipe we’re making will help you with a  cold or flu and that is the bee balm oxymel you want to start taking this right at the start of  symptoms to either Ward It Off before it starts shorten your recovery time and hopefully let you  be functional while you’re sick because many of us can’t just check out of our Lives when we get sick

Identifying and Harvesting Lemon Mint Bee Balm

I’m going to be clipping off these flowers and these are bee  balm specifically a lemon mint bee balm and no this isn’t like mint like spearmint or peppermint  lemon mint true lemon mint is actually a bee balm it’s in the bee balm family I know it’s so  confusing plants have like two or three names and it is it is really confusing

The easiest  way to know that you have bee balm versus mint is the types of flowers the bee balm flowers  have like multiple flowers they have a flower on top of a flower on top of a flower so it’s  like a three-tiered flower I don’t know if it’s very obvious from the article here but each one of  those little pink petals has three layers to them and so we’re just going to cut all these off  of my lemon mint plant 

it will continue to grow and it will continue to produce more bee  balm it has actually grown a lot of it this is my second big Harvest of it and then to dry  your flowers this is what I use for a lot of my flowers is I just put them on a paper plate  or a paper towel whatever you have spread them out so they have some air and then I set them  on my table for anywhere from five to seven days

Drying and Preparing Bee Balm Flowers

I’m going to break up the flowers and the  petals a little bit once again this doesn’t have any stems you don’t want to include stems normally  a lot of times stems can cause bitterness so I’m just getting rid of any stems that are on there  and I’m breaking up the flowers as best that I can they are kind of a clump of flowers so it  doesn’t have to be perfect guys and then the next step is I’m going to add two-thirds  of a cup of the flowers the dried flowers 

Role of Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey in the Recipe

I’m using a 1 3 cup measure here so I’m just  going to do two of those and then the next step is equal amounts of apple cider vinegar so two-thirds  of a cup of apple cider vinegar there’s a fermentation term if you’re not familiar with it  it is a living bacteria I think it’s bacteria but it’s a good bacteria and so that is  actually how vinegar is created is with this good bacteria and it’s allowed to ferment and sit and  you can tell that it has it in there because it will be cloudy the liquid is cloudy and sometimes  it looks like there’s stuff floating in it that is that good bacteria

Easy-to-Follow Recipe Instructions for Bee Balm Oxymel

once we put our two  thirds cup into the Mason jar with the bee balm flowers now I’m going to put in some honey now if it’s possible so we’re going to do once again equal  parts this is a really easy recipe to remember equal parts bee bomb equal parts  apple cider vinegar and equal parts honey once you’ve got everything into the jar you’re  going to give it a good shake and then you’re gonna put it in a dark cabinet in your pantry  someplace cool you know not out in the garage or anything like that but someplace nice and  cool 

 
How Much Time it Will Take :

you’re going to let it set for four weeks once your four weeks have passed you’re  going to drain out the flowers from the mixture and then you can either leave it on the counter  and it will continue to ferment with that vinegar and that honey together or you could put it in the  refrigerator I’m probably going to put it in the refrigerator

because I don’t want it to continue  to ferment and have that taste enhancement and it basically what that does is by putting it in a  cold environment like the fridge it is going to slow down that mother or that good bacteria from  reproducing and it will just last longer if you start to feel like a little tickle in the back  of the throw or a little sniffle starting just take a tablespoon of this two or three times a  day to help ward off

Transition from Pharmaceuticals to Herbal Remedies

Pharmaceuticals which  is kind of funny thinking that I’m very much into herbal medicines now when my career started in  Pharmaceuticals I worked in a pharmacy I worked I.T and that’s when I transitioned my career  into it but I’ve always been in healthcare and so talking about herbal medicines

I am not in any way  shape or form saying that modern medicine is not very useful I still believe these are modern  Miracles but I think we overuse them rather than focusing on our root problem pharmaceutical  medication is a huge benefit for us it was revolutionary to the healthcare field it has  helped people lead healthier longer lives

I completely support it I mean take a look at  something like type 1 diabetes and being able to take insulin it’s life-changing for people  and so I absolutely support modern medicine but I think that with herbal medicines we can take  these natural things to help make our bodies react proactively rather than reactively

Power of Preventing Illness

A lot  of times we seek out medications whether they’re over-the-counter or prescription medications  when we have a problem but what if we focus on not having a problem by being proactive or by  jumping in front of the moment we start to feel like we have a little sniffle or a little scratch  in the back of our throat and we really focus on taking our natural ingredients first to see if we  can Ward that off another way is just to introduce these things into our Wellness routine

Incorporating Herbal Remedies into Your Daily Wellness Routine

when  you’re brushing your hair or brushing your teeth take your oxymel or take your vitamin or have a  glass of tea in the morning rather than coffee or mix your herbs with your coffee all of these  things are ways that you can introduce the herbal elements the natural elements for that proactive  health benefit

Customizing the Fire Cider Recipe to Fit Our Tastes

third  recipe we’re making today is fire cider this is a drink that was created back in 1970s by herbalist Rosemary gladstar at the California school of herbal studies for support a healthy immune system  the recipe she created was really a culmination of generations of Herbal Remedies handed down over  and over and over but she added her own unique Twist on it you can make this at home or you can  buy it already brewed from health food stores or herbalists today I’m subbing a  couple other ones but otherwise I am following Rosemary’s recipe

Sourcing Ingredients from the Garden

I’m headed out into the garden  to find a couple more of the ingredients for the fire cider the this right here is I’m picking off  some red cherry peppers Now the recipe does call for like a jalapeno or habanero something spicy  but we don’t eat spicy food so the the idea behind this ingredient is to collect the capsaicin

Adding Fresh Herbs for Flavor and Benefits

I’m hoping that by using a pepper that is traditionally a hot pepper a red  cherry pepper is a hot pepper but this particular variety has had the heat bread out of it that  maybe I’m still going to get the same benefits so we’re going to start by chopping our Ginger

you  can also grate it it or mince it if you want I am trying to keep this simple so I’m just going to  chop it up I actually recently went out and bought this Ginger and this next item which is turmeric  from the store because I want to grow these in my garden so I took half of them and I have them  soaking so that that way they can let off their sprouts and then I can plant them in the garden in  the other half

Medicinal benefits of horseradish and its typical inclusion in fire cider.

I’m going to use in this fire cider the recipe does call for specific amounts I think  it was seven ounces of this but that would have taken all of the ginger and the turmeric and I  didn’t want to do that because I want to grow some out in my garden so besides the ginger and the  turmeric now I’m going to chop up my peppers I had a green I think this is a pimento pepper from the  garden that I just had on the counter and I was like let me use that up and then I’m gonna pop in  these little red cherry peppers in there as well

Adding Fresh Herbs to the Fire Cider

the next thing that I’m doing once the peppers  are in is I’m going to put some of the herbs I did get this Rosemary from out in my garden so  you’re just going to want two or three sprigs of Rosemary the recipe also called for thyme  which I don’t have right now if you have it in your garden you’ll want to put three sprigs of  thyme as well another thing this recipe called for that I don’t have and I’m not going to add  or buy is horseradish it does have medicinal qualities it is very spicy that is not something  we’re interested in so we’re leaving it out it also calls for an onion 

Adding Homegrown Onion to the Fire Cider

I’m going to put this  half of an onion this is a homegrown onion we grew these we started them in September and so a lot  of them are starting to bulb now I’ve pulled all the rest of them and they are outside in the patio  curing but this guy I brought in for this purpose after the onion I’m going to put in some cinnamon  sticks I have grated cinnamon or ground cinnamon but the recipe really encourages whole sticks 

Incorporating Cinnamon Sticks into the Recipe

 I think it has something to do with the cinnamon dissolving into the liquid and that’s why you  want the sticks rather than the powder so I just went out and bought a few I’m going to take  the remaining amount of these cinnamon sticks and I’m going to grind them up

because I use cinnamon  more often in the ground form than I do the whole form so you know it’s not a purchase that is  going to go to waste then I have my garlic these are garlic that we grew in the garden they’re  little little heads I’m grabbing the ones that are little because this recipe doesn’t actually  call to peel the garlic you can actually throw

Preparing Garlic for the Fire Cider

it in pretty much whole you just want to you  want to break the skin so it can absorb into the liquid so that’s all I’m really doing is  breaking the skin with the knife but because they’re smaller they’re much harder to use in  regular cooking so this is a great option for them I also picked up a lemon and an orange from the  grocery store unfortunately my lemon tree is no more it was on its way out anyway and then we had  a project that we were doing at the side of the house that uh no longer had room for the lemon  tree it was uh it was a sickly tree anyway so

Preparing the Citrus for Fire Cider

I don’t have fresh lemons anymore I now have  to buy them which is heartbreaking but that’s okay because we have lots of other fun fruit trees I’m  just cutting these into slices and I’m doing my best to try to fit everything in here I’m going  to cut this orange and slices as well and a couple of these I’m gonna probably cut in half just  to be able to better fit them inside the jar don’t be afraid to really push and smush these  guys in by the time they’re done doing their fermentation in four weeks time

Using Publix GreenWise apple cider vinegar with the mother for fermentation

we are going to be adding our apple cider vinegar this  is another brand that I use it’s a Publix brand and it also has the mother in it it’s good quality  I think it’s their green wise apple cider vinegar and so we’re just gonna fill the entire thing up  with the apple cider vinegar and I gotta tell you it is one of the prettiest Herbal Remedies I  think I’ve ever made if it’s just for looks alone it’s so pretty I’m going to take my canning  D bubbler

Optional Fermentation Tools: Using Pickle Pebbles

I think that’s what it’s called and I’m going to push around the fruit and the vegetables  in there to make sure that you know I’m getting as much of the vinegar in there as possible you  can use a knife or a chopstick with this as well then we’re just going to top it off with a  little bit more vinegar now that those air bubbles have gone away I also have these little  pickle Pebbles they are a fermentation product I don’t think this is absolutely necessary but I  just felt like because I really overfilled this you may want to consider using a half gallon  jar versus my quart that I used here but

The Importance of Supporting Your Immune System

because I overfilled it I am going to use this  little Pickle pepper which is just a weight this fire cider is really an immune booster in a  lot of ways we take our immune system for granted because it just works we don’t really have to  think about it we don’t have to focus on it and until something goes wrong

we don’t even you  know consider that we need to be making it a priority in our lives so instead of waiting till  we’re sick let’s focus on being proactive and doing all the things that we should do to help our  immune system like get good sleep get your solideight hours uninterrupted eat healthy Whole Foods  exercise out in the garden every day 

Summary

these are all ways that we do to make sure that we’re taking  care of our health we also should be taking our supplements whether that is these Herbal Remedies  growing your own herbs for seasoning your food or something as simple as taking a multivitamin  every day just make it a small part of your normal morning or evening routine