S.U.P.E.R T.O.N.I.C.

(Halloween...Circa 2001)

I just LOVE this time of the year!!

Right now, I feel like a witch or a gypsy and I need a cauldron and wooden spoon to brew up the potent tonic spell that is steeping right now in my kitchen...which is guaranteed to open up your sinuses, clear out a head cold and keep away the Vampires! (wink!)

Tracy's sister Shelley has got us hooked on something called "Super Tonic". She has made this up for years and given us several jars of it and we enjoy it SO much that we got the recipe and are making up our first brew of this. It's pretty exciting!

For some crazy reason I have always been fascinated by "old fashioned" remedies for various "ails". I even had a relative that made cough syrup by cooking honey and chopped onion for hours on the stove and the syrup was a soothing relief to drink for a sore throat.

The ingredients in Super Tonic are individually and collectively, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and have many other benefits as well.

White onion---is anti-flammatory, antibacterial and good for digestion
Garlic---anti-fungal, anti-viral
Habanero Peppers---reduces inflammation, clears mucus membranes, detoxifying
Ginger root---anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory improves digestion
Horseradish root---antibiotic, heats up the body to detox

Recipe for Supertonic
1 large white onion
1/4 cup chopped cayenne peppers (leave seeds in), OR you can use a combination of Habanero/Jalapeno peppers...one friend even uses 15-20 Habanero peppers Whichever combination you use will work great. You can also sprinkle in a teaspoon or two of dried Cayenne pepper if your peppers aren't hot enough)
3/4 cup grated horseradish root, peeled
4 whole heads of garlic (not cloves)
1/2 cup grated and peeled ginger root

Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar 2 to 3 quarts

Put the onions, garlic, and peppers, cayenne, horseradish and ginger in a blender and blend until they are a mush.

Put mixture in a gallon size glass jar. Add vinegar until there is about 1-2 inches of vinegar above chopped ingredients (I put in 2 quarts of vinegar)

Cover jar with plastic lid. Leave on counter for one week , pushing stuff down in jar a minimum of 3 times per day with a NON-metal spoon. MAKE SURE to keep sides of jars clean....The stuff sitting on sides of jar can mold and ruin the whole batch.

After 1 week place jar in cool dark place for 3-4 weeks.
STRAIN (through 4 layers of cheesecloth) and then put remaining liquid into dropper bottles, OR, you can store this in a mason jar in the fridge. (discard solids)

Keep Refrigerated and then during cold and flu season to keep icky bugs away put a few dropper-fulls of this down your throat everyday.

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Just making this makes you immune to just about anything and nothing could live in your kitchen for a while, it is pretty strong smelling . I LOVE to take the lid off and inhale the vapors...it cleans out my sinuses every time.

Great gift to give friends!! Don't you wish you were my neighbor...I'd bring you a jar of Super Tonic along with a fresh baked pie, plate of cookies or fresh baked French Bread! (BIG wink)

We have some in our fridge from March of 2008 and it is still potent and hasn't gone bad . It literally can last for years!
All of that vinegar is a preservative and makes it keep for ALONG time.

Looking forward to November 28th
when our Super Tonic will be done "Brewing" and we can fill jars and enjoy the benefits and yummyness of dumping this in our mouths everyday. It's also SO yummy to put a few dropper-fulls of this in soups, or put some on a salad in place of salad dressing!
Lest, you think I'm crazy...
I'm not really...I'm just an adventurous person that likes to try things!
Enjoy!

More Inspiration from Grandma!

The cold and flu season is upon us…

time to buy bags of lemons and limes, oranges and grapefruits to provide some relief and plenty of VITAMIN C.

(BTW...the brown glass Ovaltine jar is actually full of HONEY that we got from a local bee farmer this summer)
This time of the year I usually reflect with fondness of memories of being a young girl and having my mom make me up some honey and lemon tea, OR, Postum/PERO when I had a sore throat or cold. This is what her mother had done for her and so she was doing the same for me.

(Speaking of Postum, they no longer make this beverage and so once our Postum in our food storage runs out it is no longer to be bought). (sadness)
At least you can still get PERO!!

I have to say that 9 times out of 10 those natural remedies really do work... if anything to soothe and comfort. Since the start of our marriage Tracy and I have been making honey/lemon tea when we felt a cold coming on AND also making up a brothy soup of chicken, LOTS of extra garlic and onions (then we normally put in) and veggies. We then sprinkle on whatever amount of Cayenne Pepper OR Crushed Red Pepper we want in our bowls and you have a great soothing and healing soup that cleans out the sinuses as well.

Jade was complaining about a throat tickle yesterday and so I bought limes, lemons, and grapefruits and we have been squeezing limes/lemons into mugs, filling them up with boiling water, putting in a heaping Tablespoon of honey and stirring well and drinking it.

I also bought some herbal tea that has a lot of good things in it to try out as well. This was a great alternative as well. Jade is my “nature” kid and likes to try different things (pretty much everything that is NOT normal, he likes to try—whenever we do eat at Restaurants or get treats , it gets interesting).

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What a touching inspiration it was to see NieNie on Oprah yesterday. Tracy and I both broke down into tears and we weren’t expecting to.
I really connect with her love of being a wife and mom AND her desire to “feed her family right” with LOTS of fresh veggies and fruit and very little meat (except Salmon/fish).
I just love her quote:
"Love your body and you will feed it right"
(I love all of her posts, but I REALLY love
her posts from May and June 2007)

My kids haven’t known any other lifestyle than one that we have. From the time they were babies they have been fed whatever food we eat (I pureed up whatever we were eating, rather than buying Gerber) and they really enjoy everything that we eat and I feel so fortunate to have NON-picky eaters for kids, who have a desire to want to be healthy and who rarely, if ever complain! (except for Raisins—still working on them with that). Over half of the meals that we eat are “meatless”, OR, if they do have meat, they have very little meat and are FULL of lots of yummy veggies, legumes or grains.

Hoping to make it thorough this season as a family, healthy and strong! (other than Jade's seizure struggles and Ethan getting RSV when he was an infant) none of us have missed school or work due to sickness in over 5 years.

Feeling VERY blessed that all of us have our health right now and it is definitely something that I DON’T take for granted!