Catching a cold? Your kitchen holds the help you need.

In my experience, these 2 kitchen spices are miracle foods in the truest sense of the word miracle.

I want to share a couple stories with you and some simple recipes to help you with this winter ail.

Prior to Thanksgiving, I had company for 2 weeks straight practically. It was wonderful and fun and I have no regrets, but also my visitors were here during one of the busiest times of the year for me with Christmas orders and a bazaar to prepare for.
Along with this busy time, came colder weather and festive eating and drinking which as we know can really wear down the immune system.
The Friday evening after Thanksgiving, it came. A dreaded cold. The first night I did nothing and retired early.
Waking up Saturday morning, I was worse than the night before.
At that point I felt miserable and could hardly get anything done.

So I made haste to my kitchen. I pulled a chunk of ginger and 2 cloves of garlic.
I drew some fresh water and began to bring that to a boil. Maybe 2 cups worth of water.
I then grated ginger. Once the water came to a boil I took my water off the heat and added my grated ginger to the pot and allowed to steep for awhile.
As that was steeping, I crushed the garlic and allowed it to sit out for at least 15 minutes to release the powerful component,allicin.

Once the tea was ready I strained a cup and drank that slowly. I was in no hurry for heavens sake I was sick.:)
Once I got through my first cup I grabbed a pinch of the crushed garlic and put it into my mouth and washed it down with some water. Much like taking a vitamin or pill.

About an hour later, I felt like a brand new person! It was so amazing.
I also did this the next day along with echinacea and elderberry and osha for several days afterward to ensure I remained well.


So Sunday night my 11 year old comes home from a weekend with his dad. He looked sick and said he felt awful. So to bed he went the first night. The next day he too was miserable and so of course, I insisted he let me do the ginger and garlic with him to help him at least feel better.
After I administered all the herbs, I had to leave to take Olivia to her class. Jonathan had been laying around under a blanket when I left.
After dropping off Olivia and running by the grocery to pick up an organic chicken breast for some homeade soup, I arrived home to find my son up and happy. He asked me if he could go outside...lol
Your medicine worked mom, he said.
Well, of course he still needed to rest and keep up the immune building so I have him on echinacea several times a day now, and have him doing ginger again today.

Ginger is a warming herb and pushes through cold. It increases circulation and causes sweating.
Ginger taken before the garlic helps digestion prepare for this potent remedy and since the circulation is moving, gets the medicinal components through the body much quicker.
Garlic is a detoxifier and aids in respiratory disorders so well. If you are coughing due to bacteria type infection, garlic might clear that up quickly for you.
Both ginger and garlic are expectorant to help move out that stuck mucus from your lungs.
When I was sick, I did have lung issues. Jonathan did not have any lung issues with his cold, yet this remedy turned us around quickly in both our situations.