It's Fire Cider Time!!

Cold & flu season is upon us. Here is a fantastic way to keep your immune system strong so you can stave off illness even when you are around people that are sick.

We had some family visiting from out of town this past weekend, so FUN! For us at least, they were sick. Two of the three were sick when they got here, and the third ended up getting sick a couple of days into their trip. Oh boy! Fortunately, my husband and I started our preventative protocols before they came to stay with us, and could you believe it, we never got sick!

What magic did we do, you ask. We used some of our favorite herbal cold prevention recipes; fire cider, echinacea, astragalus, and osha root.

Fire Cider is a celebrated herbal folk remedy made popular by the one and only renowned herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar who's recipe is below. This yummy vinegar infusion powered by wellness-supporting and warming ingredients is a lovely and easy way to boost natural health processes, stimulate digestion, and raise your internal thermostat on cold days. Yummy yum!...We just love this hot and sweet, zesty, vinegary recipe! We like to take a tablespoon each morning to help warm up or triple that if we feel the sniffles coming on.

Fire cider can be taken straight by the spoonful, added to organic veggie juice or filtered water, or used as salad dressing with some good quality olive oil. Some folks even add it to their fried rice! There is no wrong way to take it, so be creative and cater to your own tastes.

Rosemary Gladstar's Fire Cider Recipe from her fabulous book, "Medicinal Herbs, A Beginners Guide"

1 medium organic onion, chopped

4-5 cloves organic garlic, chopped coarsely

3-4 tbs freshly grated organic ginger root

3-4 tbs freshly grated organic horseradish root

Organic Apple cider vinegar (preferably unpasteurized)

Honey (preferably local to you)

Organic Cayenne powder

Directions:

Combiner the onion, garlic, ginger, and horseradish in a widemouthed glass quart jar and add enough warmed apple cider vinegar to cover them.

Cover with lid, place in a warm spot and let sit for 4 weeks. Strain, then discard the spent herbs (great in your compost).

Add honey and cayenne to taste. The finished product should taste lively, hot, pungent, and sweet.

*Note; warming the vinegar allows it to more actively draw the properties out of the herbs

To use:

Take 1-2 tbs at the first sign of a cold and repeat the dose every 3-4 hours until symptoms subside.