crunchy parenting

p. I have been struck down with a cold. Or maybe it’s a flu. (I haven’t gotten around to taking my temperature, but I seem to have chills and fatigue of some sort.) I blame the spouse-unit for bringing something into the house, since Spice and I have been pretty homebound with all the heat lately.

p. The tough part is being pregnant and not want to take ANY medicine-like. So I’ve been in the kitchen, whipping up all kinds of herbal remedies to ease my symptoms. Thankfully, they’re pretty easy to make, so it’s mostly been a few minutes in the kitchen and then back to the couch with my sniffly self. Here’s the ones I’ve had success with.

p. *For sinus congestion:*

* 2 tbsp organic (or at least unpasturized) apple cider vinegar
* 2 tbsp organic honey (or to taste)
* hot water

p. Mix all ingredients in a mug and sip it down. Doesn’t taste like the greatest, but my sinuses were clear within 10-15 minutes.

p. Also, if my sinus congestion was really keeping me up at night, I’d be using our “NasoKlar”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002EA3NBM?ie=UTF8&tag=littlefeet-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002EA3NBM thing. It’s like a neti-pot, a little mini teapot thing for your nose. You fill it with warm saltwater and pour it through your nose. More than a little gross, but it gives instant, chemical-free results. Hard to beat that.

p. *For a sore throat:*

* 2 tbsp lemon juice
* 2 tbsp organic honey (or to taste)
* hot water

p. Mix all ingredients in a mug and sip. The more honey, the better here.

p. I also have great results with strong black licorice. It’s really the only thing that will calm those hysterical throat tickles that have your eyes watering while you gasp for air. Another one is lozenges with slippery elm, but I don’t like how it tastes.

p. *For coughs:*

* 3 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
* 1 cup of coriander seeds
* 4 cups of water
* organic honey to taste

p. Mix the ginger, coriander seeds and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the color changes to that of black tea, a dark brown. Strain a portion into a mug, add honey to taste and sip.

p. I also got a little brave and tried a recipe for “tomato tea”:http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/tomato_tea.html, since that’s a really popular cold remedy. It was spicy and good, but since I don’t used “canned goods (BPA risk) “:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/09/shanna-swan-bpa-exposure_n_606141.html, I had to puree the tomatoes myself and the result was something more chunky soup-like than tea. Between that and the work involved (hey, I’m sick, cut me some slack!), I think I’ll pass on it until I can find a healthy AND convenient solution. (Maybe pre-pureed & frozen tomato juice? Hmm…)