Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry syrup is a staple in our house. My 2 year old ask for it daily. "Momma, I coughed. I want some elderberry syrup!" Elderberry syrup is a good natural cough syrup for those old enough to consume honey. If you read the ingredients of the "all natural cough syrups" at the store, they will basically be an elderberry syrup. The difference is they add in a whole bunch of other junk that I'd rather not consume or give to my kiddos! Elderberry helps fight against viruses including the flu, and might reduce inflammation. It can help with mucus, sore throats and colds. Elderberry syrup contains large amounts of antioxidants, potassium, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. Take a tablespoon daily to ward off illness and a teaspoon every 2-3 hours while sick. It is yummy yummy as well.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup Dried Elderberries {Amazon link} or Organic Elder Berries {Amazon l ink}
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup raw honey - local works best {Amazon link}
• 1 Organic Whole Cinnamon Stick {Amazon link}
• 4-5 Organic Cloves {Amazon link}
• A pinch of Organic Ginger Root - Optional {Amazon link}

Instructions

Place elderberries, water and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to about medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

With a spoon, mash the elderberries to release remaining juice. Do this a couple of times throughout the simmering.

A good bit of the liquid will evaporate during the simmering, which is what you want to happen. Strain the mixture. I use my nut milk bag. I put the nut milk bag in a quart glass jar and drape the top over the jar.

Pour the mixture into the bag/jar.

Once it has cooled some, lift up the bag and twist the top closed at bit. Using a spoon, push the bag against the inside of the jar wall to squeeze the bag to get out the remaining juice from the berries. After the liquid has cooled some, but slightly warm, stir in honey. Elderberry syrup should last for 2-3 months if stored in the fridge.

Here is a free pdf download of the recipe.

Want to know how I organize and store all my recipes on my computer and share on all my devices? I use the Cookin' software! I can import recipes from the web, add my personal ones, add pictures, print pdfs, and then view them from my iPad, iPhone, etc!

Using the affiliate links in this blog to make purchases helps support my site. Thank you in advance!

DIY Nasal Inhaler

How on earth did I go 2 years of using essential oils and not know about these? This is so stinkin' cool! You can make your own nasal inhalers using your own essential oils. AND for super cheap!

You will need:

• 3 drops R.C. essential oil or essential oil of choice (Contact me for ordering at wholesale cost)
• Nasal Inhalers, White 12 pack {Amazon link}
• or Nasal Inhalers, Purple 6 pack {Amazon link}

Optional items:

• Inhaler Refill Wick Stick Package of 12 {Amazon link}

Instructions

Drop about 3-4 drops of essential oils onto the white wick. I chose R.C. because of its respiratory support, but you can choose whatever you'd like. I made a few different ones. One I added a drop of peppermint and a drop of Raven essential oils. These would also be great for a Thieves inhaler for immune support. Or make a relaxing blend, such as Peace & Calming or Lavender. The possibilities are endless! What a great way to carry around and inhale your essential oils or for your kiddos to carry. Drop the wick into the inner part and put the back cap on. Each comes with a cover to protect the inhaler and keep your precious essential oils contained. You can reuse the inhalers and continue to add additional essential oils to the wick. You can also purchase replacement wicks for cheap {Amazon link}.

Using the affiliate links in this blog to make purchases helps support my site. Thank you in advance!

Frozen Ningxia Red Dinosaurs for immune support

My kids love Ningxia Red but are horrible at drinking from a cup. At 1 and 3 years old, I know I should have taught them better, but it is what it is! One day I will make them some Ningxia Red gummies (and blog about it), but for right now, frozen will work!

You will need:

• 3 ounces Ningxia Red (Contact me for ordering at wholesale cost)
• Dinosaur silicone mold {Amazon link}
• or Robot silicone mold {Amazon link}

Instructions

First place the silicone mold onto a flat pan, dish, etc. {Not shown}. Once you fill the mold, if you pick the mold up, everything will spill out since it is a flexible mold, so make sure you place on a flat pan first. Fill the dinosaurs with Ningxia Red. 3 ounces of Ningxia Red will fill 12 dinosaurs, you can adjust accordingly if you only want to make a few at a time.

My kids want to eat these all the time! I finally had to start mixing 1.5 ounces of Ningxia Red with 1.5 ounces of water. That way they could eat double the amount of dinosaurs per day.

Place in freezer until frozen. Pop out of the mold and server immediately. These melt super fast! Leave them in the mold (in the freezer) until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Using the affiliate links in this blog to make purchases helps support my site. Thank you in advance!

Homemade DIY Laundry Detergent - Borax Free

In the quest to free my home of unwanted chemicals and toxins, I found you can make your own laundry detergent. Not only is this borax free laundry detergent cheaper to make than the Tide Free I used to use, it works just as well or better! In just a few easy steps you can make your own non-toxic laundry detergent as well.

You will need:

• 1 bar Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile soap - Unscented/ Baby Mild {Amazon link} - You can used scented if preferred.
• 1 cup washing soda {Amazon link}
• 1/2 cup baking soda {Amazon link}
• 1/2 cup citric acid {Amazon link}
• 1/4 cup coarse sea salt {Amazon link}
• Essential oils {optional}
• Silica gel {Amazon link}

Instructions

First you'll need to finely grate your bar of soap. I put my bar of soap through the grate plate on the top of my food processor which shreds it.

Then I use the food processor to get it to a fine powder. You can you a cheese grater or whatever you'd like, just make sure to grate it finely.

Mix the finely grated soap, washing soda, baking soda, citric acid and salt together. Stir well.

*VERY IMPORTANT* You’ll also want to add a desiccant to your mix to keep the soap from clumping up. They are super easy to make. Just put a teaspoon or two of silica gel in a clean fabric bag or baby sock, and tie up the opening as tight as possible so no gel escapes. The desiccant will absorb moisture in the laundry detergent from the soap bar. The silica is reusable, see instructions on the box for details.

Put your laundry detergent and desiccant in a large bowl where you can have room to stir it around. For the first few days, stir your mix several times a day. After that, the mixture will be nice and dry and there will be no need to continue to stir. You don't have to wait until it dries to use the detergent though.

If you would like to scent your laundry detergent, you can add the desired amount of essential oils to the whole mix, or each individual scoop. Thieves is a good one to use to add additional immune boosting properties! Contact me if you'd like to purchase or more information on Young Living essential oils.

Add 1 tablespoon of your homemade detergent per load. For really large or heavy soiled loads, I use just a tad more, but not much.

Order your custom personalized waterproof stickers (or personalized digital downloads for you to print) from Davet Designs to personalize your laundry detergent container.

Using the affiliate links in this blog to make purchases helps support my site. Thank you in advance!