Tis the Season to be Coughing, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

As I sit here suffering the ill effects of yet another holiday cold, I’m wondering about all of the people who wonder about me.  Yes, I have family and friends who think I’m just a little weird when I get sick.  Why?  Because I don’t rush right out to the pharmacy to stock up on medicine.

Nope, my first line of defense against nasty bugs is always going to be a more natural route.  One that doesn’t involve possible side effects or allergic reactions.    One that is guaranteed to net me some strange looks and less than complimentary comments.  Not because I use things like bat wings, squirrel hearts, and the fungus that grows on rotting tree trunks that are lying on the on the southwest side of a northeast facing mountain range.

Uh-uh.  I get the looks and comments because I take a truckload of vitamin C, garlic and acidophilus.  And sometime during the past year or so, I’ve added ‘tomato tea’ to my arsenal.

No, I did not add alcohol to my tea. My camera just needs charged.

Tomato tea?!  Ewwww!

Yeah.  That was my first reaction, too.  But desperate times call for desperate measures and I broke down and tried it one night.  Know what?  It’s actually pretty darned good.  At least when compared to nighttime cough medicine.  And even when it’s not.  No, it’s nothing I’d drink when I didn’t need it, but when I do, I make very sure I’ve got all the ingredients on hand to make it.

Know what?  Colds in my house don’t last as long as colds in others.  They’re also not as bad either.  So if you are sick of being sick, and have an aversion to bottled syrups that make you shudder from head to toe when you toss it down, here’s my recipe for ‘tomato tea.’

4 cups of V8 Juice

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1-2 tablespoons garlic powder (or a couple of minced cloves)

1-2 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Combine all in small saucepan over medium heat.  When tea begins to steam, set heat on low and sip this stuff until gone (from a cup, not the pan).  Make sure you only use about half a cup at a time because you don’t want it to cool down much.

I promise, you can’t really taste the orange juice.  The overall flavor puts me in mind of a spicy chili (minus the meat and beans, of course).

Another plus, in my opinion, is that everything in the tea is good for you.  And for helping to fight off a cold.  It also is fantastic for a sore throat, although the first few sips might be a bit uncomfortable.

So there it is.  If you have a cold, give the tea  try.  If you don’t, get the ingredients on hand because the odds are good you’ll have one at some point this winter.

And until Friday…have a safe and very Happy Thanksgiving! (and let’s forget all about my delirium-induced junk mail post, okay?)

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4 Responses to Tis the Season to be Coughing, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

  1. I’ve had to look into more natural ways for health. My youngest daughter has had reactions to so many things. She’s not fully immunized because she wound up in the hospital twice from severe reactions…stopped breathing when she was 16 months old, and then swelled up like a balloon and had respiratory problems the second time. Well…not exactly like a balloon, but it was pretty bad. So we do a lot of C, D (with Cal/mag), garlic, echinacea and acidophilus (she hates yogurt).

    Sometimes, though, we do have to give in. I had bronchitis once for a couple of months trying to self-treat. I finally gave in and took antibiotics. 🙂

  2. We’re very much into natural remedies around my house, too. Little Goose has never in her life actually taken antibiotics (Dr. gave us a prescription during the great strep outbreak, but said I didn’t need to fill it if she was doing better by Sunday, and she was). I may have to try your tomato tea sometime, but given that I don’t even like tomato soup… I may stick with making delicious chicken soup — the trick is to boil the bones for a good long time to make a nice, savory bone broth. 🙂

    Also, we add lots of Vitamin D to our C, and use lots of probiotics and drink kefir and eat yogurt all the time. We’re almost never sick… (almost!)

  3. Ooh! That tea sounds really good. I’ll have to make a note to pick up some of that and a couple of lemons when I next visit a store in January (kidding…not until Monday though!). And yay to more weird people like me. 🙂

  4. My grandma’s remedy for a cold was Fenugreek tea with lemon and honey. It really does work wonders for loosening up nastiness in your chest, soothing sore throats, and easing a cough. And all without the side effects of stronger drug store or prescription medicine. I guess we’re weird like you 🙂

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