A cup of soothing Honey Lemon Ginger Tea will help you fight that nasty cold or flu with natural healing ingredients, so you can get back on your feet quickly. (Skip to recipe.)
Christmas is coming, a few gifts are hidden and waiting to be wrapped, more need to be got, the goose is in the freezer, Rouladen need to be made, cards didn't get sent (again), tree needs to be put up and decorated, house needs cleaning . . .
. . . and I've been lying on the couch, aching all over and sniffling.
It's not a pretty picture.
Every now and then I heave myself up to do those things that absolutely need to be done, then thankfully sink back onto the couch to sip my honey lemon ginger tea, snooze a bit more and read more trashy magazines. In between I've been regularly slurping spoonfuls of my mom's homemade cough and cold remedy, and it's starting to work. Yay!
I rarely get sick, but when I do it seems to be a doozy. How to tell if you have a cold or flu? My aches and headache along with sore throat and tight chest tell me it's a flu, but since I've been hitting the nasty invader with all I've got (my mom's potion and my Lemon Ginger Tea), I'm only on day 3 and it's already turning around. I can feel a tiny surge of energy returning, the headache is gone, and the aches are getting milder.
This Honey Lemon Ginger Tea has been soothing and keeping me hydrated. All I had in the fridge were a few pieces of shriveled ginger and a bag of shriveled lemons - they looked exactly like I felt - and I had no energy to go to town to get fresh ones.
But, shriveled or not, they did the job. Ginger is a healthy anti-inflammatory and immune booster, lemon is full of vitamin C, and honey has antibiotic properties.
I keep a small pot of the ginger infusion on the back of the stove, to refill my mug whenever I need it, and I think I'm over the worst of my cold. At night, I replace the ginger with a spoonful or two of rum, to help me sleep, since ginger can be too energizing just before bed. I'll hopefully be on the mend in time to get a few things crossed off my list before Christmas gets here.
Ho-ho-ho (I think).
* * * * *
Kitchen Frau Notes: If you want a stronger ginger flavour, simmer the ginger for 10 minutes (covered) instead of just steeping the slices in the boiling water. I find the steeping is just right for how I like it, but I may be a wimp.
Honey Lemon Ginger Tea
- 4 cups (1 litre) water
- a 1 inch (2.5cm) chunk of ginger (or more if you like a strong ginger taste)
- 2 organic lemons
- honey to taste
- rum (optional, for a bedtime toddy)
Slice the ginger as finely as you can and place it in a saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat off. Cover the pot and let steep for 10 minutes.
Pour 1 cup of the hot ginger infusion into a big mug. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Stir in enough honey to make a sweet drink. You will need several teaspoons of honey per cupful. This is not a time to worry about cutting down on sweets - the honey has healing properties that are more important.
Reheat the pot gently whenever you wish to make another cup of Ginger Lemon Tea and add the fresh lemon juice after the ginger infusion is poured into the mug (so you don't destroy the vitamin C in the lemon juice by heating it too much).
If making this drink before bed, omit the ginger and add a few tablespoons of rum to hot water, making a hot honey, lemon and rum drink to help you sleep. Very nice.
Makes 4 big mugs full of tea, enough to get one sick person through the day.
Gute Gesundheit!
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Vivian
Thanks so much for posting remedies for the winter illnesses that plague us. Good to know and keep on file.
Margaret
Thanks, Vivian. Hopefully you won't have to use them this winter! A Merry Christmas to you!
Sheryl Reinecke
I made this and love it! After steeping, I poured mixture into a small crockpot and kept warm all through the day so ready to sip when needed.
Margaret
That's a great idea - thanks! I will try the crockpot next time I am sick (hopefully that's a long time away!) or I may just have to make up a batch because it's cold and snowy outside and a few mugfuls of lemon ginger tea would just hit the spot. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you have a great year ahead!
Carola
I have been making your remedy, when needed, for a couple of years now. It always seems to do its work and within a couple of days I feel much better again. I have just made another batch for a nasty summer cold. Here's to another tasty batch!
Thank you!
Margaret
You're so welcome, Carola! I'm glad to hear that this little remedy is helping you knock down some of those nasty cold monsters (even worse, somehow, when they visit in the summer time). Cheers! Hope the rest of your summer is great!
shaista Imtiyaz
My name is Shaista. I am 38 yrs, my height is 5.1 inches, weight is 70kg. My thyroid tsh is 8.6. Every day in the morning I drink ginger lemon tea and after lunch and after dinner and before bedtime.