Healing Honey Lemon Tea

I love natural ways to relieve cold symptoms and boost the immune system. I love to rub on my homemade natural vapor rub and I also like to drink hot, healing beverages when I'm sick.

I found this tea recipe a while ago and I've heard it's common to keep a jar of this mixture in the refrigerator in Asian countries. Despite containing no tea leaves & not really being tea it is very similar tasting to regular tea.

So what does it contain? Only three common ingredients (besides water) that you can find at most grocery stores.

LEMON is a source of vitamin C. It's full of antioxidants and it neutralizes the activity of free radicals.

GINGER has been regarded for centuries for its healing properties and ability to enhance the benefits of other herbs. It reduces the severity of cold symptoms, warms the lungs and stomach and acts as an expectorant. It reduces nasal congestion and sinus pain. Ginger is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It promotes healthy sweating that aids the body in detoxing and it promotes digestive health.

HONEY has both antiviral and antibacterial properties. It's soothing to sore throats and is an effective and natural cough suppressant. The sweetness of the honey balances the tart flavor of the lemon and the ginger's spice nicely.


Healing Honey Lemon Tea
1 lemon, sliced
2 ginger slices
1 cup or more of local, raw honey
1 12-16 oz glass jar

Cut one lemon into slices and place in a clean glass jar. Add the ginger slices and cover it all in honey. Place in the refrigerator for at least a week to marinate.
When ready to drink, boil 8 oz of water and add one tablespoon (or more) of honey lemon tea mix to the boiling water. Stir and enjoy. If you like it more tart add a lemon slice from your tea jar to your cup of tea.
The tea's hot steam and liquid help clear your head, the lemon clears mucus while giving you some vitamin C and the antiviral, antibacterial honey also soothes your throat.

This mixture will keep fine in your refrigerator for months and will be on hand for whenever a cold strikes.

This post is part of: Clever Chicks, Homestead Barn Hop, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Wildcrafting Wednesday

Honey on my Face

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I love honey: raw, local, all natural honey.  I'm not talking about the cheap, fake stuff either. Local, raw honey tastes amazing and is full of the good stuff. I add it to my tea, use it on my face & put it in my hair. Honey contains some of the most incredible antibacterial power nature has to offer. It will replace much needed moisture in your skin, while at the same time pulling out the oil and bad stuff. 

I started using honey as part of my morning facial routine at the suggestion of Crunchy Betty's ebook Food on Your Face. I pour some honey on my fingers and spread it all over my face. If I'm in a hurry I'll wash it off right away. If I've got some time I'll leave the honey on for 5 or 10 minutes while I do other things and then wash it off. It has been a great acne fighter for me along with my thyme toner I use before bed.

Beware buying your honey from a big-box store or pharmacy. Often times, it's not even honey.

Pasteurized honey is no good for your face. All the beneficial enzymes have been killed in the heating process. This is the honey you typically find in mainstream grocery stores. Often it's"laundered" from Asian countries to hide it's inferior Chinese origin.  

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Raw, unfiltered honey is honey that has been heated less than 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the official “raw heat” designation. It's been minimally filtered to remove some of the pollen, propolis, and wax. Where can you get the good stuff? I get mine at local orchards and farmer markets. 

To learn more about honey, I highly recommend these articles:

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Honey Laundering: The Sour Side of Nature's Golden Sweetener

Crunchy Betty's Honey Guide

Tell me: how do you use honey?

This post is part of: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Mama Moments Monday, Living Green Tuesdays, Works-for-Me-Wednesday, The Morris Tribe, Homestead Barn Hop, Make Your Own Mondays, Your Green Resource

Vacation Treasures

I'm spending this week in Sevierville, Tennessee vacationing with my husband, 3 boys and my husband's parents. We're enjoying our resort's waterparks and the natural beauty of Smoky Mountain National Park. Our most exciting outing occurred when we went on a family hike to Grotto Falls in the park and saw a black bear on the trail a little too close for comfort. The sad thing is I've got no proof of our bear scare because the camera was dead. Below is the last photo I took before the battery died.

I'm not much of a shopper most of the time but on vacation I like to look for local specialties and interesting items to take home.  My favorite souvenirs seem to be food or body care related. I've found lots of treasures so far including local sourwood honey, apple jelly, homemade lye soap and bee pollen.

I've never tried lye soap or bee pollen so I'm excited to experience them for my self. I've heard about the benefits and many uses for lye soap so I'm going to experiment with some of the suggested uses.

I've heard of the health benefits from consuming bee pollen but had never seen it for sale. We visited a little gift shop next to bee hives and that's where I found it for $4.99.  I've read that bee pollen is one of the richest, most complete foods in nature and contains a wide variety of essential vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein and amino acids. Bee Pollen is extraordinarily rich in most of the B vitamins and also contains only a few calories per serving. It's been used in Chinese herbal medicine as a nutritional supplement for centuries. I'm planning to add it to smoothies and mix it into plain yogurt.

I'm looking forward to enjoying my treasures after the fun of vacation has ended.

Home Beauty with Honey

One of my absolute favorite at home beauty treatments is a Honey Hair Pack. I first learned about using honey on my hair about 9 years ago from the book Natural Beauty at Home by Janice Cox.

Honey is an all natural product you can find at any grocery story & it has some wonderful beauty uses at home.  It contains many vital vitamins and minerals and it's high potassium content make it nearly impossible for bacteria to survive in it. Honey gives dry or damaged hair back it's moisture, color, body & shine.  Honey can have a lightening effect on hair over time so if you've got dark hair I'd recommend trying molasses instead.  Try a honey hair pack once a week!  I love to use honey on my dark blond hair & I recommend you give it a try too!

First comb through your hair with a wet comb to get your hair slightly damp. Be sure to wear a button up shirt or robe as you don't want to get honey on your shirt. Next drizzle about 1/2 cup of honey all through your hair and then put on a shower cap or wrap your head in plastic wrap and wait 20-30 minutes. Don't worry about the stickiness as it will easily wash out of your hair.  I love to sip a hot beverage & have some quiet reading time while waiting.  Finally you wash & condition your hair as normal.  Easy, frugal & good for you!