Elderberry Syrup

We've been sick and I've been the one who got really, really sick. Two weeks ago, when we all first started coming down with this upper respiratory stuff, I decided to make some Elderberry Syrup. I've been hearing all kinds of wonderful things about it, and I will have to say, IT'S ALL TRUE!!

First, the syrup. There are various versions of this basic recipe floating around out there. It's simple and EASY, oh, and very inexpensive.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Water
1/2 Cup Dried Elderberries, or 1 Cup Fresh
1/2 Cup Raw Honey

Bring 3 Cups water to a boil, at Elderberries, simmer. All of the recipes I saw said to simmer until liquid was half. I'm a really bad judge of what half actually looks like in a pot, so I just let it simmer for about 45 min. and called it good. Strain out the berries (I used a small mesh sieve and just poured it into my pint jar. Oh, I forgot to say this earlier, this recipe will make about a pint, so have a jar clean and ready for your syrup) Add 1/2 cup Raw Honey and stir it until it dissolves (I didn't do that with one batch. I ended up with a glob of raw honey at the bottom of the jar). And now, you have Elderberry Syrup for a fraction of the cost as buying it. It cost about $3-4 to make versus $18 to buy, and that's $18 for a small container, not a pint!

Preventative dosage:

Children 1t daily
Adults 1T daily

When your sick dosage:

Children 1t every 3-4 hours
Adults 1T every 3-4 hours

For Eli, I put several t in a glass of watered down apple juice for him to drink on throughout the day. This stuff is good by itself and absolutely awesome in apple juice.

When we get sick, we start with the alternative stuff first. This was the only thing that even remotely came close to helping me feel better.  I continued taking it even after I went to the doctor and got meds (yes, I was that sick- alternative wasn't cutting it, OTC didn't touch it, so off to the doctor I went). This, plus a warm honey/lemon/rum concoction worked better at helping my cough than the cough medicine. I still took my antibiotics but stopped the cough medicine. And yes, I am taking my probiotics ;)