Mama's Medicine Chest: Onions and Garlic

One of the wonderful things about working with herbs is that you can always learn more. I learned about this cough syrup from a friend about a week ago, just in time to help kick the lingering cough floating around our house. She said they have such great results with it that they share it with everyone. My friend learned this technique from her pediatrician. Here are the very complicated directions. Chop an onion. Layer it in a jar with honey or sugar. Let it set at room temp until the juices start coming out of the onion. That juice is your cough syrup.
I was really curious how this would taste, but I found it smells a lot worse than it tastes. Ours mainly tasted like water downed honey...though I do still have a cold right now, so it could have an effect on my taste buds. I would use sugar if you are making this for a little one too small to eat honey. If you are using honey it will be worth your time to find a local source of unpasteurised unfiltered honey to make this with, as it will help with the cold. If you have trouble locating some try looking for a nearby bee keeping association, or asking at your local health food store (not a chain store, a local owned one). My mother-in-law says she remembers her mom making a version of this and putting it in their chest too. Sounds pretty messy to me, but I would try it if I was desperate.
This second remedy is a garlic salve that I learned on-line called GOOT...I've not seem WHY it's called GOOT, my guess is Garlic Olive Oil Treatment, but I don't know. I really love this stuff. And since I learned it I try to always keep about five heads of garlic in the house, since I don't want to make a special trip to the store when I need it. I like to make this up in small batches whenever an illness hits. It can loose potency if it gets old. If all of us are sick at once it's best to make a larger batch. These instructions are pretty flexible; I don't measure, but just guess. I use about a tablespoon of coconut oil, two large garlic cloves, a teaspoon of olive oil, 7 drops of oregano oil, and 10 drops of lavender. I mash up my garlic in my little mortar and pestle. If you can't think of any way to smash it just chop it as fine and small as you can. Put your coconut oil in a jar and apply some low heat to melt it. It melts at 76 degrees so I set it outside or in the car or by the woodstove in the winter. I wouldn't microwave it, but I don't microwave anything. Then mix in the rest of your ingredients and let it chill in the fridge. I apply it to our feet and cover with old socks. I also apply it to any swollen lymph nodes on the neck.

Garlic is a natural anti-biotic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-cancer. It's as powerful as penicillin, but with no side effects, except smell. I understand it works best taken orally, but that's hard to get a two year old to do. You can chop it fine and cover it with honey. I like to chop it pill size and swallow. If I'm very sick I set a timer (or else I will forget) and take a clove every hour. Oregano is anti-bacterial, and some people say an anti-biotic. It helps break up congestion. You can find wild Mediterranean oregano to be taken orally at your health food store or on-line (I would call to see which is meant for oral dosage). The Man and I take it under our tongue. It is VERY hot, and needs a quick chaser. I saw on-line where one lady had taught her 5 years old and older children to drink some water and hold it at the back of their mouth and she would drop some into their mouths in the water and them tell them to swallow. You don't want to use this remedy if you are pregnant. Lavender is an anti-septic and helps people relax, lowers fevers, and it smells much better than garlic. These are the reasons I've included these things. It helps to know the why, because then you know better how to use them. For instance, if there are a lot of colds going around you might want to do a lot of cooking with garlic and oregano, even if your family isn't sick.
I love how simple many of these remedies are. Another wonderful thing about these particular remedies is that I have personally found them to be very effective, but they are gentle enough to be used on very small children. Because of the things I have read, and that these remedies are food based, I personally would feel comfortable using them one of my children at as young as three months, though you need to seek your own advice and prayerfully make your own decisions on these things.
May God grant you wisdom and knowledge as you help keep your family healthy! c

Read other posts in this series:
Blackberries- tummy trouble