I’m one of those people who really likes to keep it simple. Although I’m totally enjoying playing with the Herbal Nurturing book and have made elderberry syrup, much to my kids’ delight, it took me over a year of wanting to do it before I finally got around to it.
I need a few things up my sleeve that don’t require any fancy ingredients or complicated recipes. 
At Green Your Way I share four totally simple tips to battle a cold using things you already have in your kitchen. Rather than share an excerpt from the post, I’m going to pretend I’m a DVD and share a deleted scene with you. The editor of Life…Your Way nixed number five on my list because it included alcohol and she takes a strong stance against alcoholism.
I totally understand and support her decision, but since not every family struggles with alcoholism (and this may be my favorite childhood memory), I’m going to share the section with you here, knowing that you’ll make a mature decision about whether you’ll use it or just laugh at me:
Cough Less, Sleep More with Whiskey and Honey
The first cough syrup I knew (and possibly why I kind of like the taste of whiskey) was a homemade remedy. This is copied from my mom’s cheat sheet to my own: Mix whiskey and honey in a 1:1 ratio and give 1 teaspoon to children ages 1-2 years and 1 ½-2 teaspoons for older kids and adults.
I’m probably supposed to tell you not to give this to anyone under 21. Take that advice as you wish, perhaps with a grain of number one on this list.
Tip: Tape a piece of paper with ideas like this to the interior of a cupboard door in your kitchen, or the inside of your linen closet. Information at your fingertips!
Disclaimer: I’m not a health professional, just a mom, and one who was raised on whiskey and honey at that! You know of course that you must check with your own doctor before believing anything I say.
Here’s to your health, the simple way! [Read the first four tips HERE.]
Since we’re talking avoiding chemicals this week, did you catch my last article at Green Your Way? I explored the fishy stories of hormones in our water supply and what you (might) be able to do about it. Check it out HERE.
Need a Holiday Dish to Pass?
The appetizer recipe carnival has a bunch of great options, and if you take the sourdough eCourse or Fundamentals of traditional foods eCourse and make a payment this month, you’ll get my video with two simple and delicious real food dips, plus the trick to making cream cheese and whey from your homemade yogurt. It was fun to make, and I’d love to share it with you!
Call for Recipe Testers
Here’s a sneak peek at the next three recipe books to be published here at KS, in no particular order (although I know when the release date will be for each one):
- Healthy Meal Transformations: How to Make Your Old Recipes into Real Food
- Beans & Legume recipes
- Healthy and Healthy-ish Desserts
I will also be publishing a 2nd edition of both Healthy Snacks to Go and the Family Camping Handbook in 2011.
If you’d be willing to test a recipe (or a handful) in return for a copy of the book, please fill out this form. I’ll contact you at some point, but know that it might not be until I work on a certain book (i.e. months from now), so please don’t feel missed or miffed if you don’t hear from me right away. Thanks! [UPDATE: Thank you so much to all who are willing to test recipes for me! I'm compiling a list of testers for the January book now, but I removed the form so I can have a static list of helpers. There will be a next time!]
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I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
Photo source: Mandi Ehman
Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Herbal Nurturing and will receive commission if you buy the book.
I did fill out the form BUT we eat completely gluten free so any recipe we test out needs to be gluten-free or I need to be able to convert it. As far as that goes, it may be of benefit to have a gluten-free option included in a gluten-filled recipe.
My mother-in-law used to make cough syrup with those soft peppermints covered with whiskey.It would take a while for the peppermints to dissolve but once it did, the cough syrup was pretty yummy.
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Mrs. Mac Reply:
November 10th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
now this is a new cough drop idea (soft peppermints and whiskey .. will have to remember this one:)
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A nurse told us not to bother with over the counter cough syrups, now-a-days. She said they’re not very effective since they had to remove the alcohol.
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I love it! This is one of the first home remedies my mom ever gave us! I use it now too! We use honey, lemon and whiskey though. The lemon juice helps cut junk in your throat. We have also done honey, lemon and water if you don’t want the alcohol. Probably doesn’t help with sleeping, but does with the cough and sore throat.
Thanks for the post Katie! And I am excited to try out some recipes for you too!
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I’m in on anything that has been used for hundreds of years. For the medicinal tea totalers among us? What type of whiskey? Is all whiskey the same? For some reason I think there is a wide variety of whiskey out there. But then I don’t have a clue.
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My kids were given mom’s secret weapon ‘medicine’ at the first sign of a tickle in the throat (brandy, cognac or the likes) .. I swear it will knock out a cold before it takes hold if you gargle with 2 tsp. of the stuff (swallow, of course:) Will try the honey/whiskey cough syrup if the need arises.
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Since my sleep was interrupted off and on all night by my coughing, I am trying this recipe tonight!!
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Love that remedy! I’ll need to keep it handy for my whole family, especially during this season.
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I’ve never actually tried combining honey with the whisky (although I’ll keep it in mind for next time!). However, I’ve been using honey for coughing for at least a couple years now. I found this tea at the grocery store called Throat Coat, and the hot tea with a good dose of honey works way better on soothing my throat than cough syrup ever did. I still remember having a terrible cough a few years ago, trying to get to sleep and going thru almost a whole bottle of Robitussin, as it did practically nothing to help stop my cough. In contrast, hot tea with honey works so so so much better!
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Thanks for the opportunity to test recipes for ya! We are addicted to everything in the Healthy Snacks book and can’t wait to try more.
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I love this! When I was a kid my mom used to give me whiskey on a q-tip for toothaches. You just put it where it hurts and then, all better!
Since I have a swollen lymph node in my neck and what is threatening to be a sore throat the night before I am supposed to sing with my husband, I’ll be trying the whiskey-honey thing TONIGHT! And the two little rugrats who gave this to me may be getting it as well…
Someone asked what kind of whiskey. We drink/use Jameson’s. There are lots of different ones but you don’t have to get fancy. I’d say just avoid the super cheap stuff because it has more impurities in it and might be more likely to give you a headache.
This also reminded me that a couple of years ago, I went to a friend’s house with a migraine and an upset stomach. Her father made me some hot Jameson’s mixed with a little sugar and water. Worked like a charm!
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Hmm. If I mix honey 1:1 with the homemade vanilla I bought at a local farm made with rum will it help too?
. Does it have to be whisky?
Nyquil has sooo much alcohol and I gave dc children’s nyquil years ago (egad!) so the alcohol doesn’t worry me. Kefir (sometimes) and vanilla do also.
We usually just do a 1/2 teaspoon of raw honey or also add a squirt of lemon into the honey. Do you mix a bunch and keep it in the cupboard?
Thanks!
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Katie Reply:
November 12th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Beth,
Kati
I’m not sure if whiskey is the magic bullet or any alcohol. ?? I just mix as needed, 1:1 isn’t hard even in the middle of the night.
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my 89 year old father in law just told me last weekend.. take some whiskey and honey for that cough. He used to give it to his babies ..rubbed a little whiskey on their teeth when they were teething. and i am sure they got the whiskey and honey treatment growing up. He was a farmer for the first part of his adult life. did i mention..he’s 89? He eats more processed now but ya gotta give him something… he’s 89! He also eats a lot of salmon and fish and nuts…
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Ohh.. this looks good.. Let me try it out and let you know how it goes, especially with my husband who hates taking any cough medicine.
Heading over to check out the other home remedies.. and thanks for the tip of pasting a sheet with the remedies inside the kitchen cabinet.. Wonder why I didn’t think of it earlier?!
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This remedy brings back memories of when I was a small child and my grandmother used to come visit. We lived on the West Coast and she was from the midwest and it seems that every time she visited I would have a cold. I remember her making me drink a mixture of cider vinegar, honey and warm water…..I didn’t care for it much and could hardly swallow it and I honestly couldn’t tell you if it helped, but it was some old remedy that must have done something. Maybe the whiskey would be tastier….
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Cool. Teetotalers we are not– and my husband has a scratchy throat. There’s whiskey in the cupboard and I just bought raw honey, so here we go!
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I laughed at your post – brought back funny memories of my childhood. My mother always gave us whiskey and honey, or tea with whiskey when we were sick. And then there was that unlabeled bottle of green liquid on an out of reach closet shelf – it came from Italy via various family friends whenever they traveled – and that green liquid always worked when we were really, really sick. None of us have had an alcohol problem. I still use a combo of ginger and honey that I make and keep in the fridge. If I’m really sick, I put one tablespoon into a cup of hot, hot tea and lace it with some Sambuca since I always have that in the house. Promotes sleeping, opens the breathing passages, Voila! Sans the poisons in cough syrup.
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I love whiskey *cough cough* haha. Seriously cough medicine screws with my heart so I will have to use this next time!
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I like it best hot, with honey. What I used to do, back when I was a single teacher and had throat colds and laryngitis all winter long, was heat water in the kettle and drink a cup of really hot water with about a tablespoon of Southern Comfort, a tablespoon of honey, and sometimes a dash of lemon. Yummy, comforting, and it really did help.
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I didn’t know that whiskey wasn’t a medicine for a long time! Growing up, we rubbed whiskey on gums for teething and toothaches, drank warm whiskey, honey and lemon concoctions when we were sick. It worked! When I had kids, I thought some of the moms that I knew were going to turn me in for even suggesting I give my kids whiskey – but they had no problem giving their kids alcohol laden OTC meds with God only knows what else in them!
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This post reminds me of my mom telling me her dad used to give her a shot of whiskey for menstrual cramps. She would have really bad clots and the pain would keep her from going to school. My grandpa would give her a shot of whiskey and after she gagged it down it would thin her blood, the clots would disappear and she wouldn’t cramp any more. Makes me think there’s something to this concept of whiskey as a medicine. We don’t consume alcohol AT ALL but I’m not bothered by the thought of using it for medicinal reasons. I’m rolling around picking up a bottle now.
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Katie Reply:
April 18th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Kelli,
Just don’t roll crooked! (couldn’t help it) What an interesting home remedy! Thanks – Katie
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