My Most Effective Natural Remedy for Colds and Flu

The best natural remedy, tied with a bow

I need a natural remedy

Confession: I really don’t like cold and flu season. It makes me cranky. Just knowing we’re surrounded by creeping pestilence and airborne viruses makes me want to hibernate in a Lysol wipe.

When our family was smaller, it wasn’t so bad. I’d get some kind of crud and be down for a week, max. But now, with seven host bodies for the Winter Germ Convention, it can feel like we spend all winter with the plague. By March, I’m ready to throw out my dead and move on.

Fortunately, as our family has grown, so has my knowledge of homeopathic remedies because as much as I hate the flu, I hate antibiotics much, much more. I’m oily, crunchy, and a little bit sadistic, and I don’t like giving my family drugs unless it’s absolutely necessary. Case in point: recently, Jonathan (age 11) came down with strep. He woke up one morning with a 102-degree fever and an angry sore throat. Immediately, I got out my secret weapon, my most effective natural cold remedy: Dragon Juice.

The very name strikes fear in the hearts of my children. The stuff is wicked good. It burns going down and it burns when you burp and it pretty much burns just thinking about it. But it works better than any other remedy I’ve tried for preventing, treating, and otherwise scaring the life out of any germ that comes our way. It works so well that after using it, people beg me for the recipe. Beg. One friend even suggested I bottle it and sell it.

Because. It. Works. Like. A. Boss.

Even the strep bug was no match for this stuff. It’s that good.

Garlic and raw honey: some of the players in this natural remedy

The idea of Dragon Juice, or something like it, has been around for ages. It is sometimes called Fire Tonic or Fire Cider. As is the case with most well-loved and effective natural remedies, everyone’s recipe is a little different, but the basics are always the same. You start with tangy apple cider vinegar, then throw in all sorts of goodness like garlic and cayenne. Yes, I said cayenne. Short-term pain for long-term gain, people. Stay with me.

After playing around with ratios and ingredients for a few years, this is my version.

Dragon Juice: It’s about to go down

Dragon Juice: The Recipe

1 quart raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, such as Bragg’s

1 whole onion

Juice of 1-2 lemons (you can substitute other citrus but lemon is best)

20 fresh garlic cloves, peeled

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger

1 thumb-sized piece of fresh horseradish

1 generous sprig of fresh rosemary

½ c. of honey, or more to taste

1-2T. whole black peppercorns

1-2 T. cinnamon, or a generous stick of whole cinnamon

1-2 T. cayenne

1-2 T. turmeric

1 T. dried burdock root (optional but awesome)

Blend the ingredients together in a heavy-duty blender until completely liquefied. I love my Vitamix for this. It pulverizes everything, even the ginger and horseradish, so I do not have to peel them before tossing them in the carafe.

Bottle the juice in a glass jar. If the jar has a metal lid, use a coffee filter or cheesecloth to keep the vinegar from coming in contact with the metal, or it will corrode. Allow everything to steep for at least a month. You can take the remedy right away (I have) but it will not be as effective until all the ingredients have had a chance to meet and mingle.

Apple Cider vinegar, meet Ginger

So. Make it today. You do not want to meet a cold without this remedy in your back pocket.

Dragon Juice does not need to be refrigerated. Just let it sit in your cupboard happy. After a month, you can strain the juice if you like. I do not. The Vitamix works so well, there is no need, and I like to keep all the good stuff in. It will settle some; simply shake before using.

If you do not have a blender, chop the onions, garlic, horseradish, etc. coarsely, and mix all the ingredients in a jar with the vinegar. Allow to steep for at least a month, then strain. Reserve the infused vinegar and toss the rest. Viola! Dragon Juice.

At the first sign of illness, or before and after any event that stresses the immune system (such as flying), I take (or dispense) this stuff a tablespoon at a time, 3xs a day, or more often if we’re battling a full-blown illness such as strep.

For my younger children, I cut the dosage down to a teaspoon—just small enough that they can gulp it down in one swig and then rush for a drink of water. Ha.

Please be aware, I am not a doctor and cannot make recommendations on how to treat your illnesses, so be wise and seek medical care when necessary. Dragon Juice can do lots of things, but it cannot raise the dead.

Natural Remedy Notes

*As I have worked on this recipe, I found I could increase the amount of dried herbs by double without noticeably affecting the taste or heat factor. That’s why there’s some wiggle room in the amounts of some of the herbs in the recipe. I recommend that you start with the lower amounts, but feel free to increase them if you are able to tolerate more. Since my children are used to swigging this stuff, I always use the higher amount. They can hack it.

*The ingredients used have been chosen because they work synergistically. In other words, they work better together. For instance, garlic is one of the world’s best-known natural remedies. If I could bring only one thing to a deserted island, it would be garlic. But when garlic is used with cayenne, the potency increases. In fact, cayenne is considered a “catalyst herb” because of its unique ability to increase the efficacy of nearly every other herb!

But that’s not all–black pepper exponentially multiplies the bio-availability of turmeric, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. If you take turmeric as a supplement, always, always include black pepper if you can.

Apple Cider Vinegar has the ability to draw nutrients out of herbs and spices without damaging them, and can “hold” those same nutrients in a shelf-stable state for long periods of time. So, even though there is some flex in this recipe, the remedy works best when all the ingredients are included.

*Take with a meal, or at the very least, with a little bit of oil or fat. Some of the ingredients, like turmeric, are fat-soluble. I sometimes eat a handful of sprouted almonds before I take a dose. Dragon Juice also works well as the acid in a salad dressing recipe, and it tastes great stirred in to chicken soup!

*All the ingredients are safe for pregnant women. However, Dragon Juice will affect your breast milk. Babies don’t always appreciate the taste of a cayenne milkshake, so be aware that your nursing babe might not love this natural remedy as much as I do. Please be aware that because one of the ingredients is raw honey, you should not use this remedy for children under the age of two. Because it is a hot, spicy concoction, I would be careful if giving it to a child under the age of five.

*Dragon Juice will keep indefinitely in a cupboard. It’s always good to date things you stick in your cupboard. If you find it five years down the road, it might be a good idea to toss it and start with a fresh batch.

*You cannot overdose on Dragon Juice, and the more consistent you are with taking it, the better it works. Be sure to continue taking it for a few days after symptoms decrease to continue building your immunity and prevent a relapse.

*Dragon Juice makes a great gift, believe it or not. The next time you bring a meal to a sick friend, include a bottle of this natural remedy. They will thank you later.

Antibiotics don’t make great gifts. Natural remedies do.

Enjoy! Then please stop back and let me know how Dragon Juice helped your family. You will be amazed at how effective this natural remedy really is.

Last Minute Advent Pendant

Cheery Advent pendant

My kids have been asking, “How many days until Christmas?” ever since the stores started hauling out the Christmas stuff.

So pretty much forever.

Now that it’s actually December, I wanted to give them a way to count down the days until Christmas without having to ask me thirty times a day (not that I don’t love that).

We have done Advent calendars in the past: you know, those flimsy little drug store calendars filled with tiny bits of chocolate that fall out on the wrong days and make kids cry. I’ve had stacks of them on top of my fridge every Christmas for the past few years, and I am always so happy to throw them away on Christmas Eve because they no longer look charming and everyone is kinda bitter about the fact that we spent actual money on them.

This year (read: yesterday) I decided I wanted to do something different. With Jeff deploying to Africa just a few weeks after Christmas, these days are precious. In one sense, the countdown to Christmas is also a countdown to his departure.

There is not enough chocolate in the world to make me want to count down to that.

Instead, I wanted to celebrate each day we have together, and each day we count down to the most glorious miracle of Christ’s birth, with a calendar that focuses on the time we have as a family.

Advent pendant garland over what my landlord calls “caramel” colored walls.

I decided to make an Advent pendant banner using Christmas card stock. Now, I thought of this brilliant idea at exactly 2:45 yesterday afternoon, and at exactly 2:45 yesterday afternoon, I realized I did not have Christmas card stock.

Off to Hobby Lobby I went. Except Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday. Off to Walmart I went! Except Walmart was a bust. Off to Target I went (at this point, I was absolutely not going to be back in five minutes like I had promised). Target had one option for Christmas card stock, and after fighting my way through the crowds of people buying stuffed Olafs, I did not even care what the paper looked like. Christmas card stock: check!

I realized later that I could have used plain paper and it would have worked just fine. Alas.

Creating the pendants is a breeze. Each of my card stock squares was 6×6 inches, so I cut each square in half with my paper cutter (you can also use scissors). That gave me two 3×6 rectangles. I cut the rectangles from the top corners to the bottom center, giving me two triangle pendants from each square of card stock.

24 triangles later, I assembled my banner on a jute string using two dabs of hot glue on each corner of the pendants.

DIY Advent calendar

Viola! My Advent banner was assembled.

Now, your temptation at this point will be to make this more complicated than it needs to be. But mammas, it is December 1^st and you are thinking of making an Advent calendar. The over-achiever Christmas crafty train left way back in October.

We are now in Get ‘Er Done mode.

So, you could add decorations to your pendants. You could. Don’t.

Advent garland

I did add two little buttons on the ends of the jute string while I was waiting for my hot glue gun to heat up, but I gave myself a good talking to when I considered adding little decorations to each pendant. That’s crazy talk right there.

However, I happened to have a scalloped, round paper punch so I did punch out 24 circles for the dates. If you do not have a scalloped paper punch, do not panic. This step is completely optional. You could write the dates directly on the banners, or add bits of ribbon or strips of paper for the dates.

I affixed each date to a pendant using a big glob of hot glue to give dimension to the date circles. Once they dried, I ran my finger under the edge to make sure the date circles popped up a little.

Then, I simply wrote the dates on with gold Sharpie, flipped the banner over, and added a fun Advent activity to the back of each pendant.

Advent ideas

Could not be easier.

A simple, gold-Sharpied clothespin helps us keep track of the days. Just move it over one day as you count down to Christmas.

Advent pendant

Now, if you have trouble thinking of Advent activities, you’re probably trying to get on that over-achiever train again. Stop it. Christmas does not have to be crazy, bigger-than-life, or expensive to be wonderful. In fact, your Advent list can include many of the things you already do during the Christmas season:

*Bake cookies

*Watch The Nutcracker

*Go to the church Christmas program

*Have cocoa and candy canes

*Make a gingerbread house

*Read The Night Before Christmas

*Go caroling

*Make gifts for teachers and friends

*Deliver cookies to neighbors

*Attend a Christmas concert

*Take the Polar Express to look at Christmas lights

*Make snowflakes

*Go ice skating

*Make a Christmas craft

*Read the Christmas story

*Look at pictures of past Christmases

*Sip eggnog around the Christmas tree

*Make homemade marshmallows

*Watch Frosty the Snowman

*Read How the Grinch Stole Christmas

*Volunteer at a local charity

*Play in the snow!

*Reenact the Christmas story

*Draw names and do something nice for another family member

*Open ONE present (this is our activity for the last day of Advent–Christmas Eve!)

You get the idea. The goal is to be intentional about spending time together, doing the things you love to do, creating memories as a family. Each day, have the kids write about the activity on the back of that day’s pendant. After the Christmas season is over, you’ll have a memory to cherish.

And isn’t that better than cheap chocolate? Any day.

Countdown to Christmas

Make an Etched Mirror, Plus a Giveaway!!!

I love old stuff. I love the dusty smell the years leave behind and the memories tucked into things that have lasted long beyond their owners.

I particularly love old mirrors, the kind that have real silver on the backs and bubbles in the glass and hand-glued labels on the wood. I haul them home whenever I can, and my husband gives me that husband look that says he doesn’t appreciate blurry, wrecked mirrors the way I do and he wonders if we don’t already have enough already?

As if.

One of the mirrors I scavenged was from a church garage sale. It was framed with barn boards and the silver was delightfully scratched and it weighed about half as much as me. I lugged it home and when my husband rolled his eyes, I said, “Don’t worry. I’m going to do something with this.”

Which, in point of fact, was not the part that worried him.

My plan was to make an etched mirror. For years, I toyed around with what to do. I even bought supplies to make my own stencil, but I couldn’t quite find the right thing and I was a little afraid I would ruin the mirror (never mind the fact that my husband thought it was too late for that).

So, I was thrilled when I turned on my computer one day and found a link a friend shared to Fruitful Vine Creations. They make gorgeous vinyl wall decals in every shape and size, including the one below.

Micah 6:8 happens to be one of my favorite verses. I even named a child after that book of the Bible. I was in love.

The size of this decal was perfect for my mirror. I knew I could affix the vinyl piece to it and the hardest part of my glass-etching project would be done for me!

Best of all, this particular letter art was being featured that week as the company’s Fruitful Deal. Every week, they offer one vinyl letter design at a deep discount. I scored this design for 50% off!

Once my order arrived, I positioned the vinyl decal on my mirror.

Then, I secured the design with tape on one edge and peeled the back off. This way, I could flip the design back onto the glass. (All the directions are included in the package, and they are super easy to follow, so don’t worry if that part doesn’t make sense. It will when you see their step-by-step tutorial).

I squeegeed the design onto the glass, pushing out air bubbles and making sure the design was stuck on tight. Since I was going to be applying glass etching acid to the top of this vinyl, I wanted to make sure all the edges were sealed.

Once that was done, I carefully pulled the top sheet off. The decal was perfectly positioned underneath.

Now it was time to get to work with the etching.

To etch glass at home, all you need is glass etching goo. This is what I used to do the job. This is the link to the product description on my Amazon affiliate page. But, it’s crazy expensive. I highly recommend using a coupon and getting it at your local craft store if you can. I got mine at Hobby Lobby for 40% off.

Using a paint brush, smear that stuff all over the mirror, right on top of the vinyl, until it is evenly coated.

The product is a little lumpy. Ignore.

The directions on the Armour Etch say to leave the product on for 60 seconds. I tested this with a smaller bottle and that amount of time was not nearly sufficient. Maybe it’s because my mirror is very old and things were made better back in the day. I don’t know. But I had to go back and purchase another bigger bottle and try again.

Bother.

I let it sit for about fifteen minutes, or until I could see the glass was cloudy underneath. Then, I washed off the creme, cleaned the mirror, and let it dry.

You will notice that the glass-etching product did not take evenly. Grrr…I am telling myself that the variations in cloudiness are in keeping with the weathered look of the mirror. I may go back and purchase another jar of Armour Etch if I decide not to leave my children an inheritance.

You will also notice that the vinyl looks just as good as it did before I applied the acid. In fact, a simple design might be able to be used again.

For me, it was time to remove the vinyl letters and see if the etching worked.

It did!

This particular design from Fruitful Vine Creations is very delicate, so I was a little worried that the acid might get underneath the thin parts. It didn’t. The vinyl stuck tight, just like it was supposed to, and gave me beautiful, crisp lines.

It’s hard to tell because the mirror creates a double image, but the lines are so clean. You can even feel them with your fingers, just like on real etched-glass.

I love the way the Scripture verse looks on the mirror. The light catches the words in different ways at different times, and it is beautiful. Even my husband has to admit that this old mirror isn’t so bad.

Aren’t you all dying to get your hands on some vinyl letter art so you can create your own etched mirror masterpiece???

You are in luck! I contacted Tonya over at Fruitful Vine Creations and told her what amazing readers I have and how much you all would love to shop on her site. She offered to give you all a chance to win a $50 shopping spree from Fruitful Vine Creations! This gift certificate can be used on anything in their store, including shipping! The only exclusions are the My Fruitful Deal decals (which are already a smashing great price, you might just want to sign up for their sale e-mails so you don’t miss any).

To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below! I will draw a winner at 6 pm Monday, April 14. Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway