Saturday, January 3, 2015

for dark winter months, a cold remedy

This yearly combination of darkness, a calendar full running around, hugging and cheek-kissing, and the over-sugaring of the holidays has brought a cold to a few of my housemates. I have evaded it (for now) with a few simple rituals that I'd love to share with you:

1. Plenty of water!
Drink room temperature water (my naturopath suggest half your body weight in ounces), to help keep your body hydrated, as we tend to crank up our thermostats or crowd around smoky fireplaces!

2. Daily exercise!
I wake up every morning and get my heart-rate up for thirty minutes. There is nothing like sweating it out!


and most importantly...
3. Fire (fights the cold) Tea!
This has been my go-to beverage for a couple years now, I don't recall where I picked it up (some old remedy typed onto some other blog), but it always proves delicious and restorative! Whoever is in my home, especially in the winter months, will be handed a mug of this if they are feeling under the weather, a last ditch effort to NOT GET SICK! The recipe is simple: Ginger, Black Pepper, Cayenne, Lemon Juice, & Raw Honey, in Hot Water. Mix to your taste, sometimes I want it spicy-er, other times a nice spicy/sweet balance. As I sip this I like to pretend that the tingly feeling is really the Spice knocking out all of those pesky germs!

the goods + your favorite mug

fresh grated ginger, cayenne, cracked + whole black pepper (whatever you are feeling)

juice (half of) a lemon, add it to your spices

add a spoonful of honey, and stir in hot water

give to your ailing, but soon to be better loves