The
Herbal Kitchen
*A
Tea For Relaxing *
Place one teaspoon of loose dried chamomile, & one teaspoon
loose, dried spearmint in a tea ball. Then place the tea ball in
an
average size coffee mug of very hot water. Let this steep for
about
10 to 15 minutes. Then sweeten with brown sugar or honey to
taste.
This tea will take your stress level down & probably put you
to sleep.
I think it tastes wonderful.
*Tea For A Cough *
Place one to two
teaspoons loose dried redtop clover in your tea ball.
Let it steep in an average size coffee mug of hot water for 15
minutes.
Sweeten with honey and a squeeze of lemon.
This tea works well for my coughing family. I like the taste,
however
A couple of my children have to force it down. So it may be an
acquired taste.
*Tea For A Sore Throat*
This tea can be swallowed if your tummy is not upset. If you
tummy is
upset you may simply gargle the tea making sure you can reach
the sore
area of your throat.
Place a half a teaspoon of loose dried sage & a half a
teaspoon
of loose dried rosemary into a tea ball. Steep the herbs for 15
minutes.
Do not sweeten. The properties of the sage is to kill infection
& the
properties of rosemary deaden pain. If you sweeten the tea you
will inhibit the
herbs from working to their full potential. This tea is
definitely not
one for taste in my opinion. You should make this tea for
yourself
at least 2 to 3 times a day until your infection or sore throat
is better.
*Tea For Upset Stomach*
This tea is a simple peppermint tea. Take one teaspoon of the
loose dried
peppermint leaves, and place into your tea ball. Let it steep in
average sized coffee
mug of hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Sweeten tea with honey or
brown sugar.
You can make even more mild by letting it steep less if you are
really feeling
nauseated. This tea really helps with morning sickness for
expecting mothers
or try if you are just feeling sick. It really helps!!!
*Tea For Your Nerves *
I call this lemon drop tea. It really tastes to me like lemon
drops.
Place a half a teaspoon of dried lavender flowers and full
teaspoon of
dried lemon balm leaves into your tea ball. Let it steep 10 to
i5 minutes
in coffee mug of hot water. Sweeten tea with honey to taste like
a lemon drop,
or if you prefer brown sugar you can use that instead.
*Summer Tea Breezier*
This is a sun tea that I
make during the summer. Place a half a cup of fresh
flowering spearmint tops in a coffee filter tied shut & put
into a clear gallon
container. Throw in 4 to 5 large fresh borage leaves and fill
container with
warm water. Place lid on
container and let steep in the sun for a couple of
hours . One hour is usually plenty but 2 hours makes it really
taste like
spearmint. Before removing herbs when tea is finished steeping,
stir them in the
container a couple of times around to release the flavor a bit.
Sweeten with
a half a cup of brown sugar. What I do is fill 12 oz glass
bottles with the tea
and refrigerate. You will have a great cooling summer tea for
guests
that come over. The tea makes you body cool down.
Oils
& Potions
Burn & Chapped skin ointment.
What you will need
1.
1 large glass jar or several small
ones for finished ointment enough to hold a ½ cup or a little more.
2.
7 to 10 fresh calendula blooms (pot
marigold)
3.
2 teaspoons fresh chamomile blooms.
4.
1 small block of bees wax.
5.
1 cup of grape seed oil or safflower
oil, grape seed is best.
6.
1 broiler pan or make one using a
clean glass jar and pan of water.
7.
1 small strainer.
An ointment that is good to make for dry skin or sunburn
It will even help a rash.
Here is how to make it. Take grape seed oil about a cup
place the oil into a double broiler pan. Add to the oil about
7to10 large calendula
blooms and cover the pan with lid. Let the oil and flowers
macerate for an hour.
After an hour add to the mixture 2 teaspoons of chamomile blooms.
Stir the mixture up a bit.
Now make sure you have water in the bottom of your double
broiler pan. Then you will heat
the mixture over low heat on the stove for about 25 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let mixture cool
to room temperature. When the mixture is cool use a small
strainer to strain the herbs,
keeping only the oil, press down on the herbs in the strainer to
get as much oil as you
can out of the herbs. Pour oil into a clean bowl. Now you will pour the oil back into the
broiler pan, and heat the mixture over medium heat. Next you
will scrape a small shaving from the block
of bees wax and drop it into the hot oil if it melts quickly
then mixture is ready to add more.
You will proceed to introduce 4 more shavings of bees wax into
the hot oil. The shavings
should be 1 ½ inches long and ¼ of an inch thick. After the wax
has melted completely
you will then remove
from heat and pour the mixture quickly into small glass jars before ointment
has hardened up. This ointment will be the consistency of
petroleum jelly or maybe a little softer.
You can then store and use later for burns or chapped skin. If
containers a sealed well you can
Save for up to 1 year.
(Warning, do not put lids on containers until oil is completely
cooled down.)
Discontinue using if your skin becomes irritated at all from it.
Mixture for a relaxing bath.
It is always good to have a couple of relaxing essential oils
around when you need them.
One of my favorite oil combinations is lavender oil, rose water,
grape seed oil or jojoba oil
for a base oil if you have it, and a hint of rosemary oil, for
sore body parts.
First fill a container with a ¼ cup of your base oil then add to
it 6 drops lavender oil, & 3 drops
rosemary oil with an eyedropper. Mix up the oil very well. Now
draw your bath and add to the hot
water ¼ cup of rose
water to soften bath. Then add to the bath your oil mixture. The warmer the
bath water the better the oil will mix with the water. The oils
will bead in the water a bit but
that is okay it will still absorb into your skin. Mix your bath
very well and tie up your hair.
Grab a good book and a cup of tea to take with you and melt into
a stress free moment !!
Oil mixture for cellulite.
This is a mixture of oils that is helpful in reducing the
cellulite on outer skin. You will need
2oz of hazel nut oil, 8 drops of essential oregano oil, 8 drops
of essential fennel oil, & 8 drops of
essential rosemary oil. Use an eyedropper the measure the
essential oils. Mix the oils in a
glass container with a snug fitting lid or better, a bottle with
a cork. Once you have put the oils
into the container and closed it, gently shake the oil to mix
well. Now the oil is ready to use.
you should rub the oil onto the areas of your body you wish to
have a smoother look
one to two hours after your bath or shower. Be
sure to massage oils into your skin very well
so you will not fell oily all day, a little goes a long way! You
should see the difference in your
skins appearance with 1 to 3 weeks after using the oil once a
day.
E-mail Demeteria
