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How to Get Children to Take Herbal Remedies
It’s a common question, how to get children to take herbal remedies? The truth is a lot of herbal remedies don’t taste great. Sure, a dose of delicious elderberry syrup is easy to get kids to take but not all remedies are like that. Many teas and tinctures have a bitter taste. Also, many children aren’t ready for swallowing pills.
Creativity is the key to giving herbal remedies to kids. You know your children best, and what things they really like to eat and drink. You may even consider giving them something you don’t typically allow them to have just to get the remedies in.
Get Children to Take Tinctures
Liquid tinctures for the most part are not tasty. Especially because most of them are made with alcohol. Glycerin tinctures taste a bit better. Here are some ways you can try.
- Use a mini cup, or a shot glass to put a sweet tasting juice and mix a dropper full of tincture in with it. Maybe even buy them a juice they don't normally have. The novelty might help.
- If your children like, taking elderberry syrup, you can mix tinctures in with the syrup and masks the taste pretty well. We have Elderberry Syrup Kits in our shop, it's great to have on hand.
- Mix the tincture in with a spoonful of honey
- Try our sore throat lemonade recipe and mix the tincture in with that. The only thing is they will need to drink the full cup, so don’t give them too much.
Herbal Powders for Children
Most children aren’t ready for swallowing a capsule of a powdered herb, until they are at least 10. So, how to get children to take herbal remedies? There are some other ways you can give powdered herbs to a child without the unpleasant taste.
- Mix the powdered herbs with applesauce or yogurt
- Make herbal candy with dates and nuts in a food processor and mix the powdered herbs in with that (see recipe below).
- Add powdered herbs to a smoothie in a high powered blender that can blend them very well
Herbal Candy
Ingredients
- 2 cups walnuts
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 cups dates
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Herbal powder
Instructions
- Place the walnuts into a food processor and pulse to grind
- Add dates to make a paste
- Add all remaining ingredients and process
- Roll into balls or press into a pant and then cut into squares
Herbal Teas for Children
If you need to give your child a tea that isn’t very tasty, make a strong brew of the tea and add a tablespoon or two into another tea that’s more tasty. Peppermint or spearmint tea are usually tolerated by kids. Add a tablespoon of honey, and they will be happy.
Some teas can also be frozen and added to a popsicle, mold with fruit. This would not be ideal if the remedy was due to a cold or congestion, because you would really want to give them warm liquids and foods.
Chocolate chip chaser
If all else fails, and one of my children really needs to take an herb and they do not want to I offer them a small handful of chocolate chips to eat right after they take their remedy. It’s not ideal, but sometimes you do what you gotta do and it works!
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How to Make a Soothing Onion Honey Cough Syrup
Category: Herbalism
Try making this soothing onion honey cough syrup if your child has a cough. This is a sweet and delicious cough remedy your child will like. Both honey and onion have anti-inflammatory properties that will relax cough spasms and soothe irritated tissue. With the antimicrobial properties of both onion and honey it will help to fight the infection as well.
How do onions and honey help a child's cough?
Onions help to release a flow of fluids in the lungs to help thin sticky and thick mucus. Just like an onion makes your eyes tear it also does make the same signals inside the body. This is what makes this cough syrup a good expectorant. It helps to break up congestion in the lungs and get rid of stubborn coughs.
Honey is soothing to the irritated tissues and helps to coat the throat. If possible get some local raw honey to get the benefits of the enzymes and antimicrobial properties.
Onion Honey Cough Syrup
- In a small saucepan on very low heat, the lowest possible setting, mixed together 1 cup of honey and 1 medium yellow onion chopped.
- Add 1 teaspoon dried thyme Leaf. Warm the above ingredients very lightly and slowly until the onions are softened.
- Serve warm by itself, eaten by the spoonful or over mashed potatoes or vegetables or chicken.
- This may be taken several times a day if desired.
Thyme is also an excellent expectorant and antimicrobial herb. Adding this to the onion honey syrup will increase its benefits.
Onion Honey Cough Syrup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tsp dried thyme
Instructions
- In a small saucepan on very low heat, the lowest possible setting, mixed together 1 cup of honey and 1 medium yellow onion chopped.
- Add 1 teaspoon dried thyme Leaf. Warm the above ingredients very lightly and slowly until the onions are softened.
- Strain out the honey. Serve warm by itself, taken by the spoonful or over mashed potatoes or vegetables or chicken.
- This may be taken several times a day if desired.
How long will Onion Honey Cough Syrup last?
If you are wondering how to store onion honey syrup. keep the syrup in the refrigerator. If you do, it should keep up to six months. Of course if it looks or smells funky before that, toss it and make a new batch. It's so easy to make so I just make small amounts at a time.
If you like this recipe, you may also like this recipe for Homemade Cold Syrup.
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How to Dye Easter Eggs with Food
Category: Real Food
It is possible to dye Easter eggs with food and have beautiful eggs! Why Skip the Artificial Dyes? There is a large variety of food products that contain artificial coloring. Unfortunately, some artificial colors are linked to a number of health conditions. Health professionals recommend that children with ADHD stay away from all food coloring and additives because it can aggravate the condition. Artificial dyes could also be linked to skin rashes, asthma, headaches and even cancer. Not only are artificial dyes in Easter egg dying kits but they are also in soda, canned food, candy, boxed macaroni and cheese, and many others. It is wise to stay away from all artificial colors in food products to avoid any unwanted health risks.
How to Use Food as Easter Egg Dye
- Firstly, boil the food, herb, or spice in water and simmer for 15-30 minutes.
- Now that the simmering time is up, strain the liquid from the pot.
- Then, pour the liquid into a mason jar, mug, or glass to use for dying.
- After that, add 1-2 tbsp of white vinegar to each dye color.
- Lastly, place a boiled egg into the dye mixture and wait for the dye to take onto the egg shell.
The colors come out darker the longer you leave the egg in the dye. We left our eggs in anywhere from 1-2 minutes to 30 minutes and got varying degrees of color. It's nice to do some light and some dark colored eggs.
What Colors Work?
Orange / Peach
- Yellow Onion skins: remove out layer of 5-6 onions then boil in 2 cups water for 30 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. white vinegar.
Yellow
Dark Purple
- Elderberries – boil ¼ cup elderberries in 2 cups water then simmer 15 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. white vinegar
Blue
- Blueberries – boil 1 cup frozen blueberries in 2 cups water then simmer 15 min. Add 1 tbsp. white vinegar
- Red Cabbage – boil 1 cup chopped cabbage in 2 cups water then simmer 15 min. Add 1 tbsp. white vinegar
Green
- Mix ¾ prepared yellow turmeric with ¼ prepared elderberry
Pink
- Beets – boil 1-2 chopped beets in water, simmer 15 minutes. Add 2 1 tbsp. white vinegar
What Did not Work…
- Raspberries with the same technique as the blueberries but the color did not stick to the eggs at all.
- Boiling alfalfa powder for green but it also did not stick!
Getting ready for Easter? You might want to check out this post too – The Best Non Candy Easter Basket Gifts for All Ages
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe to stay in the loop. If you are looking for some of the healthy tools and resources mentioned in my articles, take a look at my healthy shopping guide.
Some of our links are affiliate links, which means if you click and buy, I earn a small commission. The price is the same for you, though. Thank you!
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