Elderberry recipe from wellness mama

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How to Make Elderberry Syrup for Flu Prevention

Katie - Wellness Mama 374 Comments Affiliate Disclosure

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With flu season around the corner and signs for “flu shots” in every store, this is a natural alternative that is inexpensive and effective. It can be made easily at home.

If you or your child has ever had a bad case of the flu, you know how miserable it can be. Especially for moms, it is awful to see your children feeling so bad and not be able to fix it. Black elderberries (sambucus nigra) have been shown to prevent flu and speed recovery in those who have the flu.

Elderberries contain high levels of A, B, and C and stimulate the immune system. Several natural elderberry syrups are available at health stores or online, but usually for around $15 or more for 4-8 ounces. This recipe makes 16 ounces for a cost of under ten dollars and kids love the taste!

5.0 from 18 reviews

How to Make Elderberry Syrup for Flu Prevention

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

 

A simple natural remedy with a big nutritional punch. We keep this on hand during cold and flu season to ward off illness.

Author: Wellness Mama

Recipe type: Remedy

Serves: 8+

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup black elderberries
• 3.5 cups of water
• 2 T fresh or dried ginger root
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ tsp cloves or clove powder
• 1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer's market)

Instructions

1. Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves (do not add honey!)
2. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
3. Discard the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
4. When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a pint sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
5. Ta Da! You just made homemade elderberry syrup! Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Some sources recommend taking only during the week and not on the weekends to boost immunity.
6. Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.

 

Ever taken elderberry? Will you try this recipe? How do you ward off illness?

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Whoopsie Pies April 29th 2014 Lendon's 22nd birthday

Whoopie pies

Whoopie Pies

yield

Makes 8 individual desserts

active time

30 min

total time

1 hr

We prefer Droste brand Dutch-process cocoa for this recipe because it gives the cakes a richer chocolate flavor. Though whoopie pies can be served on the same day they're made, we think the cakes are much better a day after baking.

ingredients

For cakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

For filling

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff

1 teaspoon vanilla

preparation

Make cakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Make filling:

Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Assemble pies:

Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

cooks' notes:

• Cakes can be made 3 days ahead and kept, layered between sheets of wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature.

• Filling can be made 4 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

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Pretzels

Soft Beer Pretzels with Warm Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

I'm entering a contest.

It's a beer baking/making/cooking contest.

Here's the deal. Make a recipe {it must contain beer}. simple.

I'm feeling lucky. I won a free drink at bingo on Monday. totally.

Maybe I'll win a beer baking/making/baking contest. Who knows.

If you like me, like my recipe, want me to win, or you're just feeling extra nice, you can vote for my recipe here. no pressure.

I'm sure you want to know a little about these pretzels before committing. yessum.

These pretzels were a total experiment.

I've never made pretzels before. I've eaten many pretzels {who hasn't}, just never made them.

I did some research. I wrote some notes. I tweaked and simplified. I came up with a recipe.

It was good. It was tasty. As a general rule of thumb, flour, dough, yeast, and bread like things, are amazingly tasty warm.

On a scale of 1 to 10, those pretzels were a 7.

A 7 is o.k, but no good for a contest. I wanted a 10. I needed a 10 for my beer making/baking.cooking contest.

Last night {super late}, I recklessly decided to tweak the recipe.

Instead of using whole wheat flour, I decided to go for all white. I also added more beer. duh.

Pow. Smash. Crash. Pop. Pretzels. Awesome. Delicious. 10 out of 10. Warm, soft, salty pretzels with warm homemade honey mustard. say what? That's right, warm honey mustard to dip. I never thought honey mustard would be so easy to make. Turns out it is.

I also made you a diagram. Because, well, diagrams are cool.

Step one. form a dough ball.

Step 2. Roll out that ball into a snake.

Step 3. bend that snake into a horseshoe. Good luck. We win.

Step 4. twist it up.

Step 5. Finish it up.

[Print Recipe]

Soft Beer Pretzels with Warm Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce Recipe

Pretzel Ingredients

1 tbsp yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup beer

3 cups of flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups hot water

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg, beaten

coarse sea salt for topping

Honey Mustard Ingredients

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp Apple Cider vinegar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, add one tbsp of yeast, 1/4 tsp of sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir the mixture and then let sit for 5 - 10 minutes, or until the yeast starts to foam. This is called {proofing} the yeast. You are trying to see if the yeast is still active.

2. In a large bowl, add the beer. I used {Blue Moon}, but you can probably use anything that tastes good. That's my theory anyhow. Once the yeast has proofed, add it to the beer and stir. The beer and yeast mixture should initially fizz for a couple of seconds. This is normal {and cool}.

3. Next, add the flour and salt to the beer mixture and combine. If your dough is too sticky, then add more flour. If it's too dry add more water. You want to be able to knead the dough without it falling apart or majorly sticking to you hands. Some stick is necessary.

4. Place the dough on a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes {by the way, awesome arm workout}.

5. Place the dough into a oiled/greased/buttered/sprayed bowl, and then lightly oil the dough itself. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for one hour. {make sure your bowl is large enough to allow room for the dough to double in size}.

6. After the dough has doubled in size {one hour} preheat the oven to 425 F.

7. While the oven is preheating, tear the dough into 8 evenly sized balls. Roll each ball into a long thin narrow strip and shape into desired pretzel form {please see step by step instructions above}. The pretzels will rise a lot while baking, so roll the dough thin. Next, place the pretzels on a baking sheet.

8. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of hot water and 1 tsp baking soda. Dip each pretzel into the water {5 - 10 seconds} and then place it back on the baking tray. {this process will make the pretzels crunchier and more caramel-y}. Let them sit for 10 minutes.

9. Finally, brush the pretzels with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. The amount of salt is dependent on your taste. {the egg wash will make the pretzel shiny}.

10. Bake the pretzels for 15 minutes.

11. While the pretzels are baking mix the mustard, honey, and vinegar in a small sauce pan on low to medium heat. Once warm the sauce is warm, remove from heat and serve as a dipping sauce for warm pretzels.